Our Radio Discussion Continues

June 25, 2019, 4:00 am

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Food for thought ... from every angle ...

I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the “Inside Radio” blog you posted the other day.

I might have mentioned this before — I went to school with Greg Easterling.

He and I worked together for a couple years at WPGU when we were both going to the U of I in Champaign. He was a year ahead of me, if I’m not mistaken.

If they did a poll of everyone who worked at WPGU in 1977, asking who on the staff they thought would be working in Chicago radio in 2019, I have a feeling Greg’s and my names would not have made the top ten. He and I were radio geeks, but we kept a pretty low profile back then.

Greg’s comments were quite accurate. That got me thinking. Oldies and classic rock fans and listeners are a loyal and intelligent bunch and passionate about the music. And they have definite opinions about what they like when it comes to music on the radio. Someday, perhaps in conjunction with a concert, someone should schedule a Q&A with the artist immediately following the performance — and, at the same time, they should have Greg (or another radio person — I wouldn’t mind doing it) up on stage fielding inquiries from the audience about radio. I’ve noticed that most of the questions and complaints about radio focus on the same things (e.g., rotations, commercial load, repetition), and those of us on this side of the microphone can explain the method-to-the-madness.

As I said earlier, at this point in the evolution of music radio, there really are no big mysteries and there are no accidents. Music stations — especially in the top markets — know what they’re doing. The industry’s best practices get copied by everyone very quickly.

Rick O’Dell

Me-TV-FM

I love the idea of a radio forum … especially if you and Greg BOTH participated …

(I had no idea that you two went to school together … what are the odds that those would be the two commentaries I would run that day!!!)

I could probably even convince Ron Onesti to put on such an exhibition at The Arcada Theatre in conjunction with some popular classic rock type artist … I’m just not sure how big an audience would respond to such a venture. (We may have to do the Radio Q&A FIRST so that people will stick around to see the main attraction! Lol)

But I think it WOULD offer up some good solid information and insight into the inner workings, as to the why’s, what’s and how’s, of radio, 2019. And who knows … some inspired questions from the audience just may open an eye or two on the OTHER side of the spectrum, too. (I have always adopted more of the “Why WOULDN’T that work” philosophy.)

Maybe Ron will see this and be inspired to seize the opportunity for a specific tie-in. (The upcoming Tribute To The Beatles’ White Album might be a good one … but I’ve got a feeling that that show will already run long enough all on its own with that incredible line-up of artists, featuring songs from The White Album along with their own, best-known hits!) Still, I’m sure we could come up with something between all of us! (kk)

And, of course, as expected, we got any number of responses from readers after our “Inside Radio” piece ran … mostly far more negative than positive (as might be expected) … but my motive all along for the past twenty years has always been “How can we make radio more interesting and exciting for ALL of us?” Countless times I’ve used the argument, when told people don’t listen for more than 20 minutes to an hour at a time, “Then give them a REASON to stay tuned in.” Give them something worth listening to … something to hold their attention … something to come back for and I believe people will come back to the radio. I especially feel passionate in this respect for the people of OUR age who listen to the oldies on Me-TV-FM and Classic Rock on The Drive … because we all grew up listening to the radio … it’s part of our DNA … and it truly does insult us when a station limits itself to the same 200-300 songs each day when we ALL grew up together, exposed to ALL of the radio changes that came along during this period. We ALL listened to ‘50’s rock and roll, The British Invasion, the soft rock ‘70’s, the disco era, the hard rock / classic rock era … heck, even the influence of that short country boom thanks to “Urban Cowboy” … we’ve heard it all … and absorbed it all.

I keep going back to Mason Ramsey’s adage … “Music Of The Ages” … because THAT truly is The Soundtrack Of Our Lives” that we all experienced … and I believe that, within the context of Special Programming, you can deviate from the norm now and again to offer up something different that isn’t always on the menu, every other day of the week. And I believe listeners will react and respond to those little surprises in a most positive way. But we’ll never know if we don’t try it.

(What I DO know is that I pushed for the very format that Me-TV-FM now embraces for nearly 20 years, trying to convince anybody who would listen that this concept would work if only somebody would give it a try … and low and behold, you guys have proven me right.)

Now I’m trying to get Classic Rock Radio to embrace the same concept. Boasting a library of 3000 songs and then only playing 200 of them means nothing. Most stations only roll out those other tracks for specialty weekends or A to Z countdowns. I’m saying mix that variety in on a regular basis and give your listeners a reason to stay tuned to hear just what the next surprise may be.

The Drive does this better than anybody else … they regularly run features that cause listeners to crack a knowing, satisfied smile and raise an eyebrow … because THAT works, too. (And their increase in ratings proves it.)

Unfortunately, most of that has been attributed to the whole new “gameshow mentality” that embraces the station. Listeners of OUR age … your CORE audience … are perfectly content with the focus being on the music … but The Drive runs a nice balance of both to satisfy both the listeners and the accountants … and in radio today, you really can’t ask for much more than that! (kk)

Thanks for the Greg Easterling email.

Truth be told, we boomers have consumed the ‘instant gratification cool aid’. How long do you wait for an app/email/link to open before saying “screw this”? Impatient comes with age.

I am currently listening to Little Steven’s Underground Garage on SiriusXM channel 21. Good stuff and good background.

Until LSUG, I had never heard these gems:

Blow Wind Blow. Jimmy Rodgers

Party’s Over. Strawberrys

Pack Fair & Square. J Geils

Sent from my iPhone with best regards,

Rich

I will agree that my tolerance for bullshit is WAY down these days! (lol) It’s frustrating sometimes … you can’t help fix something the other guys doesn’t think is broken, no matter how good your intentions are … especially when the ratings prove them right. (That’s not to say that there isn’t room for improvement in EVERYTHING we do. Lord knows I’d sure like to do MY job here better … but I also have to squeeze all of this into “restricted hours” … I KNOW I could do so much more if I only had the time, money and resources to do so … I would ALWAYS keep pushing for the limit.)

Then again, while some may say “Let’s not do anything to upset the apple cart when things are going well,” I’m inclined to think that the fact that things ARE going well ought to buy you a little bit of leeway to experiment with a new idea every now and again … test the waters, so to speak, and just see what else might appeal to your listeners. (While I get the fact that it may be the way of the world these days, the fact that you have to “bribe” your listeners to tune in make me wonder just how “loyal” a listener base you’re building. Back in the OLD days, we used to tune in to our favorites because we LOVED what they were doing and didn’t want to miss a beat. Today the focus seems to be much more mind-set of BUYING this listenership, almost as if to say, we know what we’re feeding you is crap, but we’ll PAY you to listen.)

Don’t get me wrong … this is absolutely NOT the case with either The Drive OR Me-TV-FM … BOTH stations provide QUALITY broadcasting and offer a blend of music that true fans love listening to. It just all seems a little bit “tainted” to me these days, the way it’s presented. (Then again, I’m one of those idiots who PAYS for Sirius / XM to hear virtually the same music everybody else is playing anyway … sans Little Seven, perhaps … I’ve heard REALLY good things about his program … will have to check it out one of these days.) kk

I read with interest your missive addressing song choices on oldies radio and mostly share your sentiments. I hear some obscure song now and then that I've never heard by some wonderful artist with dozens of hits and figure some kid DJ pulled out an old album, played it and said, 'Oh, boy! Oh, boy! I like that song!' and put it into rotation.

Meanwhile ... here I am, pushing 1000 and thinking, 'What inna...?'

So I remember back to a very old (hah!) lady of 50 raving about Big Band music and how it'd never come again and wah wah wah wah. (Voice over 'Peanuts' adults.) So I figure we've just moved up a rung and our music has graduated into the rich, recorded musical culture of this great land ... andtry not to mind.

(But I'm still griped about the CONSTANT Christmas season holiday music!)

Patti

When you say "Sweet Child of Mine" topped some Classic Rock charts, didn't you mean "Sweet Girl of Mine" by the Cryan’ Shames???

I was surprised by "Another One Bites the Dust" being a #1 on such a list. That song (along with "We Will Rock You") are two of the lesser Queen songs, as far as I’m concerned, as being GREAT. I love Queen, but there are so many better songs by them over those two. Certainly, "Play the Game" is one. Just because it doesn't fit the "sports theme" or TV commercial themes, doesn't mean it is not great. "Don't Stop Me Now" was a fave of mine by them until it suddenly was famous via TV. It was almost NEVER played when a single. "'39,""You're My Best Friend,""Now I'm Here" are fabulous, but don't fit the sports/commercial themes that make airplay of a different type. WHY classic rock plays "Under Pressure" or "Fat Bottom Girls” / “Bicycle Race" over "Keep Yourself Alive,""Killer Queen,""Spread Your Wings," or "Liar" are beyond me. They are playing the lesser GOOD songs in favor of the commercialized songs.

The Stones get similar treatment. "Miss You,""She's So Cold,""Beast of Burden” and "Shattered" get so much airplay over classics like "Start Me Up,""Angie,""Brown Sugar" and most of the 60's hits. WHY?????

Clark Besch

They play “Miss You” as if it was the biggest hit The Stones ever had. I have been concerned for years that anyone discovering The Rolling Stones for the very first time based on THIS song is just going to figure they were a disco band from the ‘70’s … which, of course, is nowhere near the truth. (Although I did hear that they performed an awesome, extended much bluesier version of the song at their Soldier Field gig.)

We hear PLENTY of Stones music here in Chicago … and it is all over the map.

The Rolling Stones currently have 74 songs nominated for our MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK SONGS list, which is considerably more than most of the other artists.

For the longest time, “Gimme Shelter” led the pack … but lately “Satisfaction,” “Start Me Up,” “Brown Sugar” and “Honky Tonk Women” have been raking in the votes, too. (In fact, “Satisfaction” actually overtook “Gimme Shelter” last week … it appears to be the ULTIMATE Classic Rolling Stones song.) If we tabulated the list today, The Stones would have an incredible THREE songs in The Top Ten … and two more to round out The Top Twenty, giving them a full 25% of the twenty most popular tracks. (Not even The Beatles have that … only one of their tracks made the cut (“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”), although “Here Comes The Sun” would currently come in at #21. The only other act with TWO songs in The Top 20 right now is Aerosmith.

But then again it’s ANYBODY’S game once the first official Final Ballot goes out on July 5^th… so be prepared to vote for YOUR favorites each and every day to help us determine DEFINITEVLY The Top 3333 Most Essential Classic Rock Tracks of All-Time. (kk)

>>>Neal Sabin is adamant about not streaming Me-TV-FM out of Chicago. I feel he is greatly limiting his audience with this philosophy but, as it has been explained to me, advertising to a market outside our local area benefits nobody … and those listening via streaming do NOT contribute to your overall cume when it comes to the ratings … so from that respect, I can see that there is no financial benefit to streaming. Still, they’re doing something VERY unique here and it’s working … why not share it with other cities who would KILL to have a station like Me-TV-FM on their dial. (kk)

I have a friend who is a firm believer in stations NOT streaming too because it "devalues their stick" or antenna. You drive them away from your main source.

I think they should have geo-fenced or blacked out their home markets when they started this. That way, they could stream worldwide but force you to listen OTA at home. But that cat is already out of the bag.

When #1 WBEB in Philly was singly owned, Jerry Lee would NEVER stream either. Now Entercom owns it and they are shaping up to be whores.

Still, I would disagree with Sabin for this reason: Me-TV does not have a city grade signal so even in the metro you have people who can't receive it due the "FrankenFM" dial position ... all radios simply cannot receive it. Streaming solves that problem … with crystal clear reception.

Oh well, I should have such problems.

JR Russ

WCFLChicago.com

In theory I like the idea of the local black-out … like they used to do with sporting events back in the old days … and then if the event sold out, they could run the game over the air for the benefit of all the fans who couldn’t or didn’t get tickets.

But you bring up a very good point …

A major downside is the fact that Me-TV-FM doesn’t offer a strong enough signal to allow you to listen all day long (which potentially WOULD increase ratings if you were listening to the live radio broadcast)

Add to that the fact that once you’re at work, you can’t listen at all … so now you’re listening to something ELSE instead of your favorite station … which COULD cost you listeners in the long run if they find something else that they like. How does THAT benefit the overall picture for the station?

We live in a different age where people get their entertainment thru alternate means that better fit their schedule. (Who would have EVER dreamed in the ‘60’s that we could “time-shift” of television viewing and never miss a single episode of anything if we chose not to!!!)

And streaming is a HUGE part of that. Truth is, there are PLENTY of Internet-Only stations that provide a better variety and wider range of music than ANY terrestrial station can ever hope to … and now, since I can’t get Me-TV-FM in my car, I’m listening to things like WCFLChicago.com and Rewound Radio thru my Bluetooth device … technically, I don’t have miss Me-TV-FM at all! (But I DO stream their Milwaukee feed both in the car and at work because I think they do a GREAT job with what they’re allowed to work with.) And, I just really like these guys! (kk)

Hi Kent,

Regarding Greg’s comments from the Drive … I grudgingly understand what he is saying, which is basically that people want to hear the same songs over and over.

I personally don’t know who wants to hear Stairway to Heaven that often, but so be it.

The point he misses, I think, is that if you gave people something else, they just might go for it. Throw in the occasional song that didn’t make the top 10 and people will be more interested. Not much of a deviation from their agenda, but it sure would be interesting for many of us.

The point I take most exception to was his point that when legacy bands like the Stones, the Eagles, etc. put out new albums, no one buys them. That’s because radio doesn’t play them!

All those old bands’ new music gets ignored by classic rock, the same stations that will play all their “hits” again and again. You can hear “Night Moves” all day long but a new Seger song? Nope. That’s not gonna happen.

That’s not the listener’s fault … it’s that radio chooses to ignore the older artists in favor of newer names. Very sad and very wrong. A lot of people don’t even know there’s new music by some of their favorite artists.

So it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. “The older artists’ new music doesn’t interest our listeners”. Yes, that’s because you’re not giving it to them. When McCartney got “some” traction with new music last year, his album went to No. 1.

But they all do it. Even “the River” type formats, “alternative”, will play one song from a new Springsteen album for a few weeks and they’re done. I remember when all of his new songs from an LP got played on the radio. Radio seems to assume everyone wants to hear Imagine Dragons and young bands and not new music from Cheap Trick, The Stones, Bruce, and other “older” artists.

Imagine if a classic rock station played “Surrender” and then followed it up with a new song by Cheap Trick. What an idea! I know, I’m dreaming but I don’t know why that’s so difficult to fathom.

I totally agree … even if it’s just within the context of “New Release Fridays” or something where throughout the course of the day they feature let’s say four tracks from the brand new Springsteen / Stones / McCartney album … and then take feedback from their listeners … What did you think of this one? Which one should we play again? Which one(s) should we add to the play list? SO much new music is being ignored, even by some of the biggest names in the business. (Part of that is owning up to the fact that you are essentially playing Dinosaur Rock. We fought this whole “labeling” issue with Oldies … you couldn’t use the word … because you were calling your audience “Old.” WTF!!! Face the facts … if people are tuning in to Me-TV-FM or The Drive, your audience IS old!!! It’s the music … this timeless music … that makes them feel good again … young again … don’t tiptoe around it … EMBRACE it!!! (You wouldn’t exist without it!) And that’s the cold hard facts … so play to your audience … because odds are, they’re just like you! They’ve heard it all and they’ve seen it all … and they know what they like. Give it to them. Be that one station in town that’s playing This, That and The Other! (kk)

Who listen to the radio?

Certainly not me.

I might be more inclined if they played the above song, by the Sports.

Greg’s and Rick's comments in today's (6/19) FH posting pretty much confirmed what I've suspected for years ...

It's not all about the music.

Consultants have brainwashed programmers, who have brainwashed talent, who have in turn brainwashed their listeners.

To me a couple of the WORST features are Two Fer Tuesday and tracking album sides. Let's be honest … how many albums are all killer / no filler?

More than one programmer has stated the audience wants all the hits, all the time. I may be a minority, but how about none of the hits, all of the time?

Yes, there are great new songs by "classic" and new artists that aren't top 40, but you'd never know that listening to the radio.

Programmers use the excuse that it doesn't test well.

Have you ever participated in one of these? I have.

I don't know about you, but there had better be the music hook of all time in that 5-10 second time frame for me to say this song is the best thing I've heard all year. Whoever thought Two For Tuesday was a good idea, should be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail. Not only do you get one song by an artist you've heard a dozen times that week already (and it's only Tuesday), but now you get to hear two more. Lucky us.

I'm quite aware that there are music fans out there who simply can't get enough of their fave rave. I know, and I'm sure others know, people whose entire house or apartment is a shrine to their fave(s). My music memorabilia business depends on them!

My attitude is that a station should let the music do the talking.

I don't want to hear endless promos about “stay tuned for such and such feature at five.” In the time the jock wastes babbling about it, that time is better spent giving some background on the music and the artists they’re playing. Besides, regular listeners know the station's programming schedule, and new listeners will learn.

Personally, I like money, just as much as anyone else, but if a station has to resort to bribing me to listen, you've lost me.

A dear friend of mine listens to WDRV almost 24/7, just to guess the artist. She'll call me up just to make sure she's got it covered. She usually does, but she always seems to be caller #6, when you need caller #7. It's easy enough to guess when your playlist is only 250 songs. It's just a matter of timing.

Greg talks about the days of Chickenman, Uncle Lar' and Little Tommy and how they're not coming back. I’ve got news for you, Greg, although you already know it … classic rock is next.

Does WDRV play anything released after 1992? Much like we have aged out of top 40, your audience will age out of classic rock if only because they'll be dead, much like many of their music heroes. Many of our kids will carry on the tradition, but why didn't they carry on oldies?

Part of it is because we associate the music with a certain time in our lives. In a few weeks, there will be events celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Your kids weren't glued to the TV like many of us were that night. (I wasn't as I had a hot date!) Ms. Jack was all of three years old then and has no memory of it, other than it happened.

Certainly, the music is timeless, but it's also running out of time.

It's not all about the music … it's all about the money.

Greg is correct in his assessment of forgotten radio stations. However, he is missing an important point.

It's just a matter of luck that WDRV is still standing and WLUP isn't. Sooner or later Greg, you'll retire after a long career in a business that can be cutthroat. The same will be true for many of your contemporaries. You'll get a nice write up in Robert Feder's column and you'll. ride off into the sunset. The same goes for Rick.

But then what?

Some consultant will convince station management that heavy metal polka music is the format of the future, and we'll be inundated with music by Polka Floyd (there really is such a band!), and more. The circle starts anew.

Jack

Well, I, for one enjoy the little diversions that specialty features like Two For Tuesday and Album Sides Weekends bring to the table … they break up the monotony of what’s being played the rest of the time.

(Although I would be the first to admit … and have said so many times in this column … the Two For Tuesday feature needs more variety and imagination. You don’t HAVE to play ten tracks by AC/DC in eight to ten hours … break it up a little and save some of those other tracks for NEXT Tuesday. Sometimes it feels like the station pulled out twelve Greatest Hits CDs and then just played them, two tracks at a time, all day long … making sure that throughout the course of an 8-10 hour work day we all get to hear ten tracks by AC/DC, ten tracks (or more) by Led Zeppelin, ten tracks by Van Halen, ten tracks by Aerosmith, ten by The Rolling Stones with another eight tracks each by Bob Seger, John Mellencamp, Bon Jovi, The Cars and The Who thrown in for good measure.)

I could even accept Triple Play Thursday and Four For All Friday if they just mixed up the variety a little bit … think about how many “new” tracks you could feature within this context … and still slip in that obligatory “can’t live a day without it” track that listeners are apparently so starved to hear.

(Think about this for a second … “More Than A Feeling” by Boston … one of the most over-played tracks on radio today … came out in September of 1976 … that is almost exactly 43 years ago. If I have heard this song AT LEAST one time I day EVERY DAY since then … and I truly do believe that I have, and probably more … that means that I have heard it AT LEAST 15,695 times since it came out (not counting the times I’ve played it myself on vinyl, cassette and CD.) Is there really ANYBODY out there that TRULY believes that your most loyal listeners will tune you out and potentially not come back because they can’t live a single day without hearing it again??!?!?) C’mon, Radio … DO THE MATH!!!

SO many of these songs have worn out their welcome … give it a rest for awhile and slip in something else … so that we can APPRECIATE this song again the next time it comes back on. (For the record, “More Than A Feeling” currently ranks EIGHTH on our 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL ROCK TRACKS List, just behind “Gimme Shelter” by The Stones and just ahead of “We Will Rock You” / “We Are The Champions” by Queen … and yes, it deserves to be there … it has earned its spot thanks both to airplay and love and devotion … but we DON’T need to hear it EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!)

I agree that there are VERY few albums that I’ve EVER been able to listen to all the way through … that is why I continue to thank The Music Gods on a daily basis for the advent of the CD … where I can program EVERYTHING I want to hear. iPod mentality at its finest I guess.

But within the context of “Album Sides Thursday” you get the chance to hear some “deep tracks” in the TRUE sense of the word that you just don’t get to hear on a regular basis anymore … tracks that YOU grew up listening to and loving that are part of your DNA … most often songs that you aren’t going to hear at all unless YOU play them for yourself at home or in the car.

So yes, I welcome promotions like this.

Next time you listen to Two For Tuesday, try and guess the second song.

Next time you listen to The Drive’s A to Z, try to guess the next song title alphabetically.

It makes for a much more fun and challenging listening experience. (Like you said, you already know all the songs anyway, right? Wrong! Give it a shot and see how many times you guess wrong! Betcha it’s at least half … and this come from experience … and I’m pretty damn good at it!)

