Lots more comments came in after yesterday's post ... so we've added several of them into today's batch ... with more to come next week ... so keep 'em comin', folks!
We're still reeling from all the losses of 2018 ... Aretha Franklin, the Queen Of Soul, Hugh Masekela, Dennis Edwards of The Temptations, Russ Regan, who discovered both Neil Diamond and Elton John (and a host of others), DJ Fontana, Elvis' first drummer, Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane / Starship, Rick Hall, owner of Fame Studios, Joe Osborne, bassist of The Wrecking Crew, Nokie Edwards of The Ventures, Eddie Willis, guitarist for The Funk Brothers, Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ray Thomas of The Moody Blues, Mickey Jones of The First Edition, singer Vince Martin, Delores O'Riordan of The Cranberries, Jim Rodford of Argent, Jazz Singer Nancy Wilson, Beatles' Engineer Geoff Emerick, Pat Torpey of Mr. Big, Russ Solomon, founder of the Tower Records chain, blues guitarists Otis Rush, Eddy Clearwater and Matt Murphy, rock author Jerry Hopkins, Joe Jackson, father of The Jackson Five, Janet, LaToya, et al, Alan Longmuir of The Bay City Rollers, Adrian Cronauer, a DJ for Armed Forces Radio (on whom the film "Good Morning, Viet Nam" was based, Hugh McDowell of Electric Light Orchestra ... and then, on New Year's Eve, Ray "Eyepatch" Sawyer of Dr. Hook ... and now, on only the second day of the new year, we've lost Bob Einstein and Daryl Dragon.
I first became aware of Einstein as part of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where he also worked as a comedy writer. He was a GREAT, deadpan comic, who also played the recurring role of Officer Judy. Years later, he reinvented himself as Super Dave Osborne, the unfortunate daredevil who captivated a whole new audience ... and most recently he's been part of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Brother of comedian Albert Brooks (another favorite of mine), he will be missed.
Daryl Dragon, of course, was one half of the hit pop duo The Captain and Tennille, who captured the hearts of music fans everywhere with their nine Top 40 Hits released between 1975 and 1979. Three of these went all the way to #1, with "Love Will Keep Us Together" (written by Neil Sedaka) becoming the biggest hit of 1975. Other chart hits included "The Way I Want To Touch You" (#3, 1975), "Lonely Night (Angel Face)," #1, 1976, "Shop Around" (#4, 1976), "Muskrat Love" (#2, 1976), "Can't Stop Dancin'" (#13, 1977), "You Never Done It Like That" (#6, 1978), "You Need A Woman Tonight" (#36, 1979, and "Do That To Me One More Time" (#1, 1979.)
Daryl had been sick for awhile and the couple (who also hosted their own TV show back in the '70's) recently filed for divorce as a means of financially taking care of Toni (rather than stick her with his mounting medical bills.)
The couple met shortly before teaming up for a tour with The Beach Boys (Tennille was officially a "Beach Girl" for awhile, playing keyboards and singing background vocals.) Dragon was dubbed "The Captain" by Mike Love while touring with The Beach Boys because of the hats he used to wear on stage. (kk)
Some sad new on New Year's Eve ...
We've been talking quite a bit about Dr. Hook lately in Forgotten Hits ...
A version of the band featuring lead vocalist Dennis Locorriere has been touring very successfully in Europe lately ... and we've been talking with Ron Onesti about booking the band for The Arcada Theatre, should they decide to add some tour dates Stateside.
I was under the impression that Ray Sawyer had been the primary lead singer of the band ... but readers pointed out that, other than their smash hit "The Cover Of The Rolling Stone," it was Dennis who sang lead on all the hits. We even bemoaned the fact that it was too bad the two couldn't get back together to enjoy this newfound appreciation of their music.
Well, Ray Sawyer passed away on New Year's Eve at the age of 81 ... so that's another reunion that'll never take place.
Although the cause of death was not revealed, you can read more about it here:
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/ray-sawyer-dr-hook-dies/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=newsletter_4572276
JOE OSBORN WAS THE MAN THAT I REFERRED TO AS THE GENTLE GIANT OF THE FENDER BASS. HE PLAYED HIS GENTLE MAGICAL BASS ON SO MANY HIT’S THAT WE DID TOGETHER, WE WERE LIKE A MAGIC DUO.
