If you live in Chicago, there has been very little talk about anything else this past week ...
Some fans are considering Sunday's Game between The Chicago Bears
and The Green Bay Packers to be bigger than The Super Bowl itself!!!
The long-standing rivalry kicks off at 2 PM Chicago Time ... and it promises to be a bone-chilling good time for all parties concerned. (And that's not just because our wind chills have been in the 20-degrees-below-zero range lately! This weekend's game is all or nothing for both teams.)
Although The Bears have the better record this season, statistically (on paper anyway) The Green Bay Packers appear to have the better team. Either way it promises to be a real battle to the finish, both teams hungry for their Super Bowl berth. In fact, it may be the most important match-up EVER between these two teams ... so there are no real losers here. (Unless, of course, you're Lee DeWyze ... but that's a whole 'nother story!!!)
In the midst of all the hoopla, I was quite amused to get this note from WRCO Disc Jockey Phil Nee from Richland Center, Wisconsin yesterday ... seems we're not the only ones feeling the pressure!
My wife's family is from the Rockford area and she is a life long Bears fan.
I am the only Packer fan in the house.
Perhaps you could find Cher's song Living in a House Divided?
Phil Nee
WRCO
lol ... sounds like a GREAT idea, Phil ... and a long Forgotten Hit to boot!
(Cher took this one to #21 back in 1972 during her first major comeback. After being absent from the pop charts as a solo artist since her 1967 hit "You Better Sit Down Kids" (#8, 1967), Cher scored eight straight Top 50 Hits between 1971 and 1974. (Having a hit television series certainly didn't hurt!) And THREE of those hits went all the way to #1: "Gypsys, Tramps And Thieves", "Half-Breed" and "Dark Lady".
Odds are you won't hear "Living In A House Divided" anytime soon on conventional radio ... so we're happy to feature today it as another Forgotten Hits Weekend "Extra".
By the way ... special props to WLS-FM Dee Jay Greg Brown who devoted an entire hour on his program on Friday Night to playing nothing but music by the band Chicago. (In fact, several members of the band even called into the show!)
The tribute was inspired by some Green Bay General Manager announcing that his radio station was banning all music by Chicago over the weekend from his airwaves in honor of his Green Bay team. Chicago's Walt Parazaider called in and vowed that if (I mean WHEN) The Bears win on Sunday, he will buy enough time to RENT that Green Bay station for the following two weeks and play nothing but Chicago music until it's time for The Super Bowl! (And he just might really do it, too!!!)
All in good fun ... but there'll be MILLIONS watching Sunday afternoon to see who's going to The Super Bowl this year! (kk)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Helping Out Our Readers
re: DEL SHANNON:
Hi Kent,
Gerri Bender filled me in on your newsletter ... it looks very interesting.
I never knew Del Shannon cut "Please Please Me".
Can I get on your list and have it sent to me?
Thank you,
Howard
Hi Howard ... and welcome aboard!
Actually it was "From Me To You" ... Del Shannon's record came out here in The States before The Beatles' OWN version did! (It peaked at #67 on The Cash Box Chart in July of 1963.)
As far as the newsletter goes, pretty much everything is posted right on the website these days ... all we do these days is send out "reminders" to check the site ... but please help us to spread the word to other oldies fans. And remember ... your thoughts, comments and memories are always welcome here! (kk)
re: THE GRASS ROOTS:
>>>Since you brought up the Grass Roots, one of my all-time favorites, can this reader get some help?
(1) As a college student in the summer of 1971, I was visiting relatives in Ohio and was listening to a lot of radio ... and keeping notes! One thing I heard was a Pubic Service spot, probably 60 seconds, for Smokey the Bear & forest fire prevention ... sung by the Grass Roots! My notes read "first verse country style." Anybody got this?
(2) A reel of music taped off TV ... unfortunately, it's long gone, but the written contents remains. Based on the line up, the time period is 1973-1974. There are three Grass Roots cuts: Temptation Eyes and Midnight Confessions, and I remember one of these was interesting because it was a lot slower than the normal version, but I can't recall which. The 3rd cut was what I wrote down as "Rock 'n' Roll" and I believe this was a title, not a description. Nearest I can find is "Midnight Special" 3/23/73, hosted by Lou Rawls ... they performed "Midnight Confessions" but also "Love Is What You Make It", so that wouldn't be it. Any Grass Roots fans got a clue?
Thanx a ton! (stolf)
Hi Kent.
I am writing in response to the person that was asking about the Grass Roots songs on the Midnight Special. Reed Kailing from Milwaukee is a friend of mine. He was in the group in the early 70s and recently filled me in about the groups TV appearances during that time.
The songs in question are from Don Kirshner's In Concert series and the song Rock and Roll was a band jam led by Reed after the crowd was giving a negative reaction to the songs the band was playing. According to Reed the harder edged 'Rock and Roll', that he led the band through, won the crowd over.
The group did appear on the Midnight Special during that era and sang Midnight Confessions and their current single at the time "Love Is What You Make It". I own the Midnight Special DVD collection. It does not appear that those songs are included yet on any of the home video releases.
I left Reed a message. Perhaps he can respond more in depth about the tv shows and the songs in question.
Phil Nee
WRCO
Don'tcha just love tracking down all this stuff?!?!? Hope you hear from Reed ... and tell him about us, too!!! (He may be privy to some early "inside" Grass Roots details, too.) Thanks, Phil! (kk)
P.S. How WEIRD to get your email the day before Don Kirshner died!!! Unreal!
I'm not sure what CD I have, but here's an alternate to "Where Were You When I Needed You" ... http://www.angelfire.com/empire/abpsp/images/wherewere.mp3
John
On the Grass Roots' hit Let's Live For Today, I thought there were two versions.
In the chorus "I need to feel you inside me" and "I need you to feel you beside me".
I think I have both versions.
