Only enough time for a few quick posts this morning ...
So here are SIX THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ...
aka The Sunday Six!
re: THE BEATLES ON I-TUNES:
Certainly one of the biggest music news stories this past week was that an agreement had FINALLY being reached between The Beatles and I-Tunes for the Fabs' music to now be available digitally for downloading. A deal has been in the works for years now and rumors have persisted (since it seems like forever!) that once Apple and Apple could finally come to terms, their complete catalog would become available.
And the downloading started immediately.
But perhaps the biggest part of this story (that nobody seemed to notice) was the fact that, once these tunes officially became available, the #1 most-downloaded tune WASN'T a Lennon and McCartney composition ... but rather "Here Comes The Sun" by George Harrison!!! (WTG, George!!!)
Who would have ever guessed.
Also interesting is that The Top Ten ... which clearly reflect the FANS' favorites more than ANY other type of poll ever could ... doesn't look anything even close to the list of The Top Ten Beatles Tunes as determined by Rolling Stone Magazine a few months back.
(Big surprise there, right?!?!? The fans' opinions NEVER seem to count when it comes to this publication!!!)
In order, here were The Top Ten Beatles Downloads during their first week of availability on I-Tunes:
# 1 - Here Comes the Sun
# 2 - Let It Be
# 3 - In My Life
# 4 - Blackbird
# 5 - Come Together
# 6 - With A Little Help From My Friends
# 7 - Hey Jude
# 8 - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
# 9 - Twist And Shout
#10 - Eleanor Rigby
Incredibly, half of these tunes were album cuts and only ONE of The Top Ten comes from before their Rubber Soul album, often cited as the point that The Beatles' music reached a new level of sophistication ... the ONLY "Early Beatles" track on the list is their version of "Twist And Shout" ... a song they didn't even write but had been performing in clubs for years! Pretty amazing really! (kk)
re: MORE FUN THIS PAST WEEK:
More enjoyable for me this past week (since I've already purchased the entire Beatles catalgo 91 times in my life at this point) was Jimmy Kimmel's on-going "National Facebook Un-Friend Day", celebrated this past November 17th.
It was a hysterical, very well thought out campaign and, if you simply seach around YouTube for a while, you will find dozens and dozens of Jimmy's bits on this topic, including "Public Service Announcements" from celebrities (like Governorator Arnold Schwarzenegger and TV Star Lisa Kudrow ... who, let's face it, KNOWS what a "friend" really is ... someone they name a hair-style after!)
You'll also find some CLASSIC commentary on this whole Facebook thing. (I am NOT a friend ... or a fan ... of Facebook ... which, of course, makes me a social outcast here at home where the wife and all the daughters are regular ... and, in some cases, non-stop ... participants.)
Kimmel accurately points out that NOBODY has 5000 REAL friends ... ask these people to help you move or pick you up at the airport and see how many "friends" you REALLY have.
Click here: YouTube - Jimmy Kimmel Announces National Un-Friend Day
Kimmel also uses real-life examples on the air of actual Facebook postings such as "Thinking about going to Napa today" or "Had spaghetti for dinner tonight" ... the complete extent of a posting that actually generated a meaningful response like "Great" or ... "Great". (Do people REALLY spend this much time online telling their "friends" that they're "thinking about going to Napa"??? If you're thinking about it, then GO!!! Or don't ... whatever ... but do you REALLY need to TELL people you're THINKING about it?!?!? And do people REALLY feel this compelling need to RESPOND to something as ridiculous as that? Is it SO important to tell some one that it's "GREAT" that they're "THINKING about going to Napa?!?!?" ... and then consider this to have been "a meaningful conversation with a friend???" I truly just don't get it.)
I can only equate it to what I do with my computer time. Comparitively speaking, we get VERY few comments from our readers when measured against the number of people who actually read Forgotten Hits ... and yet, despite this fact, there are weeks (like THIS one) where I cannot possibly keep up with them. (And there are weeks where the Comments Page runs SO long, I wonder if anybody even bothers to read the whole thing!!!) Imagine how much longer it would be if EVERY person on the list felt a need to respond to EVERY single comment or topic posted!!!
