Shazam or Shazam?

[negninegaw]

Someone mentioned “Eagle”; I always thought that somehow Marvin and Welch were modelled after Dan Dare and Digby...

[MeBHank]

Oh, and it's Shazam!. Don't forget the exclamation mark (same for Dance On!).

This site could do with a 'like' button at times, à la Facebook.

J

[MeBHank]

Duane played Shazam! on his UK tour in the spring of 1960 [i]before it had been released over here. It was a completely 'new word' as far as we in this country were concerned and I couldn't make head nor tail of it when he said the name on stage at the Finsbury Park Empire (I was scribbling down the set list on my programme).

Incidentally, I've done a little article for Pipeline Magazine about that concert (set list included), which should be in the next issue (No.97)
Ra[/i]y

Subject to whatever will eventually be in your article, Ray, I have to say that "Shazam!" was not a new word for some of us in 1960.

The word first came to our attention in an American DC Comics title, that is, one of the 10c imported titles which were popular in the UK from the 1950s onward. The character Captain Marvel, similar in some ways to Superman, was an "ordinary" person (Billy something or other) who could transform into his super alter-ego (Captain Marvel) when he exclaimed the word "Shazam!", in a similar way to how the ordinary guy in another comic changed into the Incredible Hulk by getting angry.

Magic transformation words were common devices in super-hero comics of the day. A different super-hero called "Marvelman" effected his change from man-in-the-street to Marvelman by exclaiming "Kimota!". The more observant reader will already have noticed an instrumental music analogy in that "Kimota" is the word "Atomic" spelled backwards (á la Marvin/Nivram), albeit with the hard C sound firmed up by being swapped for a K in order to obviate any possibility of the word being accidentally pronounced "Simota".

Even in the comics relating to the supreme super-hero, the "name spelled backwards" had a part to play. The Superman series, around 1959/1960, featured a character called Mr Mxyzptlk (pronounced "Mizyezzpittlick") who was from the Fifth Dimension. He wasn't an evil character, but a prankster who plagued Superman with jokes and stunts. The "McGuffin" was that anyone who had come from the Fifth Dimension could be forced to return there by being tricked into reciting their own name backwards. And the same was true in The Fifth Dimension for people from our dimension. A story featuring Superman in the Fifth Dimension had Mr Mxyszptlk trying to get the hero back to his own dimension by tricking him into reciting the names of the first three dogs in a race: "Nam", "Rep" and "Us". It didn't work, mainly because Superman's name wasn't really Superman. It was only when he was tricked into saying "Le-lak" that the trick worked and Superman was returned to Earth.

I'll... er... get me coat.

See my above comment. Grinning from ear to ear here.

J

[GoldenStreet]

The studio version is a different proposition. It's not trying to whip up a live frenzy, it's doing a pro job on someone else's tune. I think it's as tight as a drum and it's my favourite version. Do I hear the Paramor piano in there?

After decades of listening to the studio version and without being aware of it, I believe, Iain, you could be right about the piano on the repeated E-A-E section.

Bill

[JimN]

There is definitely a piano in the rhythm on the Shadows' studio version of Shazam!. Probably played by Norrie (check the sleeve note for the LP "More Hits!").

[Monty]

Re Duane Eddy's 'Travelling Rebels' keyboardist Larry Knechtel (who played on some later Eddy recordings too I believe) - In addition to all his sessions for the likes of The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel etc (where notably Larry came up with the memorable piano intro to Paul Simon's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' - which duly got him a 'label credit' on the S & G CBS hit single & was later faithfully copied by Alan Hawkshaw on The Shadows 1979 'String of Hits' cover) Larry also was keyboardist/guitarist for Bread (with David Gates - who also arranged some Duane Eddy early sixties RCA recordings), Jimmy Griffin, & drummer Mike Botts (who plays on John Farrar's solo album on CBS)

Larry Knechtel played the excellent featured lead guitar on Bread's 'Guitar Man' hit in the early seventies
- I've often wondered if David Gates wrote that song with Duane Eddy in mind ?

[RuneMoe]

I prefer the Kingston one...!
But on stage we try to copy the original studio recording.

[iefje]

The first version I ever heard of "Shazam!" was Duane Eddy's own re-recording of the track from 1979. Not long after, I heard the original studio version and around the same time, I first heard The Shadows' version. When comparing Duane's original and The Shadows' cover, I think they both have their distinctive sound. I do think The Shadows' version has more punch.

[Pierre TEODORI]

There is definitely a piano in the rhythm on the Shadows' studio version of Shazam!. Probably played by Norrie (check the sleeve note for the LP "More Hits!").

I agree with JIm, there is a piano each time on the gimmick : E E E A A A E

There's also a piano on The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt on : CC FEb CC (after the four bars of the drums at the intro, and in the end)

Regards

Pierre

[Iain Purdon]

That's right, Pierre, and it's a crucial part of the sound. I've yet to hear anyone reproduce it since, including the Shads themselves.