Monday, May 21, 2018

A Monday Morning Quickie



>>> This week’s edition of The Sunday Comments will post at exactly 12:01 am ... that's one minute after midnight ... TONIGHT!  (kk) 
I am probably the only old s.o.b. that will be up when you post it!
Phil – WRCO

>>>Check it out ... our New Colony Six buddies have the #22 Record in Alaska this week!!!  (kk)
Very cool, errr, cold, Kent!  Never made the trek that far north (to Alaska, go north, the rush is on…) but have always loved their ice cream bars!     
Ray
Hi Kent,
We’ve just recently introduced a new book series that should be of interest to your readers, especially those fans of the Saturday Survey feature.  It’s Cash Box Regional Hits 1956.  Cash Box published numerous regional charts, mostly from DJs at various radio stations across the country.  Joel has spent a lot of time personally researching each and every chart and picked out the ones that never made it to the national charts.  Talk about “forgotten hits,” this book is chock full of them!  Lots of great doo-wop, rockabilly and novelty hits are included.  After Joel dug out these treasures, I got them entered in our database and the end result is a fun, colorful look at some very obscure and, in some cases, very valuable records (many of which have full color photos in the book).  I especially love seeing the different radio stations and disc jockey names, along with the retail store names.  
Here’s a look at the 1956 volume, now on sale and coming in stock this week.  We also have 1957 and 1958 in the works, with hopefully more to follow.
Paul Haney
Record Research
Very cool indeed!  How many years did they keep this up?  (I’m wondering if these charts continued thru my key era of interest, 1964 – 1972)
And I was QUITE surprised to see WCFL playing rock and roll music in 1956!!!  I had absolutely NO idea that this was the case.  (Guess I’m going to have to dig a little deeper in my CFL Research!!!)  I’m curious … do individual Top Ten Charts exist for each week for the radio stations reporting in?  I would love to see THOSE in addition to Joel’s recap … especially for our local charts here in Chicago.
Yep, I think we can probably shoot a few Forgotten Hits Readers your way for this one!  (Check out some of the sample pages via the link … some very cool and amazing stuff!)  kk

>>>From the “Now I’ve Seen Everything” Department … Have you caught the new PetSmart commercial that features Yoko Ono singing “I’m Your Angel”?!?!  Who would have EVER thought!  Sure, it’s nearly forty years later … but Yoko’s music has FINALLY hit the mainstream … John would have been SO proud!  (kk)
Kent,
It really surprises me they're using that Yoko Ono song in a TV commercial. She was sued shortly after the Double Fantasy album was released by the heirs of the composers of "Makin Whoopee."  Obviously, the songs sound so similiar. The matter was settled out of court. "Makin Whoopee" was written back in the 20s but I remember hearing it a lot in Pepsi commercials in the 60s. Instead of Makin Whoopee, it was "Drinkin Pepsi". The commercials are on You Tube.
Dave
Hoffman Estates


The 2018 Midwest Fest For Beatles Fans has just been announced.  Being held once again at the Chicago Hyatt Regency O’Hare, performers will include our FH Buddy Billy J. Kramer as well as Peter and Jeremy (who we’ve been dying to see!)  Full information via the links below (as Early Bird Registration has already started!)  kk

Hey Kent,
I wondered if you could put in a word about the band Dinosaur Exhibit. Prog-jazz-rock band including members of the Mauds, the Flock and Aura, including Jerry Goodman of the Flock.  They played a couple of months ago at Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall and sold the place out. Their next gig is June 16 at Space in Evanston. They are really a great mix of music and musicians, and I encourage you to check them out if you can - they won’t disappoint! Hopefully there will be more shows in the near future, but I’d get on the bandwagon while it’s still early.
Great band!
Marlene
Actually, I think we’ve promoted each of their shows thus far and while I still haven’t had the chance to see them, I’ve heard some really good things.  (I doubt that I’ll make the June Space gig either … but am still happy to help spread the word.)  This place is kinda small, so will sell out quickly.  Get your tickets early if you want to catch this show!  (kk)

I personally loved the period piece of "Tip Toe Thru The Tulips" by Tiny Tim.  However, about a year earlier, the song was given a rather bleak (mean?) treatment by the Humane Society that did fairly well in California, so Tiny Tim made it nice and wholesome in his year later remake ... and personally, I loved his version as just a newer "Winchester Cathedral" sound.  
The song originated in 1929 and was #1 for many weeks nationally.  
Here's the 1967 Humane Society version, which was top 10 hit on KACY in May, 1967 … and even top 20 on LA's giant AM KRLA in the summer of love '67!
Clark Besch
I’ve always been fond of The New Christy Minstrels’ fun work up of the song, which I first heard on the Dr. Demento program many, many years ago.
Tiny Tim’s may be the definitive novelty version … but I’ve gotta rank this one as a close second.  (kk)

I really like this chart … not so much a sales and / or airplay chart in the traditional sense but rather one geared more around listener requests.  As such you get great tracks like “Shades Of Gray” by The Monkees (last week’s #1 record) and “A Day In The Life” by The Beatles, which you know EVERY radio station from coast to coast was playing … but not necessarily charting since you couldn’t actually buy it as a single.  A couple of Stones LP tracks, too … and “Randy Scouse Git” by The Monkees and “With A Little Help From My Friends” by The Beatles, from the same albums as the two mentioned above.  Now THIS would have been a fun countdown to listen to!  (kk)