John Madara's Greatest Hits
AT THE HOP
It all started with the DANNY AND THE JUNIORS' Hit AT THE HOP ... today we'll take a look at THREE of JOHN MADARA's Greatest Hits!!!
JOHN MADARA first came into national attention when he wrote the song that would ultimately become AT THE HOP, a chart-topper for DANNY AND THE JUNIORS back in 1958.
(I say "became" AT THE HOP because that is NOT the way this song originally started out ... today JOHN shares THAT story with us, along with some rare vintage photos from back in the day.)
Take it away, JOHN!!!
Kent,
I would love to share with you my experiences with creating "At The
Hop," especially with the forthcoming film about Philly music. As you
stated, there are always so many rumors and flat out lies with regards to many
of these great recordings, "At The Hop" being one of them.
As you know, "At The Hop" originally was recorded by myself, with
Danny and The Juniors (who at the time were called The Juvenairs) singing
background. It was titled "Do The Bop," with the B Side,
"Sometimes," also with me singing lead and Danny and The Juniors
singing background. I was under contract at the time to Prep Records and had
just had a record, "Be My Girl," which had made the national charts.
Prep had me all set up to record again with a producer who was working with
Paul Anka, Sid Feller, when I had the idea to write a song "Do The
Bop." I wanted to do something that had a piano featured like "A
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." So, off we go to the recording studio, with
me singing lead, Danny and The Juniors singing background, and my 45 record
"A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" to set the tone of what I was
shooting for. I paid for the session, sat in the control room, told the
engineer what to do, played the Jerry Lee Lewis record for the musicians and
that is how "Do The Bop" was created.
After the recording, we played the record for Prep. They didn't care for it. They still wanted me to record with Sid Feller. So we went back to Philadelphia where "Do The Bop" was played for Dick Clark, who suggested that The Bop wasn't really happening around the country and why don't we change it to something about record hops. So with some additional lyric changes, and because I was under contract with Prep, we went back into the studio with Danny and The Juniors. Danny, who was their lead singer, sang lead, using a lot of the same phrasing that I did on "Do The Bop." Of course, the rest is Rock and Roll history.
Except that Artie Singer, who had been my vocal coach, took all of the credit
for the production (and production monies and all of the publishing), put his
name on as a songwriter and publisher and has tried to take credit for
producing "At The Hop" all these years. I have read on many websites
that Artie Singer went out and got Leon Huff to help with the production and
play piano. This is totally, one hundred percent false. I discovered Leon Huff
in 1963 playing with a band called"The Lavenders," and at that time
he was about 18 years old. He would have had to have been 12 years old to be
involved with "At The Hop." To quote you, Kent, this is part of the
flat-out lies, the so-called facts that people print on their websites, but
this is the real story about how "At the Hop" was made. It would be
nice to get credit for something that you do. It's the one thing that people
can't take away from you, though they try.
(NOTE: The published sheet music for AT THE HOP clearly shows ARTIE SINGER's name front and center as the principal songwriter on this tune! We've also got a copy of the original Picture Sleeve issued with the special ABC-PARAMOUNT Extended Play 45 RPM Release from back in 1958!!!)
There are many other stories
to share with the other hits that we have created. I have also
attached the link to my website. Check out all of the other recordings.
Kent, I want to thank you for all of your Forgotten Hits E-mails. They have provided
me with some wonderful information about the people who are so much a part of
my career. I have not seen or had contact with many of them in years, but your
E-mail brings them back into my life, and I always have a heartfelt smile for
them. Please pass on a big hello to my friend, Freddie Cannon, who I have not
seen in years. Also, Hal Blaine is one of my closest friends, and I have shared
many, many stories with him and worked in the studio with him many times. He is
truly THE greatest drummer I have ever worked with. Thank you.
Lots of love,
John
When our original series ran, John shared with our readers a number of rare and unreleased tracks ... you'll see some of these discussed below.
