ABOUT MAKING 1960'S MUSIC VIDEO'S

About 30 years ago I got hooked on collecting vinyl 45's, because I had most LP's and it was the only way to be kept "musically fed" on a continuing basis. I then realised that about 80% (yes EIGHTY) of the late 60's stuff never had any airplay. I mean, just think in the US only... so many States, so many unknown local groups, who made only one or two 45rpm's, then to vanish into obscurity. 

THOSE are the ones I'm after...

In the meantime I've discovered that (literally 100.000's records from the 1960's never or hardly had any airplay. That is very weird because they are melodic and even had strong chart potential. The answer I got was "The sixties were a musical boom and there was no way to plug them all on the radio".

The first reason for this blog is to introduce people to forgotten or unknown pop, psychedelic pop, soft rock, northern soul from the years 1967 1968 1969 1970.
I'm talking breezy, uptempo, cheerful orchestrated pop. "Sunshine Pop" is feel good music with catchy melodies.

The second reason is that I decided to "do something" with those songs, TO MAKE 1960's MUSIC VIDEO'S  of records of which no film footage exists and hereby enhance the song visually.

What could be filed under "obscure pop" are songs that didn't get much (or any) airplay, despite their commercial potential. Fact is that there was such a creative musical boom in the sixties that it was impossible to plug them all. Certain artists got a chance to have their songs played during local gigs and that was about it.

Let's set the date in history to 1967... The Vietnam war was climaxing. Thousands of young people were drafted for army duty and many got killed. As an anti-war act young people gathered together and the general idea was to see the sunny side of life. Instead of all doom and death people should learn to "make love, not war". It became the slogan of 1967. The movement was growing strong and gained followers all over the world. The hippie movement was starting to emerge.

Love-Ins were created in which people could express themselves freely. The symbol of the movement was the flower. The silent power of a flower. From then on the Flower Children or Flower Generation was born. People wore colorful outfits, love-beads, put flowers in their hair, had their faces/body painted with symbols of peace and... the attitude was optimism..
All of this reflected in the music. As a reaction to the war they sang optimistic songs about happiness, flowers, colors, cotton candy, rainbows, etc....
It's exactly that kind of music we're talking about here.

Psychedelic music was already a reality, but some groups chose for the best of both worlds and created a sound between pop and psychedelia (pop/pysche or "popsike"). It was pleasant commercially music with a slight psyche twist. Already famous artists started to adjust their "sound" to go with the flow (The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Association, Manfred Mann, The Buckinghams...), while other groups were studio created.
 
Some fine examples of the genre were The Orange Colored Sky, The Love Generation, Orpheus, The Astral Scene, The Lemon Pipers, The Cherry People,...and many others.

But let's even get MORE obscure on this blog  !

Hopefully these pages will introduce people to forgotten pop music and/or pop psyche records from the late 60's. I will be posting new music video's frequently so therefore be sure to visit on a regular basis and comment whenever you like.

Peppermint Rainbow - Don't Love Me Unless It's Forever

The Peppermint Rainbow were an American sunshine pop group from Baltimore, Maryland. They formed in 1967 under the name New York Times, playing to local gigs in the mid-Atlantic states before changing their name to The Peppermint Rainbow in 1968. They were signed to Decca Records at the behest of their fellow Baltimorean Cass Elliot, who saw them play and sang with them on-stage when they performed a medley of The Mamas & the Papas tunes.

Under Decca the group was produced by Paul Leka; their first single "Walking in Different Circles" b/w "Pink Lemonade" did not chart. Their second single, "Will You Be Staying After Sunday", reached No. 4 on KHJ on 2 April 1969 and No. 32 on the Hot 100 on 3 May 1969, selling over one million copies and receiving a gold disc.

The group made an appearance on the 2 May 1969 episode of The Generation Gap television quiz show  from which the promotional clip of the song originates. As with most similar clips of the period, the performance is a lip-and-finger sync, noted mainly by the fact that none of the electric instruments are plugged in.

Another single entitled Green Tambourine also did not chart despite the fact that Leka had stripped away the vocals of The Lemon Pipers' hit from the previous year and given the backing track to the group to record their own cover. Their third release, "Don't Wake Me Up in the Morning, Michael", hit No. 54 the same year.

Their LP, Will You Be Staying After Sunday, barely missed the Top 100 of the album charts, peaking at No. 106,.

