FORGOTTEN HITS

Friday, April 25, 2025

April 25th, 1965

60 YEARS AGO TODAY:

4/25/65 – Freddie and the Dreamers appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show”

Also on 4/25, The Boston Celtics beat The LA Lakers 4 games to 1 in the 19^th NBA Championship Series

Thursday, April 24, 2025

Thursday This And That ... (and yeah, a little more Elvis!!!)

These clippings from Billboard Magazine, circa 1956, show the kind of coverage Elvis' initial releases were receiving in their publication. (After we ran our Elvis spotlight the other day, we did a little more digging!)

http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/billboard-elvis-56.html

However, we found some clippings that predate the ones shown on the Elvis History Website.

They're mostly just casual mentions that show Elvis was already being noticed ... only one actually constitutes a chart-showing ...

But they ALL still qualify as early Elvis Sightings ... from as early as 1954 as he became a Louisiana Hayride attraction ... and a budding recording star for the Sun record label.

From August 7th:

Two from August 14th:

October 16th:

Two from November 6th:

THREE from November 13th (!):

And one from December 11th, that starts out this way ...

"Balin'-Wire Bob Strack, who heads up the "Red River Round-Up" record show on KWKH, Shreveport, reports that the hottest piece of merchandise on the station's "Louisiana Hayride" ...

But I think it's THIS one that takes the cake ...

A full page article about Elvis, Scotty and Bill, Sam Phillips and his new manager, Bob Neal, at sort of a "homecoming" show that Elvis did in Memphis on February 6th, 1955. Colonel Tom Parker was there as well ... and ALL of these gentlemen sat down together to map out what might be the best approach to continue and expand Elvis' newfound success.

Interesting to watch The King slowly making a name of himself. (kk)

As seen in FHs ~~~

>>>Weekly radio station charts were hard to come by before the Top 40 era ... and these would most likely have been COUNTRY charts to boot!) kk

HA!

"Country! Boots!" Charts!

cb!

Pun not intended … but I’ll take it! Good catch, Chuck! (kk)

As expected, Phish won The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Fan Vote by a sizeable measure ... roughly 330,000 votes to runner up Bad Company, who had around 280,000. Billy Idol finished third with about 260,000 followed by Cyndi Lauper (237,000) and Joe Cocker (233,000). Soundgarden fell only about 300 votes shy of Joe Cocker's total to finish in sixth place. Long-overdue Chubby Checker finished up with about 203,000. In all, just over two and a half million votes were cast.

This Sunday Night (4/27), Ryan Seacrest will announce The Class of 2025 Inductees LIVE on "American Idol." James Taylor will act as a special mentor to this year's finalists, each of whom have to perform a song by a previous Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductee. (That might almost be worth watching!) kk

Carlos Santana found himself back in the hospital on Tuesday (4/22) after collapsing on stage during the soundcheck for a show he was scheduled to perform that night in San Antonio, Texas.

They're writing it off as dehydration ... but, due to several previous health issues of late, wanted to do a full examination under hospital care to rule out anything more serious.

A statement was quickly issued that read:

"It is with profound disappointment that I have to inform you all that tonight's show in San Antonio has been postponed. Mr. Santana was at the venue preparing for tonight's show when he experienced an event that was determined to be dehydration. Out of an abundance of caution and the health of Mr. Santana, the decision to postpone the show was the most prudent course of action. He is doing well and is looking forward to coming back to San Antonio soon as well as continuing his US Tour. Thank you all very much for your understanding. The show will be rescheduled soon."

We later learned that they postponed Wednesday Night's show, too (4/23) - better safe than sorry. (Carlos has had a rough couple of months!) kk

Kent,

I am playing the 4 Tops' tune for the third time today!

Larry

It's a good one! Earlier today I finished compiling THE TOP 65 HITS of 1965 ... wait'll you see where this one lands! (kk)

Bryan Adams is teaming up with Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo for part of their US tour.

The tour kicks off next month in The UK and Ireland … then moves throughout Europe in June, July and August before landing in Canada for nineteen dates … it then wraps up in The US with Benatar and Giraldo joining the show for dates in October and November.

Adams is out supporting his new album “Roll With The Punches,” due out this summer.

All in all, he’ll be doing 86 shows, appearing in The UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, Poland and Canada before wrapping things up here in The USA with a series of 21 shows (with Benatar and Giraldo in tow) beginning October 25^th at The Mohegan Sun in Connecticut (one of Shelley’s favorite haunts!) and wrapping up in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 26^th. (In between, he hits Chicago on November 3^rd at The Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL.)

The US dates are listed below:

October 25th – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
October 26th – Boston, MA – TD Garden
October 29th – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
October 30th – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
November 1st – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Arena
November 2nd – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena

November 3rd – Rosemont, IL – Allstate Arena
November 5th – Raleigh, NC – Lenovo Center
November 6th – Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena
November 7th – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
November 9th – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live
November 10th – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
November 13th – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
November 15th – Phoenix, AZ – PHX Arena
November 16th – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
November 18th – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum
November 19th – San Jose, CA – SAP Center
November 21st – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
November 22nd – Portland, OR – Moda Center
November 24th – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
November 26th – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center

You can find the complete itinerary here:

https://bestclassicbands.com/bryan-adams-sets-2025-tour-with-special-guests-pat-benatar-neil-girardo-4-23-25/

MICKY DOLENZ’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED ON THE SPIRIT OF PHILADELPHIA

Micky Dolenz, and 110 fans, celebrated his 80^th birthday Friday night (April 18th) on the Spirit of Philadelphia ship in Philadelphia.

Micky was presented with a book “What Your Gramps Means To Me,” filled with letters from fans around the world written to rock-stars grandchildren about how their fathers have affected their lives.

The gift was presented by event agent Jodi Ritzen and caught Dolenz off guard as she talked about how becoming a grandfather has made Dolenz embrace his legacy differently than before.

The event, as always, was presented in conjunction with Make-A-Wish.