UNDERACHIEVERS! The 50 Most Underrated Records of the 1960s, Pt. 2

 Hi! I'm 

 Shady Blue... 

one of the founding fathers

of the Shady Bunch DJ team

on S-P-M-M Retrosonic Radio.

I host an oldies show called

 STUCK LIKE GLUE  

 on SHADY BLUE  

 And I'm 

 Shady Green... 

one of the other original

Shady Bunch DJs here

at Shady's Place and

your Host with the Most

on a magic carpet ride back

to the Swingin' Sixties called

 SHADY GREEN 
 AND HIS 

 WAYBACK MACHINE 

Blue and Green are mixing together, joining forces to bring you

a 5-part, 50-song series dedicated to great records of the 1960s

that shoulda been, coulda been and woulda been major hits

but, for one reason or another, failed to get the attention

they deserved at the time of their release.

 Along with the records we're playing, we've hung cool vintage

pictures and art illustrations on the walls to enhance the mood.

  So listen to the next 10 songs and then let me know.

How many of these long lost relics you remember?

Tell me which songs you like as I present Part 2 of

 UNDERACHIEVERS! 

 The 50 Most Underrated 

 Records of the 1960s 

The first Underachiever of this volume is the

warm weather ditty "Summer Means Fun."  

The original was recorded by Bruce & Terry, a duo

formed by a pair of producers at Columbia Records. 

Bruce was Bruce Johnston, a member of The Beach Boys.

Terry was Terry Melcher, son of actress/singer Doris Day. 

 Another gnarly version of "Summer Means Fun" was

waxed by the surf/hot rod group The Fantastic Baggys,

a studio creation of P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, two of

the leading songwriters and producers of the 1960s,

and released on their 1964 album Tell 'Em I'm Surfin'. 

Surf-rock kings Jan & Dean laid down their own version

of the song and released it on their 1964 album

The Little Old Lady From Pasadena.

"Summer Means Fun" is a groovy song - too cool for school -

and with three great recorded versions, at least one

of them should have been a top 40 hit.

  

Instead, only one version was released as a single, the original

by Bruce & Terry, and it performed poorly, halting at #72 on

the Billboard chart in August, 1964, a genuine Underachiever.

Let's listen now to all three versions of this underrated,

underachieving surf-rock anthem-- "Summer Means Fun!"

"Summer Means Fun" - Bruce & Terry

(Aug. 1964, highest chart pos. #72 Hot 100)

"Summer Means Fun" - The Fantastic Baggys

(from 1964 album Tell 'Em I'm Surfin')

"Summer Means Fun" - Jan & Dean

(from 1964 album The Little Old Lady From Pasadena)

"Boy meets girl and love begins."  So sang Little Anthony

And The Imperials on their dreamy doo-wop ballad

"(Just) Two (Kinds Of) People In The World."

Another great ballad about young love was recorded by a duo

that consisted of two Pennsylvania vocalists, Marcy Jo (aka

Marcy Joe) of Pittsburgh and Eddie Rambeau of Hazleton.

Their single, "Lover's Medley," combines "When I Fall In Love,"

a 1952 hit recorded by Doris Day, and "The More I See You,"

a song introduced by Dick Haymes in the 1945

movie musical Diamond Horseshoe. 

Throughout the summer of 1963, this record by Marcy Jo and

Eddie Rambeau was big in WSBA-Land (York and Central PA),

but nationally, it never broke free of the Bubbling Under chart

and never rose above position #132, making it one of the

most notable Underachievers of all time! 

"Lover's Medley (The More I See You And When I Fall In Love)"

- Marcy Jo And Eddie Rambeau (July/August 1963,

highest chart pos. #132 Bubbling Under)

"Bus Stop" by The Hollies was a huge hit, and therefore it is not

my next featured song. I posted this vintage pinup illustration

of a "bus stop bim" because I like it 😀😀😀 and because

it actually does help illustrate the theme of the next song. 

In Part 1 of this series, published in January of this year, a single

by Marvin Gaye, "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow," was the first of the

50 Underachievers on my list to be unveiled.  Today, in Part 2,

I present "Hitch Hike," the single Marvin and Motown released

immediately after "Stubborn."  This up tempo ditty is such a joy

and such a treasured gem today that it seems a crime it stopped

at #30 on the pop chart, never reached the top 40 on Cash Box

and even fell short of the R&B top 10!  Here's Marvin Gaye

on Hollywood A Go-Go performing-- "Hitch Hike!"

"Hitch Hike" - Marvin Gaye

(Feb./Mar. 1963, highest chart pos. #30 Hot 100/#41 Cash Box,

#12 R&B, perf. on Nov. 27, 1965, ep. of Hollywood A Go-Go)

The pop girl group The Angels is best known for

their 1963 smash hit "My Boyfriend's Back"

featuring Peggy Santiglia on lead vocals.

The previous year, with Linda Jansen as lead singer,

the group recorded "Cry Baby Cry," a song that

stood the test of time to become a genre classic.

 Released in January, 1962, the weepy ballad peaked just

inside the top 40 on the Billboard and Cash Box charts.

  I say "Cry Baby Cry" is an Underachiever, because it deserved

to finish in the top 10, the top 5 or even go all the way to #1! 

"Cry Baby Cry" - The Angels

(March/Apr. 1962, highest chart pos. #35 Cash Box/#38 Hot 100)

Now let me shine the spotlight on one of the Shady Dell's greatest hits...

