King Of The Blues

Al Berry

and The Furness Bros.

King Of The Blues

w &  m Max Dickman & Marilyn Israel

Melmar 115

1957

Only "featured" on the previous record on the same label — Furness Brothers Featuring Al Berry — Al Berry is promoted here as the main artist.  He was a member of the New Furness Brothers at least until the early sixties.

Businessman and songwriter Max Dickman started the Melmar label in Broomall, Pennsylvania, named after his son, Melvin, and his wife, Marilyn.  The first three releases on the label were by Bonnie Davis & The Piccadilly Pipers [See Marv Goldberg's website HERE)

 

Two Cats & A Mouse

Mickey Mandolin

Two Cats & A Mouse

Saunders, Jim Jon Music ASCAP

Arr. & conducted by Frank Hunter

Sabena Records S-1/2
1960

also issued as by Mickey Moreno

The flip, "Open Your Heart" was also issued on the Coed Records' subsidiary Companion label later in 1960. Song can be heard on YouTube.

Vincent James LaSpada  1920-1990

This is Vincent LaSpada, who recorded and sang with the big bands of the '40s as Jimmy Saunders

Jimmy Saunders, also known as Sonny Saunders and for a time as Marco Polo, sang with the bands of Harry James, Eddie Duchin, Ray Bloch, Sonny Kendis and Charlie Spivak. He co-wrote "Peach Tree Street" with Frank Sinatra and recorded such hits as "There Must Be a Way," "Santa Lucia," "You Belomg to My Heart," "I Love You for Sentimental Reasons" and "You Are Too Beautiful." He also was a featured vocalist on the "Lucky Strike Hit Parade" show.

The son of Philip Laspada, who ran a bakery at 9th and Cross streets, Jimmy was one of the first of a long line of pop singers to come out of the rich musical turf of South Philadelphia. He started singing on the street corner with the guys and quickly made a name for himself once he started entering amateur contests on stages of the Alhambra, the Earle and the Broadway theaters.

He won a contract with radio station WIP and starred on one of the few live shows originating in Philadelphia at the time. In 1942 he joined the Harry James orchestra, and it was James who changed his stage name from "Sonny" to ''Jimmy" Saunders.

As Vince La Spada, Jimmy Saunders, Sonny Sanders or Marco Polo, he recorded since the early forties for Columbia (Harry James orchestra), V Disc (Charlie Spivak Orch.), Rainbow, Hi Tone, Signature, Coral, Dragon, Mohawk, Laurie, Companion, Cameo and Music Factory. He signed a contract to Chess Records in 1956 but I'm not sure if the Chicago label issued anything.

Thirteen Men

Meg Myles

with Harry Geller

and his Orchestra

Thirteen Men
(Dickie Thompson,Fisher Music ASCAP)

Liberty 55038

1956

To the best of my knowledge,this is the very first recorded female version of "Thirteen Women", before Dinah Shore [1958] and before Ann-Margret [1962].  


The song was first recorded by its composer, guitarist Dickie Thompson :

"Thirteen Women and Only One Man" — it sounded like a good idea to Dickie Thompson when he wrote the song in the early 1950s.

"The lines went something like, 'I had two gals every morning serving me breakfast in bed/I'm telling you, Jack, one rubbed my back while the other one rubbed my head,'  But the idea proved too salacious for the early rock 'n' roll generation — or perhaps their parents.  Disc jockeys played Thompson's song [Herald Records 424, 1954) for a couple of weeks, then decided it was too risqué and pulled it off the air.

Music producers didn't give up on it, though. The song was rewritten for Bill Haley and His Comets. The rock-'n'-rollers recorded "Thirteen Women" as their A-side — "Rock Around the Clock" was on the B-side.

The Haley version is an atomic fantasy song about a working guy dreaming of being the only man to survive an H-bomb attack.  Audiences and radio stations found the hit a vast improvement. Nuclear annihilation, it seemed, was an acceptable reason to have multiple lady friends.

The change in lyrics didn't seem to faze Thompson, though. The musician received residual checks for decades even though most performers recorded the H-bomb version. 

Meg Myles

Meg Myles was a popular model and pin-up of the 1950s.

As noted by  the Billboard reviewer of her Mercury album from 1962 cut at New York's Living Room :

Miss Myles is a young lady of limited vocal talent but she's abundantly endowed otherwise, a fact which helps fans overlook her vocal limitations.

