K-Chuck Radio: More Forgotten 1960’s Classics!

Today on K-Chuck Radio, I’m bringing back some of the great dance tracks of the 1960’s.  These were the regional hits, the songs that had enough bounce and sass to make you get out of your chair, grab your date, and turn the dance floor into your own personal party time.  And let’s start with…

CANDY AND THE KISSES
The 81

This is one of Kenny Gamble’s earliest hits – Kenny Gamble being one-half of the Gamble & Huff songwriting colossus of the 1970’s.  This may have been Candy and the Kisses’ only hit … but damn it was a great one.

PATTY & THE EMBLEMS
Mixed-Up, Shook-Up Girl

Here’s a classic “Carolina Shag” song – from a one-hit winder group from 1964.  Amazing what can happen when you get in the studio and release a piece of magic like this.

THE TAMS
What Kind Of Fool (Do You Think I Am)

The Tams were from Atlanta, and they had several hits in the early 1960’s, this was their biggest.  They would also have a major career in England, when one of their hits – “Hey Girl, Don’t Bother Me” – crashed into the #1 spot in 1971, thanks in no small part to the growing “Northern Soul” fandom in England’s dance clubs.

THE SAPPHIRES
Who Do You Love

No, this isn’t the Bo Diddly song.  The Sapphires were an amazing girl group from Philadelphia, and this track just melts like butter.  Super-awesome melody and groove.

THE JOY-TONES
This Love (That I’m Giving You)

This girl group had miserable luck with this track.  It stiffed upon its original release … it was re-released and credited to a new girl group called “The Love Potion” (it was still the Joy-Tones), and the song still couldn’t get up the charts.  Shame.

THE FIVE STAIRSTEPS
World of Fantasy

You might know of the Five Stairsteps from their big hit “O-o-h Child,” but the family group had a ton of R&B hits, including this track on the Cameo-Parkway subsidiary Windy C label.

SHERYL SWOPE
Run To Me

Not to be confused with Sheryl Swoops, the pro basketball superstar…

BILL ROBINSON AND THE QUAILS
Do I Love You

Bill Robinson and the Quails were a Miami-based doo-wop group that had limited success in the 1950’s and 1960’s, but their catalog is definitely worth enjoying.  I like this doo-wop ballad of their’s, it’s a great dive-in point to their catalog.

RAY AND DAVE
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

Not much is known about this Windy City soul duo… but what IS known is that this record is worth a lot of money to “deep soul” music collectors, and that it’s a great song nonetheless.

THE SPELLBINDERS
For You

The Spellbinders recorded one album in 1965, and the four-man-one-woman quintet put this one single out in 1966.  And then they faded into the distance.  But the songwriter and producer of this track?  You might have heard of him – Van McCoy, who would later have a #1 hit with “The Hustle” a decade later.

Hope this gets you into a great groove this Labor Day weekend… right here on your blog radio station with the best music around, K-Chuck Radio!