Tom sent us some GREAT photos to share ... and we're looking forward to receiving Shelley's review of the show.
We're hearing great things about this year's tour ... so keep sending us your comments as you see the show once it hits your area. (kk)
THE COWSILLS:
TOM GARRETT of THE CLASSICS IV
THE VOGUES
GARY PUCKETT
LITTLE ANTHONY
MARK VOLMAN of THE TURTLES
RON DANTE
I would LOVE to see Tommy Roe take part in The Happy Together Tour ... he'd make a GREAT addition to the line-up, mixing things up quite a bit. I have also suggested Lou Christie several times in the past ... Lou is ALSO still in fine voice and would bring a nice new dimension to the sound.
The issue may be that Tommy and Lou are not Paradise Artists ... but I really think something should be worked out to give fans to see a few "new" faces each year ... especially now that Chuck Negron and Mark Lindsay have kind of put a halt to their touring days. (Make no mistake ... it is a grueling pace ... and nobody's getting any younger ... audience members included!!!)
Just some thoughts on shaking up the line-up that we have shared several times over the years. (kk)
The “Life Is A Rock” discussion seemed to click with a few folks on the list.
Those rapid fire lyrics were extremely clever … it rocked thru the history of rock and roll in a fun way that “American Pie” only touched on by way of disguise. (Actually, shouldn’t Joey Levine get credit as one of the earliest examples of rap???)
The full lyrics are printed below … but the isolated vocal sent in by Clark Besch is certainly a helpful tool as well.
LYRICS
B.B. Bumble and the Stingers, Mott the Hoople,
Ray Charles Singers
Lonnie Mack and twangin' Eddie, here's my ring, we're goin' steady
Take it easy, take me higher, liar liar, house on fire
Loco-motion, Poco, Passion, Deeper Purple, Satisfaction
Baby baby, gotta gotta, gimme gimme, gettin' hotter
Sammy's cookin', Lesley Gore, Ritchie Valens, end of story
Mahavishnu, Fujiyama, Kama Sutra, Rama Lama
Richard Perry, Spector, Barry, Righteous, Archies, Nilsson Harry
Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko Bop it, Fats is back and Finger Poppin'
Life is a rock
But the radio rolled me
Gotta turn it up louder
So my DJ told me
(Woo-woo)
Life is a rock
But the radio rolled me (Life is a rock)
At the end of my rainbow (Woo-woo, life is a rock)
Lies a golden oldie
FM, AM, hits are clickin' while the clock is
tock-a-tickin'
Friends and Romans, salutations, Brenda and the Tabulations
Carly Simon, Noddy Holder, Rolling Stones, centerfolder
Johnny Cash and Johnny Rivers, can't stop now, I got the shivers
Mungo Jerry, Peter Peter, Paul and Paula, Mary Mary
Dr. John the Nightly Tripper, Doris Day and Jack the Ripper
Gotta go so, gotta swelter, Leon Russell, Gimme Shelter
Miracles in Smokey places, slide guitars and Fender basses
Mushroom omelet, Bonnie Bramlett, Wilson Pickett, stomp and kick it
Life is a rock
But the radio
Life is a rock
But the radio, woo
(Woo-woo-woo)
(Woo-woo-woo)
Arthur Janov primal screamin', Hawkins Jay and
Dale and Ronnie
Kukla, Fran and Norman Okla, Denver John and Osmond Donny
J.J. Cale and ZZ Top and L.L. Bean and De De Dinah
David Bowie, Steely Dan, sing it prouder, C.C. Rider
Edgar Winter, Joanie Sommers, Ides of March, Johnny Thunders
Eric Clapton, pedal wah-wah, Stephen Foster, doo-dah, doo-dah
Good Vibrations, Help Me Rhonda, Surfer Girl and Little Honda
Tighter tighter, honey honey, sugar sugar, yummy yummy
CBS and Warner Brothers, RCA and all the others
Life is a rock
But the radio rolled me (Life is a rock)
Gotta turn it up louder (Woo-woo, life is a rock)
So my DJ told me (Life is a rock)
(Whoa-whoa, whoa-whoa)
Life is a rock
But the radio rolled me (Life is a rock) yeah
At the end of my rainbow (Woo-woo)
Lies a golden oldie
(Woo-woo, woo-woo, woo-woo-woo)
Listen, remember, they're playin' our song
(Woo-woo, woo-woo, woo-woo-woo)
Rock it, sock it, Alan Freed me, Murray
Kaufman tried to lead me
Fish and swim and Boston Monkey, make it bad and play it funky
(I wanna take you higher)
Freddie King and Albert King and B.B. King and
frolicking
Get it on and not to worry, Pappalardi, Hale and Hearty, yes
