Strange Magic Being Erica - Vol. 1: My Best Friend's Girl

BOOTH ANNOUNCER GARY OWENS:

...and the cow was returned to its rightful owner.

And that's the latest from S-P-M-M news...
fast, up-to-the-minute, completely fake
and proud of it. Now stand by for

S T R A N G E   M A G I C

B E I N G   E R I C A

on the station that's #1 for music and fun - S-P-M-M!

PIGGYBACK COLD OPEN:
CLICK TO PLAY FIRST VIDEO

AND AT 17 SEC MARK, CLICK
TO START SECOND VIDEO!

"Never Been To Spain" - Three Dog Night

(Jan./Feb. 1972, highest chart pos.
#5 Hot 100 & Cash Box)

Kicking-off the show,

"Never Been To Spain,"

one of the many hits by

the versatile and very

soulful LA-based rock

band Three Dog Night.

The single reached the

top 5 in the early

weeks of 1972.

Hello again, everyone! I'm Erica Strange. As you might recall

from last year's preview, I'm the time traveling main

character on the Canadian television dramedy

Being Erica.

Welcome to the official debut of
Strange Magic Being Erica

exclusively here on S-P-M-M Retrosonic Radio.

I'm excited to be moonlighting as the newest

member of The Shady Bunch DJ staff.

On Strange Magic Being Erica
I'll be bringing you the greatest
soft rock, new wave and pop

love songs of the 70s and 80s.
Sometimes I'll even take you
all the way back to the 60s.
In fact that's exactly what
I'll do later in today's show.

On Being Erica I change clothes a lot,
and I'll be doing the same here on
S-P-M-M, even though I'm doing
a radio show. Go figure!

Okay, let's get back to the music and
the magic. In the summer of 1980,
Olivia Newton-John's musical
fantasy film Xanadu bombed
at the box office... but the

soundtrack album went
double platinum in the
U.S. and was a hit
all over the world.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

Here now is one of the songs from Xanadu. Released as a single
just before the movie hit theaters, it shot up the chart and spent
four weeks at number one. Olivia Newton-John sings-- "Magic."

"Magic" - Olivia Newton-John

(July/Aug. 1980, highest chart pos. #1 Hot 100 & Cash Box),

from OST of the Aug. 1980 film Xanadu)

That was Olivia Newton-John with her

smash hit from the flop film Xanadu,

a picture that also featured dance star

Gene Kelly in his final movie role.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

Olivia and this popular English rock band,

Electric Light Orchestra, collaborated on

the hit theme from Xanadu. The previous

year, ELO racked-up their biggest U.S.

hit with a single that peaked in the top 5

and you're listening to it now. It's called

"Don't Bring Me Down."

"Don't Bring Me Down" - Electric Light Orchestra

Aug./Sept. 1979, highest chart pos. #4 Hot 100 & Cash Box)

From the late summer of '79, a year before Xanadu, that was ELO -

Electric Light Orchestra - with their highest-charting hit in the U.S.

and second highest charting UK hit-- "Don't Bring Me Down."

By the way, the lyrics of that song are often misheard as

"Don't Bring Me Down, Bruce." ELO co-founder Jeff

Lynne insists he is actually shouting "grooss"...

a word he simply made up!

BOOTH ANNOUNCER:

It's another Erica Strange

(ECHO CHAMBER)
DOUBLE PLAY-AY-AY-AY!

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

You got that right,

Don Pardo!

 

I'm double dippin' into the Electric Light Orchestra catalog

to bring you this groovy drum cover by German multi-

instrumentalist Sina Doering. Listen as Sina beats

the skins into submission on ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky!"

"Mr. Blue Sky" - ELO drum cover by Sina 

(June 2019, orig. single Aug. 1978, highest

chart pos. #27 Cash Box/#35 Hot 100)

That was The Princess of Percussion, drum sensation Sina Doering,

with a great drum cover of my second featured ELO song

"Mr. Blue Sky," a top 30 hit in the summer of 1978.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

If you're just tuning in, I'm Erica Strange

and this is Strange Magic Being Erica,

and we're in the middle of a 7-in-a-row

block party on S-P-M-M. I'm your vehicle,

babe, I'll take you anywhere you wanna go.

Why don't we let The Cars take us back

to '78 with-- "My Best Friend's Girl"?