I like things like we’ve pushed before on The True Oldies Channel … things like A-Sides and B-Sides (which doesn’t work as well within the context of Classic Rock Radio.)

But how about First and Foremost … where you play an artists’ first hit followed by their biggest hit … or a Before and After feature where you could play something like “Yesterday” and then a McCartney solo track. In the context of a Four-For-All (which is often the concept of a Block Party Weekend … betcha those’ll be coming up pretty soon now that summer has started) … you could play four key cuts from the same album (that solves your “filler” problem) … or something from four different phases of an artist’s career … or, in yet another Beatles example, one song each by John, Paul, George and Ringo.

In fact, TECHNICALLY we have a Four-Day Weekend coming up right around the corner for The 4^th of July …

Here’s a challenge for the deejays and programmers on our list …

Come up with a 4-Way / 4-Day 4^thof July special …

Whether you go 24/7 or sprinkle in one 4-Play every hour, you can keep listeners tuned in all weekend long wherever they are and whatever they’re doing. (Why not provide the perfect musical background for their 4^th of July cook-out?)

Want help with this? I’m happy to pitch in.

Kick it around … one 4-Play every hour for the entire 4-Day 4^th of July Weekend!

VARIETY … that’s what’s missing these days … and I like variety … and I’d be willing to betcha MOST people listening to the radio do, too … but we’ll NEVER know if we don’t at least TRY it and see what kind of feedback you get.

Which goes back to my earlier point … if things are going well, do you just continue to coast along (because the only way from there is down) … or do you try and find the next “niche” that’ll continue to help YOUR station stand apart from all the other cookie-cutter stations on the dial … in EVERY city … from coast to coast. (kk)

↧

Another Shelley / Hermits Review

June 26, 2019, 4:00 am

≫ Next: THURSDAY THIS AND THAT

≪ Previous: Our Radio Discussion Continues

Well, sort of ...

Shelley takes a whole different approach to the concert this time around ...

Read ... and enjoy!

SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER!

I am heading to my old haunt: The Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino. Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone will be there along with a group of my close friends. Peter and his Hermits have been here so many times before and many of those times, so have I. So what has changed?

Nothing … and Everything.

I get in line, holding places for Ken Michaels and his lovely family, who will be meeting me there. Ken and I work together, but he is also the creator and host of Every Little Thing, a Beatles syndicated radio program. Ken has the vertical depth of knowledge specifically Beatles related. He can answer such questions as “On what date was the third song on the fifth US Beatles album accepted as completed?” I am still counting album numbers after he finishes answering. On the other hand, I have the horizontal width of The British Invasion and 60s music that interrelates in a web of synchronicity and overall tone of the times.

We are still talking about the groups who are touring, why they are still touring and my observations about finding brand new concert attendees at every show. These new people are the ones who keep the demand for singing the number one hits in every show. “I haven’t seen them since I was 15.” “My parents/grandparents played their songs.” “I grew up on them.”

OK, the show is starting. What will happen tonight?

Ken’s wife, Joanne, says to me. “You have British flags in your bag!” The obvious response is, “You don’t?” One must see some flags waving in the audience during ‘Vindaloo’ as the Banned emerges onstage.

Incredible high energy! Audience participation in song AND dance. Unexpected songs for the sound lady and the expected person or two who should have stopped drinking an hour ago.

When I give reviews of hotels, they ask me, “Were the croissants extra flaky?” “Was the bed super comfy?” Let me use this genre to change up my review style.

Was Billy Sullivan extra twerky?

Did Vance Brescia find victory in the kick competition?

Did Peter Noone provide lyrical revisions?

Was Dave Ferrara tamed, like Samson, when his hair was cut?

Did Rich Spina get a leg up on the keyboard solos?

Have the sound and light crew begun therapy?

Did I find joy in attending?

I was at home here. I was sitting with friends and co-workers who share my passion for music. I knew the players and they knew me.

BAM BAM BAM! The three opening numbers begin: ‘Something Good,’ ‘Wonderful World’ and ‘Love Potion #9’. During this last number, I turn to Ken and tell him, “I’m pretty sure that he ‘licked a croc’ that time.” (as opposed to ‘kissed a cop’). And so the lyrical revisions begin. YES, Peter Noone DID provide lyrical revisions to the songs.

The ninth and tenth songs provide answers to two more review questions. ‘Sea Cruise’ was performed on the opposite side of the stage from where we sat, but I could hear Rich Spina wailing away on the keyboards and was able to observe his signature ‘two hands, one foot’ playing style that completes this beachy tune. So YES! Rich Spina got a leg up on his keyboards.

‘Just A Little Bit Better’ was halted in the middle so that Vance Brescia could redo his running kick segment … just Peter throwing curve balls from the stage. You have been to many concerts, you think you know what is coming next, and then … you don’t. Adding to this song is a gentleman in the audience standing up and kicking along with Vance during his standing kicks with Billy and Peter. What to do? Have a KICK OFF! This was happening right in front of me and I was laughing so hard as this gentleman throws himself into the contest, giving Vance the challenge that Billy Sullivan never did, and ultimately seeing Vance throw his hands in the air, concede defeat and leave the stage. (Honestly Vance, you won) So NO! Vance Brescia did not find victory in the kick competition … but he returned and the Banned played on.

“Let’s do ‘Hold On’!” shouts the leader from the stage. “I don’t have that song on ANY of the lists here,” mumbles the Sound Girl in distress. Lights start flashing wildly, agreeing with the notation from the sound board. IT WAS GREAT! Only Peter and the Banned knew what was happening. (yes, I question that statement, too, but …) Ad-libbing their way through the song, Mohegan stage crews rocked it! So I DON’T KNOW! Maybe sound and light crews have begun therapy, after the valium wore off.

Dave Ferrara is still Samson as he dislocates every joint in his body playing ‘For Your Love’. He looks tamed, but the Wildman within emerges at that drum kit. Based on this observation when his hair is short, and remembering what happened with Samson when his hair grew back, I suggest warnings be put on all future concerts. NO! Dave Ferrara is not … and will not be tamed.

As I have heard in previous concerts, “pizza and fajitas” were delivered to your door in ‘For Your Love’. And ‘high definition TV’ and ‘make you go blind’ can be results in ‘Glad All Over’. Lyrical revisions galore. Some of the audience catches them, some do not. It is a great game.

It is Freddie and the Dreamers’ fault that no one can stand still when ‘I’m Telling You Now’ is heard. They did The Freddie in concert and encouraged us all to join in. Billy Sullivan takes center stage with The Freddie, adding conga moves, and modernizing the song with a twerking session. It was twerking intensive! NO! Billy Sullivan was not extra twerky, he was intensely twerky, above expectations.

As ‘Hush’ ends, Ken refers to the cover songs, etc. we heard tonight. “He represents the whole British Invasion.” That is purposeful. To honor those who cannot perform anymore, or choose not to perform anymore and also to admit the inter-connections between the bands; Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone will bring stage performances to LIFE for “another 10 years.”

I went for the joy of it. YES! I found it.

Shelley J Sweet-Tufano

Watch for two more brand new Reader Reviews on Friday!

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THURSDAY THIS AND THAT

June 26, 2019, 4:00 am

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Hi Kent:
The lively art of radio-related conversation! Some solid back-and-forth in your blog today.
You brought up this point:
>>>I’m inclined to think that the fact that things ARE going well ought to buy you a little bit of leeway to experiment with a new idea every now and again … test the waters, so to speak, and just see what else might appeal to your listeners. (kk)
Things don’t work that way, I’ve learned over the years. A station riding a crest of popularity is less likely to take risks than a station that isn’t. It makes sense. Because you’re doing well, you don’t want to do anything that might alter the course. By its very nature, experimentation means adding risk, and a successful station isn’t going to do that, especially not in this hyper competitive climate.
Do you want a station to try something different? Got an idea that pushes the envelope? Make your suggestions to a station that’s not doing well. A recent case in point is, well, my station, MeTVFM.
When Weigel Broadcasting took over the programming of 87.7 WGWG in 2015, the station was barely registering in the ratings. It had less than a 1.0 share at the time Weigel introduced the MeTVFM format. Weigel essentially was able to start out with a blank slate and the benefit of having nowhere to go but up — a much less risk-averse scenario than you usually encounter today in radio. Weigel had a lot less to lose, going with something that hadn’t been tried before.
And, if you go back to the ‘70s, think of the last few years of the epic AM battle between WLS and WCFL. In the middle 1970s, WLS Musicradio had become the clear Top 40 leader in town. And, by 1975, Super ‘CFL was really scuffling. That’s when WCFL started doing some things that visitors to Forgotten Hits often talk about in very positive terms: playing album versions of songs and expanding the playlist, for example. At the same time, they launched the “Super ‘CFL Change Line,” and started actively soliciting suggestions from their listener base. While this was going on, WLS hunkered down and stayed the course, continuing to play nothing but the hits.
The lesson here is that the market leader is much less likely to try something different. They have too much to lose.
Rick

Repeating songs over and over has always been a complaint.
Back in the day, I was told it was to maintain what ratings called 1/4 hr shares. How many people listen for 15 minutes. If you bought that concept, then the reasoning was the listener would want to hear the biggest song within that 15 minute listening period, so repeat the biggest songs over and over.

Then audience “research“ showed that some songs, even if they were hits, “didn’t test well,” so they were dropped.
These days I think it’s fear of taking chances that prevails a lot of music radio. Plus, with consolidation, there aren’t management types who have time to figure it out because they are in charge of multiple stations and don’t have the time or resources to do so.
As far as streaming goes, it’s my view that when stations figure out how to make money doing it, they’ll all be streaming.
One other thing ...
I would love to get back on the radio and play this music but so far no takers.
Keep up the good work.
John Records Landecker

It’s an absolute crime that a talent like John Records Landecker is off the air. Here’s a guy who could be entertaining the crap out of people every morning (and Lord knows that people of a certain age can use all the crap-inducement possible in the morning!!!)
There must be SOMEBODY out there that would KILL to have this kind of talent on their station. (Talk about turning things around!)
Believe me, we’ve mentioned it to several people … but in this day and age of more and more automation and jock-less programming (no chafing jokes please!), it just doesn’t seem to be the norm anymore.
Sure, you could voicetrack an entire week of programming from Indiana and beam it to whatever city(cities) willing to participate … but it still wouldn’t be the same. What made The John Landecker Show work was the interaction between disc jockey and listener … they spurred each other on, creating an entertainment that all bystanders could listen to and enjoy. You just don’t hear that in radio anymore today … and it’s a shame. The “personality” radio that we all grew up with and responded to is gone … and it’s a medium that should have never become extinct. The finely-tuned craft of spontaneity and interacting with your listeners have been replaced by, for all intents and purposes, a computer that can give the time and temp four times per hour … and not much more.
Maybe people don’tlisten to the radio as much anymore because radio just isn’t the radio anymore. (kk)

Kent,
Reading the various opinions on programming got me to thinking about MY preference.
As a retired psychologist, I know that people are generally drawn to the familiar but, especially in this fast-paced technological world, they are also easily bored with repetition.
My idea for an oldies / classic rock station would be one that DOES NOT PLAY any songs that made the top 10 and focused on the songs that we are all familiar with but do not often hear.
I, for one, would much rather hear Turn Down Day than Red Rubber Ball, Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne rather than Brandy, and It’s Up To You, Petula rather than Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes.
How many times do you hear a not-often-played song come on and reach down to turn up the volume? And, conversely, how often do you find yourself feeling down because you haven’t heard Rocket Man enough?
Wouldn’t it be nice to listen to the radio and wonder “What will they play next”?
Is anybody out there listening?
Bob Verbos

In one of our previous discussions somebody suggested that the PERFECT playlist for Me-TV-FM would be “only songs that the other stations don’t play.” If that doesn’t indicate in some fashion that listeners are tired of the same old, same old, day in and day out, I don’t know what does.
Of course, that wouldn’t work either … as it would be a pretty limited audience tuning in. But the perfect balance between the two … the songs you HAVE to play balanced out by the songs you WANT to play (with good justification) creates the perfect blend. Me-TV-FM does, to the best of its ability, program that balance … plenty of WOW songs to go along with the tried and true. (Unfortunately there are still too many WTF songs brought into the mix, too.

Seriously, is there REALLY anybody out there that EVER wants to hear “The Gingerbread Man”again?!?! Or The Carpenters’ album version of “Jambalaya” when it was The Blue Ridge Rangers’ hit single version that made Chicago’s Top 5? How many Joni Mitchell or Gordon Lightfoot album cuts is the “average listener” going to recognize?)
It just takes away airplay that COULD be used to play songs that the audience actually will respond to … in a POSITIVE way, I mean!) lol (kk)

Hi Kent -
Your Forgotten Hits site is a daily destination for me these last ten years or more. I really enjoy reading what news the classic artists bring to the blog, but especially enjoy your passion for radio, and for the expansion of playlists on "oldies" or "classic hits" stations. I feel like a few stations in our area have heard you.
Here in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, we are absolutely spoiled by adventurous, beyond-the-normal programming you'd not expect to find on terrestrial radio ... especially on the AM band! These stations also stream online, so they are accessible to all.
WDGY, for example, plays 60's and 70's music … familiar and lesser known hits, with new ones constantly being added to the rotation (I’ve heard Glen Campbell's "Sunflower," The Mojo Men's "Sit Down, I Like I Love You" and Poco's "Indian Summer" for first time recently.) They play classic PAMS-style jingles, too.
KRFO offers a similar format … and lots of "oh wow!" moments.
WXYG harkens back to the underground FM days of album / progressive rock in a free-form style.
KUOM is the University of Minnesota's student-run station and plays mostly current college rock, much of which is more tuneful (and listenable) than you'd think!
KYMN plays album rock by artists you may have heard of, but not heard ... think Austin City Limits-type music, with a nice sprinkle of better known artist album tracks and you're close.
Best part ... I can pick up most of these stations in our 72 Gremlin with push-button AM radio! Now that's livin'!
- Mike Lane

Hi, Kent –
Having been a Broadcast-Band "DX nut" since 1963, I've listened to hundreds of AM stations (after dark), for the QSL cards and for the thrill of hearing radio stations up to thousands of miles away, even if only for the few minutes when the "skip" conditions are just right.
One incident comes to mind when, back in the 80s, I was listening to a weak signal on 1440 KHz around midnight that was playing a very rare 45, "You're the Apple of My Eye" by The Four Lovers on RCA (1956).
I'd never heard it on radio before. At first, I thought I was hearing WROK in Rockford, IL, but they're a daytime station. It turned out to be WJJL in Niagara Falls, NY, running about 50 watts nighttime power. I called the station and chatted with the DJ, who was a college student. When I told him that the group would later become the Four Seasons, he was astounded. Never know what you'll find out there.
I've heard a LOT of really great AM outlets in the US and Canada, and when it comes to fulfilling the needs of lots of folks, having varying tastes in "oldies" material, the station that always comes to my mind is "Zoomer Radio" CZMR, at 740 KHz in Toronto (it was CBL many years ago), a 50-KW monster that covers the midwest and much of North America in the evenings.
Their schedule, at: http://www.zoomerradio.ca/schedule, is filled with oldies programs to fit almost any taste, and they even run old-time radio shows. They'll surprise us with a super-rare piece on occasion, too. Their signal fades a bit, but with a good receiver, especially a car radio, it's a great getaway.
Mike
P.S. I've attached a short audio clip that answers the question that this blog has always asked ... (by the great Sarah Vaughan and written by the just as great Stan Freberg)

By the way, I just received this from a friend of mine. Perfect timing! Great reading for music lovers.
https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/musicologist-explains-science-behind-your-taste-music-ncna1018336
When it appears, click on "continue without subscribing."
Mike

Hi Kent:
Just take everything Commercial Radio has done for the last 40+ years and do the opposite. That should help fix things.
Or you could have a station that just played unscoped aircheck tapes! AM before 1972 and FM before 1976.

Ken
I’ve been encouraging JR Russ, who runs the WCFLChicago.com website, to include more airchecks from ‘CFL during their hey-day. It’d be cool to hear clips of Lujack and all of the other jocks sprinkled throughout the day … along with their Big 10 Countdowns, the Chickenman spots he’s currently airing, and all the music from the ‘CFL Era. I’m sure the readers of Forgotten Hits could come up with all kinds of vintage tapes we could use. (Isn’t it weird to think that the next new thing could be something that’s really 50-something years old?!?!)
Hey, we loved it … and I’ll betcha those folks that were there would love hearing this stuff again, too. Now we just need to find a way to finance the whole thing … and draw new listeners in! (kk)

>>>On November 14^thThe Drifters, The Platters and The Coasters are appearing at TheGenesee Theatre. (Now that’s kind of an unusual line-up for this venue … hopefully we can help to get the word out as there certainly is an audience for this music … although I can’t imagine that there’s a single original member left between the three of them!) kk
Hi Kent,
As far as the Coasters, the Platters and the Drifters go, there is only one original member left: Charlie Thomas of the Drifters. If the group doesn’t include him (and it will say so if it does), it’s bogus. The Coasters and the Platters are both bogus groups with no original members.
I wish promoters would be honest and divulge the names of all the members of all groups and state whether they are original members or not. If they’re not, they should state which groups they’ve played with.
That’s being open and honest.
What do you think?
John
Bowzer got the “Truth In Music” Act passed in most of the States YEARS ago … yet we still see this sort of thing all the time.
I don’t see Charlie Thomas’ name listed anywhere in the advertisement …
However it DOES refer to The Coasters as “Cornell Gunter’s Coasters.”

As such, I found this to be especially interesting:

From Wikipedia …
Cornell Gunter was an American rhythm and blues singer, most active in the 1950s and 1960s. He was born in Coffeyville, Kansas, and died in Las Vegas, Nevada, after being shot in his automobile. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 as a member of The Coasters.

The bio goes on to say that Gunter recorded with The Platters BEFORE they had changed their name to The Platters … and was not an original member of The Coasters but joined in 1958 to replace Bobby Nunn and Leon Hughes.

Not quite sure exactly how Cornell would still be involved if he died in 1990 … but that’s showbiz!
For that matter, Charlie Thomas was NOT an original member of The Drifters … but WAS around during all their biggest hit making years when they crossed over to the pop charts, beginning in 1959 when he joined the group (technically coming from The Five Crowns, who were rechristened The Drifters after the original group broke up.) According to Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles book, the new group consisted of Thomas, Ben E. King, Doc Green and Elsbeary Hobbs. (For the record, the original Drifters scored eleven Top 10 R&B Hits between 1953 and 1955.
None of those original members … Clyde McPhatter, Gerhart Thrasher, Andrew Thrasher, Bill Pinkney … were part of the reformed group that crossed over in such a big way to the pop charts.) The “new” Drifters, led by the vocals of Ben E. King, had sixteen Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits between 1959 (“There Goes My Baby,” #2), and 1964 (“Saturday Night At The Movies,” #18.) One of those (“Save The Last Dance For Me”) went all the way to #1 in 1960.
Fans purchasing tickets have a right to know just who it is they’re going to see. (Any member of The Platters, The Drifters or The Coasters, if still alive, would be well into their 80’s at this point in time … but it would appear that all key members are now deceased … so just who is carrying on the tradition? And shouldn’t it be billed as a “Tribute To” these artists, rather than the artists themselves?
I’m all for keeping this great music alive … it’s or main motivation here and has been for twenty years … but be honest with the public … because they’re spending good money to see something that hasn’t accurately and honestly been represented.
(As covered numerous times here before, with SO many of our original heroes having moved on, it’s virtually impossible these days to present much more than “A Tribute To …” whomever. Either that or we’re doomed to endure nothing but Hologram Tours from this point forward if we want to truly see the “original artist.” At that point I think I’d rather watch the real deal on YouTube videos!!!)

Promoters themselves help to fuel this fire … after running the recent plug for The Happy Together Tour, I shot over to the Paradise Artists website to see what they had to say about it and if there were any reviews posted.

While there, I found their radio promotion ad …
https://www.paradiseartists.com/artist/happy-together-tour-2019/
...which makes NO mention of the fact that Howard Kaylan, the lead singer for The Turtles and the guy who sang all the hits, will not be touring again this year and that the lead vocals will be handled instead by Ron Dante (of The Archies)

They also use the hit versions of the songs recorded by The Buckinghams (which featured Dennis Tufano on lead vocals) and The Classics IV (which feature Dennis Yost’s lead vocals, despite the fact that Yost passed away eleven years ago.)
It would seem to me that, at the very least, they should feature newly recorded song clips by the actual artists who'll be performing on stage to use in their ad that would better represent the artists actually singing with the band. (Carl Giammarese has been the lead singer of The Buckinghams for over thirty years now … HIS voice should be the one featured in the advertisement, rather than misleading listeners to believe that Dennis might be there for this show … because he won’t.) Same with The Turtles and The Archies.
Thankfully, Gary Puckett, Chuck Negron and the remaining Cowsills are all the real deal.
Don’t get me wrong … it’s a GREAT show … and you’ll have a GREAT time seeing it. I just don’t think they should be advertising the groups’ previous singers (Kaylan, Tufano and Yost) to lure fans in. (kk)

kk …
Regarding THE DRIFTERS … Charlie Thomas and the Drifters are a good group. I saw them at one of those outdoor concerts. Charlie is in his 80's and still sounds good. Charlie Thomas was a member of 1959 - 1966 Drifters and recorded with the group.
Regarding THE PLATTERS = Sonny Turner and the Platters is Okay. Sonny Turner replaced original lead singer Tony Williams in 1960. Sonny sang lead on these Platters Billboard Hits – 1966: "I Love You 1000 Times" and "With This Ring" and “Washed Ashore," both from 1967.
As for THE COASTERS, there are no original members still around. Original Lead singer Carl Gardner's son, Carl Jr., leads a Coasters group.
Frank B.
There is NO mention of Charlie Thomas, Sonny Turner OR Carl Gardner, Jr. in the advertisement for this concert. The ONLY name singled out is Cornell Gunter,who died in 1990 … so I don’t think he’ll be up there on stage singing “Charlie Brown” at The Genesee Theatre.
So to quote Butch and Sundance, "Who are these guys?!?!?" (kk)

Kent,
Some great memories of that M-OKY concert, I agree. Hard to believe that there was so little coverage.
So Barry was no longer with The Royal Guardsmen when their first non-Snoopy BIG hit (“Baby, Let’s Wait”) was yet to come, even ‘tho Barry sang and recorded it with them in 1966???
And how could all of these acts not fill a bus from Sheboygan???
Clark Besch

Check out the set list that the Monkees did that day ... It’s like a concert in itself without the others!!!
Clark

Hey Kent -
I noticed that you posted something on Forgotten Hits about a concert we did at Milwaukee County Stadium. I think it was 1969. I somehow missed the request for information from the various groups that played. For this I sincerely apologize.
We were fortunate to be on the bill at that venue, along with at least a dozen top acts of the day. If I remember correctly, it was rainy and wet, and yet there was still crowd of over 20,000 people that came to watch this show.
From what I remember, it was incredibly well organized, especially the stage.

