Salivating 74 Years of Service to the Blog World!

Hiya, I'm Brian Griffin!

As you recall, I'm a professional martooni taste tester.

(Lishen, I'm not as drunk as some thinkle peep I am.)

I am also the personable pooch from Family Guy

and a member of the DJ team on S-P-M-M

Retrosonic Radio here at Shady's Place.

Sorry about the typo in the title

of the post.  It should read 174

14 YEARS.

That's right!  This week,

Shady is observing his 

14th blogiversary! 

That figure includes 10 years as emcee of the old blog,

Shady Dell Music & Memories, and 4 years as the so-

called brains behind Shady's Place Music & Memories.

I shay this calls for a shalivation... and the gang's all here.

Well, some of them are here, because we only have time

for the traditional seven song salute. Without further

delay, let's start from scratch and get to the music

because I'm itchin' to dance with your leg.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

If you're a fan of my show Eclectic Avenue, then you know I love variety

(and Jerky Treats).  The original by Smokey Robinson And The Miracles

is still the greatest, but wait till you hear what I found, a cool rerecorded

version of Smokey's "More Love" released in the summer of 2015!

"More Love" (rerecorded) - The Miracles

(July/Aug. 2015, from albums Disco Hits, Disco Gold,

Disco Dance, Disco Heaven & Class A Soul Songs)

"The Woo Woo" is here for you you!

Hi everyone, this is Old Leather

Lungs... Old Aching Adenoids...

Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsburg

from WMEX Boston, simulcasting

my famous Night Train Show

on S-P-M-M Retrosonic Radio.

Congrats to Shady Del Knight

on his fourteen years as a

member (in shady standing)

of the blogging community!

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

To help Shady celebrate, here's

a song from my Wimex Tunedex.

It's the Brill Building Sound of Gene Pitney making a run

at the top 10 in the fall of 1964 with a song originally

intended for Neil Sedaka- "It Hurts To Be In Love!"

"It Hurts To Be In Love" - Gene Pitney

(Sept./Oct. 1964, highest chart pos. #7 Hot 100 & Cash Box)

A Doctor Donald D. Rosey good morning to you,

and happy 14 to Shady Del Knight! The Doctor's

in the house! I'm Dr. Don Rose, top 40 DJ at

"Quixie in Dixie," on loan to S-P-M-M here at

Shady's Place. I dropped by on this special day

to spin the kind of record you're likely to hear

on my Rose-Colored Glasses show, sounds

of the 60s that are good for what ails ya. In

1966, The Left Banke found fame thanks to

their top 5 hit "Walk Away Renee." In 1968

Motown's Four Tops covered the song and

scored a hit of their own, a record that

finished in the top 10 on Cash Box.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

Here they are, the mighty men of Motown, the Four Tops, with

one of the best covers of any song by anyone-- "Walk Away Renee!"

"Walk Away Renee" - Four Tops

(Feb./Mar. 1968, highest chart pos. #8 Cash Box,

#14 Hot 100/#15 R&B)

 HOWDY! 

 Hepcat Black's my name. 

 Hep music's my game. 

I'm a cool cool kitty, but let's get one thing straight
between us, Gus. I ain't from New York City!
On my S-P-M-M radio show Pink Cadillac
I play old school rock 'n' roll, R&R revival,
rockabilly, psychobilly, country, outlaw -
it's all good, understood

First off, happy 14 year blogiversary, Shady D! Now let's rock this

here roadhouse with a good old Texas boy named Moon Mullican,

a fella who earned the nickname King of the Hillbilly Piano Players.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

Here's Moon backed by Boyd Bennett And His Rockets with the original

recording of the classic rockabilly song "Seven Nights To Rock!"