After recording three more post-album singles which also did not chart, including Walking in Different Circles (which had some minor airplay in the UK), and You're the Sound of Love, the band split up in 1970, after which the chorus of the latter tune would come to be re-arranged and re-recorded in the early 70's as We're the Sound of Love and used as an ID jingle for a number of radio stations featuring love songs prominently on their playlist.

Lynne Randell - Stranger In My Arms

Randell was marketed as Australia's Miss Mod and became the most popular female performer in the mid-1960s. Teen magazine, Go-Set, had separate columns written by Meldrum and Rofe, it also ran a pop poll, with Randell voted 'Most Popular Female Vocal' in October 1966.  "Goin' Out of My Head" peaked at No. 16 on the Go-Set National Top 40 in November. On the back of her Australian success, Randell went to the United Kingdom and performed at Liverpool's Cavern Club.By 1967 she was in the United States, where she met The Monkees and had a brief relationship with Davy Jones. She toured with them as part of a bill which also featured Jimi Hendrix and Ike & Tina Turner.

Randell wrote in Go-Set and television programme guide, TV Week, of her experiences while touring the US. Her next single, "Ciao Baby" written by Larry Weiss and Scott English, was recorded in New York and released on CBS Records in Australia. It reached No. 6 on Go-Set's Top 40 in June 1967. Epic Records also released it in the US, Randell shot a colour video for "Ciao Baby" which is believed to be the first by an Australian artist. The Australian B-side, "Stranger in My Arms" was released in the UK as the A-side. While touring the US, Randell became addicted to methamphetamine tablets which were sold legally as slimming pills. She developed a long term addiction which subsequently damaged her brain, nervous system and adrenal glands.
Her next single "That's a Hoe Down" / "I Need You Boy" appeared in 1967 and she won another 'Most Popular Female Vocal' from Go-Set pop poll in October. Randell moved to Los Angeles in 1968 and released "An Open Letter". However, she had health problems with glandular fever and then peritonitis.

Her last single, "I Love My Dog" was released in 1969 on Capitol Records

Judy Stone - In My Neighbourhood

               
During the early 1960s, Australian singer Judy Stone (b. 1944) became a regular on television pop show Bandstand, alongside the likes of Col Joye, Bryan Davies, Lucky Starr, Noeleen Batley, Patsy Ann Noble, The Allen Brothers, The Delltones, The De Kroo Brothers, Laurel Lea, Jimmy Hannan and Sandy Scott. Stone's duets with Col Joye were a popular feature of the show. She began touring with Joye and the Joyboys, and then signed a deal with Festival Records.

Stone's first two singles for Festival, `You're Driving Me Crazy'/`It Takes a Lot To Make Me Cry' (June 1961) and `Danger! Heartbreak Ahead'/`You're Driving Me Mad' (August), were minor hits. Her third single, `I'll Step Down'/ `Mommy and Daddy Were Twistin'' (February 1962), took her into the Sydney Top 10 for the first time when it peaked at #5 during March. Stone also issued her debut album for Festival, I'll Step Down, in 1962. `Finders Keepers'/`I'm Confessing that I Love You' (June), `I Wanna Love You'/`Where are You?' (December) and `It Takes a Lot to Make Me Cry'/`I Cried' (July 1963) made minor impressions on the Sydney chart. It was her seventh single, however, that became Stone's most popular release of the 1960s. The heart-wrenching ballad `4,003,221 Tears from Now'/`Hello Faithless' (April 1964) peaked at #8 in Sydney and #7 in Melbourne. The `I Cried' EP (June 1964), plus the singles `Break My Heartache'/`Lonely People Do Foolish Things' (September), `Hard to Say Goodnight'/`Too Much' (December) and `In My Neighbourhood'/`This is My Prayer' (October 1965) were not so successful.

By that stage, Stone had teamed up with Col Joye on a number of recordings, including the EPs `The I's Have It' and `Clap Your Hands', and albums Col and Judy and The Best of Col and Judy, which contained cutesy material like `Young And Healthy', `Angry' and `Side by Side'. In early 1965 she embarked on a two-month Japanese tour with Joye and the Joyboys. A year later, she married Leo De Kroo of The De Kroo Brothers. In September 1966, Stone scored her third Sydney Top 10 hit when a cover of Sandy Posey's `Born a Woman'/ `I Need You' (her first release for Joye's ATA label) peaked at #3. Stone issued five more singles on ATA, `Don't Touch Me'/`So Softly' (February 1967), `And the Trouble with Me is You'/`Lost Without Love' (May), `I Might as Well Get Used to It'/`Love will Always Find a Way' (March 1968) and Janis Ian's `Society's Child'/`I'm Not Your Woman' (March 1969), before moving to the M7 label.

