Members I Am A Swede Posted March 16, 2012 Members Share Posted March 16, 2012 Sukiyaki is for me most notable as an early recording by one of my all-time favourite artists, the Norwegian nightingale Sissel Kyrkjebö: I think she's around 15-16 years on this recording Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted March 17, 2012 Members Share Posted March 17, 2012 She has a lovely voice, it's too bad about the production Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Max Posted March 18, 2012 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2012 I think that "Blue on Blue" deserved to go to #3, not any higher and not any lower. A Taste of Honey's version of "Sukiyaki" is by far the best version of that song. Alphanguy, I know almost nothing about popular music in other countries. Based on your expertise of this matter, how popular are English-language songs in non-English-speaking countries? And how popular are foreign language songs in English-speaking countries aside from the United States? "Sukiyaki" was knocked out of the top spot by "Easier Said Than Done" by The Essex, which spent two weeks at number one: the weeks ended 7/6/63 & 7/13/63. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TDCAEiFQ1Y4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The Essex were a vocal group comprised entirely of United States Marines who were stationed at North Carolina's Camp LeJeune. The composition of the group was quite unique: a white, female lead singer (Anita Humes) backed by four black men. (Despite having only one female member, the songs of the Essex--like those of Ruby & the Romantics--were definately of the girl group mold.) In 1963, the quintet was in the studio recording the A-side of their debut single, "Are You Going My Way." Only the last twenty minutes of that session was devoted to its flip-side, "Easier Said Than Done." It was not a tune that any of the group members cared for; rather, it was recorded mostly as a favor to songwriters William Linton and Larry Huff. According to Linton (who was another Marine stationed at Camp LeJeune), the inspiration for the song's beat came from the sound the camp's teletype machines made when they were running in unison. Partly because of the demands of military duty, the Essex's career was very short-lived. A couple of months after "Easier Said Than Done" fell from #1, a copycat single titled "A Walkin' Miracle" reached #12 and became the group's only other hit. (By this time, member Rudolph Johnson had left the group.) Anita Humes tried unsuccessfully to launch a solo career after being discharged from the Marines. She died in 2010 at age 69. In my opinion, "Easier Said Than Done" is a good song that belonged in the top ten, but did not deserve to reach #1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted March 18, 2012 Members Share Posted March 18, 2012 I prefer A Walkin Miracle to Easier Said Than Done. It's a tricky little song, offbeat. Humes has a very distinctive vocal style. Both songs are too "peppy" for me. It reminds me of what Dusty Springfield said about her first group, The Springfields, and how there was a market for being very cheerful and smiling. That song doesn't seem to be available but here is a more than adequate cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted March 18, 2012 Members Share Posted March 18, 2012 I also like "Walking Miracle" alot better than "Easier Said Than Done". This is one case when the bigger hit and the smaller hit should have been reversed. I think my problem with "Easier", is the song's structure, too many lyrics for the amount of music. The family Cookin version of Walking Miracle is FABULOUS! I've always loved their cover. Max... I have to say that by and large, yes, foreign language songs are much more popular in other countries than they are here in the United States. It's possible that it's because those other countries realize the limited area that their languages originate from. But you also see a large amount of foreign language covers of american hit songs, like the many that I Am A Swede posted. I was going to mention this last week, but forgot to when "I Will Follow Him" came up. Once again, the singer is Christian Anders, and once again, Fred Jay lifts the chorus from another song. the rest of the song is quite different, but he takes the chorus from "I Will Follow Him" and does the same thing he did with Paul Anka's "Lonely Boy" since Peggy March was at the height of her success in Germany when this song was out, I am DYING to know how she felt about it, but couldn't find any quotes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I Am A Swede Posted March 18, 2012 Members Share Posted March 18, 2012 I can only speak for Sweden of course but apart from songs in Swedish, English-language songs are quite dominant on the charts here. A lot of Swedish artists write and perform their material in English. The practice of translating songs from English or any other foreign language into Swedish is a thing of the past, more or less. On occasion songs in other languages become hits here, but it's really not very common. I think that situation is different in bigger countries like