PAUL PETERSEN - HITS & RARITIES - OUT NOW!

On the heels of RRR's Billy Meshel disc, we are proud to present a brand new release on Teensville: "Hits & Rarities" by the fabulous Paul Petersen.



This is a great release on so many levels! First of all, there's 31 tracks here, the most comprehensive collection of Paul yet.

Out of all the tracks, Teensville is presenting 10 in superb sounding stereo, while the rest are in punchy and vibrant mono.

There are also 4 unreleased tracks - the great teener "Quarantine" (presented here in two versions, including rad studio chatter), the group sounding "I Wanna Be Free" (featured in an episode of The Donna Reed Show, but never released on record), and the somber "Two Little Boys".

Of course the hits are here - "My Dad", "Lollipops and Roses", "She Can't Find Her Keys", "Keep Your Love Locked".....

If you are only familiar with the hits side of Paul Petersen, you will be delighted to find many hidden gems on this CD. For instance, there's "Amy", written by Mann-Weil, which was so good that Barry later recorded it for himself. Paul's version of "The Poorest Boy In Town" is incuded too. You might know it by Johnny Burnette.

Beach Boys fans rejoyce - "She Rides With Me" is Track #9 - it's written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian.

You will also hear a couple cuts Paul cut for a Colpix album of "Bye Bye Birdie" songs, and even a brief look at his stint at Motown Records in the late sixties.'

The music isn't the only great thing about this collection - the booklet is outstanding! Many pictures of Paul and full information about the tracks. The liner notes are by Brian Gari (check out his own music at cdbaby.com), detailing Paul's career in the biz with some funny antedotes.

You can buy Paul Petersen's "Hits and Rarities" direct at the RARE ROCKIN RECORDS SHOP (just click it!)

(Non RRR Related) Power Pop Duo 'The Red Button'

Hi folks,

As a quick aside from the news about upcoming releases from Rare Rockin' Records and Teensville, I'd like to direct you to the latest album by the The Red Button.

The Red Button (Seth Swirksy and Mike Ruekberg), if you don't know, are one of the most promising and talented artists in a genre known as power pop. 60s styled pop with a bit of an updated edge, if you like.




Their new, second album, entitled "As Far As Yesterday Goes", was released recently. It's simply a delight to listen to. In these heavy times, a 12-track breezy pop album hits the spot.

My favorite track is actually the album opener, "Caught In The Middle". It's upbeat and catchy as hell - images of Black & White moptops and girls chasing them come to mind! There's also a wicked, Dylan-esque harmonica recurring throug the intro and solo. The title track employs a Ringo-like drum beat (see 'Anna' or 'In My Life') with sections of Brian Wilson falsetto. Can't go wrong there...

"Picture" is a soft and wistful track about a love gone wrong. It reminds one of something off of The Hollies' "Butterfly" album. "Girl Don't" is another one of my favorites, an updated Merseybeat track with jangly guitars and pitch-perfect harmonies. Kinda Searchers-y!

Other standouts here include "On A Summer's Day", sounding like a cross between Mark Bacino and Harry Nillson - or the reggae and pop concoction of "You Do Something To Me" -or the uptempo "I Can't Forget", with a great opening lyric of 'It was a day she won't remember, it was a night I can't forget'.....

Check out The Red Button at their official website (theredbutton.net), where you can order both their albums.

PARADISE FOUND - THE SONGS OF BILLY MESHEL CD

To all the RRR Blog readers -

The new Billy Meshel CD is hot of the press and it certainly doesn't dissapoint. First off, the packaging is amazing - vibrant colors, full of stories from and about Billy and his compositions.




The music is another thing - there's tons of variety here, from bonafide stars like Dion & The Belmonts (with a track dating from their 1967 reunion) and Del Shannon, to unknowns with great voices like Mark Richards and Dale Brooks. For northern soul collectors, there's Lenny Welch and Don & Juan. Also, the girls are here as usual, with killers by Ginny Arnell, Babs Tino, and plenty of other fine chicks.

A couple of more obscure favorites from this CD include....
-Donna Lewis' "Call Him Back" which recalls the Peggy March sound of the early sixties.
-Mickey Denton's "Now You Can't Give Them Away", which has 'hit' written all over it.

