The Andantés, "No Yo Ru (Night)" c/w "My Baby's Gone," Dot 45-16495 (rel. 5/1963)

 

We're back on familiar turf with another unknown, undocumented and riveting regional one-shot record. The Andantés are unrelated to the Motown backup singers who are darlings of the Northern Soul crowd. These Andantés were white California teens whose lone single, produced by Downey Records in LA, got release on Dot, a label known for its acceptance of promising regional masters.
       The names of two members are known: drummer George Rich and Fred Macrae, who penned the B-side and may be the lead male voice. Two female voices harmonize behind his lead; a guitarist and bassist are heard. The record's A-side was written by Jack Wenzel, son of Downey Records and Wenzel's Music Town owner Bill Wenzel. The junior Wenzel is credited with four compositions in the July-December 1963 edition of The Library of Congress' Catalog of Music Copyright Entries.
        "No Yo Ru" may have been inspired by the recent success of "Sukiyaki," a hit pop vocal by Kyu Sakamoto. Titled "Ue o Muite Aruko," it was first covered by UK trad jazzer Kenny Ball, who slapped the dismissive-slash-racist "Sukiyaki" on it. The original vocal rendition became a breakout hit when a Fresno, CA DJ, having been tipped to the recording via the city's large Asian community, spun it into a nationwide Top Ten hit for Capitol Records, who scrambled to release an LP to capitalize on the hit. (I have the album.)
        Some now-cringe racist tropes begin "No Yo Ru," but dissipate in seconds. An eerie vocal blend--imagine Seattle pop group The Fleetwoods crossed with new-wave group The B-52s--drives this eerie song and performance. Despite the precedence for it, "No Yo Ru" has what I call The David Lynch Effect: an entity not intended to be as weird and unsettling as it became.
        Dot Records' faith in its potential wasn't fortified with promotional support. Though Downey had fed the label a big hit with The Rumblers' surf instrumental "Boss," they didn't deign to push this unusual, appealing single and it died unnoticed, outside of local airplay in LA. Copies are scarce.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/epnvs3v4l8oychaj10dlk/2104a.mp3?rlkey=r0qz7qlj8payp1mzg6mm7a49j&st=dva8jav6&dl=0

On the flip we're in familiar teen-town turf. George Rich's drum flourishes distinguish "My Baby's Gone," a yearning song of lost love which retains the odd vibe of the A-side, with the harmonizing shes doing a call-and-response with the adenoidal teen he.
        Like so many performances recorded in the back-room studio in Wenzel's Music Town, these two sides teem with lo-fi charm. In a more professional environment--Gold Star Studios, to name one LA legend--the recordings would've sounded too polished, too produced. This raw, fearless approach remains exciting, and is a hallmark of Bill Wenzel's approach to capturing local music he felt was worthwhile.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/lese172uze3dmcoz2x8fs/2104b.mp3?rlkey=y1e7d35dr85nbbwmksa06hmb1&st=cobtp7jr&dl=0

That's all we have on this record. I hope you find these one-record wonders as fascinating as I do; fascinating but frustrating, as we often have just crumbs of evidence as to who these performers were and all the other five Ws of standard journalistic investigation. Some Andantés may still be with us; Bill Wenzel passed on in 1999. His tape vaults were purchased by Ace Records in the UK, who made a series of solid CD compilations of goodies from Wenzel's legacy.

Tomorrow: intense, unusual UK beat group The Four Pennies with what I think is their best single. It was a massive flop in England, but almost topped the charts in Turkey. It spelled a major change in this group's fortunes. A lost gem from 1965.