(Baby, baby, baby, Light My Fire)
(Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music)
There's a perfect more than you would carry,
words of Randy Newman
1-2-3, so long, Sophie, Anita, Freda
Aretha
(I wanna take you higher)
(Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music)
Tito Puente, Buffalongo, Cuba, War and even
Mongo
Lay it down, while it's hurtin', Herbie's Brass
(Baby, baby, baby, Light My Fire)
(Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music)
(Baby, Everything is Alright, Uptight, Outta Sight)
Whoa
California, Beatlemania, New York City,
Transylvania
S&G, V&C, Bobby Vee and SRO, yeah
(Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music)
(Baby, Everything is Alright, Uptight, Outta Sight)
Conway Twitty, do-wah-diddy, Conway Twitty, do-wah-diddy
Funny to see The Ides Of March mentioned in this song … many years later, Jim Peterik would write a similar tune spotlighting all of the great One Hit Wonders using a similar rapid-fire set of very clever lyrics.
Scott Childers sent us the official WLS version that competed with the WCFL track we featured on Friday.
Kent,
In discussing Reunion's record and DJ's names being inserted in it, the only time I remember that happening here in OKC was in 1961 when country artist Tex Ritter came out with I DREAMED I WAS IN HILLBILLY HEAVEN (Capitol). The 6 or 7 DJ's working for WKY-AM had their names somehow inserted towards the end when Tex Ritter started off naming country artists he soon would be in Hillbilly Heaven. Now whether or not that was released on 45rpm, I don't know or remember. I know I don't have a copy if it was.
Larry
I seem to remember a discussion of this several years ago where several radio stations recorded their own versions of this song for local airplay, naming “locals” in their revamped lyrics … and it was their own unique versions that were making their local charts, rather than the national hit by Tex Ritter, which still managed a Top 20 Pop charting on its own. (kk)
UPDATE: In fact, I found this posting from 2013 … TEN YEARS AGO ALREADY! … initiated by YOU, Larry!!! With Clark Weber, a WLS Jock at the time, chiming in about their own unique version of “Hillbilly Heaven” …
>>>I don't know if it made your charts in your area back in 1961, but Tex Ritter's recording of I DREAMED I WAS IN HILLBILLY HEAVEN made it into our top 10 locally here in OKC. Incidentally, Tex Ritter remade his HILLBILLY HEAVEN when he was in OKC but used the names of local DJ's who were working here in the city instead of the western actors and singers that were in the original. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of that record. Don't really know how many copies were pressed. Keep up the good work. (Larry)
>>>I seem to remember Tex recording "customized" versions of "Hillbilly Heaven" for a number of different radio stations at the time ... a long, lost art in record promotion. (In fact, I'm know there's a Chicago version floating around out there somewhere, too ... we featured it ages ago in Forgotten Hits.) Ritter's Top 5 Country Hit peaked at #20 on Billboard's Pop Chart in 1961 ... and went all the way to #7 here in Chi-Town. (kk)
>>>Hi Kent; Thanks for the memory jolt. At the time, that was a brilliant move on the part of Capitol records. While it was a huge hit on the country charts, there was just no way we would have played the song on 'LS. However, by adding our names to the lyric, we did just exactly that! Now Gene Taylor, Art Roberts, Sam Holman and Mort Crowley are indeed gone. Sorta spooky! (Clark Weber)
Yep, a brilliant marketing move ... and WLS played it all the way to #7!!! Who would have guessed! (kk)
Yep, that’s what an old warped record sounds like, recorded off the radio! (lol) kk
I saw this posted about 10 hours ago.
No comment from me ... kind of numb.
Shelley
THE GRIM REAPER TRIED TO COME FOR JACK; JACK APPEARS TO HAVE WON THIS ROUND
This is Laura, Jack’s wife (yes, someone married Jack) and he gave permission for this to be posted for those family member, friends, random celebrities and porn bots who I haven’t had a chance to contact.
