It's a good thing I happened to glance ahead on my calendar and just happened to notice there's no April 1st this year.
Nobody told me - - did you know this?!?
Something to do with rectifying the discrepancies that occur in our calendar over time. I guess it must also tie in somehow with next year being a DOUBLE leap year - - ? (Whatever that means. I'm still trying to figure out why the 21st century started in 2001 - - !)
Anyway. Long story short, I'm glad I noticed, so I could use this show for a traditional April 1st tribute:
'THE "IN" CROWD VERSUS PUPPET ON A STRING WITH A SIDE ORDER OF POPCORN'
So - - "What the @$#% was going on here, anyway?!" I hear you ask.
'Popcorn' was composed by electronic music pioneer/innovator Gershon Kingsley, and was perhaps the first significant piece of pop music to feature electronic instruments such as the Moog synthesizer. Why anyone would see fit to add lyrics to it remains a mystery, at least to me.
'The "In" Crowd' was composed around 1965 by Billy Page. It's been covered in a plethora of arrangements over the years, versions both instrumental (originally, The Ramsey Lewis Trio) and vocal (originally, Dobie Gray). I've been using it as a theme song for quite a while now. On the radio airwaves since 1993 when I adopted the name (as something of a joke) to be my on-air persona , and prior to that starting in 1985 in a series of mixtapes distributed amongst an 'inner crowd' of friends.
My personal history with 'Puppet On A String' goes back to poring over my Dad's LP collection when I was a kid. Paul Mauriat's 'Blooming Hits' LP was certainly a stand-out, not just for the saucy cover art (as a tyke I was convinced that the lady on the cover was Rita, my Dad's secretary), but for the catchy music.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, 'Puppet On A String' had gained it's notoriety as a prize-winner in 1967's Eurovision Song Contest, as performed by Sandie Shaw.
Growing up in the U.S., I had almost no exposure to the Eurovision phenomena, mostly hearing reference to it as something of a punchline in British humor, notably Monty Python. (If you are similarly afflicted, imagine if 'American Idol' was a global craze going back to the 1950's, celebrated most everywhere on the globe EXCEPT the U.S.)
Having swept the planet via Eurovision, the song was subsequently covered by dozens of artists in as many languages. Curiously, many of them adhered to something close to the original arrangement.
HUGE thanks are due to the amazing Eurocovers blog for doing such a fabulous and painstaking job in documenting this fascinating occurence!
Such is the way of labors of Love.
As always of course: Any questions, comments about the music, hellos, whatever - - please click on that 'email me' link. Thanks!
TITLE / ARTIST / ALBUM (or source)
Popcorn / Hot Butter / Best Of Moog: Electronic Pop Hits From The 60's And 70's
Marionetas En La Cuerda / Alfredo Domenech / Exitos del 67
The "In" Crowd / Petula Clark / I Know A Place
Un tout petit pantin (French) / Marianne Mille / Marianne Mille
The "In" Crowd / The Village Stompers / A Taste Of Honey and Other Goodies
Marioneta (Serbo-Croat/Yugoslavia) / Sanjalice / Lutka na koncu
The "In" Crowd / Karl Swoboda / Dancing Zither
Estou Feliz (Brasil/Portuguese) / Ed Carlos / Ed Carlos
The "In" Crowd / Jack Jones / For The "In" Crowd
Puppet On A String / Sandie Shaw / Simply the best of the 60s
The "In" Crowd / Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra / Today's Great Hits
Loutka (Czech) / Yvonne Přenosilová / Boots!
Pop Corn (English vocal version) / Anarchic System / Anarchic System
In Crowd / The Mamas and The Papas / If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears
Marionetas En La Cuerda (Spanish) / Gloria Lasso / Las Mejores Canciones
The "In" Crowd / Larry Nelson / The "In" Harmonica
Sprellemann (Norwegian) / Benthe Aaseth / Puppet on a string
The In Crowd / Little Bob & The Lollipops / I Got Loaded
Puppet on a String (Jamaican Rock Steady) / Ken Boothe / Mr. Rock Steady
The "In" Crowd / Johnny 'Hammond' Smith / The Soulful Blues
Txoriburuak Sokan (Basque) / Irune ta Andoni Arcoitia / Irune ta Andoni Arcoitia
The "In" Crowd / The Pair / Live! at the Ice House
Puppet On A String (UK Novelty Version) / Cocktail Cabinet / Cocktail Cabinet 45
(I'm In With) The Out Crowd / Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs / The Best Of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
Paprikajansci (Hungarian) / Koncz Zsuzsa / Koncz Zsuzsa
Popcorn / Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet / Star Power
Puppet On A String (Mandarin/Singapore) / Lara and the Trailers / EP
The "In" Crowd / Pete Fountain / A Taste Of Honey
Puppet On A String / Sounds Orchestral / Sounds Chartbound
Il giro / Gemelle Kessler / In Crowd
Jodell On A String (Tirol, Austria) / Sepp Viellechner / Jodell
Pop Corn (German vocal version) / Antoine / Antoine 45
Hüpiknukk (Estonian) / Heli Lääts / Eesti Kullafond
The "In" Crowd / Dick Hyman & Harpsichord / Happening!
Boneca Articulada (Portuguese) / Florbela Queiros / Boneca Articulada
The "In" Crowd / Mel Taylor And The Magics / In Action
Fiú Kyssir Mig (Icelandic) / Helena Eyjólfsdóttir / Hvítu Mávar
The "In" Crowd / The Chipmunks / Chipmunks à Go-Go
Ben Senin Kuklan Degilim (Turkish) / Suna Artun / Ben Senin Kuklan Degilim
Popcorn / Crazy Frog / Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits
Lille Marionet (Danish) / Grethe Sønck / Grand Prix Vinder 1967
The "In" Crowd / Jack Fina / More Great Hits In Boogie Woogie
April Fool / Brave Combo / Holidays!
Puppet On A String / Big Hair / Big Hair 45
The In Crowd / Tar / Tar 45
