FOUR TOPS "MAIN STREET PEOPLE" (1973)

We've made some progress this I know
look around you'll see it show
men on the Moon
and we watch it on TV
We move ahead at breakneck speed
ain't no end to the things we need
all for the betterment of you and me
But if someone should ask
would it be too great a task
to see the world the way it used to be

Whatever happened to the days we met on Main Street
all we ever wanted to do was sing and dance
Maybe we could go back again and look for Main Street
but sad as it may be, people, we never get the chance

I swear we're always on the run
it's an endless chase to find the sun
and what do you have at the end of a long, long day
You got your dreams in stereo
you go to bed with the late late show
but deep in your heart the good times have gone away
It comes as no surprise
when you cut it down to size
you're not the only one who's gonna say

Whatever happened to the days we met on Main Street
all we ever wanted to do was sing and dance
Maybe we could go back again and look for Main Street
but sad as it may be, people, we never get the chance

[from the lyrics of "Main Street People"]



One of Motown's most consistent hitmakers and its longest lived lineup (over four decades), the Four Tops were the most stable vocal groups to emerge from the label in the '60s, charting with scores of upbeat love songs featuring Levi Stubbs' rough hewn lead vocals.

The Four Tops were a product of Detroit's North End: Levi Stubbs and Abdul "Duke" Fakir sang together in a group while attending Pershing High School. Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton were boyhood friends and attended Northern High together in Detroit too. At the insistence of their friends, they performed at a local birthday party and decided to remain together christening themselves The Four Aims.

Roquel "Billy" Davis, who was Lawrence Payton's cousin and sometimes sang with the group as the fifth Aim, sent a demo tape to Chess Records in Chicago. They were sent bus tickets and invited to audition.

It seems that Chess was more interested in Davis' writing skill than the group. However Davis' persistence ended up with them being signed to Chess Records. In 1956 they changed their name to Four Tops to avoid confusion with the The Ames Brothers, another well-estabilished vocal group.

Over the next seven years, the Tops endured unsuccessful tenures at Chess, Red Top, Riverside Records and Columbia Records. Without any hit records to their name, they toured frequently, developing a polished stage presence and an experienced supper club act. In 1963, Berry Gordy, Jr., who had worked with Roquel Davis as a songwriter in the late '50s, convinced the Tops to join the roster of his growing Motown record company.



Gordy had them record "Breaking Through" for his experimental Workshop Jazz subsidiary. Later that year they were finally directed toward contemporary soul. Under the wing of Motown's top production and recording team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, the Four Tops were launched with "Baby I Need Your Loving", which went to #11 in 1964.

Over the next eight years The Four Tops appeared on the charts almost thirty times, and Levi Stubbs became an international star and an influence on singers from the Sixties to the present time.

After scoring their first #1 hit, the often-recorded and revived "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" in June 1965, the Four Tops began a long series of successful hit singles. Among the first wave of these hits were the Top 10 "It's the Same Old Song", "Something About You", "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)", and "Loving You is Sweeter Than Ever".

Like many other Motown acts, the Four Tops became popular in major nightclubs around the world. In 1967 they had hits with "Bernadette", "7-Rooms of Gloom" and "You Keep Running Away". By now, the Tops were the most successful male Motown act in the U.K. (...in the United States, they were second to The Temptations...), and began experimenting with more mainstream pop hits.

They scored hits with their versions of "If I Were a Carpenter" and "Walk Away Renée". These singles and the original "I'm In a Different World" were their last hits produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, who left Motown in 1967.

Without Holland-Dozier-Holland, the quality of the Four Tops' output began to decline, and hits became less frequent. The group worked with a wide array of Motown producers during the late 1960s, including Ivy Hunter, Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, Norman Whitfield and Johnny Bristol, without significant chart success.

"Main Street People" inner gatefold

Their first major hit in a long time came in the form of 1970's "It's All In the Game", produced by Frank Wilson. Wilson and the Tops began working on a number of innovative tracks and albums together, echoing Whitfield's psychedelic soul work with The Temptations.

Their 1970 album "Still Waters Run Deep" was an early ancestor to the concept album. It also served as an inspiration for Marvin Gaye's 1971 classic album "What's Going On", the title track of which was co-written by "Obie" Benson.

In addition to their own albums, the Tops were paired with The Supremes for a series of three albums: "The Magnificent Seven" was released in 1970, "The Return of the Magnificent Seven" and "Dynamite!" followed in 1971. While the albums themselves did not do well on the charts, "The Magnificent Seven" featured a Top 20 version of Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep - Mountain High", produced by Ashford & Simpson.

