Here is Chuck Conlon on two fascinating 1967 45s on Henry Stone’s Marlin label after leaving the Nightcrawlers and relocating from Daytona Beach to Miami. “I Won’t Tell” reworks the opening guitar line of “Little Black Egg” and adds similarly odd lyrics like “A teaspoon holds more than the fork does”, sung in the same naive style.

“You’re Comin’ On” has fine production, opening with distinctive percussion, allowing the bass carry the melody and keeping the distorted guitar as decoration. Though credited to Conlon and the Crawlers, I don’t know if any of the his former band the Nightcrawlers actually played on these songs. I’ve heard that Ron and the Starfires were backing him on some of these tracks.

The A-side of the second 45, “Won’t You Say Yes to Me Girl” is a pop gem. I don’t usually object to horns on songs but I wish the producers had kept to the simple arrangement of the intro for this one. The piano trills and organ are excellent and the trombone player’s solo lines blend well.

“Midnight Reader” is more obscure, an ode to introspection as far as I can tell: “He goes behind closed doors every night / all that shines is a small intensity light / there’s no one inside the room but him”. Another verse goes “All the persons who are drunk are asleep / he cares not if they leave him in peace”: the scholar surrounded by hedonistic students maybe?

Compare the opening lines to another that Conlon wrote for the Nightcrawlers, “A Basket of Flowers”: “She sits in a cell at the midnight hour / gatekeeper tied in the darkest hour / she seems so lonely there”.

“I Won’t Tell” entered the charts of Orlando AM station WLOF in April ’67 and reached as high as #19 in May. The first 45 was a Bard Shapiro / Steve Alaimo Production, the second credited to Marlin Productions. All four songs are Conlon originals, though “Won’t You Say Yes to Me Girl” is co-credited to Brad Shapiro.

Chuck released a few solo 45s that I haven’t heard about once every ten years beginning with “When God Comes to Call” in 1965, all as Charles Conlon. He also wrote “Eric Cleveland” which appears on a 45 by the Yak on Tooth 533 and Avco Embassy AVE-4514 with a cover of the Beatles “Every Little Thing” on the flip. I don’t know if he had any involvement with that group, it was pressed at Queen City Album Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio in August, 1969. There seem to be some unreleased recordings as well, including one titled “Poor Little Mixed Up Kid”.

Thanks to Joe Emery for suggesting this post way back in February.