CHIRPY CHIRPY CHEEP CHEEP - LALLY STOTT

Harold "Lally" Stott (born ca.1950 Liverpool England died 1977 in a tragic road accident) was a songwriter who scored a hit with the song "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep".

Lally's first pop band was called Denny Seyton and the Sabres. They were one of the more promising Liverpool-based bands that never made it big, despite getting as far as charting a single, "The Way You Look Tonight," in 1964. Pop outfit The Four Just Men was Lally’s next rock group. They recorded and worked in Stockport and Manchester England. They recorded two singles in the 1960s "Things Will Never Be Same"/"That's My Baby" (as the Four Just Men) and "There's Not One Thing"/"Don't Come Any Closer" (as Just Four Men). The group changed name and became the underrated but significant psychedelic band “Wimple Winch”. After the band's decline Lally went off to Europe where he started a solo career.

Lally wrote "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" which became a hit for the Scottish band Middle of the Road in 1971. Stott's own version was a big hit in Italy, Holland and it went to #1 in June 1971 Australia beating the rival version by Middle of the Road. It was a massive selling single in Sydney NSW.

After Middle of the Road scored a hit with their version Lally went into writing and producing for them. Lally wrote their follow up “Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum” as well as a host of other songs. He also produced some of their work.

From Middle of the Road blog:

Written by Lally Stott, this song was a hit in Italy and Australia for the composer, as well as on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it charted, but failed to achieve significant success, as the cover by Mac and Katie Kissoon became more popular.

Stott's record company were reluctant to release it overseas, so he offered it to Scottish folk-pop group Middle Of The Road, who were working in Italy at the time. The song became a massive hit in Europe initially, and then repeated this feat in the UK as returning holidaymakers searched out a copy.

However, it nearly flopped in the UK, as Mac and Katie Kissoon released their version just before them, but aided by incessant radio airplay, it became a huge hit. It reached No.1 in the UK for five weeks in June 1971.

The Kissoon version failed to chart in the UK, but reached No.20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Lally’s flip-side to "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" was “Henry James” which scored airplay in some parts of Oz. He had a couple of follow up singles in Oz too, one of which was “Jackaranda” which was played incessantly by the radio stations at Grafton when I was about to leave the district and move to the town of Cessnock.

Lally’s version of "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" has been released on CD overseas in Holland and Italy but always the longer album mix which slowly fades in.

For download is the 7” mix of "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" which has never been on CD anywhere in the world, as far as I know.

http://rapidshare.com/files/236515783/Lally_Stott_-_Chirpy_Chirpy_Cheep_Cheep.mp3

ADIOS AMOR - JOSE FELICIANO

José Montserrate Feliciano García (born 1945) is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer, known for many international hits. He was born permanently blind due to congenital glaucoma.

Jose Feliciano had many hits in Oz. The biggest one was "Light My Fire" and another was "High Heel Sneakers". One that was not a big hit elsewhere in the world but sold well in Oz was the 1969 single "Adios Amor".

This mono copy of "Adios Amor" was sent by an e-buddy called Richard B. who once lived in Canberra but nowadays is residing in NZ. He thought that this one was rare enough for folks to remember but not available on CD anymore.

http://rapidshare.com/files/236208352/Jose_Feliciano_-_Adios_Amor.mp3

THE ANSWER (CD 12" Mix) - CONNIE FRANCIS

Connie Francis (Concetta Rosemarie Franconero born Newark New Jersey USA 12.12.1938) is an American pop singer best known for several international hit songs including "Who's Sorry Now?", "Lipstick on Your Collar", "Where the Boys Are", and "Stupid Cupid". Connie’s changed surname “Francis”, was the idea of radio host Arthur Godfrey, compere of a show in the 1940s called “Startime.” Arthur had trouble pronouncing her real last name so Arthur decided to give her an easy-to-pronounce Irish name. At first, Connie objected saying, “My father would kill me!”… not when he started seeing some of Connie’s residual checks! Connie’s string of rock and roll hits starting in the late 1950s was legendary… She topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on three occasions with "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" and "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You".

Connie’s career waned in the late 1960s after a very successful run of hits. Connie returned to the spotlight again in 1973 with "The Answer – Should I Tie A Yellow Ribbon", a song written just for her as a follow up to the Tony Orlando and Dawn track, “Should I Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree”. Here in Oz the single was on the GSF label distributed by EMI. It was listed in the top 100 tracks of of the year. It didn't chart as high as Tony Orlando's original but it was a big seller all the same.

After this world-wide career boosting hit she soon began performing again. However, in November 1974 Connie was beaten and raped in the Jericho Turnpike Howard Johnson's Lodge, following a performance at the Westbury Music Fair in New York. After the vicious attack she was medically checked and monitored. She was contracted to perform so she was returned to the hotel and discovered the broken lock and torn screen had not been repaired by facility management. She subsequently sued the motel chain for failing to provide adequate security. She reportedly won a $3 million judgment, at the time one of the largest such judgments in history. Her attacker has not been found by the authorities. She did not perform again for seven years and it seemed like she would never have further success after her 1973 hit “The Answer”. But in the fullness of time, of course, she has managed to sustain a very successful career.

