Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Some Mid-Week Comments

OK, so today we're having problems with our Windows Media Player not being able to rip CD tracks ... 
I swear, every day there seems to be some new obstacle preventing us from doing Forgotten Hits in a time-efficient manner!

That means our scheduled "Helping Out Our Readers" page has to get bumped ... good thing we've already received a ton of comments from you guys on OTHER stuff to fill today's post!


re: A FEW GROOVY TUNES WE MISSED:

Has Groove Me by King Floyd been featured yet?
Yep!  (kk)
How About Groovy Motions by the Fireballs?
These were kind of unexpected to find on my computer, as well ...
Groove With What You Got by the Osmond Brothers and
Groovin' On The Sunshine / Sesame Street by the Tokens ... LOL
And here are a couple more tunes sure to make you groove!
Gettin' A Groove by Carl Edwards
Groovy Train by Wade Cagle
We've Got A Groovey Thing Going by Simon and Garfunkel
You're A Stone Groovy Thing by Ruth Brown
It's A Groovy World by The Unifics
We Got A Thing That's In The Groove by The Capitals
Groovin' Out by Joe Stampley and the Uniques
Somebody Groovy by the Mamas and the Papas
Life is Groovy by The Double Quartet (The Tokens and The Kirby Stone Four)
Groovy Tonight by Bobby Rydell
Groove Time by Johnny Thunder
Move and Groove by Gil Hamilton (who is really Johnny Thunder!)
Mister Groovy by Sonny Vito
Groovy Relationship by Kenny O'Dell
And here's one of my favorite groovy tunes ... and fitting with Summer just around the corner ... it's "Groovy Summertime" by Love Generation!
Tom Diehl
Wow ... never heard of most of these!!!  I'm telling you ... you should do "The Groovy Hour" on your next Top Shelf Oldies radio show!  Between all of these (and the ones we featured), you easily can be the grooviest show on the dial! (kk)
And, in addition to the Cool Heat version of "Groovin' With Mr. Bloe" that we featured as part of our "Grooviest Week Ever" Series, Tom also sent us versions by Wind and Mr. Bloe himself!  lol  (kk)
Don't know HOW I forgot about "Somebody Groovy" by The Mamas and the Papas ... that's one of my all-time favorites by them (and we featured it in our week-long Mamas and Papas spotlight series several years ago.  Here it is again!  (kk)
In the early part of the week when you first started featuring "groovy" songs, one of the first records that I thought of was Bobby Rydell's 1960 recording of GROOVY TONIGHT, the flip side of SWAY.  However, I checked this afternoon and it was on the national charts for just some two weeks peaking in the seventies I believe.
Larry

A couple of people mentioned this one ... yes, it charted for two weeks in 1960 and peaked at #70.  (kk)

Groovy Girl - The Waterproof Tinkertoy 1968. Top Ten in Milwaukee. Remember that lost gem?
Ken

Good job on the Saturday choices. This is how they break down for me:
Let's Groove ... own it
The Groove Line ... own it
New York Groove ... love it
One Nation Under Groove ... never heard it before
Groove Me ... Like it
Good job this week ... I really enjoyed The Grooviest Week Ever.
Thanks!
Stacee

Thank you for the grooviest series ever ... kudos to our always groovy host!
Steve

re:  ON THE RADIO:
Kent:
Just thought I'd share this with you, especially the "oldies" part, from this station in New Jersey.
John
We actually removed the "Oldies" moniker a while back. While we do play some music from the 60's and 70's, we simply refer to ourselves as "The Local Station".
Best,
Norman Worth
WRNJ Radio
Mark my words ... the concept of "oldies" may be dead right now ... it sounds like the powers that be have FINALLY come to the realization that ALL of this great music can be played side-by-side without causing audience seizures or hemorrhages or memory overload ... (gee, where on earth did they get THAT idea?!?!?) ... but in five or six years the media is going to crown some "enterprising" young programmer a GENIUS for playing nothing but the music of the '50's and '60's again ... and it'll be considered revolutionary.  Everything old will be new again ... and a brand new, unsuspecting generation will discover all of this great music all over again.  (And that's just fine, too!)  I'm telling you ... "The Music Of Your Life" is here and now.  We ALL grew up with it ... whether we heard it around the house because that's what our parent played ... or we discovered it for ourselves, thanks to GREAT rock and roll records, AM radio and television in the '60's and '70's ... we ALL experienced it together.  By the '70's, we'd turned off our AM radios and discovered the variety of FM and album rock.  Some of us survived Disco ... heck, some even ENJOYED it!!!  We saw one-of-a-kind legends like Elvis ... and The Beatles ... and Michael Jackson ... and each and every time swore "it could NEVER happen again!"  We've seen and heard it all ... so why WOULDN'T this lifetime of music appeal to us?  The time is NOW ... and I'm officially declaring it "Here".  Listen ... enjoy ... because I guarantee you that in no time at all, radio will be back to "branding" music again!  (kk)


