The Beatles now have THREE records in The Top Ten as "I Want To Hold Your Hand" holds on to the #1 spot for the SIXTH straight week, "She Loves You" remains at #2 and "Please Please Me" finally cracks The Top Ten, moving from #24 to #8.
Dusty Springfield loses her bullet but still manages to creep up two more spots to #16.
Beatles tunes "I Saw Her Standing There" (#43) and "My Bonnie" (#47) continue to rise ... while Cliff Richard is on his way out, now sitting at #44 with his version of "It's All In The Game."
The Dave Clark Five make an eleven point leap from #56 to #45 with their first US Hit, "Glad All Over" ...
And way down at #98 we find The Searchers, another British Invasion band, premiering on The Super Chart Countdown with a song written by Sonny Bono, who hasn't even had his OWN first hit yet!!! (Right behind it is proof positive that The Beatles have made a lasting impression on pop culture ... a new novelty tune, "My Boyfriend Got A Beatle Haircut" by Donna Lynn premiers on the chart!)
And, after falling off the list for a week, The Beatles are back on "The Next Ten" list with "From Me To You," where it now sits at #108.
2/23/64 - The Beatles make their third appearance on
"The Ed Sullivan Show.”(These
performances were actually taped on February 9th, prior to their television debut,
as by now The Beatles were back in England.)For this appearance, the boys performed “Twist And Shout,” “Please
Please Me” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” Sullivan gave them a very nice send off ... it was most definitely a win/win situation for all parties concerned!
For those of you who are passionate about this sort of thing ...
Or perhaps have built your own collection of radio air checks ... or would love to START one ...
This is the kind of opportunity that only comes along once in a lifetime.
We heard from a Forgotten Hits Reader over this past weekend who has come into possession of a treasure trove of old radio tapes from the '60's, '70's and early '80's.
They come from an avid collector who did most of his own recording ... and over the course of a lifetime, assembled a collection of literally hundreds and hundreds of tapes ... but has sadly passed on.
Far too often we have seen someone's life-long passion ... and life's work ... simply hauled out to the garbage because other family members had no appreciation for this hobby and didn't want to deal with the clutter.
We don't want to see this happen again ... so we offered to try and find these recordings a good home.
There are reel-to-reel tapes, cassette tapes and even some on CD ...
An absolutely MASSIVE collection of radio audio, most of which are full length segments of 45 minutes to an hour, complete with music, commercials, jingles, news spots ... and reportedly in excellent condition. (Since he built this library for his own collection and enjoyment, he wanted it to include top quality tapes that he could listen to again and again.)
Nobody has the time to sort thru all of this material and catalog it ...
This is a "take it all off our hands" opportunity ... no sorting, no cherry-picking ... just Winner Takes All.
Listed below are just SOME of the radio stations included in this collection ...
And be sure to budget in the fact that you will have to move these tapes from Southern California to wherever you choose to house them. (If you find it more convenient, a personal pick-up can also be arranged.)
Please help spread the word on this to any other collectors you feel may be interested in such a collection ... but again, it's a TAKE ALL option only. (I will tell you that nobody's looking to get rich quick here ... so ALL reasonable offers will be considered, with the understanding that you're basically buying sight unseen ... and unheard!) But I'm told this is quite and extraordinary collection (Heck, you could start your own Internet Air Check Radio Station with all of these!!!)
We'll wait a week or two to see what kind of response we get and then get back to you if you're genuinely interested.
Check out this new PBS Special starting this Friday …
And, speaking of great music television, here’s another
endorsement for the new “We Are The World” documentary airing on Netflix as “The
Greatest Night In Pop” …
Upon your recommendation, I recently watched the
'We Are The World' documentary the other night (not that I hadn't planned to
anyway ... but you brought it to front of mind!)
I knew it was an all-night recording affair, but I
never gave it the thought of just how concentrated, intense and focused on
detail it really was.
Amazing.
