Phil Spector - T.J.'s Theme - TV SHOW THEME ALT ACETATE SAL MINEO DAVE CLARK 5

$

900

PHIL SPECTOR- 

T.J.'S THEME

8" Acetate 

Produced and Performed by Phil Spector in 1965 - 1966 - 

Acetate Once Belonged to Record Producer Phil Spector 

TWO Sided 8” Acetate Disk with  one Typed Label.

Condition VG+

This is one of the rarest acetates discovered so far in the Apple Records/ Phil Spector Collection that I have been listing items from since February of 2020.

As many advanced Phil Spector collectors already know, the song “Down at T.J.’s” (or T.J.’s Theme) is a theme song of less than two minutes that was written and sung by Phil Spector for the specific use of being a theme song for a proposed rock and roll variety show called “T.J.’s” in 1966.

This acetate contains two alternate versions of the song “Down At T.J.’s” that are different from the only known video version of the song which is featured on the cuecastenets website. This acetate features two somewhat different cuttings of the song “Down At T.J.’s”

One version is on the label side of the 8” Gold Star and another version is cut on the non labeled flipside of this unique acetate. 

Both sides have a muted countdown (1,2, 1,2,3,4) that precedes the beginning of the music. This spoken countdown is NOT in the video version. Both sides of the acetate end with a DIFFERENT creshendo of instruments containing horns and DRUMS that is different from the cuecastenets  web site video version. In my opinion, the non labeled side ALSO has a hotter mix than than the labeled side.

The condition of both sides of the disk as well as the acetate label is a strong VG+    

This pilot television program was cohosted by actor Sal Mineo along with Phil Spector himself. The pilot program consisted of several musical performances by one 1960s rock group, The Dave Clark Five.

The proposed television show never had a second episode produced and the composed theme by Phil Spector was never released as a 45 rpm record because it was never intended to be released as a 45 rpm record at all!!!

The surviving video of this "T.J.'s" pilot television show reveals it to be an engaging musical variety show cast in the style of other 1960s rock and roll television shows such as Shindig and Hullabaloo. This television show featured an amiable young Sal Mineo acting as the main host. Sal Mineo was most famous for starring  in the iconic 1950s movie "Rebel Without A Cause" with legendary actors James Dean and Natalie Wood.  Phil Spector cohosted this show as well, contributing  the professional music producer analysis aspect of the program. This unique tv show also featured artistic 1960s modern dancing including a racially intergrated couple that was almost unheard of in 1966 television programming.

This is the first time that I have ever seen Sal Mineo perform as a variety show television host. Mineo was actually very good as a rock and roll dance television show host in a role similar to Dick Clark in the 1950s through 1970s iconic rock and roll dance program "American Bandstand"

Included also was a filmed segment of this television show featuring the rock band the Dave Clark Five cavorting on the grass of Phil Spector’s home. I think Phil Spector actually produced this television show.

This is the only known acetate, the only known record disk of any kind for this historically significant musical composition that was the theme song of what might have been a very groundbreaking rock and roll television show from 1966.

There are some background pops and crackles but nothing major. The music overpowers the minor background noise. This acetate plays well with no skips or jumps.
This acetate has no specks and is flat. There is one tiny chip on the edge of the disk that does not affect play.

_________

This is one music production artifact out of a highly important collection of acetates, test pressings, standard production records and entertainment awards from a collection that ranges from the 1950s through the 1990s and was owned by a highly talented and diverse individual who served in a number of jobs in the music and movie divisions of the entertainment industry from the 1960s through the 1980s most notably  including serving as a Executive in the Promotions Department of the Beatles' record company, Apple Records.  

 This individual also worked in the executive office of Phil Spector Productions in the early to mid 1970s.

Most of the acetates and test pressings in this collection had standard designated acetate labels but there are some from earlier in the audio review stage of record production that have no labels at all. Unlabled reference acetates have to be listened to on a record player in order to determine what they are. 

 This acetate was Phil Spector’s personal work acetate. I would say that this acetate was used for making decisions about the final mixes of the songs on the album or 45.

As I said, The former Apple Records employee who owned this acetate also worked with Phil Spector on a regular basis. I was told by this employee that Phil Spector would frequently discard record production materials, recording equipment and records once he no longer needed those items.  

This acetate came from the same collection of records and acetates as the A&M Studio Label Acetates that I sold last month on Ebay that were used in producing the “The Concert for Bangladesh” three record box on Apple Records featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston, Ringo Starr and Leon Russell.

Check my past and present listings for more rare Philles and Apple Records records, acetates and awards. 

This acetate will come with a Letter of Authenticity signed by myself. My name is Christopher Chatman of Beyond Records and I have been writing and dealing in rare  Beatles and Elvis Presley record acetates and extremely rare music memorabilia such as gold record awards since 1977. 

I have included an article in the photos that I wrote in the 1990s called "What is an acetate and why do they cost so much money? The article was published in the 1990 book "Goldmine's Rock N' Roll 45 rpm Record Price"