OK, now THIS one is a bit of a surprise! An FM Top 10 Survey from 1966 put out by WNWC from right here in this area! FM Radio wouldn't really take off for another three or four years here in Chicago ... and even then the rock stations seemed to be more about featuring the "heady rock" of the day ... but these guys at 92.7 FM were already spinning the hits back in '66! (Today 92.7 FM is a Christian station broadcasting out of Madison, Wisconsin ... but back then WNWC came to us out of Arlington Height, IL, a station that started in the '50's and is still on the air today as WCPT.) They were billing themselves as "Chicagoland's First Solid Rock on FM" ... and that just may be true! (Or at least they were certainly ONE of the firsts!!!)
I can only assume that the Cryan' Shames single was brand new at the time ... why else would they show the title as "Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice"?!?! And check out the spelling of "Bow Diddly" and his up-and-coming hit "We're Gonna Get Married". Local act The Shadows of Knight are also represented on this chart (although WNWC refers to them simply as "The Shadows".) Love is scoring well with "Little Red Book" ... and I like the seldom-played Young Rascals track at #3, too.
Jumping ahead a full decade, we've got this CKLW chart from June 22nd, 1976, that features a wide variety of musical styles ...
Our FH Buddy Henry Gross sits at #2 with his beautiful ode to puppy love, "Shannon" ... disco and funk rule The Top Ten with tracks like "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" by Lou Rawls, "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney and Wings, "Young Hearts Run Free" by Candi Staton, "Love Hangover" by Diana Ross, "Tear The Roof Off The Sucker" by Parliament and "Boogie Fever" by The Sylvers ... and tracks like "I'll Be Good To You" by Brothers Johnson, "That's Where The Happy People Go" by The Trammps and "Get Up And Boogie" by The Silver Connection aren't far behind.
We're also treated to the TV-Theme "Making Our Dreams Come True" by Cyndi Grecco (from "Laverne and Shirley") as well as "Welcome Back Kotter" TV Star John Travolta ... and his big hit "Let Her In" ... and check out Queen with TWO hits in The Top 20 this week!
Tower of Power was apparently all the rage over at KROY on this date in 1973 ... they've got the #1 Album AND the #1 Single on this chart. ("So Very Hard To Go" is one of my '70's favorites ... so I'm happy to feature that one today!) Another Forgotten Soul classic debuts at #5 ... it's New York City doing "I'm Doin' Fine Now", right behind the reissue of Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash" ... a hit in JUNE this time instead of Halloween! And, since we're on a soul kick, check out the #14 Record, too ... it's "Natural High" by Bloodstone. Two of the biggest names in '50's Rock And Roll have Top Ten Hits this week ... Elvis Presley is at #8 with "Steamroller Blues", a song written by James Taylor ... and Jerry Lee Lewis is at #10 with his remake of "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee", a "comeback" hit of sorts for "The Killer"! Two ex-Beatles bring up the rear ... Paul McCartney sits at #18 with his latest hit, "My Love" ... and George Harrison premiers right behind him at #20 with "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)".
Our final stop this week is back in 1969 ... where Three Dog Night is topping this KSTT Chart with their first big break-through hit, "One". CCR's got one of two two-sided hits in The Top Ten this week with their latest, "Bad Moon Rising" / "Lodi" (one of my favorites by them. (The other two-sided hit belongs to Blood, Sweat and Tears, who are charting with "Spinning Wheel" / "More And More", not one of those B-Sides you typically see listed.) The Beatles have TWO Top Ten Hits this week ... "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" is at #6 (up from #18 the week before) and "Get Back" falls from #5 to #8. Speaking of Blood, Sweat and Tears, it's nice to see The Arbors at #11 with their soft-rock, plush arrangement of "I Can't Quit Her", a tune featured on the first BS&T album when of FH Buddy Al Kooper was at the helm ... and local groups Orpheus (Boston) and The New Colony Six (Chicago) both have Top 20 showings as well. Neither track fared nearly as well in Billboard ... where "Brown Arms In Houston" peaked at #91 and "I Could Never Lie To You" stalled at #50.
re: THE SATURDAY SURVEYS: >>>CKLW was a Canadian radio station ... which might explain why "Can't You See That She's Mine" was already a Top Ten Record there the same week it was premiering on our U.S. Billboard Chart! (They did tend to get the British Invasion hits there first for some reason!) kk
The main reason Canada was releasing the British hits before the U.S. was due to one man - Capitol Records Canada Vice President and A&R head, Paul White. Paul, who was originally from Britain, released The Beatles singles nearly a year before they hit in America. They didn't sell well at all. In fact, Paul was admonished by his Capitol Canada bosses for putting out duds, but he continued to release their singles until they started to climb the charts and then exploded. On the first few Beatles albums released in Canada, Paul selected the tracks and had a small credit on the back of each album cover "Canadian Production by Paul White". EMI in Britain had many artists that Paul released early - Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Dave Clark Five (although released on Columbia in England which is why they were released on Epic in the U.S.), Billy J. Kramer, etc. Paul's U.S. counterpart, Dave Dexter in the Capitol Tower in Hollywood kept turning down The Beatles in favor of lighter (some might say sappier) British pop fare such as Matt Monroe (produced, incidentally, by one George Martin) and Frank Ifield. Paul was also instrumental (pun intended) in signing and releasing singles and albums from new, emerging Canadian acts. He signed Anne Murray after her initial album release on the independent Canadian label Arc as well as groups such as Edward Bear ("Last Song" was their biggest U.S. hit, but they had several more here in Canada) and The Staccatos (from Ottawa), who would later become The Five Man Electrical Band. Paul White later went to work for Anne Murray's production / management company Balmur, then after his time there, created a series of CD's called "Made In Canada" for RCA / BMG. These were early Canadian hit compilations that featured many songs that had yet to be released on CD. There were four CDs in the series, each one had Canadian hits from different eras. Paul is retired, and still lives in Toronto. Paul White is someone who should absolutely be in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (a part of the annual JUNO Awards), but isn't. So there's injustice in the Halls of Fame on both sides of the 49th parallel. Back in 1984, the JUNOS tried to 'catch up' by inducting several 'early' performers at once (only one person is inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame every year). In '84, they inducted The Crew Cuts, The Diamonds and The Four Lads. They did it again in 1996, inducting David Clayton-Thomas (Blood, Sweat & Tears), Denny Doherty (The Mamas and The Papas), John Kay (Steppenwolf), Domenic Troiano (The James Gang & The Guess Who) and Zal Yanovsky (The Lovin' Spoonful). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame could easily have something like a 'catch up' year every five years or so and induct a great many of those who well and truly deserve to be there. By the way, I agree 100% that Ed Sullivan should be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Chubby Checker, too. Maybe even The Guess Who (oh oh, let's not get started on this discussion again). Doug Thompson (Toronto)
Hi Kent -
Hey, The Fifth Estate is getting mentioned on a lot of the charts you are putting up lately. On the
latest one there the band is #8. Pretty cool to see after all these years - although at times it really just seems like yesterday from what I can remember of it - which may not really be all that much.
One of our first releases (we were still called the D-Men then) "Don't You Know" was released 50 years ago exactly ... NOW! Hard to believe. And is one of the 14 tunes JUST RELEASED on our new, brand new, as in never before existing, but they are all saying should have existed, and was created to be just as if it was and did exist THEN, vinyl 12" black plastic record album called - "I Wanna Shout!"
We, of course, were still The D-Men then in 64-65. It will be out starting this Monday and can be found here then - Http://www.break-a-way.de or through the band website thenas well - http://thefifthestateinfo.com/ So if you are interested, get your turn tables tunes up if anyone even has one left.
As I said it's an album of our 1964-65 stuff made just as should have been released then 50 years ago now but wasn't. It has a lot of notes and pictures of the times, maybe not seen by most ever. We plan and have deals on a lot of our music catalogue to be released soon just as it should have been through the 60s. So anyone interested in following us with that - will be treated to reliving the 60s with us and with a few hits and a lot of material which will probably seem fresh and new and some maybe better than our known ones.
Pretty cool to see these charts you have from back then and to listen to these tunes you put up many of which, although we were right in the middle of all that then, I never heard before. Don't think I ever heard that Chartbusters rather Beatlesque one. Pretty good.
We, The Fifth Estate, always tried to be more ourselves and not so Beatlesque as that. But I'm not sure we really had to worry about that all so much as The Beatles were about in their mid 20s by that time and we were only in our mid-teens and had a long way to go development wise. But that development can be heard right on through the 60s with all the upcoming 5E releases to be out soon, three this Summer alone - June 15th, July15th, and August 15th. So we're cookin'.
All the best,
Furv
>>>I think I found a goof on the WJJD Survey ... It Only Hurts For a Little While was actually by the Ames Brothers and it was RCA 47-6481. (Not Decca 47-6481.) I was trying to find that song by the 4 Aces and it doesn't exist! (Charlie)
>>>I checked the chart from the following week and the error had been corrected ... and it was listed properly for the rest of the record's chart run. (kk)
Are you saying that you have the elusive June 18, 1956 WJJD survey #2? Can you send a copy my way?
One vexing thing about missing that particular chart is that somewhere between charts #1 & #3 they changed the artist listed on at least three entries, but the total weeks are shown as if it is the same record. I'm In Love Again goes from the Fontane Sisters to Fats Domino, Transfusion from the Four Jokers to Nervous Norvus and Long Tall Sally from Pat Boone to Little Richard.
Despite the listing, the George Cates record is a medley of Moonglow & Theme From Picnic just like the uncharted Morris Stoloff record.
In later years, this chart would usually contain intentional errors, some of which were quite funny. My favorite was "Monkey Time" by "Hairy Simian".
Ed
NOBODY has Chart #2 ... not that I'm aware of anyway ... I've been looking for it for 35 years and every other collector I know has the same gap in their collection ... there's some speculation that it doesn't exist! (Although I have to believe they didn't just skip a week ... and then call their next chart #3!!!) It was easy enough to figure out what Chart #2 should look like ... I just put together a chart based on the "last week" positions shown on Chart #3 and the most likely "hold-overs" from Chart #1.
Good point 'tho about the title and artist changes ... quite often they ran humorous titles just for the fun of it. (Normally the kind of thing you'd see on an April Fool's Chart!) kk
Kent -
On your WNWC chart from June 22, 1966, one of the three Up and Coming singles is a great, lost single called "Stop! Get a Ticket" by the Clefs of Lavender Hill. This is one of the first records released on the Columbia Records new subsidiary label at that time, Date Records, later the home of Peaches and Herb, the Arbors, and others. The label was run by Tommy Noonan, one of the key people in the chart department at Billboard for many years. This record was played in many markets, including both WKBW and WYSL in Buffalo, but never had simultaneous radio action to get it to move up the chart. An excellent example of a "lost" great record from this period of time. It just validates what you do with the Saturday Surveys and how much many of us, especially me, appreciate it!
CLAY PASTERNACK
I'm not familiar with this one ... but it looks like it went to #80 on The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart in 1966. (Prior to being released on Date, it was pressed on the Thames record label.) Incredibly, I was able to find a copy ... on iTunes no less! So now we can all enjoy it together! (kk)
re: BEATLES RELATED: Greetings from Nashville, kk!! I know you haven't heard from me in a while, but like most people, I work 40 hours a week, read the Forgotten Hits newsletter, and then find some energy to put together a good show for my weekly FLip Side Radio Show! (6 1/2 years and counting ... ). My most recent show was Beatles Night. Then this weekend around Nashville, I heard two different Beatles cover bands. I've noticed the more the band plays exactly like the Beatles' records, the better the response is from the audience. ' As you know, I play 45's on my show, and I play the A & B sides. When it comes to the Beatles, there were lots of "double - A" records. Anyway, back to the show -- without realizing it, I lined up several records just from 1964. That's not too difficult, considering how many singles the Beatles released in '64! I played records from other years as well. Anyone can hear the show every Tuesday night at 7 pm (Central time) or Friday night at 11 pm. Just go to RadioFreeNashville.org, and scroll down to "Listen Now!" It works great on smart phones, too. Here is last week's playlist (sometimes I play the B side first):
Revolution / Hey Jude (Apple Records)
I'll Get You / She Loves You (Swan Records)
Love Me Do / I Feel Fine / Rock & Roll Music (EP 45 on Parlophone Records)
I Want To Hold Your Hand / I Saw Her Standing There (Capitol)
Twist and Shout / There's A Place (Capitol re-pressing)
Let it Be / You Know My Name (Look Up My Number) (Apple)
I Should Have Known Better / A Hard Day's Night (Starline / Capitol re-pressing)
Day Tripper / (Capitol re-pressing) (Ran out of time - playing We Can Work It Out on next show)
The Inner Light / (Capitol re-pressing) (Ran out of time - playing Lady Madonna on next show)
Keep up the good work KK. See you on the FLip Side.
Mr. C.
Speaking of The Beatles, we got this bit of outrageous news from FH Reader Ian Berger:
From billboard.com : A Billboard Beatle Chart Feat Has Been Matched 50 Years Later (Iggy Azalea is an Australian female hip-hop artist) Iggy Azalea tallies a third week at No. 1 on the BillboardHot 100with "Fancy," featuring Charli XCX, and holds at No. 2 as featured on Ariana Grande's "Problem."Azalea continues her record-tying run at the chart's top two spots, as, for a third week, "Fancy" and "Problem" rank at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. Previously, only the Beatles held the Hot 100's top two rungs simultaneously with their first two Hot 100 entries: On the Feb. 22, 1964, chart, the Fab Four's "I Want to Hold Your Hand" stayed at No. 1 while "She Loves You" pushed 3-2. Azalea has a ways to go before matching how long the Beatles controlled the top two; they logged 10 straight weeks occupying (at least) both Nos. 1 and 2 at the same time, through April 25, 1964, as "Hand" and "She" placed at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, for four weeks; they then reversed ranks for two weeks; for the next four frames, "Can't Buy Me Love" ruled, while "Twist and Shout" was No. 2. Ian N. Berger / Baltimore, Maryland I'm sure 50 years from now a publication similar to Forgotten Hits (assuming I've stopped producing it myself by this point ... I've always vowed to stick around until the year 2525 just to see if Zager and Evans were right!) will be sharing memories of this momentous occasion with the legions of Iggy Azalea fans who still hold her in the highest regard for her record-tying accomplishment. History will never forget her incredible musical accomplishment of 2014. (Yeah, right!) The very idea is simply ludicrous!!! Her #2 Hit isn't even by HER ... she's just a featured artist on somebody else's record! One cannot help but question the credibility of Billboard Magazine for running such a ridiculous piece of crap. On the other hand, Iggy and her publicist must be LOVIN' this!!! (kk)
And more Beatles news ... NBC announced last week that they will be making an 8-part mini-series on The Beatles. No official schedule has been announced ... just the fact that they've green-lit the series.
And, speaking of The Beatles, the complete Mono Album Collection is being released (again!) in September ... on vinyl this time. (Seriously, how many more times are they going to ask us to buy this stuff?!?!?) Anyway, for the absolute completist, these hit the street September 9th (an important release date in Beatles history of late!) You can buy the complete 14-LP box set (with a deluxe photo booklet) or as individual LPs.
One last thing (and a final reminder) ... all this week Ringo Starr's Art Exhibit will be running at The Hard Rock Cafe in Downtown Chicago ... free to the public.
Monday Night, WLS Disc Jockey Dick Biondi will be there ... and on Tuesday Night it'll be Clark Weber.
On Thursday Night, Ringo Starr himself will be there, autographing your purchases and posing for pictures ... all leading up to his big show at The Chicago Theater Saturday Night with his All-Starr Band! Should be a GREAT time for fans of this era (and a chance to pick up a one-of-a-kind signed Ringo item, too!)
We'll be heading down on Tuesday Night ... so we hope to see some Forgotten Hits Readers there! (kk)
re: THIS AND THAT: Thanks for giving FH followers the chance to hear Ray Stevens'"My Dad," which he recorded in 1983 during a brief return to Mercury Records (the track charted early in 1984). Gary Theroux It's always been one of my favorites ... kind of a seriocomic track that works extremely well. By the way, speaking of Ray Stevens, his brand new biography (titled simply "Nashville") comes out this weekend. Now THAT might be an interesting one to read! (kk)
Kent ... Scott Shannon is talking to Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad right now. The Happy Together Tour is coming to New York. Scott said the first live act he ever introduced was Grand Funk Railroad at some park in Tennessee. Frank B. We'll probably go see The Happy Together Show in August again this year ... first time for me to see Farner and Mitch Ryder. (I think it'd be pretty cool to interview Mark Farner!) kk
Kent, The memorabilia that Ray Graffia provided on "The Shot Heard Round The World" was great to see. I interviewed Pete Shelton of The Robin Hoods and they made some great recordings and were very popular during their Chicago stint (they hailed from Blackpool, UK). Unfortunately, they're largely forgotten today, even in the Chicago area. Fred Glickenstein also added some cool trivia after he read the interview. http://www.60sgaragebands.com/robinhoods.html Mike
I have remembered the John Loudermilk / Indian Reservation story since hearing Casey tell it in '71 -- and it was several years before I learned it was a fabrication. One of the best fake stories of all time! I'm glad Scott aired it. David Lewis
Despite some reports to the contrary, I am not touring with Mike Love and the Beach Boys this summer. I will, however, be joining Brian Wilson on July 4th in Cork, Ireland, and on July 5th at the Hop Farm Music Festival in Kent, England. I'm also planning to go out with my own band later this year. Thanks for all your support, Al Jardine
We also hear that Al and David Marks have lent their talents to the new Brian Wilson CD ...
Speaking of which ...
Last week we were talking about the new Brian Wilson album ... and some of the flack he's been getting from some long-time fans who think it's wrong for Brian to be duetting with current artists on this new LP. (I've already voiced my opinion on this ... I think it's a GREAT idea ... and should give the album a very contemporary sound ... who knows, radio might even play a track or two!!!)
Kent, Before I left my home just now, I had the television turned on briefly to see what was happening. There was a commercial that came on (and again I wasn't paying attention to the product being endorsed), but what did catch my attention was the song being played in the background. I simply could not believe it. Kent, are you familiar with record that came out in 1960 on Dot Record label with a song called LOVE ME. The singer on the label was simply known as The Phantom. I don't know or can't remember his real name. I have the record, it made our local survey. Anyway, the song or portions thereof, were playing in the background. It somewhat boggles my mind just what person or persons came up with this song of some 54 years ago to use in the background of this commercial. Larry Neal I'm not familiar with this one at all ... but I see that Joel Whitburn's new book refers to it as a "Classic Non-Hit 100 Song". He says The Phantom was actually Jerry Loft, a rock-a-billy singer who wore a mask and whose vocals were similar to those of Elvis Presley. (Now Orion ... who pretty much did the exact same thing many years later ... I've heard of!!! But not this guy!) NO idea what would inspire an ad agency to pick up on this one ... unless they, too, grew up loving this track and finally found a place to feature it!) kk
Hey, I think I just found it ... is this the one???
I saw the Bronx Wanderers at the Italian Fest over on Oakley Boulevard last Saturday. Jeez, they were effin great, I mean outta sight. Kudos to Ron Onesti, who went a long way to help the "Wanderers" get on the board. Can't wait to see the group again at the Arcada. Chet Coppock
Another music headline from the past week that caught my eye was the fact that Jeff Lynne will be doing a rare, solo concert at London's Hyde Park on September 14th, performing the music of Electric Light Orchestra. It's all in conjuction with BBC2 Radio's "Festival in the Park" ... hopefully the event will be filmed and recorded so that fans on THIS side of the pond can enjoy it, too!!! (kk)
Thanks for all you do. Yours is my favorite web site.
I would love to see a Lou Christie / Lesley Gore pairing at the Arcada.
I was never a big fan of Peter Noone but his show is very entertaining. Plus I will NEVER forgot his help in trying to get a van for MIKE SMITH when he was coming home. Thanks Peter ... you are a great human being!
Mike De Martino
Eagle Rock Entertainment will release "Live at Montreux, 2013" by ZZ Top on July 21 on DVD, Blu-ray and digital formats. The show is packed with classic ZZ Top hits including "La Grange", "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Pincushin", "Sharp Dressed Man", "Waitin' For The Bus", "Legs", "Tube Snake Boogie", "Tush" and many more.
With an unchanged line-up stretching back to 1969 and global album sales in excess of 50 million, ZZ Top continue to delight fans around the world with brilliant live concerts and great music. The band has made a number of visits to Montreux over the years and this concert from the 2013 Festival is undoubtedly one of their finest live performances.
The set list blends tracks from early seventies albums such as Tres Hombres and Fandango through their eighties blockbuster period with Eliminator and Afterburner and up to their most recent release and return to their blues roots with La Futura. The middle section of the concert features a jazz-blues tribute to the late Montreux Festival founder Claude Nobs with guest appearances by Mike Flanigin on Hammond B-3 and Van Wilks on guitar.
TRACK LISTING:
1) Got Me Under Pressure
2) Waitin’ For The Bus
3) Jesus Just Left Chicago
4) Gimme All Your Lovin’
5) Pincushion
6) I Gotsta Get Paid
7) Flyin’ High
8) Kiko
9) I Loved The Woman
10) Foxey Lady
11) My Head’s In Mississippi
12) Chartreuse
13) Sharp Dressed Man
14) Legs
15) Tube Snake Boogie
6) La Grange
17) Tush
On the fantastic Live At Montreux 2013ZZ Top, the “lil’ ol’ band from Texas”, are rocking the blues as strongly as ever!
And, speaking of ZZ Top, we're still taking entries for your chance to win a deluxe copy of their brand new double cd greatest hits collection. (Because these disks won't be released until late July, we're unable to draw our winners now as there is no product to ship ... so take advantage of this delay and get your entry in NOW!!!) Just send an email to forgottenhits@aol.com and show "ZZ TOP" in the subject line ... and we'll enter your name in our special drawing (courtesy of Bob Merlis). In all, THREE copies of the double cd set will be given away! (kk)
SAIL WITH THE STARS OF CLASSIC R&B ABOARD THE SOUL TRAIN CRUISE 2015! The Soul Train Cruise 2015 is back in the Caribbean bigger and better than ever. You'll sail with the superstars of classic R&B and experience 7 days of nonstop Love, Peace and Soul onboard the Hippest Trip at Sea sailing Feb. 22 – Mar 1, 2015 from Ft. Lauderdale. Imagine sailing with Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Gladys Knight, KC & The Sunshine Band, The Spinners, Russell Thompkins Jr. and the New Stylistics, Harold Melvin's Blue Notes, Regina Belle, and many more. You'll enjoy an incredible sun-soaked Caribbean itinerary on this musical family reunion while reconnecting with old friends and the music you love.
Enjoy fabulous luxury cruising, fine dining, deluxe accommodations, beautiful spas and world-class service from Holland America.
Click any of the links above for more details. (kk)
Chicagoland Radio and Media reports:
The "Vinyl Schminyl Radio" podcast, hosted by former Chicago area radio DJ / engineer Bob Stern, had a special one-hour show recently. Stern interviewed Denny Tedesco, the producer/director of "The Wrecking Crew" documentary. The Wrecking Crew was the name of a group of Los Angeles-based studio musicians who backed some of the most famous rock and pop recordings (and TV theme songs) of all time, including a huge portion of the radio hits of the 1960s. The podcast can be heardHERE.
We've talked a lot about "The Chicago Sound" this past week ... but FH Reader Dave Barry just sent us THIS article asking the musical question "Why Have More Songs Been Written About Los Angeles Than San Francisco?" (Gee ... I guess I never really thought about it! lol)
Why so many more songs about L.A. than S.F.?
Regarding all the recent letters about San Francisco songs: While there are a number of good songs written about the city - one of my favorites being Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" - I've often wondered why Los Angeles had more songs and more hits written about it during the past 50 years. I have a whole book dedicated to San Francisco rock 1965 - 1985 (by Jack McDonough) noting such local artists as Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Doobie Brothers, the Grateful Dead, Sammy Hagar, Jefferson Airplane / Starship, Janis Joplin, Journey, Huey Lewis, Steve Miller, Eddie Money, Night Ranger, the Pointer Sisters, Santana, Boz Scaggs, Sly & the Family Stone, Tower of Power, the Tubes and Jesse Colin Young. So why is it that the well-known rock and pop hits during this time period seem to always be about Los Angeles? ("L.A. Woman,""I Love L.A.,""Walking in L.A.,""So L.A.,""To Live and Die in L.A.,""California Dreaming,""Celluloid Heroes,""It Never Rains in Southern California,""Free Falling,""Hotel California,""Tiny Dancer,""Life in the Fast Lane,""Piano Man,""Little Ol' Lady From Pasadena,""MacArthur Park,""Moonlight Drive,""I Am I Said,""Surf City" (and almost every other surf song), "Ventura Highway" and "Love Potion Number Nine" to name a few. There are even a whole lot of later songs, such as Cranberries'"Hollywood," Everclear's "Santa Monica," Red Hot Chili Peppers'"Under the Bridge" and "Californication," Guns N' Roses'"Welcome to the Jungle," Weezer's "Beverly Hills" and the more obscure Bad Religion's "Los Angeles Is Burning." Randy Roberts,
Sonoma
Okay, right off the bat, local artists Mr. Roberts has forgotten include the Charlatans, the Vejetables, the Beau Brummels, Moby Grape, Country Joe & the Fish and the Mojo Men, not to mention Joe Banana & his Bunch. Sheez!!!!!
The book he's referring to is "San Francisco Rock," published by Rolling Stone magazine, which originally was HQ'd in San Francisco.
-- dB
For a great read, check out this link to "Rockin' In Chicago Before 1965", a column written by Art Fein, who grew up here in Chi-Town and experienced many of the same things some of us did growing up in The Windy City. All kinds of great memories (many of which triggered more of my own!) Click here: Perfect Sound Forever: Rockin' In Chicago Before 1965
re:THE CHICAGO SOUND: Hats off, Kent, on The Chicago Sound discussion!
Great research and insightful comments from everyone.
Phil
THE CHICAGO SOUND was a culmination of soul and great pop music. You had the Mauds, early Bucks and later Ides with soulful sounds and great brass ... the mighty, mighty Dells, Impressions and later the Chi Lites singing their music ... and great pop from just about everyone in Chi Town (Spanky, American Breed, the Shames, NC 6, etc.). The Chicago Sound is just great music! Mike De Martino
Love all this about the Chicago Sound, love all that brass and horns … great music.
Kent, keep up to great work because this way I can keep in touch with the oldies through you.
Janice
Hi Kent, The CHICAGO SOUND: Blues, Garage Bands, Horns and MOST of all "THE CHUCK BERRY SOUND", who influenced ALL of Rock and Roll!! Carolyn
Hi Kent,
As a kid growing up in North Dakota listening to what went on locally, as well is in Chicago, Oklahoma, etc., via the radio, I don't really think that Chicago had its own sound anymore than any other part of the country. Once something was played on the radio, it became an influence for all of us.
The Fabulous Flippers out of Lawrence, Kansas, had horns probably at the same time and maybe before the Buckinghams. All parts of the country seemed to have garage rock as well. That being said, Chicago certainly had a lot of great stuff that I loved and still do.
Bill
Hello Kent,
You're chasing a moving target. Music is so constantly evolving and being reshaped that to try to pin down a distinct 'sound' to apply to a single city can't be done. I don't even think you can definitively pin down a unique sound to a certain area unless you limit it to a particular time frame. Even The British Sound has its roots in early American Rock N Roll, and unless you investigate deeper into the music you like, you merely listen to what you enjoy irrespective of its origination.
It wasn't till I got older and took the time to read liner notes and "Informative Blogs" (I.E. FH!) that I even realized how many of the artists I liked came from Canada. Unless there is a heavy concentration of a singular ethnic group such as New Orleans and the 'Creole' sound, it is very difficult to assign a category to a singular city or area. The "Surf Sound" is assumed to be Southern California based, yet an early adopter Dick Dale is from Boston, Massachusetts! The Standells with their Ode to Frustrated college students in Boston were from California and had never been to Boston.
Certainly many would agree that big brass is associated with Chicago but that doesn't define Chicago any more than "Folk" which had a major genesis in Club 47 in Harvard Square can be aligned or designated a 'Boston Sound' it shared across the entire country. So this was a fun attempt to try and pin down the 'Chicago Sound' and resurrected many fine examples of the diversity of the actual music to show how ephemeral the target was. What it does target is the great love we all share for the wonderful legacy the Golden Age of American popular music.
My oh my, what a group of 'Fortunate Sons & Daughters' we are.
Have a Great Weekend, the Summah ! of '14 beckons,
CharliOFD
Hi Kent --
I'm late joining in on the "Chicago Sound" topic as I've been on the road. My immediate thought on the topic was that my opinion would differentiate from those of most of your readers as I'm older.
The Chicago sound to me has always been the music of the Flamingos, Moonglows, Dells, Impressions and Spaniels first, then the blues of artists who migrated to Chicago such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Etta James, Little Walter and Howlin' Wolf, among many others.
Chicago had three labels whose catalogs I collected avidly as a kid in the 1950s -- Vee-Jay and Chess, and the Chess subsidiary Argo. Parrot was a fourth if I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of their artists. These labels represented the sounds of group harmony, blues, gospel and jazz -- all with a certain sound.
I always associated Vee-Jay Records, although not exactly in Chicago, as a Chicago label. This label is another that could have a wonderful story and play written about them, much like the recent successful one about Chess, "Cadillac Records". Back in the early 80s I would speak on the phone with Calvin Carter, A&R man and VP of Vee-Jay, and his stories about the artists were fascinating. He passed away far too early.
Just another opinion, a generational one for sure.
Danny Guilfoyle
PS -- On the subject of "Group Harmony" and "Doo-Wop" which, by the way, are two totally separate categories -- many cities had their own signature sound and it wasn't just an East coast thing. It went from New York to L.A. with numerous stops in between.
Actually I think the story of Vee Jay Records would make a GREAT movie ... especially once you get near the end there when the label was ready to go belly-up and then fell into Beatlemania with tracks they had in their vaults for close to a year! Fascinating! (kk)
>>>Just what the heck is the Chicago sound, if there is indeed a definitive trademark sound? (Jack)
THE OFFICE OF PATENTS AND TRADEMARKS just revoked the Chicago Sound Trademark! -- Renfield
Kent, This is just too easy. Let's just declare that Jerry Butler singing his majestic tune, "Your Precious Love" is the Chicago Sound and head to the next joint. Now, what is the Philly sound? The Orlons, The O'Jays, Hall and Oates? I'll hang up and wait for the answer.
The New York sound? Easy, Dion!! No runs, no hits, no doubt. Or is it Old Blue Eyes doing "One for my baby" (And one more for the road?) I love these kind of topics ... we could discuss them for the next six years.
Chet Coppock
And this from Shelley Sweet-Tufano who inspired this whole discussion in the first place ...
fyi ... I am loving this! Thanks (of course now I have to print out and add notes to curriculum) EVERYBODY, Thank you for every single word written about the Chicago sound. When asked what I teach, I very often reply, "I teach kids how to think." That may have happened here with us, too. This was invaluable to me (and now to them) ... and not surprising at all. We study cultural instruments (drums originally used as signals, bagpipes, didgeridoo, sitar, alphorn, etc., etc.) that are now ALL used in rock / pop songs (believe me ... I have found them all) to show how they are intertwined into use for each decade. Starting with 1900's, we have Gracie Fields, Leadbelly, Harry Champion. Can you link that group together? How about the fact that they all sang songs that stemmed from Sousa marches, cotton field slave songs, spirituals and call / response songs. The British Invasion? Peter Noone points out they were not in competition because they were each different ... AND brought out parts of American music that we were not cultivating fast enough. Louis Armstrong is such a big part of our 1920's jazz era, and yet remains a focus to the end of the century with "Wonderful World". Each musical decade feeds from what came before and so must, by necessity, be composed of many parts. Music is the only thing that uses the entire brain. I will INDEED use musical pieces to explain. THAT is the very fun part of putting music in reading and history. And now ... it is summer vacation. CONCERT SEASON!!
We got so much mail regarding "Jersey Boys", Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons that we decided to dedicate an entire page to it today.
Figuring that many of you went out and saw "Jersey Boys" this past weekend (opening day was Friday, June 20th), we've included some of your comments and reviews on this topic as well.
A WHOLE lotta hype for this movie ... they pulled out all the stops when it came to advertising ... you could barely look away before another commercial came on tv or the radio ... and let's face it, "Jersey Boys" on stage was one of the most popular Broadway musicals of recent time.
But it was a little discouraging to view some of the promo clips that were circulating ... that sure didn't sound like Frankie Valli to me! And I couldn't figure out WHY they'd let an inferior sound ... a sound that is not only so distinctive but also dominates the film ... why would producers (and director) risk falling short of anyone's expectations ... this would be the single, greatest drawing card to see the film.
Many felt from the beginning that perhaps Clint Eastwood was not the best director to bring this story to the silver screen ... what was his connection to the movie? When I started reading some of the press the week before its official theatrical release I became even more concerned ...
"This is not a musical ... we don't have people bursting into song for no reason throughout the film."
"This is a drama ... it tells the story of life at that time and these just happen to be four guys from Jersey who beat the odds and made something of themselves. The focus here is on the STORY, and NOT the music. The principles just happen to be singers and musicians."
"John Lloyd Young" hadn't sung the part of Frankie Valli in five years ... yet Eastwood insisted he play the lead in the film."
"You don't get a complete Four Seasons song until you're one hour into the movie ... what's up with that?!?!"
It almost seemed to me that with this many excuses circulating before the movie even opened, this film was in trouble ... fans of the highly successful musical (and of the real Four Seasons themselves) were going to be disappointed. (The drama makes the story unique ... but the music makes the story memorable and worth telling ... THAT'S the part that's going to stick with you. With the focus the other way around, my concern was that Eastwood was simply making "Good Fellas: The Musical" ... and that is NOT what fans of the Broadway Stage Production were going to want to see. We wanted a faithful reenactment of that show on a larger scale ... something we could watch again and again.)
All of our kids LOVED the stage production, too ... so we decided to make this a "family outing" and all go see it together. I won't lie ... there was a considerable amount of reservation ... but we quickly deemed Sunday to be the big day of "The Jersey Boys BBQ" and off we went. (Our review follows).
There's been SO much press circulating about this film this past week that we thought we'd recap some of that today in Forgotten Hits.
Hi Kent ...
I just saw the clip ... Sadly, they sound like 'THE CHIPMUNKS' to me. Hope they fix it fast!