France and Italy. We are so influenced by American and British pop culture that English has become almost like a second language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Max Posted March 18, 2012 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2012 Was it not for the fact that "A Walkin' Miracle" came after "Easier Said Than Done," it might very well have reached #1. Alphanguy and I Am A Swede, I appreciate your answers to my question. The surf rock genre reached the peak of its popularity in 1963. That year, two Beach Boys songs--"Surfin' U.S.A." (#3) and "Surfer Girl" (#7)--reached the top ten. The same held true for two surf instrumentals: "Pipeline" by the Chantays (#4) and "Wipe Out" by the Surfaris (#2). However, the genre's most popular record (and my personal favorite surf song as well) was "Surf City" by Jan & Dean, which was number one for two weeks: the weeks ended 7/20/63 & 7/27/63. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Z6Cg_DHn69I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Jan Berry (born 4/3/41) and Dean Torrence (born 3/10/40) were friends at University High School in West Los Angeles, CA. In 1958, the two of them joined with Arnie Ginsberg to record "Jennie Lee," which peaked at #8. (This particular tune was billed as being performed by only "Jan & Arnie," most likely because Dean was serving a six month stint in the Army.) Arnie, however, soon joined the Navy, leaving just Jan & Dean. These two men scored again in 1959 with the #10 hit "Baby Talk" (which, like "Jennie Lee," was mostly a doo-wop tune that contained only traces of what would become the surf sound). (It should be noted that "Baby Talk" was one of the inspirations for the Beach Boys' first single, 1961's "Surfin.'" In fact, contrary to popular opinion, it was Jan & Dean who influenced the Beach Boys instead of the other way around.) Because the duo's career faltered after "Baby Talk," Jan & Dean abandoned doo-wop and instead embraced surf music. For their comeback single, they turned to their good friend, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Jan & Dean's first choice was to record "Surfin' U.S.A.," but the Beach Boys insisted on keeping that one. Wilson, however, did allow the two men to record another song he was in the middle of composing--"Surf City"--provided that Jan could finish writing it. Additionally, Wilson agreed to sing (uncredited) backup on the tune. Jan & Dean would make three additional top ten appearances, all in 1964: "Drag City" (#10), "Dead Man's Curve" (#8), and "The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)" (#3). (Their final top forty hit was 1966's "Popsicle.") Sadly, the storyline set out in "Dead Man's Cure" became all too real on April 12, 1966, when Jan's car swerved into a parked truck. As a result of the crash, he was in a coma for months, and then experienced several years of severe mental and physical pain. After an unsuccessful comeback attempt in 1973, the duo was much better received five years later (following the airing of a TV movie about their career titled "Dead Man's Curve"). Jan died of a seizure on 3/26/04. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Max Posted March 20, 2012 Author Members Share Posted March 20, 2012 The last doo-wop song to peak at number one was the gorgeous "So Much in Love" by The Tymes, which spent one week atop the Hot 100: the week ended 8/3/63. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/h7cnFadY9S4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The Tymes can trace their origins back to 1956, when Donald Banks, Albert Berry, Norman Burnett, and George Hilliard formed an R&B vocal quartet called the Latineers. Four years later, the group was renamed the Tymes after the addition of George Williams, who also became the act's new lead singer. In April 1963, the guys received a huge career boost upon being signed to Philadelphia's largest record company, Cameo/Parkway. (The Tymes were put on the Parkway label.) One of the first songs (if not the very first song) the quintet released on Parkway was "So Much in Love." The composition of the tune had been started by Williams (and was originally titled "The Stroll") and was finished by songwriters Billy Jackson and Roy Straigis. (It should be noted that Jackson--who also served as producer--was the one who changed the song's title and added the record's iconic seashore intro.) The Tymes had two successful follow-ups to "So Much in Love" (that really were not doo-wop songs): a cover of Johnny Mathis' "Wonderful! Wonderful!" (#7, 1963), as well as "Somewhere" (#19, 1964). The Tymes then seemed to fade into obscurity, though they made a minor dent with a cover of Barbra Streisand's "People" (which peaked at #39 in 1968). Berry and Hilliard were replaced by two female singers in 1973; one year later, the group scored a much bigger comeback with the #12 hit "You Little Trustmaker." In early 1975, a Tymes single titled "Ms. Grace" reached #1 in the U.K., although it stalled at #91 in America. A few weeks after "So Much in Love" reached the chart zenith, "Denise" by Randy & the Rainbows peaked at #10. These tunes, along with Dion's "Ruby Baby" (#2) and "Donna the Prima Donna" (#6), were (to the best of my recollection) the only doo-wop records to appear in the top ten in 1963 (which happened to be the last successful year for doo-wop in pop music). "So Much in Love" became a smash hit again when All-4-One took the song to #5 in 1994. