THE DENNIS LAMBERT VIDEO JUKEBOX
March 31, 2009
I first met Dennis when he was 17 and working in A&R up at Mercury Records with Lou Courtney, where my future ex-wife Sheilah, was their secretary. They cut a song I wrote with Ben Raleigh, “In My Baby’s Arms” with Freddie and the Dreamers who were in the top ten with, “Do The Freddie” (Lambert/Courtney) We became friends.
I watched Dennis, over the years, become one of the most important figures in pop music. “One Tin Soldier”, “We Built This City”, “Are You Man Enough”, “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I Got”), “It Only Takes A Minute “, “Night Shift”, and “Don’t Pull Your Love”, are just a few of the hits co-written and produced by Dennis Lambert some with his long time collaborator, Brian Potter.
If you add into the mix the hits he produced but didn’t write, “Rock and Roll Heaven” (O’Day/Stevenson), “Sara” (Wolf/Wolf), “She’s Gone” (Hall/Oates), “Pink Cadillac” (Springsteen), “I Live For Your Love” (Werfel/Reswick/Rich), “Nobody’s Fool” (Loggins),“Baby, Come Back” (Crowley/Beckett), and “Rhinestone Cowboy” (Weiss), you’ve got reason enough for him to be inducted into the Hit Parade Hall Of Fame!
I reconnected with Dennis after 20 years, who gave me a few great paragraphs for my forthcoming book, “I Did It For A Song”. I wasn’t surprised to hear that his song and production of Dennis Edwards, “Don’t Look Any Further” (Lambert/Golde/Hitchings) has been covered 75 times and sampled by rap stars Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Erik B & Rakim, Lil Wayne and Nas, to name just a few.
Now Here’s THE DENNIS LAMBERT VIDEO JUKEBOX
“DO THE FREDDIE“ by FREDDIE AND THE DREAMERS
“ONE TIN SOLDIER” Theme from “Billy Jack” by COVEN
“WE BUILT THIS CITY” by JEFFERSON STARSHIP
“ROCK AND ROLL HEAVEN” by The Righteous Brothers
“ARE YOU MAN ENOUGH?” by THE FOUR TOPS
“AIN”T NO WOMAN LIKE THE ONE I GOT” by THE FOUR TOPS
“DON’T PULL YOUR LOVE” by HAMILTON, JOE FRANK, AND REYNOLDS
“SHE’S GONE” by TAVARES
“PINK CADILLAC” by NATALIE COLE
“NIGHT SHIFT” by THE COMMODORES
“BABY COME BACK” by PLAYER
“IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE GIRL” by DENNIS LAMBERT (LIVE)
“RHINESTONE COWBOY” by GLEN CAMPBELL
“DON’T LOOK ANY FURTHER” by DENNIS EDWARDS
“HIT ‘EM UP” by TUPAC SHAKUR
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne
FOR DENNIS LAMBERT http://www.myspace.com/dlambertmusic
HANDS UP…YOU’RE COVERED!
March 28, 2009
What do Adam Lambert, Fallout Boy, Slim Thug, and Seal all have in common? They all recently have successfully covered someone else’s hit song. “Smokey” Robinson’s “Tracks Of My Tears”, Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”, Flock Of Seagulls “I Ran”, and Sam Cooke’s “Change Is Gonna” Come” are all getting a new lease on life.
I also think that the next “American Idol”, Adam Lambert’s live version of “Tracks Of My Tears”, which is available on I-Tunes, is going to sell so much that it’ll make it into the Guinness Book of World Records!
At one time the public wanted to hear familiar songs sung by a variety of artists, which is why there are hundreds of versions of “Moon River” (Mancini/Mercer) but now there seems to be only room for the original recording.
I say BULLSHIT! Most artists today whether they write their own material or not, need a little variety on their CD’s to keep their fans interested and their own producers from falling asleep. As a former publisher (Warner Brothers Music, Irving/Almo Music) who’s updated many hits from catalogs (“You’re 16”, “I Only Have Eyes For You”, “Little Bitty Pretty One”, “Our Day Will Come”) I see 2009 as a year that more covers will make it back to the top of the charts!
