Ray Collins, founding singer of Mothers of Invention Dead

[Quad Linda]

http://todayentertainment.today.com...vention-founding-singer-ray-collins-dies?lite

 

[EMB]

Ray was the doo-wop go-to guy, and his influence can be heard all over the early Verve and Bizarre albums. Zappa was a doo-wop fan, too, but he had higher (or, we could say, more pretentious) ambitions, and quickly became the band's musical director and autocrat. Some stuck that out longer than others, but I'm fondest of that original Verve band, because they had a foot in a past that was already anachronistic by the time they recorded FREAK OUT, while looking ahead to a strange, experimental future. They did find their audience, though how much of that audience really dug the RUBEN & THE JETS thing is uncertain. Dug it, myself, and despite the tendency toward parody, there was a love for that style that was unmistakable on their part. R.I.P.

ED

 

[Quad Linda]

I love Zappa from all periods, but that early stuff was my favorite. Ray Collins was a huge part of the reason why, yet We're Only in It for the Money is my favorite Zappa, and it is Collins-less.

Any Way The Wind Blows (Ray Collins tribute): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySv1KuuIE84

 

[EMB]

Took me years to track down a mint copy of this 45, but well worth it. Explains where RUBEN & THE JETS came from:

[video=youtube;ceByZzrEfVk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceByZzrEfVk[/video]

Note their name dropping, including the Medallions' surreal "The Letter" which has been referenced by many beyond the Mothers (or the Penguins). Note that the recently deceased Cleve Duncan gets a feature credit on the 45, too.

ED

 

[Quad Linda]

Great track! I have it on The Cucamonga Years CD compilation:


I also have it on Cucamonga:

 

[EMB]

Funny how human destiny works. 'What if' is a favorite game of mine, wondering what would have happened if someone had made it sooner--or later. What if Zappa and Collins had actually gotten a significant hit record out of their early years of piecemeal, journeyman work? What if David Bowie's Carnaby Street pop debut and one of its singles had really gone big? For you youngsters out there: what if Y KANT TORI READ hadn't fallen through the cracks? I remember it came out around the same time as Paula Abdul's FOREVER YOUR GIRL album, and no one I knew had any expectations for either, although the latter was considered commercial dance music. You know the rest....and you never know. No one can predict success. I still think the Beatles' Decca tapes had enough quality to justify the label--or someone--to sign them and give them a shot. Pop history is filled with strange rejections and failures that seem inexplicable in hindsight, though I will say the first time I heard Paul sing "Love of the Loved" it seemed catchy and British enough to have been a logical first single. Why people say no to something like that is beyond me, but then, I've always been glad I wasn't Dick Rowe and had to live that one down.

ED