UNDERACHIEVERS! The 50 Most Underrated Records of the 1960s, Pt. 1

 BEFORE WE BEGIN THE POST, 

 I PROUDLY PRESENT ANOTHER 

 EXHIBIT IN MY SERIES... 

  SHADY DELL 

 SHOW AND TELL! 

 “The Mystery of the Cup” 

 NEVER BEFORE SEEN ON EITHER 

 OF MY BLOGS...THIS ULTRA-RARE 

 SHADY DELL SOUVENIR PLASTIC 

 DRINKING CUP, GENEROUSLY 

 DONATED BY OUR GOOD 

 FRIEND JIM SIELING! 

 Cup measures 5.5 inches in height 

 and 3.5 inches at top lip. 

Jim says he has five of these cups.  Former Dell owner Toni Deroche

told me her son Brandon had one cup back in the 2000s when he

lived at the Dell with members of his band The Underwater.

However, Bran's collector cup vanished at some point.

 WHAT'S THE STORY 

 BEHIND THESE CUPS? 

 WHO CREATED THEM? 

 WERE THEY PRINTED AND 

 SOLD AT THE DELL AUCTION? 

 EVER SEEN ONE BEFORE? 

 DO YOU OWN ONE OR MORE? 

 PLEASE LET US HEAR FROM YOU 

 IF YOU CAN HELP SOLVE... 

 “The Mystery of the Cup”  

 NOW, ON WITH THE SHOW! 

 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 

Starting today, Blue and Green collide.

 We're 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 some

reason, 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

artwork and illustrations on the walls to enhance the mood.

  Listen to the first 10 songs and let me know in your comment:

 How many of these long lost relics do you remember or like? 

  Okay, start clicking and enjoy the tuneage in Part 1 of my series...

 UNDERACHIEVERS! 

 The 50 Most Underrated 

 Records of the 1960s! 

"Stubborn Kind Of Fellow" - Marvin Gaye

(Oct./Nov. 1962, highest chart pos. #36 Cash Box,

#46 Hot 100/#8 R&B)

"One of the very best records of Marvin's career, yet it fell short

of the Billboard Top 40. Outrageous!... a travesty!" - Shady Blue 

 CLICK ON IMAGE BELOW TO PLAY SONG 

 CLICK ON IMAGE ABOVE TO PLAY SONG 

"Hey Sah-Lo-Ney" - Mickey Lee Lane

(July 1965, uncharted)

"Uncharted??? Unbelievable!  Mickey Lee's record rocks big time!

Good to know the ditty was hot across the pond... a genuine

 'Northern Soul stomper' played heavily in dance clubs

of northern England." - Shady Green

"The Boy From Crosstown" - The Angels

(Oct. 1964, uncharted)

"Uncharted??? You gotta be kidding!  This song surpasses

'Boyfriend's Back' as the toughest, most streetwise sound

generated by this great pop girl group!" - Shady Blue

"That's Cool, That's Trash" - The Street Cleaners

(Nov. 1964, uncharted)

"Uncharted???  No way!  This slab's too cool for school! Penned

by Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan and covered a few months later

by The Kingsmen, this frat rockin' party platter belongs

in the soundtrack of Animal House.

Ain't gonna be any dancin' on the kissin' floor!"

- Shady Green

"You've Been Untrue" - The Delfonics 

(Apr. 1967, uncharted)

"Uncharted??? Didn't even make a dent in the R&B survey? 

 I'm flabbergasted!  One of greatest songs in the entire Delfonics

catalog, this exquisite sweet soul ballad is one of the essential

building blocks of The Sound of Philadelphia." - Shady Blue

"Mr. Dieingly Sad" - The Critters

(Sept./Oct. 1966, highest chart pos. #14 Cash Box,

#17 Hot 100/#17 Canada)

"Failed to reach the top 15 on Billboard?  Makes no sense to me!

This groovy, beautifully written song deserved to wind up

in the top 5 winner's circle!" - Shady Green

"Uncharted??? I call bullcrap!!!

