The Confetti Clatter – April 2020 Newsletter

IT’S MY PARTY! Performance at Media Play

We had a ton of good feedback from our last post, People seemed to dig the Short’s performance from 1988, and some were asking me to look for more vintage performances. So, I searched here and there. Much to my surprise, I found a mother-load of audio and video of the group from yesteryear. The media included cassette tapes (two and four-track), VHS tapes, 8mm, DVD and MiniDV. Fortunately, I found a player for each type of media. I was ready to start watching and listening!

My next step was purchasing some type of interface so that I could transfer these performances to files on my computer. I went online and noticed that BestBuy had Roxio VHS to DVD on sale, so I picked up a copy, loaded it on my desktop, and with some old 8mms in hand, I was ready to start transferring. And then it all broke down, my 8mm playback and record camera made weird noises, so I popped open the door to find it had eaten my tape – no! I removed the cassette and carefully rewound it by hand. Only the first 10 seconds were damaged, but still. I courageously tried another tape from our April 4, 1999 performance at Border’s Books, the performance I had intended to use as the source for a new video. It played okay for a while, and then the audio became distorted. That was the end of the experiment, for now.

So, pressed with something to go along with our 35th-year theme, I decided to use an already available performance from our YouTube page. This performance is a song from our February 21, 1999 engagement at Media Play. Yes, that right, a media store. You bought physical copies of music, movies, and books at Media Play. I believe Rochester had two or three outlets at one time. This show took place at the Greece store. 

The song here is a cover of The Shangi-las, “Give Him a Great Big Kiss.” Cara Rhain and Vanessa do a fantastic job interpreting this one, no small feat as the Shangri-Las a virtually untouchable. They were one of the “tough” girl groups, famous for their death records like “I Can Never Go Home Anymore.” Mary Weiss, the lead singer on the original recording, is affectionately known as “the queen of Queens.” Mary was only 15 years old when she recorded, “Leader of the Pack.”

First, watch our 1999 live version of “Give Him a Great Big Kiss.” Cara takes the lead vocal on this one. Musicians of note here are Bill Eberts on bongos, and his brother Brian Eberts on bass. Andy Pawik is on keyboards, a great guy, and incredible talent. Also, Dean Keller on tenor saxophone. After 21 years, Dean continues to perform with It’s My Party, and it’s great to see him here helping to make this tune sound so good. We thought so much of the girls’ performance of this one that we included it on our 2000 CD Can I Get To Know You Better?

Now to watch the Shangri-las from their performance of the song on Shindig from 1964. I’m sure you will see how much the Shangri-las and the Shindig band influence us. As for Mary Weiss’ performance here, talk about attitude!

On an aside, I wanted to mention that we had set up right in front of a giant Britney Spears display. BMG had just released Baby one More Time, her debut record, in January of that year, and it was selling like hotcakes. This spot on the floor was the only area that would accommodate our large band footprint. Looking back, I remember questioning if this was a good idea. After all, some folks may get upset that they would have to wait until we finished the set before they could snag a Britney album. Well, we start the performance, and though it did not happen during this tune, some guy walked right through us while we were playing to grab a CD, unbelievable.

The Confetti Clatter – May 2019 Newsletter

Saying goodbye to Sarah

Sarah performs at Silver Lake Drive In/ Charcoal Corral

After a four-year run with the group, we would like to wish Sarah the best, as she moves on to further her academic career.  Sarah began singing with us in 2014 when she filled in for Shelbie for a few performances. The following year, Sarah became a full-time member of the group and participated in the recording of the EP “He Wasn’t Like That (When He Used To Be Mine).” For more information on that recording, follow this link to a previous post.

Although Sarah was only able to sing once with us last year, it was a memorable closing show of our 2018 tour. Many fans attended along the Erie Canal in Newark. If you were there, you know she did an outstanding job.  

Here is the promotional video for the song “In Your Letter,” from the EP “He Wasn’t Like That (When He Used To Be Mine),” featuring Michelle, Sierra, and Sarah.

