I REALLY LOVE YOU...The Stereos, 1961
This group began in 1954 as The Montereys in Steubenville, but changed their name to The Hi-Fi's when they found the "Montereys" name was pre-owned. A producer changed their name to The Buckeyes, since they were from Ohio. Another producer changed their name again to The Stereos, claiming "The Buckeyes" sounded too much like a football name, and he recalled their old name of "Hi-Fi's".
This was their only hit. They called it quits in 1970.As many other groups of the time, they frequently changed members. I am guessing that "Really" was written by Otis Blackwell, but I can't find out for sure.
Those of you old enuff to remember will know this song was pretty big locally. That's why I mentioned it here.
AM GOLD MUSIC OF THE 60s & 70s
Although FM rock stations were springing up and catering to the more progressive-oriented listeners,Top-40 stations,as usual,played a wide spectrum of styles.Post-bubblegum tunes like "Brandy" by Looking Glass and Lobo's "I'd Love You to Want Me",Gilbert O'Sullivan's music-hallish "Alone Again (Naturally)" and the 5th Dimensions "(Last Night) I Didn't Get To Sleep At All" were all too square for the hip stations.
During the 60s,the terms "folk music" and "folk-rock" had been so abused by self-styled,musically inclined political activist that when Jim Crose surfaced in 1972 with "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" he was labeled a singer-songwriter instead of a folk musician.Croce's yeras of playing in coffee-houses,his catchy melodies and his vivid blue-collar imagery audiences so hard that he became probably the most overplayed artist of the decade on AM and FM.Atlantic Records must have thought they had the next Jim Crose when Buffalo Springfield producers Charlie Greene and Brian Stone brought them Danny O'Keefe,but he never came up with another song equal to "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues.
Mac Davis scuffled through the 60s trying to make it as a writer and performer,and hanging on to this day jobs.Then Elvis recorded Davis' "In the Ghetto" in 1969 and returned to the top 10 after a four-year absence.Suddenly everybody wanted Mac and his songs. In 1972 his recording of "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me" shot to the top of the charts,and Gallery cut his song "I Believe in Music" as the follow-up to their debut smash,"Nice To Be With You.
1972
Harry Nilsson broke through in 1969.Three Dog Night had their first top 10 with his composition "ONE". Several months later,Harry's 1968 flop of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin" reached the same heights after it was featured in the film "Midnight Cowboy" instead of Nilsson's original submission,his own song " I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City."Although he continued charting with his own compositions.Nilsson had his biggest seller and won a Grammy for best male vocal performance with 1972's :Without You," which was penned by Tom Evans and Peter Ham of Badfinger.
Harry Nilsson broke through in 1969.Three Dog Night had their first top 10 with his composition "ONE". Several months later,Harry's 1968 flop of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin" reached the same heights after it was featured in the film "Midnight Cowboy" instead of Nilsson's original submission,his own song " I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City."Although he continued charting with his own compositions.Nilsson had his biggest seller and won a Grammy for best male vocal performance with 1972's :Without You," which was penned by Tom Evans and Peter Ham of Badfinger.
Danny Hutton started out in show business doing voices for Hanna-Barbera cartoons.He cut several sides for their HBR label when it branched out from kiddie records.A year later,he moved to MGM where he met Cory Wells,then of the "Enemies." In 1968 he recruited a third singer,Charles Negron,and formed "Three Dog Night."The group had ears for hit material."Black and White" is a good example.Written in 1955 by a folk duet,the song kicked around for years.Sammy Davis Jr. and Pete Seeger made recordings of it.It was even used in a CBS film about Peace Corps efforts to teach English to Africans.Three Dog Night heard the reggae group "Greyhound" sing "Black and White" in 1971 and "rockalized" it for their third No.1 song.
In the 50s,Johnny Nash was a member of Artyur Godfrey's radio and television troupe and had a recording contract with ABC-Paramount.He had one hit with "A Very Special Love" and teamed up with Paul Anka and George Hamilton IV for a second,"The Ten Commandments.He acted in several movies,including (Key Witness) and (Take a Giant Step),which was shot in Jamaica.In the 60's Nash's musical horizons expanded to include soul and reggae."Hold Me Tight on Nash's own Jad label made the top 5 here and in Britain in 1968.His early-70s collaboration with the virtually unknown Bob Marley produced two monsters,"Stir It Up" and "I Can See Clearly Now",which established both artists worldwide.
