Fortunately, George is here with another edition of...
Bands With The Same Name (a series formerly known as Namesakes)
I knew there were two sets of Drifters, and thanks to a certain website I’ve discovered some more. Not too many, though, unlike my previous stint here, so no excuse for not listening to each track all the way through.
THE DRIFTERS #1
Most of you will be familiar with one set of The Drifters, possibly through their early 1970s UK hits. You might, and certainly should(!!) be familiar with an earlier vocal group with the same name, that was formed to support the talents of Clyde McPhatter...
Now that is quite obviously the best version of The Drifters, but as Mr CC would say, the next lot are not too shabby either...
THE DRIFTERS #2
The second Drifters were originally called The Five Crowns, and they were simply renamed by their manager who somehow owned the group name. (I believe that this was also tried with Fleetwood Mac in the early 1970s but alas the better known version won out.)
Anyway, The Drifters had a plethora of hits in the early 1960s such as Save The Last Dance for Me, and underwent more than a plethora of personnel changes. They drifted from the Atlantic record label and across the Atlantic Ocean to the UK, scoring some hits in the 1970s, such as...
And I’ve never said that opening line to my partner.
THE DRIFTERS #3
The third Drifters, after a threatened legal challenge and name change, became a much loved British musical institution. Who’d have thought it after hearing this?
Hank Marvin does not feature in that song. Mr Webb does.
DRIFTERS #4
I’m taking a slight liberty with the fourth band, who are called Drifters. But they’ve got a flautist, they’re from Sweden, so they’re in!
Alas, that 1970's pop song doesn’t have any fluting. I think I might have misled you with the initial promise.
THE DRIFTERS #5
I expect Ernie is a lot more familiar with these earnest South African rockers than I...
THE DRIFTERS #6
Back to some doo wop / rhythm and blues Drifters...
THE DRIFTERS #7
And yet another vocal/R&B group with another belting song...
THE DRIFTERS #8
And we drift to a close with some bluegrass Drifters...
Just three of the iconic tunes we owe to the husband and wife songwriting partnership of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. He wrote the tunes, she wrote the words. Words such as these...
'Nuff said.
Cynthia Weil passed away on the 1st of June, making a widower of Mann after 62 years of marriage.
They don't write a lot of songs about songwriters, not the ones who don't become stars in their own right, anyway, not the ones who just toil away quietly in the background creating legends.
Then again, Cynthia Weil also wrote the lyrics to this...
...a song that proved particularly influential on one young lad growing up in New Jersey.
"[Hearing The Animals] was a revelation … the first records with full blown class consciousness … the chorus of, ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’ where working stiffs are looking for a better life can be heard in all my albums …
That’s every song I’ve ever written. That’s all of them. I’m not kidding either. That’s, ‘Born to Run’, ‘Born in the U.S.A.’"
So what have we got in tribute to Ms. Weil and all those wonderful lyrics she left us? How about this...?
Cynthia, when you pass it seems like this whole town drops
Cynthia, or maybe it's just me, baby, and these fools stuck here punchin' this clock
Well you give us a reason to stop just for a while
This gentleman is The Weeknd. I can't pretend to be familiar with his work, but I do know that the French don't have a word for him. Here are ten songs that have nothing to do with him...
The King of Pop was Michael Jackson. This is Mick Jackson, who coincidentally wrote Blame It On The Boogie which was then a big hit for his slightly longer namesake.
French metal band 6:33 welcome us all to #33 in our Hot 100 countdown. I understand their cover of Silver Lady by David Soul is especially worth seeking out.
33 (and a third) is the number of revolutions per minute made by a long-player / vinyl album. Young people will probably need to consult iffypedia about this, unless they're a hipster, in which case they probably know more about it than I do.
Since I think it's fair to say that hipsters do not read this blog, what do all you old non-hipsters recommend?
The Swede kicked us off this week with a veritable plethora. (Well, a "ple4a", anyway.)
C popped up next with an offering that Charity Chic swiftly declared "the winner!" If only he was compiling these posts. (He's welcome to take over now that he's finished the already much-missed Double Letter Saturday feature. Save me the extra work as we get nearer to #1. Hint hint.)
How about when Grace Jones sounds a lot like Dusty Springfield in I've Done It Again from Nightclubbing?
I was there when Jenny Lind first sang First to feel the cold Alaskan white man First to take a trip on LSD First to vote for Roosevelt back in '33
Next up was Rigid Digit with three solid suggestions...
