Talkin’ Music with Jack

Talkin’ Music is a new Conshy Stuff weekly feature talking about, well, music.  We’ll be talking about new and old music, Soul, Rock, Rhythm and Blues and more.  We’ll connect Conshohocken to the local music scene, the National music scene, and the international music scene, and every once in a while we’ll throw in a little music trivia.

I recently viewed the documentary film “20 Feet From Stardom,” a documentary about a number of female backup singers, (see the article “Memories of the Riant Theatre.”)  With that film fresh on my mind I began to think about the greatest female groups of all time.  See if you remember a few of my favorites, The Angels, from Orange New Jersey, they hit the charts in 1961 with “Till.”  They followed “Till” up with “Cry Baby Cry,” “My Boyfriends Back,” “I Adore Him,” and “Thank You and Goodnight.”  The Angels later were backup singers for artist like Jackie Wilson and Lou Christie.

The Shirelles also from New Jersey hit gold in 1960, when they recorded a song written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin called “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.”  In the fall of 1960 the Shirelles became the first black female group to reach number one on the pop charts.  In 1961 they reached number one twice with “Dedicated to the One I Love,” and “Tonight’s The Night.”  You might remember “Solider Boy,” recorded in 1962, the Shirelles hit the Pop Charts 26 times and the R&B Charts 20 times.  They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.  I met Shirley Alston Reeves the lead singer of the Shirelles on a number of occasions over the years taking in her concerts, she was a very warm person and never lost her voice.

Of course Philadelphia played a major role in contributing to the history of female groups of the sixties.  The Orlons cut a couple of early singles that failed to chart, but their big break came as backup singers when they provided the backup vocals for Dee Dee Sharpe’s “Mashed Potato Time.”  Later that year the Orlons recorded “The Wah Watusi” that reached number one on the pop charts and number two on the R& B charts.  The follow up to ”Watusi” was “Don’t Hang Up,” “South Street,” and “Crossfire” among others.

Shirley Brickley, one of the original singers with the Orlons was killed in 1977 by an intruder in her home in Philadelphia.

The Marvelettes were just fabulous, despite their novelty original name known as “The Casinyets,” it stood for can’t sing yet. The Marvelettes charted twenty one hits on the R&B charts and twenty three hits on the pop charts.  My favorite Marvelettes songs was “Darling Forever,” and “When You’re Young and in Love,” perhaps your favorite could have been “Beachwood 4-5789,” “Too Many Fish in the Sea,” “Don’t Mess With Bill,” or “My Baby Must Be a Magician.”  The Marvelettes made one mistake the Motown girls passed on a song written by Holland-Dozier-Holland, the writers then took it to the Supremes, and the Supremes took “Baby Love” all the way to number one.

Of the original members of the Marvelettes Gladys Horton, who sang most of the lead, lives in L.A.  Wanda Young married Bobby Rogers of the Miracles, Katherine Anderson married Joe Schaffner, road manager for the Temptations.  Georgeanna Tillman married Billy Gordon of the Contours, (Do You Love Me), Georgeanna passed away in 1980 from Lupus that led to sickle cell anemia.  Juanita Cowart left the group in 1965 following a nervous breakdown.

The Toys seemed like a flash in the pan, but man what a beautiful song they gave us.  An adaptation of a classical minuet by Bach, the toys took “A Lover’s Concerto,” all the way to number two on the pop charts.  Credited with launching their career was Bob Crewe, if you’re familiar with The Four Seasons you’ll recognize the name.

The Exciters, like the Toys weren’t around for long on the pop charts but enjoyed some early success.   In 1961 the group was named The Masterettes, but when they were introduced to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the song-writing duo were so excited to meet them they renamed them “The Exciters.”  They took Leiber and Stoller’s song “Tell Him” all the way to number four on the pop charts.