"Seven Nights To Rock" - Moon Mullican

(Feb. 1956)

Hyski here - Hy Lit - The South Philadelphia Kid,

The Potentate of the Keystone State - veteran DJ

on Wibbage, WIBG, and the host of Natural Hy

on S-P-M-M Retrosonic Radio. Before I spin a

boss golden, I wanna give a shout out and props

aplenty to my good friend Shady Del Knight on

his 14 years of blogging. Way to go, man!

On Natural Hy, I play groovy greats of the 60s

and 70s with some 50s doo-wop occasionally

added to the mix. The epicenter of my show

is Philadelphia from the mid 60s through the

mid 70s, the sweet soul, psychedelic soul and

blue-eyed soul sounds that the kids danced to

in the studio on The Hy Lit Television Show.

START VIDEO NOW!

Here's a great example - Philly's very own Intruders with a

sound of the season-- "Love Is (just) Like a Baseball Game!"

"(Love Is Like A) Baseball Game" - The Intruders

(Aug. 1968, highest chart pos. #4 R&B,

#26 Hot 100/#41 Cash Box)

Hey, Vern! How's life been treatin' ya?

This here's yer old buddy, yer old pal

Ernest P. Worrell.

Ain't none of my beeswax, Vern, but looks like you got
somethin' caught in yer teeth there. Looks like Popeye
ain't the only one who's been eatin' his spinach!

Hey, Vern, guess what. Today Shady
Del Knight is celebrating the big 1-4.
No, he's not 14 years old, even tho

it sure seems like it sometimes.
I mean that he's been sharin' his
 music and memories with us for

14 years on two different blogs.

He deserves a great big attaboy.

Just a reminder, Vern. On my S-P-M-M show Rock-A-Billygoat, I spin

the best of rockabilly, early rock & roll, rock & roll revival, traditional

country & western and country-pop crossover. Now hold onto

yer hat, Vern, 'cause I got a dilly for you right cheer.

This boy and his band played everything from

rock & roll to R&B, folk, country, pop

and even psychedelic rock.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

In the late winter of 1969, the group scored a hit with this country

pop song. Here are Kenny Rogers And The First Edition

performing-- "But You Know I Love You!"

"But You Know I Love You" - Kenny Rogers And

The First Edition (Feb./Mar. 1969, highest chart pos.

#15 Cash Box, #18 U.S. Easy Listening/#19 Hot 100,

#9 Canada Easy Listening/#11 Canada, performance on

Dec. 8, 1968, ep. of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour)

Flashing back to late '68 and early '69, that was the late great Kenny Rogers
and his group The First Edition appearing on The Smothers Brothers

Comedy Hour and doing "But You Know I Love You," a single

that made the top 10 in Canada and the top 20 in the U.S.

Well, I'll be ding, Vern. We're

plumb outta time. Me and my

best buds need to skedaddle.

Hope you enjoyed this

anniversary bash we

threw to celebrate

Shady's 14 years

as a blogger.

Don't worry your head none, 'cause I'll be back in two shakes of a jiffy

with more toe tappin' tunes for your bobby sock high school hop,

your hillbilly hayride and your heartland hoedown.

Hey, this one's too cool for school, Vern.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

To play us off, Johnny Rivers and his cover of Chuck Berry's

"Memphis, Tennessee." Now for Brian, Arnie, Don, Hepcat

and Hy, this is Errnest P. sayin' don't take any wooden

nickels and don't do anything I wouldn't do...

know what I mean Vern?

"Memphis" - Johnny Rivers

(June/July 1964, highest chart pos. #2 Hot 100 & Cash Box)

Yesterday Once More: Meet Another Group of SPMM DJ Trainees - Vanessa, Renee, Gina, Kara and Ellie!

 Ellie Appleton - Yesterday Once More 

COLD OPEN:

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW! 

"It's Not Unusual" - Tom Jones

(May/June 1965, highest chart pos. #10 Hot 100 & Cash Box,

live perf. on June 28, 1965 TV special Murray The K –

It's What's Happening, Baby) 

Kicking off this special sneak preview, a rare clip of Welshman Tom Jones

before he became a superstar and heartthrob to millions of women all over

the world. You saw Tom at the start of summer, 1965, entertaining animals

at the zoo singing his breakthrough international hit "Its Not Unusual" on

the American TV special Murray The K – It's What's Happening, Baby.