JOE NEVER TALKED A LOT … PEOPLE FORGET THAT HE WAS ROCKIN’ WITH RICKY NELSON BEFORE THE PEOPLE EVEN KNEW WHAT ROCK AND ROLL MEANT DURING THE ROCK TRANSITION IN THE 50’S!!!
JOE WAS MY GIANT PARTNER IN MAKING HITS!!! JUST TURN ON YOUR FAVORITE POP / ROCK RADIO STATION … AND YOU’LL BE LISTENING TO JOE OSBORN PERFORMING HIS MAJESTIC SOUND, ALL OVER THE WORLD.
HE WILL BE SORELY MISSED BY EVERYONE.
GOD BLESS JOE OSBORN!!!
HAL BLAINE
Kent,
We're still reeling from all the losses of 2018 ... Aretha Franklin, the Queen Of Soul, Hugh Masekela, Dennis Edwards of The Temptations, Russ Regan, who discovered both Neil Diamond and Elton John (and a host of others), DJ Fontana, Elvis' first drummer, Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane / Starship, Rick Hall, owner of Fame Studios, Joe Osborne, bassist of The Wrecking Crew, Nokie Edwards of The Ventures, Eddie Willis, guitarist for The Funk Brothers, Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ray Thomas of The Moody Blues, Mickey Jones of The First Edition, singer Vince Martin, Delores O'Riordan of The Cranberries, Jim Rodford of Argent, Jazz Singer Nancy Wilson, Beatles' Engineer Geoff Emerick, Pat Torpey of Mr. Big, Russ Solomon, founder of the Tower Records chain, blues guitarists Otis Rush, Eddy Clearwater and Matt Murphy, rock author Jerry Hopkins, Joe Jackson, father of The Jackson Five, Janet, LaToya, et al, Alan Longmuir of The Bay City Rollers, Adrian Cronauer, a DJ for Armed Forces Radio (on whom the film "Good Morning, Viet Nam" was based, Hugh McDowell of Electric Light Orchestra ... and then, on New Year's Eve, Ray "Eyepatch" Sawyer of Dr. Hook ... and now, on only the second day of the new year, we've lost Bob Einstein and Daryl Dragon.
I first became aware of Einstein as part of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where he also worked as a comedy writer. He was a GREAT, deadpan comic, who also played the recurring role of Officer Judy. Years later, he reinvented himself as Super Dave Osborne, the unfortunate daredevil who captivated a whole new audience ... and most recently he's been part of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Brother of comedian Albert Brooks (another favorite of mine), he will be missed.
Daryl Dragon, of course, was one half of the hit pop duo The Captain and Tennille, who captured the hearts of music fans everywhere with their nine Top 40 Hits released between 1975 and 1979. Three of these went all the way to #1, with "Love Will Keep Us Together" (written by Neil Sedaka) becoming the biggest hit of 1975. Other chart hits included "The Way I Want To Touch You" (#3, 1975), "Lonely Night (Angel Face)," #1, 1976, "Shop Around" (#4, 1976), "Muskrat Love" (#2, 1976), "Can't Stop Dancin'" (#13, 1977), "You Never Done It Like That" (#6, 1978), "You Need A Woman Tonight" (#36, 1979, and "Do That To Me One More Time" (#1, 1979.)
Daryl had been sick for awhile and the couple (who also hosted their own TV show back in the '70's) recently filed for divorce as a means of financially taking care of Toni (rather than stick her with his mounting medical bills.)
The couple met shortly before teaming up for a tour with The Beach Boys (Tennille was officially a "Beach Girl" for awhile, playing keyboards and singing background vocals.) Dragon was dubbed "The Captain" by Mike Love while touring with The Beach Boys because of the hats he used to wear on stage. (kk)
Some sad new on New Year's Eve ...
We've been talking quite a bit about Dr. Hook lately in Forgotten Hits ...
A version of the band featuring lead vocalist Dennis Locorriere has been touring very successfully in Europe lately ... and we've been talking with Ron Onesti about booking the band for The Arcada Theatre, should they decide to add some tour dates Stateside.
