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NORMIE ROWE & THE PLAYBOYS
Pride And Joy (Norman Whitfield - Marvin Gaye - William 'Mickey' Stevenson) Australia 1966 #11 Sydney #10 Melbourne #6 Brisbane #12 Adelaide #3 Perth PAGE UPDATED: MORE VERSIONS AND RED HERRINGS Single on Sunshine, double-sided hit with The Stones That I Throw. Melbourne singer Normie Rowe became Australia's top teen idol of the late 60s and the star of Ivan Dayman's Sunshine label. He had a string of hits in Australia from 1965, recorded four singles in London, toured Britain and America, and even inspired a tribute song, Norman-Normie. After he was conscripted to serve in Vietnam he never regained his earlier 'King of Pop' status, but he re-established himself as a respected performer, especially on stage, starring in such productions as Les Miserables and Annie. Further reading: Detailed biography at Milesago. The official site is at www.normierowe.com
LEW PRYME
Pride And Joy (Norman Whitfield - Marvin Gaye - William 'Mickey' Stevenson) New Zealand 1964 RECENTLY ADDED Single on Octagon by Lew Pryme (1944-1990), a newspaper journalist from Waitara near New Plymouth who became active as an Auckland-based pop singer in the second half of the 60s. He later went in to artist management and rugby union administration. Further reading: 1. Lew Pryme biography at Bruce Sergent's NZ music site. 2. Lew Pryme page at AudioCulture.co.nz. 3. Lew Pryme discography 1964-1971 at 45cat.com. View: Lew Pryme - Welcome To My World, documentary film at NZOnScreen.com.
GEORGIE FAME
Pride And Joy (Norman Whitfield - Marvin Gaye - William 'Mickey' Stevenson) UK 1964 RECENTLY ADDED On Columbia album Fame At Last (1964), later on Georgie Fame's essential 60s collection 20 Beat Classics (1980). The repertoire of singer-keyboardist Fame (b.1943, Clive Powell) takes in jazz, blues, soul, R&B and ska, plus enough pop appeal to make the singles charts, often with his group The Blue Flames. He has notably worked with Alan Price, Count Basie, Bill Wyman, and Van Morrison with whom he has toured and played on a number of albums. His biggest chart hits were Yeh Yeh (1964, #1 UK, #21 USA), Get Away (1966, #1 UK) and The Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde (1967, #1 UK, #7 USA). Further reading: 1. Remember Georgie Fame? at Music Aficionado. 2. Georgie Fame biography by Steve Huey at All Music. 3. Lois Wilson, Look Sharp! Georgie Fame retrospective and interview, MOJO 264, November 2015.
SOL BYRON AND THE IMPACTS
Pride And Joy (Norman Whitfield - Marvin Gaye - William 'Mickey' Stevenson) UK 1964 RECENTLY ADDED Single by Scots band on Edinburgh label Flamingo, recorded at Craighall Studios, Edinburgh. At 45cat.com's page on the single, Impacts bassist Bert McRoberts fills in some history of the band, which had a residency at the Flamingo Ballroom in West Glasgow. He gives the line-up as Sol Byron (vocals) Jackie Andrews (drums) Richard McLuckie (guitar) Bert McRoberts (bass), and Jackie Taylor (tenor sax).
CHOKER CAMPBELL'S BIG BAND
Pride And Joy (Norman Whitfield - Marvin Gaye - William 'Mickey' Stevenson) USA 1964 RECENTLY ADDED Saxophonist Walter "Choker" Campbell (1916-1993) worked for Motown Records from the early days, notably as conductor and arranger of touring bands for Motown artists. He performed in live shows rather than in the studio, although he released an album on Motown, Hits Of The Sixties! (1965) by Choker Campbell And His Big 16 Piece Band, which included this recording of Pride And Joy. Further reading: The Motown Junkies website has a biography of Choker Campbell and lengthy review of Pride And Joy.
MAJOR LANCE
Pride And Joy (Norman Whitfield - Marvin Gaye - William 'Mickey' Stevenson) USA 1963 RECENTLY ADDED On Okeh album The Monkey Time YouTube by r&b-soul singer (1939-1994), best known for The Monkey Time (1963, #8 USA), Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um (1964, #3), and four other Billboard Top 40 singles. See Python Lee Jackson's Australian version of Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um Pride And Joy was also released in the UK on a Columbia single (1965). Further reading: Major Lance biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at All Music.
MARVIN GAYE
Pride And Joy (Norman Whitfield - Marvin Gaye - William 'Mickey' Stevenson) USA 1963 Original version #10 USA On That Stubborn Kinda Fellow, album on Motown's Tamla label January 1963 (recorded in September 1962). For a single on Tamla, Pride And Joy was recorded again in April 1963 and released in that month. Both recordings were produced by William Stevenson with backing vocals by The Vandellas. (See sessions and releases chronology at Don't Forget The Motor City.) Pride And Joy was the first of fourteen Top 10 Billboard hits 1963-1982 by soul-r&b-pop singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye (1939-1984). Another four Top 10 hits were duets with Tammi Terrill. Many of his songs are classics of the era, including How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You (1964, #6 USA), I Heard It Through The Grapevine (1968, #1), and Let's Get It On (1973, #1). Some five years after his last hit with Motown, Got to Give It Up (Part 1) (1977, #1), he returned to the charts on Columbia with the funky disco-influenced Sexual Healing (1982, #3 USA). Gaye's innovative album What's Going On (1971), with its focus on current social and political issues, was a major artistic and commercial success. Three of its tracks became popular singles: What's Going On ( #2), Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) (#4), and Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) (#9). ...make no mistake, Gaye indisputably carried the touch of genius. Not just the acknowledged classics... but in the style that they were classics. Gaye was responsible for breaking the Motown mould, the "factory line syndrome" as he put it, and by doing so changed black music so irrevocably that he must be considered one of the ultimate greats. Further reading: 1. Marvin Gaye at Classic Motown. 2. Marvin Gaye - 10 of the best by Jonathan Hatchman at The Guardian. 3. Review of What's Going On by John Bush at All Music.
THE TWILIGHTERS
Pride And Joy (Charles Wright - Charles Williams) USA 1957 Red herring
Single on Los Angeles label Ebb (1957-1959). 45Cat.com has this as the B-side, Discogs.com has it as the A-side. Further reading: 1. Ebb label background at 45cat.com. 2. Co-writer Charles Wright at Oldies.com.
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN AND DOUBLE TROUBLE
Pride And Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughan) USA 1983 Red herring
On Texas Flood, debut album on Epic by Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble, also on Epic single.
MINK DEVILLE
Pride And Joy (Willy DeVille) USA 1985 Red herring
B-side on Atlantic by hard-to-categorise rock-pop-r&b band led by Willy DeVille (Billy Borsey, 1950-2009). Further reading: 1. Mink DeVille page at Discogs.com. 2. Official Willy DeVille. Corrections or comments? Contact the writer. |