 Hello, I'm Vanessa Kensington... 

a beautiful, determined, intelligent young woman who partners

with British spy Austin Powers in the 1997 comedy film

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

I'm sure you are familiar with Austin as the semi-regular host of the

Valentine's Day dances here at Shady's Place. I've got great news.

Austin and I are reuniting as hosts of our own radio show.

 Stay tuned for the debut of The Spy Who Shagged Me featuring the best

of Brit pop, coming soon to S-P-M-M... the station with personality. 

 I'm 

 Renee Clemons, 

a reporter working at the

San Francisco Globe on

the TV series Gracepoint,

the American remake of

the hit UK drama series

Broadchurch. I'm happy

to report that I will be

joining five other news

gathering women as

anchors of the new

S-P-M-M radio show

The I-Team. The

"I" does not stand

for "investigation."

You see, every song we

play on our show will have

an "I" word in the title.

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

Here's a sample "I" song from

our series, one of the biggest

hits of the 60s, the Four Tops

reaching #1 on the pop and

soul charts with-- "I Can't

Help Myself (Sugar Pie

Honey Bunch)!" 

"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" - Four Tops

(May/June 1965, highest chart position

#1 Hot 100 & Cash Box & R&B) 

 I'm WPC Gina Dawson 

on the British period police drama TV series WPC 56. 

I'm the first WPC (woman police constable) to join the

Midlands Constabulary at Brinford Police Station in 1956.

 

Soon I'll be joining other

fetching, feisty females as

presenters on a S-P-M-M

radio show that we're going

 to call British British Swag,

and I've got a sample, a song

recorded and released 10 years

after I joined the police force.

That's around the time my

job description no longer

included making coffee

for the men. The song

is by The Rolling Stones,

a cut from their 1966

album Aftermath,

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW! 

This is one of their most popular songs from the period, yet it was never

released as a single in English-speaking countries. Here are Mick and

his mates, the kings of British swag, on the UK music TV show

Ready Steady Go! doing-- "Under My Thumb." 

"Under My Thumb" - The Rolling Stones

(from Apr. 1966 album Aftermath, perf. on

May 27, 1966, ep. of Ready Steady Go!) 

 Hi, I'm 

 Kara Danvers... 

a bright, bubbly, somewhat

shy and awkward young woman

working as a personal assistant

and later a reporter on the DC

Comics superhero TV series

Supergirl. Some people say

I look and sound almost

exactly like Supergirl...

that the only difference

between the two of us

are the glasses and

the red and blue

caped costume.

That's crazy talk! Supergirl and I are nothing alike,

so just put that notion out of your mind, mister. 

I'm here to play a song sample from

my new radio show Kara Danvers

Supertunes coming soon to SPMM

Supersonic Radio. It's a wonderful

performance by a Nashville-based

band called imy2 which, in modern

code-speak, stands for "I miss you,

too." The group is fronted by blue-

haired beauty Annalise Mahanes,

a singer with the super power of

being able to cover songs from

a variety of genres and make

it seem like they were

written just for her. 

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

Here are Annalise and imy2 with a super cover of

Michael Jackson's-- "The Way You Make Me Feel!" 

"The Way You Make Me Feel" - Michael Jackson

cover by imy2 (Sept. 2020) 

 And I'm 

 Ellie Appleton. 

Do I remind you of

Lady Rose Aldridge

on Downton Abbey?

I get that a lot.

You say goodbye

and I say hello

and welcome to my

segment giving you

a sneak peak at my

new radio show

coming soon to

Shady's Place. 

