40 Year Itch : Applied Rotation

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For his second album of 1973, Over-Nite Sensation, released September 7th, Frank Zappa backed off on the jazz fusion instrumentals so he could share his wacky, sex-obsessed sense of humor. Teenage boys could now guffaw over lyrics like those of "Dinah-Moe Humm", in which the narrator must give the title character an orgasm or lose a $40 bet:

So I got down to it
 Whipped off her bloomers and stiffened my thumb 
 And applied rotation on her sugar plum 
 I poked and stroked till my wrist got numb
Still didn't hear no Dinah- Moe Humm.

   "Dinah-Moe Humm" is joined by "Dirty Love" ( a song about a woman having sex with a poodle) and "Camarillo Brillo" (a one night stand with a woman wearing a dirty poncho) on the album. Zappa called them his "Glandular Epics".

Ike and Tina Turner weren't so amused. Yes, you'll hear a lot of Tina on the album but you won't see her or any of the Ikettes credited. Ike listened to the recordings and responded succinctly:

"What is this shit?'

And then he left the studio, later insisting Zappa not put their names on the album

But he discovered Puerility Sells! Over-Nite Sensation is Zappa's first Gold album, peaking at #32 in the Billboard album charts.



  The most successful song on the album is "Montana". Just ask Kate Bush. When she gave Smash Hits Magazine a list of  her top 10 albums Over-Nite Sensation topped the list.

  "Montana"was the first Zappa track I ever heard and it's stuck as a firm favourite." she said ( adding the 'U' to 'favorite' because she's British and all.

It also has the best guitar solo, reminding us that sometimes he really should shut up and play the guitar.

In 1974, Zappa fans would get their hands on an even bigger success, the Top 10 Apostrophe , recorded during the same sessions. Today you can buy both on the same Ryko disc. I know this because I did.

My Top 10: Harry "KC" Casey

 

KC and the Sunshine Band hit #1 for three straight weeks in August of 1983 with "Give It Up" so naturally Smash Hits wanted KC to give them his top 10 list of fave songs. And naturally I borrowed this bit from the great Brian at Like Punk Never Happened. If you're not aware, Brian is uploading every singles issue of Smash Hits on its thirtieth anniversary so we can all feel old together.

40 Year Itch: Nobody's One and Only

Dan Penn : Raining in Memphis

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By writing songs like "Dark End of the Street" and The Box Tops "Cry Like A Baby", Dan Penn can claim to have invented the country soul sound. Not that he would. This modest, self deprecating man told Mojo Magazine he made his brilliant solo debut album because he didn't have anything else to do.

Dan Penn and Alex Chilton

 Alex Chilton would eventually cover the title track but the song was written for Elvis.

Penn may sing with an unadorned down in the mouth soul sound, but check out the inventive instrumental arrangements, especially on "Raining in Memphis".

 

 "Burt Bacharach meets Paul Buckmaster" ?

   The album didn't sell well.

The only Dan Penn record on the charts at that time was Ronnie Milsap's cover of "I Hate You", a Top 10 country hit in September of 1973.

40 Year Itch: Bloodstone Vs Bloodrock

 

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No need to be confused. Bloodstone is the old school Kansas City doo wop band turned  70's LA funksters who hit the Top 10 in 1973 with one of the year's great songs "Natural High". They also contributed to one of the last blaxploitation soundtracks for a 1975 movie called Train Ride to Hollywood.

Bloodrock is the Texas hard rock band that hit it big with the 1971 anti-drug death disc "D.O.A."( USA#36) . In 1973, the band released Passages featuring the topical B side "Thank You Daniel Ellsberg" about the military analyst who released classified Pentagon documents to the New York Times in 1971. Ellsberg has publicly supported both Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden for leaking of classified papers .

40 Year Itch: 1973's Best Reissues

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An FM radio staple, Thunderclap Newman's 1969 hit "Something in the Air" is re-released as a single in September of 1973. Their superb and highly entertaining album Hollywood Dream, produced by Pete Townshend, tops Creem Magazine's list of 1973's Top Reissues.The following year the band's guitar prodigy Jimmy McCullough would be a member of Wings. Paul even exclaiming "Take me Down Jimmy!" on the single "Junior's Farm".