In early 1972 the Four Tops recorded "Nature Planned It" with producer Frank Wilson, it was their last Motown album for more than twenty years. This release was the subject of a previous post on Stereo Candies, just have a look here if you're interested.

During that year, Motown started relocating to Los Angeles and all its artists had to move as well. Many of the older acts opted to stay in Detroit, including The Funk Brothers backing band and the Four Tops. The Tops departed Motown for ABC/Dunhill, where they were assigned to songwriters-producers Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter.

Moving to another label rejuvenated the group's career and when "Keeper of the Castle" was released as a single in October 1972  it became their first Pop Top 10 hit since "Bernadette" in 1967, with "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)" also entering the Top 10 in a short time.

Following the success of the "Keeper of the Castle" LP (...enjoy it here...), in 1973 the Four Tops returned to the ABC Recording Studios under the supervision of Steve Barri with the same team of musicians, arrangers and producers to work on their 19th full-lenght studio album entitled "Main Street People".

"Main Street People" original inner sleeve

The following review of "Main Street People" was published on the 15th September 1973 issue of Billboard:

«There is an infectious mellowness to the group's sound which provides a distinctiveness which allows this vocal quartet to stand out. The songwriting team of Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter accounts for six of the eleven tunes. They are also listed as producers with Steve Barri. With all this fine talent, the LP smacks of intense care and concern. The songs are powerful vehicles for intense interpretations. The themes are man-to-man relationships, trouble and how to overcome it, mental happiness, solid man-woman relationships. There are many fine elements in the orchestral arrangements which reflect many of the pop, soul and subtle rock influences in today's music. This is a melting pot of instrumental styles, coupled with a vocal cauldron of excellent ensemble and solo singing.»

Four Tops as they appear on the back cover of "Main Street People"

"Main Street People" contains the following tracks:

01. Main Street People (Intro) (1:44)
02. I Just Can't Get You Out of My Mind (4:01)
03. It Won't Be the First Time (3:56)
04. Sweet Understanding Love (3:04)
05. Am I My Brother's Keeper (3:26)
06. Are You Man Enough (3:27)
07. Whenever There's Blue (5:22)
08. Too Little, Too Late (3:30)
09. Peace of Mind (4:30)
10. One Woman Man (4:39)
11. Main Street People (3:23)

All tracks were remastered in October 2013, they are available as a single FLAC lossless format file or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 file. Both formats include complete printable artwork as PDF files.

Before you burn this album on CD-R using the provided CUE file you will need to convert the original files to WAV format using an appropriate software. Here's an option for FLAC to WAV conversion and one for MP3 to WAV conversion.

As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download links.



"Main Street People" was released by ABC/Dunhill with catalogue number DSX 50144 in September 1973. Just like the previous album "Keeper of the Castle", it was produced by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, who were also responsible for writing about half of the tracks.

The album begins with a short introduction of the title track which then will be offered in complete form at the end of the second side. "Main Street People" is a flawless mix of R&B and Pop with a good arrangement, perfectly carried by Lawrence Payton, Jr.'s robust vocal and more smooth vocal riffs from the rest of the group, a social commentary rich in nostalgia and deep harmonies. The song was also included on the flip side of the "Sweet Understanding Love" single.

"I Just Can't Get You Out of My Mind" was chosen as the third and last single taken from the album and was released in January 1974, backed with "Am I My Brother's Keeper" on Side B. The song is a poignant mid-tempo that offers a cool arrangement by Dennis Lambert and Don Hockett, and features one of the best performances of lead singer Levis Stubbs; easily the best track on the album in my humble opinion!

"It Won't Be the First Time" is a slow Pop number that brushes MOR territories, with a nice strings and horns work by Jimmie Haskell and plenty of harmonies and background vocals sustaining Levis Stubbs in an all too easy task.

The album reverts to a more excited phase with "Sweet Understanding Love", which was also released as a single in September 1973. The song was written by Renaldo Benson along with his wife Valaida and Motown veteran Ivy Hunter. So danceable and full of life, this is an irresistable love song that could've walked off a '60s Holland-Dozier-Holland album!

