Which is the HIT version of The Edsels' RAMA LAMA DING DONG? Help!!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, Dec 11, 2004.

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  1. MikeM

    MikeM Senior Member

    Location:
    Youngstown, Ohio
    OK, a story...

    The Edsels were from my hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. In 1968, I encountered Larry Green, one of the group's original members, at a record store he ran in town, Discount Records. Larry was also a partner with Tony Marchionda in the Tammy record label, which released a ton of soul records locally in the 1960s and 1970s.

    I used to hang out at Larry's store a lot, and I have a clear memory one day of going through boxes and boxes of old 45s and encountering numerous copies of "Lama Rama Ding Dong." At that time, I didn't know the full story behind this record -- only later did I learn that the first pressings had this misspelling.

    Now in retrospect, I'm wondering if these were the real McCoy, or if perhaps they might have been bootlegs themselves. (Tony was a real hustler type, and I certainly wouldn't have put it past him to press phony copies!) But on the off chance that they were genuine, seems a shame I never got one for myself.

    Incidentally, some version of The Edsels has been performing around town for the past couple of years (they were also seen on one of those T.J. Lubinsky PBS shows a couple of years ago). I think there may be one original member, but that's it.
     
  2. Cheepnik

    Cheepnik Overfed long-haired leaping gnome

    Interesting story, Mike. Another guy who could tell you all about which version of "Rama Lama" is which is Bruce Grossberg, who posts frequently (constantly, actually) in the Usenet '50s and '60s alt.rec.music groups (and who's cousins with T.J. Lubinsky, and the grandson of Savoy Records founder Herman Lubinsky). Bruce is about as friendly as a scorpion, but he knows his onions when it comes to '50s/'60s R&B and doo-wop records.
     
  3. Drcliffsr

    Drcliffsr New Member

    Location:
    Struthers, Ohio
    The legal hit record is on the TWIN RECORDS label. Tony March signed the guys up with DUB records and Dub did nothing to promote The Edsel's. So they went to TWIN RECORDS and they made a hit out of Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong. The stupid "hillbillies" that owned DUB (they were from somewhere down near the Gulf Coast), jumped on the band wagon saying they still had a right to "The Edsel's" material and released the song on their label also.
    A court battle ensued, and the court ordered the record off the market until all was straightened out. This also kept the record from going any higher on the charts.
    Then "The Edsel's" went to CAPITOL RECORDS.
    Litigation and conflicts in the record business, screwed the group from getting anywhere else.

    Drcliff
     
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