Tartare and Cameo Parkway Heat Up: Morris Day, Ric Ocasek, Dee Dee Sharp, Dino, Desi & Billy On Tap

On September 9, The Second Disc sadly reported on the axe falling on more of the beleaguered Rhino Records staff, and the company’s plans to delve further into the on-demand CD realm. One such initiative is the Tartare imprint being offered by WMG/Rhino in conjunction with Collectors’ Choice Music. Another 20 Tartare titles are on the way from Collectors’ Choice, and this group again spans decades, from the 1950s through the 1990s. Track listings are not available (indeed, not every title has even been listed on the label’s website, only in the print catalogue so far; it is likely that all titles will be up on the Web site any day now) but the lineup is typically eclectic, including CD(-R) debuts for two Dino, Desi & Billy albums, and titles from Morris Day, Air Supply, Mick Jones of Foreigner and the Cars’ Ric Ocasek returning to print.

In more Collectors’ Choice news, three more titles have been added to the burgeoning Cameo Parkway collection. The Dovells’ For Your Hully Gully Party (1962) and You Can’t Sit Down (1963) will be joined on one CD; the disc offers no less than four variations on the Hully Gully, all performed by Len “1-2-3” Barry’s great vocal group. You’ll also be able to do the New Continental and the Madison by disc’s end! Recipient of a recent Edsel three-fer, Dee Dee Sharp has It’s Mashed Potato Time (1962) and Do the Bird (1962) comprising another two-fer. Finally, John Zacherle’s Monster Mash and Scary Tales will be released on one disc. These are just in time for Halloween and make a much better treat than candy for all fans of the Cool Ghoul. Being of Cameo Parkway origin, the Zacherle disc has a number of songs spoofing the Philadelphia label’s famous dance crazes, so get ready to do “The Pistol Stomp” and “The Weird Watusi,” have “Gravy with Some Cyanide” and of course, “Let’s Twist Again (Mummy Time is Here).” Who could resist?!? All three titles are due on September 21.

You can find the full list of Tartare’s 20 newest additions along with track listings for the Cameo Parkway titles after the jump!

From the fabulous fifties, Tartare offers Buddy Cole’s Hot and Cole (1959), on which the organist gives a lounge-style spin on a number of jazz classics. Dave “Baby” Cortez of “The Happy Organ” fame has his 1965 LP Organ Shindig reissued, with his takes on everybody from The Beatles to Marvin Gaye. From 1962, The Pied Pipers teamed with Jerry Gray & His Orchestra for the aptly-titled Singin’ and Swingin’, a Warner Bros. LP in which the teamed outfits gave their distinct spins to tunes such as “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” and “It’s Easy to Remember.” Fans of exotica should be happy with The Surfers Sing Hit Movie Songs from the Exotic Islands, a 1963 set with a Polynesian slant.

Among the most-desired LPs in the Tartare collection are the two Dino, Desi & Billy LPs making their CD debuts: Memories Are Made of This and Souvenir.  With the likes of Lee Hazlewood, Billy Strange and Jimmy Bowen in charge, the group comprised of Dino Martin, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Billy Hinsche performs such songs as “Homeward Bound,” “When You Walk in the Room,” “Got to Get You Into My Life” and the groovy “She’s So Far Out, She’s In” in addition to a take on Dean Sr.’s “Memories Are Made of This.”

Sixties pop fans have even more to rejoice about, however: Hamilton Camp’s 1967 Here’s to You is described by the label as “a lost sunshine pop classic,” as the folk star teamed with Van Dyke Parks, Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer and producer Felix Pappalardi for this unique LP. The same year brought Morning Dew’s self-titled release, a garage/psychedelic blend sure to appeal to the Nuggets crowd. More garage action arrives courtesy of Floating Bridge’s 1969 album of the same name, originally released on the Vault label. John D. Loudermilk’s 1971 Elloree, Vol. 1 finds the acclaimed songwriter in an acoustic setting revisiting “Tobacco Road” and more, and the same year’s Ohio Knox teamed Peter Gallway with Dallas Taylor, Russ Kunkel, John Sebastian and others for a lost singer/songwriter classic. On the other end of the spectrum is Clarence Carter’s 1969 Muscle Shoals-recorded Testifyin’, which includes such favorites as “Soul Deep” and the immortal, risqué “Back Door Santa.”

