reviewing Black Doves; Dark Matter; Dept. Q; Detective Hole; Dexter: Resurrection; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; Memory of a Killer; MobLand; Outlander; Paradise; Presumed Innocent; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Smoke; Star City; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Tehran;The: Day of the Jackal, Diplomat, Last of Us, Night Agent; Your Friends & Neighbors +books, films, music, podcasts, politics
George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.
Chuck Todd interviews me about alternate histories
Excellent article in The Guardian about Tommy James and Morris Levy (mobster owner of Roulette Records), and how Levy never paid James for his hit records ranging from "Hanky Panky" to "Crystal Blue Persuasion" (thanks guitarist Glenn Conway for bringing the article to my attention).
I found James receiving no or a negligible payment for "Hanky Panky" especially interesting, because it doesn't jibe with what Ellie Greenwich told me she received as co-writer of that song with her then husband Jeff Barry. (Ellie and Mike Rashkow produced my group The Other Voices aka The New Outlook -- two singles -- on Atlantic Records in the late 1960s. Here's the most successful of those two singles, May My Heart Be Cast into Stone -- Stu Nitekman is singing lead and I'm singing falsetto.)
Anyway, Ellie wore a big beautiful ring -- she called it her Hanky Panky ring, because she said when she received her multi-thousand dollar check as co-writer of "Hanky Panky," she went out and bought that ring. I have no idea what the ring cost and how much she and Jeff received for that song. But I don't think she was lying, and she gave the impression that the ring cost at least a couple of thousand dollars. But even if it was cost just a couple of hundred bucks, that means she received much more for that song than Tommy James says he received as its recording artist.
Songwriters those days received royalties from two sources: the record company, which paid the writer a penny per record sold, and the performance rights organization, which paid the writer a sum of money based on how many times the song was played on the radio (in Ellie's case, the organization was BMI). "Hanky Panky" was a huge #1 record, but did it receive enough airplay for Ellie to buy a big ring from her BMI payments, if Morris Levy paid her just a pittance, or nothing?
Who knows? Maybe Jeff Barry threw in his BMI royalties. Ellie died, sadly, in 2009, but Jeff is still alive and kicking. Which come to think of it, a group by that name had a big hit record with a song called Tighter, Tighter, written by none other than Tommy James, and released on Morris Levy's Roulette Records in 1970.
Welcome to LightOnLightThrough, Episode 122, in which I play for you the entire interview, along with the music, which Patrick Rands did with me the other day (January 21, 2020) on his show Abstract Terrain on WZBC Radio out of Boston (Newton, MA, to be more exact). You may recall that Patrick interviewed me in 2005 about Twice Upon A Rhyme and all the other music I had out in various corners of the world back then. That interview became episode 79 on Light On Light Through in 2010. The new interview spotlights my new album Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time, being released right now on digital. vinyl, and CD by Old Bear Records (see links below; limited vinyl being distributed by Light In the Attic). Patrick also plays some lesser known songs from Twice Upon A Rhyme, and all kinds of demos and singles of my music over the years he's dug up in his inimitable way. Enjoy -- and here's the playlist if you want to follow along:
1. "Samantha" Paul Levinson (words & music by Paul Levinson, 2018) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020
2. "Alpha Centauri" Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by Peter Rosenthal, 2000) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020
3. "Alpha Centauri" Peter Rosenthal (words by Paul Levinson, music by Peter Rosenthal, 2000) studio demo
4. "Picture Postcard World" Paul Levinson (words & music by Paul Levinson, 1968) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020
5. "Picture Postcard World" The Definitive Rock Chorale (words & music by Paul Levinson, 1968) single released on Decca Records, 1968
6. "If I Traveled to the Past" Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by John Anealio, 2010) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020
7. "Welcome Up" Paul Levinson (words & music by Paul Levinson, 2018) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020
8. "Tau Ceti" Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by John Anealio, 2010) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020