"Homicide Dresser" - Billy Harner

(Oct. 1967, uncharted)

This rowdy Northern Soul cult classic by

East Coast blue-eyed soul shouter Billy Harner

aka 'The Human Percolator'  deserved to bust

into the top 40 at the very least!" - Shady Blue

"California Nights" - Lesley Gore

(Mar./Apr. 1967, highest chart pos. #11 Cash Box,

#16 Hot 100/#15 Canada)

"14 weeks on the chart and still peaked outside the top 15 on

Billboard? I'm flummoxed!  Co-written by Marvin Hamlisch

 and produced by veteran hitmaker Bob Crewe, this great

single deserved to reach the top 3." - Shady Green

"Hold On" - The Radiants

 (Apr./May 1968, highest chart pos.

#35 R&B/#68 Hot 100)

('Keep on rockin, baby... cause you only (WOO-HOOO!)

rock once!') "A soul essential that recalls the glory years of

The Geator (Jerry Blavat), Hy Lit, Georgie Woods, Porky

Chedwick and other great record spinners of the 60s.

 Featuring Mitchell Bullock on lead, here are Chicago's Radiants

with the hottest sound around in the spring of '68, but a true

underachiever that missed the Top 30 on the R&B chart

and stopped well short of the Top 50 on the pop survey.

Shirley you jest!" - Shady Blue

"I Wonder (If Your Love Will Ever Belong To Me)"

- Rick Nelson  (May 1964, uncharted)

"Uncharted??? Well 'I Wonder' what gives!  Okay, I know

darned well why Rick's superb cover of a 1961 record by a black

doo-wop group called The Pentagons failed to register on the chart.

 It's because the song went to waste issued as the B side of a single.

If only the Rickster's rendition had been released as an A side,

it coulda been and woulda been a hit!" - Shady Green

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 4 more parts of this series...

40 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! 

Geator Gold - Vol. 2: The Duck Across the Pond!

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

 GEATOR GOLD 

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

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

(COLD SHOW OPEN)

"Can You Do It" - The Contours

(Apr. 1964, highest chart pos. #41 Hot 100 & R&B)

A fantastic sound coming out of Detroit, those were the mighty Contours

with "Can You Do It," a record that brushed the top 40 on both charts -
R&B and pop, in the spring of 1964. If you're watching my simulcast
on YouTube you saw the def dancing of the teen kings and queens
on my good friend Dick Clark's TV show American Bandstand.

Greetings and salutations! I am The Geator
with the Heater. I am The Boss with the
Big Hot Sauce, welcoming all my yon
teenagers to another bombastic edition
of Geator Gold here on S-P-M-M...
the station that's #1 for music and fun.

We're plowing through 7-in-a-row on
the Jerry Blavat show, doin' the bop
at the Geator's sock hop... and lawd
have mercy, we won't stop til we drop.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

Ready for a quack attack? Here's my man

Jackie Lee with his swan song-- "The Duck!"

"The Duck - Part 2" - Jackie Lee
(released Mar. 1973 in the UK)

That was Mr. Jackie Lee keeping us out

on the floor and beggin' for more. If you're
livin' in the U.S.A., I'm willing to bet that
was the first time you heard that particular
version of "The Duck." Quick story: Back
in the fall of 1963 the duo of Bob & Earl
wrote and recorded "Harlem Shuffle."

"Bob" was Bob Relf who made solo
singles using his own name and two
others - Bobby Valentino and Bobby
Garrett. "Earl" was Earl Nelson who
took the name Jackie Lee and had a
solo hit with the dance ditty "The Duck."

What you just listened to was Part 2 of "The Duck" which was not released
on a single in the U.S. It was issued in the UK in 1973 on the B side of
Part 1. If you are familiar with Part 1 you noticed that Part 2 contains
different lyrics and the female backing singers are featured more
prominently, making it even more of a groove than side one.

Back to Detroit we go now for a nifty number by one of Motown's top
girl groups and another version of a popular song that I'm betting is
new to your ears. It's the Marvelettes and their hit "When You're
Young And In Love," only this is an alternate version with
a spoken intro. This one's too cool for school!

