Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 124] (Special Mardi Gras Edition!)

Let The Good Times Roll

b/w "Do You Mean To Hurt Me So"

Shirley & Lee

Written by Leonard Lee

Produced by Dave Bartholomew

Aladdin 3225

Recorded & Released, New Orleans, Louisiana 1956

One of the quintessential rock and roll singles to come out of New Orleans, Shirley & Lee's "Let The Good Times Roll" sold a million copies in 1956, reaching #1 on the R&B chart and #20 on the Pop chart.

Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee were high school classmates who caught the ear of Aladdin Records owner Eddie Messner. The duo's first hit was "I'm Gone" in 1952 (it zoomed to #2 on the R&B list), a scattered beat blues that is credited by some as a precursor to ska and reggae.

But Shirley & Lee took a real right turn with the driving "Let The Good Times Roll." Produced by Crescent City legend Dave Bartholomew, the secret of the song is the driving drum beat of one of the true masters of the instrument, Earl Palmer. It gives the tune its bawdiness along with the cool contrast between Goodman's soprano and Lee's baritone.

After a split with Lee, Shirley Goodman continued to work in the music business through the 1960s as a session singer for Dr. John, Sonny & Cher, and others. Notably, she was a background singer on The Rolling Stones' Exile On Main St. Goodman briefly came out of retirement in 1974, when she was convinced by her friend Sylvia Robinson to record what became one of the seminal hits from the disco era, "Shame, Shame, Shame."

Shirley returned to New Orleans and lived there until her death in 2005.

"Let The Good Times Roll" is true classic to enjoy over and over again, especially while The Big Easy leads the celebration of Mardi Gras today. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Miles Gallagher's Favorite Dozen For 2010

[This happy new year's post comes to us from TNOP's UK music correspondent Miles Gallagher.]

here are the dozen from 2010 ranked most played to least played - just click on the song title to listen!

if nothing else don't miss the video for number 11 ( unfortunately, as far as i can tell its available on video only )

1 conversation 16 - the national - high violet

2 loving cup (alternate take) - the rolling stones - exile on main street (deluxe version, remastered)

3 rill rill - sleigh bells - treats

4 congratulations - mgmt - flash delirium

5 bang pop - free energy - stuck on nothing

6 melancholy hill - gorillaz - plastic beach

7 sprawl ii - arcade fire - the suburbs

8 surprise - family of the year - songbook

9 down by the water - the decemberists - the king is dead

10 jamie, my intentions are bass - !!! - strange weather, isn't it

11 martian bossa nova - shorty rodgers - frankly jazz ( video only )

12 dance floor stalker - flying lotus - reset

TNOP's Top 25 Songs of 2010

The Night Owl presents his personal jukebox of the songs he enjoyed listening to (over and over) in calendar year 2010. Comments and additions welcome. Let the countdown begin!

25 FREE ENERGY: "Bang Pop"

24 DELTA SPIRIT: "Bushwick Blues"

23 JAILL: "The Stroller"

22 MORNING BENDERS: "Excuses"

21 TROMBONE SHORTY: "Hurricane Season"

20 PAUL SIMON: "Getting Ready For Christmas Day"

19 THE DECEMBERISTS w/Gillian Welch: "Down By The Water"

18 CRYSTAL CASTLES w/Robert Smith: "Not In Love"

17 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM: "Dance Yrself Clean"

16 SPOON: "Who Makes Your Money"

15 ROLLING STONES: "Plundered My Soul"

14 MGMT: "Congratulations"

13 THE NATIONAL: "Bloodbuzz Ohio"

12 VILLAGERS: "Becoming A Jackal"

11 CARIBOU: "Odessa"

10 SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS: "I Learned The Hard Way"

9 SHE & HIM: "In The Sun"

8 MUMFORD & SONS: "Little Lion Man"

7 ALOE BLACC: "I Need A Dollar"

6 THE BLACK KEYS: "Tighten Up"

5 GORILLAZ w/Bobby Womack & Mos Def: "Stylo"

4 THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH: "The Wild Hunt"

3 LOCAL NATIVES: "Sun Hands"

2 CEE-LO GREEN: "F*** You"

1 JANELLE MONAE w/Big Boi: "Tightrope"

The Lost Instrumentals: Cannonball Adderley Quintet - "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy"

Whatever happened to the instrumental? The grooves that you couldn't keep out of your head when they would pop up on AM (and to some extent, FM) radio back in the 1960s and 1970s?

Instrumentals have mostly become the equivalent of the musical dinosaur. Was it just a phase that saw its time in the sun? Or was it the victim of the constant splintering of the radio pie and subsequent takeover of the airwaves by a few conglomerates?

Well, TNOP misses 'em. And we have decided to make it our job in coming posts to call your attention to some of the greatest instrumentals ever recorded.

============================================

Julian "Cannonball" Adderley was a jazz alto saxophonist. A native of Tampa, Florida, Adderley made his bones playing with his brother Nat in Ray Charles' band in the 1940s. He also was a teacher of music at a Fort Lauderdale high school. (The education bug came from his parents, who were professors at Florida A&M University.)

Encouraged by his peers, Cannonball lit off to New York City in 1955. After making a name for himself by sitting in at various clubs, Cannonball recorded a series of sides for Savoy along with Nat, a coronet and trumpet player. This brought him to the attention of Miles Davis; Cannonball's blues-drenched sax would be an integral part of the classic Miles LPs Milestones and Kind of Blue. One of the other collaborators on Kind of Blue, pianist Bill Evans, would team up with Cannonball to later record two long players.

