COLD OPEN:
CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!
"I'm A Fool" - Dino, Desi & Billy
(July/Aug. 1965, highest chart pos. #17 Hot 100/#19 Cash Box,
scene from Christmas 1966 film Murderer's Row)
Smile and say "cheese!"
It's time to meet the micest member of
the Shady Bunch Rodentia Intelligentsia!
Hi, folks! I'm...
Belle Rat the Dell Rat
...the ladies' answer to Denny the Dell Rat.
Welcome to my S-P-M-M radio show
Saved by the Belle
The Music and Musings of
Belle Rat the Dell Rat
I'm on a mission to save you from boring elevator music.
I'm no Minnie Mouse, and the tunes I play are not Mickey Mouse.
My show brings you the best and most memorable sounds
from the glory days of your boomer youth.
At the top of the show, you saw Dino, Desi & Billy perform their
biggest hit "I'm A Fool," a top 20 record in the summer of 1965.
The teenage pop trio included two kids of celebrities (above left & center).
"Dino" was Dean Martin's son Dean Paul Martin, Jr. "Desi" is the son of
Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz. "Billy," William Hinsche, was a schoolmate.
Dino married Olympic skater Dorothy Hamill, but tragedy struck at
age 35 when he was killed in the crash of his Air National Guard jet.
Bravo to the YouTube uploader
for doing some creative editing
and starting that video with a
scene from dad Dean Martin's
1966 Matt Helm secret agent
movie Murderers' Row co-
starring Ann-Margret. Dino,
Desi & Billy appeared in
that flick, and you saw
the real life father and
son exchange lines of
dialogue... a great
intro for the trio's
signature song
"I'm A Fool."
Speaking of fools...
have you heard about
the fool on the hill?
CLICK TO
START THE
VIDEO NOW!
For starters, he has a foolish grin,
a thousand voices and nobody
seems to like him. Complete
details now in this report by
Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66!
"The Fool On The Hill" - Beatles cover by
Sergio Mendes And Brasil '66 (Sept./Oct. 1968,
highest chart pos. #6 Hot 100/#7 Cash Box)
That was Brazilian pianist
Sergio Mendes and his Latin-
styled group Brasil '66 with a
song that fell just short of the
top 5 on the U.S. chart in the
fall of 1968, a memorable cover
of "The Fool on the Hill," a song
originally released in November,
1967, on The Beatles' EP and
album Magical Mystery Tour.
Featured singers on that hit
by Brasil '66 were Lani Hall,
who married Herb Alpert in
1973, and Karen Philipp, who
posed nude for Playboy in
1972 promoting her acting
role in season one of the
hit TV series M*A*S*H.
I have always loved The Beatles and found comfort in their songs. Up next,
one of my favorites by the Liverpudlian moptops. Paul wrote the verses
and chorus, John contributed the "Life is very short" middle. During
the recording session, George came up with the brilliant idea to
slow down the middle, making it sound like a German Waltz.
The creative use of a Salvation Army pump organ marked the
start of a series of innovative compositions and experimental
recording and sound mixing techniques in the years that followed.
Here are evolutionary, revolutionary Beatles and- "We Can Work It Out."
"We Can Work It Out" - The Beatles
(Jan./Feb. 1966, highest chart pos. #1 Hot 100 & Cash Box)
Those were The Beatles performing "We Can Work It Out," a song recorded
around Halloween, 1965, during the sessions for the Rubber Soul album.
Released as a single, the song shot to the top of pop charts all around
the world in the early weeks of 1966. "We Can Work It Out" spent
three weeks at #1 on Billboard and four weeks at #1 on Cash Box.
It was the 7th biggest selling single of the entire Sixties decade.
You're boppin' to the beat on S-P-M-M
Rat-ro Radio... the station with personality.
You've got a rat to rock, and I'm her, she's me.
Like my new poodle skirt?
I'm runnin' down the groovy sounds of the
1950s, 60s and 70s, those Wonder Years
classics that never grow old.
It's hard to believe there was ever a
time when most peeps in the world
had not yet heard of The Beatles.
It's equally hard to believe there
was ever a time when ABBA,
the pop group from Stockholm,
Sweden, was unknown in many
countries including the U.S.
Here's an ABBA ditty that
takes us back to that time.
START VIDEO NOW!
Anni and Aggie wore conservative
business attire to sing one of their
catchiest and best feel good
songs-- "Ring, Ring!"
"Ring, Ring" - ABBA
(Feb./Mar. 1973, highest chart pos. #1 Denmark,
#2 Sweden, Norway, Austria & Belgium)
From early 1973, that was ABBA,
unknown in America and much
of the civilized world at the time,
but soon to become a household
name and global phenomenon.