John Rydgren - Music to watch girls by

The legacy of John Rydgren (deceased) is one of the most enigmatic in radio-jock if not also record history. A lutheran evangelist, Rydgren started a hit program called "Silhouettes," in which he rapped over such appealing tunes as "Music to Watch Girls By," "Groovin'," "Rinky Dink," the Electric Prunes' "Kyrie Eleison," and occasionally less obvious pieces such as "Dark Side of the Flower" (with sitar).

As with Ken Nordine, his thoughts were highly original, ranging from quirky perceptions of the mundane to deep acid-head philosophy. Sexy and startling, "Silhouettes" were as weird as anything heard from a pulpit or transistor radio.

Pastor John pitched his rants to the Hippie Freaks (many of whom would become Jesus Freaks) entirely on the hippies' own terms. Mentioned frequently are drugs (LSD, mushrooms, pot), mini-skirts, and other signifiers of the era. References to God but usually these are plentiful but philosphical and intriguing. Such evangelical pills were supposed to slip subtley through the sugar coating of everyone's favorite psychedelic '60s hits. It worked.

Distributed free to radio stations, Silhouette Segments never was commercially released because of licensing difficulties. It remains an obscure and treasured memento of the radio program. The LP was given heavy airplay in Vietnam, however. Questioning life's meta assumptions within a reassuring pop context, it was a natural for soldiers. And for everyone its juxtaposition of the antipodies of hip and square continue to blow minds.

Buying: Original Rydgren albums, all promo-only, are among the rarest records.

Dusk - The Point of No Return

A fantastic uptempo "Northern Soul" "floor filler"
A long forgotten but ideal revival choice for the Cleethorpes Pier & Wigan Casino faithful who may remember it’s brief turntable exposure. Unfortunately little is known about this group.
This is the single info

Bell: 45207 DJ
Label  Bell: 45207 DJ
A side    The Point Of No Return
B side    Same: 2.46 Version
City    philadelphia, pa

Other singles were:

	Dusk - Angel Baby / If We Just Leave Today - Stateside - Netherlands - 5C 006-92310 Dusk, Stateside, Netherlands, 7", Cat# 5C 006-92310, 1971, Track A: Angel Baby, Composer: Levine, Brown, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger Norman Bergen, Track B: If We Just Leave Today, Composer: Margo, Medress, Siegel, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger P.F.M. 88
	Dusk - Angel Baby / If We Just Leave Today - Bell - Australia - BLL-9386 Dusk, Bell, Australia, 7", Cat# BLL-9386, 1971, Track A: Angel Baby, Composer: Levine, Brown, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger Norman Bergen, Track B: If We Just Leave Today, Composer: Margo, Margo, Medress, Siegel, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger P.F.M. 88
	Dusk - Angel Baby / If We Just Leave Today - Bell - UK - BLL 1142 Dusk, Bell, UK, 7", Cat# BLL 1142, 1971, Track A: Angel Baby, Composer: Levine, Russell, Brown, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger Norman Bergen, Track B: If We Just Leave Today, Composer: Margo, Margo, Medress, Siegel, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger P.F.M. 88
	Dusk - I Hear Those Church Bells Ringing / I Cannot See To See You - Bell - Australia - BLL-9500 Dusk, Bell, Australia, 7", Cat# BLL-9500, 1971, Track A: I Hear Those Church Bells Ringing, Composer: Irwin Levine, L. Russell Brown, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger Hank Medress, Track B: I Cannot See To See You, Composer: Ardith Polley, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell
	Dusk - I Hear Those Church Bells Ringing / I Cannot See To See You - Stateside - Netherlands - 5C 006-92523 Dusk, Stateside, Netherlands, 7", Cat# 5C 006-92523, 1971, Track A: I Hear Those Church Bells Ringing, Composer: Irwin Levine, L. Russell Brown, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger Hank Medress, Track B: I Cannot See To See You, Composer: Ardith Polley, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell
	Dusk - Angel Baby / If We Just Leave Today - Bell - USA - 961 Dusk, Bell, USA, 7", Cat# 961, 1971, Track A: Angel Baby, Composer: Irwin Levine, L. Russell Brown, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appel, Arranger Norman Bergen, Track B: If We Just Leave Today, Composer: Margo, Margo, Medress, Siegel, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appel, Arranger P.F.M. 88
	Dusk - I Hear Those Church Bells Ringing / I Cannot See To See You - Bell - UK - BLL 1167 Dusk, Bell, UK, 7", Cat# BLL 1167, 1971, Track A: I Hear Those Church Bells Ringing, Composer: Levine, Russell Brown, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger Hank Medress, Track B: I Cannot See To See You, Composer: Polley, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger The Lone Arranger
	Dusk - Treat Me Like A Good Piece Of Candy / Suburbia U.S.A. - Bell - Netherlands - 5C 006-93084 Dusk, Bell, Netherlands, 7", Cat# 5C 006-93084, 1972, Track A: Treat Me Like A Good Piece Of Candy, Composer: Irwin Levine, L. Russell Brown, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger Ron Frangipane, Track B: Suburbia U.S.A., Composer: Ardith Polley, Producer: The Tokens, Dave Appell, Arranger The Lone Arranger