JOHN MADARA: With regards to the Danny and The Juniors two sides I sent you, "Little Doll," written by Madara and White and "My Dear, My Love," was written by Dave White, recorded in early '58, and both sides produced by me ... as to why these sides weren't released ... well, as a 19 year old boy, I can only say that "the adults" were making all of the decisions. Please pass along the link to my website so that other interested readers can check out some of the music that I've been involved with during the course of my career.
www.thatphillysound.comhttp://www.thatphillysound.com/
Thanks, JOHN ... you've got some interesting tales to tell for sure!!! DAVID WHITE, JOHN MADARA's long-time songwriting partner, was one of "THE JUNIORS" featured on these early record as well. Together they would go on to write and / or produce a number of hit songs from the early days of rock and roll.
Here's an early photo of Johnny Madara, circa 1957-1958, from his solo
career:
The writing and production team of MADARA and WHITE were responsible for a number of hit songs from the earliest days of rock and roll. A quick visit to their website, THATPHILLYSOUND.com, shows a list of some of their chart hits. These include YOU DON'T OWN ME by LESLEY GORE, AT THE HOP and ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO STAY by DANNY AND THE JUNIORS, 1-2-3 and SOMEWHERE by LEN BARRY, BIRTHDAY PARTY and 442 GLENWOOD AVE by THE PIXIES THREE, KEEM-O-SABE by THE ELECTRIC INDIAN, THE FLY by CHUBBY CHECKER, PLAY THOSE OLDIES, MR. D.J. by ANTHONY AND THE SOPHOMORES, THE BOY NEXT DOOR by THE SECRETS, DAWN OF CORRECTION by THE SPOKESMEN, THE HUNGRY YEARS by WAYNE NEWTON, LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL / FEEL SO GOOD by BUNNY SIGLER and many more. JOHN MADARA was there when DARYL HALL (and later, JOHN OATES) first entered the recording studio. He worked with a very young LEON HUFF just prior to HUFF's teaming up with KENNY GAMBLE, with whom he would help to create THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA. MADARA worked with DENNY DOHERTY after THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS split up ... and the records that he helped to create have been used time and time again in movie soundtracks, television advertisements and TV programs. We are happy to salute their efforts in this very special FORGOTTEN HITS feature.
Kent,
Even though we have sold over Two Hundred Million records and our songs have
been in the biggest films and sound track albums, “Woodstock”,”Grease”,”Dirty
Dancing”, “Hairspray" and “The First Wives Club" and over Thirty Five
more films, and over Seventy Five TV shows and the over Thirty Million air
plays around the world, our and my careers have never been documented ... and
even though “At The Hop” by Danny And The Juniors is in The Walk Of Fame in
Philadelphia, Madara and White are not, and they are not in the “Rock And Roll
Hall Of Fame” either. Danny And The Juniors are in the “Vocal Group Hall Of
Fame”. It would be nice to get credit for writing and producing some great
records, and for my contributions to “Rock And Roll”. It is the one thing I
have never cared about, but in the twilight of my life it would be nice to have
the truth and the credit for your love of “Rock And Roll” since you were a boy,
and all you ever wanted all your life was to make great records and give that
next big talent a lift up. All my credits are on my Web Site http://www.thatphillysound.com/
Kent, thank you so much for
doing this series ... it means a lot.
Love,
John
Glad to do it, JOHN ... let's introduce some of the BIGGEST oldies music fans out there to some of what they may have missed.