CB
When word came out earlier this week about four separate
films, each featuring a Beatle reflecting back on THEIR version of what it was
like to be in the most famous band in history, my first thought was The Rolling
Stones documentary that aired last year with each of the four episodes
profiling ONE Stone, trying to offer a broader spectrum of what it was like
being in The World’s Greatest Rock And Roll Band.”
But it sounds like these four new Beatle films will be full-length,
individual biopics, developed with the full cooperation of Paul McCartney,
Ringo Starr and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison.(This marks the first time that Apple Corps
Ltd. … and all four Beatles ... have granted access to their full life stories and music rights for a
scripted film.)
Conceived and Directed by Sam Mendes, we’re still at least
three years away from seeing them … and it sounds like these are planned for
theatrical release (although what isn’t clear is whether or not all four films
will drop at once or if they’ll be staggered throughout 2027.)
The press release says: “We
intend this to be a uniquely thrilling, and epic cinematic experience: four
films, told from four different perspectives, which tell a single story about
the most celebrated band of all time.”
For me,
one of the most entertaining things about The Beatles’ own “Anthology” history
that they put together was the way all four Beatles remembered the same event
or milestone differently … perhaps most notably their meeting with Elvis.(Ringo says he “jammed with Elvis” … which
totally tickled the other three!)
Of course
I’ll watch them all
… but three years is a LONG time to wait … so somebody please remind me as we
get closer to the date!(lol)kk
Harvey
Kubernik sent in this article announcing the films from “Variety” …
Gold Star
Recording Studio Exhibit at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame 6th Floor Opens
The Gold Star Recording Studio
Exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio is now up. A four
minute film I wrote, edited and produced with director Chris M. Allport is on
display at the venue that accompanies the legendary studio console. Chris and I
are currently working on the Gold Star documentary. Think of all the hit
records cut on that board during 1951-1984.
HK
Hi Kent,
This link is attached to a
story that appeared in Monday’s Las Vegas Sun. It has to do with "a former
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator and memorabilia seller charged with
conspiring to own and sell manuscripts of 'Hotel California' and other Eagles hits
without the right to do so.”
The article could be of interest
to your readers.
Jerry Reuss
Thanks, Jerry … I had not heard about this one … happy to
share!(kk)
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
2/21/64 - Three classic British singles were released on this date: "Not Fade Away" by The Rolling Stones, "Just One Look" by The Hollies and "Little Children" by Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas.
Despite the tremendous force in music that both The Rolling Stones and The Hollies will become during this generation of rock (and beyond), it is the Billy J. Kramer hit that scores the best results on the pop charts, peaking at #7 (and going all the way to #1 here in Chicago, which you'll see as our 60 YEARS AGO TODAY calendar progresses.)
Neither "Not Fade Away" or "Just One Look" even made The National Top 40 at the time!
Have you heard about this incredible “Fools In Love”
festival coming up this August in California?
I don’t think I’ve EVER seen a line-up with this many
heavyweights in it!
Headliners
Lionel Richie and Diana Ross welcome:
Nile
Rodgers & Chic, Al Green, Santana, Charlie Wilson, Gladys Knight, The Isley
Brothers, Chaka Khan, Eric Burdon & the Animals, The O’Jays, The Jacksons, War,
The Spinners, The Whispers, The Emotions, Dionne Warwick, Smokey Robinson, Durand
Jones & the Indications, Brenton Wood, Barbara Mason, The Sacred Souls, Mayer
Hawthorne, Durand Jones, Aaron Frazer, The Delfonics, The Stylistics, The
Manhattans, The Chi-Lites, The Legendary Blue Notes, Trish Toledo, The
Intruders, Los Lobos, Johnny Farina, El Chicano, Tierra, Malo, Bloodstone, The
Sinseers, The Altons, La Lom, Bobby Oroza, Lady Wray, The Yesterdays, The
McCharmlys, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Zapp, Kool & the
Gang, Stevie B, Rose Royce, Morris Day & the Time, Heatwave, The Barkays
with ft. Larry Dodson, Cameo, Shalamar, S.O.S. Band, Dazz Band, Con Funk Shun, Trinere,
Mary Jane Girls, Evelyn Champagne King, The Pointer Sisters, El Debarge, Baby
Bash, Mc Magic, Lil Rob, Frankie J and more
(Seriously ... is
there ANY Soul Superstar who’s NOT participating in his event?!?!)
