INSPIRED BY THE SHADY DELL, YORK, PA, AND DEDICATED TO ITS OWNERS JOHN & HELEN ETTLINE
AND TO MARGARET ELIZABETH BROWN SCHNEIDER, NICKNAMED "THE OLDEST LIVING DELL RAT"


Monday, June 13, 2022

Joyce Martin's a Gold Digger - Vol 2: Gettin' Together



Hi again! I'm Joyce Martin.






I'm sure you remember
me from my previous
appearances here at
Shady's Place.






As you recall, I'm a good girl breaking bad... falling under
the influence of the mean girl gang known as the












I'm just trying to
fit in, but ever since
I got mixed up with
The Hellcats... my
grades have been
slipping and my
folks have been
on my case.






Not knowing which way to turn for help, I found a friend in
Professor Shady Del Knight who offered to be my sugar daddy
private tutor and help me bring up my grades. To earn extra
credit, I am doing a special research project for Professor
Knight and hosting this series at Shady's Place. It's called

Joyce Martin's  a  Gold Digger!



In each volume I display vintage top tunes surveys,
the hit parades distributed by radio stations in the
50s and 60s. Next I go digging for gold - picking
a favorite song from each list and playing it for
your listening and dancing pleasure.





I'm lucky to have this
chance to make good,
so... if you're ready...
let's dig some gold!






WNOW 1250 AM YORK

Today I'm featuring the playlists of radio
stations across Pennsylvania. Let's begin
with the survey above, issued by WNOW
12-5-0 Radio in York, Professor Shady's
hometown. It's the week of June 25,
1961, and I'm poring over WNOW's
Fabulous Forty. I think I'll play #7,
"The Boll Weevil Song," an adap-
tation of a traditional folk song
by Brook Benton with backing
by The Mike Stewart Singers,
a top 3 crossover hit nationally.

"The Boll Weevil Song" -
Brook Benton (June/July 1961,
highest chart pos. #2 Hot 100,
#2 Cash Box/#2 R&B)


WRAW 1340 AM READING





Our next stop is Reading and WRAW 1340,
another station with a Fabulous Forty. It's the
week of April 7, 1967, and I'm choosing survey
sound #36 - pop crooner Andy Williams doing
"Music To Watch Girls By," a vocal version of a
hit instrumental by The Bob Crewe Generation.

"Music To Watch Girls By" - Andy Williams
Apr. 1967, highest chart position
#34 Hot 100, #50 Cash Box)



 WLAN 1390 AM LANCASTER


We now head southwest to Prof. Shady's
old stomping ground and a visit to Lancaster,
home of station WLAN 1390. My pick comes
from the Super Heart Survey for the week of
October 7, 1967. It's Tommy James And The
Shondells with "Gettin' Together," a record
that merely cracked the top 20 nationally
but made the top 5 in Lancaster. This week
it's hanging on to the #12 spot. Here's an
ultra rare video of Tommy and his group
performing the song on the TV show
The Village Square which at the time
originated from Atlanta, Georgia!

"Gettin' Together" - Tommy James
And The Shondells (Sept./Oct. 1967,
highest chart pos. #14 Cash Box,
#18 Hot 100live perf. on TV show
The Village Square, Atlanta, GA)



 WQTW 1570 AM LATROBE


I'm digging this gold. Hope you are, too.
We now travel all the way back out west to
Latrobe, famous for the brewing company
that makes Rolling Rock Beer. It's June 9,
 1967, and I'm plucking a song from the
WQTW 1570 Good Guy Hot Prospects,
 a list of records that are bubbling under
the top 30 in Latrobe this week. It's an
uncanny sound from the garage rock
band The Seeds, the first song they
recorded. When first released in 1965,
it was only a regional hit in California,
but when re-released in '67 it brushed
the top 40 nationally. Here now are
Sky Saxon and The Seeds with--
"Can't Seem To Make You Mine!"

"Can't Seem To Make You Mine" - The Seeds
(May/June 1967, highest chart pos.
#41 Hot 100/#55 Cash Box)



WOW! My request hotline is lighting up! 


