In the Neighborhood / The In Crowd

[robb_k]

Maybe my hearing is not so good but I always thought the the Imaginations 45 on Fraternity F1001 1967 "Strange Neighborhood)" is a take off of the Jimmy Ruffin original or very similar? Still a great record though.

I guess you're referring to the theme of the lyrics being similar. But the music is different as night and day from Motown's Sound on "In The Neighborhood". It's a LOT more like the orchestral sound of New York, developed by Bert Berns, Pomus and Schuman, sung by The Drifters, Jay and The Americans, with a slight resemblance to Show Tunes thrown in.

I like Jimmy Ruffin's versions of "On The Avenue" and "In The Neighborhood" best, and I like "On The Avenue" better than "In The Neighborhood". And that's unusual for me, because I usually like the original recordings of songs best, and the song was written first as "In The Neighborhood", and later "On The Avenue" was written as a more positive version, but also because "Avenue" rolls of the tongue more smoothly, even though both words have 3 syllables.

[paul_nixon]

I guess you're referring to the theme of the lyrics being similar. But the music is different as night and day from Motown's Sound on "In The Neighborhood". It's a LOT more like the orchestral sound of New York, developed by Bert Berns, Pomus and Schuman, sung by The Drifters, Jay and The Americans, with a slight resemblance to Show Tunes thrown in.

I like Jimmy Ruffin's versions of "On The Avenue" and "In The Neighborhood" best, and I like "On The Avenue" better than "In The Neighborhood". And that's unusual for me, because I usually like the original recordings of songs best, and the song was written first as "In The Neighborhood", and later "On The Avenue" was written as a more positive version, but also because "Avenue" rolls of the tongue more smoothly, even though both words have 3 syllables.

I also believe Avenue sounds a little classier than Neighbourhood