My three personal picks of songs that should be hits again are…
“Happy Together” by Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon
“Rock and Roll Heaven” by Alan O’Day and Johnny Stevenson
“Don’t Look Any Further” by Dennis Lambert, Duane Hitchings, and Franne Golde
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/
When an artist covers another artists song today it’s treated like an event, when it should be considered as a viable marketing tool to sell more CDs. My on-line pal, Brian Ibbott, has one of the best websites to hear covers in every genre, with thousands of covers in his archives simply called Coverville http://coverville.com
Last night it was Motown night on “American Idol” with special guests Berry Gordy, Jr. and “Smokey” Robinson, who acted as mentor to the contestants. Although I wasn’t impressed with many of performances of classic Motown hits, I did enjoy renditions of, “How Sweet it Is To Be Loved By You” by Kris Allen, “Heat Wave” by Lil Rounds, and “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” by Allison Iraheta.
I was absolutely knocked out, however, by Adam Lambert’s version of Smokey’s “Tracks Of My Tears”! I’m convinced after last night’s performance he will become the Next American Idol!
What the icing on the cake for me wasn’t any one performance or one song it was a brilliant marketing plan by Motown and American Idol! Berry Gordy allowed each contestant to sing the song they performed on the show, to be recorded over the original hit Motown track and available for download at I-tunes. As far as I know something like this has never been done before and could even make it into the Guinness Book Of Records.
In the meantime, here’s Adam Lambert and his complete performance of “Tracks Of My Tears”
In the event this video is disabled click onto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgbKv5EtYLw
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/
EXTRA!…FOR 50 YEARS OF MOTOWN RECORDS SPECIAL!
https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/50-years-of-motown-records/
FIRST PHOTO OF NEW WHITE HOUSE DOG!
March 26, 2009
EXCLUSIVE TO ARTIE WAYNE ON THE WEB THE FIRST PHOTO OF NEW WHITE HOUSE DOG! The New White House dog seems to be happy after being rescued from a Washington D.C. animal shelter. Although the first family hasn’t officially chosen a name for him yet, he seems to respond to “Get Down”.
“Dancing With The Stars” has officially changed its name to “Dancing”, since there are no actual stars competing on the show this season!
CBS, disappointed with Katie Couric’s ratings, is considering replacing her on the Evening News with veteran newsman, Ryan Seacrest!
Last week, “The Invisible Man Group” made its debut at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Critics all agreed it was the best musical act they’ve never seen
“Two and a Half Men” Charlie Sheen, saved his ex-wife, Denise Richards life today. He ran into her at the Farmers Market and didn’t try to kill her!
After losing to Binky, on the UK ’s wildly popular TV show, “Are You Smarter Than A Monkey?”, Prince Charles is still walking around with his hand stuck in a coconut shell! So far, no one has the nerve to tell him that if he lets go of the peanut inside, he’ll be able to pull his hand out easily.
Pop Princess, Britney Spears, will star in the film of the long running “Vagina Monologues”, not only will her vagina finally speak for itself…it will actually sing!
Kevin Federline and Bobby Brown will star in new Fox comedy series, “Assholes Never Take A Day Off”, about two proctologists who moonlight as lawyers.
If you’re wondering why Simon Cowell, has been so nice recently? “American Idol” producers, tricked him into thinking he was having his teeth cleaned, when actually he was being spayed and neutered!
The Congressional cafeteria was shut down this morning due to outbreak of trichinosis. The health department blames raw pork in the stimulus package that Congress was forced to digest, as the culprit in this heath crisis.
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/
Protected: BEST OF ARTIE WAYNE MUSIC!
March 23, 2009
WHEN CENSORSHIP RULED THE EARTH!
March 21, 2009
Who knew that one day you’d be able to see Britney Spears naked and Justin Timberlake’s “Dick In A Box” just by turning on your TV! In this anything goes kind of world, it’s hard to believe there was a time when Censorship Ruled The Earth!
