Hello and welcome to another episode of Vinyl-O-Matic. I am Your Old Pal Will here with the thrilling conclusion of the Mid-Season Replacement Series. That's right, we've found our way through to the back of 45s box provided to us by the proprietor of the late great West County Herb Company. The last 13 singles to be exact, so I decided to flesh things out with 3 singles that I think compliment these last selections. If you'd like to play along at home, point your browser in the direction of vinylomatic(dot)com(slash)midseason04. While you're there you might also want to click on the Amplifier link to subscribe to the Vinyl-O-Matic newsletter so Your Old Pal Will can keep you up to date when a new episode drops.
It's always nice to get things started off with a quality piece of bubblegum.

If you cast your minds back to the top of that last set, we had some top-notch bubblegum from Tommy Roe. "Heather Honey" is the name of the single, released on ABC Records in 1969. That was followed up by The Fantastic Baggys and their 1965 Imperial Records surf single "Anywhere the Girls Are". This duo Sloan and Barri are also the authors of the Johnny River's hit "Secret Agent Man". We also got down with KC and the Sunshine Band with their smash hit "Get Down Tonight" on T.K. Records from 1975. That sped up guitar bit definitely threw me off for a second until I realized it is indeed a 45 that I had on the deck. Finally, we had John Fred and His Playboy Band with their misinterpreted lyrics as a whole new song single "Judy in Disguise (with Glasses)". That was on Paula Records from 1967 and did actually hit number 1 in the Fall of 1967. Cantelope eyes? Really?
Next up, let's listen to something good.

Welcome back to Vinyl-O-Matic. Your Old Pal Will definitely feels fine after that slightly beat-up copy of The Beatles "I Feel Fine". That Latin outing from the lads from Liverpool landed them in the number one spot for three weeks in late 1964/early 1965. Before that, we had Diana Ross and her 1973 kitchen-sink style Motown production of "Last Time I Saw Him". This one only made to number 14 on the Hot 100, but actually made it to number 1 on the Easy Listening charts. Go figure. We heard a great honky-tonk ode from George Riddle, who at one time backed George Jones as a Jones Boy. "Set Up Another" was the name of that 1966 Starday single. And we got that set started off Herman's Hermits Goffin & King paean to Brian Wilson "I'm Into Something Good" from 1964 on MGM Records. Peter Noon and the boys were able to reach number 13 with that one.
And now, purportedly the only Belgian single to ever make it to number 1 on the Hot 100 in the US.

That was quite the set. Up at the top there, we had Sœur Soirire aka The Singing Nun with her 1963 single "Dominique". We heard from Jay Black and the Americans with their rendition of Sondheim and Bernstein's "Tonight" on United Artist Records. London studio band Edison Lighthouse brought us their Bell Records hit "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)", which reached as high as number 5 in 1970. Finally, we had the bearded Kenny Loggins and the clean-faced Jim Messina and their retro style stomper "Your Mama Don't Dance" on Columbia Records. The boys hit as high number 4 on the Hot 100 in 1974.
Speaking of retro, here's a 1973 reissue of an iconic 1954 hit.

Indeed that was the aforementioned Sloan and Berri-penned "Secret Agent Man" as performed by Johnny Rivers, on Imperial Records from 1966. We also heard George Jones and the Jones Boys with their 1963 single "Not What I Had in Mind" penned by Cowboy Jack Clement. We also had the song that David Cassidy hated and didn't want to be released. I am talking about The Partridge Family's "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted" on Bell Records from 1971. Nevertheless, it did go on to reach number 6 on the Hot 100. And starting that set off we had Bill Haley and his Comets with "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock", a 1973 MCA reissue of the 1954 Decca Records classic. This reissue actually managed to chart as high as number 39 in 1974, probably due to the popularity of the brand new television show Happy Days using it as their theme song.
As I mentioned, this concludes the Mid-Season Replacement Series. I am still diligently cataloging albums but I hope to have the new season ready for you next time. If you feel like dropping me a line, fire that email off to will(at)vinylomatic(dot)com. You can also visit vinylomatic(dot)com for many many archived episodes, RSS feeds, podcast platform links, and of course show notes. Are you ready for the next season? I hope I am. Join me, won't you?