Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Tuesday This And That

More catching up to do ... so some of these are already out of date (like this first one, for example!) ...

But all still have info that's just too good not to share!  (kk)

kk …

Felix Cavaliere will be "Groovin'" on Saturday Night with Cousin Brucie.  Meanwhile, Tony Orlando has an interesting guest tonight ... Toni Wine.  I've heard the name, but don't know much about her.  You got anything?

FB

Toni Wine has worked with Tony for years - toured as part of his band - wrote or co-wrote a couple of big Dawn hits (CANDIDA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING SUNDAY) as well as the hits A GROOVY KIND OF LOVE, BLACK PEARL and sang background vocals for all kinds of artists over the years (perhaps most notably as the female lead vocalists with The Archies and The Partridge Family.)

So, yeah ... she's a pretty big deal ... and goes WAY back with Tony Orlando ... so this should be a good show.  (kk)

After announcing the launch of the brand new HISTORY OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL radio series kicking off this weekend, we received a number of inquiries regarding how one might go about obtaining a copy of the original series or this new on-going venture. 

I can only say that this will be a collectors’ market … I’m not aware of any plans to make this material commercially available … and the quality on the late ‘70’s version is probably suspect at best.  (All broadcast from vinyl … as that was just the way it was back then … you’re susceptible to ALL kinds hiss, pops, skips, etc., even if a station only aired it one time.  My guess is that some disc jockey at every station it aired took their copy home from the station after the series had run its course.)  The copy that I got from David Lewis varies in quality throughout … some is as pristine as can be while others include the hiss and skips I’m referring to.  (kk)

Hello from St. Charles,

I have a version of the History of Rock And Roll show on CD.  It is 36 hours and was duplicated by Ken R several years ago.  Is there any chance you could put me in touch

with Gary T?  I'd be interested if his 52 hour + version is available in a clean version on CD or thumb drive or via Dropbox, etc.

I'm a former broadcaster who aired the Ken R version several times, but now would like an updated version for my PERSONAL collection, WITHOUT local station inserts.

Thanks –

Jon Morgan

I can pretty much assure you with all certainty that Gary won't be sharing anything -

Right now, your best bet is to network thru other collectors -

They exist in varying degrees of quality (especially with them originally being on vinyl and now adding in some 50 years of wear and tear) ... but they're getting harder and harder to come by.

Even the digital copy that I received earlier this year is pretty much all over the board qualitywise ... and also collected in completely random order ... but it's still cool to listen to it all again ... mistakes and all.

(Mine encompasses 279 chapters!!!  All of Evolution of Rock and History of Rock and Roll with some other tidbits and short chapters thrown in for good measure.  The only way to contain it all was on a flashdrive, which one of our readers generously did just so I could experience it all again.)

I can only wish you good luck.  (I'm happy to run a blurb in an upcoming issue of FH expressing your desire to put together a complete set to see if we get any response ... my guess is you won't be the only one looking for a copy!!!

Thanks, Jon!

kk

Kent,

I believe my 36 hour copy is taken from the original masters, as it sounds excellent.  KenR marketed a licensed version a few years back before he shut down his production/jingle studio.  That's when I bought my copy.  I, as did Gary, first heard it on WLS.  Later, I was board-op for WLS-FM and we ran the whole show on a special weekend.

I gather from your article that Gary reworked the entire series and added to it.  I am interested in getting either the additional original hours to the version I have, or getting his in its entirety, in pristine condition (no recordings from the internet / no local station inserts).  Since that sounds unlikely, I'll be content with what I have.

Should you come across such a version, please keep me in mind.

Happy Summer,

Jon Morgan

Radio!  It's a sound idea.

PS.  Looking forward to the remodeled Arcada, restaurants, hotel rooms, etc.  It is within walking distance of my home.

I probably received at least another 6-8 requests regarding how one might go about getting a copy of this program for their own personal collection.  I don’t think anybody’s looking to broadcast it … or make any money off of selling copies … I think these are folks who just grew up loving this music and want some type of keepsake to relive the times (in somewhat chronological order with all the big hits!)

