Shady Green and His Wayback Machine Vol. 3: Hey Tonight, Drop Out With Me, Little Girl!

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and proud of it. Now stand by for

 SHADY GREEN 

 AND HIS 

 WAYBACK 

 MACHINE 

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

 PIGGYBACK COLD OPEN: 
 CLICK TO PLAY FIRST VIDEO. 

 AT 11 SEC. MARK, CLICK TO 

 PLAY SECOND VIDEO! 

"Hawaii Five-O" - The Ventures
(Mar to May 1969, highest chart pos. #4 Hot 100/#6 Cash Box)

Visions of Jack Lord's hair flashing through my noggin as the best-selling

instrumental band of all time, The Ventures, get the old adrenaline pumping

and kick-off the show with the theme from the hit TV series "Hawaii Five-O,"

a top 5 hit from 1969. I've always wanted to say this: "Book 'em, Danno!"

How're you doing? I'm Shady Green

and I'm glad you hopped aboard my

Wayback Machine for another trip

back to one of the most exciting

periods in music history, the mid

60s through the early 70s.

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

Up next, here's a San Francisco based

folk-rock and psychedelic pop band
that racked up a string of hits as long

as a comet tail - 14 top 40 singles in

all. I'm talking about The Grass Roots,

and here they are with a groovy tune

from 1971-- "Temptation Eyes."

"Temptation Eyes" - The Grass Roots

(Feb./Mar. 1971, highest chart pos. #15 Hot 100/#16 Cash Box)

Retrosonic Radio in Futuresonic Stereo Surround - that's S-P-M-M,

and you just heard "Temptation Eyes" by The Grass Roots, a great

single that peaked at #15, surprisingly low considering the fact that

the record spent a whopping 18 weeks on the chart. That's longer

than any of the band's other releases including their

biggest hit "Midnight Confessions."

Here's another song that under-performed

on the U.S. chart, but the reason is clear.

It's The Rolling Stones with the follow-

up to their smash hit "Jumpin' Jack Flash."

This single was released in the U.S. shortly

after the violent clashes between police

and anti-Vietnam War protesters at the

1968 Democratic National Convention

in Chicago. Fearing the song would

incite more violence, local stations

refused to play it. 

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

FYI, the original picture sleeve of this single is one of the rarest and most

valuable in the world, worth well over a thousand dollars. Here they are,

The Stones, with the song banned in Chi-town-- "Street Fighting Man!"

"Street Fighting Man" - The Rolling Stones

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

Banned in The Windy City, The Rolling Stones song "Street Fighting Man."

Incidentally "The Boss" - Brice Springsteen- called the song's lyrics

 "What can a poor boy do but sing in a rock and roll band?"

one of the greatest rock and roll lines of all time.

If you're just tuning in, your riding the

Wayback Machine with Shady Green,

The Dean of Keen, on S-P-M-M... the

#1 station for a rock and roll nation! 

Time now for some Rapp music.

I'm talking about the late, great

songwriter/musician Tom Rapp,

one of the most eloquent and

distinctive voices of my

g-g-generation. 

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

In 1967 Rapp and his psychedelic folk rock band Pearls Before Swine released
their first single for ESP records. Turn on, tune in-- "Drop Out" with me!

"Drop Out!" - Pearls Before Swine

(from Oct. 1967 album One Nation Underground)

From their 1967 debut album One Nation Underground, that was Tom Rapp

and PBS - Pearls Before Swine - with "Drop Out!" PBS was noteworthy

for using an assortment of esoteric musical instruments in their studio

recordings, the kind rarely found on pop or rock recordings.

Shady Green and the Wayback Machine...

and we're right smack dab in the middle

of a seven-in-a-row block party here

on S-P-M-M radio where all the

cool oldies come to play. 

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

Our magical mystery tour continues now

with The Doors and a song from their

second album Strange Days--

"You're Lost Little Girl." 

"You're Lost little Girl" - The Doors

(from Sept. 1967 album Strange Days)

The Doors with "You're Lost Little Girl." Released at the beginning of fall

in 1967, Strange Days is considered by many critic and fans including me,

Shady Green, to be The Doors' strongest, most interesting and best album.

Yet at the time of its release, it was overshadowed by the band's self titled

debut album and sales were disappointing. Strange days indeed!

Shady Green, The Dean of Keen. I don't

know about you, but I'm psyched. On

my turntable now is a power platter by

John Fogerty and his roots rock band

Creedence Clearwater Revival. This

single was released as a double A

sided record which means there

was no designated B side. Here's

a hint. The first A side features

"Have You Ever Seen The Rain." 

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

Retrosonic Radio in Futuresonic Stereo Surround... that's S-P-M-M, and here's

the second song on that super slab, a CCR sonic boom-- "Hey Tonight!"

"Hey Tonight" - Creedence Clearwater Revival

(Feb./Mar. 1971, highest chart pos. #8 Hot 100/#1 Denmark & Germany,

released as a double A side single with "Have You Ever Seen The Rain")

CCR with "Hey Tonight," one of the songs on their double A-side

release that also featured "Have You Ever Seen The Rain."

Both songs on that 1971 single cracked the top 10.

That does it for this voyage

of the Wayback Machine.

Thanks for riding along.

Stay tuned on the B side

of news for your buddy

and mine, that lovable

nosy neighbor Ernest P.

