The "Insane World Of Mike Sain" airs every Wednesday at 9:00 AM Eastern Time on WPON-AM 1460 Detroit. Today's show theme was "St. Patrick's Day-O" in honor of St. Patrick's Day which is this Friday. All songs played this morning had in their title the letter O.
- Life Is Just A Cher O'Bowlies - The Blues Magoos - 1967
- Molly-O - Johnny And The Hurricanes - 1960
- Peg O' My Heart - Gene Vincent And His Blue Caps - 1956
- Sack O'Woe - Manfred Mann - 1964
- Peggy-O - Simon And Garfunkel - 1964
- Connie-O - The 4 Seasons - 1962
- G.T.O. - Ronny And The Daytonas - 1964 (by request)
- Double-O-Seven - The Detergents - 1965 (by request)
- Lady-O - The Turtles - 1969 (by request)
- Agent Double-O-Soul - Edwin Starr - 1965 (by request)
- Gift O' Gabbin' Woman - The Nutmegs - 1956
- My Baby O - The 5 Dollars - 1960
Notes:
- The Blues Magoos were a late 1960s garage band from the Bronx best remembered for their 1967 smash hit, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet." Their noncharting "Life Is Just A Cher O'Bowlies" was included on their 1967 album, "Electric Comic Book" (Mercury MG-21104).
- Johnny And The Hurricanes were an instrumental rock band best remembered for "Red River Rock" (1959), "Beatnik Fly" (1960), and a number of other instrumental hits from 1959-1961. "Molly-O" was the B-side of their 1960 hit, "You Are My Sunshine," and has the same melody as "Greensleeves."
- "Peg O' My Heart," which is from the Broadway musical, "Ziegfield Follies of 1913," is a very old song which has been performed by many artists over the years. This song first topped the charts for Charles Harrison in 1913 and has since then also been a chart hit for Henry Burr (1913), Walter Van Brunt (1914), Buddy Clark (1947, #1), the Harmonicats (1947, #1), the Three Suns (1947, #1), Art Lund (1947), Ted Weems (1947), Clark Dennis (1947), and Robert Maxwell (1964). Gene Vincent's cover of this song was included on his 1956 album, "Bluejean Bop!" (Capitol T-764). ("Peg O' My Heart" was also included on an EP, Capitol EAP 3-764). "Bluejean Bop!" was Vincent's debut album which was released shortly after he hit it big with "Be-Bop-A-Lula" (1956) for which he is best remembered. Gene Vincent was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
- "Sack O'Woe," a jazz tune written by "Cannonball" Adderley, became an R&B hit for the Ray Bryant Combo in 1961. Manfred Mann's noncharting version of "Sack O'Woe," which is an instrumental, was included on the 1964 album, "The Manfred Mann Album" (Ascot AM-13015). Manfred Mann was a rock group from England whose key members included Manfred Mann (born Michael Lubowitz in Johannesburg, South Africa). This group had a string of hits from 1964-1984 that include their chart topping "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" (1964) and "Blinded By The Light (1977, as Manfred Mann's Earth Band).
- Simon and Garfunkel's noncharting "Peggy-O," which is a traditional folk song, was included on their 1964 album, "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.: Exciting New Sounds In The Folk Tradition" (Columbia CS-9049). Simon and Garfunkel have a long history dating back to the late 1950s when they first started recording as Tom and Jerry. They are famous for "The Sounds Of Silence," "Mrs. Robinson," and several other hit songs from the late 1960s that were part of the soundtrack for the 1967 movie, "The Graduate." The duo was induced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
- The 4 Seasons' "Connie-O" was the B-side of their chart topping 1962 hit, "Big Girls Don't Cry." The 4 Seasons were founded in 1955 and went through several names changes in their early years. They had a long string of hits which began in 1956 and continued through 1980. (A dance remix of their 1976 hit, "December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)," became a chart hit in 1994.) Lead singer Frankie Valli also sang solo and had many hits from 1966-1980. The Four Seasons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
- Ronny and the Daytonas are best remembered for their 1964 smash hit, "G.T.O.," which was this group's chart debut song. They also charted with several other songs with a similar hot rod theme.
- The Detergents were a novelty group whose key members included Ron Dante of the Archies and the Cuff Links. They made a splash on the charts in 1965 with "Leader Of The Laundromat" and "Double-O-Seven" as played today. "Double-O-Seven" is a spoof on James Bond movies.
- The Turtles had a string of hits from 1965-1970 which included "It Ain't Me Babe" (1965), "Elenore" (1968), their chart topping "Happy Together" (1967), and their lesser-known "Lady-O" (1969), a song written in a baroque rock style. This group was formed in LA in 1962 and changed names several times before officially becoming the Turtles in 1965. The Turtles had many personnel changes over the years and disbanded in 1970. Two of the Turtles (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan) later joined the Mothers of Invention and also recorded as a duo under various names. They also wrote the soundtrack for the movie, "Strawberry Shortcake." In 1985, they reunited and toured again as the Turtles.
- "Agent Double-O-Soul" was Edwin Starr's chart debut song in 1965. His best known songs also include "Twenty-Five Miles" (1969) and the chart topping "War" (1970). His many other hits also include a duet with Sandra "Blinky" Williams, "Oh How Happy" (1969).
- The Nutmegs were a doo-wop group from Connecticut best remembered for their classic "Story Untold" (1955, R&B chart hit). This song was one of a number mentioned in in "Memories of Those Oldies But Goodies" by Little Caesar and the Romans, a nostalgic medley of doo-wop and R&B classics. The Nutmegs' noncharting "Gift O' Gabbin' Woman" as heard today was released as a single in 1956 (Herald 475 b/w "Key To The Kingdom").
- The 5 Dollars were a doo-wop group of five founded in Detroit in 1953. They started out as the Del-Torros and the starting lineup consisted of only four members: Eddie Hurt, Lonnie Heard, James Drayton, and Charles Evans. In 1954, the group added a fifth member, Richard Lawrence, and then they became the 5 Dollars. Although the 5 Dollars achieved considerable regional fame, they never charted nationally. They recorded throughout most of the 1950s and had several personnel changes along the way. In 1960, they released their final record, "That's The Way It Goes" backed with "My Baby O" (Fortune 854) as heard this morning.
Click here for a complete list of "Insane World Of Mike Sain" playlists available on this web site.