There probably IS a market for something like this … somebody like Time Life or Gary’s old stomping grounds, Readers Digest, would almost seem to be a natural way to market this collection.  But it is also terribly out of date, boasting some significant errors … and the licensing of all this music through all these artists and record labels would stop it dead in its tracks … everybody’s going to want a piece of the pie, leaving nothing but crumbs left that simply aren’t worth circulating.

But since I also know that over the past 22 years SEVERAL copies of this great program have changed hands via the collectors’ market, I don’t rule out anything.

So … if you’re looking for a copy … or have a pristine copy to make CD dupes from … please let us know … and we’ll see what we can put together … STRICTLY for “at home” / collectors’ use.

And, in the meantime, we can all start listening THIS WEEKEND as Gary Theroux and Wink Martindale bring us brand new chapters from THE HISTORY OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL!!!  (Hey, you can also listen to Gary’s short, mini-chapters on Rewound Radio at 10 am, 3 pm and 9 pm weekdays!)  kk

Kent,

I am so thrilled over the response Lisa and I have received from our version of Don’t You Care. I appreciate that you reposted it on Forgotten Hits. We are actually getting some radio play including Wave. FM-94.7 HD2 & 95.9HD2 92.9 The Grand. 

This is great!

Carl

Great to hear!  I think the word is definitely getting out there.  (kk)

Hi Kent,

Again, thank-you for the Bob Dylan 80th Birthday Tribute … the huge response is certainly not surprising.  Really an excellent tribute.  I can only hope somebody pointed it out to Bob Dylan as I'm sure he would be more than complimented.

Watched over the weekend at the media response to the passing of B.J. Thomas.  Watched NBC Weekend News, a very brief blurb (I've seen longer Panda stories), and on ABC Weekend News, crickets!  It was right up there with Farrah Fawcett passing away the same day as Michael Jackson -- it was Farrah who?  But who knows, maybe, just maybe, B.J. Thomas would have wanted it that way.  We can only hope.  He really released some quality music. 

Caught Bob Sirott on his "Summer Record Collection" show last Saturday night.  Great show, great music!  Out here in Colorado, on night pattern we catch a bunch of Chicago radio -- WGN-AM, WBBM and WLS.  Depending on the season and atmospheric conditions, on terrestrial you can hear them fairly well, sometimes strong, sometimes not as.  When I'm on the desktop, of course on the internet, it's crystal clear.  I have caught Bob Sirott many mornings before WGN-AM goes to day power and pattern.  That morning shift has got to be a grinder.  The morning personality riding to work in its stark solitude, must be saying to himself:  "Shouldn't I be home sleeping like the rest of the world!" You have to admire the Morning Guy, as it takes a special person to be up and bright in the morning, let alone funny and entertaining.

I'm sure so many of us that grew up in small-town America could comment on not only Chicago radio but also so many other stations during directional night patterns between sunset and sundown.  At night in middle-America for Top 40 you could get not only WLS-Chicago "The Big 89", but also KOMA-Oklahoma City, "The Big 1520," KAAY-Little Rock, "The Mighty 1090", and a few others.  When it came to Chicago, if you tuned in before sun-up in the winter, it was Larry Lujack and his "Farm Report over the fruited plains (moooooo)" or Lyle Dean on news … maybe Fred Winston doing fill-in and at night Landecker, really kickin' ass with his Boogie Checks!  I even remember listening to Don Phillips as a little kid late at night on the radio next to my bed.  Spontaneous, "anything can happen," live radio -- "we don't need no stinking voice-tracks" radio!  Top 40 at its best!  (Ooops, there I go with generational "back in my day comments."  Just think, in 50 years Ice-T will be repeating the same diatribe!)

Thank goodness for Forgotten Hits, because I don't think I'm the only one suffering with Covid-Fatigue!  Mask, no-mask, in person school, no, on-line class, vaccine, no vaccine, half-empty, half-full stadiums, in-flight fights, beaches full -- wait, shut-down -- you can't make this stuff up! 

