BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS
DEDICATED TO THE COLLECTING OF MUSIC, ITS PRESERVATION AND LASTING FRIENDSHIP
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
MEETING THIS SUNDAY, MARCH 13TH 2:00 PM (Daylight Savings Time !!)
NEXT MEETING, APRIL 10TH 2:00 PM
***DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS SUNDAY MARCH 13TH. SET YOUR CLOCK AHEAD ONE HOUR***
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
We have some guest speakers lined up for future meetings but this month we will once again have some of our members play some music ‘you’ve just got to hear’. Last month we heard some very interesting recordings that may have never got air play anywhere and some that got very little airplay and even one that was banned from the air. Drop by and see what the guys have lined up for you in March. I know what these guys collect so I guarantee it will be interesting.
SAD ANNOUNCEMENTS
Recently BRC lost two members of their Music Hall Of Fame and also just recently I heard of another member we lost in 2020.
Dave ‘Rockin’ Roddy, WSGN DJ passed away February 12, 2022. Dave was a ‘good friend’ to so many listeners over his years as one of the ‘Good Guys’ at WSGN. Birmingham was fortunate to have him be a part of our radio history and left us with the memory of hearing him say ‘Keep it scroungy rascal’ and then sign off with the Flamingos ‘Lover’s Never Say Goodbye’.
The Distortions were inducted into our HOF in 2009 and we got to meet the guys including Ned Bibb. Ned was very cordial and friendly to all of us and it was such fun having the guys perform for us that day. Ned was part of Birmingham’s early rock & roll history and was also an author having at least three books published. Ned passed away on February 11, 2022.
Kenny Webber was a member of the band Razzmatazz who was inducted into out HOF in 2019. Kenny had also been in the bands So But So What, Revolver, Exhibit A, Firestarter, Cover Girls and Southern Crossroads. Kenny passed away July 24, 2020.
BRC sends out our condolences to all the family members of these HOF members.
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME TRIVIA?
When it comes to R&R trivia you never can tell if what you hear is exactly right but as I look stuff up, I try to at least get two sources that collaborate before I use it. So, if I have something that is slightly off, please don’t shoot the messenger. Here we go.
A band that doesn’t come up very often as a hit making band was the Grass Roots. But from 1967-1972 the band set a record for being on the Billboard charts 307 straight weeks.
Peter Noone, lead singer for Herman’s Hermits was considered by his band mates as a look-alike to the cartoon character Sherman on ‘The Bullwinkle Show’. Thus, the name Sherman was shortened to Herman.
Who was Engelbert Humperdinck? A pop singer who got his start in the late 1960’s or a 19th Century composer who wrote the opera, Hansel And Gretel ? The answer is, BOTH! Singer Arnold George Dorsey used the Humperdinck stage name at the advice of his manager, Gordon Mills.
Gene Simmons, member of the band Kiss, worked for a while as an elementary school teacher. His mother and father were Jewish immigrants from Hungary that settled in Israel where Simmons was born. His mother was interned in a Nazi Concentration camp during WW2. She and her brother were the only members of their family who survived the holocaust. And one more thing, for those who are Kiss fans but may not be into early rock, Simmons took his stage name from ‘Jumpin’ Gene Simmons who had the hit “Haunted House’.
Roger Miller won 5 Grammy’s in 1964 and six in 1965.
In 1974 John Lennon and Harry Nilsson were removed from the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles when they were heckling the Smothers Brothers act.
The lead vocals on Strawberry Alarm Clock’s hit, ‘Incense And Peppermints’ was a 16-year-old friend of the band. Greg Munford happened to be visiting the recording session when he got the gig after the singers in the band showed a dislike for the lyrics and were used for background vocals only.
During his recording time, Bobby Vinton had more #1 hits than any other male vocalist including Elvis and Sinatra.
In 1978, ABBA was Sweden’s most profitable export. Volvo was 2nd.
‘Wonderful World’, Sam Cook’s hit from 1960 was mainly composed by the song writing team of Lou Alder and Herb Alpert. But no mention of their names is on the record label. Instead, the name B. Campbell (Barbara Campbell) is used. This is a pseudonym for Cooke, Alder and Alpert.
Dean Torrance of Jan & Dean was the lead singer along with Brian Wilson on the Beach Boy’s version of ‘Barbara Ann’.
Len Borisoff was a member of the Dovells when they recorded their hit, “Bristol Stomp’. Borisoff would go solo in 1963, change his last name to Barry and have a 1965 hit, ‘1-2-3′.
Three members of the Beach Boys, Al Jardine, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson were backup singers on Chicago’s 1974 hit, “Wishing You Were Here’.
British singer, Cilla Black was born Priscilla White but when a reporter for Mersey Beat mistakenly referred to her as Cilla Black, the name stuck.
The Olympics just ended so here’s a fact that fits right in. Fleetwood Mac’s brother, Greg won a silver medal in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City as a swimmer. He at one time was a world-record holder.
Glen Campbell played lead and acoustic guitar on the Beach Boys, ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’.
After Buddy Holly’s death, the Crickets stayed together and continued recording. Two members of the Crickets played on The Everly Brothers hit, ‘Til I Kissed You’. Jerry Alison played drums and Sonny Curtis played guitar. Although Curtis wasn’t a member of the Crickets at the time of Buddy’s death, he had been with Buddy and played on many of his early Decca recordings. He would be with the Crickets after they reformed.
In March of 1979 James Brown took the stage at the Grand Ole Opry. Invited by Porter Wagoner, Brown did a thirty-minute set which included the songs, ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’, ‘Georgia’, Tennessee Waltz’ and finished with ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag’.
‘Rock And Roll Lullaby’, a 1972 hit by B. J. Thomas featured backup singers The Blossoms and Duane Eddy on guitar. Darlene Love was one of the Blossoms.
Former Beatle drummer Pete Best was on the TV show ‘I’ve Got A Secret’ in 1964. After a period of questioning Betsy Palmer was the panelist who finally asked if he was at one time a member of the group.
Gladys Knight won on the Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour TV show in 1952 at the age of 8.
As you know there was not a member named Marshall Tucker in the Marshall Tucker band. The band rented a hall to rehearse in and they came across a key with the name Marshall Tucker inscribed on it. So, the guys used the name. The real Marshall Tucker once owned the rehearsal hall to tune pianos in which was his job. Marshall Tucker was born blind.
The hit ‘No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In)’, was actually recorded by members of the L.A. session group known as the Wrecking Crew’. When the song became a hit the session players did not want to go on tour so a group was put together for photos, TV and tours. Three of the members of the band were Dan Hamilton, Joe Frank Corollo and Tommy Reynolds. The underlined portion of their names gives the ‘rest of the story’. Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds.
OK, time to go. Hope you learned something new and interesting. Some much trivia, so little time.
HAVE YOU HEARD THESE?
I Miss You Already (And You’re Not Even Gone)
Jimmy Elledge
(1962 RCA label)
Whole Wide World
Wreckless Eric
(1977 Stiff Records- English singer – song featured in 2006 movie, Stranger Than Fiction)
BRC RADIO
Check out our latest shows at birminghamrecord.com. Click on ‘RADIO’ and listen to some long-lost music and even some new sounds. There is a wide variety of music now that we have 3 hosts doing shows. Check out all our shows.
See ya,
Charlie