9. "Cloudy Sunday" Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by Linda Kaplan, 1968) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020
10. "Cloudy Sunday" Linda Kaplan (words by Paul Levinson, music by Linda Kaplan, 1968) studio demo
11. "Antique Shop (The Coming of Winter)" Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by Peter Rosenthal, 1968) from Twice Upon A Rhyme, HappySad Records, 1972
12. "I'm Seeing You in a Different Light" Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by Ed Fox, 1969 ) from Twice Upon A Rhyme, HappySad Records, 1972
13. "Ring Around My Rosie" Protozoa (words & music by David Fox, 1968), single released on Buddah Records (produced by Paul Levinson, Herb Abramson, and Ed Fox), 1968
14. "My Pink Hippopotamus" Protozoa (words & music by David Fox, 1968), single released on Buddah Records (produced by Paul Levinson, Herb Abramson, and Ed Fox), 1968
15. "Merri Goes Round" Sundial Symphony (= Don Frankel & Robbie Rist) (words by Paul Levinson, music by Ed Fox, 1969), single released on Big Stir Records, 2019
16. "Merri Goes Round" Trousers (words by Paul Levinson, music by Ed Fox, 1969), single released on HappySad Records, 1969 and on Wizdom Records, 1969
17. "Hung Up On Love" The Other Voices (aka The New Outlook: Paul Levinson, Stu Nitekman, Ira Margolis) (words by Paul Levinson, music by Mikie Harris, 1968), single released on Atlantic Records, 1969
18. "Unbelievable (Inconceivable You)" The Vogues (words & music by Paul Levinson, 1968), unreleased single on Reprise Records
19. "Park at Night" Paul Levinson & Paul Gorman (words by Paul Levinson, music by Paul Gorman, 1963) studio demo
20. "Sunshine's Mine" The New Outlook (aka The Other Voices: Paul Levinson, Stu Nitekman, Ira Margolis) (words by Paul Levinson, music by Stu Nitekman, 1969) studio demo, 1966 (on Spun Dreams album, HappySad Records, 2010)
21. "Pictures on the Phone" Paul Levinson (words & music by Paul Levinson, 2020) home demo
Writing science fiction and songs have been two of my lifelong passions. This anthology combines them, with a selection of my science fiction and fantasy stories that has music as a theme, and my lyrics that deal with far-off suns, robots, and time travel.
Table of Contents Prologue =stories= Marilyn and Monet The Harmony The Kid in the Video Store Ian, Isaac, and John Saving Lennon (from The Loose Ends Saga) The Suspended Fourth Sam’s Requests The Singing Pottery (from The Silk Code) =songs= Evening's Evergreen Morning A Piece of the Rainbow The Lama Will Be Late This Year Alpha Centauri Lime Streets Tau Ceti If I Traveled to The Past I Fell in Love with a Robot The First House on Mars =alternate equation #1=
Elvis, Ed, and Einstein
Tina and I just back from the Sixties Spectacular at the Tarrytown Music Hall. We both enjoyed it, but I liked it a little more than did Tina, for reasons which will become clear in this review.
Bob Miranda, the original lead singer of The Happenings, opened the show. He was in pretty good voice, and the back-up singers and band were excellent. The group's best known songs from the 1960s - especially "I've Got Rhythm" and "See You in September" - always appealed to my love of harmony. Not only that. Stu Nitekman (later known as Jonathan Hatch) and I wrote a song (one of our first), "Please Don't Cry Little Dove," which was very much in The Happenings style. So much so that the late Tash Howard took us into a studio and recorded a demo. He got us and the song a couple of bites from record companies, but no contract. Here it is, in case you like that kind of sound (that's Stu singing lead, I'm doing falsetto, and Ira Margolis a lower harmony - we called ourselves The New Outlook):
Next up were The Vogues, with original lead singer Bill Burkette, and two other guys whose harmony was tight as a drum and a fine rendition of the original Vogues. "You're the One," the first hit for the Vogues, was always one of my favorite songs. So much so that, yes, I wrote a song for The Vogues (words and music) -- "Unbelievable (Inconceivable) You" -- sold it to a big publisher, and they actually recorded it and planned to release it as a single. Until Reprise Records bought them out from Co & Ce Records, and decided that The Vogues should go in a more easy-listening direction. They did have some huge hits with that new sound. But I never cared for it, especially given that it meant that my song would never be released by them. But here's a rough mix of the original master:
Dennis Tufano, the original lead singer of The Buckinghams, then took the stage. I have no personal or professional connection with the group. But I'll say that I always thought that they had great harmonies and arrangements, and the tritest lyrics on Earth. Their song Susan typifies that, but the sound is so good that it's always been one of my favorite records.
