The "Insane World Of Mike Sain" airs every Wednesday at 9:00 AM Eastern Time on WPON-AM 1460 Detroit. This week's show had a more international flavor with a "United Nations" theme in which every song title included the name of a city or country outside the US (except for Chuck Berry's "Back In The U.S.A." which was also played on today's show).
- Next Plane To London - The Rose Garden - 1967
- Me Japanese Boy I Love You - Bobby Goldsboro - 1964 (by request)
- Bimbombey - Jimmie Rodgers - 1958
- Back In The U.S.S.R. - The Beatles - 1968
- I Love Paris - Screamin' Jay Hawkins - 1958
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - The Four Lads - 1953
- Give Ireland Back To The Irish - Paul McCartney And Wings - 1972
- Mecca - Gene Pitney - 1963 (by request)
- Canadian Sunset - The Impacts - ca. 1959
- Down In Mexico - The Coasters - 1956
- China Girl - The Four Pharaohs - 1958
- Arabia - The Delcos - 1963
- Back In The U.S.A. - Chuck Berry - 1959 (by request)
- Midnight In Moscow - Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen - 1962 (by request)
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Notes:
- "Next Plane To London," which peaked at #17 in 1967, was the Rose Garden's one and only charted song. The Rose Garden was a male-female pop group formed in West Virginia.
- "Me Japanese Boy I Love You" (1964) was one of many Billboard Pop/Rock chart hits from 1963-1973 for singer-songwriter Bobby Goldsboro. He also had a long string of hits on the Country charts from 1968-1982 and hosted his own TV show from 1972-1975.
- Jimmie Rodgers is best known for his 1957 smash hit, "Honeycomb," which was the first in a long string of hits that also included "Bimbombey" (1958). He also had his own TV variety show in 1959 and starred in the movies "The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come" (1961) and "Back Door To Hell" (1964).
- The Beatles' "Back In The U.S.S.R." was included on their White Album which was released in 1968 in both the US and the UK. "Back In The U.S.S.R." was one of several famous Beatles-penned songs as performed by the Beatles that never officially charted (other songs that fall into this category are "Michelle" and "Fool On The Hill"). "Back In The U.S.S.R." later became a chart hit for Chubby Checker in 1969. The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
- "I Love Paris" is from the Cole Porter Broadway musical, "Can Can." This well known song was a chart hit for Les Baxter and His Orchestra in 1953 and it was also covered by numerous other performing artists. Screamin' Jay Hawkins unique and swinging cover of "I Love Paris" was included on his 1958 LP, "At Home With Screamin' Jay Hawkins" (Epic LN 3448). Screamin' Jay Hawkins is famous for the maniacal oldies classic, "I Put A Spell On You" (1956). He is also remembered for his scary and shocking on-stage antics that included various crazy costumes and assorted props. "I Love Paris" is included on the CD, Voodoo Jive: The Best of Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Hawkins died February 12, 2000. He had spent his last years in Paris.
- Both "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and its flip side song, "I Should Have Told You Long Ago," were hits in 1953 for the Four Lads. "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" was written by Jimmy Kennedy and Nat Simon. The Four Lads were a Toronto-based group with a string of hits from 1952-1959. They backed up Johnnie Ray on several of his hits including his best known song, "Cry."
- Paul McCartney is the famous co-founder of both the Beatles and the Wings. His best known songs include "Another Day" (1971), "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" (1971), "Band On The Run" (1974), and "Silly Love Songs" (1976). His 1972 hit, "Give Ireland Back To The Irish," caused quite a stir in England and was banned in many places but made the US Top 40 and (not surprisingly) topped the Irish charts. Paul McCartney was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, making him one of very few performing artists to be inducted twice, either individually or as part of a group (the Beatles were inducted in 1988).
- The evocative "Mecca" by Gene Pitney was one in a long string of hits from 1961-1970 for this singer, songwriter, and teen idol. Pitney's best known songs include "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" (1962), "Only Love Can Break A Heart" (1962), and "It Hurts To Be In Love" (1964). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
- "Canadian Sunset" was a chart hit for Hugo Winterhalter/Eddie Heywood (1956), Andy Williams (1956), Etta Jones (1961), and Sounds Orchestral (1965). The Impacts' cover of "Canadian Sunset" was released as a single ca. 1959 (RCA 7609; RCA Victor 47-7609 b/w "They Say"). Key members of the Impacts included Sam Strain who later became a member of both Little Anthony and the Imperials and the O'Jays. The Impacts never charted nationally and are today best remembered for "Darling, Now You're Mine" and "Canadian Sunset." Their version of "Canadian Sunset" is included on the CD, Doo Wop Box 2: 101 More Vocal Gems.
- "Down In Mexico" and its flip side, "Turtle Dovin'," were the Coasters' R&B chart debut songs in 1956. Their best known songs include "Yakety Yak" (1958), "Charlie Brown" (1959), and "Poison Ivy" (1959). The Coasters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
- The Four Pharaohs were a Columbus, OH-based doo wop group who started out in 1955 as the Columbus Pharaohs. The original members consisted of Robert Taylor, Ronald Wilson, Bernard Wilson, and group leader Morris Wade. Their noncharting "China Girl" was released in 1958 as a single (Esta 290 and Ransom 101 b/w "Give Me Your Love"). Over the next several years, the Four Pharaohs had a number of personnel and group name changes (first to King Pharaoh and the Egyptian Kings and then to the Egyptian Kings). Morris Wade continued to perform over the years and in 2000 he put together a new incarnation of the Four Pharaohs. The Four Pharaohs' "China Girl" is included on the CD, Vol. 1-Doo Wop Desirables.
- The Delcos were a South Bend, IN-based doo wop group and their exotic "Arabia" was their only charted song. Key members of the Delcos included lead singer Peter Woodward. The Delcos' "Arabia" was a minor hit, peaking at only #111 in 1963. "Arabia" and other Delcos songs are included on their CD, Boy Could They Sing.
- "Back In The U.S.A." (1959) is one of many hits for famed rocker Chuck Berry that also include "Maybelline" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958). "Back In The U.S.A." later also charted for Linda Ronstadt in 1978. Of all the early breakthrough rock and roll artists, Chuck Berry is considered by many to be the most influential. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
- Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen was a dixieland jazz-styled band best known for the instrumental hit "Midnight In Moscow" (1962). "Midnight In Moscow," which was this group's chart debut song, topped the Adult Contemporary charts and peaked at #2 on the Pop/Rock charts in 1962. This song was also a minor hit for Jan Burgens and His New Orleans Syncopators (peaking at only #111 in 1962).
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