Sunday, January 20, 2013

The Sunday Comments ( 01 - 20 - 13 )

re: SHINDIG: 
Kent,
Wow! Four clips and check out the line-up! And did you hear Jimmy announce who would be on next? Everyone they just had not shown! The show was all about fun. Music, yes, but presented in just a fun way. Loud fun, maybe, that got my parents out of the room?!
Shelley  

Hi Kent -
Is there any way you could find Dino, Desi & Billy's appearance on Shindig ?
Thanks,
Billy Hinsche
Let me see what I can do. Meanwhile, here's an interesting quote from Shindig Host Jimmy O'Neill:
I helped develop and hosted America’s first live weekly network rock/pop music series, ”Shindig!”, which aired on ABC-TV in the mid 60′s. I was 24 and totally blown away by the opportunity of meeting and appearing with the top music artists of the era. (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ricky Nelson, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Tina Turner, The Everly Bros.,The Four Tops, Sam Cooke, Patty Duke, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles , Johnny Cash, Louis Armstrong, Mickey Rooney (Jr and Sr) , Dino, Desi and Billy, (Lucille Ball was in the studio audience to support her son, Desi Jr. She refused a front row seat because she “didn’t want to upstage Desi”.)
By the way, I immediately found this link on YouTube:
However, when you play it, it's actually The Nashville Teens doing "Tobacco Road".
Still worth watching ... but obviously NOT the clip you're looking for!
But I still may have a way to get this for you. Let me see what I can do!
Thanks, Billy. (kk)
Love it! Thanks!
Billy   

re: ON THE RADIO:
The other day in mentioned the Historic Route 66 Radio Tour (in conjunction with my wanting to talk with Jimmy O'Neill of Shindig about possibly making an appearance.) I wondered if there was any news to share in this regard so I contacted Paul Peters over in the U.K. to see if we could get the latest info for our readers ... and for any other jocks on the list who might like to make an appearance.  I know that Carolyn Travis (she of the excellent "Airplay" documentary that we talk about all the time ... running on PBS and now available for purchase here: Click here: Buy DVD of Airplay: The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio  
Meanwhile, here's the latest from Paul: 

Hello Kent,
Things are beginning to move slowly, and we have been in contact with several guys, including Lane Lindstrom, at WJEZ. WE already knew of him, but it was Bob Mayben, who managed to put us in touch. We have also been told to contact Paul Meacham, and also John Gehron, former PD of WLS Chicago. I have put a message on their 'Facebook' pages, but so far, neither have got back to me.
KOMO, now KOKC in Oklahoma, was suggested as a good station to visit, by Mark Humphrey. It looks fantastic with three large radio masts, painted red and white, just the sort of American radio station that I dreamed of as a kid, and stands, I'm told, right on Route 66. I'm just about to contact them. Joe Sonderman, in St. Louis, got in touch, saying that he was in radio in the 1980's, and he'd be interested in helping us. We also heard from David Blair, who said that he worked for Vern Nolte in Rockford ... When I asked, how can I get in contact with Vern, he came back saying that I'd need a medium!!!!
Mark Humphrey also suggested that we should try and visit WJBC, Bloomington, Illinois, where the Cart Machine was first developed.
I also personally wrote to Gary Stevens, who I used to listen to here in the U.K., at the age of 17, in the mid 60's, on the offshore pirate stations 'Swinging Radio England', and 'Radio City'. In the U.S. he was with WMCA. Gary wrote strait back, within a few minutes, saying how pleased he was to hear from me, and wishing us well with the trip, and saying that he was a big Route 66 fan. We'd really like it, if we could, somehow, arrange for him to meet up with us, somewhere between Chicago, and L.A.
Last year I wrote to a friend of ours, Michael Pasternak, well known in the U.K. and Europe, as the Emperor Rosko. Anyone who has seen the film 'Pirate Radio' will remember the character, the Admiral ... well he was based on The Empero!!! Michael, whose show the 'L.A. Connection', which is aired weekly on Forest FM here in the U.K., and who Geoff and I have worked with on 'Pirate BBC Essex', has said that he'd love to welcome us to L.A. if we make it there. We'll make it, Emp!!!!!
Before I go, I had a wonderful email from Jess, a young lady d.j., on a station in St. Johnsbury,
Vermont. She told me about a colleague of hers on a sister station, in the same building, WSTJ-AM. His name is Don Mullally, and he's been presenting his breakfast show for over 60 years. He started it in 1952, and has been presenting it every morning since then. He's now 83, and I'd just love to meet him. Sadly Route 66 does not run through Vermont. Here's the link to a piece all about him, in the local, Vermont's Independence Voice: http://www.7dvt.com/2011mr-saint-johnsbury  
If you know of any guys or girls, just like Don, please let us know, especially if they live along Route 66!!!!All the very best,
Paul Peters
This is all VERY exciting news ... there are SO many other great DJ's out there, whether it be from yester-year or that are still broadcasting today, that we would LOVE to see included in this historic event. Glad to see that word-of-mouth has been so positive ... I'm really looking forward to this myself! Don't miss out ... drop me a line ... or contact: Paul Peters at paul.peters@live.com or Bish Krywko at rondaradio@hotmail.com, who is telling all of his radio colleagues:  
Hi guys,
We thought you might want to know that a 'Route 66 Radio Tour' is in the works for a kickoff from Chicago to Santa Monica Pier, CA next year. The DJ favorite blog ForgottenHits.com has more about it, as does Route66News.com (see link below). A shout out is going to DJs everywhere along Route 66. Well known radio documentary producer Carolyn Travis ('Air Play', 'Rock Radio Revolution' and 'Rock Jocks: The FM Revolution' ) is planning to document the journey, which will visit radio stations and interview radio personalities, who have been heard on car radios and in communities along the Mother Road over the years. We hope you can be a part of this once in a lifetime event.
WRLR 98.3 FM
RONDARADIO, INC.
Round Lake, IL 60073
And you don't have to be a deejay to participate ... we're encouraging ALL fans of radio to come on out and cheer us on as we make this journey from Chicago to LA!!! (kk)   