... and one of the biggest misses nationally.  The song in question is

"Take Some Time Out For Love" by The Isley Brothers, ranked #17

 on my list of The 200 Greatest Hits of the Shady Dell. Yet, it fizzled

on the national charts, reaching its zenith at #66 on the Hot 100 and

#72 on Cash Box.  Even more shocking, this Northern stormer,

this dance-friendly Motown soul song, did not even appear

on the R&B chart!  Can you say "Underachiever"? 

"Take Some Time Out For Love" - The Isley Brothers

(June 1966, highest chart pos. #66 Hot 100/#72 Cash Box)

The Chicago-based band New Colony Six was responsible for two

of the most memorable soft-rock love song recordings of the 1960s.

One of them is cued up on my turntable and ready to go for a spin.

This beautiful song deserved to finish in the top 5 winner's circle,

but it stopped short of the top 20.  Listen now to New Colony Six

and the moody and mellow-- "I Will Always Think About You."

"I Will Always Think About You" -  New Colony Six

(Apr./May 1968, highest chart pos. #22 Hot 100,

#22 Cash Box/#14 Canada)

Notice how many of the Underachievers on my list have long titles?

 I believe that songs with one, two or three word titles typically out-

 perform songs with long cumbersome, hard to remember titles.

 Here's another long title Underachiever, another song

written and first waxed by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri,

the writers/record producers who called themselves

The Fantastic Baggys during the surf-rock craze.  

In 1965, Sloan and Barri along with exec producer Lou Adler,

founder of Dunhill Records, jumped into the folk-rock genre,

forming The Grass Roots, and act that drew members

from a San Francisco band called The Bedouins.

Willie Fulton, lead singer and guitarist for The Bedouins,

sang lead on "Where Were You When I Needed You," the

Grass Roots' first charting single. It's a gem of the genre,

yet it stalled around the top 30 on the U.S. chart when it

should have cracked the top 10 as it nearly did in Canada!

"Where Were You When I Needed You" - The Grass Roots

 (July/Aug. 1966, highest chart pos. #28 Hot 100,

#33 Cash Box/#12 Canada)

Now here's a rough and tumble song by the bad boys of British rock

The Rolling Stones. Today, "Street Fighting Man" is recognized as one

of the band's most popular and controversial songs. Yet, at the time of

its release as a single in the U.S. in the summer of 1968, the rowdy

ditty ran out of steam halfway up the Billboard chart.  The single

performed better on Cash Box, hitting the top 30 mark but,

even so, it never broke through as it should have to

become one of band's major hits. 

 Incidentally, the original picture sleeve issued with the single is

extremely rare nowadays and can fetch more than $10,000 on eBay.

Listen now as The Stones tell the tale of a-- "Street Fighting Man!"

"Street Fighting Man" - The Rolling Stones

(Sept./Oct. 1968, highest chart pos. #30 Cash Box/#48 Hot 100)

Future's so bright, he gotta wear shades, and he wears his sunglasses at night!

This next number is hip, happenin' and clean outta sight. It's the best known

song by Mickey Lee Lane, a Brill Building songwriter of the 1950s

who evolved into a rock & roll recording artist of the 60s.

Mickey's only charting single is an Underachiever because

it's such a catchy, danceworthy song that it should have

made the top 10. Instead it barely broke into the top 40.  

Put your dancin' shoes on.  Here comes R&R wildman

Mickey Lee Lane with his claim to fame-- "Shaggy Dog!"

"Shaggy Dog" - Mickey Lee Lane

(Nov./Dec. 1964, highest chart pos. #38 Hot 100 & Cash Box)

Speaking of cool sounds, this last irresistible ditty

is off the chart. (Unfortunately, I mean that literally,

as in "uncharted.") It's the big bold sound of

April Young, a little known singer from

Philadelphia who shoulda been a star. 

  

April burned up the boss lines on radio stations

up and down the East Coast with her single

"Gonna Make Him My Baby."

Produced by Jerry Ross, April's record is a prime example of

the so-called East Coast Wall-of-Sound, a production technique

that imitated what Phil Spector was doing on the West Coast. 

Released in the spring of 1965, April's platter caught fire on

radio stations across the region.  It reached #27 on WARM

Wilkes-Barre, #36 on WSBA-910 serving York, Lancaster

and Harrisburg, #53 on WMCA New York and was ranked

way up there at #3 on Portugal's list of the Top 10

Girlpop/Girlgroup Songs of the 1960's.

Back home in Philly, April's record made the top 20

on the market's AM radio giant WIBG. In the words

of producer Jerry Ross who, incidentally, fell in love

with April Young and married her, the local success

of her single earned her the nickname

"The Daughter of Wibbage-land"

Yet, April's single was an epic fail on the national chart,

a textbook example of an Underachiever!  Here now

is one of the most exciting records ever made in

girl pop, girl group or any other category.

 Listen to the husky voice of April Young sounding like

Cher on steroids engulfed in a towering wave of

 sound as she sings her signature song-- 

"Gonna Make Him My Baby!"

"Gonna Make Him My Baby" - April Young

(May/June 1965, uncharted nationally, Top 20 WIBG Philly,

#36 WSBA Mighty 910 Lancaster-York-Harrisburg,

#27 WARM Wilkes-Barre, #53 WMCA New York,

#3 Portugal's list of the Top 10 Girlpop -

Girlgroup Songs of the Sixties)

Okay, how many of these

underappreciated and

underachieving records

of the 1960s do you

remember? Do you

like any of them

so much that you're

 STUCK 

 LIKE GLUE?  

Did these moldy oldies

make you feel like you

just took a trip in my

 WAYBACK 

 MACHINE? 

Stick around!

 There are 3 more parts of this series...

30 more songs that need your love and

a forever home on your record player.

See you soon on the next edition of

 UNDERACHIEVERS! 

 The 50 Most Underrated 

 Records of the 1960s