R.I.P. Jan Berry of Jan and Dean, you'll be missed

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 2:50 pm

what can you say.

http://entertainment.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=153853

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 2:56 pm

I thought I felt a disturbance in the "force"....

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 4:29 am

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 8:14 am

The first single I ever bought was "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena" (that phrase found it's way into the popular lexicon - many jokes about said old maid) and the first album I bought was "Drag City" by J&D. It's weird that Jan's accident took place on Sunset Blvd., which is where Deadman's curve is said to be. I'd personally spun out early one morning (in more reckless days)on what I assume to be dead man's curve. J&D were on many local music shows back in the day and to this little kid had enormous appeal (they were quite funny together). RIP, Jan.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 8:52 am

BTW one of their early singles, "Linda", was about the future Mrs. McCartney, written by a family friend when she was just a tyke.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 11:34 am

What year was Linda, Jerry? I've heard it a few times, it was not your typical Jan and Dean song if I remember correctly.

ken_james · Post by **ken_james** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 11:49 am

I liked their "Batman" album, pretty funny stuff.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 12:30 pm

Linda came before their surf and car stuff, if I recollect correctly. There's an Billboard link to their biography in today's BBC website (elsewhere, I'm sure).

dave4004 · Post by **dave4004** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 4:18 pm

RIP, Jan.

Linda was a song from the late 40s, written by a client of Mr. Eastman. It was a hit a good 10 years or more before Jan & Dean, my parents had it on a 78rpm record but I don't remmber the artist.

Am I the only one old enough to remember that Jan & Dean were originally billed as Jan & Arnie? Their first hit was "Jennie Lee" (about 1959). It was actually Jan & Dean on the vocals with Arnie on the drums, but by the time it was released, Dean was in the Army. The song was recorded in a garage. Then Jan & Arnie had another hit with "Gas Money", then Arnie quit and Dean came back.

dave4004 · Post by **dave4004** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 4:23 pm

Not to get too far off subject, But Linda was a #1 Billboard hit in 1947 for Ray Noble Orchestra with Buddy Clark on vocals.

flabbeyroad · Post by **flabbeyroad** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 1:53 am

When we were about 10-11 years old, we'd all go over to my friend Bobby's house whenever his two teenage sisters were out, so we could play their 45s over and over. We'd always get in trouble, but it was worth it. One of my favorites was "Surf City" by Jan & Dean. We couldn't understand why "two girls for every boy" was a good thing, but we loved the song anyway!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 10:08 am

Hi Jim,
I was going to say you must be about my age, exactly, same state even. I can remember doing the same thing, those 45's were magic huh? "Dead Man's Curve", "Surf City", "The Little old Lady From Pasadena" Heard them all first on my best friend Steven Bakers record player. He had all the great stuff on 45's.

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 10:57 am

Jim-

Hahaha!! Nice username!! Flabbeyroad....I like it!

flabbeyroad · Post by **flabbeyroad** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 2:41 am

Bob -
I just checked your profile, and it turns out you're almost in the neighborhood(when you're not in Peru, that is) - I live in Westborough. Yeah, those old 45s were the best. There was a guy near me back then who used to sell all kinds of weird odds and ends - junk, really - out of his garage, and one of the things he had lots of were the old promo copies of 45s that were given to radio stations by the record companies. We'd buy 'em at 3 or 4 for a dollar, and we got a great musical education that way. We listened to a lot of ****,
but we discovered a lot of cool stuff that we never would have bought otherwise.
Chris -
Back in the day, I would have used "Mean Streets",
but now Flabbeyroad is closer to the truth.