Any thoughts? I could hook up my turntable and find them if you need.
Bill Hengels
No, we've got them, too ... and featured both takes a while back in what seems to be our never-ending coverage of The Grass Roots! (lol) I think this was more of a "censorship" issue than anything else. Keep in mind, this WAS 1967. (Today you can get away with saying just about ANYTHING!!!)
Hell, a few years ago, Chet Coppock told our worldwide audience that he lost his virginity to this tune, For God's Sake!!! (lol) kk
re: ONLY IN AMERICA:
The Jay & The Americans version is the one I grew up with. I never knew The Drifters did a protest version. I wonder how it differs from their 'standard' one.
David Lewis
Hi Kent,
Reader Mark wanted to know of the availability of the Drifters’ version of “Only In America” on CD. It’s included on a CD from Kent (the soul arm of UK Ace) titled, “Change Is Gonna Come: The Voice Of Black America 1963-1973”, although I’m not sure about “the original protest lyrics”. Other tracks on this CD include Otis Redding’s version of “A Change Is Gonna Come” and the Impressions’ “We’re A Winner”. All relevant given that yesterday was Martin Luther King Day.
Mike Edwards
We received the "standard" Drifters version from a few readers ... but no leads on this "protest" version that Mark was referring to. Anybody got any ideas on this? (kk)
The lyrics as originally written, as a protest about sitting in the back of the bus, etc, were NEVER recorded by ANYONE. After the song was re-written, the protest was that you had this black group recording a song singing about growing up to be president, in an era when such a thing was not even thinkable (remember, in this era, african american artists couldn't even be pictured on the front of album covers because the record labels felt it would hurt their sales!!).
Read more about it here: http://spectropop.com/hleiberstoller.html#only
Tom Diehl
Great article ... and a great history lesson. (Makes you wonder what the original lyrics actually were!!!) This is probably why most people have never heard The Drifters' version of this tune ... meanwhile, Jay and the Americans scored a decent-sized hit with their nearly identical cover version. (kk)
re: SUMMER SUN:
>>>I wanted to ask if anybody has an mp3 of Jamestown Massacre - Summer Sun, that they could send me? I've looked on iTunes, Amazon, Deep Discounts and other sites but cannot find this song anywhere. There are a couple of postings on YouTube but the sound quality is not so good. Can anyone help me out? I'd really appreciate it. It's such a great song!! Sounds like it should have been on Chicago's III album, lol!! Thanks for your help. (Eddie Burke)
FYI, this song is on Bob Stroud's Rock and Roll Roots Vol 2.
Bill Hengels
As attested to by one of our readers (in the PREVIOUS "Helping Out Our Readers" column), you've probably got a better chance of inviting Jamestown Massacre over to your house and having them perform this song "live" in your living room than you do of tracking down a copy of "Rock And Roll Roots, Volume 2"!!! Actually, I sent Eddie an MP3 ('cause it's SUCH a great song!) and posted it again on our web page the other day (for the very same reason!) Speaking of which, I'll run reader Scott Sroka's request one more time trying to track down copies of the first three Bob Stroud "Rock And Roll Roots" CDs ...
Hello.
I was doing a google search and came across your blog this evening. I saw that you, like myself, collect Bob Stroud's Rock 'N Roll Roots CD's. I grew up in Chicago and share this special CD set with my father. Ever year since Vol. 4 came out, he buys the newest one and sends it to me for Christmas. (He is still in Chicago and I have long since moved to Los Angeles.) Once I receive it, I burn him a copy and send it back to him. (He always tells me to keep the original as I'm the collector and he just wants the music) It's become a tradition between us for about 10 years now. Hard as I try, though, I can not hunt down copies of the first three volumes. It looks to be that you have copies of these three ... very cool!
I am usually quite savvy tracking down and buying rare and out of print CD's and LP's (I have over 6,500 CD's and about the equivalent in LP's along with 4 boxes of Cassettes and even some 8 tracks for good measure). Needless to say I have a music addiction and am quite a collector even today in the age of digital. What can I say, that's what I grew up with. I'm sure you can understand that.I am not foolish enough to ask you to sell me your copies ... I know better. Coming from a guy who just dropped $150 on a rare self released CD from a little to unknown band out of Champaign / Urbana on Ebay just yesterday. (Hum is their name, the CD Fillet Show ... it took me 17 years to find a copy!) ...I also hope to someday track down my very own (and I will if it takes me the rest of my life). However, in the mean time can I ask you the very special favor of seeing if ANYONE who reads your Forgotten Hits publication might have additional copies of these first three volumes available?Honestly, it is more for my old man than myself, as that was his era in the 60's. That being said, I too have a fine appreciation for that decade thanks to him as well. Truth be told I am into all different styles from 20's Jazz through today's Heavy Metal and all in between (well, I am not a rap fan or new school pop country but you understand my point). Please, it would mean a great deal to me to be able to share copies of these with my father. Please help out a fellow music lover and the one whom gave me the appreciation I hold for it (my father) that has in turn formatted my entire life. Literally, I was even named after a song (Watching Scotty Grow written by Mac Davis, made famous by Bobby Goldsboro). It would truly be a Christmas to treasure for both my dad and me (or at least late Christmas) if I had copies of Bob Stroud's Rock 'N Roll Roots Volumes 1, 2 and 3. Thanks for hearing me out and have a safe and blessed holiday and New Year!!
Peace Love Music
Scott Sroka
Again, if anybody out there has an extra copy of Volumes 1, 2 or 3, please drop me a note and we'll see if we can help this guy out. Thanks! (kk)
re: TRYING TO LOCATE ... :
Bob Nasca sent a message to the members of Chicago rock bands 1960's.
Looking for James Bryant
Rob Maertz is looking for an old buddy. Here's what we know so far from Rob:I wonder if anyone recalls this band The Proper Strangers.