"Am I My Brother's Keeper" was written, once again, by Renaldo Benson along with his wife Valaida, this time joined by Len Perry, an alias for none less than Lawrence Payton, Jr.... This number is another thoughtful and emotional social commentary where lead vocals are divided equally between O.B. Benson, Lawrence Payton, Jr. and Levi Stubbs; the mood is warm and melodic, and the song fully displays the group's trademark left-of-center harmonies as well as the skill of the backing band.

Side One ends with "Are You Man Enough", a funky track that slyly combines a lush orchestration with Shaft-style wah-wah guitars, and served as the theme song for the movie "Shaft In Africa". This song is another highlight from the album and was released as a single backed with "Peace of Mind" in May 1973, a few months before the album. It reached #2 on the American R&B chart and #15 on the American Billboard chart.

Advertisement for the "Shaft In Africa" soundtrack - From the June 6, 1973, issue of Billboard.

Side Two starts with the heavily orchestrated "Whenever There's Blue", arranged by Dennis Lambert and Don Hockett. The song is another Lambert & Potter original with lead vocal by Levi Stubbs.

The less than essential "Too Little, Too Late" is a mellow slow number orchestrated by Jimmie Haskell, whose contribution in the economy of the album seems to focus on the slower and sad ballads. Levi Stubbs sings the lead benefiting of the usual background work by the other Tops.

The group lays down some forceful Soul music in "Peace of Mind", a track written by Abdul Fakir, Renaldo Benson and Huey Marvin Davis, who is best remembered as guitarist of The Contours, the group responsible for Motown's first million-selling single "Do You Love Me?". The song's got a hip sound, a blend of Motown reminiscences and Philly strings that features lead vocal by Levi Stubbs and interesting brief spoken sections by the other members. Another number worthy of the podium!

"One Woman Man" was written by Lawrence Payton, Jr. under his Len Perry alias along with Phil Townsend, a member of a street corner group known as The Sparrows. The arrangement was created by Gil Askey, while Payton delivered the lead vocal with no other member of the group in sight. A short saxophone solo on the closing section of the song remains uncredited...

The album ends with the full-lenght rendition of "Main Street People" that features lead vocal by Levi Stubbs.

The following videos offer a preview of the remastered album; for this purpose I chose my favourite tracks: "I Just Can't Get You Out of My Mind", "Sweet Understanding Love", "Am I My Brother's Keeper", and "Peace of Mind", enjoy!

Here's the credits and personnel list of "Main Street People" as they appear on the inner gatefold of the album:

Main Street People (Intro)
(Dennis Lambert / Brian Potter)
Rhythm arranged by Dennis Lambert
Strings arranged by Jimmie Haskell
Lead Vocal: Lawrence Payton, Jr.

I Just Can't Get You Out of My Mind
(Dennis Lambert / Brian Potter)
Arranged by Dennis Lambert and Don Hockett
Lead Vocal: Levi Stubbs

It Won't Be the First Time
(Dennis Lambert / Brian Potter)
Rhythm arranged by Dennis Lambert
Strings and Horns arranged by Jimmie Haskell
Lead Vocal: Levi Stubbs

Sweet Understanding Love
(Renaldo Benson / Val Benson / Ivy Hunter)
Arranged by Gil Askey
Lead Vocal: Levi Stubbs

Am I My Brother's Keeper
(Renaldo Benson / Val Benson / Len Perry)
Arranged by Gil Askey
Lead Vocal: O.B. Benson, Lawrence Payton, Jr., Levi Stubbs

Are You Man Enough (From the MGM Film "Shaft In Africa")
(Dennis Lambert / Brian Potter)
Arranged by Dennis Lambert and Don Hockett
Lead Vocal: Levi Stubbs, Lawrence Payton, Jr.

Whenever There's Blue
(Dennis Lambert / Brian Potter)
Arranged by Dennis Lambert and Don Hockett
Lead Vocal: Levi Stubbs

Too Little, Too Late
(Dennis Lambert / Brian Potter)
Rhythm arranged by Dennis Lambert
Strings and Horns arranged by Jimmie Haskell
Lead Vocal: Levi Stubbs

Peace of Mind
(Abdul Fakir / Renaldo Benson / Huey Davis)
Arranged by Gil Askey and Jimmie Haskell
Lead Vocal: Levi Stubbs

One Woman Man
(Len Perry / Phil Townsend)
Arranged by Gil Askey
Lead Vocal: Lawrence Payton, Jr.