A guy named Frankie is calling from a Muscle Beach bikini & pajama party,
and he wants to hear a song by his favorite girl-popper, Annette Funicello.

         WSBA 910 AM YORK


In that case, let's travel all the way
back across the commonwealth to
Professor Shady's hometown, York,
and a top tunes list issued by WSBA
"Hi-Fi Radio 910" later to be called
"The Nifty 9-10" and ultimately
"The Mighty 910." It's the week
of September 17, 1960, and I'm
gonna play #13 on the survey
"Pineapple Princess," a ukelele
song by Mouseketeer Annette
that brushed the top 10 on
the Billboard Hot 100.

"Pineapple Princess" - Annette
(Sept./Oct. 1960, highest chart pos.
#11 Hot 100/#15 Cash Box)



Oh shoot-- Professor Shady's waving me off!


  It time for the last play of the day, and a look at
one more vintage radio station top tunes survey.

KDKA 1020 AM PITTSBURGH

From station KDKA 1020 AM in Pittsburgh, here above is a survey listing
the top hits of 1964. I'm spinning the #6 song that year, a single by the English
rock & roll band The Dave Clark Five. This is the band's first big hit, the echo-
drenched, sax-driven, call-and-response style song that ignited their rivalry
with The Beatles and launched the British Invasion. Here are the DC5
with their big beat biggie from the spring of '64-- "Glad All Over!"

"Glad All Over" - The Dave Clark Five
(Mar./Apr. 1964, highest chart pos. #5 Cash Box/#6 Hot 100)/#1 UK)





I hope you dug this gold.

Please join me for vol. 3 of

Joyce Martin's
 a  Gold Digger.

coming soon!


24 comments:

  1. Tom,

    I enjoyed the music in Joyce Martin's a Gold Digger Vol. 2. The video clip for Andy Williams "Music To Watch Girls Go By" was great fun, making me grin ear to ear. That was great! I heard many of these tunes growing up. Thanks for the entertaining post, my friend. Have a boogietastic week!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hi, Cathy!

      Thanks for being the Early Bird again this week, dear friend! I'm pleased to have you here as High School Hellcat Joyce Martin goes digging for gold in top 40 radio station hit parade surveys.

      I'm glad you enjoyed Joyce's mewsical lineup for her second show. Thanks for singling out the array of film clips used for Andy Williams' version of "Mewsic To Watch Girls By." (You misspelled it "music." :) In that video, we get to see actors Walter Matthau, Tony Curtis, Don Knotts, Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin, Vincent Price and other male stars who are smitten by beautiful women walking by. I'm happy to know the video made you smile and that you remember most of these songs from your youth.

      Thanks again and have a wonderful week, dear friend Cathy!

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    2. Tom,

      Many of the old actors featured in the video were quite enjoyable on the big screen but I have a special spot in my heart for Walter Matthau and Dean Martin. I loved Matthau in the Grump Old Men movies and of course, I loved Martin's voice. He seemed so laid back. I betcha any of these fellas were swell guys. Don Knotts is from my home state of WV. :) Have a good day, my friend!

      Delete
    3. Hi again, Cathy!

      Thanks for coming back over to my clubhouse to continue our conversation, dear friend!

      Yessum, how about that expression on Walter Matthau's face as he watches Sue Ann Langdon wiggle down the sidewalk? It's priceless. Walter was very funny in that movie which also starred Robert Morse, who died less than two months ago, and 1960s "it girl" Inger Stevens, the actress who sadly took her own life (it is believed) at the age of 35. Yessum, Walter was also a hoot in The Odd Couple, Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men - 10 films in all with Jack Lemmon as his co-star. I wish I had known Don Knotts. He certainly seemed likable.

      Yessum, Dean Martin could croon a tune, and I enjoyed his Matt Helm movie series. The girl dancing around Dino in that clip from the 1969 movie The Wrecking Crew is none other than Sharon Tate. It was Sharon's last film appearance before the was brutally slain that same year by members of Charles Manson's "Family" cult. Knowing what was in store for Sharon shortly after that movie was released makes the scene hard for me to watch.

