April 2024 Connections Mix Tape
The Dr. Joe Early April 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! I’m DJ Ponyboy. Thank you for joining me on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, CO for my monthly Connections Mix Tape, as I follow where the music leads.
From 1972 to 1979, actor Bobby Troup played the part of Dr. Joe Early on the hit television show Emergency! How was Troup partially responsible for Fergie’s 2007 hit, “Clumsy”? While you’re thinking, here’s The Rolling Stones.
Isn’t it funny how the first version of a song you hear becomes the default or “original” in your mind that all other versions of the song are judged by? Even if the first version you heard was a cover?
I associate “Route 66” with The Rolling Stones, but they didn’t do it first. In fact, the tune is somewhat of a blues standard, having been covered by dozens of artists, including Chuck Berry.
We’ll come back to Dr. Early and “Route 66”, hearing Nat King Cole’s debut version later in the program, but first, let’s shift gears by listening to a seemingly unrelated cover.
“The Green Leaves of Summer” takes some of its text from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible and was written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster for the 1960 film The Alamo, starring John Wayne.
Recorded for the movie by American folk group The Brothers Four, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song but lost to a tune called Never On Sunday from a movie of the same name.
Peter and Gordon’s version is my favourite; I hope you enjoy.
Another song Paul Francis Webster co-wrote was “Baltimore Oriole”, a joint venture with Indiana’s legendary Hoagy Carmichael.
Carmichael, a prolific songwriter, is best known for composing the music to four of the most-recorded American songs of all time: “Stardust”, “Georgia on My Mind”, “The Nearness of You”, and “Heart and Soul”.
I think one of the most accessible versions of the very jazzy tune “Baltimore Oriole” is by Judy Henske.
Dubbed “the queen of the beatniks” by producer Jack Nitzsche, Judy Henske was an American singer and songwriter who debuted the song “High-Flying Bird”, which ended up being quite influential on the folk-rock genre.
We’ll listen to that tune another day, but now, please enjoy Judy Henske on KMTJ-DB Denver.
Judy Henske with her rendition of “Baltimore Oriole”, written by Paul Francis Webster and the great Hoagy Carmichael.
A song with the same title as one of Hoagy’s, but with a different songwriter, is Heart and Soul.
Originally recorded by Exile, a band known for 1978’s “Kiss You All Over”, it was also covered by The Bus Boys before finally being made popular by Huey Lewis and the News, which is the version most people know.
I had a hard time choosing which version of this song to play for you because they all sound nearly the same with not much originality. I believe a good cover should always add something new to the song – otherwise, why do it?
I went with the original because it was unique by being the first; I am disappointed that the Huey Lewis version that became popular didn’t add much if anything to the song.
That was Exile, with “Heart and Soul”, written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Those two are also responsible for Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz” (1973), and “Living Next Door to Alice”, a hit for the band Smokie in 1972.
Another Smokie song Chinn and Chapman wrote is probably my favourite of the band’s efforts, as it so eloquently puts into words the rage felt when someone compares their experience to yours, knowing nothing of your struggles.
I’m DJ Ponyboy. KMTJ-DB Denver.
That was “Wild Wild Angels”, by British band Smokie, from 1976.
Remember earlier when we heard Judy Henske’s rendition of “Baltimore Oriole”, and I said I thought it was one of the more accessible versions of the song? Well, now that you’re familiar with the tune, I’d like to share with you my favourite version.
Known primarily as an American bebop and cool jazz artist, Bob Dorough was also responsible for writing the song “Three Is a Magic Number”, as well as most of the Schoolhouse Rock songs.
Please enjoy how much fun Dorough has with this number, on your Mix Tape Journey.
From movie fare to classic jazz, Paul Francis Webster (who co-wrote that last song) has quite the range.
Add television themes to that repertoire, specifically the lyrics to the theme song for the 1967 TV show Spider-Man.
With their live rendition, it’s The Ramones on KMTJ-DB Denver.
While an accomplished band in their own right, the Ramones’ covers are some of their most fun offerings, primarily because you can feel the joy oozing out of the music – it’s clear they only cover songs they truly love and respect.
