Milan the Leather Boy

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Milan the Leather Boy

Milan the Leather Boy

    Milan the Leather Boy

    Rock Artist

    Origin: New York, New York, United States
    Genres: Pop ·
    rock and roll ·
    garage rock ·
    psychedelic rock
    Years Active: 1962–1969
    Labels: Migon ·
    End ·
    20th Century Fox ·
    ABC-Paramount ·
    Brunswick ·
    Flower ·
    MGM ·
    Parkway
    Aliases: Milan with His Orchestra ·
    Milan ·
    Rick Rodell ·
    M. Rodell ·
    Milan Rodelle ·
    The World of Milan ·
    Breeze ·
    High Voltage ·
    Milan (The Leather Boy) ·
    The Leather Boy ·
    Associated Acts: Lou Christie ·
    The American Beetles ·
    The Chanters ·
    The Unclaimed ·
    The Doughboys ·
    Ice Cream ·
    The Licorice Schtik ·
    The Downtown Collection ·
    The Head Shop

    Milan Radenkovich[1] (December 15, 1941 – March 14, 1971), who was usually credited mononymously as Milan, was an American record producer, songwriter, and recording artist on numerous songs made throughout the 1960’s, mostly though not exclusively in the garage rock genre. He released an LP and numerous singles for six different national record labels and other independent labels (a total of more than 30 songs) under a variety of names, including Milan with His Orchestra, Milan, The World of Milan, Milan (The Leather Boy), and The Leather Boy,[2] and also worked under the name Rick Rodell. As a producer, arranger, and/or songwriter, Milan oversaw many other releases by a variety of artists ranging from the pop singer Lou Christie to the psychedelic rock band the Head Shop.

    Greg Shaw placed Milan‘s song “I’m a Leather Boy” as the opening track on two different albums in the Pebbles series: the Pebbles, Volume 10 CD and the earlier Pebbles, Volume 11 LP (which was also the first album to be released on his AIP Records label). He has written of Milan as being “a cryptic artist who made a series of high image records offering himself as some leather-clad, bike-riding rebel, but so stylized he might’ve been imagined by Andy Warhol. . . . The only name to be found on these records is Milan, a name that also shows up as writer/producer on a big pile of records, from the early 60s right thru the end of the decade. . . . But who was he? No further clue has ever emerged. This is one guy whose story really cries out to be told.”[3]

    CONTENTS
    Identity and Background
    Album, I Am What I Am
    Later Recording Career
    Producer, Arranger, Songwriter Credits
    Reissues and Other Sources of the Music
    Death
    Discography
    Singles
    – As a Recording Artist
    – As a Producer, Arranger, and/or Songwriter
    Studio Albums
    – As a Recording Artist
    – As a Producer, Arranger, and/or Songwriter
    Compilation Album
    Compilation Albums [11]
    References
    External Links

    Identity and Background

    Milan was born Milan Radenković, anglicized as Milan Radenkovich,[5] though the surname is rarely if ever shown on records attributed to him. However, he changed his name to Richard (Rick) Rodell while he was still in high school in Florida, and was often known by that name in the recording industry.

    Milan‘s father was an artist and a recording artist who used the name Rasha Rodell (or Rascha Rodell). He was a folk singer and guitarist who performed in the late 1950’s at the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.[6]

    Milan‘s older brother, Petar Radenković, is a former Yugoslavian–Serbian goalkeeper with the football (soccer) team, TSV 1860 München of Munich, who won the German Bundesliga title in 1966 and the German Cup in 1964.

    Album, I Am What I Am

    After a couple of early singles, Milan released an LP on 20th Century Fox Records in 1964, named I Am What I Am, along with two associated singles, “I Am What I Am” b/w “Over and Over Again” and later “Runnin’ Wild” b/w “Angel’s Lullaby“.

    The front cover (pictured) also includes “presenting a bright new star”. The album’s liner notes describe Milan as “a darkly handsome, six foot, 160 lb. twenty year old” with a “European musical background” and continue: “Milan is popular music . . . he lives it, loves it and understands it and refuses to allow the tendency to copy whatever happens to be in the top ten at the present time to influence his work” (ellipses in the original).

    The album is in the style of early 1960’s orchestral pop music records, instead of the garage rock and psychedelic rock recordings for which he is better known. However, some of the songs on the album, including “Runnin’ Wild” and “Spellbound” have the flavor of his later garage-rock classics.

    Later Recording Career

    As far as his persona is concerned, the moniker “Leather Boy” is certainly appropriate, since he is shown in several photographs in a leather jacket. Anticipating his pose on the single “I’m a Leather Boy“, he is shown on the back cover of his earlier album holding a guitar and dressed in what appears to be a faux leather smock emblazoned with “Milan” in stylized lettering. (This lettering was later incorporated into the design of the cover of the 2009 Hell Bent for Leather album).