“In the early 60’s, I went out with a few Iranian girls who actually told me that they were brought up to tell people what they wanted to hear, then go out and do the exact opposite. One of these girls, Jamela, was the beautiful daughter of a deposed general, who was exiled to the United States along with the Shah of Iran. I admit it was exciting to wonder who was following us on our dates, her father’s bodyguards…or the Secret Service! All of this danger, brought us closer together, and she revealed many aspects of her culture I never knew about. She told me that Iranian men showed no quarter to their enemy and were fierce warriors because they weren’t afraid of dying!
It was only when she told me that she feared for my safety, did I take our cultural differences seriously! We continued to see each other secretly, however, which led me to co-write my first hit song with Ben Raleigh, “(Meet Me At) Midnight Mary” (Raleigh/ Wayne). When I produced the record with Joey Powers, we tried to get away with saying she was having a baby a baby out of wedlock, but were warned that radio would never play it!”
We’ve all seen the clips of Mick Jagger on the Ed Sullivan Show singing “Let’s Spend The Night Together”, forced by the the producers to change the lyric to, “Let’s Spend Some Time Together” in order to get by the network censors. I didn’t realize that this was a common practice, and then my friend producer Jerry Ross (“Sunny”, “98.6”, Keep The Ball Rolling”), told me this story…
“With Two super hits under their belt, “Apple, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie”, and “Keep The Ball Rolling”, Jay and The Techniques were invited to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. This was a dream come true…hit records…concert tours…and now the Ed Sullivan Show! During rehearsal….sound check/ lighting etc, the band really was in a great frame of mind…..This was a dream come….HIT Records… Concert and tours…and now The Ed Sullivan show,,, spirits were high until the executive producer of the TV Show ( Ed Sullivan’s’ son-in law) Bob Precht pulls us aside and gives us the good news and the bad news…The good news….we are happy to have you on tonight’s show…the bad news….you can’t sing “Keep the Ball Rolling” because the lyrics in the 2nd verse (‘all or nothin’ at all”) are too suggestive)……….So….we put our creative heads together and decided to repeat the 1st verse twice….problem solved !!!!!!! As Ed Sullivan might put it, “It was a REALLY BIG SHOW!! (Ross laughs and corrects himself) I mean, It was a REALLY BIG SHOE!
COMING NEXT WEEK…TOMMY JAMES AND THE STORY BEHIND, “I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW”
For Part One of the series, “F#@K MUSIC CENSORSHIP! https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/fk-music-censorship/
For Jerry Ross http://phillyoldies.com
For “The Best of Jay and the Techniques Newest CD with 28 original tracks just released by RPM UK http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=%22the+best+of+jay+%26+the+techniques%22&x=15&y=17
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/
BACK TO ARTIE WAYNE ON THE WEB https://artiewayne.wordpress.com
ANGELINA TRADES OCTUPLETS FOR BRAD!
March 20, 2009
In the face of public outrage, Angelina Jolie has traded the Octomom her live-in boyfriend Brad Pitt , for her octuplets. When reached for a comment, Pitt screamed, “What?…I’m not even married to the bitch!”
“IF IT”S ON THE INTERNET, IT’S GOTTA’ BE TRUE”
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/
Special Thanks to Alan O’Day for the exclusive photo http://cdbaby.com/cd/alanoday2/from/artiewayne
“NEVER SAY I LOVE YOU ON A LUDE” REHAB…AND “SECOND CHANCES”!
March 18, 2009
“In the music business, it’s very easy to become addicted to drugs. There is always someone around who has some and is eager to share. Although I smoke grass and do some psychedelics, during the ‘60s, in the 70s I use cocaine to give me more stamina when I have to work late in the office or the studio, and Quaaludes to bring me down from all that stress.
NEVER SAY I LOVE YOU ON A LUDE
by Artie Wayne and Ben Benay
You can say be mine behind some wine
Or you’re a gas on a little grass
But when you’re in a lovey-dovey attitude
NEVER SAY I LOVE YOU ON A LUDE
Now you can say you’re cute when you’ve had a toot
Or you’re okay on Courvoisier
But when you start to feel like you’re in the mood
NEVER SAY I LOVE YOU ON A LUDE
Now one will make you crazy…two will make you hazy
Three you’re lovin’ everyone you know
Now people let me school you
Those little Ludes will fool you
You might marry someone you met an hour ago!
