Author Topic: GS theme question...not stupid I swear... (Read 16492 times)

JakeT · « **Reply #15 on:** April 28, 2005, 04:16:31 AM »

[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 01:14 AM\'][quote name=\'davemackey\' date=\'Apr 27 2005, 08:54 PM\']The lead singer of both the Archies and the Cuff Links was Ron Dante. Andy Kim, Donna Marie, Toni Wine and Jeannie Thomas were the other singers. [/quote]
Andy Kim had a hit with "Baby, I Love You".

Can't say I recognize the other names.

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I don't recall ever hearing of a song called "Baby, I Love You" but I think that Andy Kim's most recognizeable hit would have been "Rock Me Gently"...

Jake

tvrandywest · « **Reply #16 on:** April 28, 2005, 05:41:26 AM »

[quote name=\'JakeT\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 12:16 AM\']I don't recall ever hearing of a song called "Baby, I Love You" but I think that Andy Kim's most recognizeable hit would have been "Rock Me Gently"...

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How appropriate you've been arguing these points of top-40 trivia on Casey Kasem's birthday!

And don't forget Ron Dante was also lead singer on The Detergents' hit "Leader of the Laundromat". The story behind "studio groups" of session singers and session musicians would make for fun reading. The best book on the subject I've seen is Hal Blaine's "Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew".

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(davemackey @ Apr 27 2005, 08:54 PM)
The lead singer of both the Archies and the Cuff Links was Ron Dante. Andy Kim, Donna Marie, Toni Wine and Jeannie Thomas were the other singers.

Speaking of minutae, my information cites Toni Wine only singing on the Archies' first recordings, including "Sugar, Sugar". She opted out of subsequent sessions reportedly because she was unhappy at not having been paid royalties on a single that sold over 3 million copies. The Brill Building magic was still alive well into the 70s! For more on THAT subject, read up on Mr. Morris Levy.

btw, the musical group playing on the 1972 TPiR cues is the famed London "Out of Local 47 Jurisdiction" Orchestra!

Randy
tvrandywest.com

Mike Tennant · « **Reply #17 on:** April 28, 2005, 11:24:31 AM »

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Apr 27 2005, 07:52 PM\']The Cowsills are in an elite category of musical artists who performed TV theme songs that made the Billboard Charts, but their versions were not the original TV versions.

Other artists in that elite category:
[/quote]
The Marketts, Batman Theme, 1966

tomobrien · « **Reply #18 on:** April 28, 2005, 11:56:10 AM »

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Apr 27 2005, 06:52 PM\']
The Cowsills are in an elite category of musical artists who performed TV theme songs that made the Billboard Charts, but their versions were not the original TV versions.

Other artists in that elite category:

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- Les Baxter and Felicia Sanders, both of whom did The Theme from 'Medic' (Blue Star), 1955
- Valjean, The Theme from 'Ben Casey,' 1962

and here's a case of a show's star singing his own theme song (but not the version used on the show):
- Richard Chamberlain, Theme from 'Dr. Kildare' (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight), 1962

Maybe this category isn't so elite after all...

uncamark · « **Reply #19 on:** April 28, 2005, 12:23:53 PM »

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 04:41 AM\'][

Quote

(davemackey @ Apr 27 2005, 08:54 PM)
The lead singer of both the Archies and the Cuff Links was Ron Dante. Andy Kim, Donna Marie, Toni Wine and Jeannie Thomas were the other singers.

Speaking of minutae, my information cites Toni Wine only singing on the Archies' first recordings, including "Sugar, Sugar". She opted out of subsequent sessions reportedly because she was unhappy at not having been paid royalties on a single that sold over 3 million copies. The Brill Building magic was still alive well into the 70s! For more on THAT subject, read up on Mr. Morris Levy.

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And to tie everything up, Toni Wine was one of the Brill Building songwriters who cranked out many, many hits in the 60s, along with session singing. Oh look, she's got a web site!

Robert Hutchinson · « **Reply #20 on:** April 28, 2005, 04:58:43 PM »

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 04:41 AM\']The story behind "studio groups" of session singers and session musicians would make for fun reading. The best book on the subject I've seen is Hal Blaine's "Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew".[/quote]

I've misplaced my copy at the moment, but "Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth" talks a lot about such.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #21 on:** April 28, 2005, 05:31:36 PM »

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The Cowsills are in an elite category of musical artists who performed TV theme songs that made the Billboard Charts, but their versions were not the original TV versions.

Other artists in that elite category:

•The Ventures -- "Theme From 'Hawaii Five-0'" (1969)

•Pratt & McClain -- "Happy Days" (which BTW was another Charles Fox ditty, IIRC). (1976)

•Al Caiola -- "Theme From 'Bonanza'" (1961)

I was given one of those albums of TV themes in the late '70s ( I think from K-TEL), which included "Happy Days" and "Hawaii Five O". Being a purist, I prefer the originals which you heard on TV. Another you could add to the list:

Steve Carlisle "WKRP in Cincinnati".

Although Steve did sing the on-air version, his single release of the tune is a new recording and sounds slightly different. Probably the reason for the re-records is because the on-air themes just weren't long enough for a single release.

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I don't recall ever hearing of a song called "Baby, I Love You" but I think that Andy Kim's most recognizeable hit would have been "Rock Me Gently"...

That was his No. 1 hit, but I much like his version of "Be My Baby". "Baby, I Love You" was a remake of a Ronettes' song that Andy released as a single.

calliaume · « **Reply #22 on:** April 28, 2005, 05:44:48 PM »

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 11:23 AM\'][quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 04:41 AM\'][

Quote

(davemackey @ Apr 27 2005, 08:54 PM)
The lead singer of both the Archies and the Cuff Links was Ron Dante. Andy Kim, Donna Marie, Toni Wine and Jeannie Thomas were the other singers.