Terry Sylvester of The Hollies was at the British Invasion concert we saw at the Tarrytown Music Hall a few years ago. He was good then, and pretty good tonight. He hits most of the notes, and The Hollies' songs - especially "He Ain't Heavy" - are good to hear again, and live.
And then there were The Lovin' Spoonful - or, what they've now become. Steve Boone, the original bass player and sometimes vocalist, was the only original member in original place. The reason I put it that way is that Joe Butler, the original drummer, was also on stage tonight - but not as drummer. As lead. And though he sounds close enough to John Sebastian, he's just not.
This is no one's fault. It's life getting in the way, as it often does. Zal Yanovsky died way too young in 2002. And John Sebastian's voice is no longer as magical as it was (see the 2017 performance below). But - yeah, I would have rather seen him sing lead tonight than Joe Butler, even though Butler did a very good job on the vocals. Tina and I both loved the Spoonful, but I was little less put off by Sebastian's absence than was she.
Anyway ... here's Sebastian singing "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" this past August. And, yeah, Stu and I wrote a song very much in the Spoonful style - "Sunshine's Mine" - this time with me doing lead, and Stu and Ira the harmony. And of course I'll put it here right after Sebastian's performance, thanks for asking.
Usually when I'm writing and talking about my music, it's all about Twice Upon a Rhyme, the album I produced with Ed Fox in 1972, with most songs written by us (and a few others by just me, by me and Peter Rosenthal, Linda Kaplan, and others), and performed by Ed, me, Peter, Donny Frankel, Boris Midney, and lots of other musicians.
Interestingly, we never performed any of Twice Upon a Rhyme live. In fact, the first live performance of a few songs from the album with some others was by Pete and me in Ronkonkoma, NY in August 2015 - here's the video (not the greatest sound quality, but you'll get the gist).
But before I started writing with Ed, before Twice Upon a Rhyme, I was in very different kind of group, a folk-rock group, The New Outlook. That group consisted Stu Nitekman (usually lead vocal and strumming guitar), Ira Margolis (baritone harmony), and me (first tenor and falsetto harmony, occasionally lead, occasionally an organ I bought in Woolworth's on our home demos).
We did perform in person - almost daily, in the Alcove right outside the cafeteria on the North Campus of the City College of New York (CCNY), where we regularly sang instead of attending classes. And when we weren't on the North Campus, we sang in a similar Alcove in Finley Hall on the South Campus, again rather than attending classes. But we also on occasion performed at clubs in the New York area, recorded a few studio demos (recording costs paid for by this publisher or record producer or that), and lots of home demos (which is where my cheap organ came in). I assembled 12 of those recordings, and added three of my own more recent songs, on a digital album, Spun Dreams, in 2010, available now on Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, and all the usual places.
But back to the 1960s - one sunny afternoon in 1967, The New Outlook (Stu, Ira, and I) were belting out our three-part harmonies in Central Park, when a couple walked by, stopped, and listened to at least six of our songs. They turned out to be Ellie Greenwich (co-writer of "Da Doo Ron Ron" and tons of other songs) and Mike Rashkow (co-writer of "Mary in the Morning", recorded by Elvis), and they signed us to their production company and in turn to Atlantic Records, which released two singles by the New Outlook - renamed The Other Voices - which went nowhere. (I co-wrote the B-side of one release, "Hung Up on Love," with Mike's wife at the time Mikie Harris). The New Outlook shortly after left Atlantic, resumed our original name, and recorded one of our new songs, "Evening's Evergreen Morning," without Ellie and Mike. But when it didn't get much response, either, we disbanded. The studio demo of "Evening's Evergreen Morning" - which, by the way, features Pete Rosenthal on guitar, in his first work on what would be many of my songs - is included in Spun Dreams.
Which gets me, at last, to the title of this post. "Late Afternoon" was not included on Spun Dreams. It was one of our favorite songs - I wrote the words, and Stu the music - and we performed it with full New Outlook harmony. But all I had was a track with Stu singing a strong lead and strumming guitar. I had hoped to someday find a full New Outlook version - but I decided, the other day, to just add some of the harmony myself, and get this song out to the world. It will soon be available on Spotify, Amazon, and iTunes. But here's the song for you now (with lyrics below). Enjoy!
