Johnny Sandon - Some Kind Of Wonderful - Pye (1964)

Some Kind of Wonderful (mislabeled Some Kinda Wonderful) is Johnny Sandon's cover of the Drifters 1961 classic written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. While Sandon's does not top the Drifters version in originality, the recording is gorgeous and full of British beat energy, bravado and walloping production. The original 45 is scarce. Fortunately, it was beautifully preserved and reissued in 1991 on the Best of Tommy Quickly (which is now also hard to find) and later on the Beat Beat Beat 5 CD series.

Johnny Sandon - Some Kind Of Wonderful - Pye (1964) 

Johnny Sandon - Some Kind Of Wonderful - Pye (1964)

The Neptunes - Shame Girl - Warner Brothers (1964)

I was unaware of Gary Usher's fantastic production work for the Cascades and more obscure early 60s groups, like the Neptunes, until recently. While his later work with groups like Sagittarius is great, I tend to favor this era of pop song. Shame Girl was recorded in July of 1964 and is full of beach balls + bikini buoyancy. Incidentally, the tune sounds quite "hot" and on the edge of distorting. I wonder if Usher pushed the gear to the limit to give Shame Girl some edge when mixing or if the distortion came out during mastering. A little distortion never hurt, especially a genre like surf that needs some toughness.

The Neptunes - Shame Girl - Warner Brothers (1964) 

The Neptunes - Shame Girl - Warner Brothers (1964) 

Jonathan King - Mary My Love - Decca (1973)

Mary My Love may be the great lost hit of the 1970s. I realize that this is largely a 60s blog, but this one is too good not to post. I'd rather not get into Mr. King's complex personal history in RBM. I first heard this song on King's boxed set called King Of Hits, which may be the craziest, silliest, gutsiest, catchiest, most entertaining group of songs ever assembled. The word guile might sum up Mr. King in his entirety. For his recordings, that is a very good thing indeed. The picture sleeve below comes from Italy.

Jonathan King - Mary My Love - Decca (1973) 

Jonathan King - Mary My Love - Decca (1973) - Italian picture sleeve

The Lettermen - She Don't Want Me (mono & stereo) from Warm - Capitol (1967)

Song: She Don't Want Me

Writers: Dick Addrisi-Eddie Chandler

Recorded: 1967

Producer: Steve Douglas

My father saw the Lettermen in concert in the early 60s and said that the show was magical. My parents didn't spin them around the house during my childhood, favoring Simon & Garfunkel, the Moody Blues and the Beatles. As a result, my knowledge of the work of the Lettermen is fairly limited. I have been surprised to discover that the Lettermen recorded in some styles outside of the soft harmony pop that they were known for. She Don't Want Me nearly sounds like a Left Banke song, with gorgeous baroque pop touches. 

The Lettermen - She Don't Want Me (mono & stereo) from Warm - Capitol (1967)

The Lettermen - Warm - Capitol (1967)