Pick it up - another winner from the Rare Rockin' Records catalog. Buy it HERE

CHATTING WITH DENNY DIANTE

Once again, it's time for another interview segment on the Rare Rockin' Records blog. Some may know him as a producer, arranger, and engineer for such artists as Neil Diamond, Johnny Mathis, and Elton John.

Here at RRR we love Denny for the teen records he made in the 60s. I hope you enjoy learning the backstories behind the great tunes Denny sang and recorded back in those glorious days.



Kyler:What were the circumstances behind your signing with Holiday Records?

DENNY:I was introduced to Cal Van Zile by a friend. Van and Harry Fields were just starting Holiday Records. He brought aboard Marty Cooper to run the label as well as produce. Marty was known for working with Jack Nietzsche and Lee Hazelwood. Jan Davis (the Fugitive), Marty (the Shacklefords) and yours truly were the first 3 artists signed to the label..actually I was the first.

Kyler:You had two singles with Holiday, I’m going to list each title and then maybe you could give me some thoughts/memories about them? The first one is “Little Lover”.

DENNY:“Little Lover” was actually produced by me. Tom Crumplar ( bass player) of the Cornells, put the session together with most of the players who did the Phil Spector recordings…actually had the Blossoms doing bg’s with 2 guys…it was Hal Blaine and most o the Wrecking Crew on the date. Had no clue what I was doing but somehow knew what I wanted it to sound like…hey, we’re talking about it all these years later! Cool…




Kyler:Your vocal on Little Lover seems reminiscent of Dion. How big of an influence was he on your style of singing?

DENNY:This vocal style was done at the request of Lou Chudd who owned Imperial Records. I met Lou through his wife and daughter at a local supermarket. He had huge success with Fats Domino and Ricky Nelson. An appointment was set up and I had a live audition in his office in Hollywood…down the block from KFWB and the record biz hang out Aldo’s coffee shop. Thought I hit the big time!!!! Me and my guitar. Played him a couple of ballads and then went into my Dion groove on Little Lover…I loved Dion and the Belmonts. He stood up and yelled “It’s a hit”!!! ‘He said go make a demo and bring it back to me…so…we went in and cut a record..who wants a demo?…brought it to him and he got on his feet and hugged me…..after a few weeks I got a call from Lou where he said “you sound a little too much like Dion”..what else do you have? First experience of “HUH???” He said I had the look of a Ricky type so do something like Ricky…a little rockabilly and pop thing. So Tom and I and the Cornells went into the studio and did 2 sides. One was dead on Rick Nelson….got a second call from Lou…you guessed it…said I was too close to Ricky style….I never went back to see him. That’s why I’m on that cd “Why do you sound like me, Dion”

Kyler:Next up is “Faraway Places”.

DENNY:Marty Cooper choice and production..great David Gates arrangement…terrific record…I thought it was too adult for me at the time…I wanted to sing to girls and fun in the sun stuff.

Kyler:The next one was “What Makes Little Girls Cry”.



DENNY:David Gates did the arranging with Hal Blaine drums, Glenn Campbell and Gates on gtrs., Don Robertson piano, Julius Wechter on everything, and Ray Pohlman on bass. This was my teeny bopper anthem! Get tons of emails from around the world on this one too…..written by Lou Josie who wrote “Midnight Confessions” for the Grass Roots…


Kyler:The B-Side of that was a great ballad entitled “Traveled”.

DENNY:I wrote “Traveled” when I was still a teenager…can you tell. My original demo was pretty close to the record but Gates (pre-Bread) put his great touch to it. I wanted strings and all the backing stuff but the record was finished before I could get my shots in…most likely a money thing for a small label. I get emails from all over the world asking about this song….only took a few decades and the internet for a little recognition.. I had a few fan clubs starting in Europe and Asia but Holiday was not to be around long enough to be successful. Did a bunch of teen mags with photos and stories, just didn’t have the financial backing to go all the way. Traveled was a favorite of Arthur Lee and Love who played it in the Jukebox at BiDoLiDo’s every night..a club in a Hollywood alley….who knew?

Kyler:Were there any unreleased/unissued sides done while you were at Holiday?

