Talkin’ Music with Jack – 1/8/2014

Talkin’ Music with Jack

By Jack Coll

1-8-14

Music Odds & Ends

     I was fortunate enough to attend Bob and Janet Cahill’s Christmas party held at the Washington Fire House for the past couple of years.  It’s appropriate that Bob and Janet celebrate at Washies because Janet’s father Sam Januzelli was a Past President of the organization and I must say it was a pleasure chatting with Janet’s mother Fran who also spent many years at the firehouse as well.

     It was the usual party, say hello, sit with some old friends, laugh, eat, and watch the dance floor, everyone watches the dance floor at parties.  So the DJ spins the usual line dances, but he also played a number of really good songs rarely played at parties or events, Four Tops, Temps, and so on. Then I noticed Bob Cahill walking out to the center of the dance floor with this beautiful black cape I think lined

or trimmed in red, if he had a Top-Hat on and a cane he would have looked just like the “Duke of Earl” Gene Chandler.  As Bob struts to the center of the floor this Vox Continental Organ kicks in and everyone in the room recognizes the tune, and then the lyrics, “Too many teardrops, for one heart to be cryin’ too many teardrops, for one heart to carry on.”  Bob’s spinning around the dance floor and the women in the room are just flocking to dance with him.  Of course I’m thinking “Hey, a cape really turns on the ladies huh,” I’m thinking of buying one.

     Well the way music sits on my mind later that night I’m thinking about the song “96 Tears” and the band that performed it Question Mark and the Mysterians, officially known as “? & the Mysterians” I had heard one time that ? & the Mysterians was this garage band outta Jersey who happened to hit it big after recording the song in Question Mark’s living room, that was all part of the great music lure of the 60’s, cut a record and hit it big.

     Well the facts managed to get twisted in the music world believe it or not, I mean after all Paul is dead.  “?” is a guy named Rudy Martinez who composed the song and wanted to remain anonymous.  In the early years the other members of the band were known as X, Y, and Z.  In the end the sun glasses wearing mysterious looking band helped market the record.  The five member band migrated from Mexico to work in Saginaw Valley in Michigan, not from New Jersey as I had once heard, although I do believe “?” lived in Jersey for a time.  The signature organ helped drive the song all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in 1966.  Years later the garage sounding band was in part given credit for the Punk Rock movement and it has been said that the song was very popular with American soldiers during the Vietnam War.

     Thanks for the memories Bob, keep on wearing that cape and keep on dancing that song, I am looking up cape’s right now on the internet, I think me and a cape might have some good times ahead of us, and I’ll be singing, “Too many teardrops, for one heart, to be crying”.

Just a few more lines for old time sake

“96 Tears”

 

Too Many Teardrops

For one heart to be cryin’

Too many teardrops

For one heart to carry on

 

You’re way on top now

Since you left me

You’re always laughin’

Way down at me

 

But watch out now

I’m gonna get there

We’ll be together

For just a little while

 

And then I’m gonna put you

Way down here

And you’ll start cryin’

96 tears

 

Cry

Cry

 

And when the sun comes up

I’ll be on top

You’ll be right down there

Lookin’ up

 

And I might wave

Come up here

But I don’t see you

Wavin’ now

 

I’m way down here

Wonderin’ how

I’m gonna get you

But I know now

 

I’ll just cry, cry

I’ll just cry

 

(Everybody)You’re gonna cry

96 tears

You’re gonna cry

96 tears

 

You’re gonna cry, cry

Cry, cry now

You’re gonna cry cry

Cry cry

 

96 tears

C’mon and lemme hear you cry, now

96 tears

I wanna hear you cry now

 

Night and day, yea, all night long

96 tears, cry, cry, cry

 

Perhaps Bob, next year, you could lead us all on a sing along, pass out lyric sheets and let’s go crazy!

 

*******************************************

 

So this is one of those silly things, I’m working in the back room of our shop, buzzing along knocking out a job or two and I got this constant smile either on my face or in my mind.  Donna and I just had our first grandchild, Anna delivered on Christmas day, and I have to tell you I’m feeling just fine, what I mean is mother, baby, father and all is doing fine.  The baby’s name is Nora, and I’m whizzing along and I’m thinking Nora, Nora—you know what’s coming right! 

