RIP Joan Rivers

What Becomes A (Semi) Legend Most? (Geffen, 1983)

 

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

"Emily's Illness" Nora Guthrie (Mercury, 1967)

Listen

It's needless to say a song with "illness" in the title probably doesn't get much pop radio airplay. And "Emily's Illness" certainly didn't. Certainly not in The Summer of Love, when musically you had West Coast acid-rock, Brit-pop and Motown ruling the charts. But this song was far ahead of it's time.

Nora Guthrie is the daughter of Woody Guthrie (and the sister of Arlo, singer of the perennial Thanksgiving Day classic "Alice's Restaurant Massacree".) She was 17 years old when she recorded this. There's an incredible back story to this song however.

And when you read the lyrics (written by her then boyfriend, Eric Eisner) you might even realize it could be the very first prototype "Goth" record. Granted, they didn't invent the genre, but this song probably opened the door to it.

Because there weren't any pop songs that lyrically dealt directly with the process of someone dying (of leukemia, I'm guessing) until "Emily's Illness". Death itself was still a pretty taboo topic in American pop music in 1967 and very few acts even indirectly mentioned it. To say nothing of the word "blood", which outside of "Young Blood" The Coasters and a mention in "Eve of Destruction" Barry McGuire, was hardly used is any non-religious pop song until 1967.

Nora Guthrie today is the curator of her father's musical legacy, overseeing various recording projects, re-releases and historical recordings, including a very early live Woody Guthrie album  called The Live Wire, which was recorded on magnetic wire.

 

"The Kwella Stroll" Lou Berrington & The African Kamp (Parkway,1966)

 

This song, "The Kwella Stroll" is the HILARIOUS B-Side of a tune called "The Kwella" (Which was actually a fad dance in 1966)

Just play this. All the way through... 

"Bay-Hay Bee Doll" The Swingers (JCPenney/RCA Custom, 1966)

A. "Bay-Hay Bee Doll" The Swingers

B. "Bay-Hay Bee Doll (Instrumental)" The Swingers (Links: WFMU's Beware Of The Blog )

Play this record at your own risk. Because once it gets inside your head, you can't get it out.

And in a surprisingly good way. The bass and drum playing are insanely catchy, if the lyrics and vocals are simply awful - even for an early bubblegum rock prototype, as this song seems to be.

This 45 was a complimentary extra with the purchase of it's latest colour-coordinated, polyester/cotton blend sportswear line, The Swingers. However I read on WFMU's page on this record that it was an extra with a doll called Bay-Hay Bee Doll. But I've never seen any evidence of this doll (and I really hope such an evil thing does not exist.)

If The Swingers sound familiar, bear in mind there were literally dozens of bands in 1965/1966 called The Swingers, or some variation (The Swingle Singers, The Swingin' Blue Jeans, The Swingin' Medallions, et al.) I'm guessing "swinger" also didn't quite have the sexual connotations at that time that it would be infamous for throughout the '70s.

The song was written by someone named Warren Parker. However, the musician roster on this track as well as any session information have been lost to time (or more likely, never kept. As it was considered a commercial marketing one-off and not a legitimate band.)  

"Dear Mr. Jesus" Sharon Batts & PowerSource (1986)

Listen here.

Oh no, it's another one of those damn child singer records. But on a more serious subject.

PowerSource were a Texas based Christian pop group. Like many acts in this genre, they were/are largely unknown outside these circles. And "Dear Mr. Jesus" is unquestionably a Christian themed song about child abuse, sung from the perspective of a 6 year old girl writing a letter to Jesus after seeing a TV news report of "a little girl beaten black and blue". Not only that, she confesses at the the end "Please don't tell my daddy, but my mommy hits me too."

Six year old Sharon Batts, the lead vocal on this song, wasn't the designated lead singer of the group. Just on this particular song. And thankfully, she wasn't physically abused.

This song almost became a Top 40 hit in 1987. CHR, Adult Contemporary, Country and of course, Christian radio stations were playing this in December of 1987 shortly after the track was added to the playlist of New York City's influential Z-100 and the song broke. A distribution deal was quickly secured, leading to a nationwide re-release of the song.

It was also timely, as the story of a little New York City girl named Lisa Steinberg made national headlines then after she died after being beaten by her adoptive father while he was under the influence of crack cocaine.

The song made #61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the charts for seven weeks.