DENNY:We did a few more sides but Holiday closed up so I signed with 20h Century Fox Records. Bob Marcucci who managed Avalon and Fabian, thought I had the talent and look to become successful. He started me in acting classes and put out the first single “Just a Boy In Love” Marty Cooper and Ray Whitley wrote the song and Marty wanted me to do the “Billy Joe Royal” southern sound..so I did. AT the same time, the co-publisher of the song got 2 other cover records to come out at the same time so the competition killed all 3. I got the most action but by then I was more interested in making records than performing…I started hanging out at Gold Star studios in Hollywood where, Stan Ross, Dave Gold and Doc Siegel started teaching me how to engineer and mix. Singing took a back seat.
I then went to work with Marty and Vicki Cooper at their publishing company learning all about songs and song plugging (I hate that term) Did a bunch of demos and learned how to make records.

Kyler:Finally, Denny, please tell our readers what you are up to these days.

DENNY:Still producing records..mainly in Nashville…doing an occasional movie….producing special market productions….may teach a master class at NYU….do the Taxi.com conference every year as part of the final night A&R listening sessions… chops are still up….loving the rediscovery of the 60’s records….life is still rock and roll to me!!!






I would like to thank Denny for taking the time to answer the questions! I hope you've enjoyed this latest interview segment. Please check out the Rare Rockin' Records shop and learn about past, new, and upcoming releases (new ones by Billy Meshel and Paul Petersen coming soon!).

HE'S IN TOWN - AN INTERVIEW WITH PHIL MARGO

Hope you enjoy the latest installment in our interview series - Phil Margo of the legendary Tokens was nice enough to answer our questions.



Kyler:Phil, how did you (and your brother) become ½ of the classic lineup of the Tokens?

PHIL:Well, it’s mainly because I was in a boy’s chorus in high school and I learned how beautiful singing was, it was in my junior year and I was kind of unspectacular. We did our first concert and our teacher asked if some of us would want to entertain at the annual spring sock hop, so I volunteered Mitch and me and we sang “All I Have To Do Is Dream”, accapella. People applauded and girls introduced themselves and that was the beginning. I found that I had a talent for music and I pursued it. I learned how to play the piano, and had a band in the summer of 59. We worked in the Catskill Mountains. When I came back, our drummer (his father won the lottery won the lottery two months in a row) went to college, and I had to find a new drummer. The new drummer knew Henry Medress. And he introduced Henry to us and we started working and writing together. We did kind of a rock and roll version of Chopsticks and nothing happened. We continued to write because Hank saw something in us. And we wrote “Tonight I Fell In Love” and some other songs and we got Jay (who was in Darrell and the Oxfords with Hank) to sing lead and that’s how it all began. Mitch was actually 9-10 years old when we first sang and then when we got together (in the Tokens) I was 17 and Mitch was 12.



Kyler:What kind of music were The Tokens into offstage?

PHIL:Jay had a very eclectic view of music. he was into country and folk. Mitch and I liked 40s music. I liked some classical stuff and of course what was current. Our favorite was stuff like Ray Charles and good harmony groups.

Kyler:How did you come to be signed by Warwick Records?

PHIL:We went with Warwick because they frankly were the only label that would take the record! We made “Tonight I Fell In Love” and nobody jumped up and down and then finally Warwick agreed to put it out. Then they changed their mind. Morty (Craft, head of Warwick at the time) didn’t want to put it out because he didn’t like the name we picked for ourselves, which was “Those Guys”. He didn’t want ‘Those Guys’, and he wasn’t gonna put the record out. So we came to him, and he said “ok, we’ll use the name ‘The Tokens’, because one of his labels was the label that Neil Sedaka & The Tokens were on. So, we took the name ‘The Tokens’. It was an afterthought. We didn’t really like the name but we took it because we wanted to do anything to get a record out!

Kyler:After “Tonight I Fell In Love”, you moved from Warwick to RCA. What was the reason behind the move?

PHIL:We moved to RCA from Warwick because Morty said our record wasn’t earning any money, when it was in the Top 15. He said, “what can RCA do for you that I can’t”? And we all said in unison, without rehearsal, “Pay us!”

Kyler:Can you tell me about some great doo wop songs that graced the first RCA Tokens single – “Dry Your Eyes” and “When I Go To Sleep At Night”?


PHIL:Dry Your Eyes and When I Go were songs that we had written and nothing much to say except that I don’t think the records weren’t what we wanted. Once you turn things over to an arranger and orchestra you’re at their mercy. We weren’t in charge, so we weren’t the producers, so we had to do what was in front of us. Later on, “He’s So Fine”, when we recorded the Chiffons, we had run through the budget at Capitol Records so we had to play the instruments and do the arrangements ourselves. I think that’s what made the record successful because it had that spontaneous feel about it.

