With the holidays just around the corner, there's one question we're all busy with: Did Enoch Light look to other sources for his Top Hit Tunes sound-alikes prior to the buyout of his labels by Ampar in late 1959? Well, the answer appears to be... yes, definitely. Lose sleep no more--today's playlist gives us a fascinating glimpse into the period just before Enoch Light said goodbye to Waldorf. Oh, and a brief look at the period after he parted ways (one of today's three EPs is from 1961).
As usual, I started this short project with the expectation that I'd be done in a day or two--and that was four days ago. I never learn. These things always take more time than I anticipate, since they usually involve hunting down the co-appearances of any familiar-sounding fakes. Such as, in this case, the Top Hit Tunes versions of Tiger, Personality, Battle of New Orleans, and Maybe Baby, all tracks I knew that I'd heard before.
The "Fred Pringle" version of Tiger (Top Hit Tunes TH-19-2; 1959) also appears on the Evon label's Let's All Do the Twist LP (Evon 351), only credited to one Stumpy Andersen--and pitched between a quarter and half tone higher. I've included the Evon LP track at its original speed, and in a second file that I repitched to match the EP. The LP version, while slightly faster in speed, is longer--which is to say, not edited down. Evon was part of the junkpile fake-RCA group that included Royale, Ultraphonic, Allegro, Halo, and Varsity, and your guess is as good as mine as to why Waldorf was sharing releases with the fake RCA. Tiger is a terrific fake of a great original (Fabian couldn't sing, but he had superb backing on his hits), even if the anonymous bandmembers didn't bother to tune up beforehand.
Personality shows up on a Bravo (Pickwick) Tops in Pops LP, where it's credited to the likely fictitious Bobby Krane Orchestra and Chorus, so you get the shortened Top Hit Tunes cut, plus the longer LP cut in both its original and repitched form. And here's where we see that, once again, logic played no part in anything related to budget sound-alikes. Namely, we have a situation in which either the LP dub has been sped up or the EP dub has been slowed down. (Don't ask me how they accomplished this in the days of reel to reel technology, unless someone simply wrapped tape around the capstan.) Wouldn't it have made sense to speed up the EP version to conserve space?
Same bit for Maybe Baby, which Top Hit Tunes co-released with the Gateway Top Tunes label--and at a slightly faster speed. Again, why? I added the Gateway track (from a fairly beat 78) at its original and repitched speeds. Battle of New Orleans, poorly sung on Top Hit Tunes by "Jim Forrest," also appeared on Bravo, with the usual Bobby Krane credit. This time, both tracks were almost the same speed, so I did no repitching.
Confused yet? Just imagine me, putting this stuff together. The final six-selection Top Hit Tunes EP, from 1961, contains Pickwick material--in all probability, we're hearing some of these tracks. I'd rate my certainty level at 99.5 percent--unfortunately, I only own one EP from the Bobby Krane Bravo set, and it's not the one I need, so I can't be totally sure. Just nearly almost definitely certain.
From the Universal Records label, which is misidentified at Discogs (leaving me with no idea who they were), we have an even worse version of Book of Love than the Top Hit Tunes fake by "The Troubadors"--so, enjoy. Speaking of awful, I was initially stunned by what seemed like the very low quality of the "Pony Timers" Blue Moon fake, but after fixing up the muddy fidelity and giving it a second listen, I've decided it could be a lot worse. It's not up to the fake that appeared on Tops, SPC, and who knows where else, but it's not bad, and I wish I could locate an LP dub. Besides Book of Love, the only other truly awful fake is Dottie Evans' Lollipop, which must not be as easy to copy as it sounds. "Buddy Hall" is no Perry Como, and his Kewpie Doll fake is a let's-get-this-over-with type of knockoff, but I have a fondness for this imitation-Elvis number, so...And Hearts of Stone is a fake of the Bill Black Combo instrumental of 1961, and it's harmless fun
I can't account for the two Bobby Byrne big-band-days-revisited-style tracks. I guess they were just space-fillers. And you've got to love the "Henry and Larry" credit on La Plume de Ma Tante, which I'm happy to say I have zero memory of, hit-parade-wise.
DOWNLOAD: Yet More Top Hit Tunes (1959-1961)
Tiger--Fred Pringle (Top Hit Tunes TH-32-3)
Johnson Rag--Bobby Byrne and His Orch. (Same)
Battle of New Orleans--Jim Forrest (Same)
Personality--George Clark (Same)
Sunrise Serenade--Bobby Byrne and His Orch. (Same)
La Plume de Ma Tante--Henry and Larry (Same)
Tiger (LP version, pitched higher than EP)--Stumpy Andersen and His Stompers (Evon 351)
Tiger (LP version, repitched)--Same
Personality (LP version, pitched higher than EP)--Bobby Krane Orch. and Chorus (Bravo K101 B)
Personality (Repitched)--(Same)
Battle of New Orleans (LP version)--Bob Krane Orch. and Chorus (Bravo K101 B)
Lollipop--Dottie Evans w. Enoch Light and His Orch. (Top Hit Tunes TH-19-2)
Book of Love--The Troubadors (Same)
Kewpie Doll--Buddy Hall (Same)
Maybe Baby--The Songsters (Same)
Stairway of Love--Hal Willis (Same)
Are You Sincere--Johnny Roland (Same)
Maybe Baby (Gateway Top Tune dub)--The Four Jacks w. Chorus and Orch. (Gateway Top Tune 1243; 1958)
Maybe Baby (Repitched)--(Same)
Hearts of Stone--Lee Patrick's Boys (Top Hit Tunes PH-60-2)
Watusi--The Susanaires (Same)
Blue Moon--The Pony Timers (Same)
Asia Minor--Christopher Cummings (Same)
Think Twice--Brother Ray (Same)
I Don't Want to Cry--Neil Nuttingham (Same)
Book of Love (From LP)--Vocal Stars of Radio and Television w. Famous Orchestras (Universal Records LPU-6001)
Lee
18 comments:
You do an amazing amount of work on these things!
