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The Sunday Comments ( 04 - 24 - 16 )

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Prince:   
Kent, 
Wow, this one's a real punch in the gut.  
For my best friend at the time and I in the 80's, Prince was the shit.  Listening to "Purple Rain" over and over again, dragging friends along to see the film, practically wearing out my VHS copy (which cost almost $30, had to wait several months before it was released to VHS).  I remember sitting with my roommates listening to the radio, waiting to hear the single "Kiss" for the first time.  So excited when it came on.  We would go to underage dance clubs in Salem, Oregon, and see the Prince look-alikes walking around, so royal.  So far, a terrible year for music fans.  The doves are crying with sadness now, and the Purple Rain is falling, mingling with the tears of all his fans (including me) who loved his music, his style ... there will never be another Prince.  Heaven is having one helluva of a rock show right now.  R.I.P. Purple One  "Life Is Just A Party, And Parties Weren't Meant To Last" ... 
Ed Pond
It's been a hard, hard year for rock and roll, no question about it.  Funny thing is on the way home from work the day that Prince died I heard three different David Bowie songs playing at the same time on three different radio stations ... we haven't even gotten over THAT one yet and now we've already been hit with another.
Sounds like the autopsy only took about four hours ... but it may be several weeks before the full results are released to the public ... they want to discuss with this family first (and trace back what they find thru his family tree.)  Meanwhile, be prepared to hear more Prince music than ever.  Tough, tough year for rock and roll.  (kk)

Hey Kent,
Like you, I never really was into, or paid much attention to Prince's music, UNTIL I heard him solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". I couldn't remember if his performance was on the Grammys, the R&R Hall of Fame, or a PBS George Harrison tribute special. All I remember was that he played a kick-ass guitar solo, was wearing a red hat, and that he put a big smile on Danhi Harrison's face! Has it been twelve years already? Anyway, my opinion of him did a 180 after I witnessed that solo, and I have listened to a lot more of his music from that point forward. What an extremely talented guy we've lost. This proves that good things DO come in small packages!
One of my best friends met him once by chance, as Prince was filming "Purple Rain". He noticed the film crew near Prince's compound, was curious as to what they were doing, parked his car, and walked over to the set. He stood next to a guy, who was in costume, and asked him what he was doing there. My friend said that he just wanted to watch something being filmed. The man was super nice and chit-chatted with him until the director yelled "ACTION!". Then, the man got on his motorcycle and sped off, until the director yelled "CUT!" My friend then realized that it was PRINCE he was talking to! Lots of tributes have come in from music super-stars, you have shown. My favorite is from Bono, who compared him to other historic music icons.
- John LaPuzza

Interesting in hindsight ...

Here's how Vintage Vinyl News reported Prince's emergency landing in Moline, Illinois, a few days back ... of course ALL of this was based on information given to the press by Prince's PR / Media Team at the time.  We all know differently now.  Cannot help but wonder if it wasn't a combination of ALL of these circumstances that ultimately did him in ...   

A nasty case of the flu prompted Prince to make an emergency landing in Illinois on Friday morning.  
The superstar was heading home from a show in Atlanta, Georgia when he was taken ill and he instructed the pilot of his private jet to touch down and get him to the hospital. 
The plane landed at Quad City International Airport in Moline just after 1 AM local time, and Prince was taken to a nearby hospital by ambulance, where he was treated and released hours later.  
A representative for the Purple Rain singer has assured fans the 57-year-old is feeling much better and is now resting at home.  
A source tells TMZ the singer has been fighting the flu for several weeks and cancelled two shows on April 7.  
He fell ill just before taking the stage in Atlanta on Thursday night, but insisted on continuing with the performance. Singers Janelle Monae and Judith Hill were in the audience cheering Prince on as he performed while sick as a dog at the Fox Theatre. And according to Janelle, Prince did nothing but impress in spite of his ailment.
"Prince. In Atlanta. At the FOX Theatre. With just a piano. Greatest ever. RE inspired all over again," she wrote on her Twitter page.  
Prince was flattered by all the admiration he received for the show, writing on his own Twitter account: " I am still floating on a cloud of purple intoxication after last night's Piano & A Microphone show in Atlanta."    

In the 24 hours after Prince's death he occupied The Top 19 Best Selling albums on Amazon.com.  (He also had MILLIONS of downloads during this same time period.)  By comparison, after David Bowie's death he claimed 14 of the Top 20 spots on this chart.)  Why do people always wait until AFTER the artist is gone to buy their music?  That's kinda like The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inducting artists after they've left us and can't even appreciate the so-called honor. (Of course with Prince and Bowie the Rock Hall actually got it right ... but there have been COUNTLESS others who never got to bask in the glory simply because The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame waited too long to recognize their talent and contribution.)
Meanwhile, I mentioned above that radio is still saturated with David Bowie music several months later ... expect much of the same with the Prince catalog.  (Maybe they'll even dig a little deeper and play some of his OTHER great music rather than the same five or six Good Ol' Standbys they keep featuring now.)  kk


Lonnie Mack:  
Lonnie Mack is a roadhouse blues-rock legend -- modern rock's first true guitar hero. His playing has influenced the course of rock and roll and had an impact on many of modern rock's current guitar heroes, including Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and especially Stevie Ray Vaughan. His early music bridged the gap between '50s rockabilly and the psychedelic blues-rock of the following decade, and, like the best rock and roll, his work continues to embody a mixture of white and black roots music. Rock, blues, soul and country -- Lonnie brings them all together for a sound that has been all his own for nearly forty years.
Lonnie was born in 1941 in Harrison, Indiana -- some forty miles west of Cincinnati. Learning his first chords from his Mother at the age of five, Lonnie grew up playing bluegrass, country and gospel with his family and friends and listening to old radio stations which were playing black blues, jazz and gospel.  Taking from all these influences he created his own personal style and when Rockabilly emerged to the music scene, Lonnie was already playing it!  
He began playing professionally in his early teens when he quit school after a disagreement with his 7th grade teacher.  He worked clubs and roadhouses around the tri-state border area of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. In 1958, he bought the guitar he still plays today -- a Gibson Flying V old number 7. In addition to his live gigs, Lonnie began playing sessions for the King and Fraternity labels in Cincinnati. He recorded with blues and r&b greats like Hank Ballard, Freddie King and James Brown.  
In 1963, at the end of another artist's session, Lonnie cut an instrumental version of Chuck Berry's ''Memphis.'' He didn't even know that Fraternity had issued the single until a friend came to where he was performing at the Peppermint Lounge in Florida and said he'd been listening to it on the car radio all the way down!  He contacted Fraternity and had them ship him out a box of the 45's.  "Memphis" had hit the national Top 5 and Lonnie Mack went from being a talented regional roadhouse player to a national star virtually overnight.  
Suddenly, he was booked for hundreds of gigs a year, criss-crossing the country in his Cadillac and rushing back to Cincinnati or Nashville to cut new singles. "Wham! '''Where There's A Will There's A Way", ''Chicken Pickin'" and many many more records followed "Memphis".  "Where There's A Will" earned extensive black radio airplay before the DJ's found out Lonnie was white, but there was enough reaction to keep him on the road for another five years of grueling one - nighters.  
Fraternity Records died, but Lonnie kept on gigging, and in 1968 a Rolling Stone article stimulated new interest in his music. He signed with Elektra Records and cut three albums. He began playing all the major rock venues, from Fillmore East to Fillmore West. Lonnie also made a guest appearance on the Doors' Morrison Hotel album where you can hear Jim Morrison's urging "Do it, Lonnie!  Do It!"  He even worked in Elektra's A&R department. When the label merged (and his motorcycle was stolen) Lonnie had had enough of the new bureaucracy bullshit and walked out of his prestigious job.  
He headed back to rural Indiana, playing back-country bars, going fishing and laying low. After five years of relative obscurity, Lonnie signed with Capitol and cut two albums that featured his country influences. He played on the West Coast for a while and even flew to Japan for a Save The Whales benefit. Then he headed to New York to team up with an old friend named Ed Labunski. Labunski was a wealthy jingle writer that wrote "This Bud's For You" who was tired of commercials and wanted to write and play for pleasure. He and Lonnie built a studio in rural Pennsylvania and spent three years organizing and recording a country-rock band called South, which included Buffalo-based keyboardist Stan Szelest, who later played on Lonnie's Alligator debut. Ed and Lonnie had big plans for their partnership, including producing an album by a then-obscure Texas guitarist named Stevie Ray Vaughan. But the plans evaporated when Labunski died in an auto accident, and the South album wasn't released until Lonnie started his own publishing company (Mack's Flying V Music) in 1998. 
Disheartened after the loss of his friend, Lonnie headed for Canada and joined the band of veteran rocker Ronnie Hawkins for a summer. He then returned to Indiana without a band and played solo acoustic music in his own home town.  Lonnie's brother Billy and his good friend and old keyboard player Dumpy Rice started showing up at his gigs.  Eventually he had a road worthy band again and started playing the same tri-state border area of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio as they had back in the early days before Memphis.   
Lonnie began his re-emergence on the national scene in November of 1983. At Stevie Ray Vaughan's urging, he relocated from southern Indiana to Austin, Texas. He began jamming with Stevie Ray in local clubs and flying to New York for gigs at the Lone Star and the Ritz. When Alligator Records approached him to do an album, Lonnie immediately called on Vaughan to help him out. The result was Strike Like Lightning (AL 4739), co-produced by Lonnie and Stevie Ray and featuring Stevie's guitar on several tracks. "We went for Lonnie's original sound here," Vaughan said. The joint effort was one of 1985's best selling independent records and topped many critics'"Best Of" list for that year.  
Lonnie's re-emergence was a major music industry event. Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Ry Cooder and Stevie Ray Vaughan all joined Lonnie on stage during his '85/86' tour. Other celebrities -- Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Paul Simon, Eddie Van Halen, Dwight Yoakum, actor Matt Dillon and comedienne Sandra Bernhard -- attended shows during the Strike Like Lightning tour. The year was capped off with a stellar performance at New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall with label-mates Albert Collins and the late Roy Buchanan. His Alligator follow-up, Second Sight (AL 4750), highlighted Lonnie's continuing evolution as a musician and singer / songwriter. He self-produced the album and wrote eight of the ten tunes. The album spotlighted his cured-in-the-wood vocals more than Strike Like Lightning but also included a healthy dose of Lonnie's burning Flying V.   After Second Sight's release Lonnie went on tour with Huey Lewis and the News. 
Lonnie's re-found visibility earned him a contract with Epic Records, and in 1988 that label released Lonnie's Roadhouses and Dancehalls album. Critics applauded the recording, but CBS didn't know quite how to market it. They tried to force it into a country music niche, ignoring its roots-rock and r&b influences. Not able to push the album to its full sales potential, Epic let the project slide from the top of its priority list. Lonnie, again disenchanted with the major label scenario, began making plans for his return to Alligator.  
Lonnie Mack's career traces the history of rock and roll. Drawing from influences as diverse as rhythm and blues, country, gospel and rockabilly, Lonnie has won the hearts of fans worldwide. He is revered by a new generation of rock performers. He has played everywhere from tiny roadhouse clubs to huge rock showcases and national television. He has recorded for major labels, indies and Lonnie now has his own label "Mack's Flying V Music". 
Note:  Lonnie now is enjoying retirement in the hills of Tennessee and reviewing the scores of songs, tapes and videos which to date have gone unreleased!  Keep an eye on the "Mule Barn" for new "old" releases coming soon!
-- submitted by Ken Voss  

Lonnie's guitar playing was legendary in blues circles.  I'm told they named the "whammy bar" after his second hit single "Wham"!
Frank 
 


Kent,   
Lonnie was 74. I'm telling you, it's the new 27. 
Jack

The Mamas and the Papas:
Great coverage of the Mamas & Papas.
Thought you'd be interested in some of my Jimi Hendrix documentation of Jimi crossing paths with the Mamas and Papas.  
Photos are as follows:
6/18/17 - Monterey Pop Festival 
8/18/67 - Two from backstage at the Hollywood Bowl. The Jimi Hendrix Experience scheduled as an opening act with The Mamas & The Papas as headliners with Scott McKenzie on the bill. Most reviews said the Experience were booed off the stage - a Mamas & Papas crowd. 
10/8/67 - Mama Cass visiting Hendrix backstage at the Jimi Hendrix Experience performance at the Saville Theater in London. Hendrix was headlining a bill with the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Eire Apparent. 
9/28/68 - Two of Jimi Hendrix attending a party in honor of Donovan hosted at The Factory club in L.A. by Kirk Douglas and Mama Cass
Ken Voss





Wow! Some beautiful and amazing stuff here, Ken! Thanks so much for sending.  (kk)

What's The Name Of That Song?  
The name of the song is called ... 
(That's a reference to Alice from Through the Looking Glass, in herconversation with the White Knight. http://www.haddockseyes.com/) 
I remember going to the record store in downtown Park Ridge and singing"Slow down, you move too fast" to the clerk because I loved the song butthe goofball DJs were screwing around so much that they hadn't announced
the name while I was listening. I'll bet that happened a *lot*.  
--73--
--Jeff Duntemann K7JPD
   Colorado Springs, Colorado
We've come up with over a hundred titles now that qualify ... and are working with DJ Phil Nee at WRCO about putting together some type of radio special built around this theme.  We'll keep you posted.
Honestly the whole concept has been driving me crazy ... song after song after song pops into my head as being a possible candidate.  One recent one was "Master Blaster" by Stevie Wonder ... one of my all-time favorites by him.  I couldn't recall Stevie ever uttering the title phrase ... but a quick online check of the lyrics shows that it IS, in fact, sung numerous times by the background singers ... so I guess it doesn't count, right???  Kind of a gray area I would think.
Another one that's quite baffling is the Brothers Johnson hit "Strawberry Letter 23" ... they mention "strawberry letter 22" a few times in the lyric ... but NEVER "strawberry letter 23".  Now that's just odd!!!  (lol)  kk



By the way, have you seen the previews for the new Johnny Depp movie "Alice Through The Looking Glass"?  It looks absolutely amazing!  And Pink does a FINE version of the classic Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit", which is FINALLY being tied to the film.  Opens soon ... can't wait!  


(We saw the live action version of Disney's "The Jungle Book" yesterday ... also quite amazing.  Of course now I've had "I Wanna Be Like You" and "The Bare Necessities" playing in my head nonstop ever since!  (In the film, these Disney classics are sung by Christopher Walken ... as King Louie ... and Bill Murray ... as Baloo!)  kk
 
Hi Kent, 
Did anyone submit DOUBLE BARREL by Dave & Ansell Collins? 
I have no idea why I love that tune. It sure didn’t sound like anything else at that time. 
With all the grunts and screams contained within, I don’t think the words “Double Barrel” are ever mentioned. 
Bill Fortune
Quite honestly, I wasn't familiar enough with "Double Barrel" to know if it qualified or not ... I had to look up the lyrics just to be sure ... but you're right ... the title does not appear anywhere within the song.  This was a Top 20 Hit back in 1971 that has disappeared COMPLETELY from radio ever since.  You'll find a quick refresher course below!  (kk)


 

This And That:
Here's a cool shot of a long line of people waiting to see the Motown Review outside The Fox Theater, back in the 60's. 
Frank


Frank (who grew up in Detroit) also sent us this vintage Keener Survey from this date in 1965 ... sharing with all those chart lovers out there!!!  (We see Herman's Hermits with two Top 15 Hits ... and brand new debuts by The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Tom Jones, Freddie and the Dreamers and an early hit for The O'Jays!!!  Esther Phillips' version of "And I Love Him" makes a five point leap this week while Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs climb 18 places from #26 to #8!!!  Cool stuff!  (kk)




From Tom Cuddy (by way ofRolling Stone Magazine), here's a report on the final show of the Chicago / Earth, Wind and Fire tour, which wrapped up at Madison Square Garden in New York City last week ...
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/see-behind-the-scenes-photos-of-chicago-and-earth-wind-fire-live-20160419 

And ZZ Top is going through a tour-interuptus right now, due to an injury to Dusty Hill ... details from Bob Merlis below:  
BASSIST FRACTURES SHOULDER ...
ZZ TOP DATES NOW POSTPONED THROUGH MAY 7  
Last Thursday, Dusty Hill was injured at the Lone Star Events Center in Lubbock, Texas that prevented the evening's ZZ Top performance from taking place.  Dusty has subsequently undergone treatment for a fractured shoulder. ZZ Top's concert dates on the current tour have been postponed through May 7. 
Carl Stubner, the band's manager, reported, "Dusty was suited up and ready to go when he tripped on a step while on his way to the stage for the start of Thursday's show.  It was very dark back there and the step - really a half-step - wasn't lit so there's no way he could've seen it.  We found out that others had missed it and stumbled earlier in the day. Maybe some strategic lighting could've prevented this, but that's water under the bridge.  What's important now is that Dusty and his medical team to do what's necessary for a complete recovery." 
Dusty Hill, offered this comment, "My physicians told me that this type of injury is usually associated with contact sports.  I'm not sure bass-playing qualifies as such but they're doing their best to get me back in the game as soon as possible.  Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes we've received.  We're determined to enjoy a speedy recovery and to see you soon!" 
The following cities have been rescheduled.  Please stay tuned for local announcements as well as new tour dates Shreveport, LA 
Biloxi, MS 
Lake Charles, LA 
Chattanooga, TN 
Augusta, GA 
Atlanta, GA 
Sarasota, FL 
Naples, FL
Clearwater, FL 
Shawnee, OK 

Frank B sent us this list of Keith Richards' most influential albums ... the full article will run in "Q" Magazine in July ...
http://www.examiner.com/article/keith-richards-opens-up-his-record-collection-and-names-most-influential-albums


Here's the final scoop on the brand new Monkees album coming out next month, courtesy of Vintage Vinyl News:

The Monkees will release their first new album in twenty years on May 27 (vinyl on July 1) with the Adam Schlesinger produced Good Times.  
Bits and pieces about the album have leaked out over the last couple of months but we now have a firm track list and information. All three surviving members of the group, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith, have written music for the set and sing.  The late-Davy Jones also makes an appearance on the archive cut Love to Love.  
Much of the album is newly recorded but, like Love to Love, there are other cuts that were previously unfinished in the archives. The opening cut, Good Times, was written by Harry Nilsson and originally recorded in January 1968 with Nilsson's own voice on guide vocals. The track has now been completed for the album with Dolenz joining Nilsson for a duet from over time.  
There are also a number of newly recorded tracks with songs specifically written for this project by such current artists as Rivers Cuomo of Weezer (She Makes Me Laugh), Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie (Me & Magdalena), Andy Partridge of XTC (You Bring The Summer), as well as a song co-written by Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller (Birth Of An Accidental Hipster).  
The track list with songwriting credits:
  • Good Times (Harry Nilsson)
  • You Bring The Summer (Andy Partridge)
  • She Makes Me Laugh (Rivers Cuomo)
  • Our Own World (Adam Schlesinger)
  • Gotta Give It Time (Jeff Barry/Joey Levine)
  • Me & Magdalena (Ben Gibbard)
  • Whatever's Right (Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart)
  • Love To Love (Neil Diamond)
  • Little Girl (Peter Tork)
  • Birth Of An Accidental Hipster (Noel Gallagher/Paul Weller)
  • I Wasn't Born To Follow (Carole King/Gerry Goffin)
  • I Know What I Know (Michael Nesmith)
  • I Was There (And I'm Told I Had A Good Time) (Micky Dolenz/Adam Schlesinger)
Look for Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork on the road this summer for the group's 50th anniversary with a show highlighting their greatest hits and the new album. Michael Nesmith will not be participating in the tour.  
  • 05/18 - Fort Myers, Florida - Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall
  • 05/19 - Melbourne, Florida - King Center for the Performing Arts
  • 05/20 - Tampa, Florida - Ruth Eckerd Hall
  • 05/21 - Atlanta, Georgia - Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater
  • 05/24 - Charlotte, North Carolina - Blumenthal PAC - Belk Theater
  • 05/26 - Washington, DC - Warner Theatre
  • 05/27 - Boston, Massachusetts - The Wilbur Theatre
  • 05/28 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Keswick Theatre
  • 05/29 - Red Bank, New Jersey - Count Basie Theatre
  • 06/01 - New York, New York - The Town Hall
  • 06/03 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Casino Rama - Entertainment Centre
  • 06/04 - Windsor, Ontario, Canada - The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor
  • 06/05 - Cleveland, Ohio - Hard Rock Live Northfield Park
  • 06/07 - Fort Wayne, Indiana - Foellinger Theatre
  • 06/08 - Grand Rapids, MI - Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
  • 06/10 - Louisville, Kentucky - Louisville Palace Theatre
  • 06/11 - Hammond, Indiana - The Venue At Horseshoe Casino
  • 06/12 - Indianapolis, Indiana - Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
  • 06/14 - Dayton, Ohio - Rose Music Center at The Heights
  • 06/16 - Salt Lake City, UT - Red Butte Garden
  • 06/28 - Dallas, Texas - AT&T PAC - Winspear Opera House
  • 06/30 - Tulsa, Oklahoma - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino - The Joint
  • 07/01 - Mayetta, Kansas - Prairie Band Casino & Resort - Grand Lakes Ballroom
  • 07/14 - Ottawa, ON - Lebreton Flats Park (RBC Bluesfest)
  • 07/16 - Hampton Beach, New Hampshire - Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
  • 07/22 - Hot Springs, Arkansas - Oaklawn Racing and Gaming - Finish Line Theater
  • 09/14 - Tucson, Arizona - Fox Tucson Theatre
  • 09/15 - Phoenix, Arizona - Mesa Arts Center - Ikeda Theater
  • 09/16 - Los Angeles, California - Pantages Theatre
  • 09/17 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Primm Valley Casino Resorts - Star of the Desert Arena
  • 09/20 - San Francisco, California - The Warfield
  • 09/21 - Modesto, California - Gallo Center For The Arts
  • 09/23 - Lincoln City, Oregon - Chinook Winds Casino Resort
  • 09/24 - Lincoln City, Oregon - Chinook Winds Casino Resort
  • 09/25 - Seattle, Washington - The Moore Theatre
  • 10/01 - Biloxi, Mississippi - Hard Rock Live Biloxi
  • 10/21 - Anaheim, CA - City National Grove of Anaheim
  • 10/22 - Paso Robles, California - Vina Robles Amphitheatre 
  • 10/29 - Shippensburg, Pennsylvania - Shippensburg University - H. Ric Luhrs PAC
   

Guest Concert Review

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We've actually got a couple of "guest reviews" submitted by our readers to share with you this week.

First up ... ROCK AND REMEMBER, LIVE ... from  The Civic Theater in Akron, Ohio ... courtesy of FH Reader Tom Apathy ...  who not only offers a great concert review but also sent us some incredible pictures that he took at the show!  (kk)

Hi Kent - 

A great show Friday night at the Civic Theater in Akron, Ohio. Rock N Remember Live!   The Civic has been renovated in recent years and looks amazing and sounds fantastic.   

Starting out the evening were The Reflections, with original member Tony Micale providing the lead vocals on several songs (including a nice cover of "Cara Mia") and their million seller "Just Like Romeo and Juliet".  Tight vocals and a great start to a fun evening.   



Next up was Gary US Bonds, a real fave of mine.  Gary sounded fantastic and joked about trying to remember the day he gained all this weight!  He started the set with "New Orleans" and then went into a medley of "Twist Twist Senora", "School Is Out" and "Dear Lady Twist".   He then talked about Springsteen (Bruce loves my music, but won't share his money, and I'm broke) and did an awesome job on "This Little Girl".  Gary wrapped up his set with a rousing "Quarter To Three".   


Following a booming set by Gary was Peaches and Herb.  Herb sounded and looked good with Peaches #3.   Peaches sounded a little hoarse (a cold perhaps?)  A much mellower set, which seemed to slow down the show a bit.  They went through the earlier hits such as "For Your Love" and "I Pledge My Love", followed by their later hits "Shake Your Groove Thing" and "Reunited".  Great to see Herb, but a very laid back set.   


The final act before intermission was The Happenings.  Led by original lead singer Bob Miranda, a fun and hit filled set starting with a cover of the Spiral Staircases'"More Today Than Yesterday" and then the hits  "I Got Rhythm", "Go Away Little Girl" and "See You In September".  I was disappointed that they did not do my fave, "My Mammy".   

     

After the short intermission, the stage was set up for Felix Cavaliere and his Rascals.  Felix looked and sounded great doing all the hits ... "Mustang Sally", "Groovin", "Beautiful Morning", "People Got To Be Free", "I've Been Lonely Too Long", "A Girl Like You" and wrapped up with "Good Lovin", where all the artists came back on the stage.  




Great venue, great acts, great night. 
Tom Apathy 

Great stuff, Tom!  You seem to get some very interesting show packages passing through your area ... what a GREAT line-up.  (The only one on this whole list that I've ever seen live is Felix Cavaliere, who we've seen several times now ... but it sure would be great to bring a couple of these package tours into the Chicagoland area.  I would LOVE to see The Happenings, The Reflections, Peaches and Herb and Gary "US" Bonds share the stage together.  (Hoping some of our venue bookers are paying attention today!!!)