We've had quite a bit of
discussion in FORGOTTEN HITS this past year about the new documentary WAGES OF
SPIN, a profile of the early days of Philadelphia Rock And Roll, DICK CLARK and
AMERICAN BANDSTAND. Since then, we have introduced JOHN MADARA to SHAWN
SWORDS and PAUL RUSSO, the Executive Producers of this film. Hopefully,
they will interview him further regarding the true historical accuracy
regarding their song AT THE HOP. (Ironically, the very first trailer
released for WAGES OF SPIN features ARTIE SINGER talking about how HE had to
give half of the songwriting and publishing credit to DICK CLARK in order to
get CLARK to feature his record, AT THE HOP, on AMERICAN BANDSTAND. SINGER
describes it as truly a "Catch 22" situation ... if he DIDN'T agree,
the record might never have been played ... by cutting DICK CLARK in for half
of the publishing, CLARK pushed the record like crazy ... and AT THE HOP
quickly topped the charts and has gone on to become regarded as an early rock
and roll classic. SINGER ... who passed away just a few months ago
... admits that he'd still make the same deal today. One cannot help
but wonder if he added HIS name to the songwriting credit to make up for the
portion he was forced to give away when first making his "Deal With The
Devil" to get his hot new DANNY AND THE JUNIORS single played on the
air!!! On the other hand, one could argue that with CLARK's contribution of the
title ... and the INCREDIBLE amount of clout he had with the recording industry
at the time ... his name almost DESERVED to be included in the songwriting
credits!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOhV3ZiCBU0
I asked JOHN MADARA what
he thought about my theory ... and how he first crossed paths with ARTIE SINGER
...
I met Artie Singer when I started taking voice lessons from him. Understand that at this time Artie Singer and Bernie Lowe had been partners in the vocal coaching business, and of course, Bernie went on to start Cameo. So Artie was always wanting to be Bernie Lowe. One day when I walked into the office for a lesson, Artie played me a song, "Be My Girl," taught me the song and really liked the way that I sang it. So he says to me, "If you can get the money together, we'll go into the studio and record the song." The record went on to be picked up by PREP Records, a subsidiary of Capitol. It went on to be a local hit and made the national charts and went into the 90s. During that period, I met Dave White and his group, The Juvinaires. Dave and I became friends and started hanging out together. I came up with the idea to do a record called "Do The Bop," kind of in the style of Jerry Lee Lewis' song, "A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." Dave and I worked on it for several days and the end result was us going to Artie Singer's office, with Dave's group singing background and me singing lead. I thought that this would be a good follow-up to "Be My Girl." So we went into the studio and recorded "Do The Bop" with "(Sometimes) When I'm All Alone," again with me singing lead and Dave's group doing the backgrounds. This session again was not financed by Artie but by my ex-father-in-law. Upon completion, "Do The Bop" was played for PREP Records. They didn't care for it, and they already had me scheduled to record with a producer whose name was Sid Feller, who at the time was producing the Paul Anka records for ABC Paramount. After finding this out, the record was then played for Dick Clark, who suggested at the time that THE BOP was not happening around the country, but he thought the record was terrific and we should change the subject matter from THE BOP to what the disc jockeys were having at the time -- record hops. So "Do The Bop" became "At The Hop" with very minimal lyric changes. At this point, I don't recall the reason why Danny became the lead singer of "At The Hop," but I seem to remember that it was because I was under contract to PREP and they had already turned "Do The Bop" down. Dave White remembers that the group insisted that they record the new version, and that's why Danny sang lead. I really don't remember the chain of events. At the time, Dave's group was the Juvinaires. I came up with the name, The Juniors, because there was The Four Freshman and The Seniors, so I said The Juniors and took Danny's name and they became "Danny and The Juniors." I produced their first three records, "At The Hop," "Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay" and "Dottie." I was involved in the later recordings, but to a much lesser extent. Now, with regards to why Artie put his name on the song, he did contribute the title, WHICH CAME FROM DICK CLARK, but creatively, Artie had nothing to do with the production and the arrangement and the whole concept was my idea. Artie's contribution was minor. Did he deserve to put his name on as writer, take the publishing and the production royalties? I don't think so. At the time payola was very common. All the radio stations had a key disc jockey who was receiving something. Dick Clark received half of the publishing on "At The Hop," but I truly believe that Dick