      Thanks again for returning to follow-up, dear friend Cathy. Have a great day and a safe and happy weekend. I'll be seeing you at CAAC on Sunday!

      Delete
  2. I got a big kick out of The Boll Weevil Song! It's entertaining, but certainly different from Rainy Night in Georgia. -Kelly (and Pat)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Kelly & Pat!

      Thanks for literally DIVING across the finish line to take second place again this week, dear friend! :)

      If this was the first time you ever heard Brook Benton's novelty hit "The Boll Weevil Song," then I'm pleased to have made the introduction. Believe me, it was a biggie in my neck of the woods, played heavily on the York, PA stations in the summer of 1961. Yessum, thanks for mentioning "Rainy Night In Georgia." The 1970 single was Brook's comeback hit, ending a seven year period of low charting and poor selling records. Sadly, Brook was only age 56 when he died.

      Thanks for tuning in Joyce Martin's second Gold Digger show, dear friend Kelly. Please give my buddy Pat a big hunk of steak and have a wonderful week!

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    2. Well, this good girl likes to party. Thst first song is fun. I never heard it before but I enjoyed it. I know the Andy Williams song and when does a man not look into her eyes via her butt and ta- tas. Carol Wayne was a really good comedienne who died tragically and, I believe, was murdered.
      Tommy James is one strange looking dude with the Ed Sullivan shoulders but gave to love that hair and the fun song.
      The next song wasn't for me..I didn't like the way he sang it putting in a lot of " Ows" and screechy sounds plus I think he had one too many bongs.
      Pineapple is sweet and fun like Annette and love that last song which gets me up to dance and wiggle my eyes

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    3. Hi, Birgit!

      Joyce Martin welcomes you and I welcome you, dear friend! Thanks for joining the fun as that lovable High School Hellcat goes digging for gold in vintage top 40 surveys.

      I'm excited to introduce you to the folk song about the farmer and the dreaded boll weevil. During that summer of '61, you could count on hearing it on the radio two or three times every hour.

      Yessum, the video for "Music To Watch Girls By" includes scenes from a number of 1960s comedy films, and you get to see numerous big name male and female stars. I named some of them in my reply to Cathy (above). I will mention a few more to you. The first clip is from the 1967 movie A Guide For The Married Man starring Walter Matthau. The cute blonde neighbor ogled by Walter's character as she jiggles down the sidewalk is co-star Sue Ann Langdon. Sue Ann is still with us and is now age 86:
      https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0486057/mediaviewer/rm3586260992?ref_=nm_ov_ph

      That video also included Natalie Wood, Diana Rigg, Gene Wilder, Zero Mostel and Lee Meredith, the latter three in a scene from The Producers (1967) and Annette, who sings one of the songs in this post.

      Yessum, the sound quality isn't the best, but that rare clip of Tommy James And The Shondells performing their latest release on the Atlanta-based TV music show The Village Square is of such great historical value that I wanted you to see it.

      That next song by The Seeds is one I don't even remember from my youth, but again it is so rare and so nicely restored that I had to run it. The lead singer, Sky Saxon, went into the history books as having died the very same day as Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. All three passed away on June 25, 2009.

      I'm glad you also enjoyed the ditties by Annette and the DC5. Thanks so much for being a Day One Dilly again this time. Have a wonderful week, dear friend BB!

      Delete
  3. Hi Shady,

    Sorry I'm late to the hop - I'm entertaining Tommy this week while my parents are cruising to Alaska and Canada. We're talking about moving in together in a year, so this has been a great test. It has been a lot of fun.

    I'm only familiar with Tommy James and the Shondells. I like the song you posted. The other ones are new to me! I love the styles and after Tommy is done fixing his skateboard, I'll have to play this for him. I think he'll enjoy this hop too.

    Love this series, dear friend! You always get me groovin'...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Jessica Marie!