Surprise Track Recorded

This past December, we recorded another track for our forthcoming release. This cover song is going to surprise a lot of people, as it is not a girl group record. If you thought recording “In Your Letter” was a reach, you’ll be stunned by this one! The original artist’s career spanned four decades. The artist recorded both as a solo act and under band names. The original recording of this cover was credited to a band. If you think you know who this is, leave a comment on this post. We’ll reveal more information in upcoming news updates.

Random Music Thoughts: The Jam or The Style Council?

Paul Weller is quite a musician, he was a founding member of the Jam before leaving that group to form The Style Council, which allowed him to venture in different musical directions. Some Jam fans felt Paul was wrong to form The Style Council, as the music of his new project was so different from The Jam. What do you think? You can take our poll by clicking the link below:

 

The Confetti Clatter – March 2016 Newsletter

Recording Update

We continued to record tracks for our upcoming release. Due to the limited availability of the girls while school is in session, recording proceeded in piecemeal fashion.

We began with some unfinished business. On January 10, Paul Kanack laid down the upright bass track to “Little Town Flirt.” Paul was not available when the drums and guitars were recorded back in August. This new track added much-needed bottom to this song. At a future session, we will have Matt Doi add the baritone saxophone part, which will fortify the low end.

Paulsdigs into the bass while recording his part for "Little Town Flirt."

Paul digs into the bass while recording his part to “Little Town Flirt.”

Moving on, Sarah and Sierra recorded the backup vocals to “Little Town Flirt” on February 28. During this same session, Sierra recorded the lead vocals to “That Boy of Mine.” The playlist below shows excerpts from this recording date.

On March 13, Michelle and Sierra recorded the backing vocals to “Mister Sunshine.” The playlist below shows the girls singing two parts of the three part harmony, and then Michelle adding the third part. Notice that during this session the girls are not wearing headphones to hear the recorded music, rather, the music is being pumped into the studio by way of the studio speakers. This technique seems to create a more natural vocal performance, a positive that far outweighs the negative of any bleed of the music into the vocal track.

If you enjoyed this edition of the Confetti Clatter, please share it on social media by using the icons below. Also, if you have any questions about these recording sessions, use the comment area; we’ll get back to with you a response as soon as possible.

The Confetti Clatter – February 2016 Newsletter

The Hollies

February has been a slow month for the group, so I thought I would share an inspirational music program. I was recently surfing on qello concerts, when I chanced upon The Hollies, Look Through Any Window 1963-1975. Having always been a fan of the group, but interested in knowing more about them, I proceeded to watch this documentary. 

I was totally floored.

Some takeaways:

  • These guys look like kids in the early years
  • Bobby Elliot is an unorthodox drummer who always seems to play what is absolutely correct for the song
  • Tony Hicks has to be one of the most under-rated guitarists of the rock era, paying this guy 18 pounds a week, as demanded by Tony’s father, was money well spent, great singer too.
  • The magic between Clarke and Nash is palpable; CSN can’t hold a candle to CNH!
  • You have to admire how these guys kept plugging away, even after the departure of Nash, way to go!

Included in the documentary is some footage shot by George Martin at Abbey Road studios, during the January 1967 session for “On a Carousel.” If you get a chance, you have to watch this in its entirety. If you don’t subscribe to qello.com, it’s available on DVD at amazon.com

Here is an excerpt from the Abbey Road session, the a cappella three-part harmony practice at the end of this clip is amazing. Notice the alternate cold ending, which would have been much better than the fade-out.

Spotlight on Eliza Schneider

Perhaps as a regular feature we will highlight a past band member or singer from the group. There have been many, but in this edition I will spotlight Eliza Schneider, from the first teen lineup in 1988. Eliza’s edition in March of that year rounded out the teen trio with Tricia & Jennie.

Eliza has gone on to arguably have the most successful career in entertainment of all of the members of the group, though Bennett Kilmer may be a close second. Eliza’s work post-group includes several television series and countless voice-overs, including work on the TV show South Park, the movie Finding Nemo, and the game series Assassin’s Creed.

The following media clips show some examples of Eliza’s work with IT’S MY PARTY!

Here’s Eliza singing lead on a demo tape version of the Deborah Galli song from 1984 entitled “American Boys.”

Here’s Eliza singing lead on The Girlfriends song “My One and Only Jimmy Boy,” live in Penfield, June 1988.