I was under the impression that Ray Sawyer had been the primary lead singer of the band ... but readers pointed out that, other than their smash hit "The Cover Of The Rolling Stone," it was Dennis who sang lead on all the hits. We even bemoaned the fact that it was too bad the two couldn't get back together to enjoy this newfound appreciation of their music.
Well, Ray Sawyer passed away on New Year's Eve at the age of 81 ... so that's another reunion that'll never take place.
Although the cause of death was not revealed, you can read more about it here:
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/ray-sawyer-dr-hook-dies/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=newsletter_4572276
JOE OSBORN WAS THE MAN THAT I REFERRED TO AS THE GENTLE GIANT OF THE FENDER BASS. HE PLAYED HIS GENTLE MAGICAL BASS ON SO MANY HIT’S THAT WE DID TOGETHER, WE WERE LIKE A MAGIC DUO.
JOE NEVER TALKED A LOT … PEOPLE FORGET THAT HE WAS ROCKIN’ WITH RICKY NELSON BEFORE THE PEOPLE EVEN KNEW WHAT ROCK AND ROLL MEANT DURING THE ROCK TRANSITION IN THE 50’S!!!
JOE WAS MY GIANT PARTNER IN MAKING HITS!!! JUST TURN ON YOUR FAVORITE POP / ROCK RADIO STATION … AND YOU’LL BE LISTENING TO JOE OSBORN PERFORMING HIS MAJESTIC SOUND, ALL OVER THE WORLD.
HE WILL BE SORELY MISSED BY EVERYONE.
GOD BLESS JOE OSBORN!!!
HAL BLAINE
Kent,
Here’s a vote for “Blue Christmas” by Daffy Duck as the Best Christmas Song Ever. It’s a classic that doesn’t get enough airplay.
Thanks for all you do for us fans of the foundational music of Rock and Roll.
Bob Verbos
I've heard the Porky Pig one (which is VERY good) ... but never the Daffy Duck version. I'm sure it's just as fun. (Maybe the B-Side???) kk
HI KENT,
HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.
HOPE WE SEE YOU IN THE NEW YEAR.
IF YOU TALK TO RON AT THE ARCADA, TELL HIM I WOULD LOVE TO PLAY THERE AGAIN THIS SUMMER. GIVE HIM MY PHONE NUMBER AND EMAIL ADDRESS. I WILL BRING SVENGOOLIE AND DO IT AGAIN.
THANKS!
(HAVE A BOOM BOOM CHRISTMAS)
FREDDY CANNON
HOPE WE SEE YOU IN THE NEW YEAR.
IF YOU TALK TO RON AT THE ARCADA, TELL HIM I WOULD LOVE TO PLAY THERE AGAIN THIS SUMMER. GIVE HIM MY PHONE NUMBER AND EMAIL ADDRESS. I WILL BRING SVENGOOLIE AND DO IT AGAIN.
THANKS!
(HAVE A BOOM BOOM CHRISTMAS)
FREDDY CANNON
Actually, I have already talked to Ron about having you, Lou Christie and Jay Siegel back to The Arcada this year. (Boy would THAT be a kick-ass line-up or what?!?!) Stay tuned!
Hope you had a wonderful holiday. (kk)
Hi Kent,
Happy New Year to you, Frannie, and everyone in your Family. Congratulations again to you & Forgotten Hits as you enter your 20th year, and thank-you for the meeting place where the music, composers, artists, producers, managers, agents, promoters, and music aficionados all gather "after the show!"
Long-time Forgotten Hits Reader Sandy Lorenz sent us this interesting article about The Chipmunks, celebrating the 60th Anniversary of their breakthrough #1 Hit from 1958, "The Chipmunk Song," recorded by Ross Bagdasarian, better known as David Seville ...
Courtesy of Ron Hicklin
As first tipped here 3 1/2 months ago (Robert Feder ran the story on December 23rd so we definitely scooped him on this one!) Mancow Muller is back on the radio here in Chicago ... and on WLS-AM to boot! (While this hardly seems like a fit on the surface, this very well may be a long-term career move for the Mancow. Steve Dahl, who severed his ties with the station two weeks ago, now has a 40-year career on Chicago radio thanks to broadening his horizons beyond the teen prank age that first started his career.)
