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Post by Kapitan on Oct 29, 2024 19:31:50 GMT
And yet, ironically, you started this thread.  No problem, it's something to talk about.With few exceptions, melodies just get old and boring after you're heard them 100 or more times. It's a weird thing though. While many songs I used to really like have grown stale, others I never used to like have started to sound good. I could give countless examples of the former, so I won't bother, but the latter are fewer. Some examples: Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition' - way overplayed on the radio back in the day and I despised it. In more recent years, it's grown on me. The Three Degrees' 'When Will I See You Again' - same as above, lots of airplay and never did anything for me, but in recent years I've really come to like it. Stealers Wheel's 'Stuck In The Middle With You' - see above. Hot Chocolate's 'Every 1's A Winner' - see above. I actually don't remember exactly why I started the thread, but quite possibly just because I realized there were nearly 70 years' worth of Hot 100 No. 1s and I was ignorant of most of them, either that they were No. 1s or about the songs entirely. Just a self-education and some entertainment. Definitely, songs' appeals change over time, too. Sometimes it's over-familiarity or relative freshness, sometimes it's our own tastes. After all, I was a Beach Boys hater until I hit 22 or so, and that's just one of my bigger flip-flops.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 2, 2024 12:43:55 GMT
I've heard "Hey! Baby" a million times over the years, and I always had this mental picture of a soul or R&B singer from somewhere down south (Texas is pretty south I guess  ). So, again, I learned something with this thread. "Hey! Baby" is a classic oldie, AM radio gold. I consider Bruce Channel a one-hit wonder, but I gotta give him credit for his persistence with his future songwriting success. And, I always get a kick out of reading about how these touring musicians literally crossed paths - and who knows how each influenced each other, even a little bit. You never know. Bruce Channel is still with us; he turns 84 in a couple of weeks.
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 2, 2024 19:45:56 GMT
Actually, I'm quite enjoying this thread, going back and listening to a lot of songs that are forgotten today. There came a point somewhere where the rock histories only focused on hard rock; maybe a token tip of the hat to the early stars like Elvis, but mostly, just hard rock. Hendrix, Who, Stones, Floyd, Zep (and somehow the Fabs are thrown into that mix, even though they did "bubblegum" (ha ha) songs like I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Please Please Me, Love Me Do. I wanna hear Jimi do a take on She Loves You..."she loves me, right out of my mind, ya'll, hey, sock it to me"...or Pink Floyd do a version of All My Loving...slowed down to 16 RPM, with lots of spacey effects thrown in.
So yeah, songs like Mr. Custer and Flying Purple Eater might not be things I would choose to spin most days, but at least they haven't burned through the grooves of those records on classic rock radio (it's guaranteed that on any drive with my brother, I'm going to hear Burnin for You, Don't Fear the Reaper, Hotel California, Life in the Fast Lane, Runnin with the Devil, Highway to Hell, Black Dog, ...).
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 3, 2024 11:46:05 GMT
Actually, I'm quite enjoying this thread, going back and listening to a lot of songs that are forgotten today. Glad to hear it. I'm enjoying doing it, too, though the research required for each new No. 1 means sometimes I have taken a while between tunes, just depending on when I've got the time and interest to do the next one. But while I haven't liked anywhere near all the chart-toppers, it feels good to become more educated about them. Like I'd said before, there are quite a few I'd never even heard before, as far as I know.
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 3, 2024 20:29:26 GMT
Actually, I'm quite enjoying this thread, going back and listening to a lot of songs that are forgotten today. Glad to hear it. I'm enjoying doing it, too, though the research required for each new No. 1 means sometimes I have taken a while between tunes, just depending on when I've got the time and interest to do the next one. But while I haven't liked anywhere near all the chart-toppers, it feels good to become more educated about them. Like I'd said before, there are quite a few I'd never even heard before, as far as I know. Take all the time you need. I'm not going anywhere.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 14, 2024 20:17:55 GMT
”Don’t Break the Heart that Loves You,” by Connie Francis
March 31, 1962 (1 week)
Benny Davis, born in 1895, got his professional start as a 16-year-old, when he left his family’s home in Portland via steamship for San Francisco. He lost most of his possessions and money to card sharks on the trip, but landed a singing gig upon his arrival in the Bay. Davis was an old-style, vaudevillian entertainer: a singer, a dancer, a promoter. He became a songwriter, an A&R man. He was a founding member of the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP), which collects and distributes royalties. And he wrote 22 million-selling songs.