For download is a Tom Mix 12” remix of “The Answer – Should I Tie A Yellow Ribbon” reworked from the version which appeared on the South African CD called “A Lifetime Of Love”…Enjoy!

http://rapidshare.com/files/233861555/connie_francis_-_the_answer__mono_ext_tom_mix_.mp3

BIG YELLOW TAXI (Mono CD Version) - THE NEIGHBORHOOD

The song "Big Yellow Taxi" was written by Joni Mitchell and in most parts of the world her version was a reasonable hit. Here in Oz the competing version by The Neighborhood did better in some markets than the Joni version. Joni says she was inspired to write the song after she stayed in an hotel in Hawaii. She woke up one morning and looked out the hotel window at a paradise surround by a huge parking lot...the last verse was the only part not inspired by the scene she observed.

Over the years there have been many versions of this environmental protest song, the most recent was done by Vanessa Carlton and the Counting Crows.

In 1970 when The Neighborhood's "Big Yellow Taxi" single was top 40 bound it was placed on 2 vinyl compilations. In Oz it was on "20 Electrifying Hits" made by Majestic Records. In the USA it was on a vinyl album called "20 Chartstoppers".

The Neighborhood's "Big Yellow Taxi" single has never been officially released on CD in Oz but if you know which foreign places to visit you can sometimes be lucky, like moi, and find bootleg CDs which contain some of these old rare tracks. When last in Vanuatu I was able to locate a shop in a back street of Port Villa which sold a range of "unofficial" CDs containing some great oldies...the brand name used on the CD was "KY" and they were listed as being made in Japan (which may be the town of Japan located in Indonesia). Another of the rare songs on this CD was "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" by the Hillside Singers.

Here for download is the mono single version of "Big Yellow Taxi":

http://rapidshare.com/files/233827103/neighborhood_-_big_yellow_taxi.mp3

WHEELING WEST VIRGINIA (12" CD MIX) - NEIL SEDAKA

Neil Sedaka was born in Brooklyn, New York on 13 March 1939. His father, Mac Sedaka, a taxi driver, was the son of Turkish-Jewish immigrants; his mother, Eleanor (Appel) Sedaka, was of Polish-Russian Jewish descent. He demonstrated musical aptitude in his second-grade choral class, and when his teacher sent a note home suggesting he take piano lessons, his mother took a part-time job in a department store for six months to pay for a second-hand upright. He took to the instrument immediately. In 1947, he auditioned successfully for a piano scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music.

The best-known hits of his early career are "The Diary" (#14, 1958), "Oh! Carol" (#9, 1959); "You Mean Everything to Me" (#17, 1960); "Calendar Girl" (#4, 1960); "Stairway to Heaven" (#9, 1960); "Run Samson Run" (top 30, 1960); "Little Devil" (#11, 1961); "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" (#6, 1961); "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (#1, 1962); and "Next Door To An Angel" (#5, 1962). "Oh! Carol" refers to Sedaka's Brill Building compatriot and former girlfriend Carole King. King responded with her answer song, "Oh, Neil", which used Sedaka's full name. Sedaka wrote "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen", for his then close friend Annette Funicello.

In the mid 1960s the hits dried up. He made several trips to Australia to play cabaret dates, while his career overseas was waning. His second coming started while in Australia. The single "Star Crossed Lovers" became a major hit in NZ and Oz. The song went to #5 nationally in April 1969 giving Sedaka his first charting single in four years and it also came in at #5 in Go-Set magazine's list of the Top 40 Australian singles of the year 1969.

Later that year, with the support of Festival Records, he recorded a new LP of original material entitled Workin' On A Groovy Thing at Festival Studios in Sydney. It was co-produced by Festival staff producer Pat Aulton (deceased), with arrangements by John Farrar (who later achieved international fame for his work with Olivia Newton-John) and backing by Australian session musicians including guitarist Jimmy Doyle (Ayers Rock) and noted jazz musician-composer John Sangster.

The single lifted from the album, "Wheeling West Virginia", reached #20 in Australia in early 1970. The LP is also notable because it was Sedaka's first album to include collaborations with writers other than long-time lyricist Howard Greenfield. The title track featured lyrics by Roger Atkins and four other songs were co-written with Carole Bayer Sager, who subsequently embarked on a successful collaboration with expatriate Australian singer-songwriter Peter Allen.

Neil’s work has bubbled along happily ever since the Oz revival period. He still comes back to Oz frequently and during his 2008 Australian tour, Sedaka premiered a new classical orchestral composition entitled "Joie de Vivre".

One of my friends, Steve Scanes, in 1998 helped produce a CD called "Neil Sedaka Anthology - Four Decades Of Hits And More" which included many of the original Oz singles. It was from this version of “Wheeling West Virginia” that I made an extended 12" mix. It was another friend, K1W1 (Mark), who suggested this classic should be included on my blog.

