There is next to no information available on the web about the late-1960s Philadelphia-based vocal group called The Fidelics. A few comments on this video from the Youtube account @funkadelphiarecords might be as close as we can get:
“An underground Philadelphia classic, the Fidelics recorded ‘Lovers In the Park’ in 1967 at Frank Virtue’s Virtue Studios, where so many Philadelphia based groups recorded one-offs … the fact that this rare Philadelphia TV footage of the Fidelics even exists is a true miracle … Notice how all four members take a bow at the very end, as if they all knew this would be their one and only TV appearance … a class act.”
Starting in Ab major, the tune then features a dramatic multi-key interlude, starting at Bb minor, at 1:06. At 1:30, we land in A major for another verse, continuing through to the end of the track.
“There are very few records whose influence can be so strongly felt after 45 years as the Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me.’ It is the song that has been widely touted as the blueprint for hard rock and heavy metal, long before the likes of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin came along,” (SoundOnSound). ” … the jarring, distorted two‑chord riff that opens the track and continues behind the lead vocal, and the fierce, deliberately sloppy guitar solo … paved the way for punk rock.
A UK chart‑topper in September 1964, and a number seven hit in America at the height of the so‑called British Invasion, ‘You Really Got Me’ was not only the breakthrough number for North London outfit the Kinks, but also a landmark recording that inspired the Who’s Pete Townshend to compose ‘I Can’t Explain’, and whose influence resonates to this day. All of which was quite an achievement for a group of teenagers who had only formed the previous year, and their innovative producer, who hadn’t been around a whole lot longer.
… In his 1984 book The Kinks: The Official Biography, author Jon Savage wrote, ‘What (producer) Shel Talmy and the Kinks did … was to concoct the perfect medium for expression of the adolescent white aggression that has been at the heart of white popular music …’ Those involved in its creation apparently agree. ‘When I left the studio I felt great,’ recalled Ray Davies, whose fruitful efforts on behalf of the song established him as the chief composer and — at least in his eyes — the leader of the Kinks. ‘It may sound conceited, but I knew it was a great record… I said I’d never write another song like it, and I haven’t.'”
The colorless guitar power chords don’t give any indication of the track’s tonality, but at 0:21 the slightly uptuned G-based two-chord riff shifts to a riff centering around A. It’s the vocal melody, using a major third degree of each chord, which gives away both the G and A chords as major. At that point, it’s spelled out that the A chord isn’t actually a ii chord within the context of G major, but rather a new tonic chord (a key change from G major to A major). More changes continue from there.
“The Chuck-A-Lucks … first started singing together at Amarillo College immediately after World War II, and then moved to Denton, TX, where the three of them enrolled in North Texas State College,” (AllMusic). “They were known as the Dipsy Doodlers for a time, and turned semi-professional after becoming popular on the North Texas State campus.
… By 1953, the trio were forced to give up the name Dipsy Doodlers, owing to the large number of other acts using it by then. They chose the Chuck-A-Lucks, and they began working around Texas and building a following for their mix of vocalizing and comedy, which made them very popular. The trio was working the area around Ft. Worth when they were discovered by Joe Leonard and signed to his Lin Records label out of Gainesville, TX. The Chuck-A-Lucks eventually evolved into a duo … and kept working a very lucrative string of gigs in clubs throughout the United States right up through 1972. Their act was much more oriented toward comedy than music, especially as time went by, being a kind of a country/right-wing version of the Smothers Brothers as satirists — their 1967 live album, cut for Shannon Records, the label owned by Mary Reeves, the widow of Jim Reeves, is notable today for its jokes at the expense of hippies, homosexuals, and others considered ‘alien’ to the southern/western audience they appealed to. The group reunited in 1996 for a 50th anniversary show in Texas.”
Their 1963 track, “Dingbat Diller,” was released on Motown Records. The tune shifts up a half step at 1:19 and 1:33, but the fast swing feel and the tight vocal harmonies are the main features.
Well before Coca-Cola switched to using high-fructose corn syrup, the company enlisted the talents of the sweet-voiced Bee Gees to spruik (that’s Australian for “tout”) their product in a couple of ad spots that ran during 1967. Both ads had 60- and 90-second versions that were followed by an announcer acknowledging the Bee Gees and, of course, mentioning Coke.
The songs were recorded by the Bee Gees’ band, including guitarist Vince Melouney and drummer Colin Petersen, along with an orchestra conducted by Bill Shepherd .
The first song, “Sitting in the Meadow”, features a lively shuffle-beat, and invites the listener to “have a bottle of Coke or two”:
At 0:30, we hear the familiar “Things Go Better With Coke” theme.
The second song, “Another Cold And Windy” day starts as a gloomy ballad, but inevitably segues to the Coke theme at 0:40. Just before announcer’s bit, there’s a modulation up a third at 0:50.
Johnny Mathis recorded “Do You Hear What I Hear” for his third holiday record, Give Me Your Love for Christmas, released in 1969. The track starts in C and bumps up a half step at 1:28.
Few voices are more associated with Christmas in the American psyche than Bing Crosby’s. He recorded “Do You Hear What I Hear?” in 1963. The tune starts in B and modulates up to C at 1:52.