The stage was in two parts and revolved. This way, the group that was playing was obviously facing the audience while at the same time, on the other side of the stage, the next group was being set up so that they would be ready to go for the next performance. When the first group was finished, the stage would revolve and the next group was on!
As I recall, they miked the drums and the amps and had four stage mic's for the singers. We normally used six mic's but we adapted to this by having Hooke sing on Jim Fair's mic when he needed to do backgrounds.
We went on right after The Bob Seger System. Bob played the drums and sang the lead. They sounded fantastic. I don't know if Glenn Frey was with them at that time ... I didn't notice.
I got to talk with Bob for a few minutes before they went on. He was a really nice guy and a great drummer. When they were done, the stage revolved and then we were on.
I truly don't remember how it sounded, but we were extremely well received. And I remember seeing an enormous crowd sitting and standing in the rain.

The concert lasted for quite a few hours. The groups came and went and not everybody was around when we went on. If I remember correctly, besides Bob Seger, Tommy James and the Shondells were there and they also sounded great.
The dressing room was just a huge open area where everyone could gather. This is where we met the Monkees. PeterTork was extremely friendly and very affable. Mickey Dolenz went out of his way to introduce himself and to make sure everybody was very, very comfortable. Davy Jones was a little more quiet, but still friendly. They in no way embodied a star attitude. It was just like they were long lost friends.
The Monkees went on last. They had a band of studio musicians with them and my recollection is, they sounded great. I will always remember how welcoming they were.
Hey, one other thing.
I noticed that you listed some shows that are coming up at the Genesee Theatre and you mentioned Three Dog Night.
I know that they're not the Three Dog Night that we all know and love, but one of the new singers is a guy named Dave Morgan. Dave was an original member of The Travelers. He was at the audition when I was hired to be the lead singer. He was a great keyboard player at that time. He still is and he's a super guy. If you have a chance to see them, make sure you go backstage and give Dave my very best.
I am sorry that I was not able to get this to you when you were doing your publishing.
Tom Doody
The Cryan' Shames

>>>Today you mentioned Fanny as being the first all female rock band when Goldie and the Gingerbreads, fronted by Genya Raven preceded them by a number of years. (Jack)
>>>I will admit to never having heardof Goldie and the Gingerbreads … (who?!?!) … so that’s technically not a mistake … just ignorance on my part (if, in fact, it's true ... they never charted so exactly who knew about them? And what year would that have been?) kk
Here's an all-female hitmaking band which clearly predates both Fanny and Goldie & the Gingerbreads: Ina Ray Hutton & her Melodears. Decades before The Grateful Dead started "Truckin'" and Creedence Clearwater Revival checked out "Suzy Q," Ina Ray and her girls were already there -- swingin' against the tide of all-male big bands. Born Odessa Cowan in Chicago, Ina Ray -- who died in 1984 at the age of 67 -- could truly sing and dance up a storm -- in the late 1930s! How old was Ina Ray when she recorded "Truckin''? 22.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vnt43jJeJU
Gary Theroux
"The History of Rock 'n' Roll"

Harvey Kubernik has written another excellent piece, this time on the 60^th Anniversary of Motown Records.
Too big to publish here … but if you’d like me to forward you a copy, drop me an email and I’ll send it along. (kk)

I enjoyed seeing your Top Instrumentals lists again.

http://forgottenhits.com/top_50_instrumental_hits_1955_-_1979

Got this from Jim Farber ... "Who Needs Lyrics."

While purely instrumental songs can be a hard sell in the pop world, some have managed to break through.

Here are some of the best:

1 - "TEQUILA" - The Champs (1958) = A Mexican-tinged rocker highlighted by a horny sax solo.

2 - "ALBATROSS" - Fleetwood Mac (1968) = This dreamy guitar cascade bridged British blues and Hawaiian music.

3 - "CLASSICAL GAS" - Mason Williams (1968) = An ideal nexus of fine acoustic guitar fingering and vigorous strings.

4 - "GRAZING IN THE GRASS" - Hugh Masekela (1968) = Featuring one of pop's coolest trumpet hooks.

5 - "TIME IS TIGHT" - Booker T & the MGs (1969) = Stax Records' smoothest brand of soul.

6 - "HAWAII FIVE-O THEME" - The Ventures (1969) = Music that's as dynamic as a wipeout wave.

7 - "SCORPIO" - Dennis Coffey & the Detroit Guitar Band (1971) = Latin funk meets Detroit rock.

8 - "LOVE'S THEME" - Love Unlimited Orchestra (1973) = Disco at its most sumptuous by Barry White's 40 piece orchestra.

9 - "FRANKENSTEIN" - Edgar Winter Group (1973) = A synth-funk riff as monstrous as metal.

10 - "HOCUS POCUS" - Focus (1973) = The only art rock hit to feature yodeling.

11- "DUELING BANJOS" - Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell (1973) = The fingerpicking bluegrass classic from "Deliverance.

12 - "PICK UP THE PIECES" - Average White Band (1974) = Funky stuff --- from Scotland.

13 - "TSOP" - MFSB (1974) = Even without a vocal, this track nailed Philly-soul.

14 - "CHARIOTS OF FIRE" - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1981) = The dignified synth-driven theme from Vangelis.

15 - "HARLEM SHAKE" - Baauer (2013) = Trap music gave this century its own instrumental hit.

Check out #14 --- The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, before they found Elvis, Roy Orbison, Aretha, the Beach Boys, etc.

We’ve always referred to Instrumental Hits as simply “Too Good For Words” … although (as we have also learned through the years) vocal versions DO exist for the great majority of these songs.
I’ve gotta tell you that it’s REALLY weird not to see two of the songs that scored the highest in our Readers Poll a few year’s back … Percy Faith’s “Theme from ‘A Summer Place’” and Santo and Johnny’s “Sleep Walk” are nowhere to be found on Jim Farber’s list. (I’ve got about 35,000 people who would disagree with THAT assessment!) kk

Sad to hear that Terri Hemmert is stepping down as mid-day host on WXRT. She has been a fixture at the station for the past 45 years, probably the one person most immediately identified whenever ‘XRT is mentioned.
Although if you read Robert Feder’s column, it sounds like she’ll still be around quite a bit … just not doing her regular Monday thru Friday gig. (Even Terri says “How can you miss me if I won’t go away!” lol)
Terri was also a regular host at most of the Fest For Beatles Fans held here in Chicago (also approaching 45 years here in Chicago … this August’s Fest will be the 43^rd edition!)

More on Terri here:
https://www.robertfeder.com/2019/06/24/radio-legend-terri-hemmert-leaving-midday-shift-wxrt/?utm_source=new%20post%20alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=main%20content&utm_campaign=%2F2019%2F06%2F24%2Fradio-legend-terri-hemmert-leaving-midday-shift-wxrt%2F

Chuck Buell here expressing disappointment that the Kotal’s Trip to Breckenridge, Colorado did not happen!
>>>Our plans to go to Colorado this past weekend to see Paige in her starring role in “The Taming Of The Shrew” at the Breckenridge Backstage Theatre fell thru. (kk)
Special Colorado Courtesies had been put in place to welcome any car bearing THIS License Plate!

Actually, if anyone deserves a Special Colorado Plate, it would be the local ‘Star of the Rockies!’

Congratulations to Paige for her Excellent Reviews in “Shrew!”
CB (which stands for “Colorado Boy!”)
Trust me, nobody is more disappointed in our not being able to attend than we are. (Would have been really cool to meet up with you there, too!) Just couldn’t get all of the planets to align for this one. (She loved the license plate, btw! Says she already wants to move there!)
Thanks, Chuck! (kk)

>>>Facebook has decided to block images of Led Zeppelin’s “Houses Of The Holy” album cover for what they described as "child nudity" (kk)
Will the cover of Nirvana's first album be next?
Randy Price

God, I hope so … I can’t even imagine the number of cases of Penis Envy THAT album cover has inspired!!! (kk)

↧

It Just May Be Our First-Ever SATURDAY EVENING POST!!!

June 29, 2019, 3:00 pm

≫ Next: June 30th

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Forgotten Hits

CHECK IT OUT …

WE’RE DOING A
SATURDAY EVENING POST!!!

This is it … tomorrow (Sunday, June 30^th) is the last date that we’ll be accepting nominations for our TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL-TIME List.

(Incredibly, we currently have 4,736 titles nominated ... so you'll have PLENTY of choices to choose from!)
The Final Ballot will begin posting on Friday, July 5^th… and then continue to post daily (alphabetically) until ALL titles have been listed.
You MUST check the website daily in order to view each day’s candidates … so, if you haven’t already done so, PLEASE bookmark this site NOW … and then check back daily to vote for your favorites and most worthy candidates. (kk)
https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/

kk …
How about talking to your pal Ron from the Arcada Theatre about doing a series of concerts tied to your 3333 Classic Countdown.
Off the top of my head --- get as many of the top 10 acts on the survey to appear at the Arcada ... maybe one act each weekend, or a few acts on the same show.
FB
I love the idea … but I think getting The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Queen, Eric Clapton, The Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd, Boston and Aerosmith all to play a celebration gig at The Arcada may be a taller order than even Ron and I can pull off!!! (Getting all these artists together to do another Live Aid show might be easier!!!) kk

Joel Whitburn’s latest edition of “Top Pop Singles, 1955 – 2018” has started shipping … and it is spectacular!
Now boasting over 1200 pages, (the next updated edition will come with a personal assistant to carry it around for you … it’s MASSIVE!), it has been completely updated to reflect songs that have charted on Billboard’s coveted Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart through the early part of this year. (The annual list of #1’s tallies through the cut-off date of May 18^th of this year, 2019, at which point “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X with Billy Ray Cyrus was enjoying its sixth week in the #1 spot.)
Now incorporating all of Billboard’s “Bubbling Under” hits, too, the book shows Billboard’s chart peak for 41,270 songs, charted by 9371 different artists!
I have said it before and I will say it again …
There has never been a day … in the past 47 years … that I didn’t refer to at least one of Joel’s amazing books … because they cover it all … in addition to the Pop Charts, Joel has published volumes on Billboard’s Country and Soul Charts … the weekly Top 200 Albums Lists … Adult Contemporary … and more.
And it’s not just the Billboard charts anymore …. Books are now available tracking the chart history for Cash Box and Music Vendor / Record World as well … and you can even buy actual reproductions of every single weekly chart, by decade, for these industry bible publications.
I can’t say enough about this series. If you have “a heart for the charts,” then THESE are the books for you … they belong in every serious music and radio fan’s collection.

Jump over to the Record Research website and browse around for yourself … if you’re a first time customer, you’ll be blown away by the amount of material now available to you at your fingertips. And if you’re a long time Record Research customer like me, you’ll want to make sure you have the most current, updated editions available so you can do your OWN chart research.
Check it all out right here:
https://www.recordresearch.com/pop/top_pop_singles_1955_2018.php

Hi Kent,
I always appreciate the fact that Forgotten Hits never forgets not only the music, but also radio and its current state and constant evolution. And, it was quite enlightening to hear from one of the greats, John Records Landecker, and his views regarding the state of radio. It was air-personalities of his stature that interjected entertainment and helped you endure some of the music repetition that the programmers and consultants sometimes used to ask the audience to endure.
I am sure that the dollar figures on which Mr. Landecker's contract renewal salaries and bonuses were determined and based upon were for the Chicago-metro and surrounding area ratings. But, as with the music industry, if he were to receive a dollar from everybody that could hear the renowned "Boogie-checks" and hi-jinx that ensued on his show that blasted to the far corners of America on the night-time 50,000-watt pattern of WLS, he would currently have the financial security of say, a Kevin Durant. Air personalities and music artists certainly could take a lesson from television evangelists when it comes to financial-marketing -- you know the drill -- "If you are out there listening, just send in whatever you can or this could be my last broadcast!" Say amen, Brother Landecker!
Regards,
Tim Kiley

kk …
How about doing a 4^th of July Countdown from a previous year, each day?
I don't have to tell you how old America is.
So -- if I was in charge , it would be Oldies but Goodies Theme.
July 1 = 1955 Countdown
July 2 = 1956 Countdown
July 3 = 1957 Countdown
July 4 = 1958 Countdown
I might as well face reality ... I'm going to have to wait till I hit the lottery and buy my own radio station before this gets done.
FB
Well, if you BUY that radio station, let me know because I'd like to be involved!
Or maybe pitch this idea to Sirius / XM’s 50’s Channel! (Although it’s probably too late now to do anything with it.)
Still, I think there’s some potential here …
Why couldn’t a radio station count down The Top Ten Hits for each 4^th of July week, 1955 – 1985 … 40 years of Top 10 Hits … just play ‘em back to back throughout the four-day weekend (July 4^th– July 7^th). Even if you saluted one year each hour (which would still give the station the chance to play their regular steady diet of music in between countdowns), you could easily repeat the whole process twice during peak listening hours.
That’s a hit holiday weekend for somebody … had we only planned such an event a little bit sooner! (kk)

kk:
Dave Bartholomew, One Of The Fathers Of Rock And Roll, Is Dead At 100
He wrote songs with Fats Domino.
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/23/698212277/dave-bartholomew-a-father-of-rock-and-roll-dead-at-100?fbclid=IwAR2mC58Cp-aZG8CEY9Mbpd63m4lQt3PshaUOibJkYkonHxJH0ALDPzM066A
Frank B.
Wow … that is sad as I don’t know that Dave ever truly received the amount of credit he deserved for his incredible contribution to the early days of rock and roll. But living to 100 constitutes a pretty full life.
Bill Carroll’s EXCELLENT book “Ranking The Rock Writers” shows that Bartholomew had a hand in writing 60 chart hits, including unforgettable tunes like “Ain’t That A Shame” a hit for Fats Domino, Pat Boone, The Four Seasons and Cheap Trick, “I Hear You Knocking,” “I’m In Love Again,” “I’m Walkin’,” “Blue Monday,” “Walkin’ To New Orleans,” “My Girl Josephine,” Elvis’ “One Night” and “Witchcraft” and many more. What a talented guy! (At least he was recognized by The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, having been inducted in the Non-Performer category in 1991. As the email below reminds us, this FAR too often is not always the case.) kk

Sending this in case you missed this article. Hope all is well.
Danny Guilfoyle
https://www.goldminemag.com/articles/a-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-snub-list
As you know, this topic has provided hundreds and hundreds of pages of discussion here in FH. There are still at least two or three dozen artists that have made our most Deserving And Denied lists over the years that STILL haven’t been recognized (and, in some cases, ever even been nominated!) by The Rock Hall. It’s a shame that more and more artists are being inducted posthumously, unable to even appreciate the gesture and recognition. (Then again more and more of the inducted artists have been refusing to participate because of the sham the Hall as put upon itself.) Too bad … this COULD have been the ultimate tribute to a career. (At least that’s what we were TOLD it was going to be way back when.) kk

Kent,
You were correct when you said that there are a lot of vocal versions of songs which were big instrumental hits. I remember years ago a friend of mine didn't believe me when I told him that the tune EXODUS by Ferrante and Teicher was recorded vocally by Pat Boone. Also the Bert Kaempfert tune WONDERLAND BY NIGHT was recorded vocally by Anita Bryant.
In that advertisement you posted showing the upcoming concert by the Coasters, Drifters and Platters, there was something I noticed offhand. It said at the bottom "from the Motown magic of the Drifters." Didn't know offhand that the Drifters recorded for Motown. Tell that to Ahmet Ertegun.
Larry Neal
I hadn’t noticed that … but you’re absolutely right. (Scroll back to last Thursday’s post to see it for yourself.) This is another case of the promoter not even knowing what they’re selling! Like we always say, Buyer Beware!
Years ago we ran a rather lengthy list (along with some soundclip examples) of songs BEST known as instrumentals that also had vocal recordings. Many were God-Awful that felt thrown-together in the hope of cashing in on a well-known, beautiful melody. I’ll have to see if I can find that piece somewhere in the archives and share it again. (kk)

On the other hand, THIS should really be something to see!

>>>Danny Seraphine, original drummer for CHICAGO , and a nationally touring CHICAGO tribute from Russia will perform together for the first time. Seraphine, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and his band CTA will join Leonid & Friends from Russia at The Arcada Theatre on Friday, July 12^th, to perform classic hits and deep cuts.
I got to see Leonid & Friends in their first NYC concert (Sony Hall).
They did a terrific job!
Tom Cuddy
Well, we are really looking forward to this one! (Scroll back to Friday’s post and catch their video for “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day” if you missed it.) kk

Micky Dolenz, The Hardest Working Man In Show Business (hey, he’s earned that title!) made an appearance on Good Day LA this past week … you can read all about it here:
http://www.foxla.com/entertainment/backstage/mickey-dolenz-performs-live-on-good-day-la-backstage-interview

Legendary Sound of Philadelphia architects Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff returned to Citizens Bank Park Tuesday night to host the 15^th annual Phillies African American Heritage Celebration presented by The Sound of Philadelphia, prior to the team’s game against the New York Mets.
The 2019 Gamble & Huff Community Service Award was presented to five notable R&B artists and music industry legends, led by Russell Thompkins Jr., former lead singer of the legendary group The Stylistics, known for smash hits like “You Make Me Feel Brand New.” Thompkins also performed “You Make Me Feel Brand New” at the start of the pre-game on-field festivities. Also receiving the award was Lloyd Parks, the last surviving original member of the iconic group Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, which had global hits such as “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and “The Love I Lost (Part 1)” with Gamble & Huff.
Other honorees on hand were Alan Rubens, label executive responsible for R&B artists such as Blue Magic (“Sideshow”), Major Harris (“Love Won’t Let Me Wait”) and Frankie Smith (“Double Dutch Bus”); Chuck Gamble, former executive vice president of Philadelphia International Records, responsible for managing and branding the Gamble & Huff catalogue for the past two decades; and Mimi Brown, WDAS radio personality celebrating 40 years on the radio, who also had the honor of throwing a ceremonial first pitch.
The Phillies African American Heritage Celebration was emceed by popular WDAS radio personality Patty Jackson.

Leon Huff, legendary architect with Kenneth Gamble of The Sound of Philadelphia, and Phillies outfielder Roman Quinn present the Gamble & Huff Community Service Awards during pre-game ceremonies for the 15^th Annual Phillies African American Heritage Celebration at Citizens Bank Park. From left: Lloyd Parks of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes; Alan Rubens, R&B label executive; Russell Thompkins Jr., formerly of The Stylistics; Roman Quinn; Mimi Brown, WDAS; Chuck Gamble, former Philadelphia International Records executive; and Leon Huff. Foreground: The Phillie Phanatic. Photo credit: Randex Communications

Whitney Houston biographer Mark Bego had this to say after hearing the “new” Whitney Houston track “Higher Love” this past week …
How wonderful it is to hear this great new recording of Whitney Houston's on 'Higher Love.' It is a brilliant reminder of how truly great she once was as a singer. This exciting recording reminds us of the singing talent she possessed, years before drugs destroyed her voice and – ultimately -- her life.
-- Mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTYOkcRH220

And this from our Colorado buddy Chuck Buell ...

(ain't it the truth?!?!?)

↧

June 30th

June 30, 2019, 4:00 am

≫ Next: A Monday Morning Quickie

≪ Previous: It Just May Be Our First-Ever SATURDAY EVENING POST!!!

Biggest movers this week include "Crystal Blue Persuasion" (#16 to #8), "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" (#25 to #12), "In The Year 2525" (#29 to #16) and "Mother Popcorn" (#39 to #26).

The top three spots all remain the same from the week before while it appears to be a toss-up as to what Chicago's next #1 Record will be ...

Will it be "Spinning Wheel" by Blood, Sweat and Tears? Or will Tommy James and the Shondells continue their ascent on the chart with their latest hit, "Crystal Blue Persuasion"?

I guess we'll have to wait until next week to find out for sure!

THIS WEEK IN 1969:

June 25^th– Sly and the Family Stone record “Hot Fun In The Summertime,” which will be a HUGE hit for the band later this year.

Also on this date, Elvis Presley earns a gold record for his hit single "In The Ghetto." Incredibly, it is Elvis' first gold record in seven years!