Worrell, who'll drop by

to Rock-A-Billygoat

right here on S-P-M-M...

the station with personality.

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

and I'll be back soon with more groovy greats from the Summer of Love and
the Woodstock era. To play us off, Norman Greenbaum with his gospel rock
classic from 1970 - "Spirit In The Sky." Norman's nifty number spent two
weeks atop the Cash Box chart but was held back at #3 on the Billboard
Hot 100, denied the top spot by the Jackson 5 hit "ABC" and by
The Beatles with "Let It Be." Thanks again for joining the fun.
Now this is Shady Green, The Dean of Keen, over and out!

"Spirit In The Sky" - Norman Greenbaum

(Mar. to May 1970, highest chart pos. #1 Cash Box/#3 Hot 100)

Hey, That Sounds Just Like... Vol. 3: Candlelight Afternoon with the Old Man Down the Road

WELCOME TO VOL. 3 OF

"HEY, THAT SOUNDS

JUST LIKE..."

This is the series that compares recorded songs that sound similar
to each other and, in some cases, sound almost exactly alike.
Which do you prefer, the originals or the soundalikes?

Remember, ladies and gentlemen...

This is only an exhibition...
This is not a competition...
Please... no wagering.

 JOHN FOGERTY 

Singer, songwriter and guitarist John

Fogerty came to fame in the late 60s

as leader of Creedence Clearwater

Revival. Creative differences

between Fogerty and his mates

took their toll, as did contract

hassles with their label Fantasy

Records. Fogerty departed and

CCR dissolved. In late 1984, as

a solo artist, Fogerty released

"The Old Man Down the Road,"

the first single from his come-

back album Centerfield.

 "Old Man" made the top 10, and the music video

is one of the most memorable of the 80s, edited

to make it appear a guitar cord is miles long.

"The Old Man Down the Road" - John Fogerty

(Feb. 1985, highest chart pos. #10 Hot 100,

#1 Top Rock Tracks)

 CREEDENCE 

 CLEARWATER 

 REVIVAL 

Film producer Saul Zaentz, winner of Best Picture Academy
Awards for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus and
The English Patient, was also owner of Fantasy Records.

Zaentz sued John Fogerty, claiming

the chorus of "The Old Man Down

The Road" sounded too similar to

CCR's "Run Through The Jungle,"

a song from the band's album

Cosmo's Factory released on

a single in the spring of 1970.

(To get out of his contract with

Fantasy, Fogerty had signed

away his rights to the music

he made with CCR.)

 Fogerty won the court battle when he brought his guitar

to the witness stand and pointed out differences

between the two recordings. Can you

detect those differences?

"Run Through the Jungle" - Creedence Clearwater Revival

(May 1970, highest chart pos. #4, B side of "Up Around the Bend")

 THE CORSAIRS 

 & LANDY McNEIL 

Early in 1962 a North Carolina doo-wop

group calling themselves The Corsairs

(featuring Jay "Bird" Uzzell) scored

a top 10 R&B hit with the single

"Smoky Places," a song penned

and produced by Abner Spector,

an A&R man for Chess Records

and founder of his own Tuff label.

Later that year The Corsairs made

the top 30 on the R&B chart with

"I'll Take You Home." In 1965,

the group, now recording as

The Corsairs & Landy McNeil,

waxed Spectorian (Phil, that is) with

this fab slab-- "On the Spanish Side."

"On the Spanish Side" - The Corsairs & Landy McNeil

(Feb. 1965, uncharted)

 BEN E. 

 KING 

To Shady's ears "On the Spanish Side"
sounds a lot like "Spanish Harlem,"
a song written by Jerry Leiber and
Phil Spector and recorded by former
Drifters lead singer Ben E. King.

Released in November 1960, King's
single went top 10 on the pop chart
and made Rolling Stone's list of
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"Spanish Harlem" - Ben E. King

(Mar. 1961, highest chart pos. #10)

 SISTER SLEDGE 

Disco was hot at Christmas 1978 when Philadelphia's sibling girl group

Sister Sledge released "He's the Greatest Dancer," a song composed

by Chic members Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers.

The single reached the top 10 in the spring of '79 and might have gone higher,

but its momentum stalled and it was overtaken by an even bigger Sister Sledge

hit, "We Are Family" which rocketed all the way to #2. From the group's hit

album We Are Family, produced by Edwards and Rodgers, here are the

discofied siblings performing "He's the Greatest Dancer."

"He's the Greatest Dancer" - Sister Sledge

(April/May 1979, highest chart pos. #9 Hot 100,

#1 R&B, from Jan. 1979 album We Are Family)

 PHYLLIS 

 ST. JAMES 

In 1984 Phyllis St. James, a Los Angeles singer and

songwriter, signed with Motown Records and recorded

the album Ain't No Turnin' Back. The album spawned

the club classic "Candlelight Afternoon," a boogie

number that samples "He's The Greatest Dancer."

"Candlelight Afternoon" - Phyllis St. James

(from 1984 album Ain't No Turnin' Back)

IS IT LIVE...

OR IS IT MEMOREX?

THE ORIGINAL...

A FLATTERING

IMITATION...

OR A BLATANT

RIP-OFF?

Stick around. I've got more cool copycats for your

listening  pressure  pleasure coming soon in vol. 4.

Have a Shady day!