Adderley's style, known as "hard bop" (an idiom of jazz meant to emphasize the infusion of rhythm and blues, gospel and blues musical styles into the context of jazz), continued its popularity into the 1960s. The Cannonball Adderley Quintet went through a number of personnel changes, but notable members included Victor Feldman, Wynton Kelly, George Duke and Evans (piano), Ray Brown (bass), Louis Hayes and Roy McCurdy (drums), Yusef Lateef (sax) and brother Nat.

But the Quintet's surprise hit of 1966, "Mercy Mercy Mercy," was written by, and prominently featured the electric piano of, Austrian Joe Zawinul. On the recording that made it all the way to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, Cannonball Adderley gives an intro to the song with a significant tip of the hat to Zawinul. The keyboardist then leads the band into the tune, a bluesy, rising number that accentuates the rhythm but stays true to the timeless jazz structure.

"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" was recorded 20 October 1966 at Capitol Records' famous Los Angeles studio before some invited guests, who were treated to dinner and drinks as well as music. The crowd reaction adds to the excitement of the track.

[It should be noted that Chicago group The Buckinghams put words to "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" and went all the way to #5 on the charts with their blue-eyed soul treatment of the song a year later in 1967.]

Cannonball Adderley continued to be a significant player on the jazz scene for another ten years. He had started to go down the road to electronic jazz, just like Miles (the seminal Bitches Brew) and Zawinul (most famously in the group Weather Report, with saxophonist Wayne Shorter and bassist Jaco Pastorius). Adderley died from a stroke in 1975, at the all-too-early age of 46 years.

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 123]

California Sun
b/w "H.B. Goose Step"
The Rivieras
Written by Henry Glover
Produced by Morris Levy
Riviera Records R-1401
Recorded and Released 1964

Since summer is now looking at us in the rear-view mirror, it seems only proper that our fourth and final jukebox single in tribute to Henry Glover would be forever associated with perpetual warmth. But in reaching that stage in the music listener's consciousness, it took some weird turns, indeed.

In 1961, Glover was essentially a free agent. Having left King Records in the late 1950s, he followed with a short stint at Roulette Records. But now he had a record to peddle to EMI called "California Sun." Oddly enough, the song was assigned to veteran New Orleans R&B singer Joe Jones, who was looking for a follow up to his Top 5 hit from 1960, "You Talk Too Much." Jones' version of "California Sun" is given the classic Crescent City arrangement popularized by such local legends as Fats Domino and Allen Touissant; the horn chart dominates the melody, and Jones certainly delivers a solid vocal.

It reached #85 on the charts and became an afterthought.

But that prelude is important to note, because most fans of the song identify "California Sun" with the Beach Boys sound, which did not become ubiquitous on the radio until well into 1962.

Enter five teenagers in 1964 from . . . South Bend Central High School in Indiana. The Rivieras took their name from the Buick automobile made in the heartland of the Midwest. The boys were part of the "frat rock" movement in the early 1960s, playing high school dances and college parties. Somehow, they created a garage rock classic that fused the California surf sound with the burgeoning British Invasion on the verge of dominating the American music scene.

The Rivieras' version of "California Sun" - released on the local Riviera label - is memorable for its cheesy organ and the monotone vocal of guitarist Marty "Bo" Fortson. Originally stocked only at the local South Bend Kreske's, it eventually got regional and national distribution, and raced all the way to #5 on the US pop chart.

Almost every decade since, this one-hit wonder has crept back into the musical lexicon, either via The Rivieras' version in movie soundtracks (Good Morning Vietnam and The Doors) or spirited new covers by artists like The Ramones, Brian Wilson and Chris Isaak.

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 122]

The Peppermint Twist (Part 1)

b/w "The Peppermint Twist (Part 2)"

Joey Dee & The Starlighters

Written by Henry Glover & Joey Dee

Produced by Syd Nathan & Henry Glover

Roulette Records

Recorded and Released 1961

Our third single to make the TNOP Ultimate Jukebox with Henry Glover connection is a song that capitalized -- literally -- on the dance sensation "The Twist." Chubby Checker's massive hit song reached Number One on the Billboard charts twice: the first time in July 1960 and then again in January 1962.

It was on this second go-round that "The Peppermint Twist" rode the dance craze draft. This variation had a solid soul feel and a surf guitar solo. It was written by Glover and the lead singer on the song, Joey Dee.

The Starlighters were a bi-racial group with roots in the Passaic, New Jersey area. (One of the other lead singers was David Brigati, brother of Eddie Brigati, a future member of the Young Rascals.) The genesis of the song was The Peppermint Lounge, a disco in New York City, where Dee regularly performed; the location of the club is referred to in the song ("Well meet me baby down on 45th Street/Where the peppermint twisters meet").

In recalling the hit in an interview with Gary James, Joey Dee recalled the recording of the song:

Q - Dick Clark said that you sang lead on the Peppermint Twist, only because the original lead singer couldn't get the right feel. Is that true? And is it true that up till that point, you'd never been a lead singer?

A - Dick Clark was right on the money when he said I sang lead on the Peppermint Twist after the original lead singer Dave Brigati couldn't get the exact feel that the producer Henry Glover wanted. And the reason I think I got it a lot quicker is because Henry Glover and I were the co-writers of the song. I immediately felt the exact way it should feel. And after about 2 takes, Henry decided this is what he was seeking. We went with my version of the Peppermint Twist. Up until that point, I had been mostly a background singer and I played alto sax for Dave Brigati and Roger Freeman who were my two lead singers. But I did sing an occasional lead like 'You Must've Been A Beautiful Baby' and 'Ya Ya'. I just had a good feel for certain songs and I still feel that same way, that certain, particular songs, I can sing better than anyone else.

