music – Brian Ferrari's Blog

Debbie At The World (1989)

Here comes the 21st century… it’s gonna be much better for a girl like me…
-Deborah Harry, “I Want That Man”

I recently came across the 2018 Interview magazine article “An Oral History of The World: the most iconic nightclub you never heard of”. This reminded me of my one and only trip to the legendary club when Deborah Harry played there in November, 1989.

Seven years after Blondie went on hiatus, “Debbie” become “Deborah” as she released her third solo album, Def Dumb and Blonde – an eclectic 15-track collection that most fans consider to be her best effort outside of the band. Although the album did not crack the US Billboard top 100, it reached the top 10 in the UK and other countries.

I got tickets to the November 11 show. This was the second of three sold out shows at the Lower East Side club. The guy I was seeing when the tickets went on sale was no longer in the picture by the time the show came around, so I ended up taking my older sister, Kari. She had been a Blondie fan a decade before – it was her cassette of Parallel Lines that we wore out.

We came up out of the F train at Houston Street and First Avenue and started heading east into Alphabet City, walking briskly past the homeless huddled around burning trashcans and assorted drug-induced shenanigans. Kari was holding onto my arm, talking a mile a minute – engrossed in a story that I hoped would keep her distracted for as long as possible. We were somewhere between Avenues A & B when she finally looked around, slowed a bit, gripped my arm tighter and said “Oh my god. Where are you taking me???”

“Almost there!” I said, although I wasn’t sure if we were.

I knew nothing about The World – a 16-and-over nightclub that payed little attention to underage drinking, a quaint complaint given the other activities that allegedly went on there. Housed in a crumbling former catering hall, it had that air of faded decadence prevalent in many East Village hangouts. It was as if the party continued on in the ruins of past generations…. clubs and galleries in the dilapidated haunts of German, Polish, and Ukranian immigrants, followed by another generation of hippies and poets, then punks and artists who had now come and gone. We were in the last months of the 1980’s and all that the decade had wrought was slipping into the past. But would Debbie, um, Deborah Harry?

There was an air of anticipation as to how this show would go: her first solo tour at age 44 – the same age as Tina Turner at the time of her Private Dancer success 5 years earlier. Given that Harry was back on her home turf – just a few blocks from CBGB’s – would she lean into her rock/punk roots? Surely this would not be a parade of greatest hits.

Still, it was a surprise when she quietly took to the stage along with her ever-present creative partner Chris Stein and opened her set with the jazzy Motown ballad “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game.” This Marvelettes cover was the final song on Blondie’s 1982 LP The Hunter. It was an intriguing choice for an opening number, as if she & Stein were picking up right where Blondie left off.

And then the show shifted into gear: playing through a set heavy on Def Dumb & Blonde‘s edgier cuts while seamlessly mixing in Blondie album tracks like “Cautious Lip” & “Detroit 442”. The set wound down with “Brite Side,” her latest single which segued into a cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Waiting For The Man”.

For the encore, she took off her jacket and returned the stage in just a black bra. When presented with a bouquet of roses, she bit the head off of one and spit it back at the audience. She tore through a couple of conciliatory hits: “Call Me” & “One Way Or Another”, plus her minor solo hit “French Kissin’ In The USA”.

Here’s where memory gets tricky: I recall that she did a Ramones cover as her final song. In the years following this show, I saw The Go-Go’s and Kirsty MacColl both cover “I Wanna Be Sedated” as final encores at their concerts. Some mental wires got crossed and 30+ years later, I thought Harry sang it too. But thanks to the internet and her fanatic fans, I am reminded that the Ramones song she covered on this tour was “Pet Sematary,” the theme to the Stephen King movie that her old friends had released earlier that year.

Here’s a recording from The Roxy in LA on October 23, 1989 – two weeks prior to The World shows in NYC:

My sister had gone off during the encore to find a bathroom. Towards the end of this song, she reappeared, white as a ghost, saying “Ohmygod ohmygod you have to help me! I have to pee SO bad and there’s only ONE bathroom for everyone! NO STALLS. I asked someone if it was the ladies room and she said ‘Men, women… what’s the difference?’ ohmygod you have to help me!”

Downstairs in the bathroom, I stood with my back to her, holding my full-length wool coat open like some sort of reverse-flasher trying to block her from the view of everyone except the woman sitting on the toilet right next to her having a conversation with her friend. I was trying not to laugh too hard as my sister kept muttering behind me “ohmygod ohmygod unbelievable… men, women, what’s the difference… unbelievable….”

On our way out, I poked my head into the lounge, where futuristic electronic music played. I could only make out strange silhouettes in the dim colored lights of the smoky room. It seemed like a cross between the Creature Cantina and something out of The Jetsons.

After a quick t-shirt purchase at the merch booth, we were back on the street. Kari was holding on to my arm as we headed down East Second Street. A panhandler approached and said “Now there’s an attractive couple!” My sister let out a sustained “Eeew” which I punctuated with “She’s my SISTER.”

“My apologies.” He quickly said as he began walking alongside us. “I’m having a rough time right now. If you could reach down into your pockets and help me out with anything, anything at all, I would really appreciate it.”

Kari, absentmindedly reached down into her pocket and presented him with a matchbook. He was not amused.

We turned on to Avenue A as he stood there screaming after us “Fuck you bitch! Fuck you! I will fucking BURN you bitch!”

She didn’t seem to hear him. Shaking her head, she said, “Oh my god. That bathroom.”

It would be another year and a half before I relocated to the neighborhood. But The World ended just two weeks before I got there: On June 27, 1991 co-owner Steven Venizelos – described by the New York Times as “a corpulent man with a penchant for jewelry” – was found murdered on the balcony of the club. He was shot three times at close range. There were no signs of robbery and the case went unsolved. In keeping with the East Village trend, the building was demolished to make way for “luxury” apartments.

