Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show

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Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, shortened from 1975 onwards to Dr. Hook, were an American rock band, formed in Union City, New Jersey. They enjoyed considerable commercial success in the 1970s with hit singles including "Sylvia's Mother", "The Cover of Rolling Stone" (both 1972), "A Little Bit More" (1976), "Sharing the Night Together" (1978), and "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" (1979). In addition to their own material, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show performed songs written by the poet Shel Silverstein.

The band had eight years of regular chart hits, in both the U.S., where their music was played on top-40, easy listening, and country music outlets, and throughout the English-speaking world including in the UK and Canada. Their music spanned several genres, mostly novelty songs and acoustic ballads in their early years; their greatest success came with their later material, mostly consisting of disco-influenced soft rock, which the band recorded under the shortened name Dr. Hook.

The founding core of the band consisted of three Southerners, George Cummings, Ray Sawyer, and Billy Francis, who had worked together in a band called The Chocolate Papers. They had played the South, up and down the East Coast, and into the Midwest before breaking up. Cummings, who moved to New Jersey with the plan of forming a new band, brought back Sawyer to rejoin him. They then took on future primary vocalist, New Jersey native Dennis Locorriere, at first as a bass player. Francis, who had returned South after the Chocolate Papers broke up, returned to be the new band's keyboardist.

When told by a club owner that they needed a name to put on a poster in the window of his establishment, Cummings made a sign: "Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Tonic for the Soul." The "Hook" name was inspired by Sawyer's eyepatch and a reference to Captain Hook of the Peter Pan fairy tale, although, humorously, because Captain Hook was neither a doctor nor wore an eyepatch. Ray Sawyer had lost his right eye in a near-fatal car crash in Oregon in 1967, and thereafter always wore an eyepatch.  The eyepatch would mistakenly lead some people to believe that Sawyer was 'Dr. Hook'.

The band played for a few years in New Jersey, first with drummer Popeye Phillips (who had also been in The Chocolate Papers), who went on to be a session drummer on The Flying Burrito Brothers' first album, The Gilded Palace of Sin. Citing musical differences, Popeye returned home to his native Alabama and was replaced by local drummer Joseph Olivier. When the band began recording their first album, Olivier left in order to spend more time with his family, and was replaced by session player, John "Jay" David, who was asked to join the band full-time in 1968.

In 1970, their demo tapes were heard by Ron Haffkine, musical director on the planned Herb Gardner movie, Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?. The songs for the film were written by the cartoonist and poet/songwriter Shel Silverstein. Haffkine determined that Dr. Hook was the ideal group for the soundtrack. With the help of producer Haffkine, the group recorded two songs for the film: Locorriere sang the lead on both "The Last Morning," the movie's theme song, later re-recorded for their second album, Sloppy Seconds, and "Bunky and Lucille," which the band can be seen performing in the film. The film, released in 1971 by National General Pictures, received mixed critical reviews and did only modestly at the box office, but it helped Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show secure their first recording contract.

Ron Haffkine arranged a meeting with Clive Davis, CBS Records described in Davis's autobiography. Drummer David used a wastepaper basket to keep the beat, and while Sawyer, Locorriere, and Cummings played and sang a few songs, Francis hopped up and danced on the mogul's desk. This meeting secured the band their first record deal. Subsequently, the band went on to international success over the next twelve years, with Haffkine as the group's manager, as well as producer of all the Dr. Hook recordings.
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#1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF0_947VPNA

"A Little Bit More" is a song written and performed by Bobby Gosh, released on his 1973 album Sitting in the Quiet.  The first hit version was recorded by the band Dr. Hook; their version was released as a single in 1976. It charted at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and spent two weeks at number nine on the Cash Box Top 100.  It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. It was Dr. Hook's joint second-best UK chart placing, matching "Sylvia's Mother" and surpassed only by "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman".

The song has also been recorded by Lynn Anderson (1977), Ronnie McDowell (1992), Lars Roos (1992), Shane Richie (1998) and 911 (1999).
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#2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6WutGHAFZM

"Sexy Eyes" is a song by Dr. Hook, released as a single in early 1980. It was the second of three singles from their LP Sometimes You Win.

