Sweet Nothings: Sixties Soul, Petticoat Pop & Girl Group Harmonies
In the early 1960s Dee Dee Sharp was a teenage star and sang a duet with Chubby Checker, Slow Twisting. In 1968 she recorded What Kind Of Lady for Gamble Records, owned by producer Kenny Gamble whom she had married a year earlier. He became very successful in the 1970s when he created the sophisticated Philly soul sound, together with Leon Huff. The track by Dusty Springfield was produced by Kenny Gamble too and the 1965 single by The Three Degrees was an early Leon Huff production, almost a decade before the ladies worked with him again and became popular worldwide.
Marv Johnson’s Come To Me was the first record issued by Tamla Records, the precursor to famous label Motown. Despite his early success in the United States, Johnson ultimately enjoyed more popularity overseas than in his native country. His music was especially popular in the United Kingdom and Australia. On May 14, 1993, Johnson was performing on stage for a tribute concert to Bill Pinkney of the Drifters. He suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. Two days later Johnson died from complications of a stroke, at the age of 54. He was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit. His headstone reads "Motown Pioneer".
Probably the first hit song that used an electronic keyboard was Runaway by Del Shannon. The agitated notes that Max Crook played on his so-called Musitron were the perfect accompaniment for Del Shannon's songs about deceit, heartbreak and jealousy. He was certainly a man with inner demons and he tragically ended his life with a gun shot on February 8, 1990.
In the early seventies when he was looking for new directions after his successful years with the Four Seasons, Frankie Valli recorded quite a few tracks for Motown. For reasons only big boss Barry Gordy knows, most of the songs were never released and Frankie Valli left the famous music factory soon afterwards. A few years later the single The Night, a song from these sessions was successfully picked up by the British northern soul scene. Around the same time Frankie Valli's My Eyes Adored You became a big hit in the United States. It was ironically a song that he had bought back from Motown. The record company wanted to earn some money from this sudden and unexpected success and came up with the album Inside You with Frankie Valli's shelved Motown recordings. Later in the decade he became a part-time member of the reformed Four Seasons again and sang on hits like December 1963 (Oh What A Night) and Who Loves You.In 1978 he hit the jackpot with the title track of the movie Grease, but he could not keep the momentum the following years.
Tracklist:
Three Degrees – Drivin‘ Me Mad (1965)
Edwin Starr – Headline News (1966)
Sapphires – Gotta Have Your Love (1965)
Charlie Rich – Love Is After Me (1966)
Vibrations – 'Cause You're Mine (1968)
Exciters – Tell Him (1963)
Isley Brothers – Twist & Shout (1962)
Marv Johnson – (You've Got To) Move Two Mountains (1960)
Four Tops – Don’t Bring Back Memories (1969)
Little Anthony & The Imperials – Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop (1959)
Jimmy Radcliffe – Long After Tonight Is All Over (1965)
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – The Night (1972)
Lemon Twigs – How Can I Love Her More? (2024)
Robins РSmokey Joe's Caf̩ (1955)
New Holidays – Maybe So Maybe No (1969)
Sam Cooke – Cupid (1961)
Dusty Springfield – Brand New Me (1969)
Ronettes – Be My Baby (1963)
Chiffons – One Fine Day (1963)
Little Eva – Keep Your Hands Off My Baby (1962)
Supremes – Back In My Arms Again (1965)
Dee Dee Sharp – What Kind Of Lady (1968)
Rose Valentine – I've Gotta Know Right Now (1967)
Del Shannon – Hey! Little Girl (1961)
Judy Street – What (1968)
John E. Paul – I Wanna Know (1967)
Olympics – The Same Old Thing (1967)
Tams – Shelter (1966)
Brenda Lee – Sweet Nothin’s (1959)
Drifters – At The Club (1965)
Gene Pitney – If I Didn't Have A Dime (To Play The Jukebox) (1962)
Morgana King – Walk On By (1967)
Comments