And Debbie? She’s still going strong. As she sang in “I Want That Man,” Here comes the 21st Century… it’s gonna be much better for a girl like me… the reunited Blondie brought in the new millennium with “Maria,” a #1 hit in the UK. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

Her latest collaboration is with The Dandy Warhols – “I Will Never Stop Loving You.”

A Voice You Know: Angela McCluskey

Celebrating singer Angela McCluskey, who died at age 64 on 3/15/24. In the 90’s she fronted the band Wild Colonials, and her timeless voice graced many soundtracks and commercials.

You know the voice. Even if you think you have never heard it before, you recognize it. When you hear it out in public, in a movie, on television, it’s a voice that makes you reach for your phone to Shazam and find out who it is. It has been described as fractured, gin-soaked. It has the strength to front a rock band. It has a break that recalls Billie Holiday. It transcends genres.

Through the 1990’s Angela McCluskey fronted The Wild Colonials with a force akin to her friend and fellow Scotsman Shirley Manson of Garbage. Formed in Los Angeles, the band had heavy ties with the movie industry. Their music ultimately appeared in over 30 films, and three of the band members have scored full-length features.

Their third album, Reel Life, Vol. 1 was a compilation of songs used in various films including Mr. Wrong, Unhook The Stars and Flirting With Disaster. Their songs were used on television as well, most notably on Grey’s Anatomy.

McCluskey also lent her voice to numerous advertising campaigns, singing in commercials for American Express, Schick razors and this memorable 2000 Kohls jingle:

In 2004, McCluskey released her first solo LP, The Things We Do, featuring the song “It’s Been Done”:

Over the next 18 years, she would release 4 LPs and numerous singles and EPs, including one with the reunited Wild Colonials in 2010.

McCluskey has been described as “a singer’s singer.” Her list of collaborators is long and wide-ranging – from Dr. John to Cyndi Lauper to Shudder To Think to Paul Oakenfold. She contributed vocals for two albums with French electronic group Télépopmusik. Their 2004 collaboration “Breathe” garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording.

Another highlight from her work with Télépopmusik was “Love’s Almighty” from 2005:

She appeared on Robbie Robertson’s LP How To Become Clairvoyant. “In The Air,” her 2011 collaboration with Morgan Page reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Airplay chart.

Angela McCluskey sings “Wild is the Wind” and “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today” for WFUV (2012):

McCluskey recounted her early days with The Wild Colonials in one of her final Instagram posts:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Angela Mccluskey (@angelamccluskeymusic)

“…what a journey it’s been incredible American dream really”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Angela Mccluskey (@angelamccluskeymusic)

“Never did anyone live life more fully, love more generously, sing more… well, just… more. Angela sang just as she breathed. Her life was a song, and she was music. She will be missed more than any of us can say…”

Spotify playlist covering her eclectic career:

Dusting Off The Holiday Favorites (2023)

I know I am not alone when I say that I take comfort in the annual repetition of the holidays: revisiting holiday-themed music, films, television shows… and now internet posts. Dave Holmes’ account of Patti LaBelle’s disastrous performance at the 1996 National Christmas Tree lighting is worth an annual revisit. Trust me.

Not to get meta or anything, but the post you are currently reading has been reworked and updated each year since 2020.

While we’re mining the past and dusting off our chestnuts, here’s the intro to the 1999 holiday episode of Bri-Guy’s Media Surf, an NYC Public Access show that featured yours truly lip-synching a little Esquivel:

Whenever the song pops up on my holiday playlist, I still do this.

I find it interesting that we immerse ourselves in certain pop culture favorites for exactly 6 weeks of the year and then pack them up in mothballs with the ornaments until next year. I mean, Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” is currently at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Burl Ives, Bobby Helms and Andy Williams are also in the top 10. Are any of them on your 4th of July playlist? They aren’t on mine.

*Gabe Pressman (left) with Marilyn Monroe (1956)*

I used to look forward to the annual Christmas Eve tradition on NBC New York’s evening news when reporter Gabe Pressman would read “Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus.” I taped it in 2011, knowing that the tradition wouldn’t last forever. The self-described “little Jewish kid from the Bronx” was 87 years old at the time and continued to work at NBC until his death at age 93.

NBC New York reporter Gabe Pressman’s annual segment on Virginia O’Hanlon’s 1897 letter to the New York Sun Newspaper.

In keeping with this revisit, my other blog posts of Christmas past are back to haunt you like A Christmas Carol, Mr. Scrooge:

Last week I posted Your Guide To Gay Disposable Holiday Movies, highlighting the 10 gayest Lifetime/Hallmark/Netflix movies of the past few years:

Copyright issues kept my 60 Degrees Girl Group Christmas playlist out of commission but now it’s back! I plan to post other episodes of my old radio show in the new year.

Here is my take on the 1987 Motown Christmas Special – which featured very few Motown acts.

Here are 10 Things You May Not Know About March of The Wooden Soldiers, the Laurel & Hardy classic holiday film.

My Canine Christmas Tail is a true story about my dog Sunshine, a basset hound with an appetite for tinsel.

Have you watched Christmas In Connecticut yet this year? How about that delivery woman? This year I was able to update my 2019 post, identifying Daisy Bufford as the actress who played the unbilled role.

The original version of “¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?” is featured in “Llamacita,” this year’s Amazon Prime holiday commercial. Here’s a little backstory on the song & Augie Rios, who sang the original version.

Also – would you like to hear my Spotify holiday playlist?

