FOR THE WEEK OF AUG 30, 1999

DEAR JERRY: I am desperately searching for the song “The Other Side of the Rainbow,” by Melba Moore.

I have exhausted every avenue available to me, including record shows and shops in five states. During the past five years, I have combed numerous newspapers and called every phone number I could find. Most people say they will get back to me but they never do.

As a faithful reader of your column, I have seen you tackle far more complicated matters than mine, so please help me.
—Robyn Story, Hazel Crest, Ill.

DEAR ROBYN: You do not indicate if, despite your relentless pursuit of this album, you have the label name and selection — crucial information that will aid in the search.

“The Other Side of the Rainbow” is the title of a Capitol LP by Melba Moore, and of course it contains that track. The selection number is 12243.

Not as obscure as you might think, this release spent 19 weeks on the Top Albums charts in late 1982 and early '83.

Old records, like gold, are where you find them, so I can't tell you exactly who to see. However, with all the out-of-print music marketplace magazines and the always amazing Internet (visit Osborne Collectibles for details), I am confident you will find a copy of “The Other Side of the Rainbow” on this side of the rainbow.

DEAR JERRY: For my wife and me, the ballad “A Sunday Kind of Love” is our song. In the '60s, we heard an upbeat version of the old torch song, by a group whose name I can't remember. Who sang this version? Can we get it?
—James D. Towery, Lake Wales, Fla.

DEAR JAMES: Though none were big hits, there are several well-known versions of “A Sunday Kind of Love” from that period, yet the only upbeat one I can think of, that received airplay, is by Jan & Dean (Liberty 55397).

Their doo-wop reworking of the 1947 Jo Stafford classic only spent one week on the chart, at No. 95, in early '62. It can be found on the 22-track CD, “The Best of Jan & Dean” (EMI 7-92772-2)

Though it didn't get played on any stations I know of, the Del-Vikings did have an uptempo “Sunday Kind of Love” on one of their LPs.

DEAR JERRY: In the film “Barcelona,” one of the foremost songs in it is haunting me. They sing it in Spanish in the film, but I am positive it is the same as an American pop tune. Can you somehow research this and let me know the answer, before I lose my mind.
—Amanda Marie, Harrisonburg, Va.

DEAR AMANDA: I trust I am getting this information to you before all gray matter is lost. I believe the beautiful melody that's haunting you is a Spanish language rendition of “Love Me Forever,” a Top 25 hit for the Four Esquires in 1957 (Paris 509).

DEAR JERRY: My wish is to find a cool collection by Burton Cummings, the former lead singer of Canada's Guess Who. I have the best of Guess Who, but I want the tunes he made after leaving the band, especially “I'm Scared.”

Can you advise me of anything that may be available, preferably on CD.
—Sherry Bigman, Evansville, Ind.

DEAR SHERRY: There is one compact disc that I have and can recommend. Look for “The Burton Cummings Collection” (Rhino R2-71717), a 20-track compact disc that is definitely cool, and even includes “I'm Scared.”

IZ ZAT SO? “I'm Scared” didn't become a hit for Burton Cummings until 1977; however, Cummings wrote the song a few years earlier while still with the Guess Who. Inexplicably, the rest of the band rejected “I'm Scared.”

According to Cummings: “I played it for the other guys one day at practice and they didn't think it was any good, a fact that still pisses me off some 20 years later. I think that one scenario may have been the single most important factor governing my decision to quit the group [in September 1975].”