And of course, we have the "My Pillow" Mike Lindell on TV pushing his Giza sheets (maybe for Seniors coming out soon, he'll have "Old Giza" sheets)!  Hey wait, here comes another Ambulance Chaser commercial with a lawyer instructing you to be sure and call him so that "car accident you were in, can turn you into an instant millionaire!"  And to think I still haven't read that New York Times All-Time Best Selling book on Mesothelioma! 

Hey, let's not stop the fun there … how about those pharmaceutical commercials with everybody dancing to a super-Oldie as they read us side-effects that could be equated with Drano-ingestion!  "And remember, if you died from a certain medicine, be sure and call us so we can get you the money you deserve."  (But remember, we get to keep half if we win the case!)  If the Covid doesn't get ya, that shady guy from down the street with his "deer-hunting" AK-47 will! 

And to think, I still have a flip-phone, and I'm not even on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter! 

By the way, with all their screen time on television, do you ever wonder how these members of Congress have any time at all to do what we elected them for?  In the words of Rodney Dangerfield:  "I was in rough shape last week, but I'm alright now!"  Oh by the way, "Aside from that, Mr. Lincoln, how did you like the popcorn?" 

As I said Kent, thank goodness for Forgotten Hits! 

Hey, these people on Suicide-Prevention sure leave you on hold for a long time!  ha! 

I see they are even offering free beer and, in Virginia, a chance to win guns! 

(Free alcohol and guns … what could possibly go wrong?)

Peace,

Tim Kiley

Look for another Beach Boys Anniversary release next month when Capitol / UMe releases the 5-CD Box Set “Feel Flows.”

Tracks come from their albums “Sunflower” (my personal favorite) and “Surf’s Up.”  These LPs came out after The Beach Boys left Capitol Records to form their own Brother Records company, originally distributed by Warner Brothers.  The set includes 135 tracks (including brand new remasters of both LPs) plus 108 tracks from the vaults, including several alternate takes, demos, live recordings, radio ads and isolated tracks of just vocals and/or instruments.  It is also accompanied by a 48-page book.

The official drop date is July 30th.  (kk)

And, speaking of new releases, can you believe Amazon sold out of the new “Dolenz Sings Nesmith” CD?!?!

Lots of great press for this one … and the response has been terrific.

Micky’s PR Manager David Salidor just sent me this article …

Monkee Time: Micky Dolenz Album of Mike Nesmith Songs Unexpectedly Sells Out at Amazon, Reorders Coming | Showbiz411

Robert Feder did a nice shout-out to The Drive’s Bob Stroud the other day.  It seems that the podcast “Rock Conversations” (https://audioboom.com/posts/7873894-rock-conversations-featuring-bob-stroud) spotlights Bob in their latest edition.

Stroud is quoted as telling host Rob Hahn, “I do love talking about the music, and I know that there’s not very much of that on the airwaves anymore, so it gives me great joy to be able to get on the air and do something that has all but fallen off the wayside — the dumbing down of radio, if you will. I think being able to put my own spin on it, too, I found that the audiences really liked my personal connection to whatever the song or the artist is that I’m talking about. That seems to have worked out really well for me.”

Ironically, in a recent conversation I had with Scott Shannon, he also singled out Bob Stroud as being perhaps the best there is on radio at doing this.

Shannon told me, "You've got a guy right there in Chicago who does this better than anybody else” and then continued to sing his praises for Stroud’s work.  “When it comes to talking about the stories behind the songs and artists, Bob always presents this with a knowledgeable take on the music, keeping it all entertaining and interesting ... there's just a natural flow to his program that allows the listener to be informed while they are hearing and enjoying the music they love.  There just aren’t a lot of jocks doing this much anymore (or qualified to do so for that matter.)  He’s one of the best .... and probably THE best on the air right now for this type of information.

Coming from one of the most decorated programmers in history, I take that as quite a compliment.

It has been a very big year for Bob Stroud ... SO many milestones ... and all well deserved.  Just keep doin' what you're doin', Bob ... it's kept ME a listener for 40 years!!!  (kk)

From Big Jay Sorensen … presenting good oldies radio isn’t getting any easier!

