4.28.2006

Great Girls!



Joie Chan Sweet Baby (Chattahoochee, 196?)
The Bermudas Chu Sen Ling (Era, 1964)

Today you get two great oddities: One is a girl group song by an Asian American singer. The other is a fake Asian girl group tune by one of the Sixties pop scene's most active women.

I can't tell you anything about Joie Chan. About Sweet Baby, I know that it was recorded at Stan Ross's Gold Star Studios. Ross recorded many great Chattahoochee records and worked a lot with Kim Fowley. As you can see this is on Chattahoochee, one of the best singles labels going at the time. Like a lot of Ross/Chattahoochee records, Sweet Baby sounds great while still keeping a raw edge. Ross also makes the recording sound full with pretty sparse instrumentation. One thing I like about his records is that he is really good with the reverb chamber. Things come off sounding dark and deep as a result.

You can credit Rickie Page with The Bermudas. Rather than rehash what I've dug up, I'll just quote Mick Patrick from an old thread on the Selectropop board:

The Bermudas, the Majorettes, the Georgettes, Joanne & the Triangles and Beverly & the Motorscooters: these are just some of the recording appellations used by singer-songwriter-producer-businesswoman Rickie Page and the female members of her musical family. She and her omnipresent husband George Motola also ran Troy Records, the original 1964 outlet for 'My Boyfriend' by Becky & the Lollipops, yet another name used by the Page clan. This particular outfit comprised Rebecca (Becky) Page, her older sister Joanna, their mother Rickie and Susie Kuykendoll, Rickie’s sister. Rebecca shared lead vocals with Rickie, whose oldest daughter Sheilah sometimes took her place in photos of the group. In 1957 Rickie Page had begun a stream of recordings using her own name for every label under the California sun, not to mention some in Nashville. She also waxed as a member of the Jordanaires, the Spectors Three and Bobby 'Boris' Pickett’s Crypt-Kickers; factors which make her one of the unsung heroines of the early-1960s Los Angeles scene. Rickie is still active in the music business, composing songs from her base in Fresno, California.


# posted by Scott Soriano : 07:58
Comments:
Both of these songs are great. The Joie Chan one is especially interesting. It's so different and fresh sounding. I wonder if she ever recorded anything else?
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 12:24
 
Wow, thanks for this. Neat tracks, and help solve the mystery of who was behind this
Beverly & the Motor Scooters nugget.
# posted by Blogger ampnoise : 20:31
 
Lovely music! both of them
You made my day today...
and wasn't even so bad so far!

peace

Kenny
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 06:28
 
Jesus, that Bermudas song has seriously lodged itself in my brain.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 11:07
 
Chu Sen Ling is one of the most ridiculous songs ever written. I LOVE IT! The whole thing is totally wrong, and mixes Chinese and Japanese references with that blissfully ignorant form of American racism that says "Oh, Chinese, Japanese, same difference, who cares?"

The fact that both characters have Chinese names but the song mentions "kimono dance" and "sake" is insane, as well as the whole mad stereotype of "bowl of rice".

I have this on my iTunes.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 12:16
 
Gotta flip the disk...the other side by the Bermudas is "Donnie" one of the most haunting and harmonious songs of the 60's ...1964 when rock was changing...5 star
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 16:45
 
Don't forget about the Bermudas second release on Era.I love Ricki Page!
# posted by Blogger Unknown : 01:33
 
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