Right now you don’t care…but you better beware
With a witness there in court he’s gonna’ swear
He said he loved her to the greatest magnitude
His legs were rubber and he seemed to come unglued
The judge’ll bring his gavel down and then conclude
NEVER SAY I LOVE YOU ON A LUDE
NEVER SAY I LOVE YOU ON A LUDE
NEVER SAY I LOVE YOU ON A LUDE
Copyright 2009 by Wayne Art Music and Ben Benay Music.
Maybe it’s because I represent the publishing of artists like Sly Stone and Stephen Stills, who are spending millions of dollars on “blow”, that my own “measly” consumption of a gram a day seems insignificant by comparison.
It’s only when my co-writer of “NEVER SAY I LOVE YOU ON A LUDE”, studio guitarist Ben Benay, dies of a drug overdose, do I re-examine the direction my own life is taking.”
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne from the forthcoming book, “I Did It For A Song”
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It started out as great fun. For someone essentially shy like me, drugs made me bigger and bolder. Eventually, drugs and alcohol got the best of me. The fun became depravity. I was without purpose, wrestled with my demons, and lost. The facade fell. I crashed and burned, but the will to survive took over. I was given the greatest gift I’ve ever received . . . sobriety. And with it came a new life.
Five years ago I decided to write a book about recovery. Not mine, but the stories of many of the musicians I had worked with while I was in the business; Paul Williams, Chuck Negron from Three Dog Night, Alice Cooper, Dr. John (Mac Rebennack), Steve Earle, Grace Slick and Nile Rodgers. But I also expanded the concept to include interviews with Richard Pryor, authors Annie Lamott and Pete Hamill, boxing great Gerry Cooney, comic Richard Lewis and several others. Thus, The Harder They Fall was born.
Last week my latest book, Second Chances (McGraw-Hill) was released. It tells the stories of big time business executives who crashed from alcoholism and/or drug abuse only to reclaim their lives in recovery. People like former CBS Records head Walter Yetnikoff shared their intimate stories with me.
I feel truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to write about something I love. Recovery, for people with addictions is the only hope, and my books carry what I believe to be a powerful message that recovery is indeed possible.”
To know more about Gary Stromberg and “The Harder They Fall” and “Second Chances”
To order Gary’s new book, “Second Chances”
F#@K MUSIC CENSORSHIP!
March 14, 2009
Two of my favorite songs out today are “My World Would Suck Without you” by Kelly Clarkson and “I Kissed A Girl” by Katy Perry, both have become #1 in spite of their racy titles and graphic lyrics. As I sit back and enjoy these songs on my I-Pod, I think of another time when radio and television would never even have considered playing these great recordings just because of the titles.
“For decades radio wouldn’t play “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday, with it’s depiction of “Negroes” who were lynched and left to hang in trees, for fear it would cause riots. In the late 50s, “Tell Laura I Love Her”(Raleigh/Barry) by Ray Peterson hit #1, which told the story of an ill fated teenage romance and a deadly race car crash, opened the floodgate of “so-called” sick songs. Although “Patches” (Mann/Kolber) by Dickie Lee, and “Ebony Eyes”(Bryant/Bryant) by the Everly Brothers made it to the top of the charts, radio soon banned any other “sick” records from being played.
It isn’t long before songs with sexual innuendos, or drug references aren’t allowed on the air. We’ve all seen the clips of Mick Jagger Rolling his eyes on the the Ed Sullivan Show, when he’s forced to change the lyrics of “Let’s Spend The Night Together” to “Let’s Spend Some Time Together”.
“The first time I was affected personally by censorship was back in 1966.The day the Troggs, “Wild Thing” (Chip Taylor), hit #1 on two labels at the same time, my wife Sheilah and I had their producer Larry Page and his wife Lee over for dinner.* As a joke, 10 minutes before they arrived, I wrote a blatantly sexual parody, called, “Somewhere My Girl Is Waiting”. After dinner, I introduce the song as a special dessert. While Sheilah rolls her eyes, I half-talk and half-sing then fall to my knees as I sing the last verse imitating Reg Presley, lead singer of the Troggs.