Joy Unlimited - Mr slater

This 1970 album by the German group Joy Unlimited was, to the eternal confusion of discographers, issued under three separate titles. In Germany, it was called Overground; in the U.K., Turbulence; and, in the U.S., simply Joy Unlimited. Although the band would later go in a more progressive direction, this LP was not all that progressive in nature, and not at all like the avant art rock of the 1970s Krautrock movement.

Instead, it was a competent amalgam of trends in American and British mainstream rock, pop, and soul, rather like the kind flashed by numerous bands emerging in neighboring Holland at the same time, like Shocking Blue. And, like Shocking Blue, Joy Unlimited sang entirely in English and were fronted by a woman singer (Joy Fleming); you wouldn't especially either identify them as a band from a non-English-speaking country, or be able to identify them as coming from any place in particular. There's nothing here as outstanding as, say, the best of Shocking Blue's stuff, but it's a fairly enjoyable set of very 1970-sounding material straddling the line of what was played on AM and FM radio in those days.

Fleming has a good and gutsy (though not brilliant) voice, and the group's certainly versatile, whether it's the soul-pop of "Groove with What You've Got"; the powerful ballad "I Hold No Grudge" (which you could easily imagine fitting onto a record by Dusty Springfield or Lulu); the more Janis Joplin-like "Feelin'"; the fairly catchy pop of "Have You Met Anyone Lately?" and "I Just Made Up My Mind"; the organ-guitar prog rock-tinged "Mr. Pseudonym" and "Helpless Child"; and the breezy "Mr. Slater," which takes its cues from late-'60s British observational storytelling pop/rock.

NOTE: because no footage of the group seems to exist, I used a video from a  Spanky & Our Gang performance

Linda Scott - Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed

Born in Queens, New York, Linda Sampson was 11 years old when she moved with her family to Teaneck, New Jersey. She was still in school (Teaneck High School) when she auditioned to appear on Arthur Godfrey's hit CBS Radio show in 1959. After having won a place on the show, Scott and other young performers became regular guests on the show. During the show's run, the young singer came to the attention of Epic Records, and Scott made her recording debut (singing as Linda Sampson) with the single, "In-Between Teen" 


Though still in high school, in 1961 she signed with Canadian-American Records, which had struck gold with the Santo & Johnny's "Sleep Walk". The label changed her performing name to Linda Scott, producing and releasing the hit "I've Told Every Little Star," a standard written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern for their 1932 production Music In The Air. The track sold over one million copies, earning Scott a gold disc

Scott's three biggest hits came in that first year, with "I've Told Every Little Star" (U.S. #3), "I Don't Know Why" (U.S. #12), and "Don't Bet Money, Honey" (U.S. #9). The first two were standards, while the third was one of Scott's own compositions.

Scott was the showcase artist when Canadian-American started a subsidiary label, Congress Records, in 1962, and in fact both labels released new material of hers simultaneously. The following year, she sang her hit "Yessirree" in the Chubby Checker vehicle, Don't Knock The Twist. Scott's final U.S. chart appearance was "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed," released in January 1964, the same month that The Beatles made their first chart appearance. In 1965, she became a cast member of the TV rock show Where the Action Is, which she co-hosted with singer Steve Alaimo. Her last U.S. recording, "They Don't Know You", was released in 1967 on RCA Records. She continued to record as a backing vocalist (most notably on Lou Christie's 1969 hit, "I'm Gonna Make You Mine") and also released a handful of singles in the UK (on CBS and Bell) before finally quitting show business in the early 1970s to pursue studies in theology

