Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
#5 R&B, #28 Pop
Earlier this summer Philadephia celebrated the 50th anniversary of the sixties dance craze “The Twist.” The Twist was a worldwide phenomenon that was danced by young, old and in between!
With that in mind there is a new month on the calendar and a new musical post theme here at OSML … “Dance To The Music” with the operative word being DANCE!
There were so many dances in the sixties and very early seventies other than the Twist, and I am not sure which came first, the dances or the songs (LOL). But we shall take a look at some of these awesome hit tunes honoring the dances of the boomer era during the month of September here at OSML.
I shall begin with another Stax artist that was beloved by one and all — Mr. Rufus Thomas.
Thomas began creating his own dances and songs in 1963 with “Walking The Dog.” He also made up dances and songs for: “The Breakdown”, “The Push & Pull”, “The Funky Penguin” and my favorite to watch performed “The Funky Chicken”.
I bet Mr. Thomas was quite a hoot in person and that his daughter Carla has super fond memories of this composer , musician, and performer that she was lucky enough to call Dad.
Prior to being the Crown Prince of Rock & Soul, Thomas was a successful Memphis DJ at one of the few black-owned stations of the era.
Here is a partial video of Thomas performing “Do The Funky Chicken” on a TV program. It is followed by a complete live performance of the song. Enjoy dancing to the music.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
#1 R&B, #2 Pop
Almost every wedding reception I have ever been to plays three songs that get the entire crowd up to dance. Those songs would of course be Marcia Griffin’s “Electric Slide,” Betty Wright’s ” Clean-Up Woman” and of course Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff.”
“Mr. Big Stuff” was one of the largest selling singles to ever come out of the Stax label and yet it was rejected by the Stax “suits” before it was finally accepted for release. Once management came to their senses and released the song, it sat at the top of the R&B charts for 5 weeks! It also stayed on the Pop charts at #2 for two weeks.
“Mr. Big Stuff” was composed by Joseph Broussard, Carrol Washington, Carol Washington and Ralph Williams. It was to be Knight’s only top ten hit.
In October 2007 Knight, born Jean Calista, was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. This video is of her performance at the induction ceremony.
Check out these additional live performances of “Mr Big Stuff” at OSML’s sister site EOINA.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
#3 Adult Contemporary, #10, Pop, #26 R&B
Like Rick Astley decades later, Tom Jones was one of the first popular voices that had we listeners fooled.
My parents, step-mother, aunts and even grandmothers loved his singing (especially the country covers such as “Green Green Grass of Home”) but I loved him first and just knew he was a groovy Black dude until I saw him on TV! ROTFL.
Now when I finally did see him he could have been chartreuse for all I cared — I just knew that he was one of the sexiest things I had seen on TV in my 11 or so years on the planet! Yes, I was a tween in love. I was gonna grow up and marry Tom, Elvis (yes I said it -- those movies were groovy) Eddie K and Rock Hudson. Of course having four husbands didn’t seem a problem in my juvenile mind. Where there was a will there was a way.
I am sure there are some Boomers out there that have fond memories of Variety Shows and “The Tom Jones Show” was one of my favorites. I never missed it and sat in front of the TV with my Grandmother to watch every episode. We both LOVED it!
Twenty years later even the sitcom character Carlton Banks of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air loved Tom Jones as demonstrated in this YouTube Classic Clip compilation.
Before there was Tom Jones there was Tommy Scott the singer with the Welsh Beat Group The Senators. Tommy Scott was born Thomas John Woodward.
Singer Gordon Mills of the Viscounts recognized Scott’s talent and re-named him Tom Jones in 1964. Jones’ second recording on the Decca label, “It’s Not Unusual,” hit and the rest became legend. This first hit, composed by Gordon Mills and Leslie Reed, became the signature song for Jones’ entire career.
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] #8 R&B “Hum Along and Dance” is another smash from the minds of the songwriting team Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield. It appeared on the Tempting Temptations 1970 hit LP “Psychedelic Shack.” (#1 R&B & #9 Pop). The original tune was 3 minutes and 52 seconds long making [...]
Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland and Eddie Holland compositions, as performed by the Funk Brothers, are a major part of the “Motown Sound” and this song is no exception. I will just let you listen to all of these renditions by the Motown artists and let you hear for yourself. This is Classic Motown at it’s [...]
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] #1 R&B, #2 Pop An American Musical Treasure, Stevie Wonder, had this smash hit single “I Was Made To Love Her” in 1967. Composed by Henry Cosby, Lula Mae Hardaway (Stevie’s Mom) , Sylvia Moy and Stevie Wonder , the song also appeared on a subsequently released [...]
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] I remember playing this Gordy 45 rpm over and over and over again on my grey and white record player. In fact I still have the record! The day I first heard it was the day that I purchased the “Get Ready” Single, the last song Smokey Robinson [...]