“Cheap Thrills (1968) was the breakthrough album for Janis Joplin and Big Brother & The Holding Company,” (Daily Vault). “Topping the charts for eight weeks and spawning a top 20 single, this was the album that solidified the reputation that the band had spawned with their set at the Monterey Pop festival. It also marked the end of the band; not terribly long after the album’s release, Joplin left the band to pursue a solo career.
… Musically, (Big Brother co-founder, songwriter, and guitarist) Sam Andrew and crew had worked themselves into a tight musical unit by the time these tracks (some of which were recorded live at the Fillmore Auditorium) were cut. But on the other end of the spectrum, you can hear the strain on Joplin’s vocals … She had vocal power beyond many female blues singers; pity that she overused that power. ‘Piece of My Heart,’ the hit single from Cheap Thrills, remains a classic song that has lost little of its power over the course of three decades. Likewise, ‘Combination of the Two’ is an underrated classic that allows Joplin the fiery freedom to cut loose with her vocal abilities.”
After starting with an instrumental intro in A minor, “Combination of the Two” shifts up to B major for its first verse at 0:54. At 1:16, another verse falls into place, this time in G# major. 1:29 brings a whoa-only vocals section in E major which leads into a short chorus. At 2:00, we’ve returned to the B major verse; the sections repeat from there.
“The legacy of The Supremes is so firmly established today — from the group’s influence on fashion, to music, to Broadway musicals and films — that is seems impossible to imagine a time when it didn’t exist,” (Diana Ross Project). “From 1964 until the end of the decade, The Supremes would become the savior of American music, almost single-handedly defending a corner of the industry from the British Invasion while conquering the rest of the world through sell-out tours and hit singles. The group’s astounding string of a dozen number one singles (racked up in just five years) is something modern pop acts still struggle to match, and those hits continue to win over audiences though appearances in movies, commercials, and through radio airplay and album reissues.
But success wasn’t overnight for Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard (and, in the beginning, Barbara Martin) … after signing with Motown Records, the group suffered through eight lackluster singles before finally striking gold with ‘Where Did Our Love Go’ in 1964. The earliest of those singles were collected and released as Meet The Supremes in late 1962, an album that’s basically a patchwork of songs recorded during various sessions at the beginning of the decade … Perhaps the most recognizable song on Meet The Supremes, ‘Who’s Lovin’ You’ is a widely covered Smokey Robinson tune first recorded by The Miracles in 1960. This was one of the earliest songs recorded by The Supremes at Motown; it had been placed on the b-side of the group’s second single, “Buttered Popcorn,” released in 1961 on Tamla (the single failed to chart) … it’s raw and imperfect, dominated by a high, ‘go-for-broke’ lead vocal by Diana Ross over a bluesy, oil-smudged track … Diana was still a high school student when the song was recorded.”
Built in F major overall, the tune shifts briefly to the relative D minor during its bridge (1:20 – 1:50) before returning to the original key.
“Love is Blue,” originally composed by Andre Popp and Pierre Cour, started off its life as Luxembourg’s entry in the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest,” (Stereogum). Several versions charted over the years, “but the version of the song that really hit … was the one that French easy listening composer Paul Mauriat released the following year.”
MotD regular contributor JB calls Paul Mauriat’s “Love is Blue” (1968) “… a perfect encapsulation of the zeitgeist of the mid-60s. At the same time that the Rolling Stones were recording truly transgressive stuff like ‘Under My Thumb,’ there were still large and enthusiastic audiences for weekly variety shows like Lawrence Welk and The Grand Ole Opry. Mauriat’s arrangement manages to simultaneously include both a beautiful harpsichord melody and cheesy strings and horns.”
Starting in A minor, the tune’s progresses through two verses before reaching the chorus, which shifts to A major at 0:54 after a dynamic huge buildup previewing the major key at 0:51. The pattern continues from there.
“Herman Griffin was a dynamic live performer who would wow audiences with his outrageous physical dances; his jumps, splits, somersaults and back-flips not only captivated the crowds in the predominantly white clubs he played, but also caught the attention of Berry Gordy, who wrote a song for him in 1958 (‘I Need You’).” (Motown Junkies). “Gordy also provided an ‘in’ for Griffin to cut another single with Berry’s big sister Gwen’s label Anna Records in 1959 (at the time, a bigger and more successful label than Tamla or Motown), and finally produced and released this single on Tamla in 1960.
… Griffin turns in a likeable enough slice of late-Fifties rock ‘n’ roll, with some excellent guitar work courtesy of composer Don Davis, later Johnny Taylor’s intuitive producer at Stax and Columbia … The song is poorly produced – as happened with Smokey Robinson on the first version of the Miracles’ Shop Around, his delivery is too forceful and too loud for the primitive recording technology available in Hitsville Studio A to cope, causing massive amounts of hiss and distortion. Either that, or he was just far too close to the microphone. … Griffin would go on to record one more Motown single, Sleep (Little One), in 1962, spending two more years as part of the label’s live show setup … “
Starting in Bb major, the 1962 track shifts to the relative G minor for the bridge between 1:10 – 1:33. Then just like that, this early Motown-era miniature is over, with a total run time of only 2:13!
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