Ask “Mr. Music”
Jerry Osborne



FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 2, 1999

DEAR JERRY: In 1967 or '68, I remember having a lemonade carton with an offer to send away for a record by the Monkees.

Of course my mom said not to, and that one should not trust sending money through the mail. So I snubbed her the rest of the day. The carton with the mail-order offer went out with the next day's garbage.

Have you ever known of such a record? Do you know the songs it contained? This has been bugging me for years.
—Bruce Medici (harpyrec@netscape.net)

DEAR BRUCE: I can't say about an offer on a lemonade carton, but Colgems, the Monkees' label, did make a series of 5 1/2" cardboard discs available via cereal boxes in 1967. Could it be that you had both a cereal box and a lemonade carton on the table at the same time, and are confusing the two?

The cardboard records are a bit of an enigma, since each one of the four lists four Monkees' titles, but plays only one track. I have two in file that serve as examples:

One lists “I'm a Believer; Pleasant Valley Sunday; I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone;” and “Mary, Mary,” yet plays only “I'm a Believer.”

The other promises “The Monkees (Theme); Teardrop City; Papa Gene's Blues; and “(The Day) We Fell in Love,” yet delivers just “The Monkees (Theme).” This track is their TV show theme which is also known as “Hey, Hey, We're the Monkees.”

Whether your chance came to the table via lemonade carton or cereal box, since any of these promotional discs can now sell for $20 to $40, it's too bad the offer ended up in the trash.


DEAR JERRY: My sister and I are going crazy trying to figure out who sang a song with the lyrics: “I dreamt that at my coronation I shocked every foreign nation giving up my throne to marry you.”

Please save our sanity.
—Royce in L.A. (Hurstcastle@earthlink.net)

DEAR ROYCE: You came to the right person. Saving sibling sanity is one of my specialities.

Your mystery tune is “I Dreamed,” a Top 10 hit from late 1956, by Betty Johnson (Bally 1020).

For the 16 months from early 1956 through mid-'57, it is hard to find a time when Betty Johnson did not have a popular song out — and all of them excellent.

Besides “I Dreamed,” some of her other well-known tunes from this period are: “I'll Wait; Clay Idol; Little White Lies;” and “1492,” which is in reference to Christopher Columbus.

Then of course there is “The Little Blue Man,” Betty's 1958 novelty hit that has spawned as many questions to this column over 12 years as any other single song or topic.

DEAR JERRY: As a huge girl group fan, I have a question about the Paris Sisters. Would you please list all of their hits and years?
—Mike Fullmer, Tucson, Ariz.

DEAR MIKE: Gladly, and it will not take a lot of space.

Their first hit, “Be My Boy,” came in 1961, though they began recording seven years earlier. Later in 1961 the girls issued what would be their best seller, the Top 5 hit “I Love How You Love Me.” They followed that with “He Knows I Love Him Too Much” and “Let Me Be the One,” both from 1962.

The last hit for Priscilla, Sherrell, and Albeth Paris is their remake of Bobby Darin's “Dream Lover,” a summer '64 issue. Chartwise they haven't been heard from since.

IZ ZAT SO? Among the earliest Phil Spector productions — all before the advent in late '62 of his famous “Wall of Sound” creations — are the first four Paris Sisters hits mentioned above.








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