Bobby Sims, a member of Proper Strangers, was also a founding member of the band Rotary Connection. My main interest is I'm trying to find out whatever happened to James Bryant, who played organ with the Proper Strangers for a few years. I worked with James in Wisconsin bands for a few years.Jim's one major accomplishment was managing the Neighborhood when they recorded "Big Yellow Taxi", and I was told he had something to do with producing the song.He played / recorded under the names Jim Bartleme, Jamie Bryant, James Bryant and, according to Gary Myers' "On That Wisconsin Beat", Jim also used the name James O'Conner.
Thanks!
I know that this one has been circulating through a few sources here in town ... but if anyone out there can provide a lead or some contact information, please let me know. Thanks! (kk)
Hi Kent,
Gerri Bender filled me in on your newsletter ... it looks very interesting.
I never knew Del Shannon cut "Please Please Me".
Can I get on your list and have it sent to me?
Thank you,
Howard
Hi Howard ... and welcome aboard!
Actually it was "From Me To You" ... Del Shannon's record came out here in The States before The Beatles' OWN version did! (It peaked at #67 on The Cash Box Chart in July of 1963.)
As far as the newsletter goes, pretty much everything is posted right on the website these days ... all we do these days is send out "reminders" to check the site ... but please help us to spread the word to other oldies fans. And remember ... your thoughts, comments and memories are always welcome here! (kk)
re: THE GRASS ROOTS:
>>>Since you brought up the Grass Roots, one of my all-time favorites, can this reader get some help?
(1) As a college student in the summer of 1971, I was visiting relatives in Ohio and was listening to a lot of radio ... and keeping notes! One thing I heard was a Pubic Service spot, probably 60 seconds, for Smokey the Bear & forest fire prevention ... sung by the Grass Roots! My notes read "first verse country style." Anybody got this?
(2) A reel of music taped off TV ... unfortunately, it's long gone, but the written contents remains. Based on the line up, the time period is 1973-1974. There are three Grass Roots cuts: Temptation Eyes and Midnight Confessions, and I remember one of these was interesting because it was a lot slower than the normal version, but I can't recall which. The 3rd cut was what I wrote down as "Rock 'n' Roll" and I believe this was a title, not a description. Nearest I can find is "Midnight Special" 3/23/73, hosted by Lou Rawls ... they performed "Midnight Confessions" but also "Love Is What You Make It", so that wouldn't be it. Any Grass Roots fans got a clue?
Thanx a ton! (stolf)
Hi Kent.
I am writing in response to the person that was asking about the Grass Roots songs on the Midnight Special. Reed Kailing from Milwaukee is a friend of mine. He was in the group in the early 70s and recently filled me in about the groups TV appearances during that time.
The songs in question are from Don Kirshner's In Concert series and the song Rock and Roll was a band jam led by Reed after the crowd was giving a negative reaction to the songs the band was playing. According to Reed the harder edged 'Rock and Roll', that he led the band through, won the crowd over.
The group did appear on the Midnight Special during that era and sang Midnight Confessions and their current single at the time "Love Is What You Make It". I own the Midnight Special DVD collection. It does not appear that those songs are included yet on any of the home video releases.
I left Reed a message. Perhaps he can respond more in depth about the tv shows and the songs in question.
Phil Nee
WRCO
Don'tcha just love tracking down all this stuff?!?!? Hope you hear from Reed ... and tell him about us, too!!! (He may be privy to some early "inside" Grass Roots details, too.) Thanks, Phil! (kk)
P.S. How WEIRD to get your email the day before Don Kirshner died!!! Unreal!
I'm not sure what CD I have, but here's an alternate to "Where Were You When I Needed You" ... http://www.angelfire.com/empire/abpsp/images/wherewere.mp3
John
On the Grass Roots' hit Let's Live For Today, I thought there were two versions.
In the chorus "I need to feel you inside me" and "I need you to feel you beside me".
I think I have both versions.
Any thoughts? I could hook up my turntable and find them if you need.
Bill Hengels
No, we've got them, too ... and featured both takes a while back in what seems to be our never-ending coverage of The Grass Roots! (lol) I think this was more of a "censorship" issue than anything else. Keep in mind, this WAS 1967. (Today you can get away with saying just about ANYTHING!!!)
Hell, a few years ago, Chet Coppock told our worldwide audience that he lost his virginity to this tune, For God's Sake!!! (lol) kk
re: ONLY IN AMERICA:
The Jay & The Americans version is the one I grew up with. I never knew The Drifters did a protest version. I wonder how it differs from their 'standard' one.
David Lewis
Hi Kent,
Reader Mark wanted to know of the availability of the Drifters’ version of “Only In America” on CD. It’s included on a CD from Kent (the soul arm of UK Ace) titled, “Change Is Gonna Come: The Voice Of Black America 1963-1973”, although I’m not sure about “the original protest lyrics”. Other tracks on this CD include Otis Redding’s version of “A Change Is Gonna Come” and the Impressions’ “We’re A Winner”. All relevant given that yesterday was Martin Luther King Day.
Mike Edwards
We received the "standard" Drifters version from a few readers ... but no leads on this "protest" version that Mark was referring to. Anybody got any ideas on this? (kk)
The lyrics as originally written, as a protest about sitting in the back of the bus, etc, were NEVER recorded by ANYONE. After the song was re-written, the protest was that you had this black group recording a song singing about growing up to be president, in an era when such a thing was not even thinkable (remember, in this era, african american artists couldn't even be pictured on the front of album covers because the record labels felt it would hurt their sales!!).