      Thanks for stopping in to see what Gold Digger Joyce Martin is up to, dear friend! Wow, I'll bet your folks are having the time of their lives on that cruise to Alaska and Canada. I wonder if there have been any Sarah Palin sightings. :) Meanwhile, you have lots to smile about yourself, seeing as how you are entertaining Tommy while they're away and testing your compatibility for a potential live-together arrangement. I hope it works out for the two of you.

      Happy to hear that you know Tommy James And The Shondells and learned some new songs during the course of Joyce's second show. The last act on Joyce's playlist, The DC5, were as big as The Beatles in 1964. That's an essential tidbit worth remembering. Yessum, please show the post to Tommy. He might enjoy the tuneage and the clothing and hairstyles of the 50s and 60s on display here.

      Thanks again for dropping by, dear friend JM. Enjoy the rest of your week!

      Delete
    2. Hi Shady,

      Some good news! We are compatible and since he went home today while I was at work, we both miss each other. We're texting as we speak. Five days with him; I'll be alone for 3. Oh well. A lot of Happiness Box moments!

      Parents are having the time of their lives. They've been texting me a few pictures and I'm happy to report that there have been no Sarah Palin sightings! I should ask dad if he can see Russia from their cruise ship. HA!

      I didn't get a chance to play this for him; we watched an old 60s short movie called Skaterdater. It was cool to see how people used to skateboard back in the day. :) Next time!

      Happy Thankful Thursday, dear friend!

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    3. Hi, Jessica Marie!

      I'm thrilled to learn that all went well during Tommy's stay at your place - compatibility to the max. I am also delighted to know that your folks are having a great time on their cruise. I'll bet the temperature is a lot more pleasant than it is here in Florida where we hit 100 degrees yesterday. Yessum, maybe your dad can wave to Putin as the ship passes closest to Russia. :)

      WOW - I never heard of the 1965 student short film Skaterdater back in my youth, but I went to Y/T and watched it just now. I loved it! It took me right back to the mid 60s when I wasn't much older than the kids in the movie. It was very realistic to see how they disturbed the peace as they skated along a strip mall, bothering store clerks, the barber and a guy trying to make a pool shot. They were really skilled skateboarders, and I'm so glad the lead boy got the bike girl in the end. It was funny to see the other boys rubbernecking as two more girls showed up in the last scene. Even that dog on the balcony was going crazy. The surf-rock soundtrack was a blast. The three men responsible for it, Mike Curb, Nick Venet and Davie Allan are all giants of the SoCal surf-rock scene. In 1968, the future Mrs. Shady #1 and I saw director Noel Black's film Pretty Poison starring Tuesday Weld and Tony Perkins (Norman Bates from Psycho). I also saw Black's 1983 sex comedy Private School starring Phoebe Cates. Thanks for turning me on to this highly acclaimed short film, widely considered the world's first skateboarding movie!

      Happy TT to you as well, dear friend JM. I need to break away for the evening, but I'll be over to see you later tonight.

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    4. Hi Shady,

      Tommy was telling me the history and I was shocked that people skateboarded barefoot before skate shoes became a thing. Dad was 12/13 in 1968 and he said he used to build skateboards. I may have to ask him if he rode barefoot or if he just wore regular sneakers. I am going to have to show dad this short film.

      Thank you for telling me about your youth and other film history. I just learned something new - apparently this has been the week of learning new things for me! Woohoo!

      Happy Friday, dear friend.

      Delete
    5. Hi, Jessica Marie!

      Yessum, a lot of things people did decades ago were done without the safety measures and optimum gear we have today. Keep in mind that car seat selts (then called "safety belts") were still a novelty in the mid 60s. They didn't become mandatory until 1968. Kids participated in personal recreational sports like skateboarding without helmets, knee and elbow pads and without shoes. Interesting that your dad built skateboards. How cool! Yessum, show your dad the Skaterdater film and the Jan And Dean video I posted on your blog. I'm sure he'll have something to say about them.

      Every day is a good day when you learn something new. That's what keeps us going. Have a safe and happy weekend, dear friend JM!