Late Afternoon
Words by Paul Levinson, Music by Stu Nitekman, 1966
The shades of dusk hang over us
Our day has nearly passed
And now the Earth seems sadly hushed
As shadows wash the grass
(chorus)
Look at our love in the late afternoon
Any moment the darkness might come
Open your eyes, it's the late afternoon
Don't let our dreams set with the sun
The early warmth has cooled with time
We'll soon feel evening's frost
And in the night we'll never find
the treasure that we lost
(chorus)
You smile while twilight skies grow dim
But once the flame has died
You'll long for all that might have been
If only we had tried
(chorus)
========================================
And hey - if you'd like more of The New Outlook, here's another recently uncovered recording of all three of us singing that upbeat, peppy classic - On the Sunny Side of the Street
Hey, I've been meaning to tell you about something I discovered a few weeks ago - I've been shadow-banned on Reddit! And, I've got to say I'm pretty happy about it.
What's "shadow-banning," you may ask? It's a nasty little way that Reddit deals with spammers and other people they don't like. Your account seems intact. But your Up and Down votes don't show up, and neither do any submissions of stories you seek to make. In other words, rather than just ban you outright, you're deluded into thinking your account is fine, when, in fact, it's just a shadow of itself - or a shadow on the wall of Reddit.
Indeed, although I was shadow-banned four months ago, I first found out about it just a few weeks ago, when I Up-voted a story about Marshall McLuhan - not written by me - and found that my Up-vote had no impact on the number of Up-votes shown. I looked more carefully, and found this in my waiting messages:
rom 1point618[M] via /r/printSF/ sent 4 months ago You've been shadowbanned, probably for posting a bunch of spam from tumblr. This is a reddit-wide thing, so I can't do anything about it. See /r/shadowbanned or /r/ShadowBan for more information.
Just for the record, although I've recently become active on Tumblr, I was barely on there at all four months ago, and don't recall ever submitting anything from Tumblr to Reddit.
So why was I shadow-banned?
My best guess someone was peeved by my public condemnation of Reddit and its poor performance in the aftermath of the Boston bombings, when it ID'd via crowdsourcing someone as the bomber who had nothing to do with it. In fact, The Newsroom just dealt with that same lamentable behavior of Reddit in The Newsroom's third season debut last night, and I talked about it - incorrigible that I am - in my review.
But, who knows? Maybe it was for some other reason that I know nothing about. I do know that I'm actually happy about being shadow-banned. It's great example of what I call the "Dark Side of New New Media" in my New New Media book - in this case, the petty and arbitrary dictatorial conduct of moderators on all too-many an online system. I'll certainly use this as an example in the next edition of my book.
But I'll also confess to enjoying the outlaw-ish quality of being shadow-banned. It's fun, especially for a professor and often serious author like me, to be an outlaw. So much so, that I thought I'd put up a song that I recorded with my group, The New Outlook, way back in 1965. A guy by the name of Mark Goodman wrote it, Stu Nitekman (aka Jonathan Hatch) sang the lead, and I'm doing high falsetto harmony. I'm "The Outcast" - or least, I'm that on Reddit, and I'm proud of it.
Before Twice Upon a Rhyme, there were Spun Dreams by Paul Levinson - demos (studio, home, rough, and refined) that Paul for the most part wrote with Stu Nitekman, and recorded as part of the folk-rock-pop group The New Outlook, consisting of Paul, Stu, and Ira Margolis. For many years - from the time these songs first were recorded on a home tape recorder or in a studio (A&R Studios in Manhattan) during 1966-1968, and then moved from tape to acetate for easier playing - these demos languished in dusty closets. Paul brought them into the Walsh Digital Lab at Fordham University in early 2006, and converted them and other demos and master releases into MP3s. Spun Dreams, available now for the first time on iTunes, is one of the results.
