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The Four Deuces were an American rhythm and blues vocal quartet, formed in the mid-1950s in Salinas, California. The band was started by lead singer Luther McDaniel, and recorded several songs before they broke up around 1957. While active, the Four Deuces had moderate but short-lived popularity, mainly along the West Coast, mostly due to the frequent radio airplay of their hit song, "W-P-L-J".
The band was formed when Luther McDaniel and a group of army friends from Fort Ord got together and began to sing gospel songs. They soon moved to rhythm and blues, and began to look for a record deal.
Moving to San Francisco, the band came into contact with Ray Dobard and his company, Music City Records. Once in the studio, they recorded "W-P-L-J", and a B-side called "Here Lies My Love." This record was released in February 1956 (see 1956 in music), and received wide radio airplay across the US. Besides in their home territory of San Francisco, the Four Deuces were especially popular in Philadelphia. [1]
The Four Deuces returned to the studio later in the year and released another record, which featured "Down it Went" and "The Goose is Gone", but these were not as popular. The group broke up shortly after.
This group is not to be confused with the group that recorded "Polly/Yella Shoes" on Everest Records. That group was a white pop group, probably from New York.
The Four Deuces were best known for their song "W-P-L-J", which stands for white port and lemon juice. This later became the jingle for wine producer Italian Swiss Colony.
| "WPLJ" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Mothers of Invention | ||||
| from the album Burnt Weeny Sandwich | ||||
| B-side | "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" | |||
| Released | February 1970 [2] | |||
| Recorded | July 24, 1969 [3] | |||
| Studio | TTG Studios, Hollywood | |||
| Genre | Doo-wop | |||
| Length | 3:02 | |||
| Label | Bizarre | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ray Dobard, Luther McDaniel | |||
| Producer(s) | Frank Zappa | |||
| Frank Zappasingles chronology | ||||
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Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention covered the song in 1969, releasing it in 1970 on the album Burnt Weeny Sandwich . This version was both a satire of and a homage to the original, and Zappa has conceded admiringly that he could not have written a song any more absurd, [4] stating during a concert in Toronto that the titular drink made him vomit. [2]
The song prompted [5] [6] a rock radio station in New York then known as WABC-FM to change its call letters to WPLJ on February 14, 1971; it still uses the callsign to this day. A cover of the song by Hall and Oates was the last song played by the station as a commercial outlet on May 31, 2019. [7]
The Penguins were an American doo-wop group from Los Angeles, California, that were active during the 1950s and early 1960s. They are known for their 1954 hit song, "Earth Angel", which was one of the first rhythm and blues songs to cross over to the pop charts. The song would ultimately prove to be their only success. The song peaked at No. 8 on the US Billboard Best Sellers in Stores pop chart but had a three-week run at No. 1 on the R&B chart.
Doo-wop is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. It features vocal group harmony that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or no instrumentation. Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by a lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the bridge, a melodramatically heartfelt recitative addressed to the beloved. Harmonic singing of nonsense syllables is a common characteristic of these songs. Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop was "artistically and commercially viable" until the early 1960s and continued to influence performers in other genres.
The Grand Wazoo is the eleventh album by The Mothers, sixteenth overall by Frank Zappa, released in November 1972. It was written and recorded during Zappa's period of convalescence after being assaulted in December 1971 in London, UK.
Sheik Yerbouti is a double album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1979 as the first release on Zappa Records, distributed by Phonogram Inc. in the United States and Canada. The album was released in other countries by CBS Records. It is mostly made up of live material recorded in 1977 and 1978, with extensive overdubs added in the studio. In an October 1978 interview, Zappa gave the working album title as Martian Love Secrets. It was later released on a single CD.
Cruising with Ruben & the Jets is the fourth album by the Mothers of Invention, and fifth overall by Frank Zappa, released under the alias Ruben and the Jets. Released on December 2, 1968 on Bizarre and Verve Records with distribution by MGM Records, it is a concept album, influenced by 1950s doo-wop and rock and roll. The album's concept deals with a fictitious Chicano doo-wop band called Ruben & the Jets, represented by the cover illustration by Cal Schenkel, which depicts the Mothers of Invention as anthropomorphic dogs. It was conceived as part of a project called No Commercial Potential, which produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, We're Only in It for the Money and Uncle Meat.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich is the seventh album by the American rock band the Mothers of Invention, and the ninth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. It consists of both studio and live recordings. Following the Mothers' split in late 1969, Zappa assembled two albums of unreleased recordings by the band - this album and its follow-up Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Burnt Weeny Sandwich focuses mostly on studio recordings and tightly arranged compositions, while Weasels Ripped My Flesh focuses mostly on live recordings and loose/improvisational pieces. Both albums also include some outtakes/leftovers from the sessions for Zappa's 1969 solo album Hot Rats.