Al Green was born less than 50 miles from Memphis,where he would record more than a dozen hits,but,as Mott the Hoople reflected."It's a mighty long way down rock-n-roll."At the age of 13 Al moved to Michigan,where he sang in gospel and secular groups,eventually scoring a national hit with "Back Up Train." Producer Willie Mitchell found Green in Midland,Texas,in 1968 and persuaded him to come to Hi Records in Memphis.For the rest of the decade,discs like"I'm Still in Love With You" made Green a fixture on the charts.
THE FOUR SEASONS...Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi,(replaced byJoe Long, 1965) Tommy De Vito, and, of course, Frankie Valli...
First hit, "SHERRY", 1962...LAST HIT, "OH, WHAT A NIGHT", (DECEMBER, 1963), 1976
Frankie Valli, born Francis Castelluccio in 1937, had no formal music training, but was supported wholeheartedly by his parents. Mosta their hits were co-written by Bob Crewe (their manager) and Gaudio.
They survived the British Invasion of 1964-67, and were rivaled only by the Beach boys as the top American group. They sold over 100 million records before finally disbanding in 1977.
Some of their hits:
SHERRY, 1962
BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY, '62
WALK LIKE A MAN, '63
CANDY GIRL, '63
MARLENA, '63
DAWN, GO AWAY, '64
STAY(COVER OF THE OLD MAURICE wILLIAMS HIT)'64
RONNIE, '64
RAG DOLL, '64
SAVE IT FOR ME, '64
BIG MAN IN TOWN, '64
I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN, '66
CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU, '67
MY EYES ADORED YOU, 74(Valli's solo, went double platinum!!)
WHO LOVES YOU, '75
OH, WHAT A NIGHT(December, 1963), 76...their last, and prolly their best-selling hit, as they disbanded the next year.
This is but a short list of their songs which hit the big chart.
Valli was far-from-finished, however. he sang the soundtrack for the movie Grease, working with Bee Gee Barry Gibb. This track went TRIPLE-PLATINUM!!!!!
Frankie and Gaudio had formed a corp. in 1960, agreeing to split their profits 50-50, and that partnership still endures today!
Gaudio had first achieved success with the Royal Teens with "Short shorts" in 1958. He was instrumental in making Jersey Boys, a musical play about the Four seasons' career. He is still a songwriter of note.
First hit, "SHERRY", 1962...LAST HIT, "OH, WHAT A NIGHT", (DECEMBER, 1963), 1976
Frankie Valli, born Francis Castelluccio in 1937, had no formal music training, but was supported wholeheartedly by his parents. Mosta their hits were co-written by Bob Crewe (their manager) and Gaudio.
They survived the British Invasion of 1964-67, and were rivaled only by the Beach boys as the top American group. They sold over 100 million records before finally disbanding in 1977.
Some of their hits:
SHERRY, 1962
BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY, '62
WALK LIKE A MAN, '63
CANDY GIRL, '63
MARLENA, '63
DAWN, GO AWAY, '64
STAY(COVER OF THE OLD MAURICE wILLIAMS HIT)'64
RONNIE, '64
RAG DOLL, '64
SAVE IT FOR ME, '64
BIG MAN IN TOWN, '64
I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN, '66
CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU, '67
MY EYES ADORED YOU, 74(Valli's solo, went double platinum!!)
WHO LOVES YOU, '75
OH, WHAT A NIGHT(December, 1963), 76...their last, and prolly their best-selling hit, as they disbanded the next year.
This is but a short list of their songs which hit the big chart.
Valli was far-from-finished, however. he sang the soundtrack for the movie Grease, working with Bee Gee Barry Gibb. This track went TRIPLE-PLATINUM!!!!!
Frankie and Gaudio had formed a corp. in 1960, agreeing to split their profits 50-50, and that partnership still endures today!
Gaudio had first achieved success with the Royal Teens with "Short shorts" in 1958. He was instrumental in making Jersey Boys, a musical play about the Four seasons' career. He is still a songwriter of note.
Many a truth is writtin in jest,and sometimes that goes for hit songs as well.Cartoonist Shel Silverstein wrote Sylvia's Mother as a spoof for Playboy,but when Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show recorded it, the public bought it for real.(Johnny Cash had turned the same trick with Shel's A Boy named Sue in 1969.)
In 1966 the Outsiders were Cleveland's version of the Young Rascals, turning out Time won't let me and three other hits.Singer Sonny Geraci and guitarist Walter Nims promptly split to Los Angeles and formed Climax.The group struggled until the 5th Dimension's manager,Marc Gordon,signed them to his Carousel label (soon to be renamed Rocky Road). A year later,they zoomed up the charts with Precious and Few.