Kyler:Of course your biggest hit on RCA was “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”….how influential were The Tokens to the arrangement of the original folk standard?

PHIL:We kinda gave them the demo – we did a demo in 1960 of Wimoweh without the lyric. I just found it recently within the last couple of years (the original demo). We pretty much laid down the feel of it, the bongo drums etc. The lyric was a thing that was added later and we didn’t get that until the day of the session. We were supposed to sing the lyric to the melody line of the chant (“Wimoweh”), but it got boring, after a while repeating the same thing over and over again, so we went over to the piano and adjusted the melody. We actually wrote a new melody to go with the lyrics. We unfortunately never got credited or paid for that and it was even admitted to by the people that kind of stole it from us.



Kyler:Some of my favorite Tokens songs from the early Sixties are little known gems which have very little information to be found on the web – namely, “Right Or Wrong”, “Somewhere There’s A Girl”, and “Dear Judy” – can you provide any details?

PHIL:“Right or Wrong” was written by Neil Sedaka, that was on our original session. “Somewhere There’s A Girl”, Neil Sedaka also wrote. We wrote “Dear Judy”. We were trying to do a record like “Little Darlin’”, so we did “Dear Judy”.

Kyler:What was the major impetus behind the creation of BT Puppy Records?


PHIL:We started BT Puppy because we were leaving RCA and we wanted our own label, like a little RCA. BT stands for Bright Tunes (our publishing company), and Puppy, as a reference to RCA’s dog.

Kyler:Many, if not all, of the Tokens original songs were followed by the credits “Margo/Margo/Medress/Siegel”. Did each of you actually write parts of every song or was it more like a Lennon/McCartney situation?

PHIL:Margo/Margo/Medress/Siegel were the credits. Mitch and I wrote most of the songs, in fact Mitch even more than me. Jay and Hank didn’t really write that much. Jay’s edition was to make little changes in the melody once a song was written. Basically the songs were written by Mitchell and I. Although Hank, with us, did write Tonight I Fell In Love and I’ll Always Love You.

Kyler:How did The Tokens acquire “He’s In Town”? Were you good friends with Goffin, King and the other writers from the Brill Building?

PHIL:We were friends with Carole and Gerry because once we produced “He’s So Fine” for the Chiffons, they came to us with the demo for “One Fine Day” (sung by Little Eva on the demo), and I said we would want to do that (with the Chiffons). She sent it over and we used the backing track, with Carole on piano, and added to it to make the master. So we were friends with Carole and she called us up and said “I have a great song for you guys”.We were friendly with Mann and Weil, Barry and Greenwich, Artie Resnick, all of those people from the Brill Building.


(above: Carole King and Gerry Goffin, writers of "He's In Town")



Kyler:Who came up with the Puppy design for BT Puppy? Was it meant to be a knock on RCA Victor’s dog?

PHIL:It wasn’t a knock on RCA, it was an homage to them – that was where we had our biggest hit record so the last thing we wanted to do was knock them!

Kyler:“I Hear Trumpets Blow” has a set of wonderful lyrics. What was the inspiration behind that tune?


PHIL:I Hear Trumpets Blow is an interesting story. It continues now – we always loved it. Mitch wrote it as a homage to our family. It would have been a big record if New York would have played it. The only area we couldn’t get it played was New York City so the record wasn’t as big as it could have been. Noah (Phil’s son) and I wrote a play which is being considered for Broadway called “Oh My Goddess”, and one of the songs we put in it is “I Hear Trumpets Blow”. Hopefully it will have another life – we’ll see!

Kyler:Many of the Tokens songs have intricate background parts – for example, “Breezy” and “Greatest Moments In A Girl’s Life”. Did you guys arrange those parts yourselves?

PHIL:We did all the background parts ourselves. The only one we didn’t do was “He’s In Town”, which Carole King did.

Kyler:You produced many great records and artists – do you have a favorite?

PHIL:Out of all of them, there were only three that I knew would be hits – Knock Three Times (Tony Orlando and Dawn), I Got Rhythm (Happenings) and One Fine Day (Chiffons). I guess I don’t really have a favorite My favorite Tokens record is “Tonight I Fell In Love”. There was something wonderful about the innocence of the background parts. If you notice, the background parts are a descending triad instead of the obvious part. And the record turned out the way we all heard it, so that was kind of exciting.