Have you seen the new Billy Joel video for his comeback
single “Turn The Lights Back On?”It is
absolutely mind-blowing how far technology has come that allows Joel to age,
perfectly in-sync during the course of this clip. (I still rate the song as
only “so-so” at best … but he’s certainly pulling out all the stops to promote
it … and people will be talking about the wizardry of this clip for a good time
to come.)
You can check it out below …
Isn't it amazing how an incredible, revolutionary video can make even a mediocre song sound better???
I am absolutely LOVIN' Billy Joel's new tune, "Turn The Lights Back On" ... as long as I listen to it while watching the video!
I had the exact same experience with The Beatles' "new" track "Now And Then" ... found it boring a completely subpar ... until I saw the remarkable video that Peter Jackson was able to put together to accompany the song ... and now I just LOVE watching and listening to it ... but again, ONLY if it's accompanying the video! (kk)
Earlier this week, Billy Joel revealed to Howard Stern his
dream supergroup … Don Henley, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sting, John Mayer
and Jimmy Page.
Stern, who sparked the discussion by suggesting that Billy
should start a supergroup ala The Traveling Wilburys, said he was going to
personally call McCartney and ask him if he would be interested!(kk)
One of the biggest music headlines of the past week was the
announcement of Brian Wilson’s conservatorship.Wilson is said to be suffering from dementia … and the loss of his wife
a couple of weeks ago probably helped to push him over the edge.
What a shame.A
genuine genius, Brian has never really been well … he has suffered from some
form of mental illness his entire adult life but has made numerous comebacks
over the years, creating not only new music but resurrecting things like the
long-ago aborted “SMiLE” album … and performing the “Pet Sounds” album in its
entirety on stage.(The fact that he has
been performing at all is no short miracle … who would have ever thought Brian
Wilson would get on an airplane again based on his nervous breakdown in the
mid-‘60’s that forced him off the road and into the studio to create brilliant
masterpiece after masterpiece … in hindsight, perhaps the best thing that ever
could have happened to him … and US the listeners.)
I just hope these folks truly have Brian’s best interests at
heart and make sure that he is well taken care of.Although he has no more plans to tour, Brian
says he WILL continue to record new music.An album of songs he worked on with former manager (and Forgotten Hits
contributor) Fred Vail is apparently being resurrected from the early ‘70’s for
release … and he has other new music already in the can and ready to finish up.
We love ya, Brian … and wish you only happiness.(kk)
Rod Stewart is the latest artist to sell his music
catalog.Rod The Mod (who has a new “big
band” album out with Jools Holland) reportedly earned $100 million for turning
over his life’s work to Irving Azoff, who also recently purchased the music
catalogs of The Beach Boys, Cher, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills and
Linda Ronstadt.(Who knew, sixty years
ago, that recording artists were building THIS type of “retirement fund” for
themselves while crankin’ out the hits?!?!)kk
Paul McCartney’s original Hofner bass, purchased in Germany
back in 1961, has finally been returned to him.(The bass was stolen in 1972 and had been missing ever since.)
But last year McCartney (quite the collector … and one can
only imagine the sentimental value something like this must hold for him)
started a “Lost Bass Project” … and the search was on.
When The Beatles gave their first US concert in Washington,
DC, back in 1964, in the audience that night was a young Al Gore, future Vice
President of The United States!
Last week, Gore reminisced with Bruce Spizer about the
impact and influence The Fab Four had on not only a generation of fans … but
every generation since …
And, speaking of The Beatles (which we’ve been doing quite a
bit of lately!) …
Hi Kent,
It’s so great to read all the articles on the Beatles!
I’m not sure whether you’re familiar with this Dutch Beatles
cover band, the Analogues? They performed, for example, Sergeant Pepper and the
White Album live on stage.
Good Beatles post today ... Fun stuff. Thanks. This Thursday at 8:40 our interview
from Liverpool is with the couple who run a Beatles museum there. It’s a
husband and wife team and she tells the story of hanging out at The
Cavern and dating George.
