Here's an interesting and true
story regarding this week's WIXY Sixty survey you posted:At Number 16 this week was the Rolling Stones
hit, "Let's Spend The Night Together". Because of it's risque title, many stations did not play it, and as
many people know, Mick Jagger "reluctantly " had to alter the title on The Ed
Sullivan Show to "Let's Spend Some Time Together"Back in WIXY-land, they came up with their own way of
skirting the controversy of the song's title (which is most likely why the
survey only calls the song "Let's Spend" on paper. WIXY had re-spliced the song
to have Mick and the Gang sing it as, "Let's Spend The
To-Night-Gether"!!!Not sure
how long that special WIXY version was used or whether area rivals WKYC or CKLW
played the "original version" -- if at all, but nonetheless I thought it was a
great story from a station who had a lot of creativity and did a lot to draw in
the listeners and keep them there ... something obviously lost in the modern-day
radio world.
Regards,"Uncle T.Jay", KAFM Radio
We ran the link for this one the other day ... a pretty smooth edit ... but I can't believe ANYBODY thought the song really sounded that way. (Or, if they did, they were sure in for a rude shock when they bought the single and played it for real when they got home! lol) kk
Kent,
I saw #24 on the WKY survey and
flashed on the moment when I heard the Supremes' very first hit for the very
first time. I can even tell you where I was at the moment. So now, you've got me
started.
It didn't chart all that well, so
genius program directors of oldies and classic hits stations never really
touched it over the last four plus decades, but "When The Love Light Starts
Shining" remains an incredible mood lifting danceable tune after all these
years.
So it wasn't a huge hit. It's the
Supremes, damn it! And it's a piece of music history besides. I could go further
down this road with a very similar story about the (Young) Rascal's "I Ain't
Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore", but I'll save that for another
day.
Bill
That's the really fun part about looking at all
these old charts ... and seeing the wide variety of music and artists that radio
USED to play on a daily basis. When you stop and consider that today oldies
stations around the globe have something like 60+ years of material to choose
from, it's REALLY a shame that they choose instead to play the same 200-300 over
and over again all the time instead. (kk)
Hi Kent,
I hadn't heard of Africa either,
and I was thought they might be a Kentucky band but I was able to find more than
I thought at
Terrell Metheny (father of Kevin
Metheny, Howard Stern's pd at wNbc ) was probably still pd at
WKLO then.
Ed
Salamon
Kent,
You were right on about
what you said pertaining to WKY's survey on this day back in 1964. You were
right in that Peter Guliker was a local artist here in the OKC area. He still
lives here as far as I know. In fact, his record which came in at song position
#11 I WILL REMEMBER YOU, I got it out while ago and played it since it had been
years since I heard it.
I remember him telling me years ago that when they
came out with that record they were going to make some others. But didn't make
as many as they wanted to because of the Beatles and other English acts taking
over the charts.
You were also right about what you
said about WKLO's survey in that there were a lot of local and regional (mostly
local I believe) songs. I did a little research, very little mind you, and found
that one or two postings had been made on the songs in which the reader
commented that it was a shame that the
records were only played and heard in
Kentucky.
The song THE GREATEST LOVE by Billy Joe Royal didn't make it here
but the version by Dorsey Burnette did. His version didn't get as high though,
as Billy Joe Royals.
The version of THESE ARE NOT MY PEOPLE by Johnny Rivers
was covered here in OKC by local singer Gary Gruver on Bravo Records. His
version was played primarily.
The flip side of Bobby Darin's LOVIN' YOU, AMY
was the song that made it to number one here in OKC.
WKLO's groups and
artists such as the Oxfords, Africa, Waters, etc., I found their songs on the
internet and played them to see what they were like.Larry Neal
Although the John Sebastian-penned "Lovin' You"
was the A-Side, we found a number of 1967 charts showing Bobby Darin's version
of "Amy" as the hit ... Top Ten in many instances. (Making it all that much
more odd that the song never made ANY of the national charts ... yet was clearly
the charted side of preference on so many that we've seen. "Lovin' You",
meanwhile, peaked at #32 in Billboard.)
Bobby Darin used to tell a very funny story about
how he came to record some material written by John Sebastian. Quite a bit of
this material had been pitched to him for the previous couple of years, but
Darin turned down every one of them ... only to watch Sebastian and The Lovin'
Spoonful score hit after hit after hit with this same material on their
own.
Here (in '60's FLASHBACK style) is part of our
coverage of this story from our month-long Bobby Darin Series several years
ago:
'60's
FLASHBACK:
Back before THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL
ever had a hit record of their own, the music of leader JOHN SEBASTIAN was
offered to BOBBY DARIN to record. Despite his success finding hits for his
publishing company TRINITY MUSIC, DARIN reportedly passed on the opportunity to
record songs like DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC, DAYDREAM, YOUNGER GIRL and SUMMER IN
THE CITY ... songs that today are considered '60's classics by one of the
decade's master songwriters.
