Shady Train - Ep. 12: Philly's Phinest!

BOOTH ANNOUNCER:

Shady Train...

the hippest trip in America!

60 nonstop minutes across the

tracks of your mind into the

exciting world of Soul!

And now, here's your host...

Don Cornelius!

Hi and welcome aboard. You're right

on time for a beautiful trip on the Shady

Train, and if the sight and sound of soul

is your pleasure and what you treasure,

you can bet your bottom we got 'em,

baby. On today's show we are saluting

The Sound of Philadelphia with some

of Philly's Phinest. If you're all set,
let's roll this train down the track
to The City of Brotherly Love
and Sisterly Affection. 


And our first guests are members of a music act that formed in the mid 70s.
Since that time the group has been responsible for some of the hottest
sounds around. They are with us today to do a song from their latest
album I'll Do My Best on the RCA label. The song is entitled
"One And Only" and they are-- The Ritchie Family!

"One And Only" - The Ritchie Family
(from 1981 album I'll Do My Best)

Our next guests are here to sing about

bad luck, but it is our good fortune to

have them aboard the big train for this

special all-Philadelphia edition. For a

dozen years these gentlemen paid their

dues, but ever since signing with Phila-

delphia International. they have been

rackin' 'em back with one big hit after

another. As they join us to do their

latest single for the label entitled...

you guessed it... "Bad Luck," let's

make some big noise, gang, for-- 

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes!

"Bad Luck" - Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes
(May/June 1975, highest chart pos. #15 Hot 100/#4 R&B)

And we're gonna slow things down

right now with the mellow sound of

another fine Philadelphia group. As

they join us to do their latest single

on the Atco label, a biggin' every-

body's diggin' entitled "Sideshow,"

let's get some hands together, gang,

for the masters of the sweet soul

ballad-- Blue Magic!

"Sideshow" - Blue Magic
(June/July 1974, highest chart pos. #8 Hot 100/#1 R&B)

And we are delighted to have with us

three extraordinary canaries who have

earned a reputation as one of the best

groups in our business. Among their 

hits is the Shady Train theme "TSOP-

"The Sound Of Philadelphia." As they

join us to do their latest single for

Philadelphia International, a groove

that makes you wanna move real

smooth entitled "When Will I See

You Again," a warm welcome,

please, ladies and gentlemen,

for-- The Three Degrees!

"When Will I See You Again" - The Three Degrees
(Nov./Dec. 1974, highest chart pos. #2 Hot 100/#4 R&B

(Don's intro

is on video.)

"Betcha By Golly, Wow"
The Stylistics (Apr. 1972,
highest chart position
#3 Hot 100/#2 R&B)

And look out now, don't hurt yourself.

The Shady Train line's gettin' into the

swing with a pretty little thing. It's

a slick sound comin' out of Philly

that's a sho 'nuff dilly. These are

The Philly Devotions and this is

-- "I Just Can't Say Goodbye!"

"I Just Can't Say Goodbye" - The Philly Devotions
(Feb./Mar. 1975, highest chart pos. #81 R&B/#95 Hot 100)

START PLAYING VIDEO

AT 2:30 MARK!

And the young ladies you are about

to meet have more than just their

last names in common. They are

all very talented and very lovely.

As they join us to do their latest

single on the Cotillion label

entitled "Thinking Of You,"
a big welcome, gang,

for-- Sister Sledge!

"Thinking of You" - Sister Sledge
(April thru Sept. 1979, B side of "Lost In Music,"
1984 UK re-release peaked at #11 UK/#20 Ireland,
from Jan. 1979 album We Are Family)

And if that didn't get it it can't be

gotten. We wanna thank you for

joining us on this special edition

featuring some of Philly's Phinest.

We hope you'll come on back and

jam with us again next time, and

you can bet you last money it's

all gonna be a stone gas honey.

I'm Don Cornelius and as

always in parting we wish

you love... peace... and soul!

Hey, That Sounds Just Like... Vol. 3: Candlelight Afternoon with the Old Man Down the Road

WELCOME TO VOL. 3 OF

"HEY, THAT SOUNDS

JUST LIKE..."

This is the series that compares recorded songs that sound similar
to each other and, in some cases, sound almost exactly alike.
Which do you prefer, the originals or the soundalikes?

Remember, ladies and gentlemen...

This is only an exhibition...
This is not a competition...
Please... no wagering.

 JOHN FOGERTY 

Singer, songwriter and guitarist John

Fogerty came to fame in the late 60s

as leader of Creedence Clearwater

Revival. Creative differences

between Fogerty and his mates

took their toll, as did contract

hassles with their label Fantasy

Records. Fogerty departed and

CCR dissolved. In late 1984, as

a solo artist, Fogerty released

"The Old Man Down the Road,"

the first single from his come-

back album Centerfield.

 "Old Man" made the top 10, and the music video

is one of the most memorable of the 80s, edited

to make it appear a guitar cord is miles long.