did not ask for it, but Artie offered it to him, because he was desperate to have a hit record, because Bernie Lowe was having many hit records that were all being played on Bandstand. Artie had nothing else going for him at the time and here was a chance for Dick Clark to start playing a record he really liked. And, of course, Dick Clark's show had gone national. That was definitely another reason why "At The Hop" became such a huge hit. Knowing Dick Clark as well as I do for fifty years, I find it hard to believe that he would not play a record if he did not own a piece of it. How Artie Singer can say it was akin to making a deal with the "devil" is absolutely ludicrous. Dick Clark loved the record, and this was a chance for Artie to get it exposed on a national level. All I can say is that after knowing Dick Clark for this amount of years, there would have never been an "At The Hop" without Dick Clark playing it, along with the many other records that never would have been hits because of the heavy NATIONAL exposure that he offered. Without Dick Clark, the explosion of Rock and Roll music would not have had the same impact. So, again, how Artie Singer could ever put down Dick Clark is beyond me. If you want to talk about the devil, Artie is the one that Dave and I had to sue to collect our royalties that were not being paid to us accurately, and Danny and The Juniors also were not being paid accurately, I never received anything from "At The Hop" except for my 1/3 writers' royalties, from a record that was my whole concept, and you will notice that Danny emulates my phrasing and performance that I did on "Do The Bop" on "At The Hop." Like I said in one of my earlier letters, Kent, I don't have much respect for Artie, but he did open that initial door for me. But for Dick Clark, I have more respect than I can put into words. He has been a good friend, and most important of all, a HUGE force in the birth of Rock and Roll. So again, who's the devil here? David and I went on to write and produce many classic hit records. The sales of our records are over 200 million, and Artie Singer remained a vocal coach. Not trying to be egoed out, but that's just the simple truth. Kent, I really look forward to your series ... and getting the truth out there once and for all.
Lots of love,
John
***
And it's not over yet!!! We learned just prior to going to press with this series that JOHN MADARA recently had to confront original JUNIOR (as in DANNY AND THE JUNIORS) JOE TERRANOVA (JOE TERRY), who now claims (on his "Official" DANNY AND THE JUNIORS Web Site) that the BAND wrote their first hit, AT THE HOP!!! (Here we go again with this "Selective Memory" bullshit!!!) You may still be able to check it out here for yourself! (Hopefully, JOE has since CORRECTED his site to more accurately present the TRUE chain of events!!! JOHN shared his email correspondence with our FORGOTTEN HITS Readers):
Hi Joe ....
Are you having memory problems? Every time I read anything about “At The Hop”, you fail to mention my name, that I wrote the song with David, that I recorded “Do The Bop” first, that I discovered you and that it was my idea to do it like “Whole Lotta Shakin Gone On” ... that I named the group Danny And The Juniors and that I was the one who was in the control booth producing the record. And the thing that you never knew, that the money that Artie spent for the session was financed by my ex-father-in-law, and that my recording of “Do The Bop” was played for Dick Clark and that HE suggested that we change the title to something about record hops. It would be nice if you told the truth regarding how this record came to be. Danny even emulated some of my performance from “Do The Bop”. It would be nice to read the REAL story. Artie even put out “Do The Bop” later and did not put my name on as the artist, but put on Danny And The Juniors instead of mine. Joe, I think that if the roles were reversed, you would not feel good about it. So, the next time you do an interview, my name is spelled John Madara.
Regards,
John
http://www.myspace.com/dannyandthejuniorsoriginal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2Ipoah_Etohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2Ipoah_Etohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2Ipoah_Eto
What a shame!!! Can't DANNY AND THE JUNIORS just be proud of the contribution THEY made to The History Of Rock And Roll??? Without having to EMBELLISH it with more and more FALSEHOODS?!?!? Apparently not ... and that's too bad, because if you GO to their website and listen to their newly recorded track, HOUSE ON FIRE, it's NOT a bad track at all!!! In fact, I think it's REAL catchy!!!
FORGOTTEN HITS: Who is this guy, JOE TERRY, and what's the deal with his recent web postings?
JOHN MADARA: Hi Kent .... Joe Terry is part of the original group, he owns the name, has an ego the size of a truck and even takes credit for doing the "O Babies" on “At The Hop” when it was actually Danny moving closer to the mike to do that part and then backing off to do the lead. Reading Joe Terry's account of At The Hop is like reading Science Fiction!
