October 9th, 1965

60 YEARS AGO TODAY:

10/9/65 – “Yesterday” by The Beatles goes to #1 in America … on John Lennon’s 25^th birthday

 

***** 

And, in other news (2025) ... 

Dolly Parton:  “I ain’t dead yet!”

After her sister asked for prayers for the health-challenged country music icon, the immediate reaction was that Dolly must be on her death bed.

Not true, says Parton …

"Do I look sick to you? I'm working hard here! Anyway, I wanted to put everybody's mind at ease, those of you that seem to be real concerned, which I appreciate.  I appreciate your prayers, 'cause I'm a person of faith. I can always use the prayers for anything and everything. But I want you to know that I'm okay."

Parton went on to say that some of her "health problems" were linked to the aftermath of her husband Carl Dean’s death in March, at which point she neglected her own health.  (The couple had been married for 58 years before Dean died on March 3^rd at the age of 82.

"Back when my husband Carl was very sick, that was for a long time, and then when he passed, I didn’t take care of myself, so I let a lot of things go that I should’ve been taking care of," Parton said. "So anyway, when I got around to it, the doctor said, we need to take care of this. We need to take care of that. Nothing major, but I did have to cancel some things so I could be closer to home, closer to Vanderbilt [University Medical Center], where I’m kind of having a few treatments here and there, but I wanted you to know that I’m not dying.  I’m not ready to die yet. I don’t think God is through with me and I ain’t done working. So I love you for caring, and keep praying for me."

The whole concern started when Dolly’s sister Freida asked for prayers during a post made on October 7^th …

"Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly. Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me.”

Freida has since back-pedaled a little bit …

"I didn't mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious," she said after Dolly stepped in to clear things up.  "I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer. It was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister," she posted on Facebook.

We all wish Dolly a speedy and healthy recovery from any issues that are currently of concern.  Give her a good tune-up and get her ready for her Las Vegas residency … we’re not ready to let her go yet either!!!  (kk)

 

Speaking of pop songs being used in television commercials, I can officially report that during the course of a one hour program Wednesday night I heard a snippet of Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger" FOUR times, Laura Branigan's "Gloria" three times, Kool and the Gang's "Hollywood Swinging" twice, "Never On Sunday" twice, Christina Aguilera's "Come On Over Baby" twice, Matthew Wilder's "Break My Stride" once and Pilot's "Magic" (sung as "O-O-O-Ozempic") once.  Talk about saturation!!!  Great to know that these songs are living on ... but let's mix it up a little bit, guys!!!  (A couple of these were repeated twice during the same commercial break!!!)  kk

 

Meanwhile, Chuck Buell responds to our most recent post …

Kent!

Just a few Comments around some of Wednesday's Forgotten Hits' Signature Stuff!

>>>We love goosin’ our audience! (lol) kk

Always happy to be a part! 

Forgotten Hits is a Honkin' Good Publication!

cb

>>>LOVE “Sugar Town!!!”  That and “Summer Wine” are probably my two favorite Nancy Sinatra songs. (kk)

Mine, too. What a Duo! Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood!  cb

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we Guys were but promising, young, Radio Personality Hot Shots On the Air at KIMN in Denver, one of her posters had a prominent placement on a wall in our On Air Studio which defined the words, "Celebrity Crush!"

Whew!

>>>I just now saw a commercial for TARGET Department Stores with the song in the background NEVER ON SUNDAY by the Chordettes.  (Larry)
I don’t get the connection to the store and the song.  kk

And here's another "Misconnect!"  Do you remember that brief moment in time when Volkswagen used Edwin Starr's "War" as their TV Commercial background music?!  I only saw it a couple of times before it disappeared!  I don't remember what portion of it was used but, as you know, it's a highly identifiable song!  ( In fact, I could "Name That Tune" in six notes, maybe less! ). cb

Yeah, I'm thinkin' you could probably name THAT tune in two notes on your worst day!!!  (lol) kk

Meanwhile ~~~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, Man!  You could see Future Trouble brewing right there!

I had the opportunity to "work" with him when we were part of the Malrite Radio Group Team.  OK, he was in New York and I was in Denver at the time; however I did have a chance to sit in for him at Z-100 one morning.  It was so great to see how his show flowed with the team he built there then even on a morning when he wasn't!

CB

Scott Shannon has won so many broadcasting and programming awards he could fill a museum.  I tip my hat to one of the masters who helped lead the way and had a ball doing what he loved doing.  (Wish we could ALL take that kind of enjoyment … and praise … for our efforts.)  Scott Shannon, we salute you!  (kk)

Some Of Your Mid-Week Comments

Kent!

