D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities
Episodes
Sunday Jun 07, 2020
Paul Williams.
Sunday Jun 07, 2020
Sunday Jun 07, 2020
Carpenters - The Rainbow Connection (1981) Ronnie Tutt, the drummer in Elvis' TCB Band of the '70s, played on this.
Charo - Love Boat Theme (1978)
Charo's husband shot himself. Why? He looked so happy.
Brotherhood of Man - Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born) (1981)
The Intruders - Rainy Days and Mondays (1975) As the first group to score hits with the songwriting/production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, the Intruders played a major role in the rise of Philadelphia soul, but are sometimes lost in the shuffle amid better-known acts like the O’Jays or Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. The Intruders were originally formed as a doo-wop group in 1960, and sang around Philadelphia for several years. Lead singer Sam “Little Sonny” Brown, Eugene “Bird” Daughtry, Phil Terry, and Robert “Big Sonny” Edwards signed with Gamble and Huff’s fledgling Gamble label in 1966. They scored a Top 20 R&B hit that year with “(We’ll Be) United,” and followed it up a year later with “Together,” as well as their first album, The Intruders Are Together. 1968, though, was the Intruders‘ breakthrough year: “Cowboys to Girls,” a template for what would become Philly soul’s trademark sound, topped the R&B charts and climbed to number six on the pop side, giving the group their biggest hit. The follow-up, “(Love Is Like A) Baseball Game,” was their only other Top 40 pop hit, and the accompanying LP, Cowboys to Girls, wound up their most popular.Gamble and Huff’s success with the Intruders helped convince Columbia to grant them the money to launch Philadelphia International, which became the most successful soul label of the early ’70s.
Judy Collins - The Rainbow Connection (1980)
Mel Tormé and Buddy Rich - I Won't Last a Day Without You (1978)
Paul Williams - A Little On The Windy Side (1979)
Paul Williams - Here's Another Fine Mess (1979)
Archie Hahn and the Juicy Fruits - Goodbye Eddie, Goodbye (1974) From the film Phantom of the Paradise.
Paul Williams - The Hell Of It (1974) From the film Phantom of the Paradise.
The Nightmare - Riverbottom Nightmare Band (1977) "We don't wish to learn, but we hate what we don't understand..." Sounds like someone I know. Written by our boy.
The Sandpipers - An Old Fashioned Love Song (1971)
Telly Savalas - You And Me Against The World (1974)
The Holy Mackerel - The Secret Of Pleasure (1968)
The Holy Mackerel - Wildflowers (1968) Nothing says psychedelic like a sitar and Leslie vocals. All innovations of The Beatles. Paul Williams would not exist without Paul McCartney.
The Monkees - Someday Man (1969) Here's an interesting article about this single.
Rolling Stones - Drift Away (1974) Not written by Paul Williams, but his brother Mentor Williams. Why did Mick Jagger sing this with that strange affect?
Kris Kristofferson - Watch Closely Now (1976) From the movie 'A Star is Born'. I think Paul Williams' version of rock is pretty strange. Same chords and progressions.
Freddie Allen - We've Only Just Begun (1970) This version pre-dated the one by Carpenters. Freddie Allen was a pseudonym for Allen "Smokey" Roberds, a friend of co-writer Roger Nichols, who i've featured many times on the show. He was a chiropractor in Fayetteville, AR, so if you need some work done in 1995.... I don't know when this interview was done, or which breed of monkey coded it, but if you put on your specs, you can read this interview.
John Travolta - What Would They Say (1977) Theme from "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble". From his second album, "Can't Let You Go". I told you that story.
?? - Berlin Berlin
Les Humphries Singers -Suzanne (1973)
Les Humphries Singers - Dancing Queen (1976)
Renaissance - Can You Understand (1973)