Sunshine's Mine (Levinson-Nitekman), studio demo, Paul lead, 1966
Evening's Evergreen Morning (Levinson-Nitekman) unreleased master, Stu lead, 1968
Two Minus One (Levinson-Nitekman), home demo, Stu lead, 1966
Murray the K's Back in Town (Levinson) Paul Levinson, studio demo, 1972
Please Don't Cry Little Dove (Levinson-Nitekman) studio demo, Paul and Stu lead, 1966
Just That Kind (Levinson-Nitekman), studio demo, Stu lead, 1967
Yesterday's Rain (Levinson-Nitekman), studio demo, Stu lead, 1967
Happy Goodbye Baby (Levinson-Nitekman), home demo, Stu lead, 1966
Water Proof (Levinson), home demo, Paul lead, 1966
Precious and Golden (Levinson-Nitekman), home demo, Stu lead, 1966
Keep Off the Grass (Levinson-Nitekman), home demo, Stu lead, 1966
The Flavor of Spring (Levinson), home demo, Stu lead, 1966
Don't Blame It On Love (Levinson-Nitekman), home demo, Stu lead, 1966
If Leaves Fall Tomorrow (Levinson-Nitekman), studio demo, Stu lead, 1967
Alpha Centauri (Levinson - Rosenthal) Paul Levinson, home demo, 2000/2010
Songwriting credits:
Levinson-Nitekman = words by Paul Levinson, music by Stu Nitekman
Levinson = words and music by Paul Levinson
Levinson-Rosenthal = words by Paul Levinson, music by Peter Rosenthal
Artist (singer) credits:
Unless otherwise indicated, the songs were performed by The New Outlook, with either Paul or Stu singing lead, and some combination of Paul, Stu, and Ira singing harmony. Paul Levinson sings lead and harmony in "Murray the K's Back in Town". Paul Levinson sang "Alpha Centauri" in 2010 to music recorded by Peter Rosenthal in 2000 (the words and music were written in 2000).
Album cover designed by Joel Iskowitz.
Liner Notes:
The New Outlook began to come into being in the summer of 1963, when Paul Levinson got his first job, making sundaes and ice cream sodas, at Krum’s on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Ira Margolis also worked there, and the two soon started talking music, and singing. Stu Nitekman was Ira’s friend. The three soon formed The Transits, maybe the last doo-wap group in the Bronx, with several of Paul’s friends from junior high school and earlier. When the Transits disbanded in 1965, Paul, Stu, and Ira became The New Outlook. And whereas The Transits covered early Four Seasons and Beachboy songs, Paul and Stu wrote their own songs for The New Outlook.
They sang in the “alcoves” of City College - the entry halls behind the cafeterias of CCNY, where they were students - both between and during many of their classes. They recorded demos in Stu’s home. Stu sang most of the leads, Paul a few. Paul sang falsetto and tenor harmony with Ira, who sang baritone. Stu played acoustic guitar, Paul played a little keyboard he had purchased at Woolworth’s, Ira had a tambourine in hand. “Two Minus One,” “Happy Goodbye Baby,” “Keep Off the Grass,” “Don’t Blame It On Love,” “The Flavor of Spring,” and “Precious and Golden” were written by Paul (lyrics) and Stu (music). “Water Proof” was written just by Paul. All were recorded on a reel-to-reel tape recorder in Stu’s living room in 1966.
Paul and Stu brought their demos around to every publisher and producer in the Brill Building and nearby they could find. The late great Tash Howard brought the New Outlook into a studio to record a demo of “Please Don’t Cry Little Dove,” which was the group’s first professionally recorded song. A little later, the group went into a studio under their own steam, and recorded “Sunshine's Mine,” written by Paul and Stu, with Paul doing lead vocal.
On a sunny spring Sunday in 1967, The New Outlook were singing in Central Park in New York City. Ellie Greenwich (another legend who died too soon) and Mike Rashkow happened by, liked what they heard, and brought the group into a studio to perform a few of their songs. These are represented on this album by “Just that Kind,” “If Leaves Fall Tomorrow,” and “Yesterday’s Rain” (which is about half the size of its true length, due to a little glitch during the recording).