Kyler:Finally, I bet out readers would like to know what Phil Margo and Tokens are up to these days.

PHIL:We tour all over the country and we travel. We do television and we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”!








Thanks to Phil for the interview! You can check the Tokens official website out HERE


Also, be sure to check out the Rare Rockin Records shop (just click here). You can find many great compact discs to order, and information about two upcoming ones - Billy Meshel (Songwriter's Series) on RRR and Paul Petersen (Hits & Rarities) on Teensville.

NEW RELEASES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey folks!

I am glad to tell you about not one, but TWO new releases from the RRR family. Get ready!

The first is a deluxe disc featuring tracks written and co-written by the legendary Billy Meshel. Don't worry - there are some big, Big, BIG names on this CD such as Lenny Welch, Dion & The Belmonts, and Del Shannon. Check out the track lineup:





1. Del Shannon – Don’t Gild the Lily, Lily (Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) Big Top 3075 (1961)
2. Babs Tino – Dr. Jekyll Or Mr. Hyde (Billy Meshel & Phil Barr) Kapp 561 ( 1963)
3. Billy Mitchell – (Let’s) Stop A Little While (Billy Meshel) Warwick 501 (1959)
4. Lenny Welch – My Fool Of A Heart (Billy Meshel & Teddy Randazzo) Kapp 648 (1965)
5. The Fortune Cookies – It Should Have Been Me (Billy Meshel & Phil Barr) Smash 1991 ( 1965)
6. Eddie Martin – Keep Away From Julie (Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) Mercury 71909 (1961)
7. Don & Juan – What I Really Meant To Say ( Billy Meshel & Bill Ramal) Big Top 3121 (1962)
8. Donna Lewis – Call Him Back ( Billy Meshel & Phil Barr) Decca 31554 (1964)
9. Billy Meshel – Paradise Found ( Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) Time 1036 (1961)
10. The Royalettes – Don’t You Cry (Billy Meshel, Teddy Randazzo & Bobby Weinstein) MGM 13283 (1964)
11. Chuck Foote – I Stopped Asking (Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) 20th Fox 302 (1962)
12. Roberta Wynn – Dream Boy Jubilee 5405 (Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) Jubilee 5405 (1962)
13. Gary Criss – Sweet, Warm and Soft ( Billy Meshel, Don Covay & John Berry) Diamond 145 (1962)
14. The Crampton Sisters – My Guy Is Boss (Billy Meshel & Phil Barr) DCP 1107 (1964)
15. Billy Stewart – This Is A Fine Time (Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) United Artists 340 (1961)
16. Ginny Arnell – B-i-l-l-? Why (Billy Meshel) MGM 13362 (1965)
17. Roger Douglass – But Suddenly ( Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) Mercury 71860 (1961)
18. Marcy Jo – Take A Word ( Billy Meshel) Robbee 117 (1961)
19. Mark Richards – She Can Make Me Cry ( Billy Meshel & Doug Morris) ABC Paramount 10654 (1965)
20. Jennie Smith – It’s Murder For Roberta (Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) Canadian American 135 (1962)
21. Chuck Foote – I’d Do It All Over Again ( Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) 20th Fox 302 (1962)
22. Marie Applebee – Dear Mrs Applebee (Billy Meshel & Phil Barr) Jubilee 5570 (1966)
23. The Carousels – Symptons of Love (Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) ABC Paramount 10233 (1961)
24. Rita Pavone – Right Now (Billy Meshel, Teddy Randazzo & Phil Barr) RCA 47-8612 (1964)
25. Mickey Denton – Now You Can’t Give Them Away (Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) Big Top 3078 (1962)
26. Dale Brooks – What is There To Tell (Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) Twirl 2028 ( 1966)
27. Billy Mitchum – Living On A Cloud (Billy Meshel) Imperial 5616 (1961)
28. The Fortune Cookies – A Girl In Love (Billy Meshel & Phil Barr) Smash 1991 (1965)
29. Jerry Keller – Be Careful How You Drive Young Joey ( Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) Capitol 4630 (1962)
30. Kansas City Twisters – What A Wacky Weekend ( Billy Meshel & Arthur Altman) APT 25062 (1962)
31. Dion & The Belmonts – Movin’ Man (Billy Meshel & Phil Barr) ABC Paramount 10896 (1967)
32. Del Shannon – I Can’t Believe My Ears (Billy Meshel & Phil Barr) Amy 947 ( 1966)



This disc is the closest of the two to release - so you can pre-order now HERE.