The Fest For Beatles Fans

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Here is a first-hand report from Forgotten Hits Field Reporter Shelley Sweet-Tufano, who just recently attended the show in New York.  (We can't WAIT for The Fest to hit Chicago this summer, if only to catch the incredible pairing of Chad and Jeremy with Peter Asher!)    



The Fest For Beatles Fans, for me, is two days of education. Oh, it's for sure fun, but my inner voice is saying, "Someone else agrees with me."; "I never knew that."; "I wondered about that."; and "WOW!" 

The 2016 Rye Brook, NY fest was more than I expected ... and I expected much. You must pick and choose where you will be going and who you will be seeing at these conventions, as an entire hotel is overtaken with opportunities ... so I can only comment on my choices. 

Here they are:  Louise Harrison, Rob Shanahan, Birds of Paradox, Billy J Kramer, Mike Pender, Peter Asher and Chad and Jeremy (two parts), Mark Hudson, Steve Holley, Cellophane Flowers, Mark Hudson (again), and a discussion by radio disc jockeys of Paul's new cd collection.  

Ringo's photographer, Rob Shanahan, presents himself and his work very well. He is as much in awe of his opportunities, and Ringo, as we are. His accessibility has given him opportunity for amazing photos and he seems to have taken advantage of them brilliantly. I did not buy his new book at The Fest, as I learned while there, that my son wants a copy, too. Just decided to connect with Rob online to purchase books, but I did narrow down a selection of Paul and Ringo shots to one that I just must buy while there. If you get a chance to see Rob's slide show of some of his works, and hear him describe the locations you are seeing, you will be well rewarded with insight into the legendary world of The British Invasion.  

Louise Harrison has been criticized as well as supported in her financial gains being George's sister. I am not here for that. Do your own research. I listened to two of her lectures and found her to be grounded on stage, but yes, hawking her band (Liverpool Legends) and books. However, everyone here has something to sell ... except me and my monkey ... so that is not unexpected. History is filled with facts, but it is also perceptional. Each person lives and experiences from their own point of view. Was Louise Harrison instrumental in America helping Brian Epstein? Why not? Why wouldn't Brian want someone close to The Beatles to aid them, and him, in breaking down boundaries? Why wouldn't Louise want to help her kid brother make money in his band? The one thing I found strange was that the same questions were asked by the audience at both interviews. So either they are common (Didn't George play in a band when he visited you in America? ... Didn't George buy a guitar when he visited you in America?) or they were staged. Doesn't really matter. She has a couple books and a couple speaking cds of memories that people may find very interesting.  

I bought Billy J Kramer's book! He signed it and I am thrilled! Its release date is May something, but he brought some to The Fest for predistribution. Billy's voice has grown since The British Invasion Tour. It is bolder and stronger, with much depth. Go Billy!  He and Mike Pender did a couple songs together, and Billy did his big hits and a couple new songs with his band. On separate days, he and Mike Pender did interviews on their experiences, first time seeing The Beatles, the Liverpool sound, and the current development of Liverpool. The basis of every talk this weekend is the effect of WWII on each of these performers and the influence of American rock and roll to help them emerge from their "black and white world".   




Mark Hudson appears in several panels and concerts throughout the two days I am attending. I catch him in one with Mark Rivera, Steve Holley, Jon Cobert, Gary Van Scyoc, and Adam Ippolito and then, of course in his Musicians' Forum. If you have never seen Mark before, you know it. He CANNOT be missed. He is full of energy and displaying every color of the rainbow between his clothing and facial hair. I love it, but wonder if he EVER gets any rest as there is nowhere to hide for a technicolor hyper musician. I bet he glows in the dark! Do you Mark? 

Stories about The Beatles flow like Niagara Falls; vast volumes of non-stop information pouring over the audience. The day Mark's road rage brought apologies from a contrite Bob Dylan; Gary and Adam having John Lennon walk into a rehearsal of Elephants' Memory and ask to join the band; Steve Holley being a "Wing" of Paul McCartney; Mark Rivera with stories of Ringo; Jon Cobert playing keyboard on Lennon recordings and on and on.   

Birds of Paradox perform immediately after.  (Two Elephants' Memory and a Wing included) Beatles songs and solo Beatles songs emerge and I wonder:  If The Fest played a recording in the lobby of EVERY Beatle song and solo song, as well as any songs where they performed back-up, would they need to ever repeat one?   

The Musicians' Forum has Mark Hudson acting as musical director with Billy J Kramer, Jon Cobert, Steve Holley, and Glen Burtnik from the band Liverpool playing and singing a transition of Beatles' music. They are exhibiting not only their own musical prowess, but a knowledge of past, present, and future when it came to The Beatles' writing and performing. Education at its finest! Fun at its core! Music as its passion!  

Let me praise the two emcees for the weekend: Tom Frangione and Ken Dashow, both accomplished DJs. They keep the stage in the ballroom running at top speed and depth of information. I catch Tom in a panel on Sunday with my friend and co-worker Ken Michaels, handling the tough topic of "Why a McCartney compilation of his solo years, and is it worth the purchase?" The other two panelists are Darren Devivo and Al Sussman. All four have Beatles knowledge and experience that they have shared in print and on the radio. It was a frustration for me to keep quiet here as I have a "working education" opinion and enjoy expressing it. Ken told me they usually open it up for comments and questions, but I have a feeling he told them, "Keep that woman quiet. No audience participation." The only fact I will reveal is that none of us totally agree completely on the musical selections, and none of us would have been able to get it down successfully to 67 songs. Tom's research brought a little over 500 'solo years' McCartney songs.  

Cellophane Flowers is a string quartet and solo vocalist group that knocks those George Martin string arrangements out as if they were spinning silk. I am sorry I don't have names to give you, but maybe a Lapidos family member can assist here. I can picture this group performing in a garden setting at a wedding, art show, or any convention's gathering. They should be surrounded by nature and fresh air even more than a concert stage. 

And finally, it was listed as a "Brand New Memoir and Concert Experience". In reality, it was simply amazing.  
I refer to the two hour / two day Peter Asher / Chad and Jeremy section of The Fest. Peter Asher's production experience added to the talent we know and love from all three of these Brits and made this worth the price of admission alone. I loved every minute of my two days in Rye Brook, but I was wowed by this.  Every person I spoke to, or over-heard in conversation, used the same words and thoughts I have.  It was unexpected, albeit advertised on Sirius radio and websites.  The premise begins as a way to "prove" that Peter and Gordon were indeed a different duo from Chad and Jeremy. There were people so confused in the sixties, that they mixed them up or considered them one duo. 

Well, let's take a look here.  There were TWO folk-rock, guitar-playing British Invasion duos and they each had a tall dark and handsome lead singer with a shorter, eyeglass wearing, nerdy looking chap who sang higher harmonies. Don't get angry at my description. It came from Peter Asher. Personally, I found them all good-looking and talented ... then and now.   


They start at their beginnings, each with their connection to being war babies and what that meant for them personally.  The pictures and videos are presented on the large screen behind them  Their stories progress in school, music and fame. Chad and Jeremy one step ahead in each moment, but Peter Asher always proclaiming, "It wasn't really that we were following them."  Twice I am in tears.  

The first time Chad and Jeremy sing a tribute to a man Peter Asher managed:  James Taylor.  The song?  You've Got A Friend.  To see Chad and Jeremy side-by-side harmonizing this Carole King beauty touched my heart.  Then Peter Asher touched my soul when he sang along with a Gordon Waller video tribute to Buddy Holly. The pick?  "True Love Ways."  "Just You Know Why" booms out in Gordon's broad baritone. Tears ran down my cheek uncontrolled.  Everyone else was feeling the same, but maybe I was the only one weeping. I am pulled into their reunion stories as Chad and Jeremy talk about the PBS special '60's Pop Rock Reunion'.  I went to that when it toured, watched it on TV and bought the video, but not the T-shirt. Peter and Gordon reunited for the 'Concert for Mike Smith at BB King's'.  I could not make that concert but I had a hand in raising money for Mike's custom wheel chair and van.  It came full circle for me.  The show was complete with songs, laughter, sections read from books, interviews, and stories.  Afterward, I told them how much I loved it, and picked up a signed picture of the three of them. 

Thank you to everyone involved in The Fest For Beatles Fans. A Splendid Time Was Had By All. Thank you Lapidos family.  
Shelley


The Fest For Beatles Fans hits Chicago on August 12th, 13th and 14th ... the official details can be found at the link below (but apparently the performance schedule hasn't been finalized as of yet.)  [I've already talked to Ron Onesti about the possibility of bringing some of these artists to The Arcada Theatre for a follow-up show ... how cool would it be to see Chad and Jeremy, Peter Asher, Billy J. Kramer and Mike Pender of The Searchers performing in the intimate confines of The Arcada Theatre?!?!  No word yet on whether or not he'll be able to pull this off ... but I'm sure the fingers of MANY local British Invasion Fans will be crossed until we get the final yay or nay!]
http://www.thefest.com/2016-fests/chicago-august-12-13-14-2016/

Thanks for another great review, Shelley ... by the way, Billy J. Kramer is on our Forgotten Hits list ... maybe he'll share a word or two about the experience as well.  (kk)

Gone But Not Forgotten

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As mentioned several times in theses pages already, it has been a VERY rough year for Rock And Roll ... and it's only APRIL!!! 

Joel Whitburn, who is currently doing the final edits to his revised "Top Pop Singles" book (due out in June), has put together a list of the rock and roll casualties thus far, as he's been having to update his thousands of bios lately on a weekly (and sometimes DAILY!) basis. Honestly, it's nothing short of staggering.  We added a few more from Ron Smith's oldiesmusic.com website to bring the complete list to 57 casualties so far.

It's been a very rough year ... like I said earlier this week, they're going to have to extend this year's Grammy ceremony by an hour just to squeeze in the "In Memoriam" segment!

Hi Kent, 
I thought you might be interested in the document I prepared, showing the incredible amount of deaths of our favorite music stars.  This document shows those artists with hits in “Top Pop Singles”, but I have also included a few more such as Robert Stigwood and Charlie Tuna.
It has been a tough year, indeed, for music fans worldwide!    
Joel  
http://recordresearch.com/

Sad indeed, Joel.  (Now I'll be the first to admit that there are several names on this list that are borderline recognizable ... truth be told, I actually had to look some of them up myself just to see what their musical contribution was ... and I doubt if there is even a handful of readers out there who can successfully name every band member of groups like The Fendermen, The Tempos, The Mar-Keys, A Tribe Called Quest or Brass Construction to know if one's gone missing ...  but there are some bonafide, MAJOR superstar names on this list, too ... check it out here:)  

GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN  
We began our final edit for the new edition of our "Top Pop Singles" book early in January and every week since the beginning of January, 2016, reports continue announcing the death of another star music performer.  It seems almost unheard of when you look at the long list of names, all found in this edition, that havepassed on in the first four months of 2016.  
The list has now grown to a total of 57 names.  
As Marvin Gaye asked "What's Going On"!

2016
4/24   BILLY PAUL - “Me And Mrs. Jones” #1(3) / ’72
4/21   PRINCE- Five #1 Billboard Hits  
4/21   LONNIE MACK - “Memphis” #5 / ’63
4/12   MIKE LAZO of The Tempos: “See You In September” #23 / ’59
4/6     MERLE HAGGARD  (C&W Superstar)
4/6     LEON HAYWOOD - "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You" #15 / '75
4/4     CARLO MASTRANGELO of The Belmonts: “Tell Me Why” #18 / ’61
4/2     GATO BARBIERI  (bubbled under twice in 1976 - 77)
4/2     MIKE GIBBONS, lead singer of The Heywoods: “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” #1(2) / ’74
3/30   ANDY ‘THUNDERCLAP’ NEWMAN  “Something In The Air” #37 / ’69
3/29   PHIL HUMPHREY (The Fendermen -  "Mule Skinner Blues", #5 / '60)
3/29   PATTY DUKE  “Don’t Just Stand There” #8 / ’65
3/25   JAMES JAMERSON, JR. of Chanson: “Don’t Hold Back” #21 / ’79
3/24   PETER ANDERS [ANDREOLI]  (The Tradewinds, The Innocence and The Videls)
3/22   PHIFE DAWG  of A Tribe Called Quest (6 charted hits between 1992 and 1998)
3/21   LARRY PAYTON of Brass Construction: “Movin’” #14 / ’76
3/20   RICK PINETTE of Oak: “King Of The Hill” #36 / ’80
3/19   TERRY JOHNSON  (The Mar-Keys; "Last Night" #3 / '61)
3/17   STEVE YOUNG (wrote "Seven Bridges Road", a hit for The Eagles)
3/16   FRANK SINATRA, JR.
3/16   LEE ANDREWS [& The Hearts: “Tear Drops” #20 / ’57]
3/10   GOGI GRANT  “The Wayward Wind”  #1(8) / ’56
3/10   ERNESTINE ANDERSON  ("A Lover's Question #98 / 1961)
3/10   KEITH EMERSON of Emerson, Lake & Palmer” “From The Beginning” #39 / ’72
3/9     RAY GRIFF  (Canadian country singer)
3/8     GEORGE MARTIN - Beatles Producer, who also charted with his orchestra with "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)", 1964
3/4     JOEY FEEK   [Joey + Rory]
3/3     GAVIN CHRISTOPHER - “One Step Closer To You” #22 / ’86
3/1     GAYLE McCORMICK - Smith: “Baby It’s You” #5 / ’69
2/26   LENNY BAKER (Sha Na Na)
2/22  SONNY JAMES  (C&W Superstar)
2/19   RUSTY BURNS of Point Blank: “Nicole” #39 / ’81
2/19   CHARLIE TUNA  (popular Los Angeles Discs Jockey)
2/15   VANITY  [Vanity 6]
2/6     DAN HICKS (leader of The Hot Licks)
2/4     MAURICE WHITE - Earth, Wind & Fire  (7 Top 10 Pop Hits)
2/4     JOE DOWELL - “Wooden Heart” #1(1) / ’61
2/2     BIG KAP  (hip hop deejay and a member of The Flip Squad)
2/1     JON BUNCH (Senserfield)
1/30   BOBBY "CROW" CALDWELL (organist for Terry Knight and the Pack)
1/28   SIGNE ANDERSON (Jefferson Airplane - original female vocalist before Grace Slick)
1/28   PAUL KANTNER - Jefferson Airplane / Jefferson Starship
1/24   JIMMY BAIN   [Dio]
1/18   GLENN FREY of The Eagles - five #1 Billboard hits
1/17   MIC GILLETTE of Tower Of Power: “So Very Hard To Go” #17 / ’73
1/17   CLARENCE REID  “Nobody But You Babe” #40 / ’69
1/17   DALE GRIFFIN of Mott The Hoople: “All The Young Dudes” #37 / ’72
1/16   GARY LOIZZO of The American Breed: “Bend Me, Shape Me” #5 / ’68
1/14   RENE ANGELIL  (Celine Dion's Husband and Manager)
1/10   DAVID BOWIE - Six Top Ten Billboard hits  
1/8     OTIS CLAY - R&B Singer
1/8     RED SIMPSON  (country singer / songwriter)
1/7    TROY SHONDELL - “This Time” #6 / ’61
1/7     KITTY KALLEN “Little Things Mean A Lot” #1(9) / ’54
1/5     NICHOLAS CALDWELL of The Whispers
1/4     ROBERT STIGWOOD - President of RSO Records and Manager of The Bee Gees
1/3     JASON MACKENROTH of The Rollins Band
and, just missing the cut-off, 
12/31/15 - NATALIE COLE


>>>I'm telling you ... 74 is the new 27  (Jack)

God, I hope not!!!  Notable recording artists turning 74 this year include Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Aretha Franklin, Carole King, Bob Gaudio, Wayne Newton, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Rivers, Danny Hutton, Chris Hillman, Andy Summers, Elvin Bishop and Gerry Marsden.  

Others born in 1942 who have already left us include Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, Annette Funicello, Isaac Hayes, Frankie Lymon Tammy Wynette, Brian Jones, Sandra Dee, Bobby Fuller and Lou Reed.

Add these notables to the "74" list: Harrison Ford, Muhammad Ali, Stephen Hawking, Calvin Klein, Judge Judy, Dick Butkus, Martin Scorsese, Linda Evans, Stephanie Powers, Larry Flint.  (kk)

Thursday This And That

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Congratulations!  
LOTS of winners to congratulation today thanks to our recent CD Give-Aways sponsored by Eric Records and Jim Peterik, whose new release will be available next week for purchase.  (Forgotten Hits Readers got a chance to hear it before you could even buy it!!!)

Bill Buster of Eric Records donated three copies of each of his company's hot new releases ...
HARD TO FIND JUKEBOX CLASSICS, 1960 - 64  (30 AMAZING STEREO HITS) andTHREE DECADES OF CLASSIC NOVELTY HITS (featuring 28 great songs hard to find on CD).

Winners of these brand new CD's includeTom Apathy of Parma, Ohio, and Ed Salamon of Nashville, Tennesse, each of whom won copies of the HARD TO FIND JUKEBOX CLASSICS, 1960 - 64 CD ... 

And Colin Donahue of Waukegan, Illinois (a brand new Forgotten Hits Reader who first heard about our website at the Tommy Roe concert at The Arcada Theatre a few months back) and Stuart Weiss of Staten Island, New York, each of whom won copies of the THREE DECADES OF CLASSIC NOVELTY HITS CDs.

We also had a winner of BOTH CD's ... this honor goes to Andy Boyer of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, who went to the Eric Records website and purchased three CD's, which qualified him to win copies of BOTH of our special CD give-aways 

Jim Peterik's new CD, "The Songs", features brand new arrangements and reimaginations of some of his best known songs.  Winning copies of this hot new release are Wayne Calhoun of Bethel, Ohio, and Clark Besch of Lincoln, Nebraska.


All these CD's should go out in the mail by this weekend.  Congratulations to ALL of our winners ... and thanks to everybody who played along.


Meanwhile, there is absolutely NO reason why you can't still pick up copies of these great new releases for your own collection, simply by visiting the website for each ...


Eric Records Most Popular CD's
The results are in ... after many of our readers visited the Eric Records website and let us know which three CD's they'd be most likely to order, we tabulated all of the votes and came up with this list of the twenty most popular titles.  (When all was said and done, votes were cast for 52 different CD titles)  Again, please use the link above to visit the site and order copies for your own collection!

1Hard To Find Jukebox Classics, 1960 - 1964 
2Three Decades of Classic Novelty Hits 
3Amazing Early '60's  Box 
4Dick Bartley Presents Classic Oldies, 1965 - 1969 
5Hard To Find 45's on CD - Volume 12 - 60s and 70s Pop Classics 
6Hard To Find 45's on CD - Sweet Soul Sounds, 1963 - 1971
7Hard To Find 45's on CD - Volume 5 - Sixties Pop Classics 
8Complete Pop Instrumentals - 1960 
9Complete Pop Instrumentals - 1959 
10Complete Pop Instrumentals - 1961 
11Hard To Find 45's on CD - Pop and Country Classics
12Hard To Find 45's on Cd - Volume 11 - Sugar Pop Classics
13Hard To Find Jukebox Classics, 1964 
14Lettermen - The First Four Albums and More
15Teen Time: The Young Years of Rock 'n' Roll Vol. 2 
17Complete Pop Instrumental Hits, 1962 
18Hard To find 45's on CD - Volume 14 - 70s and 80s Pop Classics
19Hard To Find 45's on CD - Volume 7 - More Sixties Classics 
20Hard To Find Jukebox Classics 1957: Pop Gold 

Eric's new "Hard To Find Jukebox Classics, 1960 - 1964" is a listening delight ... crystal clear sound on every track ... and the variety of song selection allows the listener to enjoy several genres of music that made the music of the '60's the exciting experience it was. 
You've got "The Girl Group Sound" of The Ronettes, The Chiffons and The Dixie Cups ... British Invasion classics by The Kinks, The Zombies, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas and Marianne Faitufull ... Instrumental Hits by The Viscounts and The Ramrods ... Folk Rock by The Rooftop Singers and Peter, Paul and Mary ... Good Old-Fashioned American Rock And Roll by The Kingsmen, The Rivieras, Roy Orbison, Sam Cooke, Rick Nelson, Chubby Checker and Ray Charles as well as undefinable hits like "The Girl From Ipanema" by Getz and Gilberto, "Ringo" by Lorne Greene, "Danke Schoen" by Wayne Newton and "Yeh Yeh" by Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames.
Head over to the Eric Records website and listen to these sound samples for yourself.  (kk)

Jim Peterik:  The Songs:


The promo information supplied regarding the new Jim Peterik CD is a little bit misleading ... it stresses the bluegrass / early Americana feel of these reimagined tracks but the truth is that this really only comes into play sporadically throughout he new CD.
The vast majority of these tracks are simply "unplugged" versions, many with new stripped down (and slowed down) arrangements.  As might be expected, some work better than others.
Standout tracks for me include "Caught Up In You", with its staccato string arrangement (some say similar to the styling used on The Beatles' version of "Eleanor Rigby" ... I point this out because The Ides Of March ALSO cut a version of "Eleanor Rigby" on their "Vehicle" LP that took on more of a Vanilla Fudge type feel); "High On You", which takes on a bit of a Jamaican feel (which I really like ...it's hands down my album favorite) and the two brand new tracks, "Miracle At Ground Zero" and "The Same Muse", both of which are solid tracks and hold their own in the only arrangement we know them for.
I must also say that Jim is in excellent voice throughout the CD and the musicianship of these "Nashville Cats" assembled to back him up are outstanding as well.
Some of these new send-ups are a bit too familiar ... "Is This Love" takes on sort of an Extreme / "More Than Words" feel, "Hold On Loosely" sounds like it came right off of an early '70's James Taylor album (which I'm sure was exactly the intent ... I like the way this arrangement gives you some sense of what things must have sounded like when Peterik and .38 Special contributors Jeff Carlisi and Don Barnes sat around Jim's kitchen table throwing around ideas the night they wrote it), while "That's Why God Made The Radio" sounds more like the theme to "Midnight Cowboy" than ever with its stripped down, piano-driven arrangement.  It is also missing the harmonies that made the song an immediate Beach Boys classic.  (It just doesn't sound right with the high end missing completely ... this song NEEDS voices to convey its passion ... and deserves better than it gets here.)  This is probably the track I was most looking forward to hearing ... a chance to get Jim's take on the song he helped compose with Brian Wilson ... so as such, it's a bit of a disappointment.
Speaking of piano-driven, the new arrangement of "LA Goodbye" also doesn't work for me ... the beauty of the original guitar work is what helped to make the track so powerful in the first place ... I don't know that this core sound needed to be replaced in order to be reimagined ... augmenting that driving force with some of these new instruments being brought into play on this cd (especially the strings) would have made this a far more effective track in my opinion.  Once again, so would some strategically placed harmonies.  (If it's one thing this CD is lacking, its the use of background and harmony voices ... Jim's voice drives every track, as it should ... but so much of his unique sound over the years has been built around the blend of voices that they are noticeably missed and sorely missed in many of these sparse arrangements.  There's more to "reimagining" than just slowing the tracks down and stripping them down to the basics ... a perfect case in point would be Eric Clapton's reimagined version of "Layla" from his MTV Unplugged performance.  BOTH versions are absolutely standout arrangements ... so much so that it's hard to pick a favorite.  The same can be said for The Eagles' live "Hell Freezes Over" acoustic performance of "Hotel California" ... you're as likely to hear EITHER version on the radio today ... and you don't really care which one they playbecause BOTH versions are outstanding.  I wish a little more thought and care had been given to a couple of tracks on this CD as I think the overall end result would have been considerably stronger ... and more radio-friendly. Which brings us, of course, to the two most familiar tracks of all, "Vehicle" and "Eye of the Tiger" ... and therein lies a big part of the problem ... these tracks have become so much a part of our collective DNA in their classic rock arrangements, that it's almost impossible to accept them in any other fashion.
Jim's "fiddlin' around" with "Eye Of The Tiger" is the stronger of the two and works a lot better in this new arrangement, especially with the reintroduction of the familiar riff brought in at the end of the song by the strings ... a nice effect and a welcome surprise, as is the banjo used throughout the track.  This one is, at the very least, interesting to listen to as it moves forward to achieve just short of full hoe-down status.
"Vehicle", on the other hand, is not.  Slowed down and stripped down to basically a low-key electric piano, I kept waiting for the song to build into something ... and it never does.  I think this arrangement would have been a GREAT way to start the song ... but then each subsequent verse should have added more instrumentation and voices to build into a more powerful (albeit quieter) version of the song we all know and love so well.  (I've heard any number of arrangements of "Vehicle" over the years, many by Jim himself as he adapts it to whatever venue or music genre he may be performing it in at that given moment ... some of his "blues" performances of this song have been among his best ... but I feel that as powerful a track as it is, this song deserves more than this new arrangement allows for.  As Jim himself has said thousands of times before, this truly IS the vehicle that got him here today .. it deserves a better fate.)  Being performed at dirge level, as it is here, almost makes that "friendly stranger in the black sedan" seem a little bit creepier.
Review in a word:  "Unnecessary" ... there's nothing here that improves on the original recordings we hold so dear to our hearts ... but I also understand Jim's need to continue to grow and experiment, so I grant him that for being adventurous enough to do so.  I love the fact that he's able to take a fresh look at this material and play around with it a little bit.  Slipping in one of thesenew arrangements in a concert setting would probably be a real treat ... but as an entire album, it's just a little bit too much.  On a scale of 1-10, I've got to give it a 3 1/2.  (kk)