RR
Meanwhile, the website "The Improper" proclaims: Is Eastwood’s version a success? Unquestionably! Sure, it won’t please everyone, but as an accurate record of the group, it’s positively spot-on. The tag line: “Everyone remembers it how they need to” is the key to the movie. Don’t miss this one; it could well be the surprise of the summer. Click here: Clint Eastwood's 'Jersey Boys,' Adaptation More Hits Than Misses
kk, I’ve always felt that you are a pretty passive person as far as your comments go until you have researched all avenues and have had access to every shred of the topics at hand. I think in the case of the upcoming “Jersey Boys” you’ve seen enough to comment and I agree with you. I, too, have seen the preview and without seeing the entire movie have felt just like you do about this upcoming release of “The Jersey Boys”.
We knew Eastwood was a big Charlie Parker fan and it showed in his “Bird’ movie. I can’t see Clint being a huge Four Season fan but regardless if he is or isn’t, I don’t agree with his approach to the movie.
We have seen many a great Broadway play which couldn’t cut the mustard when it was turned into a major motion picture.. The one that come to mind right off the bat is “Hello Dolly”. I love the movie soundtrack of the great Jerry Herman lyrics and songs but the movie just didn’t cut it in my opinion.
When we were first introduced to the Broadway Jersey Boys we were as much intrigued by the story line as we were with the great music which we grew up listening to. I would much rather have seen Eastwood go with more accomplished actors and use the real Four Seasons great recordings.
For Father’s Day I was given two Regal tickets to go see the movie when it is released this Friday. I’m sure kk will also go to see the movie when it is released this week. I remember a Father’s Day a few years back when my daughter also bought me the Jersey Boys soundtrack. I listened to it once and then came to the conclusion “why settle for less when you have access to the best.”.
The year was 1966 or 1967 when I first saw the Four Season at a Back Of The Yards Chicago concert. I remember it for a few things. The first was Mitch Ryder who was on the bill as Mitch Ryder & The New Detroit Wheels. The second was, there was no choreographed footwork (Temptations, Four Tops) by Frankie & The three other Seasons. They just stepped up to their mikes and blew us away. I was also taken by the organ player and mostly by the great drummer which accompanied this fantastic 60’s group. I also remember that the final encore song that night was “Tell It To The Rain”. Fantastic !!!
I think there’s a good possibility that this movie could be huge success due to the fact that there is a great storyline and younger generations may be more than satisfied with the great songs that the Four Seasons gave us regardless of who may be singing them.
We who frequent Forgotten Hits will never be satisfied with all the great music of our generation which is overlooked by all the oldies channel that are still out there. We are in the minority and there is a good possibility that we may again be in the minority when it comes to the final consensus critique of the movie “The Jersey Boys”.
Last but not least is the fact that the movie soundtrack appears to be a combo of old and new. Again, “why settle for less when we have access to the best”.
Jerry
I have been praising "Jersey Boys" (the musical) since it first hit the stage ... one thing we have ALWAYS promoted here in Forgotten Hits is ANY method of keeping this music alive ... and the stage show introduced a whole new generation to the music of The Four Seasons ... and everyone who saw it, regardless of age or musical preferences, was touched by this music and literally overnight became Frankie Valli and Four Seasons fans.
If this movie does nothing more than that, it will have served its purpose in my book. But I agree ... why not feature the REAL music of this great group instead of limply trying to recreate it on a motion picture soundtrack?
As for "Tell It To The Rain", when's the last time you heard THAT one played anywhere. (Probably at your 1967 concert!!!) But that's what Forgotten Hits is all about ... so we're featuring it today. (Another long-lost favorite from '67 is "Beggin", featured prominently in the movie in a key scene when the band decides to face Tommy's demons head-on.) kk
Forgotten Hits broke the story about the Clint Eastwood cameo in the film ... but we weren't allowed to tell anybody what it was. Well, the "secret surprise factor" was all over the news this weekend ... The Seasons are having a party in their hotel room, where Tommy DeVito has arranged for Bob Gaudio to lose his virginity. When he and his "date" retire to the other room, you find a television on, tuned in to "Rawhide" ... with a VERY young Clint Eastwood in the starring role of Rowdy Yates. (kk)
From Ron Smith's oldiesmusic.com website, comes this consensus of reviews:
The Clint Eastwood-directed movie version of the Broadway hit, “Jersey Boys” opened Friday (June 20) to tepid reviews. The New York Times called it “a strange movie, and it’s a Clint Eastwood enterprise, both reasons to see it. For those with a love of doo-wop, it also provides a toe-tapping, ear-worming stroll down rock ’n’ roll memory lane that dovetails with that deeply cherished American song and dance about personal triumph over adversity through hard work, tough times and self-sacrifice,” but said it was, “disappointing that Mr. Eastwood, a director who can convey extraordinary depths of feeling in his work, didn’t do more with this material. Frankie’s scenes with his family tend to be embarrassingly bad…” Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun Times gave it 2 (out of 4) stars, moaning, “[a]t times the movie version of Jersey Boys captures the electric excitement of the musical, but for every soaring moment, there are 10 minutes of bickering or brooding. For one of the few times in Eastwood's career as a director, he seems indecisive about what kind of movie he wanted to make.” And “John Lloyd Young won a Tony for his portrayal of [Frankie] Valli on Broadway, and he does a remarkable job of capturing that distinctive falsetto voice. But there's no movie-star juice to his nonmusical work.” The Chicago Tribune gave it 2 ½ (out of 4) stars, recalling, “’ Goose it up too much, and it gets cheesy,’ Valli says to [Bob] Gaudio … about a song arrangement. Eastwood takes that line to heart. The unspoken B side of that warning, however, is worth heeding: No particular style leads to a movie of no particular style… Full of genial showbiz cliches and mobbed-up sweeties, it's an easy movie to take. It is also an uncertainly stylized one, with a drab sense of atmosphere at odds with the material's punchy theatrics.” The Hollywood Reporter was kinder, saying, “[a] dash of showbiz pizzazz has been lost but some welcome emotional depth has been gained … if the ultimate aim of the theatrical version … was to get the audience on its feet for the final feel-good medley, Eastwood goes for a more mixed mood, combining the joy of the music with what Valli, in particular, lost and could never regain.” But New Jersey’s nj.com gave it 3 stars, calling it, “a little long too, and overly reverent,” but “lovely,” concluding that, “as deliberately, consciously old-fashioned as it sometimes is, Clint Eastwood's ‘Jersey Boys’ is also often fresh, with a self-aware sense of fun that concludes with the whole cast dancing down one of those studio back-lot streets.”
(You'll find Ron Smith's own review later in today's posting)
We found more in the same vein from a variety of other sources ...
msn.com gave it 2 1/2 stars and called it “Entertaining … just not all that good” ...
Rotten Tomatoes (with 72 reviews in at the time I checked) scored it a 59% (out of a possible hundred ... it had dropped to 55% favorable reviews this morning when I checked again) while the LA Times says "Jersey Boys hits a few flat notes".
The New York Post gave it a glowing review ... but the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Joe Williams wrote: "Now that I have suffered through 134 minutes of 'Jersey Boys,' I owe apologies to every music-themed movie at which I've lobbed rotten tomatoes, from 'Grease 2' and 'Glitter' to 'Rent' and 'Rock of Ages.' If I live to be as old as Clint Eastwood, I will never witness a more turgid, tedious and tin-eared assault on popular culture than this gaseous misfire." (Ouch!)
FH Reader Ed Salamon said he was going to the 4:00 matinee opening day ... I told him that we had planned a family outing for Sunday, officially dubbing it "The Jersey Boys BBQ" ... and that all of us (optimists that we are) were hoping that at least the food wouldn't suck. (kk)
Here's Ed's review: Hi Kent,
Assuming you are not expecting a documentary, this is a really an enjoyable movie for fans of the music of the era.
So many events are compressed it's a bit unsettling to me (eg Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi at the same meeting, when they really left several years apart and I only recall one mention of the Four Lovers, a pretty successful act I recall seeing on Ed Sullivan). Nonetheless I think the film captures the spirit and gist of the group's story as I understand it.
Having interviewed Frankie a number of times over the years, I think the film captures his mannerisms pretty well. I think they did a good job with Bob Gaudio, and Tommy too. Not so much with Nick - maybe because his actor didn't resemble him as much as the others did their characters.
It does irritate me when they violate the timeline for, in my opinion, no good reason: in a scene caption Newark, 1953 (IIRC) Frankie sings "Silhouettes" , a 1957 hit co-written by Crewe (generating some royalty income for Crewe). AFTER Gaudio joins they talk about the group being singed to RCA (why couldn't they have said VJ - or more accurately Gone?). and my pal Joey Reynolds will be disappointed that some anonymous deejay who locked himself in a studio gets the credit for breaking "Sherry" rather than Joey at WKBW.
However, I urge you not to let the facts get in the way of a great story told in a compelling manner. Although there is plenty of nit to pick, most viewers will never pick upon that and will just enjoy the film.
Ed Salamon
I think we liked the musical too much - so we'll automatically be disappointed by the movie.
Nicki
Honestly I just think Clint Eastwood was the wrong guy to do this … they should have gone with somebody with a much stronger music background … but we’ll see … I’m sure there will be some redeeming parts … and I heard the “show-stopping” finale is excellent … I guess the real Frankie Valli comes out at the end … so at least the singing there will sound like him! (kk)
UPDATE: Despite what I had heard, Valli does NOT appear at the end of the film, which is presented as sort of a musical mega-mix of hits, featuring the entire cast. It's a very uplifting scene, similar to what they did with "Joseph And The Amazing Techni-Color Dreamcoat" ... and even "Slumdog Millionaire" ... which is to say that even though it's been done before (and we've all seen it done before), it was still effective in this context. (Honestly, it would have been kinda cool to see Valli and Bob Gaudio, listed as co-producers of the film, come out for the grand finale ... the real Joe Pesci, too! Even Clint!) kk
Yes, it's different from the play and has been converted from a juke box musical (the play) to an actual drama depicting with fairly good realism the early days (hit years) of the group. The film tells a story the record companies would not allow published in the TEEN magazines of the period.
The show is a drama, and you don't see actors break out in song for no reason, but the hits are there (a few less than the play) as performed in authentic looking recording studios or concert venues.
Rated R for language ... but well worth seeing. Do yourself a favor ... go to the movie don't wait for the DVD.
Paul Urbahns
Radcliff, Ky
Hi Kent-
Saw Jersey Boys today - very enjoyable,but with a few shortcomings. "Frankie's" falsetto is still a little too "trebly" but not as high in the final trailer clip. Film seemed to concentrate a little too much on the seamy side of the underworld (rather than the record business!) and not quite enough on the music. Also thought the story segues into the music were a little clumsy. That said, a must for fans of this music. Although the reviewers have not been kind to the film, the audience broke out in applause at the end. This tells me the movie will get word-of-mouth "legs" and become successful,if not a megahit.
Clive
Clint Eastwood doesn't know how to make a bad movie!
In spite of what will undoubtedly become a storm of reviews and comments on the subject, I'd like to say that "Jersey Boys" kicked ass. (You'll clap at the end)
I think the casting was excellent (remember they're doing a movie not a play), so there's a different skill set involved here. You must have film type actors that understand the nuances of film-making. Movie producers can't afford to use unseasoned film actors in principle roles ... too risky and a big gamble.
Some of the characters were used from the play, like Frankie's wife Renee Marino, and the Gaudio character.
The singing was good enough for me, in fact better than good enough. The power that Frankie Valli had on the original records is a double`tracking ... besides if you want identical Four Seasons you'll need a time machine. They were one of a kind.
To all the musicians that read your blog: Remember the days when we used one amp apiece and it was loud enough.
So go see it for entertainment, have a good time, and get your money's worth.
My favorite line, and the most truthful thing in the movie is when Bobby Gaudio states that without him there wouldn't have been a "Four Seasons".
BTW:When the James Brown movie comes out you won't get perfect James, but it'll be damn close and damn good enough.
Alex Valdez
Hi Kent, With so many postings about "The Jersey Boys", I thought it appropriate to send you the attached photo I took on my cellphone from my third row seat last evening (6/15) when Frankie Valli performed to a sold out house at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. His two hour plus show looked and sounded great, with Frankie on stage virtually the entire time. In addition to his solo and 4 Seasons hits, he did songs from his "Romancing The 60s" CD, which were received just as enthusiastically. I don't think the those attending could have been happier with the show and Frankie seemed pleased at the appreciative audience. Nashville resident Bob Gaudio attended, but sat in the balcony, so I didn't get a chance to see him.
Ed Salamon
But all the press about Frankie wasn't good this week ... we were a bit surprised by this discussion (especially once we started doing a little digging of our own!):
I don't want to spread rumors (I haven't been personally) ... but a radio show host was taken to a Frankie Valli show at a pretty large Long Island venue by his sister for his birthday. He claimed that Frankie never broke a sweat ... just mouthed along to a pre-recorded track for the entire show ... with a 'live' button on the microphone so he could interject oohs and aahs and comments ... supposedly so very obvious that they 'pulled' youtube videos to confirm (I did not). The 'voice' was of a very young Valli, not a 'seasoned' voice. Needless to say that, although they were amused, they were disappointed. Good to be in Frankie's presence, but could have heard the same at home ... can anyone confirm? RENFIELD I haven't heard that ... but the man is 80 years old ... so I can't say that it's inconceivable that he might need a little help with the high notes now and then. We saw him a few years ago and it sounded pretty damn good to me. I checked out a few recent YouTube videos and they all looked real ... so I'm not even going to speculate. If somebody out there can prove otherwise, we'd like to see it ... but my personal experience shows Frankie to still be in GREAT shape musically. (kk)
Then again ... maybe it's the world's worst kept secret ... and I'm just one of the last to know.
We found comments dating back to 2009 stating that something seemed "a little bit off" during some of the recent Frankie Valli concerts attended by fans ... especially those in the first few rows who could visibly see some of the out-of-sync lip-synching glitches with the recorded playback.
Check out this article we found online ... "Valli's voice has gone from falsetto ... to just plain false". The crime? The fact that fans are shelling out $75 - $150 per ticket to listen to a recording ... hell, you can buy the complete Four Seasons collection for that kind of money ... and hear EVERY song done to perfection. (kk) Click here: Barry Lewis: Frankie Valli's singing has gone from falsetto to just false | recordonline.com
Well, not quite the same ring to it as "December, 1963,'' but today does mark the release of "Jersey Boys," Clint Eastwood's latest directorial endeavor. So, in honor of the nationwide release of the movie, I couldn't help but recall my brief encounter with Frankie, Bob and the band on Wednesday, March 25, 1964, when I booked them into the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium on behalf of the KXOA Radio "Good Guys." It was another "Vail-Polaris" joint production -- and, if I recall, general admission seats were $2!
I had done another 'appreciation' show for KXOA on September 6, 1963, that featured the great and much-revered Johnny Burnette, whose group, the Rock and Roll Trio (with brother Dorsey and friend Paul Burlison) are yet another 'early influence' group constantly snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That show also featured Freddy Cannon, The Righteous Brothers, Ray Peterson (that began a lifelong friendship with one rock's 'golden voices'), The Merced Bluenotes and The Rivingtons.
The Wednesday concert, during Spring (Easter) Break 1964, was a day after my 20th birthday, March 24. I was already working with The Beach Boys, setting up concerts and an occasional 'dance' on the west coast ... not the major markets like LA, San Diego, Seattle and San Francisco -- although I often went with them to those shows -- but secondary cities like Sacramento, Fresno, Marysville, CA, Portland, OR, Spokane, WA, Boise, ID, Reno and Las Vegas, NV. Most of the big acts pretty much ignored those cities and a few of them didn't really have any major venues in which to perform. Our Boise show was in the local high school auditorium, the Reno show was in an auditorium above the city library:)
I was on the road constantly in those days, having dropped out of Sacramento State College to join the Beach Boys organization as their first 'advance man,' emcee and marketing manager. I had been earning $2 an hour as a deejay, but could earn as much as $600 for promoting a Beach Boys gig. Not bad for a nineteen year old. On that particular Wednesday, I was visiting my parents at our home in Sacramento, when I heard a knock at the front door. When I opened it, it was Dennis and Carl Wilson who had come up to wish me a Happy Birthday and attend the concert.
I had hired The Crickets to open for The Seasons, but of course, it was not the 'original' group by that time and featured Jerry (JI) Allison on drums, Glen D. Hardin on keys (later Elvis' keyboardist), Sonny Curtis on guitar and Jerry Naylor on lead vocals, and, if I recall, bass.
The Crickets opened, got a great response from the crowd, and after a brief intermission, The Seasons took the stage. The show got off to a great start, but somehow during the intermission, or during the early part of their set, a few of the kids spotted Denny and Carl -- either in the 'wings' of the stage or through an open door to the backstage area. All of a sudden, the 'sighting' of Sacramento's all-time favorite group, got the kids in a frenzy. They were shouting their names and stomping their feet, and interrupting The Four Seasons and Frankie.
It was quite embarrassing for both groups and caught KXOA management, and myself totally off guard. We finally made the decision to stop the show and Carl and Denny walked out on to the stage to thank the kids for their applause but reminding them that this was 'the Four Seasons show and 'we'll be back in a few months to see you.' They politely asked the kids to let the Seasons go on with their show and to respect them as they respected the Beach Boys. The show resumed without incident and Denny, Carl and I, along with my girlfriend of the time, Dolly, and few KXOA friends, went out to a late night birthday dinner.
FH Reader Tom Cuddy also sent us this report ... "Fact Or Fiction" regarding the movie version depicting the career of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. (We've already heard about the guys singing "Silhouettes" on a street corner in 1953 ... which in and of itself is pretty amazing ... since the song wasn't even written until 1957!!! If you're going to do an accurate bio-pic or time-piece, you've got to Fact-Check, people!!!)
This report comes from Dee Lockett and we're calling it:
JERSEY BOYS / FOUR SEASONS - FACT OR FICTION Before The Four Seasons were The Four Seasons, they performed under many different monikers, most notably as The Four Lovers, at local New Jersey clubs like The Strand, as seen in the film’s beginning. And one key move that helped the band take off was the addition of Bob Gaudio, a songwriter who’d garnered some popularity for 1957’s “Short Shorts.” In the film, Joe Pesci (the same Joe Pesci that went on to star inGoodfellasandMy Cousin Vinny, though he’s played here by Joseph Russo) hassles DeVito at a bowling alley about Gaudio, whom he claims he discovered, insisting that the group meet with him. Unbelievable as that all might sound, Pesci really is a New Jersey native and had beena longtime friend of the groupin their early years. And he actuallywasresponsible for Gaudio joining what became the Four Seasonsand evenappeared on stage at the 2006 Tony Awardswith the group’s surviving members to remind audiences of that point.
Not much later, we see the band outside a bowling alley — having just been rejected from a gig there — arguing about their name. All of a sudden, the alley’s previously broken neon sign lights up to reveal the name The Four Seasons, and the guys have a collective epiphany that that’ll be the name they perform under from that point on. It admittedly comes off like a cheesy plot device meant to segue to the story’s success chapter, but theyreally did get their name from that bowling alley. (Not from Vivaldi, as you might assume.)
Havingbeen among the thirteen million people who have seen the stage musical, “Jersey Boys,” worldwide, I was unsure as to how this Broadway smash would translate to film, especially with Clint Eastwood at the helm. Well, big girls -- don’t cry. The boys are still the big men in town.Clint wisely understands the difference between Broadway musicals, where plot often takes a back seat to lavish musical production numbers; and movie musicals, where story drives everything. We’re seeing a filmed history of the singing Four Seasons with musical embellishment here, not a stage musical captured on film. This affords Clint the opportunity to embellish the stories (a slapstick attempt at a youthful heist gone wrong leaves Frankie Valli driving blind on two wheels) and even add some subtle humor (Frankie’s Newark, New Jersey, home has a clock with two pictures on either side -- the Pope and Frank Sinatra). Just as on stage, the actors often break the “fourth wall” to talk directly to the audience, adding information that can’t be told visually. John Lloyd Young won a Tony award for his portrayal of Frankie on Broadway (three of the movie Four Seasons were in the Tony-winning Broadway production) and looks and sounds enough like Frankie to be effective. His acting is perhaps too understated, though. He spends much of the film with a hangdog look on his face as life presents countless obstacles. Vincent Piazza (who didn’t appear in the stage production) is the real star as the mob-connected Season, Tommy DeVito -- not surprising since the story’s based on DeVito’s unpublished autobiography. Erich Bergen as singer / writer Bob Gaudio sets just the right tone, while Mike Doyle is a bit over-the-top as flamboyant record producer Bob Crewe. A strange bit of casting has Christopher Walken almost doing a parody of a benign mob boss, crying as Frankie sings his mother’s favorite song. There’s even a cameo by Clint himself as an episode of “Rawhide” is playing on a hotel television. As onBroadway, the actors sing the songs themselves, which keeps us from dealing with cheesy lip-synching. And the performances are devoid of the “belt it out so they hear you in the last row” that stage musicals require. You may resent “Jersey Boys” for starting the trend towards “jukebox musicals” on Broadway, but at least this one has a great catalog of songs to work with (though why the movie retained the three girls doing an overblown version of the Angels’ “My Boyfriend’s Back” is beyond me). Two original Four Seasons recordings are heard during the closing credits.There is the usual dramatic license taken in the film. No, groups did not perform live on “American Bandstand.” Frankie Castaluccio became Frankie Valli through singer “Texas” Jean Valli, not as portrayed in the film. “My Eyes Adored You” was recorded much later than when it’s used in the film. In fact, the movie uses Frankie’s recording of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” for its denouement as if it was a late-career comeback for him. In reality, at that same time, the Seasons themselves were still in the top ten with “C’mon Marianne.” I wasn’t thrilled with hearing the original Four Seasons singing “Who Loves You” and “December, 1963,” since Frankie is the only one of them who appeared on those recordings (and even then, does not sing lead on the latter). Nevertheless, the entire cast joining with them for a dance down Frankie’s old Newark street at the end was a satisfactory substitute for the rousing Broadway finale. The film is rated R for the kind of language you would expect “made men” to use. Which is a shame, since today’s youngsters need to see how superstars became famous before “American Idol.” The Four Seasons had 30 top 40 hits in their career and Frankie himself had nine more. Tune up and down your local radio dial and you’ll be lucky to hear two of them. That’s the real shame.Rating: 3 (out of 4) stars. -- Ron Smith / www.oldiesmusic.com
Went to see Jersey boys late this afternoon. Gotta be home before dark so the boogie man doesn't get me.
It's easy to pick apart a movie, a play, a concert etc. There's always things that can be better.
So you think the singing isn't up to par in the movie? Well maybe it is and maybe it's not.
While the music is important, there's a story to be told here and, with a little bit of embellishment, I'm sure, it is told.
There were a few things about the group I didn't know, or had forgotten about. I did not know that both Tommy and Nick had done time for petty crimes and that Frankie was an inch away from that lifestyle. I knew he was exposed to it, I just didn't know how close it was to him. One also has to understand what it was like growing up in post WWII New Jersey where you rarely left the neighborhood and were part of the criminal element. As the movie alludes to, there were few options for a kid from the neighborhood.
To me the singing wasn't bad, especially when you consider that in the years preceding Beatlemania, there weren't 64 track tape decks, no fancy gizmos on the instruments, or other enhancements. How often does the topic of quality music come up in FH, in regards to today's talent? Today, they can make any one of us sound great, in the studio, or even on stage. This is not to take anything away from the stage cast of Jersey boys. (I have not seen it. Probably in about 20 years, the local high school will do a production. It's possible they may attempt Grease sometime). I have nothing to compare it to. My advice is to forget what you've seen in the trailers and go for the story behind the music, to paraphrase VH1.
Lastly, two things come to my mind when watching the move.
First, I wish they could have worked in Christopher Walken saying "more cowbell". This is Hollywood, there has to be a way.
Secondly, for lack of a better way to put this, the final credits roll as there's a closing sequence, where everyone who plays a part in the movie participates in a musical number. I kept expecting to see Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley to somehow come out and reprise the Uptown Girl sequence. However that's just my warped sense of humor.
Maybe not a four star review, but I don't have a problem with three stars.
Since when is there an hour's worth of coming attractions? Boo hiss and thumbs down for that.
Go see it. Tell the theater manager that Jack at Rock And Roll Never Forgets said you should get a free drink and you'll give a good review for Jersey Boys in FH. Jeez $5.50 for a large Coke! No wonder I don't go to movies.
Looking forward to the James Brown bio.
Jack
Kent, Its obviously above and beyond fashionable to clobber Clint Eastwood's "Jersey Boys", and having seen the flick, there are some annoying flaws. Exhibit A: The Four Season sounds more like the Knickerbockers doing "Lies" than the group that gave us the brilliance and resilience of "Rag Doll." B: The "Tommy" character is so damn "Jersey" you have to figure he has a tattoo of "Hoboken" on his back. As a result, the movie gets bogged down whenever he does one of his verbal riffs to the audience. Eastwood simply tried to hard to make Frankie Valli a tragically sympathetic figure. However, I do admire the fact that Clint didn't make the film a 22 song "greatest hits" dance party just to guarantee the commercial success of the film. In other words, Eastwood took some risks - some worked, some went south. NO, I didn't expect, nor did I want the film to be a recreation of the incredibly successful play. I wanted a new adventure. I left the film reasonably happy. Hey, it sure as hell beats Tom Cruise doing anther piece of Sci-Fi crap. Jersey Boys - a very liberal *** Chet Coppock Host: Chicago Blackhawks Heritage Series Host: Notre Dame Football - WLS
And, finally,
MY REVIEW:
Short Take: Pleasantly Surprised (7 out of 10)
There was plenty that I didn't like about the new "Jersey Boys" movie ...
It's too long ... and it's made to feel even longer than it is because of the pacing of the early scenes of the movie ... any scene that doesn't feature some musical advancement in their career seems to move along at a snail's pace.
In fact, the first hour of the film is spent chronicling the events leading up to their break-through hit "Sherry". As such, we are bombarded with songs that have absolutely NOTHING to do with the group we all know and love (many of which most people won't even know or have any connection with!) ... and, as a result of this time spent focusing on the early era of the formation of the band, the unfortunate trade-off is that we don't get to hear many of their biggest hits when they DO finally make it! I couldn't help but feel short-changed by so many legitimate hits being left off the soundtrack in favor of this incidental "learning curve".
Then, when they DO finally make it, they breeze through this successful period of time very quickly, scattering a brief flurry of hits (all of which seem to have the same "performance" ending) without any real substance or emotion. This is instead reserved for the confrontation over Tommy's debt and the sudden departure of both Nick Massi and Bob Gaudio, leaving Frankie to soldier on with three brand new Seasons ... in the scheme of things, barely mentioned and then abandoned completely, never focusing on the fact that Valli WAS able to rebuild The Four Seasons and keep the hits coming.
Then, just as Frankie's about to release his biggest solo hit ("Can't Take My Eyes Off You", #1, 1967), the film suddenly leaps ahead 23 years to their 1990 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction ... once again, leaving out any number of subsequent hits enjoyed by the band including their HUGE mid-'70's comeback with "Who Loves You" and "December, 1963". (Yes, both songs are eventually featured ... in truncated form ... elsewhere in the film ... but how do you skip 23 years after you've spent the first hour of the film covering 12 years of trying to break the band???)
There are a number of examples of things being out of chronological order, many of which have already been pointed out in examples cited above (so I see no need to go through them all again ... suffice to say that a little "fact-checking" would have been a welcome addition to the final product.) One correction, however, that I DO feel needs to be pointed out is that in the stage production, the song performed after the death of Frankie's daughter Francine is "Fallen Angel" ... and NOT "My Eyes Adored You", something that at least three critics above got wrong in their reviews.
The weakest actor (by far) was the Frankie character (John Lloyd Young). The STRONGEST actor was Vincent Piazza, who played the role of Tommy DeVito (and, I'm told, is the only lead in the cast who hadn't previously played this role on Broadway.) The rest of the cast is also strong, which made the story believable and fun to watch unfold. Personally, I would have enjoyed a little more of the Bob Crewe character (Mike Doyle) because it was his input and expertise, coupled with songwriter Bob Gaudio that REALLY made things gel. Substantial time is spent establishing the DeVito, Valli and Bob Gaudio characters ... but Nick Massi almost plays as an after-thought ... other than his one big rave-out scene when he quits the band, he's barely there ... when, in fact, he was the vocal arranger for the quartet ... and was most definitely involved and instrumental in their overall sound.
My feeling again is that if you've never seen the stage show, you'll probably LOVE the movie ... because you're seeing all of this material unfold for the very first time. However, if you HAVE seen the stage show, you'll definitely feel bogged down by the pacing ... and the elimination of some of the songs used in that context ... in favor of more dramatic scenarios.
I have two REALLY big song beefs ... for me, the single, most pivotal moment in the stage production was when the group finally had to face the music and make their deal with the loan shark to whom Tommy was so deeply indebted. The soundtrack at that moment presented "Beggin'" which, to my ears anyway, was the PERFECT marriage of song and drama ... that entire sequence is missing in the film version. (And I can't help but wonder if it was cut at the last minute ... because the song DOES appear on the film's soundtrack album.)
And finally, I am MOST disappointed by the fact that they didn't clean up some of the horrible musical glitches there at the end during the performances of "Who Loves You" (horrendous harmony) and "Rag Doll" (even worse!!!) I love the fact that they kept the dialog for each Season intact from the stage production, each recapping their role (from their own perspective) in the band's success ... but this is done over the backdrop of what just may be the most out-of-tune harmony ever committed to film by way of their rendition of "Rag Doll".
The music throughout the rest of the film is actually pretty good ... on more than one occasion I felt like clapping after a particularly strong number ... so why they'd let these vocal flubs go is beyond me. Go back in and redub the ending and end the film on a high note. Fix the vocal and harmony on "Who Loves You" ... and do SOMETHING with those held, harmony notes on "Rag Doll" ... (I don't care ... auto-tune if you have to!!!) ... and give this film the big finish it deserves!
And yet, despite ALL of these negatives, I am STILL able to give the film a "7" out of 10. It's a movie worth seeing ... a story worth telling and hearing ... and once the real music finally does kick in, a fun film to watch and enjoy. Yes ... there are more depressing moments than highlights ... in that respect, the film has an overtly dark tone ... but I do believe that this is a DVD I could watch again and again because the redeeming values outweigh all the bad. (And who knows ... maybe there'll be some worthwhile outtakes and extras on the dvd NOT shown on the silver screen ... at two hours and fourteen minutes, I'm not sure they shouldn't have edited even further ... particularly that first hour to help things move along at a little brisker pace. I believe they easily could have conveyed the frustration of trying to make it on their own during the "background singer" years by just running short, one minute medley-type performances.) And, quite honestly, it would have been nice to see the band ENJOYING some of their success along the way, too, instead of constantly being bogged down by one upset after another. But I still have to give the film a positive review ... and recommend that you go see it. (kk)
How'd it do at the box office ... pretty lukewarm actually. (I know our theater had less than 50 people in it ... but most of them applauded at the end of the film, too.)
"Jersey Boys" came in 4th place for the weekend ... and a pretty distant 4th at that ... with box office receipts of $13.5 million, or about half (and less than half) this week's top three films: "Think Like A Man ($30 Million), "22 Jump Street" ($29 Million) and "How To Train Your Dragon 2" ($25.3 Million). In fact, it just barely edged out Disney's "Maleficent", which still managed to do $13 million in its fourth week of release!
Some great feedback to our recent pieces on The Buckinghams ... so they're back in The Forgotten Hits Spotlight again today!
re: THE BUCKINGHAMS: Kent - Can you ask Carl if they ever did a single called "Im Gonna Say Goodbye"? It would have been out mid-1964, and it got played as an extra at WKBW in Buffalo. I remember them playing this record and the group was called the Buckinghams. Also, I only remember three singles on USA - Kind of a Drag, I Call Your Name and Lawdy Miss Clawdy - maybe he can fill in here as he would certainly know. They have always been a favorite of mine, and I worked their Tufano and Gianmarese record on Ode in the summer of 1973. Clay Pasternack I can answer these all by myself! The Buckinghams weren't calling themselves The Buckinghams yet in 1964 ... that name wouldn't come to be until they signed to WGN-Television as the "house band" playing the latest hits on a weekly television program "All-Time Hits". It was a VERY clever moniker, bestowed on them, I believe, by a WGN Security Guard who made the connection between Buckingham Palace in London and Buckingham Fountain right here in Chicago. In that EVERYBODY was trying to cash in on the English craze at the time, it was the PERFECT connection between the two ... a stroke of pure genius to say the least! (Even a few years later, folks were still confused ... as mentioned in our piece last week, The Smothers Brothers had The Buckinghams perform on their show in front of a Union Jack Flag from the U.K.!!!) As for the USA singles, there were quite a few others ... some of which were even released BEFORE "Kind Of A Drag" broke the band nationally in late 1966. (Others were released after the band jumped ship to Columbia, trying to cash in on their newfound success.) Nearly ALL of these received airplay (and some chart action) here in Chicago.
They are (in order): USA 844 - I'll Go Crazy (a #19 hit here in Chicago) / Don't Want To Cry USA 848 - I Call Your Name (#14 in Chicago) / Makin' Up And Breakin' Up USA 853 - I've Been Wrong (#13 in Chicago) / Love Ain't Enough USA 860 - Kind Of A Drag (#2 in Chicago) / You Make Me Feel So Good ... all of the above released in 1966 USA 869 - Lawdy Miss Clawdy (#24 in Chicago) / Makin' Up And Breakin' Up NOTE: This single was also released with "I Call Your Name" on the B-Side USA 873 - I Don't Want To Cry / Summertime (did not chart) In addition, I believe The Buckinghams were also the band featured on these released singles: Spectra Sound 4618 - Sweets For My Sweet / Beginner's Love (released as The Pulsations) Spectra Sound 641 - It's All Right / I Love You No More (released as The Centuries) Alley Cat 201 - Lawdy Miss Clawdy / Virginia Wolf (released as The Falling Pebbles) All of the above tracks (except the two released as The Centuries) ended up on The Buckinghams'"Kind Of A Drag" album.
