The Best Pittsburgh Oldie...

OK, we're gonna try something a little different today. Old Mon is posting five oldies - the cut off date is 1961; only fifty year-old+ songs need apply - and letting his readers select the top one. Three were chart busters; two were purely local hits. The voting box is on the right; here are the tunes:

The Chaps (Sonny DiNunzio) "They'll Never Be" 1960


The Del-Vikings (Norman Wright) "Come Go With Me" 1957


The Marcels (Cornelius Harp) "Blue Moon" 1961


The Skyliners (Jimmy Beaumont) "Since I Don't Have You" 1958


The Splendors (Herb Marshall) "The Golden Years" 1958


Vote early and often. It's the Pittsburgh way.

See You In September

The Tempos - Jim Drake top right, and clockwise are Tom Miniti, Mike Lazo, and Gene Schachter. (photo from Ann Lazo Shapiro)

The Tempos were the epitome of a one-hit wonder. But boy, what a hit it was: "See You In September."

They started in 1954 as a quartet called The Hi-Lites, consisting of Clairton's Mike Lazo, Gene Schachter,  Canonsburg guy Bobby Vinton, and Jim Drake from Leetsdale, a graduate of Leetsdale (now Quaker Valley) High School, who arranged their songs (he also wrote for the CLO). .

They never recorded, content to play the hop and club circuit. Lazo and Schachter had served together in the Army, stationed in Korea, where they sang in U.S.O. shows together. The pair started the group after their 1953 discharge.

In 1957, they became The Tempos. The band featured Four Freshman style harmonies, the hot genre of the era. And they sang those harmonies pretty well.

Beside playing local club gigs, they attracted the ear of David Kapp of New York City's Kapp Records. The connection was likely through the good graces of record producer Jack Gold, who gave the group their name. (Jack Gold Records had another local artist under personal contract by the name of Lou Christie). At the time, Kapp was a MOR operation, with artists like Jane Morgan and Roger Miller, and were looking for a more youthful sound.

The label released three singles from the Tempos: "Kingdom Of Love" b/w "That's What You Do To Me" (1957 - Kapp 178), "Prettiest Girl In School" b/w "Never You Mind" (1957- Kapp 199) and "Strollin' With My Baby" b/w "I Got A Job" (1958 - Kapp 213), a response record to 1957's "Get A Job" by the Silhouettes.

The band made one change after the Kapp sessions, bringing in saxman Tom Minito to replace Bobby Vinton, who was now in the service. Minito was a buddy of Drake's from their college days at Duquesne.

The Kapp records never took off, but it did get the band's foot in the Big Apple door. That connection would come in handy after a session between Brill Building writers Sid Wayne and Sherman Edwards. On a June Friday in 1959, Wayne and Edwards hooked up. Wayne had a working title of "See You In September," and before the end of the work day, the tune was a finished product.

They made the rounds to pitch the song that same afternoon. After one rejection, the tune was snapped up by the Tempos' angel, Jack Gold. Things happened that quickly back in the day, before lawyers and label suits held sway.

Gold called the Tempos that night, and the next day they were in NYC. By Monday, the record was cut, backed by the Billy Mure orchestra. It was released by Climax Records (which issued a grand total of ten records between 1959-60 before closing), and on the following Friday, the song was on the turntables of WNEW.

Wayne and Edwards were happy; they got $500 to split for their day's work. Gold got credit for producing the song and held its rights. And the Tempos were back on wax.

Surprisingly, the Tempos "See You In September" failed to become a hit in the New York City area. But it grew on the public. The record broke big in San Francisco, and the single reached the national charts in July, peaking at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the end of August.

One reason the record took awhile to make its mark was that "See You In September" was originally the flip of the uptempo "Bless You My Love" (Climax 102). It took the DJs a few spins to correct that little marketing error, not a particularly big deal back in an era when B Sides commonly became the hits.

They followed it with "The Crossroads of Love" b/w "Whatever Happens" (1959 - Climax 105). Billboard's October Spotlight column said it could have "hit sequels with either side." They were wrong; both songs flopped. Many thought that the flip was the side that should have been pushed by the label, much like "September."

And with that, the Tempos had their 15 minutes. The group appeared on American Bandstand on October 12, 1959, and made local TV and club appearances afterward.

They released the much covered "Look Homeward Angel" b/w "Under 10 Flags" (1959 - Paris 550) without Lazo. The originals reunited to record "My Barbara Ann" b/w "When You Loved Me" (1965 - Ascot 2167) and "My Barbara Ann (re-release) b/w "I Wish It Were Summer" (1965 - Ascot 2173).