Early Tuesday morning Jack had a hemorrhagic stroke. Apparently, this is some really bad shit. As in medical people looking a me carefully while they use terms like “really bad.” As in life flight to the nearest neuro ICU bad.
Through it all, Jack was awake, he was talking he was … making as much sense as he ever makes, he was singing Bohemian Rhapsody (we caught “Mama, just had a stroke / (unintelligible) / That’s no joke”)
Today he was moved to an ICU step-down room. He went from a doubtful “may survive” on Tuesday to a more positive “probably will survive” on Thursday to “not in immediate danger” on Friday.
He is not emerging from this unscathed. He will have to spend time in a rehab facility. He can’t move his left arm – not great for a guitar player – and can barely move his left leg. Hi speech is sometimes hard to understand. He has moments where he insists it is the year 2525. He has head and neck pain that is currently only controlled by basically knocking him out. How much any of this will improve is unknown.
BUT Jack is still in there … and he’s still able to communicate that … and that is what I am holding on to.
And, by the way, that whimpering you hear off in the corner? That’s The Grim Reaper bent over double, clutching his balls.
--Laura
Yes, Jack no sooner took over the Forgotten Hits Dr. Death Duties than had an incident of his very own. Laura contacted me earlier in the week privately and said that Jack had had a stroke and just asked that I keep it personal for the time being as they were only letting close friends and family know what was going on.
I’ve known Jack for about 45 years and as many of us have come to feel over the course of the past 25 years of doing Forgotten Hits, we have truly become part of a “family” of readers and contributors. They say it takes a village … and I know that the millions of you who have read Forgotten Hits over the past 25 years have brought great joy and vindication into MY life … which, hopefully has spread into the lives of all the others who have taken part over those past 25 years. And the coolest part of all is the fact that I never had to ask any of you to drink to cool aid! You came along and participated of your own free will, which makes this all especially heartfelt for me.
We certainly wish Jack a healthy and speedy recovery … he’s had some major health issues over the past several years and this is one major set-back he really didn’t need. But I am SO pleased to see that he has kept his sense of humor about it and his wits are still intact. (I won’t really start to worry until he tells me that The Beatles were the greatest rock band to ever come along … then I’ll know he’s truly lost it!)
From Laura’s original note:
Kent,
Jack had a stroke two days ago. Although he is not out of the woods, the doctors seem to feel he will pull through, although he will be in the hospital and then rehab for quite some time. But, to put it in Jack terms: The Grim Reaper came for Jack; Jack kicked the Grim Reaper in the balls.
--Laura, Jack's Aging Trophy Wife
Hang on in there, buddy! (kk)
We heard from several readers who reminded us that Casey Kasem has also famously been diagnosed with Lew Body Dementia, which is currently affecting Mark Volman of The Turtles.
In fact, FH Reader Joe Cantello told us …
Kent,
Just to let you know, Casey Kasem was also diagnosed with Lew Body, which is what contributed to his death in 2014.
Casey passed on Father's Day (June 15, 2014.)
Regards,
Joe Cantello
Marietta, Ga
Wow … almost exactly nine years ago from this year’s Father’s Day (today)
A great loss … and an even greater embarrassment the way his family turned his body into a real-life Elf On The Shelf game there for awhile! (kk)
How many copies of The Beatles’ White Album do you own?
Here’s another sneak-peek at Dolly Parton’s new rock album …
This time around she covers the Heart classic tune “Magic Man” … with a little help from Ann Wilson along the way …
Hi, Kent ...
While reading some miscellaneous stuff on the Net about the Beatles, it struck
me that over all the years that I've had that Peter Knight & His Orchestra
version of the "Sgt. Pepper" album, I STILL haven't read or heard one
word regarding the use of those "modified" photos of radio (and TV)
personalities which are strewn all over the cover. I'm assuming it's
because the LP wasn't very good, and obviously didn't sell.
Clark Weber told me, personally, that Mercury Records did NOT receive permission
to use those pictures.
I'd love to make contact with someone who was working for Mercury Records here
in Chicago during that time period, and possibly get some insider info.
It'd be interesting to make contact with 1960s-era radio listeners from the east
and west coasts to see who else we might identify in that picture. I know
there are DJs from the NYC area, but I'm not familiar with them - except I
believe one of them is "Cousin Brucie" Morrow.