Kent ...
Got this from Ron Smith's Book. I know you have a copy.  I see your name on the back cover.
5/16/1966 = The Beach Boys release their "Pet Sounds" Album.
WCBS-FM = Every hour they're playing a song about a pet, followed by a Beach Boys Hit. You have to admit, they come up with some unique ideas.
Frank B.
I'll give ya that!!!  45 years since "Pet Sounds"!!!  Wow!  Hard to believe!  (kk)


and, speaking of The Beach Boys ...


re:  THE BEACH BOYS:
Kent,
My online column is Beach Boys Examiner, not California Examiner. I also have a Jan & Dean Examiner.
Best -
David Beard
Sorry about that, Chief!  (kk)


In that column last week, David told us that Brian is ready to give up touring for good.  And, in a new post by RollingStone.com, he tells a British journalist that he may ... or may NOT ... get back together to record with The Beach Boys in honor of their 50th anniversary.  (Sounds like that celebration may not actually take place until NEXT year ... apparently the first time the group appeared as "The Beach Boys" was on December 31st, 1961 ... meaning the "official" anniversary won't be until the first of next year!)
In an interview with BBC 6 Music, Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson hinted that the group may reunite in the studio to celebrate their 50th anniversary. "I'm considering it," he said. According to Wilson, nothing is holding him back aside from a reluctance to reconnect with his old partners. "I just don't know if I want to be around those guys, you know? They're zany guys. They're crazy." Wilson has not collaborated with his former bandmates since he co-produced Stars and Stripes Volume One, a 1996 album featuring country versions of their hit songs.
Though it remains to be seen whether or not Wilson will record new material with the band, the Beach Boys will be coming together to put the finishing touches on Smile, the band's never-released follow-up to their 1966 masterwork Pet Sounds.  The group will be offering input on the album's track listing, which was never firmly established as the record was never completed as originally planned.


Greetings from "Music City, USA," Kent ...
Sorry to say I had not read the weekend "Forgotten Hits" mega issue by the time I'd received this obit on John Walker from my London friend, George Van Win. I thought you (and the readers) might be interested in what the UK papers had to say about John and The Walker Brothers.

