So, this is a mostly very good collection of cheap sound-alikes, save for two tracks which, though the artists may try hard, don't quite make the 99¢ cut. I refer to the potentially good fake of Lonely Teardrops, a song to which the singer seems well-suited--but he repeatedly botches things, suggesting that his voice was worn out on that particular day. And that the folks at SPC said, "What the heck--it's a take." And we can be fairly certain that SPC (Synthetic Plastics Co., though there's no actual SPC credit anywhere on this LP) frowned on multiple takes. Or (especially) the prospect of rescheduling a session. What they got was what they pressed. Whatever I just typed.
The other not-so-good band is She Say (Oom Dooby Doom), a Barry Mann hit for the Diamonds in 1959. The vocal blend--and, especially, the half-step-climbing falsetto--isn't what it could be, but it should be noted that (at least in my opinion), this SPC version is the least inadequate of the three I've heard (the other two courtesy of Gateway and Broadway). If "least inadequate" can be considered praise (and maybe it should be when we're talking fake hits), then thumbs up for this track. But it should have been better.
A number of the other tracks make up for things--in particular, a strong Peter Gunn cover (not, it turns out, the version on that Tiara boxed set, as I had thought), a fine Manhattan Spiritual, an equally fine Stagger Lee, and an All American Boy imitation that captures the lighthearted and sarcastic feel of the original pretty skillfully. And I find myself confused about the intention of that particular novelty, because it seems pro-r&r in spots and pro-anti-r&r in others. Maybe it's not a song for deep thought.
Oh, and someone (on the Promenade single, the credit goes to Jimmy Grant and the Promenade Orch. and Chorus) pulls off an able imitation of Andy Williams on Hawaiian Wedding Song. If only more practice had gone into the performance of She Say, and if only the Lonely Teardrops singer had been allowed to come back after his voice had enjoyed a rest. But a very fun bunch of top tunes, regardless. 1959 seems the logical year for this. Download link follows...
DOWNLOAD: Top Tune Time (SPC SP 106; prob. 1959)
Hawaiian Wedding Song
Peter Gunn
All-American (or, All American) Boy
My Happiness
Stagger Lee
Manhattan Spiritual
Lonely Teardrops
The Lonely One
She Say (Oom Dooby Doom)
Donna
Lee
11 comments:
A typically diverse group of songs. On "Lonely Teardrops," imitating Jackie Wilson could not have been easy.
I like that cover image!
A solid collection for sure! Thanks for sharing this one with all of us!
Apparently there was at least one more LP that SPC issued under this title--today at Goodwill I found a cover only (the records inside were Remember How Great Volume 2 and a Design Records Country collection) of another "Top Tune Time" that reprises the really good fakes of "Hawaiian Wedding Song" and "Peter Gunn" from this album, plus also includes "It's Just A Matter of Time", "Charlie Brown" "Tomboy" (the Perry Como hit, labeled here as "Tom Boy"),"The Happy Organ" "Tijuana Jail" (here mispelled the same way as on the cover of my Palladium 18 Top Hits LP), plus "For A Penny", "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" and "Come Softly To Me", which are probably the same versions on Volume One of Biggest Hits of '59 on RCA Camden.
Another surprising fact about this SPC Top Hit Time LP is that there is no catalog number! Plus, it misspelled Jockey as "Jocky". So if you have this second volume of Top Tune Time in your collection, please consider doing a rip of it in the near future. Thanks.
That doesn't ring a bell, but I'll check. That's a classic misspelling, even by SPC standards! Maybe they figured they couldn't afford the "e."
Concerning the LP discussed here, this is a really good collection. The singer aping Andy Williams on "Hawaiian Wedding Song" does a good job giving us his basic vocal style, yet comes up with a unique sound all of its own. The "Peter Gunn" cover is very unique and completely different from the Henry Mancini original.
Even though the string section was missing (no surprise with SPC), the Connie Francis soundalike singer did a great job with "My Happiness". There is a chance that this two different singers singing the parts that Connie overdubbed on the original ala Patti Page.
The singer aping Bobby Bare (who did the real singing parts on the Bill Parsons original) sounds more like Jimmy Dean than Bobby Bare. Regardless of your previous commentary, this is a musical homage to Elvis Presley and his meteroric rise on the Pop music scene. I actually like this version of "All American Boy" over the Bobby Bare original, plus it is slightly more melodic. I do like this singer's tongue-in-cheek interpretation of the lyrics.
