Top Hit Club of America Inc. Old York/Shady Dell Chapter Vol. 5: Ron & Tom Celebrate "V" Day!

Hi, I'm Debbie the Dellette...

...a teenager of the 1950s dancing at the Dell.

I am also president of the Old York - Shady Dell

chapter of the Top Hit Club of America!

 Today my friends and I will make  

 you regret the day you were born! 

What do I mean by that? When you hear the songs

that my fellow Dell rats play at today's meeting...

...you'll wish you had been a teenager in York,

Pennsylvania, in the 50s and 60s and a regular

at the Shady Dell during those golden years.

Remember, as these original rats

spin their songs: "Don't just listen

with your ears - listen with your heart."

In case you lost track of the calendar, today is

February 14 - Valentine's Day.  What better time

than V-Day for you to meet the newest members

of the Shady Bunch, the cute vector art women of

 THE V-TEAM 

...sister series to

  Black & White World 

and

Call Girls

  Vesta (V-Girl) 

You'll see pictures of the V-Team

V-Girls scattered throughout the post.

 Viviane (V-Girl) 

 Learn all of their names because

there will be a quiz at the end. 

 Vectoria (V-Girl) 

Just kidding. There'll be no quiz today,

 Velvet (V-Girl) 

but you might have fun learning their names.

Okay, let's begin the musical part of our show.

The rats are restless and eager to get started...

and I second that emotion.

The meeting of the Old York -  Shady Dell chapter of

the Top Hit Club of America will hereby come to order!

A review of the minutes of our last

meeting shows that, in volume 4,

original Dell rat Jerre Slaybaugh

joined Dell rat Tom Anderson,

and the veteran vermin took

turns playing Dell classics.

Today our good friend Dell rat

Ron Shearer returns to play

dueling banjos turntables

with Tom. Tommy Boy,

the floor is yours! 

 THE VALIANTS  (ALABAMA) 

Thanks, Debbie! Hey...

I like your outfits, just sayin'. 

So, this being Valentine's Day,

 Ron and I put our heads together

and came up with a special "V-Day"

presentation. We've got love songs

aplenty... and the "V" in today's

musical meeting also refers to

the first letter in the names

of all our featured artists.

Six of the songs are by The Valiants,

but they are two different groups.

In fact, there were at least 20

Valiants groups scattered

across the country. 

My first play by an act called The Valiants is a long lost relic from 1959 recorded

by a little known doo-wop group from the deep south, a single released on the

 label of the Speck Record Company located in Mobile, Alabama. The melody

of the song reminds me of the Jive Five's biggest hit "My True Story" which  

 topped the R&B chart two years later in 1961. The Jive Five is my good

 buddy Dell Rat Jerre Slaybaugh's favorite group. If Jerre is monitoring

today's club meet, I hope he'll report in and let me know if he hears a

 similarity. Here are the southern Valiants doing-- "Wedding Bells!"

"Wedding Bells' - The Valiants

(1959)

 Vanetta (V-Girl) 

 THE VALIANTS (LA) 

Sup, Tom & Debbie? The first record

I'm playing is by a different Valiants act,

a Los Angeles based R&B vocal group

fronted by Billy Storm. I remember

Shady introducing Billy and two

of his solo recordings in the 2022

Mother's Day post. I dug Billy's

sound so much that I decided to

dig deeper for Billy Storm gold.

Originally from Dayton, Ohio,

Billy Storm was a soulful R&B

singer who sounded a lot like

Clyde McPhatter, lead vocalist

for The Drifters on some of their

best records.  Billy had a string

of solo hits in addition to laying

down great sound as leader of

the LA group that went by

several other names before

settling on The Valiants.

From 1957 to 1960, Billy and his group waxed half a dozen singles on the Keen,

Shar-Dee and Ensign labels. Around Halloween, 1958, they released "Please

Wait My Love." I'd like you to hear the rare, long unreleased alternate take

issued for the first time in 1995 on the New York-based Early Bird label

and credited to Billy Storm and The Valiants.

