Gaylord Fields swings at Provocative Pop!

On Thursday September 29, our friend DJ Xerox was scheduled to host one of his fabulous DJ nights, Turtleneck (“a retro futuristic playground”), at the Beauty Bar in Manhattan with his co-host Ursula 1000. However, due to events that took both DJs out of town on that day, the night had to be filled with some other activity. Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus got the call to bring in one of his many fine WANG DANG DOODLE franchises to take the night. Thus, PROVOCATIVE POP took place with special guest DJ Gaylord Fields.

Mr. Fields is the king of the fine pop song. His show on radio station WFMU (Sunday nights at 8:PM) is very eclectic but mostly incorporates a pure pop ethic. It is for that reason that he is always chosen to be guest DJ when a PROVOCATIVE POP event is called for, as it was for this Beauty Bar fill-in.

Mr. Fields clearly took it seriously. He played some of the finest sixties pop records imaginable. Plus, he had fun with it. For instance, he lead off each of his three sets with a “Beatle” instrumental. That is to say, an instrumental recording that had the word “Beatle” in its title. Dig:

• Arthur K. Adams – “Beatle Bust Out” (Jetstar)
• Dave Hamilton and His Peppers – “Beatle Walk” (Fortune)
• The Motions – “Beatle Drums” (Mercury)

Quite by coincidence, Phast Phreddie also started each of his sets with instrumentals! Great minds think alike, eh? The night went pretty well, with several of the Beauty Bar’s hep clientele commenting on the fabulousness of the music–sixties pop, rock, soul and girl group sounds. Gaylord Fields left the scene around 2:00AM, leaving The Boog to carry on for the rest of the night—which, being a Thursday, might have been a short one. By 2:30 the club was a little bare, but by 3:00, somehow the place filled up again with folks bopping to the sounds and PROVOCATIVE POP swung right until the bar closed at 4:00AM! At the end of the night, even the bartender and the security guard made comments regarding how much they enjoyed the music. Perhaps the Beauty Bar will have the PROVOCATIVE POP team return at some future date. One can only hope.

Meanwhile, here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at PROVOCATIVE POP (note, many of the songs have links to the youtubes so the reader can dig at home):