June 29^th– Shorty Long drowned after his boat capsized on The Detroit River. (Shorty was best known for his hit “Here Comes The Judge,” which went to #8 the previous year … but he also recorded an excellent, bluesy version of “Devil With The Blue Dress” in 1964, which “bubbled under” The Top 100 US Hits in all three major trade publications.) Shorty, signed to Motown Records, often acted as the MC for many of the label’s Motown Revue shows and tours.

Also on this date The Jimi Hendrix Experience plays its last date together in Denver, Colorado. The band would split up a few days after this gig, leaving Hendrix free to perform at Woodstock with his new Band Of Gypsys a couple of months later.

↧

A Monday Morning Quickie

July 1, 2019, 4:00 am

≫ Next: THIS WEEKEND

≪ Previous: June 30th

Hi, Kent –

After seeing Danny Seraphine's name come up a few times this week, I thought I'd pass this tidbit along.

I suppose it's common knowledge, but Danny has a street in Chicago named for him, on the northwest side, near Belmont and Oak Park avenues.

Mike Wolstein

No, I did NOT know this … how very, very cool!
I met Danny when we working helping to promote the Marty Grebb Benefit Concert a few years ago … really nice guy. Got to see him again as part of Jim Peterik’s World Stage, too … but this NEW venture (featuring Seraphine’s band CTA and the Russian Chicago Tribute Band Leonid and Friends) sounds like it should be AMAZING! Looking forward to checking this out.
(I can also highly recommend Danny’s book “Street Player” … it’s a GREAT read and tells the history of the band Chicago, the death of Terry Kath and Danny’s ouster from the band.) kk
https://www.amazon.com/Street-Player-My-Chicago-Story/dp/1681626810/ref=sr_1_1?crid=VCX3ZCQT1QFX&keywords=danny+seraphine+book&qid=1561863058&s=books&sprefix=danny+sera%2Caps%2C152&sr=1-1

kk …
I don't know if you want the details of Cornell Gunther's murder, but here they are:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-28-mn-1498-story.html
That one time little bitty mention of the Drifters, the Platters and the Coasters got a lot of feedback, did you notice? Maybe you should do it more often.
FB

Here is a sample of Cornell Gunther’s Coasters …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6rOSHtKh-0
(OMG, they sound AWFUL!!!) kk

Here’s Carl Gardner without the Coasters. (I think this was a good idea ... each member of the audience got up and took turns singing.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SfqelT8RV4
Well, watching THIS clip I can only say that there was a VERY good reason why Carl Gardner was the lead singer of the group … and Cornell Gunther wasn’t! (kk)

This is the concert I went to … Charlie Thomas’ Drifters.
Too bad you don't live close by … I would've treated you to this FREE concert.

FB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQiyfs6tNdY
Honestly, NONE of these clips would encourage me to go see ANY of these bands … even WITH the odd original member here and there … This one couldn’t be more out of tune! Frank, you should have gotten up on stage and saved the day on this one!
What was that that Kenny Rogers used to say? …
You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em …
I think THAT window closed a couple of decades ago. (kk)

I have to connect the promotions of concert scammers and phone / email / mail scammers.
Scammers have been asked why they use poor grammar, misspellings and obvious flaws when pursuing victims. The unasked question being, “Why aren’t you more careful and make it appear more credible?”
They answer by explaining that this is purposeful. If a victim can ignore or excuse these obvious mistakes, and take the bait … then they KNOW they have a fish they can fry over and over.
A concert promotion that has information that is wrong or misleading is doing the same thing. They are after the quick readers and those who buy tickets on impetuous whim, to fill the seats and make their money. They know they do not have the originals. They don’t care. If you fall for it, you are out the price of tickets, at least one time. Remember that at every concert I attend, there are people who are new to attending that performance. Imagine the ones who are sitting at the bogus concerts, not knowing till they start (and maybe not even then!) that they have been “had”.
Truth In Music Laws were made to get a handle on this, just like other scammer laws, but trying to catch and prosecute the law breakers is an ongoing headache.
Shelley J Sweet-Tufano
Again, Buyer Beware … AND DO YOUR RESEARCH!!! (kk)

Regarding your post on the 50^th Anniversary of the M’WOKY Festival, I found there to be a lot of additional information on the Wisconsin Rock Concerts from the 60s and 70s
You can start by checking out this Facebook page …
https://www.facebook.com/groups/247128865351881/
And there, I have posted articles including:
http://archive.jsonline.com/greensheet/rival-rock-festivals-gave-fledgling-summerfest-a-run-for-its-music-money-b99749631z1-384766691.html?fbclid=IwAR11m2Li1tJ2oGAN3xfXGtYCBnsedZGGe-rayPA1ayGI9mwzECZzO_M2Zk8
And others from the page:
Jeff Ash (June 22, 2019 post):
50 years ago today, on June 22, 1969, about 29,000 people came out for the M'WOKY Pops Festival on a cold, windy, rainy day at Milwaukee County Stadium.
Among the bands: The Monkees, Tommy James and the Shondells, the Royal Guardsmen, the Guess Who, the Buckinghams, Jay and the Americans, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, New Colony Six and the Classics IV.
I can’t tell you how many searches I did in preparation for this anniversary … talked to many of the artists who were there that day (most of whom remembered absolutely nothing special about it) as well as FH Readers and Dee Jays who live (or lived) in Wisconsin at the time. (A couple of the jocks even mentioned it on the air, trying to get listeners to contact me and share their memories … and we STILL came up with zippo!)
I don’t do Facebook so I never pursued these … but please send Jeff Ash a link to our anniversary coverage as I think he’d enjoy it. (We also just recently received more comments from Tom Doody, lead singer of The Cryan’ Shames, who were there that night.) Those were some pretty interesting line-ups for the follow-up concerts in 1970 and 1971!
Maybe we can continue to document these memories and have a better page to post for the 60^TH ANNIVERSARY of this amazing concert!!! (kk)
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2019/06/june-22nd-1969-one-of-greatest-concerts.html

Author and music historian Joel Selvin just emailed me and let me know guitarist and vocalist Gary Duncan, featured on the first three Quicksilver Messenger Service albums, passed on Thursday. (June 27^th)
I highly recommend the albums "Quicksilver Messenger Service,""Happy Trails" and "Shady Grove." I love "Dino's Song,""Pride of Man" and the band's cover of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love."
In 2007 I asked Gary to reflect on the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival. QMS are glimpsed in the 50th anniversary edition DVD of director D.A. Pennebaker's "Monterey Pop."
GARY DUNCAN: It was an event to be sure. It was the first event I ever attended, not to mention that I actually got to participate in.
Before 'Monterey,' there were no large venue festivals as people refer to them. After Monterey there were many ... but Monterey was the Alpha and Omega of them all ... not because of the size of the show ... I suppose it was the "Cosmic Timing" of the event which gave it gravity.
It was the first time that a show of that magnitude had been attempted and I'm sure the first time that much money had been invested in a musical event. Woodstock is famous for its size ... Altamont was infamous for obvious reasons ... and, at the age of 61, I have played music at more than a hundred 'festivals' ... but Monterey was ... what can I say? ... it was Monterey ... it was the first and last, which is probably as it should be.
My memories of Monterey are vivid ... I remember Otis Redding’s performance ... Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar fifteen feet away from me ... The Who smashing their instruments ... I remember that it wasn't quite 'complete' without James Brown, Ray Charles or Bobby Bland ... but the most moving moment of all was Ravi Shankar on Sunday afternoon …
After the mayhem and chaos of the previous night ... after taking Acid with Hendrix and jamming for what seemed like years ... to listen to Ravi Shankar drifting across the audience was an experience I cannot describe ... all the electric music ... all the lights ... all the drugs ... were nowhere close to the intensity and meaning of his music.
As far as Quicksilvers' performance, we were scared ... I was scared. I had never been in front of that many people in my life ... the whole set went by in a flash and it was finished.
Backstage was like magic to me ... brick pathways with bars and restaurants for the artists only. I was sitting in a small restaurant, eating a burger and looked up to see Otis Redding, Duck Dunn, Steve Cropper and the entire Memphis Crew eating burgers looking at me and smiling. They were my heroes and I was there eating with them ... That's what I remember the most.
I wasn't aware until later that there was that much media / label attention on the show ... I don't know if we got signed because of our performance or not ... I would assume not because we didn't play that well in my opinion ... but It was evident that someone had spent a lot of money to put it all together ... every band had a brand new set of Fender amps ... which immediately went into our own trucks and we kept them ... along with Hammond Organs and whatever else we could 'liberate' from the stage after our set ... there was a new back-line for every act ... and nobody seemed to care where the other stuff went ... that is a lot of gear that just 'disappeared' ... the cost of that gear alone should be an indication of the gravity of the event.
Within three years, ALL the Major Players in the show were dead ... but I got to see them perform and eat with them ... that's what I remember forty years later.
Gary Duncan / Quicksilver Messenger Service
Quicksilver Messenger Service were some “heady” rock for sure … very much album-oriented stuff best appreciated in an altered state of mind … yet I absolutely LOVE their song “Fresh Air” and have never grown tired of hearing it … I think it’s just an incredible recording … and it’s scoring very well in our Top 3333 Most Essential Classic Rock Songs Poll right now, too … 292 votes as I type this this morning. (They also have another track nominated … “What About Me” … which currently only has its initial nominating vote at this time. But that’s ALL about to change once the final ballot starts posting THIS FRIDAY (July 5^th).
We’ve done the math … ballots will post for 45 consecutive days, beginning on Friday, July 5^th and running through Monday, August 19^th. Approximately 100 songs per day will be listed (alphabetically) and you’ll have three days to vote for each ballot (meaning that the polls will officially close on Wednesday, August 21^st.)
We’ll then compute the final tallies and begin to review your Top 3333 Favorites right around Labor Day Weekend. (If by some miracle I can get all of this work done in time, I’ll launch it on my birthday, Tuesday, August 27^th, as that would just be a really cool thing to do!)
Keep checking the site for updates …
https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/
We promised to deliver the most accurate, comprehensive countdown possible … and with over 730,000 votes BEFORE THE POLLS HAVE EVEN OFFICIALLY OPENED YET, I’d say we’re well on our way to representing the world’s Most Essential Classic Rock Tracks. (We should be well over a million votes by the time this thing wraps up!)
Please bookmark this site and visit daily to cast your votes for your favorites and undeniable essentials. (kk)

Surprised you didn't give any coverage to the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame induction ceremony last Sunday.
Ken Voss
http://thesource.com/2019/03/08/stevie-wonder-and-aretha-franklin-headline-2019-national-rhythm-blues-hall-of-fame-inductees/
For the very reason stated above, we’ve fallen behind (in a MAJOR way!) with some of our usual Forgotten Hits coverage. (Still, this is our ninth straight day of postings on the FH site … so, in light of everything else that's been going on, that’s pretty damn impressive in my opinion!)

Ken sent us this press release / announcement for his obvious favorite:

Band of Gypsys – Purveyors of Funk, Soul, & Rock, to be Inducted into R&B HOF
The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame has announced its 2019class that will be inducted at its 8^thannual ceremony. The event will be held at the Charles H. Wright Museum in Detroit, MI, on Sunday, June 23^rd.
The Band of Gypsysconsisted of Jimi Hendrix on guitar / vocals, Buddy Miles on drums / vocals, and Billy Cox on bass / vocals. Although this talented group was short-lived, they left a colossal footprint on the world of music. Their four live performances on Dec. 31^st, 1969 – Jan. 1^st, 1970 at the Fillmore East in NYC, ushered in a new era of funk and fusion, which changed the way people composed and listened to music. No group had ever mixed R&B, soul, funk, and rock into such a seamless blend. The BOG LP peaked at #5 Pop / #14 R&B and spent over a year on both the Pop / R&B Top 50 Billboard Album Charts. P-Funk, Isley Brothers, Slave, Prince, Lenny Kravitz, and so many others, have cited the BOG’s as a major influence.
William “Billy” Cox, the last surviving member of the group, had this to say:
“As artists and musicians, our duty is to regard, express, and to paint pictures that do the telling through our music. Jimi, Buddy and I locked into each other because we knew our assigned musicianship was greater than ourselves. We loved each other and trusted each other to do what we knew we were created to do.”
The full list of inductees can be found on the official website: https://www.rbhalloffame.com/

We also slighted coverage of the East Coast Music Hall Of Fame Awards a couple of weeks ago … so let me bring you all up to date on this ceremony (just in case you don’t already know!) Wow! What a night of music and honorees THIS was!!!
https://www.newjerseystage.com/articles/2019/06/18/keeping-the-music-alive-the-east-coast-music-hall-of-fames-first-annual-awards-gala/?fbclid=IwAR36-3-jM8IiocJBmh9OJWRYu57Q0w5qgvq0RdLwrzgu9TvR8155rNoL7gg

No sooner did we "post" this "Post" on Forgotten Hits on Saturday, June 29, 2019 ~~

~~ than Chuck Buell dug into his infamous Archives for this! (On a Saturday Evening yet!)

Early 1960s Prom Night! When Forgotten Hits were new!

This illustration was done by Ben Kimberly Prins who, like Norman Rockwell, also contributed his Americana interpretations to the Saturday Evening Post.
(It wouldn't surprise us if Chuck was also wearing his vintage "white sport coat and a pink carnantion!")

Buell's White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation

And finally, this from kk’s RESALE SHOP …

Kent,
Hoping you remember me ... Bob Morrow from Bolingbrook.
We met in Indiana at a Monkees concert a few years ago.

I'm selling my 1971 Jukebox.
It's a Rock-Ola (picture attached) and I thought it would be best served to first see if one of the many loyal Forgotten Hits Readers would like to have the first crack at this. (I'm really not much of a Craigslist person.)
Wondering if you have a way of posting this on your site for all to see?
Maybe someone that has a 50's theme style restaurant or someone looking to play their favorite 45's might be interested!
I bought it for $800 about 22 years ago. Everything works great and it plays 45's for that oldies enthusiast.
I just spent $200 to have it greased, lubed, tuned up ... whatever you would call that for a jukebox … amazingly by the same guy who used to work at the Home Arcade in Lisle where I bought it from!!!
ALL of the lights work … all new bulbs were just replaced. (The person who greased and changed the bulbs lives in Romeoville and, as he was employed by Home Arcade, he has extensive knowledge on these items!
We never did activate the coin operation - they told me that unless you are looking to turn a profit, it's one less thing that you don't need to malfunction. So, we never had it deployed.
This is in rare shape, for many of these type of Rock-Olas's typically have had the acrylic circle with the different colors broken from guys punching it when they have had too much to drink.
It also has small steel wheels that allows it to roll.
I have no problem having anyone come to the house to see it in person.
I’m looking to sell for $1,000 of Best Offer. Of course I will help them move if needed.
Thx
Bob Morrow
Bolingbrook, IL
Boy, I wish I had the money and the place to put it in order to take this off your hands … it looks BEAUTIFUL!!!
Any interested parties can contact me and I’ll put you in touch with Bob. (YEARS ago we listed Ray Graffia, Jr.’s car for sale in these pages … and maybe even his house, too! So these unusual opportunities do come up from time to time!)
Give me a shout if you’re interested in seeing or purchasing this beautiful jukebox. (kk)

↧

THIS WEEKEND

July 3, 2019, 4:00 am

≫ Next: THE TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL-TIME

≪ Previous: A Monday Morning Quickie

Now does this sound like a great 4th of July Radio promotion or what???

97.1 The Drive is doing a "FOURS of July Weekend," featuring four songs each hour by your favorite Classic Rock Artists ... and check out the way they're advertising it ...

This weekend, it's all about Red, White and YOU ...
You told us you wanted more Classic Rock variety ...
So we're rolling out Four In A Row from the best classic rock artists of all time.
Plus inside each special four-song-set, we'll dive deeper into rarely played album cuts and lost classics you may not have heard in a long time ...
So if you're grillin',swimmin' or golfin', we're rockin' ... with four song sets from classic rock's best on The Drive's "Fours Of July."
So roll down the windows ... and turn up The Drive for a special "Fours Of July" Holiday Weekend on 97.1 FM The Drive, Chicago's Classic Rock.

(Man, I don't think I could have written better copy myself!!!)

It all kicks off later today at 4 pm. (How about that ... another FOUR!!!)
And you can listen live from anywhere here:
https://live.wdrv.com/listen/?utm_source=station-website&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=livebar

Meanwhile, our very first Final Ballot goes up at 5 am (Chicago time) on Friday, July 5th ... and we will continue to post a new ballot daily until every song you guys nominated has been listed.

Rules on how to vote are already posted ... so please plan to visit the Classic Rock Essentials website every day until we can tabulate the results and begin counting down

THE TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL

CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL-TIME!!!

https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/

And, in other news ...

Billy J. Kramer sent us a copy of this article that's running in the current issue of Beatlefan Magazine, sent in to him by a fan ...

Kent,
Here’s a “Get Well Soon” to Robert Lamm of Chicago. Robert missed the band’s Saturday night concert at Summerfest here in Milwaukee due to vertigo. According to today’s Journal-Sentinel, Robert spent the day at Mt. Sinai hospital and was diagnosed with an inner-ear infection.
Bob Verbos
Sorry to hear that ... get well soon indeed! (As one of the last originals standing, he needs to get back up there on the stage!)
Meanwhile, we're still hoping to catch Danny Seraphine's show at The Arcada Theatre next Friday Night (the 12th) ... it sounds like this is going to be a very interesting show.

And, from the Great Minds Think Alike bureau ...

See ... I toldja I thought this was a great idea ...

I KNEW I'd heard something like this somewhere before ...

FROM OUR JUNE 25th POST:

In fact, TECHNICALLY we have a Four-Day Weekend coming up right around the corner for The 4^th of July …

Here’s a challenge for the deejays and programmers on our list …

Come up with a 4-Way / 4-Day 4^th of July special …

Want help with this? I’m happy to pitch in.

Kick it around … one 4-Play every hour for the entire 4-Day 4^th of July Weekend!

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE 4th of JULY WEEKEND ...

Please check out The Sunday Survey as we go back 50 Years ago this week and see what tunes were playing on the WLS Hit Parade ...

And don't forget to start casting your votes on Friday for your All-Time Favorite Essential Classic Rock Tracks. (kk)

↧

THE TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL-TIME

July 5, 2019, 3:00 am

≫ Next: July 7th

≪ Previous: THIS WEEKEND

Today we begin revealing The Final Ballot that will ultimately determine the ranking for

THE TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL-TIME

Thanks to your support over the past 100 days, we have now received over 730,000 votes ... and nearly 4750 song nominations (by 950 different artists) ... and beginning today, Friday, July 5th, and running through Monday, August 19th, we will be posting a brand new daily ballot of finalists (listed alphabetically by song title) as determined by your nominations. (Polls officially close on Wednesday, August 21st)

Please be sure to check the website daily ... and help us to spread the word by encouraging others to cast their votes, too.

https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/

When all is said and done, we fully expect to pass over 1,000,000 votes, making this the

UNDISPUTED, DEFINITIVE LIST of CLASSIC ROCK FAVORITES

Complete voting instructions can be found on the site ...

Email your daily ballots to CLASSICROCKVOTE@YAHOO.COM ... and after the final ballot has been posted on Monday, August 19th, we will begin tabulating these new results along with the votes collected over the past 100 days in order to determine ... and then officially announce ...

THE TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL-TIME!

Look for the big winners reveal to begin right around Labor Day Weekend ... so keep watching the CLASSIC ROCK ESSENTIALS webpage for more details!

Thank you again for your help in determining, once and for all,

THE TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL TIME!

↧

July 7th

July 7, 2019, 4:00 am

≫ Next: A Monday Morning Quickie

≪ Previous: THE TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL-TIME

As expected, Tommy James and the Shondells hit the top of the WLS Hit Parade with their latest, "Crystal Blue Persuasion," up from #8 the week before.

There are a few other big movers on this week's chart ...

Zager and Evans jump a dozen places from #16 to #4 with their break-through hit, "In The Year 2525." (I'm still committed to hanging around here long enough to find out how many of their predictions come true!)

The Joe Jeffrey Group climb eleven places (from #23 to #12) with their first WLS chart hit, "My Pledge Of Love," a song that I still find it hard to sit still to fifty years later!

Tony Joe White climbs ten spots with his first hit, "Polk Salad Annie' (from #40 to #30) ... and moving five places or more we have "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition (#12 to #7), "Baby, I Love You" by Andy Kim (from #18 to #10), "My Cherie Amour" by Stevie Wonder (#22 to #17), "Quentin's Theme" (from the hit television soap opera series "Dark Shadows"), up from #24 to #19, Ray Stevens' remake of "Along Came Jones" (#27 to #22), "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" by Jackie DeShannon (#30 to #23), "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond (#34 to #28), "Good Old Rock And Roll" by Cat Mother and the All-Night News Boys (a record produced by Jimi Hendrix), from #36 to #29, "Yesterday When I Was Young" by Roy Clark (#37 to #32) and "Reconsider Baby" by Johnny Adams (#39 to #34).

New on the chart are "Laughing" by The Guess Who, their follow up hit to their smash "These Eyes" and "Birthday" by a Wisconsin Group calling themselves The Underground Sunshine, a cover of a track found on The Beatles' #1 White Album that did VERY well here in Chicago.

Also new this week ... "Break Away" by The Beach Boys, a song written by Brian Wilson and his FATHER, Murry Wilson ... all that much more interesting when one considers that the two never really got along and at one point Brian actually fired his father as manager of the band! (Still, it's one of my favorite "Forgotten Hits" by them ... so we just HAD to feature THIS one today!!!) kk

THIS WEEK IN 1969:

July 1^st– John Lennon, his son Julian, Yoko Ono and her daughter Kyoko are injured in a car crash in Scotland. Lennon receives seventeen stitches for a facial injury while Yoko receives fourteen stitches. Both children are badly shaken up after the accident. John, in typical eccentric fashion, later had the car crushed into a cube .. and then put it on display on his front lawn at his home in Tittenhurst Park.

