re: HELPING OUT OUR READERS:
Hi Kent -
Thank you so much for the info on The Critters. Since the tune came out during the years of the British Invasion, I assumed they were a British Group! Would never have guessed they were from New Jersey. Will have to find my 45 and put it in my juke box.
Thank you again.
Carolyn
Hey, it's what we do!!! (lol) I've heard "Mr. Dieingly Sad" about four times since we featured it last week in Forgotten Hits ... always a good sign that some of the jocks on the list are taking our "suggestions" to heart (in a programming sort of way!) kk
Our Oldies Buddy Randy Price has helped us out a number of times over the years with some of our special features ... and, as a noted chart statistician, we've mentioned his "Super Charts" project several times in the past. As we've seen with our own research, MOST of the biggest hits of all-time are pretty well documented by their across-the-boards performance in the national music trades. Every once in a while, however, some of the mid-to-lower chart entries seem to have HUGE discrepancies in their chart position ... sometimes by as much as 20-30 points or more. By combining the weekly progress of EVERY record in all three major musical trades (Billboard, Cash Box and Record World), Randy is in the process of re-writing music history by compiling the ULTIMATE set of Super Charts ... in what will TRULY be the most accurate measure of a record's popularity ever assembled. But, in order to complete this project, he still needs some of the older issues of Record World / Music Vendor to do so. We've agreed to run Randy's "Want List", covering the period of 1960 - 1980 ... later, we'll go all the way back to 1956 in an effort to help him fill in some of these even earlier gaps in his chart research.
Ideally, he'd like the entire magazine issue ... but, to keep this project moving, good, clean copies of The Top 100 Pop Singles will certainly suffice for the time being.
If you think you can help him out, please drop me a line and we'll link you guys up. Thank you in advance for your help. (Just drop me a line at forgottenhits@aol.com!) kk
Kent,
Here is an updated list of the charts I still need to complete the 1960s and '70s SuperCharts (black & white scans or photocopies are acceptable, and I will pay any reasonable costs for them):
MUSIC VENDOR
July 27, 1959 (#634): Top 100 Pop
Aug. 3, 1959 (#635): Top 100 Pop
Aug. 10, 1959 (#636): Top 100 Pop
Aug. 31, 1959 (#639): Top 100 Pop
Sept. 7, 1959 (#640): Top 100 Pop
Sept. 28, 1959 (#643): Top 100 Pop
Oct. 5, 1959 (#644): Top 100 Pop
Oct. 26, 1959 (#647): Top 100 Pop
Nov. 2, 1959 (#648): Top 100 Pop
Nov. 23, 1959 (#651): Top 100 Pop
Dec. 28, 1959 (#656): Top 100 Pop
(The last 3 are the most critical of the 1959 issues; the others above would be helpful, but are not essential, for completing the early 1960 charts)
Feb. 29, 1960 (#665): Top 100 Pop
March 7, 1960 (#666): Top 100 Pop
April 11, 1960 (#671): Top 100 Pop; Beat of the Week [top 10 positions]
June 27, 1960 (#682): Top 100 Pop; Beat of the Week [top 10 positions]
Oct. 31, 1960 (#700): Top 100 Pop; Beat of the Week [top 10 positions]
Nov. 14, 1960 (#702): Top 100 Pop; Beat of the Week [top 10 positions]
Nov. 28, 1960 (#704): Top 100 Pop; Beat of the Week [top 10 positions]
Dec. 12, 1960 (#706): Top 100 Pop; Beat of the Week [top 10 positions]
March 6, 1961 (#718): Top 100 Pop
May 1, 1961 (#726): Going Up [top 10 positions]
Jan. 25, 1964 (#868): Top 100 Pop; Looking Up [top 10 positions]
Feb. 1, 1964 (#869): Top 100 Pop; Looking Up [top 10 positions]
Feb. 29, 1964 (#873): Top 100 Pop; Looking Up [top 10 positions]
April 11, 1964 (#879): Top 100 Pop; Looking Up [top 10 positions]
RECORD WORLD
April 18, 1964 (#880): Singles Coming Up [top 10 positions]
April 25, 1964 (#881): Singles Coming Up [top 10 positions]
May 2, 1964 (#882): Top 100 Pop; Singles Coming Up [top 10 positions]
Aug. 15, 1964 (#897): Top 100 Pop; Singles Coming Up [top 10 positions]
Feb. 27, 1971: Top 100 Pop
Aug. 2, 1975: Singles 101-150 [top 10 positions]
Thanks!
– Randy
Brand new FH Readers are still discovering some of our "Favorite Commercials" coverage on the website ... in fact, we received TWO emails in this regard this past week!
Hi,
I’m a fan of the classic oldies instrumental hits. However, I recall that there was an instrumental song that was released during the late eighties which sounded as if it was inspired by LIAR. LIAR and other mid-sixties garage rock songs. However, few people, if any, are able to identify the name of that song and the artists who performed it, despite the fact that it’s often played on Muzak. Nonetheless, that song can be currently heard as the background music for the newest Head & Shoulders TV commercial. It’s an appropriate choice since the commercial emphasizes the need to maintain a healthy head of hair during the past forty years.
I used to be a regular listener of WCBS-FM, WKHL — Kool 96.7 FM — and WMTR when they were true classic oldies stations. Unfortunately, all three of those stations had their formats changed in recent years in order to contend with demographic changes that have occurred in the metropolitan New York City area. WMTR, a New Jersey-based radio station, used to specialize in playing mainly the songs from the pre-British Invasion era. It would not be uncommon for them to provide airtime for such instrumental hits as MANHATTAN SPIRITUAL and PENETRATION along with WALK, DON’T RUN and PIPELINE. That station currently plays the greatest hits of the sixties and the seventies.
Lou Henken
I've not seen the Head And Shoulders commercial you're referring to so I can't even guess at what song it might be ... but I'm guessing some of our readers will know! In fact, you've come across two of our recent popular topics ... music used in commercial ads and all-time favorite instrumentals! Check back to these pages to see if we come up with your answer. Meanwhile, welcome aboard! (kk)
Great website! Please add me to your mailing list. Thank you! ...
And can I ask a question? I'm trying top identify a TV commercial ... 70s? 80s? ... That used Donovan's flute part from "First There Is A Mountain" .. .not sure there's any singing, might be a re-recording of the flute music ... girls are dancing to it ... ring any bells? ... thanx a ton!
--- stolf
I absolutely remember the spot ... but can't think of the product for the life of me. Again, I'm sure one of our readers will know the answer to this one ... stay tuned! (kk)
