The Lurch

No music is so bad it’s good. There are many reasons to love music, but none of them are because it's bad; most music is bad and as such its principal function is to increase the joy of good music by contrast or relief when it does arrive. Part of pop’s allure is its novelty value and the novelty song genre has produced some stone cold classics, few better than The Lurch by Ted Cassidy.


Cassidy, most famous for his role as ‘Lurch’, the butler in The Addams Family, used his deep, spectral tones to great effect on this titular song. The lyrics suggest that it’s an attempt to start a dance craze, although its 1965 release would suggest that it was a little late in the day for that sort of success, and was largely songwriter Gary Paxton’s attempt to replicate the success of his 1962 hit, Monster Mash.

Mrs FET says she can find no merit in this song no matter – or perhaps especially – how many times I play it. According to her it’s stone cold crap. But then she does own a couple of Eminem albums. What do you reckon? I think this song is the bee’s tits.

Dusty DVD

This DVD of Dusty Springfield's TV series is something to get excited about. Of course, if it included the Motown Special she hosted for Ready Steady Go, it would be incredibly exciting.

The press release tells you all. Well, not quite all. I mean saying "scoring her first number one in 1966 with ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’" would suggest there were other number ones when there weren't. And saying "Bacharach & David, arguably the most successful songwriting duo ever" is a bit rich, as there's no argument to be made, only facts to be stated (B&D are not the most successful songwriting duo ever).

The press release also suggests that Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd produced Dusty In Memphis, when it was Wexler and Arif Mardin; Tom Dowd was the engineer. You can bet there'll be magazines recycling that mistake in the coming months.

Anyway, that press release:

Dusty Springfield
Legendary BBC series released for the first time ever. Live At The BBC DVD – October 8th 2007.

In a career spanning five decades, Dusty Springfield was the finest white soul singer of her era, her consistency and purity unmatched by any of her contemporaries.

October 8th 2007 sees the release, for the first time ever, on DVD of her legendary BBC TV series from the sixties on Universal. This superb collection compiles the surviving shows into one powerful collection of 9 shows and 61 songs.

As well as featuring over 2 hours of lovingly restored footage from her TV series, Dusty Springfield – Live At The BBC also contains extra footage from the Morecambe & Wise Show, Tom Jones Show, an interview on Saturday Night At The Mill, as well as an audio jukebox and a photo gallery. There will also be a limited collector’s edition containing 4 exclusive picture postcards. This is the first time the series have
been available since they were first aired over 40 years ago.

Without doubt one of the UK’s most acclaimed and successful female singers, she proved a huge success on both sides of the Atlantic.

The early part of the 1960s saw her team up with her brother to form The Springfields who enjoyed a moderate degree of success. By 1963, and inspired by the new sound of Motown, Dusty embarked on her solo career. Her first single, ‘I Only Want To Be With You’ entered both the US and UK charts and by the mid-sixties she had become one of the country’s biggest stars scoring her first number one in 1966 with ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’. She was also the first artist to appear on the iconic TV series Ready Steady Go.

Her two BBC TV series in 1966 & 1967 were followed in 1969 by what many see as her finest album, ‘Dusty In Memphis’. Having already worked with Bacharach & David, arguably the most successful songwriting duo ever, Dusty, inspired by her love of classic American soul, de-camped to Memphis to make an album with renowned soul producers Tom Dowd & Jerry Wexler. Featuring the likes of ‘Son Of A Preacher Man’, ‘Dusty In Memphis’ remains one of the most acclaimed records of all time.

The 1970s saw her work with the likes of Gamble & Huff and in 1987 she again tasted success when she teamed up with the Pet Shop Boys on the single ‘What Have I Done To Deserve This?’

