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Ram Jam - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Bear, Billy, Boar, Boost, Buck, Bull, Bulldoze, Bullock, Bump, Bunt, Butt, Chanticleer, Cock, Cockerel, Collide, Cram, Crowd, Dog, Drake, Drive |
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Ram Jam is the name of a 1970s rock band. Its members were Bill Bartlett (guitar), Pete Charles (drums) Myke Scavone (lead singer) and Howey Arthur Blauvett. Bill Bartlett was formerly lead guitarist for bubblegum group the Lemon Pipers while Blauvett played with Billy Joel in two bands the Hassles and El Primo.
Blauvett had also been a member of "Starstruck", a Cincinnati band which had recorded a song called "Black Betty" which had achieved little success. Ram Jam decided to rerecord the song with producers Jerry Kasenatz and Jeff Katz, best-known for their work with The Ohio Express and Buddah Records. The song caused quite a stir with the NAACP and CORE calling for a boycott due to the lyrics. Ironically, the song was first recorded by blues artist Leadbelly. Despite the controversy, the song reached number 18 on the singles charts in 1977 in the US and top ten in Australia while the Ram Jam album reached top 40.
A subsequent album Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram achieved little success. However, dance remixes of "Black Betty" in 1990 made the top twenty of the US dance charts and top 30 in Australia. Australian band Spiderbait has released a version of the song which has reached the top twenty in that country in March 2004.
Ram Jam is also a demoscene group mostly known for their disk magazines The Charts and Showtime. The group was formed in italy in 1989. 16 issues of The Charts was released before it was closed down. About one year after the last issue of The Charts the new magazine Showtime released its first issue. Showtime was released in 4 issues before it was handed over to the group Darkage.
Discography
- Ram Jam (album) (1977)
- Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram (1978)
- Golden Classics (1996)
External Link
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