Also on this date, Sam Phillips sells his legendary Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, to Shelby Singleton. Sun Records helped to launch the careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison.

July 2^nd– Bassist Noel Redding and Drummer Mitch Mitchell quit The Jimi Hendrix Experience after performing at the three day Denver Pop Music Festival held at Mile High Stadium. Mitchell would team back up with Jimi Hendrix (along with new bassist Billy Cox) later this year to form the new (but short-lived) group Gypsy Sun and Rainbows … which is the act that performed at Woodstock six weeks later.

July 3^rd– Rolling Stones founder and guitarist Brian Jones drowns in his own swimming pool at his home in Sussex, England

July 4th - The Atlanta International Pop Festival drew 100,000 fans to see Blood, Sweat and Tears, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Rivers, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin, Canned Heat, Led Zeppelin and Sweetwater. Also on the bill tonight … Grand Funk Railroad … and, after some Capitol Records Executives saw the band’s performance, they signed them to a record deal with the label.

Grand Funk would go on to have eleven straight gold or platinum albums, eight of which would make The Top Ten on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart.

July 5th - The Rolling Stones put on a free concert at Hyde Park, London, appearing for the first time with their new guitarist, Mick Taylor

Also on this date, The Cowsills appear on The Johnny Cash Show.

July 6^th - Bobby Vinton sings "Those Were The Days" and a medley of "Blue Velvet,""Halfway to Paradise,""Take Good Care of My Baby" and "Please Love Me Forever" on The Ed Sullivan Show.

↧

A Monday Morning Quickie

July 8, 2019, 3:42 am

≫ Next: Tuesday This And That

≪ Previous: July 7th

AMERICA:
What could be more patriotic over 4^th of July weekend than to feature the band America on CBS Morning?
FH Reader Tom Cuddy sent us this clip. (We’re rarely up this early on a Sunday Morning … but they seem to have some EXCELLENT music features every week.)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/america-the-band-still-touring-after-50-years-2019-07-07/

TOMMY, CAN YOU HEAR ME?:
Have you seen the new HP commercial featuring Tommy James’ “I Think We’re Alone Now”? Pretty clever spot … and great use of the tune (which gets pretty full exposure) … the idea being “what are the kinds of things you might do when you think nobody is watching.”

Speaking of Tommy James, scroll back to yesterday’s post to see Tommy back in the #1 position on this week’s WLS Hit Parade Chart from exactly fifty years ago.
Tommy was always VERY big here in Chicago, earning SEVEN #1 Records on WLS between 1966 and 1971 … HANKY PANKY, I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW, MIRAGE, MONY MONY, CRIMSON AND CLOVER, CRYSTAL BLUE PERSUASION and DRAGGIN’ THE LINE all topped the charts here. In addition, SAY I AM (#2) and SWEET CHERRY WINE (#4) also made The Top Five. (Crosstown rival WCFL added I’M COMIN’ HOME (#4) and NOTHING TO HIDE (#2) to that Top Five tally.)
He still sells out every time he plays here … which he will again on September 21^st at The Arcada Theatre. (kk)

A COUPLE OF MINI CONCERT REVIEWS:
Tom Apathy files this report (and shares a few photos) from The Spinners’ concert he attended the other night at Hoover Auditorium in Lakeside, Ohio …

A tight band with great vocals and rocking choreography, The Spinners put on an amazing show performing all the hits at a steamy Hoover Auditorium at Lakeside, Ohio. The Spinners were non-stop excitement performing It's A Shame, I'll Be Around, Could It Be I'm Falling In Love, One Of A Kind (Love Affair), Mighty Love, Sadie, They Just Can't Stop It (Games People Play), The Rubberband Man, Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me Girl and Cupid/I've Loved You For A Long Time/Havin' A Party.
Tom

Image may contain: 3 people, people on stage, night and concert

More photos here: https://www.facebook.com/tom.apathy/media_set?set=a.10219373995005179&type=3

Kent,
My wife Barb and I just got home from a late afternoon Summerfest concert by The Association. Under a bright, sunny Senior Day sky, a large crowd thoroughly enjoyed a trip down historic pop memory lane. Fronted by original members Jim Yester and Jules Alexander, with son-of-original (Brian Cole) Jordan Cole, brother-of-original (Larry Ramos) Del Ramos, Bruce Pictor, and Paul Holland, the group breezed through their collection of hits and a few of their favorite covers.
The vocals were great, punctuated by the group’s signature harmonies and fine musical accompaniment. Highlights for me were rousing renditions of Along Comes Mary, Windy, Six-Man Band and the encore song, Good-Bye Columbus. Catch these guys if you can. They stay true to their music, appear to truly enjoy performing together, and put on a great show.

Bob Verbos

And, speaking of incredible shows, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman ARE reuniting after all this year … but, as of right now anyway, it’s only for a one-time appearance at the Casa Loma Charity Concert to be held on July 18^th in Toronto. (This is not a cheap ticket … face value is $2500 … and I’m willing to bet that they’re selling them for far more than that if you can get your hands on one!)
Billed as “Music Under The Stars,” the show promises to feature their biggest hits along with stories behind those hits. It is also a way to re-establish themselves as the rightful kings to the throne when it comes to the incredible music created by The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive while other “pretenders” are out performing using these names, thus deceiving the public as to what they’re really going to see and hear.
More details can be found in this EXCELLENT article / interview:
https://www.fyimusicnews.ca/articles/2019/07/05/bachman-cummings-united-casa-loma-charity-concert
(I know Ron Onesti is still hoping to reunite the pair for another Soundstage appearance … and we’d LOVE to see them pull it together one last time and treat us to their incredible array of hits. Stay tuned for more details as the develop!) kk

>>>After seeing Danny Seraphine's name come up a few times this week, I thought I'd pass this tidbit along. (Mike Wolstein)
Danny was "swinging" in April, 1967, as drummer for Chicago's Missing Links. The band was still missing a few links before morphing into the Big Thing and eventually Chicago Transit Authority and then Chicago a few years later. Despite that, FOUR of the original Chicago band members were in the Missing Links and no doubt, listening closely to the headline act, the Mob, who they replaced on the Mob's nights off. The Mob's horns were what Chicago would soon bring to the table big time.
Check out the late April, 1967, clip from the Trib about the Mob playing at the Happy Medium.
(And how about the Cryan’ Shames AND the Turtles TOGETHER at the Opera House! MAN, would that have been a FUN event? Which band would play "We'll Meet Again" which BOTH recorded and released?)
Clark Besch

Here's Mob member James Holvay's take on the above clipping:

Hi Clark:
Wow, I never saw this clipping, but I remember playing at The Happy Medium. That was a big gig for us. Prior to us performing there, they only had adult-type music acts there. We were the first rock band to perform at that club. The folks that owned the Happy Medium were taking a chance.
We had recently lost our lead singer Little Artie to “the draft” and had to change our whole show around. Our manager suggested his older brother Al who, at the time, just played sax and sang a few harmony parts.
We were still experimenting with different songs and hadn’t really had our act together yet. That took a while, but I guess we did okay at that gig. They didn’t fire us. (ha, ha) Here’s a Holvay Trivia Point for you ...
It was on one of our breaks between shows that Gary and I wrote “Susan” on the piano there.
Thanks for the article.
James
BTW, James is recording new music. I'll let you know when it is available!!!
Clark
Wow! Now that’s a pretty amazing bit of trivia to be sure! Thanks, guys. (THIS is the kind of stuff you can’t find anywhere else!!!) kk

And, speaking of Danny Seraphine, his show at The Arcada Theatre (with CTA and special guests Leonid and Friends, a Russian Chicago tribute band) is THIS FRIDAY NIGHT (July 12^th) … but if you wanna go, you’d better act fast, because tickets are nearly sold out for this one! (Can you still get me in, Ron???) This should be a pretty incredible night of music. (kk)

OLD TIME RADIO FUN:
Big Jay Sorensen sent us this link airing vintage WNBC radio segments of “The Time Machine,” many of which feature his programs from back in the day. (It’s a non-stop play link and, from the sounds of things, you never really know what you’re going to hear next … so check it out for a fun walk and listen down memory lane.)

Some guy is streaming the WNNNBC Time Machine, mostly featuring my shows.
Enjoy!
BE BIG!
Jay
This is the link: https://streaming.radio.co/s88a0bddf2/listen

50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK:
>>>July 2^nd, 1969 – Bassist Noel Redding and Drummer Mitch Mitchell quit The Jimi Hendrix Experience after performing at the three day Denver Pop Music Festival held at Mile High Stadium. Mitchell would team back up with Jimi Hendrix (along with new bassist Billy Cox) later this year to form the new (but short-lived) group Gypsy Sun and Rainbows … which is the act that performed at Woodstock six weeks later. (kk)
>>>The Band of Gypsys consisted of Jimi Hendrix on guitar / vocals, Buddy Miles on drums / vocals, and Billy Cox on bass / vocals. Although this talented group was short-lived, they left a colossal footprint on the world of music. Their four live performances on Dec. 31^st, 1969 – Jan. 1^st, 1970 at the Fillmore East in NYC. (Ken Voss)
****I was there!**** New Year’s Eve, 1969, at the Fillmore East, New York City, NY.
I know that this concert is very highly rated ... but Kent, between you and me, I fell asleep in the 5th row. It "seemed" like a great concert, but you see, Kent, I was three months pregnant, so I had an excuse to go to sleep. <smiles>
Sandy
Thus memorable for SO many reasons! (lol) Thanks, Sandy! (kk)

KEEP THOSE VOTES COMING!:
Ballot #1 is now officially closed … but, as of 5:00 this morning, you can still vote for your favorites and most-deserving titles from ballots #2, #3 and #4 … with a brand new ballot posting EVERY morning at 5 am Chicago time thru Monday, August 19^th.
https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/

Top Ten Vote Getters from Ballot #1:
1- Ah! Leah – Donnie Iris
2 - All You Need Is Love – Beatles
3 - All Right Now – Free
4 - Africa – Toto
5 - 19^th Nervous Breakdown – Rolling Stones
6 - All The Young Dudes – Mott The Hoople
7 - 25 or 6 to 4 – Chicago
8 - All My Lovin’ – Beatles
9 - All Day And All Of The Night – Kinks
10 - Abbey Road Medley – Beatles

And, if a couple of these don’t strike you as surprises (pay attention, Classic Rock Radio … listeners want Donnie Iris and Mott The Hoople!) … here are a few others that fared far better than I would have expected:

The Bob Dylan version of All Along The Watchtower
All I Need Is A Miracle by Mike and the Mechanics
All Shook Up by Elvis Presley
All Summer Long by The Beach Boys
All Those Years Ago by George Harrison
All You Zombies by The Hooters
After The Goldrush by Neil Young
After The Love Has Gone by Earth, Wind and Fire
Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers
Ain’t Too Proud To Beg by The Temptations
Air That I Breathe by The Hollies
Albert Flasher by The Guess Who
Alison by Elvis Costello
10538 Overture by ELO
13 Questions by Seatrain
1984 by Spirit
1985 by Bowling For Soup
1999 by Prince
20^th Century Fox by The Doors
21^st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson
30 Days In The Hole by Humble Pie
’39 by Queen
500 Miles by The Proclaimers
59^th Street Bridge Song by Harpers Bizarre (outranking the Simon and Garfunkel version 3-to-1)
867-5309 by Tommy Tutone
96 Tears by ? and the Mysterians
Absolutely Right by The Five Man Electrical Band
and Acadian Driftwood by The Band

Now we know you’re NEVER going to play them all …
But the listeners and fans have spoken …
And these are just some of the songs that THEY feel not only fit the format, but would also sound ear-appealing coming out of their radios once in awhile.
Trust me … by the time the final countdown is released, you’ll have HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of other to choose from. (This is only the 1st Ballot!!!)
Now who’s ready to test the waters? And, if you should be so bold, please report back to us with the results! (kk)

At least with OUR list you know you’re going to be getting the REAL DEAL …

Check out this American Bandstand clipping that FH Reader Clark Besch sent in …

Does anyone ever wonder HOW Dick Clark came up with his national TV Top 10 boards?
Usually, he was a week or two behind the national publications and a LITTLE bit closer to their top 10's, but WOW!, 1964 must have been a good payola year for Dick!
Check his Top 10 board below vs. Billboard’s Top 10 for that same week!
I used to always like seeing the AB board because it had a few odd things, but this is beyond odd -- it's insane!
I don't even KNOW what six of the AB Top 10 sound like!
Here's the actual VIDEO clip I took the Top 10 pic below from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Re2eYmxPI

So where were the AB top 10 songs on Billboard that week?
Here ya go:
#1 was #1 (albeit the horrible 45 edit as heard in the video clip. Someone at MGM records made that slice with a machete!)
#2 was #66!!!
#3 was #80! Oh my!
#4 was #12
#5 was #40
#6 was #54
#7 was #14
#8 was #19
#9 was #5 (a glimpse of hope!)
And #10 was no longer in the Hot 100 after reaching #50 in a Five week run that ended the week before!
If he could manipulate the National Top 10 that much, he shoulda had the Coachmen or Smoke Ring up there, too!
I know we hear about "fake news" a lot today, but this damn near takes the cake!
Clark Besch

↧

Tuesday This And That

July 9, 2019, 3:48 am

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≪ Previous: A Monday Morning Quickie

Concerns about Stevie Wonder’s health were all over the web this past weekend but Stevie has since announced that he is going in for a kidney transplant in September … that he already has a donor … and that, in his words, “it’s all good … it’s all good.”

The 69 year old hit maker has been tearing up the charts since his debut single “Fingertips, Part 2” went to #1 in 1963. (Stevie was 13 years old at the time!)

Eight other #1 Records followed (“Superstition,” 1973; “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life,” 1973; “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” 1974; “I Wish,” 1977; “Sir Duke,” 1977; “Ebony And Ivory” (recorded with Paul McCartney, 1982; “I Just Called To Say I Love You,” 1984 and “Part-Time Lover,” 1985.)

In all, he has made the Billboard Pop Singles Chart 65 times with nine #1’s, 27 Top Ten Hits and 45 Top 40 Hits. His albums dominated the charts throughout the ‘70’s, during which time he won multiple Grammys for “Innervisions,” “Fullfillingness First Finale” and “Songs In The Key Of Life.” (He has 25 Grammys in all, including a Lifetime Achievement Award!)

His music is timeless and has often been ground-breaking. (Incredibly, there was some reluctance on Motown’s part to let Stevie write his own material since Berry Gordy had his own crackerjack team of house writers on staff … but once they finally gave him the chance, his career skyrocketed. He also wrote major hits for The Spinners, Rufus and Aretha Franklin.)

We wish you a speedy recovery, Stevie … you have been the sunshine of OUR lives for over 55 years … and we love ya, man! (kk)

How cool to be at London’s Hyde Park concert and see Barbra Streisand bring out her “A Star Is Born” costar Kris Kristofferson to sing “Lost Inside Of You” some 43 years after the film’s release. (Another surprise guest that evening was Lionel Richie.) Streisand is coming to Chicago on August 6^th for a show at The United Center.

It’s an exciting time …

Each day now an old ballot comes down and a new ballot goes up …

And that will be the pattern thru August 19^thwhen the 46^th and final ballot is posted.

(Are you guys hooked yet?)

We’re getting some GREAT responses … and I am absolutely LOVIN’ some of the surprises.

Just to keep you up to date, here are the results of the Top Ten Vote Getters from Ballot #2 … along with a few other surprises:

Top Ten Vote Getters:

#1 – American Woman – Guess Who (by a LANDSLIDE!)

#2 – American Pie – Don McLean

#3 – Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In – Fifth Dimension (Yes … America WILL accept this song on your Classic Rock Station!)

#4 – American Girl – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

#5 – Already Gone – Eagles

#6 – And I Love Her – Beatles (scoring MUCH higher than I had expected)

#7 – And Your Bird Can Sing – Beatles (ditto!)

#8 – Along Comes Mary – Association (scoring much higher than I had expected)

#9 - As Tears Go By – Rolling Stones

#10 – At The Hop - Danny and the Juniors (I didn’t expect to see THIS one on this list … but then again maybe Sha Na Na introduced a whole new audience to this tune at Woodstock in 1969!)

Scoring Much Higher Than Expected:

(You’ll find a few surprises on this list)

Almost Saturday Night – Dave Edmunds (folks seem to prefer this cover over the John Fogerty original)

Alone Again Or – Love

American Tune – Paul Simon

And We Danced – Hooters (BOTH nominated Hooters songs did very well in our special ballot voting)

Angry Eyes – Loggins and Messina (one of those that seems to have fallen out of favor … but still a very popular favorite amongst classic rock music fans)

Another Park, Another Sunday – Doobie Brothers (a too-often over-looked Doobie Brothers classic)

Are You Experienced? – Jimi Hendrix

Are You Ready – Pacific Gas and Electric

Ashes To Ashes – David Bowie

At 17 – Janis Ian (another one that seems to have “crossed over” to the classic rock side)

It’s not too late …

Get in on the fun here: https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/

I saw a commercial for Adidas this past weekend that played "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" by Whistling Jack Smith, loud and clear. What will all these millennials think of this piece of music? A return on the charts for the song? A torrent of downloads, maybe?

Mike Markesich

Yes, several weeks ago I was in the back room working while Frannie was watching something (it might have been “Fear The Walking Dead”) when I heard the music come on … and I remember thinking “What on EARTH does “Kaiser Bill’s Batman” have to do with The Walking Dead, not realizing at the time that it was a commercial break.

Another one of those that makes you scratch your head … what modern day advertising executive would even been familiar with this song, a #14 Hit in 1967, my favorite year in music. (Sounded pretty good, ‘tho, didn’t it!!!) kk

Robert Feder is reporting the latest wave of attention being paid to Steve Dahl’s Disco Demolition at Comiskey Park 40 years ago …

The latest media salutes to the 40th anniversary of Disco Demolition include interviews with Steve Dahl by Daily Herald sports columnist Barry Rozner (here is the link) and Illinois Entertainer media columnist Rick Kaempfer (here is the link). Also just out is a special edition of Brandon Herman’s radio show (here is the link) featuring recollections of that night from Ed Farmer, Dave Logan, Mitch Michaels, Jeff Schwartz and Lorelei Shark. Before a crowd of more than 50,000 at old Comiskey Park on July 12, 1979, Dahl, then a 24-year-old morning host at The Loop, exploded a box of disco records between games at a White Sox double-header. Rowdy fans stormed the field, forcing the White Sox to forfeit their second game.

↧

Article 0

July 10, 2019, 3:41 am

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≪ Previous: Tuesday This And That

Hi Kent:

Just an FYI, I will be on Live Friday Night at approximately 6 PM, on Dewey’s Corner Radio Show on WMSE 91.7 FM in Milwaukee. We will be doing a “Summer of 1969” show. The Hits from June - August in Milwaukee, etc. Tune in if you can. As always, WE Play Records! The shows are archived as well.

Take Care,

Ken

PS - Just saw The Association show at Summerfest up here. Nice Show.

It sounds like this was one of their better shows. Off the Happy Together Tour this year, The Association are doing a number of solo shows (as well as assorted group dates) this summer.

Here’s their performance schedule for the rest of the year (so far … remember to check their website for updates)

July 13, 2019 - Anderson Music Hall
Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, Anderson Music Hall -Hiawassee, Georgia

July 26, 2019 - Sellersville Theatre (two shows 6:00 & 9:00 pm)
Sellersville Theatre -Sellersville, Pennsylvania

July 28, 2019 - Barnstable Country Fair
Barnstable Country Fair -Falmouth, Massachusetts

July 29, 2019 - The Birchmere
The Birchmere -Alexandria, Virginia

August 17, 2019 - Bonita Center for the Arts
Bonita Center for the Arts -San Dimas, California

August 29, 2019 - Woodlands Auditorium
Woodlands Auditorium -Hot Springs Village, Arkansas

August 30, 2019 - Arlington Music Hall
Arlington Music Hall -Arlington, Texas

September 14, 2019 - NYCB Theatre at Westbury
Hot Autumn Nights - Westbury, New York

September 21 2019 - Lynn Auditorium
Lynn Auditorium - Lynn, Massachusetts

October 12, 2019 - Stadium Performing Arts Center
Stadium Theatre PAC -Woonsocket, Rhode Island

November 29, 2019 - Golden Nugget Las Vegas Hotel & Casino
Golden Nugget -Las Vegas, Nevada

January 26, 2020 - Grand Junction High School
Community Concerts of the Grand Valley -Grand Junction, Colorado

February 22, 2020 - The Riviera Theatre
The Riviera Theatre -North Tonawanda, New York

https://www.theassociationwebsite.com/showdates.html

As for your Summer of ’69 show, be sure to check out our list should you be looking for material to feature …

http://forgottenhits.com/the_summer_of_69_-_top_50_biggest_hits

A recent salute on Me-TV-FM went over very well. (In fact, we were streaming their Milwaukee affiliate here!) kk

Here are the links to listen to Dewey’s Corner

Listen Live: https://onlineradiobox.com/us/wmse/?cs=us.wmse&played=1

Archived Shows: https://www.wmse.org/program/1950s-1970s-rock/

Gilbert O'Sullivan Talks Returning to U.S. Stages for First Time In 43 Years

https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8518380/gilbert-osullivan-returning-to-us-stages

Tom Cuddy

I’ve been reading about some of his European shows and thought this might be a fun one to see … but didn’t think he’d ever really come back to The States. I remember back in the day he was never a fan of live performing and, as I recall, he didn’t have the vocal power to pull it off. He was always much more at home in the studio in a controlled environment where he didn’t have to push himself vocally.