I thought I'd share that old, obscure Forgotten Hit, "Rockin' Goose," just for Fun, never thinking about the other Goose references it would bring up! 

Another Hit Song!  A Dee Jay!  A Baseball Player!  A Record Promoter?!  Who knew?!

Some I have heard of, a couple I hadn't!  

Anyway, now we all know, "The Bird's the Word!"

Buell!

We love goosin’ our audience! (lol)

Fact is, you just never know what you’re going to see … or hear … in Forgotten Hits!!!

(That’s what keeps it fun and exciting!)  kk

Kent,

Thanks for posting the Rivieras’ H.B. GOOSESTEP. I had forgotten all about that instrumental. Week-nighter Jim "Goose" Bowman would play that occasionally when he was going off the air.

This weekend during the football games I twice saw a commercial that I hadn't seen before. It was promoting Google I-Phone or something like that … but the background music was Nancy Sinatra's SUGAR TOWN. Always like this time of year when new commercials come out with background music from years gone by. Wonder who picks them. 

Larry

LOVE “Sugar Town!!!”  That and “Summer Wine” are probably my two favorite Nancy Sinatra songs.  Incredible to think that they each shared one side of the same 45!  (kk)

And then this …

Kent,

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

I just now saw another commercial that I don't believe I have seen before with backdrop music of days gone by. The commercial was for TARGET Department Stores with the song in the background NEVER ON SUNDAY by the Chordettes. I somewhat liked the instrumental version by Don Costa better.

Larry

Oh, that one’s been running for quite a while now … annoyingly so here in Chicago where they’ll sometimes run it twice during the same commercial break … allowing you to see (and hear it) up to six times during a single one hour television program!  (We actually heard it EIGHT times during last week's episode of 20/20 ... talk about burn out!)

I don’t get the connection to the store and the song … you’d think Sundays would be their biggest shopping days each week!  Why would you say “never on a Sunday”?!?!?  It’d be bad for business!

But I’ve always liked this tune.  According to Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles book, it charted by three different artists during the 1960-1961 era.  The Chordettes had the biggest hit (#13 in 1961) while Don Costa’s instrumental peaked at #19 the year before.  It also went to #88 for Lale Anderson in 1961 as the foreign version titled “Ein Schiff Wird Kommen (A Ship Will Come)” … which has absolutely NOTHING to do with the song we know as “Never On Sunday” other than sharing its melody.  (Betcha didn’t know that!!!  Or that we’d feature it here in Forgotten Hits!!!!!)  kk

Kent, 

Talking about Dex Card's Wild Goose got me to working on a tape that was an audience recording 55 years old from Summer, 1970 when the Ides of March were even hotter than they are today!  Dex was just one of my very first fave jocks at the Big 89 and I miss listening to him and the other WLS DJs.  

This attached tape has Dex' emcee comments at the start of the gig as the band launches into their (attached) version of "Feelin' Alright" (one I dont think they ever recorded in studio?)  The quality is very suspect, but it is MUCH better than it was before I worked on it.  I just wanted to give kudos to three greats:  Dex Card and the Ides of March and THE WILD GOOSE! 

Clark Besch

 

Hi Kent,

I noticed that you’re advertising for The Video Beat, where I bought a number of DVDs in the past. Beat Club has had its own youtube channel for a while already : https://www.youtube.com/@beatclub

They also have videoclips from Beat Beat Beat on there.

Kind regards

Ben

Some GREAT vintage clips on here if you click on the ”videos” tab.  (Some are just short snippets but some are full-length live performances … gives you an idea as to what the show was all about.

I’m not necessarily “advertising for The Video Beat” … but I, too, have purchased a number of great videos from them in the past.  The fact that they are now offering heavily discounted collections of vintage television shows like “Shindig!,” “Hullabaloo” and “The Beat Club” is what caught my eye.  Just about anybody who was anybody appeared on these programs back in the day … so I’m just spreading the word that these programs are now available (some even with the original TV commercials!) in case anyone is interested.  (I wish I could buy the complete sets of all three programs but that’s beyond my budget right now!)  You should know that I don’t get any kind of commission or compensation for directing you to these programs … it’s purely a “common interest” sort of thing on my end to let you know that they exist … and are now available at a great rate.  (kk)

While Rush doesn’t figure into our normal topics of discussion, their reunion tour to honor recently deceased drummer Neil Peart WAS considered major news this past weekend as tickets are already going on sale.  (Rush DID place eight songs on our TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS list a couple of year ago … with five of them - “The Spirit Of The Radio” - #408, “Closer To The Heart” - #466, “Tom Sawyer” - #488, “Limelight” - #553 and “New World Man” - #819 - all making The Top 1000.)  Soldier on, guys!  (kk)

Well, you certainly know how to distract a guy for two or three hours!