"La Plume de Ma Tante" is a new one for me, too.
Ready for Christmas? Anything on tap from Fred Pringle or Stumpy Andersen and His Stompers?
Buster,
Hi, and thanks. Trying to get ready for Christmas, but so far nothing by those two. More than anything, I'd love to find a holiday offering by the Pony Timers...
I have vivid memories of Chubby Checker on TV singing "It's Pony Time!" while whacking his flanks. This has haunted me for nearly 60 years.
Luckily, I missed that memory by about two years. My first TV and Top 40 memories date to 1962. I've often wondered how Hank Ballard felt when Chubby Checker hit it big with his song. (Probably pretty good, when the royalty checks came in.) I can't remember the details offhand, but didn't Checker hit twice with that side? Because I have vague memories of a second Twist wave. The Twist, Maurice Williams' "Stay," and much of the Brill Building pop music seemed to have the basic Ringo beat, which of course was greeted as something totally new to pop come 1964.
Yeah, I don't know how you manage to put together versions of the same take that have been both edited and time-altered. I wouldn't be able to keep all that straight. Thanks for all the effort though! :)
Thanks Lee, another nice collection.
Man, how do you keep on finding these treasures?
Have a nice day
Johnny
Lee - That's an interesting comment about the Ringo beat and the Twist, etc. But doesn't at least the Maurice Williams version of "Stay" use a more Latin approach?
I don't remember if Chubby hit twice with the Twist or whether it was just a reprise of the Hank Ballard version. He did do "Let's Twist Again" and some other dances, including the Pony. The best was "Limbo Rock." I also like his "Hooka Tooka" from a few years later.
Never heard of Hooka Tooka! That almost sounds like a polka... (-:
I'll have to look that up on YouTube. Re the basic beat on "Stay," memory tells me that it was much more aggressively accented than Ringo would have done it--his (dots=eighth notes) ..XX..X. beat was more laid-back, more of a time-keeping thing, whereas "Stay" really hammers the beat home. And when I listen to Latin-style beats, I reduce them to the underlying pattern, more or less ignoring the rhythmic overlays (is that a term?). The variations on basic Latin patterns drive(s) me nuts! For instance, there are hundreds of Bo Diddley beats on older recordings--X..X.X./..X.X...--but there are usually also patterns happening atop it. And darned if I can remember the formal name of the Bo Diddley beat. The Ringo beat--one eighth-note on 2, and two eight-notes on 4--powers half the Carole King songs that preceded the Lennon-McCarthy era. And I finally found a quote from John Lennon in which he names King as a major influence--I'd always known she had to be. King and Bacharach, likely.
Fred Pringle was enough, but Pony Timers? Where did they get these names? Probably the same place as today's pharmaceutical namers, with all their Qs and Xs, sometimes in the same drug. Maybe they're on drugs. Maybe the Pringle Pony Timers were on drugs. I'm starting to feel like I'm on drugs. Thanks for the high, Lee.
Supposedly a street rhyme, it went like this:
Hooka tooka my soda cracker,
Does your mama chaw tobacca?
If your mama chaw tobocca, say
Hooka tooka my soda cracker
"Hooka" is supposedly patois for "hooker" - not sure if that's so.
There's an incredible version of the song on the Chambers Brothers' Folkways LP Groovin' Time.
Interesting about Carole King and the Beatles - I don't doubt it's true.
Diane,
Happy to make your day more spacey. Actually, "Pony Time" was a 1960 hit for Chubby Checker, so someone simply used it to fashion a group name--he or she had probably just glanced at a list of current hits. I love the names in this set, though my previous post had riper examples, I think. Someone had fun with these things. The session musicians got their one-time, union-violation fee and likely couldn't care less.
Buster,
I'll definitely have to give that one a listen. And of course you know that the Bo Diddley beat was not only a standard Latin beat but also the basic "Hambone" beat.
Hi!
Thanx for this collection.
Interesting discussion. Yes, Chubby did Hit twice with "Twist" # 1 in '60 & # 1 in '61. His other unmentioned Hit was "The Fly" # 7 in '61 too. There are large collections of "Twist" comps. including USA, Int'l.,& various individual countries. Even have MP3 of a Canadian LP by Steve Garrick & His Party Twisters "Come on Everybody Let's Twist!" from '62. Fun party music!
Cheers!
Ciao! For now.
rntcj
Johnny--
Thanks for the nice words! Glad you enjoyed.
rntcj--
Thanks for the information! Yes, I'd read somewhere that Chubby scored twice. And I'd totally forgotten about "The Fly." Yes, everyone was doing the Twist back then, both on the big labels and the budgets. A whole book could be written on the budget Twist LPs. It's interesting how Beatlemania has crowded out Twist mania in the pop music history books, since it was such a similar phenomenon. Almost a run-through for the Brit Invasion.
One of Chubby's records included the memorable exclamation, "Boogedy-boogedy-boogedy-shoo!" but I can't remember which one. (I least I think it was Chubby.)
In addition to the budget lines, I think some main-line albums were rebranded as being devoted to the Twist.
Thanks for another fun bunch of fake hits Lee. Great entertainment for a Monday night - - nice job of making them listenable too. It amazes me that you can tell when the pitch is off... my tin ears can't do it. Much appreciated. Burt
Burt,
My pleasure! Thanks for the nice words.
Great as usual! Thanks for taking the time to put this all together for us!
Gilmarvinyl,
Sure! And there are more where these came from.
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