Speaking of minutae, my information cites Toni Wine only singing on the Archies' first recordings, including "Sugar, Sugar". She opted out of subsequent sessions reportedly because she was unhappy at not having been paid royalties on a single that sold over 3 million copies. The Brill Building magic was still alive well into the 70s! For more on THAT subject, read up on Mr. Morris Levy.

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[/quote]

And to tie everything up, Toni Wine was one of the Brill Building songwriters who cranked out many, many hits in the 60s, along with session singing. Oh look, she's got a web site!

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[/quote]
I knew I recognized Toni Wine's name - I think she might have written some Monkees songs, or was affiliated with them somehow during the Kirshner years.

Let's see, if Dante = Archie, who substituted for the others? Maybe Jughead was replaced by Midge or Big Ethel during the sessions.

davemackey · « **Reply #23 on:** April 28, 2005, 10:03:25 PM »

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 05:41 AM\']And don't forget Ron Dante was also lead singer on The Detergents' hit "Leader of the Laundromat". The story behind "studio groups" of session singers and session musicians would make for fun reading. The best book on the subject I've seen is Hal Blaine's "Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew".

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Randy, thanks for the reminder on the Detergents.

Now to go even further on a tangent....

Did Hal Blaine play on those famous KHJ/WOR-FM etc. jingles commissioned by Bill Drake? I've heard some demo tracks and one of the notes heard over the talkback is "a little heavier, Hal".... I think I read someplace that Johnny Mann and company recorded those jingles in LA....

tvrandywest · « **Reply #24 on:** April 29, 2005, 12:38:11 AM »

[quote name=\'davemackey\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 06:03 PM\']Did Hal Blaine play on those famous KHJ/WOR-FM etc. jingles commissioned by Bill Drake? I've heard some demo tracks and one of the notes heard over the talkback is "a little heavier, Hal".... I think I read someplace that Johnny Mann and company recorded those jingles in LA....

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Hal Blaine DID play drums on the Drake radio jingles. An amazing iota of trivia - congratulations!

For those unfamiliar, those jingles were pretty revolutionary when introduced in the mid 1960s. They were very quick, but richly orchestrated. They featured a rhythm section reminiscent of the Motown sound that was so popular at the time. Drake-Chenault also sold those cuts outside of the radio stations in the RKO chain they programmed, via their company American Idependent Radio.

Building on the success of those jingles, Joseph P. Cuff and Company looked to create a subsequent package with similar impact. He hired many of the studio musicians who played on the Drake sessions, and referred to them on the demo as "21 top-flight Hollywood musicians". Those sessions also featured Hal Blaine.

Randy
tvrandywest.com

calliaume · « **Reply #25 on:** April 29, 2005, 07:47:54 AM »

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 11:38 PM\']For those unfamiliar, those jingles were pretty revolutionary when introduced in the mid 1960s. They were very quick, but richly orchestrated. They featured a rhythm section reminiscent of the Motown sound that was so popular at the time. Drake-Chenault also sold those cuts outside of the radio stations in the RKO chain they programmed, via their company American Idependent Radio.

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I knew I recognized the KHJ jingles - I heard them in the '70s on WRKO in Boston during the weeks we'd spend in Massachusetts on vacation.

Someone, for possibly a brief time, had about a dozen KHJ jingles on a web site as MP3s (which I quickly downloaded) - I've never been able to find the site since then.

Love to get my hands on some WABC jingles in MP3 format, but that doesn't seem likely to happen.

How far astray has this thread gone, anyway?

bossjock967 · « **Reply #26 on:** April 29, 2005, 08:34:11 AM »

[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Apr 29 2005, 06:47 AM\']Love to get my hands on some WABC jingles in MP3 format, but that doesn't seem likely to happen.

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E-mail me... I'll hook you up.

ChuckNet · « **Reply #27 on:** April 29, 2005, 11:24:15 PM »

Mann also wrote the 2nd and 3rd jingles packages for the old WMCA here in NY...a buncha them are available in WAV format here:

WMCA Jingles

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

Clay Zambo · « **Reply #28 on:** May 02, 2005, 08:32:11 AM »

[quote name=\'davemackey\' date=\'Apr 27 2005, 08:54 PM\']The lead singer of both the Archies and the Cuff Links was Ron Dante. [/quote]

Barry Manilow's old musical partner Ron Dante? Huh!

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(Me, I still stay up nights wondering whose "I'm gonna make love so sweet" is first in the song "Sugar Sugar" - Betty or Veronica.)

Neither one, silly. In a thread about anonymous session singers, you have to know that that line was sung by an uncredited Josie, several years before she and the Pussycats had their breakthrough.

Clay Zambo · « **Reply #29 on:** May 02, 2005, 08:39:13 AM »

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 04:41 AM\']btw, the musical group playing on the 1972 TPiR cues is the famed London "Out of Local 47 Jurisdiction" Orchestra!
[/quote]

Seriously? They were London players?

Funny you should mention those cues. At long last I burned a bunch of TPiR music to CD and took it on a car trip last week. I've heard 'em for years, of course, but (a) on TV, with persons such as your fineself reading copy over, or (b) over crummy little computer speakers. But on I-78, with no distractions other than traffic, I was positively amazed. Those cues--both the writing and the playing--are so much better than they had to be. The variety of styles and instrumentation...considering that the standard of the day was a crummy little TV speaker, well... just wow.

Edd, Sheila, Bob, y'all have my even-deeper admiration.

(Sidebar: also on that CD is the Narz Concentration theme, whose bass player must have been, at least for that moment, the hardest workin' player in show biz.)