By Fury13 (209.69.165.10) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 02:58 pm:

I thought some might find this interesting. Out of the top 20 songs in New York for that week, four were by Detroit acts (and Chuck Jackson later signed with Motown, too). The Motown, Tamla, Chex and Fortune labels were featured. Philadelphia was well represented, too, with Freddie Cannon (from Boston, but his label was Philly-based), the Orlons, and Dee Dee Sharp:


1. I Can't Stop Loving You - Ray Charles (ABC) *4 weeks at #1* (Previous week, #1)

2. Playboy - The Marvelettes (Tamla) (Previous week, #6)

3. The One Who Really Loves You - Mary Wells (Motown) (Previous week, #2)

4. The Stripper - David Rose & his Orchestra (MGM) (Previous week, #3)

5. I Love You - The Volumes (Chex) (Previous week, #4)

6. Palisades Park - Freddie Cannon (Swan) (Previous week, #5)

7. Al Di La' - Emilio Pericoli (Warner Brothers) (Previous week, #7)

8. Village of Love - Nathaniel Mayer & the Fabulous Twilights (Fortune) (Previous week, #13)

9. Any Day Now (My Wild Beautiful Bird) - Chuck Jackson (Wand) (Previous week, #9)

10. Don't Play That Song (You Lied) - Ben E. King (Atco) (Previous week, #8)

11. It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin' - Johnny Tillotson (Cadence) (Previous week, #20)

12. Sealed With a Kiss - Brian Hyland (ABC-Paramount) (Previous week, #38)

13. Roses Are Red (My Love) - Bobby Vinton (Epic) (Previous week, #35)

14. I Sold My Heart to the Junkman - The Blue-Belles (Newtown) (Previous week, #17)

15. The Wah Watusi - The Orlons (Cameo) (Previous week, #29)

16. Sharing You - Bobby Vee (Liberty) (Previous week, #18)

17. Lovers Who Wander - Dion (Laurie) (Previous week, #16)

18. Snap Your Fingers - Joe Henderson (Todd) (Previous week, #21)

19. Stranger On the Shore - Mr. Acker Bilk (Atco) (Previous week, #11)

20. Mashed Potato Time - Dee Dee Sharp (Cameo) (Previous week, #10)

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 03:04 pm:

Wow! Those were the times when the "Top Twenty"
really WAS the Top Twenty!

By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.23) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 03:09 pm:

Great stuff Fury
good to see The Volumes in there.
mel.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 03:57 pm:

The WABC chart is reflective of the melting pot that we call New York City.

"Village Of Love"...wow...

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By LTLFTC (12.210.76.205) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 05:10 pm:

I wonder how many copies "Village of Love" and "Mind over Matter" actually sold. Whatever the total was, I bet Fortune was unprepared. I'd also be curious how many distributors a label of that size used nationwide.

Steve K

By Eli (64.12.97.7) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 05:22 pm:

All of the major cities such as NYC, Philly, Chicago,Detroit, L.A., Houston,and "hub" cities such as Atlanta and Memphis had multi-label distributors and "one stops" that distributed throughout their respective areas.
it was up to the label tp press up enough quantity for the consumers.
unfortunately most of the smaller operations had to lease or sell their masters to a larger company that could handle the volume.

By sdl (63.72.98.2) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 05:24 pm:

That list was great FURY13.

It took me back to the "good old dayz" when I would be in bed late at night, under the covers, with a flashlite and a transistor radio listening to Cousin Brucie on WABC. I lived in Maryland, but WABC was a powerful "clear" staton that would come in loud and stong when the sun went down.
My Grandmother had the awful job of getting me up in the morning to go to school and she really had quite a job after I had been up most of the night. I would usually end up being thrown on the floor!
I loved the classic Rock n Roll and still do! That was "Real Music"!

Thanks for helping me recall those wonderful memories.

By Fury13 (209.69.165.10) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 05:28 pm:

"Village Of Love" was distributed by United Artists. Hence, the UA-distributed copies still read "Fortune" in plain block letters at the top but used a UA record number. This is the yellow-label version (Fortune/UA 449) that most people were able to buy. The original (Detroit region only) pressing had a pink label with blue print and the distinctive Fortune logo with the lute at the top. The original pressing was numbered Fortune 545.

Jack and Devora Brown of Fortune were convinced that UA under-reported record sales of "Village" to them (I believe UA said 280,000) and felt that they were short-changed on payment. Therefore, the Browns refused to use a national distributor for "Mind Over Matter" by Nolan Strong & the Diablos (which came right on the heels of "Village") and decided to try to distribute "Mind" on their own.

It didn't work. Although a lot of copies of "Mind" were sold regionally and it did crack the Cash Box pop charts at #82, it never made the Billboard charts, and didn't rack up the nationwide sales that it probably would have with adequate distribution.

By Fury13 (12.2.196.17) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 05:39 pm:

You're welcome, sdl... I've heard of Cousin Brucie but have never heard an aircheck. Real Music, indeed.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 06:18 pm:

Fury13:
Cousin Brucie Morrow is one of NYC's legedary radio DJ's.

He started his career at WINS-AM at the same time Alan Freed & Murray the K were there (what a line up!). From there he went to Florida but then returned to the Big Apple in the early 1960s when WABC and WMCA became the giants of Top 40 radio. He was on WABC until the mid 1970s when he joined WNBC-AM & TV as a DJ and entertainment reporter. From there he owned a few radio stations but then returned to NYC radio on WCBS-FM, where he works to this day.

As SDL indicated, WABC was a "clear channel" station (no relation to the conglomerate). WABC is a 50,000+ watt station that blankets a good portion of the country at night.

Besides Brucie, WABC had Dan Ingram (great DJ with smooth pipes!)Scott Muni (who later went on to WNEW-FM) & later on they hired Chuck Leonard (one of the first Black DJs to cross over from R&B radio to pop). The late Rick Sklar was the director of programming.

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 06:19 pm:

Whoops! I meant legendary (God, I need Spellcheck!)
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By Sue (64.12.97.7) on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 06:56 pm:

Seeing the 1962 charts makes you realize what a great year that was for music.

The early '60s often gets trashed musically as being all about vapid teen idols, but this chart doesn't bear that out. There's a lot of cool R&B there, and it goes without saying, great regional stuff that hit nationally.

By TonyRussi (68.210.9.227) on Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 08:30 am:

I always felt that 1962 was one of the greatest "inovative" years for real Rock N Roll.The National "Explosion" of both the Detroit(Motown) & Philly Sounds.The beginning of Phil Spectors' "Wall of Sound".The great dance records also.