Don Fardon--(The Lament of the Cherokee) Indian Reservation (1968)

     For those of a certain age, we connect this song with the Raiders' version from 1970. However it was a top 40 hit two years prior.      The song itself had it's beginnings with songwriter John Loudermilk and his song called, "The Pale Faced Indian" written in 1959. It was recorded by Marvin Rainwater that same year, but the song went nowhere. The song was much more country oriented, and in listening to it one can hear additional lyrics that are not heard in the two more popular versions.     ...

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Freddy Fender--Before the Next Teardrop Falls (1975)

     By 1975 Freddy Fender (originally Baldemar Huerta) was a Texas legend. Known to many in the late 50's as the "Mexican Elvis Presley" for his covers of "Don't Be Cruel" and other rockabilly songs, his early adulthood sounded like a country song. Busted for possession of marijuana, he spent two and a half years in a prison camp in Louisiana. On being released, he played beer joints and continued to record on local labels. There are many from that area that would quickly tell you that his best material were the 45's recorded...

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The Fantastic Johnny C--Boogaloo Down Broadway (1967)

        Johnny Corley had not been out of the military for long. The Greenwood, South Carolina native was looking for a place to settle and decided on Norristown, PA which was less than 20 miles outside of Philadelphia. Johnny loved to sing which soon caught the notice of the members of Macedonia Bapitst Church where he had started attending. He was soon in the church choir and many were taking note of his vocal talents. One of those members was studio producer, Jessie James. James talked him in to recording some...

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Playlist for week of Jan. 28th Show.

Opening Fine Young Cannibals—Good Thing 1989 The Fireballs—Bottle of Wine 1967 The Fireballs—Sugar Shack 1963 The Fatback Band—Baby I'm a Want You 1972 Firefall—You Are the Woman (2:39) 1976 Firefall—Just Remember I Love You (3:10) 1977 Larry Finnegan—Dear One (3:01) 1962 Elisa Fiorillo (w/John “Jellybean” Benitez)--Who Found Who (3:46) 1987 Fine Young Cannibals—She Drives Me Crazy (3:37) 1989 Eddie Fisher—I Need You Now (2:42) 1954 Miss Toni Fisher—The Big Hurt (2:11)(36:35) 1959 First Class—Beach Baby (4:56)(31:42) 1974 The...

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Fanny--Butter Boy (1975)

     It has been said that the all female rock band, Fanny was the first group of it's kind to be signed to a major label. This isn't quite true with the first two being UK's, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, and Detroit's The Pleasure Seekers (featuring very young sisters Suzi and Patti Quatro). However it IS true that Fanny was the first to release an album on a major label.      The group began as a duo. June and Jean Millington were born in the Philippines to an American Naval officer and his native wife....

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Georgie Fame--The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde (1968)

     The movie "Bonnie and Clyde" was released in 1967 to mixed reviews, which could be divided up between the younger generation of film critic and the old guard. Directed by Arthur Penn, the film had one of the bloodiest endings of a movie up to that time, and was panned as glorifying violence. Looking back it DID contain a lot of gratuitous blood , but it was also a very well done movie with great performances by it's stars Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. Both received Oscar nominations as well as Estelle Parsons (who won),...

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The Falcons--You're So Fine (1959)

    The Falcons hold a place in the history of r&b not only with their big hit, "You're So Fine" in 1959, but also for it's members who went on to further the history of 60's soul.     The group began in the mid-50's out of Detroit, and in 1957 made the changes that would set up their first major success. First, Joe Stubbs, brother of Levi who would make his own mark with The Four Tops joined the group, then later Mack Rice came along. Mack would later come to fame as the man who wrote and was the first to record,...

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Harold Faltermeyer--Axel F (1985)

     Harold was born in Munich, Germany and from an early age showed talent at the piano, which eventually earned him a spot at the Munich Music Academy. He began with classical, but took a liking to rock as well playing the organ in his teen years with a combo. His talent caught the eyes and ears of Giorgio Moroder in 1978, who invited the young musician to Los Angeles to play the keys and help arrange the music to the "Midnight Express" soundtrack.      This began a fruitful partnership where he assisted...

