| Author | Message | ||
  stephanie (stephanie) 6-Zenith Username: stephanie Post Number: 3115 Registered: 2-2005 |
I have been talking with a very very dear friend of mine about the Drifters and I thought that we could discuss the era of theirs you liked the most or your favorite Drifters songs. I know they have a long history so I wouldnt ask anyone to compare Rudy Lewis, Johnny Moore or Ben E King or even the late great Clyde Mcphatter. Although they have many many classics I tend to lean towards hits like Saturday Night At the Movies, Sweets for My Sweets, and Ill Take you Where the Musics Playing. Most of the material with Ben E King and Rudy Lewis you hear all of the time but Johnny Moore had one of the smoothest voices I have ever heard and as a child I thought they were toast in the 70s. Not until the music books started coming out and when I got older did I realize how huge they were in the UK and rightfully so. What are your recollections or favorite Drifter songs? Strephanie | ||
Nosey (nosey) 6-Zenith Username: nosey Post Number: 2968 Registered: 4-2004 |
Stephanie, I love, love the Drifters. My favorite leads were Rudy Lewis and I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of Johnny Moore. I have their box set and Love Saturday Night at the Movies. It's such a happy song to me. I also love Vaya Con Dios and can distinctly hear Dionne Warwick and Cissy in the background. I'm now on a mission to play me some Drifters. More later. | ||
stephanie (stephanie) 6-Zenith Username: stephanie Post Number: 3118 Registered: 2-2005 |
Nosey, As a child the first song I heard by the Drifters was On Broadway but then I found an album by them with Money Honey on it and my mom had a couple of Drifters albums and I was hooked. Each incarnation of that group had something to offer and (please dont throw tomatoes when I make this statement) I got bored with the Platters they just were not my cup of tea compared to the Drifters. The Platters were supper club material which I dont listen to much but they are a great group. Leiber and Stoller did a great job of songwriting when it came to the Drifters. | ||
MNJ (mnj) 1-Arriviste Username: mnj Post Number: 1 Registered: 7-2010 |
I've been a Drifters fan from the start. I liked all of the different lead singers from Clyde on but my favorite I would have to say was Johnny Moore, I think because he was more in my era and the one that I got to see the most at the Apollo Theater. I saw Clyde with them twice and Rudy once before he passed away. My favorite song would have to be Saturday Night at the movies. I saw Ben E King as a solo artist and was then and still is dynamic. | ||
Tony Russi (tony_russi) 6-Zenith Username: tony_russi Post Number: 4118 Registered: 4-2004 |
"There Goes My Baby" "On Broadway" and "Up On the Roof" were the tunes I remember being real big on Miami radio when I was just being aware of the Drifters as a kid. I got a Drifters 45 for .39 at a 7-11 type store near my house it was "Rat Race" which I loved although I guess it was a flop for them. | ||
Randy Russi (randy_russi) 6-Zenith Username: randy_russi Post Number: 2652 Registered: 4-2004 |
I Count The Tears is my all-time favorite! | ||
kamasu (kamasu) 6-Zenith Username: kamasu Post Number: 8453 Registered: 3-2005 |
