Blog Archives
FlinterFiles: Darlene Love- Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Phil Spector is a legend and his album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector is probably one of the best known Christmas albums ever released. A lot of classics were given a remake, mostly with the famous Wall of Sound. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto- The Girl From Ipanema
In 1963, two Brazilian composers wrote one of the most famous bossa nova songs. Antonio Carlos Jobim wrote the music and Vinicius de Moraes wrote the Portugese text. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: Bobby Bare- 500 Miles Away From Home
In 1963, Bobby Bare recorded an old folk song. It was popular again, because at the start of the 1960s, folk was popular again in the United States. Read the rest of this entry
Song of the day: Jan & Dean- Surf City
In 1963, Jan Berry and Brian Wilson (the Beach Boys) wrote a surf song. Brian Wilson had already written a draft of this song, and he also had written Surfin’ U.S.A.. Wilson played the last song to Jan, and he wanted to record the song, but Brian Wilson wanted to record it with the Beach Boys. He then gave the draft of Surf City to Jan Berry. He took the song, worked on it and so Jan & Dean were the first to record the song about a city where there were two girls for every boy. It was the first surf song to reach number 1 in the US. Enjoy
Jan & Dean- Surf City
Song of the day: The Trashmen- Surfin’ Bird
In 1963, the Trashmen joined the surf rock hype. During a tour, they played two songs from the Rivingtons, as the songs were quite similar. The medley was recorded in Minneapolis, where they came from, and helped by a local DJ, who had send the song to several song contests. The song kept on winning. However, the Trashmen only received the money from the gigs they played, as the money the single made went to the Rivingtons. That was quite bad for them, as the song peaked at number 4 in the US… Enjoy
The Trashmen- Surfin’ Bird
Song of the day: The Ronettes- Be My Baby
Again a song produced by Phil Spector, and it’s a good example of his Wall of Sound technique. The song would be the first one to have a complete orchestra play the music! The Ronettes would record it in 1963, and for some it is seen as the inspiration for both the Beatles and the Beach Boys! Actually, Brian Wilson did say his Don’t Worry Baby was a male answer to this song. Later he would play the song several times live. The original song would do a staggering number 2 in the US, with over two million singles sold. Enjoy
The Ronettes- Be My Baby
Song of the day: Lesley Gore- It’s My Party
This is one of the songs that I know for a long time now, and which I learned to know from a Jukebox hits CD. It was released in 1963 by Lesley Gore, who would be the one to make the song into a hit. It would be a number one hit in the US, and the first for Quincy Jones to produce (he would later do a lot of work for Michael Jackson). The story actually is very sad, since the girl who has her birthday is left by her boyfriend, who is walking with another girl. Though Lesley Gore made it into a hit, the first recording was done earlier in the year 1963 by Helen Shapiro, who used it for her album. It was released in October, when Gore’s version had been in the charts already, so the original version was seen as a cover! Later, the song was recorded by Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin. Enjoy the original:
Lesley Gore- It’s My Party
Song of the day: Bob & Earl- Harlem Shuffle
Today we have a single from 1963, which has been covered a lot of times. The original was sung by Bob & Earl, which made it to number 44 in the US. A later re-release in 1969 made it to the top 10 in the UK. A nice fact is that the single was co-arranged by Barry White and Gene Page. Later, the song was sung by Booker T & The MG’s, The Righteous Brothers, The Belle Stars, The Rolling Stones and Pete Townshend (known from The Who, but here in a band called Deep End). A sample of the first line with horns was used by House of Pain in their hit Jump Around. Today the original! Enjoy
Bob & Earl- Harlem Shuffle
Song of the day: The Cascades- Rhythm Of The Rain
Yes, I was looking in this end of the year chart and saw the title Rhythm Of The Rain. That got me thinking, since we have, in the Netherlands, a man who made a song called Ritme van de regen. That’s the exact translation, and it turns out it’s the same song. However, it’s a good song (hope it doesn’t rain, now it doesn’t…). Enjoy
The Cascades- Rhythm Of The Rain
The FlinterFiles 