Jan & Dean: Official Message Board for Jan Berry

I've thought about this before, and I think it would've had a significant impact on whether Jan & Dean continued into '67.  They were still a popular act and had a couple of Top Forty hits in '65, but their last entry in the Top Twenty had been 1964's Ride the Wild Surf.  To my thinking, regardless of how their television show was received by the public, if none of their new material could break into the Top 20 it would no longer be worth their time, and both Jan and Dean would probably move on.  They definitely had an opportunity to remake their brand and break back into the charts with their new show, but in early '66 they were still perceived as surf rock, which didn't help as that trend was losing interest.  The tv show could've helped to rebrand them as sunshine pop, promote new material, maybe bring in quality outside songwriters and increase their presence, all of which their act needed at this juncture.  Given that Popsicle hit #21 with no public support it was possible, but they needed the right material released at the right time or it just wasn't going to happen.  I've also read a story about Jan being incensed about J&D being placed beneath both Sonny & Cher and The Mamas & The Papas for their Hollywood Bowl appearance in '66, but this is the reality he was facing at the time of the accident.

I need help. What is (HTC) FAOTW

(Here They Come) From All Over The World

The thing that gets me is, since the song is a rewrite of Catch a Wave shouldn't the credits read "Wilson-Love-Berry-Christian" as Mike co-wrote the original lyrics?  I realize there are personal and legal issues as to why it wasn't credited that way but as one of the original composers his name rightly belongs on it, too.

Susan Lynne has a biography page on 45cat:

Susan Lynne - Biography 

Susan Lynne Koskowitz was born on July 25, 1946. She was a student at Far Rockaway High School in New York when she began recording in 1962 under the name Susan Lynne while working with producers Charles Koppelman and Don Rudin. More of her singles were released through 1964, her last year in high school.

After high school, she studied at Beaver (now Arcadia) College in Pennsylvania, majoring in Spanish. She then embarked on a career in education, initially as a Spanish and ESL teacher and lastly as the Vice-Principal of Reuben Gittelman Hebrew Day School in New City, NY (under her married name of Susan Sobler). She died of cancer on January 31, 2004 at the age of 57.

While none of her singles ever made the Billboard Top 100, her 1964 recording of "Don't Drag No More" received belated recognition when it was included in the 2005 compilation "One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found".

There is also a discography on her page:
http://www.45cat.com/artist/susan-lynne

"Dont' Drag No More" was issued in '64 as Capitol 5201, backed with "In His Car" which was also written by Artie Kornfeld and included a picture sleeve.  In the comments of the record details page you'll find a list of unreleased material that seem to be related, I would say it looks like Artie intended to release an album that never materialized.

SUSAN LYNN:
 (Session #12145)(purchased masters) LA?,October 16,1964 (?)
 53026 Queen of the drags unissued
 53027 The boy in the stingray -
 53028 Me sitting next to Billy -
 53029 Sports car Sally
 53030 I wish I had a G.T.O. unissued
 53031 Silver is his Jaguar -

There is also another discography with a more recent picture over at Discogs:
https://www.discogs.com/artist/1050838-Susan-Lynne

I don't think it's fair to say that Dean didn't care about the fans.  It's certainly not obvious to me that he didn't based solely on an unwillingness to pose for pictures or sign autographs, especially since Jan was also running a side business after the concerts selling merchandise.  Dean might very well have been too busy running the business operations from behind the scenes to take that amount of time after the concerts, and/or wanted to put some distance between the main operation and Jan's business.  Jan obviously cared about his fans, and interacting with them meant a great deal to him but I think it's a false comparison.

Wasn't Pop Symphony intended more as a guided example, I thought Jan's real interest was producing sheet music so that marching bands and kids learning to read music and play instruments in a school band could learn to play along to the arrangements?  Besides the fun of working on scoring and arrangements with George Tipton.

Indeed!  I've shared the original version of Spring Break with Wounded Bird and it'll be included as a bonus track on the 20th Anniversary Edition released May 4, 2018 along with a spoken-intro version of Get That Girl.

That's great news, Rob!  Is the alternate mix for "So Here I Go Again" you mentioned previously being included, too?

An (almost) daunting task, too many good songs from different points in their career to choose from.  Pretty much everything from 1964 is fun.

For '65, I would choose "It's A Shame To Say Goodbye."  Written by J&D regulars Don Altfeld & Jill Gibson with a stellar arrangement from Jan, it's wistful without being melodramatic and had a current production style while still sounding like a Jan & Dean song.

My favourites though, and what makes me a J&D fan are really the humorous songs.  The just-having-fun, not taking it too seriously joke songs.  Schlock Rod, Submarine Races, Sidney the Seasick Surfer, Time & Space, Hang on Sloopy, Flight of the Batmobile, Gas Money . . . .