Surf City: Beach Music, Northern Soul & AM Pop

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This exclusive cloudcast refers to the so called 'beach music' of the late fifties, sixties and early seventies. This type of uplifting soul dominated the jukeboxes at the beaches of both Carolinas in the US. It has some similarities with (more Motown based) northern soul in the UK. Beach music goes back to the doo wop of the fifties and has some rock ‘n’ roll traces as well. It vanished in the mid-seventies when disco music, played at large discotheques, became the most popular kind of dance music and wiped out (to quote the Surfaris) beach music at small venues. Around the same time AM pop, which was best played on transistor radios,  disappeared to be replaced by FM radio pop. 

'Calypso King' The Mighty Sparrow (Slinger Francisco) originally released Only A Fool in 1969. The song was written by Shelly Coburn and Norman Bergen and first recorded as the flipside of Open Up Your Heart by Arthur Prysock in 1965. Slinger Francisco's name was mistakenly listed as composer of the song on the label of the version he sang. It went unnoticed until nearly 150 thousand copies had been sold. Last year The Mighty Sparrow appeared in the movie Misbehaviour (starring Keira Knightley) as himself.

In the early 1960s Dee Dee Sharp (born Dionne LaRue) was a teenage star and sang a duet with Chubby Checker, Slow Twisting. In 1968 Dee Dee recorded What Kind Of Lady for Gamble Records, owned by producer Kenny Gamble whom she had married a year earlier. What Kind Of Lady was one of the early Gamble & Huff productions. The two of them would become very successful the next decade, when they created the so-called ‘Philly sound’. 

Sam Cooke was a true soul pioneer, when he crossed over from gospel to the pop market in 1956. Although he was a big star before his violent death in 1964, he seemed a bit forgotten in the following years. For instance, his songs were sparesly played on the radio in the 1970s, when I grew up. This all changed when Levi’s used Wonderful World for a jeans commercial in 1986. The song went to #1 on the Dutch charts almost immediately. Earlier this year Rod Stewart paid tribute to him on Instagram, on what would have been his 90th birthday:

"Without him, there may not have been a Rod"

The track by Betty Everett is from the new compilation Too Slow To Disco Presents Yacht Soul. Enjoy!

Tracklist: 

Jerry Butler – (I'm Just Thinking About) Cooling Out (1978)
Betty Everett – God Only Knows (1975)
Barbara Acklin – Am I The Same Girl (Soulful Strut) (1968)
Julie Rogers ‎– Baby Don't You Leave Me (1971)
Carol Woods – I Wonder What Will Happen (1972)
The Mighty Sparrow With Byron Lee And The Dragonaires – Only A Fool (1969)
Otis Redding – Sitting On the Dock Of The Bay (1968)
The Drifters – I’ve Got Sand In My Shoes (1964)
Gene Pitney ‎– If I Didn't Have A Dime (To Play The Jukebox) (1962)
Sam Cooke ‎– Cupid (1961)
The Ronettes – Be My Baby (1963)
The Supremes ‎– Back In My Arms Again (1965)
Dusty Springfield – Brand New Me (1969)
Dee Dee Sharp ‎– What Kind Of Lady (1968)
Rose Valentine ‎– I've Gotta Know Right Now (1967)
The Olympics ‎– The Same Old Thing (1967)
The Champs ‎– Tequila (1958)
The Temptations – The Way You Do The Things You Do (1965)
The Three Degrees ‎– Drivin‘ Me Mad (1965)
The Tymes ‎– Surf City (1963)
Joe Brown – Show Me Around (1967)