The Dawn of Correction

In the mid-60s, John Madara, David White and Local D.J. Raymond Gilmore formed a group called The Spokesmen.  This CD contains all 12 songs from the LP, including "The Dawn Of Correction."  This is the first time it has been released on CD.

 

THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TAKEN FROM THE ORIGINAL 1965 LP:

 

"Throughout the history of popular music, the tastes of each generation have reflected the tempo and the attitudes of the time.  The success of these trends and their acceptance by the public have been a barometer for musical pundits down through the ages, to wit: in whatever direction a generation is going, so goes the music of that generation.

 

"The Spokesmen are aptly named, for they represent the voice of a generation, that has endured many and frequent changes, a generation that hovers on the dawn of a new and better tomorrow, with promises of many more changes.  But there is good reason to feel strong confidence in the future so long as there remains the youthful optimism of tomorrow's leaders, as expressed in the words and the music of THE SPOKESMEN."

 

This rare CD is presented by John Madara through That Philly Sound, which is dedicated to the music that came out of Philadelphia during the 50s and 60s.  All of the songs were produced by Madara & White, and many of the songs on the CD were written by Madara & White and Raymond Gilmore.  Madara & White also wrote and produced such timeless classics as "At The Hop" and "Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay" (Danny and The Juniors), "The Fly" (Chubby Checker), "You Don't Own Me" (Leslie Gore) and "1-2-3" (Len Barry, who also co-wrote the song with Madara & White).  These and countless others helped to make up "The Sound of Philadelphia."

 

Make this CD a part of your oldies collection, and please visit THAT PHILLY SOUND again to learn about your favorite Philadelphia artists and groups and to purchase CDs from our shop.  Also, please join our mailing list so we can keep you up-to-date on our new releases.

 

All songs have been digitally restored and digitally mastered.

 

Thanks for your support!

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Fan Reviews

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***** A One-Hit Wonder Trio With A 1965 "Answer Song" -- When first tenor David White was part of the late 1950s/early 1960s group Danny & The Juniors he helped create some of the best R&R tunes of that era, including At The Hop which spent 7 weeks at # 1 Billboard Pop Hot 100 and 5 weeks at # 1 R&B in late 1957-early 1958. In fact, along with Johnny Madara, he wrote the hit. Just over two years after Danny & The Juniors posted their last nationally-charting single in early 1963, White and Madara, together with WIBG Philadelphia’s Roy Gilmore, decided to come up with a much more optimistic “answer” song to the morose, crepe-hanging Eve Of Destruction by Barry McGuire, then creeping well up the Billboard Pop Hot 100 and so penned The Dawn Of Correction. To counter McGuire’s warning of impending we’re-all-gonna-die gloom and doom they wrote “There are buttons to push in two mighty nations, But who’s crazy enough to risk annihilation? The buttons are there to ensure negotiation, So don't be afraid, boy, it's our only salvation.”

Wanting to get it out there to counter the Dunhill disc while it was rising on the charts, and unable to come up with a singer or group prepared to record it right away, they decided to form a trio and do it themselves, with White taking lead on what became The Spokesmen. Backing musicians were guitarists Trade Martin, Joe Renzetti, Vinnie Bell, Al Gorgoni and Charlie Macey, bassists Dick Romoff and Russ Savakus, Artie Kaplan on the flute and piccolo, Buddy Lucas on harmonica, panist/percussionist Artie Butler, pianist/organist Jimmy Wisner (who also directed) and drummers Buddy Saltzman and Gary Chester.

Even as the two songs began competing for attention, and as a result of the ensuing controversy (on some radio stations neither was allowed to perform their songs on air and instead had to sing something else), Time Magazine ran an article drawing lyrics comparisons. But since the bottom line is always the true barometer of public choice, more at the time bought into McGuire’s dire predictions since his record went to # 1 Hot 100 in September-October while The Dawn Of Correction just made the Top 40 at # 36 in late September/early October on Decca 31844 b/w For You Babe.

And that would be it for the Spokesmen despite at least 5 more singles into 1967 which couldn’t even register on the Hot 100 Bubble Under or Adult Contemporary lists. Their modest success did, however, earn them an album titled, of course, The Dawn Of Correction (Decca DL-4172) which emerged late in 1965 containing the same tracks and cover you get here in this 2010 release from CD Baby.

From that came their second single, Have Courage, Be Careful/It Ain’t Fair on Decca 31874 in November 1965, and in January 1966 another album track, Better Days Are Yet To Come, became the flipside of their cover of Michelle on Decca 31895. New sides came out in May (Today’s The Day/Enchente on Decca 31949) and November 1966 (I Love How You Love Me/Beautiful Girl on Decca 32049), thus ending their association with that label. They had one more kick at the can in 1967 for the small Winchester Records with Flashback/Mary Jane (Winchester 1001). Finding those non-album Decca sides and the Winchester cuts on CD is so far impossible and the probability of ever seeing them in such a compilation is negligible. Which makes me wish CD Baby had expanded their CD with bonus tracks. - Reviewer:  George O-Leary - Amazon

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