Billy Paul:
Hi Kent,  
Just heard the news that Billy Paul passed away on Sunday (4/24) at the age of 81. 
I was only six going-on seven years-old when I heard “Me And Mrs. Jones” for the first time.  I didn’t understand exactly what the lyrics meant, but it helped turn this little white kid from suburban Minnesota into a huge soul fan. 
Growing up in Minnesota, I was also fortunate to catch on to Prince’s talents early on.  We heard how he recorded his albums pretty much by himself, playing all the instruments.  His live shows around the Minneapolis area were also attracting attention.  I loved “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” “Controversy,” “Little Red Corvette,” and “1999”.  By the time the Purple Rain movie and album exploded in 1984, we felt that the whole world had finally caught on to what we’d known for years … this Prince dude was a true musical genius.  He was a very private person, but he shared his gifts with the world and he will be missed.  BTW, we’ve compiled a pretty exhaustive list of those musical artists we’ve lost so far in 2016.  You can check it out on the right-hand side of our homepage here: https://www.recordresearch.com/   
One song that I don’t think was mentioned yet in the “they don’t say the title in the lyrics” category is “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” by Crosby, Stills & Nash.  I can also shed some light on “Strawberry Letter 23.”  According to the song’s writer, Shuggie Otis (son of the legendary Johnny Otis), the song is about a series of letters between lovers.  The singer is so delighted with “Strawberry Letter 22” that he writes the song in response and this becomes “Strawberry Letter 23”.  At least that’s the story I’ve always heard.  
Paul Haney 
Record Research
"Suite Judy Blue Eyes" definitely made our list.  I always assumed that, since The Brothers Johnson kept talking about "Strawberry Letter 22" they must be writing down those thoughts in "Strawberry Letter 23" ... but they sure left it up to the fans to figure that out.  (I'll bet more than a few folks went into the store asking for "Strawberry Letter 22" back in the day!)
We ran The Record Research List on the site yesterday ... and will continue to add to it as the year progresses ... unfortunately, I'm afraid this is far from over.  Thanks, Paul!  (kk) 

WITH GREAT SADNESS, PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL RECORDS CO-FOUNDERS AND LEGENDARY PRODUCERS KENNETH GAMBLE & LEON HUFFMOURN THE LOSS OFLEGENDARY ‘ME AND MRS. JONES’ RECORDING ARTIST BILLY PAUL 
PHILADELPHIA – Legendary Philadelphia International Records co-founders and R&B pioneers Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huffreleased the following joint statement today as they mourned the passing of Mr. Billy Paul, legendary recording artist best known for his smash hit, “Me and Mrs. Jones.  
"We are very saddened to learn ofthe sudden death of our good friend and Philadelphia International Records recording artist Billy Paul. From the time we saw Billy performing live, and then signing him to our PIR/TSOP label, we immediately realized that we had discovered and launched one the most unique voices in the music industry. Billy's voice combined both Jazz, R&B and Soul vocals, making him one the great artists to come out of Philly and to be celebrated worldwide. Our proudest moment with Billy was the recording of the salacious smash ‘Me and Mrs. Jones.’ In our view, it is one of the greatest love songs ever recorded. Billy was one of the first artists to help launch the PIR/TSOP brand, and he will forever have a special place in music history.”  
“We send our very sincere and personal condolences to his wife Blanche and the rest of his family. Billy Paul will truly be missed.

Gone But Not Forgotten 
Good morning Kent, 
I just wanted to point out that Otis Clay wrote Tryin' to Live My Life Without You, which some years later turned in to a big hit for Bob Seger. 
Don't know why his version wasn't a hit, but glad bob rescued it from obscurity. 
Bill
Yes, and then The Eagles took it note-for-note, added some new words and called it "The Long Run"!!!  (lol)  kk

Several years ago I was having a yard sale (in the suburban L.A. area) and I had some music related items. One guy started talking about music and said he had been in a vocal group back east. I asked him the name and he said the Tempos. I said, "The Tempos that did 'See You In September'?" and he said "Yes" and was surprised that I knew that. He said he had left shortly before the record and they didn't take him back when he tried to rejoin. 
Gary E. Myers / MusicGem

Kent, 
Thanks for the sad but informative posting from Joel Whitburn.  I know what he's talking about!  
Last year, we lost (among others - you probably know more) Curtis Lee, Lesley Gore, Percy Sledge, Ben E. King, B.B. King, Lynn Anderson, Cilla Black, Frankie Ford, Billy Joe Royal, Cory Wells, Allen Toussaint, P.F. Sloan, and Natalie Cole, as well as less well known performers such as Andy Fraser (bassist with Free), Brian Carman (guitarist with the Chantays), Eddie Hardin (Spencer Davis Group), Martin Beard (Sopwith Camel) and Preston Ritter (drummer for the Electric Prunes).  Joel's lengthy 2016 list just adds to the losses.  
I have seen comments on blogs that, for some reason, express surprise at all these deaths.  I think there's nothing to be surprised at -- at all.  The 1960s saw a ballooning of the number of pop music acts, many of which had several members -- and they're all aging out.  Sir Paul is 73.  Mick Jagger is 72.  David Crosby is 74. Graham Nash is 74. Bill Wyman, for heaven's sake, is pushing 80, and has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Petula Clark is 83.   And let's face it, some of these guys did not lead an exactly healthful lifestyle.  Dozens upon dozens of pop groups, now in their senior years. 
When they die, I am very sorry to see them go.  But surprised?  Not so much.
Henry McNulty
Cheshire, Connecticut 

You're echoing a point I meant to make in our posting ... MOST of these artists had some pretty bad habits when it came to burning the candle at both ends ... drugs ... alcohol ... heck, Prince was partying like it was 1999 as early as 1982!  (This is why I am always amazed when I read these rock star biographies ... how can they possibly remember MOST of what they went through when they were in an altered state the majority of the time?!?!?) 
To make it to 74 and have led the lives that many of these folks did is actually quite amazing.  But it's still sad every time we lose one who touched our lives.  Thankfully their music lives on forever (as long as somebody keeps playing it!)  kk

Jimy Sohns:
We were quite sad to hear that Jimy Sohns is going through a rough patch right now ... but if ANYBODY can come back from this, it's Jimy ... he's already WAY ahead on his rehabilitation ... and it's my guess that Jimy Sohns will be leading the audience in many more choruses of Rock And Roll's Greatest Anthem, "Gloria", real soon!  (kk)

Crushed to hear the sad news about Jimy Sohns, a bona fide rock animal. Jimy will fight back ... he always does. He will remain as he says ... that guy your old man just doesn't want his daughter to date.  The cat will bringing "Gloria" and "Shake" when he's 80.
Chet Coppock

Hi Kent,  
THANK YOU for the info on Jimy Sohns' stroke. I sent him an email to wish him a speedy recovery.   
He is the true"Bad Boy of Rock and Roll" and I would pay any price to see him perform.  
All his tunes are great, but when he does "Shake" and "Little Queenie," he  rocks the house down.  
Please keep us informed on how he is doing.  
Love You Jimy!!!!  
Carolyn   

From Jimy Sohns ...   

On Wednesday evening, April 13th, I was admitted to the hospital with numbness in my foot and leg. I suffered a stroke that I am gladly recovering quickly from. I am currently attending daily rehabilitation for my foot, leg, and speaking voice. While I am shaky and I will be giving my body time to recover, my singing voice has not been harmed and neither has my mojo ... I'm giving my nurses something they'll never forget ... lol
Rock on!
Jimy  

Hang in there, Jimy!  Can't wait to see you up on the stage again!  (kk)

The Mamas and the Papas
Me-TV just ran an interesting piece on collectible music-related toys and dolls from the '60's and '70's ... and I saw something I'd NEVER seen before ... but it ties in PERFECTLY with our recent Mamas and Papas series so I wanted to share this with you.
Does ANYBODY remember "ShowBiz Babies"???
Looks like you not only got the doll but also one of those 33 1/3 flexi-discs of a brief biography followed by a Mamas and Papas track!  (I wondered what these things are worth today so I checked on eBay ... a complete set is priced right around $1000!!!  Now I wonder how many of these they sold back in the day!)  Check 'em out.  (kk) 


This And That: 
After much delay and many email inquiries, I finally received the DVD that I ordered. Actually I received two, but that’s a whole other story.
I had ordered the $100.00 package immediately after the televised show on WTTW. My question is this ... I was under the impression that the DVD that I ordered was going to be the entire performance and not the edited version that was aired during their “begfest”. For example, reviews on your site indicated that The Cryan' Shames performed five songs at the performance, but only three appeared on the edited televised show. When I opened my package, the credits on the back of the DVD booklet indicate only three songs by The Cryan' Shames and not five.  In fact, the credits only list the songs performed on the edited version by all of the groups. In addition, there is no indication of the group “Louie Louie” performance which appeared at the end of the edited televised show.
In your column you indicated that you had opened and watched your DVD. What exactly is on that DVD? Is there more than one version of the DVD? I do not want to play mine until I am sure it is the correct one that I thought I had ordered in case I have to return it.    
I really enjoyed the edited version that I saw on WTTW and thought the performance was extremely well done. But, from the start, the entire promotion, as handled by WTTW, was rampant with mis-information and I thought that the handling of the orders was very poorly done.  
Robert Campbell
After all the time I waited for this to come (and numerous inquiries of my own), I still have NOT watched the DVD.  (I'm a little amazed by that myself as I was so looking forward to receiving it ... but after seeing the televised version several times I guess I just never felt the urgency to watch it again.  After all the delays, I, too, was a little disenchanted by the time the package finally arrived.)
My understanding is that the DVD was supposed to include bonus footage not aired during the televised program ... but as to what "extras" might be included, this was never really made clear (other than the fact that interviews with many of the artists were supposed to be spliced in.)
After talking to most of the artists who performed that night, they, too, were disappointed that their full performance had been edited by at least one song for broadcast purposes ... so while expecting to see the full show in its entirety on DVD may have been something we all hoped for, I don't know that WTTW ever explicitly stated what would and would not be included.  (This was kinda mishandled from the beginning ... the end credits during the broadcast referred to a tribute to the group Chase, but this segment was never televised.  I believe it IS on the DVD, however, but again I haven't watched it to confirm as such.)
Between the defective manufacturing of the original DVDs and the delay this created in getting them to the subscribers who donated big bucks to PBS, it's been a rather unpleasant experience overall.  However, BOTH shows announced during the taping (first at The Arcada and then again this weekend at The Skokie Performing Arts Center) were complete sell-outs ... and another show has been added at The Arcada for September 3rd ... so this has proven to be a VERY hot ticket and the local fans are turning out in big numbers to support our Local Heroes ... which is all a VERY good thing.  (Sadly, a lot has happened since the original taping, including the death of American Breed lead singer Gary Loizo and now Jimy Sohn's stroke ... Dennis Tufano missed the first Arcada concert because of a previous commitment ... so we never really know for sure in advance just who we're going to see up on the stage on any given night.  They are still promoting "many surprises and special guests" so it'll be interesting to see just who turns up.)
I've yet to see any of the live shows (although most of these artists DID perform at The Marty Grebb Benefit Concert earlier last year.)  We had planned to go to the Skokie show on Sunday (May 1st) because we had never been to this venue before but now that this one has sold out, too, I guess we'll have to miss it.
As far as I know there is only ONE version of the DVD ... so open it up and enjoy it.  As you said, it was GREAT seeing all these guys performing together again, some setting aside YEARS of differences to do so.  If nothing else, the recent circumstances surrounding Marty, Gary and Jimy prove once again that life is just too short to hold grudges ... to ALL of the participating musicians, go on up there and do what you enjoy most ... and give the fans something to cheer about one more time.  (kk)

From FH Reader Frank B (by way of Wild Wayne) ...

Now how fucked up is this?  Alan Freed's ashes, previously on display at The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, have been "evicted" ... and now reside in their new final resting place.
Check out this article ...

Saturday Night Live had an interesting tribute to Prince, of which the best clip was:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNKnC9K8Uo  
Clark Besch   

And check out this performance of "Purple Rain" by Adam Levine and Patrick Monahan ... posted less than a week ago and already over fifteen million views!  (kk)



We've been talking about Bobby Rydell's new biography, due out on May 4th. (Still waiting for our advance copy ... the plan was to read the book and do a Forgotten Hits interview with the teen idol ... not likely to do that before the release date anymore but still hoping we get a chance to talk with Bobby as I hear he's one of the most genuinely nice guys in all of show business.)
Here's an article sent in by FH Reader Frank B ...
Forgotten Hits regulars Scott Shannon and Tom Cuddy went to a special reception honoring Bobby last week ... hoping will get a first hand account of that event as well!)  kk

Have you seen the Tower Records Documentary that's been running on Showtime?
Pretty good stuff, profiling one of the absolute "bigs" of the industry ...
But once again showing how the music industry did everything possible to shoot itself in the foot and ultimately destroy life as we knew it.
Check it out if you get a chance ... well worth seeing.  (kk)

Ravinia:
Check out the incredible schedule put together for Ravinia this summer!
Sunday, June 12th - Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Friday, June 17th - The BoDeans
Saturday, June 18th - Paul Simon
Wednesday, June 22nd - Seth MacFarlane with Katharine McPhee
Thursday, June 23rd - Patti LaBelle with The Commodores
Friday, June 24th - Bob Dylan with Mavis Staples
Saturday, July 2nd - The Steve Miller Band
Friday, July 8th - Duran Duran
Monday, July 19th - Lyle Lovett and Emmylou Harris
Sunday, July 24th - Kenny Rogers with The Nitty Gritty Dirty Band
Wednesday, July 27th - Diana Ross
Sunday, July 31st - Buddy Guy with Jeff Beck
Sunday, August 7th - Dolly Parton
Thursday, August 11th - War with Los Lonely Boys
Saturday, August 13th - Tony Bennett
Sunday, August 14th and Monday, August 15th - Don Henley
Thursday, August 18th - Judy Collins
Friday, August 19th - The Go Gos
Thursday, August 25th - John Fogerty
Saturday, August 27th - Train
Sunday, August 28th - Seal
Thursday, September 1st - Lauryn Hill
Friday, September 2nd - Marty Stuart with Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters
Saturday, September 3rd - Bonnie Raitt

Diggin' Forgotten Hits 
In the Honda jingle the words are "200 miles per gallon and a rugged trail machine"… not “sale machine” ... they were referring to the Trail 50 / 55 / 90 group of bikes.  
Love your site ... a big thanks for doing it. I am 67 and used to sing this since that was all I could do, not having the money to buy an actual bike, which I finally did when I turned 16.  
Mike Baker


Kent -
Just a note to say how much I enjoy the reviews submitted by "Field Reporter" Shelly Sweet-Tufano and sixties / doowop lover Tom Apathy. Having attended  my share of concerts, I find Shelly and Tom's pieces to be spot-on and highly entertaining ... keep 'em coming!
Clive
ALL our readers are encouraged to send in their own concert reviews and photos ... we can't promise we'll run them all ... but we do run what we can.  (And hey, it gives ME a day off once in awhile, too!  Lol)  kk


And, speaking of Shelley's review, she just sent along some more photos that she took at The Fest For Beatles Fans in New York ... so now you get to see Chad Stuart, Jeremy Clyde, Peter Asher, Billy J. Kramer, Mike Pender of The Searcher and Mark Hudson in all their glory!  (Thanks for sharing, Shelley!  Can't wait to see them at the Chicago show in August!)  kk
 
 






I found out about your blog during the Tommy Roe concert at the Arcada Theater in St. Charles a couple months ago and I've been checking it out ever since. You do a great job!
- Colin Donahue 
Thanks, Colin ... and welcome aboard!  (kk)

SWEET 16 - Motown 25

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In today's special SWEET 16 Feature we'll count down the 16 Biggest Motown Hits, 1960 - 1985.  Songs are ranked by their overall chart performance at the time of their original release ... but ALL are Motown Standards.

#16 - AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH - Diana Ross  (1970)

#15 - BEING WITH YOU - Smokey Robinson  (1981)

#14 - WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO - The Supremes  (1964)

#13 - WAR - Edwin Starr  (1970)

#12 - ABC - The Jackson Five  (1970)

#11 - I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU - Stevie Wonder  (1984)

#10 - HELLO - Lionel Richie  (1984)

#9 - LOVE CHILD - Diana Ross and the Supremes  (1968)

#8 - SAY YOU, SAY ME - Lionel Richie  (1985)

#7 - LET'S GET IT ON - Marvin Gaye  (1973)

#6 - THREE TIMES A LADY - The Commodores  (1978)

#5 - UPSIDE DOWN - Diana Ross  (1980)

#4 - ALL NIGHT LONG - Lionel Richie (1983)

#3 - I'LL BE THERE - The Jackson Five  (1970)

#2 - I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE - Marvin Gaye (1969)

#1 - ENDLESS LOVE - Diana Ross and Lionel Richie (1981) 


Not quite the list you were expecting?  I have to admit I was a little surprised by the final results as well.

When I think of Motown, I think of the '60's ... HUGE groups like The Supremes, The Temptations (who didn't even make this list), The Four Tops (ditto), Stevie Wonder (only his 1984 hit "I Just Called To Say I Love You" qualified) ... as well as timeless tracks like "Dancin' In The Street", "Do You Love Me", "I Can't Help Myself", "Baby Love", "My Girl", "Just My Imagination", "My Guy", "Please Mr. Postman" and such.

But when you do a point-for-point evaluation, you find that everything is not as it seemed.

Lionel Richie's got his hand in FIVE of The Top 16 Motown Hits ... a full third!  Diana Ross outranks her fellow Supremes (who had an incredible THIRTEEN #1 National Hits, including a string of five in a row back in 1964/1965) with three of her solo hits to two Supremes tracks (which means she ALSO occupies a full third of this list!)

Only three songs in the countdown pre-date 1970 ... two of those are by The Supremes and the other one is Marvin Gaye's HUGE hit "I Heard It Through The Grapevine".

Now if I only took The 16 Biggest Motown Hits of the '60's, you'd find a far different picture:

#16 - I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Gladys Knight and the Pips  (1967)
#15 - I Hear A Symphony - The Supremes  (1965)
#14 - Please Mr. Postman - The Marvelettes  (1961)
#13 - I Can't Get Next To You - The Temptations  (1969)
#12 - Reach Out, I'll Be There - The Four Tops  (1966)
#11 - You Can't  Hurry Love - The Supremes  (1966)
#10 - My Guy - Mary Wells
#9 - Someday We'll Be Together - Diana Ross and the 
Supremes  (1969)
#8 - Stop! In The Name Of Love - The Supremes  (1965)
#7 - Come See About Me - The Supremes  (1964)
#6 - Fingertips Part 2 - Little Stevie Wonder  (1963)
#5 - Baby Love - The Supremes  (1964)
#4 - I Can't Help Myself - The Four Tops  (1965)
#3 - Where Did Our Love Go - The Supremes  (1964)
#2 - Love Child - Diana Ross and the Supremes  (1968)
#1 - I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye (1969) 

In this scenario "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" book-ends the countdown ... and The Supremes account for EIGHT of The Top 16 Motown Hits (that's HALF the countdown!!!)  And there are STILL so many GREAT Motown hits that fail to make the list.

Thanks to the way radio is programmed today, we all come away with a very distorted perspective of rock and roll history.  Based on airplay alone over the past twenty years, Marvin Gaye's version of "Grapevine" would probably be followed by "My Girl" by The Temptations (not on EITHER list!), "Baby Love", "My Guy", "Dancin' In The Street" (also not on either list) and "For Once In My Life" ... but Our Sweet 16 Countdown shows the way things REALLY went down at the time!

A Public Service Announcement

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We don't normally do this sort of thing in Forgotten Hits, but when you see the names attached to this project ... and the good cause it represents ... you just may be inspired to get involved.

These folks risked their lives to protect ours ... and far too often never got the thanks and the respect that they deserved.  Perhaps now we can do a little something to give something back. 

ONE THOUSAND HOMELESS VETS AND THEIR FAMILIES NOW HOUSED THANKS TO GRASS ROOTS EFFORT SUPPORTED BY 
ZZ TOP’S DUSTY HILL, KATY PERRY, 
JOHN MELLENCAMP, MITCH ALBOM, 
SUSAN SARANDON AND OTHER NOTABLES


Veterans Matter is an innovative grass-roots effort started in Toledo, Ohio by a formerly homeless man in an effort to house 35 local veterans.  From that homespun campaign and with the help of the entertainment industry, 20+ musicians, bands, actors, actresses, managers, publicists, writers, singers, individual and corporate donors, Veterans Matter has raised $800,000 and housed over 1000 veterans in eleven states.  

“There are over 47,000 veterans still homeless on our nation’s streets. Streets where they are being beaten, robbed, even killed. If this kind of thing happened while they were serving we would be outraged. The celebrity advocates who have come out to help this cause are really providing a voice for the voiceless,” said Ken Leslie, the founder and Advocate-in-Chief of Veterans Matter.  

Coordinated with the VA’s homeless outreach coordinators, Veterans Matter essentially passes donations, less very minimal program costs, directly to landlords to provide deposits which open the door to immediate long-term housing and case management. This partnership gives Veterans Matter an evidence-based 100% success rate in housing veterans in a program that has a 91% success rate in keeping them housed. 

Urged by music industry friends who wanted to help house homeless veterans in their home states, Leslie grew the Veterans Matter program and created an on-line cloud-based system to allow Veterans Administration coordinators to quickly access and secure deposits literally in minutes

Whether donating several minutes, several hours or several dollars, these supporters see the fruits of their efforts week by week, state by state. For example:

·    Operation Texas was started by Dusty Hill of ZZ Top when he convened a group of businessmen in Houston. The return for his efforts resulted in that group’s raising over $250,000 and housing nearly 500 Texas veterans. 

·    The same day John Mellencamp became chair of Operation Indiana, Veterans Matter received a $37,000 donation that resulted in 96 Indiana veterans being housed to date.

·    Operation Michigan was started by writer Mitch Albom who has donated $35,000 to house Michigan veterans. With additional funding raised or donated by Katy Perry, Kid Rock, and a compassionate corporation, over 150 homeless Michigan veterans have been housed to date.

·    Katy’s support also garnered the creation of Operation Mid-Atlantic which has to date raised $25,000 and housed a dozen veterans.

·    Many of these and other celebrity advocates have recorded national radio/video PSA's and provided social media support.   


Veterans Matter can help accomplish in minutes what can take existing programs two weeks to two months to accomplish. Services and resources are provided by the VA help many of these now-housed vets and their families to recapture their lives and return to domestic autonomy. 

The partnership with the VA gives the program a documented 100% success rate in housing veterans through a long term VA program that has a 91% success rate in keeping them housed. Depending on revenue, program costs are running 14% - 17%. 

Veterans Matter is a program of 1Matters.org, a Toledo based non-profit which creates and funds new programs to house the unhoused. 

With the government set to release up to 10,000 more housing vouchers this year, the group is currently reaching out to agents, managers, publicists and entertainment industry personalities to ramp up the recruiting of additional celebrity advocates.  The hope is to raise at least $1.5 million to house another 2,000 veterans and veteran families this year. 

“Fans may forget that no matter the level of fame and achievement, these high profile people are regular Americans like you and me who simply believe that veterans matter and that we must take care of our own,” Leslie said.    