Read more about it here: http://spectropop.com/hleiberstoller.html#only
Tom Diehl
Great article ... and a great history lesson. (Makes you wonder what the original lyrics actually were!!!) This is probably why most people have never heard The Drifters' version of this tune ... meanwhile, Jay and the Americans scored a decent-sized hit with their nearly identical cover version. (kk)
re: SUMMER SUN:
>>>I wanted to ask if anybody has an mp3 of Jamestown Massacre - Summer Sun, that they could send me? I've looked on iTunes, Amazon, Deep Discounts and other sites but cannot find this song anywhere. There are a couple of postings on YouTube but the sound quality is not so good. Can anyone help me out? I'd really appreciate it. It's such a great song!! Sounds like it should have been on Chicago's III album, lol!! Thanks for your help. (Eddie Burke)
FYI, this song is on Bob Stroud's Rock and Roll Roots Vol 2.
Bill Hengels
As attested to by one of our readers (in the PREVIOUS "Helping Out Our Readers" column), you've probably got a better chance of inviting Jamestown Massacre over to your house and having them perform this song "live" in your living room than you do of tracking down a copy of "Rock And Roll Roots, Volume 2"!!! Actually, I sent Eddie an MP3 ('cause it's SUCH a great song!) and posted it again on our web page the other day (for the very same reason!) Speaking of which, I'll run reader Scott Sroka's request one more time trying to track down copies of the first three Bob Stroud "Rock And Roll Roots" CDs ...
Hello.
I was doing a google search and came across your blog this evening. I saw that you, like myself, collect Bob Stroud's Rock 'N Roll Roots CD's. I grew up in Chicago and share this special CD set with my father. Ever year since Vol. 4 came out, he buys the newest one and sends it to me for Christmas. (He is still in Chicago and I have long since moved to Los Angeles.) Once I receive it, I burn him a copy and send it back to him. (He always tells me to keep the original as I'm the collector and he just wants the music) It's become a tradition between us for about 10 years now. Hard as I try, though, I can not hunt down copies of the first three volumes. It looks to be that you have copies of these three ... very cool!
I am usually quite savvy tracking down and buying rare and out of print CD's and LP's (I have over 6,500 CD's and about the equivalent in LP's along with 4 boxes of Cassettes and even some 8 tracks for good measure). Needless to say I have a music addiction and am quite a collector even today in the age of digital. What can I say, that's what I grew up with. I'm sure you can understand that.I am not foolish enough to ask you to sell me your copies ... I know better. Coming from a guy who just dropped $150 on a rare self released CD from a little to unknown band out of Champaign / Urbana on Ebay just yesterday. (Hum is their name, the CD Fillet Show ... it took me 17 years to find a copy!) ...I also hope to someday track down my very own (and I will if it takes me the rest of my life). However, in the mean time can I ask you the very special favor of seeing if ANYONE who reads your Forgotten Hits publication might have additional copies of these first three volumes available?Honestly, it is more for my old man than myself, as that was his era in the 60's. That being said, I too have a fine appreciation for that decade thanks to him as well. Truth be told I am into all different styles from 20's Jazz through today's Heavy Metal and all in between (well, I am not a rap fan or new school pop country but you understand my point). Please, it would mean a great deal to me to be able to share copies of these with my father. Please help out a fellow music lover and the one whom gave me the appreciation I hold for it (my father) that has in turn formatted my entire life. Literally, I was even named after a song (Watching Scotty Grow written by Mac Davis, made famous by Bobby Goldsboro). It would truly be a Christmas to treasure for both my dad and me (or at least late Christmas) if I had copies of Bob Stroud's Rock 'N Roll Roots Volumes 1, 2 and 3. Thanks for hearing me out and have a safe and blessed holiday and New Year!!
Peace Love Music
Scott Sroka
Again, if anybody out there has an extra copy of Volumes 1, 2 or 3, please drop me a note and we'll see if we can help this guy out. Thanks! (kk)
re: TRYING TO LOCATE ... :
Bob Nasca sent a message to the members of Chicago rock bands 1960's.
Looking for James Bryant
Rob Maertz is looking for an old buddy. Here's what we know so far from Rob:I wonder if anyone recalls this band The Proper Strangers.
Bobby Sims, a member of Proper Strangers, was also a founding member of the band Rotary Connection. My main interest is I'm trying to find out whatever happened to James Bryant, who played organ with the Proper Strangers for a few years. I worked with James in Wisconsin bands for a few years.Jim's one major accomplishment was managing the Neighborhood when they recorded "Big Yellow Taxi", and I was told he had something to do with producing the song.He played / recorded under the names Jim Bartleme, Jamie Bryant, James Bryant and, according to Gary Myers' "On That Wisconsin Beat", Jim also used the name James O'Conner.
Thanks!
I know that this one has been circulating through a few sources here in town ... but if anyone out there can provide a lead or some contact information, please let me know. Thanks! (kk)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
DON KIRSHNER
re: DON KIRSHNER:
Many of us first learned of Don Kirshner through his connection with The Monkees. Several others discovered him in the '70's thanks to his very successful "Rock Concert" television series. Some knew that his career dated back to the early '50's when he and his best pal Bobby Darin used to go door-to-door trying to sell their radio jingles to the big publishing houses in New York City.
Kirshner certainly had a long and successful career. (Funnily enough the only time he ever got fired very well may have been at the hands of The Pre-Fab Four ... the story of Michael Nesmith putting his fist through a wall and tell Kirshner, "This could have been your head" is legendary!!!)
Don Kirshner passed away on Tuesday, January 18th, leaving behind a publishing empire and a long legacy of musical accomplishments. As a publishing mogul, his stable of songwriters included Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and later, Neil Diamond. Long successful in the industry to those in the know, Kirshner became a household name through his connection with The Monkees and his ABC Television Series "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert." After "parting ways" with The Monkees, Kirshner spearheaded The Archies, a musical / cartoon series than spawned the #1 Hit "Sugar Sugar". (It was a pretty safe bet that Donnie wouldn't experience "creative differences" with a cartoon character!) Incredibly, after the success of "Rock Concert", Kirshner signed the rock band Kansas to the record label that now bore his name.