I'm hoping Carl Giammarese can shed some additional light on these tracks as I've been curious about them for years now ... let's see what he comes back with! (kk)
Hi Kent, Sweets For My Sweet and Beginner's Love were the first two songs we recorded as either The Pulsations or The Buckinghams ... I'm not sure which ... in 1965. (I think it was The Pulsations ... although the record may have been rereleased as The Buckinghams once they started having hits under that name. - kk) They were recorded at 218 South Wabash. It was either called Hall Recording Studios or Stereo Sonic ... I can't remember when they changed names. The engineer was Ed Cody. It was initially released on Spectra Sound which was Dan Belloc's label. I think their distribution was selling it out of the trunk of Carl Bonafede's car, ha ha. At the time, both George LeGros and Dennis Tufano were singing lead and they harmonized fabulously together. Before Kind Of A Drag was recorded George was drafted and he missed out. George was a dear friend, a great guy ... sadly, he passed away several years ago. Anyway, when USA needed songs for the Kind Of A Drag album, Bonafede and Belloc added those two songs. The rest of the songs on that album were recorded at Chess Records, 2120 S. Michigan Ave.
It's Alright and I Love You No More were recorded by The Centuries in, I think, late 1964, at Lawrence and Western and I think it was the old St. Louis Insurance Building. My cousin Jerry Elarde was our drummer and lead singer (fab voice) ... he sang It's alright. Our bass player, Curt Bachman, sang I Love You No More. I was the Lead Guitar player and Nick Fortuna was the rhythm guitar player. Both songs were written by Jeff Boyen (from Saturday's Children). Jeff was part of a duo called Ron and Jeff, kind of folky, but they did early Beatles fabulously. These songs had nothing to do with The Buckinghams other than Nick and I became The Pulsations and then The Buckinghams.
Lawdy Miss Clawdy was recorded early in 1965. It was released first on Alley Cat (Bonafede's label) and probably the distribution was handled like Spectra Sound ... right out of the trunk of Bonafede's car, ha. It was Carl Bonafede's and John Poulos's idea to call it The Falling Pebbles, just for fun, to see if the name would catch on ... sort of a take off The Rolling Stones name ... Stones, Pebbles ... whatever. We were big fans of The Hollies and recorded it like they did it, up tempo but with horns. At the time I wasn't really aware of the original Lloyd Price recording. Anyway, it eventually wound up on our USA's Kind Of A Drag album. USA released it as a single to counter Don't You Care, our first Columbia single. Lawdy did pretty well on the strength of Kind Of A Drag, and gave us three songs on the top 100 chart at the same time. I hope that clarifies some things. Thanks for asking. Carl Three Top 100 Hits at the same time ... amazing ... for this incredible group out of Chicago. (Now it's not like they were Iggy Azalea or anything ... but that's still pretty damn impressive!!!) It's funny because the very first version of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" that I ever heard was The Buckinghams' version ... and I loved it! I think next I heard Elvis Presley do it ... and then finally the Lloyd Price original. Again, another reason why keeping this music alive is so important ... everybody influenced everybody ... and that's what keeps the circle going. And I love the Falling Pebbles story! (We entered our 1970 High School Talent show as The Cardboard Oh-Yes Orchestra and performed "Hey Jude" ... a take-off on John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band!) This is great stuff, Carl. (I wonder if anybody out there has a copy of The Centuries' tracks ... as these, apparently, never found their way to CD. Would love to hear them!) Also, you'll find some REALLY cool, vintage Buckinghams videos on YouTube, dating back to the time they were the "house band" on WGN - TV's "All Time Hits" program. (OMG, they look like babies in some of these clips!!!) Enjoy! (Thanks, Carl ... good stuff ... and an education for all of us!) kk
I've always liked the big sound of The Buckinghams' recordings. It's interesting reading all the things about them in FH, and how their album, "Time and Charges" inspired the formation of both Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. It's also interesting that Jim Guercio ended up producing recordings for all three bands. Small world, huh? - John LaPuzza I don't know that I'd go so far as to say "'Time And Charges' inspired the formation of both Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears" ... although both certainly gained a tremendous amount of attention at the time for their "unique" use of horns on rock and roll records ... something The Buckinghams had already been doing for a few years prior. But yes, Guercio IS a common connector to all three acts ... and, at various times, all three artists have also denounced him for his controlling ways in the recording studio, often compromising them as artists. (I've always been of the impression that there is not a HUGE Jim Guercio Fan Club in the music industry ... but his track record certainly speaks for itself!) kk
Kent, Thanks for the GREAT Buckinghams synopsis from Carl Giammarese! I can't wait to buy his book! Jim Peterik's is still close also, I believe. I'll let you know. The Chicago sound was too varied to capture easily, but I know it DRIVES me still today as much if not more, than when I was young! Working on the Bucks' CD packages and other Chicago artists of the day just make it even more fun to be a small part of. -- Clark Besch
Kent, A friend just asked me if Susan, by the Buckinghams, was written about a specific woman. She thought, mistakenly, that I know everything about Rock And Roll. I did tell her that the song was not written by anyone in the band, but still Carl or Dennis might know. Thanks. Jack True ... but the guy who would REALLY know would be Jim Holvay, who wrote FOUR Top Ten Hits for the band, including this one. ("Kind Of A Drag" [#1], "Don't You Care" [#5], "Hey Baby, They're Playing Our Song" [#5] and "Susan" [#6].)
So I forwarded your friend's question to Jim ... along with one of my own ...
What did Jim think about The Buckinghams' recording of his song ... and, in particular, the overall arrangement and then the little psychedelic interlude that Jim Guercio inserted there near the end (without the band's knowledge. The Buckinghams themselves were shocked by this little piece of psychedelia when they first heard it ... but what did Jim Hovay, as the songwriter, think about Guercio's expression of his work???) kk
The song “Susan” was written backstage in between shows at a club on Rush Street called The Happy Medium.
My group THE MOB was appearing in the main room. There was a club below called The Pussycat A Go A Go, where I met a server who’s name was “Susan”. She later became a Playboy Bunny. (Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! - kk) We dated a few months and the song was about her.
Regarding the arrangement, etc., Dennis Tufano did an excellent job in singing and interpreting the song, as did Marty Grebb, whose arrangement of the background vocal parts was beautiful. Gary (Holvay's writing partner, Gary Beisbier, also a member of The Mob - kk) and I were extremely pleased with what they had done with the song.
Of course we were in shock like everybody else when the “psychedelic section” came up that Jimmy Guercio had added, which I assume was inspired by “A Day In The Life”. It had no relevance to what the song was about but we understood that everyone wanted to emulate The Beatles at that time.
It was only recently that a musician told me that Guercio had lifted the whole track from a classical piece. When Gary and I first heard it, we thought he had orchestrated that interlude. I assume he paid a “licensing fee” in order to borrow that piece ... or maybe not. I don’t think there was any credit given to the classical composer on the album notes.
What really got us upset was when the record came out and Jim Guercio’s name appeared as one of the writers of “Susan”. He had a tendency to do that (i.e. “Don’t You Care”). His justification was that he added the “psychedelic part”. OMG! Welcome to the record industry.
Songwriter Jim Holvay reviewed our recent feature on "The Chicago Sound" and had a few comments to make.
A lot of what has become to be known as the "Chicago horn sound" was attributed to The Buckinghams ... a sound latercarried on by Chicago and, eventually, even The Ides Of March ... but a local group called The Mob had horns in their line-up since the early-to-mid '60's ... and Jim wanted to make sure our readers were aware of this.
Here are some of his comments regarding the evolution of the Chicago Horn Sound.
I read your blog on “What Is The Chicago Sound?”.
I was a little upset that The MOB was not given much credit (or even mentioned) for the contribution or inspiration that we provided to a lot of bands in the Windy City, considering we were the first band in Chicago that had a full horn section. It could've been that we never had any real recording success or the bloggers don't know the history of how that all came about.
Even though we were the first band “on the scene” and the cutting edge with a horn section, The Buckinghams, BS&T and CTA, beat us to the punch when it came to recording success. We inspired Danny, Terry and Wally to add horns to their group, which was originally called The Missing Links.
In March of ’66, I wrote and produced a single for them called “Makin’ Up And Breakin’ Up” b/w “You Hypnotize Me” on Ivanhoe Records, when they were a four piece band, prior to them re-forming as The Big Thing. To Danny Seraphine’s credit, he did give us some recognition in his book “Street Player”. (Thank you Danny!)
(The Buckinghams wouldalso record their version of "Makin' Up And Breakin' Up" for their first USA LP. - kk)
As you know it was the producers (Dan Belloc and Carl Bonafede) who added horns to The Bucks tracks. They didn’t have horns in the band.
Mike Callahan was the only blogger that got it right. He referred his readers to a song called “Beatle Time” that Gary and I had recorded as a group called The Livers, previously The Chicagoans. That song was recorded in December of 1963 and charted on WLS. Carrying the melody of the tune was a horn section.
The MOB’s very first release (”Wait” b/w “Mystery Man”) was on Cameo / Parkway Records in May of 1966. I believe “Kind Of A Drag” came out in 1967, later followed by the success of BS&T, CTA, the Ides Of March and finally Chase.
A final comment on The MOB and horn rock bands.
In June of ’66, The MOB was playing at a club in Schiller Park on River Road called the Wine and Roses. The Missing Links, The Exceptions, Carl Bonafede, everyone was coming to see The MOB.
I believe WLS was the first station to break “Cherish” by The Association, which went to #1 and subsequently spread across the country. The record label flew The Association out to Chicago to thank the jocks at the station for playing the record and making it # 1. Terry Kirkman and the guys told us that after their visit to the station they asked who the hot band was in town. The jocks told the fellas, “Go see The MOB out at a club near O’Hare”. (i.e. The Wine and Roses) We met The Association that night and became good friends, which resulted in us becoming their opening act on a lot of their college dates. Years later their manager (Pat Collechio) became our manager.
Anyway, The Association flew back home to LA and told Capitol Records that they need to sign this great band which they had just seen in Chi Town. Within a few weeks, we found ourselves recording in Studio A at the famous Capitol Records tower on Vine Street in Hollywood. I believe it was Nik Venet who produced three songs that Gary and I had written. After the session, we flew back home to continue our residency at The Wine and Roses and waited to hear what the verdict was on our newly created horn rock sound. Keep in mind that at that time, every group in Chicago consisted of two guitars, bass and drums or maybe a Vox organ or a sax.
Well, Sal Innucci (the then President of Capitol Records) heard our traks and said, “Dump the horns and add more guitars”.
We weren’t going to do that because that’s not who we were. We felt we had something different and unique that would separate us from all of the Beatle influenced bands there were happening at the time. Unfortunately recording-wise, all of the stars in the universe never lined up for The MOB and many groups came after us and took advantage of adding horns to their records, along with great songs, arrangements, production and a major label behind them.
Thanks for listening,
Jim
The Mobhad one big local hit in 1970 called "I Dig Everything About You", which cracked The Top 20 on the WCFL Chart. (Incredibly, this record wasn't even played on WLS ... and nationally peaked at #83 in Billboard!) It should have been a MUCH bigger hit than it was, sounding very much of-the-time ... but somehow it failed.
I couldn'thelp but wonder how Jim felt ... and his bandmates felt ... about him giving away FOUR Top Ten Hit Records to The Buckinghams. Had they cut these tracks themselves, it might have been The Mob that garnered all of this national acclaim rather than The Bucks ... but even after all this time, he doesn't think so. Jim Holvay believes The Buckinghams had the right chemistry to make these records hits ... and that if recorded by anybody else they may have just fallen by the wayside. He tells us:
Being on amajor label helps the national distribution of your record tremendously. (i.e. $airplay$, interviews, press, industry ads in the trade papers and records in the stores) When “I Dig Everything About You” was released, I believe our small, indie label (Colossus Records) was havingfinancial problems. We did have a very loyal following but because of not having a national hit record, it was limited to a “club level” which went across the US, Canada and Hawaii. Keep in mind that we were able to stay together and work “on the road” for 15 years. Themajority of bandswithout a hit record, break-up after a few years of playing clubs.
As for giving away four Top Ten Hits,I was always asongwriter first and had numerous records out before The MOB. The songs that I and Gary gave Bonafede and later Guercio were considered “pop songs”. The MOB was an R&B influenced band and we were writing songs in that genre for the group. Even if Big Al had sung “Kind Of A Drag” or any of the Bucks hits, that was no guarantee they would’ve been successful.There are a lot of elements that have to happen to make a song become a hit. The “magic” for the Bucks was Denny’s voice, Jon Jon’s drumming, Gary and my songs, Bonafede and Guercio’s production and Columbia Records' promotion department.
Over the years, Gary and I held back quite a few songs for The MOB. Guercio wanted “Once A Man, Twice A Child” for BS&T and we didn’t give it to him. That song appears on our first LP on Colossus. Lou Rawls wanted a song called “Can’t Keep A Good Man Down”, which we recorded on MGM Records, but it was never released. There have been a lot of songs that we held back, in hopes of getting The MOB a national hit record. For whatever reason, it just didn't happen for us.
I had heard a couple of years ago that The Mob had gotten back together and were doing shows again? Any details you can share in this regard?
The MOB was inducted in the South Dakota Rock n’ Roll Hall Of Fame in April of 2011. Two thousand people showed up in Sioux Falls. (nice following J) The good fellas would love to perform again but the mobsters live in eight different cities. This presents a big $logistic$ challenge.
Well, if you guys are ever able to work this out, please know that we are ALWAYS happy to help spread the word ... so feel free to "use us" in any way you can.
Again, a BIG THANK YOU Kent, for putting this out there and helping us tell our story.
A VERY special thank you to Clark Besch for hooking us up with Jim Holvay for this special feature. Clark also provided TONS of cool photos and sound clips (far more than we can use in a single piece!) so I wanted to thank him for that, too. (Seems every time Clark and Kent work together, something "super" turns up!)
Here are a couple of things that were just too cool not to share!
Did you have Hip-Pocket Records when you were a kid? There weren't very many of them released ... but here's the one put out byThe Buckinghams, featuring their early 1967 hits "Kind Of A Drag" and "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". (Cool sleeve, too ... I think this is a picture of all of the original guys when they were in the third grade!)
And how about this? The Bucks plugging Rowe Jukeboxes (where they want you to play their latest hit, "Kind Of A Drag" ... naturally!)
A WORLD WITHOUT LOVE finally reaches #1 on The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart for PETER AND GORDON this week, a nice feather in the cap of PAUL McCARTNEY as well, who wrote the song for the duo. (MACCA was dating PETER's sister, Actress JANE ASHER, at the time.) DON'T LET THE SUN CATCH YOU CRYING sat at #7 for GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS and another LENNON and McCARTNEY tune, this time recorded by BILLY J. KRAMER AND THE DAKOTAS, was this week's #9 Hit, BAD TO ME.
LOVE ME DO fell out of The Top Ten for The Fab Four (at #11) and the BILLY J. KRAMER flipside LITTLE CHILDREN was right behind it at #12. CAN'T YOU SEE THAT SHE'S MINE by THE DAVE CLARK FIVE continued its climb up the charts, now sitting at #16 in its third week on the chart, just ahead of DIANE by THE BACHELORS, which fell to #17. The CHAD AND JEREMY version of YESTERDAY'S GONE sat at #24, one position ahead of THE SEARCHERS' latest hit, DON'T THROW YOUR LOVE AWAY. DO YOU LOVE ME by THE DAVE CLARK FIVE and P.S. I LOVE YOU by THE BEATLES held on to their Top 40 positions at #34 and #37 respectively.
WISHIN' AND HOPIN' climbed 18 places for DUSTY SPRINGFIELD to #61 and THE ROLLING STONES hit their highest position at #63 with NOT FADE AWAY after nine weeks on the chart. PETER AND GORDON's next release, NOBODY I KNOW (another LENNON and McCARTNEY tune) debuted at #73. THE OVERLANDERS were still trying to hold on at #75 with their version of YESTERDAY'S GONE while FOUR BY THE BEATLES climbed to #92. How desperate were we for new BEATLES material??? SIE LIEBT DICH, THE BEATLES' recording of their #1 Hit SHE LOVES YOU sung in German, premiers at #97. (It had already been on our local WLS Chart for a couple weeks at this point.) Other interesting premiers this week: I'M INTO SOMETHIN' GOOD by EARL J EAN and IT'S ALL OVER NOW by THE VALENTINOS. Neither will make much of an impact on the charts until they're covered a few months later by British Invasion sensations HERMAN'S HERMITS and THE ROLLING STONES!
It's interesting to see that "A World Without Love" FINALLY hit the #1 Spot on the Billboard Chart this week … a full two weeks AFTER it topped the chart here in Chicago. (This week it sits at #4 on the WLS Silver Dollar Survey). "Little Children" remains the #1 record in town. "Can't You See That She's Mine" leaps to #7 (from #24), putting it four places ahead of The Dave Clark Five's other current hit "Do You Love Me", which sits at #11. The Beatles are still holding on to a Top Ten Hit with "Love Me Do" / "P.S. I Love You", which sits at #8.
"Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" climbs to #12, "Sie Liebt Dich" falls to #19 and The Searchers premier at #25 with their new one, "Don't Throw Your Love Away".
Another new favorite on the WLS Chart this week is "She's The One" by The Chartbusters, a group out of Washington, D.C. that sounds an AWFUL lot like The Beatles! This would become a fairly big hit here in Chicagoland, peaking at #9 a few weeks later.
We've got another nice collection of charts to close out the month of June this week in Forgotten Hits.
First up, a Canadian Chart from CKLG 73 and their Boss Radio 30.
#1 in Vancouver this week in '69 were The Beatles with their two-sided hit "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" / "Old Brown Shoe", a record that DIDN'T top the charts here in the States (probably because it was banned on any number of radio stations at the time.) Incredibly this record didn't chart at all on the CHUM Hit Parade, most likely for the same reason.
We have another unlikely candidate at #2 ... Bob Dylan's "I Threw It All Away", a song that crapped out at #60 on the U.S. National Charts. (It only reached #85 in Billboard).
Elyse Weinberg has the #12 hit this week (down from #9) with something called "Oh Deed I Do". I'm assuming this was a Canadian talent (?) ... but this record didn't make the Billboard or CHUM Charts either.
Hot "Hitbound" premier of the week belongs to The Guess Who with their second million-selling single "Laughing". It was the success of this single, Burton Cummings told us a couple of weeks ago, that convinced the band that they might actually make it in the music business. "Too many groups had that one hit, flash in the pan success ... and 'These Eyes' could have been it for us ... but 'Laughing' proved that we were on to something and we knew it when Dick Clark himself presented us with the gold record for this single. That gold record still hangs on my wall today and looks as beautiful now as it did the day I received it, especially when the sunlight comes through the window and catches it just right."
Looks like surfin' was all the rage in Riverside and San Bernardino, California on this date back in 1963.
The Surfaris have the #1 Record with their two-sided hit "Wipe Out" / "Surfer Joe", followed right behind by Jan and Dean's "Surf City" and the very surf-guitar-sounding version of "Memphis" by Lonnie Mack. You'll also find "Baja" by The Astronauts in The Top Ten along with something called "Johnny Surfboard" by Barry Mann at #14. Future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston is at #32 with "Original Surfer Stomp", a solo record released several months before he teamed up with Terry Melcher to record all those "Bruce And Terry" records.
Look closely and you'll see that "From Me To You" by The Beatles made a HUGE leap this week from #39 to #17 with "From Me To You", a song that wouldn't chart nationally for another nine months when it was re-released as the B-Side of their "Please Please Me" single. ("From Me To You" was a pretty big record in certain parts of California ... yet still did nothing nationally at the time, Bubbling Under at #116 in Billboard.)
This KEWB Chart surprised me ... look at Paul Revere and the Raiders perched at #2 with their version of "Louie Louie" ... in 1965!!! (This record first came out in late '63 and competed with The Kingsmen's version ... and was completely blown away by the competition. I didn't even know that Columbia had DONE a re-release in '65 ... and this chart pre-dates what most consider to be The Raiders' break-out hit, "Just Like Me", which wasn't released until the end of the year!) Once again we have two songs by Them in The Top 20 ... competing with the likes of Patti Page (?!?!), Steve Alaimo and Esther Phillips, with her reworking of The Beatles' hit, now titled "And I Love Him". And even as late as The Summer of '65, KEWB was still reporting The British Beat as part of its survey. Incredibly you'll find just as many American artists there, many enjoying greater success overseas than they were here at home at the time. (Elvis, The Everly Brothers and Burt Bacharach all have Top Ten Hits in the UK this week.) You'll also find Sandie Shaw topping the charts with other British artists The Rockin' Berries and Tony Hatch's partner Jackie Trent not far behind.
And finally, we take another look at the VERY psychedelic-looking chart from KYA, 1967. I love the way they salute their own by promoting "The Sounds Of San Francisco, Heard Daily on KYA", spotlighting artists like The Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, Country Joe and the Fish, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band ... and hip tracks like "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and new music by The Grass Roots, Donovan, The Byrds and The Youngbloods. You'll find "heavier" sounds within their weekly countdown, too ... The Jefferson Airplane are at #2 with "White Rabbit", followed by The Doors at #4 with "Light My Fire", "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix at #7 and "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Procol Harum at #9. Further down the countdown you'll find "Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead" by our FH Buddies, The Fifth Estate, "Bluebird" by Buffalo Springfield, "Step Out Of Your Mind" by Chicago's own American Breed and brand new two-sided hit premiers by both The Monkees ("Pleasant Valley Sunday" / "Words") and The Beatles ("All You Need Is Love" / "Baby You're A Rich Man").
re: JERSEY BOYS: You from Joisey? I'm from Joisey! I saw Frankie Valli perform a couple of years ago in Naperville and his singing was so spot-on as to be unbelievable. So I started watching to see if he was lip-synching (easy to do since I was in the second row). I can say for sure he wasn't, but his mic had to be run through an auto-tuner to sound that perfect.As for the finale of the "Jerey Boys" movie, I read that Clint Eastwood was asked to participate in the finale but declined saying, "A man's gotta know his limitations."Now maybe I'm seeing things, but I swear Clint's old "Play Misty For Me"co-star, Jessica Walter, was in the audience during the scene where Frankie is asked to come up and sing with Tommy's group. But I've seen no mention of it. As for the "Jersey Boys" audience -- 71 percent was over the age of 50 and 84 percent over the age of 35. If you want Hollywood to make any more films for older audiences, you'd better get out and see this one. -- Ron Smith Our kids were every bit as anxious to see this movie as we were ... we've been buzzing about it for close to three years (when it was first announced that they would make a film ... and well before Clint Eastwood was attached to the project.) We saw the same thing with "Mamma Mia" a few years before that. The younger generation WILL fall in love with this music and embrace it if given the chance. The hope would be that Four Seasons music would start to find its way back on to mainstream radio again ... but the reality has been they've pretty much been reduced to a One Hit Wonder ... and THAT hit was their last, "December, 1963", first released in 1976 and then again (in a remixed format) in 1994. Other than oldies radio (and even they've cut their Four Seasons play list down to next to nothing), you won't hear much else. Hard to imagine a world without "Sherry", "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like A Man", "Rag Doll", "Save It For Me", "Bye Bye Baby", "Let's Hang On", "Opus 17", "Working My Way Back To You" and "C'mon Marianne" ... but sadly that's the world we currently live in. (And they had nearly 20 MORE Top 40 Hits besides those!!!) kk
Kent,
Have not seen the movie, nor know when I will get it into my schedule, but I love the idea that bringing attention to The Four Seasons will gain a new audience. That DOES give it an automatic redeeming quality for me. Of course, I'm wondering why my students are watching an "R" rated movie, but then I wonder that all the time. Hopefully (in my naïve, half-full way) it is an older group of students who are experiencing this media. Shelley J Sweet-Tufano The R-Rating is primarily for the language ... which is consistently vulgar throughout. (Hey, it's Joisey!!!) Odds are they won't hear anything they haven't heard ... and probably said ... before. I still recommend seeing it ... it's a great piece of '60's history and these songs deserve a place in people's hearts. (kk)
Kent,
Thank you for saving me the price of a movie ticket. I had thought I wanted to see "The Jersey Boys", but it doesn't sound like it is a good investment. Stacee I say go see it ... there is enough redeeming material in the film to still make it worth seeing. And let's face it ... we all LOVE this music anyway ... (and where else are you gonna hear it anymore?!?!) "Jersey Boys" is still worth seeing, despite all of its faults and flaws. (And a HELL of a lot cheaper than Broadway tickets!!! lol) I think every time we saw the stage show it cost us something like $375!!! (Tickets, parking, dinner ... now you can see it at the movie theater for about nine bucks a ticket!!! And, in about six months, probably OWN a copy for around that $20 price tag, too!) kk
kk - I loved Fred Vail's inside scoop on the Dennis and Carl at a 4 Seasons concert! Mega thanks, Phil
I haven't seen the movie so in part I'm just reacting to what I've read. I am planning to see it, because I was always a fan of the 4 Seasons. I'm actually glad that they didn't turn the movie version in to a giant jukebox and spent some time in actually dramatizing their career. Now if that first hour drags along, that's not good either. As far as being chronologically correct, the musical didn't do the songs in order either. It really bugged me at the time, but it made sense for the storyline so I had to get over it. <grin> Since the music is the reason that these people became famous in the first place it should have been spectacular and done as well as it could have been with the recordings as the guidepost. Just my thoughts, and as usual, FH is the best thing to read every day on the planet. Bill The "chronologically" aspect that bothered were little things like Frankie Valli singing "Silhouettes" on the street corner to distract a cop while his buddies made off with a safe ... except the movie showed this all taking place in 1951 and the song wasn't written until 1957. There are at least three other similar examples of this early on in the film during their "formative" years ... music playing that just doesn't fit the timeline. Then you've got the whole Tommy issue drawing to a head. Tommy gets busted for his underhanded dealings and is shipped off to Las Vegas, never to perform with the group again. And then, at the same meeting, Nick Massi quits. Although no actual date is given in the film, the implication is that these two events took place simultaneously ... and that Bob Gaudio quit the group a few weeks later to concentrate on songwriting and producing. But the truth is Massi quit the group in 1965 ... and DeVito was still with them through 1970. Gaudio didn't leave until 1971. Suffice to say that some "dramatic license" was taken in telling the story. But it's still a story worth telling ... and one worth watching. Again, I recommend our readers see this film. Yes, you will be disappointed by several aspects of it ... but overall it's a celebration of the music that was a HUGE part of the soundtrack to our lives ... so I say go! (kk)
Hi Kent ... Jersey Boys was a joke! Thirty year old guys who are supposed to be a lot youngersounding like Chipmunks. Not the story of the early days of Rock, not believable! At The Hop is waiting to be made! The real story of the early days of Rock and what it was like to be young and be a part of this new and exciting new music! I hope things are good with you my friend! Lots of love, John Madara Still hoping you get your chance to make your movie, John ... I know how much time and energy you've put into this. Who knows ... maybe this will spark a sudden interest in music of the '50's and '60's again! (kk)
I liked your review ... and, mostly agree, although looking at the Top 3 movies - they were all based on familiar territory ... as, I guess Jersey Boys was, too. It'll be interesting to see how it continues to grow ... and, it will. Thanks, David Since we've seen the movie I've seen more reviews sway toward the positive side ... so I think good word of mouth will brings folks to the theater. (When one considers that something like 13 million people have seen the stage show worldwide, an opening box office of only $13 Million is pretty disappointing. Of course MOST of those 13 million probably saw it multiple times, just like we did! Lol) Regardless, I still consider it a film worth seeing. After several days of reflection, I wish it wasn't quite so dark and depressing ... it's almost as if they weren't even allowed to enjoy their own success, based on the way this is presented ... and we all know this couldn't have been the case. WAY too much pre-story ... and not enough of the hit music we all know and love ... I think the film could have had a better "balance" overall ... but it is what it is ... and that's STILL a film worth seeing. (kk)
Hey Kent, After reading all the reviews in FH, I think I'll wait for the release of the "Jersey Boys" DVD. I can actually see why Director Eastwood didn't want to duplicate the stage production. (Remember how bad "Chorus Line" turned out?) Maybe Clint will listen to the critics and create a "Director's Cut", by adding more important material and songs, and cutting the monotonous scenes. Maybe he can re-record the bad vocals or electronically tweak them, as well. We will wait and see. - John LaPuzza Unfortunately, I think Clint released his version of "the director's cut" ... what he needs is some outside help with an ear more in tune with how to best present this music. With both Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio available, why were they shut out of the process? I think Eastwood made the movie HE wanted to make ... but a little "compromise" here and there would have made it a far more enjoyable film to watch. (kk)
Kent, I saw the first showing of Jersey Boys at a theater in New Jersey where I live. Yep, Jersey Girl here. Unfortunately, I am not a NY Times movie critic and would like to keep my comments concise. I enjoyed the movie, Jersey Boys! It was biographical and a pretty "spot on" about guys from the poor side of town making it big. It's a "rags to riches" story and shows that with talent, hard work, perseverance, knowing the right people, the ability to stay out of trouble with the underworld, being in the right place at the right time, and getting a break can really pay off - fame and fortune. I enjoyed the music and dancing etc. - very entertaining. On a historical note, I learned a lot about Bob Gaudio and how he was the force behind the band. I never knew the big contribution that he made by writing many of the hits for this group. Also I never knew Bob Crewe was so involved with producing the music. As a young girl, I was grateful to have seen the Four Seasons perform in 1963 in NYC and grateful they made a favorable impression on me. I have remained a Four Seasons fan. If you are a Four Seasons fan, I highly recommend this movie. True, maybe it could have been produced better, but I think it was good as is. As they say, "it is what it is." In other words, "Let's Hang on To What We Got." :)) Blossmwrld
Saw the Frankie and 4 Seasons a few years ago and noticed that he may have been lip syncing parts of songs, but looking at his backup singers I noticed one of them was always singing the lead. When Frankie got to the part of the song that he couldn't reach, he just backed off and the backup singer was heard. The Beach Boys do the same. So somebody will always be on that high note. CAK
re: CASEY KASEM: Last week we told you about a radio program hosted by our FH Buddy DJ Stu Weiss in which he interviewed Ronnie Allen, who worked for Casey Kasem for many years. We are happy to report that that interview is now available for streaming ... so if you missed it last Friday Night, you still have the chance to catch it here on the web: The interview with Ronnie is up at No# 64 on the Interview Page ... www.oldiesyourway.com
Casey Kasem's family and close friends celebrated him in the same way much of America did — by listening to his unmistakable radio voice. Mourners at a small private memorial Saturday for Kasem heard his old radio shows, including "American Top 40," where he introduced music from Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell and the Bee Gees. The ceremony came a week after Kasem's death in Gig Harbor, Washington, at age 82. Family representative Danny Deraney tells The Associated Press that about 100 family members, close friends and business associates gathered at the memorial at a church in the Bel Air neighborhood. Kasem's three children all spoke, and pop music arranger David Campbell played a violin version of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns," one of Kasem's favorite songs. -- Ken Voss
Wanna remember the great radio days with Casey Kasem? You can hear tons of airchecks of Casey at Reel Radio site for $12 yearly contribution. Casey has 8 of the top 40 download on the site currently! Have the Beatles ever had that? Probably. Anyway, latest is a video as well on the site and coming July 4 weekend, you can hear Casey celebrate Elvis' career here: http://www.reelradio.com/ Hmm. Elvis & Casey. Makes me wanna play an old fave, "Elvis & Marilyn".
Sadly, it seems (much like in the case of Casey Kasem) the children of Glen Campbell are having a similar struggle, trying to determine the best care for dad right now. (Glen has been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease for the past several years.) Vintage Vinyl News has the full report. (kk) Click here: Glen Campbell's Family Feuds Over Care ~ VVN Music
re: THE SATURDAY SURVEYS: >>>I didn't know that a group known as the 4 Jokers had a version of TRANSFUSION. I assume that's the old Nervous Norvus song. I couldn't find the 4 Jokers' version online. (Larry Neal) >>>"Transfusion" by The Four Jokers, that was a real record, released on Diamond Records. (kk) And here is the mp3 (not that anyone asked me for it!)
The Diamond Records label that Transfusion came out on is not related to the New York City label where Ronnie Dove became that label's biggest hitmaker ... though since you asked (ok, so you didn't), I'll give another plug for the brand new release, Ronnie Dove: The Complete Original Chart Hits: 1964 - 1969, from Real Gone Music, again.