FH: Here's another one for you ... the JOEL WHITBURN Book says that DANNY AND THE JUNIORS first released DO THE BOP on The SINGULAR Record Label (Catalog Number 711) back in 1957 ... in fact, he values it at over $300!!! I thought DO THE BOP never saw the light of day and was re-recorded as AT THE HOP!!!
JM: Artie Singer released “Do The Bop” during the eighties on his label Singular, under the catalog number of S-711X, but again he did not put my name on it, just showed it as Danny And The Juniors. (What a lying sneaky thing to do!!) That was Artie Singer. That record was not released in 1957. The only Singular Record released in 1957 was “At The Hop”. I must say that not getting credit for the records you made or the people you discovered really hurts!!!! All I ever wanted was to make great music. I’m sorry he has passed away, but Artie was NOT an honorable person. I do not mean to be insensitive ... in reflection, Artie did open that original door and for that I’m grateful. May he rest in peace.
FH: I may have misspoken ... a look at the latest JOEL WHITBURN Book, TOP POP SINGLES, 1955-2006, states (under the entry AT THE HOP): "Song originally written as 'Do The Bop'; first released on Singular 711 in 1957" which could ALSO imply simply the song's original title and the fact that the ORIGINAL release of AT THE HOP was through ARTIE SINGER's SINGULAR Record Label ... prior to the master being sold to ABC-PARAMOUNT. Meanwhile, record authority JERRY OSBORNE (who's written COUNTLESS Collectible Record Price Guides over the years), tells me that a NUMBER of dealers have tried to misrepresent the 1980's pressing SINGULAR "DO THE BOP" single as MUCH older vintage and have taken advantage of unsuspecting buyers ... therefore, I apologize IMMEDIATELY if I presented this information incorrectly earlier in this article. (kk)
Meanwhile, here's a copy
of the '80's pressing, released by SINGER (using JOHN MADARA's original vocal,
but crediting the artist as DANNY AND THE JUNIORS!!!)
1, 2, 3
Probably one of the MOST famous stories surrounding a JOHN MADARA song would have to be the controversy (and lawsuit that followed) pertaining to the #1 LEN BARRY Hit, 1, 2, 3. Shortly after this release started its climb up the pop charts, BERRY GORDY and MOTOWN RECORDS sued the songwriting team of JOHN MADARA, DAVID WHITE and LEONARD BORISOFF (LEN BARRY), claiming that the song sounded just a LITTLE too much like THE SUPREMES' record ASK ANY GIRL, the B-Side to THEIR recent chart-topper, BABY LOVE. (In fact, as a result of this ridiculous suit, songwriting records ever since have shown the composers as MADARA, WHITE, BORISOFF, HOLLAND, DOZIER and HOLLAND!!!) This subject came up again recently when we reviewed SHOUT! THE MOD MUSICAL a few months back for FORGOTTEN HITS, where 1, 2, 3 is prominently featured. Naturally, I asked JOHN MADARA about the circumstances surrounding this song!!!
JOHN MADARA: One story that
really needs to have the truth printed is the "1-2-3" / Motown story.
In 1965, with "1-2-3" being the #1 record in the country, we were
sued by Motown during the period when Berry Gordy was suing anyone whose
records sounded like a Motown record. We were sued, saying that
"1-2-3" was taken from a B-Side of a Supremes record called "Ask
Any Girl." The only similarity between the two songs are the first three
notes where the Supremes sang "Ask Any Girl" and Lenny sang
"1-2-3". After that, there were no similarities, but their lawsuit
said that our goal was to copy the Motown sound. Well, needless to say, Motown
kept us in court, tying up all of our writers' royalties, production royalties
and publishing royalties, and threatened to sue us on the follow-up to
"1-2-3", which was "Like A Baby." So after battling with
them for two years and having a ton of legal bills, we made a settlement with
Motown, giving them 15% of the writers' and publishers' share.
