Sedaka was back, but his audience had yet to tune in
Neil Sedaka’s commercial re-emergence wasn’t fully realized until 1975’s “Laughter in the Rain†topped the American chart, but the seeds of his comeback were sewn four years earlier with the aptly titled Emergence and this 1972 follow-up. The album takes its title from Sedaka’s temporary departure from songwriting partner Howard Greenfield; Sedaka wrote and worked instead with Phil Cody, and recorded the album in England with a nascent 10cc. (Graham Gouldman, with whom Sedaka had become friendly, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley had been producing pop and bubblegum sides throughout the early ‘70s, including a stint cutting sides for the legendary Kasenetz-Katz team; a collection of their early productions can be found on Strawberry Bubblegum.)
By the time that Sedaka joined the crew at their Strawberry Studios, they’d waxed a number of hits, including “Neanderthal Man†as Hotlegs, and “Umbopo†as Doctor Father. It was the latter that drew Sedaka to Gouldman, and ultimately to the studio in early 1972. The album was heavily influenced by the soulful singer-songwriter strut that Sedaka’s friend Carole King had launched with the previous year’s Tapestry and which Elton John was heating up at the same time. John would sign Sedaka to his Rocket label two years later, and with songs from this and two other UK albums in tow, Sedaka’s U.S. comeback set sail. The opening “That’s When the Music Takes Me†speaks directly of Sedaka’s everlasting faith in music, and cracked the Top 40 upon its U.S. re-release.
The Spectacular Spinning Songbook is a staging device Elvis Costello introduced on his 1986 tour. The giant spinning wheel is marked with songs that the band plays on the spot, in response to an audience member’s selection. The wheel contrasted with the calculation of a preconceived set list, injecting spontaneity into both the band’s job and the audience’s experience. Costello revived the wheel for his 2011 Revolver Tour, and a live recording was made during a two-night stand at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. The live set was initially released in an expensive “super deluxe†CD/DVD/vinyl box set, and has been reissued in more modestly priced CD and MP3 configurations.
As in the original release, the song list for the 16-track CD overlaps the DVD, but neither fully replaces the other. Also as in the original release, the set list is exciting and the band’s playing enthusiastic, but the recording is leaden. Costello’s vocals are often mixed too far behind a muddy instrumental mix that’s maddeningly bass heavy. Imagine yourself sitting at a bad spot in a medium-sized music hall or arena, and you’ll get an idea of the tonal balance. That said, it’s great to hear Costello and his crack band ripping through both the well-trod chestnuts of his enormous catalog, a few obscurities and a pair of covers. The latter includes an impassioned take on the Rolling Stones’ “Out of Time†and the Bangles-recorded Costello original “Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s a Doll Revolution),†with Susanna Hoffs singing lead.
Sixteen years after they climbed to the top of the British chart with a 1963 remake of the Drifters “Sweets for My Sweet,†and more than a decade after they’d last cracked the Top 40 with a remake of the Rolling Stones’ “Take It or Leave It,†the second (or third, depending on how you feel about Gerry and the Pacemakers) most popular band out of Liverpool was back. Having continued to tour as an oldies act and cover band throughout the 1970s, it was a remarkably well-timed return to recording. The band’s two albums on Sire, 1979’s The Searchers and 1980’s Love’s Melodies, cannily conjured fresh music from the band’s classic harmonies and guitars, and the then-courant power-pop that had grown from ‘60s pop roots.
Pat Moran’s production of the first album, recorded at the same Rockfield Studios that served Dave Edmunds and the Flamin’ Groovies, has the clean sound of the era’s pop hits. The band’s two originals (“This Kind of Love Affair†and “Don’t Hang Onâ€) are complemented by songs written by upcoming and established songwriters. The memorable “Hearts in Her Eyes†was written for the band by the Records’ Will Birch and John Wicks, and Mickey Jupp’s “Switchboard Susan†is given a low-key arrangement that suggests skiffle roots. Covers of Tom Petty’s Mudcrutch-era “Lost in Your Eyes†and Bob Dylan’s obscure “Coming From the Heart†highlight the band’s ears for good songs that had been abandoned by major writers.
In addition to the album’s original ten tracks, this collection includes an alternate mix of “It’s Too Late,†and early mixes of two tracks from the second album. The second album, like the first, combines a couple of band originals (“Little Bit of Heaven†and “Another Nightâ€) with material drawn from up-and coming and veteran songwriters. Among the former are Moon Martin (“She Made a Fool Of Youâ€) and a pair co-written by Will Burch; among the latter are John Fogerty’s “Almost Saturday Night,†Andy McMaster’s “Love’s Melody†and Alex Chilton’s “September Gurls.†The latter was an especially prescient selection, given that it would be six more years until the Bangles brought the song into the mainstream with A Different Light.
You probably heard a Bert Berns song today. If you heard “Tell Him,†“Twist and Shout,†“Cry to Me,†“Here Comes the Night,†“Hang on Sloopy†or “Piece of My Heart,†you heard a song he wrote. If you heard “Baby, I’m Yours,†“Under the Boardwalk†or “Brown Eyed Girl,†you heard a record he produced. Berns’ enormous catalog of deeply-felt songs and deftly-produced records puts him in a league with the best of the Brill Building’s songwriters and New York’s golden age pop producers. When Phil Spector lost the Latin soul of Berns’ “Twist and Shout†with a frantic rendition by the Top Notes, Berns picked it back up the next year and minted a classic with the Isley Brothers. And when Berns felt he’d accomplished everything he could as a writer and producer, he founded Bang records, stormed the charts in 1965 with the Strangeloves’ “I Want Candy,†and signed Neil Diamond and Van Morrison.