Here for download is a Tom Mix extended 12” version of his hit “Wheeling West Virginia”:

http://rapidshare.com/files/233395389/Neil_Sedaka_-_Wheeling_West_Virginia__Ext_Tom_Mix_.mp3

MEANINGLESS SONGS - HEE BEE GEE BEES

The Hee Bee Gee Bees were a pop group formed initially to parody the Bee Gees towards the close of their sequence of high-pitched, disco-style hits in the late 1970s. The manufactured “band” consisted of three brothers; Dobbin, Garry and Norris Cribb (an obvious parody of Robin, Barry and Maurice Gibb), performed by Angus Deayton (Garry), Michael Fenton Stevens (Norris), and Philip Pope (Dobbin).

Their big hit "Meaningless Songs" was released by Original Records in 1980; it is regarded as one of the best produced and keenly observed musical parodies. It reached number two in the Australian singles chart and has not been released officially on CD yet.

Singles

"Meaningless Songs" / "Posing in the Moonlight" (1980) #2 Australia.

"Too Depressed to Commit Suicide" - The PeeCees / "Up the Wall" - Jack Michaelson / "Meaningless Songs" - This was a triple A-Side record release (1981).

"Boring Song" - Status Quid / "Dead Cicada" - The Beagles (1981).

"When Two Songs (Sound the Same)" - Frankie Goes to the Bank / "Purple Pants" - Ponce (1989).

This mp3 download of “Meaningless Songs” is from Michael Fenton Stevens who sent it to me in 2006 after I requested a copy for my own private collection. I met Michael when I was in London in 2006. He and I have corresponded for many years now and Michael is still trying hard to get the rights sorted to produce a best of CD. Their parody albums “439 Golden Greats” and “20 Big No.2’s” deserve an official release.

http://rapidshare.com/files/232634270/Heebeegeebees_-_Meaningless_Songs.mp3

THERE AIN'T NO AGE FOR ROCK'N'ROLL (EXTENDED CD MIX) - VETERANS

THE VETERANS WERE FROM BELGIUM AND THEY HIT IT BIG IN 1979 WITH THEIR CATCHY POP HIT "THERE AIN'T NO AGE FOR ROCK 'N ROLL". THEY HAD ANOTHER TRACK CALLED "I'M JOGGING" WHICH DIDN'T ENTHUSE THE BUYING PUBLIC AND IT SANK QUICKLY WITHOUT A RIPPLE.

"THERE AIN'T NO AGE FOR ROCK 'N ROLL" WAS NUMBER ONE FOR A FEW WEEKS AND WAS HEAVILY PROMOTED BY MOLLY MELDRUM ON COUNTDOWN. THE ORIGINAL 7" MIX OF THE SONG HAS APPEARED ON CD IN GERMANY AND FRANCE, WHERE I PURCHASED THIS NICE CLEAR VERSION, BUT BECAUSE IT WAS SHORT, RUNNING JUST 3 MINS, I DECIDED TO GIVE IT THE TOM MIX TREATMENT AND MADE AN EXTENDED VERSION THAT RUNS OVER 5 MINS.

ENJOY!

http://rapidshare.com/files/231346555/veterans_-_ain_t_no_age_for_rock_n_roll__cd_ext_tom_mix_2009_.mp3

LIKE AN EAGLE (English Lyrics) - MIGUEL RIOS

Miguel Ríos (born 7 June 1944 Spain) is a pioneer of rock and roll in Spain. Ríos was born in La Cartuja, a suburb of Granada. The youngest of seven children, he went to work in a local bar at the age of fifteen after little formal education. His interest in rock and roll led him to participate in a song contest in which he and his friends won a prize for singing the Paul Anka song "You Are My Destiny". He moved to Madrid in 1961 at the age of sixteen, where he recorded his first four pop songs. In popular circles he became known as Mike Ríos, the King of Twist. As Mike Ríos he obtained some television popularity during the first half of the 1960s. In 1964 he resumed using his real name which cost him the support of his group, Los Relámpagos (the Lightning). An introspective search for his true identity resulted in some rocky times.

After a moderate start it was in 1970 that Miguel came to be known as a superstar in Spain. His Spanish hit "Song Of Joy" was an extract of the last movement of the ninth symphony of Beethoven and appeared at the height of what was known as “religious rock”. He churned out an English translation for the lucrative USA market. Combined sales in the U.S. and Canada reached the one million mark in July 1970. For the follow-up in 1971 he went with “Like An Eagle” which was originally recorded in Spanish but for the overseas market he did a version in English. The song did well around the world especially in Australia but the English language version has not made it to CD after all these years. In Australia this song was used for a real estate commercial and in the background of other ads and promos.

This is an edited version of the Aussie 7" single version of "Like An Eagle":

http://rapidshare.com/files/230770138/miguel_rios_-_like_an_eagle__vinyl_tom_mix_2009_.mp3