“When I look down at you…there by the fireside…reaching up…to touch me You make it hard…to say goodbye”, then Larry jumps up starts singing the last chorus with me, “Somewhere My Girl Is Waiting…Somewhere her heart is breaking…so let me go…please let me go…(groan)…ah…yes…..Yes…..YES!!”***
Sheilah looks like she’s about to kill me, until Larry screams, “I love it…I love it!” He records it in London the following week, unfortunately it’s pulled off the market three days after they rush release it, for being too suggestive.**
I wonder how many good records never saw the light of day…because we were never allowed to hear them.
Here is a story of two of those records, one by my alter ego, Shadow Mann, “Come and Live With Me”, the other by my protégé Rainbo (a/k/a Sissy Spacek) “John You Went Too Far This Time”, and how the Legendary Morris Levy (Roulette Records) tried to make us into stars! https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2006/08/06/legendary-music-man-morris-levy-meets-shadow-mann-a-legend-in-his-own-mind/
*Because Greene and Stone Productions made a deal with two different record companies for the US rights, the Troggs single was available on two competing labels: Atco and Fontana (distributed by Mercury). Because both pressings were taken from the identical master recording, Billboard combined the sales for both releases, making it the only single to simultaneously reach #1 for two different companies.”
***””Somewhere My Girl Is Waiting” Words and music by Artie Wayne. Copyright 1968/2009 by Wayne Art Music
FOR A FREE SHADOW MANN RINGTONE! http://www.thetones360.com/browse/david-holmes/shadow-mann/
To go back to Artie Wayne On The Web https://artiewayne.wordpress.com
I must be one of the luckiest guys in the world! How often do we have a chance to communicate with people that we haven’t been in touch with for over 30 years? After I finished writing my auto-biography, “I Did It For A Song”, I started to contact people who shared some of the incidents in my book and asked them for a paragraph or two to add to my story.
After doing a little catching up, I got some incredible quotes from; Lesley Gore (“It’s My Party”), producer/writer John Madera (“You Don’t Own Me”, “1, 2, 3”), Jerry Ross (“Sunny”, 98.6”, “Sunday Will Never Be The Same”), Barry Oslander (“Moms”Mabley, “The Cherry People”), Guitarists Hugh McCracken (each of the Beatles solo albums, Van Morrison, Alicia Keys), Al Gorgoni (B.J. Thomas, Evie Sands), Art Munson (Dick Dale and The Del-Tones), Vinnie Bell (inventor of the Bellzuki electric sitar).
I got confirmation of facts and events about my sharing historical moments with disc jockeys Clay Cole and Scott Shannon, BG singer Jeannie Thomas, and Joey Powers (‘Midnight Mary”). I include incredible stories from contractor and Sax man Artie Kaplan, managers Kenny Greengrass and Stephen Craig Aristei, producers Giorgio Gomelski (Yardbirds), Dennis Lambert (“Do The Freddie”, “One Tin Soldier”), publicists Gary Stromberg, Bobbi Cowan and Ken Schaffer, inventor of the wireless microphone and wireless guitar.
Just yesterday, I talked to my pal from the past producer Shelby Singleton (Clyde McPhatter, Brook Benton, Patti Page), former head of Mercury Records A&R, who bought the legendary Sun Records catalog (Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison). Shelby, not only gave me some, insightful quotes, but also told me about a contest Sun Records is having, and he said I may pass the info along. Click onto http://sunrecords.com for chance to win a Sun Electric Guitar. You can enter once a day until March 31st, 2009.
I don’t know how it sounds…but it looks fantastic! It reminds me of a telecaster I bought in 1968 for $175.00, that my friend Hugh McCracken helped me pick out. Today, that original 1968 model is going for up to $7,000.00 on E-Bay.
Regards, Artie Wayne https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne
Artie Wayne On The Web 