Customer Reviews

Concrete and Clay

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As a collector of oldies hit singles (and their B-sides), I admit to having a soft spot in my heart for those forever listed under the sometimes less-than-flattering heading of One-Hit wonder, especially those who earned that hit while working for small, obscure record labels with virtually no funds for proper promotion (or the infamous "payola" when that malpractice was rampant).

In the case of singer/songwriter Eddie Rambeau (born Edward Cletus Flurie on June 30, 1943 in Hazleton, Pennyslvania), while he didn't exactly hook up with a giant like Columbia or RCA, or second-tier outfits such as Imperial or Chess/Checker, he was fortunate enough to land recording deals with a couple of labels that could at least properly promote their artists to a fair degree.

The first was the Philadelphia-based Swan Records, launched in 1957. Among artists who came up with significant hits there were Freddy Cannon, Dickey Doo & The Don'ts, Danny & The Juniors, Link Wray & The Wraymen, Billy & Lillie, Mark Valentino, and even The Beatles, whose She Loves You had been leased to Swan in 1963 before they exploded onto the charts early in 1964 for Capitol with I Want To Hold Your Hand. Swan was able to reap the publicity with a re-release of She Loves You which also went to # 1. For the 18-year-old Rambeau, however, four Swan singles released between 1961 and 1963 went nowhere (see Comments below).

He then turned to a new label called DynoVoice (and its subsidiary NewVoice), started in 1965 by songwriter/producer (he wrote the 1957 smash Silhouettes, among others) Bob Crewe, who also worked out a distribution deal with the larger Bell and then Dot labels. In addition to his own Bob Crewe Generation (Music To Watch Girls By, among others), the labels had major hits by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, The Toys, and The Chicago Loop. There, Eddie turned out seven singles to 1968, but managed just two hits.

The first was a cover of a British hit by Unit 4 + 2 called Concrete And Clay which was then released in North America on London 9751 in the spring of 1965 to go head to head with the Rambeau rendition. The latter, on DynoVoice 204, wound up at # 13 on the Adult Contemporary (AC) charts as well as in the Pop Top 40 at # 35 Hot 100 b/w Don't Believe Him, while the British group achieved a # 9 AC and # 28 Hot 100. The follow-up My Name Is Mud by Eddie then finished at # 30 AC and # 112 Hot 100 Bubble Under that July on DynoVoice 207 b/w I Just Need Your Love.

In this same period he released one 14-track album on Dyno-Voice 9001, which is what you get here in CD format. Other singles included: The Train/Yesterday's Newspapers (DynoVoice 211) in 1965, and in 1966 I Just Need Your Love/I'm The Sky (DynoVoice 217), I Miss You/Thinkin' About You Baby (DynoVoice 221), and The Clock/If I Were You (DynoVoice 225). His last single came in 1968 under the name Eddie Hazlewood with Good Morning Starshine/Over My Head (DynoVoice 917).

Hits written by Rambeau (including collaborations with Crewe) include Diane Renay's Navy Blue and Kiss Me Sailor in 1964 and Mark Valentino's The Push And Kick in 1962. Even Frank Sinatra recorded one of his tunes, Shadows On A Foggy Day.

Collectables did a good job with this re-release of that one album, which also contains many of his single sides. The tendency in a lot of publications and lists is to lump him in with legitimate One-Hit wonders, but Eddie escaped that ignominious club with that one AC hit as far as I'm concerned.

i dont care who is singing concrete and clay it is a great song i would like to find other versions of it they would all b good but u cant beat the original unit 4 plus 2

Eddie Rambeau was an excellent singer - and still is today. Samples available at www.edrambeau.com, audio and video. This includes his biggest hit, but all the songs are well produced. An artist I was not familiar with, definitely underrated.

Ed is one of the best singers around now. His singing is out of this world. All the songs he picks are just great. I couldn't ask for a better singer than Ed Rambeau. He's number one for all you ladies out their. Better than Sinatra! Sunshine