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  4. Hi there Shady! How fun to look back on all these old songs. I don't know about the Presidential Press Conference on the first list. Not sure that would be in my top 30 - LOL. The Seeds didn't do a very good job of lip synching, imo. Love the Dave Clark Five song. Glad All Over is how I feel when I get to work in my studio! Have a wonderful rest of your week my friend.

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    Replies
    1. Hi, Janet!

      Thanks for coming, dear friend! I'm delighted to have you here for show #2 of my exclusive Shady's Place series Joyce Martin's a Gold Digger.

      Wow, Janet. You had me scratching my head not knowing what you were talking about until I looked over that first survey and found "The Presidential Press Conference" by The Sickniks. I hadn't noticed it before and, frankly, I don't remember hearing the record back in 1961 when it was released. I did some digging to learn more about it. I see that the single was issued as "The Presidential Press Conference Part 1 and Part 2" and spent only one week on Billboard's Bubbling Under chart - the week of June 26, 1961. The name of the fictional studio group, The Sickniks, was inspired by Sick Magazine, a satire rag closely related to Mad Magazine. "The P.P.C." is a novelty parody record with comedian Sandy Baron doing an imitation of President John F. Kennedy holding a press conference and fielding questions from various singing stars including Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Bobby Darin and The Everly Brothers. The bogus news conference format is similar to the break-in recordings of Dickie Goodman and also similar to the wildly popular First Family album released by comedian and Kennedy impersonator Vaughn Meader during the Kennedy administration. Meader's First Family LP became the fastest selling "pre-Beatles" album in history. Again, I never even heard of The Sickniks, but I do remember comedian Sandy Baron and I did read Sick Magazine occasionally. Are you saying that you actually remember listening to that Sickniks single during your childhood in California? As you can tell, the record performed much better on certain local radio stations. WNOW York had it at #28, a jump of 5 positions from the week before.

      That Seeds video is a "sync-edit" production. We are not hearing the original program sound. The YouTube producer/uploader took the vintage performance footage and combined it with a remastered version of the original studio recording. Therefore, it is bound to fall out of sync in spots, especially if the performance we are seeing was done live and lead singer Sky Saxon did some ad libbing. I think that might be the case here. So, you can't blame the artist and you can't really blame the YouTube producer either, because the original program audio was probably crappy and needed to be replaced to go along with the restored video.

      I'm pleased that you dig the DC5 doing their first major hit and giving The Beatles a run for their money in the early phase of the British Invasion.

      I'm happy that you're feelin' "Glad All Over" whenever you are busy doing creative work in your studio. Thanks again for joining the fun, dear friend Janet. Please give my buddy Benny a snack and enjoy the rest of your week!

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    2. Wow, that's a lot of info about the PPC! I do remember Sandy Baron and it might actually have been fun to listen to those questions from those singers. I do not remember hearing it as a youngster. Right now I am consumed with the January 6th hearings. Thanks as always for your amazing back stories. Happy Thursday to you.

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    3. Hi, Janet!

      You are quite welcome, dear friend, and thanks for stopping in again. I wanted to add that you are certainly not the first friend to comment about the lip sync being off on certain videos I post. I am deliberately seeking hybrid videos that "sync-edit" restored film or videotape performances and remastered/remixed original studio recordings. I do this so that that when you tune in the various character-hosted shows here at Shady's Place, you will see the best possible picture quality and hear the best possible sound.

      Yessum, we are closely following the Jan. 6 hearings as well.

      Thanks again, dear friend Janet. Happy Thankful Thursday to you and my buddy Benny!

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  5. Well, these were all new songs to me. it was fun listening to them all though.

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    1. Hi, Mary!

      I apologize, dear friend. I just now found your comment in my spam folder along with two others. I don't know why this is happening, but I do appreciate your visits and comments.

      I'm glad you had fun with the post and learned new songs. Thanks again for coming, dear friend Mary!

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  6. It's too hard to imagine Joyce Martin as a naughty girl, not in the context of today! What a sweet face.

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    1. Hi, Cheryl-Lee!

      Thanks for swinging by, dear friend! I'm lucky I was able to get my comment published on your site before losing power again. It's been a stormy evening here in Florida!