As I mentioned earlier, it appears that Vicki Lawrence was not amused by her
being pictured.
Wondered if you'd received any other comments regarding that LP since we last discussed
it.
Mike
Nobody seems to
know anything for sure about the origins of this release … an unusual find for
sure … but we’ll run it again because new people are discovering Forgotten Hits
all the time.
If anybody out there can shed any insight as to how this cover photograph came to be, we’d love to hear from you! (kk)
Billboard Magazine recaps the best moments from last week’s Songwriters Hall Of Fame Awards, where Gloria Estefan, Jeff Lynne and Glenn Ballard were inducted, among others.
Jeff Lynne was inducted by Joe Walsh, who opened the show by performing ELO’s big hit “Don’t Bring Me Down,” explaining that he HAD to come to New York when he overheard his wife say that Jeff Lynne was being indited!!! (Funny stuff!) Lynne produced Walsh’s latest album (which I guess I’m now going to have to give a listen to!) Afterward, Jeff himself performed the ELO classic “Mr. Blue Sky.”
Gloria Estefan’s performance was equally moving and exciting … the Billboard story below gives you all the highlights. (I'm hoping there's video of this on YouTube!) kk
Paul McCartney’s been out making the rounds, promoting his new book of photographs, taken during The Beatles’ first trip to America in 1964 (as well as several stops in Europe.)
He did a brief interview with Conan O’Brien … and soon will do a one-on-one with Stanley Tucci, which is available as a pay per view televised event.
The photos were long believed to have been lost to the sands of time … but once he found them Paul realized that he was capturing Beatlemania at its absolute peak … a time when he came to realize that his band and finally made it … and were going to be more than just a flash in the pan success. (Jack Levin … if you’re agreeing with me, thank you for finally coming to your senses … but I’m worried about you!!! Lol)
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/paul-mccartney-talks-early-beatles-041314769.html
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/beatlemania-hits-tribeca-paul-mccartney-182050602.html
From Mark Lapidos, curator of The Fest For Beatles Fans …
My copy arrived last Friday and the book was even better than I anticipated. Ringo wasn't the only budding photographer in the band!! The book of photos starts in late 1963 and finishes up in Miami, February, 1964. Apparently Paul had some extra money (!) and bought some rolls of COLOR film for Miami!! The photos are terrific and almost all of them have captions from Paul's recollections. Lots of photos of the FABS, plus a whole lot more (Billy J, Cilla, Brian, Neil, Mal, Freda, fans, etc.) It puts that insane short time span that changed the world, into a better perspective. And that was not an easy task considering how much has been written and documented from that time period! I highly recommend it.
Mark
Dorothy Ann, a long-time Fest Attendee, took this photo of Paul as he headed into Tribeca to do the Conan interview … man, he looks good! (kk)
From Tom Cuddy … now this sounds like it would have been a great show to see!
Billy Joel pays
tribute to Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks enchants at co-headlining concert
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/06/17/billy-joel-stevie-nicks-co-headlining-tour-highlights/70332523007/
And Harvey Kubernik reminds us that this weekend marks the 56th Anniversary of the very first Monterey International Pop Festival … and what a line-up it was!
Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, The Who, The Mamas and the Papas, Janis Joplin, The Association, Johnny Rivers, Booker T. and the MG’s, The Steve Miller Band, Simon and Garfunkel, The Grateful Dead, Eric Burdon and the Animals (who commemorated the event in song), Scott McKenzie (who forever immortalized John Phillips’ lyrics about wearing flowers in your air, if you’re going to San Francisco!), Moby Grape, Ravi Shankar and many more.
Harvey sent in these photos as reminders …
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You can read his recap here: https://www.musicconnection.com/kubernik-monterey-pop-festival-56th-anniversary/
This week’s Forgotten Hits Award …
Goes To Sirius XM’s ‘50’s Gold, who played Edd “Kookie” Byrnes 1959 Top Five Smash “Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb” … a TRUE novelty hit capitalizing on the popularity of Byrnes and his “77 Sunset Strip” costar Connie Stevens (who did more singing on the record that Byrnes did!) Stevens would have her own Top Five Hit a year later when she recorded “Sixteen Reasons.” (kk)