Current Veterans Matter celebrity advocates roster

Ann Heche
Ann & Nancy Wilson 
Big & Rich 
Darius Rucker
Darryl Worley
Dusty Hill and ZZ Top
Emerson Drive
Gary Sinise
Gene Hackman
Ice-T
Jennifer Nettles 
John Fogerty
John Mellencamp
Katy Perry
Kid Rock
Kix Brooks 
Mario Lopez
Mitch Albom
PJ O'Rourke
Stevie Nicks
Susan Sarandon
Willie Nelson

For more information or to get involved, visit www.veteransmatter.org

 

The Sunday Comments: The First Of May, 2016

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Is there really any other way to start this week's issue???  (kk)

Cornerstones Of Rock:   
Tonight's Cornerstones Of Rock show at The North Shore Center in Skokie has completely sold out ... as did the recent appearance at The Arcada Theatre.  By all accounts, Chicago music, performed by our local heroes, is alive and well again ... and we couldn't be more pleased.
But fans who are just now FINALLY receiving their copies of the DVD they ordered last November when this concert first aired on WTTW are NOT pleased by what they're seeing.
Whereas normally when a program airs on this PBS affiliate and viewers purchase a copy through the station's pledge drive you receive additional bonus footage, for some reason on THIS particular release, fans are getting LESS than what was originally shown ... and they're none too happy about it.
In fact, they've been letting Forgotten Hits and WTTW just how displeased they really are.  (We received the three emails shown below all within the past week ... so we're reaching out to the artists who performed that night, as well as the PBS station to ask the simple question ... 
WHAT HAPPENED???)  kk 

After much delay and many email inquiries, I finally received the "Cornerstones of Rock" DVD that I ordered. Actually I received two, but that’s a whole other story.  
I had ordered the $100.00 package immediately after the televised show on WTTW. My question is this ... I was under the impression that the DVD that I ordered was going to be the entire performance and not the edited version that was aired during their “begfest”. For example, reviews on your site indicated that The Cryan' Shames performed five songs at the performance, but only three appeared on the edited televised show. When I opened my package, the credits on the back of the DVD booklet indicate only three songs by The Cryan' Shames and not five.  In fact, the credits only list the songs performed on the edited version by all of the groups. In addition, there is no indication of the group “Louie Louie” performance which appeared at the end of the edited televised show.  
In your column you indicated that you had opened and watched your DVD. What exactly is on that DVD? Is there more than one version of the DVD? I do not want to play mine until I am sure it is the correct one that I thought I had ordered in case I have to return it. 
I really enjoyed the edited version that I saw on WTTW and thought the performance was extremely well done. But, from the start, the entire promotion, as handled by WTTW, was rampant with mis-information and I thought that the handling of the orders was very poorly done.  
Robert Campbell  
After all the time I waited for this to come (and numerous inquiries of my own), I still have NOT watched the DVD.  (I'm a little amazed by that myself as I was so looking forward to receiving it ... but after seeing the televised version several times I guess I just never felt the urgency to watch it again.  After all the delays, I, too, was a little disenchanted by the time the package finally arrived.)  
My understanding is that the DVD was supposed to include bonus footage not aired during the televised program ... but as to what "extras" might be included, this was never really made clear (other than the fact that interviews with many of the artists were supposed to be spliced in.)  
After talking to most of the artists who performed that night, they, too, were disappointed that their full performance had been edited by at least one song for broadcast purposes ... so while expecting to see the full show in its entirety on DVD may have been something we all hoped for, I don't know that WTTW ever explicitly stated what would and would not be included.  (This was kinda mishandled from the beginning ... the end credits during the broadcast referred to a tribute to the group Chase, but this segment was never televised.  I believe it IS on the DVD, however, but again I haven't watched it to confirm as such.)  
Between the defective manufacturing of the original DVDs and the delay this created in getting them to the subscribers who donated big bucks to PBS, it's been a rather unpleasant experience overall.  However, BOTH shows announced during the taping (first at The Arcada and then again this weekend at The Skokie Performing Arts Center) were complete sell-outs ... and another show has been added at The Arcada for September 3rd ... so this has proven to be a VERY hot ticket and the local fans are turning out in big numbers to support our Local Heroes ... which is all a VERY good thing.  (Sadly, a lot has happened since the original taping, including the death of American Breed lead singer Gary Loizo and now Jimy Sohn's stroke ... Dennis Tufano missed the first Arcada concert because of a previous commitment ... so we never really know for sure in advance just who we're going to see up on the stage on any given night.  They are still promoting "many surprises and special guests" so it'll be interesting to see just who turns up.)  
I've yet to see any of the live shows (although most of these artists DID perform at The Marty Grebb Benefit Concert earlier last year.)  We had planned to go to the Skokie show on Sunday (May 1st) because we had never been to this venue before but now that this one has sold out, too, I guess we'll have to miss it.  
As far as I know there is only ONE version of the DVD ... so open it up and enjoy it.  As you said, it was GREAT seeing all these guys performing together again, some setting aside YEARS of differences to do so.  If nothing else, the recent circumstances surrounding Marty, Gary and Jimy prove once again that life is just too short to hold grudges ... to ALL of the participating musicians, go on up there and do what you enjoy most ... and give the fans something to cheer about one more time.  (kk)       

Whatever you do, don't erase your dvr recording of the Cornerstones of Rock program.  The version sent to subscribers who made PBS donations has performances on it than the heavily-edited original broadcast, interrupted regularly for pledge begs.  (I've never heard of PBS offering LESS footage than their broadcast version before ... normally the enticement to donate is to obtain ADDITIONAL footage!  This has to be a first ... and is a MAJOR disappointment!)
Worst of all ... it doesn't contain the Jimy Sohns / Shadows Of Knight performance of "Gloria", the universal national anthem of garage band rock.  (How is this even possible?)
All in all, a tremendous letdown for fans who shelled out big bucks to see the full length and additional performances of those you refer to as our "local heroes".  A BIG disappointment, especially after waiting all this time for the disc to arrive.
Don  

I guess I'm not the only one who is disappointed with "Cornerstones Of Rock: American Garage DVD".
I, too, was under the understanding that it would contain all the songs on the TV broadcast and, at least, most of the remaining ones not shown, that were recorded that night. Instead we got LESS than was on the broadcast! 
I thought "Cornerstones" and "American Garage" were the theme of the concert. 
Why did we get Ides of March covering "Little Bit O' Soul" instead of one of their own songs?  
And in the biggest omission, where is "Gloria", acclaimed onstage by Jimmy Sohns as the ultimate garage rock song?
Not on this DVD set! 
I guess we're lucky we got "Kind Of A Drag" ... 
Whoever decided on the lineup on this DVD didn't do anyone any favors who truly wanted to get a package that was an all encompassing presentation of the original concert at the WTTW studios.  
In ending, if time limits for the DVD were a consideration, why not cut "Little Bit O' Soul" and include the true,  "Cornerstone of Garage Rock" song of the whole concert, "Gloria"?  
Still a good package to have, but don't delete your DVR recording of the original show!  
Bill Mulvy
OK, now I'm going to HAVE to open this sucker up and play it!!!
There is absolutely NO excuse for "Gloria" to be missing from this set ... it was one of the concert highlights.  (Unless there was a licensing issue of some sort ... we'll have to look into that.)
The DVD was promoted as containing additional footage (and I heard from most of the guys that they were interviewed for segments to be edited into the broadcast.)  This REALLY sucks if people who shelled out upwards of $100 - $250 bucks are getting LESS than they got during the original telecast.  (I sprung for the super deluxe set, which included the DVD, a CD "soundtrack" of the live performances from the show and an additional CD featuring all of the original versions of these local hits.  I wanna say it was close to $250 if I remember correctly.  To find out now that the dvd features LESS material than originally broadcast is a HUGE disappointment!  Plus now we're ALSO getting inundated with WTTW mail and email on a nearly daily basis looking for more money on other projects ... it's almost enough to make you not want to donate again in the future!) 
I'll have to watch the whole show sometime this week and see what's what.  (Meanwhile maybe some of the participants can let us know why even MORE material was cut from the DVD.)  kk 

As for not including "Gloria" by The Shadows Of Knight, the official garage band national anthem, this is sacrilege.  This track was the hands-down winner of our Forgotten Hits Top 50 All-Time Favorite Garage Bands Poll a couple of years ago ... and The Shadows Of Knight even beat out The Kingsmen as your all-time favorite garage band.  (Speaking of The Kingsmen, I don't see the "Louie Louie" finale shown on the dvd credits either!!!  What' up with that?!?!?)
You can read all of the results of our Favorite Garage Bands Poll here ... along with a special interview with Shadows frontman Jimy Sohns ...
http://forgottenhits.com/your_top_50_all-time_favorite_garage_bands 

Kudos again to Forgotten Hits for always telling it the way it is. 
Jim Peterik sent in copies of his brand new cd for you to give away to Forgotten Hits readers yet you still ran an honest, unbaised review of his new album.  (I remember years ago when you covered a biography of Johnny Maestro that was a COMPLETE rip-off from cover-to-cover ... all 32 pages of it! ... after giving away autographed copies of the book.) 
THESE are the reasons that Forgotten Hits is one of the most respected publications out there ... you won't be swayed to sugar coat something no matter what the circumstances may be ... we will ALWAYS get an honest review from you. 
David 
Believe me, it's hard sometimes, especially when you know the person and genuinely want to help them promote their latest work ... and there are several good moments on the new Jim Peterik CD that I really liked ... but there were definitely other areas where I felt disappointed by the routes taken to reimagine some of his true classics.  (This is why I used the "Layla" and "Hotel California" examples ... is there ANY track on this new CD that you really think a radio station might play as an interesting variation to what we already know and love?  Because if you didn't go in with the intention to create a brand new, unique take as an attention grabber, then what was the point of redoing these in the first place?)  For me, the BEST example is the reworking of "High On You" ... I would ABSOLUTELY play that one on my radio show ... if I HAD a radio show ... because this one (and "Caught Up On You") show a real, creative, new approach to these Peterik classics. 
I always try to structure my reviews as solid, constructive criticism when I find areas that I feel could have been some improved.  It is NEVER intended to be a slam at the artist ... just some food for thought, both for the potential audience and the artists themselves. 
I would NEVER go so far as to say "Don't buy this CD" ... your OWN opinions count FAR more than mine do ... and the very fact that Jim has applied a new creative process to reimagining this tunes may be enough incentive for you to give it a try ... my point is NEVER to sway ... but only to give you my own interpretation of how this music affected me.    
I've said it from Day One ... if all an artist wants from me is a "puff piece", then get your publicist to write it ... because I will ALWAYS call 'em as I see 'em.  This music is VERY near and dear to my heart ... and judging everything as a fan first, (which I ALWAYS do), I think I've got a pretty good handle on what us fans want to hear from our favorite artists ... and, as good as this is in some spots, I feel it comes up short overall ... and if this is the case, I'm going to say it.  (kk)   

This And That:     
>>>as well as undefinable hits like "The Girl From Ipanema" by Getz and Gilberto  (kk)    
If you REALLY want to define that one, it's jazz ... yes, and definitely jazz. Take it from a jazz lover who has it in his jazz collection. The Getz-Gilberto album from which it was taken doesn't even refer to Astrud Gilberto but to guitarist Joao Gilberto. Astrud (his then wife) had no professional experience prior to what was a landmark album in 1963/64 featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim on piano. Big noise in bossa nova back in the day, the album also produced Desafinado and Corcovado, jazz standards. You could call it jazz and not be subject to dispute.
Hil
Or, as Stan Freberg might say, "that's close enough for jazz"!!! (lol)  Every once in a while a track like this ("Take Five" by The Dave Brubeck Quartet also comes to mind) would find its way to the pop charts and catch the ear of an unsuspecting public.
This has ALWAYS been a favorite track of ours ... but my point was more to how to classify it in conjunction with all the other genres represented on the new Eric release.  (The '60's were a VERY interesting time ... you could take The Motown Sound, the R&B slant of Atlantic Records, all the British Invasion hits, pure pop, country, novelty hits, bubblegum, hard rock and early heavy metal, the folk / rock movement, protest songs, blue-eyed soul, East Coast / West Coast sounds and mix it ALL up to play alongside one-of-a-kind tracks like "The Girl From Ipanema", "Ringo" by Lorne Greene and even "Dominique" by The Singing Nun ... and nobody questioned a thing.  We were exposed to ALL kinds of music back then and, as such, had a much broader outlook as to what we liked.  Today's "cookie-cutter" radio format allows stations to only play music that sounds the same so that it fits as one big mega-mix ... and that's a shame because there is SO much more good music out there that most people will never be exposed to.
We just ran this clip a couple of months ago, but it's SO good that we're running it again today in Forgotten Hits.  Enjoy!  (kk)



Speaking of "the good ol' days", check out this article Tom Cuddy sent us ... OLD music is out-selling NEW music these days.  (Maybe folks really DO prefer a good melody after all, as opposed to some rap crap where at least one word in every line has to be bleeped from radio airplay!  Gee, who woulda thought?!?!?)
http://www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/20/old-music-is-outselling-new-music-for-the-first-time-in-history/ 

Rolling Stone debuted the first brand new Monkees track on their website last week ... and it sounds just like The Monkees of old.  (In all fairness, some of the tracks on "Good Times", due out May 27th, ARE old tracks that have been resurrected for the new CD ... but this one's brand new, written by Rivers Cuomo of Weezer ... and it sounds GREAT!  Micky's voice is ESPECIALLY strong on this track.)  Check out the video clip below ...




And, speaking of The Monkees, FH Reader Tom Cuddy sent us this article spotlighting MichaelNesmith, who says that in addition to the brand new album coming out next month, they are also working on a 50th Anniversary television special ... 
http://www.examiner.com/article/michael-nesmith-says-monkees-planning-special-50th-anniversary-show 
All I can say is I hope it's a HELL of a lot better than their last one!!!  I was SO looking forward to The Monkees' TV special that came out in conjunction with their LAST new LP, "Just Us", especially because Papa Nez was the creative source behind it ... figuring that with all the GREAT videos he has done over the years ... and a renewed interest and affection for the vehicle that launched his career ... this would be one heck of a special.  I couldn't have been more wrong ... it was painful to watch (and I honestly don't remember a single, entertaining moment. I know I have this on VHS somewhere but I've never even had an inkling to watch it again!)  At least with their movie "Head" (which is also almost impossible to watch), you had a clear understanding as to what their motive and purpose was ... they wanted to break free of their "manufactured image" and doing something WAY out there.  I would LOVE to know what they felt the point of the "Just Us" television special was supposed to be.  (Hey, even their "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee" television special from back in the day had us scratching our heads ... but at least we got a GREAT version of "Listen To The Band" out of that one!)  We'll keep you posted once we hear of an air date.  
Nesmith also says that if his schedule will allow it, he may make a surprise guest appearance at a couple of the 50th Anniversary tour dates that Micky and Peter are doing, even if only to sing a song or two.  I am SO glad to see Michael embracing his Monkees experience again ... but so SAD to see that all of this has happened AFTER the passing of Davy Jones.  (kk)       

Just reviewed your Sweet 16 / Motown's Greatest Hits list.  I would've preferred something like a TOP 16 "Obscure" Motown songs ... using tunes like the Velvelettes'"Needle In A Haystack".Brenda Holloway's "When I'm Gone", and the Isley Brothers "Behind A Painted smile" ... but that's just me.    
FYI, I have devised a point system for every song that charted TOP 50 during the decade of the 60's ...did that decades ago.  There are something like 1600 songs that racked up 300 points or more.
# 1 wasn't even close; when a song hits # 1 twice in a year and a half ... need I say more?     
Brad  

Boy, that Motown 60’s list is sure a lot better than the overall one! Sheesh.  
Get Well Soon, Jimy Sohns!!!  
Ken    

Paul Simon has released another track from his upcoming "Stranger To Stranger" CD ... you can hear "Cool Papa Bell" here ... but be prepared for some surprising, out-of-character profanity from this '60's icon ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm2LIorVaPw 

Here's the latest update I've seen on the Stairway to Heaven piracy debate:  
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/04/27/breaking-led-zeppelin-has-already-won-the-stairway-to-heaven-infringement-case/  
It sounds like the first round of this case has gone in Led Zeppelin's favor ... which is honestly a bit surprising to me. I think this may drag on for awhile.  (kk)    

Hi Kent - 
A great show at the Kent (OH) Stage on April 30th featuring NE Ohio favorite Alex Bevan opening for Jonathan Edwards.  
An outstanding opening set by Alex Bevan performing songs from his two latest CD's, including Dreams Came, Boomer, Footsteps On The Moon, Lucky and of course everyone's favorite song, Skinny. A great performance by NE Ohio's favorite son. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kCdcfw6xBw 



Next up was a fun and entertaining performance from Jonathan Edwards. Telling stories and singing some great songs, Jonathan kept the audience laughing and singing with a variety of old classics and songs from his new CD, including Honky-Tonk Stardust Cowboy, Girl From The Canyon, Down In The Woods, Johny's Come Home, and of course favorites Emma, Athens County, Sunshine and Shanty. Always a great show !!  
Tom Apathy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQe8Mk19_s4




COMING UP:
Be watching Forgotten Hits tomorrow for another EXCLUSIVE look inside some VERY rare music!  Stay tuned!  (kk) 

An Interesting (If Unlikely) Pairing ... And Another Forgotten Hits EXCLUSIVE!

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I've been telling you about this new Uncut Magazine series looking back at a given year of the rock era ... all very interesting accounts because they reflect what was written at the time and are not biased with the benefit of any hindsight.  (It's funny to see articles about "The Cream" and "The Pink Floyd", which is how Melody Maker and New Music Express referred to these groups back then!)  

One article that immediately caught my eye came from the issue celebrating 1966,originally published in late February / early March of 1966 that talks about a very young, 19 year old David Bowie working on a film score and a television special with our Forgotten Hits Buddy, Tony Hatch.  

The article states:  "Mr. Bowie, a 19 year old Bromley boy, not only writes and arranges his own numbers, but he is also helping Tony Hatch to write a musical score and the numbers for a TV show."  I was quite surprised to see this particular combination as it just doesn't seem like your typical "fit".  Were these two actually writing songs together??? 




Tony Hatch, of course, was enjoying ENORMOUS success on the charts at the time with hit records by Petula Clark, Chris Montez, Bobby Rydell, The Vogues and more ... and Bowie, of course, wouldn't have an impact here in the States for several more years ... but, based on this particular article, it sounds like he was already getting great reviews in early '66 in England and showing enormous potential.   



Since I can't very well ask David Bowie about it, I went to Tony Hatch to see just what the circumstances were that pulled these two together ... and to inquire if anything ever came out of this encounter.  (The timing of this happenstance also begs another question ... the story that has always gone 'round is that David Bowie changed his name from David Jones so as not to conflict or confuse anyone with Davy Jones of The Monkees ... but The Monkees wouldn't even come to be for another six or seven months ... so that's a bit odd, too, isn't it?  What conflict could there possibly have been in February of 1966 when The Monkees' television series wouldn't start until September of that year, launching a string of HUGE hits all over the world?)   




Hi Kent,


Thanks for your note.  

This sounds like the ramblings of a junior journalist briefed by Bowie's manager. It's more likely I was helping Bowie although I never took a share in anything he wrote when I was his producer.  I didn't write any of this material ... they are all Bowie compositions.   

I produced David Bowie in 1966. We were also looking at film and TV projects but nothing came of them. He was well-known on the London scene in the early to mid-sixties but not nationally.  Melody Maker and New Musical Express were both published in London and I guess that was the main area of their distribution.  If you haven't got them I can send you the six Bowie songs that I produced and Pye released in 1966.   



You might be right about the exact timing of the name change but Wikipedia confirms that The Monkees were formed in 1966 and their TV series was being transmitted.

Prior to his solo career, BOWIE did have other group names such THE BUZZ. It's possible that my first records with him were released as DAVID BOWIE AND THE LOWER THIRD but he certainly changed his name in '66 and Pye re-released a box set called DAVID BOWIE - THE PYE SINGLES.  Check out Wikipedia. I think it's pretty accurate.    
Tony   



Wow, I would LOVE to hear these tracks ... my guess is that most (if not ALL) of our readers have never heard them before.  Thanks, Tony!  (kk)   

Nothing ever really came of any of these ... but the discs as released were: 

(A) CAN'T HELP THINKING ABOUT ME / (B) I SAY TO MYSELF
(A) DO ANYTHING YOU SAY / (B) GOOD MORNING GIRL
(A) I DIG EVERYTHING / (B) I'M NOT LOSING SLEEP. 
 


ENJOY ... TONY














 
Ironically in the same issue of "The History Of Rock, 1966" there's a review of a new David Bowie single released in November of that year pairing "Rubber Band" with "The London Boys".  It reads:  "Difficult to describe this, for it has an odd semi-nonsense lyric, set to a stomping beat accentuated by tuba.  There's also a blaring solo trumpet and strange tempo changes.  And David, who wrote it himself, sounds mighty like Anthony Newley.  A gimmick disc, I suppose ... but praiseworthy for its novelty."  (I don't think there would ever be another instance of somebody mistaking David Bowie for Anthony Newley again!!! lol)

I asked Tony Hatch if he had any pictures of himself with David Bowie and he said that sadly, he didn't.  I also wondered if Tony kept tabs on Bowie's career after they had worked together so early on.     

As an in-house record producer (A&R Man) for Pye Records in the 1960's, one of my roles for the label, alongside producing cast recordings and instrumental albums, was the development of new young talent. Despite enjoying hits with Liverpool's The Searchers and getting close with bands from Sheffield and Manchester, there didn't seem to be much happening in London. Then Ralph Horton invited me to a London club to see young Davy Jones and The Lower Third performing songs he'd written. The Searchers didn't write songs so I was very anxious to sign an act with their own source of material. Davy Jones seemed to tick all the boxes and we got on well. He was quickly signed to the Pye label and there was no delay getting him into the Pye Studios to record his first tracks.   

There is some confusion as to when he actually changed his name from Jones to Bowie but I'm pretty sure his first single with Pye in 1966, 'Can't Help Thinking About Me' c/w 'I Say To Myself' was released as David Bowie and The Lower Third. Two more singles followed in that year as David Bowie but we couldn't get the hit we needed and I was tremendously disappointed when Pye's MD told me I needed to cull my roster of artistes. 

It's hard to pinpoint a specific reason why we failed. Maybe the magic hadn't kicked in - or maybe Pye failed to realize what a unique talent he was or just didn't know how to promote it. It didn't surprise me, then, when David Bowie got his first big success and launched a career that would see him develop into one of the world's most uniquely creative artists. I can say with some pride, however, "I told you so"!  

TONY HATCH

He was DEFINITELY calling himself David Bowie in early 1966 ... BEFORE anybody had a CLUE who The Monkees were.



A LITTLE BIT OF RESEARCH:   

Bowie's first release came in 1964, when he was fronting a group called The King Bees ... at the time he was still going by his given name, David Jones.  According to VH1's Rock Encyclopedia, Jones adopted the name "Bowie" in January of 1966 while recording with The Lower Third after signing with Pye Records.  His manager, Ken Pitt, suggested a name change so as not to be confused with Davy Jones, a member of a new US made-for-TV group, The Monkees.  I suppose it's possible ... the first ad announcing auditions for The Monkees ran on Wednesday, September 8th, 1965 ... Jones had reportedly already been guaranteed a role in the series because of his contract with Screen Gems ... so he never really had to go through the whole auditioning process.  With that thought in mind, it is quite likely that word got back to England (since that's where Davy was born and raised) and the name change was instituted ... even though the series wouldn't premier until a full year later in 1966.  

Davy was also already appearing in the teen fan magazines prior to landing his role on the television series ... and, in August of 1965, already released a solo single (ironically as David Jones) that reached the lower region of the American charts.    

Then, on February 9th, 1964, he performed as The Artful Dodger on The Broadway Cast of "Oliver"'s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show ... the very same episode where The Beatles made their first Sullivan appearance.  (Davy, after seeing the fan reaction when The Fab Four took the stage, reportedly decided right then and there on the spot that this is what HE wanted to do, leaving the Broadway stage behind.  Who would have EVER dreamed that three short years later The Monkees would be outselling The Beatles on the pop charts!)