But yes, I would LOVE to see him should he decide to follow thru on this! And The City Winery would be the PERFECT place to showcase his music. (I was a VERY big fan back in the day … played his first four albums constantly!) Thanks, Tom! (kk)

Here are your Pick Hits from Ballot #3 …

Top Ten Vote-Getters:

#1 – Band On The Run – Paul McCartney

#2 – Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival (I knew this one would be big … but didn’t figure it to be the biggest! It fell just one point behind McCartney!)

#3 – Baba O’Reilly – The Who

#4 – Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty

#5 – Badge - Cream

#6 – Baby Blue – Badfinger

#7 - Back In The USSR – Beatles

#8 – Ballroom Blitz – Sweet (I wouldn’t have expected this one to finish this high)

#9 – Bad Time – Grand Funk Railroad

#10 – Barbara Ann – The Beach Boys

Nice Surprises:

Be My Lover by Alice Cooper (it’d be nice to hear this one once in awhile!)

Beautiful Loser – Bob Seger (one of those rare Bob Seger song that hasn’t been over-played to death … a nice switch up now and then)

Beach Baby – First Class (based on the voting we’ve seen thus far, classic rock fans accept The Beach Boys … and, apparently, even the FAKE Beach Boys!)

Because – The Dave Clark Five (only two DC5 songs got nominated … but fans would like to hear “Because” and “Catch Us If You Can” every now and then … and I’ll betcha we could make a pretty good case for a few others, too. FINALLY Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame members, it may be time to re-evaluate their catalog for classic rock airplay. I think Classic Rock fans today an appreciate where a lot of this music came from … so we’re seeing more early rock and roots artists earning votes in our poll thus far.)

Beds Are Burnin’ – Midnight Oil

Baby Come Back – The Equals (Eddy Grant also got nominated for “Electric Avenue”)

Baby Don’t Go and The Beat Goes On by Sonny and Cher … artists we NEVER expected to see on our Classic Rock list … yet between these two tracks, they now have 99 points … that ought to be enough to get somebody’s attention!)

Baby Driver by Simon and Garfunkel (always one of my favorites … but maybe even more popular now, thanks to the movie of the same name released last year)

Baby It’s You by Smith (out-polled The Beatles’ version 5 to 1)

Back Door Man by The Doors (again, not one you hear every day)

Back Of My Hand by The Jags (one of our suggested tracks that really took off during this special poll)

Back To The Island by Leon Russell (one you used to hear by never hear anymore)

Back When My Hair Was Short by Gunhill Road (now with 28 points, people remember this time-reflective piece and would enjoy hearing it again)

Bad Is Bad by Huey Lewis and the News (one of my favorites by them … and evidently one of your favorites, too … a nice, bluesy feel to a typically very “pop-sounding” band)

Keep those votes coming in … a new ballot will be posted every morning at 5 am Chicago time thru August 19^th!

https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/

↧

Thursday This And That

July 11, 2019, 3:57 am

≫ Next: The Friday Flash

≪ Previous: Article 0

Ballot 4 may offer our most surprising results yet when it comes to your selections. (Of course every ballot is only as good as the alphabetical choices will allow … but if anything proves that classic rock fans want more, THIS would be the evidence to show it!)

All the more reason why you should be voting ...

And why radio should be listening ... to these results ... if they want more of us to listen to them!!! (kk)

This is another really tough list!

Ron

Don’t make it harder than it has to be … vote for ALL of your favorites by submitting two ballots … one listing your top ten favorites, ranked from #1-#10 … and one checking off all of the other songs that you feel absolutely belong on Classic Rock Radio Playlists cross the country! (kk)

Ballot #5 is incredible! I could have picked a Top 20! This is addictive, Kent. Thanks so much!!!

Rimjberger

You absolutely CAN pick a Top 20 … or a Top 50 … or a Top 100 if you want to!

If you’re having trouble narrowing down these lists to just ten choices, then pick your favorite ten tunes and rank them 1-10.

Then go back and assign a single vote to every other song on each day’s list that you feel is worthy of inclusion in our final countdown.

Don’t pass by your favorites just to pick ten … take full advantage of BOTH voting methods … and make sure your favorites are well represented on the final list.

Oh, and by the way … yes, Forgotten Hits is COMPLETELY addictive and habit forming!!! (What are you some of guys going to do when we run out of titles?!?! Lol)

Not to worry … there are 46 ballots in all … today we’re releasing #7 … and then, after all the votes have been tabulated, you still got our TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL-TIME Countdown to enjoy!!! (We’re not going anywhere for a while! Lol) kk

I am truly amazed at how deep your readers dug to get some of these tunes on the ballot. Great tunes that never would have occurred to me thankfully occurred to others. Really enjoying this, Kent!

Sher

Sometimes it takes a village … and we’ve got a pretty incredible one here in Forgotten Hits.

And that was exactly our point and purpose all along … to show everybody just how much great music is out there that isn’t even on anybody’s radar anymore … and then try to get some of the classic rock stations to play it. When the same 2-300 songs are jammed in our heads every single day, people tend to forget just how many more great options are out there.

Hopefully, this list will ultimately serve its purpose and the playlists will improve … because with well over 730,000 votes, the people have spoken … and THIS is the music they want to hear! (If nothing else, consider requesting some of these titles from your favorite classic rock station ... and see if you can get them to play them!) kk

Some of you are having a real ball with this ... a very FRUSTRATING ball at times ... but a fun time nonetheless. (That's why the rest of you need to get out and vote!!!)

From Ballot 6:

1. Catch Us If You Can - DC5

2. Cherry Bomb - The Runaways

3. Caroline - Status Quo

4. Celluloid Heroes - The Kinks

5. Cleveland Rocks - Ian Hunter

6. Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young

7. Can't Find My Way Home - Blind Faith

8. Chicago - Graham Nash

9. Can't You See - Marshall Tucker

10. Classical Gas - Mason Williams

Any one of these could be my #1 for this list, depending on my mood. I'd love to see a couple of these score big time once the final list is assembled. This could be your all time #1 feature, as pretty much everyone has their own opinion of what should be #1.

Jack

From Ballot 5:

1. Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen

2. Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf

3, Both Ends Burning - Roxy Music

4. Break On Through -The Doors

5. Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy

6. Breakup Song - Greg Kihn

7. Brass In Pocket - The Pretenders'

8. Bowling Green - Everly Brothers

9. Born On The Bayou - CCR

10. Can I Get A Witness - Marvin Gaye

This is the strongest lot of songs thus far. I can see my top two ending up in the top 100.

Jack

From Ballot 4:

1. Blitzkreig Bop – Ramones (Could be an all time top five for me)

It’s funny … when I first saw how many votes this song was getting, not only was I amazed but I immediately reflected back to a comment I made a couple of weeks ago about having heard “More Than A Feeling” by Boston over 15,000 times on the radio over the past 45 years … yet I’ll bet you during that same amount of time, I haven’t heard “Blitzkreig Bop” by The Ramones on the radio FIFTEEN times!!! And yet it has proven to be one of the top vote getters from this ballot.

Again … radio … PLEASE pay attention!!!

Ballot #4 was the most eclectic and surprising yet …

Take your listeners’ wants and needs into consideration and throw them a surprise WOW! Track once in awhile … it’ll keep them tuned in … and because of that, they’ll tell others to listen, too! (kk)

It has been great to see the first ballots.

There are a few 'Who the hell voted for that song?', and many more 'I wish I would have thought of that one.' That is what makes it fun.

I am not surprised that Ballroom Blitz by the Sweet got a decent amount of votes. That has been one of my most asked for songs through the years. Little Willy,

Blockbuster, and especially Fox On The Run often show up during the request

shows. Folks even call for Love Is Like Oxygen, but never know the name of the group that sang it. I remember hearing WLS play the Sweet song Action more than any of their other songs. According to Ron Smith's Chicago Charts book, Love Is Like Oxygen never charted in Chicago. Billboard had it charting at number eight.

Phil – WRCO

Sweet did ok here in Chicago with three Top Five Hits (“Little Willy,” “Ballroom Blitz” and “Fox On The Run,” those last two going all the way to #1. Across town at WCFL all three of those songs made it all the way to #1!) I remember hearing “Love Is Like Oxygen” but it was probably on Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 because I don’t think it got played a whole lot here at the time. (kk)

BALLOT #4 Results:

Top Ten Vote-Getters:

#1 - Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen (as expected ... it leads the whole pack in overall votes, too ... and has for quite a while now)

#2 - Behind Blue Eyes – The Who

#3 - Beginnings – Chicago

#4 - Bitch – The Rolling Stones

#5 - Bell Bottom Blues – Derek and the Dominoes (“Layla” isn’t the only great track on this album. While it’s true you do hear this song once in a while, these results prove that classic rock fans love it … so you can afford to spin it a little more often to break up the monotony of playing “Layla” 45 times this week!)

#6 - Black Is Black – Los Bravos (who would have thought that this one would have finished so high! Great tune ‘tho!)

#7 - Black Magic Woman - Santana

#8 - Blitzkrieg Bop – The Ramones (Say what?!?! Right up there with The Who, Santana, Queen Chicago and the Rolling Stones?!?! Yep … that’s what the fans say!)

#9 - Birthday – The Beatles

#10 – Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Verve (another one that doesn't get enough airplay in this format)

It's interesting how some songs have gained in stature over the years. If this poll were taken 40 years ago, I don't think Bohemian Rhapsody would have done as well as it will in the final tally. I think Behind Blue Eyes has remained steady.

Jack

Other tracks of note:

All of these tracks did extremely well on Ballot #4 -

Black Betty – Ram Jam

Bloody Well Right – Supertramp

Blow Away by George Harrison (a bit of a surprise)

Blue Bayou – Linda Ronstadt (ditto ... classic rock fans consider Linda one of their favorites)

Blue Money – Van Morrison (a nice change of pace from Brown Eyed Girl, if nothing else!)

Blue Suede Shoes – Elvis Presley (voters continue to prove that they want more of the core, "roots" artists spun once in a while ... it's where the rest of classic rock came from!)

Boogie Wonderland by Earth, Wind And Fire with the Emotions (I sure didn’t expect to see THIS one here!!! Doesn’t fit the Classic Rock mold for me … but you guys out there are evidently ok with it … there are quite a few EWF tracks nominated)

Behind The Wall Of Sleep – The Smithereens (this is one I didn’t know at all … but you guys sure seem to like it!)

Beware My Love – Paul McCartney (to me, a deep track ... but it got a lot of votes in Ballot #4)

Beware Of Darkness – George Harrison (ditto)

Big Log – Robert Plant

Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell

Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper (this one really surprised me! But "Be My Lover" scored pretty well, too ... so maybe classic rockers want more Alice)

And, speaking of great Classic Rock ...

Congratulations to The Drive …

They’re now the #2 station in town …

And our FH Buddy Bob Stroud is now tied for 1^stPlace on mid-days

Offering a better variety of rock, this is the station to listen to locally for the very best in Classic Rock. WTG, guys! (kk)

https://live.wdrv.com/listen/?utm_source=station-website&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=livebar

↧

The Friday Flash

July 12, 2019, 4:29 am

≫ Next: Here's Your Saturday Update

≪ Previous: Thursday This And That

I have to admit that I was a little bit surprised to wake up to “Living In The Past” by Jethro Tull playing on Me-TV-FM this morning! (At first I thought maybe I had it tuned to The Drive … but this was my clock radio, which has never deviated from Me-TV-FM since the day they began broadcasting … so that couldn’t be the case!)

I guess it just wasn’t what I would typically expect to hear them play on their soft-rock oldies format. Don’t get me wrong … I thought it was GREAT to hear this … and, once again, this type of variety, on the station. (To prove THAT point, they followed it up with the Leif Garrett version of “Runaround Sue”!!! Those two songs and artists are about as “opposite ends of the spectrum” as you can get!)

Which is exactly what I LOVE about the station … you just never really know what you’re going to hear … and it’s those types of surprises that keep you tuned in.

Who would have EVER dreamed 45 years ago that we’d be hearing Jethro Tull on the soft rock stations? And yet they fit … right along side their airplay on the classic rock stations (although classic rock seems to favor their album tracks “Aqualung” and “Locomotive Breath” more than their two Top 40 Hits, “Living In The Past,” #11, 1972, and “Bungle In The Jungle,” #10, 1974. (“Living In The Past” first “bubbled under” in 1969, but I guess radio and listeners just weren’t ready yet for this new “art rock” sound.

Tull currently have eleven songs nominated in our Classic Rock Essentials Poll … in addition to the four titles listed above, we’ve also been receiving votes for “Cross-Eyed Mary,” “Hymn 43,” “Skating Away,” “Teacher,” “Thick As A Brick,” “Too Old To Rock And Roll” and “Wond’ring Aloud.” (Surprisingly, “A Passion Play,” “Minstrel In The Gallery” and “The Whistler” were never even nominated.) kk

>>>Ballot #5 is incredible! I could have picked a Top 20! This is addictive, Kent. Thanks so much!!! (Rimjberger)
>>>Forgotten Hits is COMPLETELY addictive and habit forming!!! (What are you some of guys going to do when we run out of titles?!?! Lol) kk
Hi Kent,

I agree that this stuff is totally addicting! The first thing I look for every morning is the fresh ballot. Many of these songs bring me back to my college radio days from 1985-88. I had a weekly show from 10pm - 2am and other than two new songs per hour, I was able to play ANYTHING I wanted to, as long as it was in the station record library. Songs like "Behind The Wall Of Sleep" by The Smithereens were a staple. Of course, I would always play some of the older stuff and actually talk about the songs and artists, something that seems to be lost on today's radio. Thanks for bringing back so many great memories. Can't wait to see the final tally!

Paul Haney

Record Research

Remember the other day when we told you that “American Woman” by The Guess Who completely CRUSHED to competition in Ballot #2?

Well, the results for Ballot #5 are in … and “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf better than doubled that tally … so they are now currently the leader in the balloting.

What I am loving about these results are the surprises … you know certain songs are going to score well no matter what (although I didn’t expect “Born To Be Wild” to come in at #1, I certainly knew it would be way up there.)

This poll PROVES that classic rock listeners want more from their stations. Check out some of Ballot 5’s top vote-getters and major surprises. (There is SO much room for improvement in today’s playlists … let’s just hope SOMEBODY out there is paying attention!) kk

BALLOT #5 TOP VOTE-GETTERS:

#1 – Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf (WOW! There aren’t enough words to describe what an impact this song had … no only on all of our lives, but also on the Ballot #5 Chart!)

#2 – Born To Run – Bruce Springsteen (Earned about 2/3 of the votes that “Born To Be Wild” did … but still enough to surpass “American Woman” in this new round of voting … and surprisingly, nearly three times as many votes as Bruce’s own “Born In The USA.”)

#3 – Break On Through – The Doors (Much bigger than I expected, this one finished just one vote shy of The Boss’s hit above)

#4 – Born On The Bayou – Creedence Clearwater Revival (This one, too, eclipsed “American Woman”’s showing from the other day … a GREAT album track that exceeded by expectations - although it's always been one of my favorites by them)

#5 – The Break-Up Song – Greg Kihn Band (Who doesn’t love this song??? One of those VERY pleasant surprises I was talking about … great to see this one place so high on the list!)

#6 – Burning Love – Elvis Presley (The King continues to make his mark in our Classic Rock poll. About all you hear these days are this one and “Suspicious Minds” … but several of Elvis’ OTHER tracks have also scored very well in this new round of balloting.)

#7 – California Girls – Beach Boys (Perhaps Brian Wilson’s first symphony … a TRUE classic in every sense of the word … and part of the journey that shows where classic rock came from)

#8 – Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel (Another true classic that makes EVERY “favorites” list)

#9 – California Dreamin’ – Mamas and Papas (This is one of those songs that fits EVERY format)

#10 – Breakdown – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (It’s tough to go an hour without hearing a Tom Petty song on the radio these days … but this one has always been my favorite … so it’s great to see it finish so high on the list)

MORE SURPRISES:

Bus Rider by The Guess Who (Missed The Top Ten by one vote. Anybody out there who isn’t adding this track to their playlist right now is missing the boat. Originally a B-Side, it still got plenty of airplay back in the day when The Guess Who were at their peak. I still maintain it was the “Goddamn” lyric that kept it off the charts.)

Born To Wander by Rare Earth (Guessing this is one of those that most of you had forgotten about … so I am happy to remind you about this great track)

Both Sides Now – Judy Collins (A soft-rock / classic rock cross-over)

Bowling Green by The Everly Brothers (This one really surprised me … but apparently you guys love it!)

Brooklyn – Steely Dan

Burn Down The Mission – Elton John

Can The Can – Suzi Quatro

Can We Still Be Friends – Todd Rundgren

(Each of the above seven tracks received 25 votes or more on the #5 Ballot … more than I would have figured based on the previous voting collected prior to our posting of this ballot.

While I didn't think today's selections were as strong as the last two ballots, there are still plenty of songs that deserve a listen to every so often.

Cut out one airplay of Freebird a week and substitute King Crimson. They both clock in at about the same time length. Then cut out another spin of Freebird and substitute about four wham bam thank you ma'am songs like C'mom Everybody.

Jack

Because the daily ballots list the songs alphabetically, we’re kind of at the mercy of this factor when it comes to each daily list … but I guarantee you, you will ALWAYS be able to find at least two dozen GREAT tracks that classic rock radio is ignoring in favor of playing the same tracks, sometimes as often as two, three and even four times per day. I’ll buy the idea that folks want to hear something “familiar” whenever they tune in (so I suppose some day we’ll have the all “Bohemian Rhapsody” station, playing nothing but Scaramouch, Scaramouch 24/7) but mix it up then with more surprises in between … because once again we are proving that this is what listeners would prefer to hear. (Seriously … is there anybody out there who couldn’t live another day if “More Than A Feeling” wasn’t played during a 24-hour period?) kk

Hi Kent,

This isn’t easy - and that's a good thing!

Colin Donahue

Variety … that’s the name of the game here in Forgotten Hits … and stirring up a memory … or two … or twenty! … on a daily basis! (kk)

Man it's hard to vote for songs you hate even thought they belong on the list. <grin>

Bill Scherer

That’s why I recommend the two-ballot option …

A single point for every song you know belongs on the list (and any borderline entries) … and a SECOND form listing your absolute Top Ten Favorites for any given day! (kk)

Ballot #8 has now been posted, leaving Ballots #6, #7 and #8 eligible for voting today. Hop on over to the Classic Rock Essentials website and check out the nominees … and then get your votes in … and continue with your support to help us determine, once and for all THE TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL TIME!