The full tracklisting of the DVDs is as follows:

Dusty BBC TV Show

Series 1

1st September 1966
The Real Thing
Some Of Your Lovin’
Bring Him Back
Poor Wayfaring Stranger
The Mood I’m In
Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa
Packin’ Up

8th September 1966
Call Me Irresponsible
Tell The World About You
I Don’t Want To Go On Without You
Won’t Be Long
I’ll Never Stop Loving You
The Real Thing


22nd September 1966
You Lost The Sweetest Boy
To Love and Be Loved
Anna (El Baion)
Gonna Build A Mountain
Losing You
Won’t Be Long

Series 2

15th August 1967
Live It Up
I’ll Try Anything
The Water Is Wide
I Only Wanna Laugh
If You Go Away
Everybody Needs Somebody

22nd August 1967
Get Ready
The Beautiful Land
All I See Is You
Medley: Do Re Mi, Soulville

29th August 1967
Come Back To Me
Don’t Let Me Lose This Dream
Peel Me A Grape
If You Go Away
You Can Have Him

5th September 1967
By Myself
Sunny
Two Brothers
Time After Time
You'd Better Run

12th September 1967
Let The Good Times Roll
If My Friends Could See Me Now
I Wish You Love
It Was Easier To Hurt Him
Heatwave

19th September 1967
Nowhere To Run
Sweet Lover No More
My Lagan Love
The Mood I'm In
It Ain't All Honey
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
Extras
26 August 1970: THE MORECAMBE & WISE SHOW (BBC2)
How Can I Be Sure

28 December 1972: TOM JONES SHOW (BBC1)
I Am Woman
Since I Fell For You

7 April 1979: SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MILL (BBC1)
Interview/I'm Coming Home Again

Photo Gallery

Audio Jukebox of tracks plus hit singles:
I Only Want To Be With You
Son Of A Preacher Man
I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself
You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me
I Close My Eyes & Count To Ten

Collector’s Edition contains:
4 Unique Picture Postcards from the TV Series
Limited edition numbering

Format
DVD
5.1 surround sound

Muscle Bustle

There’s more summer pop magic right here. Yes, I know I spoil you. Today it’s Muscle Bustle by Donna Loren, a great girl group romp from the 1964 film Muscle Beach Party.

Written by Brian Wilson and Gary Usher with the - to me - mysterious Roger Christian, here’s where I hand over the reins to Mr Harvey Williams, who knows everything about Brian Wilson and his associates, and has kindly offered these insights:

Roger Christian (or as he was sometimes known, Hot *Rod* Rog) was an LA disc jockey, and occasional writing partner of Brian. I have his "Little Street Machine" (or similar) somewhere. He doesn't exactly have a voice made for singing, so he basically narrates the song instead of singing it. I kind of like his lyrics as an evocation of the lifestyle, but more often than not they're basically lists of engine parts. The Hanes Manual of rock lyrics.

My favourite beach movie clip is here:
The Beach Boys “Little Honda”. Watch out for the girl shimmying next to Dennis (from around 40s in). Oh, I see you've already spotted her...what a woman.

Thanks, Harvey. Now would be a good time to remind anyone who hasn’t got a ticket for Harvey’s gig on Friday with Rose Melberg and The Dreamers to get one. Remarkably, there are still a few tickets left.

This would also be a good time for me to confess that last week I was remiss in posting Theresa Lindsey’s Gotta Find A Way from the old Goldmine compilation, Ultimate Girl Groups. That version has been remastered very badly and sounds well below par.

Better by far is the original 7”, which you can hear right here. It may have a couple of crackles but it’s got the rasp and guts and full-bloodedness absent from the reissued version. I believe Ms Lindsey when she sings the original.

If you can find it, however, the Ultimate Girl Groups compilation is worth having. You won’t know how you ever managed without Madeline Wilson’s Dial ‘L’ For Lonely or Cheryl Williams’ Everybody’s Happy But Me or the Sherrys’ Put You Arms Around Me after you’ve lived with them for even just the shortest time.