1967--Ode to Billie Joe was not only one of the biggest hits of the 60's,it was also one of the most unlikely--and,thanks to a 1976 movie based on the song.it was still alive nearly a decade later.Which is more than could be said for poor Billie Joe McAllister,the song's protagonist.
Bobbie Gentry grew up Roberta Lee Streeter in Chickasaw County,the heart of the Mississippi Delta. In 1957,at the age of 13 ,she moved with her mother to Palm Springs, California;after seeing Jennifer Jones in Ruby Gentry, she changed her name .
Bobbie Gentry grew up Roberta Lee Streeter in Chickasaw County,the heart of the Mississippi Delta. In 1957,at the age of 13 ,she moved with her mother to Palm Springs, California;after seeing Jennifer Jones in Ruby Gentry, she changed her name .
DAVE CLARK FIVE...1964-67
They were the 2nd "British Invasion" group to tour the USA, and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show a record eighteen times. They had 24 hits on the Billboard chart, including "Glad All Over", "Bits & Pieces", & "Over & Over".
When their type of music fell in popularity in 1967, they disbanded, each of them a very rich man. The band members were:
Dave Clark..the drummer & leader
Mike Smith...lead vocalist, keyboards
Lenny Davidson...lead guitar
Rick Huxley...bass guitar
Denis Payton...saxophones, harmonica, guitar
Huxley was the only band member not involved in the writing of their songs.
Hardly an hour goes by on the local oldies stations w/o a DC5 hit being played.
They were the 2nd "British Invasion" group to tour the USA, and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show a record eighteen times. They had 24 hits on the Billboard chart, including "Glad All Over", "Bits & Pieces", & "Over & Over".
When their type of music fell in popularity in 1967, they disbanded, each of them a very rich man. The band members were:
Dave Clark..the drummer & leader
Mike Smith...lead vocalist, keyboards
Lenny Davidson...lead guitar
Rick Huxley...bass guitar
Denis Payton...saxophones, harmonica, guitar
Huxley was the only band member not involved in the writing of their songs.
Hardly an hour goes by on the local oldies stations w/o a DC5 hit being played.
Back in 1967, the year of flower power,hits likeWindy and Up-Up and Away were more typical.The former was written in 3/4 time by 19-year-old folkie Ruthann Friedman about her Haight-Ashbury boyfriend, Producer Bones Howe,brought in to bolster the Association's sagging commercial power,was responsible for the song's overhaul.This was the first record on which the group members didn't play their own instruments.
Up--Up and Away, the 5th Dimension's first top-10 single,won four Grammys including Best Song honors for its writer,Jim Webb's inspiration for the song was the hot-air balloon his San Bernardino DJ friend William F. Williams flew on promotions for radio station KMEN.Both men felt this would make a fine title tune to a documentary they hoped to shoot on ballooning.The film never happened but a couple of years later,rehearsing the 5th Dimension for Soul City Records in the absence of label owner Johnny Rivers,Webb gave the song to the group.Rivers made it the song of the 5th Dimension's debut album.
The Mamas and The Papas were still going strong in 1967.Dedicated to the one I love was a rthym and blues ballad cowritten by Lowman Pauling and done by his group, the "5" Royales,in 1958;but it's more likely that John,Michelle,Denny and Cass knew the song via its 1961 girl-group interpretation by the Shirelles.
SPANKY AND OUR GANG...Had three big hits in this area, "Sunday will Never Be The Same"(1967), "I'd Like To Get To Know You", and "Lazy Day"(Both 1968)
They took their name from lead singer Elaine(Spanky) Mc Farlane, who'd had the nick "Spanky" from childhood because of her facial and last-name resemblance to George "Spanky" Mc Farland of Our Gang(Li'l Rascals) fame.
In 1968, lead guitarist Malcolm Hale accidentally died of CO poisoning from a defective space heater, & the group disbanded shortly afterward. Spanky later joined the New Papas & Mamas.
They took their name from lead singer Elaine(Spanky) Mc Farlane, who'd had the nick "Spanky" from childhood because of her facial and last-name resemblance to George "Spanky" Mc Farland of Our Gang(Li'l Rascals) fame.
In 1968, lead guitarist Malcolm Hale accidentally died of CO poisoning from a defective space heater, & the group disbanded shortly afterward. Spanky later joined the New Papas & Mamas.
Gene Pistilli and Terry Cashman wrote Sunday Will Never Be the Same with the Mamas and the Papas or the Left Banke in mind.But when both those groups passed ,the team took it to Mercury producer Jerry Ross (who also did Keith's 98.6 and he recorded it with Chicago Mamas and Papas sound-alike Spanky and Our Gang.