Shady Dell owner Helen Ettline
didn't have any children of her own.
In a way, we were all her kids
and she was our mom.
Clearly Helen & John
loved kids. Why else
would they have
put up with the
aggravation all
those years?
The Ettlines
believed in kids.
They enjoyed
counseling and
helping kids.
The pictures above and below remind me ever so much of Helen's snack bar
and the jukebox in the adjoining room where rows of diner booths were located.
To remember and honor
Helen on Mother's Day,
I picked six songs that
I think she would enjoy.
Helen, these are for you.
LITTLE ANTHONY
AND THE IMPERIALS
Helen loved the doo-wop soul of Little Anthony And The Imperials.
To begin this year's tribute, I've got the record that enabled the group
to mount a mid 60s comeback after four lean and hitless years.
The song, written by Teddy Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein and released as a single
in 1964, went top 10 on the R&B chart and top 20 on the pop side. In a scene from
an episode of American Bandstand, the teenage studio dancers cuddle and sway
as Little Anthony and The Imperials sing-- "I'm on the Outside (Looking In)."
"I'm On The Outside (Looking In)" - Little Anthony & The Imperials
(Sept./Oct. 1964, highest chart pos. #8 R&B/#15 Hot 100/#20 Cash Box,
#12 Canada, scene from Aug. 22, 1964, ep. of American Bandstand)
BILLY STORM
This year, I am also playing for Helen two songs by a
U.S. solo artist and two by a popular UK duo.
First, here's Billy Storm aka
Billy Fortune, Bill Spicer and
Billy Jones, a Los Angeles
based R&B/Soul singer who
sounded a lot like R&B star
Clyde Mcphatter who sang
lead for The Drifters and had
a string of solo hits. Keep in
mind that Helen played Drifters
records on the jukebox in her
snack bar. In the summer of
1954, Clyde McPhatter and
The Drifters scored a chart-
topping R&B hit with the
calypso styled "Honey Love."
Listen to Billy Storm's fine
cover released in July 1961.
"Honey Love" - Billy Storm
(July 1961)
Billy Storm's vocals can also be heard in A Symposium
on Popular Songs, an animated Disney short released
to theaters just before Christmas 1962.
All of the songs in the production were written by the Sherman
Brothers - Richard & Robert. This one, "Puppy Love Is Here
To Stay" by Jackie Babylon and the Babylonians (with Billy
Storm as the voice of "Jackie"), is a parody of 1950s love
songs and some of the songs that the Sherman Bros.
themselves wrote for pop idol Annette Funicello
and similar artists. Here again is Billy Storm!
"Puppy Love Is Here To Stay" - Billy Storm
(Sept. 1962 single from Dec. 1962 Disney/Sherman Bros.
short A Symposium on Popular Songs)
PETER AND GORDON
I think Helen would also enjoy these two great cover ballads recorded
by the UK duo Peter And Gordon. London born singer, guitar player
and producer Peter Asher is still with us and will turn age 78 next
month. His partner, Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist
Gordon Waller, died young at age 64 in 2009. Let's press
rewind and go back to happier times when Peter and
Gordon were at their peak and in the middle of
an impressive British Invasion hit streak.
Buddy Holly & Norman Petty
wrote "True Love Ways" and
Buddy recorded the song in
the fall of 1958, four months
before his tragic death in a
plane crash. In 1965, this
remake by Peter & Gordon
went top 3 in the UK, top 5
in Ireland and top 15 on
the U.S. pop chart.
"True Love Ways"
- Peter And Gordon
- Peter And Gordon
(May/June 1965, highest
chart pos. #13 Cash Box,
#14 Hot 100/#2 UK
#4 Ireland)
chart pos. #13 Cash Box,
#14 Hot 100/#2 UK
#4 Ireland)
Phil Spector wrote the song "To Know Him Is To Love Him,"
inspired by words written on his father's tombstone that read:
"To Know Him Was To Love Him." Spector and his group
The Teddy Bears recorded the song and achieved
a chart-topping hit in 1958.
In mid 1965, two months after the release of "True Love Ways," Peter And Gordon
gained another hit with a cover of Spector's song using the title "To Know You
Is To Love You." The Peter And Gordon single reached the top 5 on the
charts in Canada, the UK and Ireland and the top 25 stateside.
"To Know You Is To Love You" - Peter And Gordon
(July/Aug. 1965, highest chart pos. #24 Hot 100/#25 Cash Box,
#5 Canada, UK & Ireland)
#5 Canada, UK & Ireland)
THE DIXIE CUPS
Spring is here. Sky is blue.
Birds all sing as if they knew
This song, Helen, is just for you.
To close my Mother's Day salute to Helen, I present a nicely remastered clip
of The Dixie Cups, the soulful trio from New Orleans, appearing on the TV
music show Shivaree performing their signature song, the chart-topping,
million selling hit single from the spring of 1964-- "Chapel Of Love."
"Chapel of Love" - The Dixie Cups
(May/June 1964, highest chart pos. #1 Hot 100 & Cash Box
& R&B, performance on Apr. 10, 1965, ep. of Shivaree)
Happy Mother's Day, Helen!
We love you and miss you!