Rough Trade East

I’m all in favour of Rough Trade East. It’s an easy walk from my flat, it’s open late so I can go after work and it’s just round the corner from Beats Workin’, an ace second-hand record shop on Sclater St run by my mate.

The downside from a purely personal point of view is that I will probably be in debtors’ jail before Christmas. The only reason I ever went to west London was to the Rough Trade shop on Talbot Road (now, of course, there’s the Luminaire venue to draw me westwards); even so, I didn’t go that often.

You might think not going often was a little stupid when I tell you that I think it’s the best new record shop I know, but it usually meant a weekend visit when the decks would almost always be hogged by pseudo-DJs working through piles of 12”s. Plus it’s in west London and I didn’t want to end up in debtors’ jail.
Record shopping icon

Rough Trade East, then, gets a thumbs up for its location. As for the shop itself, it’s currently badly under-stocked. The “5,000 square foot megastore” is just too big for the present stock which relies heavily on piling multiple copies of one record in the racks. As for the 60s/70s Country section, all but one of the albums being by Johnny Cash is a bit lame. Have a Johnny Cash section by all means, but don’t pretend you know about country or stock it when you’re so limited in your outlook.

These, though, are simple problems which I imagine – well, I bloody hope – will be overcome soon. More problematic is the design of the shop. Rough Trade in Talbot Road conjures, to my mind, the most iconic image in independent record shopping; I’m certain many others feel the same way. With such a brand, very little needs changing. Why, then, have the RT Shop brains decided to create not so much a shop as another trendy Shoreditch “space”? They’ve sacrificed their iconic status for anonymity. For shame.

Still, I christened the shop by “dropping” £85. I’ll be back this week for a more modest spend. And every week until debtors’ jail.

The 7” stock is, as you’d imagine, excellent. Pick of the bunch last week was Trust by Gravenhurst which – I kid you not – is a dead ringer for Cling Film by The Sea Urchins. These are strange times we live in. The b-side reveals shoegazing tendencies which don’t fill me with joy; in fact very little of the so-called shoegazing revival gives me much pleasure, although a single I got last year, Forever by Shade, is worth checking out

You will probably want some pop now, so on the Trust theme, A Question Of Trust, the debut single by Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring from a couple of weeks ago is a joyous, infectious piece of indiepop that’ll make your heart beat a little faster.

Summer Means Fun

It would be wrong of me to claim full credit for the recent upturn in weather following the tireless promotion of some of the world's greatest summer songs on this blog, but, false modesty aside, it is too much of a coincidence for any of us to pretend that there's no link.

It would be just as wrong of me to rest on my laurels. To this end, I spent the best part of half an hour yesterday thinking what might constitute the next run of persuasive summery pop perfection to keep the sun gods smiling, and then digitising it.

Perhaps it would be churlish of me to point out that this service is provided for free and I expect no financial reward (although it would be appreciated if you bought me an ice cream if you're ever down my way); you might, however, want to go out and buy the records - or some suitable compilations - featuring the songs showcased here.

The theme today is surfin', and we start with Little Pattie's He's My Blonde Headed, Stompie Wompie Surfer Boy from 1963. If the truth be told, I think the title - which is obviously a little inspired by Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - is the best thing about this Australian number, but you decide.

Pattie, real name Patricia Amphlett, is the cousin of The Divinyls' Chrissie Amphlett. Will that ever come up in a pop quiz? I doubt it. But forewarned is forearmed.

You can find HMBH,SWSB on Girls In The Garage volume 11.

An even better surfin' experience comes in the form of Tell 'Em I'm Surfin' by The Fantastic Baggys. Numbering PF Sloan and Steve Barri, who earned a footnote in pop history (summer edition) by singing backing vocals for Jan and Dean, this 1966 single was the first of three they made.