Bob Sirott
Check out Bob's weekly Beatles / Liverpool Memories every Thursday Morning at 8:40 Chicago time ...
And props from David Salidor to Shelley Sweet-Tufano for her review of this year's Fest For Beatles Fans ... 50th Anniversary Edition ... in New York City ...
Shelley's wrap-up was great -
And, geeze, her last line about everything being different was right on the money - it's like LaGuardia used to be - a mess!
Sorry I didn't get a chance to meet her!
Thanks,
D
>>>60 YEARS AGO TODAY: A British manufacturing company shipped 1000 lbs of Beatle wigs to the US.
>>>Mike Mertes (my old guitar player!) knew what HE wanted to be when he grew up!!! <kk>
Wait a second! Did he also have one of the first Toy Electric Guitars, too?!! <cb>
That's got to be worth as much as Paul McCartney's recently found long lost Bass Guitar today! <cb>
And this from the Forgotten Hits WLS Photo Archives ...
Even our WLS jocks got in on the act!
Then just a couple years after those photos were taken ... this Kid came to WLS ...
And he was not WEARING a Beatles Wig!
CB
You know we love us some two-sided hits …
So when I saw that Best Classic Bands was saluting them this
week, I anxiously clicked on the link below …
Quite honestly, all of these choices are subjective … but
I’m not sure if HALF these singles listed would have even made our “Honorable
Mentions” list!
For the DEFINITIVE list of charted two-sided hits … based
SOLEY on the chart performance of BOTH sides of the record … you’ll want to
check out THIS list …
And for a list of another couple hundred tracks that SHOULD
have been two-sided hits, be sure to check out THE TOP 200 FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN
B-SIDES, as voted on by Forgotten Hits Readers …
Sooner or later, we’ll get around to updating this feature,
too …
But for right now, it stands as perhaps the most complete
document ever assembled of worthy two-sided hits.
(You know, I’ve often wondered how, back in the day when all
of the major trades charted each side of a single separately, they really had
any idea as to which side of the record it was that brought buyers into the
record stores.Certainly the clerk at
the counter didn’t know when he rang up the sale.And extensive research concludes that, when
all is said and done at the end of the day, BOTH sides of each 45 sold the
EXACT same number of copies!!!)
Still, we’ve always been fascinated by these two-sided hits
(how many potential additional hit singles were wasted by sticking a strong
track on the flipside???)And radio has
relished our research as well, running all kinds of “See You On The Flip Side”
weekends and Two-Sided Hits countdowns …
Which is EXACTLY why we put this all together in the first
place!!!(kk)
Happy 9th Birthday / Anniversary to Me-TV-FM!!!
This Friday (February 23rd) marks the station's ninth year on the air ... and they have become one of the most note-worthy, celebrated radio stations in decades. (Of course WE knew that from Day One!)
If you love oldies, you'll love Me-TV-FM. Listen Live here:
First, I enjoyed the "rose" melody
that Paul Evans recorded. I have played it several times.
When I started reading today’s FH, I thought
of the group, the Valentines, at first. It was said that the arrangement was by
Jimmy Wisner. Wasn't he KOKOMO of ASIA MINOR fame?
At times I can't believe that it's been 60
years since the Beatles first made the scene.
Larry
While Kokomo / “Asia Minor” was, in fact, Jimmy Wisner, he
went on to do SO much more, producing records for Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell,
Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Judy Collins, The
Cowsills, Tommy James and the Shondells, Neil Sedaka, Carly Simon, Spanky and
Our Gang and many, many more.(Man, what
a career this guy has had!)He passed
away in 2018.
Yeah, as we build our calendar, we are constantly amazed
that sixty years could have possibly passed.Having just turned seventy last year, I can’t help but wonder where all
that time went … especially when some of these musical highlights are still so
fresh and clear in my mind. But that’s a big part of what makes Forgotten Hits
so much fun to do … and, hopefully, to read!(kk)
The place you were referring to was called The Cellar in Melrose Park.
