Star Time #80: Strike While the Iron's Hot
The next-to-last Star Time Summer Special (it's still summer) is another 2-hour behemoth, featuring a whopping 37 songs from great female singers of the '50s and '60s. There are a lot of poppers in this one. I don't think "poppers" was a term before, but it is now. I'm especially fond of the tracks by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Varetta Dillard, Little Alice, Dionne Warwick, Big Ella and Connie Austin, but honestly you're pretty much in for 120 minutes (rather, 108 minutes and 10 seconds without commercials) of continuous brilliance. As usual I tried to hold the ballads in check, but if you have Dinah Washington you're damn well gonna play her.
| Artist | Song | Year | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set 1 | |||
| Little Esther | Hollerin' and Screamin' | 1953 | Federal |
| Big Maybelle | Gabbin' Blues (Don't Run My Business) | 1952 | Okeh |
| Sister Rosetta Tharpe with the Sam Price Trio | Every Time I Feel the Spirit | 1954 | Decca |
| LaVern Baker & the Gliders | Jim Dandy | 1956 | Atlantic |
| Etta James | Market Place | 1957 | Modern |
| Pearl Bailey | Strike While the Iron's Hot | 1958 | Coral |
| Varetta Dillard | Just Multiply | 1958 | RCA Victor |
| Ruth Brown | This Little Girl's Gone Rockin' | 1958 | Atlantic |
| Dinah Washington | The Light | 1959 | Mercury |
| Set 2 | |||
| Marie Knight | Hope You Won't Hold It Against Me | 1960 | Addit |
| Jean DuShon | Tired of Trying | 1961 | ATCO |
| Miss LaVell | Just Look at You Fool | 1961 | Duke |
| Irma Thomas | I Done Got Over It | 1962 | Minit |
| Lulu Reed | Say Hey Pretty Baby | 1962 | Federal |
| Little Alice | So What If I Can't Cook | 1962 | 4J |
| Mary Wells | The One Who Really Loves You | 1962 | Motown |
| Shirley Ellis | The Real Nitty Gritty | 1963 | Congress |
| Ernestine Anderson | Keep an Eye on Love | 1963 | Sue |
| Betty Everett | You're No Good | 1963 | Vee Jay |
| Set 3 | |||
| Barbara Lewis | Pushin' a Good Thing Too Far | 1964 | Atlantic |
| Barbara Lynn | Don't Spread It Around | 1964 | Jamie |
| Fontella Bass | Recovery | 1965 | Checker |
| Timi Yuro | Big Mistake | 1965 | Mercury |
| Nina Simone | I Put a Spell on You | 1965 | Philips |
| Dionne Warwick | You Can Have Him | 1965 | Scepter |
| Brenda Holloway | Operator | 1965 | Tamla |
| Sugar Pie DeSanto | Jump In My Chest | 1966 | Checker |
| Lydia Marcelle | Another Kind of Fellow | 1966 | Sue |
| Set 4 | |||
| Bettye Swann | Don't Look Back | 1967 | Money |
| Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles | Take Me For a Little While | 1967 | Atlantic |
| Aretha Franklin | See Saw | 1968 | Atlantic |
| Big Ella | The Queen | 1968 | Rush |
| Connie Austin | Ball of Fire | 1968 | King |
| Marie Franklin | You Ain't Changed | 1968 | Maverick |
| Marva Hodge | Think About the Good Times | 1969 | Philips (Neth.) |
| Carla Thomas | I Play For Keeps | 1969 | Stax |
| Diana Ross & the Supremes | Someday We'll Be Together | 1969 | Motown |
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