There's a great interview with PF Sloan here, but if you don't have the time to read it all, here are some highlights:

You actually started in the music business when you were 12, didn't you?
Yes. In 1959, I released a single on the Aladdin label. One day I went to a music store in L.A. to buy a guitar, and Elvis Presley was also visiting the store at the same time, and he taught me a few chords! Then, when I was 16, I was in charge of A & R at an L. A. label! One of my most vivid memories from those days was in 1963, when a box of singles arrived from the U.K.. There was a very strong discrimination against British music at that time, and anything which came from there usually went straight into the bin! This particular box contained 4 demos by The Beatles, I think the singles were 'Love Me Do', 'Please Please Me', 'From Me To You', and 'Thank You Girl'. I realised their potential, and got them their first U.S. deal with the Vee-Jay label. Unfortunately none of these early records became hits! I later met them when they came to L.A., and saw their 1965 show at the Hollywood Bowl. But none of them were really interested in surf music! The Rolling Stones' manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, was totally into The Beach Boys and other surf groups. When he and Mick Jagger were in L.A., they heard some Baggys demos, and Mick loved them, saying they were "Fantastic!". And, unlikely as it sounds, that's how the Baggys really got their name

Did you ever work with the Stones?
Yes, I was actually the producer of the 'Paint It Black' session, although I wasn't credited for it. It was my idea for there to be a sitar on that record. I saw one in the corner of the studio, and I knew the song needed something a bit special, so we built it into the arrangement.

What was Steve's contribution to the Fantastic Baggys output?
He wrote about half of the second verse of "Summer Means Fun", and I let him do the vocals on that number. That was about it. Unfortunately, he has begun to claim that he wrote songs which he had absolutely nothing to do with, which has put a lot of strain on our relationship. Why would anyone who has had incredible success as a producer of artists like Michael Jackson, The Four Tops, etc., be concerned about a few insignificant surf songs? We worked together from 1963 to 1967, and then we separated, because we didn't have much in common. But in recent years, we've been getting along better. In 1985, I did a show at the Bottom Line, New York, and I performed "Kick That Little Foot Sally Ann" at his request. Then in 1994, a tribute concert to me was held at the Troubador in L.A., where he now lives, and he appeared on stage with me, but we didn't perform together.

I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face

The summer song this week ("we might not have the summer, but we have the songs" or something like that anyway) is I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face, as done by...well, take your pick.

First up is Dusty Springfield from her magnificent 1967 album, Where Am I Going, the second best in her oeuvre, pipped by 1970's A Brand New Me (aka From Dusty With Love). Controversial, I know, but I go for Gamble and Huff's Philly strut, lush arrangements and melodramatic heartbreak over its Southern predecessor, Dusty In Memphis. And anyway, there is something annoying, isn't there, about the post-Pulp Fiction canonisation of Son Of A Preacher Man and DIM.

You will notice not only that this is where St Etienne borrowed the tune for Nothing Can Stop Us Now, but that my copy's a little crackly.

I'm not certain who the original version's by, but the northern soul kids go for The Monticellos. This could just be because it's the rarest, of course. For my money, Justine "Baby" Washington delivers the best version, although there are others to choose from (including Aretha Franklin and Sonji Clay Mohammed, Ali’s ex-wife) I'll stop here.


Disclaimer: I do hope I've put the right versions up, but due to certain complications (administrative uselessness and no sound card at work to check, there may have been a mix up. Let me know if there are any mistakes. Ta).

Edwyn new single

Edwyn Collins
Announces the release of new single.

Edwyn Collins releases a new single, You’ll Never Know, through Heavenly Recordings on September 10th 2007. The single is taken from his forthcoming album, Home Again. The 12 track self-produced album is released on September 10th.

The single will be available on CD and 7” and includes a ‘dub’ from producer / reggae legend Dennis Bovell who has worked with the likes of I Roy, Steel Pulse, The Slits and Dexys Midnight Runners.

Home Again, Edwyn’s 6th solo long player, was recorded at West Heath, his own North West London studio in late 2004 / early 2005 before he suffered a serious illness. Work to complete the album was resumed earlier this year following a long period of rehabilitation.