"My Best Friend's Girl" - The Cars

(Nov./Dec. 1978, highest chart pos.
#35 Hot 100/#44 Cash Box)

Getting your motor running, those were The Cars with Ric Ocasek

on lead vocals doing "My Best Friend's Girl," the second single

from the Beantown band's self-titled debut album, and a song

from the soundtrack of the 1979 coming-of-age crime movie

Over the Edge. In the U.S. "Best Friend's Girl" peaked at the

low end of the top 40, but it was a much bigger hit in the
UK where it finished in the top 3 on the chart.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

Erica Strange keeping you company on

S-P-M-M. Know what, I really like these

guys - The Doobie Brothers - a group

that's been an important part of the

soundtrack of America for more

than 50 years. Formed in 1970

as a mainstream rock band

behind lead singer Tom Johnston,

the Doobies changed direction in

1975 when Johnston left and was
replaced by blue-eyed soul man
Michael McDonald. Here's the
updated sound of the McDonald
era, The Doobie Brothers with--

"It Keeps You Runnin'."

"It Keeps You Runnin'" - The Doobie Brothers

(Jan./Feb. 1977, highest chart pos. #37 Hot 100/#50 Cash Box)

From the early weeks of 1977, those were The Doobie Brothers with their

top 40 hit "It Keeps You Runnin'"... a single from their 1976 album

Takin' It to the Streets... the first to feature Michael McDonald

as lead singer. The song was used in the 1978 classic rock

movie FM and is also found in the soundtrack of the

Academy Award-winning 1994 film Forrest Gump.

Strange days have found us and, as promised, here I am all the way back in 1969

to introduce the classic folk-rock sound of Crosby, Stills & Nash - a supergroup
that put an indelible stamp on American music and culture. Also known as CSN,
the group was made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and
Stephen Stills plus Graham Nash from the UK. Canadian singer and
songwriter Neil Young also joined the act from time to time.  

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

Here's one of the group's best known compositions. Written by Stephen Stills,

the song refers to his former girlfriend, singer/songwriter Judy Collins.

Crosby, Stills & Nash sing-- "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes."

"Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" - Crosby, Stills & Nash

(Nov./Dec. 1969, highest chart pos. #15 Cash Box/#21 Hot 100)

You just heard the tight intricate

harmonies of CSN - Crosby, Stills

& Nash, one of the leading groups

of the late 1960s counterculture -

and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," a song

that made the top 20 in the U.S. and

brushed the top 10 in Canada during

the Thanksgiving and Christmas

holiday season in 1969.

Gosh, Shady just drew his finger

across his throat, the signal for me

to "cut," and that means I need to

wrap up my first official show on

S-P-M-M. Before I forget, I want

to invite you to watch my series

Being Erica, streaming on Hulu

and on Amazon Prime Video.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

To play us off, here's a different version of my theme song "Strange Magic,"

this one from the 2015 animated jukebox musical fantasy movie of the

same name. Stay tuned. Coming up on the B side of news, my friend

Jerry Blavat, The Geator with the Heater, drops by to spin stacks

of wax on Geator Gold... and I'll be back soon with more great

songs from your youth on Strange Magic Being Erica. Now

watch and listen as stars Evan Rachel Wood and Alan

Cumming as characters Marianne and Bog King,

sing the title song "Strange Magic." This is

Erica Strange saying so long and take care!

"Strange Magic" - Evan Rachel Wood & Alan Cumming

(from OST of Jan. 2015 animated film Strange Magic)

Cruisin' 1961: All Aboard Woo Woo's Night Train!

 It's time once again to 

 hop into our time machine 

 and go Cruisin' through 

 top 40 radio history. 

This is the blog series
that pays tribute to
the Cruisin' albums,
those simulated radio broadcasts hosted by

some of the greatest
top 40 deejays of
the 50s and 60s.

As I have done in the past,
I will play a few songs
found on the original
Cruisin' album plus a
couple more favorites
released the same year.

To transport us back in
time, set the mood and
create a party atmosphere,
I tacked up on the wall
these nostalgic vintage
soda pop print ads.

 The year is 1961 and we're 

 heading up the road to Beantown.  

 That's where "Old Aching Adenoids" 

 Arnie "Woo Woo" 

 Ginsburg 

 is hosting 

 The Night Train Show on 

 WMEX, Boston! 

