Brian's Music Musings

As mentioned in my last post, the Rosie project is in full gear. They have also added a couple of CD's to the mix that will be available at the show. I'm sure they will be available on-line soon. It's a great event, and has a high level of energy behind it.

I interviewd Al Sanchez last week and will air that interview towards the end of July. He and the Story Tellers have a great doo wop song they recorded for Rosie, and I can email you a MP3, just let me know. Considering the line-up, the ticket prices are more than reasonable and it goes to helping Rosie Hamlin in paying medical bills in her continuing fight with fibromyalgia.

In the continuing saga of Internet radio and the impending July 15th doom?, many internet radio stations will go dark on Tuesday June 26th. Some of the big name stations include Live 365, Yahoo, KCRW, KQLZ, and what I expect to be hundreds if not thousands more. It will send a message and make a point, but will it be enough? The general attitude is that all the internet stations are just waiting for a stay and eventual reversal of the current ruling. Will it happen?

The Red Coats, the Colts, or the Grundy Brothers? Which one was it that had the 45 on Delco called Oh When You Touch Me/I Never Knew. If you answered all three, you are correct. And, if you answered that there were three 45's that each had one of those names listed, with the same songs, you are also correct. My latest aquesition was a copy showing the Grundy Brothers, with a small title underneath "The Red Coats". Until this point, I thought just the other two had been issued. I can't imagine there would be a 4th. Now, all I have to do is figure out the order of release.

Kathy Zee is planning to open a website that will have autographed pictures, key chains, t-shirts, etc. Besides the interest in Kathy and her music in the USA, there is tremendous appreciation in Europe. I will let you know when it opens.

In the continuing gathering of information for the Rebels page, I just finished an interview with Aldo Brozzettii of the Russ Hallett Trio. I tried to cover several things that were not talked about in my interview with Russ Hallett. I'm looking at the end of June for those updates and interviews to be available. I never thought I would cover such controversial topic. Then again, it's not controversial at all to Hallett, Brozzetti, and Mickey Kipler.

Seems like I will need to start creating a misc. page. I run across so many things that would be fun to show, but are certainly not worthy of a page by themselves. Most are not a huge deal, but just are interesting to record collectors and historians. I have seen a bunch of the compact 33's that feature Sam Cooke, the Browns, Neil Sedaka and Rod Lauren. I am now wondering how many different covers they came with? The latest one I have has verbiage for Dr. West's Germ Fighter Toothbrush. Hmm.

Remember all those twist records of the early 60s? It seems like 1000's of them came out. Especially those generic LP's. They had some group you never heard of, but had an interesting picture to try and get you to purchase it. So many of them were cheesy, and not worth much. Many big stars issued a twist LP, just to get in on it. Sometimes they were old songs just re-titled. I found a 45 called the Southwest Bowl Twist, and it is definitely cheesy. The label lists it as "Instrumental with vocal". It has 2 instrumental breaks, and the last one is really pretty good. It takes it to the end of the record. The group is called the Southwest Trio. Does anyone have information on this group? Oh - what appears to be the "A" side, is a "song" called "We Call It LA.

My next interview scheduled is with Al Sanchez of the Storytellers. They made just one record, but some of the most interesting stories come from groups that just had one or two records that were released.

As mentioned in my last blog, there is a benefit for Rosie Hamlin on July 8th, at PEARSON PARK AMPHITHEATRE in Anaheim, CA. Check out this link to see the great lineup:

I had an entertaining discussion by telephone with Russ Hallett of the Russ Hallett trio. They are the guys that created the first jingle for Tom Shannon's show on WKBW. Though I am working on a website update to my Rockin Rebels page, it may not be done until the end of this month. This interview combined with the Mickey Kipler interview, certainly paint a different story than most people are used to. I am planning to have the Kipler interview on my radio show June 23rd.

Another take on the soundexchange fiasco, and projections of how much money they stand to make is here. And yet another (short) article that is very interesting. It makes you realize the power of Soundexchange over all artists.

I have to do a little research on Roy Tann. He has a distinctive voice, and besides Isabella, he made a few other records including Hot Rod Queen and Your Drivers License Please. His first record was on the Tan label before Dot picked it up. I wonder if there were others on a different label besides Dot? I just show those three on Dot.

I came up with a somewhat different design of the Scarlet label. For my website, the Crescendos had two records on the label. Strange Love/Let's Take A walk is on a white and red label, instead of the red and black colors as show on my Crescendos page. I will add that one soon.

This just in: A show is being put together for the benefit of Rosie Hamlin of Rosie and the originals. It is scheduled for July 8th at Pearson park in Anaheim from 5 pm to 8 or 9 with acts like Jewel Akens, Tony Allen, Virgil Johnson of the Velvets, Jimmy Pipkin of the Gallahads, Al Wilson, Thee Midniters and many more. The Storytellers have released a recording called "Rosie" as a tribute to her, and I am trying to get my hands on a copy.