A jingle writer gets his start writing pop songs! In a handful of covers, we track the evolution of a mighty pop song from its humble '60s beginnings to an influential, super-charged rock hit!
Great research, Brad. You capture so much about how the industry worked back then, as well as how a song evolves through different artists, producers, and arrangements.
Have to agree that the Grassroots version is the one that pops and swings.
My humble feeling about the song is that it might have 'taken off' with a crescendo at the end. (I always notice if a song stays at the same level of interest throughout, a neat feature on YT. That song peaks early, at 0:32.)
Thanks, Ellen! Glad you liked! The more rocks I looked under, the more fun stuff I found! Yeah, The Grass Roots were something! I came away appreciating The Marmalade as the "UK Grass Roots"...I think the U.S. had fewer Marmalade releases than the UK had Grass Roots! I think it took late-20th- and some 21st-century re-issues for most collectors to get their first look'n'listen to The Marmalade! I linked to their "Wait For Me, Mary-Anne" elsewhere here. If you've not heard it, lemme know what you think! It was their follow-up's follow-up to "Lovin' Things"!
I like it a lot and the lead sinegr has a great voice. But I wonder if it was behind the curve for the US as it sounds mid-60s rather than late 60s, even a bit like a zany movie soundtrack. Definitely more pop than rock, and by the late 60s the songs like this about girls were out of fashion in rock and roll. (I think of the Beatles as the trendsetters for what was in.) But great tune!
I think you're right, but, there was a market (U.S., anyway) for this kind of rapid-fire pop. After all, this was the era of The Monkees, and the pop-leaning 2nd wave of The British Invasion i.e. Herman's Hermits, Freddie & The Dreamers, Paul Revere & The Raiders, et al, all of whom were still having Top 40 hits (with the exception of Freddie, but they were still recording.
It's amazing how vast the radio terrain was, able to "hold" soul artists, as well as hippie-type bands, Janis, and the horn-driven pop like these guys! I was 13 in '68, and loved The Beatles, Monkees, DC5, and was just starting to expand my "acceptance" of the more "adult" Tull, Zappa, and others!
Good point! Maybe instead of The Marmalade they needed to be Dean Ford and the Crossers or Dean's Delights or something similar to all the other band names. It's all in a name, someone said. Otherwise, good question why they didn't do as well in US. Label support or radio promo maybe?
Well, this exercise has made me add Dean Ford to my list of undersung pop/rock singers! So, he gets added to the list that includes Rob Grill, Pat Upton, Tony Burrows, John Waite, Danny Wilde, and a handful of others! So many more I enjoy, of course...these are just singers I've always enjoyed who always seem to get a "who?" when I mention them anywhere!
I echo Ellen's comment in saying your research is always the best. I love how you contextualise, add lots of interesting details and "drive" the narrative in a way that makes all the education feel like the most fun of all rides! It's impressive, and you do this time and time again.
Personally I loved being transported back to those glory days. As you know, I missed so much, and have a lot of catching up to do.
Thanks so much, Andy! Your comments always massage my "feels" in all the right places! Keeps me going! As I mentioned elsewhere, I knew nothing about what ended up gathering here! A story like this, I'm sure, is behind every song ever written....that'll be true as long as humans are involved in the process!!!
You'll be happy to know my Saturday is being spent dive-deeping (deep-diving?😊) into Tuesday's Tune Tag! Most of our songs feature artists with whom I thought I was familiar...but, danged if there aren't new factoids emerging! As King Kong's grave-digger once said, "I may need a bigger shovel!"
Thanks so much, Keith! I keep discovering that most any song has this kind of eye-popping and amazing story (stories), especially when there were legions of songwriters (before The Beatles introduced self-contained music-makers with "in-house" writers)!
I knew none of this when I put pen to paper....I just loved the song, and knew there had been covers. To have the eventual virtual brush paint stories touching on sitcoms, Liza Minnelli, Barry Manilow's career, showroom pop, and the rock arena just had me wanting to wonder just what could possibly be next!
Another favorite Marmalade song is "Wait For Me, Mary-Anne," written by another enigmatic figure, Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard. It was their 3rd single of '68, two singles following "Lovin' Things"...see whatcha think (I used to love singing this in karaoke a decade ago!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKLPOLYK2-4
Great research, Brad. You capture so much about how the industry worked back then, as well as how a song evolves through different artists, producers, and arrangements.