Joey Dee & The Starlighters would go on to place four other songs in the Top 40 through 1963. A noted revival of "The Peppermint Twist" took place with the release of the film American Graffiti and its soundtrack LP in 1973.

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 121]

Seven Nights To Rock
b/w "Honolulu Rock-A-Roll-A"
Moon Mullican with Boyd Bennett and His Rockets
Written by Buck Trail, Louis Innis & Henry Glover
Produced by Syd Nathan & Henry Glover
King Records
Released March 1956

In the second of our four jukebox worthy singles written by pioneering music executive Henry Glover, we visit the brand new landscape of rock and roll, circa 1956. The charts are filled with songs like James Brown's "Please, Please, Please," Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally," Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightnin'" and Fats Domino's "I'm In Love Again."

And into this breach attempts to step a brazen, good timin' East Texan, Aubrey "Moon" Mullican. He first learned the guitar from a local sharecropper but then took up the pump organ and the piano (later famously remarking that he chose the latter because "my beer kept sliding off my fiddle"). By the time he was in his 20s, Mullican was playing in bands that were riding the wave of the Western Swing craze.

In 1946, Syd Nathan of King Records in Cincinnati signed Mullican to a long-term contract. An originator of the "two finger style" of piano playing, his songs were a mix of maudlin country ballads and blues and boogie tunes that anticipated the advent of rock and roll.

Increased sales of records on King allowed Moon Mullican to tour outside Texas. At a concert in 1949 he became friends with Hank Williams, which led to a regular gig on the Grand Ole Opry. A year later Moon had his first million selling song, "I'll Sail My Ship Alone." And there is evidence that he is the uncredited co-writer of the huge Hank hit "Jambalaya" (he received 50% royalties on the song). In his biography of Hank Williams, author Colin Escott unearths an interview in Country Song Roundup Magazine in which the immortal star mentions Moon as one of his personal favorites.

But while critics said that Mullican could sing honky tonk and sentimental tunes as well as anyone of the period, the performer wanted to "make the bottles bounce on the tables" with an array of blues and boogie tunes. He left the Opry and lit out on the road.

One of the most enduring cuts of Mullican's career would be 1956's "Seven Nights To Rock." Billboard described it at the time as "the guy spreads himself thin as he rocks with 7 different chicks in seven nights. A swinging bit of commercial wax that could connect at the juke level."

Unfortunately, it didn't. Why? Elvis and Little Richard, probably. Moon Mullican was a 245 pound bald man who was not going to break into that realm. The era of Bill Haley was quickly over, and Mullican was a casualty.

Moon continued to perform into the 1960s, basing himself out of Texas. He died on New Year's Day, 1967. Rock and roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis consistently lists Mullican as one of his two main influences, along with Hank Williams. And artists like Nick Lowe and Bruce Springsteen (don't miss The E Streeters version!) regularly cover "Seven Nights To Rock" to make sure new generations never forget that some songs -- even those 55 years old -- always rock.

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 120]

Drown In My Own Tears
Ray Charles
Written by Henry Glover
Produced by Ahmet Ertegun & Jerry Wexler
Atlantic Records
Recorded in New York City, 30 November 1955

"I suppose I’ve always done my share of crying, especially when there’s no other way to contain my feelings. I know that men ain’t supposed to cry, but I think that’s wrong. Crying’s always been a way for me to get things out which are buried deep, deep down. When I sing, I often cry. Crying is feeling and feeling is being human. Oh yes, I cry."
—Ray Charles

Anybody that has spent time in a bar knows that the place isn't always hoppin'. And these are the times that the jukebox can come in handy, especially late at night when loneliness and brooding can set in after a few drinks.

That's why the classic Ray Charles tune "Drown In My Own Tears" is a natural for the TNOP Ultimate Singles Jukebox. A number one hit on the R&B chart in early 1956, Brother Ray's treatment of Henry Glover's song melds the formula that literally gave birth to soul: the swaying gospel beat with the intimate tale of secular problems.

In the intriguing liner notes written by Robert Palmer for the Atlantic compilation Ray Charles: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm & Blues Recordings , 1952-1959, it is noted that even though the rock and roll wave had broken through to white audiences (Elvis Presley had covered Charles' "I Got A Woman"), "at this crucial junction in Charles' career, a very surprising thing happened. Charles refused to compromise his music with the simpler beat, more adolescent lyrics, and smoother singing that white rock and roll fans seemed to favor. He continued to write, arrange, play and sing from his soul, and his records continued to sell almost exclusively within the black community. Even more remarkably, Atlantic an enlightened company but one that needed to sell records as much as any other label, backed Charles all the way. His music suffered no delusion. In fact, mid-fifties Charles landmarks like . . . "Drown In My Own Tears" . . . . recorded during rock and roll's breakthrough period in 1955, was more soulfully incendiary, churchy and rootsy -- more "black" if you will -- than . . . his earlier discs."

Henry Glover's composition, written in 1951 and originally recorded by Lula Reed on King Records, became a classic and constant in the Ray Charles canon throughout the remainder of his career. The stunning backup of The Cookies near the end of the tune's arrangement led Charles to permanently integrate female singers into his act and many of his recordings (the most famous being The Raelettes).

Provided below is a 1986 live performance of "Drown In My Own Tears." Charles is joined on stage by Ron Wood on guitar, Paul Shaffer on organ and Steve Jordan on drums.

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 119]

The Message

b/w The Message (Instrumental)

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five feat. Melle Mel & Duke Bootee

Written by Ed "Duke Bootee" Fletcher, Grandmaster Melle Mel & Bobby Robinson

Produced by Ed Fletcher, Clifton "Jiggs" Chase & Sylvia Robinson

Sugar Hill Records

Released May 1982

The United States is in the midst of one of its worst recessions since the 1930s. The unemployment rate is high, and in black communities it is unconscionable. Cities are broke. Roads and transit systems are in sore need of repair.