Here are just a couple of emails that we received before press time. (kk)
Rock impresario Don Kirshner, who gave the music world the Monkees, the Archies and "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" TV program, died Monday (January 17) of heart failure at his home in Boca Raton, Florida. He was 76. Don-- known as "the man with the golden ear"-- first hooked up with Bobby Darin, writing commercial jingles in the mid-1950s, then formed his Aldon Music publishing firm with Al Nevins near New York's Brill Building. He employed such songwriters as Carole King, Neil Sedaka and Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil and even managed to release a hit record on his own label (the Ran-Dells' "Martian Hop" on Chairman Records in 1963). By the mid-60's, Don became involved with Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, the producers of "The Monkees" TV show, handling music chores for the show. Utilizing writing talent like Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart ("Last Train To Clarksville") and Neil Diamond ("I'm A Believer"), the show became a huge success, both on television and in the record stores. A disagreement with Michael Nesmith over the unauthorized release of a single without a Nesmith composition in 1967 led to Don's dismissal. But he quickly jumped on the bubblegum bandwagon, utilizing artists like Ron Dante, Andy Kim and Toni Wine as the "real" group behind the Saturday morning "Archies" cartoon show. Releasing the fictitious group's recordings on his own Calendar label (and later Kirshner Records, which was also known for the group Kansas), he scored a #1 record with "Sugar, Sugar" in 1969. In 1972, Don became executive producer and creative consultant to ABC-TV on their "In Concert" program, but left shortly afterwards to create his own "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" show with himself as host. He also co-produced the short-lived musical sitcom, "A Year At The Top," in 1977. Don was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.
-- Ron Smith
Songwriter and rock producer Don Kirshner died of heart failure on Monday at the age of 77 in Boca Raton, Fla. Kirshner wrote You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling and managed songwriting talent including Neil Sedaka, Carole King, Howard Greenfield and many others, providing songs for The Monkees’ TV program in the 1960’s, including I’m a Believer.
Don will be missed!
If you'd like to share any stories about Don, please do!
God rest his soul!
Wild Bill
Don Kirshner dead at age 76. Who has exploited pop music more, Don Kirshner or Dick Clark?
FH has a couple of artists on the list who dealt with him. Can't wait to hear their thoughts.
Jack
I remember Donnie as one of the "suits" that originally came out to the West Coast from New York and would appear at some of the studio sessions. At first, I really didn't know what he did.
It wasn't until years later that I realized what a profound influence he had had on the the choice of material that The Monkees produced.
And for that, I am eternally grateful.
-- Micky Dolenz
(curently touring in Europe with HAIRSPRAY)
Several years ago I had the opportunity to interview Ron Dante, lead singer of The Archies, the band that Don Kirshner launched after his deal with The Monkees fell apart. (The running gag at the time was that Kirshner could now officially call ALL of the shots ... since a cartoon couldn't really fight back!!!) But the truth is, Ron Dante was a VERY real person ... however, at the time the deal stipulated that he remain a nameless, faceless voice on The Archies' records. I couldn't help asking him about this arrangement:
FORGOTTEN HITS: OK ... at SOME point, SOME of these thoughts just HAD to be going through your head!!! You stress the fact that you and DON KIRSHNER had been friends for a long, long time ... and, obviously, your work with THE ARCHIES made TONS of money for DON KIRSHNER and his record label and publishing company. Yet again, you remained (for the most part, at the time) anonymous. Even though this was always "the deal" ... and you all knew up-front that this was the deal ... did it ever bother you that you were the one doing all the work and HE was the one receiving all the credit for being a musical genius?!?!? Did anybody EVER have ANY idea, in their WILDEST imaginations, that THE ARCHIES could explode the way that they did? Six straight Top 40 Hits ... and The Record Of The Year in 1969 for SUGAR, SUGAR!!! And what about credibility issues ... I mean your records were being printed on the back of cereal boxes for God's sake!!! Come on ... dish ... didn't any of that start to drive you crazy at the time?!?!?
RON DANTE: Yes to ALL of what you've said. Don make a ton of money while the studio singers and players did not. I certainly wanted the credit for singing the record of the year but it was not to be. Both Don Kirshner and Jeff Barry were hit makers so it did not come as a surprise to me when The Archies became a phenom.
More "hard-hitting" questions from that interview:
When I first get an opportunity to interview somebody, I never really quite know what to prepare ... how many questions are they going to be willing to answer? What should that very first question be? I want to sound intelligent and at least somewhat informed but also want to leave them plenty of room to fill in some of the blanks so that even the most casual fan will still be entertained. With RON DANTE, it was easy ... once I explained who I was, what I did and what I was hoping to do ... and he agreed to doing the interview ... the first question was a natural:
FORGOTTEN HITS: Hi Ron! I guess the very first, most OBVIOUS question that I should ask you is: WHO'S THAT BANGIN' ON THE PIANO??? (Inquiring minds want to know!!!)
RON DANTE: Hello Kent. An interview sounds fine with me. Send me your questions or telephone number and we can talk sometime. All the best, Ron. P.S. Lee Pockriss banged the piano.