"My Barbara Ann" was not the Regent/Beach Boys "Barbara Ann," but a song Lazo wrote for his wife, Barbara. Ann Lazo Shapiro, their daughter, wrote in and added that "my mother's maiden name (she passed away in 1990) was Rechichar. Her cousin was Belle Vernon's Bert Rechichar, the famous All-Pro Colts player of the fifties who held the NFL field goal record many moons ago." Music and football - how more Steel City can a family get?

After that, the Tempos faded away. Mike Lazo, Jim Drake and Tom Minito are still alive and kicking, while Gene Schachter just passed away. Gene co-wrote Bobby Vinton's "Mr Lonely" under his professional name of Gene Allan: Allan was his middle name.

But their song, "See You In September," may outlast them all.

It was covered by the Quotations and Shelley Fabares in 1962, The Chiffons and Frankie Valli in 1966, and Debby Boone in 1979, among many others over the decades. You might remember a 1966 upbeat version by New Jersey's Happenings that reached #3 on the charts.

It made a revival in 1973, when the Tempos version was featured in the movie and soundtrack of "American Graffiti." It revived their legacy, but didn't fatten their pocketbooks. The "Godfather of Music," Morris Levy of Roulette Records, ended up with the rights, and that pretty much took care of the royalties. The song still gets dusted off to this day and spun to greet the fall.

So for the Tempos, it was a one-hit career. But for their song, it was pop immortality.

(The picture above is an original promo shot by Climax Records, from Ann Lazo. Watch carefully for any look-alike shots - there's a widespread photoshop fraud of the original. The man at the top of the fake is NOT Jim Drake, but features an impostor who replaced Drake's image with another.)



"See You In September" - The Tempos  

WQED Doo Wops...Where's the Local Acts?

Hey, Old Mon gives his doo-wop props to WQED and guys like T.J. Lubinsky and Henry DeLuca. The public station has kept the good times rollin', and has another oldiesfest comin' up soon. They have a 40 act, three night extravaganza of groups (The WQED Oldies Spectacular) from the 1950s-70s booked to tape a live concert at the Benedum Center from May 21-23.

It's good for the station - you have to pony up a hefty pledge to get tickets - for PBS, which will broadcast the show in December, and for the oldie lovers who abound in the City and across the country.

Jay Black will be there, the Coasters, the Passions, Ronnie Spector, The Orlons, and Len Barry, along with local acts The Marcels, Lou Christie, and "The Guys From Turtle Creek," Bill Burkett & Huey Geyer of the Vogues.

And that's it, so far as we can tell - three local bands in a three night show. Hey, TJ and Henry, did you guys ever hear of the Skyliners? Chuck Corby? The Four Townsmen? Mickey Toliver and the Capitals? The New Holidays? Leon Daniels and the El Venos? The Laurels? Chuck Jackson? Buddy Sharpe? The Wee Jams?

Listen, there's a million local guys out there that paid their dues and are still performing, both for the love of music, a little fame, and beer money. With 40 bands playing, don't you think that maybe WQED could put one night aside for the Pittsburgh sound?

We know that PBS is in it for the money; heck, nothing wrong with that. Even a non-profit needs some profit to exist. We know too that there weren't that many Number One records out of Pittsburgh, even in its heyday, like there were from the coasts.

Still, Pittsburgh's music industry has always been one of the dampers on the local scene. Radio doesn't give the hometown bands any love, promoters don't push the groups outside the region, and the suits put everyone's music on some download site instead of properly promoting a platter.

TJ, Henry, and WQED - thanks for the job you guys do keeping the oldies alive. And next time, maybe you can show a little love to the local bands. Just because it's from California or New York City doesn't make it better.

Richie Merritt

Richie Merritt photo from The Marcels
Richie Merritt is on the short list of local doo-woppers and soulmen that no one outside the industry has ever heard of.

He still sings occasionally with The Marcels, and has performed with The Clovers, The Memories, and The Drifters.

Since moving to Florida, he's put together his own show for the Sunshine State region audiences, hitting the stage as "Richie Merritt Solo" or as “Richie Merritt & The Gems,” featuring a revue that salutes Little Anthony, Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson, served along with classic R&B, soul, and some oldies' tunes.

Merritt got his start in his native river town of Donora, where he sang in his father's Pentecostal Church as a three-year old. Better know for churning out baseball players like Stan Musial and Ken Griffey, father and son, than singers, Donora still proved to be a fruitful launching pad for Merritt.

He formed his first group there while a grade-school kid, the El Qunitones. In 1960 and attending junior high, Merritt put together The Dragons, named after the DHS mascot. The group included Ted "Reno" Smith, still a Marcel's band-mate, and they stayed together until graduation day.