Here is a clip of Eliza in the studio WBER studio on April 20, 1988, working on the backing vocals to “Walkin’ With Me.”  Watching this 17-minute reveals the spontaneity of this session. At times we almost seem to be winging it. Eliza is quite a trooper through it all, demonstrating the patience and collective give-and-take necessary in the studio. Thanks go out to our friend, Jim Marrow, who captured this, and other early IMP moments, on his VHS video recorder.

Here’s a segment of a documentary from Bravo Network with Eliza that will give you an idea of what she’s been up to lately.

Here is Eliza’s official website, if you’re interested in learning more about her.

Our YouTube video to “In Your Letter” has recently gone over 1,000 views. If you get a chance, give it a view, a thumbs up, and a comment. 

Well, that’s all for now, we’ll have more studio updates in our next issue.

The Confetti Clatter – January 2016 Newsletter

IT’S MY PARTY! returns to the Recording Studio

We went back into our recording studio on January 3 to track more music that will be used on a forthcoming, yet untitled, release. Our friend and fan, Ken Kleinendorst, drove up from Central Pennsylvania with his new video camcorder and camera to chronicle the session. If you have been following our recent newsletters, you are familiar with this evolving story, if not, please read our past issues.

Engineer Calvin May started setting up the session at around 11 AM. As planned, musicians JP Pitchard, Matt Doi, Paul Kanack and I warmed up, and then laid down the accompaniment to the song “I Almost Forgive Him.” We did most of the pre-production work for this song at an earlier practice in December, so things went smoothly.

Paul Kanack, JP Pitchard, and Matt Doi get ready for a take of "I Almost Forgive Him."

Paul Kanack, JP Pitchard, and Matt Doi prepare for a take of “I Almost Forgive Him.”

The instrumental tracks consisted of JP on the Fender Jaguar guitar, Matt Doi on the 12-string Rickenbacker electric guitar, Paul Kanack on the Fender P-bass, and me on the vintage 1962 Slingerland drum set. 

Michelle sang a guide vocal as the ensemble performed five takes. A guide vocal helps the musicians in two ways. First, it helps to keep their place in the arrangement, and secondly, the guide vocal elevates the performance emotionally.

Once we were satisfied with the keeper take, we began the process of recording the vocals. Calvin brought his Sure SM7 microphone to the session to record the lead vocals. This is the same microphone used to record Michael Jackson on the Thriller album. Michelle recorded two separate lead vocal tracks as she listened to the instrumentation through headphones. We will blend these two tracks together in the mix to create the vocal doubling effect, used on many of the ’60s girl group records. Lesley Gore is famous for her vocal doubling. The Beatles cited Lesley’s double-tracked vocals as a example of how they wanted their lead vocals to sound when recorded. Doubling the vocal, when done correctly, can produce a nice fat sound. 

Sierra and Sarah practice backing vocals around the Lawson L-47 microphone

Sierra and Sarah practice backing vocals around the Lawson L-47 microphone

At the end of the session, Sarah and Sierra joined Michelle to record the back up vocals to “I Almost Forgive Him.”  We used the Lawson L47 microphone to capture the vocal ensemble. Back up vocals are best recorded using one microphone for all of the singers. It is up to the vocalists to create the correct blend and balance by moving closer to, or farther away from, the microphone and listening to each other. Some vocalists prefer to have one headphone off the ear, so they can hear each other in the room, rather than in the headphones. After the backup vocal session, we laid down a hand clap track, which included Ken as part of the hand-clap gang. Upon reviewing the instrumental tracks, it seemed as though something was missing in the percussion session, so we will add a tambourine at a later date.

Mystery Cover Revealed

In addition to recording “I Almost Forgive Him,” we turned out attention to another unfinished song. Back in the summer we laid down the instrumentation for what would have been our first recording featuring a male on lead vocal. James Schrag, our multi-talented musician, seen mostly on violin during the performance season, has a great singing voice. I wanted to give him a lead, with the girls singing the backup vocals. This format was very popular in the early to mid 1960s with artists like Bobby Vee, Del Shannon and Lou Christie, all of whom used The Angels for the backing vocals.

