June 2024 Connections Mix Tape
The Connie Francis and Missy Elliot: June 2024 Connections Mix Tape can be found on Spotify. Listen in-blog below for a more rich experience, or on Spotify for uninterrupted music. Please note below each song is a link to song lyrics for accessibility. Check out more details on how to best enjoy mix tapes.
Good day and welcome to the June 2024 Connections Mix Tape – featuring connected tunes from Connie Francis, Missy Elliot, Boney M., and more!
I am DJ Ponyboy and I am beyond thrilled that you are joining me today!
Without further ado, here is Connie Francis, kicking us off with the theme song to the 1961 movie of the same name and Francis’ motion picture acting debut – “Where the Boys Are” on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
“Where the Boys Are” – that’s where I like to be! Happy Pride to me! 😉
Written by Howard Greenfield with Neil Sedaka, who stated it is the only one of his 700-plus songs composed without any intent of singing it himself.
As it was to be the theme song for a movie, the title was already set in stone. Greenfield was reported as saying it was a stupid title, protesting, “Who can write a song with a title like [that]?”
Well, write it they did, and the rest is history.
Changing lanes for just a moment, check out this song from only a few years earlier whose relevance will soon become apparent.
Here is Fats Domino with 1955’s “Ain’t That A Shame” on KMTJ-DB, Denver!
“Ain’t That A Shame”, written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew.
Set that tune aside for a moment as we connect back up to the Connie Francis song from earlier.
The same two men who wrote “Where the Boys Are” (Sedaka and Greenfield) also wrote this next tune.
Here is Captain and Tennille with “Love Will Keep Us Together”.
That song came out in 1979, and though a cover of a Neil Sedaka song from two years earlier, is the version that catapulted it to success and the one most people know.
Our next artist, Lloyd Price, had a breakout hit in 1952 with the tune “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” (credited as introducing the “New Orleans Sound”). That song was co-written with Dave Bartholomew, one of the co-writers responsible for the Fats Domino song we heard earlier (“Ain’t That A Shame”). See! I told you we would come back to it!
Another one of Price’s tunes – ranked #438 on the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time – is 1959’s “Personality” – listen closely to the rhythm of this track, known as a shuffle, as it is relevant to our next number.
I’m DJ Ponyboy and this is Lloyd Price on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
When I first heard that song, I misheard one of the lyrics as, “And plus you have a great big butt” (which I thought seemed a bit rude). I later learned it was, “great big HEART”! Boy was I relieved. 😅
A commonly misheard lyric is known as a mondegreen – I plan to release a mix tape soon containing a whole bunch of mondegreens with a little history besides. Stay tuned.😉
More Neil Sedaka – this time in his own voice instead of through someone else – inspired by the shuffle rhythm of Price’s “Personality”. Can you hear the similarities?
Here is 1960’s “Calendar Girl” on KMTJ-DB, Denver.
“Calendar Girl”, written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield (remember them?) the songwriting duo responsible for “Where the Boys Are” and “Love Will Keep Us Together”.
Eruption was a disco act active from 1969 to 1985, best known for their popular covers of two songs: Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand the Rain” and Neil Sedaka‘s “One Way Ticket”.
Here is Eruption with their 1979 cover of “One Way Ticket” on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
That song came out in 1979, as a cover of a Sedaka tune released in 1959 (interestingly, not written by Sedaka), and released as the B-side to “Oh! Carol”. That would be like a band today covering a song from 2004 and making it significantly more popular than it was the first time around.
The same person who produced the band Eruption was also responsible for producing Boney M. and Milli Vanilli. 😬
You may recognize our next tune from several viral videos and regular rotation in the background of short-form videos on TikTok, Instagram, and the like.
Our next song borrows from the tune we will hear after it and the tune that song was inspired by.
I’m DJ Ponyboy and this is Boney M. with their relatively historically accurate tune about the Russian mystic, “Rasputin”.
“Oh, those Russians!”
That quote is a direct reference to our next song.
Eartha Kitt was an American singer and actress best known for her distinctive style of singing.
Younger listeners may best recognize Kitt as the voice of Yzma in the 2000 Disney film The Emperor’s New Groove. Her voice acting performance in that movie is a sort of caricature of this caricature of Eartha herself.
Released in 1953, selling 120,000 copies, “Uska Dara” is based on a traditional Turkish song called “Katibim”.
While drawing valid criticism for its exoticization of Turkish culture and apparent mispronunciation of a beautiful language, this version is the inspiration for the Boney M. track we just heard and is CLASSIC Eartha Kitt which is why I included it here.
I urge you to go listen to some of the beautiful recordings of “Katibim” – the traditional Turkish song this tune was based on – performed by native Turks. I will leave links in the blog.
- Katibim (Ayla Çelik, Belma Şahin)
- Üsküdar’a Gider İken – Katibim (Ezgi Köker)
- Katibim (Esma Basburg, Yaprek Sayar)
Eartha Kitt with “Uska Dara” on KMTJ-DB, Denver.
There are so many related and overlapping tracks that I was unable to squeeze into this mix tape.
Like Eruption’s 1978 cover of this next track. And Tina Turner’s cover, included on the 1985 album Private Dancer.
You can find those tracks and more collected in one bonus playlist. This isn’t the only bonus playlist either; other mix tapes have associated bonus playlists too!
Access to all bonus playlists can be had for as little as $17 per month through our Patreon tiers of Beat Backer and above. Follow the link at the bottom of any page on our website.
The distinctive “raindrop” sound of this next track was created using what was (at the time) a novel new instrument called an electric timbale.
With her 1973 track (ranked #197 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list), here is Ann Peebles with “I Can’t Stand the Rain” on KMTJ-DB, Denver.
Ann Peebles with 1973’s “I Can’t Stand the Rain”.
Our next and final tune from 1997 samples that track – particularly the distinctive electric timbale sound.
Missy Elliot, though active in groups throughout the 1990s, burst onto the scene in 1997 with her debut solo album Supa Dupa Fly.
I am DJ Ponyboy and this is Missy Elliot with “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
“Beep beep! Who got the keys to the Jeep?”
That line reminds me of a track by Justus Boyz, a gay men’s underwear brand that released a promotional CD of music. They had a number called “Ridin’ In My Jeep” and as I recall the only lyrics to the song were, “Boop boop, beep beep, ridin’ in my Jeep”.
I’ve added a new page to my website cataloguing this and other albums that are not available on streaming platforms. Visit the Mix Tape Journey website and click on Physical Media at the top; I will be adding albums as I encounter them.
Before I leave you, a quick recap of our musical journey today.
We began with Connie Francis and “Where the Boys Are”.
That song was written by Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka, as well as “Love Will Keep Us Together” (we heard Captain and Tennille’s cover of that tune), and “Calendar Girl”, sung by Sedaka himself.
“Calendar Girl” was inspired by Lloyd Price’s “Personality”. Price came to popularity with his tune “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”, co-written with Dave Bartholomew; Bartholomew also co-wrote “Ain’t That a Shame”, a hit for Fats Domino.
One of disco act Eruption’s best-known numbers is their cover of Neil Sedaka’s “One Way Ticket”.
The same individual who produced Eruption also produced Boney M. We heard Boney M’s track “Rasputin”, and the tune that inspired it, Eartha Kitt’s “Uska Dara”.
The other tune Eruption is best-known for is their cover of “I Can’t Stand the Rain” – we heard the original by Ann Peebles.
That song was sampled for Missy Elliot’s 1997 song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”.
Please reference the image at the bottom of this blog for more clarity.
Thank you so much for joining me on this funtabulous musical journey through time and space.
I’m DJ Ponyboy. Stay gold.