Elli and Mike changed the name of the group to The Other Voices and signed them to Atlantic Records, where the group had two single releases. Paul co-wrote the b-side to both singles, “Hung Up on Love,” with Mikie Harris. The recording was included in Rhino-Handmade’s compilation album, “Come to the Sunshine: Soft Pop Nuggets,” in 2004 (compiled by Andrew Sandoval).
The group left Ellie and Mike and Atlantic Records in late 1968. They went into the studio on their own, and recorded a master of what would be their last song together, “Evening’s Evergreen Morning”. Stu sang lead, Paul his customary falsetto, and Ira the baritone harmony. Peter Rosenthal - who would go on to play guitars on every cut of Twice Upon a Rhyme (the album Paul later recorded with Ed Fox, Peter, and other artists) - played guitars on “Evening’s Evergreen Morning”.
In 1972, Paul wrote an article in The Village Voice about Murray the K’s return to New York as a disk jockey. Murray hired Paul to help produce Murray’s show on WNBC Radio, and a few months later Paul wrote and recorded a studio demo of “Murray the K’s Back in Town,” with Pete on guitar.
Rounding out Spun Dreams is “Alpha Centauri,” a song Paul (lyrics) and Pete (music) wrote in 2000, after being out of touch more than 25 years. Paul’s singing the vocal and Pete played all of the instruments. Its science fiction theme is a sign of things to come.
***August 2015: Paul Levinson and Peter Rosenthal in concert at LI-Con2 (Ronkonkoma, NY)
***December 2009: All 13 tracks of Twice Upon a Rhyme available on iTunes and Amazon
*** December 2010: Whiplash/Salvation Records releases vinyl re-pressing of Twice Upon a Rhyme sold in record stores in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Manchester (UK), and Tokyo ... re-issued in September 2011
reviews of Twice Upon a Rhyme:
“Tim Hardin meets The Zombies ... a real forgotten gem from 1972 that serves as perfect listening on a Saturday morning in November ... warm and peaceful.”
“Twice Upon a Rhyme (Happysad ‘72): I’ve seen multitudes of folkpsych wannabes hyped to the skies for their garage charm in euro lists that don’t hold a candle to this baby. “Forever Friday” is so amazing and lo-fi real I still get chills when I hear it. And the long track “The Lama Will Be Late This Year” sweeps whatever floor is left in this department.”
“... mixes the psychedelic pop of the ‘60s, a dash of Simon & Garfunkel and some expansive and imaginative arrangements which recall the Beach Boys or even Burt Bacharach in places. There’s a real warmth and love running through these cuts ...”
"Superb fuzz guitar irresistibly drizzled across several tracks ... a memorable personality indelibly locked inside the grooves ... the perfect sound track for a lethargic spring day."
"romantic, sunshine happy Americana or bluesier ... a handful of good feeling summer breeze love songs ... a touch of Santana exotic elements and a lot more fuzz guitar ... melodic and harmony vocals"
scanned copy of a letter I wrote in September 1972 to a disk jockey in Syracuse, New York, about Twice Upon a Rhyme
***November 2008: Delighted to have signed a contract last week with Big Pink in Korea, for its reissue there of Twice Upon a Rhyme! Watch here for further details.
A local New York private pressing recorded between July 1969 and October 1971. At their best, Levinson and his crew produce dark, druggy pop music remindful of neighbors The Patron Saints or bayou obscuros Feather Da Gamba. Forever Friday, Looking For Sunsets and You Are Everywhere fit this profile. The Lama Will Be Late This Year is probably the most intriguing cut on the album, having as it does an oddly Syd Barrett-like delivery of the lyrics and some pretty unorthodox music with fuzz guitar leads.
