re: AMERICAN IDOL:
I, too, watched American Idol for the first time in about three years and I enjoyed watching Steven, Jennifer and Randy. Perhaps Simon should have left a few years ago.
It was also interesting that the best performances were by the 15 year olds.
You know for all the abuse Steven Tyler has put himself thru over the years , he looks pretty damn good for a guy about to celebrate his 63rd birthday in a couple months. Howza about Aerosmith's cover of Remember, Walking In the Sand?
Jack
I'm really enjoying this season early on ... there's a new sense of energy in the air ... maybe the others just simply burned themselves out after eight or nine years ... even Randy seems to be having fun again.
Aerosmith has done some interesting covers over the years ... none more surprising than their remake of The Shangri-Las' hit "Remember (Walking In The Sand)". While I remember it receiving quite a bit of airplay at the time here in Chicago, the record only made it to #67 nationally and never officially charted here. (Who knows, maybe this bold move by the band helped to inspire Pearl Jam to take on the J. Frank Wilson classic "Last Kiss" a few years later!!! Then again who ever would have guessed that hard-rockin' Grand Funk Railroad would record "The Loco-Motion" ... and take it all the way to #1 no less!) Heck yeah, I'll give it a spin ... always one of my favorites by them!

And honestly, I think I'm hearing more Aerosmith on the radio now than ever!!! (This is especially true of their barely-a-hit "Back In The Saddle", another one I've always liked that seems to be showing up all over TV and movie soundtracks lately.) I'm thinking that J-Lo's probably extended HER career by at least another decade, too ... and she's "humanized" herself to an audience that otherwise had pretty much already written her off as another self-important diva. Yeah, I'm diggin' it so far this season!!! (kk)

... and, speaking of remakes ...

re: LITTLE MISS SAD:
Someone needs to remake Little Miss Sad. I'm surprised some punk band didn't do it 30 years ago. Same goes for Overnight Sensation, by the Raspberries. Mel & Tim's Backfield In Motion brought to mind their other hit, Starting All Over Again.
Jack
"Starting All Over Again" is yet ANOTHER bona-fide Top 20 Hit that gets virtually NO airplay these days. Good stuff! (kk)


re: BUDDY HOLLY:
About the Buddy Holly plane crash: there's a new book out by a Bourbonnais author. He's a pilot and actually went over the NTSB report with one of their people to determine what probably happened. That's only a small part of the book, which is actually a personal journey by the author in discovering Buddy and John Mueller:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1932714979/ref=nosim/oldiesmusicA/ I'm hoping to write a full review of "Hey Buddy" as time permits.
- Ron Smith
Sounds interesting ... and a rather different take on these events. Will have to watch for this one. And please send us a copy of your review once it's completed! (kk)