FORGOTTEN HITS: I've listened to ASK ANY GIRL more
than a few times recently ... and I suppose that if I PRE-CONDITIONED my
thinking into allowing and acknowledging that there are SUPPOSED to be
similarities between the two songs, I can find a few ... but there is NO way
that I would have EVER thought so by hearing EITHER of these songs
independently of one another or if I hadn't been told up-front that there are
people who THINK that they sound a lot alike. ASK ANY GIRL isn't even really
that well-known of a MOTOWN song!!! It was an uncharted B-SIDE! And emulating a
popular sound-trend in music by simply trying to capture a "feel"
hardly constitutes a copyright infringement or offense!!! Jeez, with THAT line
of thinking, can you imagine how many lawsuits there could have been when every
record company and artist on the planet was trying to cash in on the Disco
craze?!?!?
JM: What I've read on the Internet is that Madara, White and Barry did a rewrite on "Ask Any Girl" and were then sued by Motown ... and that the credited writers now are Holland, Dozier & Holland, who wrote "Ask Any Girl." This is totally false! First of all, we never heard "Ask Any Girl." The only influence for making "1-2-3" was to make a ballad with a beat. And the sound of "1-2-3" was definitely the sound of the era. Listen to "The In-Crowd" ... that's not the Motown Sound ... that's the sound of the era ... and "1-2-3" definitely had a beat! Motown was suing a lot of people at the time. And because our record was at #1 ... and we had a beat ... they sued us!
FH: And it sounds like, thanks to BERRY
GORDY's and MOTOWN's persistence in tying this up in court, the songwriting
credit WAS ultimately changed to include HOLLAND, DOZIER and HOLLAND. How did
that feel at the time ... to have to SHARE a songwriting credit for something
that you had, in fact, created?
JM: The current writers'
credits for "1-2-3" are Madara, White, Barry, Holland, Dozier and
Holland, and they get the credit and the 15% that was made in the settlement.
It would sure be nice if someone printed the real story acknowledging that this
was NOT the only hit record we made! We made a LOT of hits. Read the different
stories, Kent, i.e., Lyrics.com, or any of these other bull... sites. These
people have no idea of who they are writing about, their history, who they are
and their accomplishments through their careers. They make it sound like we
were thieves in the night stealing someone else's music. In answer to your
question with regards to how it felt to have to share the songwriting credit,
it really hurt, because not only did we write this record, but we produced it.
It was a total creative concept, not in any way meant to copy ASK ANY GIRL.
After writing all of the hits we had written up to that point, did Motown really
think that we would have to copy a B-side of a record to write a brand new
song?!? Such bull----. But Motown had the money and the attorneys, and for two
years they kept us paying legal bills, depositions, and all kinds of things
that took us away from being creative. Having all of our monies tied up, we
made a settlement with them, where they were given 15% of the copyright, and
Holland, Dozier and Holland were to get credit. Did that feel good? No. It
sucked! (Excuse my language.)
FH: Unfortunately, as we've seen over and
over and over again, these "mistruths" are repeated SO often and for
SO long that they become established as "fact" when in reality,
NOTHING could be further from the truth.
JM: This is one story, Kent, where I would really like to see the truth come out. Again, Kent, thank you for the opportunity to present these facts and, if you have any questions at all, please let me know.
Here's a copy of the ORIGINAL sheetmusic for 1, 2, 3 ... showing JOHN MADARA, DAVID WHITE and LEONARD BORISOFF as the songwriters ... after BERRY GORDY's 1965 lawsuit, future publications would also list The MOTOWN Songwriting Team of HOLLAND, DOZIER and HOLLAND in these songwriting credits.