Way back in 2002, when Limewire was a thing and people listened to music on silvery discs, I started creating Christmas CD mixes that I would mail out or give to people. These were received with a heartwarming combination of feigned delight, veiled indifference and deafening silence. None of these CDs had a pressing of more than 20 copies. I’d like to call them “much sought after” – but no, that’s not really the case, although every once in a while, someone really got into them and would ask for copies of other volumes.

And so, I’m offering this simple playlist…. for kids from 1 to 92. Unfortunately some of the tracks on these dozen CDs are not on Spotify, but I keep adding songs that would be on the current CD volume… if there was one. And now the playlist is over 17 hours of holiday tunes. I recommend listening on shuffle – there’s something to irritate everyone. Enjoy!

Here’s one more nugget to stuff in your stocking: This vid went viral in 2011. Choreographed and performed by Alex Karigan & Zac Hammer of the Amy Marshall Dance Company, it was filmed in one continuous take at the New 42nd St. Dance Studios. There’s something infectious about it: the joy, the corniness, the celebratory queerness of it all. It makes me want to dust off my jazz shoes. Once a year.

The Lost Madonna ’80s Megamix Video

Back in the dinosaur days of VHS tapes, there were various companies that offered music video subscription services to commercial businesses. Every month a new videocassette with the latest music videos would arrive in the mail, just for viewing in their establishment. These tapes were not for sale to the general public.

One of the most popular companies in the U.S. and Canada was Telegenics, a New York-based operation that produced monthly tapes over an 11 year span, from 1983-1994. They offered a variety of music styles to choose from: Top 40, Progressive, Urban, and Pop Rock with some occasional specialty releases of 12″ Remix, Dance Classics, and Christmas, to name a few.

In the late 1990’s I used to buy these tapes in second hand stores and then later on eBay. In the days before YouTube, this was often the only way to see music videos that didn’t get airplay on MTV or VH1. I had my NYC public access show Bri-Guy’s Media Surf at that time and would air obscure music videos from artist like Kirsty MacColl, Alison Moyet and others that the music video channels paid little attention to.

But the Madonna MegaMix was something else: A 7-song, 11 minute remix of hits up to the summer of 1988 when it was released. The medley features “La Isla Bonita,” “Who’s That Girl,” “Open Your Heart,” “Into The Groove,” “Papa Don’t Preach,” “Where’s The Party,” and “Dress You Up.”

“Where’s The Party” is of particular interest, as there was never a music video for this album track, but one is created here using clips from many of Madonna’s other music videos.

I aired the video on Media Surf a couple of times during the show’s 10-year run. In 2012, I digitized the clip and uploaded it to YouTube to share. It was immediately flagged for copyright infringement and blocked from viewing worldwide. Although it was not visible to the public, I left it uploaded to my channel and promptly did nothing with it for 11 years.

And now, as Madge has come around and is embracing her legacy with a 40th anniversary tour, YouTube (or Warner Music, or the lady herself) have decided to allow for such things to be viewed by the general public. Enjoy it while you can! It may be gone tomorrow.

A 60 Degrees Girl Group Christmas

I have always loved Christmas music. I tend to listen to older music all year round, but when it comes to sharing music with the general public, this is the only time of year when Brenda Lee is considered cool. To combat the 60’s holiday tracks that are over-covered and overplayed, I am always searching for more obscure holiday recordings by girl groups and female vocalists that are not on radio or Spotify playlists.

When I began hosting my internet radio show 60 Degrees with Brian Ferrari back in 2008, I started an annual tradition of putting together a holiday program full of female 60’s singers and girl groups interspersed with vintage commercials and sound clips from classic holiday movies and television shows. You can listen to the Halloween show here.

East Village Radio was a pirate radio station that went legit and switched to the internet, broadcasting from a storefront in New York’s Lower East Side. This first 60 Degrees holiday show debuted on December 22, 2008 and was repeated annually throughout the shows 5 year run. By 2012, the holiday programs had gained such a following that 60 Degrees was given an uninterrupted 16-hour marathon on Christmas Day.

At the beginning of Part 2 of this episode, I read a Christmas poem that I wrote about an incident from my childhood involving our tinsel-eating dog Sunshine, which has previously been posted here and also on The Good Men Project website. You can’t say I don’t recycle!

Other than my speedy vocal delivery (someone tell that guy to slow down) and some minor sound level issues, the show holds up pretty well. There are a few mis-statements that I wish I could fix:

I said that Maya Rudolph’s mother, the late great Minnie Riperton was not singing lead on The Gems tracks. But it turned out that she was.
I mis-pronounce the Meditation Singers as “The Mediation Singers” and would add that soul singer Laura Lee was a member of the group, having replaced Della Reese in the 1950’s.
Janice Orenstein is the singer on “There’s Always Tomorrow” from the Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer soundtrack.