I never worked with John during the group's heyday, and, like a lot of others at the time, considered them an extension of the British invasion. I was aware of Scott (Engle) from several singles he'd recorded in the early 60's -- and one particular 45 had a picture sleeve -- so I knew he 'looked like' a star. Their two singles were favorites of mine at the time, particularly "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Any More)." Great production, vocals, for sure -- but the success of the group was short lived.
Years later, in May 2005, I was honored to be invited to emcee the Landmark Ceremony when the Wilson home in Hawthorne was officially designated a California Historic Landmark -- even though the home had been torn down years before for the Century Freeway!
On that hot afternoon in Hawthorne, Brian, Alan, Dave Marks all performed, along with Billy Hinsche and a group he was working with at the time, Tripsetter. The Hawthorne High School Band performed a medley of Beach Boys classics and later -- at a reception and lunch -- The Honeys even did their classic "Be True To Your School" cheerleader segment -- singing to a Beach Boys tribute band, "The Beach Toys." Yes, you read that correctly, "The Beach Toys," complete with white pants, striped shirts and a bass player who was a dead ringer for a much younger Brian!
The next night, at a separate event tied to the Dedication, various members of past Beach Boys touring groups performed, along with Dave Marks, Billy and a few others. Among the 'special guests,' was John Walker -- who not only looked great but sounded great, too. Watching him perform that evening you could not imagine him passing barely six years later. He seemed like a great guy -- passionate about his music, and eager to entertain the audience as he did that evening.
Fast forward to this past Friday, May 13, I had the honor of 'hanging out' with my old friends, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, and the Beach Boys band, at a benefit concert in Huntsville, AL. It was the first time I'd actually seen their show in over seven years although we had gotten together at an event on the roof of Capitol Records (June 2006) to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of "Pet Sounds," the album I was blessed to be at the 'mastering' of -- in the basement of the Capitol Records Tower some 40 years before! Just me, my hero, Brian, and the Capitol mastering engineer. None of us could have possibly imagined what we were witnessing at the time -- sitting on the cold linoleum floor of a small mastering room!
During the course of last Friday's meeting with Mike, Bruce and band -- along with 'special guest' John Stamos -- I attempted to pick their brain as to any plans for a 50th Anniversary tour -- an 'official' one, that is! Bruce did not want to elaborate on it, but I got the distinct feeling that they may hold off until next year to do any real 'celebrating.' After all, their first official performance was December 31, 1961 -- so the group really got off the ground in 1962. I got involved as their first concert (and dance) promoter in May of '63.
As to their show on Friday night ... I was impressed with the overall performance even though several band members were featured on some of their hits. John Stamos played drums and guitar -- and I was very impressed that he sang "Forever," a tribute to Dennis Wilson, who had written the song and recorded it on the group's 1970 album, "Sunflower," in my opinion one of the more elusive -- but outstanding albums of the group's enormous musical legacy. John has been a fan of DW for many years and actually sang "Forever" when he married his girlfriend, played by Lori Laughlin, on the hit series "Full House." I thanked John for helping to keep the memory and legacy of Dennis alive for a whole new generation of fans.
Overall, the entire band -- Scott, Tim, Randell, Mike Love's son, Christian, and John Cowsill -- did a great job and the audience was most appreciative. Like always, there were at least three generations in attendance -- proof positive that the music of Brian and The Beach Boys is here to stay.
Fred Vail
Treasure Isle Recorders
Music City, USA

re:  AND, REGARDING RON SMITH'S NEW BOOK ... :
Renown radio analyst Rob Feder gives Ron Smith's new book the spotlight treatment in today's column:
Meanwhile, don't forget to register to win YOUR free copy by sending us your birthday!!!  That's right ... in a couple of weeks we'll have Ron pick a winner by pulling a "date" out of a computerized hat.  (It is, after all, a calendar date book!!!)  Just send us an email at forgottenhits@aol.com and we'll throw your name into the ring!  (kk)


re:  FAME AND FORTUNE:
Amazing the way you keep cranking it out ... you should be making a million dollars a year with Forgotten Hits!
Steve Sarley
Well, I've got to agree with you there!!!  (lol)  But it just ain't never gonna happen. 

Honestly, it WAS quite an amazing past couple of weeks here in Forgotten Hits.  Two weeks ago I got to hang out with Tony Hatch and Julian Dawson, both visiting Chicago from Great Britain ... and this past week we got a mention in Bob Greene's nationally syndicated CNN column (which, based on web entry points, seems to have driven about 1800 brand new, first time readers to the Forgotten Hits website),  a credit for our review of Ron Smith's brand new book "Eight Days A Week: Births, Deaths And Events Each Day In Oldies History" on the back cover of the book as well as the official press release ... a brand new "Fans Of Forgotten Hits" Facebook Web Page (organized by FH Reader David Lewis) ... and now comes word that THREE of our vocal appearances have been posted on YouTube!  (No idea who did this ... and it IS kinda cool ... but I really wish someone had asked for my permission first ... the good news is that the tracks have been properly credited ... so maybe a few other folks around the world will discover what Forgotten Hits is all about!) 

So while on the surface, it may look like we've got the "fame" part down, I cannot help but wonder when the "fortune" part is going to kick in!!!  'Cause right now I'm still wondering if we're going to be able to pay the rent this month!!!  (kk)
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