Murray Mencher wasn’t quite so old—he was born in 1898. Another Tin Pan Alley type, he wrote music for crooners and big bands: Scott Fisher and His Orchestra; Bob Crosby and His Orchestra; Red McKenzie and His Rhythm Kings; Fats Waller; Kay Kyser; and Jimmy Dorsey. In 1935, he cowrote “Merrily We Roll Along,” which became the theme song for Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes cartoons.
What do these relatively old men (by 1960s pop music standards) have to do with the Hot 100 in the spring of 1962? They were hired by Francis to compose for her publishing company, Francon Music Corp., providing her with material blending more traditional songwriting styles with contemporary sounds.
The duo—with Mencher using the pseudonym Ted Murry—wrote the country ballad “Don’t Break the Heart that Loves You” for Francis, which she recorded in November 1961. (The same session produced the No. 10 hit “When the Boy in Your Arm (is the Boy in Your Heart)” and its B-side, another Davis-Mencher composition, the No. 26 “Baby’s First Christmas.”)
“Don’t Break the Heart that Loves You” features a double-tracked Francis lead vocal dueting with herself in two-part harmony.
It became her third, and final, No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. As was often the case for Francis, she made a point of catering to international audiences, as well, with the German version of the song, “Tu mir nicht weh” hitting No. 2 on their charts and versions released in Italian, Spanish, and Japanese.
Francis maintained a strong recording career in America throughout the early ‘60s, although the singles went from regularly making the Top 10 in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, to the Top 40 in the early to mid ‘60s, to the latter spots of the Top 100 by the mid ‘60s.
She continued a practice she’d begun early in her career, which was capitalizing on international markets. Even as her record sales declined in the U.S., she recorded in other languages for foreign markets. She also regularly recorded what could be called concept albums: songs focused on genres, ethnic backgrounds, or styles. …Sings Italian Favorites, Rock ’n’ Roll Million Sellers, …Sings Fun Songs For Children, …Sings Folk Song Favorites, …Sings Irish Favorites, …Sings Award Winning Motion Picture Hits … you get the idea.
Throughout, she also continued to perform live, both domestically and abroad.
Tragedy struck Francis repeatedly beginning in the ’70s. In 1974, in New York to perform at a festival, she was raped in her hotel room. The perpetrator was never found, though Francis won a lawsuit against the hotel chain (Howard Johnson’s) for insufficient security. Three years later, she underwent nasal surgery and was unable to sing for a period of several years. In 1981, her brother was killed in what she called a mafia hit. And while she returned to the stage in the early ‘80s, she soon was diagnosed with manic depression, resulting in being institutionalized several times and at least one suicide attempt, in 1984.
In the late 1980s, she returned to her music career, which continued (albeit with less frequent recordings and performances) through the late 2010s. In total, Francis has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making her not just one of the most successful female singers ever, but recording artists ever. She has also written several best-selling autobiographies and had a film career, primarily in the early 1960s.
Connie Francis is 86 years old.
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Post by kds on Nov 14, 2024 21:15:14 GMT
I've always heard the name Connie Francis, but I don't think I ever seeked out any of her music. And, I don't think this song really makes me want to. This actually sounds pretty dated, even by 1962 standards.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 14, 2024 21:41:24 GMT
I've always heard the name Connie Francis, but I don't think I ever seeked out any of her music. And, I don't think this song really makes me want to. This actually sounds pretty dated, even by 1962 standards. I guess a song written by two Tin Pan Alley vets, one a 64-year-old and one a 67-year-old, will do that for a pop song. And Connie Francis definitely seemed to lean into something like we'd even call adult contemporary or something from an early age. She was only about 25 when this was released, but she was using older songwriters, doing older songs, etc., as opposed to the more teen-oriented rock and roll and pop you'd expect on the Hot 100.