 THE MARCELS 

Listen to this brief clip to familiarize yourself with Arnie's voice
and DJ style. Arnie begins speaking at the 40 sec. mark
and introduces the first record-- "Blue Moon!"

"Blue Moon" - The Marcels

(Mar./Apr. 1961, highest chart pos.
#1 Hot 100/#1 Cash Box/#1 R&B)

 DEL SHANNON 

Del Shannon's "Runaway" was one of
the biggest hits of 1961, topping the
Billboard chart four weeks in a row.

In the late 80s, Del reworked the
lyrics and re-recorded the song for
use as the theme of the NBC TV
series Crime Story, a cop drama
from executive producer Michael
Mann, the guy who transformed
the genre with the cult phenom
Miami Vice a few years earlier.

"Runaway" - Del Shannon

(Apr./May 1961, highest chart pos. #1 Hot 100,
#1 Cash Box, /#3 R&B, re-recorded version used
as theme of TV series Crime Story, 1986-1988)

 NEIL SEDAKA 

Brooklyn born singer, songwriter and

pianist Neil Sedaka made enormous

contributions to pop music, yet he is

still locked out of the Rock and Roll

Hall of Fame, leading some fans to

conclude it's because Neil wrote

and recorded pop instead of

rock 'n' roll. That's crazy talk.

In the 50s and early 60s, pop

was a big part of rock 'n' roll,

especially the danceworthy

up tempo style of pop that

was Neil's specialty.

"Calendar Girl," a song written by Sedaka
along with his composing partner Howard
Greenfield, is a great example. Released in
December 1960, "Calendar Girl" climbed the
chart in the early weeks of 1961 and finished
at #4, Neil's first single to reach the top 5.

"Calendar Girl" 

(Scopitone film)

- Neil Sedaka

(Jan./Feb. 1961, highest

chart pos. #4 Hot 100,

#4 Cash Box)

 JOEY DEE & THE STARLITERS 

Joey Dee went to school with the
classic girl group The Shirelles in
Passaic, NJ. Joey formed a band
called The Starliters which briefly
included actor Joe Pesci on guitar.
Joey Dee and The Starliters became
the house band at The Peppermint
Lounge, a club in New York City.
In late 1961 the group released a
single inspired by the trendy night-
spot and by the wildly popular
dance craze-- Peppermint Twist!"

"Peppermint Twist - Part 1"
Joey Dee And The Starliters

(Dec. 1961/Jan. '62, h.c.p.
#1 Hot 100/#2 Cash Box/#8 R&B)

 THE REGENTS 

You heard it last week on the sneak preview of Wordless Wendi.

In the early weeks of 1966, The Beach Boys cover of "Barbara Ann"

reached #2 on the chart, denied the top spot by two other records,

"We Can Work It Out" by The Beatles and "My Love" by Petula Clark.

 Some folks don't remember the original recording of the song by

the New York doo-wop vocal group The Regents. Arnie Ginsburg

sure does... and he played it on his volume of Cruisin'!

"Barbara-Ann" - The Regents

(June 1961, highest chart pos. #7 R&B,
#13 Hot 100/#13 Cash Box)

 LITTLE EVA 

From 1956 until he left WMEX in 1967, Arnie Ginsburg was

the number-one disc jockey in Boston. Let's Cruise past 1961

to the following year and let Arnie introduce the last song in

 the style he used to delight listeners on his Night Train Show.

It's the Ginsburg Go on

Color Radio, and here's

the record that's perched

at the tip top of the Wimex

Tunedex - number one in

Beantown and all around.

START VIDEO NOW!

It's the perfect dance ditty for

the summer of '62.  If you've

got the ocean, the lotion and

the notion, Little Eva's got --

"The Loco-Motion!"

"The Loco-Motion" - Little Eva (July thru Sept. 1962,

highest chart pos. 1 R&B, Hot 100 & Cash Box,

June 2021 enhancement) 

 Don't miss the next thrill packed 

 episode of Cruisin' coming soon! 

 NEWS FLASH! 

Hey, gang, this is your pal

Arnie Ginsburg of WMEX

Boston with exciting news.