• The Afro Blues Quintet Plus One–Afro-Rock (Mira)
• Don Ho–Forbidden Fruit (Reprise)
• Barry McGuire–Why Not Stop and Dig It While You Can (Dunhill)
• Virginia Vee–I Can’t See Nobody (Polydor; France)
• The Daily News–I’m in the Mood (Parrot)
• Billy Butler–I’ll Bet You (Brunswick)
• Prince Phillip–Keep on Talking (Smash)
• Los Bravos–Individuality (Columbia; Spain)
• Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra–The House of the Rising Sun (Decca)
• Sonny & Cher–Leave Me Be (Atco)
• Love–She Comes in Colors (Elektra)
• Los Mustang–San Francisco (La Voz de su Amo; Spain)
• The Poor–Feelin’ Down (Decca)
• Les Atomes–J’Aurais Du Lui Dire (Things I Should Have Said) (Capitol; Canada)
• The Tokens–Ain’t That Peculiar (Warner Bros.)
• The Drifters–Ain’t It the Truth (Atlantic)
• Question Mark & the Mysterians–Ain’t It a Shame (Tangerine)
• Lloyd Parks–Ain’t Too Proud to Beg (Parks; Jamaica)
• The Delfonics–Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love) (Philly Groove)
• The Pagents–Pa-Cha (Era)
• The Zombies–I’ll Call You Mine (CBS; Netherlands)
• Herman’s Hermits–Moonshine Man (M-G-M)
• Claude François–Laisse-Moi Tenir Ta Main (I Want to Hold Your Hand) (Philips; France)
• Shakers–Sing This All Together (See What Happens) (Decca; Belgium)
• Bobby Rydell–When I See That Girl of Mine (Capitol)
• Les Bel-Air–Restons Ainsi (Télédisc; Canada)
• Los Javaloyas–Buenas Vibrations (Good Vibrations) (La Voz de Su Amo; Spain)
• Las Grecas–Soy La Que Sufre Por Tu Amor (Leonor) (CBS; Spain)
• Shaggy Men–Oui Notre Vie (Télédisc; Canada)
• Les Chevaliers du Ciel–Jet-Jerk (Philips; Canada)
• The Vacels–Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window (Kama Sutra)
• Sharp Hawks–Lonely Love (Seven Seas; Japan)
• Leslie Uggams–Little bird (Columbia)
• Timi Yuro–Teardrops ‘Till Dawn (Mercury)
• Beau Dollar & the Coins–Any Day Now (Prime)
• Les Mersey’s–C’est Jeune (Télédisc; Canada)
• Four Tops–Love Feels Like Fire (Tamla/Motown; UK)
• The Equals–Fire (President; Belgium)
• The Zombies–Is This the Dream (Parrot)
• Small Faces–Tin Soldier (Immediate)
• Samantha Jones–Ford Leads the Way (Ford; UK)
• Sadina–I Want That Boy (Smash)
• Los Gritos–Los Molinos de la Mancha (Belter; Spain)
• The Charleston Esquires–Groovin’ Is Easy (Mamoth)
• Nella Dodds–P’s and Q’s (Wand)
• Barbara Lewis–Sho-Nuff (It’s Got to Be Your Love) (Atlantic)
• The Showmen–Action (Amy)
• The Platters ‘65–Run While It’s Dark (Entree)
• The Precisions–Instant Heartbreak (Drew)
• De-Opels–I Started a Joke (Straker’s)
• Jimmy London–I am Your Puppet (Jama; UK)
• Lenny Williams–Feelin’ Blue (Galaxy)
• Canarios–You Made a Mistake (Calla)
• Jim Brady & the Sonics–Near My Soul (Pulsar)
• Dave Clark Five–Paradise (Is Half as Nice) (Epic)
• The Footprints–Mama Rand’s (Capitol)
• The Druids–It’s a Day (Columbia)
• Smokestack Lightnin’–Got a Good Love (White Whale)
• Sir Douglas Quintet–Mendocino (Smash)
• Bill Wray and His Show Band Royale–Morning Dew (Warner Bros.)
• The Mamas & the Papas–Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon) (Dunhill)
• Roy Orbison–Communication Breakdown (M-G-M)
• Terry Day with Jack Nitzche and His Orch.–That’s All I Want (Columbia)
• The Rare Breed–Come and Take a Ride in My Boat (Attack)
• Steve Carpenter–You’re Putting Me On (Brunswick)
• Frankie Vaughan–Hercules (Philips)
• The Honey Bees–She Don’t Deserve You (Fontana)
• Lenny Welch–You Can’t Run Away (From Your Own True Feelings) (Mercury)
• The 4 Seasons–Pity (Philips)
• Donnie Elbert–This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak for You) (Mojo; UK)
• Jackie Wilson–I Get the Sweetest Feeling (Brunswick)
• Davy Jones–You Go Your Way (Relax; Netherlands)
• Luke Williams–Your Baby’s Bag (Columbia)
• Joe South–Hush (Capitol; UK)
• Palito Ortega–Poco Puede Darte (A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You) (RCA Victor)
• Danny & Jerry–We’ve Got a Groovey Thing Goin’ (Ronn)
• Gloria Tracy–I’ve Never Known (HBR)
• Sonny & Cher–It’s the Little Things (Atco)
• Peggy March–This Heart Wasn’t Made to Kick Around (RCA Victor)
• Andrea Carroll–The Doolang (Bigtop)
• Sue Thompson–Walkin’ My Baby (Hickory)
• The Palace Guard–Falling Sugar (Orange Empire)
• The Move–Tonight (Capitol)
• Los Angeles–No Pienses (Hispa Vox; Spain)
• Jackie De Shannon–What Is This (Imperial)
• Chantal Renaud–Irresistiblement (Jupiter; Canada)
• December’s Children–Somethin’ Fresh (Columbia)

None of these records are for sale.