gts143 “shnitch”
I got it straight from the horse’s mouth.
01-01 Johnny Hauser & Paul Whiteman Orchestra – Victor 24887 – Let’s Spill The Beans (1935)
— known as the King Of Jazz, Whiteman was first to play “Rhapsody In Blue” composed by Gershwin in 1924.
01-02 Judy And Jo – Capitol 4731 – Tattletale Joe (1962)
— specializing in “answer songs”, Judy recorded “She Can Have You” in response to Patsy Cline’s “She’s Got You” and Jo released “Don’t Wanna Be Another Good Luck Charm” as retort to the Elvis Presley tune “Good Luck Charm”.
01-03 The Isley Brothers – Soul On The Rocks 104 – Tell Me It’s Just A Rumor Baby (1967)
— their last album for Tamla Records (a Motown imprint), the Isleys got fed up with lack of promotion, and concentrated on their own label, T-Neck Records, where they had some success a few years earlier playing with an unknown guitarist… Jimi Hendrix.
01-04 Public Serpents – The Bully Puppet 07 – Snitches Stitches (2023)
— second album from the New Jersey ska band, long wait after their first, “The Feeding Of The Fortune 5000” in 2008.
01-05 Riley Crabtree – Country Picnic Records 602 – Tattle Tattle Tale (1957)
— polio put him in crutches before he could walk, unable to help on the family’s Texas farm, Riley picked up the guitar. A fan of Hank Williams, Riley’s hit “When Hank Williams Met Jimmie Rodgers” was released just after Hank’s death.
01-06 Anni Piper – Chasin’ Tail 03 – The Whistleblower (2010)
— burning guitar work, check out Anni as a centaur on the cover of the album. One of my 3 fav tunes this show.
02-01 Trash Mavericks – Rockin’ At The Barn vol 3 19 – Tattletail (2001)
— New Jersey band, first album came out 10 years after appearing on this compilation disc. Line of the night: “you coo like a dove but attack like a hawk.”
02-02 The Kingbeats – Flash 1553 – I’ll Tell My Mama On You (1964)
— German band hoping to follow the Beatles to global success by spiking the rockabilly vein, but called it quits in 1968.
02-03 Varetta Dillard & The Four Students – Groove 0152 – I’m Gonna Tell My Daddy On You (1956)
— another artist who depended on crutches lifelong, Varetta was scheduled to perform at Alan Freed’s Moondog Coronation Ball in Cleveland in 1952, but the cops shut the show down after the first song. Varetta married Ronnie Mack, who wrote “He’s So Fine” which hit #1 on Billboard for The Chiffons.
02-04 Travis Whitelaw – Beer & Booty 04 – Don’t Ask (And I Won’t Tell) (2014)
— born on the Fourth of July 1976, thus entitled to write traditional American standards?
02-05 Sicko – Chef Boy RU Dum 03 – Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (1995)
— 90s punk from Seattle, set themselves apart from grunge-rock with a cover of the Indigo Girls, “Closer To Fine”.
02-06 Will And The People – Whistleblower 12 – Whistleblower (2014)
— from the seaside resort town Brighton, Sussex, UK.
03-01 Patience And Prudence – Liberty F-55084 – You Tattletale (1957)
— sisters whose papa Mark McIntyre played piano for Frank Sinatra, they hit #4 on Billboard when they were aged 14 and 11, respectively.
03-02 Tommy McClennan – Bluebird 8444 – Baby, Please Don’t Tell On Me (1939)
— from Yazoo City Mississippi, Tommy bought his first guitar from Booker Miller who quit blues to become Reverend Miller. McClennan died in 1961 aged 56 in Chicago, living in a homeless encampment. Blues is called “blues” for a reason.
03-03 Maryjo & Sync – Whistleblower (Sync Remix) (2025)
— the usual story, Cleveland girl hits it big in the Big Apple, with a tune called “Drunk Tattoo”. This here’s her latest.
03-04 Two Steps From Hell – The Devil Wears Nada 19 – The Whistleblower (2009)
— making a living playing tunes “in the style of” Hollywood film incidental music.
03-05 White Boy Will – Roguish Game 06 – Snitches Wanted (2010)
— dubbed WBW by Freddie Gibbs, infamous for his cocktail called “lean” which is codeine and promethazine in Sprite. Apparently it turns the Sprite purple.
03-06 The Cardinals – Cha Cha 748 – I’m Gonna Tell On You (1966)
— literally started on a street corner, doo-wopping in Baltimore in 1946.
03-07 Ron Haydock & The Boppers – Rat Pfink A Boo Boo OST 03 – Ratpfink (1966)
— Ron stars as the title character in the film, a caped crusader with his trusty sidekick Boo Boo, who by day is mild-mannered gardener Titus Twimbly.
03-08 The Accelerators – “FUEL” 04 – Rat Fink (2002)
— not the UK or US Accelerators, this one from Japan.