Modern day woes? Yes. But these were also acute problems in the early 1980s. And like most branches on the rock and roll tree, a new style was borne as a result from this gritty street life.

It would be known as "hip-hop." Its "Sun Records" moment, if you will, for the birthing of this music would be New York's Sugar Hill Records. Named by founders Joe and Sylvia Robinson for the neighborhood which is part of Hamilton Heights, a sub-neighborhood in Harlem, Sugar Hill was named to signify the "sweet life" in that area of NYC, which was home at one time to noted African-Americans W.E.B. DuBois, Thurgood Marshall, Adam Clayton Powell and Duke Ellington.

Visiting New York for an extended time in 1979, The Night Owl experienced the genesis of hip-hop on the city's sprawling and scorched summertime streets. Boom boxes were everywhere, playing tapes of new mixtures of beats and raps, telling stories of urban experience, using a mixture of brutal truth and hyped rhyme. And 12" singles were being plucked out of record stores, to be spun at discoteques.

Sugar Hill's initial breakthrough - and first rap Top 40 single - was "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugar Hill Gang, an infectious tune to this day. The Funky Four Plus One and Kool Moe Dee churned out notable product as well.

But the record that would have the most influence in the music world was "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. The unyielding pressures of urban life (Don't push me/'Cause I'm close to the edge/I'm tryin' not to/Lose my head) sprays a verbal blast of frustration, dismay and calamity through the speakers (It's like a jungle sometimes/It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under), the rappers' verses sidling up to the edge of insanity.

"The Message" has been labelled by some as the greatest record in hip-hop history. But that label implies limits. In truth, it is one of the greatest records in rock and roll history.

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 118]

I Can't Get Next To You

b/w Running Away (Ain't Gonna Help You)

The Temptations

Written by Norman Whitfield & Barrett Strong

Produced by Norman Whitfield

Tamla/Motown Records

Released 30 July 1969

In July of 1969, the Top 40 was suffering from bubblegum music malaise. The past two summers, Buddah Records had treated our transistor radios to musical titans The Ohio Express ("Yummy, Yummy, Yummy"), Crazy Elephant ("Gimme, Gimme Good Lovin'") and The 1910 Fruitgum Company ("Simon Says").

I kid you not.

And now, a fictional band based on a comic book and Saturday morning cartoon show had been foist upon the charts: The Archies, a bunch of studio musicians brought together by "impresario" Don Kirschner. "Sugar, Sugar" was a massive hit and looked to be immovable from the top spot.

And then the magic of Motown struck in the form of the mighty, mighty Temptations. The needle landed on this 45 and it was like the listener had been invited into an exclusive party. "I Can't Get Next To You" starts with applause - how about that for chutzpah? Then Dennis Edwards speaks: "Hold on, everybody, hold it, hold on . . . LISTEN!!!" A quick piano intro leads to the five Temps grabbing you by the collar with a simple, definitive "I."

A departure from the David Ruffin dominated singles of past years, "I Can't Get Next To You" highlights each distinctive voice of the group. Consecutive verses are soloed by Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams and Otis Williams. The Funk Brothers power this dynamic track, whose beat nods more to the then-current sound of Sly Stone than the sweeter Barry Gordy singles that made The Sound of Young America ubiquitous in white as well as black households.

And sweet justice on the airwaves: "I Can't Get Next To You" shot to #1 on both the Pop and R&B charts.

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 117]

Tighten Up (Part 1)
b/w "Dog Eat Dog"
Archie Bell & The Drells
Written by Archie Bell & Billy Butler
Ovide Records (later distributed by Atlantic Records)
Released 1968

This story is about a regional group that had an "overnight" hit record with some strange twists along the way. Like the fact that the lead singer singing about a dance craze was shot in the leg while serving in Vietnam. And while recovering from his wounds, kept making calls overseas pleading with DJs to stop playing the "wrong side" of his group's record - the "A" side.

But let's allow the lead singer to begin the story, as he does on the "B" side that became a smash.

Hi everybody
I'm Archie Bell of The Drells
From Houston, Texas
We don't only sing but we dance
Just as good as we walk
In Houston we just started a new dance
Called the Tighten Up
This is the music
We tighten up with

Archie Bell formed a group with four friends from high school in 1966. They called themselves "The Drells," a derivative of Archie's family name. Having won some local talent shows, The Drells' first champion was local DJ Skipper Lee Frazier. In 1967, the five young men recorded "Dog Eat Dog" for Frazier's Ovide Records. The flip side was a dance number called "Tighten Up."

Fate intervened (for good and for bad, it turns out). The Vietnam War was raging in the South Pacific. Bell was drafted and immediately inducted into the army. According to one version that has been passed around (and perhaps perpetuated by the singer himself), when he was sworn in, Bell raised his right hand in a black power salute and was answered with a one-way ticket to the platoon facing the worst of the fighting at the time.

Wounded in the leg by gunfire in Vietnam, Bell was sent to recover in Germany. While convalescing, he was advised by other members of the group that "Dog Eat Dog" was getting some significant airplay in Houston, and, of all places, New York City. He took to the long distance lines, calling DJs and telling them that they were playing the "wrong side" of the 45, even though "Dog Eat Dog" was - per custom in the days of the two-sided single - designated as the "A" side for promotional play.

The badgering of radio jocks worked. "Tighten Up" sold 800,000 copies in the New York metropolitan area alone, and over 3 million copies in the US. It hit Number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B singles charts the week of May 18, 1968, only to be knocked off its perch by Simon & Garfunkel ("Mrs. Robinson") and Stevie Wonder ("Shoo-Be-Doo-Da-Day"), respectively.