Part 1

Donde Esta Santa Claus – Toni Stante
Gee Whiz, It’s Christmas – Carla Thomas
My Boyfriend’s Coming Home For Christmas – Toni Wine
Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day – Brenda Lee
White Christmas – Baby Washington
Snowfall – Doris Day
I Want A Boy For Christmas – The Del-Vetts
You Better Be Good, World – Shirley Ellis
Peace For Christmas – Gigi Parker
Christmas Calling – Valerie Masters
Christmas Time – Jan Bradley
All I Want For Christmas Is You – Carla Thomas
Christmas Is The Time To Be With Your Baby – The Orchids
Christmas Time Is Here Again – The Flirtations
O Holy Child – Dusty Springfield
Sleigh Ride – Darlene Love wi/ The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Deep in the Heart of Christmas Darlene Love wi/ The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Christmastime For The Jews – Darlene Love
Xmas (Baby Please Come Home) Live 2005 – Darlene Love

Part 2:

Wish You A Merry Christmas – Kim Weston
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – The Miracles (featuring Claudette Robinson)
Oh Holy Night – The Supremes (featuring Florence Ballard)
Won’t Be Long Before Christmas – The Supremes
Blue Christmas – The Meditation Singers
Blue Holiday – Aretha Franklin
Love For Christmas -The Gems
Jing Jing A Ling – Honey & The Bees
Silver Bells – Rachel Sweet
Close Your Mouth (It’s Christmas) – The Free Design
The Christmas Song – Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66
I Don’t Intend to Spend Christmas Without You – Margo Guryan
Happy New Year Baby – JoAnn Campbell
Happy New Year Baby – The Sisters
January First – Peggy March
Happy New Year – Beverley
Jingle Jingle Jingle – Burl Ives
There’s Always Tomorrow – Janice Orenstein
Auld Lang Syne – Honey & the Bees

I’ll be uploading other episodes of 60 Degrees in the future. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks for listening!

’60s Girl Group Survivors

Recently, the Gr8terDays blog featured cast photos of TV shows throughout the golden age of television. Surviving cast members are pictured in color while those who have shuffled off this mortal coil are depicted in black and white. I found this method of categorizing to be a bit jarring and sad, but also informative.

The post begins; “I’ve always been the morbid type. Even as a kid, I would watch old movies and TV shows and zero in on, ‘Which of these people is still alive?'”

Well, I was that kid too, although I didn’t get that way without help. I remember watching The Wizard of Oz on television when I was 5 or 6 years old while my parents made casual conversation of tallying the deceased cast members. “Yeah, she overdosed. And he’s dead. That one’s probably dead too… I’m not sure about Jack Haley.”

This might explain why my last post was Zombie Divas, a piece of Halloween fiction that featured a reanimated Judy Garland and other dearly departed entertainers hanging around the narrator’s apartment.

I have written about my love of ’60s girl groups in the past. From 2008-2013 I produced and hosted 60 Degrees with Brian Ferrari, a 2-hour weekly program on East Village Radio devoted to female singers of the 1960’s. I have great respect for these women and am very much enjoying the newly released book Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? An Oral History Of The ’60’s Girl Groups by Laura Flam and Emily Sieu Liebowitz.

With that said, here’s my list of surviving members of 30+ girl groups (primarily) of the 1960’s. They may be gone, but their music lives on.

Lead singer Peggy Santiglia and Phyllis “Jiggs” Allbut are the last original Angels. Besides Barbara “Bibbs” Allbut, first lead singer Linda Jansen and Bernadette Carroll have also passed on.

Darlene Love’s group The Blossoms started as The Dreamers in 1954. The evolving lineup went through many group names and members, with Fanita James as the one constant throughout. The 1964 lineup with Love, James and Jean King were regulars on the TV show *Shindig!* and continued until Darlene’s departure in 1975. Jean passed away in 1983, while Fanita died on Thanksgiving, 2023.

When Reather Dixon Turner died in 2014, co-lead singer Emma Pought Patron became the sole surviving member of The Bobbettes, which formed in East Harlem in 1955.

Seminal girl group The Chantels formed in the Bronx in 1957. Although they lost Jackie Landry to cancer in 1997, members of the group are still performing today.

Baby, That’s Me: The last member of The Cake is Barbara Morillo.

The Chordettes were of an earlier generation than the other girl groups, having formed as a folk group in the late 1940’s. They later shifted over to pop music with hits like “Mr. Sandman” and “Lollipop”. Carol Buschman, the last member from the group’s heydey, passed away on September 30, 2023 at age 96.

Chiffon Sylvia Peterson passed away in July, 2023. Barbara Lee had previously died in 1992. Lead singer Judy Craig still occasionally performs with her daughter and niece.

Original Crystals lead singer Barbara Alston passed away in 2018.

The Butterflys were a quartet with two former Crystals: Myrna Giraud and Mary Thomas along with lead singer Paulette Holland. All three are still in New York City… but where in the world is Carmen Santiago?

The original Cookies formed in 1954 and later morphed into the first incarnation of the Raelettes. They have all passed on, but the second lineup included Earl-Jean McCrea and Margaret Ross Williams, who are still with us. Margaret still heads a Cookies lineup and honors the earlier group in live shows with their song “In Paradise.”

Sole surviving Dixie Cup Barbara Hawkins keeps the group alive with current member Athelgra Neville, sister of The Neville Brothers.

The exciting Brenda Reid, lead singer of The Exciters, is the last surviving member of her group.

No pearly gates for these Flirtations: The group, formed in New York as The Gypsies in 1962, moved to the UK in the late 60’s. All three are still performing together, including Viola Billups, aka Pearly Gates.

Guitarist Carol McDonald (aka Shaw) passed away in 2007. In October 2023, the group was inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame with the surviving members in attendance.

Honey Cone lead singer Edna Wright (sister of Darlene Love) passed away in September, 2020.

Trying to keep track of the many Ikettes is akin to herding cats, but this classic lineup – which became The Mirettes – featured Robbie Montgomery, Venetta Fields, and Jessie Smith, who died in February, 2021.

Bluebelle Sarah Dash passed away in September, 2021. The New York Times recently reported on the ongoing health battles of Cindy Birdsong, who left the Bluebelles to join the Supremes in 1967.

Late 60’s Vandella Sandra Tilley succumbed to an aneurysm in 1982, but Martha Reeves and her other Vandellas are alive and well.