(I know, I know ... it's hard-hitting journalism like that that keeps you folks coming back to Forgotten Hits! lol) kk
RON DANTE had been working for DON KIRSHNER's ALDON MUSIC, cutting demo recordings of songs written by KIRSHNER's vast empire of songwriting geniuses like GERRY GOFFIN and CAROLE KING and NEIL SEDAKA and HOWARD GREENFIELD. In fact, LEADER OF THE PACK was written by noted songwriters JEFF BARRY and ELLIE GREENWICH. (The parody LEADER OF THE LAUNDROMAT, which became RON DANTE's first chart recorded when he recorded it as part of THE DETERGENTS, was composed by PAUL VANCE and LEE POCKRISS, who had already written a few hit songs of their own together, placing earlier efforts with material and artists as diverse as CATCH A FALLING STAR by PERRY COMO and ITSY BITSY TEENIE WEENIE YELLOW POLKA-DOT BIKINI by BRIAN HYLAND! Ironically, 45 years later, the version of ITSY BITSY TEENIE WEENIE YELLOW POLKA-DOT BIKINI that you currently hear all the time on TV advertising YOPLAIT YOGURT is sung by none other than RON DANTE!!!) They had heard DANTE's voice on some of KIRSHNER's demos and enlisted him to sing the lead on LEADER OF THE LAUNDROMAT. VANCE's nephew DANNY JORDAN and vocalist TOMMY WYNN were also recruited to round-out the trio. THE DETERGENTS' parody went all the way to #11 on The Cash Box Chart. In fact, they even toured as part of DICK CLARK's CARAVAN OF STARS!
FORGOTTEN HITS: RON DANTE is probably MOST famous as the voice of THE ARCHIES. However, your career dates back further than this. How did you FIRST get involved in the record business? Who were some of YOUR early influences and inspirations and how did you first get your foot in the door in order to follow in their footsteps?
RON DANTE: My first real job in the music business was signing a songwriting deal with the legendary music man Don Kirshner's publishing firm Aldon Music. A few of his staff songwriters heard me audition and brought me in to meet "Donnie," as he was called. Don signed me that day and became a friend for life. I also was the staff demo singer doing demos for all his writers like Neil Sedaka, Carole King, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil and tons of others. My early influences were Elvis, The Everly Brothers, The New York doo wop groups and Chuck Berry and, of course, Little Richard and Fats Domino.
FH: The first time most of us heard RON DANTE on the radio was in the novelty hit, LEADER OF THE LAUNDROMAT by THE DETERGENTS. Was that pretty much a studio band created solely for the purposes of making that record or had you guys worked together before?
RD: The other Detergents were Danny Jordan and Tommy Wynn. They were staff writers at Don Kirshner's Aldon Music and we wrote many songs together. Danny's Uncle was a hit song writer by the name of Paul Vance. He asked the us to come in one night and put our voices on Leader of the Laundromat. The next thing we knew it was out as a single and a hit. We did an album in a week to catch up with the single while is was on the charts.
FH: Your biggest break, of course, came by way of THE ARCHIES. This, of course, put you working pretty much hand-in-hand with the legendary DON KIRSHNER. Now you had known and worked with KIRSHNER prior to this experience ... what was his actual involvement with THE ARCHIES? Selecting Material? Marketing? Strategy? What were the original goals set for developing this "band" ... do you feel that you achieved these goals? And how did those goals change as time went on (especially after SUGAR, SUGAR was SO big out of the box)?
RD: I knew Don Kirshner from my early days at his publishing company, Aldon Music and from Screen Gems where he was President of the Music Division. Don picked the producer, Jeff Barry, to write and produce The Archies' material. I had worked with Jeff before, also doing background singing for him around that time. Don helped pick the songs but left the arrangements to Jeff totally. The original goal of The Archies was to keep it a cartoon and the keep the voices behind it a mystery. That game plan never changed all through the four years the show was on the air.
FH: Over the years, we've heard about the friction between DON KIRSHNER and TONI WINE, who handled the majority of the female lead voices on THE ARCHIES' records. What can you tell us about the fall-out between TONI WINE and DON KIRSHNER (now that the statutes of limitations has passed LOL!!!) And was RAY STEVENS really involved in these recordings???RD: Ray Stevens played tambourine on Sugar, Sugar and did hand claps with Jeff Barry, Toni Wine and myself. Toni stopped recording with The Archies (rightfully so) when no attempt was made to compensate her for all her for all her talented singing. Today she is good friends with Don Kirshner and he's made amends.
(She also performs with Ron in concert from time to time these days! - kk)
FH: KIRSHNER had been around the music business for QUITE some time by 1969. (He used to write jingles with his old Brooklyn buddy BOBBY DARIN in the mid-'50's prior to assembling his ULTRA successful stable of songwriters.) This had to be a VERY frustrating time for DONNIE, coming off having just being fired from THE MONKEES ... especially after making them the BIGGEST group on the planet at the time! (Also, it's been reported for decades now that THE MONKEES turned down SUGAR, SUGAR as being "too bubblegum" for the image they were trying to portray at the time ... but I've since heard that this is absolutely not true ... they were never even offered the song. Can you confirm or deny???)
RD: All I know is that Sugar, Sugar was written directly for The Archies. Andy Kim told me of a conversation with Jeff Barry where he asked Andy to write some songs for our group. Kirshner may have played the song for the Monkees, but I doubt it.
FH: Speaking of THE MONKEES ... in 1970 (when the band was down to just a duo of MICKY DOLENZ and DAVY JONES), both ANDY KIM and JEFF BARRY got together to write and produce their (at the time) final album. This had to be right in the thick of all THE ARCHIES stuff that they were involved with. Do you have any memories regarding this period? Were you in any way involved in THE MONKEES' CHANGES album?
RD: I auditioned for the Monkees but was beat out by Davy Jones getting the part. I had produced a few singles on Davy with my Detergent friends Danny Jordan and Tommy Wynn for Colgems Records and knew and liked him. After they became the biggest group in the world, I didn't have any contact with them for many years. I'm friends with Davy and Micky today and perform some Monkees songs as part of my stage act.
FH: Tell us a little bit more about your audition for THE MONKEES ... what was that whole experience like? And then, watching them explode around the world as the biggest thing happening musically on the planet! What early DAVY JONES tracks were you involved with? Were any of your compositions submitted to THE MONKEES for consideration?
RD: I auditioned with hundreds of others in New York. It was a cattle call and I even backed some friends up playing guitar. We all knew this was going to be a hit show since Don Kirshner was doing the music supervision.
