Sunday 1 March 2009

Rockin' Song of the Week - Number 45


The Globetrotters -Rainy Day Bells

This is a real oddity. When I first heard this track I was blown away by it's happy-go-lucky swing. It's a joyous, romping track that is everything that's wonderful about uptempo doo-wop. I didn't realise that the group, The Globetrotters really are the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. The sportsmen were enjoying world acclaim with sold out games and even a cartoon series, so to cash in, Don Kirshner (Monkees and Archies) and Jeff Barry were asked to produce an album. Among an album full of rubbish sits the wistful Rainy Day Bells, written as with most of the album by the legendary team of Neil Sedaka and Howie Greenfield. The Globetrotters including Meadowlark Lemon were joined by none other than Sammy Turner and some session singers including James "JR" Bailey. The quality of the song resulted in a single release which resulted in pretty good sales, eventually becoming a "beach music" cult number.

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