While I've never been a Mancow fan, I'm curious enough to tune in and listen, just to see what he does with it. His first show airs tomorrow morning at 5 am. (kk)
Paul McCartney released a new single on New Year's Day. Honestly, it's nothing special ... more special effects than substance (and even those can't mask how weak his voice is at this stage of the game. I honestly don't know how he's going to make it thru another world tour without it giving out completely!)
Titled "Get Enough," you can listen to it here if you're interested ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=w5mswZOxczY
Hi Kent,
Happy New Year to you, Frannie, and everyone in your Family. Congratulations again to you & Forgotten Hits as you enter your 20th year, and thank-you for the meeting place where the music, composers, artists, producers, managers, agents, promoters, and music aficionados all gather "after the show!"
Happy Birthday to Burton Cummings today (December 31st) as he headlines the Canadian New Year's Eve Countdown broadcast live on the CBC and live-streamed tonight on YouTube. I definitely won't miss that performance. Pretty nice compliment to headline a national broadcast to celebrate a 71st birthday!
Loved all the 1968 info, also love the music surveys from the different towns big and small.
Just a note ... when I saw the music survey from KQWB in Fargo, it brought back a flood of memories as my former brother-in-law Barry Chase worked there before he went on to WQXI and Z-93 in Atlanta. It reminds you that "everybody is from somewhere." KQWB was a kick-ass 10,000 watt AM rocker day-timer back in the day. A bevy of talent worked there to include Barry Chase, Chuck Knapp (WLS, WRKO, WFIL, KS95), and Shadoe Stevens (KHJ, KMET-Los Angeles, American Top 40, voice of the Craig Ferguson show, voice actor, television actor, Hollywood Squares, and a laundry list of other career credits) I used to listen to Shadoe when he was known as Jefferson Kaye when he worked at KILO - Grand Forks. Another talent at the station was Chuck Dann (also known as Chuck Riley, KOMA, CKY-Winnipeg, WKYC-Cleveland, WIBC-Indianapolis, and Los Angeles voice-over artist.) KQWB was one fine-sounding radio station.
Again Kent, Happy New Year ... and keep up the great infotainment ... I look forward to more great reads!
Peace,
Tim KileyLong-time Forgotten Hits Reader Sandy Lorenz sent us this interesting article about The Chipmunks, celebrating the 60th Anniversary of their breakthrough #1 Hit from 1958, "The Chipmunk Song," recorded by Ross Bagdasarian, better known as David Seville ...
"The Chipmunk Song" Turns 60: Secrets of a Holiday Novelty Smash
The Eligibles in 1963 (from left: Bob Zwirn, Ron Hicklin, Stan Farber and
Al Capps). The Chipmunk trio and their hot-head mentor, David Seville,
were all originally voiced by Bagdasarian.
Ross Bagdasarian was an Armenian-American grape farmer who moved his family to Hollywood with big acting dreams. Instead, he became one of the biggest music phenomenons of the 1960s, earning Grammys, the admiration of The Beatles and millions of fans charmed by his high-pitched rodent singing trio. Al Capps). The Chipmunk trio and their hot-head mentor, David Seville,
were all originally voiced by Bagdasarian.
In every interview he ever gave, singer-songwriter Ross Bagdasarian took sole credit not only for his 1958 holiday hit "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)," but also for all the musical performances by the rodent trio — Alvin, Simon and Theodore — that came before his death in 1972. But as the high-pitched phenom exploded, spawning dozens of albums, a TV series and multiple films, the songwriter called in ringers — who've been silent until now about this quirky chapter in their careers.
Bagdasarian, a frustrated actor (Alfred Hitchcock put him at the piano in Rear Window) and sometime songwriter (he co-wrote the catchy 1951 tune "Come on-a My House," made popular by Rosemary Clooney) who was then in his 40s, experimented with a reel-to-reel tape recorder to re-create the sound technique that MGM had used to produce The Wizard of Oz's Munchkin voices 20 years earlier. In short, the process involves recording a voice at half-speed and playing it back at normal speed, which raises the pitch (the trick: a laboriously slow delivery of the lyrics).
The result achieved a wacky sound he managed to sell to the then-struggling Liberty Records, which gambled on the gimmicky song he called "The Witch Doctor." Whatever spell it cast was a potent one: Listeners loved the simple duet to the tune of 5 million records sold in a matter of weeks. Appearances by Bagdasarian on TV's American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show followed. "The Witch Doctor" also resuscitated Liberty Records, and they wanted more.