And seriously, do you need to post your every thought?!?!? I'm thinking about taking a bathroom break when I finish this paragraph ... but do I really need to TELL all of you this?!?!? Granted, NOT as exciting as thinking about going to Napa ... but STILL a decision that I'm going to have to make sooner or later!!!
Anyway, there I go again ... off on one of my tangents ... suffice to say that Jimmy's "Un-friend Day" campaign clearly hits a nerve with me (and I mean that in a good way!!!)
Tying into all of this, here are a couple of my FAVORITE "Kimmel and Bits" (get it?!?!) from last week ... a couple of KILLER videos prepared for National Facebook Un-Friend Day ... first a duet by Country Stars Brad Paisley and Darrius Rucker ... and then a great remake of an old War Hit, "Why Can't We Un-Friend". Enjoy!
Click here: YouTube - "To All The Friends I've Un'ed Before" by Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker for National UnFriend Day
Click here: YouTube - "Why Can't We UnFriend?" by War for National UnFriend Day
re: THE BEE GEES:
Keep watching the listings for The Biography Channel ... there's a brand new, two-hour Bee Gees documentary that they've been running and it presents an absolutely OUTSTANDING history of the band!
As MAJOR Bee Gees fans for many, many years, there is very little that Frannie and I haven't seen by them ... so we were QUITE surprised to see some extremely rare early footage as well as some very recent interview segments showing Barry and Robin rehearsing for their since-cancelled reunion tour.
In addition, they also have a brand new 4-CD Career Retrospective out now on Rhino Records, spotlighting each of the Brothers Gibb, including Brother Andy. Most of the hits are here but what makes this collection especially interesting is that Barry, Robin, Maurice's widow and Andy's daughter hand-picked the selections themselves.
Click here: Rhino Mythology
The songs were personally selected by Barry, Robin, Maurice's widow Yvonne and Andy's daughter Peta. "These are pretty much our personal favorites," Barry explains in the liner notes, which were also written by the family. "This is now the Bee Gees 50th Anniversary. And by the Bee Gees I mean all four brothers."
"I always see our songs as 'just us three brothers' having a good time," adds Robin Gibb. "When I look back now, it is more about the journey, not the arrival." MYTHOLOGY also features a scrapbook of family photos, many never-before published, along with tributes from artists such as George Martin, Brian Wilson, Elton John, Graham Nash and the band's longtime manager Robert Stigwood.
The official Rhino News release tells us:
Spanning the Bee Gees' five-decade career, the set's 81 tracks touch on several of the group's best-known hits. But mainly, the collection digs into the Bee Gees' vast catalog to highlight deep tracks such as the early single "Spicks And Specks" (1966); the title track from the 1969 concept album Odessa; the single B-side "Country Woman" (1971); "Spirits Having Flown" (1979) the title track from the 35-million selling album; "Overnight" (1987) from the multi-platinum ESP; "Closer Than Close" (1997) from Still Waters; and "Man In The Middle" (2001) from the Bee Gees 20th and final studio album before Maurice's passing in 2003. MYTHOLOGY also features the debut of a pair of previously unreleased Maurice Gibb tracks - "Angel Of Mercy" and "The Bridge."The final disc spotlights Andy Gibb, who was not a member of Bee Gees, but worked with his brothers throughout his career before his death in 1988 at the age of 30.
The compilation opens with "Shadow Dancing" (1978), a #1 smash co-written by all four brothers that appeared on Andy's second album. Nearly all of the songs from his 1977 debut Flowing River are featured, including the back-to-back #1 singles: "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" and "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water." The set contains "I Can't Help It," a duet with Olivia Newton-John that cracked the Top 20 and several tracks from his final studio album After Dark (1980), including the Top 10 single "Desire." MYTHOLOGY also marks the debut of "Arrow Through The Heart," a song Andy recorded shortly before his death that was intended for a comeback album.
Kent ...
A & E will show this documentary on Saturday Night.
Frank B.