After earning his sheepskin in 1966, Merritt enrolled in the Army and sang on a USO tour in Germany, where he got the chance to perform with another GI on his way to bigger and better things, Aaron Neville.

After his discharge in 1968, Merritt joined The Electrons as lead singer (after "It Ain't No Big Thing"), remaining with the group for five years. Throughout the following decades, Merritt sang with a "Who's Who" of local groups.

After the Electrons, he moved to the Vibrators, a hot local act during the seventies. They broke up in 1979, and Merritt went on to sing for High Society, primarily a standards band, and The Laurels and The Memories, which were show bands with an emphasis on Motown and slick choreography. He also found time to open a short-lived night club.

He got a little solo love too, when in 1990 "Where Did I Go Wrong?", a song Merritt wrote and recorded, landed in the Top 10 of the Northern Soul-crazed United Kingdom. (It was later released on the 1998 CD "Richie Merritt - Then & Now").

In 1992, Merritt, then with the Memories, was approached by Johnny Mason about joining The Clovers. The wooing eventually worked when in the fall of 1993, he signed on with the band as lead tenor.

The Clovers were booked for Atlantic City six months a year, were regulars on the Carolina "shag circuit," appeared regularly in Vegas, and played in venues across the country.

The group performed on the PBS special, "Doo Wop 51," in 2000. The Clovers were inducted to the Doo Wop Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002. The VGHOF induction performance was Merritt's last as a Clover.

But Merritt didn't have to worry about filing for unemployment after he left. Walt Maddox had a spot saved for him with The Marcels, which Merritt had appeared with during prior performances as a fill-in tenor.

Now, nearly a decade later, he still does special performances with The Marcels (they just did an Erie gig in January at the Presque Isle Track & Casino), and does his own Gulf Coast thing out of his home base of Tampa.

And hey, it doesn't get much better for a sixty-ish Pittsburgh doo-wopper. A resume that runs from the Electrons to the Clovers, a regular schedule of bookings, enough to keep you busy without competing with your tee-times, and a home in the Golden State.

It's a long way from Donora.


"Where Did I Go Wrong?" - Richie Merritt

Southside Jerry

Southside Jerry Mellix
Jerry Mellix was born in the Lower Hill, and went to Soho and Forbes schools. He got his start in music in 1961 at the age of fourteen, blowing a sax for the Fifth Avenue High School band and with his Hill District community players, the Hill City Marching Band.

But his muse was his brother Ron, looking sharp while marching in the Saturday morning parades with the HCMB. Ron would then spend his Saturday nights with Clairton's Shirley and The Splendors, coming home after a gig with his cut of the pot - $15. Jerry wanted to get a piece of that action.

Not that there weren't other influences over his career. "Sax players like Art Nance, the late great J.C. Gordon, Stanley Turrentine, Hammond B-3 player John Papi, guitar player Larry "Butch" McGhee, vocalist Hattie Taylor, members of These Gents, the late Johnny Jack and Jerry Betters, and of course everyone from the group The Memories, inspired and encouraged me," he said.

"A lot of those players, too many to name, were cats who only got to play in those hole in the wall joints. They never got recorded or will never be known outside their neighborhoods, but I appreciate them all."

When he was sixteen, Mellix hooked up with his first professional band, Little Willie Beck & The Crossfires (Beck forged Mellix's folks signatures on the work permit papers). Mainly a club band, they never recorded, though they did perform at the Stanley Theater for a 1963 show headlined by Lee Dorsey and Derek Martin of "You Better Go" fame. In fact, the Stanley performance was Mellix's first gig.

The Crossfires rode the circuit of the local venues - The Holiday House, Twin Coaches, and the other supper clubs that once dotted the region. They got to open for groups like The Miracles, Brook Benton, the Coasters, and ‘Wicked’ Wilson Pickett.

While the band may have never cut wax, they did get on radio, doing live commercials for WAMO DJ Bill Powell.

Like the other young males of the day, Mellix spent his year in 'Nam, joining Uncle Sam's crew in 1965. Then he came back home to a long run with the Memories.

He spent the next twenty plus years as a member of the band. They started out as an acapella doo-wop group the first year, then changed some personnel and added musicians, putting together a sweet show act. The Memories did an album worth of recordings in the mid 70’s for Terry Lee, but the DJ never released the cuts.

But the Memories did record again, on their MEMCO Label, and released their first wax, "Can I" b/w “Lovey Dovey” in 1976, followed in 1978 by "Sha-Boom" b/w "Once And Awhile." They later recorded and released a 4-song mini LP on cassette, a hot medium in 1981.