Franken-FMs on Ch 6

https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/business-and-law/time-running-out-for-fm6-stations?utm_source=SmartBrief&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=0028F35E-226C-4B60-AC88-AB2831C8A639&utm_content=513C921B-013A-4814-8467-BAC9207654A8&utm_term=6ce236ca-ab74-4757-a6ec-1e4dfd6b9a58 

Here’s hoping that Me-TV-FM (the Chicago station referred to in the article) can dodge another bullet and keep things going for a good while longer.  Their ratings just keep on improving as more music fans discover the station (and more car radios go down to 87.7 FM!!!)  Here’s to continued success for Neal Sabin, Rick O’Dell and the entire staff and crew working so hard behind the scenes.  (kk)

And, speaking of radio and deejays, we lost another good one last week …

Kent,

I just received an email from a friend of mine here in OKC that said that last week radio announcer Tom Shannon passed away. Now Kent, to be honest with you, the name was somewhat familiar to me, but my friend said he was a big time top 40 DJ back East. My friend said that Tom Shannon had something to do the song 96 Tears. Did he write it or maybe co-wrote it? Possibly the first DJ in America to play it on the air?

Larry

Tom Shannon was a big deal at CKLW, the Detroit radio station that so many of our readers grew up listening to back in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.  (The station also played a lot of Canadian output, due to their close proximity to The Great White North ... they were actually located in Windsor, Canada … but billed themselves as a Detroit-Windsor radio station.)  Our DJ Buddy Sam Tallerico, who hosted the Lost And Found Oldies Show for decades on WVKR, used feature clips, jingles and chart info on this station all the time on his radio program.)

He was an extremely popular presence in Top 40 Radio back in the day.  (In 1969, Shannon was voted the No. 1 pop music disc jockey in the United States and Canada, earning him the Bill Gavin Radio-Record Award, the industry’s top honor.)

Pat St. John, currently a familiar voice on SiriusXM’s 60’s Channel, was just a teenager when he joined the station and worked under Shannon’s tutelage.  You’ll see that he speaks very highly of his mentor in the article posted below.

He got his start in Buffalo, working alongside a staff that included Dick Biondi and Joey Reynolds at WKBW.  In 1962, the theme song he used on his program (a song he helped to cowrite) was issues as a single by The Rockin’ Rebels … and “Wild Weekend” became a National Top Ten Hit!

As for “96 Tears,” that was written by ? and the Mysterians frontman Rudy Martinez … but Tom Shannon helped to break the record when he moved to Michigan to work at CKLW. (? and the Mysterians was a local Michigan band and their 1966 #1 Hit “96 Tears” is considered to be one of the very first punk / garage band classics.)

Shannon even hosted his own TV show for a while … kind of a “Bandstand” show for teenagers.  Prior to retiring, he returned to WKBW for a brief stint when the station went all oldies.  (Much like Chicago’s Dick Biondi, Shannon was playing these tunes when they were all “newies!!!”)  He hung up his mike for good in 2005.

Sad to hear of his passing … as I’m sure others on our list will be as well.

Check out this excellent article / tribute below.  It even includes links to a couple of Tom Shannon aircheck clips from back in the day.

Thanks for letting us know, Larry.  (Tom died on May 26th … and this was the first notification we received.)  Glad we could share this news with our readers … and I’m sure spur on countless memories along the way.  (kk)

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/obituaries/2021/05/27/dj-tom-shannon-top-jock-cklw-during-golden-era-has-died/5198149001/

From Sam Tallerico, a HUGE CKLW fan, after I told him the news …

Kent!

No, I did not know ...

Tom Shannon was the first CK jock that made an impression on my 10-year-old ears in May, 1968. My recollection is that he held the 6-9 pm weekday time slot, which included his countdown of the CKLW Big 30 ... Mondays, I believe. 

Even at the young age of 10, I could hear how Shannon stood out because his delivery was a little more mellow than the higher energy sound of other personalities like Scott Regan or "Big" Jim Edwards. I liked it! 

It's nice to read how highly regarded he was by other DJs. Thanks for passing this on!

Sam

We learned this weekend that we lost Actor Clarence Williams III last Friday (June 4th).  