Weasels Ripped My Flesh is the eighth album by the American rock group the Mothers of Invention, and the tenth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. Following the Mothers' late 1969 split, Zappa assembled two albums - Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh - from unreleased studio and live recordings by the band, as well as some outtakes/leftovers from his 1969 solo album Hot Rats. While Burnt Weeny Sandwich focuses mostly on studio recordings and tightly arranged compositions, Weasels Ripped My Flesh focuses mostly on live recordings and loose/improvisational pieces.
Don Francis Bowman "Sugarcane" Harris was an American blues and rock and roll violinist and guitarist. He is considered a pioneer in the amplification of the violin.
The Mothers of Invention were an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an R&B band called the Soul Giants, the band's first lineup comprised Ray Collins, David Coronado, Ray Hunt, Roy Estrada, and Jimmy Carl Black. Frank Zappa was asked to take over as the guitarist when a fight between Collins and Hunt led to the latter's being fired. Zappa insisted they perform his original material — a decision that resulted in Coronado's leaving because he did not agree to the change — and on Mother's Day in 1965 the band changed its name to the Mothers. Record executives demanded the name be changed again, and so, "out of necessity", Zappa later said, "We became the Mothers of Invention", referencing the proverb "Necessity is the mother of invention."
WPLJ is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. It carries a Christian adult contemporary radio format and is owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), based in Franklin, Tennessee. It broadcasts EMF's flagship programming service, "K-Love." The station seeks donations on the air and on its website.
"Little Deuce Coupe" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian. The song first appeared as the B-side to The Beach Boys' 1963 single "Surfer Girl". The car referred to is the 1932 Ford Model 18. "Little Deuce Coupe" became The Beach Boys' highest charting B-side, peaking on September 28, 1963, at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
For Real! is an album by Ruben and the Jets, and the debut of musician Rubén Guevara Jr.'s new lineup, after the group name had previously been used as an alias of The Mothers of Invention in 1968. Released in 1973, For Real! was produced by Frank Zappa, who wrote the first track and played guitar on the second track. The album consists of blues, rhythm and blues and rock and roll music.
Ruben and the Jets was an American rock and roll band from Los Angeles, California. The band originated as an alias for The Mothers of Invention, Frank Zappa's band, to release Cruising with Ruben & the Jets (1968). Later, musician Rubén Guevara Jr. continued the band with his own lineup. Guevara's "Jets" recorded two albums, For Real! (1973) and Con Safos (1974).
Ray Collins was an American musician. He is best known for being an original member of the Mothers of Invention.
Son of Cheep Thrills is a compilation album by Frank Zappa, with material from previously released albums.
The Old Masters is a box set series by Frank Zappa, released in three volumes on Barking Pumpkin Records from April 1985 to December 1987, consisting of studio and live albums by Zappa and The Mothers of Invention originally released from 1966 to 1976 on other labels, as well as "Mystery Discs" which contained previously unreleased material. The graphics on all three sets was airbrush illustrated by Larry Grossman. 200 Motels was not included in the series, as it was the only Zappa/Mothers album for which Zappa was unable to secure the rights.
Jackie & the Starlites were an American doo wop group active between 1960 and 1963.
Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood was an American rock musician notable for being a member of the original version of Frank Zappa's band the Mothers of Invention, providing soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, tambourine, vocals and vocal sound effects. He appeared on all the albums of the original Mothers line-up and the 'posthumous' releases Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh, as well as certain subsequent Zappa albums. He also appeared in the films 200 Motels, Video from Hell and Uncle Meat.
"Memories of El Monte" is a doo-wop song released in 1963 by the Penguins featuring Cleve Duncan. It was written by Frank Zappa and Ray Collins before they were in the Mothers of Invention. The song was first released as Original Sound 27.
Charles "Buzz" Guarnera was an American trumpet and flugelhorn player. Under the name Buzz Gardner, he was a member of the original version of Frank Zappa's band the Mothers of Invention during the 1960s alongside his brother Bunk Gardner.
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