The band based their later choreography ala The Temptations, as they found themselves opening for a number of Motown acts playing the area like the Temptations (who were duly impressed by the Memories' show; imitation is the greatest form of flattery, no matter what biz you're in) and the O'Jays.

By the late 80’s, the members of the group were being raided by The Vogues, who took Keith Dix & Dave Wingo, The Marcels, who lured Jules Hopson, and The Clovers, who added Richie Merritt. The Memories became a memory. Mellix cast his lot with The Laurels.

He spent a few years performing with them, and decided to strike out on his own. His first gig was as a member of a South Side blues house band. The leader had trouble pronouncing Mellix during the group intros, and so "Southside Jerry" was born.

In 1997, he taped his first solo effort under his new stage name. That recording, released on cassette by RAM, was titled "Blues 'N' At" and won Pittsburgh's EXCEL Award for best independently produced Jazz/Blues record. Southside Jerry reissued it on CD in 2000 on his own impress, the Jermel label.

Now on his own, Mellix expanded beyond his Motown roots, and added blues and jazz to his R&B and doo-wop repertoire. He also expanded his stage, performing in places like Buffalo, Rochester, Charlotte, New Orleans, and Atlanta.

His favorite gig was at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. There, Mellix got to perform with The Clovers, which included his old band mate from The Memories, Richie Merritt, who sang for a host of local groups, including the Electrons and the Marcels.

He joined forces with Morgantown's oldies/shag act, the Subway Band, which toured the east, and in 2005 cut the album "Black, White, & Blues" on their own label. His playing is also heard on albums with Pittsburgh's Stingers, Memphis Mike, and Kari Throm.

Heck, in 2006 he even played a gig with Gary Racan and the Studio E Band for the opening night gala after Matthew McConaughey's and Matthew Fox's "We Are Marshall" movie premier in Huntington, West Virginia.

The Subway job landed him an opportunity to play with Chicago's "Daughter of the Blues," B.B. King's girl Shirley, as a member of the R&B Station. His last performance with her was in Toronto, where Mellix parted ways to work in the Reno and Carson City casinos with a R&B show band called Musicole w/Michael Coleman.

But when the economy went south, so did the casino budgets. Mellix returned to his old stomping grounds in 2007 to earn his daily bread, and has been doing nicely ever since.

Here, he's back on the oldies circuit, backing The New Holidays, The Four Townsmen, and the Soul Merchants; he was with the El Monics before they broke up. He also performed with his own band, the Blues 'N' At Band, under his Southside Jerry persona.

Mellix plays the tenor sax, but also has been known to blow on a alto, bari and flute when it's called for and still is a pretty fair vocalist.

Forty-five years in the show, traveled the country, and yet got to come home again, to Wilkinsburg. Oh, and made enough of the long green to send his daughter through medical school (a day job with the Post Office helped that cause).

Southside Jerry is one of the unsung blue-collar success stories of the Pittsburgh music scene, and we hope he's back to stay.


Southside Jerry doing "Jerry's Blues"

Mon-Vales

In the late 1950s, Westmoreland County's Monessen was a jumping little city. It was home to Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel and the Page Steel & Wire Company, and its folk worked hard and played harder.

They'd party at venues like the Dog House, Caminos, the Jumping Jive Bee Hive, the Twin Coaches, the Cougar Canteen, and the Blue Fox, along with the countless fire halls and social clubs scattered across the Mon Valley.

One day in 1957, five street-corner doo-woppers - John Brown, Tony Fafalios, Frank "Pancho" Olivio, "Khaki" Joe Olivio, and Dave Reday - from Monessen (except Fafalios, who was from Rostraver) decided to get in on the action as the Mon-Vales.

Without any agent (or for that matter, a clue on how to produce and sell vinyl), they cut a demo tape at Sadowski's Market in Fairhope, which had a top notch, cottage industry recording studio in its basement. The instrumental tracks were laid down by another local band, Donora's Highlighters.

Next came the hard part, peddling the songs to a record company. A connection in Pittsburgh hooked them up with a connection in the Big Apple. They fronted the guy some benjamins, and when nothing was shaking after awhile, they hopped in the jalopy and motored to NYC to find out where their tunes stood.

Well, the tunes were nowhere. It ended up that the producer had scammed about 40 acts, pocketed their money, and ran to LA. So they began to door-knock on Record Row, demo in hand.

And hey, it worked. Pen Joy Records on 45th Street liked the tape - it consisted of "Why Should I Cry?," "Jump Crybaby," "Carol-Ann," and "Cool Kat And His White Bucks."