FH: When did it first become public knowledge that you were the lead singer for THE ARCHIES?
RD: Two years after the Archies came out, I did a solo album and Kirshner took out tons of ads announcing I was the voice of The Archies.
For three consecutive weeks in October / November of 1969, RON DANTE had TWO songs in Billboard's Top Ten ... yet virtually NOBODY knew who he was!!! That's because (despite the fact that he was the lead singer of both THE ARCHIES ... who's latest single, SUGAR, SUGAR had just topped the charts for four straight weeks ... and THE CUFF LINKS ... who's debut single TRACY was quickly rising into The National Top Ten), RON DANTE filled those roles in an anonymous position ... NOBODY was supposed to know that he was heading up these two fictitious bands!!! The gamble paid off ... THE ARCHIES would have a total of six Top 40 Pop Hits between 1968 and 1970 ... and THE CUFF LINKS hit The Top 40 twice ... first with the aforementioned Top Ten Hit TRACY ... and then again with their follow-up release, WHEN JULIE COMES AROUND.
FH: In 1969 you had TWO songs in the Top Ten at the same time ... yet NOBODY really knew ... or was supposed to know ... who RON DANTE was!!! Meanwhile, TRACY (by THE CUFF LINKS) and SUGAR, SUGAR (by THE ARCHIES) fought each other for chart position back in 1969!!! What was that like ... having TWO Top Ten Records ... and receiving virtually NO recognition for it?!?!?
RD: Having both Sugar, Sugar and Tracy as hits at the same time was a dream come true. I always wanted to be on the radio and this was twice the airplay all over the world. Tracy was also a hit in the UK, too. The fact that my name was not on those records did not bother me too much. I knew the word would get out as to who was the lead singer and good things would follow. They did. I ended up being one of the top jingle singers in the business during those years and had my own solo album coming out. Those were wonderful days.
FH: To a degree, the success of your whole career has been almost as an anonymous, faceless presence ... we all know the voice, but (at the time anyway) the name of RON DANTE never really came into play. Was this a conscious move on your part? Was there a specific reason for staying behind the scenes ... something as simple as stagefright perhaps ... or were you simply a victim of circumstances? (Obviously, behind the scenes you could be on as many different recordings as you wanted ... but did you ever miss the spotlight? The touring and reaction from the fans? The simple acknowledgment of your talent?) Now that you're making live appearances, what is it like performing for a live audience? For the most part, are the people who come out to see these shows already familiar with your work ... or are they somewhat surprised by some of the material you've been involved with? And, what does a RON DANTE concert generally cover?
RD: Not using my name was not my idea and it just happened that way. As a singer by trade, I just sang as much as possible and in almost any circumstances. My concerts usually consist of my Archie hits: Sugar, Sugar, Jingle Jangle and Bang Shang A Lang, along with a couple of my Cuff Link hits, Tracy and When Julie Comes Around. I also include songs by The Monkees, The Ohio Express, The Turtles and The Dave Clark Five. I have to do at least one song from my Manilow days and a bunch of commercials.
Many of us first learned of Don Kirshner through his connection with The Monkees. Several others discovered him in the '70's thanks to his very successful "Rock Concert" television series. Some knew that his career dated back to the early '50's when he and his best pal Bobby Darin used to go door-to-door trying to sell their radio jingles to the big publishing houses in New York City.
Kirshner certainly had a long and successful career. (Funnily enough the only time he ever got fired very well may have been at the hands of The Pre-Fab Four ... the story of Michael Nesmith putting his fist through a wall and tell Kirshner, "This could have been your head" is legendary!!!)
Don Kirshner passed away on Tuesday, January 18th, leaving behind a publishing empire and a long legacy of musical accomplishments. As a publishing mogul, his stable of songwriters included Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and later, Neil Diamond. Long successful in the industry to those in the know, Kirshner became a household name through his connection with The Monkees and his ABC Television Series "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert." After "parting ways" with The Monkees, Kirshner spearheaded The Archies, a musical / cartoon series than spawned the #1 Hit "Sugar Sugar". (It was a pretty safe bet that Donnie wouldn't experience "creative differences" with a cartoon character!) Incredibly, after the success of "Rock Concert", Kirshner signed the rock band Kansas to the record label that now bore his name.
Here are just a couple of emails that we received before press time. (kk)
Rock impresario Don Kirshner, who gave the music world the Monkees, the Archies and "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" TV program, died Monday (January 17) of heart failure at his home in Boca Raton, Florida. He was 76. Don-- known as "the man with the golden ear"-- first hooked up with Bobby Darin, writing commercial jingles in the mid-1950s, then formed his Aldon Music publishing firm with Al Nevins near New York's Brill Building. He employed such songwriters as Carole King, Neil Sedaka and Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil and even managed to release a hit record on his own label (the Ran-Dells' "Martian Hop" on Chairman Records in 1963). By the mid-60's, Don became involved with Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, the producers of "The Monkees" TV show, handling music chores for the show. Utilizing writing talent like Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart ("Last Train To Clarksville") and Neil Diamond ("I'm A Believer"), the show became a huge success, both on television and in the record stores. A disagreement with Michael Nesmith over the unauthorized release of a single without a Nesmith composition in 1967 led to Don's dismissal. But he quickly jumped on the bubblegum bandwagon, utilizing artists like Ron Dante, Andy Kim and Toni Wine as the "real" group behind the Saturday morning "Archies" cartoon show. Releasing the fictitious group's recordings on his own Calendar label (and later Kirshner Records, which was also known for the group Kansas), he scored a #1 record with "Sugar, Sugar" in 1969. In 1972, Don became executive producer and creative consultant to ABC-TV on their "In Concert" program, but left shortly afterwards to create his own "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" show with himself as host. He also co-produced the short-lived musical sitcom, "A Year At The Top," in 1977. Don was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.