"Please Wait My Love" - The Valiants

(Oct. 1958 alternate take) 

 Vernis (V-Girl) 

Ron, like you I'm flipping over the sound

Billy Storm and The Valiants put down.

Check this one out. It's the killer B on

the back of their March, 1958, single

"Lover, Lover." This is the craziest

and coolest sound I've heard since

Screamin' Jay Hawkins went into

the studio drunk as a skunk and

waxed "I Put A Spell On You."

It would be six years before

Roy Orbison had a hit singing

"Pretty Woman (walking down

the street)." In '58 The Valiants

had their sights set on another

-- "Walkin' Girl." 

"Walkin' Girl" - The Valiants

(Mar. 1958, B side of "Lover, Lover") 

 Vonnie (V-Girl) 

Wow, Tommy, that one's a far cry from

The O'Kaysions' "(I'm a) Girl Watcher"

or Andy Williams crooning "Music To

Watch Girls By." Okay, now that we're

on a Valiants roll, it's time to hear the

group's first single released in the fall

of 1957. It's their only charting record.

The song is "This Is The Nite " and,

as usual, Billy Storm is on lead vocals.

The backing band you'll hear is led by

Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, the man 

who orchestrated and produced the

early recordings of Little Richard, 

Ray Charles, Lloyd Price, Larry

Williams, Sam Cooke and other

rock & roll and R&B legends.

"This Is The Nite" reached #69

on the pop chart early in 1958.

Strangely, it didn't appear on

the R&B chart... nor did any

of the group's other singles!

"This Is The Nite" - The Valiants

(Jan./Feb. 1958, highest chart pos. #69 Hot 100)

 

 Vanna (V-Girl) 

 THE VELVELETTES 

Ron, in today's "V" Day special, "V" also

stands for Velvelettes, a fine, underrated

Motown girl group that failed to achieve

anywhere near the success of Diana Ross

and The Supremes and other female acts

on the company's roster. The song you are

about to hear was written by Harvey Fuqua,

the famed R&B singer, scribe and producer

who led the popular group The Moonglows

in the 50s. The Velvelettes recorded this one

in 1964, but it remained in the Motown vault

unreleased, even though it's better than a lot

of the material released by more popular acts.

Listen now to the great yet underappreciated

Velvelettes as they make a demand of their

lover man, "Stop Beating Around The Bush!"

"Stop Beating Around The Bush" - The Velvelettes

(1964, unreleased)

 Victoria (V-Girl) 

 THE VALIANTS (LA) 

Tommy, a while ago, you played

"Walkin' Girl," the wild and crazy

song on the B side of The Valiants'

March 1958 single "Lover, Lover."

It's about time we listen to that

A side song. Once again, you're

gonna swear the voice you're

hearing on lead is that of

Clyde McPhatter... but it's

the fabulous Billy Storm!

"Lover, Lover" - The Valiants

(March 1958)

 Vonita (V-Girl) 

To complete our tribute to 

Billy Storm and his LA- based

group The Valiants, I've cued-

up the A side of their second

single released early in 1958,

the follow-up to "This Is The

Nite." Listen again for the

Clyde McPhatterish vocal

on this mid tempo R&B love

song that boasts an irresistibly

bouncy back beat.  Here are

Billy and his Valiants letting

that special girl know that -

"(You're the) Temptation

Of My Heart." 

"Temptation Of My Heart"-

The Valiants (Feb. 1958)

 

 Vectory (V-Girl) 

 THE VIBRATIONS 

Tom and Deb, no V-name band salute

would be complete without a tune by

my favorite "V" vocal group of all -

The Vibrations. For my last spin of

the meeting, I bring you a dreamy

ballad The Vibes waxed in 1961.

If the song had been released as

a single, it could have been a hit.