Main Street People
(Dennis Lambert / Brian Potter)
Rhythm arranged by Dennis Lambert
Strings and Horns arranged by Jimmie Haskell
Lead Vocal: Levi Stubbs

Produced by: Steve Barri, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter

Recording Engineers: Phil Kaye, Howard Gale

Mixing Engineers: Phil Kaye, Steve Barri

Recorded at: ABC Recording Studios, Inc., Studio A, Los Angeles, California

Arranged by: Jimmie Haskell, Gil Askey, Dennis Lambert, Don Hockett

All vocal by the Four Tops: Levi Stubbs, Lawrence Payton, Jr., Renaldo "O.B." Benson, Abdul "Duke" Fakir

Musical Coordination: Lawrence Payton, Jr.

Musicians include:

Drums: Paul Humphrey
Bass: Wilton Felder
Guitars: Larry Carlton, Ben Benay, David T. Walker, Joe Smith
Keyboards: Michael Omartian, Chip Crawford, Michael Wofford, Dennis Lambert

Percussion: King Errisson, Gary Coleman

Concert Master: Sid Sharp

From left to right: Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Brian Potter, Dennis Lambert, Steve Barri, Levi Stubbs and Lawrence Payton, 1972

The following playbacks of "Am I My Brother's Keeper" and "One Woman Man" were performed by the Four Tops for the American musical variety TV show Soul Train; they were broadcasted on April 20, 1974 and are available courtesy of YouTube. "One Woman Man" features solely Lawrence Payton.

More information about "Main Street People", Lambert & Potter and the Four Tops is available here:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/main-street-people-mw0000845920

http://www.soulstrut.com/index.php/reviews/indepth/Main%20Street%20People/

http://mallsandwaterfalls.blogspot.it/2009/03/main-street-people-by-four-tops.html

http://www.examiner.com/review/the-four-tops-enjoy-life-after-motown

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/four_tops/main_street_people/

http://www.dustygroove.com/item/47118

http://www.discogs.com/Four-Tops-Main-Street-People/master/36419

http://www.discogs.com/Four-Tops-Are-You-Man-Enough-/master/164563

http://www.discogs.com/Four-Tops-I-Just-Cant-Get-You-Out-Of-My-Mind-Am-I-My-Brothers-Keeper/master/192778

http://www.discogs.com/Four-Tops-Sweet-Understanding-Love/master/177229

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are_You_Man_Enough_%28Four_Tops_song%29

http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=573125&PrinterFriendly=1

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070679/

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/dennis-lambert-mn0000818714

http://www.answers.com/topic/dennis-lambert

http://www.bignoisenow.com/dennislambert.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Potter_%28musician%29

http://www.answers.com/topic/brian-potter-musician

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/brian-potter-mn0000623246

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Dennis+Lambert+%26+Brian+Potter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Tops

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Four%20Tops.html

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-four-tops-mn0000071812

http://rockhall.com/inductees/the-four-tops/bio/

http://www.soultracks.com/fourtops.htm

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-four-tops/biography

http://www.vocalhalloffame.com/inductees/the_four_tops.html

http://www.warr.org/fourtops.html

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/levi-stubbs-mn0000256831

http://tsort.info/music/7tkq0a.htm

http://tsort.info/music/7anj49.htm

http://www.45cat.com/artist/four-tops/us

http://www.45cat.com/artist/four-tops/uk

http://www.whosampled.com/sampled/Four%20Tops/?sp=1

If you have any other useful information about the Four Tops and "Main Street People" - especially corrections and improvements to this post - or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

THE APOLLO "APOLLO 10" (太陽神樂隊 "我在你左右", 1969)

Here comes another nice instrumental album from Hong Kong! "Apollo 10" (or "我在你左右", which can probably be translated as "I'm By Your Side") was released at the end of the '60s by New Wave Record Co. (新風).

As with most of the label's output, the exact release date for this LP catalogued as NWLP 10 is not written anywhere on the cover. Anyway, other releases by the same label bearing a later catalogue number are proven to have been published in 1969; moreover the album contains a few songs popularized by the movie "负心的人" (Jilted, or Heartless Person) which was a huge success in Hong Kong during the same year. So, proof is enough for me to easily guess that "Apollo 10" was released in 1969 too.

This LP is credited to The Apollo (太陽神樂隊), an Hong Kong prolific studio band that reached a cult status in the region during the late 60s / early 70s. Their name has probably been borrowed from the Teisco / Kawai manufactured Apollo model guitar from that time period.