Then there was The Crystals, the Crystals had a couple of monster hits with “He’s a Rebel,” “He’s Sure The Boy I Love,” and “Da Doo Ron Ron.”  While the songs were great hits, the Crystals had nothing to do with recording them.  Darlene Love and the Blossoms recorded those songs.  While spending time with Darlene during a sound check at the Kimmel Center back in 2012, she told me how surprised she was after recording “He’s Sure The Boy I Love” for Phil Spector, when about a month later she was driving down the street and heard the song come on the radio.  She said how proud she was and was smiling, when at the end of the song the DJ said that is a new release by the Crystals, Darlene said she had never even met the Crystals. The Crystals finally hit gold with their own voices on “Then He Kissed Me.”  (For more on Darlene Love visit the Memories of the Riant Theatre article)

My absolute most favorite girl group of the sixties by far was The Shangri-Las.  I remember buying a couple of their albums either at Woolworths, Chatlins, or McCoy’s, I shopped for music at all three venues in Norristown.  The Shangri-Las sounded and looked tough, and I liked tough.  In reality the group consisted of two sets of sisters.  Mary (lead) and Betty Weiss, and identical twins Marge and Maryann Ganser, the girls were 15, and 16 years old when their parents signed contracts for them to sing, and they weren’t really that tough.  The girls were from the Cambria Heights section of Queens New York.

A lot of the Shangri-Las success can be traced back to a guy named George “Shadow” Morton, (Shadow passed away on Valentine’s Day this past year, 2013) Shadow wrote the Shangri-Las first hit back in 1964 after he bluffed his way into a meeting with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich at the famous Brille Building located at 1619 Broadway in New York.  Morton never wrote a song and was directed by Barry to bring him a hit song. Morton put together a few musicians and went to see the Shangri-Las who he knew from some early Queens appearances. As Morton drove to the demo session at a recording studio he had booked he realized that he hadn’t written a song.  He quickly pulled over to the side of the road, and penned “Remember (Walking In The Sand).”  Incidentally a guy named Billy Joel was on the piano for that session. Barry and Greenwich were more than surprised with the demo and called in Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller from their office next door, the two owned Red Bird Records and they had a hit on their hands.

In the next two years the Shangri-Las recorded a half a dozen hits including “Leader of The Pact,” a parody of “Leader of the Pack” was released in 1965 called “Leader of the Laundromat”, by The Detergents, “I Can Never Go Home Anymore” (a very chilling tale, check it out on the internet) “Give Him A Great Big Kiss,” and more. The group charted hits for a total of 14 months, from September 1965 thru February 1966.  Three of the sisters married, Mary Ann died in 1971 of encephalitis (an acute inflammation of the brain, before you ask, yes I had to look it up) and Marge later died of a drug overdose.

The Shangri-Las music will always be remembered for their talking intro’s, and Mary’s tortured vocal lead, and the background harmonies.  And to many fans, the Shangri-Las will be remembered because of a guy named Joe Veneri, an Engineer who brought his motorcycle into the studio and revved the engine for the song “Leader of the Pact,” a song featuring screeching tires, car crashes, and the eventual death of a biker.  “Is she really going out with him, I don’t know, let’s ask her.”

OK, let’s check your memory card, perhaps you’ve heard a song or two by these girl groups. Remember The Dixie Cups, “Chapel of Love,” Ruby and the Romantics, “Our Day Will Come,” Technically  Ruby Nash was the only girl in the group but they still qualify for this column. The same with the Sensations but they are from Philadelphia so even though Yvonne Mills is the only female in the group, their big hit “Let Me In” is worth mentioning.

One of those early teenage death songs was recorded by The Raindrops back in 1960, “Tell Laura I Love Her.”  I think we all sang along with the Chiffons, “Sweet Talkin Guy,” and “One Fine Day.”  When anyone mentions The Chantels my heart just melts, lead singer Arlene Smith belts out notes from the floorboards and rattles the light fixtures with her version of “Maybe,” this is one you need to U-tube.

I wonder who remembers The Starlets, The Paris Sisters, a group formed in York Pennsylvania known as The Quin-Tones.  How about The Murmaids, an early Motown girl group called The Velvelettes. Remember The Cookies, I bet you do, “Don’t Say Nothing Bad (About My Baby), you also might remember “Chains,” yea my baby’s got me locked up in chains, later recorded by some group from England named The Beatles.  The Cookies did a lot of back up singing for performers like Carole King, Tony Orlando, Neil Sedaka and Little Eva, (you remember “Locomotion,”) it was the Cookies who became the original backup singers for Ray Charles known as The Raelettes.