We chose the Del Shannon song “Little Town Flirt” for James to sing, which had also been covered by Jeff Lynne and the Electric Light Orchestra, a band favorite. Our version is a bit of a hybrid of the original and the ELO version. We chose the key of C, like the ELO rendition, because of James’ limited range in the high register. The feel of our take is more early rock n’ roll, like the Del Shannon version, as opposed to the more rockin’ version of the Electric Light Orchestra.

As the session proceeded, with James singing a guide vocal for the musicians to follow, it became apparent that even the key of C, a half-step lower than Del Shannon’s original, was too taxing for James to sing clearly without straining his voice. It seemed like the whole idea was going to be placed on the scrap heap.

Not willing to give up totally on the idea, I turned to Michelle and asked her to give the lead vocal a few tries. After all, it couldn’t hurt, so we “rolled the tapes” as she sang. The results were interesting. Although the lead vocal starts out very low for Michelle, it brings out a kind of sultry delivery, and when the vocal soars into what would be the falsetto for a guy singer, Michelle was able to belt out the passage. The song now becomes a girl warning a guy about the flirt, so no changes were needed to the vocal line — wow this had some real possibilities!

So, here is an exclusive video, shot by Ken, of Michelle singing the lead vocal, see what you think. We also quickly recorded the backing vocals, but since the girls had not practiced those parts since August, we would like to record them again at a future session, perhaps in March.

Call to Action

Are you connected with IT’S MY PARTY! on your mobile phone? Just text getimp to 444999 and you’ll join our mobile app, it’s another great way to keep up-to-date with our group.

Are you familiar with the band site ReverbNation? Become one of our fans by visiting our ReverbNation site.

Are there any questions or comments you have regarding this post? Leave a reply below to start a discussion, we usually respond promptly.

Also, don’t forget to share this article on your social media pages, by using the links at the bottom of this edition. 

The Confetti Clatter – November 2015 Newsletter

Recording update

As a continuation of last month’s edition, the fine folks at Orange County Speaker have repaired our Urei 809 studio monitors, they are now back in our possession. What seemed like a mundane task, shipping speakers, turned into any but, and yielded a funny story. As is the case of most musicians, few are getting wealthy monetarily, but oh what rich tales they can tell about the journey.

The story goes like this: Having looked over Orange County Speaker’s recommendations for shipping, I decided to use the UPS shipping center at the Staples at Panorama Plaza in Penfield. While at Staples, I ended up having a conversation with the attendant who helped me send the boxes to California; she was naturally curious about the contents — Orange County recommended shipping each speaker separately. I explained the situation and told her that the speakers had worn down after 26 years of use, and that it was inevitable that the foam portion of the speaker would eventually disintegrate.  The woman, who was both helpful and gregarious, immediately perked up and said something the effect that she was surprised that anyone would repair old speakers. I told her that these were very fine speakers and therefore there were companies that deemed them worthy of the repair.

I went on to totally set myself up by saying, “And after this repair, these speakers will be good for another 25 years!”

Her quick retort, “No offense, but you had better put those speakers in your will, because I don’t think you’re going to be around then.”

Be that as it may, for the here and now, we are ready to continue our recording project, which we should complete by January. The next song  we will record is the original “I Almost Forgive Him,” and then a few surprises. We will keep you updated in our next edition of the Confetti Clatter.

New concept/ promotional video available soon on YouTube 

Every so often we release a concept, or promotional video for a specific recording. Rather than a live performance, the audio portion of the thematic video is a studio recording of a publicly released song. In this article, I will chronicle our three promotional videos, concluding with an explanation of our most recent release, which we are sharing with you first, our newsletter subscribers.

Having completed the full-length CD Can I Get To Know You Better in 2001, we decided to promote it with a performance in Los Angeles as part of the annual International Pop Overthrow Festival. It was our second return and we had made great impressions with audiences in Los Angeles at the previous two festivals.

The entire stay in LA was magical, to begin with, we were scheduled to perform at the famous Troubadour on Santa Monica Boulevard. We were psyched to take the stage at this legendary venue, where so many noteworthy artists made history, including the live debut of Buffalo Springfield, the USA debut of Elton John and the LA debut of Billy Joel.

