Here's a repost from October of last year, with a revised text. This was going to be the first entry in a series called "Fake Hits from the Sixties," but it doesn't look like a second part ever happened. From the same folder containing these two zips is a zip of '60s sound-alikes--it may be the Part 2 that never happened. I'll have to look them over and figure that out. Meanwhile, making their second appearance, and long unavailable at Zippyfile, are today's 34 fake Beatles tracks, all ripped from budget labels (of course). Labels like Song Hits and Hit Parader--EPs named, naturally, after Charlton Publications' Hit Parader and Song Hits magazines. You may recall the ads for these:
Also, the less-than-major labels Hit Records, the U.K. Top 6 EPs and LPs, Arc Records, and the Columbia Record Club. The performances range from outstanding (the unnamed group on the Top Six Beatlemania LP--can't recall who they were) to dreadful (the Hit Records/Modern Sound covers, and some of the Song Hits/Hit Parader efforts).
We Love You Beatles was a novelty hit by the Carefrees, Bad to Me was a Lennon-McCartney hit for Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and World Without Love was a Lennon-McCartney hit for Peter and Gordon, all 1964. The Hit Parader 39 Michelle is a copy of the 1966 David and Jonathan version. Get your 34 faux Fab Four goodies here!
DOWNLOAD: Faux Fab Four 1 and Faux Fab Four 2
Faux Fab Four 1
I Feel Fine--Song Hits 32
I Want to Hold Your Hand--Hit Parader 27
She Loves You--Song Hits 28
We Love You Beatles--Song Hits 28
Please Please Me--Song Hits 28
She Loves You Top 6 T6505
Bad To Me--Top 6 T6505
Michelle--Hit Parader 39
I Saw Her Standing There--The Beats (Design 170)
A Hard Day's Night--Columbia Record Club D 63
I'll Cry Instead--Columbia Record Club D 63
I Want to Hold Your Hand--Columbia Record Club D 63
Can't Buy Me Love--Columbia Record Club D 63
Help!--Russ Loader and the Corsairs--Col. Record Club E127
I Wanna Be Your Man--Hits of To-day, Mini 603
Penny Lane--Jalopy Five, Hit 287
World Without Love--Hits of Today, Mini 603
Faux Fab Four 2
Day Tripper--Modern Sound 1020
My Bonnie--Modern Sound 1020
Can't Buy Me Love--Modern Sound 544
Lady Madonna--Hit Records 466
Twist and Shout--The Bugs, Hit 111
She Loves You--The Bugs, Hit 106
A Hard Day's Night--Enoch Light and His Orch., Command 4050 (45 rpm)
Please Please Me--The Boll Weevils--Hit 107
I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Doodles, Hit 104
And I Love Her--The Jalopy Five, Hit 138
I Feel Fine--Top Six 11
Matchbox--The Jalopy Five, Hit 147
Help!--The Jalopy Five, Hit 220
Hello, Goodbye--ARC AS 796
I Wanna Be Your Man--Beatlemania, Top Six TSL 1 (1964)
Money--Beatlemania, Top Six TSL 1 (1964)
Roll Over Beethoven--Beatlemania, Top Six TSL 1 (1964)
Lee
10 comments:
Lee, I went right to the Jalopy Five's cover of "Penny Lane." I don't know who they got to rival the trumpet player the Beatles used but, man, he was good--first-chair good. Maybe it's best to leave well enough alone and hope for mistaken identity. In any case, this is one of your braver defenses of the bargain bin. Thanks. I'm enjoying your explorations of pop simulacrum. Also, thanks for the best gospel in cyber-space these days. It's a joy spending Sabbath Sundays with you. Just one request in this context: take us back to the glory days of the 1920s and 1930s.
Your actual Beatles are in heavy rotation at our house, so I know what the original versions of these songs sound like. This is painfully laughable. Ouch!
Yes....I do have this from last year. Even added the art to the metadata of the tracks. Thanks for the reminder...this will make a great Friday playlist!!!!
Just when I thought it was safe, you brought "them" back.
You're far too kind in your review of these fake Beatles; I'd rate them as poor to dreadful. I could barely listen to them the first time around.
One can almost imagine the unabashed cynicism of the record producers at the time saying something like "Who cares if it's any good? All that rock and roll sounds like junk anyway? Who'll even know the difference?"
I will allow that at least some of the tracks >attempt< musical professionalism, and a good proportion of them are well-recorded (overlooking the cheap, noisy vinyl, which you have cleaned up), but not one of these would be worth seeking out to purchase in its own right and would never have gotten deserved any attention at all had it not been for the blatant commercial tie-in to the Beatles.
Truth be told, your liner notes and illustrations were FAR more interesting than the recordings themselves - but as always, I enjoy the journey of discovery your posts offer.
This is FAUXBELOUS!
I knew the early Beatlemania stuff was faked all over the place. I had no idea this sort of thing lasted into their psychedlic period. Like David, I'm headed straight for Penny Lane, tho' I may drive be Hello Goodbye on the way. Thanks Lee, collecting all these "treasures" in one place is much appreciated.
Lee,
Fancy finding me here, but I had a conversation with a new preacher acquaintance from WV a week ago today and I asked him about a group you had featured before, The Valley Voices. BTW, I believe he's sending me two more of their albums on CD, but I haven't gotten them yet. I know you're asking, where does this tie in? Well, The Valley Voices were brought up and he latched right on to it, with a quick tail! He loves the group and knows/knew them personally BTW. He mentioned a certain preacher in the area (didn't know him and can't remember the name now), that (in his words) had a way about him. The Valley Voices were known for getting a lot of words in a line (I believe you'd agree) and said preacher saw them walking into a service one Sunday morning (I believe it was) and said, well, The Beatles have arrived;
I haven't downloaded these tracks, but my Momma was a big fan of the originals. Looking forward to more great Gospel, love and prayin' for ya!
Romans 11:33-36 KJB
Josh
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Oh and I believe that should-a-been tale, not tail. Also, I remembered after I submitted the last comment, that a reference to The Valley Voicces' popularity went along with The Beatles, too.
Delayed thanks for all the comments--sorry. I'm busy putting together a Faux Four follow-up--I've discovered stuff I forgot about, both on disc and on cassette. The cassette transfers are turning out way better than I anticipated. Also rescuing a lot of gospel material from cassette, with some of the groups and LPs not showing up anywhere on line. Meaning, obviously, that I had the only copy in the world. Logic tell us this.
Can't wait to get the second part together--fakes and record-club versions, some barely believable. Or, almost unbelievable. Right now, I'm listening to a record-club Beatles number of the later type, wondering what on earth they were thinking. They weren't, obviously. Well done, with top studio musicians, but still so very, very bad.
More coming up? What could be better! Oh, I suppose actual Beatles recordings but they are not as much fun. Thank you for all these.
Gary
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