Tartare jumps a few years to 1977 with Latimore’s It Ain’t Where You Been, and then to 1979 for Average White Band’s Feel No Fret, with their hit cover of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Walk On By.” The label then enters the ’80s and beyond with a quintet of releases from artists flying solo from their famous bands. 1989’s Mick Jones featured the Foreigner vocalist teaming with Billy Joel and Carly Simon, while the Manhattan Transfer’s Janis Siegel delivered an eclectic set with 1987’s At Home, with covers ranging from Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man” to standards such as “Black Coffee.” Morris Day of The Time offers his 1987 album Daydreaming (his second solo release), and Ric Ocasek sees two of his 1990s discs restored to the catalogue. Fireball Zone (1990) was his first solo LP after the breakup of The Cars, co-produced by Nile Rodgers.  1993’s Quick Change World is a bit more experimental in nature. Finally, Air Supply’s 1991 The Earth Is… was the duo’s first release in five years and was anchored by their cover of Badfinger’s “Without You.”

All Tartare titles are made-to-order CD-Rs with full, original artwork and no bonus tracks or additional liner notes. (Note that some of the later titles may still be readily available second-hand in their original CD incarnations.) The Tartare titles should soon appear here to order; until then, some are individually searchable. The Cameo Parkway releases are fully-packaged with new liner notes and artwork. The Dovells’ release can be pre-ordered here while you can do the same for Zacherle and Dee Dee Sharp here.

Dee Dee Sharp, It’s Mashed Potato Time/Do The Bird (Collectors’ Choice WWCCM21522, 2010)

1. Gravy for My Mashed Potatoes
2. Slow Twistin’
3. Gee
4. Two Loves
5. One Hundred Pounds of Clay
6. Eddie, My Love
7. Mashed Potato Time
8. (Dee Dee) Be My Girl
9. I Sold My Heart to the Junkman
10. Remember You’re Mine
11. Hurry On Down
12. Splish Splash
13. Let the Sunshine In
14. I Will Follow Him
15. Rockin’ Robin
16. He’s So Fine
17. You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Nothin’
18. Reet Petite
19. Do the Bird
20. Be Ever Wonderful
21. Our Day Will Come
22. Just to Hold My Hand
23. Why Don’t You Ask Me
24. South Street

Tracks 1-12 from It’s Mashed Potato Time (Cameo LP C-1018, 1962)
Tracks 13-24 from Do the Bird (Cameo LP C-1050, 1962)

The Dovells, For Your Hully Gully Party/You Can’t Sit Down (Collectors’ Choice WWCCM21512, 2010)

1. Hully Hully Baby
2. Jitterbug
3. Kissin’ in the Kitchen
4. Stompin’ Everywhere
5. Time for the Madison
6. Hully Gully Square Dance
7. Country Club Hully Gully
8. Cheat
9. Do the New Continental
10. Why Not You
11. Hully Gully
12. Stop, Look and Listen
13. You Can’t Sit Down
14. Short Fat Fanny
15. 36-22-36
16. Maybelline
17. Miss Daisy De Lite
18. Hey, Beautiful
19. Baby Workout
20. Wildwood Days
21. If You Wanna Be Happy
22. Lockin’ Up My Heart
23. Summer Job
24. Havin’ a Good Time

Tracks 1-12 from For Your Hully Gully Party (Parkway LP P-7021, 1962)
Tracks 13-24 from You Can’t Sit Down (Parkway LP P-7025, 1963)

John Zacherle, Monster Mash/Scary Tales (Collectors’ Choice WWCCM21532, 2010)

1. Monster Mash
2. Hurry Bury Baby
3. Let’s Twist Again (Mummy Time is Here)
4. I’m the Ghoul from Wolverton Mountain
5. Gravy (With Some Cyanide)
6. Popeye (The Gravedigger)
7. Limb from Limbo Rock
8. Weird Watusi
9. Pistol Stomp
10. Dinner with Drac
11. The Ha-ha-ha
12. The Bat
13. Scary Tales from Mother Goose
14. A-Tisket, A-Casket
15. Hansel and Gretel
16. Clementine
17. Happy Halloween
18. Monster Monkey
19. The Spider and the Fly
20. A-B-C
21. Little Red Riding Hood
22. Surfboard 1-0-9
23. Dear, Dear Valentine

Tracks 1-12 from Monster Mash (Parkway LP P-7018, 1962)
Tracks 13-23 from Scary Tales (Parkway LP P-7023, 1963)