They recorded a lot of instrumental albums, a few of them for New Wave Record Co. (新風) and most of them for Life Records (麗風); they were also featured as a backing band on countless releases by popular singers like Teresa Teng (鄧麗君), Pancy Lau (劉鳳屏), Frances Yip (葉麗儀), Stella Chee (奚秀蘭), etc. It should be noted that in the early days of the label, they were the only available band at Life Records headquarters, so this comes as no surprise...

Their instrumental records, often arranged by band leader Oscar Young (楊道火), a key-figure in the Hong Kong / Singapore music scene of the late 60s / early 70, usually feature a prominent guitar sound that has spawned a lot of imitators.



Labeled as a guitar music album on the cover, "Apollo 10" (我在你左右) mainly features the electric guitar as solo instrument but, as usual in the Far-East instrumental albums of this period, the organ plays another important role in the arrangements, providing accompaniment and counterpoints that are often panned to the far sides of the mix to reach for that early days massive stereo effect.

Thanks to OCR technology I was able to import the original texts and tried to obtain an English translation using on-line tools. The results are not perfect - to say the least - but they give more than a rough idea about the song titles.

By the way, I would be really grateful if someone could help me with this release: I need a correct translation of the songs titles. If you can help and share your knowledge please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you so much!

"Apollo 10" (我在你左右) contains the following tracks:

01. 會情郎 [Beau] (2:22)
02. 我在你左右 [I'm By Your Side] (1:52)
03. 男人的眼淚 [Men's Tears] (2:43)
04. 他還是永在我心上 [You Will Remain In My Heart Forever] (2:37)
05. 養鴨人家 [Beautiful Duckling] (2:04)
06. 淡水河邊 [Tamsui River Edge] (2:46)
07. 負心的人 [Ungrateful People] (2:32)
08. 幾度花落時 [When the Flowers Fall] (1:40)
09. 母子淚 [Mother and Son] (3:00)
10. 關達拉美拉 [Guantanamera] (3:15)
11. 提起愛情煩惱多 [Love Brought More Troubles] (2:25)
12. 往日的舊夢 [Unforgettable Dreams] (2:23)

All tracks were remastered from the original vinyl in September 2013 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include completely restored PDF artwork. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.





Here's what I discovered searching information about the music included on this release:

The original version of "會情郎" (Beau) was popularized by Chinese singer and dubbing artist 静婷 (Tsin Ting). According to Wikipedia, she is best known as the Marni Nixon of Hong Kong cinema: she dubbed many of Shaw Brothers' Huangmei Opera movies from the 1950s to the 1960s. Here's her version of the song.

The music of "我在你左右" (I'm By Your Side) originates from a Korean song entitled "샌프란시스코" (San Francisco) performed by singer 백설희 (Baek Seol Hui) in the '50s. The song had a great success in Hong Kong in 1969 when it was used in "负心的人" (Jilted, or Ungrateful People), a popular movie which launched 汤兰花 (Tang Lan Hua) career. Here's her version of the song and another version performed by 美黛 (Mei Dai).

"男人的眼淚" (Men's Tears) was originally performed by 黄清元 (Wong Ching Yian), who is nothing less than a living legend in the Singapore and Malaysia music scene.

"他還是永在我心上" (You Will Remain In My Heart Forever) is another song taken from the movie "负心的人" (Jilted, or Heartless Person); it is performed by 汤兰花 (Tang Lan Hua) in the tear-jerking finale sequence.

I guess that "養鴨人家" (Beautiful Duckling) could be the theme song from the 1965 popular movie of the same name starring 唐寶雲 (Tang Pao-Yun); I'm not completely sure about that, though... And I also guess that "淡水河邊" (Tamsui River Edge) is a Taiwanese song inspired by the river located in the Tamsui District in New Taipei, which is popular as a site for viewing the sun setting into the Taiwan Strait.

"負心的人" (Heartless Person) is the theme song from the movie of the same name discussed above. The original version was performed by 汤兰花 (Tang Lan Hua, available here); other versions were later performed, among others, by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, here) and 劉鳳屏 (Pancy Lau).

"幾度花落時" (Whispering To Ask Several Times, in lack of a better translation...) was performed by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, available here) in 1969 on her successful "今天不回家" (Not Coming Home Today) album.

The original version of "母子淚"(Mother and Son) was performed in 1969, once again, by 汤兰花 (Tang Lan Hua, available here); I wouldn't be surprised if also this song was taken from the soundtrack of  "負心的人" (Ungrateful People), but I'm not sure about it.