Another tune they covered is “Needles and Pins”, popularized by The Searchers when they took it to #1 in 1964, and also covered by Smokie in 1977.
Written by Sony Bono and Jack Nitzsche, it was first offered to Cher, who turned it down, opening the door for Jackie DeShannon to debut the tune in 1963.
Jack Nitzsche was a singer, songwriter, and musician responsible for a lot of hits in the 60’s and 70’s, working with Phil Spector to realize his famous “wall of sound” technique, and the same Nitzsche earlier quoted as dubbing Judy Henske “queen of the beatniks”.
In 1983, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for co-writing with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings the song “Up Where We Belong”, recorded by Jennifer Warnes and Joe Cocker, and featured in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman with Richard Gere and Debra Winger.
Sonny Bono is of course famous for his personal and professional relationship with Cher as well as his solo music efforts.
With the original version of this song, it’s Jackie DeShannon.
I hope you haven’t forgotten about Dr. Early. I know I haven’t.
I told you Bobby Troup was partially responsible for the 2007 Fergie song “Clumsy”, but he wasn’t the only one. Music is rarely a truly solo effort, and one of the ways artists can be involved in the music of other artists is through sampling.
According to Wikipedia, sampling is, “the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording. … They are usually integrated using electronic music instruments (samplers) or software such as digital audio workstations.”
One of the songs sampled by Fergie to help make her song pop was “The Bubble Bunch”, a 1982 tune from Jimmy Spicer, an early hip-hop artist.
Earlier we heard a song originally recorded by Jackie DeShannon and later popularized by The Searchers.
Well, here’s another. The Searchers with “When You Walk In The Room”, their version reaching #3 in 1964.
That was “When You Walk In The Room”, written and originally recorded by Jackie DeShannon.
A talented songwriter, she kept writing and recording songs that other people made famous, including this tune that spent nine non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981 when Kim Carnes covered it.
Written by Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss, it’s “Bette Davis Eyes” on KMTJ-DB, Denver.
That was “Bette Davis Eyes”, co-written by Donna Weiss. Another tune she co-wrote (this time with Bruce Roberts) was “When the Money’s Gone”.
Originally recorded by Roberts on his 1995 album Intimacy (with backing vocals by Elton John, and a remix by Kristine W.), my favorite version is this 2003 cover by Cher.
Another song Bruce Roberts was involved in is 1977’s “You’re Moving Out Today”, co-written with Carole Bayer Sager and Bette Midler.
Sager and Midler each released their own versions nearly simultaneously.
The first was Bette Midler’s, reaching #42 on the US Billboard Top 100 and #11 in the U.S. adult contemporary charts, followed closely by Sager’s, which reached #6 in the U.K. and #1 in Australia.
With the first of the many hits she wrote to also be performed by her, it’s Carole Bayer Sager with “You’re Moving Out Today”, here on KMTJ-DB – your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, CO.
We’re finally coming back to Dr. Joe.
Bobby Troup, who played the character of Dr. Joe Early, was also a jazz pianist, singer, and songwriter. He wrote the next two songs.
The first (“Route 66”), is the original version of the Stones cover we heard at the top of the tape, recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946.
The second is “The Girl Can’t Help It”, written for the 1956 rock ‘n’ roll film of the same name, starring Jane Mansfield in the title role. Included in the cast was Julie London, Troup’s second wife, who also acted next to him on Emergency! in the role of nurse Dixie McCall. That tune also referenced briefly in Sager’s “You’re Moving Out Today”.
That was Little Richard. I’m DJ Ponyboy. Thank you so much for joining me on this mix tape journey.
I had to leave out so much! I encourage you to go read more on anything I said that piqued your interest.
We also danced all over the place; to better understand how each of the songs were connected to each other, make sure to check out the diagram at the bottom of the blog post at mixtapejourney.com .
Fergie closing out our tape with “Clumsy”, sampling “The Girl Can’t Help It” and “The Bubble Bunch”.
Thank you for spending your time with me on KMTJ-DB – your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, CO.
I’m DJ Ponyboy. Stay gold.