Have to agree that the Grassroots version is the one that pops and swings.
My humble feeling about the song is that it might have 'taken off' with a crescendo at the end. (I always notice if a song stays at the same level of interest throughout, a neat feature on YT. That song peaks early, at 0:32.)
Thanks, Ellen! Glad you liked! The more rocks I looked under, the more fun stuff I found! Yeah, The Grass Roots were something! I came away appreciating The Marmalade as the "UK Grass Roots"...I think the U.S. had fewer Marmalade releases than the UK had Grass Roots! I think it took late-20th- and some 21st-century re-issues for most collectors to get their first look'n'listen to The Marmalade! I linked to their "Wait For Me, Mary-Anne" elsewhere here. If you've not heard it, lemme know what you think! It was their follow-up's follow-up to "Lovin' Things"!
I like it a lot and the lead sinegr has a great voice. But I wonder if it was behind the curve for the US as it sounds mid-60s rather than late 60s, even a bit like a zany movie soundtrack. Definitely more pop than rock, and by the late 60s the songs like this about girls were out of fashion in rock and roll. (I think of the Beatles as the trendsetters for what was in.) But great tune!
I think you're right, but, there was a market (U.S., anyway) for this kind of rapid-fire pop. After all, this was the era of The Monkees, and the pop-leaning 2nd wave of The British Invasion i.e. Herman's Hermits, Freddie & The Dreamers, Paul Revere & The Raiders, et al, all of whom were still having Top 40 hits (with the exception of Freddie, but they were still recording.
It's amazing how vast the radio terrain was, able to "hold" soul artists, as well as hippie-type bands, Janis, and the horn-driven pop like these guys! I was 13 in '68, and loved The Beatles, Monkees, DC5, and was just starting to expand my "acceptance" of the more "adult" Tull, Zappa, and others!
Good point! Maybe instead of The Marmalade they needed to be Dean Ford and the Crossers or Dean's Delights or something similar to all the other band names. It's all in a name, someone said. Otherwise, good question why they didn't do as well in US. Label support or radio promo maybe?
Well, this exercise has made me add Dean Ford to my list of undersung pop/rock singers! So, he gets added to the list that includes Rob Grill, Pat Upton, Tony Burrows, John Waite, Danny Wilde, and a handful of others! So many more I enjoy, of course...these are just singers I've always enjoyed who always seem to get a "who?" when I mention them anywhere!
I echo Ellen's comment in saying your research is always the best. I love how you contextualise, add lots of interesting details and "drive" the narrative in a way that makes all the education feel like the most fun of all rides! It's impressive, and you do this time and time again.
Personally I loved being transported back to those glory days. As you know, I missed so much, and have a lot of catching up to do.
Thanks for always working your magic.
Thanks so much, Andy! Your comments always massage my "feels" in all the right places! Keeps me going! As I mentioned elsewhere, I knew nothing about what ended up gathering here! A story like this, I'm sure, is behind every song ever written....that'll be true as long as humans are involved in the process!!!
You'll be happy to know my Saturday is being spent dive-deeping (deep-diving?😊) into Tuesday's Tune Tag! Most of our songs feature artists with whom I thought I was familiar...but, danged if there aren't new factoids emerging! As King Kong's grave-digger once said, "I may need a bigger shovel!"
I'm glad you're Sherman to my Mr. Peabody! Ready for another ride in the Rock'n'Roll WayBac Machine? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-QM00ABzfk
I’m glad they do! You’re getting a lot of praise, not just from me, and rightly so!
The stories may be there, as I said before, but it takes a storyteller to bring them to life!
Looking forward to Tuesday already 😊
Thanks, Andy!🙏🎵
I love this deep dive - thank you!
Thanks so much, Keith! I keep discovering that most any song has this kind of eye-popping and amazing story (stories), especially when there were legions of songwriters (before The Beatles introduced self-contained music-makers with "in-house" writers)!
I knew none of this when I put pen to paper....I just loved the song, and knew there had been covers. To have the eventual virtual brush paint stories touching on sitcoms, Liza Minnelli, Barry Manilow's career, showroom pop, and the rock arena just had me wanting to wonder just what could possibly be next!
Another favorite Marmalade song is "Wait For Me, Mary-Anne," written by another enigmatic figure, Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard. It was their 3rd single of '68, two singles following "Lovin' Things"...see whatcha think (I used to love singing this in karaoke a decade ago!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKLPOLYK2-4