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Post by jk on Nov 14, 2024 22:46:13 GMT
”Don’t Break the Heart that Loves You,” by Connie Francis
March 31, 1962 (1 week) Thanks for this, Cap'n. It reminds me a lot of Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry" of two years earlier. I agree it sounds dated, perhaps with the thought in mind that both The Beach Boys and The Beatles would debut in the top twenty in their respective countries mere months later. All that said, anything with chugging piano triplets, soaring violins and a spoken section is pretty much okay in my book.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 14, 2024 22:56:07 GMT
”Don’t Break the Heart that Loves You,” by Connie Francis
March 31, 1962 (1 week) Thanks for this, Cap'n. It reminds me a lot of Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry" of two years earlier. I agree it sounds dated, perhaps with the thought in mind that both The Beach Boys and The Beatles would debut in the top twenty in their respective countries mere months later. All that said, anything with chugging piano triplets, soaring violins and a spoken section is pretty much okay in my book. Whereas anything with a spoken section is pretty much thrown out of my book entirely. (Though I like the rest of the song.)
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Rob
The Surfer Moon
Posts: 215 
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Post by Rob on Nov 15, 2024 0:33:17 GMT
I've always heard the name Connie Francis, but I don't think I ever seeked out any of her music. And, I don't think this song really makes me want to. This actually sounds pretty dated, even by 1962 standards. Although I've heard more than just her name, I pretty much agree with your points. Her other songs all pretty much follow this formula. A bit too whiney for me.
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Post by jk on Nov 15, 2024 10:12:23 GMT
Thanks for this, Cap'n. It reminds me a lot of Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry" of two years earlier. I agree it sounds dated, perhaps with the thought in mind that both The Beach Boys and The Beatles would debut in the top twenty in their respective countries mere months later. All that said, anything with chugging piano triplets, soaring violins and a spoken section is pretty much okay in my book. (Though I like the rest of the song.) Ha yes, you've said this before! Well, we agree to disagree.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 15, 2024 12:01:59 GMT
Whereas anything with a spoken section is pretty much thrown out of my book entirely. (Though I like the rest of the song.) Ha yes, you've said this before! Well, we agree to disagree. What if I disagree to disagree!? Then we'd really be at an impasse. 
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Post by jk on Nov 15, 2024 12:40:19 GMT
Ha yes, you've said this before! Well, we agree to disagree. What if I disagree to disagree!? Then we'd really be at an impasse. Yes, that would complicate things enormously. 
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 15, 2024 12:41:58 GMT
Listening again to this, I actually do like the song (minus the spoken bit). I could take or leave the strings, but overall it's good. I think Francis sings it really well, and the overdubbed harmony is a very nice touch.
Thinking about her career overall, it seems like Francis was quite a businesswoman, though it seems to have cost her "cool points." Even as a young woman, she was catering to all these niche and international markets, doing music for every possible audience, not catering to a rock and roll or even a country audience, but just a little of everything. Of course, maybe she wasn't "cool" to begin with. She was a vocal Nixon supporter just six years after this song, while she was about 30 or 31, so it's not as if she was at the cutting edge of coolness.
But between the international strategy, owning her own publishing very early on, and marketing specifically to niche markets, she obviously had her shit together.
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No problem, it's something to talk about.
). So, again, I learned something with this thread. "Hey! Baby" is a classic oldie, AM radio gold. I consider Bruce Channel a one-hit wonder, but I gotta give him credit for his persistence with his future songwriting success. And, I always get a kick out of reading about how these touring musicians literally crossed paths - and who knows how each influenced each other, even a little bit. You never know. Bruce Channel is still with us; he turns 84 in a couple of weeks.