“The Bee Gees: In Our Own Time” Out Today « WCBS-FM 101.1
Yes, is the same program that we were talking about above ... and it's a GREAT piece of work on the band. (We tried to watch this last night, not realizing that your email was from the week BEFORE, which is a week after the Biography Channel documentary premiered ... THEY first broadcast this new documentary the previous Monday! We were REALLY anxious to watch it again so imagine our disappointment last night when we found that A&E was running a "Billy The Exterminator" marathon instead!!!)
In any event, if you click on the extended link inside Frank's link above, you'll see that this new documentary is now available for purchase, which means it was released to the public before it officially aired on both the A&E and Biography Networks. (It ALSO means that I've got to run out and pick up a copy today!!! And the new CD Box Set, too!) kk
re: THIS JUST IN! / THE NEW COLONY SIX:
Kent -
Here's some late-breaking news that I just found out about two hours ago …
I'll be doing a 2 PM phone mini-interview on WGN radio, 720 AM Chicago, but streaming worldwide - happening this afternoon, Sunday, 11-21.
We'll be kicking around the garage era of the band and they'll be playing "Dawn Is Breaking" - first time on the radio in what, maybe 45+ years. As the Stones said, "This Could Be The Last Time" too!
Tune in and call in to say hey - hosted by Nick Digilio with Plastic Crimewave, AKA Steve Krakow. Excited - love our contributions to the beginning of the garage genre.
Ever see us do the tune live? Follow this link from a semi-acoustic set in support of a charity CD released in 2007: http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/46303601.
We had just returned from CaveStomp 2007 (Warsaw Theater in Brooklyn, NY) where we did almost all Breakthrough and Colonization tunes; awesome set & awesome crowds. (Can ya tell I'm psyched about the interview?)
Raymond J. Graffia, Jr.
The New Colony Six
Hopefully we're getting this out JUST in time to let people know to tune in and listen ... the show airs in just a couple of hours!
(Hey, you've been on the radio more recently than that!!! I can think of at least half a dozen times in the past few years ... including once with me and Dave The Rave, literally minutes before you guys took the stage at CaveStomp!!!)
But you're right ... it's always a kick to do it again ... especially when it's a chance to spotlight the earliest days of the band BEFORE the ballad typecasting began!!! Hope some folks are able to call and listen. WTG, Ray! (kk)
And, ironically, we got some New Colony Six-related email yesterday, too, from a brand new Forgotten Hits reader ...
Hi,
Came across your site tonight and saw a post from a couple years back about a New Colony Six reunion you had.Wanted to tell you that back in the 80s down here in Florida, I got hired to write music for a real estate promo video, as I am a composer and music producer.The businessman who hired me seemed to know a fair amount about music, and I mentioned that I had been in the record business in the past. He said, 'Yeah, me too.
I was with a band called the New Colony Six."
I was floored! It was Patrick McBride!
So he became a businessman down here. Don't know if he still is around down here but he was doing well!
Thanks!
- Tom Hartman
I had heard that Pat was still down in the Miami area ... I think he was writing jingles and producing some sessions. Would LOVE to hear from him ... he's the ONLY original New Colony Six member NOT on our list! (I believe he talks to Ronnie Rice from time to time but even Ronnie tells me he's lost contact over the past few years.) Would have been AWESOME to have Pat at the reunion ... it was really quite emotional.
Happy to have you onboard ... please share your memories with our readers from time to time! And if you DO happen to run into Pat again, please have him contact us! (kk)
Hey will do, thanks.
One thing ... I remember asking him at the time about the other band members, I was holding the album cover that had "Things I'd Like to Say" on it (I had brought the album to the session, I think he was pleased I owned it!) ... and he mentioned someone in the band who had died, I believe in a motorcycle accident. He said the guy had been a little on the wild side. But I haven't read about that in any online history of the band, and you mentioned all the band members were at the reunion ... strange?
Tom
Les Kummel is the one who died in an auto accident ... but he wasn't an original member ... he came later (but would have been in the band at the time of the "Revelations" LP, which contained their biggest hit "Things I'd Like To Say".) In fact Kummel co-wrote BOTH of The New Colony Six's two biggest hits, "Things I'd Like To Say" and "I Will Always Think About You", with Ronnie Rice. (kk)
Thanks Kent.