Besides performing at the Troubadour, we had a goal of shooting video footage for the song “On the Beach tonight,” written by Paul Kanack, then our de facto manager, and now our bass player. Our thinking was, hey we’re in LA, what better setting for a beach song could we find? 

Besides filming at a public beach, another thought for shooting the video was to replicate the same scene as the Turtles video for their song “You Baby.” That video was filmed in 1965 on the sidewalk in front of the Water and Power Building in downtown Los Angeles. Perhaps some of the magic from that stellar group would rub off on us. We did feel a bit of a connection with the Turtles as we too covered “Can I Get To Know You Better,” and picked that song as the title track for our album. As an aside, how many of you know the original artist of “Can I Get to Know You Better?” Feel free to add a comment, if you would like to venture a guess.

We picked Zuma Beach for one possible location, we even scoped out the downtown site, which looked strikingly similar to the Turtles video, over 35 years later.  About to make the decision for the location, we casually mentioned our intentions to members of the Teen Machine, one of the local LA bands, also performing at the International Pop Overthrow. Our idea was quickly dashed. You see, the guys in the Teen Machine know a little about the landscape of their hometown, they explained to us how strictly regulated the film industry is in Los Angeles. They went on to warn us that would-be directors have to acquire a permit from the organization Film L.A. Inc., before they can do any filming in the County of Los Angeles. At what borders on being a racket, the cost of the permit, mandatory fire hazard expert, and required insurance is staggering to the independent or amateur filmmaker. Our spirits noticeably dashed, the guys from Teen Machine suggested that if we knew exactly what we wanted to do, headed out to the location, rushed out of the car, set up quickly, and finished before we drew a lot of attention, we may be able to pull it off. Not liking our chances, we formulated Plan-B.

Google Image of N Hope St Los Angeles

N. Hope St, across the street from the Water and Power Building, where the Turtles filmed the “You Baby” video in 1965

We were staying at the Orchid Suites Hotel in Hollywood. David Bash, organizer of IPO, suggested the hotel, and the  place was pretty nice, it included a pool, as well as a roof-top deck.  We used the deck more than the pool, and in fact, we seemed like the only guests using that amenity: Plan-B!

With the help of the Teen Machine we hired dancers for the shoot, including some of the Teen Machine band members. The day of the shoot was particularly hot and, for LA standards, humid. We did make-up, hair and costumes in our hotel rooms, and then sneaked up to the patio deck. As had been the case the whole stay, no one was up on the rooftop that afternoon. We moved some of the deck furniture around, and created a space for the performance. Using a portable CD player, we played our recorded version as the girls sang over the track and the dancers created a Shindig feel.  For this video, we used three different cameras, one far-field, one near-field, and the third camera trained on Cara, the lead vocalist. Cara and Rhian’s dad, Jerry, was one of the camera men, along with Jim Sawicki, the keyboard player, and I. The whole shoot went off seamlessly, I was pleased with the dancing, it really added that feel we were after. Three tapes in hand, we returned to Rochester and passed along the footage to the Reverend Sam Lovetro, who wove his magic and produced the final video. We have embedded the clip from our YouTube channel for your convenience.

The gig at the Troubadour went very well, although bands in the festival were only allotted a 20-minute set, there were plenty of folks who came out specifically to see us. My cousin, Matt, made the trip from San Diego and my good friend Mike Brooks, whom I knew when I lived in LA back in the early ’80s, also made the trip from the San Fernando Valley. Also in the crowd that night was Darian Sahanaja, from the group The Wondermints, Andy Paley, who had worked with Madonna, Kim Fowley, formerly of the Hollywood Argyles, and Brian Wilson. Everyone wanted to get some face-time with Brian Wilson, and we were lucky enough to get a photo with him with the three IT’S MY PARTY! girls. I had a very interesting conversation with Kim Fowley. All decked out in his red leather suit, Fowley pulled me aside and asked what it would take for him to start working with the girls. Our conversation was periodically interrupted by members of the crowd shouting “Alley Oop” toward Fowley, who seemed to take it all in stride. Another memorable moment from that night was Cara and Rhian being chastised by management for walking around the club barefoot. Clearly, the amount of broken glass on the floor warranted the scolding.

