Saturday night, March 14, 2026.
Downtown Milford is packed with after parade festivities as people roam from
bar to restaurant, from restaurant to bar. I drive to the Veteran's Auditorium
to see Gary Puckett and the Union Gap.
Gary Puckett will be appearing
in the Happy Together Tour again in 2026, but what is his concert like when he
has more time to perform more than his top hits?
Gary and the band arrived late
tonight. It happens. So, the soundcheck is going on at 7:00 PM when I take my
seat. Surprisingly, the show starts at 7:45 PM, which is only 15 minutes late.
Jamie Hilboldt on keyboards, Woody Lingle on guitar and Mike Candito on drums
are meticulously setting up the instruments with the sound volume and quality
that the Union Gap songs require. I always find it interesting to watch how
much time, effort, and talent goes into a performance BEFORE we see it.
The Union Gap jackets go on. The
lights come out. The sound begins and Gary Puckett emerges with his white
flowing hair encapsulating the look of authority for this small military song
unit. For every seasoned and talented performer, the current concert is THE
concert. Big crowd, small crowd, squeaks and cheers ... it doesn't matter. NOW
is what matters.
Lady Willpower
Keep The Customers Satisfied
Over You
You Better Sit Down Kids
To Love Somebody
The Mighty Quinn
Don't Give In To Him
By The Time I Get To Phoenix
Kiss Me Goodbye
Kentucky Woman
Lady Madonna
M'Lady
This Girl Is A Woman Now
Home
Woman, Woman
Young Girl
As Gary tells us, The Union Gap
did many covers on their albums. Jerry Fuller decided that songs that were
already a success and were loved by The Union Gap would ensure strong selling
albums. Well, they did. Was it the use of already known and successful songs,
or the way that Gary and The Union Gap performed them that made the sales? I
cannot say, but most assuredly, Gary Puckett and The Union Gap performed each
of these with personal meaning and talent.
A story of Gary's that brought
ooooohs and ahhhhhhhs from the audience is the fact that Priscilla Presley told
him that the song 'Young Girl' was the song that Elvis would sing to her. It
became their song. Koooooool!
Remember, Gary will be touring
with The Happy Together Tour in 2026 … but go see him with The Union Gap before
and after this summer's tour. You will love the stories about each of these
songs, the personal add-ons, and, of course, the wonderful talented performance
that Gary, Woody, Jamie and Mike present.
>>>Who among us (those of a certain age) didn’t
belong to at least a couple of these (record clubs) over the years as we
looked to quickly build our album libraries?! kk
I think this probably might be
the most well-known "club" we both once "belonged" to!
Circa 1966!
9 FREE?! AND a FREE
Record Rack?! Where do I
sign?!!
( BTW, don't you still owe them some money? )
CB
No, I finally paid that off a couple of years ago … but I
had to take a couple of Taylor Swift's “redo” albums because that’s all they were
offering.
Yep, Columbia House was my record warehouse of choice …
I was actually denied my first mortgage because I still owed
them four albums!!! (kk)
Did you watch the Oscar ceremony this week?I probably spent about 40 scattered minutes
in front of the tv … but I DID catch the “in memoriam” segment.
It was nice to see Billy Crystal pay tribute to Rob and
Michelle Reiner … but Barbra Streisand’s hoarse remembrance of Robert Redford WAS a little bit
over the top …
And apparently it pissed off former Oscar winner (and
work-out queen) Jane Fonda …
Don’tcha just LOVE this headline …
Jane Fonda Says Barbra Streisand Didn’t Deserve To Do The Robert Redford Oscars Tribute:She Did 1
Movie With Him, I Did 4
(I just love classy Hollywood dinosaur diva types!) kk
Paul McCartney will play a two night gig at the 1200-seat
Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles March 27th and 28th.(Can you imagine the demand for these
tickets?!?!)
Fans who applied for tickets on March 17th when the shows were first announced will be
contacted by email between March 24th – March 26th for
the opportunity to purchase tickets.This will be a VERY limited, "phoneless" event (so most of us will never
see it!)
Look for a (kinda) new album from Neil Diamond, who’s hot
again thanks to the success of the film “Song Sung Blue” and the stage
bio-musical “Beautiful Noise.”
Diamond went back into the vaults and has touched by ten
tracks he recorded with Rick Rubin producing.(Rubin did Neil’s “12 Songs” album back in 2005.)They also worked together on Neil’s 2008
release, “Home Before Dark,” and it is from those 2007 sessions that this new
batch of ten tracks have been resurrected.
Both albums were well received by Diamond’s significant fan
base.(As Joe Marchese of “Second Disc”
points out, “Rubin encouraged Diamond to go with a raw, minimalist sound for
these albums, echoing back to his earliest recordings on Bang in the
1960s. Crucially, he also encouraged Diamond to once again pick up
his guitar and center the songs around the instrument.The result was successful both critically and
commercially as “12 Songs” hit No. 4 on Billboard’s chart,
Diamond’s highest placement since 1980’s “The Jazz Singer.””)“Home Before Dark” performed even better,
going all the way to #1, the first time EVER for a Neil Diamond album.