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Percy Faith and his Orchestra--The Theme from "A Summer Place" (1960)

    The movie, "A Summer Place" was a 1959 movie starring Richard Egan, Dorthy McGuire, Troy Donahue, and Sandra Dee. You can go other place to read about the actual movie, but it did well at the box office, somewhat spurred on by the two youthful actors in the film. It was also known today for one of the songs used. The "theme" as it's named is not actually the main song from the movie, but a love song used for Johnny and Molly (Donahue and Dee)      Percy Faith was a Canadian born bandleader spent much of the...

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Lineup for the Rock and Roll Omnibus Radio Show Week of Jan. 21, 2013

Hour 1: Opening: (0:30) The Fifth Dimension—Up Up and Away 1967 The Fantastic Johnny C—Boogaloo Down Broadway 1967 Don Fardon--(The Lament of the Cherokee) Indian Reservation 1968 Jose Feliciano—Light My Fire 1968 Donna Fargo—The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA 1972 Donna Fargo—Funny Face 1972 Faze-O—Riding High 1978 Freddy Fender—Wasted Days and Wasted Nights 1975 Freddy Fender—Before the Next Teardrop Falls 1975 Ferrante & Teicher—Exodus 1960 Sally Field—Felicidad 1967 The Fifth Estate—Ding Dong The Witch is Dead 1967 The...

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The Fabulous Thunderbirds--Tuff Enuff (1986)

     By the 1980's, there had been enough time passed in the history of rock music to have spawned what I call road warriors. In the 50's and 60's, there was still a prevailing feeling that the music would someday fade away and many an artist who didn't "make it" in a few years, would give it up and "get a real job". Many of those artists that you see onstage today from that era had taken a hiatus for a decade or two before reforming to take advantage of the nostalgia boom over the last 20 years.(although there are more than...

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Bent Fabric and His Piano--Alley Cat (1962)

     Our family has always loved music, and can never remember a time where I was not surrounded by it. Mom had a lovely alto voice and loved church music. By the 1960's, Dad's voice had been roughened by alcohol and cigarettes, but as he strummed on his guitar you could still hear the clear influence of Jimmie Rogers and Hank Williams Sr. I was never much influenced by country, but hearing both of them singing so much, it allowed me to feel free about expressing myself musically. My Dad's brother Ray was also an excellent guitarist...

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Falco--Rock Me Amadeus" (1985)

    Johann Hölzel was born in Vienna in 1957. He quit school at the age of 16, and after serving the Austrian army at the age of 17, moved to Germany to make a go of it as a musician. The pianist/guitarist spent time in various groups there and in Austria, along the way picking up the name "Falco" in honor of a famous East German skier.      His first chart success was 1982's, "Der Kommissar" (which means the inspector) and loosely inspired a song of the same name which became a one off hit for the British...

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Tommy Facenda--High School USA (1959)

     Marketing departments get paid for making whatever product they are selling seem appealing. There is no regard to quality of the product...some might be good, some are not so good, but it's not really the point I suppose, the fact that your interested in buying is the whole point. In the recording industry, marketing has played a major role in the industry. Overall there are more important factors (like talent), however, for the course of one single, there are times where a gimmick is all it takes.      Tommy...

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Donald Fagen--I.G.Y (What a Beautiful World) (1982)

     When Steely Dan split up in 1981, Walter Becker moved to Hawaii and spent time on his avocado farm (and took some time to wean off of his drug habit). Donald Fagen went to work on a solo album which would be released in 82 as, "The Nightfly".       Musically, the album didn't sound a whole lot different than what you might expect from a Steely Dan album, however the lyrical content was something else indeed. For the Dan's entire lifespan, the lyrics were as much a part of the fun as the music. Obtuse,...

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Fabian--Tiger (1959)

     In the wake of Elvis Presley's success, record companies attempted to find their own gold mine. In doing so however, it was obvious that many knew little of what the core of this new "rock and roll" really was. First of all, this new market of teen buyers was still foreign in many ways to marketers. In previous days, pop records were made to the taste of adults, but as time went on the post-war era, teenagers were becoming more dominant in the marketplace, which began a search for a music to call their own. Secondly, those...