"I decided to try for a Christmas song," Bagdasarian explained to Teen magazine in 1960. "I thought of a melody on my way to work and I went to the studio and whistled it into a tape machine so that it wouldn't be forgotten. Since I can't read or write music, I whistle into tape machines.
"Then I wrote the words and decided the singers should be animals or maybe even insects. I don't know why, but that's what I decided."
He nixed the concept of singing mice or rabbits and even butterflies to finally settle on chipmunks, which he named after Liberty Records executives Alvin Bennett, Simon Waronker and Theodore "Ted" Keep.
Miles of multitracked tape later (all voices and harmonies recorded solo by Bagdasarian), "The Chipmunk Song" became a sensation that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, earned three Grammys at the inaugural 1959 awards and sold 25 million records by the mid-1960s. When albums (like 1964's The Chipmunks Sing the Beatles Hits, sanctioned by the Fab Four) and TV's animated The Alvin Show followed, it became too much for Bagdasarian: He engaged session singers, though he never copped to the hired help.
Speaking about the work for the first time, Ron Hicklin, 80 — a member of guy-group The Eligibles that took over the harmonizing on five albums — remembers the strain of those L.A. recording sessions, including one nerve-racking day in August 1965. "One of my strongest memories was when we were recording at RCA on Ivar and Sunset in Hollywood," Hicklin says, "and we were inside doing the Chipmunks when the Watts riots were breaking out at the time. We'd heard there were snipers on top of the Knickerbocker Hotel shooting at people. When we finished the session, I was with Ross and he was walking nervously with his back to the wall on the outside of the building, looking everywhere to get to our cars, and Ross had a .45 handgun with a shoulder holster that he was licensed to carry. I remember laughing later how here we were inside recording Chipmunks and then going outside with Ross, who's packing a pistol."
Hicklin likes to describe his unique professional niche as "a ghost singer." He and additional experienced singers who worked on the Chipmunks albums (including Stan Farber, Al Capps, Bob Zwirn, Buzz Cason and Gene Morford in different configurations) hopped from gig to gig supplying background vocals for albums, TV show themes, films and commercials at a break-neck pace. Their voices brought themes for classic TV shows from Happy Days and The Monkees to The Jetsons and Batman (whose memorable two-word theme was penned by Neal Hefti).
"With Ross and The Chipmunks, it would be maddening work," says Hicklin. "It was a long, involved process. We'd sing in slow motion for everything. It was one of the hardest things we had to do. What was a four-bar phrase for The Beatles became an eight-bar phrase. You'd run out of breath. The sheer work of doing it was remarkable." Farber, 81, remembers fighting to restrict the vibrato that's intrinsic in a trained singer but wouldn't sound right the sped-up final track. "Vibrato would ruin the sound of it and if you did it, the words would come out like machine gun fire. You had to sing a very straight tone," Farber explains, adding "Ross was there and would supervise, but he had done his stuff alone. We didn't sing with him."
The session singers were not assigned any particular character, he says, "because when it was completed, all the voices sounded about the same. It didn't matter. Basically, we came in and did our job because Ross got tired and he got old — and rich."
These Eligibles harbor no regrets. "I didn't seek any celebrity," says Hicklin, now retired in Palm Springs. "I just wanted to do the best job I could in all of my work. I have fantastic memories from that period. I mean, one day I was working at Capitol Records and Frank Sinatra walked into the studio and approached me. He came up to me with some sheet music and said, 'Kid, how does this go?' Sinatra didn't read music. I had to sing it for him. He thanked me and left. How do you top that? I walked among kings."
And Chipmunks.
A version of this story first appeared in the Dec. 18 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Kent,
I remember that I shared this with you last New Years, but it seemed timely to do so again what with Nancy Wilson's recent transition December 13th.
Her career spanned over five decades, from the mid–1950s until her retirement in the early–2010s. She was 81.
One of my favorite songs of hers was “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve” from the mid-1960s.
Johnny Mathis also did a version of it which was pretty cool, too.
What I did last year was edit their two songs together. It's attached.
Happy New Year, Pal!
Chuck "Cool Yule" Buell!
Hi kk,
Happy 2019.