Best known to our generation as Lincoln "Linc" Hayes on "The Mod Squad," Williams continue to do high profile, quality work long past the end of that series.  (This leaves only Michael Cole, who played Pete Cochran, left from the original teen-aged crime-fighting trio.  Peggy Lipton (Julie Barnes) died in 2019.

As much as we enjoyed "The Mod Squad" when it was on TV in the late '60's, it SURE looks dated now.  Some of the storylines are downright preposterous ... and the series tried WAY too hard to look "hip" to its target audience.  (The kids that were living "the scene" didn't have to be told what the older generation THOUGHT the scene looked like and was all about.)

Still, Williams was a powerful presence both on "The Mod Squad" and several roles that came his way later in life.

He will be missed.  (kk)

Frank B. sent us this very well done article about Clarence's career ...

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/clarence-williams-iii-mod-squad-dies-at-81-1234963703/?fbclid=IwAR1XEORTIFpQIEvhVlETv9X-UzVSqFxVd_MDzXtv3gpRdffkYqT7CD5yJvc

One of the biggest selling singles of 1971 might come as a bit of a surprise!

Lally Stott's original had a slow climb to number one in Australia and was a minor hit in Italy and the US. Then along came Los Caracas, a quartet from Scotland, who had been performing Latin flavored pop tunes. They were past winners of ITV's Opportunity Knocks, a forerunner to Britain's Got Talent. While in Rome, an Italian record producer suggested they change course and cover Stott's "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep."  The band, now called Middle Of The Road, reluctantly recorded what they regarded as a frivolous novelty tune. Then, the unexpected happened when the infectious song became a sensation across mainland Europe, at or near the top of charts in most every country. But, when released in England, it landed with a thud. That was, until influential BBC presenter Tony Blackburn kept hearing the song while on European holiday and,when he got behind the record on his Radio One programme, it jumped into the UK charts on June 5 at #36. Fourteen days later it topped the UK charts for the first of five weeks. It remained in the UK top fifty charts until January 22, 1972, an astonishing 34 weeks! According to New Musical Express' point system, it was the top single released that year in the UK (NME was a weekly music newspaper, not a trade magazine.)  It didn't make The Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles list of the Top 100 All Time UK Best Sellers. But then neither did any by Abba, whose members have said their own distinctive vocals, instrumentation, and songwriting style was influenced by MOTR's early europop hits.

"Chirpy..." is one of less than fifty singles in recorded music history to ever sell ten million or more physical copies worldwide. What makes its sales figures all the more amazing is that RCA Victor chose not to give the record a US release. Was it because Stott's original only charted for two weeks in April and got no higher than Billboard #92?

MOTR had two other top five UK hits, "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum" and "Soley Soley,"  both while "Chirpy..." was still charting. Meanwhile, another cover by Mac and Katie Kissoon, siblings from Trinidad, managed to reach US Billboard #20 after charting for only one week in the UK. Was little baby Don a young child experiencing separation anxiety or was he simply a bird?

In Wayne Jancik's review of the Kissoons' single in The Billboard Book Of One Hit Wonders, he says the song was reportedly a well-veiled anti-war tune, but I don't get that at all!

Four of MOTR's five UK chart hits were written by Lally Stott. The group had many more hits across Europe and the Far East, but are virtually unknown in the US.
Mike Gentry

I have always liked the Mac and Katie Kissoon version … a Top 20 Hit here in The States in 1971.  (It went all the way to #4 here in Chicago on the WCFL Chart!)

When I listen to the Middle Of The Road version, I am reminded less of ABBA than the scene in the film “My Best Friend’s Wedding” when the kids are all sucking in the helium from the balloons and singing a John Denver song … the vocal just sounds WRONG!!!  (And this was #1 for five weeks?!?!)  I’ve gotta stick with our domestic version of this one.  (I thought I remembered reading that Katie Kissoon just recently passed away but a quick Google search didn’t come up with anything.  I swore we even covered this in Forgotten Hits … but I can’t find that either … anybody out there know for sure?)

When people ask me “What is the definition of a Forgotten Hit?” I would cite “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” as a perfect example.

This was a Top 20 Hit back in 1971 (almost exactly fifty years ago today) and, as such, got all kinds of airplay.  But it didn’t retain that status the way most of the best known oldies do.