After scoring five Top 40 Hits with THE DOVELLS, LEN BARRY
decided to pursue a solo career. In the liner notes of his Greatest Hits CD,
here is how he describes the excitement of 1, 2, 3 becoming such a HUGE chart
success:
"When we did '1, 2, 3', we got to where I was trying to go since 1961. I was really at home with that. I was a Motown act as far as I was concerned. It was the second take. We did it live in the booth. There were no overdubs, no punches. It was great! It had never sounded like that --- ever! I said to myself, 'The Man upstairs is hearing me.' If you listen to '1, 2, 3', I have sung better, but I have never communicated with the public like that, ever. Because on that song, the vocal is total desperation. I was saying to the public, 'Look, I'm 22, let's get serioius because I don't know what I'm gonna do if you don't buy this record.' That desperation was in the performance."
About the song itself, BARRY had this to say:
"I didn't write that for me. I wrote that for the Pixies Three. They had '442 Glenwood Avenue' and such. That's why it had numbers. I don't know why they didn't do it, but they didn't do it --- and I should be grateful."
JOHN MADARA: With regards to writing 1-2-3, you told me that Len Barry had said that it was written for The Pixies Three. That's not correct, because by 1965 we were not producing anything for Mercury Records anymore. I remember clearly that we were set to have a writing session at the office for Lenny's recording session, and I walked in with the melody and a title of "1, 2, and 3". Lenny said, "Let's make it 1-2-3." So we sat and wrote the song ... with no help from Motown.
BARRY's last DECCA single was cowritten with and produced by KENNY GAMBLE and LEON HUFF, two OTHER figures who would later feature prominently in the career of JOHN MADARA. One of MY personal favorite LEN BARRY records is his take on SOMEWHERE, from the Hit Musical WEST SIDE STORY. (It hit #17 on the CASH BOX Chart in 1966.) This was another song selected and produced by the team of MADARA and WHITE, much to the disdain of LEN BARRY ... especially when they arranged it to sound similar in style to his two previous hits, 1, 2, 3 and LIKE A BABY. BARRY felt pigeon-holed by the sound.
LEN BARRY: SOMEWHERE I didn't even want to do ... I wanted to throw up. The drummer must have died from repetition.
Well, personally, I really LIKE this version!!!
For more on BERRY GORDY's penchant for lawsuits, you might find our BOBBY PARKER / YOU'VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES article interesting ... you can still find it posted on The FORGOTTEN HITS Blog Page here:
Click here: Forgotten Hits: 8/10/08 - 8/17/08
You Don't Own Me
Without question, one of my all-time FAVORITE songs from the '60's (and any OTHER era for that matter) is YOU DON'T OWN ME, the torchy ballad sung by LESLEY GORE that went all the way to #2 on The National Charts (and TOPPED the charts here in Chicago) back in early 1964. So when I had the chance to interview JOHN MADARA, the guy who WROTE this song, you can imagine my excitement!
In hindsight, YOU DON'T OWN ME has come to be referred to as perhaps the very
FIRST Women's Liberation Movement Anthem. (Yes, that means that LESLEY was
"roaring" eight years before HELEN REDDY picked up the idea!) Keep in
mind (as we just saw in our recent PHIL SPECTOR Series), this was an era where
OTHER Girl Groups and Female Artists were singing things like I CAN'T STAY MAD
AT YOU (by SKEETER DAVIS) and HE HIT ME (AND IT FELT LIKE A KISS) by THE
CRYSTALS. I couldn't help but wonder if that was the ORIGINAL intent of these
lyrics when the song was first written.
JOHN MADARA: Our original
intent was to write a song with a woman telling a man off ... "don't tell
me what to do, don't tell me what to say." Though we didn't realize it at
the time that it would become a woman's anthem, it definitely was our intention
to have a woman make a statement. I believe when Joan Jett's recording came
out, there were a lot of articles written regarding the lyric content as a
"woman's liberation" song, and has continued to make the same
statement through the years with the many films it has been in, i.e.,
"Dirty Dancing," "Hairspray" and the featured song in
"The First Wives Club," which, of course, was a story about wives
getting back at the ex-husbands.
FORGOTTEN HITS: Was the song specifically
written with LESLEY GORE in mind? Quite honestly, up to THIS point, her hit
songs leaned toward more straight ahead, feel good pop ... (although I guess
she DID enjoy some good-natured / mean-spirited revenge with JUDY'S TURN TO
CRY!!!)