Here's a unique 60s item for the new year.
A few of us 60s dinosaurs who were still in radio in the 1980s received complimentary calendars from MPL Music Publishing, handlers of Paul McCartney's interests. In 1985, they sent out the Linda McCartney Music Makers calendar featuring her own photography of great artists of the 60s. Just mentioning this because 1985 calendars work for the year 2019, too. So, on my wall is January's Janis Joplin, belting one out, above my computer screen. Other great shots include Hendrix, Morrison, Jefferson Airplane, Ringo, George Harrison, and of course, Paul. It's big, hangs almost two feet, and Linda was a very good photographer who had access to these greats.
Want one? Surprisingly they still show up on EBay at fairly reasonable prices.
Have a great year.
Carl Mann
Omaha
Omaha
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MUSIC-MAKERS-1985-PROMO-CALENDAR-LINDA-PAUL-MCCARTNEY-MPL-BEATLES-HENDRIX-DOORS/380881946551?hash=item58ae5547b7:g:AYoAAOxygPtSzZF9:rk:1:pf:0
Congratulations to Dave Huizinga (pronounced Hi-Zinga), new lead singer of Paul Revere's Raiders. While we've known about this impending move for a few weeks now, the band made the announcement official on New Year's Day, Darren Dowler apparently having moved on to other gigs at sea.
We've known about Dave for several years now, as he was the lead singer of two of Chicago's best oldies bands, Generation and The New Invaders. Tommy Scheckel tells us that Dave fits right in with all the crazy antics that go on every time the band hits the stage ... although since the death of their leader, Paul Revere, a few years ago, they seem to be focusing a bit more on the music these days than the crazy show-biz aspect of their stage show. (With 21 Top 50 Hits, they've got a pretty extensive catalog to choose from!) Anxious to see the band in action again! (kk)
"Bohemian Rhapsody" will officially be released on home video on February 12th. We'll be pre-ordering our copy later today!
Incredibly, it's still playing in theaters and raking in the big bucks ... Oscar nominations will be announced in a couple of weeks and Rami Malek
The big chain stores each have their special merchandising package to offer ... if you buy the film from Target, it'll come with a 24-page booklet showing the making of the film ... Walmart shoppers will get a free t-shirt with their copy of the disk ... and Best Buy's version will come packaged in a steelbook. (So does that mean we have to buy THREE copies?!?! Plus the one I was going to pre-order from Amazon???) kk
Congratulations to Dave Huizinga (pronounced Hi-Zinga), new lead singer of Paul Revere's Raiders. While we've known about this impending move for a few weeks now, the band made the announcement official on New Year's Day, Darren Dowler apparently having moved on to other gigs at sea.
We've known about Dave for several years now, as he was the lead singer of two of Chicago's best oldies bands, Generation and The New Invaders. Tommy Scheckel tells us that Dave fits right in with all the crazy antics that go on every time the band hits the stage ... although since the death of their leader, Paul Revere, a few years ago, they seem to be focusing a bit more on the music these days than the crazy show-biz aspect of their stage show. (With 21 Top 50 Hits, they've got a pretty extensive catalog to choose from!) Anxious to see the band in action again! (kk)
And, speaking of Paul Revere's Raiders, we just got word about an Easter Seals Fund-Raising Concert they'll be doing here in Chicago on March 23rd at the Athenaeum Theatre.
It
will be a great show starring Paul Revere’s Raiders with Special Guests
Ronnie Rice, Ray Graffia and Denny Sarokin, who had the #1 song in 1967, Come On Down to My Boat with his band Every Mother’s Son and, in later years, toured with Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band.
Proceeds of the show will benefit the EasterSeals so we hope to have a full house for this show.
You are welcome to guest co-host the show.
Regards
Rocky Colletti
More info here: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/10363562
(More details as we get closer to the event)
"Bohemian Rhapsody" will officially be released on home video on February 12th. We'll be pre-ordering our copy later today!