Unfortunately, it remained un-

released for decades, locked in

the vault at Checker Records.

I can picture Dell rats swaying

to this one all night long, but

it was not meant to be. Here

now are The Vibrations

and-- "You're Mine."

"You're Mine" - The Vibrations

(1961, unreleased)

 Vanity (V-Girl) 

 THE VELS - THE VELLS 

 THE VANDELLAS 

Okay, Ronny, here comes my last play

of the day. "V" is for Vels, Vells and

Vandellas... the group that became

famous as Martha & The Vandellas.

The group formed in the late 1950s

as The Del-Phis with Gloria Williams

singing lead. Martha Reeves was not

yet part of the act. Renamed The Vels,

the group waxed "There He Is (At My

Door)" and released it October 1, 1962,

on the B side of the single "You'll Never

Cherish A Love So True ('Til You Lose It)."

Both sides of the record were written

and produced by Berry Gordy.

It's interesting that the groups's name was spelled "Vels," but a misspelling

on the label caused the single to be released as by "The Vells." Although

released as the B side, "There He Is (At My Door)" received more air-

play than the A side song with it's long, cumbersome and hard to

remember title, but neither side charted. Around that time, the

original lead singer, Gloria Williams, left the group, replaced

by Martha Reeves, and they were renamed Martha And The

Vandellas. According to original member Rosalind Ashford,

Berry Gordy came up with the name "Vandellas," but no one

seems to know the reason why. "There He Is (At My Door)"

was re-recorded using the original instrumental and vocal

backing tracks but with Martha singing lead. The updated 

version was released on the group's 1963 debut album

Come and Get These Memories, as the B-side of their

1964 hit single and signature song "Dancing In The

Street" and on their 1965 album Dance Party. 

"There He Is (At My Door)" - Martha And The Vandellas

(Sept./Oct. 1964, B side of "Dancing In The Street") 

 Venice (V-Girl) 

 RITCHIE VALENS 

Hey, guys, we have time for one more

song, so if you don't mind, I'd like to

play a performance that will bring this

meeting of the THC to an exciting end.

It's by Ritchie Valens, the Chicano rock

& roll pioneer who died tragically at age

17 in the February, 1959, plane crash

that also took the lives of rock & roll

legend Buddy Holly and J.P. Richard-

son, better known as The Big Bopper.

In June of 1959, four months after that fateful

"Day the Music Died," Ritchie appeared in

the Alan Freed - Jimmy Clanton rock & roll

movie Go, Johnny, Go and performed the

Little Richard-inspired song “Ooh! My Head.”

The merry Mr. Chuck Berry does the intro.   

"Ooh! My Head" - Ritchie Valens

(scene from June 1959 film Go, Johnny, Go) 

 Verica & Verna 

 (V-Girl Twins) 

Many thanks to Dell rats Ron Shearer and Tom Anderson

for sharing their Shady Dell music and memories with us.

I hope you had a good time eavesdropping on this meeting of the

Old York - Shady Dell Chapter of the Top Hit Club of America. 

Stay tuned for more golden greats of the 50s and 60s spun by

Dell rats Ron, Tom and Jerre Slaybaugh coming up in future

volumes.  This is Debbie the Dellette. See you next time!

 Debbie the Dellette aka "DD" 

 Veronica (V-Girl) 

I'm V-Girl Veronica. I hope you enjoyed meeting us V-Girls.

 Valerie & Velorie 

 (V-Girl Twins) 

Hugs and smooches until we see you again in Vol. 1 of

 THE V-TEAM 

 Valentine (V-Girl) 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ask Abigail: Enquiring Minds Want To Know...

...about "This Empty Place"

 (Between Shady's Ears!)

I'm Abigail Ambrosia.

Classical mythology defines ambrosia as the food of the gods,

and I am here to satisfy your craving for good music and trivial

tidbits. Ambrosia also refers to something especially delicious.

