Some of you may already know this and some may not, but here is some information about a book that I have written that involves the Monkees.
It is a fictional story that takes place in 1967. They are going to attend an affiliates conference for NBC. They have to take a train to get there. On the way, a murder happens on the train and Peter is the suspect. It's up to the Monkees and a reporter to solve the murder by capturing the real killer.
You can get it a Amazon.com if you go to:
Click here: Amazon.com: Last Train to Murder PB (9781458309211): Rick L. Phillips: Books
Rick Phillips
Author Harvey Kubernik has a new book out about the Laurel Canyon music scene 1940-2009. Interviewed recently on Dr. Wesley Britton's radio program, Britton described the book as: "So many musicians had roots in Laurel Canyon, from the Byrds, Monkees, Frank Zappa, the Mamas and the Papas, Buffalo Springfield, the Doors, the Turtles, to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Joni Mitchell, the Eagles, Carole King, and Jackson Browne. All are covered in one of the best books on rock ever written, so this is one that music lovers won't want to miss!"
(You can also read Dr. Britton's review of the book on Bookpleasures.com, and the text of his review can be found at this link.
Dr. Wesley Britton's interview with Harvey Kubernik, author of the impressive Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and the Music of Laurel Canyon (Sterling Publishers), covering first-hand experiences and associations that spawned the coffee-table volume (and lots of other rock stories) is available for download anytime you like at www.audioentertainment.org.
It was only a week ago that we told you about the brand new Record Research book devoted to Billboard's Top Ten Pop Hits, 1940 - 2010 ... capturing an incredible SEVENTY YEARS of Top Ten Hits!!!
Now I have just been informed that Joel Whitburn has already updated his "Top Pop Singles" Book again ... and that he's preparing a brand new, greatly expanded edition. (The 12th Edition just came out last year!!! Edition #13 is due for a mid-June, 2011 release ... and Joel has added even MORE brand new features into the mix!!!)
A while back, he began listing the B-Side of every charted single ... an INCREDIBLE undertaking (but EXACTLY the kind of thing us chart and music geeks are into!!! lol) Then, he added a list of "Classic Non-Hot 100 Songs" for artists that also scored heavily on the album charts or pre-dated the typical Rock Era covered, beginning in 1955. THEN he incorporated all of Billboard's "Bubbling Under" Hits into this massive volume of information. Now he has incorporated rare, regional chart information that hasn't been available for DECADES. In Joel's own words:
In 2009 and 2010, I was immersed in stacks of Billboards, discovering 'new' songs and artists as I researched the long-buried "Territorial Hits" chart and "Breakout Singles" feature and collected record for proofing against my compilation of new facts. Here were the garage bands and doo-wop groups that caught fire locally but not nationally -- the ones that you may remember as huge hits in your area. The debut of this new research ensures that they will long be referenced alongside the superstars of the pop charts.
NEW - Territorial Hits! Now includes every single that made Billboard's "Territorial Best Seller" chart from 1955-58. From January 1, 1955 - July 1, 1957, Billboard published Top 10 charts from 23 different major markets. Songs on these charts that did not also make Billboard's main pop charts are now shown under the special “Territorial Hits” heading in an artist’s discography. Listed in the book are the song’s debut date, peak position, and total weeks on the territorial Top 10, and the cities where it hit are shown next to the title. From July 8, 1957 through October 13, 1958, those Top 10 charts listed songs alphabetically by artist, not rank. Territorial-only hits from then are listed but without a peak position nor weeks charted. A biography appears for every territorial-only artist. The following markets were surveyed: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle and Toronto.
NEW - #1 Territorial Hits! For songs that did not hit #1 on Billboard’s main pop charts but did hit #1 on the Territorial Hits charts when those charts were arranged in rank order, a bold #1 is listed next to the title, followed by an abbreviated list of cities where it hit #1.
NEW - Breakout Singles! Billboard published the weekly “Breakout Singles” feature from January 9, 1961 – February 10, 1973, the golden era of garage bands and Top 40 radio. Listed in random order each week, without positions, were 10-20 singles along with their artist, record label & number, and breakout city. Shown in the book under the “Breakout Hits” heading are the songs that did not also make the “Hot 100” or “Bubbling Under” charts, along with debut date, breakout cities, B-side, etc. With the exceptions of Kansas City and Toronto, all of the cities surveyed for the Territorial Hits charts were also surveyed among the 32 major markets for Breakout Singles, including Albany, Charlotte, Hartford, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Nashville, Newark, Oklahoma City and Washington, D.C.
NEW - Total Hits! For major artists, quickly see their totals for #1, Top 10, Top 20 and Top 40 hits, and total Top 10 albums! Makes for interesting comparisons like AC/DC's highest charting hit was #23 yet they had 8 Top 10 albums!
MORE - All Million Sellers! In addition to indications of RIAA-certified gold and platinum singles, now shown are all gold singles awarded by record labels.
MORE - 650+ Artists Photos! More than triple the amount of artists photos over the last edition!
All-in-all, another REMARKABLE Edition ... can't wait to pick up a copy of this one! (I am always amazed how Joel continues to find new ways to present this material!!!)
More information on The Record Research Website:
Click here: Top Pop Singles 1955-2010 Joel Whitburn's Record Research
Our FH Oldies Buddy Ron Smith is also putting the finishing touches on HIS new book ... the ULTIMATE Rock And Roll Calendar. Titled "EIGHT DAYS A WEEK: Births, Deaths And Events For Each Day In Oldies History", Smith's book should be the definitive calendar covering any and all of rock and roll biggest events . Ron's hoping to have this one out by spring ... and it'll be a fascinating day-by-day recap of all of the notable and memorable rock and roll-related events.
Stay tuned for more details ... and check Ron's www.oldiesmusic.com website, too, for updates. (What's neat about a book like this is that ... good, bad or otherwise ... we're ADDING to rock and roll history every single day. Ron suggests checking his website each day and then "writing in the margin" to update YOUR edition!)
Of course, we're ALSO hoping that he'll update his Chicagoland Chart Books real soon, too ... a couple of these have been out of print now for a while! (Ideally, he just may incorporate ALL of this chart information into one jumbo volume. Works for me ... I would LOVE to have all this stuff in one place instead of having to frantically thumb through half a dozen different areas to compile my own chart information!) kk