Just thought I'd share some of the things I've heard on the radio ...
First, I've been back to listening to lots of Y103.9. Their local personality Marci is now out, so virtually the entire station is Tom Kent. I never cared for him, but I realized lately that his show is the best we've got around here. Around 11 PM he runs an all #1's show (might be on earlier as the station actually reruns most of the content), I couldn't believe when I heard these --
- "Magic" - Olivia Newton John
- "TSOP" - MFSB
- "Love is Blue" - Paul Mauriat !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- "The Hustle" - Van McCoy
- "Brand New Key" - Melanie
Anyway, they're a little more 70's based, but there were 60's / 80's too ... but these were some that I hadn't heard in a while. It also was great during the day to here "Come See About Me" again, since Chicago pretty much sent Motown to the trash. Anyway, Tom Kent isn't THAT bad. I still don't get why the far more SUPERB Jeff James can't at least take his Sunday show back to Sat. Nights.
Put Tom on Sundays then, who cares ... Actually, in a perfect world I'd just give Jeff the station!!!!
Continuing my search of a decent station, I found this GREAT online one. I did a search, and it doesn't look like you've featured it, so - check out: http://popgoldradio.com/
It's run out of New Jersey, no commercials, but great jingles in between every song. Don Tandler (creator of it) runs a live countdown show on Saturday afternoons. Plenty of 50's / 70's but very 60's based with a few 80's. All the hits from "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" to "Something Stupid" and plenty of oh wow chart songs like this one -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI3NttjJvBU
So, if you're not familiar with this station, give it a listen!!!
Have a great weekend,
Biondi4Mayor
AJK
Tom Kent has been doing "My '70's Show" and "My '80's Show" for quite awhile now. WLS-FM used to air John "Records" Landecker's syndicated program "Into The '70's" on Sunday Nights ... but now that Landecker has rejoined the station on a full-time basis, they're revamping his Monday - Friday shift to include "The '70's and 7" and "The '80's at 8". (Notice that in keeping with the station's new "identity", which we still hear is driving away listeners in droves, there are no plans for a "'60's at 6" program.) Quite honestly I don't know ANYONE who still listens to WLS-FM anymore ... they have just beaten their repetitive play list into the ground. I've even heard from people who used to have the station on at work that have switched to K-Hits in their offices.
That being said, Y103.9 does have a much larger (and varied) play list but the signal is so weak it rarely comes in clear enough to listen for long periods of time. I've yet to read ANYTHING positive about The Tom Kent Take-Over ... it's just too much (and while I used to like listening to him once in a while in the evenings, Tom Kent all day long is just WAY too much for me ... his act runs pretty thin after about 20 minutes!!!) Even scarier ... last night we were out and about and while I was button-pushing I found Tom Kent not only doing is Saturday Night Request Show on Y103.9 ... but ALSO his '80's Show on The Lite (93.9)! Guess pre-recorded, syndicated programming is the way to go, eh? (Hmm ... how many DJ's is THIS keeping out of work these days???)
Meanwhile, K-Hits has greatly expanded their play list, offering much more variety (and some cool combos of late ... I've recently heard them segue from "Who Loves You" by The Four Seasons, a long-standing station mainstay, into "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC, one of their new "adds". There have been more surprises of late, too, music-wise, rather than just more of the same old / same old ... so when I'm not listening to The Drive or The River, I've been hopping over to K-Hits more often than before. (Would LOVE to be able to work something out with the station regarding a Forgotten Hits tie-in of some kind.) kk  