That July '69 chart from WMAK is packed with gems we could talk about for hours and hours. 

 

The first thing that stands out is all the great music in the Top 20 that Oldies Radio has never touched - or has touched a time or two and then ignored. Not that there are really any Oldies stations remaining. Yeah, we may hear the biggest hits from time to time, but when have we heard Desmond Dekker or The Buchanan Brothers? Or Teresa Graves' cover of "A Time For Us"?

But since we're all about Forgotten Hits, a deep dive into the rest of that chart is well worth the effort - and that's why I'm writing this email. The next twenty tracks on that chart were played enough for them to be remembered by WMAK listeners. WMAK was a real Top 40 station that actually played all 40 tracks, so those rarities are still fresh in my memory. 

You may remember the genius of Curt Boettcher, but you might not be familiar with his awesome cover of "In My Room" as the group Sagittarius. 

Soul singer Johnny Adams' track "Reconsider Me" will make you keep listening if you give it twenty seconds. He wasn't intending to be a Tom Jones soundalike, but that's what you'll hear. 

Pop music fans will usually remember the tracks from The Rugbys, or the band Illusion, or Cat Mother. Bet you haven't heard them in ages. We all remember The Dells and their hit "There Is" - but it's not so likely that you'll remember their mashup of "Love Is Blue" and "Rainbow." You won't regret giving it a listen. Don't miss the tracks from Candi Staton or The Joe Jeffery Group. Or Unchained Minds/Mynds - a regional hit only heard in a few markets.

As a Nashville station, there's clearly a strong influence from Memphis, Nashville, and Muscle Shoals on this chart. But that's what happens when radio is local and music is added to playlists by local people who are friends with the artists and promoters - and willing to give them a chance.

David Lewis

There are some real gems on this list.  In addition to "Medicine Man" and "Israelites" (both of which we have featured before in Forgotten Hits and LONG campaigned for their well-deserved placement back into oldies playlists), we have also featured tracks like "Quentin's Theme," "Good Old Rock And Roll," "My Pledge Of Love," "Abergavenny" and "Let Me" by Paul Revere and the Raiders with Mark Lindsay's infamous scream at the end.  Roy Clark was hot at the time thanks to the hit TV show "Hee Haw" ... so his country hit "Yesterday When I Was Young" was getting a lot of airplay on the pop stations as well.

 

We did a whole feature on The Illusion's One Hit Wonder "Did You See Her Eyes" ... and "You, I" by The Rugbys was a big hit in Kentucky and Tennessee ... and also went to #7 here in Chicago, too.  (My brother Mark used to play the heck out of that record!)  And because of my love of the Sagittarius hit "My World Fell Down," I was also drawn to their version of The Beach Boys' tune "In My Room." There was a strong Beach Boys connection to this band.

 

"Reconsider Me" is a GREAT track that I discovered when I was trying to put together my own collection of National Top 40 Hits a few decades back ... and "We Can't Go On This Way" proved to be a very successful "local hit" for The Unchained Mynds.  This one never ever cracked The Hot 100 in Billboard ... and only climbed as high as #96 in Cash Box and Record World ... yet here it sits at #4 in The Country Music Capital Of The World!!!  (This group hailed from the Midwest, making it an even more unlikely hit in Tennessee.)  I think the only one that you mentioned that I'm not familiar with is the Teresa Graves tune "A Time For Us" ... but I dug that one out, too!!!

 

Our FH Buddy Scott Shannon had just joined the station ... and would soon be named The Disc Jockey Of The Year!  My family used to take summer vacation trips to Nashville (my mom was a big country music fan) so I would listen to WMAK every time we went.  (Finding a Top 40 Pop Station was a little difficult down there at the time ... but WMAK made radio exciting for 16-year-old me.)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOmV4MAcHN0

(you'll hear a snippets of a few of these tunes on this 1969 WMAK sound clip)  kk 

And a quick thank you before we go ...

We set a brand new Forgotten Hits record last month when just over 208,000 of you guys visited the website during the month of September.  Wow!!!  Not sure what spurred it, but at that rate we'd be receiving nearly 2.5 million viewers per year ... which I already know is never gonna happen ... we've only got about 7.3 million viewers overall at this point ... but to whatever we can attribute the surge, THANK YOU!!!  Just keep spreading the good word!!! (kk)