This is absolutely the definitive collection of Ronnie's hits. Two of the hits make their CD debut on this collection (one being previously available only as a later recording on cd). Only 5 of the 21 songs are presented in mono, which is due to the absence of stereo sources, be it disc dubs or master tapes. Even some of the mono tapes are long gone ... but these songs have still never sounded better. Though the cd has not been officially released yet, Real Gone Music has begun to ship orders placed directly through them (and the first 100 customers get a booklet or tray liner autographed by Ronnie himself!) The inside tray liner will appeal to Forgotten Hits "Saturday Surveys" fans in that it shows a survey with one of Ronnie's hits in the #1 position. http://realgonemusic.enstore.com/item/ronnie-dove-cd Comments on the collection have been mostly positive, with many people exclaiming that the songs have never sounded cleaner or better. With several songs making stereo debuts on CD, and several songs appearing on this cd from newly discovered Diamond label tape sources, this is THE definitive collection to have of Ronnie's hits. Even though I co-produced the cd with Marty Wekser, I'm not biased about the cd at all (ok maybe a litle). However, I AM definitely the most critical of this cd, and my wife and I have listened to it in our car several times and it has sounded absolutely stellar. I couldn't be happier with the outcome of how the cd turned out. The audio, the artwork, the entire package is wonderful. It blows all previous cd's of Ronnie's music out of the water. Anyway ... back to Transfusion by the Four Jokers. Have you heard the version by Scatman Crothers? It showed up on one of those budget EP's with four knock-off versions of tunes on it ... and notice how they seem to all use the same screeching sound for the sound effects (also heard on I Want My Baby Back by Jimmy Cross). Tom Diehl
re: THIS AND THAT: Wow, Kent! What a picture at the start of Art Fein's article. I'll bet that group shot could be duplicated in almost any city in America at that time. That photo alone was worth reading the article. I was trying to recall what we called the hair style, first the pompadours held up with 'wave set' then of the opposed curls coming down the forehead and the Duck's Ass "DA" crease at the back of the head ... I want to say a "TC" or Tony Curtis, but my memory fails me. The cigarette hanging from the lip, the defiant look, the raised collars ... oh man, what trip back to the fifties! Going to the Mickey Finn store to buy 'Garrison Belts with big four corner buckles, and putting 'taps' on our 'Engineer Boots' just to antagonize the teachers. What innocent fun we had driven by the emerging Rock N Roll music, and the harbinger of raging hormones and the best times of our lives. Once again a fine read, thanks, CharlieOFD
Check out the CRM Internet Radio Channel ... brand new this week is the all '80's channel ... and coming soon is an all '90's channel. Meanwhile, you can listen to the '60's and '70's channel right now ... or ANYTIME you like! Click here: CRM Radio Network A brief synopsis: The CRM Radio Network -- exclusive Internet radio stations tailored for Chicago audiences and found on the Chicagoland Radio & Media website -- has launched its second station: "Chicagoland Radio - The 1980s." The new station, "Chicagoland Radio - The 1980s" plays nothing but music from 1980-1989. As was the case with the CRM Radio Network's first station "Chicagoland Radio - The 60s & 70s," all of the artists heard on the station are from Chicago or have a deep connection to Chicago. The music selected spans more than a few genres, including rock, pop, power pop, new wave, punk, soul, R&B, blues, and jazz. Chicago radio DJ parody songs are sprinkled in, as well as a song or twoaboutChicago, which are not necessarily by Chicago area artists. In addition to all of the big hits, there are also some deeper tracks that received local radio play, but may not have achieved national chart success, as well as rarities.Of course, all of the major record label Chicago area superstars are featured, including Cheap Trick, Survivor, Chaka Khan, Chicago, Peter Cetera, REO Speedwagon, Earth Wind & Fire, Richard Marx, Steve Goodman, Styx, Tommy Shaw, Dennis DeYoung, The Blues Brothers, Dan Fogelberg, Denise Williams, Herbie Hancock, Insiders, Material Issue, Ministry, Enuff Z'Nuff, Jump 'N' The Saddle Band, Koko Taylor, and Muddy Waters.Chicago acts signed to major labels but unable to find national success are here, as well, including Off Broadway, The Elvis Brothers, Nicholas Tremulis, Naked Raygun, Skafish, Wild Blue, Siren (aka Red Siren), The B'zz, Holland, Tami Show, and Big Shoulders. Many local artists released albums and singles on their own or on small-time labels. While big in Chicago, they never achieved the national fame they were hoping for. Biggest among them was probably The Kind and Phil 'N' The Blanks. Other acts like them heard on this new station include Big Twist & The Mellow Fellows, Dick Holliday & The Bamboo Gang, Mr. Myers, Bohemia, M&R Rush, Jak Makral, Take Me, All Night Newsboys, Big Daddy Kinsey, Vanessa Davis Band, Get Smart, Loose Lips, Rude Guest, Slammin Watusis, and The Edseys.Chicago radio personalities with songs heard on this station include Jonathon Brandmeier, Bob Wall, Steve Dahl, and John Records Landecker.More tracks will be inserted on a constant basis and requests for artists/songs are always welcome. Coming very soon will be yet another Internet radio station, "Chicagoland Radio - The 1990s." All of CRM's Internet radio stations will stream on a 24/7 basis and are free to use. The CRM Radio Network can be accessed via the Multimedia tab at the top of each page on the website or via this direct linkHERE. The stations will also be heard soon via the TuneIn radio app and eventually via the new iTunes Radio app/website.The new all-80s radio station joins the '60s/'70s station which launchedearlier this month, as well as CRM's retro television stream,CRM-TV, which launched last month.
>>>Scott Shannon is talking to Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad right now. The Happy Together Tour is coming to New York. Scott said the first live act he ever introduced was Grand Funk Railroad at some park in Tennessee. (Frank B.) That would be Centennial Park, scene of the Nashville Music Festival, August 22 - 24, 1969. David Lewis
Hi Kent - Thank you SO MUCH for the information on Brian Wilson's tours in Ireland and England plus his new CD coming out!! Too bad there are still bad feelings between Brian and Mike Love, but you have to give Mike Love credit, at 73, to continue his Beach Boys tours with Bruce Johnston to keep the original Beach Boys sound going to old and new generations of fans. Brian didnt have the opportunity to expand his talents in the sixties as he does now and that is great! Happy 72nd Birthday to him. Will be at the Happy Together Tour in August. Saw all the acts before except for Grand Funk Railroad. Hope to see you there. Carolyn We should be at the Aurora show. I've never seen Mark Farner or Mitch Ryder before ... the show is definitely taking on a "heavier" edge this time around. (kk)
Hello Kent, I hope you are doing well. I just wanted to let you know that I have a lot of pictures to send you very soon. Since the concert in Jackson, Tennessee, I have attended a number of concerts. I saw and met Johnny Rivers at Knuckleheads Saloon in Kansas City, Missouri, Peter Noone at City Center Square in Overland Park, Kansas and Don McLean and Judy Collins, also at Knuckleheads. (Judy Collins did not meet or greet any of her fans). I had a great trip last weekend. I arrived in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday morning and drove to Tarrytown, New York, on Friday Night to see the Happy Together Tour featuring Gary Lewis, Mitch Ryder, Mark Farner, Chuck Negron and Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, the Turtles! What a great venue and concert! The next day I had lunch with Floyd Marcus (Original Member of the 1910 Fruitgum Co.), his wife Lorraine and daughter Ashley at my hotel. Then it was on to Cousin Brucie's Palisades Park Reunion II as a guest of Mitch Schecter and The Rip Chords at the New Jersey State Fair. I had a fantastic time there, meeting and talking with Neil Sedaka, Chubby Checker, The Del Satins and Larry Chance and the Earls. I really had a great time with Mitch and Amy Schecter, Richie Rotkins and my friends, Frank Jeckell and Mick Mansueto of the 1910 Fruitgum Company. I am excited about sharing this all with you very soon and I have more concerts in the future. I am still waiting to hear the final lineup for the KOOL 103 Caravan Of Stars in Jackson, Tennessee in October.
Take care,
Jim Foster
Hi Jim! Sounds like you've been as busy with concerts as I have been lately! Johnny Rivers is coming here in August ... that'll be my first time to see him ... and I saw Peter Noone last month as well. I'll most likely hit the Happy Together Tour again, too, when it returns in August. I've already got a couple of reviews to put up on the site but got side-tracked with some of these other special features we've been running lately. I suppose sooner or later we'll eventually get to it all! (lol) Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to your next report. (kk)
Hey Kent, You mentioned Joel Whitburn's reference books -- I frequently use his book to research records I play on The FLip Side. I'm glad I took your recommendation and bought his "Top Pop Singles," 13th edition. I really depend on it! Mr. C. Joel's books are unquestionably the Chart Bibles when it comes to this kind of stuff ... and now with the complete chart history of Cash Box Magazine and Music Vendor / Record World, there isn't ANY information you can't have at your fingertips when pulling together this type of research. They are, in a word, INVALUABLE to me. (kk)
The new "Cash Box Looking Ahead" book started shipping last week ... and the next edition of "Top Pop Playlist, 1970 - 1984" isn't far behind. (kk)
It sounds like putting together the proposed eight-hour Beatles mini-series announced last week by NBC may not be a walk in the park ... apparently NO licensing agreement has been made regarding use of the music ... and an eight-hour television special about The Beatles WITHOUT any of their music would draw an audience of "none"!!!
Nobody's throwing in the towel yet ... but it sounds like there's some serious negotiating that needs to be done! (kk)
In other Beatles news ...
‘The Beatles Encyclopedia’ by Dr. Kenneth Womack to be released June 30th
The Beatles Encyclopedia – a two volume set, about the historical, cultural, and musical influence of the Beatles, is to be released June 2014.
Dr. Kenneth Womack is pleased to announce the release of his latest book – The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four. This 1116 page, two volume set is a comprehensive study of the people and places associated with the Beatles’ achievement from their formative years through the present day. The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four will be officially released on Monday, June 30, 2014, but is currently available for pre-order online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Mr. Womack and his new book will be making their debut at The Fest for Beatles Fans in Chicago, August 15 – 17, 2014. Along with signing, selling and discussing his books, Ken will also be giving several presentations throughout the fest weekend.
Kenneth Womack received his doctorate in English from Northern Illinois University.He is currently the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of English and Integrative Arts at Pennsylvania State University in Altoona, PA.He is the author two previously released books about the Beatles, including Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles and The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles.
Now would also be a great time to put in your order for Candy Leonard's forthcoming book Beatleness: How The Beatles and Their Fans Remade The World(Arcade, August 2014; ISBN 162872417X), available just in time for the July re-release of the newly remastered Beatles' classic A Hard Day's Night.
Candy’s unique, fan-centered, sociological approach to the entire Beatle phenomenon includes a fresh take on the film’s subversive messages about age, gender, and class, and shows how the film—and the Beatles’ “disruptive charisma”—paved the way for the cultural revolution we refer to as “the sixties.” Early reviews of Beatleness: "[Beatleness] is breezy, smart and open-hearted, and everyone who grew up with the band—or wants to know what that was like—will appreciate its insights and feel its emotional impact.” - Anthony DeCurtis, contributing editor, Rolling Stone “I love this book! It’s an incredibly hip and astute account of all the Beatles’ major happenings that affected so many people around the world who were riveted to their every move. I can’t wait to read it again!” - Will Lee, Grammy Award–winning bass player and studio musician, Late Show with David Letterman and Fab Faux “A fascinating study of the Beatles’ resounding impact upon late-twentieth-century American culture. . . . While hundreds of Beatles books stake claims about being the definitive work, Leonard’s Beatleness finally gets to the heart of the matter, offering readers new insights into the unusual and lasting nature of Beatles fandom."- Kenneth Womack, author of Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles and The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four For more information about Candy Leonard and Beatleness: http://www.beatleness.com
Something Tells Us We're Into Something Good ...
New York / New England "Danbury Fields Forever"Music Festival Announces Special Guests of Honor The New York / New England regional Beatles-themed festival, "Danbury Fields Forever," has announced its two very Special Guests of Honor: KARL GREEN of the original HERMAN'S HERMITS, and IAN LLOYD of Stories ("Brother Louie"). The Music, Foods & Arts Festival will "come together" Saturday, July 26 & Sunday, July 27, 2014 at Ives Concert Park, 43 Lake Avenue Ext in Danbury, Connecticut (on the campus of Western CT State University). Doors will open at noon, and the music will continue until 8pm daily. Music / songwriter Karl Green was a founding member of Herman's Hermits, one of the super groups of the British Invasion, and mainstays on the cover of endless teen magazines. Although Peter Noone was the lead singer and continued on to many years of fame, Karl Green played bass and harmonica, wrote songs for the group and was back-up vocalist. In the Herman's Hermits' first full-length motion picture, "Hold On!," Green was the second Hermit billed after Noone. Before resurfacing in the U.S. for this festival and some East Coast gigs, Karl Green was still in the music business in the U.K., managing sound systems for the Queen Elizabeth and Festival Halls in London. Karl will be at Danbury Fields Forever only on Saturday, July 26. Musician / singer Ian Lloyd formed The Stories in the early 70s with Michael Brown (The Left Banke / "Walk Away Renee"). With one of the most distinctive and powerful voices in the history of rock music, Ian Lloyd has been heard across the globe beginning in 1973 with his performance on Stories' #1 hit "Brother Louie" and then scored a follow-up hit with "Mammy Blue." Lloyd's other vocal credits include Foreigner. Since then Ian released several solo albums and collaborated with many other artists. His last solo album won the GMMA for its title track, O-de-Po, and Ian has since performed Beatles sets at Beatles Expo and at February's "NYC FAB 50" fiftieth anniversary celebration. Ian will be at Danbury Fields Forever only on Sunday, July 27. "Danbury Fields Forever" is in its third year, with 20 bands per day playing the music of The Beatles, solo material and songs from the 60s. It's the first time the event is two days, and the first time there will be special guests. Both Special Guests will be there in the early part of the days, meeting fans, taking photos, signing autographs and also performing on stage. Bands include The Hofners, AfterFab, The Oh-Nos, BeatleHead, The Mystery Tour, One Sweet Dream McCartney Tribute, Lennon Legacy, Rotary, The Way-Back Machine, Studio Two, Pat Horgan's Thunder Road, Charlie Guitar, Genetic Control, Pete Santora's George Harrison tribute, Bill Connors Empty Garden Elton John tribute, and the national touring show, Beatlemania Again. School of Rock students from New York and CT will also be performing, as well as winners from "Star On The Web." In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles' U.S. arrival in 1964, one-day "Ticket to Ride" admissions to the Festival start at only $19.64. Advance ticket available at: www.eventbrite.com/e/danbury-fields-forever-iii-tickets-11495548495. Tickets will be higher at the door. There are also V.I.P. tickets available, discounted two-day passes and hotel packages. For guests staying overnight, there is a reduced rate hotel package which includes accommodations and breakfast for only $79 per night. Visit www.Fab4MusicFestival.com and check the "hotels" page for hotel info. "Danbury Fields Forever lll" is presented by Charles F. Rosenay!!!'s Liverpool Productions, the same company that presented "NYC FAB 50," The Beatles' 50th Anniversary Celebration in New York City in February, and organizers of the annual Magical History Tours to Liverpool & London (www.LiverpoolTours.com). This year there will also be more Beatle and memorabilia dealers and vendors, exhibitors, along with a larger variety of food options available. A portion of ticket proceeds benefit charity. Information as follows: Website: www.Fab4Musicfestival.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/Fab4MusicFestival Facebook Events Page: www.facebook.com/events/627263174024993/ Advance Tickets: https://danburyfieldsforeveriii.eventbrite.com Email: info@Fab4MusicFestival.com Info by phone: 203.795.4737 Artists or line-up subject to change. Not affiliated with Apple Corps Ltd. As The Beatles sang, "It's guaranteed to raise a smile." And to paraphrase Herman's Hermits, "Something Tells Us We're Into Something Good."
Photo of Herman's Hermits with Karl Green far left (and Peter Noone center)
Beatles Related:
Badfinger Legend Joey Molland Releases 'Demos Old And New' and 'This Way Up' CDs On Gonzo MultiMedia
London, UK – On the heels of his critically acclaimed new solo album 'Return To Memphis', Badfinger legend Joey Molland has released two hard to find, sought after albums on UK's Gonzo Multimedia - 'Demos Old And New' and 'This Way Up'!
Signed to the Beatles' Apple label in 1968 as The Iveys, the band quickly changed their name to Badfinger by 1969. The group would go on to score four consecutive worldwide hits from 1970 to 1972: “Come And Get It” (written and produced by Paul McCartney), “No Matter What”, “Day After Day” and “Baby Blue”. In 1971, a cover of the Badfinger song “Without You” by Harry Nilsson became a number one hit on the Billboard charts. Though the band suffered major tragedies throughout its career, surviving member Joey Molland has continued to keep the Badfinger flame alight through concerts and recordings over the past 30 years. And now he is back with a fantastic new album 'Return To Memphis', which was produced by Carl 'Blue' Wise and recorded at Willie Mitchell's Royal Studios in Memphis.
This collection of demos, old and new, come from various parts of his long career, only to confirm what an extraordinary songwriter Joey Molland is. In 2001, Joey Molland released the critically acclaimed album 'This Way Up' independently. CD Universe describes the album as: “ … one of the best solo discs that ex-members of the Beatles never made." It bears repeating - 'This Way Up' contains the essence of what was great about those early solo Beatles albums, not surprising because Molland played on some of them. The surprise is that a sideman from those sessions has created a mini-masterpiece rivaling, and on some songs equaling, those classic and important recordings. 13 perfectly constructed songs by Molland do more than just carry on a tradition - they combine to give proof that this style of music is still so very vital.” Joey's latest CD 'Return To Memphis' has been garnering major press worldwide and follows the major buzz surrounding the Badfinger track “Baby Blue” being played during the finale of A&E's hit TV series 'Breaking Bad'. Says Joey, “I did the record in Memphis and so it's called 'Return To Memphis'. I started out loving Memphis music ... Elvis and all that. A lot of great rockers came from there. So I opted to go down there and make a record and it was a great experience.” Originally from Liverpool, Joey now resides in the US, where he continues to perform with Joey Molland's Badfinger. Along with Joey on guitar and vocals, the current lineup features Mark Healey (bass / vocals), Steve Wozny (keyboards / vocals), Mike Ricciardi (drums). For updated tour information check Joey Moland's official facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OriginalBadfinger To purchase Joey Molland 'Return To Memphis' CD: http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15625/Joey_Molland-Return_To_Memphis.html For more information: http://www.badfingersite.com/
Check out Clark Weber and Dick Biondi on a rare LP cover that I own! Hope you got to see Clark this week! Clark Besch
We did ... but it really wasn't quite all we were led to believe it would be. It was still nice to visit a little bit ... he brought former WLS mid-day man Bernie Allen up with him, too (and I got to talk a little bit with Bernie's daughter, who drove him to the event.) They had "School Of Rock", a talented bunch of child musicians (all of whom looked under 14 years of age) who really nailed some great Beatles music ... instrumentally. (Vocally, not so much ... I don't think I heard a song all night that was played ... and SUNG ... in the same key!!! And it was INCREDIBLY loud, making any REAL conversation virtually impossible to carry on. But I will say these are VERY talented musicians who really nailed the feeling of this music that predated them by a couple of generations!)
As for the art gallery, there was a nice assortment of photographs and paintings ... ranging in price from about $1200 to $12,000 ... which is a little steep for me (knowing that I'd have to display whatever I bought on the fridge! lol) Ringo was NOT there Tuesday night ... but attended Thursday Night, where he signed and posed for pictures with those who DID dip into their pockets. (Kinda sucks though if you went through the whole hassle of going downtown Monday and Tuesday and then having to come back on Thursday to get it signed ... but again I'm just not a real "downtown" person!) Not a very attentive audience to the WLS portion of the show (which is too bad because back in 1964 when The Beatles first hit, WLS was IT ... there was no other rock or Top 40 radio station in Chicago playing this music and these were the guys ... Weber, Allen, Ron Riley, Art Roberts, Dex Car, Don Phillips ... that were playing it. As host Greg Brown (currently of WLS-FM) pointed out, this was a time when the deejays were nearly as popular as the artists. But those of us who DID strain to listen (above the noise of the constantly talking crowd) got to hear some great radio stories from back in the day. DEFINITELY could have been better organized so, in that respect, a bit of a disappointment ... but ALWAYS cool to visit with these guys who SO shaped our world back then. (Clark even had his secretary come up for a moment ... she's the one who compiled The Silver Dollar Survey back then ... and talked about how they gathered their information from about 25 local record stores, radio airplay and requests and Billboard Magazine ... so that was kinda cool, too.) kk
Yeah, it's been over 50 years since Webermania hit Chicago's shores and (air)waves. Bob Sirott sat down and took us down memory lane this week on his WGN radio show. Hear some of the podcasts here: http://wgnradio.com/?s=clark+weber View the footage of WLS personalities Don Philips, Art Roberts and Ron Riley greeting the band as they come up to the stage at Cominsky park in 65. Clark helped emcee the other show that day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOtA1Urn4eU
>>>On your WNWC chart from June 22, 1966, one of the three Up and Coming singles is a great, lost single called "Stop! Get a Ticket" by the Clefs of Lavender Hill. This is one of the first records released on the Columbia Records new subsidiary label at that time, Date Records, later the home of Peaches and Herb, the Arbors, and others. The label was run by Tommy Noonan, one of the key people in the chart department at Billboard for many years. This record was played in many markets, including both WKBW and WYSL in Buffalo, but never had simultaneous radio action to get it to move up the chart. An excellent example of a "lost" great record from this period of time. It just validates what you do with the Saturday Surveys and how much many of us, especially me, appreciate it! (CLAY PASTERNACK) >>>I'm not familiar with this one ... but it looks like it went to #80 on The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart in 1966. (Prior to being released on Date, it was pressed on the Thames record label.) kk The Clefs of Lavender Hill had FOUR singles released on Date records, a label which began in 1958, issued a few singles, and then remained dormant for several years before being revived in January of 1966. A full album's worth of material had been recorded but unissued after none of the subsequent singles did anything on the charts. It was finally issued on cd in stereo (with two non LP single sides in mono as bonus tracks) a few years ago. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003GNF29M/chinewben-20 I don't buy too many CD's anymore (never have, really, as I've always prefered vinyl, but I love this group and I love this entire cd). -- Tom Diehl
>>>Who would ever think that in the heart of Tennessee there is a 50,000 watt powerhouse oldies station playing more great oldies than probably any other station in the country? Jackson is located between Memphis and Nashville. How many stations have you heard play Billy Stewart’s ‘Summertime’ and Spirit’s ‘I Got A Line On You’ lately? It was so refreshing to hear some great oldies while searching the dial through all the country music stations in Tennessee. (Jim Foster) This station played The Shames'"Sugar and Spice" this afternoon as I was driving through rural West Tennessee. Long, long time since we've heard this one in the Southland. David Lewis Yep, it's getting tougher and tougher to find radio stations that play the REAL oldies anymore ... with any kind of variety anyway. The other night Frannie and I stopped at Long John Silver's to grab a quick late night snack ... and were shocked to hear "Ma Belle Amie" by The Tee Set playing when we walked in. We literally looked at each other in total disbelief. What a shame that a legitimate Top Ten Song can't even get played on a station that CLAIMS to play the oldies anymore.
Another case in point ... last week I conducted an experiment at work. (OK, here comes another Forgotten Hits Soap Box Moment!)
They've moved my office to another area of the building so, for the first time in AGES, I am now able to listen to the radio at work. We have three distinct areas so set them up to play three DIFFERENT radio stations continuously throughout the day. There was just enough bleed through to hear what was going on on the other stations but not enough to take away from what you were personally listening to.
Two of the stations were set to stations playing the "Classic Hits" format ... one local Chicagoland station and one Internet station. I set mine to The True Oldies Channel. And, in the course of an eight hour day ALL THREE STATIONS played the EXACT same songs with eight exceptions ... and ALL of those exceptions came from Scott Shannon's True Oldies ... I can't remember what they all were but two that stood out were "Travelin' Man" by Rick Nelson (nope, NOBODY's gonna play something THAT old on the radio anymore!) and "Master Jack" by Four Jacks And A Jill, which he featured as a Forgotten 45, explaining its success as more of a regional thing.
The DOWN side is that I had to hear "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart THREE times because they all played it ... which was also true of at least two dozen OTHER songs featured throughout the day. NO variety at all ... nobody stepping outside the box. And even True Oldies, which SHOULD be featuring a wider selection of variety because they date back further than the other stations, seemed to be playing the exact same stuff the majority of the time. This included more and more songs from the '80's, by the way. (I swear sometimes it just feels like the radio stations pull six greatest hits cd's and then feature everything they can from those cd's during the course of the day ... this seems ESPECIALLY true of artists like John Mellencamp, Journey, Bob Seger, Fleetwood Mac and Elton John of late. Seriously, how can EVERY radio station be pulling songs from the exact same play list?!?! Doesn't ANYBODY want to stand head-and-shoulders above the rest of the pack? I just don't get it! (And don't use the excuse that "this is what the listeners want to hear" ... because they can hear that ANYWHERE!!! Yours isn't the only station that's playing it ... every radio station in America is playing it ... so what makes YOUR radio station stand out? Seriously, you'd better think of SOMETHING ... because once again I find myself bringing six CD's with me for the commute to and from work these days, as there is absolutely NOTHING worth listening to on the radio dial anymore. No surprises at all ... and that's a REAL shame.) kk
Have you tried to sing along with the new Michael / Justin song? I even clicked on the Youtube video that shows the lyrics. I just can't do it. You can't actually sing all of the words ... they just don't fit. My local radio station is "The River", 106.7. They have been doing this thing that started a couple weeks ago. This is the third week. They are playing all of their songs in alphabetical order. This is everything they have which they say is a little over 2000 songs. They do this from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. It has really been kind of cool. I certainly have heard things I haven't heard for a long time and some things I don't ever remember hearing before. I like the way they advertise it, too. They say, "106.7 the River playing all our music from A to Z in alphabetical order because we are the only one that can away with it." Maybe this isn't unique but it is fun. Stacee P.S. Kynlee Brooke Harding 7lbs 4 ozs was born at 7:17 a.m. on 06/16 ... I am officially a Great Grandma. Congratulations! Our oldest grand-daughter just turned nine ... so I'm thinking we have at least another 10-12 years till we hit that milestone. (I hope so anyway!) Here in Chicago The Drive has been doing their A-Z feature for YEARS now ... what's nice is that you not only get to hear stuff you never hear otherwise ... but they also mix it up every time they do it (which is about four times a year!) So even then you don't hear the same 2500 songs each time. (And I just LOVE trying to guess what the next song will be ... I'd say overall I'm right about 60% of the time ... which is still pretty good since they DO mix it up each go 'round ... but hey, I love being surprised as much as the next guy!) kk
>>>I remember the Price Guides for "Rhapsody In The Rain" even listing the number etched in the wax so that the buyer could determine which pressing he was purchasing without actually having to listen to the record! (kk)
Except the price guide isn't quite right on it. They say the clean version of the song has DJ etched after the matrix number in the trail out area when, at least on my copy, it's just a "-2" with no mention of DJ (and I've also had it on an off-center promotional pressing, which likewise did not have DJ etched anywhere in the trail-out, but was the clean version of the song).
-- Tom
The early price guides that I recall had an entirely different matrix number etched into the wax ... I remember being able to determine this way on early pressings which was which ... because BOTH versions were commercially available in the stores at the time ... not just as a "dj" copy. (I see now that the current price guide only shows the "DJ" reference you mention above ... but I swear the older guides had two distinctly different numbers shown. Anybody got an old 45 Price Guide handy that will bear this out???) kk
>>>Before I left my home just now, I had the television turned on briefly to see what was happening. There was a commercial that came on (and again I wasn't paying attention to the productbeing endorsed), but what did catch my attention was the song being played in the background. I simply could not believe it. Kent, are you familiar with record that came out in 1960 on DotRecord label with a song called LOVE ME. The singer on the label was simply known as ThePhantom. I don't know or can't remember his real name. I have the record, it made ourlocal survey. Anyway, the song or portions thereof, were playing in the background. It somewhatboggles my mind just what person or persons came up with this song of some 54 years agoto use in the background of this commercial. (Larry Neal) >>>I'm not familiar with this one at all ... but I see that Joel Whitburn's new book refers to it as a "Classic Non-Hit 100 Song". He says The Phantom was actually Jerry Loft, a rock-a-billy singer who wore a mask and whose vocals were similar to those of Elvis Presley. (Now Orion ... who pretty much did the exact same thing many years later ... I've heard of!!! But not this guy!) NO idea what would inspire an ad agency to pick up on this one ... unless they, too, grew up loving this track and finally found a place to feature it!) Hey, I think I just found it ... is this the one??? (kk)
Kent, To answer your question, the song you posted LOVE ME by the Phantom is the one I have at home and is the one which I heard in the commercial, which again whose product I don't even remember. How that song was picked as background, well, your guess is as good as mine. Larry
Several weeks ago we ran a very high-quality clip of The Dovells performing "The Bristol Stomp" in a movie. John LaPuzza now tells us where this movie can be found! (kk) Hey Kent, Here is the movie, that featured The Dovells singing "Bristol Stomp" in the video you posted. It was one of those "Hurry up. Let's make a movie about The Twist" sequels. I'd still like to see it sometime. - John LaPuzza http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055922/
Speaking of cool clips, have you seen this one? The David Bowie / Mick Jagger video clip for "Dancing In The Streets" with no music (but new sound effects added) has become all the rage ... over a million hits the first few days! (If you thought it looked ridiculous then, it looks even MORE so now!!! lol)
On a related note (?), our best wishes for a speedy recovery go out to Merry Clayton, seriously injured in a car accident earlier this week. Merry, of course, was the featured female vocalist on The Rolling Stones' rock classic "Gimme Shelter" ... and was one of the singers profiled in the award-winning documentary "20 Feet From Stardom." (kk)
When we found out that we couldn't attend this year's Drive Free Concert Birthday Bash, I gave our tickets away to somebody who I knew would really appreciate them ... a real music fan, Mark Baker ... under the condition that he then filed a full report for our readers. (Mark's history with both of these acts goes back to their hey-day of the '70's and '80's ... so I'm sure it was a REAL treat to see them both again!) Some of you may remember Mark's concert review from a few years ago of the Paul McCartney concert at Wrigley Field.
Surprisingly, despite a bunch of pre-concert buzz and anticipation, I didn't hear much about this year's concert after the fact ... other than it was INCREDIBLY loud. (Kinda weird to hear how LOUD it was ... rather than how GOOD it was!!! lol) Mark told me he could feel his pants moving against his leg from the sheer impact of the thumping bass and drums! (lol) Not sure just how enjoyable that would be ... but despite some after-concert ear-ringing, it sounds like he still had a pretty good time.
Read on ...
The Drive's 13th birthday concert at the Rosemont Theatre with Cheap Trick and Peter Frampton was a real treat. I was lucky enough to get two of these giveaway tickets to see two great rock bands / artists from the late 70's thru the 80's, when their music was always on the radio. I got to see Peter Frampton do Frampton Comes Alive at the Super Bowl of Rock at Arlington Park in the 80's ... and that was back when he had the long hair! First Cheap Trick came out with a lot of energy. They started with (Hello There) "Hello there, ladies and gentlemen, Hello there, ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to rock?, Are you ready to rock?" ... what a great way to start a show! And they looked just like Cheap Trick ... Rick Nielson with a sport coat, ball cap and square guitar, looking and acting like a geek rocker ... and Robin Zander in black leather jacket, pants and boots with a leather commanders hat on, looking like a biker. Their set list was about 12 or 13 songs which included: Hello There; California Man; Ain't That A Shame; If You Want My Love; a 12 string bass solo; I Want You To Want Me; The Flame; Surrender; Dream Police.
This was a loud, hard-rocking set ... sometimes TOO loud, as I heard others say in the lobby after the set ... but these guys came to Rock us and they did! Robin Zander sounded great! The guy from Rockford, Illinois, can really sing, as he proved when he sang The Flame! At times he also played a 12 string guitar. Rick Nielson was sounding great as well, having fun throwing his guitar picks in the crowd and hopping around. He tossed a Kiss record into the crowd during Surrender.
As high energy as this show was, only about a quarter of this crowd was really engaged in the show ... most people remained sitting, even after multiple attempts of turning the lights on the crowd and Rick Nielson trying to get people to their feet. They asked us to sing along with If You Want My Love ... Robin Zander said, "If you know the lyrics, sing them loud ... and if you don't, sing them even louder!" ... and we did! But even so, still less than half the crowd was on their feet. And then, during an interlude, Zander spun around to the microphone and screamed "I want you to want me!" ... and then EVERYONE was up on their feet rockin'! That was a great moment in the show and everyone was up on there feet for the last three songs! Someone had a comment in the lobby after the set ("Man, we're just a bunch of old people who won't stand up until the the last few songs!") ... and it was true!
But there is something about this music that we all grew up with and all lived with ... and even though we were all total strangers coming together that night to see Cheap Trick in concert, it was their music that united us ... and we stood and cheered and sang along as one.
Peter Frampton started out his show a little slower ... more of an intimate performance, kicking off with a sound track song ... and then talking to the crowd, praising Cheap Trick and telling us it was great to be there on the first night of his tour. It only took a few songs to get everyone going. On the fourth song he stopped and said, "Here's a song we released on the radio and it was a big flop until we performed it live" ... and then he played Show Me The Way and everyone was on their feet singing along.
His set list was about eleven songs, including the opening soundtrack song (not sure of the name?), Doobie Wha, Lines On My Face, Show Me The Way, a new song from his new album, Heart To My Chest, I'll Give You Money, Baby I Love Your Way, a Sound Garden song ... Black Hole Sun (music only) and Feel Like I Do. His encore consisted of two songs: Day In The Sun (?) and While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles.
Peter put on a great performance, jamming out every song ... it was like a commune of Frampton fans ... everyone was singing along and sometimes he would let the crowd sing the words and he would just echo us. It seems everyone has those lyrics etched in their minds and can easily sing along. He played a song from his new album / CD and talked about how there are no record stores to line up at any more but his album was being released somewhere out there.
Then he played a Sound Garden tune, Black Hole Sun, a hard rockin' version of an instrumental, and he said after the song that he was a big Chris Cornel fan and wouldn't even try and sing that song but he loves to play it. Then he played Feel Like I Do and broke out the voice box and really jammed that song out. For an encore he came out and played two songs, the last song being While My Guitar Gently Weeps to put a nice finish on the night.
On my way out I heard two guys talking ... one said, "That was a great show" ... and then his friend said, "Great is a strong word, my friend." I respect his opinion. The sound in the theater wasn't the best but I think I just saw some great performers putting it all out there playing with great passion for their music and putting on a very entertaining show with some really great music!
My favorite songs of the night were Cheap Trick (The Flame) and Peter Frampton (Lines On My Face and Feel Like I Do).
-- Mark Baker
We also heard from Melanie Mordhorst, who recapped the evening this way ...
CHEAP TRICK: The crowd was filled with old school rockers, professionals and even young urbanites. Once the band took the stage andhit the historic riffs we have grown to love, the crowd was on its feet, clapping and singing along. The sound engineers went a little heavy on the bass but still the performance was outstanding ... from songs we know to singles that didn't hit the charts. Extreme credit to the performers who each performed a solo. The switching of guitars and set up of the stage was seamless.
PETER FRAMPTON: In true concert fashion, they saved the best for last. George and crew were outstanding. Frampton showed he still has the passion ... and by the crowd's participation with the songs, you could see it's not the age that matters. All of the performers played with passion and gave life to the auditorium. A fantastic show and performances by all.
Forgotten Hits Reader Tim Kubat sent us this review of the Jefferson Starship Concert he saw in Grand Junction, Colorado, on Saturday, June 14th.
Here it is for all of our other readers to enjoy!
I had the opportunity to attend Jefferson Starship's concert in Grand Junction, CO, on Saturday (6/14) at the Two Rivers Convention Center. It was billed a Flag Day concert for past and present veterans and free tickets were given to veterans and what was left was offered to the public.
Though I have never served in the military, there was a lot of patriotism in the air, with a pre-concert video by Gary Lewis promoting the non-profit group HHV - Help Hospitalized Veterans, and a big thank you segment to all the vets that were in attendance. As most are aware, so many people have been a part of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship over the years -- some have retired from performing (Grace Slick), some have gone to Rock And Roll Heaven (Marty Balin) and others have gone their own ways (Mickey Thomas). Nonetheless, the current lineup is still worth seeing, with founding Airplane member Paul Kantner (guitar and vocals), original Jefferson Starship member David Freiberg (guitar and vocals), later JS member Donny Baldwin (percussion), and newer additions Chris Smith (keyboard), Jude Gold (guitar) and Cathy Richardson (vocals) in the line up.