I'm a Drifters nut. Don't nobody better say nothing bad about the Drifters or I'll just lose it! Seriously, the group had some fantastic lead singers - all of them talented and unique. Rudy Lewis could handle the most emotionally complex songs with ease. Lewis was the male equivalent to Dionne Warwick in terms of sophistication. A fond memory I have was talking to the late Dee Dee Warwick about the sessions she, Dionne, Cissy houston and Doris Troy did with the Drifters. She had high praise for Rudy Lewis and said he was an influence on she and Dionne's earliest pop recordings. Johnny Moore was close to the great crooners: Dean Martin & Sam Cooke; Clyde McPhatter began the Drifters' tradition with winners like Ruby, Baby and Ben e. King was sooo soulful on songs like I Count the Tears and There Goes My Baby. I've seen Charlie Thomas and a recent group of Drifters in concert and a group tha called itself the Drifters. I just bought the Definitive Drifters which was issued in the UK. Favorites: Ruby, Baby I Count the Tears There Goes My Baby Some Kind Of Wonderful Mexican Divorce Another Night With the Boys Loneliness or Happiness (you can clearly hear Dionne singing her heart out on this one) Up On the Roof I'll Take You Home Memories are Made of This | ||
honest man (honest_man) 6-Zenith Username: honest_man Post Number: 1166 Registered: 8-2006 |
love the drifters every single one, my faves are I DON'T WANT TO GO ON WITHOUT YOU 2 I#LL TAKE YOU WHERE THE PLAYING, UNDER THE BOARDWALK The obvious SAVE THE LAST DANCE... SAND IN MY SHOES etc from SUCH A NIGHT .right through to the bell sessions LOVE GAMES etc,never too much of the drifters ,they are an institution in the uk, up there with the beatles etc, cheers, | ||
dickiemint (dickiemint) 5-Doyen Username: dickiemint Post Number: 389 Registered: 7-2005 |
I love the Drifters too! I just picked up a compilation which puts all their 70's material on 2 cd's, from Bell to Epic, my favorite from the 70's is Like sister and brother, but all time is Save the last Dance for Me | ||
honest man (honest_man) 6-Zenith Username: honest_man Post Number: 1168 Registered: 8-2006 |
dickiemint i got all the bell albums released on cd from amazonuk, a couple of years ago very good and cheap also, have all the now deleted atlantic drifters/ ben e king albums on cd these are priceless, cheers | ||
honest man (honest_man) 6-Zenith Username: honest_man Post Number: 1169 Registered: 8-2006 |
dickiemint i just ordered the cd you mentioned i did not have last 5 songs, cheers. | ||
Robb_K (robb_k) 6-Zenith Username: robb_k Post Number: 10629 Registered: 4-2004 |
I liked The Drifters, from their start in 1953, with Clyde McPhatter, through Bobby Hendricks, the period , many leads (Little David Baughn), through Ben E. King, Rudy Lewis, Charlie Thomas and Johnny Moore (even all the way to their time with Bell Records in the early 1970s. My favourite 10 songs by them are: 1. Up on The Roof 2. Adorable 3. I Count The Tears 4. Ruby Baby 5. I'll Take You Home 6. Saturday Night at the Movies 7. Some Kind of Wonderful 8. Bip Bam 9. On Broadway 10.There Goes My Baby | ||
JAI NANCE (rhythm66) 6-Zenith Username: rhythm66 Post Number: 6335 Registered: 2-2005 |
OH YEAH,A SUBJECT NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART..BEFORE I WAS A TEMPS FAN I WAS GROOVIN TO THE DRIFTERS[THE ONLY GROUP TO RIVAL THE TEMPS IN GROUP MEMBERS AND GREAT LEAD SINGERS]HOW ABOUT-LITTLE DAVID BAUGH WHO ORIGINALLY REPLACED CLYDE,OR GERHART THRASHER[STEAMBOAT-I SHOULD'VE DONE RIGHT]JOHNNY LEE WILLIAMS[TRUE LOVE,TRUE LOVE]AND OF COURSE THE GREAT JOHNNY MOORE WHOSE GREAT TENOR KEPT THE DRIFTERS AFLOAT BEFORE AND AFTER-BEN E.KING AND OF COURSE THE MR.CHARLIE THOMAS WHO FOR OVER FIFTY YEARS HAS BEEN KEEPING THE DRIFTERS AROUND...WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO GET THEM IN THE STUDIO ONE MORE TIME? WHAT A GREAT GROUP...WHAT A LEGACY!! | ||
TJ Lubinsky (tjl) 4-Laureate Username: tjl Post Number: 160 Registered: 8-2004 |
so many..... 1. Some Kind OF WOnderful 2. I Count The Tears 3. Somebody New Dancing With You 4. Dance With Me 5. I'll Take You Home 6. On Broadway 7. Up On The Roof 8. Only In America 9. Saturday Night At The Movies 10. Save The Last Dance For Me |