↧

Here's Your Saturday Update

July 13, 2019, 4:00 am

≫ Next: July 14th

≪ Previous: The Friday Flash

Ron Onesti wrote a nice piece about Burton Cummings’ upcoming return to The Arcada Theatre. (Saturday, August 3^rd, and we can’t wait!)
Consistently one of the best shows we've seen each year, Burton brings it every time. If you haven’t seen him live lately, do yourself a favor and grab tickets to this show. (We told you the other day that there’s more talk of a Bachman-Cummings reunion tour for next year … and, hopefully, they’ll finally film that next Soundstage special … but THIS show is guaranteed, so I say bet on the sure thing … because it’s ALSO guaranteed to bring you an awesome night of music.)

https://www.dailyherald.com/insights/20190712/ron-onesti-guess-who-is-going-to-rock-the-arcada

>>>I have to admit that I was a little bit surprised to wake up to “Living In The Past” by Jethro Tull playing on Me-TV-FM this morning! (At first I thought maybe I had it tuned to The Drive … but this was my clock radio, which has never deviated from Me-TV-FM since the day they began broadcasting … so that couldn’t be the case!) I guess it just wasn’t what I would typically expect to hear them play on their soft-rock oldies format. Don’t get me wrong … I thought it was GREAT to hear this … and, once again, this type of variety, on the station. (To prove THAT point, they followed it up with the Leif Garrett version of “Runaround Sue”!!! Those two songs and artists are about as “opposite ends of the spectrum” as you can get!) Which is exactly what I LOVE about the station … you just never really know what you’re going to hear … and it’s those types of surprises that keep you tuned in. Who would have EVER dreamed 45 years ago that we’d be hearing Jethro Tull on the soft rock stations? And yet they fit … right along side their airplay on the classic rock stations (although classic rock seems to favor their album tracks “Aqualung” and “Locomotive Breath” more than their two Top 40 Hits, “Living In The Past,” #11, 1972, and “Bungle In The Jungle,” #10, 1974. (“Living In The Past” first “bubbled under” in 1969, but I guess radio and listeners just weren’t ready yet for this new “art rock” sound. (kk)

Kent,
That’s Me, living in the past. That’s what we’re all about!
(In that respect, I guess it's really kind of BOTH of our unofficial theme song!) kk
Enjoyed the surprise opening to your Friday Flash today. Glad we can still startle you (in a good way!) every now and then. “Living in the Past” has been part of the library at MeTVFM since the beginning. It’s not a major track for us — it’s more like a little spice we sprinkle in just to catch people’s attention every now and then. “Bungle in the Jungle” serves the same purpose for us. You’ll hear it come around every now and then. And I smiled when you made reference to Leif Garrett’s “Runaround Sue” being the very next song in the sequence.
The thinking behind the MeTVFM format when it was first conceptualized by Neal Sabin in 2015 was to remind listeners of how diverse the Top 40 playlist was back in the days of the transistor radio. It was a characteristic of Top 40 we all definitely took for granted back in the day. In fact, you allude to it just about every time you post a playlist or station survey from 40-50 years ago. Take, for example, the WLS survey of April 27, 1974, which I selected completely at random. The top twenty includes: a rock jam (“Bennie and the Jets”), a hymn (!) (“The Lord’s Prayer”), two instrumentals (“Tubular Bells” and “The Entertainer”), a song sung in a foreign language (“Eres Tu (Touch the Wind)),” one of the earliest disco tunes (“T.S.O.P.”), a country crossover artist (Jim Stafford) and a singer-songwriter ballad (“I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song”). Go down a few more notches, and you’ll find a novelty song (“The Streak”). Now THAT’S true variety.
Stations don’t build a library that way anymore. Today, every format is highly specialized and, as a consequence, segregationist; every playlist is narrowly defined, reflecting only a single genre, in most cases. On the contrary, Neal set up MeTVFM as a throwback to a time when you could hear multiple genres, not just within the same hour but often within the same set, on your favorite station.
Sometimes it’s worlds colliding, we realize. But Neal wanted to throw out the programming principle that’s taken over the industry the past 30 years, the one where you’re supposed to play it safe within your own musical niche. It’s probably the biggest rule that he’s broken in creating MeTVFM.
Have a good weekend.
Rick
Rick O’Dell
Program Director
MeTVFM

And for me, that’s the greatest appeal … we’ve covered this topic many times in the past … the VARIETY that was Top 40 Radio exposed us to all different genres of music … spinning your analogy a step further by adding the sounds of The British Invasion and Motown and Memphis soul … soft rock, hard rock, psychedelia, surf music, cross-over country artists like Glen Campbell and Roger Miller who regularly made the pop charts, right alongside heavier acts like The Rolling Stones, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Vanilla Fudge.
Today’s music is programmed to one specific genre … and, as a result, it often sounds like one continuous tone, every song blending right into each other to the point that you sometimes can’t tell where one song stops and another song starts. (This is especially true if you’re not familiar with the bulk of the music … I can’t tell you how many time I’ve asked one of my daughters “Is this still the same song???” over the years!)
We’ve campaigned for more variety since Day One … and Me-TV-FM offers more than most. (We’re also very fond of Rewound Radio, who’ll play more of the rockin’ tunes that were popular during this era that Me avoids, and WCFLChicago.com, who plays just about anything and everything. You can be listening to Elton John one moment, Aerosmith’s “Big Ten Inch” the next and then a track off the latest Adele album!)
I’ve given up on the concept of trying to program everything … or only concentrating on the hits as they charted at the time, simply because it was a big hit THEN … because a LOT of this music doesn’t hold up as well as much of the others. Right now, my main focus is "Does it SOUND good coming out of your radio?" I love it when Me’ll play an hour of strong material … you don’t want to turn it off … but too often that hour is interrupted by a song or two that break the momentum. It just doesn’t SOUND right … and this has been the most consistent complaint I’ve heard about the station. Yes, it’s cool to feature some of these ‘70’s album tracks now and then … but stick to the tracks that actually drew airplay and attention at the time … there’s just TOO many times where I find myself muttering out loud, “That’s timeless and memorable??? To WHO?!?!?” Because I’m guessing that even that artist’s MOTHER doesn’t want to hear that track again!!! (Just keepin’ it real!!!) kk

And, speaking of The Rolling Stones, they had to cancel their date in New Orleans again due to hurricane warnings!!! (Man, how does ANYBODY live down there?!?!)

But our FH Buddy Mike Baker will be saluting The Stones on Friday, July 26^th (Mick Jagger’s Birthday!) when he airs a two-hour History Of Rock And Roll special featuring The Rolling Stones in the ‘60’s, followed by The Rolling Stones in the ‘70’s.

More information is below …

Join WLTL on Friday, July 26, 2019, from 12 pm – 2 pm CT for two hours of The Rolling Stones.
On Mick Jagger’s birthday, WLTL will present two chapters from The History Of Rock And Roll.
Chapter One will feature The Rolling Stones in the '60s and Chapter Two will feature The Rolling Stones in the ‘70s.
Celebrate Mick Jagger’s birthday … Friday, July 26, 2019, from 12 pm – 2 pm CT on 88.1 FM WLTL.
WLTL streams at: http://www.wltl.net/listen1.html
Also, the WLTL free app is available for your smart device - Apple’s App Store, Google Play and the Windows Phone Store. Plus, the RadioFX app, Alexa and more.
And, coming in August, WLTL celebrates a 50th anniversary weekend!
Mike Baker And The Forgotten 45s

BALLOT #6 RESULTS:
I can't believe how much fun this is!
Rimjberger

Votes were actually down for Ballot #6. (Don’t give up on me yet, guys … we’ve got LOTS more great music to choose from is coming your way!) That being said, while we were tabulating the votes for Ballot #8, we officially passed the 740,000 mark ... so thank you all for one hell of a turn-out!

Still, we had some heavy hitters and a few more surprises …

TOP TEN VOTE-GETTERS:

# 1 – Cinnamon Girl – Neil Young (I never saw this one coming ... a GREAT track that I've always loved ... even used to sing it myself back in the day ... and an FM Classic Rock staple for as long as the genre has existed ... but I never expected this one to come in at #1 on the daily ballot)

# 2 – Can’t Buy Me Love – The Beatles (An early Beatles favorite that still sounds fresh and exciting today)

# 3 – Changes – David Bowie (Based on the Ballot #6 options, I figured this one to come up on top ... or "Can't Find My Way Home" by Blind Faith, which you'll find below at #7. Again, we're at the mercy of the alphabetical choices provided on a daily basis ... but Classic Rock staples like Bad Company's "Can't Get Enough," Marshall Tucker's "Can't You See," ELO's "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" and "Carry On Wayward Son" didn't even make The Top Ten! You won't find "China Grove,""Centerfold" or "Caught Up In You" up here either ... which makes for some REAL surprises within the top ten finishers)

# 4 – Can’t Find The Time – Orpheus (Always a list favorite, this one has scored quite a few points in our Classic Roll Poll, too ... 167 so far to be exact!)

# 5 – Catch Us If You Can – Dave Clark Five (We saw "Because" make the list on Ballot #3 ... and now here's the other ranking DC5 tune, coming in at #5 on our Ballot #6 list)

# 6 – Can’t Help Falling In Love – Elvis Presley (Elvis making his presence known again, this time with one of his greatest ballads ... the people have spoken ... they want to hear a little bit of The King sprinkled into your classic rock programming ... and it makes sense ... this is where it all started ... why not acknowledge it? Without Elvis, there are no Beatles ... without The Beatles, pushing the limits of what was acceptable in pop music, classic rock might not exist.)

# 7 – Can’t Find My Way Home – Blind Faith (There it is ... my all-time favorite from this list)

# 8 – Caroline No – Beach Boys (Didn't think I'd see this one on the list at all, much less in the top ten!)

# 9 – Chuck E’s In Love – Rickie Lee Jones (Another cross-over hit that fits multiple formats ... and, quite honestly, this song sounds good EVERY time it comes on)

#10 – Carrie Anne - Hollies (It took awhile for The Hollies to be recognized by The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ... but they put together an incredible catalog of music over the years ... watch for a number of their tunes to make the final TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL TIME list)

OTHER SURPRISES:

Classical Gas – Mason Williams (wow!)

Celebrate – Three Dog Night (several Three Dog Night titles have been nominated)

Clap For The Wolfman – Guess Who (a nice showing for this track ... more of a novelty tune than a classic rock track ... but the fans seem to love it)

Centerfield – John Fogerty

Carefree Highway – Gordon Lightfoot (another one that surprised me ... Top Soft Rock Tracks, maybe ... but CLASSIC Rock? Yet you guys voted for it so here it is!)

Captain Jack by Billy Joel (an early, lesser known Billy Joel that scored very well in the Ballot #6 voting)

Cathy’s Clown by The Everly Brothers (another real surprise)

Cherry Bomb – The Runaways (I'm curious to see where this one ranks when the final list is published)

Chevy Van by Sammy Johns

Chestnut Mare – The Byrds (Lots of votes for this Byrds album track)

Charity Ball – Fanny (I campaigned hard for this one ... nice to see some of you responding)

Christine Sixteen – Kiss

I guess I have a thing for "dirty" songs. Nottalotta stuff in my top ten songs that classic rock radio is gonna play anytime soon. Actually, I prefer Do Ya by the Move, but ELO works. WTF, on the 40th anniversary of Disco Demolition, no Do You Think I'm Disco, by Steve Dahl? Good job by my fellow FHers for selecting Did You See Her Eyes.
Jack

We’re going to see Jeff Lynne again in a couple of weeks … can’t wait. Disco Demolition even made the pages of Rolling Stone on the 40^th Anniversary! (Actually, I always hated BOTH of those “Do Ya Think I’m …” songs!)
And I’ll never forget all the hype going on at the time about Illusion being “the next Beatles” … maybe even BIGGER than The Beatles. Meanwhile, their only Top 40 Hit, “Did You See Her Eyes,” peaked at #24 in Record World. (It did a little better here in Chicago where it peaked at #10 on WLS.)

↧

July 14th

July 14, 2019, 4:00 am

≫ Next: In The Year 2525

≪ Previous: Here's Your Saturday Update

The much talked about syndicated series "The History Of Rock And Roll" began airing on WLS on Sunday Nights this week in 1969. (In fact, you'll find it listed on the next several weekly survey charts.)

Originally 48 hours long, it would take WLS eight weeks to make its way through the whole series (although I seem to remember them also running "recaps" on the weekends, too.) Let's face it ... as ambitious a project as this was, NOBODY could sit thru all 48 hours in a row ... so breaking it down into smaller installments probably made the most sense. Our long-time Forgotten Hits Buddy Gary Theoux got involved in the 1978 rewrite, which expanded the series to 52 hours (and corrected numerous mistakes found in the initial version.)

You'll find a few History Of Rock And Roll worthy artists on this week's list ... Tommy James and the Shondells, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Stevie Wonder, Three Dog Night, Kenny Rogers, Neil Diamond, James Brown, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Rolling Stones, Booker T. and the MG's, Johnny Cash, The Fifth Dimension, Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Box Tops, The Beach Boys, The Guess Who, Marvin Gaye and The Lettermen are all represented.

One Hit Wonders Zager and Evans take over the top spot with "In The Year 2525," while "Quentin's Theme,""Put A Little Love In Your Heart,""Sweet Caroline,""Polk Salad Annie" and "Birthday" all make leaps of ten places or more.

New on the charts: The Rolling Stones with "Honky Tonk Women," which will go on to become one of the biggest hits of 1969.

Also debuting this week: the first single release from the brand new "super group" Crosby, Stills and Nash, former members of The Byrds, The Buffalo Springfield and The Hollies, respectively. Neil Young (also of The Buffalo Springfield) would join them occasionally when the mood struck him.

THIS WEEK IN 1969:

July 8^th– Keeping his promise as new President, Nixon orchestrates the very first US troop withdrawals in Viet Nam.

Also on this date, Marianne Faithfull takes a near-fatal overdose of barbiturates on the set of the film “Ned Kelly.” It is ruled an attempted suicide and she is dropped from the cast and hospitalized for treatment of heroin addiction.

July 10^th– Rolling Stones founding member Brian Jones is laid to rest at the Priory Road Cemetery in Prestbury, England. All of the other Stones, with the exception of Mick Jagger, are present for the ceremony.

July 12^th– Blind Faith (billed as “The Ultimate Supergroup”) begins their one and only US Tour with a sold out show at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Also on this date, Elvis Presley appears on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine (beating Dr. Hook to this honor by a few years!)

And Glen Campbell and Jeannie C. Riley appear on The Johnny Cash Show

July 14^th– Show Me The Money: All US $500, $1000, $5000 and $10,000 bills are officially withdrawn from circulation (I can honestly say I’ve never seen ANY of them ... but they did exist!!!)

(If some of you are wondering who the heck Salmon P. Chase is, you'll find a great read over on the Mental Floss website from a few years ago.)

An aspiring politician he never quite made the "Dead Presidents" club ... but odds are a good number of you out there reading this right now have, at one time or another, done business with his bank. (Chase, in fact, currently holds the title on my new car loan ... you know, should anybody out there feel inclined to help pay it off!)

http://mentalfloss.com/article/23692/100000-bill-story-behind-large-denomination-currency

Also on this date, Bob Dylan surprised the audience when he joined The Band to perform three songs during their concert at the Mississippi River Rock Festival.

And the film "Easy Rider" opened in theaters in New York City. A long-time cult classic, it starred Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson (and even Wall-Of-Sound Record Producer Phil Spector!) The soundtrack boasts tracks by Steppenwolf, The Byrds, The Band and more.

WATCH FOR A MORE IN-DEPTH LOOK AT ZAGER AND EVANS AND THEIR #1 HIT "IN THE YEAR 2525" TOMORROW IN FORGOTTEN HITS!

↧

In The Year 2525

July 15, 2019, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Tuesday This And That

≪ Previous: July 14th

As you saw yesterday, Zager and Evans topped the WLS Hit Parade exactly fifty years ago with their One-Hit Wonder, "In The Year 2525."

FH Regular Clark Besch prepared this piece on the duo, hometown heroes who hailed from his native Lincoln, Nebraska.

Who can forget the story Rick Evans and Denny Zager unveiled to the month of the first moon walk and Woodstock. "In the Year 2525" was a bit of a downer in retrospect, but at that time in 1969, a PERFECT reflection about the world's future. Had it came out in 1968 or 1970, maybe it would have disappeared without a trace?

The song had been written three years earlier and the duo had played it for awhile in their downtown weekly hangout in their (and my) hometown of Lincoln,Nebraska, at the Cattmann's Club nightly before enough interest led them to travel to Texas and record it and put it out on Truth Records in early 1969. The song took off here and went to #1 on KLMS in April. By July 12, it was a national sensation reaching #1 in the country and by year's end the duo was a worldwide sensation.

Yet, Zager & Evans were not overnight sensations. They were part of an amazingly talented combo called the Eccentrics. They were VERY popular as locals in Lincoln as early as 1961!

How many bands were popular enough in 1961 to get a large photo ad like this in the paper? That is Zager (left) and Evans (right) at the far right of the car.

By late 1963, the band had played Kansas City, St. Paul, Denver, Chicago and Green Bay nightspots.

As the Beatles came along, long hair did, too. The Eccentrics grew their hair to match their name and sported long bouffant cuts not unlike the nation's founding fathers centuries earlier.

Their first recording was released in 1964 issued with a pic sleeve and reached #11 on Lincoln's KLMS charts.

Zager & Evans in the middle below.

Also, in 1964, Rick Evans (writer of "2525") made front page headlines (guitar player) in Lincoln's newspaper!

Not only a popular singer / musician, but also a prolific songwriter by now.

This story ran with the headline "Musician Continues to Strum."

This past year several tapes of the Eccentrics live performances have surfaced, showing how amazingly versatile the band was, musically.

Despite being an excellent band and changing their song rotation monthly featuring everything from blues to jazz to bubblegum and Beatles, they called it quits around 1967 and Z&E began playing as a duo and regulars around Lincoln.

Almost a year before their national fame, the band was given a nice article in Lincoln based on their new gig at the Cattmann's Lounge and the recording of their new tune "2525." Some of the Eccentrics played on the recording.

Their final Cattmann's gig would come in late June, 1969, when their hit was just going national.

The song would jump to #1 quickly after release in March, 1969. On March 8, 1969, the Truth version was listed as an "extra" on Lincoln's KLMS radio chart. In successive weeks, it moved to #34, #5, #2 and number 1. After staying there for five weeks, the song left the local chart on June 7.

BTW, that should be SOMA records, not SELMA Records in Minneapolis! I wonder if signing to Columbia would have been any better move than RCA? Anyway, by May, RCA got the deal!

Two weeks after leaving the Lincoln charts, the new RCA version jumped into the Hot 100 on June 21.

By July 12, 1969, the RCA (added orchestration) had reached #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 in just four weeks and stayed there an amazing six weeks at the top until August 23, when "Honky Tonk Women" knocked it off.

In that period, man first walked on the Moon on July 20. Also, Woodstock convened from August 15-18 (supposedly, Z&E were invited to perform, but a car accident prevented it from happening -- I have not been able to confirm this). It was a perfect time for this odd piece of musical history to happen.

In the coming months, the record would go to the top of many nations worldwide! BUT, Zager & Evans could never come close again, making them not a TRUE overnight sensation, BUT making them a TRUE disappearing act one hit wonder of all time.

After a handful of local hits ended in 1972, Z&E folded and a falling out over song royalties between them caused the duo to never perform again together, despite many attempts by promoters. Rick Evans passed away a few years ago. "2525" still awaits us all.

Just one more rags to riches to rags story of rock 'n roll.

-- Clark Besch

↧

Tuesday This And That

July 16, 2019, 3:59 am

≫ Next: Meanwhile On The East Coast ... Peter Asher

≪ Previous: In The Year 2525

By now I'm sure that everybody already knows that surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunited on stage at McCartney’s show at Dodger Stadium Saturday Night (July 13^th). Birthday boy Ringo (he turned 79 on July 7^th) came out after McCartney’s “new band” performed The Beatles’ hit “Birthday” … and then stuck around long enough to play drums on “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Helter Skelter,” the two former bandmates exchanging “I love you, man”’s a couple of times before Ringo left the stage. (Earlier in the evening, before performing his tribute to John Lennon song “Here Today,” McCartney told the audience that this is a song he had written about "a conversation I wish we'd had,” following up that comment by saying “If you want to tell someone you love them, tell them before it's too late."
It was an incredible surprise for the sold out crowd of 56,000 fans on hand that night, who also witnessed Joe Walsh (Ringo’s brother-in-law) join the band for their Abbey Road Medley encore. What an incredible night of music … and what a way to wrap up the US leg of Paul’s 2019 “Freshen Up” tour. He left the stage by saying “Farewell to you guys, farewell to America. There’s only one thing left to be said: We’ll see you next time.”

McCartney’s set list for his final US show:

A Hard Day's Night
Junior's Farm
Can't Buy Me Love
Letting Go
Who Cares
Got To Get You Into My Life
Come On To Me
Let Me Roll It
I've Got A Feeling
Let 'Em In
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
Maybe I'm Amazed
I've Just Seen A Face
In Spite of All the Danger
From Me To You
Dance Tonight
Love Me Do
Blackbird
Here Today
Queenie Eye
Lady Madonna
Eleanor Rigby
Fuh You
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Something
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Band On The Run
Back In The U.S.S.R.
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude
Birthday
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Helter Skelter
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End

In other Beatles news …

On the strength of the new film “Yesterday,” five Beatles songs have re-entered the Billboard Hot Rock Song Chart. (We never ran our review of the film because I didn't want to give anything away … or run a negative review and ruin the experience for anybody else who was still looking forward to seeing it. Suffice to say we were very disappointed … the premise was interesting enough but there just weren’t any likeable characters in the movie … and the “surprise twist” … now long out of the bag … sparked nothing for me. On a 1-10 rating, I gave it a 4. It’s another one of those movies where the trailer is better than the film.)

According to Billboard, “Here Comes The Sun” has proven to be the most popular … again (it also leads Beatles downloads on iTunes … and has since they first obtained the rights to The Beatles catalog) … premiering at #9. (For all the Lennon-McCartney hype over the past 60 years, George currently occupies the top two Beatles spots on our Classic Rock Essentials list, too, with “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Here Comes The Sun” both drifting in and out of The Top 20.)
It was followed by “Let It Be” at #12, “Yesterday” at #14, “Hey Jude” at #16 and “Come Together at #17.
Even more remarkable is the fact that Billboard is reporting 51.2 million streams of Beatles music the week after the film opened. (I can’t believe there are 51.2 million people out there who don’t already OWN some of this music that they can play from their own collections!)
The film’s lead actor Himesh Patel’s version of “Yesterday” debuted at #37 all on its own … and The Beatles’ “1” album now sits at #43 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart.
Amazing! (kk)

And, speaking of the film “Yesterday,” Richard Curtis, the guy who wrote the screenplay, says that he originally had planned to have all four Beatles make appearances in the film … but only the John Lennon character made the final edit.
In the final cut of the film that proposes there were no Beatles, Jack Malik (played by Himesh Patel) meets John Lennon, who is still alive because he never became famous and therefore was never killed at The Dakota in 1980.
Director Danny Boyle goes on to explain, “I remember thinking, that is just fantastic, because you think you’re in one kind of movie, and then for a moment it just allows you to sit in something wondrous. There’s something very acute about the violence, the senselessness, of what John faced for a moment. Gone way before nature really took any kind of toll … it’s particularly acute for that.”
Writer Curtis said that he imagined Lennon might have been inspired by living in the port city of Liverpool. “You get the sense that he’s been a sailor, that he’s traveled around the world, that he’s been political. He says at one point that he's fought for a lot of things and won once or twice, and also that he's made some brave decisions on love, as John did. We're not specific about who with, but it's the idea that he had to fight to get love right, which John did.”
In early versions of the script, Curtis also had Malik running into George Harrison and Ringo Starr in a Liverpool pub. “It was, I hope, a sweet scene, and they were just two delightful, oldish men who'd once been in a band together,” he said. “They were clearly music enthusiasts who had never got any further ... happy people who loved music, like so many of us do, and formed a band or been in a pub band” … but just never really made it.
Paul McCartney would have made an appearance in the film, too, at the close of the movie. “At the very end, Jack was going to move to the Isle of Wight, to a cottage, and you were going to hear outside his window someone saying, 'Vera, Chuck, Dave!' There were going to be three dogs, and Paul was going to be walking them.”
On the decision to have only Lennon appear, Curtis said: “It was the scene that had the most meaning, and was in some ways the pivotal scene of the film.”