They performed "Ring, Ring,"
the song that gave them their
first break in parts of Europe.
Hope I soon hear the ring ring
of the dinner bell... 'cause I'm
getting hangry for my cheese.
After all, I need to keep up my
strength so that I can continue
to fight for your rat to party.
If you're just tuning in, I'm
your Hostess With the Mostest...
Belle of the ball, leader of the pack,
queen of the Rodentia Intelligentsia...
Belle Rat
the Dell Rat
... the micest member of the
Shady Bunch deejay team.
Far from mousy, I'm the
pick of the litter - the
prettiest, perkiest and
most personable
member of the
Rat Pack.
I'm playing the best tunes in town and telling my rat tails tales
here on S-P-M-M Rat-ro-sonic Radio. My show is called
Saved by the Belle
and we're right in the middle of a 7-in-a-row cheddar cheese block party,
so let's get back to the songs from the soundtrack of our boomer youth.
How about a little bubblegum to go with your pop? I've got just the thing.
Here are Tommy James And The Shondells with their breakthrough hit,
a chart-topper in the summer of '66-- "Hanky Panky!"
"Hanky Panky" - Tommy James And The Shondells
(June/July 1966, highest chart pos. #1 Hot 100 & Cash Box & Canada,
dance perf. by The Action Kids on Sept. 28, 1966, ep. of Where The Action Is)
Coming in at #41 on Shady's
list of The 200 Greatest Hits
of the Shady Dell (mid 60s),
that was "Hanky Panky," the
semi dirty ditty by Tommy
James And The Shondells.
In that rare video clip, you
witnessed The Action Kids
dance troupe on Dick Clark's
TV show Where The Action Is
performing a choreographed
beach ball routine on the sand
and playing a friendly game of
dodge ball at the water's edge.
BOOTH ANNOUNCER:
IT'S A
BELLE RAT
THE DELL RAT
(ECHO CHAMBER)
DOUBLE PLAY-AY-AY-AY-AY-AY-AY
That's right, Johnny Olson, I'm double-dippin' into
Tommy James' brand of sweet bubblegum pop.
CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!
Hey... is that Casey Kasem?... or just a-- "Mirage"?
"Mirage" - Tommy James And The Shondells
(May/June 1967, highest chart pos. #10 Hot 100 & Cash Box,
studio dancers on American Bandstand & Shebang)
You just got hit with a double-barreled bubblegum blast from the past,
a double dose of Tommy James And The Shondells. In a split-screen special,
you heard the group perform "Mirage," their top 10 hit from the spring of 1967,
while the kids on Bandstand and Casey Kasem's Shebang danced to the beat.
Before that, Tommy and the band played their chart-topper "Hanky Panky"
on a 1966 segment of Where The Action Is taped on Malibu Beach.
RATS!!!
Shady's waving me off, so I need
to scurry on home. It's just a hole
in the wall, but the food is good.
I hope you enjoyed volume 2 of
Saved by
the Belle
The Music and
Musings of
Belle Rat
the Dell Rat.
Yay! The Shady man says I have time for one last song, and I've got a dilly,
a brilliantly restored video of Gary Puckett And The Union Gap appearing
on The Ed Sullivan Show in the spring of 1968 and introducing their new
single "Lady Willpower." It was a live performance, not lip sync, because
nervous CBS censors worried that the song's lyrics "the facts of life"
were too dirty for the Ed Sullivan viewers and sponsors to tolerate.
Really? Seriously???
CBS executives asked Gary to change the line to "the way of life" and he
agreed. Gary proceeded to turn in the amazing live performance you
are about to watch. This episode of The Ed Sullivan Show aired on
May 12, 1968, nine days before the single was released, making
this moment in pop music history all the more special.
CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!
Now this is Belle Rat the Dell Rat reminding you that a Dell Rat
must be brave, and a Dell Rat must behave. See you next time!
"Lady Willpower" - Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
(June/July/Aug. 1968, highest chart pos. #1 Cash Box/#2 Hot 100,
#4 Australia/#5 UK, live perf. on May 12, 1968, ep. of The Ed Sullivan Show)
I gotta run
(because
Belle Rat's
hungry)...
but I hope
to see you
next time!
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Belle Rat the Dell Rat
Artwork courtesy of my wonderful longtime friend Belle Unruh.
Born in California's Inland Empire...
Belle moved to Canada as a teenager.
Thank you very much for contributing these delightful
"Belle Rat" drawings to Shady's Place, dear friend Belle!
SMOOCHES!