Anyway, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it ... 
Mystery solved!!!  (kk)

Tuesday This And That

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Cornerstones Of Rock: 
Since our recent commentary, we're hearing from more "unhappy customers" regarding the WTTW "Cornerstones Of Rock" DVD.  (On the other hand, the live concert reviews have been great!)  kk   

I think it's a real shame that the Jimy Sohns / Gloria segment was cut from the DVD.  It was one of the televised concert highlights and it has always been one of the best representations of the Chicago rock scene of the 60s - not to mention a true, garage band classic.
This is especially sad news after Jimy's recent stroke.  
Get well, Jimy!  
Ed
The decision to cut this segment happened WELL before Jimy's stroke.  (By the way, we hear he's doing great and is determined to get back up there on the stage again.  There's still one local area Cornerstones concerts coming up on September 3rd at The Arcada Theatre and Jimy has EVERY intention of being there.)
I can only assume it was some kind of licensing thing that prevents this clip from being included although I'm really surprised for this to be the case ... both "Gloria" and "Louie Louie" (also deleted from the DVD) have appeared on countless compilations over the years.  In that "Gloria" is also missing from the CD featuring the remastered original versions of all these songs, I can't think of any other legitimate reason for its absence.  (Still waiting to hear back from WTTW as to an "official" explanation.)  kk

Hi Kent,
Some kind soul has posted a few clips on Youtube, which I promptly downloaded.
Here, for example, is GLORIA: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A0eRueg0XE
 

Keep up the good work!
Carl Karstadt  
Clips from the broadcast have been circulating ever since the original taping ... you'll find performances from the live shows online, too ... but fans who shelled out upwards of $100 - $150 shouldn't have to search online for footage of Jimy Sohns and The Shadows Of Knight performing "Gloria" ... it should have been included on the disc they purchased through the television station.  (A further review of the DVD against the original program that I DVR'd shows that the entire Jimy Sohns interview about "Gloria" is also missing from the disc ... as is the full ensemble finale performing "Louie Louie".  (Without question the TOP TWO ALL-TIME GREATEST GARAGE BAND CLASSICS have GOT to be "Gloria" and "Louie Louie" ... yet in a program based around the theme and genre of "American Garage", BOTH of these songs were omitted from the DVD ... and that's just wrong.
Upon further review, I paid particular attention to the pledge drive breaks to see how they presented the contents of the DVD.  While I couldn't find a single instance of them mentioning anything about "bonus footage", on at least six occasions they DID offer up DVD copies of "the program you are watching right now" ... which clearly isn't the case.  Fans (and there are PLENTY ... this has to be one of the biggest fund-raising ventures the station has ever had ... and both subsequent live shows were complete sell-outs as well) deserve better and we will continue to address this issue in Forgotten Hits.  In fact, our FH Buddy Larz of Chicagoland Radio and Media is picking up our cause and looking into this matter as well.  We're hoping that he'll be able to provide some answers and insight into just how and where this all went wrong.  (To the best of my knowledge, PBS subscribers who make substantial donations during these pledge drives typically get "bonus footage" not shown during the original broadcast ... this is the first time I've ever heard about getting LESS!!!)  And, having interviewed most of the artists who participated, I know that each band performed at least another song or two that was edited from the television broadcast that fans who weren't able to attend the taping were now hoping to see.  Key members of every group also did brief interviews which they thought would be edited into the dvd release ... but that didn't happen either. 
Great performances, yet ... but now, due to all the controversy, we find ourselves with an all in all VERY disappointing disk ... especially when one considers what COULD (and SHOULD) have been included.  Add to that the extended wait for delivery due to manufacturing delays and you'll see why the fans are speaking out.  (kk)

Hi Kent,
I went to the Cornerstones Of Rock show in Skokie last night, and it was a blast!
Afterwards I did the ‘meet & greet' with a handful of the performers.
I’m still on a cloud … I just purchased a couple tix for the 9/3 show — they’re goin’ fast!
~ Bob
PS —I passed on getting the Ch 11 concert DVD for sale, ‘helplessly hoping' they might reissue the full performance.
Hang tight ... who knows, they still might.  If enough disgruntled fans email the station and voice their disappointment maybe we can get the disc(s) that we deserve!  (This was a long show ... I'd be COMPLETELY pleased if they issued the concert as broadcast on one disk ... and then filled a SECOND disc with bonus extras ... some of the missing live performances, more of the filmed interviews, even some vintage clips of the groups from back in the day.  Now THAT is something that EVERY Chicago Rock fan would want for their own collection!!!)  kk
I'm hoping to finally make it to the September 3rd show at The Arcada ... especially since I missed the original WTTW taping and the two subsequent live shows.  Maybe we'll see you there!  (kk)
[For the record ... the ONLY additional footage available on the DVD that was NOT broadcast during the original telecast was the tribute to Chase, which was a rousing rendition of their big hit "Get It On".  Oddly enough, this track showed up in the end credits of the television broadcast but was never actually shown!!!]

David Bowie / Davy Jones: 
Kent -
With regards to Davy Jones of the Monkees, he first came into prominence way back in the UK television soap Coronation Street, where he played the son of one of the leading characters in the series and I believe before that with no connection whatsoever to do with television, I believe he also trained as a jockey here in the UK.
Take care,
Rockin’ Lord Geoff (in England)
Yes, Davy DID work as a jockey for quite some time ... and his love for horses never left him.  As I recall he had a heart attack while tending to his horses back in 2012.  Peter Noone first got HIS start on "Coronation Street", too, as an actor ... he and Jones remained close friend throughout their careers, which crossed paths many many times.  (kk)

Kent,
It would not have been a stretch for Bowie's VOICE to be compared to Newley's in 1966.  You can hear it here.  It's certainly a lame version, but you can hear the inflections.
Clark Besch


Oh my GOD, that's awful!!!  What were they THINKING?!?!?  (kk)
Bowie's "Rubber Band" is indeed strange with tuba, so they got the description correct. 
Tony's songs with Bowie are really quite good and sound vocally much alike he always has.
Anthony Newley is not far from this "Rubber Band" hokey stuff, from 1967.  It would seem that Bowie took two steps backwards after leaving Tony Hatch, judging by this Dream US 45 after Tony's nice 45s. 
Clark

I really am guessing that the MONKEES' David Jones was very possibly known by Bowie well before he was a pre-fab.  David Jones was in theater in England and known to some extent.  His Colpix 45 was also released there in 1965, causing more conflict possibilities.
Meanwhile, this TV theme by Tony Hatch could easily have been background for Bowie's vocal styling's later on??  I wonder if Bowie got any ideas from this for his "Space Oddity" hit later in the 60's???
And finally, here's a Tony Hatch (and then-wife) song that could have easily been a 1970 Montanas single too.

This And That:   
Check out these 80th birthday greetings to Engelbert Humperdinck, sent in by FH Reader David Salidor ...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3yS5pgGRTI&feature=share 

Kent,  
I am a bit perplexed as to how “I CAN’T GET NEXT TO YOU” makes the top 16 list of Motown 60’s hits when “MY GIRL” is nowhere to be found.  
I was unable to come up with solid sales figures, but “MY GIRL” was certified platinum. I can’t find any evidence that “I CAN’T GET NEXT TO YOU” even made gold.  
I am arguing numbers here exclusively here. I love both these Temptations songs.  
Bill Fortune
The list was compiled based on chart points earned at the time each record was on The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart.  Sales only comes into play as it relates to each record's particular chart position at the time.
I agree whole-heartedly that "My Girl" is by FAR the more recognizable and associated tune with The Temptations ... but both records reached #1 on the Billboard chart.  When "My Girl" first came out in 1965, it spent a total of 13 weeks on the chart ... eleven of those in The Top 40, 8 in The Top Ten and one week at #1.  By comparison, "I Can't Get Next To You" (in 1969) spent 17 weeks on the chart, 15 of those in The Top 40, 11 in The Top Ten and TWO weeks at #1.
When you analyze the facts AS THEY OCCURRED, it's easy to see how "I Can't Get Next To You' would outrank "My Girl".  However, as we have been prejudiced (and brain-washed) SINCE 1969, there is NO question that "My Girl" has been the more popular radio hit.  (kk)

Kent,
Enjoyed your Sweet 16 this time around, especially #15 by Smokey Robinson ("Being With You"). Hadn't heard that one in a long time. If this were Motown's biggest 16 of all time, I couldn't help but wonder what the LEAST biggest (?) 16 of all time would be.
Put me down as a second to Brad's listing of the top 16 obscure Motown hits, er, non-hits. One of the first records to come to my mind was a record out of 1960 which was somewhat of an answer or follow-up to Larry Verne's MR CUSTER. The record was called CUSTER'S LAST MAN by a group known as Pop Corn and the Mohawks, if you can believe that. Somebody by the name of Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson co-wrote it.
Incidentally, tell Davie Allan I got out his 1965 APACHE '65 and played it again.  Loved hearing that version again. And when I said I played it, I am talking about the original 45, not you tube. Flip was BLUE GUITAR. Have a great day.
Larry
About twenty years ago I compiled a list of The Top 200 Motown Hits of All-Time by combining each record's performance on both the pop chart AND the R&B chart ... it presented a VERY interesting perspective of just how big some of these hits really were.  (Of course it's now long since lost ... but it would be cool to put one together again.  One thing I do remember is that Bruce Willis' version of "Respect Yourself" was right there near the bottom ... so I'd have to say it was a pretty comprehensive list!  (lol)
One of my favorite Motown non-hits was the original version of "Devil With A Blue Dress On" by Shortly Long.  It went absolutely NOWHERE on the pop chart and yet when Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels revived it in 1967, it was a Top Five Hit.  (Growing up in Detroit, he probably heard it there.  Personally, I have always preferred this more "bluesy" treatment that Shorty Long gave it.)
Davie Allan will be pleased by your comment.  He was hoping for a little bigger push from the record company in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of "The Wild Angels" but it never happened.  Would have been cool to see a theatrical re-release along with a cleaned up version of the soundtrack on cd.  (kk)



Kent ...
5/2/1969 = "Something", recorded by The Beatles, written by George Harrison about Patti Boyd
5/2/1977 = "Wonderful Tonight", recorded by Eric Clapton, written by Eric about Patti Boyd
"Layla" was also about her.    
When was the last time you heard a Patti Boyd Triple-Play?
Frank B.
WONDERFUL TONIGHT:  PATTIE BOYD'S LOVE TRIANGLE WITH GEORGE HARRISON AND ERIC CLAPTON
This is a VERY cool Pattie Boyd profile ... check it out when you get a chance.  (I've always said she must have REALLY been "something" to turn the heads of these two rock guitar gods ... "wonderful tonight" indeed!)  kk

50 Years Ago Today

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Here's how things shaped up in Australia 50 years ago today ... check out this vintage chart from down under!

Quite a few two-sided hits on the chart this week ... featuring some unusual pairings (based on their US counterparts anyway) ...

Topping the chart is The Beatles with "Nowhere Man" / "Norwegian Wood".  (Here in The States "Nowhere Man" was backed up with "What Goes On" ... and back home in The UK, "Nowhere Man" wouldn't be released as a single at all.

The Rolling Stones have a two-sided hit at #18 with "As Tears Go By" / "19th Nervous Breakdown" (both separate A-Sides here in The States) ... and they're also represented at #12 with "The Fortune Teller".

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass have a two-sided hit at #20 with "What Now My Love" / "Spanish Flea", as do The Beach Boys one spot behind them at #21 with "Sloop John B" / "You're So Good To Me".

Nancy Sinatra falls out of the #1 spot to #2 this week with her first big hit "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" while our FH Buddy Bob Lind jumps ten places with "Elusive Butterfly" (from #20 to #10).

Also scoring multiple hits on this week's Top 40 are Herman's Hermits (#19 with "Leaning On The Lamp Post" and #22 with "Listen People") and Petula Clark (at #30 with "My Love" and at #37 with "A Sign Of The Times").

In addition to the regular Top 40 Chart, an additional 30 hits are listed as "predicted hits".  You'll find some pretty big titles on this list, including future smashes like "Monday Monday" by The Mamas and the Papas, "How Does That Grab You Darlin'" by Nancy Sinatra, "The Pied Piper" by Crispian St. Peters, "Caroline No" (shown here by The Beach Boys, even though Capitol Records released it as a Brian Wilson single), "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" by Dusty Springfield, "Rainy Day Women" by Bob Dylan, a two-sided hit by Mrs. Miller ("Downtown" backed with "A Lover's Concerto), "Soul And Inspiration" by The Righteous Brothers and even Chicago's very own Shadows Of Knight with "Gloria" ... an up 'n' coming hit Down Under just as it was here in The Windy City!







Cornerstones Of Rock - Wrapping It Up

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After Larz from Chicagoland Radio and Media ran a piece on Tuesday about the missing footage from the "Cornerstones Of Rock" DVD, as first profiled here in Forgotten Hits (by way of several emails received from disgruntled PBS contributors who felt that they had received less than they were expecting ... or led to believe they should be expecting), he heard back from the COO of WTTW.  
 
You can get the full report here:
 
After seeing our initial olumn spotlighting emails from disappointed fans who made hefty donations to the station in the hopes of getting commemorative copies of the program they saw and more (in the way of bonus features) and prior to going to print with his findings, Larz told us ...
 
Hi Kent:
This is a huge shame (and a bit of a sham). I will certainly give this a write-up tomorrow. I will reach out to WTTW for comment in the morning, although I doubt I'll hear anything. If I do hear something, my hunch is that they will blame the musical omissions on licensing fees. Regardless, WTTW screwed up, since I know there were a couple hours of interviews recorded which they could have included as a bonus feature -- licensing cost free. The fact is, the company took the cheap way out and screwed-over loyal viewers who donated large amounts of money.Larz
 
And then, post-conversation (and explanation) ...
 
I talked with the COO of WTTW. He had a fairly logical explanation. 
In a nutshell:
- PBS can broadcast all the music they want without worrying about solidifying the rights.
- When it came to the DVD / CD, they could not get confirmation of the rights to "Gloria."
- "Louie Louie" was (and I'm quoting him) a "hot mess." The sound quality was wrecked and they could not fix it.
- None of this was on purpose. They had truly hoped to release the full broadcast on DVD.
Personally, I think this should have been noted on the packaging in fine print somewhere, but I'm guessing they hoped few would notice. Based on the mail that you've received, obviously that wasn't the case.
Larz
 
From the CRM website update:
 
Executives with WTTW-TV have responded.
There were a few reasons behind the changes with the DVD and CD releases that were beyond WTTW-TV's control.
When airing the television special, PBS had a blanket rights plan to broadcast music performances. In December when WTTW-TV began to solicit donations for the to-be-created DVDs and CDs, they thought they would be including every song from the "Cornerstones of Rock" special on the perks for donors. However, when it came time to creating the discs, a question arose over the rights to the song "Gloria." Rather than delaying the discs any longer or risking a legal challenge, a decision was made to simply remove "Gloria" and any mention of the song from the DVD and CD releases.
With "Louie Louie," the problem was with the audio quality. While it was fun for the TV broadcast and for those in the audience, the fact is that the impromptu jam on the garage rock classic did not have the sound quality that the rest of the evening's performances had. Attempts at bettering the sound quality were unsuccessful. Once again, a decision was made to simply remove the song from the DVD and CD release, instead of delivering a sub-par track.
"Get It On," the one hit from Chicago group Chase was included on the DVD, but not on the television airing, making it a bonus for those who donated to Chicago's PBS station for the perks.
 
Already running late in getting the DVD's and CD's to the public who had paid for them, my hunch is WTTW played it safe (and perhaps jumped the gun just little bit), rather than waiting it out to see if the rights to "Gloria" could be secured.  (As stated several times here already, "Gloria" is a KEY track to ANY profile of Garage Band Rock.)  
 
Unfortunately, it's the customers making donations who got cheated in this process.  (Another track missing from the DVD was Jim Peterik playing around with "Eye Of The Tiger" in the dressing room ... I suppose maybe they weren't sure they could get the rights to that one either?!?!  Kinda hard to believe since Jim Peterik was one of the organizers of the whole event.)
 
The REAL shame is that several entire performances of songs performed by these artists that night were cut that COULD have been included as "bonus footage" had somebody been a bit more creative on the editing end of things.  Brand new interviews could have been interwoven with vintage television clips of all of the artists performing from back in the day.  This collection could have been SO much more than it is had just a little bit of thought been put into the overall project.  They had dozens and dozens of hours of additional footage that could have been culled together to turn this into a much more memorable (and fan-friendly) pieces ... they just chose not to use any of it.  (Larz feels that some sort of disclaimer should be placed on the WTTW website warning fans interested in purchasing this set that it contains and "edited version" of the PBS concert special ... and he's probably right ... otherwise we're just going to continue to receive letters from  disappointed fans who were expecting the whole show ... and then some.

That being said, it IS a GREAT concert video of our Local Heroes, circa 2015.all of whom did a GREAT job of bringing back a key part of our lives up on that stage that night.  The importance of seeing them all together again brought home that message so much stronger thanks to the recent developments of '60's artists like Gary Loizzo, Jimy Sohns and Marty Grebb (who, I'm told, was NOT asked to participate in the taping, despite a HUGE turn-out for his own benefit concert earlier that same year.)
 
The tribute to Chase was excellent ... a truly smokin' performance of a great seldom-heard classic.  Despite being included in the end credits during the original broadcast, this segment was NOT shown when "Cornerstones Of Rock" first aired.  As such it becomes the ONLY "bonus" feature offered to the public who shelled out big bucks to preserve this special piece of history ... and it comes at the expense of other footage previously aired as part of the original broadcast that all of us were expecting to see.)
 
A word to the wise ... if you're a fan of this music and these great artists, catch the show live at The Arcada Theatre on September 3rd, before all of the tickets are gone.  This has turned into a VERY hot, in-demand series of shows ... all the more reason we feel it deserved a better fate when being marketed as a keepsake to a very devoted audience.  Hopefully each group is allowed to expand their set a little bit to feature more than what had to be edited down to fit the time restraints of a television broadcast. (kk)
 
I did break down and watch one of my copies of the Cornerstones dvd.
Basically what they did, from the edited televised version, was delete the group Louie Louie finale and insert the Chase Tribute in its place. I am now surprised they didn’t leave in the pledge drive breaks. That’s it. It is still very well done, but a huge disappointment. I was really looking forward to Sunshine Psalm, Up on the Roof and Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White. When that 45 came out most of the good bands in our area covered Good Guys and not Dirty Water. Most people only listen to the “A” side, so if you cover the “B” side everyone thinks it’s your original song. These three songs, although performed that night, are nowhere on the DVD. 
Robert Campbell
No, I think we've already got all that we'll be getting.  As I stated earlier, I would have LOVED to have been able to purchase a 2-DVD set featuring the entire COMPLETE performance as it aired on WTTW as well as a "bonus disc" featuring performances trimmed for editing purposes along with interviews with these artists about what it was like having all these hit records back in the day and how it feels now, some fifty years later, to still see the loyal fans turn out for all these shows. That, interspersed with original television footage from back in the day and this could have been one hell of a package, marketable to fans outside the Chicagoland area as well.
But at this point, I'm ready to put this one to bed.  We got what we're getting ... disappointing yet, but still a great show that I know I'll watch many times again.  Now I wanna see the whole thing live ... so Ron, put me down for two tickets to the September 3rd show at The Arcada Theatre! (kk)
 
 
 

The Friday Flash

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Kent,
Next Wednesday, May 11, starting at 8:00 p.m. ET, my Top Shelf Oldies (topshelfoldies.org) show will be devoted to this year's I.R.S. 10-90 survey, as compiled by Rich Appel. I'll be featuring songs from this year's Top 109 countdown, and I'll be announcing how a listener can win a copy of the souvenir 5-CD box set containing all 109 songs on the countdown.
Those who aren't able to listen that night can catch the show in the Randy on the Radio Archives: 
The deadline for entering the drawing for the CD set will be the following Wednesday, May 18.
– Randy Price
 
Speaking of radio shows, deejay Phil Nee is putting together a five hour special based around our recent SWEET 16 theme, "What's The Name Of That Song" ... songs we all know by heart where the title of the song never appears in the lyrics.
I told you we came up with just over a hundred titles ... and Phil will be airing eighty of them on his May 14th show.
It all happens on WRCO broadcasting out of Richland Center, Wisconsin.  If you're able to tune in and listen, please do ... meanwhile we're looking into making the program available as a podcast afterwards.  Should be a fun show (if I do say so myself!!!)  kk
 
Dear Forgotten Hits Readers,
I recently did a radio interview show for the Jersey Girls Sing website with legendary session drummer Hal Blaine, whose accomplishments are massive. He played on more hits than any other drummer in the rock era, including 37 #1s and 150 top tens. He played on seven Grammy Records Of The Year, six of which were consecutive (1966 through 1971) . He named, formed and played with the musicians known as the Wrecking Crew and worked with dozens of recording artists. He joined the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2000 as one of the first sidemen to be inducted.
To access the interview show, please click the following Jersey Girls Sing link -- http://www.jerseygirlssing.com/ -- and when the home page comes up, click on either of the two Hal Blaine images.
Ronnie Allen   
 
Hi Kent.
Always such cool info each week. Love to see all my friends doing so well.
Next March 18th I'm part of the best music cruise of the year.
Take a look at who is on the ship with me.
All the best pal,
Ron Dante
PS. Anyone interested can call our special number tomorrow. 844 344 ROCK
 
 
Hey Kent,
To quote Mr. Hope: Thanks for the memories.
That was another lifetime.
In THIS lifetime -- the only one that counts -- my new album, MAGELLAN WAS WRONG, is due out on ACE Records in June or July.
Always grateful for your keeping me in your mind and your column / blog.
All the best to you,
Bob Lind
 
The "Official" Keith Emerson Tribute Concert - Saturday, May 28  
 
The "Official" Keith Emerson Tribute Concert will be held Saturday, May 28, at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, presented by Goldenvoice. It will be a retrospective of Keith's entire career from the Nice, to ELP, to the Keith Emerson Band and Three Fates Project. Many of the artists who were close friends and have worked with Keith will be performing some of his most famous works.
It promises to be a great night of music and homage to one of the most influential musicians and composers of the twentieth century.
Featuring Performances by:  Eddie Jobson (U.K. / Roxy Music); Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater); Steve Porcaro (Toto); Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (Steely Dan / Doobie Bros.); Vinnie Colaiuta (Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa); Cj Vanston (Spinal Tap); Steve Lukather (Toto); Brian Auger (Oblivion Express); Rachel Flowers; Philippe Saisse (Al Dimeola); Gregg Bissonette (Ringo Starr); Keith Emerson Band;
Marc Bonilla (Keith Emerson Band / Toy Matinee); Troy Luccketta (Tesla, Three Fates Project); Joe Travers (Zappa's Universe); Travis Davis (Keith Emerson Band); Mick Mahan (Pat Benatar); Mike Wallace (Boys Club / Dragonchoir); Jonathan Sindelman (Alan White Band); Maestro Terje Mikkelsen (Three Fates Project); Rick Livingstone (The Best); Kae Matsumoto (Kae M Black); Ed Roth (Boys Club/CTA)
Hosted by "Uncle Joe" Benson – 100.3 The Sound
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Doors 7pm / Show 8pm
El Rey Theater 5515 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
Tickets available at Tickets: http://tinyurl.com/officialkeithemersontribute

Cornerstones Of Rock - The Controversy Continues

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We thought we were finished with our WTTW / Cornerstones Of Rock discussion and attempted to wrap things up the other day ... but new comments continue to come in ... and new evidence of deception has come to light ... read on ...