When oldies radio playlists shrunk to about 200-300 songs, repeated again and again and again ad nauseum, songs like these disappeared from the airwaves for decades.

However, even if you haven’t heard this song in the past 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years, the moment you DO hear it again, it is instantaneously familiar … you can probably sing along with nearly half the words … because the song isn’t really forgotten … it’s still up there in your memory bank … it has just been ignored for so long that it’s no longer on your radar.

That was the very basis for founding Forgotten Hits … because there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of these songs that simply haven’t gotten their due since they fell off the charts.

That’s not to say that “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” is a great song and should be back in heavy rotation … but it IS pretty damn catchy … and I’ll betcha if you played the Mac and Katie Kissoon version today, it’ll haunt you for the better part of the next day or two.  This is one of those songs that I would rank as a “2” on our rotation playlist (with “4” and “5” being the tunes you hear the most often.  DEFINITELY worth a spin once a month … or every other month … just not to the point where you don’t ever want to hear it again … but still appreciate it when you do. (And I’ll betcha you sing along with it then, too!!!)

Internet Radio and radio stations like Me-TV-FM have helped bring back SO many of these songs that we used to single out as Forgotten Hits … and when they’re doing it right, it turns these tunes back into “fan favorites.”

Because no matter what all those high-priced consultants have been telling radio programmers for decades now, WE, the listeners, really DO remember these songs … and can process more than just the same 200 tracks played endlessly again to the point that we just have to turn them off.  Radio has RUINED far too many of these songs for us … GREAT songs that we can no longer stand to listen to.  Give it a rest and play something else.  Trust me, you’re listeners will appreciate it … and in the process, you’ll be presenting FAR more interesting radio than you are now.  (kk)

>>>There has been a commercial on for about 2-3 months advertising those Kit-Kat candy bars. Now I am not quite sure, but I believe the music being played in the background is Leroy Holmes' 1953 tune THE TYPEWRITER on Decca. I am not quite sure, but I've seen it some 3-4 times this weekend and think that's it. Not sure, though. Have you seen it by any chance and if so, what say you?  (Larry Neal) 

>>>I have not seen this spot so I really can’t comment … but, as so often happens here, you mentioning one thing immediately brings something else to mind for me. (Or, usually, vice versa!)  As soon as you said “The Typewriter” song, I immediately thought of the old Jerry Lewis bit that he probably performed thousands of times over the years.  I checked my Joel Whitburn / Billboard Hits book and find no listing for a song called “The Typewriter” as being a chart hit in 1953 … or any other year prior to The Rock Era, for that matter … but am guessing that it was more likely Leroy ANDERSON who recorded it (the “Sleigh Ride” guy) than Leroy Holmes (the heavyweight boxer!  Lol) kk

I stand corrected. Believe me I was thinking Leroy Anderson, but at the same time I was thinking also of Leroy Holmes. Now why? I don't know. Thanks for correcting me. I vaguely remember that bit by Jerry Lewis.

Larry

"The Typewriter" by Leroy Anderson peaked at #23 on the Cash Box Best Selling Singles chart dated Nov. 14, 1953:  https://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/50s_files/19531114.html

– Randy Price

Harvey Kubernik helps celebrate the 45th Anniversary of Al Stewart’s “Year Of The Cat” … https://www.musicconnection.com/kubernik-al-stewart-year-of-the-cat-45th-anniversary/

Thanks so much for informing us about, and even providing a link for downloading Rollie James’ program of May 18th, in which she interviewed Norm N Nite.  I used to listen to his oldies shows on WNBC in New York from Columbus, Ohio, back in 1975, and I always enjoyed being able to listen to his entire show during the winter.  During the summer, I could only catch about the last half hour of the shows, and that used to really bum me out back then.

I was actually looking on YouTube for the record that he recorded on a local Cleveland label called Good Old Rock And Roll Music back in 1968, but unfortunately, I didn't find it.  But what I did find was a goldmine of portions of Norm N Nite shows on WCBS FM, WNBC, WMJI in Cleveland and other stations, plus many interviews that he has done over the years. 

