by Robert Wilkinson
Today's show features the “Original Philly Sound” and the extraordinary music of the Cars!
Dave Appell (March 24, 1922 – November 18, 2014) was an American musician, musical arranger and record producer. He and lyricist Kal Mann (May 6, 1917 – November 28, 2001) gave us some twist classics performed by some of the best! From Wikipedia, “Appell did background vocals, session work as a guitarist, engineering, arranging and producing. The first hit artist on the Cameo label was Charlie Gracie with "Butterfly". Appell's band backed Gracie on that million-seller in 1957, and on the singer's subsequent hits, "Fabulous", "Ninety-Nine Ways" and "Wanderin' Eyes"….
Appell went on to become the leader of Cameo-Parkway's house band, backing such artists as Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, The Dovells, Dee Dee Sharp and The Orlons. In the cases of the aforementioned act's records Appell also arranged and, in many instances, produced, and even co-wrote with Kal Mann, songs such as "Let's Twist Again", "Bristol Stomp", "Mashed Potato Time" and "South Street". … Appell left Cameo in 1964…. In the 1970s he had success with his productions for Tony Orlando and Dawn, including the # 1 hits "Knock Three Times" (1970) and "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" (1973).”
We’ll begin with the first hit he played on way back in 1957, a toe tapper I remember blaring out of tinny speakers from transistor radios! Here I’ll note that Charlie Gracie toured England in 1957 and 1958 where he was seen by the future Beatles and Graham Nash, teens at the time who all claim him as an influence. From January 1957, a song that shot to #1 on the charts, “Butterfly”
The next hit he produced and played on for Charlie was this straight Elvis ripoff, a combination of the riff from “Don’t Be Cruel” with some of the song structure of “You’re So Square.” Still a lot of fun from the Summer of 1957! “Fabulous”
We’ll close Dave’s contributions to Charlie Gracie’s career with this hit, another fairly typical tune for the era. “Wandering Eyes”
We now move into the hit years for Cameo-Parkway records!
We begin the classic years with Bobby Rydell’s first hit for Cameo! From November 1959, Bobby performing on Dick Clark’s television show lip synching “We Got Love.”
We then move to his second smash hit in January 1960 with Bobby’s #2 hit backed by the Cameo-Parkway Philadelphia sound machine! “Wild One” and set to an extraordinarily video, Bobby’s hit from the Autumn of 1962, “Cha-Cha-Cha”
As an aside, “Cha-cha-cha” sounds like a rip off of “Rinky Dink” by Dave Baby Cortez. For comparison, this was released on Chess Records in Chicago in June 1962, two months before Bobby’s tune. “Rinky Dink”
The last big Rydell hit backed by Dave was late 1963’s “Forget Him.” (It peaked on the charts January 19, 1964, less than 3 weeks before the Beatles landed in NYC. You can understand why this was his last hit, since within a few weeks the Beatles occupied literally the top 5 slots and 7 of the top 10 on the pop charts.)
We now shift back into 1960 where Dave’s production took this smash to #1! Here’s the Chubster cranking out his signature hit “The Twist.”
Then, in 1961 Chubby Checker made a gigantic hit out of Dave’s “Let’s Twist Again” and in 1962, had Dave’s backing on “Limbo Rock.”
Dave and Kal also produced, wrote for, and backed the Dovells, the Philly sound hitmakers of the early 60s! These were all on the Cameo-Parkway label, so Dave was the backing band on all these classics.
Here’s their first single from 1961. Even though it didn’t chart, it’s a classic! “No No No.”
This classic went to #2 on the pop charts in 1961 and inspired a dance! “The Bristol Stomp.”
They cranked it up in 1962 with the track from the movie Don’t Knock the Twist, “(Do the New) Continental” which they followed with “Bristol Twisting Annie” (#27 pop) and then another that made it to #25 on the pop charts, “Hully Gully Baby.”
Classic do-wop from 1962! “To Make A Long Story Short.”
Their last big hit went to #3 in 1963! “You Can’t Sit Down.” Here’s the flip side of that 45, “Wildwood Days.”
The next act was formed in 1960, and Len Barry of the Dovells pushed them to get a contract with Cameo-Parkway, and the Philly sound took flight! Welcome to the very “Philly sound” of the Orlons!
They started as backup singers for Dee Dee Sharp on her Spring 1962 hit “Mash Potato Time,” (what a GREAT dance tune!) and “Gravy (for my Mashed Potatoes).” As was the practice back then, record companies liked to recycle hits to other acts in their stable, so of course Cameo-Parkway took both of these hits and had the Orlons do their own versions of “Mash Potato Time” and “Gravy.”
They followed “Mash Potato Time” with a tune that broke them into the #2 slot on the pop charts in the Summer of 1962, the very danceable “Wah-Watusi.”
They followed that one with more hits in 1962 and early 1963, including “Don’t Hang Up” (#4 US) and “South Street” (#3 US).
Though they already had hit their peak, their run of hits extended through 1963 with “Not Me” (#12 US) and “Crossfire” (#19 US).
Also from the Not Me album, “Mama Didn’t Lie,” their version of the Crystals’ #11 hit, “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” and the very upbeat “Bon-Do-Wah,” after which the group fell apart as the British Invasion hit peak intensity.
We’ll close this tribute to Kal with a tune he produced in the Summer of 1963 which went to #1! Here are the Tymes giving us the smooth pop doo wop of “So Much in Love”
So a big thanks goes out to Dave Appell and Kal Mann, who gave birth to the Philly sound of the early 60s!
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Our next act features the Cars! Ric Ocasek (born Richard Theodore Otcasek, March 23, 1944 - September 15, 2019) was the founder, rhythm guitar, and vocalist for the Cars. When Ric met Benjamin Orr (September 8, 1947 – October 3, 2000) in the 60s, they kicked around a few years, and then hit gold as the Cars between 1978-1988. Tonight we’ll focus on his work with the Cars, and leave his other stellar production work for next year!
Live in 1978, “Good Times Roll”
Live in 1979, a fantastic performance of “My Best Friend’s Girl”
Live on The Midnight Special in 1978, Ben takes lead vocals! “Just What I Needed”
From 1978, “Moving In Stereo”
Very live, also in 1978, “All Mixed Up”
From 1979, live on The Midnight Special, “Let’s Go”
A great performance of “It’s All I Can Do”
Live in the mid-80s, “Candy-O”
The official music video for “The Dangerous Type”
From 1980, “Don’t Tell Me No”
A great performance on Live on Fridays in the early 80s of one of my favorite Cars songs! “Since You’re Gone”
Time to shake it! “Shake It Up”
Live in 1981, “Think It Over”
The dynamic “Drive”
Live in Philly in 1987, “You Might Think”
For the closer, their 16 minute live set at Live Aid! The Cars Live at Live Aid - 1985
For the encore, an electrifying 53 minute audio set!
The Cars Live in Boston - 1978
For the second encore, from Rock Goes to College - The Cars in 1979, 40 minutes of pure gold! The Cars – Rock Goes to College
Ric has done a lot of work since the Cars, so when you’re over at you tube please check out his more recent performances. The guy’s great!
© Copyright 2021 Robert Wilkinson
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