Kent,
I have read all of the comments from FH and WTTW about the CD / DVD sets.  I got mine after you guys did a few weeks ago, and like you, have yet to view it.  I saw the TV version, so I don't know if I will watch it or not soon. 
That said, I am trying to look at both sides.  The TV "event" was magnificent for those of us out of towners who would not get to go.  The concert series would likely not have happened if NOT for WTTW's showing.  That said, that would mean we would not have seen Gary Loizzo's last performance or the gathering of the American Breed.  Maybe Ronnie Rice and the New Colony Six would not have ever performed together again.  Maybe there would not have been two follow-up concerts.  Maybe the Buckinghams leaders wouldn't have put their differences aside for an evening.  We got to see Jimy Sohns performing before his health problems sidetracked him.  Would we see the Cryan Shames back playing five classics with Jim Fairs and Hooke and Toad all onstage blasting out MY faves?  MY fave band onstage on TV!!!  Yes, the Ides can be seen these days, but it never gets old seeing them.  It was even recorded at WTTW.  We owe a lot to Jim Peterik AND to WTTW for bringing us the show Jim and JC Hooke have dreamed of for ages.  So much talent on one stage for one time.  It was a one and only "Cornerstones of CHICAGO 60's rock."
Now, on the other side, I paid $100 for a DVD / CD set that might have been better off as a double DVD of ALL the material, minus the CD.  Most who bought the set have the music on CD already, I'm guessing(?)  To get LESS than the TV show is pretty lame, indeed.  Now, thanks to my "generosity," I am being deluged with spam snail mail wanting MORE donations.  Latest, a letter to me from the Chief Financial Officer of WTTW.  They claim they need $403,000 by June 30 to keep operating, due mostly to a 16% increase in PBS programming and a 65% decrease in state funding.  Now, I can certainly almost cover that for them, but maybe they will have to just "downsize."  OR, they could not send letters to people living outside their viewing area every month ... especially the people they have kept waiting months for their first purchase from the pledge event in December??
All in all, it's a tough call.  WTTW must have big financial woes and this set is causing some bad blood, for sure.  Still, this station has supplied an incredible barrage of great programming over the decades, some dealing with our 60's childhood memories, and always done REALLY well.  Thanks to friends in Chicago, I have gotten to see some great shows WTTW has put together on Chicago and 60's rock memories. 
My suggestion is that WTTW broadcast the show in its full entirety with all the interviews over four hours or over two nights and AGAIN asking for donations and offering the same DVD set again for those who did not see the first show.  Show "Louie Louie" with the bad sound!  We grew up LOVING AM radio!  Kids today listen to music on these tin box phones that sound WORSE than 60's AM radio!  Heck, "Louie Louie" WAS the epitome of bad recording!  Just show us the whole thing, with or without pledge breaks, but the WHOLE thing.  What are you going to do with that classic stuff, otherwise??  Throw out history?  These ARE the Cornerstones of Rock!  Don't blow it again.  Make some money AND show us the whole thing.
That's MY solution. 
WLSClark

So let me get this straight ... the sound of the ensemble group's grand finale performance of "Louie Louie" was too distorted and not fit for inclusion on the dvd?  What made that song so popular back in the day was the fact that it was distorted so badly you couldn't make out the lyrics, thus inspiring thousands of music fans all over the world to determine what they THOUGHT they heard on the record ... which caused a WORLD of controversy way back then.
How do you call the show a tribute to garage rock and then not play the two greatest garage rock anthems of all time?  Louie Louie and Gloria BOTH deserved to be on the dvd ... they DEFINE garage band rock ... without them the very concept of this concert fails in every conceivable manner.
In reading the explanation from WTTW it sounds like they didn't investigate completely (or push hard enough) regarding obtaining the rights to the use of Gloria on the disc.  As you said before, the song has been licensed to countless other 60's compilations for decades now.  Sounds like somebody just didn't do their homework and has now alienated thousands of subscribers who feel they didn't get what they paid for.  (Meanwhile, WTTW continues to badger us almost daily with requests for more donations.)  This isn't what I signed up for ... I wanted my dvd of the WHOLE show PLUS the bonus footage and interviews they promised during the pledge drive.  They took our money but didn't deliver what they promised us to GET that money ... and that's just wrong.  Call it deception or false advertising ... or collecting money under false pretenses ... any way you cut it, it stinks.
Tim H

Isn't it ironic that sound quality was citied as a reason for not including "Louie, Louie" ... that's one of the hallmarks of that song. The real words used by the Kingsmen have been debated for years.
Permalink

I was gonna leave the Cornerstones Of Rock controversy alone, but I like a good controversy as much as the next guy. I have never seen the broadcast and, from what I gather, I'm not missing much. However I attended the taping. Starting with the last first, the Louie Louie finale was sort of disorganized at best, as it almost seemed like an afterthought. It sorta reminded me of some of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame finales where everyone gets up on stage and Paul Shaffer is the only one who remembers any words. They were all joking about how they were gonna sing the "dirty" lyrics. It came across about as clear as the Kingsmen did. I can see why WTTW didn't want to include it, although they should have anyways. Just make a notation in the liner notes. 
I liked the 19 cut CD, however there is still ample time left to include Lake Shore Drive, Up On The Roof, Get It On & Gloria. I haven't listened to the live CD yet. The problem with these "premiums" is that unless you do the whole program, as shown, you'll never please anyone. I have no idea why it wasn't done like that, start to finish. After you delete the pauses between set up time, and Wendy Snyder's fill ins, the whole show could have fit on one DVD. A second DVD could have been included with rehearsals, some goofing around like Dennis & Jim did. There had to be more. Maybe some brief interviews with each of the bands. I suspect you, and the majority of folks in FH land are right. WTTW could have done a far better job. I'm not sure why it takes four months to get it together. Having edited tape in the past, it doesn't take that long to do it, especially if you're a professional and working with a lot better equipment then I'll see in my lifetime. 
Perhaps what annoyed me the most was about a half dozen solicitations for more money in between the time of the concert and the time I received the CD / DVD package. On one phone solicitation, I told the guy, they won't be getting any money from me until I get what I shelled out $149.95 for to begin with.  They haven't called back. At least with one mail request, they sent me some address labels. They still ain't getting any more money. 
In short, I'm happy I went, I'm happy that I got a souvenir from the experience, but WTTW screwed up big time. Now I know why I had never pledged before, to get one of the CD  / DVDs, for one of their programs. I would say there's an excellent chance that PBS, won't ever get any more money from me in the future. Still I don't mind the address labels. They're just not worth $149.95.   
Jack
 
"Louie Louie' kinda WAS an afterthought ... the original plan was to have everybody come back out again and sing "Sweet Home Chicago" ... but a last minute decision was made to go with "Louie Louie" instead, probably in keeping more in line with the whole garage band theme of the event.  For that reason alone it should have been left in ... "hot mess" or not.
I also agree that including the "Lake Shore Drive" and "Get It On" tributes would have made nice additions to the live CD, especially since they were part of the final dvd edit.
Releasing less than fans were expecting is bad enough ... but this non-stop badgering for more money is just adding fuel to the fire.  The overall consensus is that this experience will most likely prevent future donations from those who bought these packages.  This mishandling of merchandise has seriously hampered the potential for future donations from a brand new audience cultivated by this historic Chicago Rock event.  For that reason alone, WTTW should make this right ... give the fans what they want, chalk it up to a bad business decision, and move on.  If nothing else, this may get them some credibility back among those who are currently left with a bad taste in their mouths.  (kk)

Having read the past input regarding the Cornerstones of Rock DVD and CD, I have one more omission to ask about ... Love You So Much, which we did during the filming and which is a Sentar recording that I shared licensing for so that it could be included on the CD that featured the original recordings of these hits.  I, too, had hoped that these might turn up as part of the bonus features mentioned for the dvd release (as well as more of the interview that I did for the program.)  Oh well, life goes on.
Thanks for being irate on behalf of those who supported and continue to support us and WTTW.  Looking forward to a glorious Spring and Summer through more Cornerstones live shows.  
Peace, bro’,      
Ray Graffia, Jr. / The New Colony Six

I see through the Arcada website that another Cornerstones show has been added June 24th in Minneapolis at the Pantages Theatre (more information at www.oshows.com), as well as the return performance at The Arcada Theatre on September 3rd (which, I was just informed we will ALSO be unable to attend ... damn, that means I will have missed all three of the local shows!)  Hopefully more ensemble gigs (as well as solo New Colony Six shows, where you can feature more of your extensive hit catalog) are also on the horizon.  (kk)

Even Jimy Sohns has felt the need to make a statement due to all this controversy stirred up here in Forgotten Hits ...

ATTENTION!
We have no control over Gloria being left off the Cornerstones of Rock: American Garage DVD ...
Direct your suggestions and complaints to Joe Thomas (jthomas1@hdready.com) and Frank Pappalardo (frankpappalardo23@gmail.com).
There must have been a way to get permission for them to have Gloria on the DVD ... after all, it's on hundreds of cds, tapes and 8-tracks all over the world.
COME ON GUYS!  
Jimy   

It's interesting to note that the set lists of The Ides Of March and The Buckinghams were not edited for broadcasting ... each of their entire performances were kept intact.  

As the key organizers of this event, both Jim Peterik and Carl Giammarese are able to walk away unscathed ... even though, while speaking during the pledge drive breaks, both alluded to all the bonus "extras" that would be on the home dvd version if purchased through the pledges obtained that night.  My guess is that they were only promoting what they were told was going to happen ... and that somewhere along the way WTTW took the cheap way out and only went with the broadcast version instead ... and then even made edits to that!  (Carl???  Jim???  Wanna weigh in on this???  You guys know the truth!)  

I was kinda hoping that we might hear from Ron Onesti, too, as he hosted this whole event and MC'd the pledge drive ... certainly he was led to believe at the time that the dvd would include all kinds of bonus footage not shown as part of the original broadcast ... these guys wouldn't have just offered that up on their own ...it HAD to come from somewhere!!!  (Listen, I'm not trying to put anybody on the spot here ... nor am I trying to put anybody in an awkward position ... I know that these folks have long-standing, deep ties to WTTW ... but I also know that ALL of these guys have been around the block a time or two ... and THEY know that right is right ... and this just ain't right!!!)  kk

Basically what they did, from the edited televised version, was delete Gloria by the Shadows of Knight and the group Louie Louie finale and insert the Chase Tribute in its place. I am now surprised they didn’t leave in the pledge drive breaks.  I was really looking forward to Sunshine Psalm, Up on the Roof and Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White.  These three songs, although performed that night, are nowhere on the DVD.  It is still very well done, but a huge disappointment. 
Robert Campbell

Actually I think the pledge drive breaks were probably the most entertaining ones I've ever seen on the station!  It was SO cool to see Jim Peterik and Carl Giammarese talking with the hosts and explaining just how deep the ties go between these artists ... the "friendly competition" back in the day, celebrating each new success, and still being able to take the stage today, some fifty years later, and play to sold-out shows ... the '60's and '70's music of Chicago is alive and well. (I liked the filmed testimonials encouraging viewers to contribute by Nick Fortuna, Ronnie Rice and Ray Graffia, Jr., too ... even if they were begging for donations well into the millions and billions!  lol)

In speaking with several of the artists who participated in the original concert, they, too, are upset that their performances that night were cut short on the television broadcast ... but understand that this had to be done for broadcast purposes.  However, most were also hoping that these "extras" would show up on the dvd as well as some of the lengthy interview segments also filmed that evening ... yet NONE of this material made the dvd either.  In that respect, WTTW let down the fans AND the participants.

Upon closer review of the original broadcast, I see that it was when Jimy Sohns came up to join Jim Peterik and Ron Onesti that Jim performed a short piece of "Eye Of The Tiger", right after Jimy led a chorus of Ron, Jim and the telephone operators through a quick chorus of "Gloria".)

However it was during this very same break that the promise of dvd extras would accompany your $100 - $200 donations ... listen to the audio clip below.  In THIS way, WTTW failed to deliver on their promise ... and that is what the fans who bought these special packages are upset about. 

Here is a transcript of that conversation:

So I'm here with the legendary, the great, Jimmy Peterik of The Ides of March and you know what, you can see how much fun we're having here in the studio ... and you know that's the amazing thing about the dvd that you can get, everything you see right here on Channel 11, and if you come to the show, because the music is the music ... the music's on the dvd, the music's on the cd, the music's on tv tonight and the music's going to be live at the show ... but on the dvd you get all these bonus little stories ... all this extra stuff, all this juicy stuff about the bands, for $8 per month, only $8 a month, $96 one time this fabulous dvd with bonus tracks, stories, behind the scenes ... people LOVE that, you know ... and $8 gets you the dvd AND the cd ...

And that's ultimately what did them in ... the promise of more and the delivery of less.  The fans feel that WTTW should deliver on their promise ... simple as that.  We sent in our money in good faith ... we supported the station ... we should get what we were promised.  We kept our end of the bargain ... now it's time for WTTW to pony up and deliver on their end.
kk
Kent Kotal
Forgotten Hits

AFTER THOUGHTS:    

Clark's suggestion that WTTW should rebroadcast this concert as the entire four-hour event and then ask viewers for new donations to obtain dvd's of the concert in its entirety really isn't a very viable solution ... even the biggest fans aren't going to shell out this money TWICE to get what they should have received in the first place ... nor is it fair that they should have to do so.  

However, putting together a 2-DVD set and then offering that to new subscribers (and sending out free, replacement copies to those who have already given money the first time around) doesn't seem beyond the realm of good customer service.  Yes, it's going to cost the station some money ... but this is a hole they dug for themselves by misrepresenting the contents of the dvd.  Everyone who contributed did so in good faith ... and they did not receive what they were promised.  Folks are genuinely pissed about this.  Bottom line ... WTTW should make good on their original promise.  They grossly misrepresented their product and then took the funds and delivered something inferior and less than expected.  This goes beyond false advertising ... and, in the process, they have seriously jeopordized obtaining future funds from all these new subscribers.

The concert (as it currently stands) is scheduled to be rebroadcast on Thursday, June 9th, at 7:30 and 9:45 pm and then again on Sunday, June 12th, at 9:00 pm.  There are no new notations on the WTTW website regarding omissions from the original broadcast ... they seem content to just let this one slide.  Fans and contributors feel otherwise ... they feel the station should be taken to task for this misrepresentation and the more I read about it, the more I tend to agree.

Larz of Chicagoland Radio and Media is going to continue our cause with the powers that be at WTTW and see if some type of solution can be arranged to best appease all parties concerned.  We'll keep you posted as things developed.  (I guess we're not really done with this topic after all!)  kk

More on this topic ... (itseems to be the talk of the town!):
 
 
 
 

The Monday Comments

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Happy Birthday, Tommy Roe!  
Happy Birthday to our FH Buddy Tommy Roe, who turns 74 years old today!  
We caught up with Tommy a couple of months back right  before his show at The Arcada Theatre ... and that meeting turned into a three-part interview now available on the website!  
http://forgottenhits.com/forgotten_hits_interviews_tommy_roe   

Rick Levy sent us these photos to share on the website ...

 
Tommy and Band, Rockin' The Arcada this past March

 Tommy and Rick, performing at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, 2014


  Tommy Roe ... way back when! 



Cornerstones Of Rock
Ah, the old bait and switch!  Kudos to you for calling them on it.  WTTW needs to make this right.
Roger
Keep in mind that when I received my first email from a fan and subscriber expressing their disappointment and pointing out that which was missing from the dvd, I hadn't even opened and played mine yet.  I, like many who have written in since, just assumed that the bonus material promised during the original broadcast would be included.  In fact, one of the MAIN reasons I never opened it was because I couldn't find a spot where I might have four available hours in a row to watch the whole thing!  So imagine my surprise as more mail came in, citing the same disappointment and unhappiness.
Now it really boils down to now is a matter of trust.
Maybe WTTW figures, "Well, we've already lost these subscribers ... why invest more money into this thing if it'll all eventually pass and we can put it all behind us."
But the truth is they should be held accountable for what they advertised.  Why would ANYBODY want to do good by the station and purchase more "specialty items" if they're allowed to alter what those items contain.  It's just wrong ... simple as that. 
It's called "trust" and "accountability" ... and right now WTTW doesn't seem to be exhibiting either.  (kk)

Bobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell's biography is now available and he's doing a number of interviews to help promote it.  (Actually, we were supposed to be one of the first ... but somehow things got jazzed up with his PR Firm and it never happened.  In fact, we STILL haven't received our copy of his book!!!)
But that doesn't mean you can't still read all about it.
FH Reader Tom Cuddy just sent us this link:
Order your copy here:

Motown's Biggest Hits
It's not surprising that the Motown Sweet 16 has more 80's hits than 60's hits. Motown has always been notorious for short changing their artists in getting their royalties. In fact, until Stevie Wonder threatened to walk in 1970 if he didn't get his due royalty rate, they might all still be working for chump change. In the 60's, Motown never disclosed to the RIAA, just how many units of a song were sold. Berry Gordy, was content just giving his artists a salary and, if they needed a car, he bought it for them. A house?  No problem. It was far cheaper then paying them royalties. 
Motown was also notorious for counterfeiting their own records. Press up a million copies of My Girl and then counterfeit another million and sell them out of the trunk of a car at a far cheaper price. If you're a ghetto kid, you ain't gonna care if it's a legit copy or not. And you couldn't tell either. 
It wasn't until I started working for the distributor that handled Motown that I saw this first hand. We'd get in returns from retail outlets and notice that the printing, on the spine in particular, was not clear. Compare it to trying to read the fine print without your glasses. Sometimes they'd sell to the small ma and pa outlets at a reduced price telling them the price is dependent upon them being sold the product as is. Of course these stores were willing to do anything to keep their profit margin up. So by the late 70's, Motown had to give it up, as those small stores were going out of business, and the larger chain stores and one stops were not gonna agree to a no returns policy, as they probably had enough records lying around that they were stuck with. In the mid 70's, with so many of the Motown stable of performers leaving, and a lack of a new generation of artists coming up, Motown had to straighten out their act or lose Stevie, Diana, Smokey and Marvin. In retrospect, I'm surprised that Motown 25 ever happened. Jack  
http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2016/04/sweet-16-motown-25.html

ALAN PARSONS:
Once again we were treated to an INCREDIBLE show by The Alan Parsons Live Project Saturday Night (May 7th) at The Arcada Theatre.
There is nothing I can add to the glowing reviews we have already given this ensemble ... last year we ranked them as the #2 Concert of 2015 ... and the year before that, they took #2 AND #1 honors for the two shows they put on at The Arcada on the same night!

So what's new in Alan Parsons' world?

Well, for starters his entire album catalog is being reissued on vinyl.  (They were even selling autographed LPs in the lobby before and after the show.)  Alan told us the albums are coming out as 45 rpm pressings, insuring the highest quality of sound possible on vinyl, and most with bonus tracks.  (In fact his first release, "Tales Of Mystery And Imagination" is being issued as a 3-Disc set featuring the original mix of the album, the 1987 remix and an entire disc of bonus tracks and alternate versions.) 

And, on June 3rd, a brand new live concert dvd will be available featuring The Alan Parsons Live Project performing in Colombia with a 70-piece orchestra.  (We've already pre-ordered our copy!) 

You're not going to see a better show than this one.  We've been telling Forgotten Hits Readers for YEARS now to catch the act live when they come to your area.

"When might that be?", you ask?

Well, here's their current tour itinerary ... along with some more great shots from Luciano Billoti of the show we caught Saturday Night at The Arcada.  (kk)

ALAN PARSONS' CURRENT TOUR SCHEDULE: 
June 2nd -  Hard Rock Rocksino - Northfield, OH
June 4th - Georgia Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater - Peachtree City, GA
July 14th - The Newton Theatre - Newton, NJ
July 16th - Resorts Atlantic City - Atlantic City, NJ
More information on the Official Alan Parsons Website:


 

 

The Friday Flash

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Phil Nee of WRCO-FM / 100.9 in Richland Center, Wisconsin, is running a six hour radio special Saturday Night (from 6 pm - Midnight local time) based on our recent "What's The Name Of That Song" feature. If you happen to be in the area, be sure to check it out!
And WRLR-FM / 98.3 in Round Lake, Illinois, will be running a rebroadcast of Phil's show this weekend as well ... and you can stream this one as it happens here:  http://wrlr.fm/.  Be sure to check their program grid for air times.  (It's been a little while since we put together a radio program so I'm really looking forward to hearing this one myself!  lol  And, we've got a couple more "specials" coming up ... so stay tuned for more details.)  kk
 
Hey Kent,
I am enjoying reading through Uncut magazine's "Ultimate Guide" on the Beach Boys.
This is not another rehash of old, overly repeated news . It is an album-by-album coverage of their career interspersed with contemporaneous articles and interviews from NME and Melody Maker archives ... the stuff we wanted but could not get our hands on back-in-the-day.
When Tiger Beat puff pieces was about it for the US, British fans were feasting on serious interviews that respected Beach Boys music and asked serious questions. For this olderly BB fan, this is what I searched for but could never find.
Phil
Will have to look for this one ... I just checked Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com and neither had it listed ... gonna have to do a bit more digging.  Thanks, Phil!  (kk)
 
Speaking of The Beach Boys, David Beard just interviewed Al Jardine about the Pet Sounds tour currently running through October ... you can catch it here:
 
That Beattles record you reference in your story (Please Please Me) was first pressed in Owosso, Michigan, at the American Record Pressing Company factory.  They pressed many of the Vee Jay records in that era.  I suspect the first person in America to place that record on a turntable was in the sound / testing room at the Owosso factory as they did with samples of all the records they pressed.  There was a print shop in the factory where they printed the record name and artist etc, on the bottom and sides, with the rest of the circular labels being pre-printed and shipped to the factory.  Therein is the likely source of the spelling error. 
I am working on getting the printer’s or typesetter’s name with two 90-year old friends who worked in the factory at that time.  If I ever get it, and it seems credible, I’ll send it along.  The factory also pressed the Introducing the Beatles album here and a few other Vee Jay 45’s and got the spelling corrected.
Phil Hathaway,
Owosso, MI
As far as I know, the original pressing of "Please Please Me" released in February of 1963 was the only time they misspelled it as "Beattles" ... somebody just not paying attention is my guess!  (kk)
 
 
Kent,
My buddy, Billy J. Kramer, has a new book out:  "Do You Want to Know a Secret."
His new (well, several years now) band features Liberty DeVitto on drums. 
Lib told me that when he played the Cavern Club in Liverpool with Billy J. a few years ago, the experience was more exciting than when he used to play with Billy Joel! (I can only imagine!  I played with Billy J. for a year - but never in Liverpool!  :))
Best,
Bob
I tried to contact Billy J. Kramer a week or two ago as I was hoping he might comment on The Fest For Beatles Fans recently held in New York but never heard back.  (I also emailed him a couple of times in the past about sharing his Ed Sullivan Show appearance memories for our standing web feature on this topic and never got a response.)
Nevertheless, I am still happy to help plug his new book ... and any upcoming appearances he may have here in The States.  (Actually, I was hoping to see him in August if he does the Chicagoland Beatles Fest show.)
I've not read his new book but would be happy to interview him afterwards if he sends me a copy!  (Autographed, please!!! lol)  Meanwhile, here's how other folks can get it ...
UPDATE:  Billy and I did exchange emails on Thursday ... and we're going to get together to talk about all of the above ... so stay tuned to Forgotten Hits for more detaisl.  (kk)
I like what you doing. I am very interested in the preservation of pop and rock music.
Billy
 
Speaking of new rock biographies, I just received my copy of Bobby Rydell's new book yesterday ... so hopefully we will be able to interview Bobby in the not-too-distant future about it for Forgotten Hits.  Stay tuned!  (kk)
 
More book news ...
 
Hi Kent, 
I found this quite interesting. Have you read it? 
It is Joel Selvin's "Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues". 
Actually, no I haven't ... nor had I even heard about it before.  Sounds interesting ... but I think I have 22 brand new books stacked up right now to read, a few of which I've already promised to do reviews on ... so I don't think I'll be adding this one to the list anytime soon.  I would, however, welcome YOUR review so that other interested parties can pick up a copy of they're interested.  Wanna give it a go?  (kk)
 
Sounds like our FH Buddy Harvey Kubernik's been busy ... with brand new articles running in Record Collector right now!  Plus he's also deeply entrenched in a brand new book due out the first of the year!  More info below ...
 
 
Carlos Santana builds his legacy with a new album, Santana IV and a new memoir, The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story to Light By Harvey Kubernik For more than four decades - from Carlos Santana’s earliest days as a groundbreaking ...   
In 1967 Carole King joined the proto-folk group The City.  Light In The Attic has reissued their 1968 album, Now That Everything's Been Said by Harvey Kubernik.  The Light In The Attic record label in late 2015 reissued the Lou Adler-produced ...
Her latest album features songs written by Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Linda Perry, Jimmy Webb, Desmond Child and others By Harvey Kubernik Vocalist Darlene Love has released her first new album in decades ...
 
Kent,
Need your readers' help with a release date for a song.
Homer Banks "(Ain't That) A Lot of Love" on Minit Records # 32000.  It was released in 1966 ... but I hope someone out there knows the actual month and / or day.  
Thanks Kent and readers.
Doug Thompson
Toronto
Based on this complete Minit Records 45 Discography, it looks like it came out in May of 1966.  It also looks like it never charted on any of the domestic trade charts ... or the CHUM Chart either for that matter!  (kk)
Here's an even better link:
 
Did you have a copy of any top 100 or greater hits of the 70s (usually starts with “You Light Up My Life or a Bee Gees song) as a whole decade you could email me? I am really looking for a Record World or Cashbox listing ... Billboard is easy to get!! 
Thanks for considering.
Eddie Spencer
There are SO many of these types of lists out there (although usually "by year" rather than by decade) ... I don't have one in particular as a reference point because they all use a different method of tabulating their results. 
There is a book, however, that lists EVERY record to chart during the '70's and then ranks them on a point basis based on their individual chart performance.  This is a pretty accurate representation.  (Their '70's book is based on the Cash Box Charts ... they also did one for the '60's based on Billboard's information.)  I'm not aware of any similar publications based on Record World's information.   
 
Dann Isbell is a regular Forgotten Hits reader and contributor so I'm sure he'll have no problem at all with me recommending his latest work ...  
 