    The rarest and one of the best of the singles by the Leather Boy, “Jersey Thursday” might have been first released as the B-side of a Milan single under the name of Breeze on Flower Records. Two other singles came out on this label, including another alias, High Voltage.

    Producer, Arranger, Songwriter Credits

    For the most part, the name “Milan” was used in his many appearances on disc as songwriter, arranger or producer; but there are many exceptions. On Milan‘s first single, “Santa’s Doin’ the Twist” b/w “Swing a Little Harder“, the songwriter is given as “Rick Rodell“. On his 1964 album, I Am What I Am, the songwriter is listed as “M. Rodell“; and on the first of the two associated singles, the songwriter is “Milan Rodelle” (with the surname misspelled in that case). “M. Rodell” is also listed as the songwriter and arranger on the Licorice Schtik song “The Kissin’ Game“.

    He also was the producer for both sides of a 1967 single “Bongo Bongo” b/w “Free as a Bird” on MGM Records – MGM also released some of his own singles – for an obscure girl group called the Chanters. He was also listed as the songwriter of “Bongo Bongo“. According to the programmer of the compilation albums Look What I Found, Volume 12 and Look What I Found, Volume 21 – which each included a re-release of one side of this single – “‘Bongo Bongo‘ sounds like [Milan‘s] ‘On the Go‘.”[7]

    A song by the Downtown Collection called “Washington Square” was included on Volume 42 of the same series; Milan was the producer on this record and also wrote the flip side, “Sunshine“.

    In a foray into yet another style of music, Milan wrote and arranged both sides of a single on Capitol Records for a bubblegum pop band called Ice Cream that was released in 1968.

    Reissues and Other Sources of the Music

    In 1983, Milan was reintroduced to the world in Pebbles, Volume 11 of the LP’s in the Pebbles series. This was actually the first album in the series to be officially released by Bomp! Records and was the initial LP on their AIP Records label.

    This particular compilation album starts off with both sides of a 1967 single by the Leather Boy, “I’m a Leather Boy” b/w “Shadows“; while “You Gotta Have Soul” closes the album. The former cut is an exuberant garage rock track that features actual sounds of motorcycles in the background that even Steppenwolf eschewed, while the latter is a passionate romp that has a similar gritty feel.

    “Shadows” – a thoughtful meditation on the remains of a failed romance – is a marvelous psychedelic rock masterwork that appears on the Pebbles box sets called Pebbles Box and Trash Box but is not otherwise available in the Pebbles series on CD. However, “On the Go” appears on the Pebbles, Volume 10 CD (this song also reprises the motorcycle sounds from “I’m a Leather Boy“).

    Greg Shaw of Bomp! Records expressed hope that an album could be collected of his work someday[8] – which finally occurred in 2009 when Hell Bent for Leather was released – adding that “what he did with Donovan songs has to be heard to be believed!”. The latter is a reference to the Leather Boy cover of Donovan‘s song “Jersey Thursday” on one of the rarest of Milan‘s singles.[3] However, in addition to those in the Pebbles series, Milan‘s recordings have been collected on several other garage-rock and psychedelic-rock collections.

    While not reaching the stratospheric level of artists like the Human Expression and the Outcasts (from Texas), the original Milan 45’s sell on a regular basis for elevated prices. For instance, between 2004 and 2006, the “I’m a Leather Boy” single sold at auction on eBay for $68, £15 and £27.[9]

    Death

    Milan died on March 14, 1971, aged 29, in New York, possibly from brain cancer.[10]

    Discography

    Singles

    As a Recording Artist

    As Milan with His Orchestra:
    • “Santa’s Doin’ the Twist” b/w “Swing a Little Longer”; Migon (#1962-A/B) – 1962
    As Milan:
    • “Innocence” b/w “Winter Time”; End (#1123) – 1963
    • “I Am What I Am” b/w “Over and Over Again”; 20th Century Fox (#487) – 1964
    • “Runnin’ Wild” b/w “Angel’s Lullaby”; 20th Century Fox (#552) – 1964
    As The World of Milan:
    • “Cry, Lonely Boy” b/w “Luva-Luva”; ABC-Paramount (#10718) – 1965
    • “Follow the Sun” b/w “I’m Cryin’ in the Rain”; Brunswick (#55292) – 1966
    • “One Track Mind” b/w “Shades of Blue”; Brunswick (#55298) – 1966
    As Milan (The Leather Boy):
    • “You Gotta Have Soul” b/w “My Prayer”; Flower (#F-100) – 1967
    As The Leather Boy:
    • “Jersey Thursday” b/w “Black Friday”; Parkway (#125) – December 1966?
    • “I’m a Leather Boy” b/w “Shadows”; MGM (#K-13724) – April 1967
    • “On the Go” b/w “Soulin'”; MGM (#K-13790) – August 1967
    As Breeze:
    • “I Get Groovy Feelings” b/w “Jersey Thursday”; Flower (#F-1) – 1967
    As High Voltage:
    • “Plastic People” (B-side blank); Flower (#F-2) – 1967

