Joyce Martin's a Gold Digger - Vol 2: Gettin' Together

Hi again! I'm Joyce Martin.

I'm sure you remember
me from my previous
appearances here at
Shady's Place.

As you recall, I'm a good girl breaking bad... falling under
the influence of the mean girl gang known as the

I'm just trying to

fit in, but ever since

I got mixed up with

The Hellcats... my

grades have been

slipping and my

folks have been

on my case.

Not knowing which way to turn for help, I found a friend in
Professor Shady Del Knight who offered to be my sugar daddy

private tutor and help me bring up my grades. To earn extra

credit, I am doing a special research project for Professor

Knight and hosting this series at Shady's Place. It's called

Joyce Martin's  a  Gold Digger!

In each volume I display vintage top tunes surveys,

the hit parades distributed by radio stations in the
50s and 60s. Next I go digging for gold - picking
a favorite song from each list and playing it for

your listening and dancing pleasure.

I'm lucky to have this

chance to make good,

so... if you're ready...

let's dig some gold!

WNOW 1250 AM YORK

Today I'm featuring the playlists of radio
stations across Pennsylvania. Let's begin
with the survey above, issued by WNOW
12-5-0 Radio in York, Professor Shady's
hometown. It's the week of June 25,
1961, and I'm poring over WNOW's
Fabulous Forty. I think I'll play #7,
"The Boll Weevil Song," an adap-
tation of a traditional folk song
by Brook Benton with backing
by The Mike Stewart Singers,

a top 3 crossover hit nationally.

"The Boll Weevil Song" -
Brook Benton (June/July 1961,
highest chart pos. #2 Hot 100,
#2 Cash Box/#2 R&B)

WRAW 1340 AM READING

Our next stop is Reading and WRAW 1340,
another station with a Fabulous Forty. It's the
week of April 7, 1967, and I'm choosing survey
sound #36 - pop crooner Andy Williams doing

"Music To Watch Girls By," a vocal version of a
hit instrumental by The Bob Crewe Generation.

"Music To Watch Girls By" - Andy Williams

Apr. 1967, highest chart position
#34 Hot 100, #50 Cash Box)

 WLAN 1390 AM LANCASTER

We now head southwest to Prof. Shady's

old stomping ground and a visit to Lancaster,

home of station WLAN 1390. My pick comes

from the Super Heart Survey for the week of
October 7, 1967. It's Tommy James And The
Shondells with "Gettin' Together," a record
that merely cracked the top 20 nationally
but made the top 5 in Lancaster. This week
it's hanging on to the #12 spot. Here's an
ultra rare video of Tommy and his group
performing the song on the TV show
The Village Square which at the time
originated from Atlanta, Georgia!

"Gettin' Together" - Tommy James
And The Shondells (Sept./Oct. 1967,
highest chart pos. #14 Cash Box,
#18 Hot 100, live perf. on TV show
The Village Square, Atlanta, GA)

 WQTW 1570 AM LATROBE

I'm digging this gold. Hope you are, too.

We now travel all the way back out west to

Latrobe, famous for the brewing company
that makes Rolling Rock Beer. It's June 9,
 1967, and I'm plucking a song from the
WQTW 1570 Good Guy Hot Prospects,
 a list of records that are bubbling under
the top 30 in Latrobe this week. It's an
uncanny sound from the garage rock
band The Seeds, the first song they
recorded. When first released in 1965,
it was only a regional hit in California,
but when re-released in '67 it brushed
the top 40 nationally. Here now are
Sky Saxon and The Seeds with--
"Can't Seem To Make You Mine!"

"Can't Seem To Make You Mine" - The Seeds

(May/June 1967, highest chart pos.

#41 Hot 100/#55 Cash Box)

WOW! My request hotline is lighting up! 

A guy named Frankie is calling from a Muscle Beach bikini & pajama party,

and he wants to hear a song by his favorite girl-popper, Annette Funicello.

         WSBA 910 AM YORK

In that case, let's travel all the way

back across the commonwealth to

Professor Shady's hometown, York,

and a top tunes list issued by WSBA
"Hi-Fi Radio 910" later to be called
"The Nifty 9-10" and ultimately
"The Mighty 910." It's the week

of September 17, 1960, and I'm
gonna play #13 on the survey
"Pineapple Princess," a ukelele
song by Mouseketeer Annette
that brushed the top 10 on
the Billboard Hot 100.

"Pineapple Princess" - Annette

(Sept./Oct. 1960, highest chart pos.
#11 Hot 100/#15 Cash Box)

Oh shoot-- Professor Shady's waving me off!

  It time for the last play of the day, and a look at

one more vintage radio station top tunes survey.

KDKA 1020 AM PITTSBURGH

From station KDKA 1020 AM in Pittsburgh, here above is a survey listing

the top hits of 1964. I'm spinning the #6 song that year, a single by the English

rock & roll band The Dave Clark Five. This is the band's first big hit, the echo-

drenched, sax-driven, call-and-response style song that ignited their rivalry

with The Beatles and launched the British Invasion. Here are the DC5

with their big beat biggie from the spring of '64-- "Glad All Over!"

"Glad All Over" - The Dave Clark Five

(Mar./Apr. 1964, highest chart pos. #5 Cash Box/#6 Hot 100)/#1 UK)

I hope you dug this gold.

Please join me for vol. 3 of

Joyce Martin's
 a  Gold Digger.

coming soon!