DAY & KNIGHT, "STORY OF LOVE" C/W "CANDY SWEET," JOSIE 45-881 (REL. 6/1960)

New podcast today! A week late, but I believe it’s a good one and it has many new-to-you selections.

I learned this morning, as I began to prepare today’s post, that I’d already posted the record announced yesterday. Thus, I needed a replacement. Friday posts must have a bright, fun feeling. They can be a bit manic and a little doofy; they embody the promise and release of this fifth day of the week. A super-obscure teen harmony duo record got my attention; it’s one of many evocations of The Everly Brothers’ sound in late ‘50s pop music.

The harmonizing teens had a major influence on pop music. One need only hear the vocal harmonies of The Beatles to realize this. When their style was new, as with Elvis, every record company scrambled to find teenage boys who could carry a tune and sing together. If they looked half-decent, it was a done deal. Thus, scores of one-shot harmony pop singles exploded from every label, large and small, in the hope that lightning might strike 2x. It seldom did, but some fascinating records resulted—from ethereal haunters to shambolic goofs.

Today’s single, the second and final outing for Ohio teens Frankie Day and Bobby Knight, has a bit of both qualities. Thanks to eccentric Les Paul-wannabe Billy Mure, who also arranged and produced today’s record, it has a gonzo sound on its more rock-adjacent A side and submerges into musical marshmallow on the ballad B. These two lads harmonize well, though one of them tends to go flat.

Day and Knight had made one single prior to Josie Records as The Blue Crystals. Their 1959 Mercury Records single is a garage-y teen harmony bopper with far better vocals than heard here. Perhaps the two boys, seen in a vintage image above, were intimidated by the New York studio filled with session men, background singers and technicians. They do their level best and the results are unusual enough to succeed.

“Story of Love:” big bang guitars and the flat singer, going solo, open this bopper. Add frenzied femme chorus, big-sounding drums and a lot of chanted repetition; slather on a monstrous guitar break (which might be Mickey Baker, among others; producer Mure layered guitars for a striking effect). Debits: that flat-as-a-pancake lead voice. If pitch problems don’t bug you, you might not notice it. But if they do: try to enjoy the other aspects of this manic mover.

“Candy Sweet”* appears ghastly at first, but the boys carry it off, and the Everlys recorded their share of gooey love ballads, so this was an accurate item. The lead vocalist sings much better on this side; he does a recitation with a conversational tone. Mure’s “supersonic guitar” style is toned down for this intimate song and he replicates Chet Atkins’ tremolo style to fine effect.

When a record that should be awful isn’t, I’m happy, and that’s the case with this gentle sentimental, as Cash Box might have called it, had they reviewed it. The boys’ first single got coverage, but this one went unmentioned and ignored. To further confound matters, Pat Boone issued a song called “Candy Sweet” at the same time. That song, penned by Winfield Scott, sounds nothing like this, but it couldn’t have helped matters.

I can’t find any subsequent records by either performer. Their stage names obfuscate such a search. Their surnames appear to be Yothers and Scaia. I have a copy of The Blue Crystals’ single coming in the mail, and perhaps when that arrives, I can continue my search. Coming to this space soon!

* This song is dedicated to Suzie Hummacker, whose "gotcha day" it is today! Love ya, Suze!

Tomorrow: Black vocal group The Rays, with guest singer Hal Miller, anticipate the sound of The Dave Clark Five in a wild 1962 single for the obscure Perri label. Must be heard to be believed!