Katherine Anderson Schaffner, group spokesperson and the one constant member of The Marvelettes, passed away on September 20, 2023. The surviving members are now Juanita Cowart Motley, the first to leave the group in 1963, and Ann Bogan, who replaced original lead singer Gladys Horton in 1967.

When Murmaids lead singer Terry Fischer passed away in 2017 from Parkinson’s disease, her sister and fellow Murmaid Carol Fischer Morell called her “the heart and soul of the group.”

Sole surviving Orlon Stephen Caldwell is still active on the oldies circuit with replacement members.

Middle Paris sister Sherrell has been the sole surviving sibling since the death of Allbeth in 2014. Youngest sister Priscilla passed away in 2004.

All three Pixies Three (as well as replacement member Bonnie Long-Walker) are still at the party.

Ruth Pointer is the oldest and last surviving member of The Pointer Sisters.

Reparata (Mary Aiese) had two sets of Delrons in the 1960’s. Only Carol Drobnicki has passed away.

Cousin Nedra Talley Ross is the last Ronette.

The elegant Royalettes from Baltimore, Maryland lost their first member when Anita Ross Brooks passed away a few years ago.

The Shangri-La’s: The Ganser twins have been gone for decades, but Mary Weiss passed away on January 19, 2024, leaving her sister Betty as the last surviving group member.

The Shirelles formed in 1957 and hailed from Passaic, New Jersey. Shirley Owens Alston Reeves has retired from performing, but Beverly Lee tours with her own Shirelles.

Early 4th Supreme Barbara Martin has also passed on, but all of the 1970’s post-Diana Ross Supremes are still with us.

Cissy (mother of Whitney) Houston and Estelle Brown are the surviving members of this legendary backing group.

Fayette Pinkney was one of the founding members of The Three Degrees, which was formed by producer Richard Barrett in 1963. She went solo in 1976 and passed away in 2009. Originally from Philadelphia but now based in the UK, members of the group are still touring.

The Toys were assembled in Jamaica, Queens in 1961. Lead singer Barbara Harris is the only one still performing, although the retired members often show up to support her at shows. All three still live in the Tri-state area.

At different times, Motown’s Velvelettes also featured Vandellas Betty Kelly and the late Sandra Tilley. Founding member Bertha Barbee McNeal passed away in December, 2022.

The Ad Libs were not a true girl group, but “The Boy From New York City” and their follow-up Blue Cat singles sure fit in the genre. Sadly, Mary Ann Thomas and the boys from Bayonne, New Jersey have all passed on.

The cast of the Phil Spector Christmas LP, released 60 years ago this holiday season.

Other books I highly recommend: John Clemente’s Girl Groups: Fabulous Females Who Rocked The World, which is cited as a reference source on anything related to the genre. Prior to that, Alan Betrock’s 1982 Girl Groups: Story Of A Sound and the 1983 documentary based on that book were the first attempts to tell their story.

Ronnie Spector 1980

I recently found myself perusing (as one does) the March, 1981 issue of In Touch For Men Magazine when I happened upon an article about Ronnie Spector. “How timely,” I thought, as August 10th marked her 80th birthday. Unfortunately, the Ronettes lead singer passed away at age 78 in January, 2022 – click here for a tribute with some choice song recommendations.

Ronnie didn’t have a whole lot going on when Genya Ravan called her up out of the blue and asked her to sign with her new record label, Polish. Ravan was a fellow rock and roll veteran – a Holocaust survivor from Poland who, as Goldie Zelkowitz, fronted the legendary female rock band Goldie & The Gingerbreads. After a name change, a stint fronting the band Ten Wheel Drive, and several solo LPs, Ravan was ready to use her production skills on her own record label. In her memoir Lollipop Lounge: Memoirs Of A Rock And Roll Refugee, Ravan clarifies the label’s name: “‘Polish’ as in shine, not the nationality.”

While the music industry might have been through with Ronnie, Ravan was extremely excited with the prospect of producing her first solo LP. “I was a great fan of hers. I’d loved the sound of her voice ever since I first heard it,” she wrote. “Also, my own career as a singer seemed to be looking bleak… so working with Ronnie seemed to offer an alternative way of permanently stamping my mark on the music industry.”

Ravan’s idea was to expose Ronnie to some of the acts from CBGB’s that she was producing – to bring her iconic voice to a contemporary rock setting.

The album was recorded at Media Sound, RPM and Electric Lady studios with contributions from members of Johnny Thunders’ Heartbreakers, the Dead Boys, Mink DeVille and many others. In addition to producing, Ravan also provided backing vocals.

In her own autobiography, Ronnie admitted that she did not feel a connection with the New York punk scene that she felt Genya was pushing her to embrace, although she would concede that the harder edge of Siren inspired her to cut loose on the vocals in a way that she had never done before.

While the lady doth protest, it must be noted that her cover of The Ramones’ “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” was a natural choice for her to cover: Phil had just produced The End Of The Century for the group, including a cover of The Ronettes “Baby I Love You.” Joey Ramone would later produce Ronnie’s 1999 EP She Talks To Rainbows. If Ronnie didn’t like “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” initially, she must have had a change of heart, as she re-recorded it for her 2006 CD The Last Of The Rock Stars.

She also collaborated with classic punk band The Misfits on a couple of tracks in 2003. Safe to say, Genya Ravan was on to something after all.

*Ronnie & Goldie: Spector with Genya Ravan (1980)*

Another standout track that is often overlooked is “Any Way That You Want Me,” a Chip Taylor composition originally recorded in the 1960’s by The Troggs and then Evie Sands. As producer, Ravan’s idea for the album was to “make sure the music had an edge, but at the same time I didn’t want to lose Ronnie’s 1960’s sound entirely.” This track walks that tightrope very well.