Have you seen “Yesterday?” (Or, perhaps more appropriately, do you believe in yesterday?) Send us your thoughts and we’ll run them in a future issue of Forgotten Hits. It just didn’t do it for me … and I was SO looking forward to this film coming out. Later that same night we watched a God-awful film starring Keanu Reeves called “Knock Knock” … which I found far more interesting and thought-provoking. And that’s a real shame. (kk)

OUR EFFORTS TO SAVE CLASSIC ROCK:
Omg. I was driving home Friday around 5 pm and I heard Take It Easy by the Eagles not 1, not 2, but 3 times in an hour!!!
Bravo on your attempt to enlighten the program directors!
Mike DeMartino

Here are the latest Ballot Updates

Ballot #7

Top Ten Vote Getters
# 1 – Crimson And Clover – Tommy James and the Shondells (by a VERY large margin … this one CRUSHED the competition!)
# 2 – Come Monday – Jimmy Buffett (not the Jimmy Buffet track you’re most likely to hear … but clearly a favorite)
# 3 – Closer To Home (I’m Your Captain) – Grand Funk Railroad (Missed the #2 spot by only one vote. Give “Some Kind Of Wonderful” a rest once in awhile and play THIS one instead … you’re listeners will respond to the surprise change)
# 4 – Crystal Blue Persuasion – Tommy James and the Shondells (Two songs in the Top 4 by Tommy James! That’s awesome!)
# 5 – Crossroads – Cream (we expected to see this one on the list!)
# 6 – Come Sail Away – Styx (A Styx favorite … and FM Classic Rock staple)
# 7 – Cryin’ – Roy Orbison (Another surprise. You’re already playing “You Got It” several times a week anyway … why not dip into the Orbison catalog a little deeper and dig out a gem like this one. After Roy’s “Black And White Night,” headed by Springsteen several years ago, he now has a broader audience appeal … and being one of the Traveling Wilburys didn’t hurt his career either!)
# 8 – Come And Get Your Love – Redbone (an unusual surprise that fits)
# 9 – Court Of The Crimson King – King Crimson (When’s the last time you heard ANY station play something by King Crimson. No, they do not have across the boards appeal … but SOMEBODY out there must like them in order for them to score this high in our little Classic Rock Favorites poll)
# 10 – Conquistador – Procol Harum (Great track … and a nice change of pace from “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” every now and then)

Other Surprises:
These tracks just missed making The Top Ten …
C’mon Everybody – Eddie Cochran (missed The Top Ten by only one vote – and is probably the #1 song on the list of least-likely tunes to make this kind of a showing! Will Classic Rock ever play it? Probably not ... but once again, it helps to teach your audience where classic rock came from)
Crystal Ship – The Doors
Cover Of The Rolling Stone – Dr. Hook (more votes than you would think ... and a nice diversion that'll surprise your listeners)
Come Dancing – The Kinks
Come On Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Cry Like A Baby – The Box Tops
Colour My World - Chicago
Cruel To Be Kind – Nick Lowe
Creeque Alley – The Mamas and Papas
Close To The Edge - Yes

But perhaps even more surprising than any of those tracks that just missed making the cut is the fact that Heart’s “Crazy On You,” Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Come Together” by The Beatles and “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd … all presumed shoe-ins … did NOT make The Top Ten … making the tracks that did (by acts like Roy Orbison, Redbone, King Crimson and Procol Harum) even bigger surprises. (Think about how many times a week you hear … or play … those tracks by Heart, Queen, The Beatles and Pink Floyd under the delusion that THIS is what your listeners want to hear! Wake-Up Call … Yikes!!!) kk

Ballot #8

Top Ten Vote-Getters:
# 1 – Do You Believe In Magic – The Lovin’ Spoonful (NEVER expected this one to come in at #1 … in fact, I didn’t think it would make The Top 20! But the fans have spoken … and this is evidently one of their favorites)
# 2 – Deacon Blues – Steely Dan (outscoring “Do It Again,” the usual favorite by them, by a margin of 4 to 1)
# 3 – Day Tripper – The Beatles (a GREAT track by The Fab Four with a killer hook)
# 4 – Do It Again – The Beach Boys (another timeless favorite … not normally thought of as Classic Rock, perhaps … but I’m willing to bet you’ll get a positive reaction to it if you give it a chance)
# 5 – Dirty Work – Steely Dan (Two big hits in The Top Five for Steely Dan on Ballot #8 … this one has always been one of my favorites)
# 6 – Do Ya – Electric Light Orchestra (not one of theirs that I figured would score this high on the list)
# 7 – Do Wah Diddy Diddy – Manfred Mann (sure, you’re going to hear “Blinded By The Light” every single day … but THIS is the one that launched Manfred Mann’s career … and it still sounds just has fresh today as it did back in 1964 when it first captured our hearts)
# 8 – Desperado – The Eagles (the first song Don Henley and Glenn Frey ever wrote together … and the hits just kept on comin’!)
# 9 – Daniel – Elton John
#10 – Daydream Believer – The Monkees (just a real good, feel good song … this one would brighten any classic rock play list if only because it’s so unexpected!)

Just Missed:
Five points or less separated these tracks from The Top Ten:
Day After Day – Badfinger
Dialogue Part I and II – Chicago (not one of their over-played tunes … but apparently still a fan favorite in order to score this high)
A Day In The Life – The Beatles (we’ve seen this one top similar polls in the past … but based on the voting that we’ve received so far, it isn’t even one of your Top Three Beatles favorites, much less ahead of at least a hundred others)
Different Drum – Linda Ronstadt / The Stone Poneys (another surprise)
Delta Lady – Joe Cocker (This one REALLY surprised me. Not one you hear very often but, based on our results, one that definitely deserves a spin now and then)
Dirty Water – The Standells (This one scored well … but not as well as I thought it would. How can anybody sit still when this track comes on? It just moves you!)
Dancing In The Street – Martha and the Vandellas (outscoring both the Mick Jagger / David Bowie version and the Van Halen version by about 8 to 1 … and proving that there IS a place for Classic Motown on a Classic Rock stations)
Devil With A Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly – Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels (a few people listed this as their #1 favorite from this list … again, a BIG surprise when weighted against some of the other Top Rock Songs Lists we’ve seen)
Dirty Laundry – Don Henley (several of Don’s solo hits made the cut)
Dancing In The Dark – Bruce Springsteen
Do You Know What I Mean – Lee Michaels
This ballot proved to be the tightest race so far … 21 tracks vied for The Top Ten … and you could make a good case for all of them. Things are heating up!

Other songs that scored well:
Detroit Rock City by Kiss
Did You See Her Eyes – Illusion
Do You Want To Know A Secret – The Beatles (not one I’d expect to find on the classic rock play list … but their music is so infectious it’s hard to rule out anything!)
Dark Star – Crosby, Stills and Nash
Dedicated Follower Of Fashion – The Kinks (not one I’d expect to find on this list)
Dedicated To The One I Love – The Mamas and Papas (one of my all-time favorite tracks … so this was a pleasant surprise)

Ballot #9:
It seems the choice is either "don't" or "down" songs, for #9.
First of all, a song about busking … Don’t Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On The King Of Rock and Roll, a topic near and dear to me over the years. That makes this an automatic fave. Too bad Green Tambourine won't be mentioned for a few more days. FH member Tony Hatch, via Petula Clark, probably gave us some of the best songs about being a young adult in 1965/66. Yeah, maybe Petula is too MOR, but Downtown seems to fit what I think is Classic Rock. A couple of teen angst songs with Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood and Don't Worry Baby. How come Cher never covered Down By The River? After all it deals with someone getting shot. Had Mick recorded Don't Tear Me Up around 1973/4, it would have been a much bigger song. And am I the only one who thinks Don't Be Cruel sounds like Memories are Made Of This? On to Ballot #10
Jack
Believe it or not, “Green Tambourine” wasn’t nominated … and honestly, I don’t think it fits the format. I even frowned when I saw “Downtown” on the list … not because I don’t think it’s a great song, but because it doesn’t fit the typical genre of Classic Rock. Sure, it’d be right up near the top on many other lists … British Invasion Hits, Biggest Hits of the “60’s, Classic Pop Hits, etc. … but Classic Rock??? I don’t think so.
But apparently I’m in the minority here because if you check the stats for Ballot #9 below, you’ll find it right up there near the top! (kk)

Ballot #10 probably contained the hardest choices to date. I could have just gone with the first 10 "dream" songs and I probably wouldn't get much argument.
Almost 54 years later, you wouldn't have to change much to the Barry McGuire song. Only the names change and, in some cases, not even that. If I had to do a list of teen angst songs, Eighteen would be in the top two. Drift Away has aged well over the years ... maybe that's what classic rock is all about. A lot of "classics" haven't. Seeing Every Day And Every Night by the Trolls on the list was a pleasant surprise ... too bad lead singer Max Jordan has no interest in resuming his career. Cheap Trick isn't a surprise. Dream Police won't be their highest ranked song, but it deserves to be there, as do the rest. On to ballot #11.
Jack
A few more surprises for me here … I've never considered “Eve Of Destruction” a Classic Rock song … but the votes flooded in for that one once people saw it on the list. Ditto for “Drift Away,” which quite a few of the classic rock stations have been playing for several years now. I’ve never considered THAT one classic rock either … but the people have spoken … and they feel it belongs.
That’s what I love about compiling these votes … this list isn’t at ALL about what I think … this list will represent the general consensus of EVERYBODY who took the time to vote … so if you haven’t voted yet, PLEASE do. This is going to be one heck of a list when all is said and done. (kk)

And remember … you CAN list more than tenfavorites … a number of people are submitting two ballots each day … one with a list of titles earning one vote each followed by another ranking their top ten favorites. Yes, it’s a bit more time-consuming … for BOTH of us … but don’t ignore something that you absolutely believe belongs on the list just to limit yourself to only ten choices! (kk)

The selections on Ballot 11 were difficult in that there were not ten standout favorites for me. One Feelin' Alright is about the same as the other four. Marshall Tucker is the forgotten band in the southern rock genre. Too bad, as their stuff stands up a lot better than Lynyrd Skynyrd's catalog. Why Warren Zevon isn't a rock and roll icon escapes me. Of course, without Buddy holly, none of these icons would be icons. Lunchtime.
Jack

Back in the nomination process, I didn't nominate any songs that either I never heard on a classic rock station before or fell in the category soul (including Motown), folk rock, or easy listening. This caused me to exclude from my nominations some of my all-time favorites. However, many of these songs are appearing on the ballots you have issued and if they do, I'm voting for them. So, if you want to expand classic rock's programming, I wasn't helping initially, but I am now.
Voting every day has become a highlight of this summer. All the best to you.
Fran Kriston
Baltimore, MD
There was an argument early on that Motown doesn’t fit on Classic Rock but I beg to differ … and I think we’re seeing this now. Not ALL of Motown … I don’t really see The Supremes crossing over … and yet something like “Dancing In The Street” by Martha and the Vandellas was a very big vote-getter the other day. Certainly “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” and “My Girl” by The Temptations belong … and if classic rock is going to play the far inferior Rolling Stones version of “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” then they’ve just GOT to play the original by The Temps!
Likewise for “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” … is there really anybody out there who prefers hearing Creedence Clearwater Revival’s version of this song over Marvin Gaye’s?
Same with several of the Smokey Robinson songs that were nominated right alongside the cover / remake versions done by Johnny Rivers and Linda Ronstadt.
As for some of these soft-rock crossovers, we’ve heard more and more of it lately … groups like Ambrosia and The Little River Band and artists like Christopher Cross have bridged the gap between soft rock and classic rock. (Besides, if the adult contemporary stations can play “Hurts So Good” and “Jack And Diane” by John Mellencamp, then I figure turnabout is fair play.
Why wouldn’t Benny Mardones’ killer track “Into The Night” belong when Daryl Hall and John Oates’ version of “She’s Gone” is a classic rock staple? In fact, ANYTHING sounding like Hall and Oates seems to be making the list (“I Can Dream About You” by Dan Hartman, “Baby Come Back” by Player and “Smoke From A Distant Fire” are all scoring well and receiving classic rock airplay.
The gap has been closing more and more over the past decade. (It blew me away when I heard “Brick House” as part of The Drive’s Memorial Day 500 … I don’t think I’ve EVER heard that station play that song before … not even on Bob Stroud’s program!
You guys came up with over 4700 nominations … I’m just putting YOUR list out there to poll the masses and come up with the best final list possible … so PLEASE keep those votes coming, people!
(Somebody asked me the other day, “What about YOUR opinion? What are YOUR ten favorite Classic Rock songs?” I don’t think I could come up with a list of ten … but every morning, I’m voting just the same way all of you are … I go down each daily ballot and check off the songs that I believe absolutely belong on the classic rock stations … and award a point to each. And then I come back to those selections and rank my Top Ten Favorites on a daily basis … so believe me, I know how hard this can be … there are days when I can’t get it under twenty … but I do … so MY votes don’t count any more than yours or anybody else’s. It’s the only way we’re going to come up with a true gauge. (kk)

Top Ten Vote-Getters for Ballot #9:
(Please keep in mind that these scores are being added to each song’s accumulated point total earned during the 100 day nomination period … so all standings reported in these updates ONLY reflect their ranking for that particular daily ballot)

The surprises continue today as several of these songs would have never made my list of Classic Rock criteria …

But again, this is YOUR list … so let’s take a look at Ballot #9’s big winners:
# 1 – Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – The Animals
# 2 – Don’t Worry Baby – The Beach Boys
# 3 – Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me – Elton John
# 4 – Downtown – Petula Clark
# 5 – Don’t You Care – The Buckinghams
# 6 – Don’t Fear The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
# 7 - Down On The Corner – Creedence Clearwater Revival
# 8 – Don’t Dream, It’s Over – Crowded House
# 9 – Don’t Bring Me Down – Electric Light Orchestra
#10 – Dock Of The Bay – Otis Redding

Just Missed (by less than five votes):
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All-Right – Bob Dylan
Don’t Be Cruel – Elvis Presley
Double Shot – Swinging Medallions
Down On Me – Janis Joplin / Big Brother and the Holding Company
Draggin’ The Line – Tommy James

Other Surprises:
Don’t Throw Your Love Away – The Searchers
Don’t Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On The King Of Rock And Roll – Long John Baldry
Don’t You Write Her Off – McGuinn, Clark and Hillman
Down By The River – Neil Young
Don’t Forget Me – Glass Tiger
Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home – Joe South
Don’t Let Him Know - Prism

Keep those votes coming! A new ballot goes up every morning at 5 am (Chicago time) and is eligible for voting for three days. Be sure to scroll back to see any ballots you may have missed. (If a link doesn't appear for the ballot you're looking for, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "Older Posts" ... they're all still there ... for some reason Blogger just isn't listing everything on a daily basis.
https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/

A Wink and a Nod (?):
Last week we told you about waking up to Me-TV-FM playing Jethro Tull's "Living In The Past." Well, today (at 4:56 am when my alarm goes off) it was Tull's "Bungle In The Jungle" ... and THIS time I can't help but feel like it was personal. (lol)
So if it was, Rick, thank you very much ... it didn't go unnoticed ... and it is much appreciated. (And if it wasn't, oh well ... then you probably need to mix up the schedule a little bit so that folks NOT waking up at 5 am get to hear Jethro Tull on your station, too! lol)
And now that you know my wake-up time, PLEASE don't start programming obscure Joni Mitchell or Gordon Lightfoot album tracks at that time of day ... I need something "bright and bouncy" to make me want to get out of bed in the morning ... and something by either of these two would probably force me back to sleep, during which time I would almost assuredly have horrible nightmares! (kk)

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Meanwhile On The East Coast ... Peter Asher

July 17, 2019, 4:00 am

≫ Next: July 18th, 1969 - The Night That Mary Jo Kopechne Went Off A Chappaquiddick Bridge

≪ Previous: Tuesday This And That

Peter Asher: A Memoir of the 60s and Beyond

This was like attending one of my classes. It is multi-media, live, informative and fun. I can’t teach my courses any more so I am really glad to know that others are making a concert circuit that brings the 60’s, 70’s and beyond to full bloom right before our eyes.

Oh excuse me … shhhh … Eric Idle has started the introduction.

This interactive video has Eric trying to decipher Peter’s writing exclaiming all of Peter’s virtues.

"Humanitarian … blah blah blah … Grammy winner … blah blah blah … shagging Marianne Faithfull. OH I DON’T THINK SO! ... Peter Asher!”

A conversation between Eric and Peter ensues wherein Eric wants to know why Gordon isn’t here and frankly HE was the favorite so there’s no reason to hang around. Eric walks off-screen.

Peter should have asked John Cleese.

For the next two and a half hours, we are entertained in song and regaled with stories, images and videos of The British Invasion and beyond. The black and white pictures of the 50’s war-torn Britain give a compelling argument as to why American music (Rock and Roll, R&B, Folk) had such a lifting effect on the teens and young adults across the pond. And on top of this, Americans had perfect teeth, giant refrigerators, big cars and women with big … potential. Well, the magazines said so anyway.

Peter states a fact that hits me solidly ...

The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were originally TRIBUTE bands. All of The British Invasion artists played covers of American songs long before they started writing their own material. The Beatles in Hamburg and The Cavern; The Stones in Studio 51.

American TV gave Peter Asher (and for one episode, his sister Jane), a crack at childhood stardom in the series ‘Robin Hood.’ I loved that show! There was action, romance, and English history (kinda). For those of you running to find archives, Peter played a young Prince Arthur in about five episodes. He and Jane played peasant children in one later segment. And did I ever pick up that Prince Arthur was now a different child? If I did, I have forgotten. I may have, as I remember much of this program. However, if I said anything, my parents would have responded with “This is Hollywood ... Actors play different roles.”

There is the beginning of Peter and Gordon … or I should say Gordon and Peter. They were Gordon and Peter performing at the Pickwick Inn until they landed their record contract. Gordon was truly lead on vocals with Peter’s harmonies, but someone at EMI thought reversing the names sounded better. Peter graciously didn’t mind. (and apparently Gordon didn’t object).

I have heard the Marianne Faithfull, John Dunbar, Mick Jagger story before and currently I am reading ‘Faithfull,’ Marianne’s autobiography. I read it because of Peter and Jeremy. They (and even when they appeared with Chad) have mentioned it at other shows. And, well, viewing ‘My Very Own British Invasion’ musical from Peter Noone added to my curiosity. So I vividly see the kerfuffle that encroached the real lives of these friends of Peter Asher’s and agree that he needs to refuse all Best Man wedding requests.

Becoming Head of A&R for Apple Records, discovering and managing James Taylor, combining James Taylor and Carole King, and managing Linda Ronstadt take his lucrative career onto another level. Peter’s production days bring him in contact with Badfinger and, indeed, his musical director is Jeff Alan Ross, who plays keyboards in all his shows. The bass player tonight is Jennifer Oberle, who adds beautiful vocal enhancements to the Peter and Gordon songs.

I pause here for comic relief.

The addition of Allen Klein to Apple created more seismic activity than could any earthquake. Eric Idle created a short for The Rutles called ‘Ron Decline’ that, according to those who were present, accurately represents Allen’s descent on Apple. Peter showed it to us. Go watch it! There is also one called ‘Where is the money’ that I just watched.

Bringing us up full-speed to the present with managing Ed Sheeran and becoming The Hot Manager of Hollywood, he ends with two duets ‘with’ Gordon. This is the most powerful, tearful part of tonight. “Some times we’ll cry. But by and by we’ll know True Love Ways.”

The standing ovation was for his presentation tonight, his life in the music industry, his connection to the musicians we love, and our connection to the time of our lives that he and others gave to us.

Me: “Thank you for coming back.”

Peter: “No, thank YOU for coming back here. You paid. Or if you snuck in … (giving me a thumbs up) GOOD FOR YOU!”

Set List:

I Go To Pieces

Baby, I’m Yours
Crying In The Rain (Peter pointed out that every duo is modeled after The Everly Brothers. Beautiful compositions, beautiful harmonies.)

I Don’t Want to See You Again

Nobody I Know

Lady Godiva (playing a banjolele)

As Tears Go By

Day After Day

Woman (with Gordon Waller)

True Love Ways (with Gordon Waller)

A World Without Love (encore … we had already heard the story and seen the written lyrics)

-- Shelley J Sweet-Tufano

I have seen Peter Asher a few times now (although not in this setting) and he is a terrific storyteller (even if it does take him sometimes three times longer to get to the point than it should.) Still, the life he's been able to lead ... the people whose paths he has crossed ... would be enough to fill a book ... and apparently it has! (I guess I'll have to pick up a copy of "The Beatles From A to Zed ... An Alphabetical Mystery Tour" when it comes out in November.)

[You can pre-order a copy now:

https://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Zed-Alphabetical-Mystery-Tour/dp/1250209595/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=peter+asher&qid=1563073834&s=books&sr=1-1]

The first time was at a Beatlefest several years ago when Gordon Waller was still alive and they performed an amazing set of hits. His shows with Jeremy Clyde are musically very entertaining but suffer from the same dilemma of taking ten minutes to tell a story that can be told in three.

Still, this sounds like an interesting show (2 1/2 hours?!?! Really?!?!? I once saw George Martin due one of these and he played actual Beatles outtakes on stage, did a Q&A afterwards and then signed copies of his book ... and THAT didn't take 2 1/2 hours!!!)

Sounds like he's off to Australia for a spell to tour with Albert Lee ... but maybe he'll do more of these intimate setting shows when he gets back to The States later in the year. I'll have to keep an eye out for that.

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