Hit Songs That Should Never Be Played On Radio Today

[TheBigA]

Digging a bit more, I find Mitch discovered Aretha Franklin and gave her her first recording contract...at Columbia.

Have you ever heard Aretha's Columbia records? You wouldn't recognize her. They tried to turn her into a female Mathis. Devoid of soul. Her records never sold, they let her go, and she got signed to Atlantic, where they let her be herself.

 

[michael hagerty]

Agreed. She was mishandled at Columbia, but I don't think that could be offered as evidence of racism.

Have you ever heard Aretha's Columbia records? You wouldn't recognize her. They tried to turn her into a female Mathis. Devoid of soul. Her records never sold, they let her go, and she got signed to Atlantic, where they let her be herself.

 

[JeffM]

Jeff: Those artists were on those direct-response TV ads in thr 80s because declining sales cost them their major-label contracts in the 70s.

Mitch didn't have much to do with the jazz artists you mention. Columbia had separate A&R chiefs for pop, jazz and classical. So while Mitch was pushing schmaltz (which I'd argue Mathis rose above, as did Tony Bennett), John Hammond and Goddard Lieberson were responsible for the enduring classics.

Cost-cutting was no doubt part of the motivation in consolidating UNI, Decca and Kapp into MCA Records, but the label made a huge deal in interviews in the trade publications of the time of discussing how they were ditching old-line artists and focusing on contemporary artists.

Essentially, the way it was framed was they were killing Decca and Kapp, voiding remaining artist contracts, moving The Who and Sonny and Cher (as much for Cher's solo stuff as anything) to join Neil Diamond, Olivia Newton-John and Elton John at UNI and then re-naming it MCA Records. The result was one of the few major labels in 1973 not weighed down by a roster of declining MOR artists.

At the risk of going around in circles (like what else is new?) the direct-response artists succeeded because their customer base was not going into RECORD STORES to buy records. Obviously they were still out there BUYING MUSIC. While Roger Whittaker and Slim Whitman were established performers, it could well be argued that Boxcar Willie, Zamfir, and Richard Claydermann were stars "made" by direct sales. (I suppose the ultimate direct-sale "star" was Dora Hall, whose records were not actually sold but given away as premiums with her husband's paper cups, but that's another story.)

Mitch Miller, again with his seeming blind spot to changing tastes, nevertheless played and arranged on sessions with Charlie Parker (though I can't recall now if that was at Columbia or his previous home base, Mercury,) and Erroll Garner.

The MCA labels were never known for developing new acts, but for "buying" and often mismanaging existing talent. (Ozzie Nelson was very bitter in his later years about Lew Wasserman's "sabotaging" son Rick's recording career after signing him to Decca.) Not long after the merger, MCA signed Grand Funk and Helen Reddy away from Capitol, and saw their record careers go from "gold" to "zinc." I'm not certain if The Who ever released on the Uni label itself, though I'm pretty sure Sonny and Cher went direct from Kapp to MCA without ever being on Uni. MCA did in fact retain Roger Williams and possibly other MOR artists from Kapp, and by way of taking over Decca's Nashville operations, remained a power in country music.

 

[TheBigA]

Mitch Miller, again with his seeming blind spot to changing tastes, nevertheless played and arranged on sessions with Charlie Parker (though I can't recall now if that was at Columbia or his previous home base, Mercury,)

Mercury...or maybe sub-label Emarcy. Parker was never on Columbia.

There are a couple of compilation records at Birdland, but I don't think Mitch was involved. I think those were Norman Grantz things.

John Hammond was the jazz guy at Columbia. He signed Billie Holiday.

 

[landtuna]

I have never heard (until this thread) any accusation that Mitch was a racist. His musical tastes put him out of synch with what many African-American artists were performing at the time, but his musical tastes put him out of synch with Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan, as well.

One more time.....I did NOT call Miller a racist. I repeated what a well-known publication said of him.

And, Miller DID want to sign Presley but Parker (Presley's manager) wanted too much money.

Also, it was reported that Miller was driving Sinatra into doing songs he didn't want to do. Frankie was one of the only singers whose contract gave him refusal rights to the music he sung. But Sinatra wasn't "our" music either but rather our parents. Rating elevator music singers of the day against each other I would have Dean Martin and several others rated WAY over Frank.

 

[landtuna]

(Ozzie Nelson was very bitter in his later years about Lew Wasserman's "sabotaging" son Rick's recording career after signing him to Decca.)

