Before They Were Stars: Carly Simon

You know Carly Simon as a legendary singer/songwriter of the '70s. But not many people outside of her most devoted fans know her recording career began several years before her signing with Elektra and her massive pop hits like "You're So Vain", "Anticipation" and "That's The Way I Always Heard It Should Be". A streak what would continue well into the 1980s

The Simon Sisters were Carly Simon and her lesser known sister Lucy. They were regulars in the New England folk circuit in the early 1960s and caught the attention of Kapp Records, then one of the larger independent labels in the US.

Meet The Simon Sisters (later retitled Winkin' Blinkin' and Nod after the first single from the LP which became a minor hit.) (Kapp, 1964)

Listen Here.

This LP was followed up later that year with Cuddlebug.

Listen Here

This would be the last Simon Sisters LP until 1969. But the folk scene of that time was beginning to change with more challenging, socially conscious lyrics and Kapp Records had been sold to MCA. They returned in 1969 with an LP for Columbia; The Simon Sisters Sing The Lobster Quadrille and Other Songs for Children.

But the sisters brand of traditional and kid friendly folk was being overshadowed by harder edge acts. Their 1969 Columbia LP was reissued in 1973 as Carly & Lucy Simon Sing Songs for Children shortly after Carly Simon had her breakthrough hit "You're So Vain". (it was retitled to avoid confusion with Simon's pop albums.)

These LPs would remain without a reissue for over three decades until 2006 when the Kapp LPs were reissued for the first time on a single CD. Followed in 2008 by the reissue of Carly & Lucy Simon Sing Songs for Children.

Canfield's Diet Peanut Fudge Soda, 1989

Special thanks goes out to reader/contributor Peter Laurence of Camarillo, CA for this shocking find - PEANUT fudge flavoured soda?

"Here are some pictures...First, there's the can. The rest is for Geeks of different types.  You've got the ingredients, the NutraSweet label (The patent on aspartame expired, but it still exists.) and the bar code.  I tried the code on my QR reader, and it comes up unknown.

The can is unopened, but the contents have evaporated over time.  It is about 1/3 full."

All photos courtesy of Peter Laurence.

Also see:  Chocolate Flavoured Soda

Side One: Rock 80 (K-Tel 1980)

This is unquestionably my FAVOURITE K-tel album.....Every song a classic. Enjoy!

Side 1 of 'Rock 80'

Lazy Susan AM Radio

"Hooked On Classics" The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (K-Tel/RCA, 1981)

When you think of classical music, K-Tel isn't exactly the first name that comes to mind.

K-Tel, as everyone knows, was the purveyor of microgroove albums of all the pop hits that's print to fit. So what was K-Tel doing messing around with classical music?

The story begins in the UK at the height of the Stars On 45 fad. Louis Clark, former arranger of Electric Light Orchestra had an idea of making a similar medley album, using recognizable pieces of classical music linked together with a disco beat. He thought it could re-energize the classical genre the way the Stars On 45 helped re-energize the Beatles catalog for a new generation. He found an unlikely supporter and partner in K-Tel UK.

UK pressing of Hooked On Classics

However this was far from the first time someone got the idea of blending classical music with contemporary pop music. Since the dawn of pop, classical melodies were used as the framework for many pop songs. Classically styled orchestras called 'Pops' (or "Light") orchestras often made full orchestrated versions of pop music and were staples in the easy listening radio format. Arthur Fiedler and John Williams were the best known conductors of pops orchestras.. The 1960s and '70s were a huge time of classical fusion with pop and rock. Beginning with Simon & Garfunkel, The Moody Blues and various experimental albums using classically styled arrangements of pop hits led to the progressive rock era. And from there, disco was added ("A Fifth of Beethoven" Walter Murphy from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack was the '70s most famous example. Even leading an aging Arthur Fiedler into the disco age.)

While classical purists loudly condemned this practice, it's worth noting that there was a side benefit. Classical music even then was largely dying as fewer young people were exposed to the music. These albums, for all their campiness and unconventional approaches did introduce classical elements to a newer generation. It may not be your grandpa's classical music, but they illustrated what could be done with it in contemporary music. If they only got that far it was worth it as classical music, while still an increasingly obscure genre and long vanished off commercial radio, is still very much alive and it's influence still occasionally pops up now and then in contemporary pop and rock music.

Hooked On Classics was released in the UK and became a phenomenal smash hit. However in the US, K-Tel needed to get this out to real record stores, as most of K-Tel's product was sold in discount stores. And to the radio stations. RCA had all these connections. So they arranged a distribution deal through RCA Records in the US.

 This is K-Tel's only originally produced US Top 40 hit single, making it to #10 in February of 1982.

Hooked On Classics spawned two sequel albums, each selling far less than the first in 1982 and 1983.