Well boys... delish-is what this vintage dish-is.  As Shady's Place advice

columnist and music trivia expert, I publish a weekly newspaper column

that features music related questions submitted by readers along with

my answers. My feature is so popular, it inspired a radio show that

is coming your way soon exclusively here at Shady's Place.

My friendly, all-female office staff fields

questions that come in on our toll free hotline.

 Operators are on duty 24-hours a day and

standing by to take your call... so why hesitate?

I am more than happy to answer your trivia questions

and solve your musical mysteries, so let me hear from you!

The women on my staff enjoy getting all gussied up.

That's because, truth be told, most of the calls and letters we receive

turn out to be marriage proposals from men.  That said... every

once in a while, someone asks a legitimate music question.

 

Without further delay, I now bring you this

sneak preview of my new Shady's Place series

 Ask Abigail... 

...a radio show that picks up where my

newspaper column leaves off.

Sally G. writes:

Dear Abigail, I'm a big

fan of your column and

 curious about your last

name "Ambrosia." Isn't

there a band by that

name and, if so, did

they record any hits? 

Hi, Sally! Thanks for writing.

Yes indeed there is a pop rock

band named Ambrosia. Formed

in LA in 1970, the band had 5

top 40 hits from 1975 to 1980.

They broke up in '82, reunited

in '89 and are still together in

2023. Ambrosia's first big hit

came in the fall of '78 when

they reached the top 3 with

"How Much I Feel."

"How Much I Feel" - Ambrosia

(Oct./Nov. 1978, highest chart pos. #2 Cash Box/#3 Hot 100)

Manuel G. writes:

Dear Abigail. Ritchie Valens

died decades before I was born.

My grandfather introduced me

to his music. Can you tell me

which Ritchie Valens record

was the last to be released

before his death and which

record was the first to be

released after his death?

No problem, Manuel! On February 3,

1959, now known as "The Day the 

Music Died," a plane crash in Iowa

claimed the lives of three rock and

roll pioneers - Buddy Holly, J. P.

Richardson aka "The Big Bopper"

and Ritchie Valens, forefather

of the Chicano rock movement.

 The last single released before

Valens' death was the rockabilly

instrumental "Fast Freight"

which hit the street in January,

1959. The record is credited to

Arvee Allens. (Valens' name did

not appear on original pressings.)

"Fast Freight" - Arvee Allens

(Jan. 1959 single) 

BOOTH ANNOUNCER:

 IT'S AN

 Abigail Ambrosia... 

(ECHO CHAMBER)

TWO-FER-OOOFER-OOOFER-OOOFER-OOOFER-OOOFER!

Right you are, Don Pardo.

A "two-fer" is an occasion

when I answer a question

with not one, but two songs,

usually by the same artist. 

Released a month after

his death, Ritchie Valens'

single "That's My Little

Suzie," a song inspired

by Little Richard's hit

"Tutti Frutti," made it

roughly halfway up

the Billboard chart

and came close to

the top 40 on the

Cash Box survey. 

"That's My Little Susie" - Ritchie Valens

(Apr./May 1959, highest chart pos. #43 Cash Box, #55 Hot 100)

If you're just tuning in, this is a sneak peek at  

 Ask Abigail... 

...an advice column, information hotline and radio show rolled into one.

Make a note to check your listings because it starts soon

 right here at Shady's Place on S-P-M-M Retrosonic Radio.

 

I'm your hostess with the mostest...

Abigail Ambrosia

answering questions from you, the listener, about popular songs

of the past. There are two ways for you to submit a question. 

One way is to mail your question to our offices here in

Shady Towers West. I'll give you the snail mail

address at the end of the show.

 As you can see, we get a ton of male mail every day, and we love our work.

The other way to get your question to me is simply

pick-up the phone and call our toll free question-line.

It is also very much a "party line"... because, as you can tell

by now, I always play a song or songs that correspond to

your question and my answer. Dancing is encouraged! 