The group started out with their first official hit as Jefferson Starship, "Ride The Tiger", then went back and forth between the Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship years with songs like "Count On Me", "Miracles""White Rabbit" and others.
73-year-old Kantner spent half of the concert seated on an amp case while playing the guitar, while 75-year-old Freiberg was standing the whole time with Richardson and Gold. Needless to say, when the septuagenarians sang, they sang loud and strong as if they were still in their 40s or 50s.
Cathy Richardson covered all of the Grace Slick and Marty Balin vocals but good! Born in *1969* (yes, 1969!!!), Cathy stole the show with her renditions of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love". During the song "Jane", she even hinted at her ability to sing like Janis Joplin, as she was the star in the off-Broadway play "Love, Janis". She was also playing "dueling drummers" alongside Donny Baldwin during one of their songs. And when it comes to playing the cowbell, she makes Will Farrell look like a novice (that last observation was my wife's, but yeah, she CAN make leather out of a cowbell).
They did a quick encore dedicated to the veterans in attendance, bringing up to the stage an Iraq War vet and his family for their last song called "Volunteers For America".
All in all, the 90-minute concert was great, although the acoustics weren't the best -- it was held in the main exhibit hall of the Convention Center and all tickets were "floor seats" -- but it was great to see a member of the Rock Hall making a stop in Western Colorado and playing music that modern-day radio is ignoring more and more as time goes on. They already have tour dates set up through the end of 2015 -- the 50th Anniversary of the Airplane, so catch a "flight" if you can! -- Tim Kubat
re: News Of His Demise Has Been Greatly Exaggerated!: Here's one that got by me. (So much for "fact-checking!" Fortunately a couple of astute FH Readers were paying attention!) In his review of the Jefferson Starship concert, FH reader Tim Kubat said: >>>As most are aware, so many people have been a part of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship over the years -- some have retired from performing (Grace Slick), some have gone to Rock And Roll Heaven (Marty Balin) and others have gone their own ways (Mickey Thomas).
Well, Marty Balin is still alive and well (thank you very much!) so I figured we'd better get THIS retraction up right away!
While I'm sure it's a mistake on the reviewers part, Marty Balin is still alive ... and I thought he has rejoined the Airplane. Jack I remember seeing him on one of those PBS specials not all that long ago ... but sometimes those are filmed YEARS in advance and then edited into various specials. Looking at his website, I'd say Marty is out doing solo shows these days. (kk)
Here's his biggest solo hit ... "Hearts", a #8 Billboard Hit in 1981.
And for some reason THIS one always reminds me of THAT one ...
re: Bobby Womack:
Meanwhile, due to pre-scheduled material, we also missed the REAL death of Bobby Womack ... who was not only a great songwriter as well as a blues and R&B legend ... but THIS is the guy who married Sam Cooke's widow after Cooke was murdered in 1964. (Quite honestly, I've always been a LITTLE bit suspicious about that whole scene!!!) Here's a remembrance from FH Readers (and noted writer and rock historian) Harvey Kubernik: Some Kind of Wonderful: Remembering Bobby Womack
(NOTE: You'll find the full article in THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER - kk) A soul giant who made Los Angeles his home was a man about town.
To the people who knew Bobby Womack, or bought his records, heard his tunes covered over a seven-decade career, or caught his stellar live performances, this left-handed guitarist, a southpaw like Los Angeles Dodger pitching legend Sandy Koufax, was a melodic and lyrical force of nature. Bobby was a soul survivor who spent plenty of time on a pain train that we thankfully didn’t have to ride along on with him.
Over the last 40 years around Hollywood, at least a few times a year, I would inevitably encounter Bobby Womack at a concert, recording studio, band rehearsal room, LP preview listening events, a restaurant -- usually Thai -- and any number of record company lobbies. I’d also catch him at a dentist or post office, various supermarkets, sometimes at the midnight hour or even six in the morning, backstage or in dressing rooms of countless shows, usually headlined by English rock royalty.
My very first Womack sighting was decades ago at the Hollywood Boulevard law offices of Walter E. Hurst, who represented Sam Cooke, the Valentinos (Womack’s old band), J.W. Alexander, Lou Rawls, Eddie Cochran and Jack Nitzsche, among others. Bobby Womack kept his pit bull dog in one of Hurst’s vacant spaces. Kim Fowley was a client of Hurst and was truly saddened to learn of Bobby‘s death.
“Bobby Womack was a pioneer,” Fowley volunteered. “He was one of the first songwriters in the black community to acknowledge the British music invasion. He would kibbitz with us white rock guys and sit in one of Walter’s chairs talking shop. Bobby was a wonderful person who was kind, informative and encouraging. He understood the rock ‘n’ roll music game for what it was.”
I remember once in 1983 at the Chan Dara Thai restaurant in Hollywood immediately after I was “put on waivers” by a girl who I thought I was deeply involved with. After I was cut from her team, I nursed two Thai iced coffees. I was definitely in the bummer tent. And in walked Bobby Womack. He had just left United Artists Records up the street on Sunset Boulevard.
He pulled up a chair and patiently listened to my splitsville saga. Bobby took a long and deep breath, lit a Kool menthol cigarette, and then explained to me some real facts of life about skin, sin and particularly the fascinating erotic and neurotic aspects of women, concluding with, “Man, where do you think all my songs come from?”
For the first 30 years, Bobby would recognize me and just say, “Hey Pisces!” The last 15 years, if I ran into him on the street or a record store, it was, “Hey Writer!”
In 2004, I mentioned Bobby in my first book This is Rebel Music where I cited him in the text. It was a moment just after we were waiting in line at a Sam Woo’s Korean BBQ on Sepulveda Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley. He had just parked his Buick Electra 225 deuce quarter and strolled into the joint beaming. “BW” had the title theme and ending credits cue on Quentin Tarentino’s Jackie Brown with “Across 110th Street.” Bobby had just gotten paid. He happily offered to buy me a head of a pig on a spit at the take-out counter. It sure looked scary, but it tasted awfully good. However, that was the last time I ate pork.
Later during an interview, I pressed him for some revealing music business tales. He laughed, “I can’t tell you the wildest crazy shit I saw in a studio because I would need an aspirin,” he coyly confessed. One of the last times I saw him on Ventura Boulevard in Van Nuys. He yelled out “Harvey the writer!”
Womack was preparing for a tour of England. He embraced me and profusely thanked me for including him in my books Canyon of Dreams The Magic and the Music of Laurel Canyon and Turn Up the Radio! Rock, Pop, and Roll in Los Angeles 1956-1972. He was so overjoyed, he had tears in his eyes. “Great books! Great books! Man, ‘Black Santa’ is definitely gonna take care of you this Christmas!”
Then, a few hours later I bumped into him again at the Marie Calendar’s bakery on Ventura Boulevard. Bobby proudly stated that one of the last business transactions Allen Klein’s ABKCO did on his behalf in 2009 was to administer the licensing request when Mariah Carey sang “We Belong Together” and sampled his “If You Think You’re Lonely Now.”
In May of 2013, I was on-screen, along with Damon Albarn of Blur and the Gorillaz, Chuck D of Public Enemy, writer Barney Hoskyns, Bill Withers, Regina Womack, actor Antonio Fargas, and the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood in the BBC-TV documentary on Womack directed by James Meycock.
Just last month I suggested Womack’s anthem “Across 110th Street” be played on Biggles.FM radio on The California Music Show in England, hosted by DJ Mike Grant. He was doing a segment on my Radio! book and asked me for some quintessential SoCal music to program in a guest segment.
In one taped conversation with Bobby in 2009, the R&B hero reminisced about visionary Curtis Mayfield and singer Dee Clark. Womack lamented, “I didn’t know I loved them this much until they aren’t around. Maybe it’s the Pisces thing where we become messengers for some people who aren’t here. Yeah. But boy, sometimes I’m telling you I need some help with these messages. Sometimes they go too fast.”
Bobby Womack himself remarked a few years ago, “As long as I’ve got that breath and God-given talent every time someone thinks of soul music will remember me and say, ‘That’s one mother f---er who wouldn’t die.’”
When I informed music historian Paul Body of the news that the immortal Bobby Womack had just flashed, he replied, “It’s getting awfully crowded in soul heaven.”
Harvey Kubernik is the author of Turn Up the Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll in Los Angeles, 1956-1972 (Santa Monica Press)
Robert Feder reported this past weekend that the WLS-FM / Eddie and JoBo deal is OFF ... personally, I couldn't be happier ... but who in their right mind walks away from half-a-million-dollars a year? ... Seriously, does ANYBODY in radio still make this kind of money these days?!?!
Pathetically disappointing in their "Classic Hits" stint on K-Hits a few years ago, these guys are simply the WRONG fit for this format ... there is absolutely NO connection between the two ... so thankfully we'll be spared having to endure them again. (Poor Brant Miller ... for WEEKS now he's been the subject of "on his way out" gossip while Eddie and JoBo came to terms ... only to find now that the deal isn't going to happen at all.)
Here's the complete scoop:
Click here: Eddie & Jobo are a no-go at WLS FM As far as who might take Brant Miller's spot as the new morning man at WLS, nothing is official yet, but quite a few of us think it just might be the station's own Robert Murphy, now doing afternoon drive. He'd be the most logical candidate if promoting from within ... many of us here in Chicago have long believed his last name was "In The Morning" ... as in Murphy In The Morning, the spot he held (and dominated) for YEARS here in Chi-Town a short while back. Stay tuned! (kk)
Kent,
I read online and I believe I read that one of your readers mentioned while back, that the
True Oldies Channel is ceasing broadcasting. I am listening now online and the DJ on air, Robby Bridges, just signed off. Next is the Sunday night Cruisin' America. It'll be interesting to see if Scott Shannon does the show.
You mentioned in Sunday's comments that this past week you were listening to the TOC in your cubicle or wherever you worked. Be interesting to see what your channel programs on Monday morning. Bet you ten to one they start out with JACK AND DIANE, what do you say?
Scott Shannon is doing the show tonight. I will be listening tonight to see what he says at the end of the program. The station here in OKC that used to run the TOC dropped it months ago. They were doing a poor job of broadcasting the TOC but then again, that's another story.
Larry
When Scott Shannon jumped ship to WCBS-FM, he left the Cumulus Family ... so the future of The True Oldies Channel was always in jeopardy. (Honestly, I'm surprised it has lasted this long.) I don't know if he has found a new home for it or not. I'm sure he tried. (I tried to contact Scott months ago to discuss the future of the channel but we were never able to connect ... I wanted to let the oldies fans out there know where they could still hear their favorite hits from the '50's, '60's and '70's. Maybe he'll see this and give us the latest update.) kk
UPDATE: And here it is ... the link is still the same ... but now he's calling it The True Oldies Channel v2.0 ... and it's running commercial free right now ... so be sure to give it a listen!
To put my two cents in on the current state of oldies radio, I feel that the reason why so-called “oldies” stations don’t play a lot of lesser known stuff is because of the large media corporations that control some of these stations. They are so wrapped in their strict playlists that play what the companies think the public might listen to in order to make money selling to advertisers that they forget to ask what people would really want to hear? The corporate people would argue “Why play something most people don’t know because the public we serve doesn’t know any of this stuff!”. But the reality is that playing the lesser known stuff makes people want to seek out these recordings (among them older record collectors such as myself and younger people for whom the lesser known stuff would be brand new to them). Not to mention , it would bring back a lot of memories to people because what could be obscure to one person can be a treasured memory to another.
I can also add the corporate homogenization of oldies radio practically destroyed the character of regional oldies radio stations because of the non-playing of material that were major hits in the region and the playing of certain regional artists. Here in Pittsburgh, we were practically a major part of the “Doo-Wop” vocal group scene of the 1950’s and early 1960’s because such groups as the Del-Vikings, the Skyliners, the Tempos, and the Vogues were based around this area. And WWSW-FM here in Pittsburgh helped boost the profile of Pittsburgh oldies through playing them regularly on Sunday nights back in the day. And your native Chicago’s contributions to the worlds of Blues, R&B, Soul music, and Rock & Roll are nothing to be sneezed at either (!). But all of that got lost in the shuffle by the strict playlists of today’s “Oldies” stations.
I love your blog because it gives me the chance to hear more stuff that you wouldn’t hear on the so-called “oldies stations” today. And also finding out what other regions tastes in records were during the Golden Age of AM Top Forty radio. It very much boosted my appreciation of the music of the 50’s, 60’s, and early 70’s.
Keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Mr. Kelly Izaj of Pittsburgh, PA.
I have found Rewound Radio to be the most reliable and consistent in playing the music oldies fans REALLY want to hear ... I listen whenever I can ... Forgotten Hits couldn't program a radio station any better! Give it a shot and see if you don't agree: Click here: Rewound Radio: It's not how old it is... It's how GOOD it is!!
Another interesting alternative is Reel Radio ... they feature actual clips from radio programs EXACTLY as they were broadcast at the time, circa the '60's and '70's. You're SURE to hear some obscure, long forgotten favorites this way. (Click on one of your favorite Pittsburgh stations ... you'll be amazed by what you find!) It works out to be about a buck a month ... WELL worth it ... and FAR more interesting than ANYTHING passing for radio today! (kk) Click here: Airchecks:Radio:REELRADIO Reel Top 40 Radio Repository
re: Jersey Boys:
As mentioned here last weekend, the success (or lack their of) of "Jersey Boys" falls squarely on the shoulders of director Clint Eastwood. Despite pleas from Frankie Valli, Eastwood went his own way with the film ... and I have this on pretty good authority (from an unnamed source). kk
I know many of your readers, like myself, are fans of Frankie Valli and were eagerly awaiting the release of the movie version of “Jersey Boys,” directed by Clint Eastwood.
This past weekend I was talking to a long-time friend of Frankie’s and he revealed a couple of things that I have not heard Frankie discuss publicly.
Frankie had some ideas that he wanted to see incorporated into the movie version of “Jersey Boys,” but his ideas were not welcomed by Clint. Clint had a vision of what he wanted to do with the movie (including not wanting the actors to lip synch to Frankie’s original recordings).
When Frankie didn’t receive any positive feedback to his suggestions, he went to the movie set multiple times and talked to Clint in-person, but Clint was firm on how he wanted to do the film.
As a result, it appears Frankie’s silent protest was to skip the Hollywood premiere of the movie. He had a concert the night of the NYC premiere. As a comparison, Frankie did attend opening night of the Broadway show and has seen the play numerous times since then. - Anonymous by request
I still say a far more interesting spectacle to watch would have been these two 80-something year-olds duking it out on camera rather than behind the scenes over the film that ultimately was released! (And isn't it just a little bit pathetic that this weekend I would rather go see The Beatles in "A Hard Day's Night", released in honor of the film's 50th Anniversary, than sit through "Jersey Boys" again?!?!? That alone should tell you something about the level in drop-off regarding excitement for this new film. It'll be interesting to see how the second and third weekend box office did!) kk
re: The Beatles: Be sure to check your local listings for this one ... The Beatles' first film "A Hard Day's Night" is back in theaters all over the country in honor of the movie's 50th anniversary. (SO hard to believe!!!) I remember wanting to see this so bad when I was a kid ... but my parents didn't want to have to deal with all the crowds and screaming that was going on in the movie theaters. (Once again, this news was ALL over the papers!!!) So they waited a few weeks until all the fever had died down and then loaded up all of us kids in the back of the station wagon (in our pajamas, I might add) and took us to see it at the drive-in!!! It just wasn't quite the same, listening to it on the crappy little clip-on speaker ... but it WAS pretty cool to see the Beatle-Guys up on the big screen larger than life in the wild outdoors! Several weeks later I got the chance to go see it again in a real movie theater ... most of the screaming had died down by then (although there were some who felt obligated to scream, I guess!) I've probably seen it a hundred times since ... including a couple of months ago when I enjoyed it on DVD right here at home ... but STILL may go check it out again one last time in all of its remastered and restored glory.
A couple of recent Beatles-related articles sent in by FH Readers:
‘With the Beatles’ LP to be discussed by expert Jude Southerland Kessler on ABC Overnights
Beatles expert, author and radio show host Jude Southerland Kessler will discuss the Beatles’ second album ‘With the Beatles’ on ABC radio in Australia on July 5th.
World-renowned Beatles author Jude Southerland Kessler will be a guest on “Overnights” with hosts Rod Quinn on ABC radio in Melbourne,Australia. Kessler will be discussing the making of each song, including back stories and the influences, from the Beatles’ second album With the Beatles. Jude’s hour long interview on ‘Overnights’ will air at 4 a.m. in Australia on July 6th and in the U.S. at 2 p.m. (ET) on July 5, 2014. Fans can listen live by going to: http://www.abc.net.au/overnights/ The 14 song LP, With the Beatles, was released in the U.K. on November 22, 1963 and remained at the top of the charts for 21 weeks. Kessler articulates in great detail the story of the making of the album in her latest book, She Loves You. Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of The John Lennon Series– a nine book series on the life of John Winston Lennon. She is also the host of The John Lennon Hour a weekly radio show that can be heard every Sunday night at 7 p.m. (CT) on Beatles-A-Rama!!! internet radio.For more information on Jude Kessler, go to her website at: http://www.JohnLennonSeries.com
re: This And That:
It sounds like Rolf Harris may have been tying down more than just kangaroos these past fifty years or so. In a case that literally spans decades, Harris was finally found guilty of TWELVE counts of indecent assault, dating back from 1968 through the early '80's!!!
Harris topped the charts (and won virtually every kind of Australian honor known to man) after his 1963 Hit "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" reached #1 all over the world. However it was his fondness for seven year olds that ultimately did him in. (There have been stories ... and charges ... circulating for YEARS now ... and many of us will have a new, tainted definition that will stick with us till the end of time as to what Rolf's didgeridoo really was!!!)
Putting Harris away for the rest of his life was a disturbing but necessary task for Judge Justice Sweeney. VVM speculates even further ...
The Guilty verdict now brings to question Harris’ royal honors. Rolf Harris is one of the most decorated Australian entertainers ever. Queen Elizabeth II has awarded the entertainer the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) (1968), Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) (1977) and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) (1989). In 2012 Queen Elizabeth II upgraded Harris yet again to Officer (AO). Rolf Harris was inducted in the ARIA Hall of Fame in Australia in 2008.
(What is it about these rock stars and entertainers that makes them think they're above not only the law but any measure of dignity?!?! Michael Jackson anyone?) kk
>>>I remember the Price Guides for "Rhapsody In The Rain" even listing the number etched in the wax so that the buyer could determine which pressing he was purchasing without actually having to listen to the record! (kk) >>>Except the price guide isn't quite right on it. They say the clean version of the song has DJ etched after the matrix number in the trail out area when, at least on my copy, it's just a "-2" with no mention of DJ (and I've also had it on an off-center promotional pressing, which likewise did not have DJ etched anywhere in the trail-out, but was the clean version of the song). (Tom)
>>>The early price guides that I recall had an entirely different matrix number etched into the wax ... I remember being able to determine this way on early pressings which was which ... because BOTH versions were commercially available in the stores at the time ... not just as a "dj" copy. (I see now that the current price guide only shows the "DJ" reference you mention above ... but I swear the older guides had two distinctly different numbers shown. Anybody got an old 45 Price Guide handy that will bear this out???) kk Hi Kent,
You were asking about the listings for Rhapsody In The Rain in the old price guides ... I have my Osborne & Hamilton's Original Record Collectors Price Guide, 4th Edition, from 1983. I scanned the page with Rhapsody In The Rain and I am attaching the file. You have to zoom in a few times before you can actually read it, but it lists Rhapsody In The Rain twice:
(With the lyrics "We Were Makin' Out In The Rain", and the matrix number 66-XY-308 in the vinyl trail-off). This was valued at $30 for a near mint copy.
(With the lyrics "We Fell In Love In The Rain", and the matrix number 66-XY-308-1 in the vinyl trail-off). This was valued at $3 for a near mint copy
Doug
I knew it was something like this ... but even STRANGER now in that the vintage price guide shows a "-1" suffix ... and, re-reading Tom's email, he says he's got one that shows a "-2"!!! Now I'm REALLY confused!!! (lol) kk
Oh my God ... has it REALLY been 15 years already?!?!?
FH Reader sent in this Billboard article of Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas reflecting back on their HUGE #1 hit "Smooth"
Thanks for posting TRANSFUSION by the 4 Jokers. To my knowledge, that is the first time I have ever heard that version. No telling what the names of the singers are on that version.
Speaking of Ronnie Dove on his Diamond label, probably my all time favorite Ronnie Dove tune is his
1966 song HAPPY SUMMER DAYS.
Tom Diehl mentioned I WANT MY BABY BACK by Jimmy Cross. It seems to me that years ago I read
that that record was the worst record ever made up to that point in time. Probably early seventies or
some where there about. I know the record came out in 1964 but this was some sort of survey asking for one's suggestions as to what record was the worst up to that time.
Larry
Dr. Demento used to play this one quite a bit back in the day ... but you're right ... it's NOT a very good record! (lol) Probably more famous for mentioning The Beatles than anything else! (kk)
Kent:
We all remember those incredible bluesy vocals that David Clayton Thomas delivered as lead vocalist with Blood, Sweat and Tears, which he left 10 years ago. But did you know the new lead singer for B,S&T is former American Idol contestant Bo Bice? I’ve attached a link with details.
By the way, for fans of David Clayton Thomas, he now lives in Canada and has a large jazz band. He includes many of the Blood, Sweat and Tears hits during his sets. David underwent heart surgery last Christmas and I’m happy to report he has recovered from it and has started to perform again.
Actually, yes, we ran some clips several months of Bice fronting the band ... and doing (I think) a pretty credible job of keeping the music of Blood, Sweat and Tears alive ... and in a faithful format. (No question about it ... this guy can sing!) You'll find clips up on YouTube, too. (kk)
Check out the VERY impressive list of oldies artists represented by Paradise Artists these days! (These guys seem to have cornered the market on acts you'd actually like to see!) kk
Food for thought ... and something I've noticed quite a few times over the years, too.
Saw this in Diane Diekman's Country Music Newsletter:
How much repetition is too much repetition in a song? The worst offender that comes to my mind is Eddie Rabbit's "I Love A Rainy Night." That is not only the title but also 29 of 57 lines in the song. The one hidden line, "And I love you too," isn't enough to overcome the boredom. Yes, I know it was a hit, so maybe I'm the only one who didn't like it. The newest exercise in repetition is "My Eyes" by Blake Shelton, with the same chorus sung seven times among four short verses. "My eyes are the only thing I don't wanna take off of you" is a clever line, but I got it the first time. I didn't need to hear it seven times. And "Come a little closer" is repeated three times in the chorus; we get to hear that command 21 times. That's just lazy song writing. So how much repetition is too much?
Diane Hey, nobody loves a great hook more than me ... but sometimes it DOES reach the point of overkill. There's got to be more substance to a song to sustain it than simply a repetitive riff! (kk)
Hey Kent ...
Had a great day at Cousin Brucie's 2nd Annual Palisades Park Reunion at The Meadowlands in NJ. Here's a cool photo of Richie and I onstage with Cousin Brucie, wearing his classic 60's suit like he wore back in the days of the Palisades Park Shows. It was an honor to be there! Thanks to Stu Hersh for the photo.
Mitch Schecter / The Rip Chords
We also had the honor of singing some backup vocals onstage with Al Jardine and The Endless Summer Band (which includes Billy Hinsche, Bobby Figueroa, Ed Carter, Matt and Adam Jardine, Richie Canatta) in Atlantic City a couple of weeks ago. Al and the band are great! I've included a photo of us onstage with Al and band. Next up for us ... Streetsboro, Ohio, in a show with the great Dennis Tufano at The Streetsboro Days Festival on July 27th.
Glad to see things are going so well, Mitch! Streetsboro, Ohio, of course was the site of the big Sonny Geraci Benefit Concert debacle last year ... hopefully this will prove to be a much more palatable situation this time around! (kk)
Each year the town of Streetsboro has this fair called "Streetsboro Days". It runs all week. Frank Stallone and Jimy Sohns are there on Friday ... Marty Stuart is there on Saturday ... and Dennis and us will be there on Sunday. There will be a big Sonny Geraci tribute presence there though ... he is the favorite son of Streetsboro, and is well loved.
Mitch
My first purchased 45’s was in Coffeyville, Kansas, over Christmas vacation of 1960.
I had two bucks to my name and walked downtown to “The Music Box” to buy two records for my new Christmas gift record player. After listening to several “Top-40” records in the record booth (remember the record listening booths ?), I bought “Fools Rush In” by Brook Benton and “Rubber Ball” by Bobby Vee. That began my life long record collection that has grown to over 3000 today.
There’s something magic about listening to records, that you just don’t get with cassettes, dvd’s or I-tunes. It’s a nostalgia I can’t explain.
Thanx
Larry Tesh
Yep, we're still gettin''em ... First 45's memories come in all the time as more and more people discover our website. You can check out FOUR PAGES worth at www.forgottenhits.com!!! (kk)
It's been awhile since we had a Three-Day / Fourth of July Weekend ... so we're taking full advantage of it by combining ALL of our weekly features into one gigantic posting so that WE can enjoy some time off, too!!! First up: FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEKEND:
7/4/64 - America may be celebrating Independence Day today … but The British still have a pretty good hold on our pop charts! No less than 17 British Hits are on the Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart this week … and two unique arrangements of previous BEATLES Hits (I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND by THE BOSTON POPS ORCHESTRA and ALL MY LOVING by THE HOLLYRIDGE STRINGS) also premier this week!
Here's your recap: DON'T LET THE SUN CATCH YOU CRYING by GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS hits a new high at #4, PETER AND GORDON's first hit, A WORLD WITHOUT LOVE, falls from #1 to #6, BAD TO ME by BILLY J. KRAMER AND THE DAKOTAS holds at #9 while CAN'T YOU SEE THAT SHE'S MINE by THE DAVE CLARK FIVE climbs from #16 to #10. BILLY J's flip-side, LITTLE CHILDREN is at #14, followed by DON'T THROW YOUR LOVE AWAY by THE SEARCHERS at #18, THE BEATLES' LOVE ME DO at #19, YESTERDAY'S GONE at #21 for CHAD AND JEREMY, DIANE by THE BACHELORS at #27, THE DAVE CLARK FIVE again at #40 with DO YOU LOVE ME, WISHIN' AND HOPIN', up to #44 for DUSTY SPRINGFIELD, NOBODY I KNOW, a major leap for PETER AND GORDON, climbing from #73 to #48, NOT FADE AWAY by THE STONES at #55, I BELIEVE (new on the charts for THE BACHELORS at #71), YESTERDAY'S GONE by THE OVERLANDERS at #77, YOU'RE MY WORLD premiers at #80 for CILLA BLACK as does the second ROLLING STONES' American Chart Hit, TELL ME at #81.
Here in Chicago, The Beach Boys top the chart (for the first of two weeks) with their latest, "I Get Around" ... and then the British take over: "Little Children" by Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas is at #2, "A World Without Love" by Peter and Gordon at #3 and "Can't You See That She's Mine" by The Dave Clark Five at #4. Gerry and the Pacemakers also have a Top Ten Hit with "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying", which came in at #9 this holiday weekend.
Filling out The Top 40, we've got The Searchers at #16 with "Don't Throw Your Love Away", Peter and Gordon at #29 with "Nobody I Know" and Dusty Springfield, new on the charts at #40 with "Wishin' And Hopin'". One of this week's featured albums is "A Hard Day's Night" by The Beatles ... they'd premier the following week with the title track as one half of a two-sided hit, featuring "I Should Have Known Better" on the B-Side.
The Saturday Surveys:
Just a couple this week ...
Here's a Top 40 Chart from Pittsburgh's KQV from 1966 ... and I think I see a trend here ...
In what can perhaps be best described as "Pollution Awareness Week", we find Johnny Rivers at #11 with "Muddy Water" followed by The Standells at #12 with "Dirty Water". (Hmm ... maybe it's all those steel mills?!?!?)
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs hit #1 in several cities with "Li'l Red Riding Hood", despite stopping at #2 on the Billboard Chart. (It DID reach #1 on both the Cash Box and the Record World charts.)
The Jefferson Airplane top the list on this KFRC from 1967 ... other "Heavy Hits" include "Light My Fire" by The Doors, "Down On Me" by Big Brother and the Holding Company, "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Procol Harum, "Society's Child" by Janis Ian, "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix, "Bluebird" by The Buffalo Springfield, "A Thousand Shadows" by The Seeds and "Masked Marauder" by Country Joe and the Fish. But there are plenty of POP hits here, too ... "Windy" by The Association is at #2, "Alfie" by Dionne Warwick at #5 ... as well as hits for both Frankie Valli as a solo artist ("Can't Take My Eyes Off You", #9) and with The Four Seasons ("C'mon Marianne", #18).
Finally, take a look at this "Young Adult" chart from WYYY in Kalamazoo, Michigan, featuring The Beach Boys at #20 with one of MY favorites, "Break Away". We've even got a very early Mark Lindsay solo track, "First Hymn From Grand Terrace" at #20!
And finally a couple of tune's for America's Birthday!
Nice, relaxing weekend ... hope you all enjoyed the same.
And now we're back to it with another round of your Monday Morning Memories ...
re: LOCAL SHOWS: Once again Elk Grove Village has pulled out all the stops in the way of free entertainment this summer ... every Tuesday Night in July they'll be bringing us top-notch acts performing in free concerts.
Last week the summer series kicked off with America, who played to what (I'm told) is the largest crowd EVER for one of these events. (Unfortunately, we didn't make it out to this one either ... but I heard it was great!)
This Tuesday Night (the 8th) it's Survivor, followed by Pat Benatar on the 15th. The 22nd brings us country artist John Michael Montgomery and the series closes out on Tuesday, July 29th, with Kenny Loggins. Local favorites Brock and Abrams entertain each evening at Coach's Corner beginning at 8:30 pm, a great place to wind down after the main event. (kk)
Hi Kent -
Yeah, I looked for you at the Drive show - surprised I didn't see you ... now I know why.
I agree - I thought Cheap Trick was too loud, and I heard several people say that, but then I was never a big fan of theirs anyway. Liked Frampton tho - thought he put on a great show. It's always fun at the Drive's birthday party!
Just got home tonite from seeing the musical 'The Last Ship' with music written by Sting. I loved it! The music was very 'Sting-ish' and performed really well. The actors did a great job performing the tunes and telling the story. It's about a ship-building town in Wallsend, Newcastle, England, and the men and women who lived there and worked in the shipyards. It's actually about Sting's hometown, so it's pretty personal for him, and I really enjoyed it. Very down to earth. I could really connect with the story and the actors. It's here on a pre-Broadway run for about another week and I recommend it if you like musical stories. Got a standing ovation at the end, so I guess everyone else liked it, too. Sting has been in town since it opened so he's really taking a personal interest in how it 's going over. I think they've done a great job!
Marlene
And, speaking of up-coming shows, here's one for all our Florida readers ...
To My South Florida Friends and Fans (and anyone else who might be in South Florida in late July) ...
As some of you know, The GableStage in Miami, one of the most prestigious theatres in the country, is doing a reading of my play, LACTOSE. The date is Monday, July 28th. I'll send out another email a week or so before the fact with the time, the address and the promo blurb. But for now, mark the date if you're interested.
This is a big deal for me. I know some of you only know me through my music, my poetry and my novel. But this play has just as much of my heart in it as my songs do. I'm beyond proud that Artistic Director Joe Adler, who has won so many awards he needs a warehouse to stash them, has chosen to present my work.
I'm also more than a little nervous, which may come as news to those of you who know my blustery in-concert persona. I'll be watching, powerless, as my words stand or fall up there without my "helping" them. True, they'll be delivered by some of the greatest actors anywhere. But I'll be sweating bullets.
The reading is free so if you feel like seeing another aspect of what I do, set the night aside.
Kent, A very big MEA CULPA on the wrongful mention of Marty Balin as one of the Jefferson Starship alumni who is not with us anymore. When I originally wrote the review, I had down "Papa John" Creach on my smartphone notes as the one off the top of my head as jamming in the heavens above, and somehow Marty inadvertently slipped in there.Marty, if you are reading this, I am sorry for the mix-up!
Tim Kubat
Thanks again for all the people who attend concerts and write reviews here. I think these are some of the more trusted reviews you can find as we love the music and artists involved. Contrary to what one may first think, this is imperative. Knowing your subject is so much better than knowing how to compose on paper. We are more loving and accepting, yet demanding and critical than most. When I sit next to young reporters, I see for the most part, someone who is on assignment and not involved in the experience. This contrasts with the change and growth I see in my own classes as they develop a connection with the music and artists we love. It puts passion in their lives and love and knowledge in their writings.
Shelley J Sweet-Tufano
re: JERSEY BOYS:
While the movie may not be racking in record numbers at the box office, the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons has ignited sales for the group once again (which is what WE had always hoped would happen ... as mentioned here several times, ANYTHING to help keep this music alive and introduce it to a new generation of fans is always a plus in my book!)
FH Reader Tom Cuddy sent us this article from Billboard:
And with brand new box set releases now available from Rhino Records spotlighting the majority of the band's (and Frankie's) recorded works ... including a new non-box Motown CD featuring everything the band ever recorded for the label ... the opportunity is there to complete your collection in a nice, neatly packaged form.
Hi Kent, I read your post about Frankie Valli and the movie version of Jersey Boys. How cool! When Jersey Boys opened in Chicago, I was involved with Broadway in Chicago and actually walked the Red Carpet behind Frankie. My sister, Donna asked him to sign our program and ticket and he was so very nice! I'm sorry Clint Eastwood isn't more open to Frankie's suggestions. It is Frankie's life story after all ... not Clint's. Debe Welch
LOL ... Yeah, maybe Frankie should film "The Clint Eastwood Story" ... and cast somebody like Chris Colfer in the lead role to play the lead, macho character!!! (Paybacks are a bitch!!!) kk
Heard from several of you who caught Frankie Valli headlining the 34th Annual "Capitol Fourth" Concert on The 4th of July ... Valli performed three songs ... "Grease", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and "Let's Hang On" (incredibly, a #1 Record NOT featured in the "Jersey Boys" film!) Quite a few of you made comments about Frankie's obvious lip-synching ... but it looked pretty real to me. What DIDN'T look real was the effortless way he ran through each song ... I don't care how many times you've sung them, hitting those notes has GOT to take some energy and effort ... and he didn't look like he ever broke a sweat. I dunno ... entertaining ... and great to see Valli as the headliner ... but this debate will always be with us now ... and viewers will find themselves scrutinizing every performance rather than simply enjoying them. (For that matter, Jordin Sparks could have been lip-synching for all I know ... there were definitely moments when I thought so ... but she, too, executed a perfectly flawless performance.)
