Episode #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