Just as exciting is a new Teensville release by teen idol Paul Petersen. It's entitled "HITS & RARITIES". Just like the title says, all the hits are here, plus many rare tracks and new stereo mixes added in to make a great compilation. There is no pre-order option yet, but we will let you know when there is! For now, take a look at the track listing:




1. SHE CAN'T FIND HER KEYS (A) stereo
(Wally Gold-Roy Alfred)
Colpix 620
2. KEEP YOUR LOVE LOCKED (DEEP IN YOUR HEART) (A) stereo
(Gerry Goffin-Carole King)
Colpix 622
3. LOLLIPOPS & ROSES (A) stereo
(Tony Velona)
Colpix 649
4. MY DAD (A) stereo
(Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil)
Colpix 663
5. AMY (A)
(Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil)
Colpix 676
6. GIRLS IN THE SUMMERTIME (A)
(Sid Wayne-Sherman Edwards)
Colpix 697
7. THE CHEERLEADER (A)
(Fred Tobias-Lee Pockriss)
Colpix 707
8. POOREST BOY IN TOWN (A)
(Fred Tobias-Lee Pockriss)
Colpix 720
9. SHE RIDES WITH ME (B)
(Brian Wilson-Roger Christian)
Colpix 720
10. WHERE IS SHE? (C)
(Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil)
Colpix 730
11. HEY THERE BEAUTIFUL (C)
(Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil)
Colpix 730
12. LITTLE DREAMER (A)
(Deane Hawley-Jerry Riopelle)
Colpix 763
13. HAPPY (A)
(Nick DeCaro)
Colpix 763
14. THE RING (D)
(Billy Page)
Colpix 785
15. YOU DON'T NEED MONEY (E)
(Tommy Roe)
Colpix 785
16. LITTLE BOY SAD (A)
(Wayne P. Walker)
Colpix 663
17. BE EVERYTHING TO ANYONE YOU LOVE (A)
(Doc Pomus-Alan Jeffreys)
Colpix 622
18. MAMA YOUR LITTLE BOY FELL (A)
(Barry Mann-Mike Anthony)
Colpix 697
19. I WANNA BE FREE (TV) (A) (unreleased)
(Stu Phillips-Tommy Boyce)
20. ROSIE (from Bye Bye Birdie) (A)
(Charles Strouse-Lee Adams)
Colpix LP 454
21. ONE GIRL (from Bye Bye Birdie) (A) stereo
(Charles Strouse-Lee Adams)
Colpix LP 454
22. KIDS (FOLKS) (from Bye Bye Birdie) (A)
(Charles Strouse-Lee Adams)
Colpix LP 454
23. VERY UNLIKELY (A) stereo
(Gary Geld-Peter Udell)
Colpix 620
24. WHAT DID THEY DO BEFORE ROCK 'N' ROLL? (A) stereo
(Sherman Edwards-Sid Wayne)
Colpix 631
25. DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO US (F) stereo
(Frank Wilson)
Motown 1108
26. CHAINED (F)
(Frank Wilson)
Motown 1108
27. A LITTLE BIT FOR SANDY (G)
(R. Dean Taylor)
Motown 1129
28. YOUR LOVE'S GOT ME BURNING ALIVE (H)
Motown 1109
29. TWO LITTLE BOYS (H) (unreleased)
(Theodore Morse-Edward Madden)
30. QUARANTINE (A) (unreleased) stereo
(Fred Anisfield)
31. QUARANTINE (TV insert) (A) (unreleased) stereo

The official page for this CD can be found HERE



As always, we'd love to hear you comments. Just post them below - they WILL be read!

Until next time, rock on!

IT'S HIS LIFE - THE ROGER ATKINS INTERVIEW

Brill Building genius Roger Atkins was nice enough to chat with the Rare Rockin' Records blog - I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did asking the questions!


(above:Roger Atkins in 1970 with his new-born son)


Kyler:How did you get started in song writing at the Brill Building?

