Tuesday 10 November 2020

Lords Of London - 1968 - Introducing The Lords Of London @320


 Cornflakes And Ice Cream/Time Waits For No One/21000 Dreams/The Popcorn Man

 

 

The Lords of London were Canada's #1 teen chart toppers in 1967. As their only hit "Cornflakes And Icecream", a commerial teeny bopper record was played in regular rotation across the country, it's B sde, the best song ever released by the Lords "Time Waits For No One" was ignored. Easily one of the best Canadian releases of the year, "Time Waits For No One", was however reviewed in Billboard Magazine while "Cornflakes" was omitted. Somebody had their thinking cap on!

The Lords Of London began in 1965 when Danny Taylor, Hughie Leggat, John Richardson and Greg Fitzpatrick; four teens from North York, Ontario (a suburb of Toronto), decided to form a Rolling Stones cover band. Danny, Hughie and John had been playing together since the 8th grade in their instrumenal band, Danny Taylor and the Phantoms. They adapted the name Lords of London and entered the Earle Grey Collegiate Battle Of The Bands in October 1965. Their big competition were the Hogs and 15 year old Greg Fitzpatrick's Mysterions who were based in Etobicoke (another subdivision west of the city). The Mysterions won and netted the twenty five dollar prize money. Danny knew Greg becasue Greg had once dated Danny's cousin. Greg lived in the Lords neighborhood even though his band was from across town. He was getting tired of travelling two hour round trips three times a week for practise and had considered looking for another group. Danny asked if Greg would play bass, (he had been a guitar player in the Mysterions). He said yes, and that night he found himself playing bass before a crowd of thirteen hundred teenagers...and he had never played bass before! The band swung that show, and Greg was asked to remain with the band. The Lords manager even went out and bought Greg a new Bill Wyman model bass! 

 

Sebastian Angello went to school with Danny, John, Hughie and Greg and had been well aware of their band. He wanted to join a group that was already established. Sebastian was critical of the Lords Of London, and thought that the only reason Danny was even allowed in a band was because he owned a drum kit! So Sebastian joined a band called D.K. And The Lords who were from East York and were quite a bit older than him. But in 1966, Greg went away for the summer, and the Lords Of London recruited Sebastian as a fill-in. At the time Danny and Sebastian were 13, Greg a and Hughie were 15 and John was 16! They had steady bookings and played their own original r'n b styled material. Gigs were at teen dances, school gym's and rural barns that had been converted in to dance halls. Soon they were able to tour on the weekends, and the boys began to miss school on Friday and Monday. This, and long hair caused Sebastian to be thrown out of school at 13! During the school year the rest of the Lords followed suit and the band began to play full-time.

One weekend of touring took the band to Kirkland Lake in Northern Ontario. They were warned in advance that they had better learn some top forty tunes, since the small town teens would appreciate that more than hearing originals. "Wooly Bully" went over big, and the show was a huge success. Greg, the main song writer, decided to head away from r 'n b and do more pop songs. The management agreed that the adult audiences were not taking the band seriously, and they should aim at the teen pop crowd exclusively, and go for a new image. It was around this time that Sebastian began blacking out one front tooth! 

 

Late in 1966 the Lords went to RCA studios in Toronto to record their first single for Apex "Corn Flakes And Ice Cream/Time Waits For No One" on a 4 track unit. Their established teen fanclub requested "Cornflakes" so often that it shot to #1 in Toronto and soon followed suit in the rest of Canada. It was also number one in Boston, Georgia, and Australia where it had been released on Decca. In efforts to capitolize on their popularity, the group toured across Canada opening for bigger acts and appeared on CTV's After Four in Toronto, It's Happening, In Person and Up Beat in Cleveland, Ohio.

A follow up single was quickly recorded but "Popcorn Man/21,000 Dreams" promptly flopped. By this time the boys were a little older and were playing the Yorkville clubs in Toronto. Of course their favorite local group were the Ugly Ducklings who had a residency at the Hawks Nest. After many attempts, the Lords finally got a show at the Hawks Nest and showed off in front of their heros. Sebastian reports that the Duckies enjoyed their set! The band was still able to tour regularly, and were recieving more offers than they could commit to, so the band hired a camera man from the CTV Network to produce a short film of three songs "Popcorn Man", "21,000" and "Cornflakes And Ice Cream". The idea was that they would hire out the film while they played in another city! 


 In 1967 the Lords of London made it to various US cities, and were set to make the trip to California (written up in the Go! magazine). Sebastian recalls one night in New York were the band was doing some publicity work. The boys were lolling about in their hotel room, bored, when they decided to break into their managers room and steal some alcohol. To their delight they found bottles of champaign chilling in the tub! The boys promptly got rolling drunk, and when the manager returned to his room with a hooker, he found Danny passed out. John was still concious and ran off with the hooker (who's fee had already been paid)!

In 1968 the band recorded a third single, but they were not progressing past the teenybopper market, which was waining as they grew older. It was about this time that Sebastian left, and began working solo. The rest of the Lords decided to disband from their name, and re-formed under the name Neucleus an played progressive rock.