Bell's explanation for how "Tighten Up" was written is a fairly direct one, not uncommon to many records of the time: a simple suggestion or observation. In this case, group member Billy Butler was dancing around backstage before a show. Bell told him that he didn't recognize the dance steps. Butler replied, "It's a brand new dance called the 'Tighten Up'." Bell took it from there, creating a unique call and response between the vocalist and the drums, bass and organ, no doubt influenced by the great James Brown's dominance of the soul charts during the '60s. From there he upped the ante: Bell recruited some horn players from Texas Southern University ("the Tornadoes") to pop the melody together with syncopated hand claps.

The result is a stone cold classic that instinctively makes you turn up the car radio as soon as you hear the first guitar chord. Or get up off your feet in the living room, because "everybody can do it" - The Tighten Up.

Listen to the original 45 rpm recording of "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & The Drells.

Watch Archie Bell & The Drells perform "Tighten Up" on TV (date unknown; video is subpar):

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 116]

Twenty-Five Miles

b/w "Way Over There"
Edwin Starr

Written by Johnny Bristol, Henry Fuqua & Edwin Starr

Produced by Norman Whitfield (?)

Gordy/Motown Records

Released 1969

Rock critic Dave Marsh called Edwin Starr a "Motown minor leaguer." Did he mean this as a put-down or a simple statement of fact? After all, when Barry Gordy bought out the small Detroit label Ric Tic in the late 1960s, The Sound of Young America, though starting to wane, was still flush with a galaxy of stars: Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson Five, The Temptations and Diana Ross.

Born in Cleveland, Starr (real name Charles Hatcher) had made his musical bones with a couple of hits that flirted with the Top 20: "Agent Double-O Soul" (1965) and "Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S.)." After toiling away for a year at Motown with only a mediocre album and no hits to show for it, Starr cut "Twenty-Five Miles," a song that brought his powerhouse soul voice to national attention.

Ironically, Starr's vocal style was more akin to the Stax gut-bucket rhythm and blues than the sweet, clean sound that Gordy had made famous resulting in hit after hit (after hit). "Twenty-Five Miles" could have been under the influence of hot new Motown producer Norman Whitfield, who had recently given the The Temps a harder-edged pop to their records. More likely it was the writers' nod to Wilson Pickett's "32 Miles From Waycross (Mojo Mama)," recorded in 1967.

Either way, good move. Starr's strong baritone more than fits the bill, accompanied by the muscular drumming of the legendary Motown session man Benny Benjamin and a horn chart that is familiar to anyone who has heard a marching band at half-time of a football game.

The lyrics are just as much of a hook for the listener. We never find out what happens when Starr reaches his destination, but the energetic vocal definitely proves that getting there is half the fun.

"Twenty-Five Miles" made it all the way to #6 on the Hot 100 Pop Chart. Yet for some reason it seldom appears in the Motown canon of classics. Despite its stomping beat, the only notable group to cover the song regularly over the ensuing years was Charles Wright and The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. (Maybe we'll drop a line to Galactic or Kings Go Forth with the suggestion.)

Edwin Starr, of course, would follow Whitfield into the studio again a year later and be handed a song that was deemed too socially controversial for The Temptations to release as a single: "War." It went to #1.

After a few minor hits in the disco era of the 1980s, Edwin Starr moved permanently to England and became an icon of the Northern Soul movement. He died in 2003.

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 115]

The Fever

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes

Written by Bruce Springsteen

Produced by "Miami" Steve Van Zandt

Epic Records

Released 1976

"The Fever" is a story of the mystery and mythology of rock and roll. And of local musicians and fans who at one time could define an entire area of the United States. And of the charm of independent radio and its enduring relationship with its listeners.

A young New Jersey native named Bruce Springsteen authored the song in question, some say as early as 1971. Of course, Springsteen would be "discovered" by impresario John Hammond (who had also brought Billie Hollday and Bob Dylan, among others, to Columbia Records) and his first album would be released in early 1973: Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. was met mostly with shrugs. [Indeed, in retrospect, critic Lester Bangs stated that the consensus at the time was "many of us dismissed it: he wrote like Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, sang like Van Morrison and Robbie Robertson, and led a band that sounded like Van Morrison's."] "The Fever" wasn't on Greetings' track listing.

That summer, the E Streeters would go back in the studio and come out with a critical masterpiece. The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle further increased their growing fan base, but did not make much noise on the commercial charts. It is said that during these sessions, the song first identified as "(I Got The Fever) For The Girl" (because of the singer's literal lament heading into the initial chorus) was recorded. Springsteen's manager at the time, Mike Appel, apparently sent out a special pressing of the song to a few select independent (or "underground") FM radio stations as a means of priming the pump for The Boss' third 33" LP that would shoot for the stars.

Now, let me just say that the paragraph immediately above is hearsay. Although it might be reliable hearsay, The Night Owl's first encounter with "The Fever" was simply by word of mouth from college students originally hailing from the Philadelphia and South Jersey areas who had seen the marathon live act of Springsteen and his band at clubs like The Main Line or The Stone Pony.

But when Bruce Springsteen landed on the cover of Time and Newsweek in the triumphant glow of that third album, Born To Run, in 1975, any leak of unreleased songs only added to the growing myth of The Boss. There are few songwriters - Dylan, Lennon & McCartney - that are prolific enough to contribute first rate tunes to other artists. But Springsteen has been able to do so time and again. "The Fever" is a prime example.