I've always thought that Rick Nelson was largely a casualty of "Beatlemania" and the British Invasion as his career seemed to die pretty quickly in the early 60's. Rick was one of my favorite singers as a young teen and I still like his stuff but if you listen to his compilations they are all very similar. I understand how others could tire of his sound.

 

[TheBigA]

I've always thought that Rick Nelson was largely a casualty of "Beatlemania" and the British Invasion as his career seemed to die pretty quickly in the early 60's.

The string of hits came to an end in 1962 two years before the British invasion. Some of it may have been Decca. Some of it may have been Jerry Fuller, who wrote most of his biggest hits. Some of it may have been the teen success taking a toll, and the quality of work going down. Teen idols seem to burn out quickly. But his appearances on the TV show had become fewer because of his touring.

 

[JeffM]

Credit where it's due: Mitch Miller played oboe and English horn on a Charlie Parker session released in 1950 by Mercury. Norman Granz produced, and Jimmy Carroll (later a Miller associate at both Columbia and "Little Golden Records") arranged and conducted. The sessions have been mixed with other material in a CD reissue on Verve. Even if he was just a "working stiff" musician on that session, you gotta admit that's a musical odd couple if ever there was one.

 

[DavidEduardo]

While Roger Whittaker and Slim Whitman were established performers, it could well be argued that..., Zamfir, and Richard Claydermann were stars "made" by direct sales.

While that may be the case in the US, both Zamfir and Clayderman were legitimate million-selling artists in Europe, parts of Asia and Latin America.

Interestingly, most of Clayderman's hits were not issued or promoted in the US... the Toussaint / de Senneville compositions. In fact, a whole successful label, Delphine, was built around the two composers, Clayderman and a stable of instrumentalists like Francis Goya, Jean-Claude Borelly and others. In the early 80's, these artists had frequent charting singles in much of Europe.

While not the "chart artist" that Clayderman was, Zamfir was the 80's equivalent of Enya... a big seller for the mode and feel of the music.

An interesting observation is that Europe and much of the rest of the world was still actively listening to and purchasing instrumental artists, these had been relegated to releasing covers of standards and pop hits in the US.

 

[TheBigA]

Even if he was just a "working stiff" musician on that session, you gotta admit that's a musical odd couple if ever there was one.

Good to know...never could imagine Mitch producing Bird. You're right about the odd couple.

 

[semoochie]

Good to know...never could imagine Mitch producing Bird. You're right about the odd couple.

I once saw a movie about Charlie Parker. Right after his death, the police had determined that he was in his late 50s. A colleague corrected the statement, saying, "He was 34!".

 

[TheFonz]

Those teens must have been previous to my generation (late pre-Boomer) because I don't recall any one of my friends having any of those records. I remember seeing Miller perform "Yellow Rose" on a TV show but I don't remember ever hearing it on my local T-40 station.

"Yellow Rose" was a #1 hit in 1955, the same year "Rock Around The Clock" reached #1. In another bit of trivia, Columbia's Guy Mitchell had the #1 song of 1956 with "Singing The Blues". That song beat out Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", "Heartbreak Hotel" and "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You".

 

[firepoint525]

Rick Nelson was not the only performer whose career was over (or in serious decline) by 1962. All of these had their last hit (or last significant hit) circa 1962:

Pat Boone
Connie Francis
Neil Sedaka
Paul Anka
The Everly Brothers

(Some of these, of course, later made comebacks in the '70s.)

Even Elvis Presley was in decline. 1963 was his first year without a #1 hit!

 

[JeffM]

Absolutely accurate, Big A, but the echoes of Mitch Miller lingered for a decade after.

I used to joke that it was too bad Columbia didn't keep Ray Coniff under contract just long enough for us to see:

Ray Conniff And His Chorus Sing:

"Brass In Pocket"

...and other great songs of today, including

"Whip It"

"Turning Japanese"

"Super Freak"

"My Sharona"

(...you get the idea)

This is Dave Pell on Liberty Records, not Ray Conniff on Columbia, but I guarantee you won't be disappointed...(By the way, I HAVE the LP!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiDMNidIojc&noredirect=1

 

[vchimpanzee]

One more time.....I did NOT call Miller a racist. I repeated what a well-known publication said of him.

And, Miller DID want to sign Presley but Parker (Presley's manager) wanted too much money.

Also, it was reported that Miller was driving Sinatra into doing songs he didn't want to do. Frankie was one of the only singers whose contract gave him refusal rights to the music he sung. But Sinatra wasn't "our" music either but rather our parents. Rating elevator music singers of the day against each other I would have Dean Martin and several others rated WAY over Frank.

Frank was the best. Dean was still good.