I really do have to take some time and go through your site ... it sure looks like a lot of fun.
You might be interested in checking out mine. My band was from St. Louis, and our amazing journey took us to England and Abbey Road back in 1969.
You can read about it here: www.aerovons.com
There is a song on our album from back then called "Words from a Song," and at the end of the song I played a piano part similar to the one at the end of "Things I'd Like To Say," just a tip of the hat to that song, which has always been one of my favorite ballads of all time.
Band broke up and thirty some odd years later the album got released. I get letters from all over the world by young kids who are "discovering us" lol
Best
Tom
Yes, the power of music ... and the Internet. Now THERE'S the perfect marriage! (kk)
re: GONE COUNTRY:
Top 10 Country and Western Song Titles:
1. It's Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night That Chewed My Ass The Whole Day Long(Tom)
C'mon KK, everyone knows the best country classic is ...
"Get Your Tongue Out Of My Mouth Because I'm Kissing You Goodbye"
'nuff said,
Wild Bill Cody
Loved the top 10 country titles.
Are you familiar with "The Perfect Country Song", sung by David Allan Coe? Written by Steve Goodman, it's the song with the refrain "You don't have to call me darlin', darlin' ... but you never even call me by my name". Steve was feeling pretty pleased with himself, because the song included references to Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Charley Pride and a number of other country greats, all in one song, and he sent it to David Allan Coe with a note that said "David, I've written the perfect country song, and I'd like for you to be the one to record it". Coe listened to it, and sent it back with a note that said "Well, Steve, it ISN"T the perfect country song, because it doesn't have anything in it about trucks ... trains ... and drinkin' ... and mothers ... and prison ... and rain ... it just isn't the perfect country song without those things in it". So, Steve being Steve, he sat down and wrote the last verse ...
"I was drunk the day my mama got out of prison
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get there in my pickup truck
She got run over by a gol dang train"
Upon receiving it back, David Allan Coe then agreed that it was, in fact, the perfect country song, and that's what it's known as today. Steve is also the guy who rhymed "ruined" with "lagoon" in Lincoln Park Pirates. Boy, we miss that man's talent.
The best country title I ever heard was "Get your tongue out of my mouth - I'm kissin' you goodbye".
Rick Barr
The New Colony Six
Click here: YouTube - David Allen Coe You Never Even Called Me by My Name
I've always loved the Steve Goodman / David Allan Coe song ... that's one my Mom used to play around the house all the time (and I have to admit it's a pretty clever song!)
Looks like "Get Your Tongue Out Of My Mouth Because I'm Kissin' You Goodbye" is the list favorite so far! (WTG, Ray Stevens!!!)
Thanks, Rick! (kk)
Click here: YouTube - Ray Stevens - Get your Tongue outa my mouth, I'm kissing you goodbye
re: CLIP OF THE WEEK:
And, since we seem to be extra-heavy on videos this week ... and we're out of time ... here's one more ... it's this week's Clip of the Week:
Wow!
Don't know if you caught Jimmy Fallon on the 16th of November, but he did a straight on impression of Neil Young doing "Whip My Hair" and who joins him onstage? The real deal, the "Boss" Bruce Springsteen.
Jimmy blew me away, the guy sang and played exactly like Neil ... check this out. Wild Bill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhFh-JqQuMg
Yeah, if they EVER need a fill-in for Neil Young, Jimmy Fallon can DEFINITELY do it!!! (lol) He is SPOT ON with this ... a hit for Willow Smith (daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith!) kk
That's it for this weekend ... we're outta time!
Forgotten Hits ... OUT!
kk
UPDATE: Looks like NBC is all over this Jimmy Fallon clip ... after I heard that mine no longer played, I searched YouTube and found probably 40 others that had also been disabled. You can try THIS one (if you can get there fast enough!!!)
Click here: YouTube - Whip My Hair ft Neil Young & Bruce Springsteen