The Magic Lanterns - One night stand

The Magic Lanterns were an English pop rock group formed in Warrington, Lancashire. They formed in 1962 as The Sabres, playing locally in Manchester and changing their name a few years later. They signed to CBS Records after releasing the single, "Excuse Me Baby", which charted at #44 in the UK in 1966, and a few singles later they put out an album, Lit Up. In 1968 they switched to Atlantic Records and released their first US hit, "Shame, Shame", which hit #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Shame Shame" was also released in the UK, on the short lived 'Camp' record label, as was "Melt All Your Troubles Away" the following year, but neither enjoyed any chart success. The single "Give Me Love" followed, as did a Stateside album. Changing record labels again in 1970 to Big Tree Records, a second album followed, but it would be their last.
They had two more minor hits in the US, "One Night Stand" (#74, 1971) and "Country Woman" (#88, 1972), but in early 1970, lead singer-songwriter Jimmy Bilsbury quit the group to co-found the Les Humphries Singers with bandleader/songwriter Les Humphries. Most of the other members left soon after Bilsbury's departure for careers in other fields. Songwriter Albert Hammond, however, went on to further renown, and bassist "Oz" Osborne would spend several decades fighting the mistaken impression that Ozzy Osbourne had actually played in his early career with the Lanterns.

UK Singles

• "Excuse Me Baby / Greedy Girl" (CBS 1966)
• "Rumplestiltskin / I Stumbled" (CBS 1966)
• "Knight In Rusty Armour / Simple Things" (CBS 1966)
• "Auntie Grizelda / Time Will Tell (If I'm A Loser)" (CBS 1967)
• "We'll Meet Again / What Else Can It Be But Love" (CBS 1967)
• "Shame Shame / Baby I Gotta Go Now" (Camp 1968)
• "Melt All Your Troubles Away / Bossa Nova 1940 - Hello You Lovers" (Camp 1969)
• "One Night Stand / Frisco Annie" (Polydor 1970)
• "Stand For Our Rights / Pa Bradley" (Polydor 1973)

The Five Americans - 7.30 guided tour

Five Americans was a 1960s American band, most famous for the song "Western Union" which reached No. 5 in the U.S. Billboard chart and was their only single to chart in the Top 20. At first one might think that, in Casey Kasem's "Book of Records" category of most repetitive word or phrase in a Hot 100 top 10 hit, "Western Union" would hold the record (in this case, the two 40-fold and one 50-plus-fold repetition of the imitative word "dit"). But the lyrics contain three many-fold repetitions of "dit, da dit, da dit" instead. In a March, 1967 interview that appeared in Michael Oberman's Top Tunes column in the Evening Star newspaper (Washington, DC), Norman Ezell, guitarist for the group explained how they came up with "Western Union Man." "Mike Rabon, our lead guitar player, was just fooling around with his guitar when he came up with a unique sound," Norman said. It sort of reminded us of a telegraph key. "That's when we decided to write 'Western Union Man.'"

The 1968 popsike song "7.30 guided" your was obviously "inspired" by The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's" and/or "Magical Mystery Tour"

Singles

• "Show Me" / "Love, Love, Love" — ABC-Paramount 10686 (1965)
• "Say That You Love Me" / "Without You" — Abnak 106 (1965)
• "I See The Light" / "The Outcast" — Abnak 109 (1965)
• "I See The Light" (BB No. 26, CB No. 41) / "The Outcast" — HBR 454 (1966)
• "Evol-Not Love" (BB No. 52, CB No. 68) / "Don't You Dare Blame Me" — HBR 468 (1966)

•  Good Times" / "The Losing Game" — HBR 483 (1966)
• "It's You Girl" / "I'm Gonna Leave You" — Jetstar 104 (1966)
• "I'm Feeling OK" / "Slippin' and Slidin'" — Jetstar 105 (1966)
• "Reality" / "Sympathy" — Abnak 114 (1966)
• "If I Could" / "Now That It's Over" — Abnak 116 (1966)
• "Western Union" (BB No. 5, CB No. 7) / "Now That It's Over" — Abnak 118 (1967)
• "Sound Of Love" (BB No. 36, CB No. 31) / "Sympathy" — Abnak 120 (1967)
• "Zip Code" (BB No. 36, CB No. 55) / "Sweet Bird of Youth" — Abnak 123 (1967)
• "Stop Light" (BB No. 132) / "Tell Ann I Love Her" — Abnak 125 (1967)
• "7:30 Guided Tour" (BB No. 96) / "See Saw Man" — Abnak 126 (1968)
• "No Communication" / "The Rain Maker" — Abnak 128 (1968)
• "Con Man" / "Lovin' is Lovin'" — Abnak 131 (1968)
• "Generation Gap" / "The Source" — Abnak 132 (1968)
• "Virginia Girl" (BB No. 133) / "Call On Me" — Abnak 134 (1969)
• "Scrooge" / "Ignert Woman" — Abnak 137 (1969)
• "I See The Light '69" / "Red Cape" — Abnak 139 (1969)