It was almost right at the intersection of 25th
and Lake Street. It was in the basement, and I don’t recall there even
being a sign at the entrance. It was one of those places you went to
after the DuPage County clubs closed because it stayed open until 4 or 5
in the morning. People just knew of it by word of mouth but it would
get a good crowd.
That
area has been redeveloped, but this building survived and wow, that may
be the same building. You can see where the entrance probably was, just
behind the car.
This view is on the SE corner of the intersection, which
is where the club was in the 70’s John Fleckles
I was too young to go there during their hey day ... but I used to drive by it every day on my way to work a few years later ... and I think there WAS a sign that showed you where to get in. (Looks like you had to go down a flight of stairs in order to enter the club.)
Some REALLY big names played there in the late '60's and early '70's ... and you always heard them advertised on the radio commercials at the time. (Those Wild Goose ads ... the two hot Top 40 stations, WLS and WCFL, telling you where their jocks were going to be appearing ... along with all our local '60's talent ... Starbeat Presents What's Happening ... and all that ilk!) kk
They've added some new dates to this year's Happy Together Tour ...
And even more are expected to be added as time goes on ...
But for right now anyway, here are the announced dates for this year’s
Happy Together Tour, 2024
June 1st – Biloxi, MS – IP Casino Resort and Spa
June 2nd – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
June 4th – Pensacola, FL – Pensacola Saenger Theatre
June 5th – Daytona Beach, FL – Peabody Auditorium
June 6th – Jacksonville, FL – Florida Theatre
June 7th – Hiawassee, GA – Georgia Mountain Fairground
June 8th – Myrtle Beach, SC – Carolina Opry Theater
June 11th – Alexandria, VA – Birchmere
June 12th – Englewood, NJ – Bergen PAC
June 14th – Morristown, NJ – Mayo PAC
June 15th – Westbury, NY – NYCB Theatre at Westbury
June 16th – Hyannis, MA – Cape Cod Melody Tent
June 18th – Cohasset, MA – South Shore Music Circus
June 19th – Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre
June 20th – Red Bank, NJ – Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count
Basie Center for the Arts
June 21st – Atlantic City, NJ – Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort
June 22nd – Lancaster, PA – American Music Theatre
June 23rd – Lowell, MA – Lowell Auditorium
July 12th – Paso Robles, CA – Vina Robles Amphitheatre
July 14th – Prescott Valley, AZ – Findlay Toyota Center
July 19th – Scottsdale, AZ – Talking Stick Resort
July 21st – Costa Mesa, CA – Pacific Amphitheatre
August 1st – Lynn, MA – Lynn Memorial Auditorium
August 4th – Hampton Beach, NH – Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
August 9th – Northfield, OH – MGM Northfield Park Center Stage
August 11th – West Allis, WI – Wisconsin State Fair
August 16th – Saint Charles, MO – The Family Arena
August 17th – New Buffalo, MI – Hard Rock Cafe Four Winds
August 18th – Wabash, IN – Honeywell Center
August 21st – Effingham, IL – Effingham Performance Center
August 22nd – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
August 23rd – Shipshewana, IN – Blue Gate PAC
August 24th – Wisconsin Dells, WI – Crystal Grand Music Theatre
On the bill
this year are The Turtles (of course) with Ron Dante once again filling in for
Howard Kaylan, performing his own hits along with The Turtles’ biggest hits
alongside founding member Mark Volman; The Cowsills; The Vogues; Jay and the
Americans; The Association and Badfinger.
Sunday was Yoko Ono's 91st birthday ...
Timmy reminds us ...
We were all quickly overcome…
Another
smiler from Chuck Buell …
If I were
still in High School, this is the kind of girl I would want for my Best Girl
Friend!
When a class
asked her hard-nose teacher if they could get any Extra Credit for an
assignment, their wise-ass teacher’s comment was, “You’ll get Extra Credit
when you can walk on water!”
( Her
response seemed like it needed a Good Old Forgotten Hit background so I added
it! )
Buell
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
2/20/64 – The Beach Boys record “Don’t Worry Baby”