Beginning next year, I'll be

bringing my Wimex-Tunedex

Night Train Show to S-P-M-M

when I join The Shady Bunch

deejay team. The "Woo Woo"

wants to see you-you in '22

right here at Shady's Place

Music & Memories!

Wordless Wendi Meets Iris West, Nomi Marks & Nia Nal

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

(COLD SHOW OPEN)

 "Barbara Ann" - The Beach Boys 

 (Jan./Feb. 1966, highest chart pos. #1 Cash Box/#2 Hot 100, 
 from Nov. 1965 album Beach Boys' Party!) 

A song from the 1965 album Beach Boys' Party!... that was "Barbara Ann"
featuring Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean on co-lead vocals along with
Brian Wilson and backed by America's Beach Boys. "Barbara-Ann"
was originally recorded in 1961 by the Bronx doo-wop group
The Regents who had a #13 charting hit with it. In early
1966 the Beach Boys cover topped the Cash Box chart
and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the summer
of 1975, the Beach Boys' single made a return visit to the
chart and Bubbled Under for three weeks, finishing at #101.

Hi everyone! It's Almost Wordless Wednesday

and I'm Wordless Wendi, Wendi Falkenberry,

Eddie Cleary's perky, levelheaded girlfriend

on The Kids Are Alright, the TV sitcom set

in the year 1972. I'm here today along with

three other cool television characters with

a sneak preview of our new radio shows.

That's right, you guessed it. Beginning

next year the four of us will be joining

The Shady Bunch as DJs on S-P-M-M

Retrosonic Radio. My show will be

called Wordless Wendi because I'll

bring you more music with less talk,

the best surf-rock and sunshine pop

hits of 60s, and right now I've got
another one by The Beach Boys.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

Listen to the fresh, vibrant sound on this newly enhanced remix
of their top 10 hit from the summer of '66-- "Wouldn't It Be Nice!"

 "Wouldn't It Be Nice" - The Beach Boys 

 (Aug./Sept. 1966, highest chart pos. 

 #7 Cash Box/#8 Hot 100) 

I'm Nomi Marks. Do not call me Michael.

I'm the San Francisco based trans woman

hacktivist and blogger from the sci-fi TV

series Sense8. You might also remember

me from Riley's Raves on the old blog

Shady Dell Music & Memories. Next
year my BFF, an exciting young woman
you'll meet in a moment, will join me
in hosting a new show on S-P-M-M
called Transitory Verve. Together
we will bring you musical diversity,
great sounds of the past and present
by recording artists all over the world.

My first play is a way cool number

by the perennially popular dance-pop

new wave Brit girl trio Bananarama.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

These English sparrows made the Guinness book for having the world's
highest number of chart entries by a female group. If you wanna know

why, the proof is in the butter pie. From Disorderlies, the 1987

comedy starring The Fat Boys and Ralph Bellamy, here

are the banana girls and-- "I Heard A Rumour!"

 "I Heard A Rumour" - Bananarama 

 (Aug. to Oct. 1987, highest chart pos. #4 Hot 100 & Cash Box, 

 from OST of the Aug. 1987 film Disorderlies) 

Hi, I'm Nia Nal, code name Dreamer on the hit

TV series Supergirl. In 2018 I made history as

the first transgender superhero on television.

Latin rock 'n' roll pioneer Ritchie Valens was
only seventeen years old when he died in an
Iowa plane crash along with Buddy Holly

and The Big Bopper on February 3, 1959,

a date immortalized in the Don McLean

song "American Pie" as "The Day the

Music Died." Ritchie's adaptation of

the Mexican folk song "La Bamba"

was released as a single at the end

of 1958 and charted in the weeks

before and after his tragic death.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

Sixty years later, on the other side of the world,

two young Romanians breathed new life into

the song. Here with their joyful cover of
"La Bamba" are guitarist Andrei Cerbu
and singing partner Beatrice Florea.

 "La Bamba" - Ritchie Valens cover by 

 Andrei Cerbu & Beatrice Florea, (August 2019) 

Hi, I'm Iris West, news journalist
and Barry Allen's girlfriend on the
DC Comics superhero TV series

The Flash. You might recall the

night we met when Shady Dell

Music & Memories presented

the rave party Barry's Bash
"Dance With The Flash."

