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Monday, March 1, 2010

PATTY DUKE - THE TEEN RECORDINGS



Patty Duke was born in 1946. She had a pretty rough childhood, which you can read about in various places on the world wide web.

Primarily an actress, Patty Duke stepped into the world of 45s and 33s during the second season of "The Patty Duke Show". The show involved Patty playing dual roles as herself (Patty Lane) and also as her cousin, Cathy Lane. Guys and girls, if you've never watched this show, I urge you to go track down the DVD's, it's like stepping back into the 60s!

The show became a major success, and United Artists signed her up to make some records. They knew because she had a popular show on TV, that she could definately make UA some money by releasing at least a single or two.


Her producers wanted to give her a Lesley Gore styled sound, and her first release was exactly that. "Don't Just Stand There" was pretty much a carbon copy of "You Don't Own Me", but nevertheless, the song went all the way to #8 in 1965.

Luckilly, many videos of Patty performing her songs were saved, so HERE is Patty doing her thing.

The B Side was also a light teen pop recording, called "Everything But Love"

Along the way, Patty recorded a version of Christine Quaite's "Tell Me Mama". This was one of the songs that went unreleased on record by Patty. Actually, it still is, and you can't buy it on 45, LP, or CD. However, it was recorded just for Patty's show, and the clip still exists. Although the vocal on this (and all of Patty Duke's other recordings) may be considered weak, there is a certain charm in the teenage, cutesy vocals. Anyway, here's Tell Me Mama


The next single was another great one, called "Funny Little Butterflies". This might be my favorite teen recording by Patty, although it did worse than the first single, only making #22. Check out the performance clips from Shindig! and also Patty's own show.

The B Side, Say Something Funny, was a take off on Patty's first single, Don't Just Stand There. A performance clip can be viewed at the click of a mouse. Patty

Patty's hits slowed down, and while she still released some terrific 45s (like the one below), they went un-noticed by the public.





Patty had two albums, both containg a mix of mainly cover versions and also some original songs. Like I said before, she also continued to release many other 45s and then decided to focus on her acting. Many of her recordings from the mid 60s, including the ones mentioned here (and many other fabulous ones that were not!), can be found on a CD entitled "Just Patty", but it's Out Of Print and can be costly. It's noted for it's audophile stereo sound straight from the master tapes.

And for a bit of fun.....PATTY SINGS HERMAN's HERMITS

Hope you enjoy it!

-Kyler

2 comments:

  1. I am a major patty duke fan. i love her show the patty duke show.

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  2. I watched the Patty Duke show when I was a kid and I was in love with her. I was lucky enough to meet her years ago and the first thing I told her was "I love you". She was very gracious and I fulfilled a life long dream and kissed her on the cheek. What a great lady. I am still crazy about her.
    Marcelle

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