...and now for something completely different, here comes no less than a version of "Guantanamera" (...translated into "關達拉美拉"...) complete with chorus... Well, this argues in favour of how popular on a global level was this song at the end of the '60s.

"提起愛情煩惱多" (Love Brought More Troubles) was popularized by 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng, available here) in 1968; the song was also performed later by other singers, including 張慧 (Cheung Wai, here).

"往日的舊夢" (Unforgettable Dreams) was originally performed by 美黛 (Mei Dai) sometimes in the '60s, you can listen to it here.

Here's some of my favourite tracks taken from "Apollo 10", please enjoy "會情郎", "我在你左右", "他還是永在我心上" and "負心的人"!

If you enjoyed this post, I'd like to remind you that I already dedicated to the New Wave Record Co. (新風) a few entries, here's the direct links for NWLP 5, NWLP 6, NWLP 8 and NWLP 9.

A few more information about The Apollo (太陽神樂隊) and the New Wave Record Co. (新風) catalogue is available here:

http://blog.roodo.com/muzikland/archives/2512021.html

http://www.discogs.com/artist/1638765-Apollo-The-2

http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/%E5%A4%AA%E9%99%BD%E7%A5%9E%E6%A8%82%E9%9A%8A

http://www.freewebs.com/ritachao/apollothe.htm

http://progressive.homestead.com/HONGKONG.html

http://bbs.qianlong.com/thread-1350672-1-1.html

http://www.radiodiffusion.net/extra/Apollo_Guitar_Ad.jpg

http://rateyourmusic.com/label/new_wave_record_co_

http://radiodiffusion.wordpress.com/category/hong-kong/

http://www.vinylparadise.com/LPCollec/company/fh_life/fh_lp005.htm

http://www.vinylparadise.com/8music/1/music1b2.htm

In the next months I will post more Hong Kong/Taiwan/Singapore/etc. Pop/Instrumental records released in the late-60s / mid-70s. As usual, I would like to provide information about these releases and their authors.

Unfortunately the Internet doesn't offer much information - written in English - about these artists and this is the reason why I need help: if you can translate from Chinese to English please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you so much!

It's been difficult to obtain these vinyls, some are not in the best conditions and I'm currently working hard to properly master them. It seems that these artists and their music are poorly known in the West, of course it's a real pity because they made stunning releases: I'd like to share them with you with a proper presentation, hope that someone will be able to help.

DICK JENSEN AT THE OCEANIA EMPIRE ROOM (AUGUST 1973)

"The Oceania floating restaurant is moored at Pier 6 in Honolulu Harbor along palm-lined Ala Moana Boulevard, minutes from Waikiki, adiacent to vibrant donwtown Honolulu. Built in Hong Kong, the Oceania is 280 feet overall, has a 60 foot beam and draws 16 feet. She boasts a crew of 225 and can accomodate some 2,000 persons at a single sitting. Chinese artworks and carvings aboard are worth nearly one million dollars."

The Oceania, was brought with great fanfare to Honolulu Harbor in 1972 and remained in business for nearly two decades, I could not find out what happened to her...

The Oceania floating restaurant in the early '70s

One of the things that I am most pleased about this blog is the contribution of visitors who decide to get in touch and offer some kind of help.

In particular, with regard to Dick Jensen, I often receive messages from people who have had the good fortune to know him or to see him performing one of his shows. The enthusiasm of these fans is simply touching and it's great to learn that he is so well remembered.

The following images were sent to me by Carol Mitchell, who was lucky enough to attend a Dick Jensen performance at The Oceania back in August 1973 during her trip to Hawaii.

She kindly offered some details about the picture that appears on the 1982 brochure I posted here, and then she sent me scans of the pictures she took during the show and the accompaining drink menu... Thank you Carol for sharing your precious souvenirs with us!

The Oceania Empire Room drink menu - front (1973)

The Oceania Empire Room drink menu - back (1973)

Dick Jensen performing at The Oceania Empire Room, August 1973

Dick Jensen performing at The Oceania Empire Room, August 1973

A collage by Carol Mitchell that includes the Dick Jensen picture featured on The Oceania floating restaurant 1973 brochure

More information about Dick Jensen is available here:

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2006/06/22/news/story02.html

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jun/22/il/FP606220304.html

http://www.oahuislandnews.com/May05/Home.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Jensen

I'm currently compiling a Dick Jensen biography, the first part of this work-in-progress covers the period 1942-1972 and is available here.