What are you waiting for? Go to the phone and dial

1-800-555-2-ASK. CALL NOW! 

 Virginia B. is on the line with the following question:

Hello, Abigail! I hope you can settle a friendly argument I've been

having with my husband. He says Dusty Springfield is the

only diva that recorded "Wishin' And Hopin'"...

...but I seem to recall years ago hearing Dionne Warwick sing

a version of the song. Hubby thinks I'm crazy. Who's right?

Hi, Virginia! Thanks for calling.

Tell your husband that you are

correct and Abigail Ambrosia

says so. While it's true that

Dusty Springfield sang the

best known version of

"Wishin' And Hopin'"...

the English blue-eyed

soul singer was not the

only one to wax the

girl pop gem, nor

was she the first. 

In February, 1963, Dionne Warwick
released her original version of the
Bacharach-David composition
"This Empty Place." A great
recording, Dionne's single
nevertheless stalled at #84
on the pop chart. The record
is noteworthy for its B side,
the original waxing of another

Bacharach-David song, "Wishin'
and Hopin'," which was covered
by Dusty Springfield and became
a top 10 U.S. hit for the English
songstress in the summer of '64.
Here now is sultry soul sister
Dionne singing "This Empty

Place (between Shady's ears)."

 "This Empty Place" - Dionne Warwick 

 (Feb. 1963, highest chart pos. #84 Hot 100/#26 R&B) 

BOOTH ANNOUNCER:

 IT'S ANOTHER

 Abigail Ambrosia... 

(ECHO CHAMBER)

TWO-FER-OOOFER-OOOFER-OOOFER-OOOFER-OOOFER!

Now, here's the version of

"Wishin' And Hopin'" that

you remember, Virginia,

Dionne Warwick's great

but overlooked original

recording of the song.

It went to waste on

the B side of that

low-charting 45.

Let's Listen!

"Wishin' And Hopin'"

- Dionne Warwick

(Feb. 1963, B side of

"This Empty Place")

Larry K. called

with this question:

Dear Abigail, I know Chubby Checker

for "The Twist" and other dance craze

songs, and I also vaguely recall him

singing a folk type song that asks

the question: "Does your mama

chaw tobacca?" What's the

name of that song?

Hi, Larry! Thanks for calling. The ditty you have in mind is "Hooka Tooka,"

a folk song associated with Chubby Checker and with folk/pop singer

Judy Henske. "Hooka Tooka (My Soda Cracker)" is based on a

children's jump rope rhyme. As the story goes, children in

days of old sang the song outside brothels where

their mothers were working to warn them

that police were on the way.

Released by Chubby Checker

on the B side of "Loddy Lo,"

another folk song cover,

"Hooka Tooka" made a

run at the top 15 on the

pop charts at Christmas,

1963, and the early

weeks of 1964. 

"Hooka Tooka" -

Chubby Checker

(Dec. 1963/Jan. 1964,

highest chart pos.

#16 Cash Box, #17

Hot 100/#20 R&B) 

That's all for now.  I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek at my new Q & A

style series coming soon to Shady's Place. Stick around. Coming up

on the flip side of Gary Owens' news, it's the next exciting

edition of Shady's epic 36-part series

 

 SAVED BY THE BELL  DELL  

Now this is advice columnist Abigail Ambrosia saying

so long and inviting you to join me next time for more

Q's & A's and more great sounds of the past on

 

 Ask Abigail.  

And remember, there's nothing trivial

about your love of music. See you soon!

If you have a musical question for Abigail Ambrosia...

call our 24-hour toll free question-line at

1-800-555-2-ASK...

...or mail your question to: 

 Ask Abigail  

Shady Towers West, 24221 Hollywood Blvd,

Suite 5, Dept. 3-C, Los Angeles, CA 90901.

Who knows, Abigail might answer your question on her show!