Category: Radio

Petula on Steve Wright’s The Big Show

Steve Wright on BBC Radio 2 promised back here that Petula Clark would be on his show, and indeed she was, last Monday. I missed Cilla Black’s appearance, unfortunately, and if you go back to my Cilla post, you’ll notice “Anyone Who Had A Heart” is almost conspicuous in its absence. That’s because Wright played it shortly before chatting with Petula, and I was saving it for now.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/JUN/SteveWrightCillaBlack.mp3]

I let the recording run into the next song, to provide some flavor (excuse me, flavour) of the show. BBC Radio 2 is the only place I can go that gives me the same fun feeling I had as a kid listening to the legendary station Musicradio 77WABC in New York.

OK, so there’s Cilla Black’s cover of Dionne Warwick’s “Anyone Who Had A Heart,” produced by George Martin. That’s an excellent piece of work. Whether or not you consider this recording to be too close to the original, as a vocal it easily holds up in comparison to Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield. Clearly, based on this recording Cilla had the vocal chops, and with nothing else to go on I have to assume it was the way George Martin produced her that kept Cilla Black from greater popularity in America.

So let’s get to Petula’s chat with Steve Wright, shall we?

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/JUN/SteveWrightPetulaClark.mp3]

She doesn’t like being called “Pet”?? The last thing I said when I had my two minutes with her was, “Thank you, Pet.” Yikes! But… that was my one chance. Saying “Pet” isn’t supposed to convey to her that she’s thought of as a child star, because she never was one here. Well, what’s done is done, and there’s no taking it back. I’ll know better next time.

BBC Radio 2

The most enjoyable radio listening, by far, that I do these days is over the Net, playing BBC Radio 2. I first got interested because of Jonathan Ross, who did In Search of Steve Ditko. He does a Saturday show, and it’s so much fun, with such a fantastic range of music. Then I started listening to Steve Wright, because he’s supposed to have Petula Clark on as a guest soon. Again, I found the show to be fun, and I was really taken with the song mix. I have no interest in Rap, but Europop has a sound that I enjoy quite a lot. For example, this was one of the songs on Steve Wright’s program today.

[flv:/Video/2008/JUN/Spiller.flv 400 300]

This is “Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)” by Spiller, with vocal by Sophie Ellis Bextor. I flip through Boston radio stations a lot, seeing if anything catches my ear, and almost nothing ever does, so it’s not as though I’m completely inattentive. So why is it I find so much on BBC Radio 2 I’ve never heard before that keeps me listening?

Pet Pitches For Coca-Cola

It’s already been over a year since the PBS program The British Beat, hosted by Petula Clark, first aired. Take a look at this video clip I posted, and you’ll see what Comcast analog cable TV looked like, and why I switched to Verizon FiOS digital.

That show wasn’t the first time Pet had been paired, in a sense, with legendary New York DJ Bruce Morrow, aka: Cousin Brucie. Pet did some radio spots for Coca-Cola in the sixties, with Cousin Brucie doing the intro.

[flv:/Video/2008/APR/PetCocaCola.flv 440 330]

I know that Pet greatly admires the late Dusty Springfield, but as a kid I had a hard time recognizing Dusty’s new songs. Versatile to a fault, is how I would now describe her work. In this regard Springfield was similar to Bobby Darin.

Petula Clark, on the other hand, has a distinctive and immediately recognizable sound that’s all her own, whether she’s belting out a pop tune or a love song. She’s done it all, from small French cabaret performances to lavish Broadway productions. For myself, growing up when I did, Pet represents the same thing the Beatles do — the absolute finest in popular music.

Alive On Departure, but…

This week, with thousands of American Airlines passengers inconvenienced by FAA mandated inspections of possibly defective wiring, it’s important to keep in mind how important airplane safety is, and how relatively common crashes once were…

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/APR/DOA.mp3]

This song was a huge cult hit in the first months of 1971, the same time that Alice Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen” from Love It To Death was on the charts. Alice was tongue-in-cheek enough that I could tell his macabre bent was all in fun, but D.O.A really gave me the creeps. It still does! I probably first heard it on WKBW, out of Buffalo, NY.

Ivory and Ebony on WABC, 1962

I enjoyed doing an oldies post last Saturday night, so I’ll do another one tonight. On the audio player is a classic WABC Musicradio jingle, then two songs from the WABC chart for the week ending June 30, 1962. The first one is number 19, followed by number 20.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/FEB/WABCJingle.mp3,http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/FEB/DrKildare.mp3,http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/FEB/INeedYourLovin.mp3]

You must play the first song all the way through to get the full effect when the second song comes in. This is one of the best examples I’ve ever heard of the culture clash that was so unsettling to the White establishment of the time.

Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap

Saturday night is oldies night everywhere, it seems, even in Canada, eh? CBC Radio One has Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap. Randy Bachman was the first name in Bachman Turner Overdrive, and before that with Burton Cummings he formed the core of The Guess Who, a band that had a string of big hits in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

The Guess Who

David Lee Roth had an infamous failed attempt at being a DJ, but other musicians have done well as radio hosts. I always enjoy Nights With Alice Cooper, aired Saturdays over WZLX in Boston. Bachman is also very good. It comes in on 1550 AM on my GE Superadio III, but it’s better to play the live streaming audio.

Tonight, Bachman had an all-British show, starting with songs by Cliff Richard and The Shadows, and finishing, of course, with Petula Clark. Here are the last 10+ minutes of tonight’s program.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/FEB/RandyBachman.mp3]

Did you hear “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You” by The Foundations? To my ears this is definitely a different vocal than the American single, maybe even a different singer. I happen to have an original 45 of the song from 1967. And here it is.

The Foundations 45 Single

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/FEB/BabyNowThatIveFoundYou.mp3]

As always, I’ll rely on Pop Musicologist D.F. Rogers to provide some explanation.