My new show, which begins
next year on S-P-M-M, will be
called Flashback with Iris West.
I'll be playing hot urban soul,
R&B and dance club sounds
of the 70s, 80s and 90s.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

If you follow my simulcast on YouTube, you'll be able to see the music videos

that aired on MTV and Vh1. Here's a music history mystery, a single by
O'Bryan that spent a whopping 21 weeks on the R&B chart and went

all the way to #1, but somehow missed the Hot 100. O'Bryan co-
wrote this song with Soul Train's Don Cornelius. Watch and
listen now as O'Bryan turns on your-- "Lovelite!"

 "Lovelite" - O'Bryan (May/June/July 1984, 

 highest chart pos. #1 R&B/#101 Bubbling Under) 

Here's another R&B chart-topper,

and this one also rode high on

the pop charts. It was recorded

in 1987 by Perri McKissack, a

singer from Oakland, California,

who, as a little girl, earned the

nickname "Pebbles" because

she reminded her family of

the cartoon character

Pebbles Flintstone.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

In 1988, Pebbles hit pay dirt with her second

single, another record that logged 21 weeks

on the R&B chart-- "Girlfriend!"

 "Girlfriend" - Pebbles (Feb./Mar. Apr. 1988, 

 highest chart pos. 1 R&B/#5 Hot 100/#6 Cash Box) 

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

That wraps up our sneak preview.
We hope you enjoyed sampling the
sounds you'll be hearing on Wordless

Wendi, Transitory Verve and Flash-

back with Iris West. Now for Iris,

Nia Nal and Nomi Marks, I'm

Wendi Falkenberry. See you

next year on S-P-M-M! 

 "Wendy" - The Beach Boys 

 (Oct./Nov. 1964, highest chart pos. #44 Hot 100, 

 #57 Cash Box, from Sept. 1964 EP 4-By The Beach Boys) 

Shady's Angels Sneak Preview: The Name Game - Gary Shelton Battles Troy Shondell in a Rock 'n' Roll Singing Contest, and "This Time"... it's Personal!

Welcome to a sneak preview

of my new series

SHADY'S ANGELS

coming to Shady's Place in 2022.

Today I am staging a "battle of the bands" between old school rock 'n' roll

singers Gary Shelton and Troy Shondell. Okay, I confess. They're actually

the same guy - Gary Schelton of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, who released records

under two different names. Sadly Gary/Troy died at the start of 2016

from complications of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Let's turn back the clock
to happier days and listen
to some of his best sides.
Although Gary aka Troy is
remembered by most as
a one-hit-wonder for his
top 5 charting "This Time,"
the song I saved for last,
I'd like you to hear some
of his other recordings.
If you don't have time to
listen to all of them from
start to finish, just play a
few seconds of each to
get a feel for the singer's
dramatic, rockabilly
influenced style.

To set the mood, I brought along some of

SHADY'S ANGELS

vintage classic pinups by Gil Elvgren and other
artists that I will use throughout this series.

Without further delay, here is the sound of
Gary Shelton aka Troy Shondell!

"Don't Send Me Away" - Gary Shelton

(Oct. 1957, B side of "My Hero")

"Goodbye Little Darlin' Goodbye" - Gary Shelton

{Mar. 1959, B side of "Stop The World

(My Baby's Gone)"}

"Stop The World (My Baby's Gone)" - Gary Shelton
(Mar. 1959, uncharted)

"Honey Bee" - Gary Shelton

(Mar. 1960, uncharted)

"Kissin' At The Drive-In" - Gary Shelton And

The Tone Blenders (May 1958, uncharted)

"Gone" - Troy Shondell

 (Sept. 1962, uncharted)

"A Rose And A Baby Ruth" - Troy Shondell

(July 1967, uncharted, Apr. 1969, B side

of "Something's Wrong In Indiana")

"Island In The Sky" - Troy Shondell

(Jan. 1962, highest chart pos. #92 Hot 100,

#100 Cash Box, B side of "Tears From An Angel")

"This Time" - Troy Shondell

(Oct./Nov. 1961, highest chart pos.

#5 Cash Box/#6 Hot 100)

I hope you enjoyed the sound of this prolific,

terrific, yet underrated rock 'n' roller -

Gary Shelton aka Troy Shondell.

More vintage tunes and classic pinups

are coming your way next year

in my new series...

SHADY'S ANGELS.

See you then!