An interesting group with an interesting song was The Bobbettes.  The Bobbettes started as eight girls who were school mates in New York’s Harlem, I know you’re thinking “Who”.  The Bobbettes wrote and recorded an interesting song back in 1957, about a teacher they disliked, and disliked a lot.  “Mr. Lee” was originally recorded with lyrics that were not the least bit flattering and spelled out some bad things about Mr. Lee.  At the request of Atlantic record executives the group revised the lyrics to make the record more commercial and less controversial.  Well Mr. Lee became a very popular teacher back in 1957 as the record went to number six in the nation.  The Bobbettes still didn’t like Mr. Lee and in 1959 they wrote a sequel to “Mr. Lee,” called “I Shot Mr. Lee,” the lyrics spelled out exactly how they felt about the hated Mr. Lee, Atlantic shelved the record.  But the story doesn’t end just yet, the Bobbettes left Atlantic Records and signed with Triple X Records, their first release with Triple X was “I Shot Mr. Lee.”  The song hit the charts with a bullet and went straight to the top of the charts.  When Atlantic realized the power of the record they released the original version to cash in on its popularity.  It was this incident that helped institute the so called “five year clause” in recording artist contracts, in which an artist could not record the same song for another company for a minimum of five years.

All together now, Mr. Lee, Mr. Lee, Oh Mr. Lee,   Mr. Lee, Mr., Lee, Oh Mr. Lee, you got it!

I have to give you a little taste of “I Shot Mr. Lee”, here we go,

One Two Three

I Shot Mr. Lee

Three Four Five

I got Tired of his Jive

Six Seven Eight

Mr. Lee had a date

Nine Ten Eleven

Now he’s up in Heaven

Shot Him in the Head Boom boom Whoa oh

Shot Him in the Head Boom boom Whoa oh

I wouldn’t kid you, look it up.

I don’t feel the need to go into groups like The Supremes, The Ronettes, and Martha Reeves and The Vandellas material, somehow I feel most of us are well aware of their work and success.  However I will say I’ve met Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Martha Reeves, and Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes and they were all beautiful and very kind.  Despite being married to Phil Spector Ronnie was a very pleasant, up-beat individual.  Mary Wilson had fallen on hard times in her life but has rebounded and is a wonderful person.  Martha Reeves named the Vandellas after a name from a Detroit street named Van Dyke, and

Martha’s favorite singer Della Reese.    Martha Reeves and the Vandellas recorded one of my all time favorite songs in 1966, “I’m Ready for Love.”  As music history goes, Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote a song for Kim Weston, who rejected the song and it got passed down to Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, “Dancing in the Street” went to number two in the country back in 1964 and remains a musical anthem to this day.  The Vandellas also recorded “Nowhere to Run,” “Heat Wave,” “Come Get these Memories,”  “Heat Wave,” and another favorite of mine “Quicksand,” a great dance song.

Martha ran into trouble in the late 1960’s, she was one of the early members of the Motown groups to demand more royalties and scrapped with Motown founder Berry Gordy.

Martha became addicted to drugs in order to keep up with her demanding schedule of touring and recording and that led to emotional problems that led to a nervous breakdown and a period of institutionalization.

Remember Candy and the Kisses, The Secrets, or the Ad Libs, “The Boy from New York City.”

Well girl groups from the 1950’s and 1960’s run into the hundreds, do you have a favorite girl group, or perhaps a favorite girl group song, I’d love to hear from you, and about your favorite song.

How about a little girl group trivia.

1       The Jaynetts had a very catchy tune that hit number two on the pop charts back in 1962, can you name it?

2       A trio of high school girlfriends out of Ohio had a monster hit in 1958.  The Pony Tails, named after a hair spray they were using at the time, went to number 7 with their hit, (Hint: a record about an older boy) The Pony Tails also released a follow up record “Seven Minutes To Heaven” criticized for its suggestive title, the song only reached number 87 on the charts.  So what was their monster hit in 1958?

3       A 15 year old high school girl performed this song on the Wink Martindale Show, a daily LA teenage dance program in 1960.  “A Thousand Stars in the Sky” rocketed up the charts, it was her only Top 25 single, who was this young lady?