Before you could say Daddio of the Radio, the platter "Carol-Ann" b/w "White Bucks" (Pen Joy #502, released 1958) was spinning on Porky's turntable, and the Mon-Vales had a local two-sided hit. John Brown took the lead for "Carol-Ann" while Dave Reday, who was the usual featured singer, did the honors for "White Bucks."

They took advantage of the New York visit in more ways than one, playing clubs there and in the Boston area, all the time honing a frenetic stage act. They even got to play one of Alan Freed's Rock and Roll shows.

The Mon-Vales came home to a busy schedule of hops, high school dances, and the local club circuit. Their high-energy act was center stage at the Stockdale Fire Hall, the White Elephant, the Monessen Italian Club, and the Greensburg Fire Hall, plus whatever Mon Valley gyms or social halls would have them.

But, as with most one-hit wonders, the twilight came quickly. In 1959, Pancho Olivio left to join another Mon Valley group, and that brought down the curtain on the Mon-Vales after eighteen months of fame.

The other members all had real-life responsibilities, and left behind the world of doo-wop for college and jobs. Now, only Khaki Joe Olivio is left from the Mon-Vales, 74 years young and still living in Monessen.

But their record is yet making the rounds. There are several labels affixed to the Mon-Vales' wax; the original Pen Joy, a version on Penn-Joy (perhaps a boot), an issue on Paris, and a 1970s reissue on Keystone Classics (#22), credited to Johnny Blue and the Monvales, carried by Carnegie's D & J Records.

"White Bucks" is on Itzy's PGH-III, and "Carol-Ann" is listed on a couple of compilations: "Doo Wop Honor Roll of Girls' Names" (Adam and Eve #502) and "The Terry Lee Show WMCK" album, also attributed to Johnny Blue and the Monvales.

Hey, musicians come and go, but the music lives on.

(Old Mon thanks Ron Paglia of the Tribune Review, whose 2007 article "Singing Mon-Vales Rocked the Valley" provided much of the background for this post.)


Carol-Ann - the Mon-Vales 1958

oldies but goodies yet again

John "Sir Walter" Christian from Poise Foundation
OK, Porky was the king of the radio jocks, no argument. But if he was king, Sir Walter Raleigh was the Prince of Soul DJ's in the early days of Pittsburgh R&B radio.

In 1955 John Christian starting spinning disks at WILY, an East Liberty station, joining local radio pioneers Lee "3-D Lee D" Dorris and Bill Powell, all three playing soul for the black audiences of Pittsburgh. He owned an appliance store that advertised on the station and got into the business through a bit of serendipity. The station manager heard his voice over the phone and offered him a job.

Two years later, Christian, dubbed "Sir Walter" in Time magazine for his faint British accent, left to team up with Porky at WAMO. Bill Powell joined him there. Brother Matt came on later, giving WAMO a dominant lineup of jocks.

"And that's when WAMO took off," Christian told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. "There was a segment of people who obviously appreciated what Porky was doing. They were primarily white people. When they brought on African-American talent, that's when the total community, white and black, became involved." WAMO to this day draws on a large mixed audience for its' music programming.

He used to dress up in an English butler outfit or in a white suit, sometimes with tails. Christian would sport a monacle and talk in a faux accent. He often was seen wearing a top hat or bowler. Sir Walter had very large, white mutton chops. And he referred to everyone as "M'Lords and M'Ladies."

Some thought his persona was a takeoff on satirist Lord Buckley, who would do bits with a veddy British accent and over the edge costumes. Whatever the origin, Christian's act worked like a charm in Pittsburgh. He was a popular hop jock like all the primo DJs of the era.

He eventually left radio because of "creative differences". Control of the playlist had been torn from the DJ's and given to the accountants, and Christian figured it was time to move on. A Top 40 list was anathema to the old school jocks. He then scored a long running gig with TV station WPXI.

Now he's best known for his charitable work. The John Christian Charity Trust Fund awards grants to different area social and community causes. Its' big money maker is his annual celebrity golf outing.

*****

And add the Stockdale Fire Hall in Washington county to the hop havens of the 1950s & '60s. The Pittsburgh Tribune Review and Post Gazette both just ran articles on it and a big reunion dance it hosted to celebrate 50 years of platters. Other old Mon Valley halls mentioned in the PG: the Jumpin' Jive Bee Hive and the Cougar Canteen in Charleroi, the Italian Hall in Monessen, the Blue Fox and Italian Citizens Club in Monongahela, and the Twin Coaches in Rostraver.

To the east in Westmoreland county, Harry Lattanzio's Rink in Latrobe brought in the Pittsburgh R&B jocks to rock the joint for the locals & the kids from Indiana and Ligonier.