      Whenever I look at that poster for High School Hellcats showing Joyce Martin draped over a guy in a leather jacket and looking like a sex kitten, I chuckle to myself, because the poster is deliberately provocative and deceptive. I have watched the movie several times, and Joyce never does fit in with the mean girl gang. She's too nice, too considerate, too wholesome and straight-laced. The impression I get of actress Yvonne Lime, who played Joyce, is that she conducted herself in that same ladylike fashion in real life. Yvonne famously dated Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson and Michael Landon. Based on everything I've read about those relationships, they were innocent, platonic. She always behaved like a good girl should.

      Thanks again for coming over, dear friend Cheryl-Lee. Enjoy the rest of your week!

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  7. I guess it's just a novelty song but I did like the boll weevil number. I think that bug is what today would be called an invasive species. A fact of life by Brook Benton's time.

    Since they're all 1960s movies that were all over television by the 1970s, I can tell you I recognize about 90% of the scenes in the Andy Williams video, starting with Walter Mattheu in Guide for the Married Man. That montage didn't discriminate between major studio offerings and low-budget American International fare, as I caught Vincent Price in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine.

    Also caught Annette Funicello, which brings me to her video. Voice sounded kind of Betty Boopish there, but that's all right.

    I remember an episode of St. Elsewhere where a character dismisses The Dave Clark Five as a Beatles rip-off, but I disagree. They had their own unique sound. But were they in any sense true rivals of the Fab Four? I recall a Mick Jagger interview I once read. Conducted by Rolling Stone magazine publisher Jann Wenner, Jagger was asked about his own Stones supposed rivalry with the Beatles. Jaggers pointed out that it wasn't the Beatles at first, who were almost untouchable at the time, that they were rivals with, but other British Invasion bands like The Dave Clark Five and Herman's Hermits. That's who they shared bills with. But Wenner pressed on. Eventually wasn't the Stones considered number two? "Yeah," Jagger replied, "We were number two. Just like Avis."

    That's all I got.

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    1. Hi, Kirk!

      Welcome in, good buddy!

      I'm glad you liked "The Boll Weevil Song," a familiar sound on my local radio station in the summer of 1961. The folk ditty allows us to see things from a bug's POV. We come to understand that the invasive insect did not destroy the farmer's crops with criminal intent and malice aforethought. Nothing personal. He and his family and friends were just "lookin' for a home."

      I knew you'd enjoy the various film clips included in the Andy Williams video. Sue Ann Langdon was a favorite of mine, and you also get to see lovely Diana Rigg who played spy girl "Emma Peel" in the TV series The Avengers from 1965 to 1968, as well as Annette on her beach blanket and others. Perhaps most notably, we see doomed actress Sharon Tate dancing and enticing Dean Martin in a scene from the 1968 spy comedy movie The Wrecking Crew. The final installment in Martin's Matt Helm series was also the last Sharon Tate film to be released before she was brutally murdered by members of Charles Manson's "Family." The film also marked the debut of future action stars Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.

      I think comparing the DC5 with The Beatles is "apples and oranges." The Clark band had an old school thumping rock and roll sound and a gravel voiced lead singer. The Beatles quickly moved on from doing covers of U.S. rock & roll. They rapidly evolved as songwriters and musicians, their recordings increasingly complex and experimental. The Rolling Stones and Animals brought blue collar working class sensibilities to their performances. With the exception of the Stones' psychedelic phase, their recordings had a rough, raw edginess, whereas the Beatles style was more refined, intricate and melodic. Hermans Hermits belonged in a completely different category as well, and it would be unfair to compare them with the other bands we are discussing. To me, the Hermits were similar to Freddie And The Dreamers. I enjoyed all of the British bands mentioned by you and by me. Each one had something unique to offer. The rivalry between the Beatles and the DC5 in America was based on chart performance, record sales and fan club activity.

      Thanks again for coming over and introducing topics for discussion, good buddy Kirk. Enjoy the rest of your week!

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I wanna know
What you're thinking
There are some things you can't hide
I wanna know
What you're feeling
Tell me what's on your mind