These tracks will be new to us … and the album (titled “Wild
At Heart”) has a planned release date of May 8th.Marchese predicts the album will be “so good,
so good, so good” … which is enough to keep ME away from it!(lol)
BTW:I did finally
watch “Song Sung Blue” and it was better than I had expected.Thankfully, they DIDN’T squeeze every last
drop out of “Sweet Caroline,” which was something that made me particularly
leery … if anything, this film featured “Soolaimon” a few times too many.That song makes for a great Forgotten Hit,
hearing it once in a blue moon … it isn’t anywhere near as effective when you
hear it three times in two hours.
Here’s a clip featuring the title track … I just like the
fact that Neil is SINGING again … for all too long a while there, he only
seemed to “TALK” his songs.(kk)
Hello,
A new rock ’n’ roll documentary
celebrating legendary Chicago DJ Dick Biondi is now being released to
streaming platforms worldwide.
The Voice That Rocked
America: The Dick Biondi Story tells
the remarkable story of the radio personality who helped launch the careers of
artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys,
and countless others during the golden age of rock ’n’ roll.
Biondi became a radio icon in
Chicago on WLS (AM), where his explosive on-air style and fearless music
choices helped define a generation.
The film features interviews
with legendary performers and music insiders including Brian
Wilson, Frankie Avalon, Tony Orlando, and many others who share
personal memories of Biondi and the early days of rock ’n’ roll.
Media Contact
Pamela Enzweiler-Pulice
Reel Stories Productions LLC
And, as we told you the other day, the film is now available
for preorder on dvd (with 30 additional bonus minutes) thru amazon.com(kk)
March 19th marked the 50th anniversary
of The Doobie Brothers’ sixth album release, “Takin’ It To The Streets.”It was nothing short of a reinvention of the
band.New member Michael McDonald
changed their sound forever with the addition of his blue-eyed soulful
renderings.(Former lead singer and
guitarist Tom Johnston had to step away due to health issues at the time.)“Takin’ It To The Streets” peaked at #13 when
it was released as a single … and more great things were to come.“What A Fool Believes,” cowritten by McDonald
and Kenny Loggins, topped all three national charts four years later and the
album it came from, “Minute By Minute,” won a couple of Grammy Awards that
year.
Previously, the band’s west coast “biker band” sound was
dominated by founding members Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons … but the addition
of Michael McDonald changed that dynamic for the next few years.Last year, all three reunited to record a
brand new album and do a stadium tour.(They’re still together today and will be performing with Santana on a
major North American Tour this summer.)kk
Looks like our FH Buddy Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon is being
discovered by a whole new generation. (I LOVE IT!!!)This guy is 88 years old and STILL rockin’.
(kk)
I used to see The Flock in
Rogers Park when they performed in the mid-sixties. I also went to Sullivan
High School. I was curious about them now. Are you still in touch, and do
you know anything about them?
Anita Morgan
Sullivan, Class of 1967
Sorry, Anita, but there is no "new" news to report
-
A few of the original members have passed on now, most
recently Fred Glickstein (and even that was a couple of years ago) -
I remained in touch with Freddie for several years after we
interviewed him for Forgotten Hits - great guy
Jerry Goodman has done some gigs with a couple of former
Mauds members - but even that's been a few years now since I've seen them play
– they’re called The Dinosaur Exhibit …
Do you still live in the Chicago area?
If I hear about anything coming up, I’d be happy to let you
know.(kk)
It really is quite amazing to
see Barry McGuire four weeks on top at #1 and holding big names off.Yesterday, a younger buddy mentioned how he
could not believe how that song could have been a hit. I proceeded to
tell him that I thought it was a great song. He asked why. My
response:
Hey buddy, not going vs your
hatred of "Green Beret", it was the world of a 10 year old in Dodge
city in 1966. My younger brother who was 7 even had that 45 at the
time. It was a time when he and I "played army" with 2"
green army men and had cap guns and fake rifles and played both cops/robbers,
cowboys/indians and army fighters as well. Like most young today
with their video games of war, it was "just fun." The song
really IS well done and he sang on Sullivan besides! His life was tragic
in the end, but in 1966, you felt like YOU could be that guy, good or bad.
Clark Besch
America was in a different mind set in late 1965 / early
1966 … we were all very pro-American back then.We had only recently lost a president … millions watched him shot down …
and Viet Nam hadn’t yet escalated to the money pit (and death pit) that it
would eventually would.Things
drastically changed by the end of the year and 1967 became a big year of
protest … all of a sudden most of America was against the war.(I know, kinda sounds like TODAY’S headline …
but clearly we have learned NOTHING from all the battles we have had – won,
lost or draw.)I don’t know that a song
like this would fly today (or be anywhere near as successful.)