In the United States, the single reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Gold by the RIAA.  It was also a Top 10 hit in Canada (#8) and the United Kingdom (#4).
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#3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrMbPGmluEw

"Sylvia's Mother" was a 1972 single by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show and the group's first hit song. It was written by Shel Silverstein, produced by Ron Haffkine and was highly successful in the United States, reaching #5 on the Billboard singles chart,  as well as #1 in Ireland and #2 in the United Kingdom. It also spent 3 weeks at #1 on the Australian music charts,  making it the 15th ranked single in Australia for 1972. It appeared on the group's first album, Dr. Hook.

"Sylvia's Mother" is autobiographical, with songwriter Shel Silverstein drawing upon his unsuccessful attempt to revive a failed relationship. Silverstein had been in love with a woman named Silvia Pandolfi, but she would later become engaged to another man and end up as a museum curator at the Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City.  Desperate to continue the relationship, Silverstein called Pandolfi's mother, Louisa, but she instead told him that the love had ended.

The lyrics tell the story in much the same way: A young man, despondent and near tears after learning that Sylvia, with whom he'd had an earlier bad breakup, is leaving town, tries to telephone her to say one last good-bye, or at least try to get a suitable explanation as to why their relationship failed and maybe try to rekindle things. However, Sylvia's mother (Mrs. Avery) tells him that Sylvia is engaged to be married, and is trying to start a new life in Galveston.

She asks the man not to say anything to her because she might start crying and want to stay. She tells the man Sylvia is hurrying to catch a 9 o'clock train. In an aside, she then tells Sylvia to "take your umbrella, cause Sylvie, it's starting to rain." Rain could be construed as a metaphor that the caller has begun to "weep" due to his despair at not being allowed to speak to Sylvia...you can hear it in Dennis Locorriere's singing. She then returns to the phone conversation, thanks the (unnamed) narrator for calling.

The pathos lies in the singer's awareness that Sylvia is right there with her mother, Sylvia being unaware that he's the man on the phone. Throughout the phone conversation, an operator cuts in to ask for more money ("40 cents more for the next three minutes") to continue the call.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCJpzpd-8us

T5

"When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" is a popular single by Dr. Hook. It was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Alabama.

Written by Even Stevens, who followed producer Ron Haffkine into the studio bathroom to pitch him the song. "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" first appeared on the band's 1978 album Pleasure and Pain. Riding the disco wave in 1979 it belatedly became an international hit, reaching number six on the Billboard Hot 100  singles chart in the USA and doing even better in the UK where it spent three weeks at number one in the UK Singles Chart in November 1979.  The song was subsequently added to the band's 1979 album Sometimes You Win. It features background vocals by three female singers.

The song also featured throughout the 2005 Rockstar game The Warriors.

The song was covered by country music artist Conway Twitty in 1990 on his album Crazy in Love.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ux3-a9RE1Q

"The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" is a song written by Shel Silverstein and first recorded by American rock group Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Produced by Ron Haffkine and released in 1972, it was the band's third single and peaked at number six on the U.S. pop chart for two weeks on March 17–24, 1973.

The song satirizes success in the music business; the song's narrator laments that his band, despite having the superficial attributes of a successful rock star (including drug usage, "teenage groupies, who'll do anything we say" and a frenetic guitar solo) has been unable to "get their pictures/on the cover of the Rolling Stone".

In reference to the song, the March 29, 1973 cover of Rolling Stone did feature the band, in caricature rather than a photograph. It was accompanied by the caption "What's-Their-Names Make the Cover."

BBC Radio refused to play the song, as it contained the name of a commercial publication (Rolling Stone) and could therefore be considered advertising. An urban legend states that the song was re-recorded by the band as "The Cover of the Radio Times", the weekly television and radio guide published by the BBC; however, this is disputed by Dennis Locorriere, Dr. Hook's co-lead singer. "Legend has it that we went into a studio and rerecorded the song.

What actually happened was that a bunch of BBC disc jockeys went into a studio and shouted 'RADIO TIMES' over our original chorus," Locorriere said. "It's the same recording that we released but with the addition of their voices layered on top of ours. You can, however, still hear us singing 'Rolling Stone,' but way in the background, under their voices." The new version was rush-released in the UK, but did not find its way onto the charts there.
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Organplayer

#7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IllvicoJCV0

A song Request and a great song Request

Greta song Great Music and a Great Style
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Sexy Eyes
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#11
When you're in love with a beautiful woman X9
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