hier möchte ich The Appelljacks ins Gespräch bringen, die 1958/59 mit "Mexican Hat Rock", "Rocka Conga" und "Bunny Hop" drei US-Hit auf Cameo hatten.
Hinter dieser Gruppe steht Dave Appell (* 24. März 1922 in Philadelphia), Beginn als Arrangeur und Produzent, Records auf Decca als The Dave Appell Four, dann Namenswechsel für Cameo-Aufnahmen.
Später in New York u.a. Produzent für Tony Orlando and Dawn.
Obschon die englische Gruppe The Applejacks sehr
mit den Beatles verbandelt war, hatten in den USA
auch Dave Apple & The Applejacks (= andere Gruppe)
einen Beatles-Nachzieher auf Cameo-Parkway...
Sie hiessen DAVE APPELL & THE APPLEJACKS (s.o.)
Dave Appell mit seiner Gruppe wurde in UK übrigens
auf Columbia veröffentlicht.
Beispiel:
Cameo 207 (USA) Happy Jose/Noivious
Columbia DB 4763 (UK) Happy Jose/Noivious
Nun noch ein sehr früher Dave Appell auf 45 RPM, dann noch etwas PRESIDENT und zum Abschluß die Applejacks mit Aufnahmen, die für diese Formation eher ungewöhnlich sind
Keep Searchin'
Gerd
Hallo Hermann!
"Teenage Meeting" stammt vom Dezember 1955. Die PRESIDENT 1006 gibt es als Scan etwas weiter oben in diesem Thema. "Rockin' An A Rollin'" stammt vom August 1955. Den Scan der TONE-CRAFT 207 kannst du mittels Frank Virtuoso-Link, den du selbst angeführt hast, sehen
Keep Searchin'
Gerd
Dave (David) Appell (born March 24, 1922, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) worked as an arranger, producer, and musician in Philadelphia, in the 1950s.
Career
Appell (pronounced "apple") is associated mainly with the Cameo-Parkway record label, in the history of which he played a substantial part. He started working as an arranger for several United States Navy big bands in the mid-1940s during his service in World War II, including Jimmie Lunceford's black orchestra. He later arranged for dance orchestras, including Benny Carter and Earl "Fatha" Hines. He recorded for a while on Decca Records as the Dave Appell Four, until Paul Cohen of Decca suggested he change the group name to the Applejacks. Appell also became a publisher, joining ASCAP in 1955, collaborating with Max Freedman.
He appeared prominently in the 1956 Alan Freed film Don't Knock the Rock, and worked for a while as the studio band and music director on the Ernie Kovacs TV and radio shows in Philadelphia. Next Appell and the Applejacks were playing in Las Vegas, but they soon began to pine for their hometown and returned to Philadelphia, where they started working for Cameo Records, a label founded by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe.
Appell became a jack-of-all-trades at Cameo, doing background vocals, session work as a guitarist, engineering, arranging, and producing. The first hit artist on the Cameo label was Charlie Gracie, the singing guitarist who hit Number One nationally with "Butterfly." Appell and his band backed Gracie on that million-seller in 1957, and on the singer's subsequent hits, "Fabulous" and "Ninety-Nine Ways" and "Wanderin' Eyes." In 1958 Appell and his group backed John Zacherle on his Top 10 novelty hit "Dinner With Drac."
In the summer of 1958, Appell got an idea for a song from the Philadelphia String Band of a marching-type song with a dance beat. He wrote an instrumental song called "The Mexican Hat Rock," a jumped-up version of the old "Mexican Hat Dance," that he had his studio band record. The song was released under their own name on Cameo that fall and became a big dance hit on American Bandstand, reaching # 16 on the charts. The Applejacks also charted with "Rocka-Conga" (# 38 ) later in the year.
Appell went on to become the leader of Cameo-Parkway's house band, backing such artists as Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, The Dovells, Dee Dee Sharp, and The Orlons. Their records Appell also arranged and, in many cases, produced, and even co-wrote with Kal Mann, like "The Twist," "Let's Twist Again," "Bristol Stomp," "Mashed Potato Time," and "South Street." These were the years of the twist and other dance crazes, in the launching of which Appell played a vital role. Appell left Cameo in 1964.
In the 1970s he had success with his productions for Tony Orlando and Dawn, including the # 1 hits "Knock Three Times" (1970) and "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" (1973), on Bell Records in New York. Appell's co-producer was Hank Medress, who had been a founding member of The Tokens in 1956, and also sang in the reformed Tokens of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" fame.
