Top Hit Club of America Inc. - Old York/Shady Dell Chapter Vol. 1: Fluent English with a Distinctive Pittsburgh Dialect

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 records my fellow Dell rats Ron Shearer

and Tom Anderson play at today's meeting, you will wish you had been a teenager in

York, PA, in the 1950s and 60s and a regular at the Dell during those golden years.

Remember, as these original rats spin their songs:

"Don't just listen with your ears -

listen with your heart."

Ron and Tom are eager to get started and I second that emotion.
This meeting of the Old York - Shady Dell chapter of the Top Hit Club
of America will hereby come to order. Dell Rat Tom, you have the floor.

 CHUCK JACKSON 

 & TOMMY HUNT 

Thanks, Debbie! Back in the day it was common practice
at Scepter/Wand and other record labels to have several
artists record songs using the same instrumental backing.
Here's an example, a hit by an artist I know Dell Rat Ron
loves - Chuck Jackson - reworked by an artist my good
buddy Dell Rat Jerre Slaybaugh loves - Tommy Hunt.
It's a fan made YouTube mashup of Chuck Jackson's
single "Any Day Now (My Wild Beautiful Bird)" and
"Lover," an unreleased recording by Tommy Hunt
using the identical instrumental track. Listen
to this fantasy duet as Chuck and Tommy
sing-- "Any Day Now Lover!"

"Any Day Now Lover" (MottyMix) - Chuck Jackson & Tommy Hunt

(orig. Chuck Jackson recording May/June 1962,

highest chart pos. #2 R&B/#23 Hot 100)

Thanks, Tommy boy!

Now let's hear a few

of Dell Rat Ron's

top tunes. Ron,

the floor is yours!

Sup, Debbie? Hello everybody! If you weren't lucky

enough to be born and raised in Old York, Pennsyl-

vania, try to imagine yourself here during those

great years from the 50s through mid 60s. It's a

Saturday morning. You're at home sitting by the

radio listening to the great local station WNOW's

Rock 180 Club or hanging out at the old Disc-O-

Rama record store next to the Holiday Theater.

Today I brought with me four records that are

among Pittsburgh's favorite oldies, and they

were also hits here in York and Central PA.

 BERTHA TILLMAN 

Curtis Mayfield's "Woman's Got Soul" seems written with Bertha Tillman in mind.

Bertha will always be remembered for her otherworldly 1962 doo-wop ballad

"Oh My Angel" which was a hit on the West Coast, in Pittsburgh and in soul

mecca York, but failed to catch on in other parts of the country. For that

reason the record didn't make it very far up the national pop chart.

Even harder to believe, it didn't even register on the R&B chart.

Here's Bertha Tillman, a great and underrated singer who

died young at age 50-- "Oh My Angel."

"Oh My Angel" - Bertha Tillman

(May/June 1962, highest chart pos. #61 Hot 100/#67 Cash Box)

Bertha followed "Oh My Angel" with another fine ballad Yorkers loved.

It was released on the B side of "(I Believe) Something Funny Is Going On."

Listen now as Bertha and her vocal group The Killers sing "I Wish."

"I Wish" - Bertha Tillman & The Killers

(July 1962, uncharted)

I will always remember how teens raved when the "Disc" 

got rare copies of those Bertha Tillman 45s and the next 

two records in my stack. I'm speaking of Scott English's

"High On A Hill" and George Goodman's "Let Me Love You."

 GEORGE 

 GOODMAN 

 AND HIS HEADLINERS 

The dreamy doo-wop ballad "Let Me Love You"

by George Goodman And His Headliners shot

to number one in Pittsburgh and Baltimore and

soon caught fire in the Susquehanna Valley.

Although a hot hit in our region, "Let Me Love You" failed to catch on
across the country. Today it is known as the most released non-hit
single in history because it was issued at least five times on
various labels but somehow managed to miss both the
pop and the black singles charts. Go figure!

"Let Me Love You" - George Goodman And His Headliners

(1964 & 1965, uncharted)

 SCOTT ENGLISH 

 with THE ACCENTS 

Scott English, who died last November at age 81, was an American singer
and songwriter based in London. With the group The Accents on backing
vocals, Scott recorded "High On A Hill," a song that what went on to
become one of Pittsburgh's all time favorite oldies, a single that
was also big in San Francisco and, of course, here in York.

"High On A Hill" - Scott English with The Accents

(Feb./Mar. 1964, highest chart pos. #77)

Thank you, Ron. Now it's back

to you, Dell Rat Tom, to bring

today's meet and greet to a

close with two more top tunes.

 ERIC BURDON 

 & THE ANIMALS 

AOK, Debbie! As I'm sure Ron knows, Scott English
was even better known as a songwriter. English, along

with UK composer Richard Kerr, wrote "Brandy," the song
renamed "Mandy" that was a chart-topping hit single in
1974 for Barry Manilow. English and another songwriter,
Larry Weiss, who wrote Glen Campbell's hit "Rhinestone
Cowboy," combined to write two of my favorite songs of
the 60s. I brought both 45s with me today and here's
the first, Eric Burdon And The Animals-- "Help Me Girl."

"Help Me Girl" - Eric Burdon And The Animals

(Dec. 1966/Jan. 1967, highest chart pos.
#29 Hot 100/#14 UK)

 THE AMERICAN BREED 

English and Weiss also penned "Bend Me, Shape Me," a top 5 hit in the early

weeks of 1968 for the mixed race Chicago rock quartet The American Breed.

Like Burdon's "Help Me Girl," this one boasts a catchy melody, dynamic

arrangement and interesting lyrics, making it one of the grooviest

records of the 60s. Simply put... English spoke my language!

"Bend Me, Shape Me" - The American Breed

(Dec. 1967/Jan. '68, highest chart pos. #5 Hot 100/#3 Cash Box)

I hope you had a good time eavesdropping on the

first meeting of the the Old York - Shady Dell Chapter

of the Top Hit Club of America. Stay tuned for more

golden greats of the 50s & 60s spun by Dell rats

Ron, Tom and Jerre Slaybaugh coming your

way in future volumes of the series!