Better Than Paul Anka!

Yes, so much better than Paul Anka. Admittedly, I don't believe that's a hard thing to do - I've only heard two records by the man that I'd want to leave on. Oh, and there's "Johnny's Theme", which is damn good. But he has something approaching a record for near-consistent awfulness. Plus, today's title predates his song of the same title by more than three years. More in a moment. 

But first, I have again updated a previous month's set of busted links. And this month, June, 2014, was a DOOZY, with five posts and FOURTEEN songs shared. 

These include a SIX song Real Pros EP (the details of which I have amended today, with a correction), a nice Rodd Keith record, An MSR release with two very closely related songs, a remarkably tedious Sammy Marshall record, AND - drumroll please! - a record on Tin Pan Alley which has to qualify as one of the most entertainingly horrible 95 seconds ever committed to any form of recordable material. I strongly suggest those who haven't heard "The Proon Doon Walk" to immediately link to that page and have a listen. That's why I've linked the same post four times. 

And now: 

Yes, it's Tin Pan Alley again, this time featuring Alberta Jordan's performance of "Puppy Love", from some time in 1956, more than three years before Paul Anka's sappy, unctuous song and performance.

And there are certain friends of mine who will know, upon listening to it, that I LOVE this record. It's got a bunch of things that make my ears perk up: what Billboard called the "rock-a-ballad" style, complete with piano triplets, a nice overabundance of reverb on the vocal, and speaking of that vocal, a pleading, emotion-laden teen girl (or, in this case, most likely faux-teen girl) vocal, one which absolutely sells the lyric in a "this really happened" way.

That this happens to have been a song-poem is just icing on the cake - it gives me a chance to share it with the world. But this record, unlike the vast majority of song-poems, is almost indistinguishable from dozens of other actual failed attempts of the day at creating a real hit (and also not, as is so often the case, a record that sounds like attempts at hits from five years earlier. This sounds like 1956).

Download: Alberta Jordan - Puppy Love
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The flip side, "Moonlight Among the Willows", has some of the same aspects that make me love "Puppy Love", but no one but Alberta seems to be as invested in this one - the melody is not as indelible, and it's just missing that unidentifiable.... something... which the first side has in spades. I do, however, adore the tone of her voice on the long held notes for the word "willows" near the end of each verse. I could live in those vibrato notes for a week.

Download: Alberta Jordan - Moonlight Among the Willows
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Zombie Song-Poem

It's always a good time for an early Tin Pan Alley record - in this case, one from 1956. And with the recent death of George Romero, there couldn't be a better time for a tribute to the man behind the modern zombie film, than a Tin Pan Alley song-poem about....yes.... ZOMBIES! 

Here's "Zombies Dance in the Night". It's sung by Alberta Jordan, whose name turns up on only a handful of TPA singles. And that's too bad, because she had a fun sound to her voice, which would have enhanced any number of song-poem records. The AS/PMA website lists one Jordan record, and I own two others, both of which I've now shared here (the other is currently mothballed, due to the loss of the links to my earlier posts.

The record has a bump and grind beat, which is an interesting choice for a song describing Zombies dancing. The author did not provide a whole lot of lyrics, leading to a lot of "La-La-La's" at a few points. But they still paint quite a picture.

Download: Alberta Jordan: Zombies Dance in the Night
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The flip side, "Mister Radio Operator". And this is a fine, fun record, with a swinging, early rock and roll beat, with a nice sax solo, and a great feeling throughout. I'm not sure where the protagonist is located, but in the song, she's beginning the title character to somehow manage to pull in a strong signal so that she can hear her favorite music. Alberta Jordan does has a weird way of pronouncing words ending in a long O - including "Radio" - not sure where that accent comes from.

And how do I know this record is from 1956? Well, I did a search for the titles as well as the name of the label, and I found this listing. It seems that label honcho Jack Covais was thorough enough (proud enough?) of his co-writing credits - for writing the music - that he took the time to copyright these songs.

Download: Alberta Jordan: Mister Radio Operator
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Daddy!

I sure love these 1950's Tin Pan Alley singles. There's apparently some overlap on the early TPA singles between legit releases, vanity pressings and song-poems, and to be honest, today's sample (at least the A-side) seems, to me, too professional and too conventionally "good" to be a song-poem. On the other hand, the '50's TPA records have a fairly high level of performance and production quality, even those which are likely or clearly song poems. And the flip side of this one certainly sounds like a song-poem to me. So who knows? Regardless, I did want to share this one, "Daddy!", by Alberta Jordan, because it's a really fun record, one which should be recalled fondly by people of a certain age, as a favorite big late '50's hit, but of course, that's not the case. I don't know why - who could resist that opening section. You know you're in for something fun. And I find the lead vocal irresistible - dig the sharp intake of breath at the one minute mark! The echo on the final verse is the only clue (to me) that something outside of the norm is going on here. Enjoy!: 

Download: Alberta Jordan - Daddy!

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Side two, as mentioned above, sounds much more song-poemy to me, although I suppose one could also say it sounds like any number of pop hit b-sides from the same era. Here's Alberta Jordan, again, with "Should I Trust You With My Heart?":

Download: Alberta Jordan - Should I Trust You With My Heart?

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