Another Rock Icon has left us …
Robbie Robertson of The Band died on
Wednesday (August 9th) at the age of 80, after a long illness.
Robertson was The Band’s principle
songwriter (he wrote their early chart hits “The Weight,” #46, 1968, “Up On
Cripple Creek,” #25, 1969 and “Rag Mama Rag,” #44, 1970 … as well as the Joan
Baez #1 cover of “The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down.”) The Band was a fixture
of the Rock And Roll Cool Kids Club, especially after hooking up with a
now-electric Bob Dylan in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s.
Their Martin Scorsese film “The Last
Waltz” captured The Band performing their swan song in concert with a literal
“Who’s Who” of guests … Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Neil Diamond,
Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and others.
With Robbie’s passing, the only
living original member today is Garth Hudson. (kk)
You can read Billboard’s tribute
here: https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/robbie-robertson-remembered-the-band-guitarist-mythic-songs-1235388803/#recipient_hashed=fa7e92da6f6e66bffcf0bcbf863670c6eb37d7159eb4d0ea1e44fecd5ec87eeb&recipient_salt=3a1d6b09af3b92ad7e38f8327cf18febeb049fd1c9a251b66957a07d9375735c
And Harvey Kubernik’s interview
with Robertson here: https://www.musicconnection.com/kubernik-r-i-p-robbie-robertson/
Also leaving us this past week was David LaFlamme, leader of
It’s A Beautiful Day, who recorded the rock classic “White Bird.” He was 82.
It’s A Beautiful Day was a bit of an “art rock” band in the
late ‘60’s, pushing the limits of the ever-expanding world of what was now
passing for rock and roll. As lead
singer and violinist (a concept totally new to the rock and roll genre at the
time), they brought an element of sophistication to their long-winded jams and
became a popular act on the west coast … and in San Francisco in particular.
Although it was all over FM radio at the time (and well into
the next couple of decades), “White Bird” was never really a pop hit. (It bubbled under in all three trades,
ultimately peaking at #110 in Cash Box and Record World and at #118 in
Billboard.) It’s not on most Classic
Rock playlists anymore … yet OUR readers remember it fondly enough to have
voted it into the #763 position on our TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK
SONGS OF ALL TIME list. LaFlamme also
cut a solo version of their signature tune that actually did a little better on
the charts (#85) when it was released in late 1976. (kk)
Congrats to The Zombies, who finally (after sixty years!)
now own their back catalog.
And it’s a precious commodity, as many of these songs still
resonate today. (“She’s Not There,”
“Tell Her No” and “Time Of The Season” have literally never been off the radio
since they were first released in the ‘60’s.
“She’s Not There” and “Time Of The Season” both became #1 Hits (in 1964
and 1969 respectively) while “Tell Her No” peaked at #6 in 1965. Their album “Odessey & Oracle” is
considered a rock classic by critics, well ahead of its time in 1967.
In this article sent in by FH Reader Tom Cuddy, Ashley King
in Digital News tells us …
The Zombies Acquire the Rights
to Their 1960s Catalog
By Ashley King
August 8, 2023
The Zombies,
one of the pioneer bands of the “British Invasion” during the ’60s, has
acquired the rights to their classic 1960s recording catalog, including hits
like “She’s Not There” and “Time of the Season.”
Psychedelic
pop-rock legends and 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees, The Zombies,
have acquired the rights to their classic recording catalog of the 1960s. The
deal includes their hits like “She’s Not There,” “Tell Her No,” and “Time of
the Season,” as well as their 1968 album Odessey & Oracle — an oft-featured
entry in publications’ “best albums of all-time” lists, including Rolling
Stone.
With a new
partnership between the four surviving original members of the Zombies, singer
Colin Blunstone, keyboardist Rod Argent, bassist Chris White, and drummer Hugh
Grundy, along with Helen Atkinson, the widow and estate trustee of late
guitarist Paul Atkinson, the band secured their catalog rights from Marquis
Enterprises, the independent UK production company with whom they signed as
teenagers in 1964.
Zombies
Partners LLP will house the band’s shared interests in their recordings,
merchandise, and life rights, to be overseen by Chris Tuthill and Cindy da
Silva of The Rocks Management in New Jersey, which has managed the group for
the past decade.
“It is so
gratifying to feel that 60 years later, our music still has relevance, and we
are now in the position to own our own recordings,” said keyboardist Argent.
The band’s
first incarnation enjoyed only a short period of recorded content before
parting ways in 1967 due to a “perceived lack of success.” Public interest in
their harmony-laden recordings increased over the following decades, boosted by
prominent film, television, and advertising placements. These have included a
global Chanel campaign starring Keira Knightly (“She’s Not There”), Disney’s
movie “Cruella” (“Time of the Season”), and the final scene in the series
finale of “Schitt’s Creek” (“This Will Be Our Year”).