Incredibly, it's still playing in theaters and raking in the big bucks ... Oscar nominations will be announced in a couple of weeks and Rami Malek
The big chain stores each have their special merchandising package to offer ... if you buy the film from Target, it'll come with a 24-page booklet showing the making of the film ... Walmart shoppers will get a free t-shirt with their copy of the disk ... and Best Buy's version will come packaged in a steelbook. (So does that mean we have to buy THREE copies?!?! Plus the one I was going to pre-order from Amazon???) kk
As first tipped here 3 1/2 months ago (Robert Feder ran the story on December 23rd so we definitely scooped him on this one!) Mancow Muller is back on the radio here in Chicago ... and on WLS-AM to boot! (While this hardly seems like a fit on the surface, this very well may be a long-term career move for the Mancow. Steve Dahl, who severed his ties with the station two weeks ago, now has a 40-year career on Chicago radio thanks to broadening his horizons beyond the teen prank age that first started his career.)
While I've never been a Mancow fan, I'm curious enough to tune in and listen, just to see what he does with it. His first show airs tomorrow morning at 5 am. (kk)
Paul McCartney released a new single on New Year's Day. Honestly, it's nothing special ... more special effects than substance (and even those can't mask how weak his voice is at this stage of the game. I honestly don't know how he's going to make it thru another world tour without it giving out completely!)
Titled "Get Enough," you can listen to it here if you're interested ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=w5mswZOxczY
>>>For the sake of accuracy, Clark Besch was wrong about The Hollies tune on the KOOK Saturday Survey. I was living in London at the time and "Listen To Me" was not a cover of the Buddy Holly tune. An honest assumption, I suppose, but it was penned by UK songwriter Tony Hazzard. It reached #11 in the UK. (Mike Gentry)
Kent and all,
I could have sworn the Hollies song was the Buddy Holly song. I shoulda checked my facts better! I guess sometimes, it's best not to "Listen to me!"
Kent and all,
I could have sworn the Hollies song was the Buddy Holly song. I shoulda checked my facts better! I guess sometimes, it's best not to "Listen to me!"
As to Robert Campbell's comments on Jeff Boyan and the Blackstones, MOST have never heard of them, let alone HP Lovecraft or Saturday's Children, but to some Chicagoans AND ME, these bands were awesome and Jeff was a big part of them.
Here's a couple of Blackstones songs (there were only a few 45s by this great band) that show the early stages of some great talents. "Never Feel the Pain" would be covered by the Rivieras ("California Sun" group) in ‘65 and "You Don't Know Better" would be carried with the guys into Saturday's Children in 1966 when it was released by them, too.
Clark Besch
Hi Kent,
I don't think I've thought about The Banana Splits more than twice since the show aired. We had fun watching the intro and closing on YouTube after you mentioned it the other day. And by the way, it was great meeting you and Frannie in person and visiting the Nashville Honky Tonks when you were in town. We're usually listening to rock and roll cover bands around town, but after stopping in at the clubs downtown and seeing the amazing talent playing country music there, Sandra said "We need to do this more often." So we'll be doing it more often. Happy New Year to you and yours - and thank you again for all the effort you put into FH!
David Lewis
We had a great time, too, and are already talking about when we might be able to come back.
I can honestly say that I have NEVER seen an episode of The Banana Splits ... but Frannie was a fan. Their one chart record, "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)" spent exactly one week at #96 on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart in 1969 ... and then disappeared forever. (kk)
I have a collection of old commercials and public service announcements
on record. They were to be discarded after the run dates, so that makes
them pretty rare. I am sending you 8 :30 ads for the Air Force that ran
50 years ago.
Phil Nee
I have to admit that it was a bit odd to hear "foreigner" Barry Gibb doing a PSA for The U.S. Air Force!!! And I'm not sure Gladys Knight could have read her piece any slower if she tried! (lol) But this was common practice back then as a way to reach the kids ... have their contemporaries speak to them in any brain-washing fashion possible, I guess!
Thanks, Phil ... I believe these truly are quite the collectors' items. (kk)
Sedaka's "Star Crossed Lovers" has LONG been a favorite of mine.
I actually sent it out to a group of folks on my "tunes list" a couple of years ago, and got some very positive feedback. Folks who liked Sedaka and thought they knew ALL his hits (OK, this wasn't a hit in the traditional sense) were quite pleased to hear it and obtain the MP3 file.
I've spent the last year exploring the incredible "Lost Jukebox" series of CDs. I've downloaded 60 of them, (at about 28 songs per disc) and am less than a quarter of the way through them. (If you're not familiar with this collection, you should check it out.)