Even though it is far from the level of "Mr. Excitement", I actually do like this version of "Lonely Teardrops", even though this singer flubs some of the lyrics. He does a really good job trying to imitate Jackie's vocal style on the bridge. It's actually better than the version of "A Lover's Question" on America's Top Tunes Volume 4 in which the singer imitating Clyde McPhatter did not want to scream out the word "Not" the first time he sang the bridge (It's amazing how much sloppiness the budget labels got away with in their soundalikes!)
Very different take on "Stagger Lee." The singer sounds like the one who sang "Sea of Love" and "Love Is All We Need" on previous SPC fakes. He sounds slightly more melodic than Lloyd Price. However, the background vocals sound like the same group of Ray Charles Singers who sang on the Lloyd Price original! Good saxophone solo, too.
Also, a really good cover of Reg Owen's "Manhattan Spiritual", with what sounds like some of the same horn players that played on the Stanley Applewaite/Bobby Krane Pickwick Big Band records showing up on here. It may not have that extra pinch of musical excitement as the Reg Owen original, yet it is a pretty good cover nonetheless.
"She Say" is probably one of my least favorite Diamonds tunes, however, the Promineers (??) do a good job aping Dave Somerville and the boys' original vocal style on the verse. It is slightly more melodic, yet maintains some of the over-the-top exuberance of the Diamonds original.
Finally, a very good near-authentic imitation of Richie Valens on "Donna", even though the singer sounds slightly older than Mr. Valens. The singer on this singer also probably also imitated Gary Troxel's vocal style on SPC's Fleetwoods fakes. Very good cover of "Donna."
Overall, excellent fake hits collection! This is another one I will be on the lookout for in my record hunts. Thanks for sharing.
Alternate cover art for this record courtesy of E-Bay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/334447669820?hash=item4ddea2723c:g:CFwAAOSwBuhh~tQS&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4Hgrw7FARdortqi6DE3hkeNznvI5cmn99d0UIxUqwzX1qC3n%2FropFj9ieliuvzq80qoWxNeOOw6qScTnk4RhsLLNntCK35BtVg96Z0dzonUgQ1tzBik1AUcQjXCGd8h7JNNSsrT76AXFeEpEmPTgxlq435SgoI5vEppamSV4JWBPUmAJ61XJYHLyxiVm7S4Yg47eMORt0t%2FVVT0ALBPSjkSm%2Fv9f%2BhKmYGttuMWrQecPdm9sfNz14MuytG2yx98ANSHBVc9zBzJHZahfjceOmtkaBKNmT8kEV3j0f96wSXru%7Ctkp%3ABFBMotmr7L1g
Yes, SPC was shuffling its tracks a la Eli Oberstein. A game it also played with its 45 rpm EP sets. As you probably know, in addition to "Hits A Poppin'" (the punctuation of which was variable), SPC also had "Top Hits," "The Hit Parader" and whatever else they could dream up on the spot. Well, my other "Top Tune Time" (actually, "It's Top Tune Time") isn't the one you mentioned. It's this one: https://www.discogs.com/release/11755560-various-Its-Top-Tune-Time
And I have "The Hit Parader" (aka, "Top Hit Favorites") on SP 105, which includes "Manhattan Spiritual" and "All-American Boy." Credits go to Al Garry and His Orchestra, with vocals by Jan Newley, Bill Evans, and the Blazers (!). The label is Spin-O-Rama, which was part of the Premier record group. But (and I forget the details) Premier had the rights to some of the SPC tracks, and so there was a lot of back and forth between SPC and Premier. Anything to confuse the budget collector!
And... a quick spot-listen to the Spin-O-Rama "The Hit Parader" confirms that the tracks are indeed SPC.
Just saw the cover art for the other Top Tune Time you mentioned on E-Bay earlier today. And I saw your Hit Parader LP with Al Garry in a previous blog post from a couple of years ago. There WAS a Bill Evans, and that is the legendary Jazz pianist who did two LP's with Tony Bennett in the '70's,. Thanks for sharing.
Here is the cover that I found posted on the Brand "X" Records Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1198643330898967&set=p.1198643330898967&type=3
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