"The Old Man Down the Road" - John Fogerty

(Feb. 1985, highest chart pos. #10 Hot 100,

#1 Top Rock Tracks)

 CREEDENCE 

 CLEARWATER 

 REVIVAL 

Film producer Saul Zaentz, winner of Best Picture Academy
Awards for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus and
The English Patient, was also owner of Fantasy Records.

Zaentz sued John Fogerty, claiming

the chorus of "The Old Man Down

The Road" sounded too similar to

CCR's "Run Through The Jungle,"

a song from the band's album

Cosmo's Factory released on

a single in the spring of 1970.

(To get out of his contract with

Fantasy, Fogerty had signed

away his rights to the music

he made with CCR.)

 Fogerty won the court battle when he brought his guitar

to the witness stand and pointed out differences

between the two recordings. Can you

detect those differences?

"Run Through the Jungle" - Creedence Clearwater Revival

(May 1970, highest chart pos. #4, B side of "Up Around the Bend")

 THE CORSAIRS 

 & LANDY McNEIL 

Early in 1962 a North Carolina doo-wop

group calling themselves The Corsairs

(featuring Jay "Bird" Uzzell) scored

a top 10 R&B hit with the single

"Smoky Places," a song penned

and produced by Abner Spector,

an A&R man for Chess Records

and founder of his own Tuff label.

Later that year The Corsairs made

the top 30 on the R&B chart with

"I'll Take You Home." In 1965,

the group, now recording as

The Corsairs & Landy McNeil,

waxed Spectorian (Phil, that is) with

this fab slab-- "On the Spanish Side."

"On the Spanish Side" - The Corsairs & Landy McNeil

(Feb. 1965, uncharted)

 BEN E. 

 KING 

To Shady's ears "On the Spanish Side"
sounds a lot like "Spanish Harlem,"
a song written by Jerry Leiber and
Phil Spector and recorded by former
Drifters lead singer Ben E. King.

Released in November 1960, King's
single went top 10 on the pop chart
and made Rolling Stone's list of
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"Spanish Harlem" - Ben E. King

(Mar. 1961, highest chart pos. #10)

 SISTER SLEDGE 

Disco was hot at Christmas 1978 when Philadelphia's sibling girl group

Sister Sledge released "He's the Greatest Dancer," a song composed

by Chic members Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers.

The single reached the top 10 in the spring of '79 and might have gone higher,

but its momentum stalled and it was overtaken by an even bigger Sister Sledge

hit, "We Are Family" which rocketed all the way to #2. From the group's hit

album We Are Family, produced by Edwards and Rodgers, here are the

discofied siblings performing "He's the Greatest Dancer."

"He's the Greatest Dancer" - Sister Sledge

(April/May 1979, highest chart pos. #9 Hot 100,

#1 R&B, from Jan. 1979 album We Are Family)

 PHYLLIS 

 ST. JAMES 

In 1984 Phyllis St. James, a Los Angeles singer and

songwriter, signed with Motown Records and recorded

the album Ain't No Turnin' Back. The album spawned

the club classic "Candlelight Afternoon," a boogie

number that samples "He's The Greatest Dancer."

"Candlelight Afternoon" - Phyllis St. James

(from 1984 album Ain't No Turnin' Back)

IS IT LIVE...

OR IS IT MEMOREX?

THE ORIGINAL...

A FLATTERING

IMITATION...

OR A BLATANT

RIP-OFF?

Stick around. I've got more cool copycats for your

listening  pressure  pleasure coming soon in vol. 4.

Have a Shady day!

Best of Bandstands in Foreign Lands - Vol. 9: Super Girl!

Welcome to vol. 9 of

my globetrotting series

BANDSTANDS IN

FOREIGN LANDS!

I'm Shady Seaweed, here to bring you more great
music performances that originated from TV studios,
big halls and nightclubs in Europe and other parts
of the world from the 1960s through early 2000s.

Join me now for another exciting

trip back in time as we visit

Bandstands in

Foreign Lands!

 GRAHAM BONNEY 

 & THE REMO FOUR 

BEAT-CLUB

BREMEN, WEST GERMANY

Pop singer Graham Bonney has spent most of his life in Germany where

14 of his singles reached the upper half of the chart. Bonney also hosted

his own television show, Hits a Go Go, one of the music series I will be

featuring in future episodes of Bandstands in Foreign Lands. In 1966

Bonney broke through in the UK with the top 20 entry "Supergirl,"

his only hit in Britain. Looking as warm, cuddly, non intimidating,

kid tested and mother approved as Peter Noone, Bonney charmed
the girls in the studio audience when he appeared on the German
music show Beat-Club. Here he is, gotta love him (or not???)...

Graham Bonney (and the Remo Four) with "Supergirl!"