***October 2009: Evan LeVine (Swan Fungus blog) interviews me about Twice Upon a Rhyme and more about the City Diner in New York City ... this is a short note about the interview
***November 2009: Rockit Scientist Records on St. Marks Place, New York City, stocks several copies of original 1972 vinyl Twice Upon a Rhyme
***November 2009: Jack Hobbes interviews me about my music for 40-minute podcast Out of the Bubbling Dusk
***December 2009: Pretty much the complete, frank interview that Evan LeVine conducted with me about my music, science fiction, life, much more in October 2009 ... this is the transcript, published on the WFMU blog
***December 2009: All 13 tracks of Twice Upon a Rhyme available on iTunes and Amazon
*** December 2010: Whiplash/Salvation Records releases vinyl re-pressing of Twice Upon a Rhyme sold in record stores in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Manchester (UK), and Tokyo ... re-issued in September 2011
Donny Frankel: organ; Joe Szalacsi: trumpet; Israel Esquenazi, Sasha Humek: violins;
Boris Midney: saxophone, drums
Produced & Arranged by
Paul Levinson & Ed Fox
Paul Levinson - other than Twice Upon a Rhyme and The New Outlook
2018
The First House of Mars (words only - P. Levinson - no music as yet)
I Fell in Love with a Robot (words only - P. Levinson - no music as yet)
2011
If I Traveled to the Past (P. Levinson - J. Anealio) John Anealio, home demo
Tau Ceti (P. Levinson - J. Anealio) John Anealio and Paul Levinson, home demo
2006-2018
Lime Streets (Levinson) Paul Levinson, recorded live at WZBC Radio (2006)
2000
I Knew You By Heart (Levinson - Rosenthal) Peter Rosenthal, studio demo
Alpha Centauri (Levinson - Rosenthal) Peter Rosenthal, home demo
1972
Murray the K's Back in Town (Levinson) Paul Levinson, studio demo
1971
Merri-Goes-Round (Levinson - Ed Fox) Trousers, Paul harmony, Wizdom Records
Ring Around My Rosie (David Fox) Protozoa, Paul harmony, Buddah Records
1969
Sunshine Mind (Levinson) Donna Marie, Columbia Records (also recorded by the Fuzzy Bunnies, unreleased single on Decca Records)
Teacups and Tapestry (Levinson - Boris Midney) studio demo
Snow Flurries (Levinson - Jimmy Krondes) Good News, Paul harmony, Murbo Records
Sunday Princess (Levinson - Ed Fox) Joey Ward & Paul Levinson, studio demo
Unbelievable (Inconceivable You) (Levinson) The Vogues, Reprise Records (unreleased)
1968
Picture Postcard World (Levinson) Definitive Rock Chorale, Philips Records
Lemons and Limes (Levinson) Fuzzy Bunnies, Decca Records
Love Colored Glasses (Levinson - Harris) Mikie Harris, studio demo, later recorded by June Valli
Mr. Kringle (Levinson - Harris) studio demo
Teardrops Make No Sound (Levinson - Jimmy Krondes) studio demo, later recorded by June Valli, then Jimmy Clanton, then Irish singer Martin Flynn
Waking Up to Love (Levinson) studio demo
Skyscraper (Levinson - Kaplan) Linda Kaplan, studio demo
Cloudy Sunday (Levinson - Kaplan) Linda Kaplan, studio demo
A Piece of the Rainbow (Levinson - Kaplan) Linda Kaplan, studio demo
1963
The Park at Night (Levinson - Gorman) Paul Levinson (lead) and Paul Gorman, studio demo
Alphabet Baby (Gorman) Paul Levinson (lead) and Paul Gorman, studio demo
Notes:
1. "Merri-Goes-Round" produced by Paul Levinson and Ed Fox
2. "Ring Around My Rosie" produced by Paul Levinson, Ed Fox, and Herb Abramson
3. "Sunshine Mind" produced by Jimmy "Wiz" Wisner
4. "Unbelievable" produced by Dick Glasser
5. "Picture Postcard World" and "Lemons and Limes" produced by Ellie Greenwich and Mike Rashkow
Sundial Symphony (Donny Frankel and Robbie Rist) record Paul Levinson's music
2016 "Merri Goes Round" (P. Levinson - E. Fox) Robbie Rist lead, HappySad Records (digital) 2015 "Today Is Just Like You" (P. Levinson) Donny Frankel lead, HappySad Records (digital) 2013 "Looking for Sunsets (in the Early Morning)" (P. Levinson - E. Fox) Donny Frankel lead, HappySad Records (digital) Recordings of "Looking for Sunsets (in the Early Morning)" (P. Levinson - E. Fox) by other artists: Protozoa (Buddah Records, 1973), James Harris (demo, 2007), Jha Voice (demo, 2011), Catherine Asaro (demo, 2012), Sundial Symphony (HappySad Records, 2013)