At the age of 33 and a third, the time that Christ spent on earth, I decided to cut all ties with showbiz. As the awards piled up in the bath, well I started to laugh At all those who died in the name of light entertainment.
That came very close to winning this week, for obvious reasons.
Then came Deano, who explained this week's selection thus...
Before he became outlaw country music's
resident eccentric that would do anything for a publicity stunt, his
debut album was actually some really good blues material, including this
song about a fragile prisoner that has just received some bad news.
Finally came Douglas, who decided to try playing the Canadian card again this week.
For
starters, I wish there were recordings available of any of Gordon
Lightfoot's renditions of "The 33rd of August" which he apparently
undertook in studio in 1969 as an attempt to put together a final
contractually obligated album of covers for UA, which sadly was aborted
and the decision was made to deliver with a live album instead. The
recordings are out there somewhere... anyway, for the record I prefer
the original Mickey Newbury version of this song to others out there.
(See above.)
But
for Canadian content, I am left suggesting Stars' song Personal, which
is a very sad short story of a song told back and forth through
his-and-hers personal columns responses which ends with the heartache of
being stood up. It starts thus:
28 and bored, grieving over loss, sorry to be heavy
But heavy is the cost, heavy is the cost...
Now that might not have won this week, but only because it's not yet in my collection and the winner must always exist in my own library. That said, it's a bloody good tune, so thanks for introducing it to me, Douglas... and it will come in very well on the Top Ten Lonely Hearts Column Songs I've been trying to compile for months now. (Note to everybody: I need another three good ones.)
Speaking of songs from my own library, here's what it threw up this week (along with many of the ones above)...
All of which brings us to this week's winner, which was a real toss-up with Luke Haines, but in the end Frank edged it with an equally biting open line that sums up the state of the world at the moment... and offers good advice for anyone who ever thinks of interviewing He Who Has Fallen From Grace again...
"Stop asking musicians what they think" He said softly as he poured himself a second drink And outside, the world slipped over the brink
We all thought we had nothing to lose That we could trust in crossed fingers and horseshoes That everything would work out, no matter what we choose
The first time it was a tragedy The second time is a farce Outside it's 1933 so I'm hitting the bar
Don't go mistaking your house burning down for the dawn!
Welcome, Fresh Princes (and Princesses), it's time to Boom Boom, Shake the Room Big Willie Style (did I mention my first name is William?).
Alternatively, you can get the answers to Saturday Snapshots straight from the Men In Black. Be careful though: they won't let you remember...
Hot competition just after 8.30 yesterday morning, though I think Lynchie clinched the win with his superior knowledge of Iron Maiden songs. Thank you all for playing, as always.
Despite not being a dance music fan, I always loved this one. George claimed to have identified the song (although he didn't name it) and also claimed to have never heard it. Which made me wonder if he spent the whole of 1997 underground.
2. Vegas wrap overhead.
Burritos come in wraps. If they're overhead, they might be flying.
3. The Drifters - Hello Happiness The story behind this one is simple. I've had a Drifters Best Of CD for a number of years now but never really given it much attention. The other day, I had a hankering to hear Under The Boardwalk again (a song with which I share a complicated history, but you're not ready for that yet). Imagine my horror when it turned out that my Best Of didn't contain (arguably) their biggest hit.
So I bought a proper Drifters compilation and gave it my ears. And though I loved all the great old tunes I recognised, there was one I didn't remember... which floored me. It's a wonderful, summery 70s pop soul nugget led by Johnny Moore (who, it turns out, sang lead on far more Drifters hits than the relatively short-term Ben E. King), but it's the guitar that gets my heart beating faster: just extraordinary.
Don't put this note by your face on the pillow
Don't put this letter in the pocket near your heart
Keep it in the bottom drawer where you hide the sex tools
I pray you always need them
I know what you have done
Only Guy Garvey could sing a line like "grow a fucking heart, love" and make it sound both caring and scary.
I had the best laid plans this side of America
Started out in church and finished with Angelica
Red and blue soul with a snow-white smile
Can you dig it?
Ah, it's a dilemma faced by many young men living in the unreal world... if Cosmo had Jessica Alba's number, he'd call her up and ask her to marry him. But he's not all that choosy...
I'd like to go see Toy Story 2,
With just me and
Britney Spears,
And then she'd say "Hit me baby one more time"
And I'd say,"No way
Britney, Domestic Violence is a crime"
I like the one from Showgirls,
When she's dancing 'round those poles,
Or the really, really fit one,
Who sings in the Pussycat Dolls. I've nearly got a moustache,