re: THIS AND THAT:  
>>>As for Dave Edmunds, I have heard the song only once, but his guitar version of "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" ranks him, in my estimation , as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. (Dube)
>>>I tried to find a YouTube clip of him performing "Flight Of The Bumble Bee" but came up empty ... anybody got a copy of this track? (kk)
Dave Edmunds; D'oh! I was thinking Katchaturian's "Sabre Dance" and wrote "Flight of the Bumblebee". No wonder you couldn't find it. 
Dube  
Believe it or not, I had actually considered that this MIGHT be the case. Edmunds' version of "Sabre Dance" is a classic, recorded during his Love Sculpture days.  We've featured it before ... but I have no problem with running it again. (kk) 


Boy, talk about your "one of a kind" recordings! "Rolling Stone Magazine" is reporting that renown record producer Peter Asher (and once half of the hit '60's duo Peter and Gordon) has come across a homemade tape that was recorded in his bedroom featuring Paul McCartney (who was dating Peter's sister, actress Jane Asher, at the time) going over a brand new song that The Beatles (or, more precisely John Lennon) had rejected. That tune, which "wasn't good enough" for The Beatles to record, became the break-through hit for the duo, going all the way to #1 during The Summer of 1964.

On this particular recording, Paul played him a rough run-through of the song, accompanying himself only on his acoustic guitar. In fact, at this point in time, the song's bridge hadn't even been written yet! (Asher says he had to hound McCartney to "finish up the song" as Peter and Gordon had a recording session coming up.) The tape also contains an earlier, faster version of "I'll Follow The Sun", a song Paul had reportedly written when he was just 14 years old, that would ultimately end up on The Beatles' "Beatles For Sale" album (the bulk of which was released here in The States as "Beatles '65").

While there are no plans to officially (or commercially) release these tracks (boy, these would have been interesting additions to The Beatles' "Anthology" series!), Asher IS featuring them as part of his stage show (which just happens to be coming to Chicago next Sunday at The Old Town School Of Folk Music).

We were fortunate enough to see Peter and Gordon perform at Beatlefest a few years back and Gordon Waller even participated with Forgotten Hits for awhile, particularly in regards to the health of his good friend Mike Smith of The Dave Clark Five. (Peter and Gordon had reunited to perform at a fund-raising Mike Smith Benefit Concert earlier that year.) Sadly, both Mike Smith and Gordon Waller are no longer with us ... but I imagine Peter Asher has ALL kinds of interesting stories to tell and this Old Town School Of Folk Music appearance should be a real treat. (kk)  

More from the "Rolling Stone" article (written by David Browne) below:   

To the small but growing list of rare Beatles tapes that unexpectedly pop up, add one more: Paul McCartney's solo performance of "A World Without Love," the debut 1964 single by Peter and Gordon that hit Number One in both the U.S. and the U.K.

The only known McCartney version of the song, the tape – featuring McCartney singing and accompanying himself on acoustic guitar – was unearthed a few months ago by Peter Asher, half of Peter and Gordon and the brother of McCartney's girlfriend at the time, Jane Asher. In early 1964, McCartney was living in the Asher family home, sharing the top floor with Peter. "He had two tape machines and I had one – we were both into taping," Asher says. "Paul told me about the song and played it for me."

As Asher soon learned, nothing became of the song. "No one wanted it," he says. "John didn't like it or something." (The song has been credited to Lennon - McCartney, but McCartney apparently wrote it alone.) Billy J. Kramer, a Merseybeat singer of the time, also turned it down.

Not long after McCartney played "A World Without Love" for Asher (who taped it on a reel-to-reel deck), Peter and Gordon, the duo Asher formed with Gordon Waller, landed a record deal. Immediately, Asher asked McCartney if the duo could have the unfinished ballad. "Paul said, 'Absolutely,' but I had to nag him to write the bridge. It came several weeks later, just in time for the session." As a result, the tape in Asher's possession doesn't feature the song's bridge.

Asher discovered the recording (a DAT tape of the reel-to-reel original) in a storage space in L.A. Currently, there are no plans to release it, but Beatles fans can hear it in Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir of the '60s and Beyond, Asher's touring show, which plays shows in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Clear Lake, Iowa, over the next few weeks. Also on the tape, from the same bedroom recording, is McCartney singing an early version of "I'll Follow the Sun," with a quicker, friskier tempo than the ones the Beatles used for their recording of the song.  

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rare-paul-mccartney-recording-of-a-world-without-love-surfaces-20130118#ixzz2IS0wqZTH

Here's the #1 Hit that John Lennon didn't think was good enough!




re:  TODAY'S FORGOTTEN HIT:
I actually popped a couple of Alka Seltzers this morning ... which (naturally!) made me think of this one ... a #3 Hit in 1966.

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