JM: "You Don't Own Me" was originally written for Maureen Gray, but at an A&R meeting at Mercury Records in 1963, we played the song for Quincy Jones, who was also on the A&R staff at Mercury. He loved the song and thought we should play it for Lesley Gore at a forthcoming Mercury Records convention at Grossinger's Resort in the Catskills. At the convention, we got a chance to play it for Lesley by the pool with a baritone ukulele. She loved it and wanted to hear it with a piano. We got to play if for her later that day with a piano and she just loved it so much.
FH: Were you there at the
recording session when she laid down this track?
JM: Quincy told myself and David White (EDITOR'S NOTE: DAVID WHITE was JOHN's co-writer on this track) to go meet with Klaus Ogerman, who was the arranger on all of the Lesley Gore records, and dictate to him our arrangement ideas. Several weeks later David and I showed up at A&R Recording Studios for the session, driving up from Philadelphia to attend. We showed up while Quincy was recording "You Don't Own Me." After listening for 10 or 15 minutes, Quincy said to myself and David "What do you think?" So we told him that there were quite a few things that we wanted that were not in the arrangement. Quincy, in his kindness and his affection for us, stopped the session and told Klaus to let us come out there and make the necessary changes, which we did, which were piano, strings, additional modulation in the ending and Lesley's vocal performance, which was great but just needed a few changes. When we were finished, it was the way that we would have produced it ourselves. At the completion of the session, Quincy played all of the cuts from the forthcoming album, and all of the people in the studio picked "You Don't Own Me" to be the next single.
Well, it's a GREAT record ... no question about it. Be sure to check out JOHN MADARA's absolutely AWESOME website for the complete scoop on The Philly Pop scene of the late '50's and early '60's.
JOHN MADARA: Thank you, Kent, for printing the truth behind the hits. As Al Kooper said, it means a lot!
DIDJAKNOW?: Although YOU DON'T OWN ME was originally written for
MAUREEN GRAY, she NEVER actually recorded the song!!! (I guess once LESLEY GORE
recorded the definitive version, everybody kinda figured "What's The
Point"?!?!?!!)
STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE'S
MOUTH: Here is what LESLEY GORE had to say
about the recording of YOU DON'T OWN ME ... we found these quotes in The BEAR
FAMILY Box Set of her MERCURY RECORDS recordings:
I met John Madara and Dave White up at the Catskills (New York) hotel Grossinger's. I was up there doing a record hop, gratis, for a disc jockey by the name of Gene Kay at WAAB in Allentown. I was sitting at the pool on, I think it was Saturday -- the day I was going to perform -- and John and Dave came up to me with a guitar, took me into a cabana by the pool, and played me "You Don't Own Me." I told them they had to meet me in New York on Monday, to see Quincy and play him the song, and we were in the studio probably a week and a half later. It is much to Quincy's credit that he could see what was really involved in that song, because his edict, as far as I know, was to keep me in "It's My Party" territory -- keep it light, keep it frothy, keep it young. You can't hold back a seventeen-year-old woman ... she has got to find a way to spread her wings -- and this was a song that allowed me a little bit more freedom vocally. The beauty of that song is that the verses start in a minor key, and then, when you go into the chorus, it goes into the major, and there's such a sense of lift and exhilaration. After seeing how powerful that is, it became a method I've used on a number of occasions.
For a GREAT clip of LESLEY GORE performing this song live, be sure to check out this YOUTUBE performance:
Click here: YouTube - Leslie Gore- "You Don't Own Me" Live
(You'll find a pretty cool DUSTY SPRINGFIELD version of the song there, too!!!)
Click here: YouTube - Dusty Springfield - YOU DON'T OWN ME
© Copyright Kent Kotal / Forgotten Hits, 1998 - 2026 ...
All rights reserved
(Note: This article was first published in Forgotten Hits in 2008)
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