Monday 9 November 2020

Del Shannon - 1963 - Del Shannon FLAC


 Two Kinds Of Teardrops/Runaround Sue/Hey! Little Girl/Runaway

 

 Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American rock and roll country musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number 1 Billboard hit "Runaway".

"Two Kinds of Teardrops" is a song by Del Shannon, which he released in 1963 as a single and on the album Little Town Flirt. The song spent 13 weeks on the UK's Record Retailer chart, peaking at No. 5, while spending nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 50, and reaching No. 6 in both Ireland and Hong Kong.

"Hey! Little Girl" is a song by the American musician Del Shannon. It was recorded in October 1961 and was released later that year. In the lyrics, the narrator professes his love to a girl that he only barely knows. The girl has recently been dumped by her boyfriend, but the narrator proposes to begin a relationship with her and thus make her feel better. As such, the song is more optimistic than some of Shannon's other songs, such as "Runaway" and "Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun)". The background music involves both string and brass instruments. "Hey! Little Girl" reached No. 38 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, but was a much bigger hit in the United Kingdom, where it reached No. 2.

"Runaway" is a number-one Billboard Hot 100 song made famous by Del Shannon in 1961. It was written by Shannon and keyboardist Max Crook, and became a major international hit. It is No. 472 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, compiled in 2010.

Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels - 1967 - Ridin FLAC


 Jenny Take A Ride!/Devil With A Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly/Sock It To Me - Baby!/Too Many Fish In The Sea & Three Little Fishes

 

 The band had its origins in Detroit in the early 1960s. At this time, a young white singer by the name of William Levise, Jr., who was singing at a black soul club called The Village, met a rock & roll group which included McCarty, bassist Earl Elliot, and Badanjek. Levise decided to join the group and took the stage name of Billy Lee, and the band became Billy Lee and the Rivieras. After attracting attention from producer Bob Crewe while working as a support act to The Dave Clark Five, the group moved to New York to start recording. However, since another band had already recorded as The Rivieras, the band decided to change its name again. With the help of a phone book, Levise took the new stage name of Mitch Ryder, and Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels were born. The group's live performances are said to have had an "explosive quality" and their style has been described as "revved up...R&B".

Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels had their first big hit in 1965 with "Jenny Take a Ride", which reached #10 on national charts, and #1 on the R&B chart – the first time a self-contained rock group had achieved the latter distinction. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. Crewe had originally planned to release the track as a B side, but changed his mind after seeing the reactions of Brian Jones and Keith Richards, of The Rolling Stones, who were in the Stei-Philips studio in New York City as it was being recorded.


 Ryder and the Detroit Wheels followed up with another top twenty hit, "Little Latin Lupe Lu," which peaked at #17. After a couple of misses, the group had its biggest hit with the "Devil with a Blue Dress On"/"Good Golly Miss Molly" medley which reached #4. Around this period they also recorded a number of albums, largely composed of reworked R&B classics, along with a smattering of original compositions.

In 1967 Ryder had another top ten hit with "Sock It to Me, Baby!", which was banned by some stations as too sexually suggestive. The band had its last hit with the brassy "Too Many Fish in the Sea"/"Three Little Fishes" single, which reached #24. Crewe then persuaded Ryder to quit the group and embark on a solo career.

After Ryder's departure, Badanjek fronted a short-lived band of the same name which recorded several tracks, most notably "Linda Sue Dixon", a song glorifying the illicit hallucinogenic drug LSD, which charted worldwide in 1968. They also recorded "Think (About the Good Things)/For the Love of a Stranger". The band's line-up during this time is uncertain.

 

Yardbirds - 1965 - 5 Yardbirds FLLAC


 For Your Love/Good Morning Little Schoolgirl/I Wish You Would/Heart Full Of Soul

 

 English rock band the Yardbirds recorded "I Wish You Would" for their debut single in 1964. This studio recording lacks the Bo Diddley-style beat and is considerably shorter than live versions performed by the Yardbirds around this time. The single did not enter the record charts in the UK or US.

When the Yardbirds were looking for a song to follow up to their first single, "I Wish You Would", they chose the Don and Bob tune. The group's guitarist Eric Clapton explained in an early interview: The Yardbirds were working about every single night of the week. Trouble was finding new material for a disc. We remembered this 'Good Morning Little School Girl' from a rather obscure R and B artiste—a friend of ours had it on a long-player. So we rushed in and recorded it.

The single was released on October 20, 1964, in the UK, where it reached number 49 in the singles chart, the band's first chart hit. Epic Records, the Yardbirds' American label, did not issue the single in the US, but in 1965 included the song on their first American album, For Your Love.

"For Your Love" is a rock song written by Graham Gouldman and recorded by English group the Yardbirds. Released in March 1965, it was their first top ten hit in both the UK and the US. The song was a departure from the group's blues roots in favour of a commercial pop rock sound. Guitarist Eric Clapton disapproved of the change and it influenced him to leave the group

"Heart Full of Soul" is a song recorded by English rock group the Yardbirds in 1965. Written by Graham Gouldman, it was the Yardbirds' first single after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton as lead guitarist. Released only three months after "For Your Love", "Heart Full of Soul" reached the Top 10 on the singles charts in the UK, US, and several other countries.