More songs? The Girl from the 'Burgh recommends "Cry Like A Baby" and "The Letter" by the Boxtops, "Close Your Eyes" by Peaches and Herb, and "Dream" by the Everly Brothers. A few other tunes that you may remember: "Dedicated to the One I Love," Shirelles; "Houseparty," Showstoppers; "I Only Have Eyes For You," Flamingos; "Showtime," Detroit Emeralds; "Image of a Girl," Safaris; "Because," Dave Clark Five; "Wipe Out," Surfaris; "This Diamond Ring," Gary Lewis and the Playboys; "For Your Precious Love," Jerry Butler; "Chains," Cookies; "Don't Say Nothin' Bad About My Baby," Sapphires; "Forever," Marvelettes; "Up on the Roof" and "Under the Boardwalk," Drifters; "Stand By Me" and "I Who Have Nothing," Ben E. King; "Baby Love," Supremes; "My Girl," Temptations; "Midnight Hour," Wilson Pickett; "Try a Little Tenderness," Otis Redding; "You Don't Own Me," Leslie Gore; "Chapel of Love," Dixie Cups; "(Remember) Walkin' in the Sand," Ronettes; "A Lover's Question," Clyde McPhatter; "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," Platters; "It's Only Make Believe," Conway Twitty; and "It's All Right," Impressions.

lugee sacco

Lou Christie from Kowboy - the 50's

Raised in Glenwillard near Sewickley, pop vocalist Luigi "Lugee" Sacco hung out in the Big Apple after graduating from Moon High School and found work as a back up singer. He still played some hometown gigs with the bands Lugee and the Lions and later the Classics and scored a few minor local hits.

But in a bit of a role reversal, he had to sign with Co & Ce, a 'Burgh label run by Herbie Cohen and Nick Cenci, in 1962 to hit it big. After being introduced to area teens by Porky and topping the charts at KQV and WYRE, the first of Sacco's hits was picked up by Roulette and rose as high as No. 24 on the 1963 national charts. It was "The Gypsy Cried."

The tiny C&C label credited the song to the artist "Lou Christie," without Sacco's knowledge - or consent. Sacco had been working on a list of potential stage names, and said that he hated the name. "I was pissed off about it for 20 years. I wanted to keep my name and be a one-named performer, just 'Lugee'." But Lou Christie ended up working out just fine for him. He followed his first hit with "Two Faces Have I." It rose to number 6 nationally, and he never looked back.

Well, except for dodging the censors of the era. After a two year stint in the Army, his next release "Lightnin' Strikes" became the No. 1 song in America in 1966 - "When I see lips begging to be kissed (Stop!) I can't stop, (Stop!) no I can't stop myself! (Stop! Stop!)." They just don't write 'em like that anymore, and parent and religious groups, outraged at the wanton smooching (and we all know what that leads to!), did everything they could to make sure no one ever wrote like that again.

That same year, he followed it up with an even racier set of lyrics for the 60s and came under fire for perverting teens with the makeout anthem "Rhapsody in the Rain," about a back seat tryst. It ended up with two versions, the uncut track and the sanitized one. It wasn't enough. "Rhapsody" was in fact banned outright from many playlists. Christie recalls that "Time magazine wrote about it and said that I was corrupting the youth of the day."

Like we needed his help, hehe. After all, we were about to become the free love generation. In spite, or perhaps because of, the publicity, the song charted at #16 even without national airplay. And believe it or not, the offending melody was inspired by Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet". I guess the blue noses would ban Shakespeare, too.

His final big hit, "I'm Gonna Make You Mine," went to No. 10 in 1969. After a handful of songs that barely charted, Christie went off to London and battled his drug demons.

His songs were included in quite a few movie soundtracks, but he switched directions and went country. Bad move. Christie was a fizzle with the C&W and adult contemporary crowd. Eventually, he came home and joined the oldies circuit in the 1980s, where his Frankie Valli-like falsetto is still thrilling folk that are kids at heart, even if there's snow on their roofs.

And for the record, Lou Christie is a helluva lot better name for an artist than Lugee. I hope he's over it. Maybe not, though.

Currently, Luigi has just recorded a new song entitled "Non So Perche" ("I Don't Know Why") which he sings in Italian. It's a song he wrote to honor his heritage. Lugee plans on performing his song at the San Remo Music Festival in the spring of 2008. Look out, Bocelli! Luigi Sacco is returning to his roots.

(Follow Lugee Sacco on his website Lou Christie.com)

those oldies but goodies part 2

Brother Love's Underground from Larry's page

Yah, yah, I know I missed a lot of 1960s music in my "Oldies But Goodies" post. And I'll miss a lot more - after all, 40 years worth of memories do get somewhat diluted as the neurons quit firing with their usual reliability. But here's a couple of additions that popped into what's left of my mind (a terrible thing to lose, take my word for it!)