Nancy Sinatra - The last of the secret agents

 

Nancy Sinatra was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the daughter of Frank Sinatra.
In the late 1950s, Sinatra began to study music, dancing, and voice at the University of California in Los

Angeles. She dropped out after a year a[nd made her professional debut in 1960 on her father's television special, The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis, welcoming the return of Elvis Presley home from Europe following his discharge from service in the US Army. Nancy was sent to the airport on behalf of her father to welcome Elvis when his plane landed. On the special, Nancy and her father danced and sang a duet, "You Make Me Feel So Young/Old".  

She was signed to her father's label, Reprise Records, in 1961. Her first single, "Cuff Links and a Tie Clip", went unnoticed. However, subsequent singles charted in Europe and Japan. Without a hit in the US by 1965, she was on the verge of being dropped. Her singing career received a boost with the help of songwriter/producer/arranger Lee Hazlewood, who had been making records for ten years, notably with Duane Eddy. Hazlewood became Sinatra's inspiration. He had her sing in a lower key and crafted pop songs for her. Bolstered by an image overhaul — including bleached-blonde hair, frosted lips, heavy eye make-up and Carnaby Street fashions — Sinatra made her mark on the American (and British) music scene in early 1966 with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", its title inspired by a line in Robert Aldrich's 1963 western comedy 4 for Texas starring her father and Dean Martin.

A run of chart singles followed, including the two 1966 Top 10 hits "How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?" (#7) and "Sugar Town" (#5). "Sugar Town" became her second million seller.[1] The ballad "Somethin' Stupid" — a duet with her father — hit #1 in the US and the UK in April 1967 and spent nine weeks at the top of Billboard's easy listening chart. It earned a Grammy Award nomination for Record of the Year and remains the only father-daughter duet to hit No.1 in the US It became Sinatra's third million-selling disc.

In 1967 she recorded the theme song for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. In the liner notes of the CD reissue of her 1966 album, Nancy In London, Sinatra states that she was "scared to death" of recording the song, and asked the songwriters: "Are you sure you don't want Shirley Bassey?" There are two versions of the Bond theme. The first is the lushly orchestrated track featured during the opening and closing credits of the film. The second – and more guitar-heavy — version appeared on the double A-sided single with "Jackson", though the Bond theme stalled at #44 on the Billboard Hot 100.

April Stevens - Wanting you (MGM single)

 

April Stevens (born Carol LoTempio, April 29, 1929, Niagara Falls, New York) is an American singer.
She has recorded since she was 15 years old. Her most popular solo recording was her RCA Victor recording of "I'm in Love Again" (music and lyrics by Cole Porter). Accompanied by an orchestra arranged and conducted by Henri René, Stevens' recording peaked at No. 6 on the pop chart in 1951.

Stevens returned to the U.S. chart in 1959 with the song "Teach Me Tiger", which caused a minor uproar for its sexual suggestiveness and consequently did not receive airplay on many radio stations. The song peaked at No. 86 on the Hot 100. Stevens' recording of this song is often erroneously accredited to Marilyn Monroe. The tune was featured in the 2006 film Blind Dating.

She is perhaps best known for her 1963 Atco Records recording of "Deep Purple" (music by Peter DeRose and lyrics by Mitchell Parish) with her brother Antonino LoTempio (singing under the stage name Nino Tempo). A standard song that Larry Clinton and His Orchestra and band vocalist Bea Wain had popularized, the Stevens and Tempo version reached No.1 on the Hot 100 on 16 November 1963, and No.17 in the British charts. The song won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Rock and Roll Recording. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

They also enjoyed a 1964 follow-up hit in the U.S. with the standard song "Whispering" (music by Vincent Rose and lyrics by Richard Coburn and John Schonberger). The recording, which had an arrangement similar to their recording of "Deep Purple", reached No. 11 on the Hot 100 singles chart. They also had chart success with "All Strung Out", which reached No. 26 on the American Hot 100 in 1966. Later that year a single "The Coldest Night of the Year" was released on Atlantic 584048 in Great Britain.

