Radio New Zealand

 

Wayne’s Music 7/8 July 2012.  Sweet Sixties.

Cry To Me              Betty Harris, the Gospel singer who had her life changed when she saw Big Maybelle perform at The Apollo Theatre  in Harlem. 

Buttered Popcorn                   The Supremes, probably the most commercially successful female group of the 60s.

You’re The Reason I’m Living                  Bobby Darin, was always one to surprise the marketplace with his show music, pop and country, such as this original composition and his first foray into country music. 

Baby Let me Hold Your Hand                   professor Longhair aka Henry Roeland Byrd - can be considered as the creator of the New Orleans Rhythm & Blues.

Sailor          with a name like Ditta Zuza Einzinger why wouldn’t you adopt the showbiz title of “Lolita” – and it worked.  The Austrian-born secretary devoted herself to cabaret singing and rose to fame in Germna-speaking Europe. 

Deep Purple           Nino Tempo and April Stevens the brother-sister partnership revved up old standards with a rock and roll beat, and their version of Deep Purple was a last minute attempt to round off a session recording other songs.

The Weight             The Band's guitarist Robbie Robertson claims this was influenced by the work of Luis Bunuel, a Mexican director who made some of the first movies dealing with surrealism.

Love Me Warm and Tender               Paul Anka with one of his first RCA releases  - he seemed to grow out of his “teen idol” image after he broke away from ABC-Paramount in 1961.                 

Polk Salad Annie                   Tony Joe White.

It’s Getting Better             Mama Cass (real name Ellen Cohen) with her only other song besides “Dream A Little Dream” to crack the top 30 after the Mamas and Papas folded early 1969. 

Since You’ve Been Gone                    Clyde McPhatter chose a Neil Sedaka/Howard Greenfield song for his last recording session with Atlantic before he moved onto MGM at the end of the 50s.    

I’m Your Puppet             Dionee Warwick ventured into the Memphis scene in 1968, and this rendition came out of the session for her album “Soulful” produced by the legendary Chips Moman.    

Tossing And Turning             The Ivy League, the trio formed by session singers , John Carter, Ken Lewis and Perry Ford.

Evil Ways               Santana                   

The Wanderer      Dion based this song on a boyhood friend when he was working with the legendary Mickey Baker on guitar, giving the song that tough, streetwise sound that was a Dion trademark. 

Stand By Your man       Candi Staton, the former Mrs Clarence Carter with her 1970 cover of Tammy Wynette’s anthem.

I Want A Boy                The Ronettes, possibly the most visually striking of the girl groups of the 50s and 60s with their black beehive hairdos and dark eye makeup. 

Wayne’s Music Sunday 8 2012.  Sweet Sixties.   PART ONE.

Tar And Cement            Verdelle Smith with her environmental song which was ahead of its time for pop music in 1966.

Get Out Of My Life              Aaron Neville lending his soft vocal tones to a New Orleans Big Beat number for his second ever single recording in 1960. 

Pata Pata              Miriam Makeba – a focal point for racial conflict since she first stepped in front of a microphone.

Turn Around Look At me       The Vogues … the cardigan-clad, neatly groomed quartet transcended the fashion of the day and came out with a number of hits in the 60s. 

Rudi’s In Love              The Locomotive – the Ska band from Birmingham with their major foray into the pop market – just before they became a progressive rock band. 

PART TWO.

Light My Fire                Jose Feliciano – a brave move releasing this when the Doors had the original hit just 12 months before – but Feliciano’s eccentric and brilliant reworking of the song launched his career in 67.    

Little Girl               here’s another young, relatively inexperienced band that was thrust into the spotlight on the strength of a solitary hit.  The Syndicate Of Sound emerged from the plethora of garage bands in San Francisco with this bouncy little original. 

Younger Girl                   The New Jersey Sextet “The Critters” featured the lead voice of Don Ciccone who went onto to even greater fame in the 1970s as a member of the 4 Seasons (The Jersey Boys) he sang lead on “Oh What A Night (December ’63).                  

 Get Rid Of Him             Dionne Warwick with a song first recorded by The Shirelles …

I Worship The Ground You Walk On           in 1968  Etta James recorded 20 tracks for FAME Records, and among them was this one Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham song which she made her own …

Dedicated Follower Of Fashion     The Kinks lampooning the British Fashion scene and the 60s culture in general.

mercy Mercy Mercy                  For one brief moment--1967--the Buckinghams were as popular as any band on the planet.  a brass-rock sound and powerful lead vocals by Dennis Tufano defined the group's sound. 

Show And Tell              the song that was originally intended for Johnny Mathis, but it became a sizeable hit for Mississippi Crooner Al Wilson.          

reconsider Me                Johnny Adams - known as "The Tan Canary"

Before We Say Goodnight              The Poni-Tails, the Amemrican Girl Group from Ohio who formed at School  - they had several hits at the end of the 50s into the 60s, and when the beat brigade took over the charts, the three women left the music industry to pursue other interests in Ohio.

Just My Baby And me          Clarence Frogman Henry, like Fats Domino had so many quality songs tucked away in the basement of their extensive repertoires. 

 Let’s Think About Living                   Bob Luman struggled for the first few years of his rockabilly career until this song came along in 1960.

Museum                another one of the leading bands of the 60s british Beat invasion with one of their hardly ever played singles –a Donovan song for Herman’s Hermits

500 Miles Away From Home           Bobby Bare         

Workin On A Groovy Thing    a three-boy, two-girl soul group called the Versatiles evolved into a sophisticated pop-soul group in the mid sixties called The 5^th Dimension …

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do     Carole King having a crack at Neil Sedaka’s song, with the same backup that he had on his own version, The Cookies.      

Good Things Don’t Come Easy                   Irma Thomas, The Soul Queen Of New Orleans came out with this wonderful track in 1967. 

That’s My Life (My Love, My Home)       John Lennon's dad Alfred "Freddie" Lennon had been long estranged from his son when he recorded That's My Life (My Love and My Home) in 1965.