Tune Tag #105 with Michael Elliott of The Mixtape, Pt. 2: Alice Cooper, Lee Dorsey, O'Jays, Starz, Pointer Sisters, Solomon Burke, Fallen Angels, Allen Toussaint, Elvis Costello
Spicy rock'n'soul seems to be the order of the day, as we mix in a little creole, too, from down N'awlins' way!
I think Michael’s at the door: *Paw Bump*
Welcome back to Tune Tag, of !
Michael Elliott is a contributor to the pioneering roots music authority, No Depression. His music writing has also appeared in PopMatters, Albumism, Americana UK, and The Bitter Southerner.
He’s also the author of Have A Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story (2021, Chicago Review Press, shown above). Michael spent close to thirty years in radio as an operations manager, music director, program director, and disc jockey in a variety of formats.
He has interviewed and produced profiles on musicians as diverse as Isaac Hayes, Charlie Daniels, Bonnie Raitt, Delbert McClinton, and Little Richard. He lives in Raleigh, NC where he and his wife, Elizabeth, volunteer for the NC Reading Service, a nonprofit radio service that delivers content to the blind and visually impaired.
Michael’s first Tune Tag was #63 from last October:
Last week, we were delighted to welcome back
of If You Get Confused:
Next week, join us in welcoming Andy of
for his return visit!
Michael’s song #1 sent to Brad: Chuck Willis, “Betty and Dupree,” 1957
Michael’s rationale: Growing up, Chuck Willis was in heavy rotation in my home. In fact, I still have the original 1957 single of my first pick, “Betty and Dupree.” Much like Lloyd Price’s take on “Stagger Lee,” this version is a sanitized version of an old murder ballad that’s based on a true story, this one of the “Peachtree Bandit,” Frank DuPre.
DuPre killed a detective while fleeing from a jewelry store after stealing a diamond ring, although no murder occurs in Willis’s version. Willis himself died young, just a couple of months after “Betty and Dupree” was released, while his single, “What Am I Living For?” was on its way up the charts. (“Betty and Dupree” is also part of my research for my upcoming book, but that’s all I can divulge at the moment!).
Learn “The Stroll” from the kids on the late-’50s teen dance show, Seventeen, on Ames, Iowa’s WOI-TV Channel 5, as they “Stroll” to Chuck Willis’s “Betty and Dupree”:
Brad’s song #1 sent to Michael: Fallen Angels, “Just Like Romeo & Juliet,” 1975
Michael’s response: In my DJ days, I aired The Reflections’ original version of this one from 1964 quite a bit. I wasn’t familiar with Fallen Angels, nor their more updated, power-pop treatment, which came just over a decade later, and got no higher than #106 on the Billboard Hot 100 (it should have been a bigger hit; it’s quite good). I’m assuming Brad’s link here is the guy who’ll do whatever he can to win the girl!
Although I wasn’t aware of Fallen Angels, I was, however, familiar with their lead singer, Michael Lee Smith, who is the link to my second tune…
Brad’s rationale: The Fallen Angels and the ‘60s classic, the oft-covered ode about Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, “Just Like Betty & Dupree”!
Speaking of Michael Lee Smith, his bro, Rex Smith, hasn’t escaped a mention by FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE:
Michael’s song #2: Starz, “Cherry Baby,” 1977
Brad’s response: Well, Michael, unsurprisingly, caught the unlikely musical lineage from Looking Glass to Fallen Angels to New Jersey natives, Starz! Not unlike the baked goods I once tried to master, Michael is one tough cookie! Interestingly, that Fallen Angels single was produced by veteran Canadian hard rock producer, Jack Richardson. Michael, though, found another one here, too, producing Starz (for Capitol Records)….Jack Douglas. That might send me to my next song!
Michael’s rationale: I’m a big power pop fan, and Starz was one of those criminally underrated (rock critics love to use that term...why is it always “criminally” so?) mid-to-late ‘70s hard rock/power pop groups that should’ve been huge.
You can trace their influence from Cheap Trick on through bands like Poison, Bon Jovi, and beyond. They came together from the ashes of Looking Glass (of “Brandy” fame, written by Elliot Lurie) and Stories (“Brother Louie”), with Smith’s vocals guiding them through a handful of lost ‘70s classic albums. Those albums were produced by Jack Douglas, a guy who knew a thing or two about hard rock, having helmed most of Aerosmith’s classic ‘70s albums, as well as...
Starz, “Cherry Baby” Promo Video, 1977 (if YouTube space below can’t be viewed, click here to view on the YT site).
Brad’s song #2: Alice Cooper, “Working Up a Sweat,” 1973
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