Blue Mink - Banner man

 

Blue Mink was a British five-piece pop group, that existed from 1969 to 1974.  Over that period they had six Top 20 hit singles in the UK Singles Chart, and released five studio based albums.  According to Allmusic: "they have been immortalised on a string of compilation albums, each recounting the string of effervescent hits that established them among Britain's best-loved pop groups of the early 1970s

The band's debut single "Melting Pot", written by Cook and Greenaway, was recorded with this line-up and released on 31 October 1969 on the Philips label (catalogue BF1818), with the B-side "Blue Mink" (penned by Alan Parker); it peaked at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. An American cover version entitled "People Are Together" by soul singer Mickey Murray proved too radical for American radio and failed to get any meaningful airplay.

An album of the same name was released early in 1970, at the same time as the second single, "Good Morning Freedom", which reached No. 11 in the chart. The track did not feature on the first release of the LP, but was added to subsequent pressings.

Peter Noone - Meet Me on the Corner Down at Joe's Cafe

 

After leaving Herman's Hermits in 1971, Noone recorded four singles for UK RAK Records, one single for UK and US Philips, and several singles for the small UK record label, Bus Stop Records. His first RAK single, "Oh! You Pretty Things", peaked at No.12 in the UK Singles Chart.
It was written by David Bowie, who also played piano on the track.

Noone scored a No.15 US AC and No.101 US Bubbling Under success with "Meet Me on the Corner Down at Joe's Cafe" on the Casablanca Records label.
 A solo single by Stevens was issued in December 1967, a double-sided single of "Wanting You" with "Falling in Love Again" on MGM 1366 in the UK and MGM K 13825 in the US.

Steve Clayton - Girls are imitating Twiggy

 

The vocalist and songwriter Steve Clayton can be said to have a career something like that of Mel Tormé, minus the fame. Then again, Tormé, with all his songwriting talent, never came up with a record such as "Stay out of That Empty Building," concocted for the burgeoning children's music market of the early '60s but probably more suitable for a slasher film. A main similarity with Tormé is an ambition to crack the pop charts in the early years followed by a later period in which the vocalists were encouraged to explore the more profound world of the jazz singer. Pianist Derek Smith was a partner in one such recording project, the Clayton Sovereign release entitled At His Very Best.

The singer released singles such as "Let's Tell Them Now" in 1960, in a smooth pop style retroactively described as pre-rock. He worked with longtime record producer and label manager Joe Davis a few years later, and wound up inspired by the idea of children as record buyers, or at least conduits to their parent's wallets. Talented young vocalist Leslie Uggams was one of the hotter irons Davis had in the fire during the period when he also contracted the somewhat lukewarm Clayton. Some of Clayton's efforts at winning the minds and hearts of the wee ones included a 1971 collaboration with songwriter Candy Anderson entitled "Lullaby and Goodnight.

In 1967 he recorded "Girls are imitating Twiggy", which is posted here

Beach Boys - Amusement parks USA

 

By 1967, the Beach Boys' well known  Smile project had run into trouble. It has been suggested that several band members found the new music too far removed from their established style. Another serious concern was that the new music was not feasible for live performance by the current Beach Boys lineup. Love was opposed to most of Parks' lyrics; he has also since stated that he was deeply concerned about Wilson's escalating drug intake. The problems came to a head during the recording of "Cabin Essence", when Love asked that Parks explain the meaning of the closing refrain of the song, "Over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfield." Parks walked out after a heated debate, and his partnership with Wilson ended shortly thereafter.

Many factors combined to put intense pressure on Brian Wilson as Smile neared completion: his own mental instability, the pressure to create against fierce internal opposition to his new music, the relatively unenthusiastic response to Pet Sounds in the United States, Carl Wilson'sresistance, and a major dispute with Capitol Records. Further, Wilson's reliance on both prescription drugs and amphetamines exacerbated his underlying mental health problems. Smile was shelved in May 1967, and would go on to become the most famous unreleased album in the history of popular music.

However, some of the Smile tracks were salvaged and re-recorded in scaled-down versions at Brian's new home studio. Along with the single version of "Good Vibrations", these tracks were released on Smiley Smile, an album which elicited positive critical and commercial response abroad, but was the first real commercial failure for the group in the United States. By this time the Beach Boys' management (Nick Grillo and David Anderle) had created the band's own record label, Brother. One of the first labels to be owned by a rock group, Brother Records was intended for releases of Beach Boys side projects, and as an invitation to new talent. The initial output of the label, however, was limited to Smiley Smile and two resulting singles from the album; the failure of "Gettin' Hungry" caused the band to shelve Brother until 1970. Compounding these setbacks, the group's public image took another hit following their withdrawal from the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.