    As a Producer, Arranger, and/or Songwriter

    Lou Christie:
    • “How Many Teardrops” b/w “You and I (Have a Right to Cry)”; Roulette #R-4504 – 1963
    The American Beetles:
    • “Don’t Be Unkind” b/w “You Did It To Me”; Roulette (#4550) – 1964
    The Chanters:
    • “Bongo Bongo” b/w “Free as a Bird”; MGM (#K13750) – 1967
    Yorko and the Greek Strings:
    • “Snake Dance” b/w “Melancholie”; MGM (#K13751) – 1967
    The Unclaimed:
    • “Memories of Green Eyes” b/w/ “Jingle Jangle”; Philips (#30430) – 1967
    The Doughboys:
    • “Everybody Knows My Name” b/w “Candy Candy”; Bell (#678) – 1967
    Tiny’s Little Friends:
    • “God Bless You, Tiny Tim” b/w “We Want Him (Tiny Tim)”; Sunny (#S-103) – 1968
    Ice Cream:
    • “The Chewin’ Gum Kid” b/w “Epitaph to Marie”; Capitol (#2321) – 1968
    The Licorice Schtik:
    • “The Kissin’ Game” b/w “Flowers Flowers”; Dot (#17131) – 1968
    The Downtown Collection:
    • “Washington Square” b/w “Sunshine”; Strobe (#ST 351) – 1969
    Penny Candy Machine:
    • “Lollipop” b/w “Ode to Midnight”; Strobe (#ST 352) – 1969

    Studio Albums

    As a Recording Artist

    As a Producer, Arranger, and/or Songwriter

    Compilation Album

    Compilation Albums [11]

    “I’m a Leather Boy” –

    “Shadows” –

    “You Gotta Have Soul” –

    “On the Go” –

    • Pebbles, Volume 10 (CD)
    • A Journey to Tyme, Volume 5 (LP)
    • Garagelands, Volume 1 (LP)
    • Garagelands, Volume 1 (CD)
    • Wavy Gravy series[7]

    “Soulin'” –

    • A Journey to Tyme, Volume 5 (LP)
    • Garagelands, Volume 1 (LP)
    • Garagelands, Volume 1 (CD)

    “One Track Mind” –

    • Winning Sides, Volume 2 (LP)
    • Quagmires, Volume 3 (CD)

    References

    1. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1969, pp.88, 233, 309 (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ERQHgeMDHFUC&q=%22Milan+Radenkovich %22&dq=%22Milan+Radenkovich%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAGoVChMIjvD3kMTdyAIVi2sUCh38pgau). Retrieved 25 October 2015
    2. [1] Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2008 0522110032/ http://www.beatbehindthedykes.com/list01.pdf) May 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
    3. Liner notes, Pebbles, Volume 10 CD.
    4. “Artist Page” (http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/milan.the.leather.boy.html). Forced
      Exposure. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
    5. On-line article on The 1960s New York Garage Band Scene, by Mike Markesich (http://member
      s.aol.com/MidniteTo6/DFny60slist.html      ).       Retrieved 15 Oct 2006.
    6. Myspace entry on Harry Volpe (http://www.myspace.com/harryvolpe). Retrieved 10 October
      2009.
    7. “Look What I Found” (https://web.archive.org/web/20080330082427/http://www.geocities.com/d
      utronic/garbage12.html      ).       Archived from the original on March 30, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
    8. Liner notes, Pebbles, Volume 11 LP.
    9. “Leather Boy : Distribution of Prices” (http://www.popsike.com/php/quicksearch.php?searchtext
      =leather+boy&thumbs=&x=30&y=8      ).       Popsike.com. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
    10. “Milan – Hell Bent for Leather (LP) * 14,50 € @ Cheap Trash Records” (http://www.cheaptrashr
      ecords.de/browse/detail/004394/milan-hell-bent-for-leather-lp.html      ).       Cheaptrashrecords.de.
      1971-03-14. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
    11. [2] (http://comps.ugly-things.com/compsproject/bandname.php?&lifilter=1&sbandname=Milan%
      20%28The%20Leather%20Boy%29&sbandid=10450&&sboolwhole=True&ssource=related&i
      page=1&lispeed=      )

    External Links

    • Martin Winfree, “Milan”, Issuu.com (http://issuu.com/mmgould001/docs/ milanrickrodellakatheleatherboy)

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    This page was last edited on 7 July 2020, at 23:53 (UTC).
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