Best Reissues 
 1. Thunderclap Newman - Hollywood Dream 
 2. Allman Brothers - Beginnings (a double album combining the Allman's first two LPs Allman Brothers Band and Idewild South)
 3. Beatles - 1967-1970 
 4. Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? [huh?] 
 5. Soundtrack - American Graffiti 
 6. Pink Floyd - A Nice Pair ( a double album combing the first two Floyd LPs: Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Saucerful of Secrets)
 7. Beatles - 1963-1966 
 8. Spirit - Best Of Spirit 
 9. Buffalo Springfield ( a compilation that includes a 9 minute version of "Bluebird")
 10. The Move - Split Ends (a version of Message From the Country with additional singles "Tonight", "Chinatown" and "Do Ya".

40 Year Itch: Prog Rock in Korea and Japan

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The high artistic concepts of progressive rock infected the entire world by 1973. This month I'll take us around the world to check out what some of the most interesting bands were doing. Let's begin in South Korea where Psychedelic Rock genius Shin Joong Hyun and his band The Men released It's A Lie featuring the hypnotic 11:30 track "Beautiful Country"  which sounds like a Far Out Eastern take on what Can was doing in Germany. 

As breath-taking as It's A Lie sounds, Shin Joong Hyun's masterpiece is Now, recorded with chanteuse Kim Jung Mi. Again, be prepared. You will be blown away!

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In Japan The Far East Family Band, featuring future New Age star Kitaro, released Far Out. Each side of the album has an epic prog/space rock track with "Nihonjin" being the highlight.Think Tangerine Dream meets Black Sabbath meets Pink Floyd. Meeting the Dream's synth master Klaus Schulze sent Kitaro on that solo career that included collaborations with The Grateful Dead's Micky Hart and Yes's Jon Anderson and a Grammy win for Best New Age album in 1999.

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Kokkyou Junreika is a 1973 rock opera by J.A. Caesar (born Terahara Taka'aki) who also contributed to a lot of film soundtracks. There's something epic and creepy about this album which combines traditional Japanese folk music with trippy psychedelic guitar.

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Imagine what might have happened if Japan hadn't denied Mick Jagger a visa. Already signed to Atlantic Records,  Flower Travellin' Band had been scheduled to open for the Stones entire 1973 Japanese tour. Instead, the band, who started out covering British and US psychedelic songs, put out the part live/part studio double album Make Up and then promptly broke up. The late singer Joe Yamanaka had one of the 70's great 'fros.

40 Year Itch: The Fania All Stars Play Yankee Stadium

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Billed as a "night of Latin, soul and rock music", the Fania All Star concert at Yankee Stadium drew 45,000 people and alerted the rest of the music industry that something special was happening in New York. The stars of the Fania label include some artists previously discussed this year: Ray Barretto, Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe. On August 24, 1973 they were joined on a stage loaded with swinging talent.

Watch Johnny Pacheco lead the band through what has been called "the greatest Latin concert ever staged"

            After the Fania All Stars played, Billboard Magazine reports the popular Puerto Rican group El Gran Combo performed, dazzling the crowd with their green jump suits and Motown choreography. Then Manu Dibango took the stage and drew people out of their seats and onto the field with his "Soul Makossa".

In his book Love Goes to Buildings on Fire Will Hermes describes the same scene but claims the Fania All Stars brought the crowd onto the field, waving Puerto Rican flags and cheering. The concert was canceled at that moment and the crowd reacted with fury:

People began climbing onto the stage; some decide to go shopping. By the time things settle down, there is little left onstage besides cables and mic stands; someone has even made off with Larry Harlow's piano. 

The live album that followed includes Hector Lavoe's huge hit "Mi Gente" which was actually recorded in Puerto Rico months later. He never got to sing that night. Check out Lavoe in Zaire a year later.



           
           Maybe it was the language barrier but despite Santana's success and the fact that every major rock band seemed to be adding conga drums and bongos to their live acts,  the salsa scene never found crossover success in mainstream America. That didn't keep Stevie Wonder from joining the Fania All Stars in future concerts.

     This month 1001Songs will be flying around the world to see how the prog rocks sounds of Yes, Genesis and Pink Floyd infected musicians despite cultural and language differences.