How could I forget Chuck Brinkman from KQV radio? He was one of the premier top 40 jocks of the era, and the first host of "Come Alive" on WIIC - TV, a local teen dance party show. Brinkman spun disks on TV for eighteen months before handing the torch to Terry (TL) Lee. He came to KQV in 1960 and eventually worked every time slot they had to offer.

Brinkman's famous for stealing KDKA's thunder when the Beatles came to town in 1964. He and brother jock Dexter Allen got to New York to interview the Beatles. Through connections, they managed to talk their way into a seat on the Beatle's private plane to the 'Burgh, bumping KDKA's Clark Race in the process. Once here, they got the KQV banner hung front and center on the Arena stage, and Brinkman introduced the Beatles to the screeching mob, one upping Race again. Clark Race bitched about it on air for the longest time.

In 1972, he moved across town to WTAE and ten years later made a clean break from here and went to San Diego. He came back to Pittsburgh briefly and has worked the Dallas area for the past two decades, moving from an oldies format to adult contemporary.

And speaking of dance shows, some folks used to watch "9 Teen Time" from WSTV in Steubenville, which used to have a pretty strong signal into the area. Its' hosts were Wayne Van Dine, later a TV consumer advocate on Pittsburgh TV, and Stan Scott.

I ran across some more on Brother Love's Underground. Ken Reeth was Brother Love's given name, and he was part of a morning comedy team in Hartford, where he and his partner Eddie King actually did stand up gigs at the local clubs. He came to Carnegie's WZUM in the 60s and then moved on to WAMO.

After San Francisco's Summer of Love, he thought Pittsburgh was ripe for some progressive rock. Somehow he sweet talked soul station WAMO into allowing him one night a week to pump out Iron Butterfly, Country Joe, Hendrix, the Doors, Vanilla Fudge, the Mothers and others of their ilk . The show became Brother Love's Underground.

The Underground was campy and true to Reeth's comedy roots. His studio sidekicks were Frank the Freak, Raymond the Condemned, the Observer, and the Mellon Square. He would engage them in comedy skits, ala Chilly Billy Cardille on Chiller Theater with his ensemble. Raymond and the Mellon Square were the crowd favorites. Raymond would spout bad poetry while the bewildered Square would rant about those darn hippies and the events of the day.

At one time, the Underground was broadcast by Dynamic Broadcasting into Boston, Miami and Buffalo, so Brother Love was more than a Pittsburgh phenonema.

He later made a complete about face and bought a country station in California. He DJ'ed under the moniker Romeo Jones there and eventually became a director for the Academy of Country Music. Reeth also wrote one of the first e-books, Dreamland, about his radio days. He passed away in Vegas in 2005 from leukemia.

And finally, a few more tunes that fell outta the cobwebs of my mind: "Hold Me," Mel Carter; "Our Day Will Come," Ruby & the Romantics; anything Skyliner, like "This I Swear" or "Since I Don't Have You," "Cara Mia," Jay & the Americans; "Draggin Waggin," Triumphs; "Elephant Walk," Donald Jenkins; "Dry Your Eyes," Brenda & the Tabulations; "My True Story," Jive Five; "Gloria," Shadows of Knight; any Righteous Brother tune, such as "You're My Soul & My Heart's Inspiration" or "Ebb Tide," "Walk," Fenways; "Harlem Nocturne," Viscounts; "Blue Moon," Marcels; "The Bird," Rivingtons; "Come Go With Me," Del Vikings; every Little Anthony song, like "Hurts So Bad" or "Going Out Of My Head," "The Loser," Racket Squad; "Oh What A Night," Dells; "My Heart Cries," Romancers (a cover that may be better than the original), "Farmer John," Premiers; "Rinky Dink," Baby Cortez; and everything by the Beach Boys (try "In My Room" or "Surfer Girl") and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, who sang too many songs and gave me too many memories to fit on this page. Trust me on that.

That's it for now. Maybe my mind will shake loose a couple of more recollections as time goes on, and please feel free to nudge my memory if you recall things I've forgotten or missed.

those oldies but goodies

The Daddio of the Raddio from Old Radio

Did you grow up in Pittsburgh during the sixties? Then you remember the music scene.