As the co-star of Yesterday...

the 2019 musical rom-com

film that's loaded with great

 covers of Beatles songs, my

show on S-P-M-M Retrosonic

Radio will be wall-to-wall

Beatles, including classic

original recordings by the

Liverpudlian mop-tops

themselves, and terrific

Beatles covers by artists

of the past and present.

Quite rightly, my new

program will be called

Yesterday Once More. 

To close today's sneak

preview special, I've got

a sensational sample for

you. It is one of the best

covers I've found of a

song written by John

Lennon and recorded

by The Beatles. It was

released as the lead

song on their 1969

album Abbey Road

and as a single that

topped the chart

in the U.S.

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW! 

Here's the Ukranian duo Sershen & Zaritskaya - Sergey on guitar, Daria on vocals -

taking it to the next level with-- "Come Together." Now this is Ellie Appleton.

Thanks for joining us and see you soon on Yesterday Once More!

"Come Together" - The Beatles cover

by Sershen & Zaritskaya (Mar. 2021) 

Debbie the Dellette Meets The Rat Pack - Vol. 2: Starlight Tonight at the Shady Dell

(below) "Hey, get up and ask Helen

to make me a cherry coke to go."

"It's time for us to

split the snack bar

and meet up with

Debbie the Dellette

and the Rat Pack

down in the dance hall."

"Starlight Tonight" - The Inspirators

{June/July 1958, B side of "Oh What A Feeling (In My Heart)"}

From the summer of 1958, that was B-13 on the Dell Jukebox, "Starlight Tonight,"

a glorious old school sound on Old Town Records by The Inspirators, a group

also known as The Five Stars. The Inspirators were one of many doo-wop

groups to emerge from Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood

in the 1950s. High school friends since 1949, they performed in

 Brooklyn clubs and placed second in the Apollo Theater's

amateur competition. The group released three singles

but failed to make it as a recording act. The ballad

you just heard, "Starlight Tonight," features the kind

of sweet doo-wop harmony teenagers of the 50s and 60s

loved slow dancing to at The Shady Dell in York, Pennsylvania.

Hi! I'm Debbie

the Dellette!

As you know, I'm "The Hostess with the Mostest"

and president of the Old York/Shady Dell chapter

of the Top Hit Club of America. I'm a dancing Dell

teenager of the 50s and I'm back with my friends,

four Dell teenagers of the 60s, who'll play more

of the Shady Dell's greatest hits. This is not an

SPMM radio program. We will be taking turns

dropping our coins into the slot and playing

the Dell's jukebox. At this time, I'd like to

reintroduce my friends from The Rat Pack

who are ready to entertain themselves

and you with their favorite Dell

songs of the mid to late 60s.

THE RAT PACK

(LEFT to RIGHT)

JULIE

PETE

LINDA

DOUG

Looks like Rat Packer Julie's taken her position at

the jukebox and is selecting her first Dell song.

JULIE: Deb, I wish that you had

still been going to the Dell in the

mid 60s when The Temptations

came along. They were Shady Dell

heavy hitters, landing eleven songs

on Shady Del Knight's list of The 200

Greatest Hits of the Shady Dell. I just

pressed N-11 for one of the group's

great mid-tempo love ballads, a song

written by two of Motown's Miracles,

Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore.

From the spring of 1965, here now

are The Temps singing their top 3

R&B hit-- "It's Growing!"

"It's Growing" - The Temptations

(Apr./May 1965, highest chart pos.

#3 R&B, #18 Hot 100/#19 Cash Box) 

PETE: My turn, Julie. As you pointed out,

The Temptations placed 11 of their songs

on Shady's list of the Top 200 Dell Songs

of the mid 60. Well, these guys also have

11 songs on that exclusive list. They're

the Four Tops, another great Motown

group, and I just pushed G-17 to play

one of those soulful sides. This Tops

45 made the top 3 winner's circle on

the R&B chart and top 5 on the pop

survey. Here are The Four Tops

with Dell song #175, a giant

of the jukebox in the spring

of 1967-- "Bernadette!"

