A walk back in time from The Lefsetz Letter December 1964 1. Come See About Me The Supremes My favorite Supremes cut! A Holland-Dozier-Holland composition, its all about the groove. I distinctly remember dancing to this at the following years bar mitzvah parties. Thats right, some tracks are so rhythmic they incite us to get up from our chairs and ask Nancy or Betty or Jennifer to dance. And its not about them so much as us. We hold our heads high in the air as we sing along. At least I did! 2. I Feel Fine The Beatles The flip side was Shes A Woman, number 7 on this list, and the funny thing is I never dug it back then but it resonates with me now even more than I Feel Fine! It was all about Georges guitar, the distortion, the riff, we were banging our heads long before metal came into vogue. This was off Beatles 65, which everybody had and played until the grooves turned grey. But even though the album contained these hits, it was the one-two punch of the opening cuts that made us swoon. Come on, remember dropping the needle and hearing John singing This happened once before...? And then, when that was done, Im A Loser with that jaunty beat and the lyric that no one would sing today. Today everybodys a winner, no ones three-dimensional, all we get is smiling idiots. No wonder people tune out. Of course the Beatles are not on Spotify, but you know this song by heart, right? 3. Mr. Lonely Bobby Vinton Thats right, the British Invasion didnt wipe the slate completely clean, not right away, some of the oldies held over, and as a result I know this by heart, we all do, back when we couldnt tune out for fear of missing the next Beatles/British Invasion hit. 4. Shes Not There The Zombies Haunting! Thats the power of music, it sets a mood instantly, takes you away from the humdrum to a mystical, magical world where youre your best self and its all right to be sensitive. 5. Love Potion No. 9 Searchers Of course it was a cover of the Clovers hit, but that hit back in 1959, before most Beatlemaniacs were listening to the radio, before transistors became ubiquitous. Composed by Leiber and Stoller, this track still sounded positively British. Listening you felt like you were experiencing a movie, you were right inside it. Back when music infected you and took you away. When the notes were more powerful than the flicks. Before both caved and faded and we all paid penance to television, the seemingly only honest medium left. 6. Goin Out Of My Head Little Anthony and the Imperials Funny how something so dated sounds so modern. I always liked this. But I prefer Tears On My Pillow and Hurts So Bad, but theyre all good. 7. Shes A Woman The Beatles See number 2 above. 8. Time Is On My Side The Rolling Stones Its that screechy, whiny, thin guitar intro and then the way Mick Jagger seems to sing with his mouth wide open. Youll come runnin back This sounded like it was about a neighborhood in London inhabited by no one else on the radio. We were intrigued. Of course, this is a cover of the Jerry Ragavoy composition. Furthermore, there are two iterations. The famous one, the one you know, begins with guitar, but the one on 12 X 5 begins with an organ. Ive included both iterations. 9. My Love, Forgive Me Robert Goulet I had to hear this to remember it. Our parents music was not completely done, the MOR artists were all over television, dominating variety shows and late night. Little did everyone know we were at the advent of a youthquake, about to turn the entire nation upside down. 10. You Really Got Me The Kinks Funny how time changes things, You Really Got Me is now seen as a Van Halen song, even though we thought it was a cheap shot when it appeared on the bands debut album. Sure, the guitar is great, but its Rays sneer that endears you. What kind of people are these? Who dont care about authority, who dont know to respect their elders, who have such attitude. Soon we all had attitude. 12. Ringo Lorne Green Our Jewish patriarch from the Great White North who headed up the Cartwright family which beamed into our homes every Sunday night this was the William Shatner hit before Bill became famous as a vocalist but this was no joke. And by this time we all knew Ringo Starr, we could not deny the connection to this song, even though there was none. Once again, note the mood. 13. Any Way You Want It The Dave Clark Five Not on Spotify, of course, Dave Clark is waiting until Spotify is superseded before he deigns to license his groups material, but of course its on YouTube, check it out here: bit.ly/1sHi6J0 This exploded out of the dashboard. 15. Keep Searchin Del Shannon Hes more famous for Runaway, but this is almost as great. Once again, its about the feel, completely different from the work of the British acts. And when Del sang about following the sun, we couldnt help but make the connection to Ill Follow The Sun on Beatles 65. And if you dont know this, stay at least through the organ solo! 16. Im Into Something Good Hermans Hermits Their first hit, soon to be superseded in the public consciousness by Mrs. Brown Youve Got A Lovely Daughter, Im Into Something Good is a stone cold smash that pays dividends over the years, its one of my favorite records ever. Sure, its a cover, but theres the energy and the innocence, the way Peter Noone is singing more to be famous than to get laid, that is so infectious. I was eleven when this came out. I remember singing the title to myself as I had my initial camp romances. Isnt that what were all looking for, to be into something good? The funny thing is some prepubescent act could cut this today and it would be a hit all over again, thats how timeless this Goffin-King composition is. 19. The Jerk The Larks I couldnt have told you who did it, but I know it. Back in the era of dance crazes, when we watched TV to know what to do at parties, back when no one even knew the word choreographer. You can almost hear Prince in this one hit wonder. 23. As Tears Go By Marianne Faithfull The hit version of the Stones song. More sing-songy, but all over the radio. I bought and enjoyed the Broken English Marianne Faithfull, but this is the one who will be remembered. 26. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved You) Marvin Gaye Like with You Really Got Me above, this is seen more as a James Taylor song now. Marvin Gaye doesnt get enough respect. He croons. How different from today where everybody oversells. 28. The Leader of the Laundromat The Detergents I may not have known who did The Jerk, but I knew the Detergents did this answer song to the Shangri-Las Leader Of The Pack. You had to give the creators credit, they had a sense of humor. 61. All Day and All of the Night The Kinks Theres that sneer once again! Soon to follow You Really Got Me up the chart, this song had a riff that we all played on the guitars we got in the wake of seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. And bubbling under, we had Petula Clark with Downtown and Reparata and the Delrons with Whenever A Teenager Cries. And you wonder why the sixties are considered a golden era. Thats right, today most people have no idea whats number 1, never mind number 10! But back then the entire younger generation was addicted to the radio, we knew every cut, every lick. We bought the records, sang along to the radio, and every baby boomer will testify that this music is far from forgettable, not just representative of the era, but CLASSIC! The musicians were figuring it out as they went along. They were following the Beatles and writing their own songs, it was a badge of honor to be able to play. And everyone at home was forming bands, singing these songs, the same way todays youth follows technology. The entire modern music business is built upon this foundation. Dig in. P.S. Thanks to musicradio77 for the WABC playlist: musicradio77/Surveys/1964/surveydec1564.html P.P.S. My favorite jock was always Cousin Brucie, I smile when I hear him on Sirius XM today, but this was also the era when Scott Muni was a fast-talking jock on AM, before he slowed down and dominated on WNEW.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 17:54:17 +0000
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