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted March 20, 2012 Members Share Posted March 20, 2012 So Much In Love is a very pretty song. What I love about the groups of this era was they didn't oversing, or try to show you how hot their runs are. They had such a purity. I'm not a big fan of most surfing songs. The only ones I like are those which are melancholy, and even those have their limits. I prefer the Beach Boys material starting in the mid-60's, like In My Room, and the Pet Sounds album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted March 20, 2012 Members Share Posted March 20, 2012 I think "So Much In Love" is one of the very best of the doo wop era, and a real high note for the genre to go out on. It's smooth, romantic, memorable, and very deserving of number one status. Doo Wop may have been in it's last days, but there was also a transition taking place, and besides the groups on Cameo/Parkway, and Brunswick, Motown was taking doo wop, and morphing it into a hybrid of that, soul, and white pop that would dominate for the next 15 years. Even into 1965, some hits from Motown still held these vestiges of Doo Wop in their sound, but those would all but dissappear when 1966 rolled in. This record from Martha and the Vandellas was one of the few songs from 1965 that still held onto this "old" sound. Another of the last gasp of Doo Wop influenced songs from 1965 is the incredibly beautiful "Gonna Take A Miracle", by the Royalettes. These two songs clearly show the transition from Doo Wop to "Sweet crossover soul" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted March 20, 2012 Members Share Posted March 20, 2012 Now I have a reason to post Laura Nyro's and Labelle's version, one of my favorite songs of all time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJfeoqNI4ZM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted March 20, 2012 Members Share Posted March 20, 2012 Also... although "So Much In Love" was the final Doo Wop number one, over the years, Doo Wop would make small comebacks here and there, such as the 1969 re-recording that the Dells took to number 10 in 1969: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZhwfVRdwbc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Max Posted March 21, 2012 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2012 "Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)" and "Oh, What a Night" are terrific songs. These are some very astute points, Alphanguy. I believe that the emergence of soul music was an even bigger killer of doo-wop than the British Invasion was. While R&B vocal groups were still plentiful (such as Motown's Miracles, Temptations, and Four Tops), they adopted the soul sound, which placed less emphasis on the backgroud singers (and, in particular, on doo-wop's trademark use of nonsense syllables). I apologize for the confusion, Carl, but my definition of surfing songs (which is definately not shared by everyone) is pretty much limited to just songs that directly deal with the topic of surfing (as opposed to all Beach Boys-type tunes in general). I consider car songs (like Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve" and the Beach Boys' "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "I Get Around") to be a separate subgenre altogether, even though that sound is very closely related to surf music. Of course, there were also tunes performed by the Beach Boys--like "Help Me Rhonda" and "Sloop John B"--which maintain the same sound but are neither surf nor car songs. Finally, there is the "Pet Sounds" album, which was a complete departure of everything that the group had previously done. Just like Motown's first chart-topper (the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman"), its second number one hit--"Fingertips (Pt. II)" by Little Stevie Wonder--was actually issued on that company's Tamla subsidiary label. "Fingertips (Pt. II)" held the peak position for three weeks: the weeks ended 8/10/63, 8/17/63, & 8/24/63. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Tr5Q4xKSmGM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Steveland Morris was born on May 13, 1950 in the town of Saginaw, MI, and moved to Detroit at the age of four. Unlike his idol, Ray Charles, Morris was born blind, due to a medical condition called retinopathy of prematurity. (According to Wikipedia, "owing to his being born six weeks premature, the blood vessels at the back of his eyes had not yet reached the front and their aborted growth caused the retinas to detach.") The first instrument young Stevie learned to play was the harmonica, which would be followed by the drums and the piano. Stevie's best friend in childhood (with whom he had performed musically together) was John Glover, who happened to be a cousin of Miracles member Ronnie White. Morris was signed to Motown (in 1960) not long after Glover told White about