ROGER:When I was thirteen or fourteen my mother bought me a ticket to a Saturday matinee of The Music Man on Broadway. I'd never seen a Broadway show before and I was so blown away by what I saw that by the time I left the theater I'd decided that I was going to write Broadway musicals. I saved up my money and bought tickets to as many musicals as I could. Then, after seeing My Fair Lady, and reading about how Alan Jay Lerner adapted the play Pygmalion, I wrote the book, music and lyrics to Like Father, Like Son which was my adaptation of one of my favorite plays (I'd only seen the movie but bought a copy of the play), Life With Father. I sent my work to BMI and to my amazement they invited me to join their theatrical workshop.

One day I met a guy named Richard Costiera. We hit it off and began writing together. He wrote music and I wrote lyrics. We started writing what was then contemporary Doo Whop, street corner songs. His father was also a musician and had some contacts at Hill & Range Music Songs in the Brill Building. We played them what we had written and they gave us publishing contracts for some of them. Then we went door to door playing songs for whoever would listen. Of course we could say that we had songs published by Hill & Range and Regent Music, which was also a Hill & Range company. But I must say we spent most of our time writing at 1650 Broadway, not the Brill Building. One of the doors we knocked on at 1650 was Unbelievable Music, which was owned by Teddy Vann. He liked what we played him and he asked us to work with him. We went up there to write almost everyday for months. Then Richard decided he didn't like what Teddy wanted us to write so he left, but I stayed. The first records I ever had released, "My Top Ten Chart" by Roberta Meshell and, "My Mamma Said (originally titled, "Be Tough" but changed by Diamond records) by the Bobbettes, were with Teddy.



Kyler:Who were some of the collaborators you worked with in the 60s?

ROGER:Richard Costiera; Teddy Vann. Then at Screen-Gems Columbia Music: Ronnie Dante; Jerry Robinson; Big Dee Irwin; Helen Miller; Carl D'Errico; and Neil Sedaka. At the very tail end of the 60's and early 70's, Helen again; Peter Allen; and one song with the great arranger Peter Matz.

Kyler:When writing, would you strictly do lyrics, music, or a bit of both?

ROGER: I mostly write lyrics. However, I have on occasion written both music and lyrics. I do try to convey musical ideas to whomever I'm working with, though. Sometimes they're used and sometimes they're not.

Kyler:You wrote a number of wonderful songs with Neil Sedaka. Can you tell our readers the incident involving "Kissin' My Life Away"?

ROGER:This was the first song we wrote together. Don Kirshner asked me one day if I'd be interested in writing with Neil and of course I jumped at the chance. The company was looking for songs for their new TV show, The Monkees, which had yet to be made. All they had was the audition footage of each of the cast which they had shown to all the staff writers. I told Neil my title, "Kissin' My Life Away" and he loved it so I came up with the lyrics, "I got nothin' but trouble, girls don't leave me alone. Goin' twenty-four hours, I've got no time of my own. Oooo, oooo, oooo, I feel I'm kissin' my life away. Kiss-a-kissin' my life away. Kiss-a-kissin' my life away" Well, Neil got very excited and before long played me his melody which I thought it was very catchy. But I said the beginning sounded exactly like George Gershwin's, "I Got Plenty O Nothin'" from Porgy and Bess. He thought about it a while. I could see him going over it in his head as he played. Then he said he didn't think it would matter because it was only two bars and two bars was acceptable. He sat and tried several different openings but didn't like any of them and always came back to his original. Truthfully, I should have thrown a tantrum and insisted that he change it but I was insecure and, after all, it was Neil Sedaka who'd written a gazillion hits! Who was I to tell him how to write? If he said it was OK, then it was OK!

We played the song for Kirshner and the professional staff all of whom had the same reaction as I did but no one insisted upon a change, either. I'll let you in on a little secret, in those days there was a general attitude among publishers and record companies that went like this: If we get sued, we get sued! Go for the hit and deal with being sued later! For example, do really think that no one at Capital records realized that "Surfin' USA" wasn't really "Sweet Little Sixteen" on a surf board? They just went along with it until the law suit came and then they changed the credits and split the publishing.

Unfortunately for us, when our song was finally recorded by The Hondells and the record hit the charts with a bullet, The Gershwin Organization sent a letter to Screen-Gems saying, regardless of the fact that only two bars of their copyright was used, they were going to sue on the basis of, "familiarity." In other words, those two bars were so ingrained in the public consciousness that their use alone was the equivalent of using the entire copyright. Screen-Gems, not wanting to battle The Gershwin Organization, immediately caved and had the record pulled, never to be heard from again. All it would have taken was for Neil to change one note and we would have had a hit, but there's no use now in crying over spilled music!