"Southside" Johnny Lyon had been a member of the Jersey Shore bar band scene since the early 1970s, playing in various bands with interchangeable members, including Springsteen, "Miami" Steve Van Zandt, Garry W. Tallent, David Sancious and Danny Federici, all of whom would be members of The E Street Band in future years. While Van Zandt would join Springsteen on the Born To Run tour and Lyon formed The Asbury Jukes, "Miami" Steve would maintain his association by producing a four-song EP for the band. It was pitched to Columbia subsidiary Epic, and The Jukes went into the studio in 1976 to record what would become I Don't Want To Go Home. With Van Zandt producing and contributing lead guitar, the album proved to be a paean to classic rhythm and blues, featuring not only Van Zandt's vocals and harmonica playing, but duets with soul giants Ronnie Spector and Lee Dorsey.

While the title track would prove to be song that the band would use as their closer for years to come, the true highlight of the debut was "The Fever." Listen to the original studio version here.

The faint organ rumbling summons up the middle of the night. Then Southside enters dramatically. His vocal has a swagger, but it's tempered by the humbling of the experience of yearning for his girl (. The call and response chorus, the blues harp, and The Miami Horns' blaring chart all result in a Stax-like explosion of soul revue heaven.

Springsteen would pull out "The Fever" on occasion in concerts over the years to come. It would be a song that Bruceologists would note with glee like some of the other hits he would pen for others ("Because The Night" or "Fire") or the covers he would throw in from time to time as a tribute to his personal heroes ("Quarter To Three" or "Twist and Shout"). The Boss' version would be a bit bluesier, as one can hear in this performance at Winterland in San Francisco in 1978. [The studio recording of "The Fever" would finally be released in the compilation Tracks 20 years later. The delay was probably a nod to the fact that Bruce knew that Southside had made "The Fever" his own. And The Boss, no doubt, was pleased that he helped make that happen for a Jersey compadre.]

While the memories of "lost" tracks make for good stories, there are certainly advantages to the new age of information technology. One of them is this film of Southside Johnny and Bruce sharing vocals on "The Fever." Backed by Clarence Clemmons on background vocal, Steve Van Zandt on lead, and The Miami Horns, the perfomance is from the Agora Club in Cleveland on August 31, 1978.

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 114]

Crossroads
b/w "Passing The Time"
Cream
Written by Robert Johnson
Produced by Felix Pappalardi
Atco Records 6646
Released July 1968

On 10 March 1968, the British "supergroup" Cream was at the end of a 10-night live stand in San Francisco at Winterland Ballroom (the band had also played a couple of nights at The Fillmore as well during this span). Captured on tape was arguably the greatest single live track in rock and roll history. But the man made internationally famous by the song, Eric Clapton, never liked to talk about it, and reportedly said the performance was inferior because the trio got the time disjointed a bit in his third solo chorus.

Cream (originally christened The Cream) consisted of Clapton on lead guitar, Jack Bruce on bass guitar and Ginger Baker on drums. Bruce assumed the great majority of lead vocal duties for the band; Cream had burst onto the scene with the smash single "Sunshine of Your Love" and the top five album Disraeli Gears in 1967. But from its inception, the focus had been on the blues and the band's unique "heavy" sound in transposing that traditional genre.

At Winterland on this particular night, Cream launched into "Crossroads," a staple of their set. The song was an amalgamation of "Cross Road Blues" and "Traveling Riverside Blues," both penned by legendary (and mysterious) bluesman Robert Johnson in the 1930s. While Clapton's guitar playing was already being lauded by fellow musicians and the average rock fan (the latter scrawling the now famous screed "Clapton Is God" on the walls of the London Underground), the young guitarist found Johnson's sound very hard to re-create, because it often sounded like more than one guitarist was playing. In Clapton: The Autobiography, he talks of Johnson's fingerpicking style that had him "simultaneously playing a disjointed bass line on the low strings, rhythm on the middle strings, and lead on the treble strings while singing at the same time."

Maybe the story of Johnson's deal with the devil at the crossroads rubbed off on Cream on stage, because they surely caught lightning in a bottle here. Listening to previous or subsequent live recordings of this song by the group, the level of ferocity of Cream never comes close to this single, later included on the double LP Wheels of Fire. Clapton takes the mike on lead (rare enough that Bruce - or is it Baker? - famously remarks at the end of the recording, "Eric Clapton, please . . . the vocal") and more notably fills the air with phenomenal guitar licks emanating from his solid body Gibson SG. But what is overlooked is the
incendiary bass playing of Bruce, at his very best here, keeping beat for beat with Clapton while Baker provides fills at every opportunity.

"Crossroads" was never released as a single in the UK. But it became a staple on the emerging underground FM scene when included on Wheels of Fire, which became the first platinum selling double album. It is the prototypical example of Clapton's genius on the live stage and the recording is always listed at the top of any lists of greatest live performances in rock history.

Listen to "Crossroads" here.

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 113]

Morning Child
4hero
Produced by Dego & Marc Mac
Raw Canvas Records
Released 29 January 2007

Here's an irresistible pop confection that hit the charts hard in the UK but only made a blip in the States. 4hero is an electronic music collective from North London that has been producing records since the late 1980s. The leaders are Mark "Marc Mac" Clair and Dennis "Dego" McFarlane. This drum and bass crew cycles vocalists through their work resulting usually in danceable grooves.

"Morning Child" is no exception. The ringer on this record is Carina Andersson, who sounds like she's channeling a post-Motown Diana Ross. The lyrics are simple, celebrating the wonder of a new child entering the world and the promise it always brings. The beat is solid and the tune soars, staying with you to the end of the three and a half plus running time. It's a great song to blast in the car, one that can always bring a smile and tapping fingers on the steering wheel, mimicking the drum line.