After watching hit after hit climb
the charts for THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL, DARIN finally took a stab at a couple of
JOHN SEBASTIAN compositions for himself. His first success came in 1967 when
his version of LOVIN' YOU went all the way to #32. (It was another Top 40 Hit
after the comeback success of IF I WERE A CARPENTER ... in fact, it was
SEBASTIAN's publishers CHARLES KOPPELMAN and DON RUBIN who first brought these
songs to BOBBY's attention. They had been working with THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL, THE
TURTLES and TIM HARDIN ... and IF I WERE A CARPENTER was another song that they
ultimately convinced BOBBY to record.)
BOBBY virtually re-invented himself
with these folk-rock / protest tunes. LOVIN' YOU, however, would be his last
Top 40 Record. (He also eventually covered JOHN SEBASTIAN's DAYDREAM ... one of
the songs he first turned down ... and released SEBASTIAN's DARLING BE HOME SOON
as a single later that year ... it stopped at #93.)
When BOBBY DARIN was
first offered the JOHN SEBASTIAN song YOUNGER GIRL (ultimately a hit for THE
CRITTERS, THE HONDELLS and THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL), he turned it down, feeling that
it didn't really fit his image. Although he liked the song, he joked that he
was afraid that he might be sent to jail for even having such thoughts!
LOL
We recently came across an interview that BOBBY DARIN did with DAVID
FROST in 1972. In it, he tells the story of JOHN SEBASTIAN's publishers
bringing some of his songs into TRINITY MUSIC looking for BOBBY to record them,
growing more and more confident as each tune BOBBY rejected became a bigger and
bigger hit for THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL. (This bit would go on to become a key part
of the comedy act portion of DARIN's stage show in the later years ... and it IS
a pretty funny story!)
Well, what actually happened was
some fellas came to me with some songs. They were very fresh in the music
publishing business and it was in 1966, and I was kinda looking for a hit ...
they brought me a song, which went a little like this (singing) "Do you believe
in magic ... in a young girls heart?" and I said "Fellas, that's a lovely song,
it really is, but it'll never be a hit." (pause) I know what it feels to be an
idiot (Laughter from audience) It was a smash, as you all know, a million and a
half seller, maybe a two million seller. A couple or three months went by and
they were very solicitous, by the way. The first time they came into the office,
they were all kinda dressed up to here, and they were trying to make a
impression. So they had said to me "Mr. Darin, may we see you?" and once you
call me Mister, you know, I go crackers, I like that. "OK, great," I said,
"Yeah," and then they played me that song ... and I turned it down. Couple of
months later, after having that success already, they walked back into my office
and said "Hey Bobby!" ... (Laughter from audience) ... "We don't wanna bug you
but we have a new song." They played me a song that went something like
(singing) "Younger girl came rolling across my mind" and I said "Fellas, at my
age I cannot be singing about no younger girl or they'll throw me in jail!"
That's not exactly the way I said it, because we're not in a nightclub, I can't
tell you the way I exactly said it ... in any event, that sold two and half
million records. It was a big smash. They came back to me a third time and this
time they said, "Hey Baby, wanna get behind this number before you catch
yourself in slumber ... we came back to your shack, Jack, this time in a
Cadillac ... so we hate to trouble you, because we know you can't make the
payments on the VW, but if you do this song before long it'll be a smash, bigger
cash than you made with Splash," so I said, "Well play it, don't say it, play
it", so they put it on the machine and it went like this. ... "Summer in the
City and the back of my neck gets tired and gritty" and I turned that one down
too (Laughter from the audience) ... THREE million copies, number one for 28
weeks, it was an incredible record ... so the next time they came into the
office I was laying and waiting for 'em ... I said I don't care what you got,
I'm gonna record it and they whipped out the sheet music ... I thought it was
... it wasn't, it was an eviction notice ... it was a piece of paper that said
"We have just bought this building with the royalties we made from you turnin'
down our records! " (Laughter from the audience)
-- From a David Frost
Interview with Bobby Darin
Of course, the JOHN SEBASTIAN song that
BOBBY ultimately agreed to record was LOVIN' YOU ... and it became his last Top
40 Hit. These same publishers also brought him a song written by a young
songwriter named TIM HARDIN ... IF I WERE A CARPENTER ... which begat BOBBY's
last Top Ten Hit!!!
TRUTH BE TOLD: In hindsight, it is a little unlikely
that ALL of these JOHN SEBASTIAN tunes were first offered to BOBBY DARIN to
record. In JEFF BLEIEL's interview with KOPPELMAN and RUBIN for his book THAT'S
ALL: BOBBY DARIN ON RECORD, STAGE AND SCREEN, the publishers confirm that DO
YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC was NOT offered to BOBBY DARIN. It was THE LOVIN'
SPOONFUL's first hit and they were not about to give that song away ... in fact,
it was BECAUSE of that song's success that they felt they could approach DARIN
about recording some of JOHN SEBASTIAN's other material. Likewise, SUMMER IN
THE CITY, one of the biggest hit records of 1966, was never offered ... but this
all made for a great little comedy routine as part of DARIN's nightclub act (as
witnessed above.) The REAL kicker in the deal was IF I WERE A CARPENTER ...
THAT was the song that BOBBY knew he just HAD to record.
Hey kk!