his friend's amazing talents. Producer Clarence Paul came up with the last name of "Wonder," because everyone had been referring to him as "the eighth wonder of the world." And Motown owner Berry Gordy, Jr. assigned Wonder the "Little" prefix, since that was somewhat common at the time (e.g., Little Anthony, Little Eva, Little Peggy March). Initally, Wonder was limited to performing backup. But by late 1961, he released his first single, "I Call It Pretty Music, But the Old People Call It the Blues," which only reached #101. ("Billboard" has a "Bubbling Under" chart for songs that fail to make the Hot 100.) Two subsquent singles failed to chart in any capacity; however, Stevie drew enthusiastic crowds wherever he went. Keeping these factors in mind, Motown executives decided to record Stevie's "live" concert performance of "Fingertips" (which Stevie belted out at the Regal Theater in Chicago). At seven minutes in length, it was considered too long for a single release, so parts I and II were put on oppose sides of the 45. America obviously perferred Part II, which became the first "live" recording of the rock era to reach #1. (You can obviously tell that there was some confusion going on during the performance, given that one of the background musicians shouted "What key? What key?") Stevie tried to release more songs in the novelty vein, but the act grew tired, as evidenced by a two-plus-year absence from the top twenty. (In fact, only two of his records made the top forty during this time.) The "Little" moniker was dropped, Stevie took his music in a fresh direction, and--in early 1966--he scored a major comeback with the #3 smash "Uptight (Everything's Alright)." Wonder would go on to accumulate an amazing total of nine #1 hits (the last one of which would arrive in November 1985), although the next one did not come until "Superstition" (one of his finest songs) topped the Hot 100 in January 1973. Following the success of "Uptight," however, Stevie was hardly absent from the pop music scene in the interim, as evidenced by this list of top ten hits: "Blowin' in the Wind" (#9, 1966) [ironically, "Fingertips (Pt. II)" kept Peter, Paul, & Mary's version from hitting #1.] "A Place in the Sun" (#9, 1966) "I Was Made to Love Her" (#2, 1967) "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" (#9, 1968) "For Once in My Life" (#2, 1968) "My Cherie Amour" (#4, 1969) "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" (#7, 1969) "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" (#3, 1970) "Heaven Help Us All" (#9, 1970) "If You Really Love Me" (#8, 1971) While Stevie Wonder is undoubtedly one of the greatest musical geniuses of the last hundred years, I have always thought that "Fingertips (Pt. II)" was a piece of s#it. I cannot explain the appeal of the song, other than to say that it was unlike anything else on the radio in 1963. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted March 22, 2012 Members Share Posted March 22, 2012 You know, Max... my sentiments exaclty. I never got "fingertips". His voice was changing at the time, and I found it shrill and monotanous. to be honest with you, "I Call It Pretty Music", I found to be the FAR superior song: Alot of those top 10's are every bit as well remembered as his number ones, and especially "For Once In My Life", which has transcended hit record status and gone into "timeless standard". What many people don't know is that composer Ron Miller wrote the song for Barbara McNair, and she was the first to record it, and soon after, Stevie asked her if he could record a fast version of it, and the rest is history. This is her original version (Incidentally, I have a personally autographed photo of Barbara McNair) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEuLpDHIQeg And I do agree, Max, that soul did more harm to Doo wop than the british invasion. It was a matter of changing times, and soul, which was then referred to as "race records" were something that white parents were increasingly less afraid of, so while Doo Wop was less threatening to some, Soul was making it's appearance, and Motown played such a huge part of this, by spoon feeding soul music to white america. And remember, it wasn't always about race, because at that time... white america would buy records by Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, etc... and not bat an eyelash, but Soul was tied to rock and roll, which was was tied to rebellion and sex, and all of that. And being the "black" version of rebel music, meant it was the last to gain acceptance, and it took crossover records to accomplish that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted March 22, 2012 Members Share Posted March 22, 2012 I think Fingertips is a cute, fun song. #1? No. But I like it. I associate it with fun songs from the Miracles, like "Do the Monkey." What I never understood is why it was called Part 2. What was part 1? I put all those together, except maybe Dead Man's Curve. They all sound similar and were from the same era. Sloop John B is another era, as I think that was on Pet Sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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