The Cupons - Turn Her Down

THE CUPONS - Turn Her Down (1962)
Fans of the Girls In The Garage compilation series may be acquainted with this beautiful little piece of sweet and innocent girl group goodness. That's where I heard it for the first time. It's beyond doubt one of GITGs highlights and one of my all-time favorite 1960s recordings. I tried to find info on the group and if they had any other songs and maybe even track down a copy the original 7", if I would be lucky enough, just to find that nearly all Google hits lead to tracklists of the aforementioned compilation. Apparently no one seems to be even sure about the correct band name. After the origins of 'Turn Her Down' really baffled me for a while, I found out that the song was also included on a CD Compilation called Rare L.A. Tracks (listed as 'The Coupons'), which also had a tune on it performed by Materlyn & The Coupons, entitled 'I'll Be Your Love Tonight'. One thing led to another and I came across a fair amount of info....



'Turn Her Down' was released in 1962 by an obscure label named Impact Records as the B-side to the lovely 'I'll Be Your Love Tonight' by Materlyn and The Cupons. Both songs were written by Ken "Brother Love" Reeth (1938-2005) and Robert J. Hafner. It was also recorded by Emmet Lord the same year for the B-side to his single 'Women' slightly re-written as 'Turn Him Down'. Interestingly, both songs were also recorded by the Charades in 1964 (again both slightly re-written, the A-side retitled as 'Please Be My Love Tonight'), so you have a neat male counterpart release. I guess the song remained in relative obscurity until 1988, when it was reissued on the sixth volume of Girls In The Garage. Also around that time April March's band The Pussywillows also covered the song on their 'Spring Fever!' album.
Anyway, I have yet to see a copy of the original record (or a picture of it), which appears to be very scarce, actually the Impact Records Discography on Global Dog Productions is the only source suggesting that it does actually exist. There are still many questions left, like if Materlyn & The Cupons were an performing group or if they purely were a studio outfit. Or if said Materlyn was absent on the flipside, which would explain why that tune is credited to merely the Cupons on all the comps. Maybe some Girl Group aficionados can help me out on this.

Releases:
* Materlyn and The Cupons: I'll Be Your Love Tonight /
Turn Her Down (1962, Impact Records 028)
* V/A: Girls In The Garage Vol. 6 12"
(1988, Romulan Records, UFOX12) ("Turn Her Down")
* V/A: Girls In The Garage Vol. 2 CD
(1998, Romulan Records, UFOX12-2) ("Turn Her Down")
* V/A: Rare L.A. Tracks: Collection R&B & Doo Wop
(1999, Bacchus Records) (both songs on here)

other tunes from Girls in the Garage (some favorites):

SUNDAY & THE MENN - You Cheated (1967)
"You Cheated" was the flip to Sunday & The Menn only known single "Happy Happy Birthday", released on Sidewalk Records. Originally recorded by the Slades in 1958 then covered many times by other artists, most notably by the Shangri-Las on their second album, Sunday & The Menn turned the gentle doo-wop ballad into a fast-paced garage stomper with a charmingly shrieking organ sound.

LYDIA MARCELLE - The Girl He Needs (1967)
Lydia Marcelle recorded at least 4 singles in the mid-60s, one of them even for the Atco label. The superb "The Girl He Needs" was the B-side to "Come On And Get It".

THE CHYMES - Quite A Reputation / He's Not There Anymore (1966)
A&B side. The Chymes were a Los Angeles group composed of three sisters. Howard Kaylan of the Turtles discovered them.

JEAN ROBINSON - Weekend Blues (196?)
I have absolutely no information on this one. Anybody got a clue?

THE BEATLE-ETTES - Only Seventeen (1964)
Definitely one of the finest moments of Beatlesploitation commited to record: "Only Seventeen" is a pounding "I Saw Her Standing There" pastiche with a bit of "She Loves You" thrown in. They released two other singles I haven't heard yet. A common misconception about the group is that they were the Shangri-Las under a different name.

Thanks for reading.