I'm also trying to compile a Dick Jensen exhaustive discography, my work-in-progress is available here.

Last but not least, I'm also trying to build a collection of Dick Jensen pictures and memorabilia, my work-in-progress is available here.

All my posts dedicated to Dick Jensen on this blog are available here.

If you have any useful information about Dick Jensen,or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

THE SHEEP RECORDS STORY #11: THE MEN FROM S.P.E.C.T.R.E. "WITH THE FINGER ON THE TRIGGER" (1999)

Sheep Records was a Swiss underground label specialized in Garage-Rock, Surf, Lounge and other Rock'n'Roll oddities. Run by Christian Müller from Zürich, along with friends Andi Frick and Andreas Egi, it was active from 1996 to 2004 and published about 30 releases, mostly on 7" vinyl singles.



In october 2006, after about two years of hiatus, all the contents of the now defunct Sheep Records website were deleted from the Internet, and replaced with a blank page announcing that "Der Kebab ist gegessen" ("The kebab is eaten"), a last goodbye and a reference to the label's cataloguing system that included the prefix "kebab" for vinyl releases and "gigot" for CD releases.

"With the Finger On the Trigger" was the first album published by Sheep Records after a series of ten 7" singles and EPs; it was released on CD (...with catalogue number gigot011...) and as a 100 copies limited edition vinyl LP (kebab011) in June 1999. The contents of both versions are identical, here's the track list:

01. Tourney To Meta Luna VI (2:48)
02. The "India" Crowd (2:38)
03. Attack of the Nonfunky White Guys (2:39)
04. Fantastic Device (2:35)
05. Short Trigger (0:39)
06. Party at Largos House (2:34)
07. Secret Agent Man (2:25)
08. With the Finger On the Trigger (2:49)
09. Codename: Action Woman (2:47)
10. Kitchen Shaker (2:15)
11. Dr. Evil's Ray Transmitter (2:02)
12. At the Bikini (2:47)
13. Chase No. 2 (2:18)
14. Mindbender (3:33)

03.12.2014 Update: I discovered today that The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E. have opened a page on Bandcamp and are currently offering their albums for download, so I decided to remove the audio files related to this post. If you enjoy their music and want to listen to this album please support them!






"With the Finger On the Trigger" features 14 Hammond-driven, hip-shaking spy themes, here's the personnel/credits list as they appear on the back cover:

Guitar: Gerry Germann
Organ: Mario Janser
Drums: Stefan Saurer
Bass: Rolf Keller

Sitar: Pandit Shankarmann
Percussion: Marius Brun del Re

Recorded and mixed at the Spooky Sound Studio by S. Maeschi.

All tracks written by The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E. except "Secret Agent Man" written by Johnny Rivers.

Bandfoto by Luzia Broger.
Cover by Rolf Keller.

The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E. in their former four-members lineup, circa 1999-2000.

The Men from S.P.E.C.T.R.E. have released three albums, here's the group official biography as it appears on their own website:

The Men from S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (Winterthur, Switzerland) rush out of the speakers, straight through your living room, into your ears and move your pulse. The sound is fit for street races with perfectly tuned cars and at home in NASA promotional films. The rough edges and instrumental action sound echoes the space-rock-bands and soundtracks of the 70s. The catchy beat of Drums, Congas and Bass join the wild Hammond organ and fuzzy Guitar to mash-up the scenes.

"The Living Eye" is the third record of the S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s and released on American label Hammondbeat Records. "The Living Eye" is more indulgent, more psychedelic, and hits the beat harder than the previous records. The songs "Purple Pill People" and "Black Tank", along with earlier productions, have been released on internationally revered labels like Acid Jazz Records (UK).

The Men from S.P.E.C.T.R.E. have toured Italy, Spain, UK, Germany, Belgium, France, and Switzerland. The Swiss quintet will be on stage with "The Living Eye" ...heading for lots of trouble.

This promotional card was included in my vinyl copy of "With the Finger On the Trigger".

Here's some highlights from the album courtesy of YouTube, please enjoy "The 'India' Crowd", "Fantastic Device", "Secret Agent Man" and "Dr. Evil's Ray Transmitter"!