Several readers made comments about how Frankie should simply hang it up if he can't hit the notes anymore ... but like a boxer or any other trained athlete, how does one REALLY know when it's time to hang it up? One good clue ... watch Michael McDonald's performance on this same program ... Frannie made a comment that he'd probably need an oxygen tank afterwards (if not DURING) his second song ... an embarrassing take of one of my favorite of his solo hits "Sweet Freedom". (By the same token, host Tom Bergeron could have done a little more homework before introducing McDonald ... as the creator of The Doobie Brothers' hits "China Grove" and "Listen To The Music", both penned by Tom Johnston YEARS before McDonald joined the band!) For a quick comparison of one of those who've still "got it", watch Patti LaBelle's performance ... at age 70, Patti belted out notes that still resonate 24 hours later as I type this!!! (kk)
re: GERRY GOFFIN:
Al Kooper did a really nice tribute to Gerry Goffin in his "New Music For Old People" column this week. (They wrote a couple of songs together back in the '70's and one of those is featured as well ... along with a partial list of material that Goffin wrote with Carole King and other noted composers.) He left quite a legacy behind. (kk)
Yahoo did a GREAT piece commemorating the re-release of The Beatles' first film ... fun facts and tidbits along with a few cool clips. (It's Been A Hard Day's Half-Century!!!)
(Although we had talked about catching the film in a theater again this weekend, we found VERY limited opportunities to do so ... apparently it was only playing on THREE screens within 200 miles of Schaumburg, IL!!! I was looking forward to checking out the remastered version ... figuring there would be something really special about seeing it on the big screen with pristine picture and sound ... but it wasn't to be. Oddly enough one of the theaters showing it was in Normal, IL ... home campus to Illinois State University ... a rather unlikely audience to flock to see a movie made over 50 years ago!!!)
And, speaking of The Beatles ...
Ringo Starr has added a second leg to his All-Starr Band tour. After wrapping up their dates in July, the band will hit the road again in October for fourteen more performances. The full schedule can be found below:
07/09 - Albuquerque, NM - Sandia Pavillion
07/11 - San Diego, CA - Humphrey's
07/12 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
07/13 - San Jose, CA - City National Civic of San Jose
07/15 - Vancouver, BC - Hard Rock
07/16 - Woodenvile, WA - Chateau Ste Michelle
07/19 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
NEW DATES:
10/02 - Tulsa, OK - Hard Rock Café
10/03 - St. Louis, MO - Fabulous Fox Theatre
10/04 - Kansas City, KS - Starlight Theatre
10/05 - Omaha, NE - CenturyLink Center
10/07 - San Antonio, TX - Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
10/15 - Charleston, SC - North Charleston Performing Arts Center
10/17 - Biloxi, MS - Hard Rock Café Biloxi
10/18 - Jacksonville, FL - Moran Theatre
10/19 - Ft. Myers, FL - Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall
10/21 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Broward Center for the Performing Arts
10/22 - Melbourne, FL - Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts
10/23 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall Ringo's band this time around includes Todd Rundgren, Steve Lukather (of Toto), Gregg Rolie (formerly of Santana and Journey), Richard Page (Mr. Mister), Mark Rivera and Gregg Bissonette.
re: THE SATURDAY SURVEYS: Hi Kent -- I'm finally catching up on all my e-mails and taking the time to read through and through your Forgotten Hits series. Unfortunately I had to break my humerus bone (not funny) and tear my rotator cuff to get the time.
While looking at your Saturday surveys of this issue I was surprised by the 6/9/56 survey. On the one hand, it was interesting to see the work put in by surrounding their top ten (or 15, as you noted) with photos of pop artists of the day. Unfortunately I can't say the same about the information included. At number two, for instance, was "Treasure of Love" listed as by Clyde Mac Fadden instead of Clyde McPhatter. Number six should have been by George Cates, not Georgia. Number eight should have been "Transfusion", not "Transfussion", and number ten should have been by Gogi Grant, not Googie.
Those are a lot of mistakes for such a short survey. Where was it from?
Keep up the great work,
Danny Guilfoyle.
PS -- Did anyone else catch these mistakes? I guess you have to be REAL old to remember these songs and artists!
Unfortunately we have seen week after week after week countless mistakes in these published surveys ... evidently hastily put together each week by radio stations across the country ... with virtually no attention to detail. We've found them from countless Top 40 stations from coast to coast. (kk)
Hi Kent!
I really liked seeing that KQV chart for the week of July 5, 1966, and saw a lot of familiar tunes, one of them being a genuine Pittsburgh oldie, “Because of You” by Rome & Paris ... and another being one of my favorite tracks by Bobby Vee, “Look at Me, Girl”. Those were the days when a great song could easily get on the charts with the help of DJ’s with open ears.
Mr. Kelly Izaj of Pittsburgh, PA.
There were certain stations spread out across the USA that helped to make and break these hits back then ... each station took its responsibility seriously to lead the pack. That's why it's such a shame to see that today, all these years later, we're only left with "followers" instead of leaders ... all content to play the EXACT same songs as everybody else ... no variety at all ... and afraid to step outside the box. (kk)
re: THIS AND THAT:
Just like everyone else I am spending a typical fourth ... avoiding fireworks traffic jams, working a second job, laying down a new bathroom floor, and watching the second disc of 'The Dave Clark Five and Beyond'. (What??? That's not what everyone else is doing? Oh well!)
The best story ever is Mike Smith's out-take. Moral: Always be a gentleman. It could be Dean Martin's daughter.
Shelley J Sweet-Tufano
We actually DID catch some awesome fireworks this year ... left after watching the "Capitol Fourth" concert on PBS. The trade off was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes ... I'm still scratching three days later! (kk)
Rolling Stone Magazine published their list of The Top 20 Songs of Summer in the '60's in their recent issue. (Let's just say it's a pretty far cry from OUR list, put together with the help of thousands of Forgotten Hits Readers who voted on their all-time favorites.) In fact, we've run our poll several times now over the past fifteen years ... and EVERY time we've done it, "Summer In The City" by The Lovin' Spoonful has come in at #1 ... yet it doesn't make THEIR list at all!!! (What's up with that?!?!?) The True Oldies Channel has also run a similar poll, asking their listeners to email in their favorites ... but my guess would be that the Rolling Stone list (much like the Entertainment Weekly list from several years ago that first inspired us to do some calculating of our own) was put together strictly by their in-house staff, with no consideration given to any outside input as to what the music fans actually think ... you know, kinda like radio today ... and Jann Wenner's personal Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Meanwhile, visit the forgottenhits.com website and you'll see our official ranking of Summer Favorites (voted on by something like 11,000 of you!) as well as mathematical listings for The Biggest Songs Of Summer for each year of The Rock Era. (kk)
Hola Kent!
Happy July and have a wonderful 4th. We get the Beach Boys here in Boston for the Annual 4th of July Concert.
I caught the recent post and saw the first 45 message and how precious it was to be able to listen to them before buying. It brought to mind how I built my CD Collection to obtain all those wondrous recordings I never purchased on vinyl. I was a night shift guy for over 30 years. To keep my sleep rhythms in sync I would go to late night movies on the weekends. We had a Tower Records store and I would drive to the theater district, purchase a ticket to a late show, then go over to the Tower and flip through the thousands of CD's that they had available to find all the songs I desired. Mostly they were compilations and you had to be alert to knock-offs (re-recordings of hits with one or more former member, but certainly not the 'original' sound) but I can happily recall finding certain gems and some Various Artists compilations that allowed me to build a serious library of great Oldies.
Interestingly (maybe to only me) I discovered that ACE Records of the UK had perhaps some of the best examples and, unlike their American counterparts, they were more concerned with the content than maximizing the profits. ACE's Greatest Hits of American Rock N Roll series is a superb compilation with 30 songs per CD ... an example of American Greed would easily be seen in Roy Orbinson's, or The Eagles' greatest hits having two discs, thereby doubling the cost. I can still recall finding a vocal recording of Apache, as well as a vocal of Maria Elena, two of my favorite songs and two of my fondest finds. Babalu's Wedding Day by the Eternals ... what a great record ... and very difficult to find other offerings by The Eternals. The Dream Weavers 'It's Almost Tomorrow' ... very rare to find anything else by them ... and I even found a version by Snookie Lanson. The 'Hard to Find 45's' series by Eric records may be the best American offering for compilations.
I do not wish to bore you but maybe there is a place for FH Readers (and enjoyers) could benefit by sharing what the best sources of obtaining oldies songs, or at least expanding the first 45's theme to a first / favorite CD compilation from the readers.
Lastly, with the slow demise of 'Oldies Radio' let me plug my local favorite to alert your readers to a marvelous little station here in Marshfield, Mass., "WATD 95.9". From Noontime to Midnight on Saturday's they play songs unheard for 40 or 50 years. They also have an archive of prior shows. The 12 - 6 slot is DJ'd by Ron Dwyer and then from 6 - Midnite Multiple DJ's Ed and Bill "Yesterday's Memories". The only time the great hits aren't on is when a local sports activity is being broadcast (I go nuts when a local HS or UMASS replaces the music).
Keep the Music Alive !
CharlieOFD
The Lost Album From Early ‘70s Prog-Fusion Band The Flock Finally Sees Light Of Day!
Los Angeles, CA - Nearly lost to the sands of time, a recently discovered set of vintage ‘70s recordings from Chicago-based jazz-rock ensemble The Flock will finally be released as Heaven Bound - The Lost Album on July 22 through Cleopatra Records imprint Purple Pyramid! These never-before-released recordings feature founding Flock members Fred Glickstein (vocals, guitar), Ron Karpman (drums), and Jerry Smith (bass) on what could have been the band’s magnificent fourth album. The Flock were one of the most adventurous bands in the jazz / fushion music scene of the ‘70s alongside Chicago and Blood Sweat & Tears, well known for featuring violin great Jerry Goodman (later of Mahavishnu Orchestra) on the band’s first two Columbia Records albums - 1969’s self-titled debut and 1970’s Dinosaur Swamps. After Goodman left, a reformed Flock released Inside Out on Mercury Records in 1975, and though the band was dropped from the label shortly thereafter, Glickstein and Karpman continued to write and record together, with Smith popping in every now and again, in anticipation of a new recording contract. No such deal ever materialized, however, and so those recordings were shelved away for safe keeping, never released...until now!
Glickstein, speaking on behalf of the entire Flock, offers these words in honor of this momentous release: “We are all very lucky to have had that happy musical trip and the chance to entertain people in the US and Europe. A special thanks to everyone at Cleopatra Records for helping this project become a reality and for keeping the spirit of the Flock alive.”
Featuring dynamic musicianship, rich vocal harmonies and the unmistakable warm fuzz of vintage ‘70s guitar on such standout tunes as “Heaven Bound,” “Don’t You Know (Who I Am),” and “Love Away,” this collection will not only keep the spirit of Flock alive but also the spirit of superbly crafted classic rock!
First I hope you had a fantastic 4th of July weekend. I want to comment on a few things if I may on your combined FH. On KQV's survey, would you believe just a couple of days ago I thought of Johnny Rivers' MUDDY WATER and decided to play it. Great tune you no longer hear on the radio.
Bobby Vee's song of LOOK AT ME GIRL was also done by a group known as the PLAYBOYS OF EDINBURGH on Columbia records and made our survey as an alternate choice.
I always did like the Vogues' LAND OF MILK AND HONEY.
Kent, I could be wrong but I don't believe the Beach Boys' BREAK AWAY made our survey.
And finally, thanks for proving that Barry Mann had other records than WHO PUT THE BOMP (IN THE BOMP BOMP)
Larry
"The History Of The Eagles" Tour just passed 1.1 million spectators last week ... with ticket sales grosses topping $145 Million!!! Getting back together has been quite lucrative for these guys indeed! (kk)
>>>Tom Diehl mentioned I WANT MY BABY BACK by Jimmy Cross. It seems to me that years ago I read that that record was the worst record ever made up to that point in time. Probably early seventies or somewhere there about. I know the record came out in 1964 but this was some sort of survey asking for one's suggestions as to what record was the worst up to that time. (Larry)
>>>Dr. Demento used to play this one quite a bit back in the day ... but you're right ... it's NOT a very good record! (lol) Probably more famous for mentioning The Beatles than anything else! (kk)
Concerning the comment that I Want My Baby Back by Jimmy Cross is "the worst record ever made up to that point", well, we all know how subjective that can be. What I find more interesting and perhaps your readers would too, would be a list of the worst records ever made by the best artists. For the rock era, I would lead off with "Ebony and Ivory" by TWO giants, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney.
My all-time choice, era notwithstanding, would be Frank Sinatra singing "Mama Will Bark" with Dagmar. Obviously from a low point, pre-resurgent Sinatra, it shows how desperate he and his studio were to get some kind of hit. Some may find it amusing but I equate it to a great chef offering up Spaghetti-o's. Give a listen. Hil
You're right ... this is a pretty awful record ... especially for such an established star. (And I would have to agree that "Ebony And Ivory" is a pretty weak pairing as well ... as have been most of the hyped-up superstar pairings in the past.)
I'm sure we'll get a LOT of suggestions on this one. Everything's subjective as you said ... but a REALLY bad record by a really GOOD and successful artist is what we're looking for. (I remember Mark Volman of The Turtles saying once that "Grim Reaper Of Love", the follow-up to their Top 20 Smash "You Baby" was perhaps the worst follow-up record of all time ... and easily could have done them in career-wise. Thankfully "Happy Together" came along a year later. Likewise "Pandora's Golden Heebie-Jeebies", the record The Association released after their chart-topper and '60s classic "Cherish" would have to rank right up there, too!) kk
re: ON THE RADIO:
Last week we told you about CRM launching their All-'80's Channel ... and mentioned that an All-'90's Channel wouldn't be far behind. And just that quickly, it's here!!! More info in Chicagoland Radio And Media ...
And speaking of Chicagoland Radio, here's a name from the past ... former WLS News Reporter Lyle Dean got married last week!!! Congratulations, Lyle! (kk)
This video tribute was played at the Casey Kasem Memorial (produced by his son Mike)
I took your advice and tried Rewound Radio and found out that this is what Oldies Radio is supposed to be! By playing the lesser known stuff as well as the well known stuff, they put my local “oldies” station W.W.S.W.-FM a/k/a 3WS to shame (!). When I first turned it on, I heard the Everly Brothers’ hit “Gone, Gone, Gone” (When was the last time any of these so-called “oldies” stations played that track?). Right now as I write, they’re playing the Beach Boys’ “When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)” (A Beach Boys track that rarely gets heard these days). Thanks for bringing this site and internet station to my attention!
Mr. Kelly Izaj from Pittsburgh, Pa.
re: CLIP OF THE WEEK:
Here's a great live performance captured on film for all eternity:
As mentioned the other day, Clark Besch flooded us with a wave of cool Buckinghams stuff this past week ... so we're going to run a little bit more of it today ... along with some of your comments regarding The Mob, The Ides of March and several of the other lesser-known groups that helped to shape the sound of our city in the '60's and '70's!
Kent -
Thanks for getting Carl to clarify about the early USA releases! Great Answer! Colossus Records had a lot of hit records in a very short window of time in 1969 - 1971. The distributor that I worked for at that time (Best / Gold in Buffalo, NY) was the Colossus distributor at that time, and they had Venus and Mighty Joe by the Shocking Blue, Ma Belle Amie and If You Do Believe in Love by the Tee Set, Little Green Bag by George Baker group. The label was a classic example of having a bunch of big hits, releasing a lot of records and running out of money. I remember the record by the Mob - great record but never got the airplay it deserved In light of when it was released, properly promoted (you can read into that any way you wish) it would have been a substantial hit ... and it DID have that 'Chicago Sound! CLAY PASTERNACK I remember the big "Dutch Invasion" of 1970 ... "Venus" by Shocking Blue, "Ma Belle Amie" by The Tee Set and "Little Green Bag" by The George Baker Selection ALL made The Top Ten (#1, #7 and #3) here in Chicago ... and just that quickly, it was over. I think The Mob should have had a much bigger hit, too. (kk)
>>>I was a little upset that The MOB was not given much credit (or even mentioned) for the contribution or inspiration that we provided to a lot of bands in the Windy City, considering we were the first band in Chicago that had a full horn section. (Jim Holvay) Oh Jim, Nobody should be left out ... and for sure we were attempting just the opposite. I believe in the "Know Thyself" motto. So who better to bring me feedback, but people who lived it. ALL the people who lived it. I am so excited that this discussion grew to include as many comments as it has. Shelley J Sweet-Tufano
If you are talking about Chicago area bands how can you not mention “Oscar and the Majestics”. They are still playing and still have the original four members from the 60’s. Check them out on Facebook and check out their website and on Sundazed records. RL Wheeler
Hey Kent, I may have been in error about The Buckinghams'"Time and Charges" album being the inspiration of the formation of Chicago. I do know the guys were fans of the album. I read somewhere that it WAS a major influence, though. This is from the liner notes from the double CD set, "The Best of Blood, Sweat, & Tears: What Goes Up", written by Al Quagliari: "An Idea Coalesces - (Steve) Katz and friend, Bobby Columby, a jazz drummer, are listening to the Buckinghams''Time and Charges' LP, and saying, 'Jeez, I wish we could do that kind of thing.' That specific 'kind of thing' is a pop group attached to the ambitious horn and string arrangements of producer James Guercio." As for the recording of the legendary album, "Blood, Sweat, & Tears", by Blood, Sweat & Tears, the liner notes continue with, "Out from under (Al) Kooper's musical domination, B,S,&T hire Buckinghams producer James Guercio to oversee the second album. (Columby: "Guercio really didn't stick around for a lot of that record. He left before the thing was really done ... he lost interest; he hated David (Clayton-Thomas), he hated Steve, it was like 'these guys are prima donnas, I can't stand it, I gotta get outta here.') It's still cool that all three bands are linked together in this way; two from the windy city and one from the big apple. - John LaPuzza Wow! I wasn't aware of this! How VERY cool that our very own Buckinghams may have, in fact, been the inspiration behind Blood, Sweat and Tears changing up their sound from Al Kooper's vision to what can best be described as "the hit years"!!! Our boys should be pretty proud of themselves! (kk) >>>Of course we were in shock like everybody else when the “psychedelic section” came up that Jimmy Guercio had added, which I assume was inspired by “A Day In The Life”. It had no relevance to what the song was about but we understood that everyone wanted to emulate The Beatles at that time. It was only recently that a musician told me that Guercio had lifted the whole track from a classical piece. When Gary and I first heard it, we thought he had orchestrated that interlude.I assume he paid a “licensing fee” in order to borrow that piece ... or maybe not. I don’t think there was any credit given to the classical composer on the album notes. What really got us upset was when the record came out and Jim Guercio’s name appeared as one of the writers of “Susan”. He had a tendency to do that (i.e. “Don’t You Care”).His justification was that he added the “psychedelic part”. OMG! Welcome to the record industry. (Jim Holvay) Here's the cut that Guercio took the psychedelic effects from for Susan -- it comes from a Columbia classical album I have. Clark Besch
>>>I wonder if anybody out there has a copy of The Centuries' tracks ... as these, apparently, never found their way to CD. Would love to hear them! (kk)
And, of course, Clark had THESE, too! Photos AND Audio! Read on!
Here are some pictures for you from my collection. The Buckinghams' first single on Spectra Sound, Canadian 45s (some interesting writing credits), as well as The Centuries tracks. Note that the Centuries "Yeh; It's Alright" is a Saturday's Children-penned song that was later reincarnated by the Cryan' Shames for their "Synthesis" album as "It's All Right" after Saturday's Children had folded and their guitarist, Dave Carter had joined the Shames.
As Carl said, these were early tracks and if you listen to them, you'll find the true meaning of "garage band." From the first guitar chord of "Yeh It's Alright" to the awkward vocals and distortion of the recording, it's a true feel of what a garage bad was in 1965.
Clark Besch
Buckinghams Manager Carl Bonafede also sent us a YouTube link to this early Centuries track ... check out the "reunion photos" of the band included in this clip! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmEVzpPtS3M One thing that I didn't see mentioned in your recent writeup of the Mob was a radio promo campaign that I remember in the very late 1960s, or maybe 1970 at the latest. For a (short) while I was hearing commercials about them on a daily basis, read in a rough voice like a Chicago mobster, plugging them as "a great new recording group." One thing I don't recall in the commercials was a sample of the group's music. I don't think there was any indication that the Mob was a Chicago band, either. I kept waiting for their songs to show up on the radio, but apart from a couple of spins of "I Dig Everything About You" there wasn't even crickets. That was a helluva shame. I'd be very interested in this sort of backstory for The Capes of Good Hope, a Chicago band that you discussed here in 2009: http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2009/12/helping-out-our-readers_26.html I've cornered both of their 45s since then. Fine stuff. Like the Mob, they should have done much better than they actually did. --73-- -- Jeff Duntemann Colorado Springs, Colorado
Unfortunately, I'm the wrong one to provide much in the way of info on these guys ... I just wasn't aware of them at the time. Another group that earned quite a few mentions (along with a whole lot of credit with inspiring some of our local talent) was Saturday's Children ... so hopefully someone can provide some more information on these two acts.
As for the Mob promo spots, I've asked around and nobody seems to have them ... but everybody would LOVE to hear them ... so if ANYBODY out there has access to these, please let us know!(kk)
Last week Clark Besch mentioned Jim Peterik's upcoming biography. (He, like Carl Giammarese of The Buckinghams, have been documenting their years as key players on The Chicago Music Scene back in the day.) Now comes more word on the book (and even an official release date!) kk Through the Eye of the Tiger: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Life of Survivor’s Founding Member [Paperback]
As the founding member of Survivor and co-writer of one of the most inspirational songs in rock history, Jim Peterik easily fits into the category of “rock star.” But a closer look at Peterik’s life and career reveal that he is anything but your typical rock star. Forgoing a life of meaningless sex and drugs, Peterik married his high school sweetheart and focused on the music, becoming one of the most prolific songwriters of his generation. Here, for the first time, Peterik shares the stories behind his iconic songs — from touring with Led Zeppelin and Janis Joplin on the heels of the Ides of March number one classic “Vehicle” to his Grammy-winning, triple platinum “Eye of the Tiger” with Survivor and beyond. He explores the often torturous power struggles within the band contrasted by the giddy highs that accompany a trail of worldwide hits. Peterik has also co-written songs with some of the most famous bands and artists in rock-and-roll, including .38 Special (Rockin’ Into the Night, Caught Up In You, Hold On Loosely), Sammy Hagar (Heavy Metal), Brian Wilson, The Doobie Brothers, REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, the platinum comeback of The Beach Boys (That’s Why God Made the Radio), and many more.Through the Eye of the Tiger is more than just a memoir of a songwriting legend; it’s a classic rock-and-roll story, told through the eyes of someone who has lived through it all- and through the Eye Of The Tiger. Paperback: 480 pages Publisher: BenBella Books (September 23, 2014) Language: English Glad to hear there is a date for the book now. I've read it and it is fascinating stuff and I helped with it some. A great companion piece to all the Ides / Survivor / .38 Special stuff out there already. Lots of ups and downs in a great career that has Jim on the go daily in many directions -- and loving it! They are still opening up new websites and such yearly with new info.
Clark Besch Clark also tells us about an up-coming Ides Of March reissue CD on Real Gone Records ...
Ides Of March- Vehicle (Expanded Edition) CD With our release of well-received titles by Blood, Sweat & Tears and Tower of Power, we at Real Gone have become something of a home for the great horn bands of the late '60s and early 70s, and with our reissue of The Ides of March's classic Vehicle album on the 50th anniversary of the band's founding, we are bringing another one into the fold. The Ides began in a basement in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn on October 16th, 1964, and have stayed together ever since; only the Rolling Stones really rival them for longevity. And this album, Vehicle, was their commercial high-water mark; its title track went to #2 and the album to #55 on the 1970 charts. It's a happy collision (no pun intended) of the band s garage-y British pop influences and the more progressive sounds of Chicago and BS&T that were sweeping through FM radio at the time; our Expanded Edition features four single bonus tracks and notes by Richie Unterberger featuring quotes from the band's Jim Peterik and Larry Millas. Highly recommended! 1. Vehicle
2. Factory Band
3. The Sky Is Falling
4. Home
5. Wooden Ships/Dharma for One
6. Bald Medusa
7. Aire of Good Feeling
8. Time for Thinking
9. One Woman Man
10. Symphony for Eleanor (Eleanor Rigby)
11. High on a Hillside
12. Lead Me Home, Gently
13. Melody
14. Vehicle (single version) Audio CD (September 2, 2014) Label: Real Gone Music
Why don't they include the original version of Vehicle for once before they added the extra answer "Love you (LOVE YOU), I Need You (NEED YOU" etc.?? Then, it would be worth it! As you will read in Jim Peterik's upcoming autobiography, the "answers" were suggested by WLS' Art Roberts to make it a hit. This above stuff has all been on Rhino's Ides double CD already. Clark Besch
Hi Kent - I got an email from a listener who told me that he does not like it when I mention how many years ago a song came out. He says that it makes him feel old and he then turns off the radio.
I have always thought that saying the year a song came out brings back even more memories of high school, college, girl friends, parties, weddings, etc. Another dj told me some years ago that he was not allowed to mention a song's year of release at his station because a 'consultant' had advised his station to never do that. The expert mentioned the fact that it made people feel old and younger listeners would be turned off because of how long ago it actually was. I don't agree with this, however, I thought perhaps you could ask your readers sometime and see how they feel. Phil - WRCO
I've run into this more and more lately ... and the general consensus seems to be that listeners don't want to be reminded about how old they are ... and putting a time stamp on this music may turn younger listeners off because of how "ancient" and "dated" it is. Even Rewound Radio uses the slogan "It's not how OLD it is ... it's how GOOD it is" as part of their regular campaign.
Then again, stations like The True Oldies Channel and Real Oldies have worn the banner proudly on their chests, exclaiming EXACTLY what they are. (And let's face it ... we ARE old!!! lol) By the same token, if you're going to shell out big bucks for satellite radio so you can listen to something like "The '60's on 6", you pretty much know what you're looking for ... and what you're going to get ... because they've done their own unique "branding" of this music!
But honestly I think "oldies music" has become more of a genre than an implication of a particular age ... sure, you're only going to hear music of a certain era ... but it's a "feel good" period in music when competition and creativity were at an all time high ... and all of this is reflected in the wide variety of sounds that captivated all of us then and helped to broaden our horizons as to just how much great music was really out there in this creative and rapidly evolving time. Kids today discover how great this music is and can't help but be taken in by it ... but they're no dummies ... I've had 11 and 12 year olds tell me that they LOVE this music ... but then ask "why do they have to play the SAME songs all the time???" It's a valid point ... with literally over 10,000 songs to choose from, why are we all being force fed the same 200-300? Certainly there's a much wider scope to "oldies music" than these select few examples. Hopefully, some of these kids will take the initiative to dig a little deeper and discover more of this music on their own ... because odds are traditional radio has NO intention of leading them down that path ... not the way it's currently set up anyway ... where you can travel to ANY town in America and hear the exact same music you left behind at home.
A couple of years ago we ran a very successful series called "What Is An Oldie?" ... but even our team of experts couldn't seem to narrow it down to anything specific. (Were oldies the music before The British Invasion hit our shores? Should anything before disco be considered an oldie? Or is it more of a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame philosophy that anything more than 25 years old should be considered an "oldie" ... which now takes us to 1990???) We certainly hear more 1980's music than ever on these so-called "classic hits" stations ... and rarely do we hear anything released before 1964 (and usually then only if it's something by The Beatles or The Rolling Stones!) For the most part "the greatest hits of all-time" seem to have all happened between 1969 and 1989 ... at least in the radio consultants' and programmers' minds. A few years ago Scott Shannon told me that he would never play Bon Jovi on The True Oldies Channel ... but I'll bet that day is sooner than he thinks ... if he hasn't started doing it already!
This is why I like the Rewound Radio philosophy and Mason Ramsey's "Rock And Roll Heaven" idea of "Music For The Ages". And I say, "Why not???" We ALL grew up listening to this wide kaleidoscope of music over the years ... we were exposed to EVERY kind of music played side-by-side, whether that meant Glen Campbell back-to-back with Jimi Hendrix or Napoleon XIV running into The Rolling Stones. Good music is good music ... and NOBODY can take that away. (Please don't read this to define "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!" as "good music"!!! But there's no doubt the impression it made in its short six weeks on the air, climbing all the way to #2 at a time in radio where literally "anything goes" was a way of life!)
I'm happy to put your inquiry out there and see what comes back ... a pretty mixed bag of responses I would imagine ... with no real right or wrong answer. Unfortunately, it's today's Program Directors who make that call ... or, perhaps more accurately, these high-paid expert consultants who have determined that the human mind really doesn't have the capacity to absorb more than the same 200 songs all day long. God knows that it's THIS level of expertise that places THEM in charge and not us ... we just "lived" it ... while many of them weren't even born yet! They seem to see dollars and cents ... an operate with no real appreciation or connection to the music they're playing. And let me tell you, it's getting tougher and tougher to sway ANYBODY to step outside the box once in a while these days!!! (kk)
What say you? Drop us a line if you've got an opinion on this topic and we'll run some of your responses next week in Forgotten Hits.
I hadn't really planned on doing anything special this year (we saluted the 25th Year Anniversary of this travesty ... yet historic event) and I figured there wasn't much need to rehash it all again.
But since that was back in the old newsletter / pre-website days ... and since there DID seem to be a bit of a buzz surrounding the 35th Anniversary of the Events on 35th Street, I figured, why not ...
Personally, I remember watching the whole thing unfold on tv. Typically, the cameras didn't stay focused on the "half-time entertainment" going on at the ballpark during the time between two games of a double header ... this "down time" was usually reserved for an interview or two and an update of the other scores from around the league and not centered upon what may be happening on the field ... but on this particular night there was absolutely NO way to ignore what was going on down below the broadcast booth.
It was complete and utter out-of-control chaos ... the fans literally destroyed the field, rendering it unplayable for the second half of the scheduled double-header. In all my years of watching baseball, I have NEVER seen a major league team have to forfeit a game ... this was the type of thing that happened in Little League from time to time when one team showed up too many players short of a squad ... or an umpire enforced "the slaughter rule" ... but this was Major League Baseball, for God's sake ... and our beloved Chicago White Sox were once again embarrassed before the entire nation. (Not that this was in any way their fault ... but it was, after all, their promotion ... which got ridiculously out of hand.)
I've talked to fans who were there that night who said they feared for their lives, describing it as a "near riot" ... or worse ... it truly was that out of control. One told me that they saw Sox Owner Bill Veeck (who scheduled and approved this promotion and was known for his unorthodox ways of drawing fans out to the ol' ball park) wielding a bat at home plate, trying to protect his field ... as fans tore up huge pieces of sod. Others said he may have been waving his wooden leg in the air, trying to keep the crazies at bay ... who really knows!!! (Actually, it was Veeck's son Mike who booked Dahl for this "explosive" night of entertainment!)
I asked Chet Coppock (who was there that night as both a fan and a journalist) and sometime Forgotten Hits contributor Mark Baker (who was also there that night, caught up in the chaos ... at his very first Sox game!) if they would each write something about their memories of that nothing-short-of-crazy evening ... and they both agreed.
Our original, now ten-years-old piece, seems to be lost to the annals of time (not to mention half a dozen computer crashes since then!!!) Meanwhile, we came up with this little recap of our own: Steve Dahl pretty much made Chicago the "Disco-Sucks" capitol of the world back in 1979 when he staged the Disco Demolition at Comiskey Park that ended up with THOUSANDS of fans storming the field (and forcing our beloved White Sox to forfeit the second half of a double header to the Detroit Tigers.)
Dahl was a HUGELY (no pun intended) popular Chicagoland DJ at the time ... and when hard-rock FM station WDAI switched their format to all-disco, Dahl bolted to The Loop (WLUP) and began blowing up disco records on the air! When he invited his listeners bring their disco records to the Sox game (with the intention of blowing them up between games of a double-header), his fans filled the ballpark (something that RARELY happened back then at Comiskey ... even when the Sox were winning!)
Reportedly, close to 60,000 fans showed up, most of whom only paid 98-cents per ticket in honor of The Loop's 97.9 spot on the FM Radio Dial. (At the time, the Sox were lucky to draw six or seven thousand fans out to the ball park ... but early word-of-mouth speculated that as many as 15,000 - 20,000 might show up for this crazy promotion, indicating this wacky stunt was a rousing success.) That moment of patting themselves on the back was short-lived however! Sox park filled to capacity with at least another 15,000 - 20,000 fans out in the street, unable to get in to the now sold-out spectacle.
To say that things got a little out of hand would be a TREMENDOUS under-statement! Thousands of fans stormed the playing field and tore the place up, rendering the field unplayable ... the second game of the double-header had to be cancelled after some sense of order was restored ... and the Sox ultimately ended up forfeiting the game ... earning yet another famous black-mark in Major League Baseball History! Believe it or not, all of this happened 35 years ago this weekend!!! Dahl cut an anti-disco anthem called "Do You Think I'm Disco?", a parody of the Rod Stewart #1 Hit at the time, "Do You Think I'm Sexy?", which went all the way to #5 here in Chicago on rival radio station WLS. (Ironically, WLS and Dahl's old station, WDAI, were BOTH owned by parent company ABC Broadcasting at the time!) While WLS refused to play Dahl's hit on the air, I've got to give them credit for accurately reporting his record sales on their weekly chart (although they listed the artist as Teenage Radiation, which was the name of Dahl's back-up band ... they weren't about to give any on-air credit to one of their main sources of competition!)
I remember one particular evening when John Records Landecker was playing the most-requested songs of the day and Dahl's record was SUPPOSED to top the chart ... instead of PLAYING the record on the air, he simply BLEW UP the record on the air ... again, a very fitting tribute to one of Chicagoland's most popular DJs ever.