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slots 111 & 112]

Nelson Mandela
b/w Break Down The Door!
The Special AKA
Written by Jerry Dammers
Produced by Elvis Costello
2 Tone CHS TT26
Released 17 April 1984

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the English music scene was bubbling not only with the punk movement. In what was to become a complimentary sound as many punk artists matured, the revival of Jamaican ska - the precursor to rocksteady and reggae - swept the UK. Coventry native Jerry Dammers was a leading promoter of ska, both as a businessman as well as a musician. Forming the record label 2 Tone, Dammers' multi-racial group The Specials stormed the charts with such hits as "Ghost Town" and "A Message To You, Rudy." Label mates The (English) Beat, The Selecter and Madness also made a significant mark on the genre.

But by 1984, Dammers appeared to be a spent force. Three key members of The Specials left the band and formed Fun Boy Three. Personal issues were plaguing Dammers as well. Recalling a lot of idle time spent in the studio, struggling to finish a new album with replacement musicians, he recalled: "Part of it was my fault; I was working ideas out in the studio. Then there were a lot of other problems - drink, drugs, mental illness, across the board! I was very down after the Fun Boy Three left."

But Dammers had a tune in his head that he needed to get out. "Rock music was dead," Dammers recalled, "It was all electro-pop, hip hop, jazz or Latin. And also, Joe Hagen had this African club at Gossip's. I was inspired by the spirit and positivity of that African music. I was trying to get in a few Latin rhythms, but also township jazz." Lyrically, Dammers thought the song had to be on the scale of "Ghost Town," whose theme had been UK-wide unemployment, with not-too-subtle finger-pointing at the Thatcher government.

Then Dammers attended a 65th birthday party at Alexandra Palace for a man he - and the vast majority of others in the room - had never met: Nelson Mandela, the South African leader who had been languishing in a Robben Island, South Africa prison for 21 years. "I'd never heard of him, to be honest," Dammers said. "Various bands sang about him, particularly Julian Bahula. And that's where I got the idea to put this message into this tune I had hanging around."

For "Nelson Mandela," producer Elvis Costello brought in backing singers Afrodiziak and their opening a capella refrain makes the record memorable from the get-go. Then a lazy horn chart becomes a dance hall frenzy, and lead vocalist Stan Campbell takes the reins, educating the masses on the ANC leader that no one had heard from in almost a generation.

Dammers liked that he had crafted "a very simple melody, three notes - C, A and E. That meant the public could sing it." It went to #9 on the UK charts. The song, banned in South Africa, would nevertheless be heard in townships all over South Africa. And it was the centerpiece of the Mandela 70th birthday show, televised in June 1988 and viewed by 600 million people.

Twenty years ago today, Nelson Mandela was released from prison. After being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, he went on to become the elected President of South Africa, serving from 1994 to 1999. Currently 91 years old, Mandela is one of the most recognizable figures in the world.

WATCH "Nelson Mandela" by The Special AKA.

Sun City
Artists United Against Apartheid
Written by Steven Van Zandt
Produced by Steven Van Zandt and Arthur Baker
EMI Manhattan Records
Released 7 December 1985

Meanwhile, in the United States, "Little" Steven Van Zandt left the gig of a lifetime - voluntarily - in 1984 when he split from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. He then turned to more overtly political causes, mainly aiming at Reagan-era foreign policy issues.

A fancy resort in South Africa called Sun City had become a vacation haven for the internationally rich and famous, with notable entertainers (including Queen, Elton John, Ray Charles and Rod Stewart) being paid huge sums of money to perform before them. In response, Van Zandt organized Artists United Against Apartheid, whose members pledged not to play in South Africa while the apartheid regime was still in power.

The resulting musical project included the Van Zandt penned "Sun City," a militant stomp aggressively produced with Arthur Baker and performed by 49 notable musicians. Enjoy the intro by the great Miles Davis and then see how many stars you can spot in the video:

Ultimate Singles Jukebox [Slots 109 & 110]

Robert "Bobby" Charles Guidry, a native Cajun of Louisiana, died this past week at the age of 71. Known professionally as Bobby Charles, he wrote many popular songs, including "See You Later, Alligator," one of the first big hits in the new rock genre, and a paean to his musical center, "Walking To New Orleans." Charles was a performer in his own right (the first white artist signed to the famous Chicago blues label Chess), and counted a number of rock's elite as his friends, including Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. But his public persona was a very guarded one; while he sang with The Band in The Last Waltz, his appearances were few and far between. In addition, his recorded output was only occasional. But Homemade Songs, a 15-track album of originals recorded last year with pals Spooner Oldham and Dr. John, was released in May 2008. The liner notes were provided by none other than Dylan: “He was more successful as a songwriter than a singer. And it’s a sin ’cause he’s a hell of a singer. He’s got one of the most melodious voices ever transferred to vinyl. The boy could sing like a bird — he still does.”


TRIBUTE: The New Orleans Times-Picayune provides an excellent tribute to Bobby Charles upon his death on 14 January 2010.


ESSENTIAL LISTENING: Last Train To Memphis (Rice 'n Gravy Records, 2003) - an excellent two-CD collection of twenty years worth of Charles' best songs, with notable musicians on hand to help out. Bobby Charles (Bearsville, 1972) - called the "lost album by The Band" because the group served as backup to Charles, it is highly recommended (find it on iTunes).

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See You Later, Alligator

Bill Haley & His Comets

Written by Robert Charles Guidry

Produced by Milt Gabler

Decca Records 29791

Released 1 February 1956

The music revolution was here. Some knew it, others didn't. Elvis smashed through the square barrier, but other musicians maintained the traditional look and surreptitiously advanced the cause. In 1954, Bill Haley & His Comets recorded and released arguably the most important record in rock and roll history: "Rock Around The Clock." Throughout the rest of that year and 1955, the group had a series of Top 10 hits (most notably a remake of Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll").