(above:Neil Sedaka in the 60s, who was a frequent collaborator with Roger Atkins)


Kyler:Did you write your songs for specific artists in mind?

ROGER:Sometimes we did. Every week we'd be told who'd be coming up for recording and we'd try to write for them. Carl and I wrote, "It's My Life" because we were told that Mickie Most was coming to town looking for songs for The Animals. But many times we'd write because I had an idea I wanted to explore or someone had a melody they liked. Some of my favorite songs from back then were written just because we wanted to write them. With Carl I could write about unusual topics like, "Flea Circus", "I'm Whatever You Think I AM", "Born Ahead Of My Time", "Community". These were songs that we really needed our own group for but never had, so all but, "Community", which Tiny Tim did, have never, to my knowledge, been recorded. With Helen I did mostly R&B flavored songs, many of which were recorded. (My first top 40 hit was, "I Can't Let You Out Of My Sight" that Helen and I wrote and was recorded by Chuck Jackson and Maxine Brown. A bit of a distorted record but it did pretty well on the pop charts and much bigger on the R&B charts.) And Neil and I wrote some wonderful pop songs that to this day I don't understand why they're still sitting unrecorded.

Kyler:You co-wrote "The Kind Of Girl I Could Love" with Mike Nesmith for the Monkees 2nd album. What was that like?




ROGER:Well, when I wrote that with Michael it was before the show had gone on the air. There were no Monkees songs, yet. At that time Michael wanted to write all the songs, sing lead, and produce all the records but Don Kirshner had different plans. He sent me to California to work with Michael, I think, to keep Michael occupied while he maneuvered behind the scenes. Michael didn't really want to write with me, or with anyone for that matter. He was polite, brought me to his house in the Hollywood Hills to meet his wife and new born son, and on the set introduced me Micky, Peter and Davy, who I had already met several times in New York before The Monkees came along when he recorded one of my songs, "Face Up To It" on his first Colpix album. But he never really did any writing with me. He would drop off cassette tapes with snippets of music on them, really more like musical doodling. From these I pieced together two or three usable songs and wrote lyrics, one of which was, "The Kind Of Girl I Could Love." The others I really don't remember at all.

Kyler:The Vogues cut a song of yours called "Come And Get Me" that is amazing. It was unreleased until about a decade ago. Can you remember anything about this great track?

ROGER: I'm very glad to hear that you like the record. That's my demo track their singing on. Helen and I wrote that with them in mind and we styled the demo for them and offered our track for them to put their voices on, but we were told that they passed. It wasn't until a few years ago that I found out they did record it. Why it was never released as a single back then I'll never know. I think it would have been a smash!

Kyler: Is it true that Eric Burdon never sang the correct lyrics to "It's My Life" as you had written them?

ROGER:That's true. I wrote,

"It's my life and I'll do what I want!
It's my mind and I'll think what I want!
Sure, I'll do wrong,
Hurt you sometime
But someday I'll treat you so fine ..."

but Eric sings, "..... Show me I'm wrong, hurt me sometime....." which never made any sense to me. Everyone who's recorded it sings the wrong chorus, and sometimes even the wrong lyrics in the verses, too.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!

Kyler:"Make Me Your Baby" and "It's My Life" are probably your most well-known hits. They are almost polar opposites! How did you write in such different styles in the same time period?

ROGER:Well, I'd say that, "Workin' On A Groovy Thing" that I wrote with Neil is pretty well know, also, and is probably my most recorded song, even if it is my least favorite title. As for writing in different styles, I just wrote what came to me whether it was thin pop or multi-layered sub-text. I just love to write songs!

Kyler:Finally, Roger, please tell our readers what you're up to today.

ROGER: I'm still writing. Ideas, words, new ways of saying things still come to me. As a matter of fact I recently sent Carl a lyric that he's putting to music, now. Something very sophisticated and different than anything we've done before. It's just a shame that we have no contacts left, no outlet for what we do now. No one wants songs from the dinosaurs. But we still keep writing because that's who we are!



Special thanks to Mr. Atkins for the great interview. Stay tuned to the RRR blog, there are many new surprises in the future! Until next time, rock on....