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

"When You're Young And In Love" (alternate mix) - The Marvelettes
(May/June 1967, highest chart pos. #9 R&B/#23 Hot 100)

From the vaults of Motown, those were the marvelous Marvelettes
with the seldom heard spoken intro version of their top 10 hit
from the spring of 1967, "When You're Young And In Love."

Up next on Geator Gold, more of the girl group

sound, this one by a group from New York. In

1957 the duo Johnnie & Joe had a top 10 hit

with "Over The Mountain Across The Sea."

"Johnnie" was Johnnie Louise Richardson,

daughter of "Zell" Sanders, founder of the

New York based R&B label J&S, one of

the few record companies ever owned by

a woman. Johnnie was also a member of

The Jaynettes, the Bronx girl group that

hit with "Sally, Go 'Round the Roses."

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

In 1958 Zell signed a girl group called The Bouquets and changed their
name to The Click-Ettes. Featuring lead singer Barbara Jean English
here is one of their great ballads-- "Lover's Prayer."

"Lover's Prayer" - The Click-Ettes
(June 1959, uncharted)

On Geator Gold we play 'em from the heart... not the chart, and you just heard
the fabulous girl group The Click-ettes proving that old school is cool with
a great late 50s snuggle song for my yon teens, "Lover's Prayer."

If you're just tuning in, we're in the middle of

a 7-in-a-row block party on Geator Gold with

yours truly Jerry Blavat, The Geator with the
Heater, The Boss with the Sauce, right here
on S-P-M-M... home of The Shady Bunch.

Speaking of school, here are The Students,
a doo-wop group from Ohio that recorded
two classics of the genre, "I'm So Young"
and "Every Day Of The Week," both
songs penned by William H. "Prez"
Tyus, Jr., a high school pupil.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

The two monumental songs were released back-to-back on the same 45.

Here now are The Students with the B side, "Every Day Of The Week,"

a dance number that inspired The Dovells' "Bristol Stomp!"

"Every Day of the Week" - The Students

(B side of "I'm So Young" single orig. released in

July & Aug. 1958 and charted #26 in June 1961)

Waxed in the summer of 1958 and popular three years later in the summer of '61
as the fab flip of the top 30 hit "I'm So Young," that was the up tempo side
"Every Day Of The Week" by The Students of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Fiction and Fact From the Geator's Almanac:
He is known as the singing barber of Pine Hill,
New Jersey, a town not far from Philadelphia.
I'm talking about Mr. Billy Harner. In the 60s
Billy's high voltage performances of R&B
material invited comparisons to Mitch
Ryder and earned Billy the nickname
“The Human Perk-u-lator.”

START THE VIDEO NOW!

In the 70s, Billy's records were hot in
Northern Soul clubs of the UK. Here's
Billy's biggest-- "Sally Sayin' Somethin'!"

"Sally Sayin' Somethin'" - Billy Harner

(Aug. 1967, highest chart pos. #118 Bubbling Under)

That was Billy Harner - “The Human Perk-u-lator” - and his signature song
"Sally Sayin' Something," a big hit on the East Coast in the summer of 1967.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

And as all good things must come to an end,
so too must this edition of Geator Gold.

Thanks for listening. Don't touch that dial,
because my puppy pal Toto Moto is coming
up on the other side of news with a special
show called Toto's Tutorial. You don't wanna
miss it. After that, my good buddy Dell Rat
Tom drops in to play stacks o' wax on Juke-
box Giants, and I'll be back soon with more
Geator Gold... so keep it here on S-P-M-M
where the cool oldies live on and on.

To play us off, gospel-tinged disco done right, just inches across the border
into secular territory. The song is "Mighty Cloud of Joy," and the group
is called the Mighty Clouds of Joy. Now this is Jerry Blavat, The Geator
With the Heator... The Boss With the Big Hot Sauce, reminding you to
keep on rockin', baby, 'cause you only (woo-HOO!) rock once! Bye y'all!

"Mighty Cloud of Joy" – Mighty Clouds of Joy
(Feb./Mar. 1975, highest chart pos. #47 R&B)