The Zombies
boast well over 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and more than 3.5
million people have used their Shazam app to identify “Time of the Season”
alone. Physical reissues of their music regularly appear on vinyl sales charts.
The
announcement comes on the heels of the film festival premiere of Hung Up On a
Dream at Austin, TX’s SXSW in March. The new Zombies documentary is slated for
public release later this year, following the band’s unusual six-decade journey
to becoming part of the 2019 Class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
alongside Janet Jackson and Radiohead. The film is directed by musician and filmmaker Robert Schwartzman
and co-produced by Schwartzman’s Utopia Films, The Ranch Productions, and Tom
Hanks’ Playtone.
Also
at SXSW, the recording lineup of The Zombies debuted their latest album,
Different Game, followed by a five-week UK tour in the spring and a North
American leg on sale for October.
More on the 40th
Anniversary of “Breakfast With The Beatles” …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHfNNnCHbGg
>>>Just a
reminder that 42 years ago today was the launch of MTV (August 1, 1981.) Until then, we would hear the music. With the
launch, we finally got to see the artists. Initially the videos were mostly
footage of “live” performances, but creativity came about very quickly in the
videos. And the rest is music history. (Gary)
Gary/Kent,
Those 1979-84 years of MTV were just
awesome! In the beginning, my brother (an electrical engineer) had these two
satellite dishes in his back yard in 1979 and I could go over and watch pay per
view fights and football games live for free including the announcers
commentating during the commercials -- which was very funny sometimes.
Granted, the shows were also snowy sometimes.
Best was that he got MTV early on and I could
have him tape songs on BETA and I could watch at home first two years.
Lots different from when they got on all the cable outlets by ‘81 or so.
Back then, artists like Andrew Gold and lots of pop stuff were on all the
time. It was still great thru at least ‘84, I think.
My next radio show in two weeks will have a few of
those early days MTV gems I loved in it, too.
Clark Besch
And, speaking of up-coming radio shows …
kk:
On
8/16/2023 Dr. Bop Is Re-Playing The Show I Programmed For Him from 8 – 11 PM Eastern
on REMEMBER THEN RADIO (WRTR.NET)
On
8/22/2023 You Can Hear The Show I Programmed For Ken Kojak's "1960's
JUKEBOX REVUE." It airs from 8 - 11
PM Eastern on REMEMBER THEN RADIO (WRTR.NET)
Kojak
Came To My House With All Of His Equipment. This Time I Programmed The Music
& Co-Hosted The Show.
We
Talk About The Music Before Playing The Songs. Double-Sided Hits. We Play Both
The A & B Side.
FB
WATCH
OUT COUSIN BRUCIE --- HERE I COME!
Here’s a
great cheat sheet for you, Frank …
The Top 200
Biggest Two-Sided Hits Of All-Time!
http://forgottenhits.com/the_top_200_two-sided_hits_of_all-time
Of course, if
you just happened to mention Forgotten Hits … you know, even by accident … that’d
be ok with me! (lol) kk
And tomorrow
we’ll have another update for you on the much-anticipated Second Annual WLS /
WCFL Rewound Labor Day Weekend coming up on Rewound Radio … including a couple
of new promos recorded by some of the jocks whose vintage air checks you’ll be
able to hear again all Labor Day Weekend long.
(kk)
Drummer Carl
Palmer has a new show on the road called:
“ELP – Welcome Back My Friends: The Return Of Emerson, Lake and Palmer”
From the announcement:
Welcome Back, My Friends: The Return of Emerson, Lake & Palmer reunites members of this legendary supergroup through modern technology.
As the sole survivor of the band, drummer Carl Palmer continues to keep ELP's legacy alive. He and his current group will take the stage alongside two massive video walls featuring the late Keith Emerson and Greg Lake in concert. The live footage was filmed at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1992 and digitally remastered.
Imagine the unmistakable voice of Greg Lake, the keyboard wizardry of Keith Emerson and the phenomenal drum work of Carl Palmer together again.
Don't miss this rare concert featuring great music, great memories and the most epic songs of the rock era.
It hits The Genesee Theater here in Waukegan later this
year. (kk)
From Mike Wolstein …
(Ain't it the truth!!!) kk
Altho his original first recording has been lost, in a
later year, Edison did recreate for posterity his rendition of what is generally
credited as being the very first recorded Forgotten Hit, “Mary Had a Little
Lamb!”