"Super Girl" - Graham Bonney & the Remo Four

(May to Sept. 1966, highest chart pos. #1 Germany,

#19 UK, on Sept. 24, 1966 episode of Beat-Club)

 SISTER SLEDGE 

TOPPOP

THE NETHERLANDS

The next bandstand on our whistle-stop tour of the world is in Holland where

we find a group of all American girls, Philly's phenomenal singing siblings

Sister Sledge. Their 1981 single "All American Girls" went top 3 on the

R&B chart in the U.S. and top 10 in The Netherlands. Sister Sledge

performed their international hit on the Dutch TV show TopPop.

"All American Girls" - Sister Sledge

(Mar./Apr. 1981, highest chart pos. #3 R&B/#6 U.S. Dance Club,

#6 Belgium, #8 Netherlands, perf. on Dutch TV series TopPop)

 SHALAMAR 

TOPPOP

THE NETHERLANDS

I'd like to linger a while longer in Holland... wooden shoe? Up next, Shalamar,

the American disco/dance trio created by Soul Train booking agent Dick Griffey

and Soul Train creator, producer and host Don Cornelius. Shalamar's classic lineup

included lead singer Howard Hewett along with Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniel,

former dance partners on Soul Train. (Hewett and Watley went on to successful

solo careers.) It's interesting that, over a three year period from the summer of

1980 to the summer of 1983, Shalamar records performed better in the UK

than here at home in the U.S. One example of the phenomenon is the single

"I Can Make You Feel Good" released in the summer of '82. Stateside the

record merely Bubbled Under the Hot 100 and peaked in the lower top 40

on the R&B side. The song was much more popular in the UK where it

reached #7 and in The Netherlands where it made the top 10. Here's

a clip of Shalamar doing "I Can Make You Feel Good" on TopPop)

"I Can Make You Feel Good" -Shalamar

(July/Aug. 1982, highest chart pos. #102 Bubbling Under/#33 R&B,

#7 UK/#10 Netherlands, perf. on Dutch TV series TopPop)

 LOOSE ENDS 

6.20 SOUL TRAIN

LONDON, ENGLAND

You just watched a 1982 performance by Shalamar. Now meet the above mentioned

Jeffrey Daniel - singer/songwriter, dancer, choreographer, style icon and former

member of The Soul Train Gang as regular dance partner of Jody Watley.

Daniel left Shalamar in 1984 and wound up in London in 1985 as the

"presenter" (the word commonly used for M.C. in the UK) on the TV

music series 6.20 Soul Train, a UK version of Soul Train endorsed

by Don Cornelius. Here's a great clip from 6.20 Soul Train of a
 performance by Loose Ends, a British Soul/R&B trio that
enjoyed its greatest success in the 80s. Released in 1985,
the band's 5th single, "Magic Touch," was one of their
biggest hits. Here's Jeffrey Daniel with the intro.

"Magic Touch" - Loose Ends

(June/July 1985, highest chart pos. #16 UK,

#23 Ireland, perf. on 6.20 Soul Train)

 THE FOUR SEASONS 

 LEGS & CO 

TOP OF THE POPS

LONDON, ENGLAND

 "In winter 1963 

 It felt like the world would freeze 

 With John F. Kennedy 

 And The Beatles." 

(lyrics from "Life in a Northern Town")

A cold dark winter came early in 1963 when JFK was assassinated.

How well I remember (and wish I could forget). I also remember

December 1975 when The Four Seasons released "December, 1963

(Oh, What A Night)," a song co-written and produced by original

Four Seasons keyboard player Bob Gaudio. The single features lead

vocals by drummer Gerry Polci with regular front man Frankie Valli

on backing vocals and bassist Don Ciccone, the former lead singer

of The Critters, singing the falsetto parts. The unusual combination

yielded an international hit - #1 in the U.S. and UK. Let's stay in

London where the lovely ladies of Legs & Co are set to snow plow

their way through The Seasons' seasonal song on Top Of The Pops.

"December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)" - The Four Seasons

(Feb./Mar. 1976, highest chart pos. #1 Hot 100/#1 UK,

dance perf. by Legs & Co on Top Of The Pops)

 PAUL REVERE 

 AND THE RAIDERS 

RAIDERS' 1969 EUROPEAN TOUR

Here's one of my favorite songs by Paul Revere And The Raiders - "Let Me" -

one half of a "doublesider" - two great songs released back-to-back on a single -

the second song being the fab flip "I Don't Know." Both songs are found on

the 1969 album Alias Pink Puzz. The single and the album both performed

well enough on the U.S. and Canadian charts to get the band band invited
to join The Beach Boys on a European tour in the summer of 1969.
Here are Paul Revere & The Raiders featuring Mark Lindsay
doing "Let Me" on an unknown European television
program while on that tour.

"Let Me" - Paul Revere And The Raiders feat. Mark Lindsay

(June/July 1969, highest chart pos. #20 Hot 100, #16 Cash Box,

#12 Canada, from 1969 album Alias Pink Puzz,

performance on European TV show)



I hope you enjoyed volume 9 of

BANDSTANDS IN

FOREIGN LANDS!

Stay tuned for the next edition coming soon.

Have a Shady day!