And Steve Allen had teasingly noted in 1957 : 

She's appeared on my TV shows several times and I've noticed that our crew, a pretty casual group - not easily impressed - always pays strict attention when she's out there, standing with her feet slightly apart, her head tilted a little to one side.  There's no doubt about it - Meg is one singer who's fun to look at.  (Steve Allen, notes to Liberty LP Just Meg and Me, 1957)

For your desert island enjoyment, here is a selection* of 13 covers, 5 female, 6 male and two instrumentals :

1 - Dinah Shore - Thirteen Men
2 - Ann-Margaret - Thirteen Men.
3 - Girlicious - Thirteen Men
4 - Jane Wiedlin  - Thirteen Men
5 - Melina Soochan - Thirteen Men

6 - Dickie Thompson - Thirteen Women
7 - The Renegades - Thirteen Women
8 - Chance Halladay - Thirteen Women
9 - Danny Gatton - Thirteen Women.
10 - Darrel Higham - Thirteen Women
11 - The Fuzztones - Thirteen Women

12 - Tommy Oliver - Thirteen Women
13 - Electromaniacs - Thirteen Women

Not included are the versions by Bill Haley, Col Buckley & The  In-Crowd (Australia), Marty Rhone And His Soul Agents (Australia), Eddy Mitchell (in french), The Heroes, Rock-A-Dials, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy,  The Flaming Sideburns, Christina Aguilera,  Cub Koda, Dixie Gunworks,  Vidar Busk & His True Believers,  The Breeze Kings,  Dagmars, Pete Turland, Quinn Lemley,  Michael Feinstein, Rockin' The Joint and  Gina Haley  (daughter of Bill).... and probably some more...




* for pw see comment

British Rock

Jack Urbont
Dean Lyon Almquist
with the Urbont Orchestra

British Rock
Comedy with music

Jabont Music ASCAP

Bojak 235

New York City, unknown date

Jack Urbont's work spans the realms of theatre, film, radio, and television. Growing up observing his father's work on Broadway and in broadcasting, he would later act on Broadway (Decision, Showboat), produce (All in Love, Juno and the Paycock) and compose (Livin' the Life, All In Love).   Selected film credits include the themes to Iron Man I & II, Supercops, and the scores to Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Singles, and Young Doctors in Love.

Jack Urbont started his television career by writing lyrics and music for Shari Lewis. Following this, he composed themes and lyrics for The Guiding Light, One Life to Live, and General Hospital, which has been heard on television for decades. Additional credits include music for All My Children, That 70 s Show, Winter Olympics, Howie Mandel, and award-winning talk shows such as Oprah, Rosie, and Regis & Kathy Lee.

His themes to the original TV representations of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Submariner, and Thor have also endured (currently three new movies are being made using his music for these Marvel Superheroes). Jack Urbont received an Emmy for Lorne Greene's New Wilderness.

Also worth of a mention, Jack Urbont wrote "High Rise",  sung by an uncredited Rhetta Hughes.
theme song of a porn film from the early 70s,  considered by a classic of the era along with Deep Throat and The Devil in Miss Jones.

P.S. : This label is also an interesting addition to this post in a new category : the hole as a letter!

These Spurs

 
Gene Goza

These Spurs

(Are Made For Ridin')

Back Beat 572
1966

Recorded in Houston, with the backing of the Johnny and Edgar Winter’s Band.

Born in Vivian, Louisiana, on April 9, 1937, Gene Goza was the son of Ralph and Juanita (Cook) Goza.

Gene was a singer and an entertainer  He performed with the Charlie Pruitt Show [Beaumont, Texas] and was an Elvis impersonator.   With his group, Jo, Gene and Company, he enjoyed entertaining senior citizens.   For his contribution to the local music and entertainment field, he received a star on the Walk of Fame in Vidor.

Gene was a fun loving, colorful character who brought laughter and smiles because his own was so contagious.  He had a handsome face but a rubber-like face that he could turn into the worlds ugliest, a fun loving gimmick.  

In 2012, after fifty-one years on the same job with Firestone Polymers in Orange, he died before reaching his fifty-five years goal.  He was a survivor after tragedies : his first wife was killed in a wreck, his daughter Misty murdered.

Donald Eugene "Gene" Goza Sr.

1937 - 2012