Unfortunately, the album doesn’t quite stick the landing with its final track: “Happy Birthday Rock ‘N’ Roll” is a 6 minute passive aggressive valentine-slash-middle finger of a song dedicated to Phil Spector. Harkening back to her ex-husband only negates the distance that the rest of the album puts between Ronnie and her musical past.

By 1980, the story of Ronnie’s barefoot escape from her marriage was no secret. Giving this song the subtitle “For Phil” is just bizarre. Imagine if Tina Turner had dedicated the title track of her Private Dancer LP to Ike.

The lyrics present Phil as the embodiment of “Rock ‘N’ Roll” itself, alternately praising him for his accomplishments, but noting that “You’re pushing 40 / but you’re still not old,” and “Some people say you’ve lost your grip / They say you’re past your prime and you’re no longer hip.”

One can imagine that Phil was not thrilled when he listened to this.

The songwriting on this track is credited to Elkie Brooks and Peter Gage, even though there are several breaks that segue into the choruses of “Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love You,” and “You Baby” – Ronettes songs that originally listed Phil as a co-writer. None of the original songwriters are credited here. As a comparison, Eddie Money’s 1986 hit “Take Me Home Tonight” – with Ronnie’s “Be My Baby” refrain – lists that song’s writers – Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich/Phil Spector alongside the other songwriters. Perhaps if Siren had been a commercial success, the famously litigious Phil would have come after them.

Reviews for the LP were all over the place – from high praise to the lowest dismissal:

Above: NME – Great photo / Terrible review (8/30/1980)

*A pan from The Austin American-Statesman, whose reviewer also mis-genders Ms. Ravan. (9/27/80)*

The Newsday review above was followed by one for Blondie’s AutoAmerican. (12/26/80)

In a more recent assessment, Joe Viglione writes on the AllMusic website; “If Phil Spector overproduced to good effect, Genya Ravan purposely underproduced, choosing instead to let flavors of different musicians paint the fabric behind Ronnie Spector.”

Genya Ravan stands by the album, writing; “I’m very proud of Siren… and of what I did for her on it. I think it’s the best thing she recorded after her glory days with Phil Spector.”

*Ronnie Spector, 1980 (photo by Richard Aaron)*

In Touch For Men: Disco Danny (1979)

I recently found myself perusing (as one does) the Sept/Oct 1979 issue of In Touch For Men Magazine. Featured on the cover and centerfold is Tim Kramer, an All-American boy who would go on to become one of the top gay porn stars of the 1980’s.

There is also this two page spread about a similar corn-fed wholesome fellow: the guy who played Disco Danny in a popular Trident commercial.

The Disco Danny profile was written by Charles Herschberg, a year after the writer himself had been featured in the buff as “Damien Charles: The New York Man” in issue #69 of Gay Times.

Unfortunately Disco Danny does not reveal nearly as much, posing for just one shirtless photo. He’s here flirting with the gay press strictly for promotional purposes: trying to arouse the interest of a gay audience for his recently released debut single “Dancin’.”

The commercial that started it all: Trident Disco Danny

The Disco Danny character was a takeoff on John Travolta’s iconic role in the film Saturday Night Fever. Following in Travolta’s platform-shoed footsteps, he was signed to the same record label – Midsong Records. As the In Touch article notes, “Vocal ability was not primarily what won him his contract.”

He appeared on the early Nickelodeon show America Goes Bananaz with host Randy Hamilton conducting the interview and introducing two performances: “Dancin'” and “High School Honey,” a track from the LP that was never released.

The “b” side of the “Dancin'”single: “I Fell In Love With An Angel.”

Unfortunately, all the PR attempts to cross him over to a successful career outside of teen discos proved futile. There was no follow-up single and the Dancin’ LP was shelved, although he continued to find lucrative work in national commercials alongside some familiar faces:

Honeycomb cereal commercial with Anthony Michael Hall.

Bubble Yum commercial with Disco Danny on drums behind Ralph Macchio and Cynthia Gibb.

So what happened then?

Like rainbow suspenders, satin pants and the dance that spawned his name, Disco Danny fell out of fashion. He eventually gave up show biz and found work as a salesman. He married several times and like many a New Yorker, eventually migrated south. According to an acquaintance, he has become a Florida Man, with all the political leanings that go with the territory, adding with a sigh “he’s no longer the sweet, talented kid I knew.”

Ah well. We’ll always have Trident. And In Touch.

Luke Combs’ Cover Of “Fast Car” Is The Perfect Song For Our Times

In case you missed it, Tracy Chapman’s 1988 song “Fast Car” has been covered by country artist Luke Combs. It has now topped the country charts and has out-performed the pop chart standing of the original. Chapman is now the first female African-American songwriter to have the top song on the country charts.

Chapman released a statement to Billboard: “I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there. I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’”

I hate to be a wet blanket on the festivities, but I can’t be the only person that thinks a white male country artist covering this song is a little tone deaf. Especially right now.

I believe Combs’ heart was in the right place when he recorded the song, but in the hands of his listeners – and the country music crowd is overwhelmingly conservative – it becomes another example of how we’re supposed to believe that race and gender do not make a difference as to who gets ahead in the world.

At a time when teaching African-American history is being treated as an act of aggression and the “critical race theory” boogeyman is being used to rile up the right wing mob, a caucasian male country singer covering “Fast Car” makes perfect sense. Because we’re all the same, right? A poor white male and a poor black woman are interchangeable, right? It’s a level playing field. Right?