And I like Mitch Miller's style as well. I have fond memories of the day my standards radio station was finally back to normal after a month of weird stuff during the day and the regular Stardust at night. One of the first songs I heard, even though it was a local pair of DJs, was by Mitch.

 

[TheFonz]

I recently watched an old "What's My Line" episode with Mitch Miller as the mystery guest. Someone asked if he was popular with teenagers and the answer was an emphatic yes! I just about fell off the chair!

In the mid to late '50s all of the major labels tried to adapt to rock & roll. Columbia used its country artists like Marty Robbins, Johnny Horton and The Collins Kids to record rockabilly. They also signed Carl Perkins after he left Sun Records. After Link Wray's hit with "Rumble", Columbia signed him to their Epic subsidary. Ersel Hickey (sounds like "Elvis Presley", doesn't it) also recorded for Epic. R&B (doo wop) groups like The Schoolboys and Little Joe & The Thrillers had minor hits on Columbia's Okeh label. Screamin' Jay Hawkins also had a hit on Okeh. I don't know how much influence Mitch Miller had on these artists, but Columbia definitly tried rock & roll.

 

[Avid Listener]

Rick Nelson was not the only performer whose career was over (or in serious decline) by 1962. All of these had their last hit (or last significant hit) circa 1962:

Pat Boone
Connie Francis
Neil Sedaka
Paul Anka
The Everly Brothers

(Some of these, of course, later made comebacks in the '70s.)

Even Elvis Presley was in decline. 1963 was his first year without a #1 hit!

Perhaps this is an illustration of a certain nearsightedness common to radio professionals and listeners like. From 1961 to 1968, Elvis starred in 28 movies. His career wasn't over, and it wasn't in "severe decline". He turned himself into a box office hero! True, most of his movies were crap, but they sold lots and lots of tickets. Making a lateral move into a different part of show business, and doing extremely well, is not a sign of failure, it's a sign of success!

 

[firepoint525]

Perhaps this is an illustration of a certain nearsightedness common to radio professionals and listeners like. From 1961 to 1968, Elvis starred in 28 movies. His career wasn't over, and it wasn't in "severe decline". He turned himself into a box office hero! True, most of his movies were crap, but they sold lots and lots of tickets. Making a lateral move into a different part of show business, and doing extremely well, is not a sign of failure, it's a sign of success!

That's sort of like the corporate guys' constant argument on here, "it's okay if it sucks, as long as it makes bucks." If any "lesser" performer had made all the severe career missteps that Elvis made, his career would have been OVER at that point. When Elvis and the Beatles met in 1965, John Lennon asked him the very pointed question, "when are you going to start playing rock and roll again?"

 

[Avid Listener]

That's sort of like the corporate guys' constant argument on here, "it's okay if it sucks, as long as it makes bucks." If any "lesser" performer had made all the severe career missteps that Elvis made, his career would have been OVER at that point. When Elvis and the Beatles met in 1965, John Lennon asked him the very pointed question, "when are you going to start playing rock and roll again?"

Considering how well Lennon came across in the Beatles' movies, and in "How I Won the War", Elvis could have asked Lennon, "When are you going to stop banging away on your guitar and become a movie star?" In the 1960's, Elvis (and more importantly, Tom Parker) were looking at some pretty powerful role models. Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. were, or had recently been, shifting between selling records, playing nightclubs, and making movies. Selling rock and roll records to teenagers in the late 1950's wasn't seen as being the ticket to a long-term career. So, when Elvis came back from his stint in the Army after being drafted, and had to make a comeback, it made a lot of sense to forget about trying to impress a new crowd of teenagers and instead reach out to his earlier fans, now grown older, by making movies. And, as time passed, it made sense for him to continue to reach out the that same further aging audience by shifting to Las Vegas stage shows instead of trying to sell records. If it wasn't for his self-destructive habits that caused his early death, Elvis (and Tom Parker) had a great career, re-inventing himself periodically to avoid being left behind as trends and tastes changed.

Remember, the concept of a recording act maintaining any sort of real longevity selling recordings is relatively recent. When artists we were starting to get a little older in the 60's looked back at the artists who came before them, no one who started a career out of recording hit singles survived long just selling hit singles. Those whose careers lasted any length of time diversified into alternate media. The concept of making a career out of selling recordings, and touring to support the sales, was unknown in the 60's, except for bandleaders. It wasn't until some of the solo artists or rock bands of the 60's continued to have some success in later decades that anyone knew it could be done.

 

[JeffM]

"Only thing worse than watching a bad movie is being in one." - Elvis Presley.