As a special Forgotten Hits (as well as an anniversary) tribute, we're featuring Dahl's novelty hit today ... which went on to make the National Charts as well, peaking at #58 in Billboard and #61 in Cashbox. (kk)
My God, did "Disco Demolition" really take place 35 years and five Presidents ago? Were we "so much older then we're younger then that now?" No dice. Father Time doesn't take prisoners. The fact is, Dahl gave Bill Veeck, baseball's answer to P.T. Barnum, exactly what he wanted - a full house. Now, much like Woodstock, think about this ... 85 percent of the people in the ballpark had to be kids under the age of 25. Just imagine if you would have had "Dean Martin" night with adults 40 and over. They would have been so damn drunk, so unruly, that the right field foul pole might have ended up on the Dan Ryan. The whole scenario in pro wrestling terminology, "Put Dahl over." It gave him elevated celebrity status that has lasted nearly four decades. I was at the ballpark for the "Fireworks" and really never felt I was in harm's way. There may have been a few fights, but really this was just a bunch of kids telling middle America that Pink Floyd and Yes mattered, while disco was musical death. I've always wondered ... did the Stever really hate the throbbing bass and club sound of Disco or did he just see a glorious, one shot opportunity to heighten the brand of "Steve Dahl." Frankly, I love the guy. We worked together at the Loop from '87 to '94. Steve Dahl was and is a radio genius. Chet Coppock Host: Notre Dame Football on WLS Host: Chicago Blackhawks Heritage Series
I, like many, was a Loop listener and was following Steve Dahl and his radio show. This was the first talk / comedy radio show I had ever heard ... and I had never heard anything like it before. Dahl was rebellious and funny and they played good rock music when he wasn't on. I remember the promotion going on at the Loop and thinking it was funny but I had no intention of going until that day. A friend of mine (Stacy Levine), a very cool chick who knew a lot of people who got tickets to rock concerts, called me up last minute and asked me to go with her. She had first row seats next to the dugout right on the wall closer to the home plate side. All her other friends didn't want to go and I think I was one of her last resorts, which was good for me because I was more of a baseball fan and I wanted to go to Comiskey Park, as it would be my first time there. We were in a crowd of mostly Sox fans, but I could see the big crowd from my seat as we were walking in. The first game went on as planned ... I couldn't even tell you anything about the game but I do remember some of what happened after the fist game was over. First they started moving this crate onto the field and we could also see some kind of fireworks set up next to it. Then a bunch of people came out on the field with Dahl wearing a army helmet with camouflage on it telling us he's going to "Blow Up The Disco Records real good!" Then the explosion. Now I've watched this on tape as a close up and I know the people in the right field bleachers thought it was a big explosion but Comiskey was a big park and all the way over where I was sitting it looked about like about a 15 or 20 foot blast and it went on for a little bit and then it was over. There wasa lull in the action for a second and then Dahl goes around the park and was gone. I felt like, Is that all? Kind of anticlimactic ... shouldn't there be more of a celebration? Apparently I wasn't alone in that thinking ... all of a sudden people came over the left field wall and started sliding into second base and then more started coming on to the field and then more and more. It wasn't but a few seconds and Stacy was over the wall and gone and the Sox fans we were sitting next to were pissed off. The guy had a souvenir bat and he was hitting people over the wall with it and screaming at them to get off the field, but soon enough it was a free for all. I wouldn't leave my seat ... I'm just not that crazy and I like baseball. I watched people tear out the bases, ripping up the sod. One guy had a big piece of sod on like a poncho and he was running around the bases. Then Stacy shows up out of nowhere and is standing on the baseline yelling for me to come in and I yell back, "No way ... you come out", and then she ran into the crowds and was gone again. Then they started ripping up home plate. I can't remember if they got it but that was when Bill Veeck and four of his body guards came out and took over home plate. I saw for the first time that he had a peg leg and he was hobbling around home plate with what looked like a cop and some big guys from the ball club and they took over home plate and were going to hold that ground. Then he got a microphone, and in the midst of a complete riot, he tried to get everyone off the field ... but the outfield was on fire with disco records, an upper deck balcony was on fire, and the sod was ripped up in places. Then the cops and horses started coming, clearing the field and moving everyone off. Stacy finally came back to her seat and we even waited a little to see if they would play baseball again. I don't remember much more ... it was 1979 and all of this was quite unexpected, to say the least. I never got to go to any more concerts with Stacy even though we were still friends for many years afterwards. I will never forget the day she called me and asked me to go my first Sox game! -- Mark Baker
35 years later, Steve Dahl is still broadcasting here in Chicago ... although these days it's via a by-subscription-only podcast that airs several times a week. (I imagine the days of big-bucks broadcasting are now long behind him ... although at least this way he's in control of any money that does come his way via paid subscriptions.) The real "positive" in all of this is that he now seems to be doing it simply for the love of broadcasting. (Then again he always DID love the sound of his own voice!!! lol) Dahl is ... and will forever be ... a part of Chicagoland history and folklore.
Interested parties can get more information here: Click here: Steve Dahl, Comedy Podcasts, Chicago Legend | The Steve Dahl Podcast Network (It'll cost you about a hundred bucks a year to listen!) You'll also notice a photo of "The Stever" in his "Disco Sucks" T-Shirt prominently displayed on the website, where vintage broadcasts from back in the day are also available.(Hey, it's his biggest claim to fame ... I say "Go With It!!!")
And, 35 years later, The Loop is still going strong, too ... it continues to rank as one of the premier Classic Rock Radio Stations in the country (and they've been sticking with that format now for nearly 40 years!) You'll find more station information (and a "Listen Live" Link here: Click here: 97.9 The Loop (In fact, you'll find themdoing a little "Disco Demolition reminiscing" on their website this week, too!)
American Pop Favorites THE BEACH BOYS and THE FOUR SEASONS reclaimed their spot at the top of the charts for a four week stretch … two weeks each for I GET AROUND and RAG DOLL, still two of the biggest hits of the '60's. British Invasion artists had to settle for positions #4 and #5 this week for DON'T LET THE SUN CATCH YOU CRYING by GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS and CAN'T YOU SEE THAT SHE'S MINE by THE DAVE CLARK FIVE. Also holding on to a Top Ten spot was A WORLD WITHOUT LOVE by PETER AND GORDON, down to #8 this week … and just outside the Top Ten you'll find BAD TO ME by BILLY J. KRAMER AND THE DAKOTAS sitting at #11.
GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS have TWO brand new debuts on the chart this week: HOW DO YOU DO IT (a song THE BEATLES turned down) premiers at #85 while I'M THE ONE comes in ten places lower at #95. Other British Hits include DON'T THROW YOUR LOVE AWAY by THE SEARCHERS (#16), LITTLE CHILDREN by BILLY J. KRAMER AND THE DAKOTAS (#19), NOBDOY I KNOW by PETER AND GORDON (#23, up another 25 places!), LOVE ME DO by THE BEATLES (#24), YESTERDAY'S GONE (#25) for CHAD STUART and JEREMY CLYDE … and finally the ONLY version on the chart now that the competing OVERLANDERS' version has fallen off the list ... DUSTY SPRINGFIELD's WISHIN' AND HOPIN' up to #27, DIANE by THE BACHELORS at #43, NOT FADE AWAY by THE ROLLING STONES at #52, YOU'RE MY WORLD by CILLA BLACK up 15 places to #65, I BELIEVE by THE BACHELORS at #66 and another ROLLING STONES hit, TELL ME at #70. (New on the charts this week is SHE'S THE ONE by THE CHARTBUSTERS, a Washington, D.C. group that sounded an awful lot like THE BEATLES when this record first came out.)
Here in Chicago on the WLS Silver Dollar Survey, CAN'T YOU SEE THAT SHE'S MINE by THE DAVE CLARK FIVE moves up to #2 this week, followed by BILLY J. KRAMER AND THE DAKOTAS' LITTLE CHILDREN at #4, A WORLD WITHOUT LOVE by PETER AND GORDON at #7 and DON'T LET THE SUN CATCH YOU CRYING by GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS at #8.
The Top 20 adds DON'T THROW YOUR LOVE AWAY by THE SEARCHERS and NOBODY I KNOW by PETER AND GORDON to the list, at positions #17 and #20.
Rounding out The Top 40 are WISHIN' AND HOPIN' by DUSTY SPRINGFIELD at #25, I BELIEVE by THE BACHELORS at #29 and, brand new on the charts, the latest two-sided hit by THE BEATLES, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT / I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER, premiering at #30 … a week before it would debut on The Billboard Chart.
One of the Featured Albums this week on WLS: "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" by Gerry and the Pacemakers.
Let's kick off this week with a look back at the KQV Chart from 1967 that places our buddy Davie Allan and the Arrows on top with their biker anthem "Blues' Theme". It is followed by some great Summer of Love classics like the two-sided hit "Pleasant Valley Sunday" / "Words" by The Monkees, "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles, "Light My Fire" by The Doors and "White Rabbit" by The Jefferson Airplane. A couple of records make HUGE leaps on the countdown this week ... "Heroes And Villains" by The Beach Boys jumps from #25 to #8 and "Fakin' It" by Simon and Garfunkel is up 20 points from #36 to #16. Neil Diamond also jumps 20 points (from #39 to #19) with his latest, "I Thank The Lord For The Night Time". The top debut of the week belongs to Bobbie Gentry with her monster hit "Ode To Billie Joe" ... and the music of The Four Seasons is well represented on this chart with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (the Frankie Valli solo hit) at #14, "C'mon Marianne" (the group's latest) at #24 and an excellent cover by The Tremeloes ("Silence Is Golden") at #18.
Here's a vintage chart from 1959 featuring some of the biggest names in early rock and roll ... Paul Anka, Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, Lloyd Price, Connie Francis, Dion and the Belmonts, Ricky Nelson, Duane Eddy, Fats Domino, The Drifters and Elvis Presely are all here ... as are "novelty" acts like The Chipmunks, The Coasters, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Fabian. You'll find an early Jan and Dean track at #4 ... and The Flamingo's classic "I Only Have Eyes For You" at #13. Even Frank Sinatra holds down a spot on this chart ... he's at #12 with "High Hopes"! (Ol' Blue Eyes appears on our 1967 chart above, too, with "The World We Knew".)
Here's another chart from 1965 showing Paul Revere and the Raiders at #1 with their 1963 Hit "Louie Louie". (I still don't get that one!)
Right behind them are Dino, Desi and Billy with their first chart hit "I'm A Fool", a considerably better showing than it did on the Billboard Chart. There's also a long-lost Kinks track at #18 ... and TV Star Patty Duke closes out the chart at #30 this week with her hit "Don't Just Stand There."
And check out the photo of The Byrds at the bottom of the survey. You'll find their latest hit at #10 on this week's chart.
Jumping ahead to 1969, we find Break-In King Dickie Goodman in The Top Ten with his latest, "On Campus". (It sits at #6, placing right between hits by The Beatles and Stevie Wonder and Blood, Sweat and Tears and Neil Diamond. Speaking of novelty hits, look at Ray Stevens ... he sits at #12 with his remake of The Coasters' hit "Along Came Jones". (The Coasters chart with their own version of this hit on the 1959 chart shown above from ten years earlier.) And while The Beatles (actually just John and Paul on this one) sit at #4 with "The Ballad Of John And Yoko", John and Yoko (along with their Plastic Ono Band) have the top Power Pix this week with their first single "Give Peace A Chance".
Since novelty hits seem to be the Soup de Jour today in our Saturday Surveys feature, take a look at this WFUN Chart from 1966. Napoleon XIV is at #4 this week, jumping from #31 the week before with "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!" This Boss Survey also features some artists you don't typically see in The Top 40 ... like The 13th Floor Elevators, Captain Beefheart and The Alan Price Set. Look closely and you'll see some pretty unfamiliar titles listed by some of the most popular artists of the day like The Turtles, Bobby Vee and Peter and Gordon.
And how about The Cowsills charting a full year earlier than their national break-through with "Most Of All"! But I especially like Chicago's own Ides Of March enjoying at Top Ten Hit outside of our city's confines with "You Wouldn't Listen". (This one SHOULD have been a Top Ten Hit nationally, too!)
Speaking of The Ides Of March, they're back on this 1970 Chart, too, with "Superman", the follow up to their biggest hit "Vehicle." Actually there are quite a few surprises ranked right alongside some of the usual suspects of the day ... You expect to see "Close To You", "Make It With You", "In The Summertime", "Band Of Gold", "War", "O-ooh Child" and "Tighter, Tighter" in The Top Ten ... these records ranked this way virtually everywhere ... But you'll also find "A Little Bit Of Soap" by Paul Davis, "The Witch' by The Rattles, "Marrying Maiden" by It's A Beautiful Day and "Groovin' With Mr. Bloe" by Cool Heat ranking pretty high on this list, too. Another personal favorite (and long-forgotten hit) belongs to The Fifth Dimension ... they're at #14 this week with "Save The Country".
But we're not going to let THAT deter us ... here's a chunk of what's been on your minds this past week:
re: The Local Scene: Hi Kent - Great info on the Chicago Groups. Anxious to read Jim Peterik's and Carl Giamarese's autobiographies. As was mentioned in your email, I also believe THE MOB is an overlooked group. I had the opportunity to see them perform live and they were FANTASTIC. The album they released had very good, sophisticated song arrangements. It is too bad "I Dig Everything About You" didnt get better distribution. It is one of my favorites. Carolyn
Kent - Thanks for the recent Forgotten Hits blog you did on The MOB. One of the bloggers mentioned hearing our MOB Promo Spots on WLS and would like to hear them again. They were very creative and pretty funny. Please refer your MOB fans to www.themobmusic.com
If they go to the page marked “INK”, there will be another page that will come up saying “RADIO SPOTS”.
Thanks, Kent.
Jim
LOTS of great stuff on this site, Jim, thanks for sending! You can not only listen to several of these vintage radio ad spots but also peruse the complete history of the band, see photos and order music right through the site. Good stuff for sure! (kk)
And, speaking of great spots ...
Guess I should have sent these before your Chicago stuff ran, but I was "workin' like a dog." Bill
Thanks for the book shout out and more, guys!
Keep Rocking!
Jimbo
Kent,
I have visited the Mob website a few times ... an incredible amalgamation of info and music! Histories of more bands, too. You can even hear their first Cameo single there. I had forgotten about that. The Mob performed this song on "Where the Action is" in 66.
The video of the Centuries was great to see. I wish Carl would share more memories.
As for the Capes of Good Hope, they are a bit of a Chicago mystery to me, too. I have their 45s, including a British copy, and I think I have a photo somewhere. Certainly a couple of songs have a distinct Left Banke influence, while others have folk sound.
For anyone wondering about Jim Peterik's new autobiography, it is a very revealing, no holding back story beginning with his childhood and through his early bands and life through the Ides and Survivor times and on to today. His personal life throughout his career is chronicled as much as his music. He even talks about the Ides quick trip to Florida when "You Wouldn't Listen" was huge there, as seen in this week's survey. Quite a life revealed!
Clark Besch
Kent --
Many thanks! This explains a lot, especially why there was "radio silence" after all those near-saturation Mob spots. I remember the spots themselves a little differently, but that was what, 47 years ago? They had a great BST feel, and should have done a lot better than they did, along with the Capes of Good Hope and the Will-o-Bees, who were channeling either Spanky or the New Seekers. I traded a couple of emails with Janet Blossom (their female lead, now Janet Lussier) some years ago and suggested an interview, but she was shy and declined. Good luck and keep in touch! -- Jeff
The Will-O-Bees'"It's Not Easy" is a classic. Same with "Winter's Children" by The Capes.
Clark
re: Disco Demolition:
The 35th anniversary of Disco Demolition? I saw that on the news this morning. Almost forgot about that disaster. I remember it very well when it happened. What an idiot Steve Dahl was and still is as far as I am concerned.
Georgiann
I was not at Disco Demo night, but saw the highlights on the sportscast that night. I thought it was pretty funny from a distance. I thought the idea was great, but it was probably the wrong venue! It should have been at a Ted Nugent or AC/DC concert or something like that. Anybody up for a Rap / Hip-Hop Demolition Night????? The Cubs aren’t any good ... why not at Wrigley this time!!!
Ken
Steve Dahl wrote his own piece remembering Disco Demolition ... it ran in Crain's Chicago Business and offers some interesting perspective some 35 years later. (I think Steve's being a little "selective" with his analysis ... it was, without question, the single biggest moment in his career ... and was, without question, a calculated move. While I've read that he had concerns that nobody would show up, those fears quickly dissipated when the stadium crowd reached capacity ... and spilled out over into the streets by about 15-20,000 fans!) It exceeded EVERYONE's wildest imagination ... and truly DID get out of hand. The field was destroyed ... people DID get hurt (as fights broke out all over the park) ... it was (from a baseball perspective anyway) an embarrassing disaster ... but it caused Dahl's career to sky-rocket out of the stratosphere ... and, bottom line, THAT was what mattered most to Steve Dahl at the time. (kk)
Meanwhile, Vintage Vinyl News (by way of Billboard Magazine) reports that Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons music is doing very well on the Billboard charts again this week ...
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasonsconsider their assault on the U.S. Albums chart in the wake of the release of the filmJersey Boys. Although the film has not done well at the box office, the group's music is steaming up the charts, taking two of the top three albums by veteran artists. TheJersey Boys soundtrack drops 15 to 18, making it the top selling album for the week by a veteran.The Very Best of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons rises 35 to 33.
If this music is being purchased by NEW fans of The Four Seasons (and not older fans ... which would stand to reason as most of us already OWN this music!) it goes a LONG way toward proving my point that if radio would simply allow exposure to some of these "lost" tracks on the air, new fans will be won over on a regular basis ... and go out and purchase this music. Radio benefits ... the record companies benefit (as they've already got all this material stuffed away in their vaults anyway ... so re-releasing it costs them virtually nothing) ... listeners benefit (by FINALLY get more variety up and down the dial) and new fans benefit by discovering some "new" music that's been around for DECADES, lying dormant somewhere because of radio's refusal to acknowledge it. (kk)
re: The Saturday Surveys: Hey, did anybody else notice that on the KEWB Chart that we ran this week features Dino, Desi and Billy's hit "I'm A Fool" at #2 ... AND at #6?!?! (Talk about needing some serious proof-reading!!!) Actually, this chart is REALLY messed up ... in the caption under The Byrds photo at the bottom, they explain how The Byrds' latest hit is at #6 on that week's survey (which would explain the mix-up in the Dino, Desi and Billy listing ... except that The Byrds are REALLY at #10!!!) And check out the date at the top of the survey ... July 12th ... 1695 (instead of 1965)!!! HOW on earth did all this stuff get past the stations? (kk)
re: This And That: Paul McCartney returned to the US Stage on July 5th with a sold out concert in Albany, New York, where he performed for three hours (including two lengthy encores.) My guess is that this was QUITE a bit more than his doctors would have recommended after falling ill to some mysterious Japanese virus several weeks ago. Still Rolling Stone Magazine reports that Macca was in top form ... and clearly having the time of his life back up on stage again. (Several new editions have been made to the song line-up, including a few more tracks The Beatles never got the chance to perform live on stage.) Macca also did a show here in Chicago last week. You can read the full review / report here (as well as view the complete set list): Click here: Paul McCartney Bounces Back in Albany | Music News | Rolling Stone
More Beatles news regarding "A Hard Day's Night" ... seems that the limited theatrical release was for 4th of July Weekend only ... the film will soon be opening wide on screens across America. Read on. (kk)
Restored 'Hard Day's Night' to hit 100 markets Fifty years after "A Hard Day's Night" first hit theaters, the Beatles return to the big screen next month in a digitally restored version of their black-and-white feature film debut. With Criterion Collection handling the restoration, Janus Films initially planned the rerelease for 50 cities. Because of popular demand, "A Hard Day's Night" is now slated to open in 100 North American markets. "This idea of a mid-summer family outing really appeals to people," Criterion President Peter Becker says. "'A Hard Day's Night' plays well as the perfect inter-generational outing because people who grew up on the Beatles now have grandchildren." Citing Richard Lester's innovative directing techniques, Becker notes, "The movie is just shot through with the spirit of freedom. The Beatle characters are lastingly charismatic, and the songs really hold up." The soundtrack was remixed and remastered at Abbey Road Studios by Giles Martin, son of Beatles producer George Martin. Criterion technicians scanned the original 35mm negatives at the hyper-crisp 4K resolution, then removed dirt and scratches. "This isn't some tricked-out version of 'A Hard Day's Night,'" Becker says. "It's a carefully constructed restoration that will actually show better than prints that were used in the movie's original opening weekend." -- submitted by Dave Barry
By the way, that CBS Television Special "The Night That Changed America" was nominated for SIX Emmy Awards. Airing on the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (and featuring live performances by both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr), it was a fun-filled night of musical entertainment and memories. Congratulations to all involved. (kk)
The program is nominated for: Outstanding Variety Special; Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special - Gregg Gelfand; Outstanding Music Direction - Don Was; Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special - Ken Ehrlich and David Wild; Outstanding Lighting Design / Lighting Direction For a Variety Special - Matt Firestone, Ted Wells, Matthew Cotter and Mike Zinman and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special - Larry Reed, Tom Holmes, Al Schmitt, Giles Martin and Josh Morton
Fest Website Offers Signed Editions of MoonGlow PR Beatles Authors
For fans of the Fab Four who are unable to attend the Fest for Beatles Fans, their website has a limited number of signed and unsigned books from the MoonGlow PR stable of Beatles authors.
MoonGlow PR is pleased to announce that the Beatles Store at the Fest for Beatles Fans website is offering signed copies of the latest books from her company’s best Beatles authors.
“We’ve worked together with Mark Lapidos, owner of the Fest for Beatles Fans, to make sure that fans that are unable to attend one of the three fests that are going one this year in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles will have the opportunity to get these limited edition signed copies,” says Jennifer Vanderslice, owner of MoonGlow PR.
Signed copies from the following authors are currently available at the Fest website:
We’re Going To See The Beatles! by Garry Berman - An Oral History of Beatlemania as Told by the Fans Who Were There.
She Loves You by Jude Southerland Kessler – The third book in the John Lennon Series follows John’s life from April 1963 to February 1964.
Changin’ Times: 101 Days That Shaped A Generation by Al Sussman – A look at the cultural changes from November 22, 1963 through March 1, 1964 in America.
Recipe Records: A Culinary Tribute to The Beatles by Lanea Stagg – Third book in the Recipe Records series celebrating 50 years of the Fab Four with 50 recipes.
First edition signed copies of the following books will be available after August 15:
Beatleness by Candy Leonard – A look at the sociological impact of the Beatles and their fans.
The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Fourby Kenneth Womack - Insightful lookinto the Beatles' collective and solo releases, and the people and places that impacted their work.
For more information the Fest for Beatles Fans or to order books by the authors represented by MoonGlow PR, go to: http://www.thefest.com/store and search by title or author.
MoonGlow PR is a public relations company that specializes in representing the best Beatles authors and experts across the universe. More info at: www.MoonGlowPR.com
Hi Kent, Just a note to remind you of "The Sixties" series featuring "The British Invasion" tonight on CNN! Love all the issues of Forgotten Hits ... THANK-YOU for all your knowledge, time, and energy ... it is greatly appreciated!Best Regards,
Tim Kiley
The British Invasion episode is the one that "pre-launched" the series a couple of months ago ... sad to see it was only an hour in length when some of the other topics got the two-hour treatment. I think I've seen all but maybe one of the ten episodes that make up this landmark series (but can always watch that one On Demand.) Overall I've been pretty impressed ... but feel there are SO many other topics that COULD have been covered in greater depth. A brief one hour retrospective of Television in the '60's barely did it justice ... and naturally I could have devoured TEN hours of the Music of the '60's. I thought the Kennedy Assassination was EXCEPTIONALLY good ... saw a lot of things I hadn't seen before (and I've watched HUNDREDS of hours on this topic over the years.) It would have been nice to see something like Sports Of The '60's ... think about it ... the very first Super Bowl ... The Miracle Mets of '69 ... GREAT players like Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris (and his pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run record), Willie Mays ... Cassius Clay / Muhammad Ali ... Jim Brown ... I could EASILY fill an hour with highlight clips on this topic. Regardless, it's a well-done series and I'm sure there are several episodes I'll watch again and again. (kk)
And here's some VERY important late-breaking news regarding Alice Cooper ... (huh?!?!?)
ALICE COOPER INDUCTED INTO WHITE CASTLE HALL OF FAME
Photo ID left to right:
VP Jamie Richardson, CEO Bill Ingram, Marci Ingram,
Sheryl Cooper,Alice Cooper, White Castle President Lisa Ingram,
Corporate Relations Manager Erin Shannon
New York, NY (July 8, 2014) - Dreams can come true, as rock icon Alice Cooper can attest, following his induction into the White Castle Cravers Hall of Fame at White Castle headquarters in Columbus, Ohio on July 7th, 2014.
As a child of Detroit, Alice learned to love White Castle's iconic sliders at an early age, and has never lost his taste for them over the years. He also learned to love rock and roll, and pursue his career in a band, and achieved induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
Little did he know that another Hall of Fame, also in Ohio, was in his destiny.
Following a tour of White Castle headquarters led by Bill, Marci and Lisa Ingram (the company is a fourth-generation family-owned business), company VP Jamie Richardson conducted a brief chat with Alice in a room full of White Castle employees, including a band that performed some of Alice's songs (he actually JOINED them for "No More Mr Nice Guy," much to their surprise), and then Alice was presented with a plaque commemorating his induction into their White Castle Cravers Hall of Fame.
Said Alice, "A lot of my fellow rockers are going to be envious of this honor." Asked how it compared to being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Alice responded "there's no comparison," carefully ducking the question.
The stop at White Castle headquarters took place on a day off during Alice's summer tour as Very Special Guests to Motley Crue on their "All Bad Things Must Come to An End" tour, which plays the Schottenstein Center in Columbus tonight as part of the 72 show run. The summer tour continues through August 31, and then resumes in autumn, October 10 through November 22.
Alice has often talked about his love of White Castle in interviews and on his syndicated "Nights With Alice Cooper" radio program, and served White Castle at the party following the premiere of the "Super Duper Alice Cooper" documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival in April in New York City. The documentary, produced by Banger Films (same team that produced the award-winning Iron Maiden and Rush documentaries), has recently been released in both DVD and Blu-Ray by Eagle Rock Entertainment.
See Alice Cooper on tour in 2014 -- tourdates at www.alicecooper.com
Growing up in Chicago, we've had access to White Castle hamburgers my whole life. (If you've never had the experience ... I hesitate to use the word "pleasure" ... it's a unique cuisine to be sure ... but totally addictive!) What I've learned over the years is that the BEST way to enjoy them is to sit on the pot WHILE you eat them ... and eliminate the next step all-together by combining the entire experience into one life-altering moment! (I used to love to take out-of-town visitors to White Castle the night before they left Chicago, giggling to myself the entire next day as to what their flight-home experience must have been like, clamoring for use of the bathrooms at the rear of the plane ... especially during "fasten seatbelts" moments!) kk
A pretty cool video exists of Ron Dante singing "Sugar Sugar" where he is in a band and ALL members of the band are him doing all the parts. I don't see it on youtube, but I have it somewhere. It's kind of like Mungo Jerry's video for "In the Summertime" where the guy plays all instruments in performing the song. Clark Besch Yes, I've seen it, too ... I even checked Ron's website and didn't see it there. However, I DID find it on youtube ... here it is below:
Non-Performing Cowsill Richard passed away last week. He had been battling lung cancer for some time. (As to WHY Richard was never allowed in the band, you've GOT to check out the incredible Cowsills documentary that came out last year ... it's "Must See" entertainment. (kk)
And, speaking of great documentaries, here's a piece on the new Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart documentary, "The Guys Who Wrote 'em" ... which I have STILL yet to see!!! (Can't wait to finally see it 'though!!!) kk
Vintage Vinyl News files this report on the sentencing of Rolf Harris ... Convicted pedophileRolf Harriswill be released from prison in the week of his 90th birthday after being sentenced to five years and nine months jail. Harris was found guilty of all 12 charges of sexual assault on four girls between 1968 and 1986. One of the accusers was a childhood friend of Rolf’s daughter Bindi who testified that she was abused by Harris during family holidays when she was 13 years old. Harris argued the “affair” began when she was 18. His youngest victim was seven or eight at the time of the assault.In handing down the sentence Judge Nigel Sweeney said “You have shown no remorse for your crimes at all. Your reputation lies in ruins, you have been stripped of your honours, but you have no-one to blame but yourself.”The case brings to an end what was a remarkable entertainment career which has since seen Harris stripped of his ARIA Hall of Fame award, his BAFTA and now most likely his numerous royal honours including the CBE. Queen Elizabeth II awarded Harris the Order of Australia in 2012. The 84 year old entertainer was one of Australia’s first international successes. He achieved a Top 10 hit in the UK in 1960 and USA in 1963 withTie Me Kangaroos Down Sport. The song reached number 1 in Australia. Harris re-recorded the song in 2000 with The Wiggles.Rolf Harris was also a television star in Australia and the UK, especially on children’s television. Rolf Harris’sCartoon Timerang for 10 years from 1979 on the BBC and Rolf’sCartoon Clubwas broadcast from 1989 to 1993 on ITV.Harris was the first artist to perform at the Sydney Opera House when it opened in 1973. The five year nine month sentence seems to have been designed to keep Rolf in jail until just after he turns 90. With birth birthdate of March 30, 1934 the timing of release would see his out of jail at age 90 and one week. However new charges are brewing for the shamed entertainer and if more cases go to court, Rolf’s sentence could be extended.Lawyers for Harris now have 21 days to appeal this sentence.
Rolf Harriscould be a free man as soon as early 2017. Justice Sweeney sentences Harris to a total of fives years and nine months. Without early release that would see the convicted pedophile free the week before his 90th birthday. However, Harris could be out in half that time, possibly January 2017, as he will be eligible for early release when he has served half the sentence. “Should you breach the terms of that licence, including by the commission of further offences, you will be liable to recall,” the judge stated in his closing remarks. The sentence seems unbelievable soft for the repeat offender pedophile who for one case (count 2) will only serve 6 months imprisonment. In that case the victim testified, “…Rolf Harris took advantage of me and made me feel ashamed. That an adult man could do what he did to me made me feel so powerless. He treated me like a toy that he played with for his own pleasure with absolutely no regard for what he was inflicting and then getting on with his life as if nothing had happened….” At the time the victim was 15 years old. Harris was 50. Count 3, 4, 5 and 7 were seen as the most serious of the assaults. In the Judges closing remarks he said of Count 3, “You committed the offence in breach of trust, and it was further aggravated by being committed in ‘C’’s own home. You left your wife and ‘C’’s parents downstairs and you went up to ‘C’’s bedroom on the top floor of the house. You spat on the fingers of one hand, put that hand down her jeans and knickers, and digitally penetrated her vagina. The episode lasted for about a minute until she managed to get away”. “On Count 4 you indecently assaulted ‘C’ after Xmas 1980 when she was still aged 15 and you were aged 50. Again you were visiting the ‘C’’s with your wife. Again you committed the offence in breach of trust and it was further aggravated by being committed in ‘C’’s own home. You left your wife and ‘C’’s parents downstairs whilst you went up to the TV room on the first floor where ‘C’ was. You spat on the fingers of one hand, put that hand down her dungarees and knickers and digitally penetrated her vagina. You continued for up to a minute until she managed to get away”. In Count 5 against his daughter Bindi’s friend staying with the family on holiday, “On this occasion after Bindi had got up, and whilst she and/or your wife were in the house, and again in breach of trust, you went into the bedroom where ‘C’ was still in bed. You took her pants down, spat on the fingers of one of your hands, and digitally penetrated her vagina (Count 5), then you took off your glasses bent down to her vagina and started licking it.” During Count 7 “Again ‘C’ was visiting Bindi at Bray and was sleeping in one of the two single beds in Bindi’s room. On this occasion, whilst Bindi was still asleep in her bed and ‘C’ was in the other bed you entered the room, again in breach of trust, pulled ‘C’’s pants down to her ankles, spat on the fingers of one hand and digitally penetrated her vagina (Count 7), then you licked her vagina again keeping an eye on Bindi (who was still asleep).” The sentences that I impose are as follows: Count 1: 9 months’ imprisonment. Count 2: 6 months’ imprisonment consecutive. Count 3: 15 months’ imprisonment consecutive Count 4: 15 months’ imprisonment concurrent Count 5: 15 months’ imprisonment concurrent Count 6: 12 months imprisonment concurrent Count 7: 15 months’ imprisonment consecutive Count 8: 12 months’ imprisonment concurrent Count 9: 12 months’ imprisonment consecutive Count 10: 9 months’ imprisonment concurrent Count 11: 9 months imprisonment concurrent Count 12: 12 months’ imprisonment consecutive In consideration of the sentence, the judge said he took Harris’s age into consideration. In his remarks he explains the sentence: “On your behalf I am asked to take into account a number of matters in mitigation, including the following: (1) With the exception of ‘C’ the offenses were brief and opportunistic. (2) The fact that you have no previous convictions and have led an upright life since 1994 ‐ albeit it is accepted that that must be tempered by the reality, underlined in the Attorney General’s Reference (above), that you got away with your offending for years. (3) The fact that you have a good side, that there are many people who know you who speak well of you, and that over many years you have dedicated yourself to a number of charitable causes. (4) The fact that you are not in the best of health, as attested to in the report of Dr Fertleman, and that therefore, although capable of serving a prison sentence, it will be particularly tough on you. (5) The fact that your wife, who you help in looking after, has various health problems, as attested to in the report of Dr Mitchell‐Fox. (6) That you should be enabled to spend your twilight years with your family. Harris has also been ordered to pay the legal expenses of the victims. It is estimated the Australian entertainer is worth $26 million and has over $3 million in cash in his personal bank account and around $4 million in his company account.
Hey Kent,
Just heard the news of the death of Tommy Erdelyi (7/11). Tommy was the last surviving “original” member of the Ramones. Talk about a rags to riches story, how four “street” kids from Queens with minimal musical talent and training became one of the most influential rock and roll bands of all time. How many 1000’s of high school kids picked up a guitar after listening to a Ramones album and told themselves, “I can do that”.
In the early 70’s, a lot of the music was by solo artists with a touchy, feely message. Then came “Disco” and the Ramones said, “ENOUGH”. What ever happened to rock and roll radio? Even though their music was rarely played on the radio, they had legions of fans, all coming from their “live” shows and word of mouth from fans who were in attendance.
So many classic favorites of mine, Blitzkrieg Bop, Sheena is a Punk Rocker, Rock And Roll High School. I Wanna Be Sedated. (If I named them all I would fill up your entire page for the day.) From, “Do You Remember Rock And Roll Radio”?, such simple lyrics. (Do you remember Hullabaloo, Upbeat, Shindig and Ed Sullivan too? Do you remember Murray the K, Alan Freed and high energy?) Short two minute songs, straight to the point.