The second concept video was for “Wanna Make Him Mine,” the title track from our three-song release in 2011. We had a relatively new group of girls and wanted them to create an identity. The idea was to show the popularity of IT’S MY PARTY! in the media, the video implies that the group was taking the nation by storm.

The video begins in someone’s living room, where we see a hand turning on the television set, and it’s tuned to IT’S MY PARTY! as they perform “Wanna Make Him Mine,” perhaps on Shindig.  As the picture fades to static, there is an outdoor scene. Keenan Bartlett, our then keyboard player, is at the wheel of Paul Kanack’s vintage car. Keenan turns on the car radio and is content when he hears IT’S MY PARTY! performing “Wanna Make Him Mine.”  

The most difficult part of this video was trying to move the footage inside the still shot of the old television set to create the appearance that the girls were on-the-air. The old set has rounded edges, which made it a challenge to line up the video inside the TV.

We shot the video in May of 2011, around, and on, Memorial Day. In fact, we headed off to B. Forman Park in Pultneyville for our annual band spring picnic after filming the sequence with Keenan. We used a single camera for the girls singing the song outside on the driveway of our recording studio with a bed sheet behind them as a backdrop. Later we replaced the “green screen” with the brick background. The end result was very convincing, although, if you look carefully, you can see a crease in the virtual brickwork where the actual sheet backdrop had a wrinkle or two.

The storyboard for the video, created by the IT'S MY PARTY! girls

The storyboard for the video, created by the IT’S MY PARTY! girls

Our most recent addition to the concept video promotes the song “In Your Letter,” one of the three tunes from our 2015 release He Wasn’t Like That (When He Used to Be Mine). As this is the most recognizable song, it felt like the right choice. The girls worked on the storyboard for the film, and they came up with this idea; we would have a scene where the girls are singing the three-part harmony hook, and then a look into a romance-gone-bad, through the eyes of Michelle, the lead singer of the song. Dylon, our keyboardist, played the part of Michelle’s boyfriend. 

For the chorus scene, we used one of the bedrooms at our home studio. For the happy and break-up scenes, we used to locations.  One was the Highland Bowl in Rochester, which happened to be setup for the currently-running play, Henry IV,  providing an interesting backdrop. The second location was at the Highland Park Diner, a Rochester landmark.  

I would like to thank the management at the Highland Park Diner for allowing us to use the restaurant during regular business hours, if you are ever in Rochester, please pay them a visit, the ambiance is as good as the food.

Also, thank goodness Rochester is not as strict when it comes to filming in a public place as Los Angeles, we had no problems at all shooting footage at the Highland Bowl; granted there was no one there at the time, and the production was more homespun than professional.

I’d like to also thank Billy Eberts, a prominent musician in our area, and his happy-go-lucky assistant, Chris Esfandiari, for taking time out of their valuable schedules to do all of the filming and post-production work on this video. Their willingness to accommodate our requests and lighthearted nature kept things fun.

Billy Eberts has the unique ability of gathering musicians from different backgrounds and having them come together with a unified sound. His newest project is the ’80s retro band, The Breakfast Club.  To find out more about Billy Eberts and his various musical projects, click here.

In Your Letter

Click this screenshot to watch the new video

I wanted the last scene to show two story lines, the angry diner clip, along with the chorus of girls singing, to heighten the emotion at the end of the video. The challenge for Billy and Chris was getting these two scenes to work well together, without one distracting the other. They tried a few different versions of the end scene, with mixed results. In the first version, they placed the girls singing the three part harmony in an oval on top of the blinds in the diner. It worked well, until any object moved into that area and ended up passing behind the singers. Try as they may, they could not move the scene of the girls in an area where it did not interfere with the action in the diner scene. Next they tried making the girls semi-transparent, but that fell flat. Finally, we decided on a kind of Brady Bunch split screen, and it seemed to create the desired effect. You can watch the final version here first, before we release it publicly on YouTube, by clicking on the link provided.

That’s all for this month’s issue, don’t forget to like us on our Facebook page, or share this post on your social media pages by using the icons below. If inclined, please leave a comment, we’d love to start a dialogue. And don’t forget to weigh on our poll to vote for your favorite of the three concept videos.