Here's the link to his 60's book, too, if you're interested ...
Hope this helps!  (kk)
 
I actually have that book, that is what got me started in this interest. 
In the book you referenced “Ranking the 70’s”, the authors talk about a 70s decade top 100 or so that “I Go Crazy” by Paul Davis is number 1 ... have you even seen that one??
Thanks very much.
If you happen to come across a top 100 or greater decade 70’s song list please let me know.   
Thanks again.
Eddie
There are SO many variations of Top 100 Hits out there it would be impossible to pick a "definitive" version, as all are compiled using different criteria.  Dann's "Ranking The '70's" book, however, has a very clear explanation as to how they came up with their results that makes logical sense.
I've never seen "I Go Crazy" listed as the Biggest Song of the '70's anywhere ... I remember it caused quite a buzz back in the day when it became the first pop single to ever spend 40 weeks on the chart ... but even that wouldn't have earned it enough points to come in at #1 because it simply didn't chart high enough ... and most of those weeks were spent slowly climbing the chart to reach that position. (It would be #1 for "most weeks charted" in the '70's, I suppose ... but that and $3.00 will get you a cup of coffee at Dunkin' Donuts!)  kk
 
Here are our original views of Dann Isbell's two "Ranking" books ... along with one I found on Amazon.com of Eddie's impression of "Ranking the '70's".
(scroll forward from this review and watch us count down the biggest hits of the '70's)
(again, browse around this area of the website to find more countdown information)
 
And here's Eddie's Amazon Review:
I am very glad the authors decided touse Cashbox chart history, it made for a very interesting comparison between Cashbox and Billboard. I could not be happier. 
Eddie Spencer
 
Graham Nash has sent a VIDEO TRIBUTE to honor CHARLIE GRACIE to be shown at the CLEF CLUB THEATER on MAY 14TH for his 80th Birthday Tribute hosted by the Philadelphia Music Hall of Fame. Call to reserve your tickets:  (215) 893-9912. 
🎸 Live Music, Live Radio Broadcast with Steve Kurtz (92.1 FM) Broadcast, Celebrity Tributes, Dancing, Philly Faire, Champagne Toast, Cake: Cash Bar
A couple more notes on your cornerstones of rock comments ... 
In 2001 a DVD was released called “Garage Rock USA”. I believe it was put together by some of the guys from WORT FM in Madison, WI. One of the songs on the DVD is a live performance of “Gloria” featuring, if I remember correctly, Jim Sohns, Joe Kelley and Bun E. Carlos. They did not seem to have much difficulty getting the rights for that.  
A quality recording of “Louie Louie” is an oxymoron. I doubt if I would recognize a quality performance or recording of that song, let alone understand the words. I remember viewing it at the end of the televised version and it never entered my mind that it was sub-par. It’s always sub-par, that’s the unique feature of the song. You cannot “F” it up. It did not have any trouble making the cut in “Animal House”.  
Robert Campbell
 
Just got my 6th letter today from WTTW wanting me to send money.  I am guessing that by the time they get done sending me stuff in NEBRASKA about me enjoying TV in Chicago, they will have equaled my $96 purchase of "Cornerstones."
Clark Besch
 
I think this topic has run its course ... and it sounds like the furor has really died down this week so once again we're ready to put it to rest.  We never got a response from WTTW about any plans to make this right (kind of a shame, really, but it is what it is).  At this point all I can suggest is that outraged fans direct their emails directly to the station and let them know how unhappy they are after receiving a product inferior to what was originally advertised and promoted during the initial broadcasts.  I don't believe there is any more that Forgotten Hits can do to better this situation if the station itself feels they did nothing wrong by misleading the public.  As such, I'm ready to move on with one last cautionary note ... Buyer Beware in the future ... you may not always be getting what you THINK you're getting ... or what they TELL you you're getting.  However they will ALWAYS be happy to take your money ... and hound you repeatedly for more once you do contribute.  Like I said, kind of a shame.  (kk)

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From our June 23, 2015 posting ...
 
re:  Great Show!:
Hi Kent -
Here are some photos from last night's show at Hoover Auditorium in Lakeside, Ohio ... Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., original members of the 5th Dimension.  They looked and sounded great ... doing a number of their 5th Dimension hits ... Up, Up And Away, Wedding Bell Blues, One Less Bell to Answer, Aquarius / Let the Sun Shine In, Stoned Soul Picnic, Last Night, I Didn't Get To Sleep, etc., each song sounding fantastic, being backed by a very tight four piece band of piano, drums, bass and guitar.
They also performed a Beatles medley, as well as some old blues and jazz classics and told some stories of performing with the 5th Dimension, going solo, 45 years of marriage and other performances over the years ... a very well performed show.
The duo was gracious to meet with fans and sign autographs after the show.
Tom Apathy
 


 



Wow!  They look GREAT, don't they???  Wish they would come to Chicago ... we get the OTHER version of The Fifth Dimension and it's really not much of a show ... these two were the voices that made those records hits.  (Calling Ron Onesti ... Calling Ron Onesti!!!)
Thanks for sending, Tom ... beautiful shots as always.  (kk)
NOTE:  All photos courtesy of ... and copyright Tom Apathy 
 
*****

Well, it took a year, but tomorrow we're going to see Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., at The Arcada Theatre ... and I can't wait!
 
I have ALWAYS been a fan of their music ... and never got the chance to see them back in the day.  Great seats are still available thru the Arcada website ... www.oshows.com ... hope to see some of you there!  (kk) 
 
 
THE FIFTH DIMENSION HIT LIST:
1967 - Go Where You Wanna Go  (#13)
          Another Day, Another Heartache  (#43)
          Up, Up And Away  (#4)
          Paper Cup  (#32)
1968 - Carpet Man  (#22)
          Stoned Soul Picnic  (#3)
          Sweet Blindness  (#11)
          California Soul  (#21)
1969 - Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In  (#1)
          Workin' On A Groovy Thing  (#19)
          Wedding Bell Blues  (#1)
1970 - Blowing Away  (#12)
          The Girls' Song  (#43)
          Puppet Man  (#19)
          Save The Country  (#18)
          On The Beach  (#41)
          One Less Bell To Answer  (#2)
1971 - Love's Lines, Angles And Rhymes  (#11)
          Light Sings  (#22)
          Never My Love  (#12)
1972 - Together Let's Find Love  (#24)
          Last Night I Didn't Get To Sleep At All  (#6)
          If I Could Reach You  (#9)
1973 - Living Together, Growing Together  (20)
          Ashes To Ashes  (#50)
      
 

Cornerstones Of Rock

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I'm sure that some of you out there are thinking that this is the story that just won't go away!!!

But I just HAD to run these comments that I received from Ron Onesti, President and CEO of Onesti Entertainment, owner and master of ceremonies nightly at The Arcada Theatre and also the host of the "Cornerstones Of Rock" Pledge Drive held on WTTW.

Ron brings up some good points in his dissertation which we will address at the end ... so please hear him out as the guy who was right there in the thick of it as this was all happening ...   

Hey Kent,  

I seem to be in the middle of quite the controversy!  

The Cornerstones of Rock project is one that evolved quite quickly.  The Soundstage / BMG people came up with a show that would pique the interest of PBS and have the potential of being broadcast around the country.  The bands involved would then be able to increase their tour dates exponentially.  The two organizations worked hard to make it all happen within a short window of time.  The last piece of the puzzle they needed was the live concert element, and that is when I was brought into the project, to produce those "extravaganzas of talent" on stage. 

Being a part of it from the beginning, I can tell you that there were many, many moving parts here.  And our time frame was such that it was a massive undertaking to create the final product. 

I am not speaking on behalf of Soundstage / BMG or WTTW in any way.  I just know that everybody involved had sincere intentions on producing nothing but a high quality product, as I seek to do with the live performances.  I do believe in my heart and from what I know factually, that providing the best possible product both on TV and on the DVD / CD was the utmost intention of all parties involved.   

And, as I am sure you know, this project has opened the world back up for many of the artists who are participating.  It has been nothing but an awesome experience to see these guys all together, holding their heads up high, as they all deserve to do.  

The project gave us lasting life-moments for fans of the 60s:  

A final performance from our buddy Gary Loizzo from The American Breed ...  

It brought together the two great Buckinghams' voices past and present, Dennis Tufano and Carl Giammarese, with the rest of the fabulousBuckinghams ...    

It had Ronnie Rice rejoin the New Colony Six for a spell ... 

It reunited Tom Doody, James Fairs and Jimmy Pilster from the Cryan' Shames in a way that had with it so much pride ...  

It showcased the immense versatility of Jim Peterik and the Ides of March, who backed most of the other bands as well as killing it with their own hits ...  

It put a spotlight on another legend of Garage Rock in Chicago, Ted Aliotta, from Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah and the song "Lake Shore Drive" ...  

And despite whatever happened with regards to The Shadows Of Knight's Jimy Sohns and "Gloria" on the DVD / CD, the project has given Jimy new levels of excitement anticipating the potential live shows around the country, fueling his desire to come back from a recent stroke, stronger than ever.   

And yes, it made WTTW a lot of money.  

But I see that as a good thing.  

First of all, regardless of the methods to their fundraising madness, nobody can argue about the tremendously high quality of programming that is, and always has been, prevalent on WTTW.  

From Sesame Street to all the Soundstage performances, Channel 11 has always been the place I have gone to for some of my favorite programs for me and my family.  The success of the fundraising drives on WTTW was essential in the project going national, and giving these legendary performers the opportunity to continue to foster their careers.  They have stepped up and put us in touch with stations around the country and actually helped facilitate negotiations with no financial gain for themselves.  PBS is a complex animal, and without the guidance of WTTW, the national initiative just would not happen.  Yes, it NEEDED to be successful on WTTW for the ultimate benefit of the performers (and us fans too, of course)!    

I do not work for WTTW, and do not receive a penny from WTTW ... same with Soundstage ... so I have no reason to defend anybody ... and I truly am not doing that.  I am telling you like it is, as I saw it.  Whatever perceived "negative" elements happened with the DVD was truly unintentional.  I truly know that the turnaround time of the project was a factor of any challenges the project faced.

Not being able to secure the rights for "Gloria" and "Louie Louie" was the reason for not including the tracks on the DVD / CD.       

I know the word "defrauded" was thrown around out there, and this is what really made me write to you.  WTTW, Soundstage / BMG and Onesti Entertainment Corporation are not going away anytime soon, and any thought of defrauding ANYBODY was just not of any intention of any of the parties.  Conversely, the intention was actually to give the fans a great dose of Garage Rock Legends, and not to minimize the concept in any way.  

I am not here to make excuses or deflect any sour feelings.  I am a fan, too!  The fans have spoken, and I think they will be heard.  I am not sure if the parties involved plan on doing anything about it at this time, but I promise you that I will try my best to help facilitate some resolve with this.  I have spoken to the Soundstage / BMG people about this and they have assured me that this is not over and that they are strongly pursuing the rights to the omitted songs.   

It sincerely breaks my heart that such a wonderful project would have any level of a "black eye" associated with it.  And as I see people out there questioning the intentions and the sincerity of the parties involved, I just had to say something.  
You KNOW what a fan I am of Forgotten Hits, and that I also look to you for guidance and support so that this project can flourish and give the showmen involved the opportunities and notoriety they all so much deserve.

Again, this is just me talkin'!    
RON ONESTI, President/CEO 
The Onesti Entertainment Corporation
The Arcada Theatre
The Chicago Music Hall of Fame   
Thanks, Ron ... I was hoping someone from "the inside" would share some perspective on this.  (We have yet to hear a WORD from anybody connected with WTTW which, unfortunately, just adds fuel to the fire when one considers that they don't want to address the fact that they misrepresented the product they were collecting money for.)

I couldn't agree with you more that the event itself should not be tainted in any way.  None of the artists who participated in this project should walk away with "a black eye" ... I believe that I would be unchallenged in stating that EVERY person who was fortunate enough to attend the original taping, watch the televised broadcast, view the DVD or catch these guys at any of the post-show follow-up concert would agree 100% that this was an AMAZING event that captured all of our local heroes in a most positive way.   

It was SO inspirational to see artists like The Ides Of March, The New Colony Six, The Cryan' Shames, The Buckinghams, The Shadows Of Knight, The American Breed and others set aside their differences (some that have spanned decades) and make the whole night about the music ... and nothing BUT the music ... and that ALL of this has now been preserved for future viewings and enjoyment whenever we want ... seriously, what could be more awesome than that?

The fact that these guys are now continuing to perform and tour together in support of the show ... and the INCREDIBLE music they created back in the day ... is a dream come true, especially for a guy like me (and a forum like Forgotten Hits), who has LOVED and supported this music and these artists since the time we first heard it all those years ago.  These guys truly are our "Local Heroes" ... so, as such, you won't find a bigger or prouder fan.

The DVD becomes the permanent "keepsake" of this event ... and, as you said, in just the very short time post-taping we've already had to deal with a couple of VERY unfortunate events such as the death of Gary Loizzo (who sounded GREAT that night in his last-ever performance of The American Breed's #1 Hit "Bend Me, Shape Me") and the stroke of Jimy Sohns (who we hear is doing great and will be back up on stage for the September show at The Arcada).  There was nothing better or more exciting than viewing ALL of the "special moments" you mentioned like the reuniting of several guys who currently have to bill themselves as "former members of" The Cryan' Shames, The Buckinghams and The New Colony Six performing side by side with some of the original band members still carrying on the name.  It's nothing short of a dream come true from my perspective ... and, I would venture to say, also of ALL of the folks who donated money to WTTW and PBS to preserve this very special moment for all time.   

But please understand that this is why WTTW's handling of this has irked and irritated so many people.  Simply put, they didn't deliver what they promised.

I absolutely believe that, as you stated, everybody coming into this project had the sincerest intention of providing viewers and potential subscribers with the best possible product and "extras" discussed throughout the broadcasts.  Otherwise, why would potential subscribers have been told throughout the broadcast that "in addition to the program you're watching right now", subscribers would be receiving bonus performances along with behind the scenes / fly on the wall interviews not shown during the original televised presentation.  The problem is, they didn't follow through on that promise ... so folks who sent in money didn't get ANY of these so-called "extras" promoted throughout the pledge drive (save the unaired tribute to Chase ... which came at the expense of "Gloria" and "Louie, Louie", the Top Two Garage Band Anthems of All Time).

Even WTTW's official statement in response to our original posting only mentions the licensing difficulty of securing the rights to "Gloria" and the "hot mess" recording of "Louie Louie", neither of which were addressed or explained in the advertisements or packaging ... and both of which were only mentioned when put under pressure for an explanation without apology ... what about all those other "extras" they promised such as songs performed but not televised and more of the numerous interviews?  How do they explain not including these features?   

The plain and simple fact is that they promised one thing and delivered another ... and then went ahead took the money anyway ... which (like it or not) can only be described as a fraudulent practice ... intentional or otherwise ... and certainly NOT the kind of thing you'd EVER expect from a Public Broadcasting Station, whose very survival is so dependent on funds raised by their subscribers.  As stated in Forgotten Hits the other day, it's now all become a matter of trust.  The only deserved "black eye" falls on their complete mishandling of this project after the fact ... the original intentions of ALL parties concerned was commendable at the absolute highest level for all of the reasons you describe in your dissertation ... but, at the risk of sounding like Chet Coppock, what WTTW did is run 99 yards for a touchdown and then fumble on the one yard line.

And THIS is why fans are outraged ... NOT because of the performers or the event ... we couldn't be prouder of these guys ... the follow-up shows have been complete sell-outs ... the music is back on the radio again ... this PROVES that all of these best intentions were destined for complete success.  Every one connected with this event should be patting themselves and each other on the back for a job well done ... this should have been a complete success story ... yet all of this seems tainted now because WTTW didn't finish the job they set out to do and didn't deliver the product that they promised they would.  The people who have taken the time to write in to complain have expressed nothing but the highest regard for the program itself ... but these same people who sent in their money in good faith are pissed because of the way it was handled ... and that black eye falls squarely on WTTW and no one else. 

They need to make this right ... this clearly isn't going away, as evidenced here every time we try to wrap things up and more letters continue to arrive.

Maybe it's as simple as putting together a bonus disk and sending a copy to everyone who has already subscribed ...  and then offering ALL of the available merchandise through the website and the rebroadcasts of the program ... sell them in the lobbies at the live shows ... just SOME showing of good faith to offer a "corrective action" that will please the fans and generate more money for the station in future sales.  In my book, that's called a win / win.  Hell, I'll even offer to help them assemble the new disc to insure that the material is handled properly ... and then promote the heck out of it on the website.  

Include the performances missing from the telecast due to time constraints ... pop in more vintage video of these artists and intercut them with current interviews remembering what it was like back in the day ... who knows, by then we might even be able to get the clearance rights needed to include "Gloria" and "Louie Louie", along with some of the great pledge drive breaks banter that went on between you and the artists ... that was as entertaining as the show itself!!!   

But until they do something ... some gesture of good faith to make amends ... the bad press this end game fiasco has created isn't likely to go away ... and that puts the ball squarely in WTTW's court.
kk
Kent Kotal
Forgotten Hits

SWEET 16: ELVIS and THE BEATLES

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It's the age-old question ... Elvis or The Beatles?  (Hey, I love them both ... but rock music purists always seem to want you to choose.  Uma Thurman even asks John Travolta that question in a scene cut from Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction"!)  Why can't it be Elvis AND The Beatles???

According to Billboard Magazine, Elvis had eighteen #1 Hits and The Beatles had twenty ... this makes The Beatles the chart champions, right?

Or does it?

The Beatles' #1 Records spent a total of 59 weeks on top of the charts ... while Elvis' eighteen chart-toppers stayed there for a total of 80 weeks ... so NOW who wins the battle?

For this special edition of SWEET 16 we rank their Biggest #1 Hits side by side.  (By the way, Elvis and The Beatles also scored the most two-sided hits ... for a complete listing as to how THESE records rank, be sure to visit our other Forgotten Hits web page ...
http://forgottenhits.com/the_top_200_two-sided_hits_of_all-time 

And now (he says in his best Casey Kasem voice), ON WITH THE COUNTDOWN!!!   

#16 - LET IT BE - The Beatles  (1970) 



#15 - DON'T - Elvis Presley  (1958)  



#14 - STUCK ON YOU - Elvis Presley  (1960) 



#13 - CAN'T BUY ME LOVE - The Beatles  (1964) 



#12 - GET BACK - The Beatles  (1969) 



#11 - IT'S NOW OR NEVER - Elvis Presley  (1960) 



#10 - JAILHOUSE ROCK - Elvis Presley  (1957)  



# 9 - TEDDY BEAR - Elvis Presley  (1957) 



# 8 - ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT - Elvis Presley  (1960) 



# 7 - LOVE ME TENDER - Elvis Presley  (1956)  



# 6 - HOUND DOG - Elvis Presley  (1956)



# 5 - I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND - The Beatles  (1964) 



# 4 - HEARTBREAK HOTEL - Elvis Presley  (1956) 



# 3 - ALL SHOOK UP - Elvis Presley  (1957) 



# 2 - HEY JUDE - The Beatles  (1968) 



# 1 - DON'T BE CRUEL - Elvis Presley  (1956) 



Hands-down winner:  Elvis Presley, with 11 of the Top 16 #1 Hits.  And just look at what's missing!!!

"Yesterday" ... "She Loves You" ... "Help!" ... "Suspicious Minds" ... "Something" ... "Return To Sender" ... "In The Ghetto" ... you won't find a stronger one-two punch in rock and roll, 1956 - 1970.

Tuesday This And That

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re:  Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.:  
Without question, one of my most anticipated concerts this year was Sunday's performance of Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., at The Arcada Theatre.  Unfortunately it didn't live up to the hype I had already created in my head as to what my expectations would be so I came away disappointed.  
Backed by a seven piece band (and supplemented by three more backing vocalist they referred to as "The New Dimension", I was primed for a REAL Fifth Dimension hit parade.  When all was said and done, they did less than a dozen of their own hits and filled out the rest of the two hour set with cover versions of other tunes ... well known, but not what we had come to see.  (For example there was an eleven-song Beatles medley ... all Paul songs, btw ... which is about as many of their OWN hits that they performed that night.)  
The whole show was "over-polished" ... so well timed and rehearsed that it didn't feel natural and, as such, there was very little "feeling" or connection with the audience throughout most of the set.  (I had SO been looking forward to this so it was an especially big letdown for me.)  
Don't get me wrong ... the crowd loved them ... there were several standing ovations throughout the performance but for me the only deserved one in my opinion was for Billy Davis, Jr.'s powerful performance of "A Change Is Gonna Come" ... and perhaps the "Let The Sunshine In" finale to "Aquarius". 
All-in-all, a disappointment ... even that much more obvious after being COMPLETELY blown away by The Orchestra at the same venue on Friday Night.  (Here's a group of guys who, at best, shared the limelight with one of the greatest creative minds in rock and roll, Jeff Lynne, yet the house was filled and these guys knocked out killer performances of each and every track, all faithful to the original versions.)  This was NOT the case with Marilyn and Billy.  Stand-out tracks for me were "A Change Is Gonna Come", "Sweet Blindness", "Stoned Soul Picnic", "Go Where You Wanna Go" and Marilyn and Billy's #1 "solo" hit "You Don't Have To Be A Star".  (kk)  

Frannie managed to take a few shots from our sixth row seats (thank you, Ron!!!) ...





I hope she sings "If I Could Reach You." It is by far the best recording of her career.  
David Lewis 
I've always loved that one, too ... it was one of my "goosebumps" songs from our feature that ran right around the same time as Tom Apathy's review from last year ... but unfortunately it didn't happen.  I rank it right up there with "One Less Bell To Answer" as Marilyn's two finest moments.  The show was split between their own hits and numerous other cover versions (with the slight edge going to the cover tunes.)  Kinda surprising (and very disappointing) in that they so rarely tour. 
Also missing Sunday Night were their signature tunes "California Soul", "Workin' On A Groovy Thing", "Blowing Away", "Puppet Man", "Save The Country" and "Last Night, I Didn't Get To Sleep At All".  (kk)


Hi Kent,  
I enjoyed the article on Marilyn McCoo and Bill Davis, Jr. I was fortunate to see them when they were with the 5th Dimension and they appeared in a theater in the round in Niles, IL. I forgot the name of it.  I also saw Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino there on a "double bill'... what a buy!!!
Marilyn McCoo is a Karen Carpenter type of singer in my opinion. What a GREAT song she sings  "One Less Bell To Answer" (my favorite).
Please keep us informed about Jimy Sohs! Great job as usual Kent!!!
Carolyn
You're thinking of The Mill Run Theatre ... I was only there once but there was a time when the absolute biggest names in show business used to play there on a regular basis.  (It was one of my parents' favorite night spots back in the day.)
I took my little sister to see The Jacksons there during the "in between years" ... I think Janet was maybe 4-6 years old at the time ... the group had already left Motown but had yet to score any really big hits for Epic.  Incredibly the place was less than half full!!!  My guess is that never happened again.  (kk) 

Enjoy Kent!  
I always thought Marilyn was gorgeous ... I actually think Billy has aged better than her ... HA!  Vocals are still good!   
Tom
I thought they BOTH looked great in those photos you sent ... and on stage Sunday Night as well.  Billy's voice was better than ever ... he absolutely KILLED it on "A Change Is Gonna Come", for me, the highlight of the entire performance.  Marilyn's voice is still strong ... and she can still hit and sustain most of high notes ... but some of this felt emotionless and, again, over-rehearsed.  Too many unnecessary runs ruined what should have been her most powerful performance, "One Less Bell To Answer". Overall, on a scale of 1 - 10, I have to give this one a "3" ... there were times when I actually felt bored, waiting for them to finally do another one of their OWN hits.  (One thing that helped ruin it for me ... before the show started they ran about a 12 minute video clip of the group in their prime, performing virtually all of their biggest hits.  At that point I couldn't help but wonder what there was to look forward to ... they weren't going to do ANY of these better than they did in the clips we just saw!  Unless they were going to come out on stage and blow the doors off, it was pretty much a given that it'd be all downhill from there.)  kk   

This sounds like a great show, Kent. Interesting that the review was from a show in Lakeside, Ohio. It's about ten minutes from the ferry to Kelleys Island, where I'm going for Memorial Day Weekend.
Frank 

Hey Kent,  
Do you know if Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. be returning to the Arcada?  
I can’t tell from reading. That particular post is dated June, so maybe it’s from the future?  
Thanks.  
Bill F.
The review run on the website on Saturday was from last year when reader Tom Apathy caught the duo in Lakeside, Ohio.  We'd been pushing ever since to bring the act to The Arcada, which finally happened this past Sunday.
I don't know if they've been rebooked yet (this was their first appearance at The Arcada Theatre) but Billy Davis, Jr. DID make a point near the end of the program of saying that they'd love to come back here again ... a very receptive audience, even if the show didn't particularly work well for me.  (kk)  

Here's McCoo and Davis back when they were still in The Fifth Dimension -- on "The History of Rock 'n' Roll." 
Gary Theroux





re:  The Orchestra:
Speaking of great concerts, we were absolutely blown away by The Orchestra Friday Night at The Arcada Theatre. 
Featuring various members of different incarnations of Electric Light Orchestra / ELO / ELO II and ELO III, we figured the musicianship would be outstanding ... but were concerned that the vocals just wouldn't cut it since Jeff Lynne has such a distinctive voice.
But the fact is, the vocals were OUTSTANDING.  (It's almost hard for me to say this but The Orchestra performed "Turn To Stone" better Friday Night than Jeff Lynne did at his Hyde Park DVD concert which won A+++ reviews on our website a few months ago!)
Even more amazing ... the band features three lead vocalists trading off the leads ... and often within the same song ... and all have a very similar sound that when blended together virtually replicates the sounds of the hits we all know and love.  (There is just enough "Jeff Lynne" in their voices to pull this off ... and the background blend is nothing short of incredible.)
They covered the band's entire career and did bang-up jobs on nearly every track. 
Stand -outs for me included "Showdown", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Evil Woman", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Livin' Thing", "Can't Get It Out Of My Head", "Telephone Line" and, far and away, "All Over The World".  (Word of advice:  drop "Xanadu" from the line-up ... it just doesn't work ... and isn't that great a song to begin with.)
I have mixed emotions about cover and tribute bands, especially since Jeff Lynne is supposed to be out touring the US himself later this year ... and that DVD concert is so incredibly powerful ... but in that these guys were actually part of the band at some point in time ... and did such an incredible job of recreating (and preserving) the music, I'm willing to cut them some slack and give them a very high Forgotten Hits recommendation.  (I can honestly say that it will take something pretty incredible to knock these guys out of our Top Ten Concerts of 2016 Year-End List!)  
It's just amazing to think, sitting there watching them perform for a little over two hours, that ALL these songs ... save "Roll Over Beethoven" ... were written by the same man ... and yet he STILL isn't in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, despite inventing an entire new side to rock music.  Jeff Lynne has got to be one of the most underrated, underappreciated artists of the past 40 years.
The current line-up consists of:

Mik Kaminski, playing this awesome electric blue violin.  Mik joined the original Electric Light Orchestra in 1973 after famously answering an ad they ran in Melody Maker Magazine looking for a guy who could play the violin (!) and stayed with them through 1986.  He is a founding member of The Orchestra (2001).  (Mik's son has recently been added to the line up, playing an electric cello and guitar)

Eric Troyer - keyboards, guitar, lead vocals.  Eric worked for years as a session singer and can be heard singing background on hits like Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl", John Lennon's "Woman", Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" as well as songs by Aerosmith, Kiss, James Taylor, Meatloaf, Lou Reed and many others.  He is also a founding member of The Orchestra.