An interview that I thought you would be especially interested in, being from Chicago and a huge Buckinghams fan, is an interview that Norman N Nite did with Carl Giamarese of the Buckinghams.  You can find that interview at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avZsLzM8i0s

You will also find Norman N Nite interviews with Tommy James, Rob Grill of the Grass Roots and Mark Lindsay among others.

Also, Kent, I saw that you had an interesting article about Murray The K playing The Earls’ version of the old Harptones' record, Life Is But A Dream, in 1961 on WINS, and how that record won most requested record of the week over a song by Elvis Presley.  What can I say?  New Yorkers are very smart! 

But I thought to myself, "Shoot, it is a Facebook article and I don't have a Facebook account.  But what the hell, I'm going to try reading it anyway." Well, luckily for me, it was one of those Facebook articles that was created so that anyone could read the

article, whether they had a Facebook account or not.  So that was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise for me!

Sam Ward

Yeah, I’ve never done Facebook either, and it’s very frustrating when readers send me links to articles and photos I can’t actually read or see!!!  I signed up recently so that I could read a review that one of our readers posted but when all was said and done I still couldn’t see it and then got dozens of notices of friend requests and notifications of accepting MY friend request, which I think must have generated as a “folks we have in common” thing of some sort. 

Please, if you didn’t hear back from me, don’t take it personally … I just don’t have the time to devote to it … I can barely keep up with Forgotten Hits as it is!!!  Unfortunately, that means I’ll probably miss more than I see (as has always been the case) … but it truly ISN’T any slight of ANY kind … I just can’t do both.  (kk)

If you happen to be an Ella Fitzgerald fan, The Ed Sullivan YouTube Channel has quite a tribute to her going up on the site this month.

FRI 6/4

Ella Fitzgerald

You'd Better Love Me

November 23, 1969

FRI 6/11

Ella Fitzgerald

Hotta Chocolatta                                                       

March 24, 1957 

FRI 6/18

Ella Fitzgerald

My Last Affair

February 2, 1964

SAT 6/26

Ella Fitzgerald

Oh, Lady Be Good!

March 24, 1957

Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington

It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)

March 7, 1965

Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington

Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me

March 7, 1965

Ella Fitzgerald

Day In, Day Out

November 29, 1964

Ella Fitzgerald

Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home

May 5, 1963

Ella Fitzgerald

I Love Being Here With You

February 2, 1964

Ella Fitzgerald

I'm Old Fashioned

May 5, 1963

Ella Fitzgerald

No Moon At All

May 5, 1963

Ella Fitzgerald

Old MacDonald Had A Farm

November 29, 1964

Ella Fitzgerald

Open Your Window

November 23, 1969

Ella Fitzgerald

Thanks For The Memory

November 29, 1964

Ella Fitzgerald

This Could Be The Start Of Something Big

May 5, 1963







UMe has also released a whimsical new animated video for “Cheek To Cheek” on the Ella Fitzgerald YouTube channel. One of her most enduring and beloved duets with Louis Armstrong, the video was created in celebration of her 104th birthday. The video concept is inspired by vintage pencil-line drawings and portrays two lovers who meet, separate and come together again through a series of imaginative, animated dance scenes. Celebrating its 65th anniversary this year, “Cheek To Cheek” was released in 1956 on Ella and Louis’ first album together, the aptly titled Ella and Louis on Verve Records.  (kk)

kk:

I'm reading Bill O'Reilly's new book.  He talks a little bit about music and says Berry Gordy allegedly funds the start of his new MOTOWN record label by borrowing a few thousand dollars from the Detroit Mafia. Didn't Berry tell us he borrowed the money from his sister?  Berry says the rumors began because he hired an Italian American to head his sales department.

Bill mentions Tommy James and Frankie Valli.  Most of the places where they performed were mob owned, back then.

PAYOLA = A combination of payment and victrola.

He touches briefly on Alan Freed and Dick Clark's "AMERICAN BANDSTAND."

Frank B.

And an Elvis closer clip from FH Reader LJ Coon … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fZtT9vQons

And then one for fun … another one of those ‘60’s fun dance clips for a record that went all the way to #1 here in Chicago …