One of Liberty's subsidiary labels, Dolton was home to two of Newman's earliest cover artists, the Fleetwoods and Vic Dana. Following 1962's "They Tell Me It's Summer", the Fleet- woods recorded two other songs that languished in the Liberty vaults until the 1983 release of their Buried Treasure album (Liberty 10199): "Who's Gonna Teach You About Love"and "Ask Him If He's Got A Friend For Me." The former tune, set to a catchy spiraling melody, defies straightfaced listening today in its earnest, fatherly tone and less-than-liberated theme; predictably, it is also one of Newman's earliest recorded efforts. The latter song makes playful use of the trio's interweaving vocals, with Gretchen Christopher and Barbara Ellis serving as a Greek chorus to Gary Troxel's questioning lead vocal. Neither song has appeared elsewhere.
The Fleetwood's fourth Newman cover, "Lovers Lullabye", appeared on their Sing For Lovers By Night album (Dolton 2020M/8020S); in what may be Newman's most brazen attempt at filler, he takes the traditional lyrics and melody from Brahm's classical "Lullabye" melody, rehashes a few extra verses and claims the sole writing credit for himself. Beyond belief.
And Vic Dana -- who, you may ask? "Without question....one of the few really shouted about new talents in the entertainment world today" his album notes will tell you. To be fair, Dana was a brief hot property at Dolton, churning out nearly fifteen albums before the gravy train ran out. For some reason, this Firestone tire salesman-turned-crooner has the dubious distinction of releasing the most Metric-period Newman covers (six!) of any male artist.
Dana's album "More" (Dolton 8026) features Newman's insufferably maudlin "My World" (sample lyrics: "I loved my little world/The school on the corner/The kids next door/And the little brown-eyed girl"); in Dana's reliably doe-eyed treatment, the song inspires nothing so much as slack-jawed wonder: why?
Dana does better on "Looking For Me", flip to "A Very Good Year For Girls" (Dolton 64). The song sets a small-scale, West Side Story-type scene (complete with finger snaps and bass intro) where a guy who fell for "Eddie's girl" looks for a way out as Eddie's gang closes in. The song is also treated well by the Walker Brothers on their U.K. EP I Need You (Phillips 12596).
Dolton had inexplicably issued an earlier version of its single #64, above, with Newman's "I Wanna Be There" as the B-side (identified as DO-727; "Looking For Me" is DO-731); while both singles' sales were too negligible to measure, the first is probably is the rarer of the editions. In the song, Newman tackles an offbeat theme: wanting to attend an ex-girlfriend's wedding, despite the feelings still carried for her. All set to a somewhat schmaltzy western arrangement.
On "Warm And Tender" (Dolton 92), Dana actually manages to croon steadily atop a galloping orchestral rhythm section (singing nothing too new or meaningful, but for uptempo fans, that's OK); like most of Dana's say-it-and-get-out covers, this clocks in at a Ramones-like 2:01.
Dana's final Newman cover, "The Name Of The Game Is Love" (from the imaginatively titled Now! LP, Dolton 2032M/8032S), may actually be the best of the bunch: a hooky melody, tricky upbeat tempo changes and Vic swings throughout. A triumph (at 1:59)!