How big was it?
After calculating ALL of the year end charts (all three major
trades, our own Super Chart, Joel Whitburn’s calculations and Dann Isbell’s
original “Ranking The ‘60’s” book), “The Ballad Of The Green Beret” wound up
being the #1 Record of the Year for 1966, staving off other monster hits like “Cherish,”
“You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Hanky Panky,” “Summer In The City,” “Winchester
Cathedral,” “Good Vibrations” “California Dreamin’,” “Monday, Monday” and “Barbara
Ann.”
(By the way, you’ll see The Top 66 of 1966 on December 30th
… but this song won by a landslide when factoring in all the data.)
So what’s #2???Well, I didn’t mention the #2 song or the #3
song in my list of obvious 1966 chart successes … which means that none of these definitive smashes made The Top Three either.
So what did??? Sorry ... you’ll just have to hang
tight for nine more months to see the whole list. (It's kinda like having a baby ... only without the dirty diapers!)kk
>>>In the hopes that I'm not REALLY "the last
one to know," I'm sharing this story with you today ... because seriously,
what are the odds?!?! These are some pretty amazing circumstances, to say
the least! (kk)
Kent,
You are the last person to know.
I can't tell you when I got wind
of this, but I saw the TV replay and the newspaper no more than ten years ago.
I was exploring the show Ready, Steady, Go and this was included. It is
synchronicity at its weirdest!
Shelley
kk …
March 18, 2018 = Frankie Avalon
Appeared At The Arcada Theatre In St. Charles, IL, Just Outside The City Of Chicago.
Were You There Kent?
FB
I was not … believe it or not, I have never seen Frankie
perform live … and he has appeared at The Arcada numerous times.I DID see him, however, perform as part
of “Tony And Tina’s Wedding,” an audience-participation dinner theater show
that played here for many years.(kk)
Just a little trivia. Regarding Shelly's review of Jim
Messina ...
Back in late 1968 I heard about a new band ... the nascent
Pogo. At high school, I got word that they were rehearsing at The Troubadour
club during the afternoons.I went there
after school a few times and caught them going over new songs. Surprised I did
not get kicked out. Only time I saw Jim Messina.
Jim Roup
You should check out Jim Messina’s solo show – he puts on an
entertaining act and is still in fine voice.
I never got the chance to see Poco … and in hindsight I know
I wouldn’t have appreciated them at the time.Who knew the names that would ultimately pass thru those doors!!!
Speaking of Shelley, look for a brand new review here
tomorrow!(kk)
Kent,
You mentioned today that the
show BEN CASEY ended it's run on network television. Personally, I never
watched the show or it's counter part DR. KILDARE.
But mentioning that reminded me of Dickie Goodman's spoof of the show in 1962, BEN CRAZY.
Larry Neal
I never watched either of those shows either ... but they sure were big at the time. (My Mom loved Ben Casey ... Dr. Kildare, not so much.)
As you know, I, too, am a big Dickie Goodman fan ... but this one hasn't aged well! (kk)
"The Ballad Of The Green Beret" earns its FOURTH week on top The Super Chart, once again holding The Rolling Stones and The Beatles at bay. (They sit again at #2 and #3 ... still with bullets ... but nowhere to move!)
Meanwhile, The Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" has entered the mix, moving from #9 to #4 this week. Simon and Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound" slides into the #5 spot ... and both of these records ALSO have bullets. Any one of the remaining Top Five songs could be our next #1 Record ... if S/Sgt. Barry Sadler ever gets out of the way!!!
But don't rule out The Righteous Brothers ... "(You're My) Soul And Inspiration" continues its climb up the chart with a ten point jump from #18 to #8!
Cher's record continues to move up as well ... "Bang Bang" goes from #44 to #18 this week. "Time Won't Let Me" move up from #41 to #22 ... and check out the new Johnny Rivers record ... "Secret Agent Man" (used as the television series' theme song) jumps thirty spots from #62 to #32.
And, much as we predicted, "Good Lovin'" by The Young Rascals shoots up 32 notches to crack The Top 40.
There are actually quite a few exciting moves on this week's chart ...
"Little Latin Lupe Lu" moves up from #51 to #34, Herb Alpert's version of "What Now My Love" climbs from #58 to #39, while its flipside, "Spanish Flea," flies up 28 places to land at #41.
Paul Revere and the Raiders seem to have a bona fide hit on their hands ... their latest, "Kicks," jumps from #82 to #45 in only its second week on the chart.
Elvis climbs 21 spots with his latest movie song, "Frankie And Johnny" ... it now rests at #52 ... and look at Petula Clark ... her new record, "A Sign Of The Times," rockets from #98 to #56, a move of 42 spots. Lou Christie has this week's top debut with "Rhapsody In The Rain" ... it comes in at #70.
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
3/21/66 – The hit medical drama “Ben Casey” ends its run on
ABC after five seasons