Kent,
Enjoyed Sunday's comments as usual.
You have probably done this in the past before,but do you remember where you were and what you were doing on February 3, 1959, when you heard that the music had died? Maybe some of your readers would like to comment on here they were and what they were doing.
I was in my 8th grade speech class here in OKC during the 6th and final hour. The news came out over the intercom from someone in the office.
Oh, by the way, many times I was told when I was in Jr. High and High School that I looked like Buddy Holly even with the glasses that I wore.
One final note. Everyone knows the name of the three singers which which perished in that plane crash, but who can remember the name of the pilot of the plane? An idea for you on that day as for a forgotten 45 in the upper right hand corner. How about featuring one of the tribute records that came out shortly. Tommy Dee's THREE STARS on Crest Records, Ruby Wright on King Records, and Herschel Almond's THE GREAT TRAGEDY on Ace Records, just to name a few.
Larry Neal
We did a pretty in-depth feature a couple of years ago on the 50th anniversary of the plane crash. I personally was only five years old at the time ... so I don't remember a THING!!! (Not the case just a few years later when President Kennedy was assassinated, however ... by then I was old enough to absorb what was going on and think about what it all really meant!)
We can try to do a little something regarding Buddy Holly / Big Bopper / Ritchie Valens memories that day, I suppose ... if some of you readers out there would like to share a memory or two, I'd be happy to run them ... who knows, maybe I can even find some of the comments from a couple of years ago in the archives to run again.
I know it's not much notice, but let's see what we can pull together. And "Three Stars" would be a good tune to feature. Honestly, with our brand new "Today's Forgotten Hit" feature, I've deliberately stayed away from any '50's and early '60's tunes because I know the deejays simply won't play them ... if I do too many, it just might defuse any potential this series might have for a radio home ... and that's a REAL shame. But slipping one in here and there every once in a while ... especially on such a timely topic as this ... shouldn't be a problem. (If you notice, virtually EVERYTHING featured so far has been from between 1965 - 1980, which is about the ONLY music oldies radio wants to play anymore. Even at that, they're STILL leaving out all kinds of legitimate hit songs!!!) Thanks for your suggestion! (kk)
Kent,
Three quick comments in regards to your reply to me.
First, you remember the assassination of JFK. Remember the tribute song that came out shortly afterwards by Connie Frances, THE SUMMER OF HIS YEARS?
You also mentioned what fun all this would be if you didn't drive yourself completely crazy. Remember that one of these days THEY WILL COME AND TAKE YOU AWAY (HA! HA). Because the powers that be will not think you are NORMAL. Remember that answer record by someone known as THE EMPEROR? I believe he was half of the team of Hudson and Landry.
A few weeks ago, the local "oldies" station here in OKC took off the syndicated shows done by Machine Gun Kelly and Steve Goddard and segues what they call "classic oldies" ... which basically is the same thing because the two syndicated shows played the same songs every week on their show. So it was no different than what wasplayed during the week.
Larry
Yeah, that's what drives me nuts about oldies radio today ... they'll hit you with a come on like "Where you never know what we're going to play next" and then they go right into something they're probably going to play three or four times that day ANYWAY!!! Mix it up a little!!! That's what "Today's Forgotten Hit" is all about. Run your little promo ... but then play the clip from our website. I'm telling you, you WILL get a response ... but you've got to give it a try first. Then, when you see that it's catching on, you can add "Today's Forgotten Hit" as a regular daily feature. C'mon ... try it ... I dare you!!!
By the way, Larry, I'd LOVE to see one of those old grade school pictures of you looking like Buddy Holly! lol (kk)
Kent,
My mother has a whole bunch of pictures of me when I was younger. I'll see if she has any (and I know she does) that would be a good representation of me looking similar to Buddy Holly. I just now pulled my album of his, THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY on Coral Records (57279). The glasses he wore, black ones, were a little thicker than the ones I wore. I started wearing glasses in the 8th grade.
When I was also in high school, once or twice some people told me I looked like someone else they knew. Unfortunately this person was known for stealing hubcaps off of cars. Something common teens did back in the fifties.
Larry

SEND US YOUR BUDDY HOLLY MEMORIES, THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS

AND WE'LL TRY TO PUT TOGETHER A SPECIAL TRIBUTE ON FEBRUARY 3rd ... BIG BOPPER AND RITCHIE VALENS COMMENTS ALSO WELCOME!!!

re: TODAY'S FORGOTTEN HIT:
"Games" by Redeye was a huge hit here as well. I have the 45 in a box out in the garage somewhere. There was a much longer LP version of it.
David
"Games" went all the way to #3 here in Chicago in early 1971 ... LOVED that song when it was out. Peaking at #22 in Cash Box, why is it that we NEVER hear this one on the radio anymore?!?!? (kk)

You've run some real gems here lately -- songs I'd forgotten all about -- Could Have Been A Lady, Games, Resurrection Shuffle, Medicine Man, White Lies - Blue Eyes -- some GREAT tunes that never get played on the radio anymore. Thanks for shaking the memory banks!
Todd
That's what we're trying to do, Todd ... I'm out to prove a point that people WILL remember AND respond to these tunes if radio will only give them a chance! (kk)

Hey Kent ...
Thanks for the Gerry and the Pacemakers song ... always loved them ... I have several of their 45's but I don't think I have any albums or cd's ... thanks, tho!
Marlene
These guys were a big part of that early wave of The British Invasion ... and were all over the radio and television back then. (I think I first heard "It's Gonna Be All-Right" in their "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey" movie ... a pretty awful film that tried to cash in on the whole Mersey Beat sound of the era. (Hey, The Beatles had made a film ... The Dave Clark Five and Herman's Hermits, too ... so why NOT Gerry and the Pacemakers?!?!?) kk

re: CLIP OF THE WEEK:
Worlds Worst Robber. Funniest Stuff on the Net!
Kent ...
Crime does not pay.
Frank B.
LOL ... this is GREAT!!! And I think that the newscaster is funnier than the robber!!! (kk)