Thanks for all your dedication through the years.
I’m not familiar with the “Lost Jukebox” series … please tell us more. (I don’t see anything listed on Amazon for this.)
“Star-Crossed Lovers” bubbled under in Record World only for nine weeks in 1969, never climbing any higher than #115. (The video I saw on YouTube said this was a #1 Record in Australia.)
Frannie fell in love with a Neil Sedaka song a few years ago that I think we’ve featured here once or twice … another “non-hit” but a very beautiful melody. It’s called “Alone At Last” … and it bubbled under in Billboard, peaking at #104.
Thanks to The British Invasion, I think Neil was cheated out of at least half a dozen hits that would have scored well on the charts at any other time. We’ve seen him in concert a couple of times now and he’s just an incredibly likeable guy. (kk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atle54olFSg
Hey, we're doing our part to keep this great music alive ... so Happy Old Year indeed! (kk)
Please bookmark this site and remember to check it daily ... ALL kinds of really great things coming up in Forgotten Hits! (kk)
>>>You'll find a 1969 WLS Teaser, courtesy of Chuck Buell, on Saturday (kk)
HA! A "Teaser" for a Teaser! That could be a case of "overkill" overkill!! {:~}
CB
It looks like you're going to have to share your space on Saturday ...
We got SO many new comments after our Wednesday Comments Page ran that we're going to have to "double-up" again to get thru them all. (Hopefully today's page will be just as motivating!)
That's OK, folks ... we love it! So keep 'em coming! (kk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atle54olFSg
Lou Gramm, former lead singer of Foreigner, announced his retirement from the stage after a concert in upstate New York on December 29th. Fans are still trying to interpret exactly what he meant ... he said this was his last "solo show" and basically that you had to know when to call it quits ... but rumors of a Foreigner reunion tour are still making the rounds. Gramm was scheduled to appear at The Arcada Theatre in April with John Payne, one-time lead singer of Asia. No official word of cancellation of this event ... but it is anticipated. (kk)
Kent,
Congrats on the 20th anniversary of Forgotten Hits -- a great mix of memories, music and info.
By the way, one trend you may notice during 1969 is the rise of the studio (only) group. It would be a trend that would make the 'producer' of records the real star (something that continues to this day). Songs that fall into that category were the following Top 10 hits in 1969: Sugar, Sugar (The Archies), Tracy (The Cuff Links), Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' (Crazy Elephant) and Soulful Strut (Young-Holt Unlimited).
Looking forward to this re-cap of 1969.
Happy New Year,
Joe Cantello
Roswell, Ga
Happy New Year, Kent -
Thanks for all the terrific newsletters.
Regards -
Geoff Dorsett
Radio Presenter
Kent,
Congrats on the 20th anniversary of Forgotten Hits -- a great mix of memories, music and info.
By the way, one trend you may notice during 1969 is the rise of the studio (only) group. It would be a trend that would make the 'producer' of records the real star (something that continues to this day). Songs that fall into that category were the following Top 10 hits in 1969: Sugar, Sugar (The Archies), Tracy (The Cuff Links), Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' (Crazy Elephant) and Soulful Strut (Young-Holt Unlimited).
Looking forward to this re-cap of 1969.
Happy New Year,
Joe Cantello
Roswell, Ga
Happy New Year, Kent -
Thanks for all the terrific newsletters.
Regards -
Geoff Dorsett
Radio Presenter
Hey Kent,
I could resist sending this to you, as "The Time Machine" (1960) is my all-time favorite sci-fi flick.
- John
Hey, we're doing our part to keep this great music alive ... so Happy Old Year indeed! (kk)
Please bookmark this site and remember to check it daily ... ALL kinds of really great things coming up in Forgotten Hits! (kk)
>>>You'll find a 1969 WLS Teaser, courtesy of Chuck Buell, on Saturday (kk)
HA! A "Teaser" for a Teaser! That could be a case of "overkill" overkill!! {:~}
CB
It looks like you're going to have to share your space on Saturday ...
We got SO many new comments after our Wednesday Comments Page ran that we're going to have to "double-up" again to get thru them all. (Hopefully today's page will be just as motivating!)
That's OK, folks ... we love it! So keep 'em coming! (kk)