Jackie Lee - Peter pan

 

From 1959 to 1964 Lee was a member of The Raindrops, a successful quartet who made countless appearances on British TV and variety shows, had a BBC Radio show and released a string of records, the majority of which had Lee as lead vocalist. The Raindrops also included Les Vandyke and Vince Hill in its line-up.

In 1962 she entered the UK heats of the Eurovision Song Contest as a solo act with "There's No-one in the Whole Wide World" and performed it at the British national finals for BBC TV. This number was later covered and performed by The Beatles in concerts during this period.
Lee decided to become a solo artist in 1965 and it is this period, 1965–1967, which defines her cult status through the 'Beat' records she released.

One of these recordings reached the NME chart however; "Just Like a Man". The B-side; "I Gotta Be With You", became a 'Northern Soul' classic. Lee recorded this single under the name of Emma Rede for EMI Records.

Lee also had an alternative career as a respected session singer, through her groups The Jackie Lee Singers and Tears of Joy. She provided the backing vocals for such global number ones as "Green Green Grass of Home" by Tom Jones and "Release Me" by Englebert Humperdink.
She demonstrated her unique vocal range, ability and versatility on such diverse recordings as "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix; and much of the James Last catalogue at the time. At one point Elton John was employed by Lee, as a member of her session singers.
In 1968 - as 'Jacky' - she had a UK Top Ten hit with "White Horses", the theme from a Children's TV programme. In 2003, her definitive version was voted the best TV theme tune of all time by 'The Penguin Television Companion'. Her jazz-styled album of the same name was also released in 1968, which included contributions from Dudley Moore as pianist.

By 1970, 'Jacky' reverted to 'Jackie Lee' and had another hit record; "Rupert" from the TV show based on the famous cartoon character, Rupert Bear (inaccurately referred to as "Rupert the Bear" in the song's lyrics). This recording also had a place in the "Best TV themes of all time" list from 'The Penguin Television Companion' at Number 7, thus consolidating Lee's reputation. Albums by her were also released in 1971 and 1972 on Pye Records.

In 1973, Jackie supplied the lead vocal for yet another children's series, "Inigo Pipkin"
It was shortly after this that she prematurely retired owing to vocal complications and throat trouble, yet she remains a respected vocalist who has high collectability status, and, it has been said, that her work has "firmly embedded itself in the subconscious of a generation."

Paul Jones - Lady Godiva

Paul Jones was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire. As "P.P. Pond," he performed duets with Elmo Lewis (aka future founder member of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones) at the Ealing Club, home of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, whose singers included Long John Baldry and Mick Jagger. He was asked by Keith Richards and Brian Jones to be the lead singer of a group they were forming, but he turned them down. Jones then went on to be the vocalist and harmonica player of the successful 1960s group Manfred Mann.^[1] He had several Top Ten hits with Manfred Mann before going solo in July 1966. He remained with His Master's Voice.
He was less successful without the band than they were with his replacement, but did have a few hits, notably with "High Time" (1966) and "I've Been a Bad, Bad Boy" and "Thinkin' Ain't for Me" (both 1967) before attempting to branch into acting. While his solo recording career was barely successful in the UK, it never got off the ground in the US. He did have enough hits in Sweden however to have a greatest hits album released there on EMI.
His performance opposite model Jean Shrimpton in the 1967 film Privilege directed by Peter Watkins, did not bring the hoped-for stardom, although the film later became a cult classic. Privilege, which unsurprisingly cast Jones as a pop singer, saw him sing a few songs, including I've Been a Bad, Bad Boy and Set Me Free, which was covered by Patti Smith in the mid 1970s.
From 1966 he also worked as an actor, first in films and television, and then on stage, including West End shows such as Conduct Unbecoming (also on Broadway), plus the musicals Cats and Pump Boys and Dinettes. He has worked with directors such as Sir Richard Eyre, Peter Gill and Toby Robertson.
In 1972 Jones recorded Crucifix in a Horseshoe with White Cloud, a New York based session group featuring Teddy Wender on keyboards and Kenny Kosek on fiddle. In 1973 he played the title role in Bob Fosse's production of Pippin at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.