Born in 1929, Berns was thirty-one when he finally found his way into the music industry as a $50-a-week songwriter for Robert Merlin’s publishing company. His first hit came the following year with the Jarmel’s “A Little Bit of Soap,†and over the next seven years he minted more than fifty pop chart singles. Berns’ early love of Afro-Cuban music permeated his songs, as did the deep, personal feelings he poured into his lyrics. Labeled by his African American artists as “the white soul brother,†he pushed them “to sing it like he meant it.†Session dialog of Berns coaching Betty Harris, as well as Van Morrison during the recording of Blowin’ Your Mind!, give the viewer a feel for his artist rapport. Testimony from family, artists, production and business colleagues testify to the exalted status in which he was held. The interviews are highlighted by his savvy and tough widow, Ilene Berns, and the tough but artistically sensitive Carmine “Wassel” DeNoia.
Roy Orbison’s vocals backed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Roy Orbison’s sons – Roy Jr., Wesley and Alex – have done much to preserve and expand their father’s legacy. They’ve overseen reissues of Roy Orbison’s MGM catalog and an expanded thirtieth anniversary version of the Black and White Night concert film, released the first-ever issue of 1969 album One of the Lonely Ones, and wrote a new biography. Their latest offering grafts classic Orbison vocals onto new, classical arrangements, multiplying the vocalist’s operatic flights with the power of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This is producer Nick Patrick’s third such creation, having pioneered this concept with Elvis Presley’s If I Can Dream and The Wonder of You.
Although there is certainly a marketing angle to this release, there is also a great deal of thought in the conception and artistry, and the execution rises well above pure commercialism. The strings of Orbison’s original hits pointed the way, and these full orchestral arrangements fill out the emotional images drawn by Orbison’s soaring vocals. Patrick’s arrangers have studied the original records and leveraged many of their percussion and melodic motifs. The results remain familiar while also feeling freshened up; they don’t always have the raw impact of Fred Foster’s original productions, but neither do they stray so far away as to lose the connection.
Action Skull’s principals – John Cowsill, Billy Mumy, Vicki Peterson and Rick Rosas – each have extensive show business resumes. Cowsill began his music career in his family’s eponymous band, played with Dwight Twilley and Tommy Tutone, and plays drums as part of the Beach Boys touring band. Mumy started out in television and film before breaking into the music industry with Barnes & Barnes, worked with America and Rick Springfield, and records solo albums. Peterson rose to fame with the Bangles, and subsequently played with the Continental Drifters and Psycho Sisters alongside her sister-in-law Susan Cowsill. Rosas, who passed away in 2014, was a sought-after Los Angeles studio musician who played with Neil Young (including reunions of Crazy Horse, CSN&Y and Buffalo Springfield), Joe Walsh, Johnny Rivers and others.
The band’s genesis dates to 2013, when Cowsill, Peterson and Mumy met and sang together at a party. Mumy introduced Rosas into the mix a few days later, and quickly began writing new material for the quartet. Collaboration and demos were soon followed by live sessions at ReadyMix Music, a studio that has hosted Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon and other L.A. luminaries. The group describes their music as “canyon rock,†and that ‘70s vibe rings through the psych-tinged guitars and three part harmonies, but their sound isn’t nostalgic. Rosas death in November 2014 put the eight finished tracks on the back burner as the three remaining Skulls returned to their individual careers. But they knew they had something, and they knew that Rosas performances should be heard. So they recorded three more tracks with Mumy and John Cowsill’s son Will on bass.
San Francisco’s Flamin’ Groovies broke into the underground with a string of critically revered records – Sneakers, Supersnazz, Flamingo and Teenage Head – whose lack of commercial success drove the band to musical itinerancy. By 1971, founder Roy Loney had left the band, and his co-founder, Cyril Jordan joined with Chris Wilson to shift the band from retro- and blues-influenced rock ‘n’ roll towards British-invasion styled pop. They resurfaced in the UK five years later, releasing the iconic “Shake Some Action†and three albums full of solid originals and covers of the Beatles, Byrds and others.
But much like the band’s original lineup, the revised and revitalized Groovies garnered critical accolades, but didn’t break through commercially. Chris Wilson left the band in 1980, and though various configurations and editions of the group have reunited and toured off and on, it’s been nearly forty years since Cyril Jordan and Chris Wilson have collaborated on new material. For this reunion, they recorded with original Groovies bassist George Alexander and latter-day drummer Victor Penalosa over the course of three years, laying down ten originals and covers of the Beau Brummels and NRBQ.
The band charges out of the gate with the Stones-ish “What the Hell’s Goin’ On,†reaching back to the band’s bluesier roots (though oddly crossed with the central riff of John Mellancamp’s “Hurts So Goodâ€) and playing to Jordan and Wilson’s guitar chemistry. There are numerous moments that rekindle memories of the band’s jangly 1970s Sire albums, including the harmonies of “She Loves Me,†the hopeful “Lonely Hearts,†the Shadows-styled instrumental “I’d Rather Spend My Time with You†and a cover of NRBQ’s “I Want You Bad.†The chime reaches its apex with the Byrdsian closer “Cryin’ Shame.â€
Expanded look at Buckley’s 1969 stand at L.A.’s Troubadour