Nora Nora bo bora

Bonana fanna fo for a

Fee fy mo mora. Nora

All right, shut up! You know when something like that gets in your head, well you sing it for the next six years.  So now I’m working on getting Nora Nora bo bora out of my head and I’m thinking about the song and I’m trying to think about the other big hits Shirley Ellis had, I know she had the “Name Game” cause I’ve been singing it for about an hour now, then it comes to me, “Shy One,” whooo shy one, man I loved that song.

“ Shy One” hit it big back in 1964 just before “The Name Game” “Shy One” was one of those songs along the lines of “At Last” by Etta James, the song, the music, and the performer, all give the song time to breath, and man that’s a nice sound, yea Shirley had a couple of nice hits in the early 1960’s.  And then the bomb drops in my head, I mean the mother of all songs that will never leave your mind, for someone to bring this song up is nearly criminal. Once this song gets in your head it’s with you for life, it’s the “Clapping Song,” thank you Shirley Ellis.  The funny thing is “Shy One” this beautiful song only reached number 130 on the US pop charts, number 43 on the R&B charts, the “Name Game” climbed to number three US, number four R&B.  The “Clapping Song” in 1964 hit number eight on the charts.

     What’s that, you don’t remember “The Clapping Song,” sure you do and now, thanks to me you won’t soon forget it!  Now I’m working in the back room of the shop trying to shake Nora Nora, I’m thinking about other Shirley Ellis tunes, and I’m still thinking about Nora and say to my self there must be some muppet song or something I can come up with to get “The Name Game” outta my mind, BOOM, I mean BOOM, here it comes, “Three Six Nine, the goose drank wine, the monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line, (everybody) The line broke, the monkey got choked, And they all went to heaven in a little rowboat”  This really sucks, it’s been suckin’ for six days now and I can’t seem to shake this s#@$ outta my head.  I do find some relief that anyone and everyone reading this will now have it stuck inside your head.  That’s right, you’ll be at a business meeting tomorrow talking numbers, bla, bla and in your mind you’ll be singing 3, 6, 9, The goose drank wine.  I’m lovin’ it.  As you start to miss some key parts of the meeting I can hear you sayin’ “Damn that Jack Coll” now your mind is really gone from the meeting,

3, 6, 9, the goose drank wine, damn that Jack Coll.  Well as you walk around singing this for the next six years with me, lets at least get the words right, here we go, all together now!

“The Clapping Song”

3, 6, 9

The goose drank wine

The monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line

The Line broke, the monkey got chocked

And they all went to heaven in a little row boat

 

Clap pat – clap pat – clap pat – clap pat

Clap pat – clap your hand…

Pat it on your partner hand…right hand

Clap pat! Clap your hand…

Cross it with your left arm

Pat your partner left palm

Clap pat – clap your hand

Pat your partner right palm

And a right palm again

Clap slap! Clap your hand

Slap your thigh and sing a little song go…

 

My mother told me

If I was a goody

That she would buy me

A rubber dolly

My Auntie told her

I’d kissed a soldier

Now she won’t buy me

A rubber dolly

 

3, 6, 9

The goose drank wine

The monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line

The line broke, the monkey got chocked

And they all went to heaven in a little rowboat

 

     I don’t think you need to read the second half of the song, you got all you need, a simple 3, 6, 9 and it’s stuck in your head, sing it, 3, 6, 9, The goose drank wine, now you got it.  Don’t thank me, thank Shirley Ellis, Shirley had a string of hits in the mid 1960’s, she retired from the music business in 1968, perhaps 3, 6, 9, drove her out of the industry, perhaps “The goose drank wine” started to find its way into every song she sang after that, maybe we should all learn the lyrics to “Shy One” to get these other classics out of our mind, but until then you’ll be sitting at a meeting looking at Chuck sitting across from you, and in your mind you start singing “Hey everybody, let’s do Chuck,” “Chuck Chuck bo buck, Bonana fanna fo,” Wait a minute! That is not nice, not nice at all, anyone with the name Chuck should think about changing it, see you next week.