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Shelley Fabares--Johnny Angel (1962)

     Many of you will remember Shelley Fabares depending on your age. She began as a full time actress at the age of 14 playing Mary Stone on the ABC hit series, "The Donna Reed Show", where she stayed from 1958 to 1963 (the show itself lasted three more seasons). She co-starred alongside Elvis Presley in three of his movies, "Girl Happy" (1965), "Spinout" (1966), and "Clambake" (1967). The 70's were spent doing a lot of one appearance guest spots on many television shows and was probably best remembered as playing Brian Piccolo's...

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The Exciters--Tell Him (1962)

     One of the great things about popular music is that so many variables that can bring one success. Talent is important, but so was just being in the right place at the right time. A corollary to that is one never knows who you might effect by YOUR career, no matter what you success level.      The Exciters was a girl group which began their life as The Masterettes. Brenda Reid, Sylvia Wilbur, Lilian Walker, and Carol Johnson became The Exciters in 1962 when Wilbur left and was replaced by Reid's husband, Herb...

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Remembering Sammy Johns (1946-2013)

This has been reprinted with alterations from The Charlotte Observer: Sammy Johns remembered as writer of hit songs   by Joe DePriest Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/01/09/3773186/sammy-johns-remembered-as-composer.html#storylink=cpy       Playing a string of gigs at Charlotte clubs, singer Sammy Johns had never made more than $175 a week when he tried his hand at songwriting in the early 1970s. For years, he’d admired a friend’s Chevrolet van and imagined a man riding around...

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Every Mother's Son--Come On Down To My Boat (1967)

     Every Mother's Son is centered around the brother duo of Dennis and Lary Larden. They began as in folk music as many in that time period did. That sensibility, along with the desire of their record company to push them as a "non-hippie" alternative (MGM Records), produced a wonderful piece of pop music.      Written by Wes Farrell and Jerry Goldstein, "Come On Down To My Boat" went to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May of 1967. Within the next year the group reached the charts another three times, although...

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The Everly Brothers--Wake Up Little Suzie (1957)

     When talking about the first wave of innovators in Rock and Roll, the first few come easy: Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, and Fats Domino. Two others who I believe should be categorized in that group would be Don and Phil Everly.      Close harmony singing in thirds was common in country music in the 50's. Artists like The Louvin Brothers, The Osborne Brothers, and Jim & Jessie, used it to great effect, but it wasn't until The Everly's that it had been used in the new style that was...

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Heart--Stairway to Heaven (2012)

     Last week the Kennedy Honors program was on CBS. It had been taped on the first week in December and this years honorees included Led Zeppelin. Normally, this kind of event does nothing for me, as I usually find them quite boring. It's not that they, or any other artist deserves/doesn't deserve such honors, but watching musicians do others' famous material isn't my idea of a good time. It's a bias of mine that I try to escape now and then, but honestly, unless a cover is done in a way that brings new or renewed life to...

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Remembering Patti Page (1927--2013)

     Patti Page was born Clara Ann Fowler in Claremore, Oklahoma in November of 1927. Her family lived in several towns in that state until settling in Tulsa in time for high school, where she graduated in 1945. It was that year that she was featured on a local radio program on KTUL. The 15 minute show was sponsored by the Page Milk Company, and while doing the program she was dubbed, "Patti Page", the moniker in which she kept the rest of her life. After a short stint with Jack Rael and his, "Jimmy Joy" Band, she was signed...

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Betty Everett--The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) (1964)

     Betty Everett was born in Greenwood, Mississippi and moved to Chicago at the age of 18 to pursue a musical career. She recorded a few sides for some local labels before being picked up by an independent label which was making some waves in the industry: Vee-Jay Records.      Her second single for the label was a song that Dee Dee Warwick had recorded earlier in 1963. "You're No Good" climbed up to #51 and was the definitive version until Linda Ronstadt hit the top position on the charts with it in 1974.  ...

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Dee Dee Warwick--You're No Good (1963)

Before we get started, please allow me to thank so many of you who have provided support for my family over the last couple of months. It's been a trying time filled with some joys and some sadness, especially with death of my Mom. However, after taking some time off from all musical endeavors it's time to get back to what I love doing...listening and writing about music. Thanks for supporting the blog AND the radio show. --------------------------------------      Dee Dee Warwick was born in 1942 and was the youngest daughter...

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