Answers Next Week

 And Hey!  No looking up the answers on the internet.

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One final treat for this week’s column, check it out

The Shangri-Las or the Detergents

Leader of the Pack, or Leader of the Laundromat

You vote

Is she really going out with him?                                          Is he really goin’ out with ‘er? I don’t know

Well there she is, let’s ask her                                               Look, here he come now. Let’s ask ‘im.

Betty, is that Jimmy’s ring you’re wearing?                        (Piano chord)

Uhm, umm                                                                               Hey, Murray, is it true Betty’s wearin’ your ring?

Gee, it must be great riding with him                                  Uh-huh

Is he picking you up after school today?                             (Piano Chord)

Uhm, umm                                                                               who’s that bangin on the piano, I don’t know

You goin’ out with her tonight? You bet your fur.

By the way, where’d you meet him?                                    By the way, where’d ya meet her?

I met him at the candy store                                                 I met her one day at the Laundromat.

He turned around and smiled at me                                   She turned around and smiled at me,

You get the picture? Yes we see                                           You get the picture? Yes we see.

That’s when I fell for the leader of the pack                       And that’s when I fell in love with

(Cue the motorcycle sounds)                                                  the leader of the Laundromat

(sound of the washer machine running)

My folks were always putting him down

(Down down)                                                                            My folks were always putting her down

They said, he came from the wrong side of town              (Down, down)

(What you mean when you say that he came                    Because her laundry came back brown

From the wrong side of town?)                                             (Brown, brown)

They told me, he was bad, but I knew                                  I don’t care if they think she’s bad

He was sad                                                                                 I fell in love cuz she looked so sad

That’s why I fell for the leader of the pack                           I got a date tonight with the

Leader of the Laundromat

One day my dad said, “find someone new”                          (Washing machine runs, sputters, and stalls)

I had to tell my Jimmy, we’re through                                    (Dang it!!)

(What you mean when you say that

You better go find somebody new?)                                       My dad said “find a laundry that’s new”

He stood there and ask me why,                                              (Find a laundry that’s new)

All I could do was cry                                                                  How can I tell my baby we’re through

I’m sorry, I hurt you, the leader of the pack                           (Tell my baby we’re through)

Gotta drive right into town

He sort of smiled and kissed me goodbye                              I don’t care if my shirts are brown

The tears were beginin’ to show                                              I got a date tonight with the

As he drove away on that rainy night                                      Leader of the Laundromat

I begged him to go slow                                                             (Washing machine runs, sputters, and stalls)

But whether he heard, I’ll never know                                    (Dang it!!)

Look out look out                                                                         When I finally got there I told her

Look out look out                                                                         it was over between us

I felt so helpless, what could I do?                                      I’ll never forget the hurt and the

Rememberin’ all the things we’d been through               funny look in her eye

At school they all stopped and starred                               She grabbed my laundry and ran into the street

I can’t hide the tears but I don’t care                                  Directly into the path of a runaway garbage truck

I’ll never forget him, the leader of the pack                       I yelled “watch out!, watch out!, watch out!,

watch out!, watch ou-u-t!!

(Gone, gone, gone, gone)                                                       (Screeching brakes, crash sounds and breaking

The leader of the pack,                                                           glass and falling metal parts.

Now he’s gone (Gone)                                                             (Dang it!!)

The leader of the pack,

Now he’s gone (Gone)                                                             I felt so messy standing there

The leader of the pack                                                             (messy standing there)

Now he’s gone (Gone)                                                             My daddy’s shorts were everywhere

The leader of the pack                                                            (Daddy’s shorts were everywhere)

–                                                                                               Tenderly I kissed her goodbye

–                                                                                                Picked up my clothes they were finally dry

–                                                                                                But I won’t forget you,

–                                                                                                Oh, leader of the Laundromat

–                                                                                                (Washing machine finally runs smoothly)

–                                                                                                 Oh-oh-oh-oh

–                                                                                                 (Piano chord)

–                                                                                                 Oh-oh-oh-oh

–                                                                                                 (Piano chord)

–                                                                                                 (Who’s that bangin on the piano?)

–                                                                                                 (I don’t know.)

Well, which one do you like?