Infringing on Vintage MY(P)HAE?

Well, I decided to take a break from the 78s and do a few 45s for this blog. At the risk of infringing on Lee's MY(P)WHAE, I dug out three 45s, each with its' own attraction...

The first one is from a local Minneapolis, Minnesota record company, SOMA Records. It has a bunch of Minnesota boys called The Underbeats, covering a classic soul/doo-wop song, Book Of Love. Yes, it's the song originally made famous by the Monotones. And, it's an interesting cover, if I don't say so myself. I like finding stuff like this at the thrift store, all banged and boogered up... one cleans it off, one throws it on the turntable, one does the CoolEdit voodoo (that he do so WELL), and one gets rewarded... well, MOST of the time anyway.

The B-side isn't too badly done either... Darling Lorraine is a bit more, how shall I say it, Wonder-bread-ish? It still has that nice pop feel to it, and I think it might be a nice little B-side... which, of course, it is.

Next up, I found this in the same pile as the Underbeats 45... it is The Reflections on a local Detroit, Michigan label, Golden World, doing (Just Like) Romeo & Juliet. Okay, I think, this is a cover, right? WRONG! I think this one is the REAL DEAL! Holey moley! It's GOOD too! If anyone knows if this is the real deal and not a cover, PLEASE let me know! Comments are welcome! I'll have to go dig through Goldmine magazine to see if Golden World was the original producer of this song.

The B-side is a great tune as well... Can't You Tell By The Look In My Eyes. Neat harmonies, nice arrangement, good 60s doo-wop.

I also noticed that this disc was pressed at a Columbia pressing plant (hence the Columbia-style matrix numbering)...

Now for a REAL Columbia 45... I don't know why I grabbed this one off the pile, but I'm glad I did! Duke's New Sound Band sounds like it was supposed to be a clone of The New Vaudeville Band maybe... at least on this cut, originally written by Buffy St. Marie, entitled Don't Call Me Honey When Your Mother's Around. Holy acid flashbacks, Batman! This is a VERY cute little pop thingie, probably warehoused by Columbia when the fad of tunes like "Winchester Cathedral" went poof. That lasted all of what, 15 minutes?

(sarcasm mode off now because I LIKE "Winchester Cathedral"!)

The B-side, Where Did I Go Bad is a bit more 'pedestrian', but it still is a nice little pop number. Isn't it neat when you can look back 35 years and say "Gee, that was a nice record, how come it didn't get any airplay?" Well, it gets unearthed, right here on MoodieTunez, just for your musical enjoyment!

Right now, I'm working up some Tony Mottola stuff from the 60s, recorded on Enoch Light's Project 3 label, which I'll have for you in a few days, but in the meantime, have a nice stroll down the almost-top-40 Memory Lane!