Sunday, August 31, 2008
Pastels,Aquatones,Vince Castro
I always liked the Pastels song "Been So Long". It's a great ballad that got to number 24 on the Billboard pop charts in 1958. Two releases later they had a song called "So Far Away" which is every bit as good. In fact, I like it even more. It didn't see Billboard action, but was a wonderful 45 and hit many local charts. The Pastels included Dee Irvin and were not the same group that recorded on the United label. "Been So Long" was recorded for the Hull records subsidiary, Mascot. Once it started flying off the shelves, they leased it to the Chess subsidiary, Argo records. Since you seem to only hear top 10 records on oldies stations these days, this record is one I call a long lost oldie on my radio show. It never used to be that way!
What should be the last CD of vintage Aquatones material will be out for sale soon. Relic records in Hackensack NJ started this "whole thing" when they issued an LP of Aquatones recordings in the 1980's. As a collectors note, they pressed some on red vinyl with a blue cover, and the normal black wax with a green cover. They also sold a CD in the 1990's with one minor problem. They included a few takes that were unreleased, yet didn't note it on the CD. They may not have realized what they did. The latest CD rectifies that, and takes it a step further. It includes the records the Aquatones sang back-up on which includes Vinnie Monte and Bob E. Lee (No relation). There is also some demo's, LP cuts and songs from an obscure cassette. Good liner notes help you sort out what you are listening to. It is on the Vinyl Reproductions label, catalog number 3001. Look for it soon!
I finally obtained a stock copy of the Vince Castro song "Too Proud To Cry", and will update my website soon. In fact I have now seen three of them for sale within a month. Up to this point, I had seen maybe 8 or 9 promos and just one stock copy. This makes me feel that there are still more promos than regular releases as a general rule. What I often wonder is why the record was not successful. It had some of the same elements as Bong Bong without sounding like it. It's a great record that was certainly more worthy. I suppose there were a lot of those "worthy" records that never got the attention they deserved.Vince Castro is still alive and well, and is singing! You can see/hear some of the new songs for Vince, on Youtube.
What should be the last CD of vintage Aquatones material will be out for sale soon. Relic records in Hackensack NJ started this "whole thing" when they issued an LP of Aquatones recordings in the 1980's. As a collectors note, they pressed some on red vinyl with a blue cover, and the normal black wax with a green cover. They also sold a CD in the 1990's with one minor problem. They included a few takes that were unreleased, yet didn't note it on the CD. They may not have realized what they did. The latest CD rectifies that, and takes it a step further. It includes the records the Aquatones sang back-up on which includes Vinnie Monte and Bob E. Lee (No relation). There is also some demo's, LP cuts and songs from an obscure cassette. Good liner notes help you sort out what you are listening to. It is on the Vinyl Reproductions label, catalog number 3001. Look for it soon!
I finally obtained a stock copy of the Vince Castro song "Too Proud To Cry", and will update my website soon. In fact I have now seen three of them for sale within a month. Up to this point, I had seen maybe 8 or 9 promos and just one stock copy. This makes me feel that there are still more promos than regular releases as a general rule. What I often wonder is why the record was not successful. It had some of the same elements as Bong Bong without sounding like it. It's a great record that was certainly more worthy. I suppose there were a lot of those "worthy" records that never got the attention they deserved.Vince Castro is still alive and well, and is singing! You can see/hear some of the new songs for Vince, on Youtube.