03-09 Mike Russo (as Alfred E. Neuman) & Jeanne Hayes & The Dellwoods – Fink Along With Mad 101 – Let’s Do The Fink (1963)
— The Dellwoods’ second album with Russo pretending to be the coverboy of MAD magazine.
04-01 Jimmy Rushing & Count Basie Orchestra – Vocalion 4747 – Baby Don’t Tell On Me (1939)
— staying with the Benny Moten band when Basie took over in 1935, Rushing was called “Mr. Five By Five”, being five feet tall and (supposedly) five feet wide.
04-02 Mark DuFresne – Out Of That Bed 04 – I’ll Tell On You (1996)
— another Seattle act, Mark did vocals and harmonica for Roomful Of Blues, winning a WC Handy Award in 2004.
04-03 Dutch Tilders – Working Man 202 – Don’t You Tell On Me (1976)
— Mattheus Frederikus Wilhelmus Tilders emigrated aged 14 to Australia from Netherlands, hence the nickname. Reportedly, BB King heard his 1975 record “Break” and assumed he was Black.
04-04 Tom Gabel – Heart Burns 05 – Anna Is A Stool Pigeon (2008)
— harmonica is by Chuck Ragan, who is unknown to me by name, but that name popped up three times while putting this show together, so maybe someone worth knowing?
04-05 The Clash – Give ‘Em Enough Rope 104 – Julie’s Been Working For The Drug Squad (1978)
— still my favorite Clash tune, Police Sergeant Julie Taylor lent a name to “Operation Julie”, the codename for Scotland Yard’s 1976-78 inquiry which swept up 150 people and captured 6.5 million doses of LSD.
04-06 Jill Turner & Art West And His Sunset Riders – Urban 116 – I Won’t Tell On You (1946)
— exceedingly rare 78rpm platter but not too expensive. Supply is low, but so is demand, is how that works.
05-01 Timo Räisänen – Love Will Turn You Around 05 – Spill Your Beans (2007)
— half Finnish, 1/4 Indian, and 1/4 British. This album hit #3 in his home of Sweden.
05-02 The Inspirations – Gone Records 5097 – Stool Pigeon (1961)
— flipside of “Angel In Disguise” which finally charted for the Brooklyn doo-woppers 37 years later… on the Billboard Christian chart.
05-03 Fall Out Boy – From Under The Cork Tree 14 – Snitches And Talkers Get Stitches And Walkers (2006)
— definitely not the hit single off this album, which sold 7 million copies.
05-04 Shadowland – A Matter Of Perspective 01 – The Whistleblower (2009)
— you know me, of course there will be prog in the fifth set!
05-05 Guy Clark – Workbench Songs 05 – Expose (2006)
— not a huge star but made a fortune from other country stars taking his songs to the top of the charts. Shepherded Steve Earle’s career.
05-06 The Lollipops – V.I.P. 25051 – Cheatin’ Is Telling On You (1969)
— only released two singles, first on Detroit’s Impact Records, then this one after VIP Records was absorbed by Motown. Was supposed to be released on Motown imprint Gordy Records, but Barry Gordy shuffled it off to VIP.
06-01 Kendra Morris – Babble 01 – Le Snitch (2016)
— earlier formed a girl-group called The Singles with Scarlett Johansson, but they got sued for using that name, so changed the band to Sugar For Sugar.
06-02 Roy Drusky & Priscilla Mitchell – Mercury 72650 – I’ll Never Tell On You (1966)
— the duo hit #1 on the country charts with “Yes, Mr. Peters” but this one peaked at #61.
06-03 Everglow – Last Melody 02 – Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (2021)
— god bless K-Pop! 10 years ago this would be out of Japan, but the Japanese music milieu has broadened, deepened, matured, so it’s up to Korea to keep pop fun.
06-04 Memphis Minnie – Okeh matrix #152537-2 (unissued) – Ain’t No Use Tryin’ Tell On Me (I Know Something On You) (1933)
— only existed on a “test pressing” disc, which is worth a bunch of money.
06-05 Dubioza Kolektiv – Wild Wild East 09 – Whistleblower (2011)
— perhaps the first time a Bosnian band has appeared on this show, certainly not the last! Lyrics are in English, though the accent is heavy.
06-06 Helen Raymond & Ladies Of River City & The Buffalo Bills – Music Man OBC 109 – Pickalittle & Goodnight Ladies (1958)
— soundtrack album spent 12 weeks at #1 on Billboard, totaling an astonishing 245 weeks in the charts. Voice at the beginning is Robert Preston. The Ladies of River City were the characters Alma Hix, Mrs. Squires, Ethel Toffelmier and Maud Dunlop, played on stage by, respectively, Adnia Rice, Martha Flynn, Peggy Mondo and Elaine Swann. The Buffalo Bills quartet were the characters Olin Britt, Oliver Hix, Ewart Dunlop, and Jacey Squires played by (again respectively) actors Bill Spangenberg, Wayne Ward, Al Shea, and Vern Reed.