I do appreciate that Combs is faithful to the original. As a songwriter, he did not want to change a word of Chapman’s song. By the 5th verse, he’s working in the market as a checkout girl. “You’ll get a job and I’ll get promoted…” the lyric goes. Tell me: who is more likely to get that promotion – Chapman’s protagonist or Combs?

“Starting from zero got nothing to prove…” Yes, but “zero” is not the same for everyone. We are all programmed to believe that we live in the land of equal opportunity. If you can make it here, you’ll make it anywhere. If you don’t succeed, well, you just weren’t good enough, or you didn’t try hard enough. But really… we don’t all start in the same place, do we? Most people get a boost in one way or another, whether it’s financial support or nepotism or a legacy admission into a university. Unfortunately, boosts both big and small are often forgotten or underplayed when people recount their path to success.

Dustin Rowles writes on Pajiba.com that he found a strong resonance with “Fast Car” when it was first released back in 1988. I did as well. I was the child of a single parent home – a B student attending a B+ university, dependent on many grants and loans. I was headed home at the end of my freshman year as the song began to climb the charts. Unlike many of my classmates, I wasn’t afforded the opportunity to take a $50-a-week summer stock job – a rite of passage for theater students. This would be one of those “little boost” moments that many experience and forget about. Instead, I was expected to live at home and work a full time job so I could contribute towards my next year of school. This meant I was returning to a $4.25-an-hour retail spot at Record World, which wasn’t exactly going to make me financially solvent.

Here was my boost: When family members kept forgetting to pick me up from work, my mother bought me my first car. It wasn’t a fast one. The 1982 Plymouth Horizon cost a few hundred dollars and gradually slowed down whenever it got too hot. But it had a cassette player, and Tracy Chapman’s debut record was on heavy rotation that summer.

Rowles writes that he harbored some resentment for the song, which he perceived as predicting that he would not be able to break the cycle of poverty and dysfunction that he had grown up with. I didn’t feel that way. The song effected me deeply, as did her whole album. But I knew that I was better off than the song’s protagonist. I did not have a false equivalence. My previous job had been at a supermarket where I worked with single black women trying to support their kids on minimum wage. I knew they would not have been hired at the record store making that extra .90 cents an hour.

Ultimately, Rowles concludes that “…there is a way out. Unfortunately, it’s not a fast car, which only allows you to outrun your problems for so long. The easiest way to break the cycle is through education.” He concedes that, as a white male, he had a boost: access to an education that minorities often did not.

And now, 35 years later, “Fast Car” is topping the charts in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down a couple of very important boosts: affirmative action in college admissions, and Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. The latter should be of concern to people of all persuasions who are staring down a lifetime of loan interest payments. But that is assuming every person has the equal opportunity to be accepted into an institution of higher education. Without affirmative action, that is not the case.

As a high school student in Cleveland, Ohio, Tracy Chapman was accepted into A Better Chance, a non-profit program that placed high-achieving minority students in prep schools. She graduated from Wooster School in Connecticut and went on to attend Tufts University, where she was discovered by fellow student/future filmmaker Brian Koppelman. Koppelman’s father was a record executive and signed her to SBK Publishing, which led to a deal with Elektra Records.

Billboard estimates the recent global publishing royalties of “Fast Car” exceed $500,000. Unlike so many other artists, Chapman still owns both the writers’ and publisher’s share of the song, so that money is hers. Additionally, the success of Combs’ version has brought attention to her original, increasing activity 44% since his version was released, according to Luminate. Her song, in its original form, is speaking to a whole new generation. It just needed a boost.

Tina Turner: 12+ Cover Songs You May Have Missed

It’s hard to believe that Tina Turner is gone. I remember feeling the same way after Prince died – I liked thinking that he was always out there, somewhere, working on music. Not that I was expecting new music from Tina – it was enough to see her pop up in occasional interviews as she enjoyed retirement in her Swiss castle.

What more can you say about the queen? So much is being written and discussed, I should just shut up and walk away. But…

With the exception of the song “Nutbush City Limits”, Tina is not remembered as a songwriter. But she did have a knack for choosing excellent material and putting her indelible stamp on it. After hearing Tina’s take on a song, you could be forgiven if you forget that “Proud Mary” was a Creedence Clearwater Revival tune, or that “Let’s Stay Together” is Al Green’s song. “I Can’t Stand The Rain” was a 1974 hit for Ann Peebles, and Bonnie Tyler had a minor hit with “Simply The Best” the year before Tina recorded it.

That said, there are some interesting covers that have flown under the radar or fallen through the cracks. Here are some of them.

UPDDATE: The New York Times published their own article on Tina’s covers the same day this was posted, but other than the Stones/Beatles/Led Zeppelin cuts, none of the tracks listed below were included.

1) Tina Sings Dusty Springfield: “Just A Little Lovin'” / “Every Day I Have To Cry” – Dusty Springfield’s version of the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil song “Just A Little Lovin'” was the lead track from the classic 1969 Dusty In Memphis LP. Tina’s version is from her 1979 solo LP Love Explosion, which was not released in the U.S.

Tina Turner – “Just A Little Lovin'” (1979)

“Every Day I Have To Cry” was originally a minor hit for Steve Alaimo in 1962, and memorably covered by Dusty on her 1964 I Only Want To Be With You LP. Tina’s version is from the Phil Spector produced River Deep, Mountain High LP (1966).

Ike & Tina Turner – “Every Day I Have To Cry”

2) Tina Sings Led Zeppelin: “Whole Lotta Love” – This Led Zeppelin cover was released as a single from Tina’s second solo LP, 1975’s Acid Queen. The NY Times article on Tina’s cover songs describes this version as “disco-inflected” but also “slowed down.” To paraphrase Led Zep: It makes me wonder (what they were listening to.)