Porky Chedwick: The Daddio of the Raddio, Your Platter Pushin' Papa, The Boss Man, the Pied Piper of Platter, Porky was all those things and more. Porky did all the dances, and his oldies/R&B playlist - and make no mistake, he originated "race" music in this neck of the woods - had kids flocking to his hops, and he still does an odd gig or two. DJ'ing out of WHOD/WAMO in Homestead, he was the man. I can still hear his theme, "Bongo Blues" (until his Porky jingles replaced it) playing in my head.

It's said he made a million dollars at the hops and either gave it away or had it embezzled from him - and he doesn't care. He said God took it from him because He knew the Daddio couldn't handle it. One benefit of his legendary disdain of money is that it kept him clean of the payola stain that covered so many other top dj's of his era.

Once Porky played Martha Reeve's "Dancin' In the Streets" from a downtown broadcast site and told his radio listeners to stop what they were doing and dance to her beat. Kids all over the area stopped their cars in tunnels, at stop lights, and at intersections and got out and danced. Traffic was tied up for hours as it was estimated that 10,000 teens were tuned in while on their way to town to catch Porky's act.

Terry Lee/TL: He spun wax out of McKeesport's WMCK/WIXZ and featured Music for Young Lovers complete with reverb, a biggie back in the day. All the cool cars had it, along with a red light in the back seat. Every radio in the cars parked along South Park's China Wall (a lover's lane frequented by romantic teens and peeping tom police with high voltage flashlights) had his show dialed in. TL managed the Arondies and Swamp Rats (nee Fantastic Dee Jays) and played the heck out them, along with "High on a Hill" by Scott English and "Have I Sinned" by Donnie Elbert. He closed out the show with "Goodnight, My Love," not sure of the artist. He made so much money at the hops that he had security with him to get the swag home.



Clark Race: A KDKA jock through the 1960s, Race had a 50% audience rating, meaning at any one time, half the teen radios in Pittsburgh were tuned to his show. He also hosted the wildly popular TV show "Dance Party," a local American Bandstand. Everyone checked it out just to see if they knew anyone boog-a-looing or slow draggin' on live TV, or better yet, someone that had ditched their steady for a less left-footed partner. He broke Lou Christie's "Lightning Strikes" and Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet." Clark Race was also a fixture at the hop scene.

Mad Mike Metro(vich): Mad Mike's show originated from WZUM in Carnegie and was broke into different segments. The more popular were Mad Mike's Moldie Oldies and the Progressive Teen Sound, a showcase for what was basically garage and surfer rock. He's the dude that launched Tommy James' career and he was a regular at West View Dance Land. One famous story has the early Rolling Stones playing live and drawing a crowd of 200 while Mad Mike's competing gig drew 2,000. Mad Mike died in 2000.


Mad Mike from Magic Music Machine

The Other Biggies: I couldn't find much on these guys, but they were giants in the 1960s - Charlie Appel, still a part-time DJ and full time reverend, from Monroeville's WPSL (he still has a crew of followers known as the Apple Corps), Brother Love of WAMO, who introduced progressive music to the Burg, and Bob Livorio of WKPA in New Kensington, another renowned hop jock.

The Dance Halls: I'm from the South Hills, and my memory can still dredge up the Linden Grove in Castle Shannon, the White Elephant in White Oak, I think, though it burned down long ago, the Lebanon Lodge in Mt. Lebanon, Sully's in Brentwood - that burned too, occupational hazard, I guess - and West View Dance Land where everyone got down to the Battle of the Bands. Kennywood did some dances, too. A few romances and many boozy parking lot fights were started at these venues. How else would a self-respecting Pittsburgh teen kill the weekend?

The Songs: Culled by memory in no particular order: "Wisdom of a Fool," The Jesters; "The Wind," Diablos; "69," Arondies, "Whip It On Me Baby," Billy Guy; "My Heart Cries," Etta & Harvey; "You're Pushing Too Hard," The Seeds; "High Flying Wine," The Igniters; "Fried Onions," Lord Rockingham; "Love You So Bad," The Empires; "Baby Let Me Bang Your Box," The Bangers; "Someone," The Contrails; "Ain't No Big Thing," The Electrons; "High on a Hill," Scott English; "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O," Larry Dale; "Shop Around," The Mad Lads; "Love Is So Tough," The Fantastic Dee Jays; "Don't You Hear Me Calling Baby," Ronnie Haig; "Have I Sinned," Donnie Elbert; "Psycho" & "The Witch," The Sonics. Our song? "Everlasting Love," Robert Knight, "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You," Frankie Valli, and "So Much In Love," The Tymes. One song wasn't enough.

If you can remember most of these names, places and tunes, congratulations - Altzheimers hasn't won yet. And by the power invested in me by The Boss Man, I dub thee an official member of the South Park Cruisers Club, circa 1967. It was a very good year.