DELL SONG #175

"Bernadette" - Four Tops

(Apr. 1967, highest chart pos.

#3 R&B/#4 Hot 100/#8 Cash Box) 

LINDA: Scoot over, Petey. I'm gonna

play one of the most popular but

unlikely Shady Dell hits of the

mid 60s. It's an example of the

Dell's "killer bee" phenomenon -

a B side that equaled or surpassed

the popularity of the A side. In fact,

I don't remember the A side of this

45 ever being played at the Dell.

The biggie I'm talking about is J-8,

a song by Sam The Sham And The

Pharaohs, the Tex-Mex band best

known for their 1965 novelty hit

"Wooly Bully," the first American

record to sell a million copies during

the British Invasion.  The song I'm

playing is on the back of their top

30 charting follow-up "Ju Ju Hand."

Way up there at #12 on the list of 

200 Greatest Dell Songs, here's

"Big City Lights!"

DELL SONG #12

"Big City Lights" - Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs

(Aug./Sept. 1965, B side of "Ju Ju Hand")

DOUG: Hey guys, I'm sure we all

agree that The Motown Sound was

hot down here "in the barn."  We've

already played records by two great

Motown boy groups. Now I'd like to

hear a Dell hit by one of the record

label's top girl groups, Martha And

The Vandellas. These ladies placed

five of their songs on the Dell's

Top 200 list. At #48 this is their

highest ranked Dell song and

one of their biggest national

hits, a single that topped the

R&B chart in the early spring

of '67. I just punched L-16

and here's- "Jimmy Mack!"

DELL SONG #48

"Jimmy Mack" - Martha And The Vandellas

(March/April 1967, highest chart pos.

#1 R&B/#6 Cash Box/#10 Hot 100)

JULIE: Step aside, Doug, because I've

got another great Motown song in mind,

this one by Edwin Starr. You know, it's

funny to me that The Nashville born,

Detroit based soul man is best known

for his hit protest song "War." At the

Dell, his biggest and best remembered

record was "Agent Double-O-Soul," a

single released during the secret agent,

spy and detective craze of the mid 60s.

Three years later, this Edwin Starr 45

merely Bubbled Under nationally, but

it was hot in the Shady. I just pressed

O-9, and here's that cool sound from

Shady Dell the College Years - Edwin

Starr in the spring of 1968 boasting--

"I Am The Man For You Baby!" 

"I Am The Man For You Baby" - Edwin Starr

(May 1968, highest chart pos. #45 R&B/#112 Bubbling Under)

PETE: It's almost curfew. Time for

the last record of the night. As we

prepare to walk away from the

Dell dance hall, I'm playing

"Walk Away Renée" by the

New York based baroque

pop band The Left Banke.

This single reached the top 5

on Billboard and continued on

to #2 on Cash Box, held back

from the top of the chart by

The Monkees and their smash 

hit "Last Train To Clarksville."

This hauntingly beautiful sound

was a powerful memory maker

at the Dell during the Halloween

season in 1966. Coming in at #129

on the Greatest Hits of The Dell,

here's H-1 - The Left Banke -

and "Walk Away Renée!"

DELL SONG #129

"Walk Away Renee" - The Left Banke

(Sept./Oct. 1966, highest chart pos. #2 Cash Box/#5 Hot 100)

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

I hope you enjoyed our second

meet-up, a bash in the barn...

the Dell dance hall... down here

where all the cool kids hang out.

Stay tuned. We'll be back soon

to feed the jukebox and play

more Dell gold. Now for

The Rat Pack - Julie,

Pete, Linda and Doug,

this is Debbie the Dellette,

"Your Hostess with the

Mostest," Bye bye!

"In The Basement - Pt. 1" - Etta James And Sugar Pie DeSanto

(Aug./Sept. 1966, highest chart pos. #37 R&B)

Debbie the Dellette 5 years later