Record #0824: Hey Senorita / Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) – THE PENGUINS

Dootone 348 (original) USA, October 1954
Words & Music by:  Side A – Curtis Williams; Side B – Curtis Williams
Musicians: Dexter Tisby (tenor vocals, lead on side A), Cleveland Duncan (tenor vocals, lead on side B), Bruce Tate (baritone vocals), Curtis Williams (bass vocals, piano), Ted Brinson (upright bass), others unknown
Recording sessions: Produced by Walter “Dootsie” Williams at Ted Brinson’s home garage studio in Los Angeles, CA, around August – September 1954
Highest chart positions:  Side A – none; Side B - US #8, US R&B #1

This was the Penguins’ debut single and an instant success. “Earth Angel” was the flipside, but the radio stations started to play it, and it became a cross-over hit in the US.

Penguins’ member Curtis Williams sued Dootone Records owner Dootsie Williams for $100,000 to break their contract, claiming he signed it while underage. Dootsie countersued Mercury Records for stealing his artists. A judge ruled the Dootone contract invalid because three of the four Penguins were minors when they signed it. This allowed their new manager, Buck Ram, to legally move the group to Mercury Records in 1955.

Musicians Jesse Belvin and Gaynel Hodge asserted that the melody and lyrics of “Earth Angel” were taken from song ideas they had previously written and performed with Williams in a past group. A judge ruled that Belvin and Hodge had written most of the song. Today, Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) officially splits the songwriting royalties equally between Williams, Belvin, and Hodge.

The recording session was repeatedly interrupted by a neighbour’s barking dog. Dootsie Williams had to step outside multiple times to quiet the dog down between takes.

List price:  VG+ $20, NM $40; first pressing with glossy red label is VG+ $75, NM $150

 

Record #0823: Satelliitti kahdelle / Ei sanaakaan – KAI LIND

Scandia KS 514 (original) Finland, 13. February 1964
Words & Music by:  Side A – Kaarlo Kaartinen, Sauvo “Saukki” Puhtila; Side B – Cliff Richard, Bruce Welch, Saukki
Musicians: Kai Lind (lead vocals), Jaakko Salo Orchestra (instruments and backing vocals; including probably Jaakko Salo – keyboards, and possibly Heikki Laurila – lead guitar)
Recording sessions: Arranged by Jaakko Salo, probably in Helsinki, Finland, on 23. January 1964
Highest chart positions:  This didn’t chart

“Satelliitti kahdelle” (a satellite for two) competed in the Finnish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1964. It came second in the selection while Lasse Mårtensson was sent to the ESC to represent Finland with “Laiskotellen”.

The flipside is a Finnish cover of “Don’t Talk To Him”, a 1963 hit single for Cliff Richard and the Shadows (UK #2).

List price:  Discogs.com has a median price of 12,50 euros for this.

 

Record #0822: Let's Spend the Night Together / Ruby Tuesday – THE ROLLING STONES

Decca 45-F 12546 (original) Finland, February 1967
Words & Music by:  Side A – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards; Side B – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
Musicians: Side A - Mick Jagger (lead and backing vocals), Keith Richards (lead guitar, bass and backing vocals), Brian Jones (organ), Charlie Watts (drums), Jack Nitzsche (piano); Side B - Mick Jagger (lead vocals, backing vocals and tambourine), Keith Richards (guitar, backing vocals and bowing the strings of an upright bass), Brian Jones (alto recorder, piano and backing vocals), Charlie Watts (drums), Bill Wyman (bass and fingers on the fingerboard of the upright bass)
Recording sessions: Produced by Andrew Loog Oldham at Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK,  Side A - 3.-11. August and 8.-26. November 1966; Side B – 8. November – 3. December 1966
Highest chart positions:  Side A – Finland #14, US #55, UK #3; Side B - US #1

I have already posted the US release here.

This entered the Finnish charts in February 1967 and peaked at #14 the next month.

The disc was manufactured by Musiikki-Fazer, which was the most significant Finnish music industry company. It was established in 1897 and sold to Warner Music in 1994.

List price:  Not in the US catalogue. One was sold in eBay for 29 euros in 2017.

Record #0821: Come On, Come On, Come On / (blank) – JERRY WILLIAMS AND THE VIOLENTS

 

Toms RM 4038 (promo) Sweden, 1963
Words & Music by:  Side A – Frogman (Gunnar Bergström), Beverly Hill (Ulf Arne Sandström); Side B – (no track)
Musicians: Jerry Williams (lead vocals), possibly Hasse Rosén (lead guitar), Tonny Lindberg (rhythm guitar), possibly Rune Wallebom (piano), Billy Gezon (bass), Johnny Landenfeldt (drums)
Recording sessions: Recorded in Sweden (probably in Stockholm) in 1963
Highest chart positions: none

This is a single-sided promotional flexi-disc record paid by a Danish chocolate and candy producer Toms.

Jerry Williams (Erik Sven Fernström) and the Violents never released this song as a single, but it appears on their 1964 album “More Dynamite”.

When Little Richard performed at the Star-Club in Hamburg in 1962, this group and the Beatles were the opening acts of the night. When the Beatles toured in Sweden in 1963, this group was their opening act.

The Violents was first an instrumental group (1959-1962) in the style of the Shadows. They had a local hit with “Alpens ros” which went to #5 in the Swedish charts in 1961.

List price: Not listed in my catalogues. Discogs.com shows a median price of 10 euros for this.