More information about Sheep Records and The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is available here:

http://www.surfnroll.de/interviews/sheep/sheep.html

http://www.men-from-spectre.org

http://menfromspectre.bandcamp.com/

http://www.myspace.com/menfromspectre

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22men+from+s.p.e.c.t.r.e.%22

The Sheep Records story will continue in the next months. All your inputs are more than welcome, if you want to get in touch please write to stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

THE UNIQUES "(GHOST) RIDERS IN THE SKY / TABOO" (1961)

Dick Jensen was a live musical performer of the Rhythm and Blues, Soul, and Gospel genres; a native Hawaiian athletic song stylist and a prime mover of nightclub shows. For a more detailed biography about him, I suggest that you have a look at this other post available here on Stereo Candies.

Born Richard Hiram Jensen in 1942, he first became interested in music through the numerous luaus his family would attend. When the family was back from the barbecue, his mother would often play the guitar and Dick, along with his five brothers and sisters, would sing, and play along on the ukulele, or a nearby spoon and ladle, or whatever might be handy. His first experience on stage was in the fourth grade when he put together a group for a teacher's show.

Dick continued to sing through his formative years and began to gain a local reputation. While he was at Honolulu's Farrington High School, he entered a local talent contest, winning first place, and adopted the stage name of Lance Curtis at the suggestion of Tom Moffatt and Earl Finch, both active as promoters in the local Hawaii scene; the name was choosen for its illusory Hollywoodian qualities.

The award gained Jensen a spot on one of Hawaii's major television shows and led to his first single recording Bye Bye Baby / Lover's Paradise published by Teen Records in 1959.

Sympathy / Leahi, another single credited to Lance Curtis & The Uniques, was released on the same label the following year; "Leahi" is the first Hawaiian song ever recorded with a rock beat.

In 1960 Jensen graduated from Farrington and forgot his music momentarily, as he began to pursue a career in athletics. After winning Hawaii's "Athlete of the Year" award, he accepted a swimming scholarship to the University of Washington. While at the Seattle campus he began to get together a group during spare time.

In the meantime, The Uniques released two instrumental singles: (Ghost) Riders in the Sky / Taboo on Amber Records - which is the subject of this post - and Renegade / Malaguena on United Southern Artists, Inc. in the U.S.A. and Strand Records in Australia; both of them were released in 1961, it is unclear if they were recorded before Jensen's departure or not...



Side A offers The Uniques' version of the timeless Country classic "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky", a song written by Stan Jones and first recorded by Burl Ives in 1949. The song was covered by Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee and Spike Jones among the others, and got back in the charts in the early '60s with the instrumental versions recorded by The Ramrods and The Ventures, before being covered again at a later date by Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. By releasing this song in 1961, it seems like The Uniques tried to cash on the success of the other instrumental versions released the same year; here's a few links to the versions recorded by The Ventures, The Ramrods, The Scorpions and The Spotnicks, with a bonus version featuring Neil LeVang on guitar taken from The Lawrence Welk Show.

On the flip side we find a version of the Exotica anthem "Taboo", written by Cuban singer and songwriter Margarita Lecuona, cousin of famous composer and pianist Ernesto Lecuona, who is also remembered for her other classic "Babalù". The first version of "Taboo" was recorded by Cuarteto Machin in 1934; the song was later covered by Les Baxter, Arthur Lyman (....who choose it as the title-track of his best-selling album...), Xavier Cougat, Percy Faith, Ferrante & Teicher, Enoch Light and many more... Here's a few links to the versions recorded by Margarita Lecuona herself, Les Baxter, Arthur Lyman, Ahmad Jamal and... The Cramps!

The Uniques, exact date unknown, probably taken in 1959-1960

Here's the track list for this 7" single:

01. (Ghost) Riders in the Sky (2:12)
02. Taboo (2:36)

Both tracks were remastered from vinyl in August 2013 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include scans of the original item in PDF format. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.

The following video offers a preview of the remastered single, enjoy the glorious cavalcade of "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky"!

More information about Dick Jensen is available here:

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2006/06/22/news/story02.html

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jun/22/il/FP606220304.html

http://www.oahuislandnews.com/May05/Home.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Jensen

I'm currently compiling a Dick Jensen biography, the first part of this work-in-progress covers the period 1942-1972 and is available here.

I'm also trying to compile a Dick Jensen exhaustive discography, my work-in-progress is available here.

Last but not least, I'm also trying to build a collection of Dick Jensen pictures and memorabilia, my work-in-progress is available here.

All my posts dedicated to Dick Jensen on this blog are available here.

I will post more Dick Jensen stuff in the next months, if you have any other useful information about him and his releases or if you spot any dead links, just get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!