[NEohioPAL] Hang On Sloopy: Ohio's Influence on Rock & Roll

[ROSSPLANET at aol.com]

Green resident’s book reviews Ohio’s influence  on music history
By Dan Kane 
Repository entertainment  editor
(See REPBUZZ.com)

“Hang On Sloopy,” a  softcover book with 248 pages, is $19.99 and available 
from Borders Books and  Music and www.guardianexpress.com
It’s a blessing when someone can turn their  life’s passion into a 
livelihood. 

Take Nick Talevski, for instance. A  Green High School grad, Talevski is a 
diehard rock ’n’ roll fan who makes his  livelihood writing rock ’n’ roll 
reference books for other fans. 

Plenty  of his research can be done right at his Green home. “I’m a former 
record  collector. I have tons of vinyl (records), and a massive collection of 
rock ’n’  roll books and magazines,” Talevski, 45, says. 

His first book, “The  Unofficial Encyclopedia of the Rock and Roll Hall of 
Fame,” was published in  1998. His second, “Knocking On Heaven’s Door: The 
Encyclopedia of Rock ’n’ Roll  Obituaries” (2002), was later updated and retitled 
“Tombstone Blues” (2006).  

For his just-published new volume, Talevski has turned his sights  homeward. “
Hang On Sloopy: The History of Rock & Roll in Ohio” is a  fact-packed and 
enlightening tour through Buckeye music lore. It’s also a fast,  fun read. 

The guy doesn’t miss a trick, from the Alan Freed era in  Cleveland radio to 
the WMMS heyday to the city’s securing the Rock and Roll Hall  of Fame, from 
the most prominent Ohio recording stars to the most obscure  one-hit (and 
no-hit) wonders, moving though time, place and genre.  

Catalogued by Talevski, there is Ohio-bred country (Johnny Paycheck,  David 
Allan Coe, Earl Thomas Conley), hard rock (Tim “Ripper” Owens, Warrant,  the 
Godz), punk (Dead Boys, the Cramps, Pere Ubu), new wave (Devo, the  Pretenders, 
Waitresses), alt-rock (Breeders, Guided By Voices, Afghan Whigs),  soul-funk 
(Bootsy Collins, Midnight Star, Zapp), rap (Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony, Lil’  Bow 
Wow), folk (Phil Ochs, Richie Furay) and more. 

>From Stark County  alone, one can find the O’Jays, Marilyn Manson, Macy Gray, 
Joe Vitale, Marti  Jones, Relient K, Over the Rhine, Jeff Timmons of 98 
Degrees, LaFlavour and  Lovedrug. 

“People ask me, ‘How in the world did you research this?’ and  the answer 
is, ‘Very haphazardly,’ ” Talevski says. “From my background, I  already knew 
80 to 85 percent of the artists from Ohio, but researching the  remaining 15 
percent was pretty difficult. You can’t imagine how many minor  artists I 
stumbled upon.” 

Asked for an example of the latter, he names,  Little Miss Cornshucks, “a 
groundbreaking R&B artist from Dayton that very  people in Dayton know about.” He 
also mentions a little-known Uniontown native  named Christy DiNapoli, who 
founded the country group Little Texas.  

“I’ve always had a warm place in my heart for a lot of the Cincinnati  and 
Dayton soul artists, particularly the Isley Brothers, who have managed to  
survive for over five decades,” Talevski says. “It’s amazing to me how  
King-Federal Records never gets the kind of respect that Atlantic and Chess  Records do.
” The Cincinnati-based label was the home of James Brown and Hank  Ballard, 
among others. 

“One surprise about the book is just how many  soul and R&B artists have come 
from Ohio. That’s the longest chapter,” he  says. “Most of the current 
(Ohio-born) R&B acts — people like Macy Gray,  John Legend and the late Gerald 
Levert — tend to be in the field of retro soul  music. This state loves its old 
R&B.” 

Originally, Talevski, who has  a master’s degree in music history from Kent 
State University, planned his book  to be a history of the Cleveland rock 
scene, but when he learned about several  similar books in the works — including 
John Gorman’s WMMS memoir — he expanded  his focus to include all of Ohio. 

His objective? “To honor the musical  pioneers, the hit makers and those who 
defied stylistic trends that made Ohio  both a birthplace and proving ground 
of rock ’n’ roll.” 

The Ohio Hit  Parade 

“Love Train,” The O’Jays (Canton) 

“Brass in Pocket,” The  Pretenders (Akron) 

“That Lady (Part 1),” The Isley Brothers (Cincinnati)  

“Go All The Way,” The Raspberries (Cleveland) 

“Everybody Loves  Somebody,” Dean Martin (Steubenville) 

“Rama Lama Ding Dong,” The Edsels  (Youngstown) 

“Love Rollercoaster,” Ohio Players (Dayton) 

“Whip  It,” Devo (Akron) 

“Just Once,” James Ingram (Akron) 

“Walking in  Memphis,” Marc Cohn (Cleveland) 

“Cherry Pie,” Warrant (Akron)  

“All By Myself,” Eric Carmen (Cleveland) 

“Cannonball,” The  Breeders (Dayton) 

“War,” Edwin Starr (Cleveland) 

“Amie,” Pure  Prairie League (Columbus) 

“Funk #49,” James Gang (Kent) 

“I Try,”  Macy Gray (Canton) 

“I Know What Boys Like,” The Waitresses (Akron)  

“Be My Escape,” Relient K (Canton) 

“Give Me One Reason,” Tracy  Chapman (Cleveland) 

“Take This Job and Shove It,” Johnny Paycheck  (Greenfield) 

“Our Day Will Come,” Ruby and the Romantics (Akron)  

“Hey Man, Nice Shot,” Filter (Cleveland) 

“Bounce With Me,” Lil’  Bow Wow (Columbus) 

“Beautiful People,” Marilyn Manson (Canton)  

“Born Too Late,” The Poni-Tails (Cleveland) 

“Little Bit O’  Soul,” The Music Explosion (Mansfield) 

“Casanova,” LeVert (Cleveland)  

“Ordinary People,” John Legend (Springfield) 

“I Put a Spell On  You,” Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (Cleveland) 

“Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me For  Me),” Blessid Union of Souls (Cincinnati) 

“Nobody But Me,” The Human  Beinz (Youngstown) 

“The Hardest Thing,” 98 Degrees  (Massillon-Cincinnati) 

“Chick-a-Boom,” Daddy Dewdrop (Cleveland)  

“Green Tambourine,” Lemon Pipers (Oxford) 

“It’s Cold Outside,”  The Choir (Cleveland) 

“The Morning After,” Maureen McGovern (Youngstown)  

“Yummy Yummy Yummy,” Ohio Express (Mansfield) 

“He Can’t Love  You,” Michael Stanley Band (Cleveland) 

“Time Won’t Let Me,” The  Outsiders (Cleveland) 

“Sonic Reducer,” Dead Boys (Cleveland)  

“Precious and Few,” Climax (Cleveland)  




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