Tina Turner – “Whole Lotta Love” (1975)

3) Tina Sings Prince: “Let’s Pretend We’re Married” / “Baby I’m A Star” – Tina’s cover of “Let’s Pretend We’re Married” was recorded live in 1984 and featured as a B-side on different singles from the Private Dancer LP, depending on the territory.

Tina Turner – “Let’s Pretend We’re Married”

Tina’s version of “Baby I’m a Star” was omnipresent for a season in 2000, as she sang it in Target commercials while they were sponsoring her tour. It was also released on All That Glitters, a greatest hits CD only available at Target. And then… it was gone.

Tina Turner – “Baby I’m A Star”

4) Tina sings Linda Ronstadt: “Long Long Time” – Earlier this year, Linda Ronstadt’s definitive 1970 version of this Gary White song was introduced to a new generation via the HBO series The Last Of Us. Tina recorded her version in 1974 for her first solo LP, Tina Turns The Country On. Rolling Stone recently wrote about this forgotten gem. Although the LP was not a commercial success, it did garner Tina a Grammy nomination.

Tina Turner – “Long Long Time”

5) Tina Sings Marvin Gaye: “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” – There are a few versions of Tina singing Marvin Gaye’s classic Motown hit. The song was often part of her live repertoire. This live version from the Ike & Tina Turner Review is circa 1970:

Ike & Tina Turner Review – “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”

Thirty years later, Tina recorded a dance version of the song for her Twenty Four Seven LP. Unfortunately the song was pulled from the final release of the album:

Tina Turner – “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”

Also – just for funzies, here’s Tina singing with Marvin Gaye on Shindig! March 25, 1965 doing a medley of “Money (That’s What I Want)” and “I’ll Be Doggone.”

Tina Turner & Marvin Gaye “Money (That’s What I Want)” / “I’ll Be Doggone”

6) Tina Sings Stevie Wonder: “Living For The City” / “Higher Ground” – These two Stevie Wonder tracks from his classic 1973 Innervisions LP were covered the following year by Ike & Tina on their Sweet Rhode Island Red LP. The tracks later turned up on several compilations as the material from this period was often repackaged and re-released.

Ike & Tina Turner – “Living For The City”

Ike & Tina Turner – “Higher Ground”

7) Tina Sings Etta James: “All I Could Do Was Cry” – Motown founder Berry Gordy was a co-writer on this song, which was written for Etta James in 1960. Ike & Tina included their version on the Live! The Ike & Tina Turner Show LP (1964). Tina’s 4-minute monologue in the middle of the song is epic, recounting the wedding of the man she loves as he marries someone else, building to a crescendo with “their friends throwing rice all over their heads.” This overlooked camp classic was later featured on the 2007 CD A Date With John Waters.

Ike & Tina Turner – “All I Could Do Was Cry”

8) Tina Sings Elton John: “Philadelphia Freedom” – This Ike & Tina Turner track was recorded in the mid-1970’s, just before Tina left. Ike later included it on his 1980 LP The Edge and on a 1984 Tina Turner EP titled Mini, among other repackages of their 70’s output.

Tina Turner – “Philadelphia Freedom”

9) Tina Does Disco: “Shame, Shame, Shame” – Like “Philadelphia Freedom,” this cover of the 1975 dance hit for Shirley & Co. was featured on Ike’s The Edge LP, Tina’s Mini EP, and numerous other budget collections.

Tina Turner – “Shame, Shame, Shame”

She also memorably performed the song with Cher on her variety show in 1975:

Cher & Tina Turner – “Shame, Shame, Shame”

10) Tina Sings The Temptations: “Ball of Confusion”– Tina’s version of “Ball Of Confusion” was the gateway to the second (or third?) act of her career. Recorded with B.E.F., aka British Electric Foundation for their 1982 album Music of Quality and Distinction Volume One, the song became a top 5 hit in Norway. Capital Records took notice and signed her to the label. The resulting LP was Private Dancer, and the rest is history.

B.E.F. featuring Tina Turner – “Ball Of Confusion”

11) Tina Sings The Rolling Stones: “Honky Tonk Woman” / “Under My Thumb” / “Let’s Spend The Night Together” – Well of course Tina covered The Stones. She taught moves to Jagger. Tina & Mick were always joining each other onstage, and although she never recorded proper versions of “Jumping Jack Flash” or “It’s Only Rock And Roll‘, they were frequently on her concert setlists.

Ike & Tina’s studio version of “Honky Tonk Woman” was featured on their 1970 LP Come Together, and was also the b-side to the single of the title track:

Ike & Tina Turner – “Honky Tonk Woman”

“Under My Thumb” – A track from the 1975 Acid Queen LP:

Tina Turner – “Under My Thumb”

“Let’s Spend The Night Together” – Also from her1975 Acid Queen LP:

Tina Turner – “Let’s Spend The Night Together”

12) Tina Sings The Beatles: “Help!” / “Something” / “Get Back” / “Come Together” – Although not as closely associated with The Beatles as with the Rolling Stones, Tina covered several of their songs through the years. Her ballad version of “Help!” was on the international edition of the Private Dancer LP, but not the U.S. version.

Tina Turner – “Help!”

Tina’s version of “Something”:

Tina Turner – “Something”

Ike & Tina perform “Get Back” on Beat Club in the UK. The song was included on their 1970 Workin’ Together LP and released as a single in Europe.

Ike & Tina Turner – “Get Back”

“Come Together” was the title track from Ike & Tina’s 1970 LP. The single also featured their version of the Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman” as the b-side.

Ike & Tina Turner – “Come Together”

Here’s a Spotify playlist of the available songs above as well as many other covers:

Category: music