In February 1956, Haley struck again, this time with a song by a young New Orleans based
writer and erstwhile performer named Bobby Charles. "See You Later, Alligator" was a phrase that Charles accidentally tripped upon and incorporated into a tune. Almost overnight, teenagers went mad for it, and were dancing in the aisles in movie theaters when Bill Haley & His Comets were featured singing an up tempo "Alligator" in the film The Blackboard Jungle.

Listen and watch Bill Haley & His Comets perform "See You Later, Alligator" from the 1956 movie The Blackboard Jungle.

Walking To New Orleans

Fats Domino

Written by Antoine Domino & Bobby Charles

Imperial Records

Released 1960

Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino (born in New Orleans, 1928) is, without a doubt, one of the most important figures in the history of rock and roll. He began playing piano for change outside honky tonks in New Orleans, and quit school at 14 to pursue a musical career in the evenings while holding a day job at a bed-spring factory.

Domino was discovered by bandleader Dave Bartholomew and had his first of a string of hits in 1949 with "The Fat Man." Over the next ten years, he would sell 65 million records, second only to Elvis Presley. One of those hits was a tribute to his hometown written with Bobby Charles, "Walking To New Orleans."

Watch Fats Domino and his unique rolling piano style in a live performance of "Walking To New Orleans."

Utimate Singles Jukebox [Slot 108]

Fairytale of New York
The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl
Written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan
Produced by Steve Lillywhite
Pogue Mahone Records
Released December 1987



[Editor's Note: This entry was written by Celtic Ray, TNOP 's correspondent from County Clare, Republic of Ireland.]

By their third record, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, Celtic folk punk band The Pogues were already approaching their saturation point. The disc, helmed by producer wunderkind Steve Lillywhite, was recorded with a changed lineup of musicians. But their front man remained the same: the volatile but gifted singer/songwriter Shane MacGowan. And the album became their biggest seller to date.

The centerpiece of If I Should Fall From Grace With God would prove to be one of the most popular Christmas records ever in the the UK and Ireland. Originally reaching #2 and #1 on the charts, respectively, in December 1987, "Fairytale of New York" would be re-released another five times over the ensuing twenty years, each time landing in the top ten.

The song is a duet between MacGowan and English singer Kirsty MacColl, at the time married to producer Lillywhite. [Pogues' original bassist Cait O'Riordan was to have filled the role, but she left the band in 1986.] The melody of "Fairytale of New York" fuses barroom ballad with Irish rebel song, and perfectly serves the story written by MacGowan.

A drunken man is sleeping off a bender in a New York drunk tank. He hears an old man (in the cell?) singing the old Irish folk song "The Rare Old Mountain Dew" (not surprisingly, the 1916 tune waxes rhapsodic about homemade Irish whiskey: Let grasses grow and waters flow/In a free and easy way/But give me enough of the rare old stuff/That's made near Galway Bay). Then he drifts (further?) into reverie, recalling hitting an 18-1 shot a the horse track, a sign of dreams coming true for he and his lover.

MacColl joins MacGowan at this point in a call and response between two Irish immigrants on Christmas Eve. They reminisce about what their dreams were on arrival as young people to America, but then just as quickly turn to the dark side of their relationship, dashed no doubt with the aid of substance abuse. So this ain't White Christmas, folks. The contrasts are striking throughout, wonderfully marked by MacGowan's hoarse voice against MacColl's fine singing: love and hate; hope and despair; promise and betrayal.

The time frame is not specifically identified, and purposefully so. The reference to Sinatra places the action anywhere from the 1940s to the 1980s. Otherwise, the atmosphere is quintessentially Irish: immigrants landing on the shores to uncertain beginnings in America's (then) largest Irish diaspora. And the last verse is masterful: each blaming the other for failure, but lamenting that one is nothing without the other.

The chorus is the constant glue to the story: And the boys of the NYPD choir's still singing Galway Bay/And the bells were ringing out/For Christmas day. "Galway Bay" was a huge hit with Irish immigrants around the world in the late 1940s, popularized by both Bing Crosby and Dolores Keane. Reading some of the lyrics, and remembering the reference to the same locale in "The Rare Old Mountain Dew," proves useful in understanding "Fairytale of New York":

My chosen bride is by my side, her brown hair silver-grey,
Her daughter Rose as like her grows as April dawn today.
Our only boy, his mother's joy, his father's pride and stay;
With gifts like these I'd live at ease, were I near Galway Bay.

Had I youth's blood and hopeful mood and heart of fire once more,
For all the gold the world might hold I'd never quit your shore,
I'd live content whate'er God sent with neighbours old and gray,
And lay my bones, 'neath churchyard stones, beside you, Galway Bay.

"Fairytale of New York" is quintessentially Irish. I guess you either like it or you don't. The song is a rolling and tumbling affair that allows the listener to experience what James Joyce may have meant when writing in Ulysses about the precariousness of the human condition ("I fear those big words which make us so unhappy") as well as the absurdity of life ("Come forth Lazarus! And he came fifth and lost the job"). All the while holding a pint of Guinness and singing along merrily.

Nollaig Shona Dhuit!

Ray

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FURTHER LISTENING, WATCHING AND READING:

The original video for "Fairytale of New York."

Dolores Keane sings "Galway Bay."

The Dubliners' version of "The Rare Old Mountain Dew."

The obituary of Kirsty MacColl (1959-2000) from The Times of London.

Billy Bragg and Florence and the Machine cover "Fairytale of New York on BBC Radio 1.