So after 22 years, 14 studio albums and 2,263 “Live” shows, the band called it quits. Their last show was in Hollywood (August 6th 1996). They finished their career with their version of the Dave Clark Five classic, “Any Way You Want it”. They walked off the stage with little fanfare and Joey’s final words were, “Thanks, A lot. Good Night.”
My Three Favorite Ramones quotes of all time are: (3) At a news conference, a reporter ask, “Why are your songs so short”? The bands reply was,”They are actually very long songs, we just play them really fast”. (2) At Joey’s funeral, Tommy did the eulogy and said, “I could stand up here all day and tell you about Joey, but if Joey was here, he could say it all in two minutes and twelve seconds”. (1) A writer from the “Village Voice” was doing a review of a Ramones show. His tag line for the article was, “THE RAMONES: THE ONLY BAND THAT PLAYS AN HOURS WORTH OF MUSIC ...IN 45 MINUTES”. “Thanks”, Kent for the space. This helps me out a lot, R.I.P. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy.
Gary
Ironically, I was just talking to somebody at work about The Ramones the other day ... hard to believe they're all gone so soon.
While never really my cup of tea, I certainly cannot deny the impact they had in this very short period of time. Who knows ... maybe now radio will feature a song or two by the band. (Unfortunately, that's usually what it takes ... you've got to die first before radio will program a record that isn't on "the list"!!!) kk
SIRIUS/XM - If the firing of Anthony Cumia from the Opie & Anthony Show didn't make you end your subscription (I did after nine years), take advantage of the 'aftermath' ... Cancellations have hit them hard ... now they're practically giving the 'service' away ... Call and threaten cancellation unless they give you the following offer ... YOU'LL GET IT EASILY ... (Anthony will be doing his LIVE FROM THE COMPOUND video / podcast daily in the near future.)
RENFIELD
And our FH Buddy Rich Appel tells us about MORE changes going on at Sirius / XM right now ...
American Folk Legend Jim Croce Sees Brilliant Career Overview In Rarities Of His Greatest Hits Including A Previously Unreleased Concert From 1964!
Los Angeles, CA – On July 22nd, the legacy of folk singer Jim Croce will see added to its distinguished discography, the release of Lost Time In A Bottle,a 24-track collection of rare versions of all his greatest hit songs including “Time In A Bottle,” “Operator,” “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “I Got A Name.” The collection will be released by Cleopatra Records first on CD, with a 2LP vinyl version set to follow shortly thereafter. Between the years 1966 and 1973, Croce released a mere five studio albums and 11 singles, 2 of which made it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Sadly, we lost this incredible artist on September 20, 1973. His body of work however has lived on in a timeless state as new fans and old have embraced the incredible songwriting that has made him into the legend that he is today.
Included on Lost Time In A Bottle, is a previously unreleased radio concert from Cazenovia College in 1964. Recorded near the beginning of Jim’s career, it is a marvelous showcase of the storytelling skills and sparkling personality that the world would soon come to love.
1. Next Time, This Time (Harper College 2/5/73)
2. New York’s Not My Home (Harper College 2/5/73)
3. You Don’t Mess Around With Jim (Harper College 2/5/73)
4. Careful Man (Harper College 2/5/73)
5. A Good Time Man Like Me (Demo)
6. Tractor Trailer Story Intro (Harper College 2/5/73)
7. Speedball Tucker (Demo)
8. Operator (Demo)
9. Hard Time Losin’ Man (Demo)
10. Seems Like Such A Long Time Ago (Demo)
11. It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way (Harper College 2/5/73)
12. Bar Story Intro (Harper College 2/5/73)
13. Roller Derby Queen (Harper College 2/5/73)
14. One Less Set Of Footsteps (Harper College 2/5/73)
15. Dreamin’ Again (Harper College 2/5/73)
16. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (Demo)
17. Time In A Bottle (Demo)
18. I Got A Name (Live 1973)
19. Charley Green, Play That Slide Trombone (Cazenovia College 1964)
20. San Francisco Bay Blues (Cazenovia College 1964)
21. Washington At Valley Forge (Cazenovia College 1964)
22. La Bamba (Cazenovia College 1964)
23. Seek And You Shall Find (Cazenovia College 1964)
Our FH Buddy Bill Hengels recorded that show at Harpers College back in 1973 ... MANY years ago we "sneak peeked" a couple of tracks after he sent the masters to Croce's widow in the hopes of eventual release. (A few tracks made it out here and there ... but this is probably the most complete collection ever released commercially.) kk
This one sounds kinda interesting ... a tribute to the music of John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival ...
Blues Music Award Winners Trampled Under Foot & Mike Zito Lead An Array Of Stellar Blues Artists On A Salute To Creedence Clearwater Revival!
Also features Blitzen Trapper, Duke Robillard, Sonny Landreth, The Mynabirds, and more!
Los Angeles, CA - Proving once again that good songs know no bounds or genre, a host of superstar blues artists bring their immense skills and talents to bear on the classic rock canon of John Fogerty and his legendary Creedence Clearwater Revival. The result is a fascinating new perspective on the widely celebrated and deeply influential music of the great CCR! The project will see a release on CD this July 22 on Cleopatra Records.
Founded in California’s San Francisco Bay Area in the late ‘60s, Creedence Clearwater Revival had their first taste of major success in 1969 with “Proud Mary,” a rollicking slice of swampy roots rock that rolled on the river to the No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts, and quickly became the group’s most covered song including an unforgettable 1971 version by Ike & Tina Turner. Hit after hit followed: “Bad Moon Rising,” “Green River,” “Down On The Corner,” “Fortunate Son,” and an absolutely astonishing string of 6 platinum-selling albums. Fogerty & Co. had not only achieved immense commercial success but they also came to be appreciated by music critics everywhere as one of the quintessential American rock bands, and fittingly were inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame in 1993.
Since the group’s breakup in 1972, numerous bands and artists have offered their own spins on CCR’s greatest songs, but none as unique as the versions heard here. Kicking things off is slide guitar legend Sonny Landreth’s brilliant transformation of “Fortunate Son’s” punchy, iconic riff into a shifty, multi-note melody as vocalist Mike Zito (of Royal Southern Brotherhood) sings along. Portland’s own Blitzen Trapper, a critical favorite of the blues-folk revivalist set, turns in a dirty stomping, harmonica and organ infused take on the classic “Proud Mary,” while another indie favorite The Mynabirds offer an appropriately spooky “Bad Moon Rising.” One of the biggest names in modern blues, the great Duke Robillard, shines on a heartbreaking rendition of “Who’ll Stop The Rain,” and what better way to close the album than with the 2014 Blues Music Awards winners for Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year, Trampled Under Foot, who stir up a potent gumbo of gritty vocals and shimmering guitar on “Born On The Bayou.” These treats and many more await fans of CCR, blues music, and lovers of timeless Americana rock!
1. Fortunate Son - Mike Zito & Sonny Landreth
2. Bad Moon Rising - The Mynabirds
3. Proud Mary - Blitzen Trapper
4. Down On The Corner - Spirit Family Reunion
5. Have You Ever Seen The Rain - Dead Man Winter
6. Looking Out My Back Door - LeRoux
7. Who’ll Stop The Rain - Duke Robillard
8. Up Around The Bend - South Memphis String Band
9. Susie Q - Will Wilde
10. Run Through The Jungle - Smokin’ Joe Kubek & Bnois King
News this week that Stevie Nicks will be joining the cast of "The Voice" next season as a witch ... I mean as an advisor. They certainly have attracted some of the biggest names in music to this program ... but are still looking for their first big, major break-out star. (kk)
The latest installment of the Experience Hendrix Tour will be kicking off on September 19th in Hollywood, FL at the Seminole Hard Rock and will conclude on October 18th in Oakland, CA at the Fox Theater. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=P5u8C6sjjs8Experience Hendrix Tour dates: Sep 19 Hollywood, FL - Seminole Hard Rock Sep 20 Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall... Sep 21 Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theater Sep 23 Melbourne, FL - King Center Sep 24 Atlanta, GA - Cobb Energy Centre Sep 25 Birmingham, AL - Alys Robinson Stephens PAC Sep 26 Nashville, TN - Schermerhorn Sep 28 Austin, TX - ACL Live @ Moody Theater Sep 29 San Antonio, TX - Tobin Center PAC Sep 30 Austin, TX - ACL Live @ Moody Theater Oct 2 Houston, TX - Bayou Music Center Oct 3 Durant, OK - Choctaw Events Center Oct 4 Newkirk, OK - First Council Casino Oct 5 Tulsa, OK - Brady Theater Oct 7 Mesa, AZ - Ikeda Theater Oct 9 Valley Center, CA - Harrahs Rincon Theater Oct 10 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theater Oct 11 Indio, CA - Fantasy Springs Casino Oct 12 Avila Beach, CA - Avila Beach Resort Oct 14 Santa Cruz, CA - Civic Auditorium Oct 15 Santa Rosa, CA - Wells Fargo Center Oct 16 Davis, CA - Mondavi Center Oct 17 Lemoore, CA - Tachi Palace Oct 18 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
And, speaking of Jimi Hendrix, the recent film "Hear My Train A-Comin'" has just been nominated for two Emmy Awards ... and is now available on DVD and Blu-ray! More info from Bob Merlis ...
Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin’, Fuse Films / Thirteen’s American Masters-produced documentary on the life of Jimi Hendrix that aired on PBS late last year, has just received two Emmy nominations:
Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming: Gordon Mason, A.C.E., Editor; Stephen Ellis, Editor; Phil McDonald, Editor
Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming: Eddie Kramer, Music Mixing; Steve Crook, Re-Recording Mixer
Directed by Bob Smeaton, Hear My Train A Comin’ provides an in-depth look into the upbringing and expeditious ascent into stardom of one of the most beloved musical personalities of the 20th century. Released by Legacy and Experience Hendrix, LLC, the DVD and Blu-ray versions contain a multitude of bonus features that never aired.
DVD and Blu-ray editions ofJimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin’, released by Experience Hendrix LLC through Sony’s Legacy Recordings include special content not seen in the American Masters broadcast version as follows:
MIAMI POP FESTIVAL: 5.1 Stereo -Never before released color film footage of the group’s legendary May 18, 1968 festival performance, including “Foxey Lady,” “Tax Free,” and “Fire” in addition to interviews with festival promoter Michael Lang and engineer Eddie Kramer.
NEW YORKPOP FESTIVAL: 5.1 Stereo - Never before released color film footage of the group’s July 17, 1970 festival performance,including “Message To Love,” “Lover Man,” “All Along The Watchtower,” “Purple Haze,” and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)".
LOVE & PEACE FESTIVAL:Newly discovered filmfootage of Jimi Hendrix’s final performance on September 6, 1970 at the Isle Of Fehmarn, Germany. Includes “Killing Floor,” “Spanish Castle Magic,” “All Along The Watchtower” and “Foxey Lady”.
TOP OF THE POPS:March 30, 1967 appearance featuring the group performing “Purple Haze”
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American Masters: Jimi Hendrix - Hear My Train A Comin' is directed by the award winning director Bob Smeaton (Festival Express; The Beatles Anthology; Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child; Hendrix 70: Live at Woodstock). Susan Lacy is series creator and executive producer of American Masters. The expanded DVD features an array of special features highlighted by never before released film footage featuring performances filmed at Miami Pop, the July 1970 New York Pop Festival and the September 6, 1970 Love & Peace Festival at the Isle Of Fehmarn in Germany—the final performance by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The high definition DVD features new stereo and 5.1 surround mixing by Hendrix's engineer Eddie Kramer. The documentary is a production of Fuse Films and THIRTEEN's American Masters in association with WNET.
Last month THE HISTORY OF ROCK 'N' ROLL WITH GARY THEROUX was named "The World's Best Online Radio Program" at the New York Festivals International Radio Programming Awards in Manhattan. The daily 2 1/2 minute feature runs three times a day Mondays through Fridays over rewoundradio.com and supernovaradio.co. Samples from THE HISTORY OF ROCK 'N' ROLL have run from time to time on Forgotten Hits.
On Saturday July 26, HISTORY OF ROCK 'N' ROLL host Gary Theroux (who also wrote and co-produced the legendary 52 hour Billboard award-winning version) will make a rare noon-to-8 PM public appearance as host of The Fab 4 Music Festival in Danbury, CT's Ives Concert Park. Subtitled "Danbury Fields Forever," it'll be the first day of a two-day event honoring and celebrating The Beatles 50 years after their American debut. There'll be exhibits, Beatles vendors, loads of food and drink and more than 20 tribute bands performing Beatles music -- both their hits as a group and as solo stars. Ticket prices start as low as $19.64. You can learn more about the festival by calling (203) 795-4737 or by visitinghttp://www.fab4musicfestival.com/
More on the convention for organizer / promoter Charles Rosenay ...
New York/New England regional Beatles-themed festival "Danbury Fields Forever" Announces SCHEDULE
The New York / New England regional Beatles-themed music festival, "Danbury Fields Forever," will "come together" Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27, 2014, at Ives Concert Park, 43 Lake Ave Ext, Danbury, Connecticut. Doors will open at noon, and the music will continue until 8pm daily.
The Music, Foods & Arts Festival is in its third year, with 20 bands playing the music of The Beatles, solo material and songs from the 60s. The Schedule of Entertainment is as follows:
SATURDAY JULY 26
Noon - Doors Open
12:20 Welcome Comments from MC Gary Theroux, RewoundRadio.com's "History of Rock 'n' Roll"
12:30 Charlie Guitar (solo guitar virtuoso)
1 pm Special Guest Appearance by Karl Green, Herman's Hermits founding member and bassist
1 pm School of Rock New Canaan
1:35 Proclamation of "Beatles Weekend" by Mayor Mark D. Boughton
1:45 Pat Horgan & Thunder Road (Garage Band Beatles set)
2:30 Pete Santora of Beatlemania (solo Tribute to George Harrison)
3:15 Fools On The Hill (Milford CT Beatles band)
4 pm Genetic Control (Psychedelic Beatles band from The Bronx)
4:45 Beatlehead (female-lead Beatles band)
5:30 Studio Two (Cavern Era throwback)
6:15 The Oh Nos (solo and rarities tribute)
7 pm The Hofners (Connecticut's foremost Early Beatles band with Ed Sullivan/1964 50th Anniversary Celebration set)
SUNDAY, JULY 27
Noon - Doors Open
12:20 Welcome Comments from MC Ken Michaels, "Every Little Thing" radio show
12:30 School of Rock Westchester
1:15 Ian Lloyd Band (from the 70s rock band The Storie)
2 PM Bill Connors (Empty Garden Elton John tribute)
2:30 One Sweet Dream (McCartney + McCartney-lead Beatle)
3:15 AfterFab (solo Beatles set)
4 pm The Way-Back Machine (Fairfield CT retro rock band)
4:45 The Mystery Tour (Beatles' Sgt. Pepper costumes set)
5:30 Lennon Legacy John Lennon Tribute Show (all-Lennon)
6:15 Rotary (rockin Hartford CT area Beatles band)
7 pm Beatlemania Again (National Touring Show recreating The Beatles' Ed Sullivan Appearance for the 50th Anniversary Celebration)
MC Ken Michaels
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles' U.S. arrival in 1964, one-day "Ticket to Ride" admissions to the Festival start at only $19.64. Advance ticket available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/danbury-fields-forever-iii-tickets-11495548495. There are also V.I.P. tickets available, discounted two-day passes and hotel packages. Tickets will be higher at the door. In addition, there are Beatle and memorabilia dealers and vendors, exhibitors, along with a food court.
"Danbury Fields Forever lll" is presented by Charles F. Rosenay!!!'s Liverpool Productions, the same company that presented "NYC FAB 50," The Beatles' 50th Anniversary Celebration in New York City in February, and organizers of the annual Magical History Tours to Liverpool & London (www.LiverpoolTours.com). A portion of ticket proceeds will benefit a designated charity.
Been doing some shows again. On the 4th of July, I played at the "Silent Movie Theater" (that cries out for a joke). We'll be at Huntington Beach Pier on the 13th, The "Tiki Oasis" in San Diego on 8/15, "Viva Cantina" in Burbank on the 17th and "Cafe Nela" in L.A. on the 31st.
Also working on the 50th anniversary album of "The Arrows" for next year. Thanks again,
Davie Allan
And be sure to check out our buddy Ron Onesti's new program ... "Backstage With Ron Onesti" ... featuring music and interviews with many of the stars who are appearing at his Arcada Theatre!
I am REALLY excited! WGN has a new digital station and they have asked me to produce MY OWN SHOW on it! It is WGN.FM and will be on Fridays at 9 am, just after The Jonathan Brandmeier Show. Not only can you listen, but it will also be a streaming podcast so you can watch it, too!
It's called "Backstage with Ron Onesti ... ALL ACCESS" and will give listeners a behind-the scenes visit with some of the biggest names in show business!
This week's edition (and my first show) will feature '85 Bears Superbowl Champs Dan Hampton, Otis Wilson and Steve McMichael, STYX frontman Dennis DeYoung, Twisted Sister superstar Dee Snider and WGN on-air personalities Bill Jeff and Wendy Snyder.
Can you believe someone is giving us over 10,000 concert videos for FREE from one of the biggest collections in the world?? Many are FULL concerts, some are single songs. Most of these don't need a last name, because you know who I am talking about! The Boss, Aretha, Van, Allmans, the Dead, CSN, Band, Huey, Who, AC/DC, Santana, Costello, Chicago, Stones, Byrds, Marley, Neil Young, Ringo, Zevon, Airplane, Monkees, Brian Wilson, Quicksilver, Fogerty, Muddy Waters, Crenshaw, Tull, Thorogood, Etta, Tina, Bonnie, Brubeck, Neville, Lou, P-Funk, Corea, Jarreau, Police, Jimmy Cliff, Procol, T-Birds, Stevie Ray, NRPS, Buddy, Palmer, Gabriel, Paul Rodgers ... ALL added yesterday to youtube!!
Read this:
Music Vault Releases For Free Over 17000 Archived Concert Footages To YouTubeToday, online concert footage archive Music Vault is releasing 17,318 videos on its YouTube, give or take a few. "There are probably a couple that will fall out because we still need to go through and scrub for quality," says Bill Sagan (no relation to Carl), CEO of Wolfgang's Vault, the music and memorabilia archive that includes Music Vault along with Concert Vault, Pastemagazine.com, and Daytrotter.com. "We do the best we can with the masters we’re given, but for something 50 years old that’s been sitting in a 90-degree garage -- which we occasionally get -- the quality is not good enough to put up."
Though Wolfgang's Vault started making its plethora of decades-old, legendary shows available online in 2009, today's haul marks the company's largest. The main reason it has taken so long, according to Sagan, once again comes down to numbers. Since his company's collecting began in 2002, 92,000 tapes -- most "decrepit,""in some cases falling apart," Sagan tells Billboard -- have been laboriously transferred, mixed, and mastered until they're of internet-worthy quality; or at least, better than the Grateful Dead bootleg live recordings scattered throughout YouTube.
Norton LLC, Sagan's company that owns Wolfgang's Vault, started his massive compendium with legendary promoter Bill Graham's (a.k.a. Wolodia "Wolfgang" Grajonca, hence the name) archive of footage from the 35,000 concerts he put on worldwide. After acquiring Graham's archive from Clear Channel -- which purchased his company, Bill Graham Presents, in 2011 -- Sagan went on to acquire archives including Newport Folk Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, and syndicated radio show King Biscuit's Flower Hour, along with their copyrights. In total, Norton has invested $56 million in the properties.
Until this point, access to the Vaults, Daytrotter, and Paste has been subscription-based. Concert Vault memberships, for example, range from $3.99 a month to $39.99 a year. The main reason Norton is putting all these videos online for free right now, says Bill Antonucci, video director, editor, and shooter for the sites, "is because of the incredible reach that YouTube provides. We are very proud of this content, and we believe that it deserves the largest audience possible." One of his favorite videos, he adds, include Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band at the Capitol Theater in 1978 for his Darkness on the Edge of Town tour. "The show is in September, and for whatever reason, he decides to open the second set with 'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,'" he tells Billboard. "When you're the Boss, you can do things like that." Others include the Allman Brothers' performance of "Whipping Post" at the Fillmore East in 1970, the Who at Tanglewood the same year, and the Meters reuniting in New Orleans in 1980.
The Music Vault YouTube, which is already active, has already amassed over 20,000 daily views and 600,000 over the past month. Right now, only single-song videos are uploaded, but Antonucci hopes to get full concert footage up in the future. The site is subdivided into themed lists like Legendary Drummers, Best of the Grateful Dead, and Leading Ladies of Rock, along with channels for Daytrotter and Paste Magazine's live performances, which live only on Music Vault (neither of those sites has a YouTube). Subscribers to Music Vault's YouTube will also receive alerts on their favorite artist's birthdays or anniversaries.
Here's a clip that Frannie found of the original "School Of Rock" movie cast, ten years later, featuring Jack Black performing in Austin. SO cool to see that all these kids kept the music thing going ... and some of them look EXACTLY the same!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLcqTLTohCU&sns=em
>>>I got an email from a listener who told me that he does not like it when I mention how many years ago a song came out. He says that it makes him feel old and he then turns off the radio.
I have always thought that saying the year a song came out brings back even more memories of high school, college, girl friends, parties, weddings, etc. Another dj told me some years ago that he was not allowed to mention a song's year of release at his station because a 'consultant' had advised his station to never do that. The expert mentioned the fact that it made people feel old and younger listeners would be turned off because of how long ago it actually was. I don't agree with this, however, I thought perhaps you could ask your readers sometime and see how they feel. (Phil - WRCO)
>>>I've run into this more and more lately ... and the general consensus seems to be that listeners don't want to be reminded about how old they are ... and putting a time stamp on this music may turn younger listeners off because of how "ancient" and "dated" it is. Even Rewound Radio uses the slogan "It's not how OLD it is ... it's how GOOD it is" as part of their regular campaign. Then again, stations like The True Oldies Channel and Real Oldies have worn the banner proudly on their chests, exclaiming EXACTLY what they are. Honestly I think "oldies music" has become more of a genre than an implication of a particular age ... sure, you're only going to hear music of a certain era ... but it's a "feel good" period in music when competition and creativity were at an all time high ... and all of this is reflected in the wide variety of sounds that captivated all of us then and helped to broaden our horizons as to just how much great music was really out there in this creative and rapidly evolving time. A couple of years ago we ran a very successful series called "What Is An Oldie?" ... but even our team of experts couldn't seem to narrow it down to anything specific. I'm happy to put your inquiry out there and see what comes back ... a pretty mixed bag of responses I would imagine ... with no real right or wrong answer. What say you? Drop us a line if you've got an opinion on this topic and we'll run some of your responses next week in Forgotten Hits. (kk)
Naturally, I couldn't resist the temptation to wax on (get it?) about the sad state of radio today ... Geez are there ANY oldies stations left that actually proudly PLAY this music??? (kk)
It is sad I will admit. There are a few of us left living the dream in the smaller markets. Most owners just let a computer run the whole thing after a live morning show. We may not have the deepest voices and the funniest sound bites, but we are live and local.
Phil
As you know, there was a time when radio was the be-all / end-all to our daily existence ... and there were radio stations that REALLY cared about what they put out there ... it MATTERED to them to be the FIRST one on the air with the latest hits by the biggest artists ... and they would stop at NOTHING to make that happen. Radio was personality-driven and, as such, many of these disc jockeys became nearly as popular as the artists themselves. Doing nightly and weekly record hops only helped to fuel the fire. And yes, it WAS the day of Top 40 Radio ... so the play list was limited and repeated a lot ... but that's because that was the market at the time ... and we, as anxious kids and fans of this music, stayed tuned in from dawn to dusk (and then some, with radios hidden under our pillows when we were supposed to be sleeping at night!) because we couldn't wait to hear the latest Beatles or Beach Boys record again in two hours.
Where oldies radio has dropped the ball is the fact that there is no longer a need for a restricted, tight play list. Because this music encompasses the entire era, there is no end to the realm of possibilities of what can be played today ... and would sound good on the radio.
We didn't care back then ... we carried around our tiny little transistor radios and listened to the latest sounds coming out of a tinny, one-inch speaker. Years later we went to tremendous sound systems with HUGE speakers and surround-sound ... only to end up again today listening to most of this music today on a tiny iPod or out of our little computer speakers. To that degree, everything old is new again.
Remember, it was a black-and-white world then for the most part ... we had three tv channels to choose from so we all watched the same shows. The next day, you could talk to just about anyone because odds were they watched whatever YOU watched the night before!
Same with the radio.
When WLS would run a promotion at the beach, the radio crew could move from one end of the beach to the other and every single radio was tuned to the same station! Even as a spectator, you didn't need to bring your own radio to the sandy shore ... every step you took kept you in touch with WLS, whether you had a radio with you or not! So again, we were all exposed to the same sights and sounds ... and built our memories around this.
By the time we were old enough to be cruising around in our cars at night, we had a few more options to choose from ... but odds are if you were listening to one radio station and pulled up next to a car at a stop light that was blasting a better tune, you simply pushed the button and changed the station so that YOU could listen to it, too! (Man, life was SO much simpler then!!! lol)
With literally over 10,000 legitimate hit songs to choose from during the 25 year period of 1956 - 1980, it completely blows my mind that a radio station wouldn't program at least 2500-3000 of them ... more variety for the listener AND the guy in the booth who has to play them! As mentioned SO many times before in these pages, many of us have ended up hating some of the very songs we loved the most, simply because of over-saturation of this same material ... and there's really no excuse for it ... especially not with so much good music to choose from!Back then, it wasn't an option ... and, thankfully, records were released at such an incredible rate (bands were releasing three, four or five singles per year ... and sometimes as many as two or three albums!), the play list changed frequently enough that boredom never had a chance to set in. There is absolutely NO excuse to subject us to this repetitive cycle of music today. (kk)
We got a few responses and opinions on this one ... let's face it, it's totally subjective ... but maybe if more radio people understood how their listeners REALLY felt (rather than being told what some consultant wants them to hear), they could program their radio show accordingly and cater to the fans who actually spend time listening to them ... rather than a bunch of suits sitting in an office programming cookie-cutter radio stations all over the country, insuring that each one sounds exactly the same as the other. Here are a few of the responses we received. (kk)
Hi Kent,
I have to admit Iwas surprised that anyone has a problem with a D.J. giving the year a song came out. I am with you in that it catapults you to revisit certain times in your life. Heck, with the memory not as good as it once was, music often is my link to many things I may have otherwise forgotten.
When you ran the piece on "What is an Oldie", my children were unanimous. They believe an oldie is music from your parents generation.
I love the Mark Lindsey song youposted recently, "First Hymn from Grace Terrace". I have always loved the song but I did not know it was Mark Lindsay singing it. I thought it was Bobby Goldsboro or someone like that. I hope that doesn't offend Mark. In any event ... good song ... thanks for bringing it back to me.
Stacee
I agree that knowing when a song came out helps trigger a particular memory of a special time. One of the reason we do The Saturday Surveys is to better show you what "bulk" of music was out at a particular time, as sort of a "this is what we were all listening to on the radio then". If one song doesn't spark a memory, odds are another one will. (kk)
Hi Kent,
As an Oldies freak, and also someone who grew up in the 60's 70's, I like it when a DJ tells when a song was out. I already know I'm getting old so most times I know when those songs came out. I still like it though, cause I don't always remember correctly.
Again I'm an Oldies freak and really love knowing the history of our music. I suppose the average listener doesn't care as much. Then again, if I were a young listener and Ithought a song was cool, I might be interested in hearing more songs from that year if I knew when it came out. I think most radio consultants should be fed to the dinosaurs since they've screwed up our beloved radio so much.
Bill
Hey Kent -
Regarding your discussion on mentioning how old a record is - I say do it, cuz we all know how old we are, and it does bring back memories (hopefully good ones) from those days. And I saw a guy the other night at the Elk Grove Survivor concert wearing a t-shirt that said 'I love Geezer Rock'! He said a bunch of people wanted to take a picture of his shirt! Made me laugh, and at this point, that's the best thing to do! Marlene
Hi Kent,
Just saw this article and thought I'd pass it along. Not sure I agree with it, however. Seems to me as though Classic Rock tunes are the same in all parts of the country. This article sites Clear Channel folks as saying that's not so?
It sure seems to be the same everywhere WE go!!! (kk)
Kent, We most emphatically want to know the year a song we hear was a hit. Giving us the year is more effective than telling us how many years ago we heard it. People don't necessarily want to do the math, and giving us the year immediately lets the listeners key in to their own life experiences during the year the song was popular. The delivery can vary from "From the summer of '71, it's Three Dog Night" to "Where were you on this day in 1967?", to any variation on the theme. The problem with most stations that still play a few oldies is that the jocks are just not familiar with the music, or the era, or the history of the world or the bands and artists. The jocks are off the hook by just playing the music - and since so much is voice-tracked, they are unable to inject any energy in the way the music is presented. It's just so dull. Semi-related side note: I don't have Sirius / XM in my car and recently rented a car for several days that included it. We were on the road for long hours each day, so I had a good opportunity to listen to several channels. I was quite surprised at how often I heard repeats on the 60s channel. Honestly, several tracks that weren't Top 10 hits were being repeated every day, and sometimes even more often. With such a vast library to choose from, I was thoroughly unimpressed - and thankful for my iPod. David
Why would anybody pay money to hear the same songs you're already hearing everywhere else, over and over and over again. The entire concept of what satellite radio was SUPPOSED to be seems to have been lost along the way. And this time it can't be because of advertising pressure ... these stations run commercial free. So what's left? Ignorance and Laziness? Or perhaps a combination of the two?
Kent,
Can you please add Kevin Boles to your email list? He is a 27 year old with the heart of a 1950s and 1960s fan. He is a DJ on WATD in Marshfield, MA, playing the music we grew up with. He is a great kid and has visited me many times while I have been in the hospital. Thank God I am going home on Saturday, However I have been in the same hospital as Lenny Baker of ShaNaNa so Lenny and I have been spending a lot of time together and he needs to be lifted in prayer, I am very worried about him.
Keep doing what your doing, because you are great at what you do.
Glad to hear you're feeling better, Jimmy and are on the mend ... it's gotta feel good just to be back home again. SO happy to hear that a 27-year-old has found an appreciation for this great music ... so much so that he wants to share it with others. It's kind like I've always been saying ... give it a listen ... and you just may like what you hear! (kk)
Regarding announcing the year of a song's popularity, an informal survey got me four responses and three of the four said they're satisfied just knowing the decade, as opposed to the specific year. Actually since you're posing the question to music lovers, many of whom know the year whether or not the jock announces it, the fourth responder and I agree that they should announce the year. I'll take it one step further and say ANY info the jock has, provided it's accurate, is always appreciated.
Jack
Certainly makes the whole listening process a lot more interesting to my ears ... but you're right ... more often than not, I end up cringing at some bad, misinformation being passed along instead. (That's why I like hearing from some of these "vintage" jocks that were actually there at the time ... many of them had the chance to hang out with these artists during some type of concert or promotion or in-studio visit ... THOSE are the stories I love hearing!) kk
Hmmmmmm. I think the problem is more of a personal one when it comes to naming years. Facts are facts. Should we change history? No naming of when Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin actually recorded and were popular? Or is it just a fear of a personal era ... any era that involves us? We don't have to run around the neighborhood and say, "They are playing a song from 1962 on the radio and it makes me feel sooooo old!". Nobody need know. Enjoy the song, forget the year. I'm sure there are some under 30's who feel the same way about 90's songs. Oh well. THIS will be the best year of my life for me!
Shelley J Sweet-Tufano
Perhaps because I've been a fan of music for so long, hearing it now acts as sort of a "time stamp" for me. I already know that my favorite year in music was 1967 ... as such, the minute a song from 1967 comes on, I proudly puff out my chest and say "I rest my case" ... but the years ALSO reflect how the music changed and developed over time. I have ALWAYS enjoyed hearing the stories behind the songs, particularly from the artists themselves. It adds so much more to the listening experience. In fact, for years now I've been telling Scott Shannon of The True Oldies Channel that he should share more personal experiences on the air. This guy has been there and done it all ... met SO many of these great artists and has SO many stories to tell, all from a first-hand, hands-on experience. I believe the listeners will respond well to Scott's personal anecdotes ... I know I'D sure love to hear them!!! Not every song ... not even every day ... just once in a while ... maybe a few times a week ... share a particular memory or incident related to that song or artist that make the record more "personal" for the listener. (kk)
And, speaking of Scott Shannon, we heard from HIM, too!!! The newly revamped True Oldies Channel (v2.0) is up and running ... and better than ever ... on the web. Fewer commercials ... more music ... more variety ... I've been listening and he has amped up the playlist with more late-'50's and early-'60's music ... and more "wow" songs. Oh heck, I'll just let HIM tell you all about it!
KENT ,,,
COULD YOU PLEASE LET YOUR READERS KNOW THAT THE TRUE OLDIES CHANNEL IS UP AND RUNNING WITH VERSION 2.0 !!! STREAMING 24/7 AT: WWW.TRUEOLDIESCHANNEL.COM.
YOU CAN GET IT ON LAPTOPS, DESKTOPS ... AND THERE ARE EVEN FREE APPS FOR ALL SMART PHONES, AND I-PADS. WE ALSO NOW ROLL WITH A VERY LOW COMMERCIAL LOAD, (4 MINUTES AN HOUR) AND FORGOTTEN HITS READERS WILL LOVE THE FACT THAT WE HAVE REDONE THE MUSIC MIX ON THE TOC TO INCLUDE A TON OF FORGOTTEN HITS FROM THE 60'S. EVERYONE IS INVITED TO LISTEN AND OFFER FEEDBACK!
SCOTT
DJ
I've been listening quite a bit myself lately ... and it's great to hear the "beefed-up" True Oldies Channel ... running with more freedom and variety than ever before. Who would have EVER thought, all these years later, that Scott would be more popular than ever with his new WCBS-FM gig and the newly revamped True Oldies Channel? (Remember the old adage "Life begins at 40"? He truly seems "reborn" at the age of 66!) And it sounds like he's having the time of his life ... happier than ever ... and every bit of that comes across on the air! (Scott's been doing this for a long, long time ... since he was just a young boy, he's known exactly what he's wanted to do ... and he's been living that dream ever since. How many of us out there can make THAT statement?!?! Some of you may remember, many, many years ago, reading in your history books as a child, that the night that Thomas Edison first invented electricity, a young Scott Shannon exclaimed, "Good! Now I can listen to Dick Biondi!!!") kk
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