Parthenon Huxley - lead guitar and lead vocals and another founding member

Louis Clark - keyboards, lead vocals ... joined the original ELO for their "El Dorado" album and is also a founding member of The Orchestra.

Gordon Townsend - drums and ANOTHER founding member

Glen Burtnik - bass and lead vocals and a member of The Orchestra since 2009.  Over the years, Glen has performed as Paul McCartney in "Beatlemania" and spent ten years with Styx

Funny thing is about four or five years ago The Orchestra's manager approached me about helping to plug the band and asked me to run some links to some of their upcoming shows.  I was hesitant to do so because I felt that without Jeff Lynne there simply couldn't be another version of ELO.  Along the way I heard several good things about them, checked out some online videos and ended up plugging  few of their shows.  Now I'm SO glad that we had the chance to see them.  Highly recommended if you happen to find them out your way.  (kk)

>>>We were at The Arcada Theatre on Friday Night to see The Orchestra ... 3000% better than I EVER would have imagined they'd be.  The place was packed and the crowd was up on its feet for nearly the entire performance.  (kk)
Saw Orchestra two years ago ... loved 'em ... just effin' great! 
Chet Coppock

re:  On The Radio:
Kent ...
Am I reading this right?
Now they're telling us what songs to vote for.
Gotta love it ... now THAT's creative radio programming ... pick your favorites ... from this list of songs we're going to play every day anyway!!!  (kk)

re:  Happy Birthday, Charlie Gracie ... #80!!!:
The other day we ran a filmed birthday testimonial from Graham Nash ...
Today we've got one from Paul McCartney ... and also some words from Charlie Gracie himself!  (kk)
SIR PAUL McCARTNEY SENDS A BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE to Rock & Roll pioneer CHARLIE GRACIE ...
Paul contributed to the foreword in Charlie's autobiography: R&R's HIDDEN GIANT (Alfred Music Press)

Charlie Gracie, Jr.



And here's that Graham Nash link again for those who may have missed it the first time around ...

The Philadelphia Music Hall Of Fame Honors CHARLIE GRACIE today with a birthday bash and musical tribute at the Clef Club Theater:
A LIFE WELL-LIVED!
It's #80 for Philly's 1st R&R Star, CHARLIE GRACIE, born on this day, May 14, 1936!

 
At this point in my life, I've fulfilled my destiny. Only God knows how much time I have left in this world ... but I can honestly say I've enjoyed this chapter of my life.
My family and my fans are everything!
I'm grateful for all the honors, but for me, the audience is everything. 
If I can go out on stage - be it a hundred people in a pub or restaurant - or 3,000 at a festival in Europe - my goal is to make them happy. That's what my entire life has been about. I thank God everyday for the privilege.
I hope they know I love them as much as they've loved me -- and more so!
Charlie Gracie


Hey Kent ... 
It's been a while since I've been in touch, but I haven't missed an issue. Things are busy here, and I wanted to share a couple of things with our friends here. 
This past Sunday we performed a song at the 80th Birthday party for Philly's first Rock and Roll Star, Charlie Gracie. We performed a song that I wrote called "Top Of My List" which was inspired by Charlie. I've attached a couple of photos from the amazing event ... one of us onstage and one with Charlie Gracie. We had Joe Terry from Danny & The Juniors onstage with us (far right in the onstage photo), providing the all important Rockabilly handclaps along with Richie Rotkin. 
 

 
Also, on Sunday May 29th, we are playing a show in Staten Island NY with The 1910 Fruitgum Company for "Fleet Week". There will also be a few others on the bill. I've attached a poster for the event.
 
 
This summer sees us playing in NY, PA, Iowa, Las Vegas, and other stops. Our website, www.theripchords.net is a good place for the readers to stay informed of our whereabouts.
More info on our mini tour of Iowa (Surf / Hot Rod Music coming to the heartland!) during August, coming to you soon!
And, Richie and Arnie will reunite onstage in Las Vegas for their 75th Birthdays! More on that coming too!
Be well, and keep in touch!
Mitch Schecter / The Rip Chords


re:  The Beach Boys:
Yesterday marked the 50th Anniversary of the release of The Beach Boys' album "Pet Sounds".
Although not especially embraced by the fans at the time of its original release (most thought it was just too far out there for a group who previously had spent its entire career singing about cool cars and the girls on the beach) it has since become iconic, cited my many critics as the greatest album ever made ... ground-breaking in every way ... and the inspiration for The Beatles to create something even better ... which begat their "Sgt. Pepper" LP.
Beach Boys / Brian Wilson Examiner Columnist and Publisher of the great Beach Boys Fanzine "Endless Summer Quarterly" David Beard has put together quite a bit of new interviews and looks back at this landmark LP.  


 
 


Kent, 
Sorry, been  up to my neck in alligators, as they say down south. Saw the subject line and it perked me up. Seeing all those great Elvis / Beatles songs together was mind blowing. And it all basically happened in a 15 year period: 1955 to 1970. 
I was blessed to see Elvis perform six times, three at the Vegas International Hilton (the dinner show with Brian and Alan, and their wives -- actually, AJ and I were so blown away, the two of us went back for the midnight cocktail show:).  I also saw him in Charlotte, NC, Atlanta and Nashville. All large venues, so the Hilton show was especially mind-blowing.  
But today (Monday, May 16), on the 50th Anniversary of "Pet Sounds," is another reason for the e-mail. Cannot say it enough. Last Thursday, I did a special tribute on my "Facebook" page (Fred Vail) and it's received hundreds of likes, shares, comments. Hope you can check it out. Lots of folks say that "Pet Sounds" is the greatest American album of the 'rock era.' They rank it #2 after "Sgt. Pepper." I've iven that a lot of though over the years and in my humble opinion, since even the great, late George Martin was quoted as saying, "without Brian and "Pet Sounds," there may not have been a "Sgt. Pepper." Add to that Sir Paul Mc Cartney ranks "God Only Knows" as his favorite song  of all-time, so it's a pretty case for "PS" to be ranked #1. Brian and Tony Asher, BW's co-lyricist on the album, took a huge chance even mentioning "God" in the title of the song, by the way.   
I owe you another e-mail. I think I'll go over some interesting "Elvis" tidbits, as 2017 will mark the 60th Anniversary of historic RCA Studio "B." Dare we forget, this year, 2016, is the 60th Anniversary of that great Elvis/Carl Perkins song, "Blue Suede Shoes." 
Fred / Treasure Isle Recorders, Inc.
Music City, USA
 
 

re:  Dionne Warwick: 
Dionne Warwick announced plans for an upcoming biopic last week ...
Sounds like LeToya Luckett (formerly of Destiny's Child) will play Dionne and Lady Ga Ga will portray Cilla Black.  Also attached to the film are Olympia Dukakis as Marlene Dietrich and Danny Glover as Dionne's father.  No word yet on who might be portraying Burt Bacharach.  (kk)
By the way, Dionne will be appearing at The Arcada Theatre on November.

re:  Two-Sided Hits: 
http://forgottenhits.com/the_top_200_two-sided_hits_of_all-time 
This is the first time I have read through this list and I was amazed at how many times Ricky Nelson showed up on the list.  Over the years, I don't believe he was ever given the credit he deserved for all of his hits.  I was a huge fan of Ricky Nelson, he was a great talent that is now greatly missed.  Thanks for all the work that went into providing this list, it is quite the conversation piece.  I love your blog, keep up all of the good work.
O

There are certain artists that just seemed to excel at scoring two-sided hits during the rock era ... and Ricky Nelson was certainly one of them.  (In the late '60's and early '70's, we found the same to be true of Creedence Clearwater Revival.)  As you look over the list it becomes pretty obvious who the "go to" artists were when it came to "double A-sides".  A great recap of the charts as they were ... and an INCREDIBLE radio special just waiting to happen if anybody wants to pursue this further.  (Be sure to check out the companion piece, The Top 200 Greatest Forgotten B-Sides ... these two features combined would provide quality weekend double plays for the entire year!)  kk

Some thoughts on The Local Guys ...

re:  Jim Peterik - The Songs:
Here is my review of "The Songs" by Jim Peterik
Let me first state that I have been a life long fan of the Ides of March and Jim Peterik's music over the last five decades.  Thus, you may think I am jaded towards his new CD release, but even if I am to some extent, I wanted to give the CD some well earned props.  First, thanks to Kent for letting me WIN a copy on FH.  Although, his review of the new CD was a bit rough on Jim, I will admit that none of these versions of Jim's HIT catalog will surpass their original forms.
That said, I think the CD is quite good!  It does several things.  The first is the showcasing of a voice that has only gotten better and stronger in the last 50 years.  Jim's voice is amazing still today after singing many of these songs thousands of times in their "usual" state.
IF you had never heard the originals of these songs, there's a good guess you would have thought it was a great CD.  Not only are Jim's vocals great, but you can understand every lyrics line.  The new CD uses an amazing array of instruments performed by dozens of players making each arrangement unique in its own way, and often a bit tough to tell what song it is until it gets going.  A lot of the credit goes to Producer Fred Mollin, who had this idea over a decade ago and pushed and helped Jim come up with these astonishing arrangements that most would not fathom to even dream of.  Fred's work as a producer goes from Grammy Winning "Sometimes When We Touch" by Dan Hill thru recent albums from Johnny Mathis, Barbara Streisand, America and even Rita Wilson!   
The booklet has loads of info and photos from all the people that helped bring this true work of art to fruition.  Now, some words about "The songs!!"
Beginning with the opening re-working of "Vehicle," you get the idea things are a bit different than you might expect.  Instead of the horn rock classic, you get the feeling you are about to hear BJ Thomas's version of "Rock and Roll Lullaby!!!"  You get a mysteriously mellow guitar solo by Johnny A. (Whaa??  No Peterik??) unlike the original, but just as entertaining.  The country-fied "Is This Love" is sung in such a way that with the same instrumental backing, it could be a huge hit for one of the famous female country singers hitting hard these days.  The biggest surprise might be the way Jim's biggest hit ever, "Eye of Tiger" begins as if it is about to break into a Rascal Flatts song with Tim O'Brien providing excellent harmony vocals for Jim.  Add in a fiddle solo as well as a mandolin and you have a blue grass effect that works well.  Mollin creates an "Eleanor Rigby" styled strings arrangement for "caught up in You."  On "LA Goodbye," Jim trades the familiar acoustic guitar sound for a nice piano arrangement and a electric guitar solo.  "Hold on Loosely" is done in a style that could be a HUGE country hit for today's stars of the genre.  That includes a very cool Jeff Taylor accordion addition reminiscent of "We Can Work it Out!" 
I think the Beach Boys'"That's Why God Made the Radio" is my favorite record of this century.  Co-written by Jim, here, he gives us his rendition not that unlike the Boys' except for being a solo vocal through most of the song.  You can hear the lyrics better and it really comes off great.  When there are harmony vocals, they come from Jim, Fred and Jim's son Colin and they come across much alike the Beach Boys.  "High on You" is quite an arrangement.  Beginning as if a Martin Denny instrumental, this song arrangement could have been a hit for Trini Lopez in the 60's, or Jimmy Buffet in the 70's or Toby Keith and Willie Nelson in the 2000's.  Throw in influences from Paul Simon's "Me & Julio" including whistling from Colin Peterik and you have quite a work of art.  "I Can't Hold Back" has a Rolling Stones'"Angie" feel to the guitar arrangement here.  "Heavy Metal" turns itself into a southern rock effort here with its blues-y harmonica styling.  When it gets into the song, it's a song Crow would have been proud to cover in the 70's.  "The Search is Over" has a folksy Bob Dylan-like harmonica sound to it.  "Miracle at Ground Zero" is almost like a "Band-Aid" choir sing-along style anthem offering up hope from a tough new century beginning. 
Possibly the best song presented on this CD is the song that pulls the whole project together.  It closes the album with the real story of why this was created. "The Same Muse" tells us that Jim Peterik is still using his artistic inspirations (or muse) he has all these 50 years on.  He's waxed many songs where he reflected on his life in music, but this certainly is as good if not better than those that have come before.  "It's the same muse, running like a fuse.  Inspiration across the years, searchin to find the perfect chord."  The muse has never let him down and he's STILL makin' his mark in this year of 2016.  These are words from Jim Peterik's soul.   
"The Songs" may not fit what you thought you would hear, but it is WELL worth hearing this one a few times and getting the whole scheme of these songs and Jim Peterik's great vocals and writing talents over the decades.
-- Clark Besch  
 
Thanks for the thoughtful and balanced review!
Warm regards.  
Jim  
 
re:  The New Colony Six: 

I was on your website at: http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2010/01/helping-out-our-readers-new-colony-six.htmlandI saw the following text included:
JERRY SCHOLLENBERGER: When I put together the "Colonized" CD for Rhino Records, the Greatest Hits CD, I got more mail about "Long Time To Be Alone" than any other track on the CD. People just LOVED that song and many were hearing it for the very first time. It was, by far, the favorite, most singled-out track on the whole album.
I don't see that either "Never Be Lonely" or "Long Time to Be Alone" are on the Rhino release "Colonized".
They are not on the copy of the CD I have nor are they listed on the Amazon posting for the CD.
Is there some version of this CD that was released with those songs on it? I'd be interested in getting a digital copy of those songs. I've had to live with burning a copy of each from my old scratchy 45.

canidcamera
I'm not sure what listing you're looking at on Amazon but "Long Time To Be Alone" was absolutely on the Rhino Greatest Hits CD release.  ("Never Be Lonely", the B-Side of that record was not ... but is a beautiful song in its own right.)
"Long Time To Be Alone" was a low-charting single at the end of The New Colony Six's chart run.  It went to #93 in Billboard but was a #13 hit here in Chicago ... and, believe it or not, went all the way to #1 in Hawaii.  (In fact, Ronnie Rice told me it was on the strength of that record that the band got to go to Hawaii for several concerts.)  The single was re-released a few years later with "Never Be Lonely" as the A-Side but the best it could muster was a #123 showing in Record World.
Here's "Never Be Lonely", a beautiful track ... but unfortunately mine is from the original 45, too.  (I've talked with a couple of different record labels about updating The New Colony Six's Greatest Hits to include more tracks and get this back on the market again ... but things have been moving VERY slowly in this respect.  I recently had breakfast with Ray Graffia, Jr., of The New Colony Six and Gary Theroux, who put together "The History Of Rock And Roll" syndicated radio special, and Gary told us that he licensed several NC6 tracks for release on some of the compilation CD's he put together for Reader's Digest.  With all this new buzz being generated by the Cornerstones Of Rock shows, now is the PERFECT time to get these tracks back out on the market again.  Anybody else out there interested in helping us make this happen?)  kk




re:  Cornerstones Of Rock:
Comments are still coming in ... so here's what we're going to do ...
Today we're going to run the last batch of "general" comments ... good, bad or otherwise ...
And then, from this point forward (beginning on Thursday) we are ONLY going to run comments offering suggestions and solutions as to how to best deal with the unhappiness with the DVD and CD as currently released.
This means anything that you, the readers (and WTTW subscribers) feel would help to smooth this whole thing over so we can all get on with our lives!  (lol)
Consider what it would take (within reason, of course) to make you, as a customer, happy with your purchase.  We'll then run the list, present it to WTTW and see if something can be done to appease those who feel they were short-changed by receiving a product that was less than advertised.
Fair enough?
So get your suggestions in NOW so that we can put together a practical list on Thursday and finally put this matter to bed.  NOTE:  ALL comments will run anonymously ... so no matter who you are ... or how you may be affiliated with the artists, hosts or PBS Station, feel free to speak freely so that we can consider and come up with a viable solution that works for all parties concerned.  (And then, once WTTW comes up with their own solution ... which, of course, we're hoping they will ... we'll run the info here in Forgotten Hits and then let you know how you can obtain that which is being offered.)

Kent,
It hurts me to see Ron Onesti getting piled on for the quirks which stripped "Cornerstones" of a portion of its built in charm. Anyone who knows Ron knows his heart is as big as Trump Tower.
He is a businessman and a  rocker. He loves the box office but he loves the musical magic.
I think the world of Ron and know his every intention with this project was positive. Somehow, I get the vibe that if Jimy Sohns had just been given the green light to sing "Gloria" there would be no issues. That in itself is a shame - a major league shame.
Ron Onesti is one of us ... a guy who appreciates the sounds of our youth. The Arcada is his heart and soul.
Cornerstones was his baby. As you said, the bright side was Ray Graffia and Ronnie Rice back together for the first time in 40 years, The Shames reuniting to create their unique blend of harmony and the Buckinghams dropping the in-house rancor for one night.
This show was a massive undertaking.
I would like to hear WTTW weigh in on its culpability with what left so many people disturbed.
Chet Coppock


I agree ... and I can assure you that it is NOBODY's attempt to drag Ron or any of the artists through the proverbial mud on this thing.  They promoted what they were told was going to happen ... and then WTTW took a short cut and, in the process, shortchanged all of the subscribers who sent their money in in good faith.  WTTW has been noticeably and conspicuously silent throughout this whole uprising.  My hope is that this means they've seen the errors of their ways and are contemplating ways to make things right ... but this is purely speculation on my part.  Until we hear from them directly everything remains status quo.  At the very least we would expect there to be some sort of disclaimer moving forward spelling out exactly what folks are getting for their money ... despite what they may have been told they would be receiving during the original broadcast that prompted them to send in funds in the first place.  Absolutely NO slap on Ron or ANY of the artists ... this is all WTTW's doing ... or undoing as the case may be. (kk)

I just saw what Ron Onesti had to say, and for the most part I agree with him. WTTW did not purposely mislead anybody. They had every intention of releasing a complete DVD and CD that had all of what was on TV and more. At the last minute, the station lawyers stepped in and made them pull "Gloria" due to a licensing problem. WTTW could not afford to get sued or to lose more money than they brought in for those discs just because of one song. I was told they tried hard to get "Louie Louie" to sound right, but the voices were way too far from the mics and it sounded horrible. Because they wanted to put out a high-quality product, somebody high up made the call to pull that song at the last minute, too. It was not done on purpose to upset anybody. It was done in the name of quality. 
Now in the above paragraph, the word purposely is the key. If I was driving home and did not purposely mean to lose control of my car, but still accidentally bumped into a parked car, damaging it, I would still have to make things right with the owner of the parked car, even if the damage was not done by me on purpose. So here is where I also agree with you. WTTW damaged the donors of the "Cornerstones" program by not delivering what they promised you would receive when making a donation. They need to do something to make it right. It can be as simple as a letter sent out from the station officials apologizing for the situation. (Something they should have done along with the DVD when it shipped out, in my opinion.) They could potentially hold a live "Cornerstones" event and give out tickets to the show to anybody who donated and purchased a DVD. They could also finally obtain the rights to "Gloria" and re-issue the DVD with all songs on it, including the sloppy "Louie Louie." That third option, as much as I know you want it, is the least likely due to the extreme costs involved. The whole situation sucks, but I'm not thinking there is going to be a way to make everybody happy. It is just an unfortunate series of events.
There is another sad side effect to all this too ... "Cornerstones of Rock" was supposed to be a semi-regular series. With all of the complaints coming in and the licensing issues WTTW has had to deal with, I'm betting that this has soured them on the idea of doing more shows in this series. That is a shame. They did bring "Soundstage" back recently and those shows are often turned into DVDs, but I'm betting the singers are asked to not do any cover songs and to allow WTTW the rights to distribute DVDs of the shows. I'd like to see a lot more "Cornerstones of Rock" shows (maybe even some Chicago-based "Cornerstones of Soul," or "Cornerstones of Blues," or "Cornerstones of Funk," as well), but my hunch is that the entire project is now dead.
There are no winners in any of these situations.
--anonymous by request

I would HATE to think that the bungled handling of this one event would cause them to abandon other Cornerstones and Soundstage projects ... WTTW has a rich heritage in bringing specialized music to the fans ... and I really do believe that if they simply make things right and clean up the initial mess made with the first Cornerstones project, and then make sure to know EXACTLY what they can and can't advertise and distribute in the future, the fans WILL come back ... because we LOVE this music and want to own a small part of it.  First, clean up your mess ... make this right with the people who donated money in good faith and deliver on your promises ... and then get ALL of your ducks in a row and continue to bring us top quality projects in the future.  (kk)

Hi Kent, 
As always it’s great to read Forgotten Hits ... you continue to put together a great website. When I talk to my clients who are oldies lovers I always mention ForgottenHits.com along with rewoundradio.com and of course Ron Onesti’s Arcada Theatre. 
It was great to see you again, albeit briefly, at the Alan Parsons Live Project Show last week. One thing that I really like about this band was summed up by one of it’s members: It’s a “Brotherhood” that Alan has put together that makes it so great. Everyone participates, everyone. Seriously ... how many bands that bear the “leader's” name are more of a team rather than one singer and backup musicians? Alan Parsons and his brotherhood are one hell of a great show, I recommend to everyone. 
Then there is the WTTW controversy surrounding the CD / DVD release from the Cornerstones of Rock performance. While I have not been able to see the show, although I try, I think you nailed it on the head with today's response to Ron Onesti’s letter. IMO I think WTTW should have delayed the broadcast or at least the release of the recorded materials until they had their ducks in a row. In the few years I have known Ron, he has done nothing short of producing and presenting the highest quality of entertainment at reasonable prices. If there is a definition of “Stand up guy” in the dictionary his picture is there. 
Again Thanks again for all your efforts, I’m sure I’ll see you soon. 
Scott Schultz, 
McHenry, IL
 
Agreed ... they don't come any better than Ron ... and I know that everything Ron, Jim Peterik and Carl Giammarese offered in the way of DVD extras during the telecast came from what they were told by WTTW the disc would contain ... so why these plans were abandoned is anybody's guess.  Like most, I think a second DVD housing all the bonus footage promised would have been preferred over an audio CD simply rehashing the same tracks already found on the DVD without audio.  Again ... GREAT plans and expectations  ... poor execution and follow-through.  (kk)

Hey ... James Fairs here ...
I can only report my own experiences. 
I went into this with a healthy dose of skepticism. I knew Joe Thomas and Frank Pappalardo, and had worked with each of them in the studio (and most certainly enjoyed it!) ... but there were a host of unions, and new characters and as you can, I'm sure, understand, these situations can get dicey.
But key figures, like Jimy Sohns, held the event to a higher standard: we were brothers and sisters who had lived through the inception of it all, and we became determined to do right by it. 
We found a surprising ally: the promoter!!! (Usually one of the last places rock players might look). Ron Onesti has shown good faith over and over again, and it has made a profound difference. We work each show with an eye to making it better than the last ... and each of us probably wonders how it might look in a year!
So I'm truly sorry that some people got short-changed on their donations. We had no say in that, but anyone involved still feels badly when well intentioned people get burned.  
Please give this show a shot, and know that we're doing the same.
All the best,
James
Perhaps a special show where your proof of purchase of the dvd acts as your ticket to get in (as suggested above) isn't such a bad idea.  An even BETTER idea would be to then have the opportunity to purchase the missing additional footage at the venue, thus raising money for both the guy putting on the show AND the station (in an attempt to recoup their expenses of producing the second DVD).
It's THESE kinds of positive suggestions and solutions we're looking for ... so please, put on your thinking caps and get back to us with your ideas.  Again, ALL entries will run anonymously ... so feel free to let your guard down and think outside the box.  We would LOVE to start running these ideas on Thursday ... so get back to me soon!  (kk)
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