Monday, February 18, 2008

I'M STEPPING OUT OF THE PICTURE


Listen to I'M STEPPING OUT OF THE PICTURE by Johnny Maestro.

Yes, we're stepping out of the picture, and Stuart is stepping in.

I picked this song less for the symbolism than because I really love it, and I owe it to Stu that I know it. On one of his Northern Soul comps that I borrowed back in the day, this song was buried down on Side 4, but I got attached to it immediately.


It prompted a pretty long search for more songs by Johnny Maestro, but I never found a whole heck of a lot, at least not much worth sharing. He was with an Italian guy from Brooklyn, and most of his recording were with a singing group called The Brooklyn Bridge, and had a minor hit with a Jimmy Webb tune, The Worst That Could Happen. Nevertheless, close readers of the blog will also know that they recorded a bombastic You'll Never Walk Alone.


So, thanks Stu, and the blog's all yours!

Photo: Snowy trees (1).

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7 comments:

Corbett said...

the worst that could happen is a great single seeing as they were a doo-wop group.

Corbett said...

I wish the Walkers had covered this tune.

Jason said...

Man. I Hate Hate.

Anonymous said...

"The Worst That Could Happen" hit #3, making it more than a minor hit. Johnny Maestro hit #2 with The Crests in 1959 with "16 Candles". "I'm Stepping Out Of The Picture" is a great song from 1965. Johnny Maestro sounds just as good today.

bill said...

Fair enough, its a strong showing, but "Stepping Out" is different class, thats all I was saying. I'll have to check out the Crests track, thanks!

Charlemange said...

I don't know where you did a search, but YouTube has a bunch of Johnny's songs with the Brooklyn Bridge and The Crests.

"The Worst That Could Happen" was the official anthem of the book "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche" back in the 80's.

The BB's first LP has several strong tracks on it.

bill said...

You're not kidding! For the benefit of our readers here is a youtube search of Johnny Maestro.

I'm off to do some homework...