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The Fabulous Dudes: The Stories Behind The Songs
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For more information, e-mail paul@paulpayton.com.
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Please note: Our two CDs, the "Rob Carlson & Benefit Street" (What Cheer CD3345, co-produced by Presence, released September, 2011) and "Benefit Street - The American Dream" (PCD3301, released June, 2010), have their own websites (click on the titles above) where you can read about the artists, hear song samples, check out the photos and stories behind the music, and find links to buy the CDs and download songs.
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Presence 4502 and 4503 are The Fabulous Dudes’ total released output to date. There are many unreleased recordings, mostly originals and a few covers. Many will be included on "...The Kids Would Go Wild!", a new CD currently in production. 4502, “Davilee”/ "Go On" is out of print, and will not be re-pressed as a 45. 4503, “Ding Dong Darling”/“Bette Blue Moon,” is still in print; mint copies are available. Details by e-mail at paul@paulpayton.com.
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 | The history of “Davilee” is one of those tales of coincidence and “what if.” A group of friends used to sing it in the halls of New Rochelle (NY) High School in the early 60’s, but it was never recorded. I’d always loved the song, and felt it was an undiscovered hit, so when I ran into composer Pete Skolnik (now an attorney in New Jersey) at our 25th reunion, I asked him to sing it for me and send me the lyrics. Shortly thereafter, a demo was recorded and frequently played on local collectors’ shows in central Connecticut. I also sent Pete a copy, but never heard from him. Then, out of the blue, after a year-and-a-half of airplay on WWUH in Hartford, Pete called; he had never played the tape I sent him, but heard our version of “Davilee” for the first time while picking up his daughter from a prep school in a Hartford suburb. He had been surfing the FM dial, and out of 30-plus possible signals landed on me telling the first part of this story on the air and then playing the song. Talk about coincidence! “Davilee” finally came out on record two years later, when I had more time to devote to the record company; it got airplay all around the northeast and actually sold enough to make a couple of bucks profit! The rest is (a footnote to) history. The flip side, "Go On," is a story of how brave I wished I was back in high school! | | | “Bette Blue Moon” (two syllables, as in Bette Davis) was written for my wife, the inspiration for most of my happy music. (Someone like her comes along only "once in a blue moon," hence the theme for the song.) On a vacation on Sanibel Island, Florida before we were married, Bette and I drove past J. N. “Ding” Darling State Park (named for the famous naturalist and illustrator). “There’s a song in that name,” I said. “Don’t you dare,” she responded. Of course, the song just had to be written--and was. In addition to commercial sales, the 45 was a favor given to guests at our wedding in 1994. Both sides are uptempo and happy--as are we.
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Paul Payton
updated January, 2011
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