D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities

The Association was a pretty popular late-'60s singing group. Think Three Dog Night. Like that. Pretty similar arc. You know "Cherish", "Along Comes Mary", "Windy", etc. After the hits dried up, members like Jerry Yester fought the inevitable slide into oldies tours with the odd single, tour, and always in a state of flux. In 1975, a cobbled-together version of the band recorded what would be known to fans as "The Association Bites Back". While RCA was the record company of...record...they do not have tapes that they can remaster for a waiting public. But replacement member Larry Brown did put some of the songs on YouTube. Cassette quality, but a nice historical curio of a once-thriving concern. Here are 4. 

And oldies tours are exactly where they ended up. Think Three Dog Night. 

 

Travelin' Boy

That’s What She Said

Time to Get High

Cherish (a disco remake with a strangely funkified coda.)

 

The Pullice - Can't Get Enough (1966) As seen on the lower right, this is how they spelled their name. 

McDonald's Commercial (1969)

Grady Tate - Multiplication Rock “6” (1973) Nostalgia for POACA.

Born in Durham, NC, in a district called “Hayti”, the historic African-American community that is now part of the city of Durham, North Carolina. It was founded as an independent black community shortly after the American Civil War on the southern edge of Durham by freedmen coming to work in tobacco warehouses and related jobs in the city. By the early decades of the 20th century, African Americans owned and operated more than 200 businesses, which were located along Fayetteville, Pettigrew, and Pine Streets, the boundaries of Hayti.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the neighborhood continued to develop through years of racial segregation imposed by white Democrats in the state legislature, following the Reconstruction era in the South. With black-owned businesses and services, a library, a hotel, a theatre, and a hospital, the community became self-sufficient. It declined in the late 20th century, due to suburbanization, which drew some residents to newer housing outside the area. A 1958 urban renewal and freeway project took down houses and businesses in 200 acres of the community and split it with a freeway. St. Joseph's African Methodist Episcopal Church (1891) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; its congregation was founded in 1868. The church has been used since 1975 as a community and cultural center. Hayti's residents have included African Americans who achieved national reputations for their successes.

From Wikipedia:

Ernie Barnes, NFL star and nationally renowned artist

Reverend Shirley Caesar, minister, gospel musician

Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen) blues guitarist and singer

Biff Henderson, staff member of Late Show with David Letterman

John P. Kee, gospel musician

Lamont Lilly, Movement for Black Lives activist, journalist, and 2016 vice presidential candidate

John Lucas II, NBA player and professional coach

Pigmeat Markham, known in the 1950s–1960s as the National Funnyman; his family was the most prominent on its street, which came to be called (and later officially named) Markham Street in the Hayti District

Tracy McGrady, NBA player, finished high school in the Hayti District

Clyde McPhatter, 1950–1960s musician, member of the Drifters, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rodney Rogers, NBA player

André Leon Talley, fashion consultant

Grady Tate, jazz drummer

Tommy Wilson, NFL player for Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland Brown, and Minnesota Vikings

There is a similar district (well, there was) called “Soul City” near Hendersonville, NC. Friends of mine say they can't find much that's left. 

21 Years of Rock n Roll (1977) "The record that launched the Rock 'n' Roll era became a hit in Australia in July 1956. It proved to be one of the most fantastic hits of all time with collective sales estimated at over 22 million. 'Rock around the Clock' has been waxed in thirty-five di

Two songs pervaded almost every singer's song-list in the late 60's. "Aquarius" and "Light My Fire", sometimes to embarrassing effect, but sometimes spectacularly! Enjoy a few dozen with me.

Please enjoy these rarely heard original versions of some ubiquitous tunes from time immemorial. This episode of "D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities" pours one out for my homie "Hot Licks" Donnie Dacus.

Queen was a perfect example of band chemistry that fell apart like tissue in the rain when a solo album or experiment was attempted outside the mothership. Why can't ultra-successful band members ever see that? Some of those Queen songs were amazing. I am playing none of them on this episode of "D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities."

All roads lead to the King Crimson/Roger Chapman symbiosis on this version of D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities! Plus some extremely obscure releases of which I was made aware on Reddit. And some tracks from an album released in 1972 dedicated to a goofy pseudoreligion known as Eckankar.

On this "D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities", I once again plumb the depths to bring you a setlist that didn't exist before we came up with it. Please enjoy these rarely heard songs, including a Czech version of "Disco Duck", a rarely-referenced Ennio Morricone song, yet another unheard Freddy Cannon single, etc. The hooks from "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa AND "Rapper's Delight" by Sugarhill Gang come from previous releases, as played on this show.

A delightful smattering of pop-music effluvium, strewn across the unmowed lawn of your mind. Including two tracks from "The Spectrum of Music Level 6", the 10-record set your music teacher used to teach you songs to sing. Including "Fender Bender", the "Free As A Bird" for POACA.

You know, we here at "D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities" cannot get enough ill-planned disco music. This episode features some rarities and a suite featuring Hello People, a band closely associated with Todd Rungren. They recorded a demonstration album advertising a TEAC 3340-S home-recording reel-to-reel machine. This is more Hello People than you can throw a pancake make-up applicator at!!!

Every song on The Beatles "1" album, covered by other artists. Quite a mix. Consider that I could have done this show three or four times with an entirely different set of artists.

The Lovin' Spoonful, Billion Dollar Babies, The Doors and the Spiders from Mars showed up at practice one day, and the guy that wrote the lyrics and sang the songs just decided to not show up. They all looked at each other and said "What's the worst that can happen?" Your pal Gilbert is here to answer that question.