-- Ron Smith
Songwriter and rock producer Don Kirshner died of heart failure on Monday at the age of 77 in Boca Raton, Fla. Kirshner wrote You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling and managed songwriting talent including Neil Sedaka, Carole King, Howard Greenfield and many others, providing songs for The Monkees’ TV program in the 1960’s, including I’m a Believer.
Don will be missed!
If you'd like to share any stories about Don, please do!
God rest his soul!
Wild Bill
Don Kirshner dead at age 76. Who has exploited pop music more, Don Kirshner or Dick Clark?
FH has a couple of artists on the list who dealt with him. Can't wait to hear their thoughts.
Jack
I remember Donnie as one of the "suits" that originally came out to the West Coast from New York and would appear at some of the studio sessions. At first, I really didn't know what he did.
It wasn't until years later that I realized what a profound influence he had had on the the choice of material that The Monkees produced.
And for that, I am eternally grateful.
-- Micky Dolenz
(curently touring in Europe with HAIRSPRAY)
Several years ago I had the opportunity to interview Ron Dante, lead singer of The Archies, the band that Don Kirshner launched after his deal with The Monkees fell apart. (The running gag at the time was that Kirshner could now officially call ALL of the shots ... since a cartoon couldn't really fight back!!!) But the truth is, Ron Dante was a VERY real person ... however, at the time the deal stipulated that he remain a nameless, faceless voice on The Archies' records. I couldn't help asking him about this arrangement:
FORGOTTEN HITS: OK ... at SOME point, SOME of these thoughts just HAD to be going through your head!!! You stress the fact that you and DON KIRSHNER had been friends for a long, long time ... and, obviously, your work with THE ARCHIES made TONS of money for DON KIRSHNER and his record label and publishing company. Yet again, you remained (for the most part, at the time) anonymous. Even though this was always "the deal" ... and you all knew up-front that this was the deal ... did it ever bother you that you were the one doing all the work and HE was the one receiving all the credit for being a musical genius?!?!? Did anybody EVER have ANY idea, in their WILDEST imaginations, that THE ARCHIES could explode the way that they did? Six straight Top 40 Hits ... and The Record Of The Year in 1969 for SUGAR, SUGAR!!! And what about credibility issues ... I mean your records were being printed on the back of cereal boxes for God's sake!!! Come on ... dish ... didn't any of that start to drive you crazy at the time?!?!?
RON DANTE: Yes to ALL of what you've said. Don make a ton of money while the studio singers and players did not. I certainly wanted the credit for singing the record of the year but it was not to be. Both Don Kirshner and Jeff Barry were hit makers so it did not come as a surprise to me when The Archies became a phenom.
More "hard-hitting" questions from that interview:
When I first get an opportunity to interview somebody, I never really quite know what to prepare ... how many questions are they going to be willing to answer? What should that very first question be? I want to sound intelligent and at least somewhat informed but also want to leave them plenty of room to fill in some of the blanks so that even the most casual fan will still be entertained. With RON DANTE, it was easy ... once I explained who I was, what I did and what I was hoping to do ... and he agreed to doing the interview ... the first question was a natural:
FORGOTTEN HITS: Hi Ron! I guess the very first, most OBVIOUS question that I should ask you is: WHO'S THAT BANGIN' ON THE PIANO??? (Inquiring minds want to know!!!)
RON DANTE: Hello Kent. An interview sounds fine with me. Send me your questions or telephone number and we can talk sometime. All the best, Ron. P.S. Lee Pockriss banged the piano.
(I know, I know ... it's hard-hitting journalism like that that keeps you folks coming back to Forgotten Hits! lol) kk
RON DANTE had been working for DON KIRSHNER's ALDON MUSIC, cutting demo recordings of songs written by KIRSHNER's vast empire of songwriting geniuses like GERRY GOFFIN and CAROLE KING and NEIL SEDAKA and HOWARD GREENFIELD. In fact, LEADER OF THE PACK was written by noted songwriters JEFF BARRY and ELLIE GREENWICH. (The parody LEADER OF THE LAUNDROMAT, which became RON DANTE's first chart recorded when he recorded it as part of THE DETERGENTS, was composed by PAUL VANCE and LEE POCKRISS, who had already written a few hit songs of their own together, placing earlier efforts with material and artists as diverse as CATCH A FALLING STAR by PERRY COMO and ITSY BITSY TEENIE WEENIE YELLOW POLKA-DOT BIKINI by BRIAN HYLAND! Ironically, 45 years later, the version of ITSY BITSY TEENIE WEENIE YELLOW POLKA-DOT BIKINI that you currently hear all the time on TV advertising YOPLAIT YOGURT is sung by none other than RON DANTE!!!) They had heard DANTE's voice on some of KIRSHNER's demos and enlisted him to sing the lead on LEADER OF THE LAUNDROMAT. VANCE's nephew DANNY JORDAN and vocalist TOMMY WYNN were also recruited to round-out the trio. THE DETERGENTS' parody went all the way to #11 on The Cash Box Chart. In fact, they even toured as part of DICK CLARK's CARAVAN OF STARS!
FORGOTTEN HITS: RON DANTE is probably MOST famous as the voice of THE ARCHIES. However, your career dates back further than this. How did you FIRST get involved in the record business? Who were some of YOUR early influences and inspirations and how did you first get your foot in the door in order to follow in their footsteps?
RON DANTE: My first real job in the music business was signing a songwriting deal with the legendary music man Don Kirshner's publishing firm Aldon Music. A few of his staff songwriters heard me audition and brought me in to meet "Donnie," as he was called. Don signed me that day and became a friend for life. I also was the staff demo singer doing demos for all his writers like Neil Sedaka, Carole King, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil and tons of others. My early influences were Elvis, The Everly Brothers, The New York doo wop groups and Chuck Berry and, of course, Little Richard and Fats Domino.
FH: The first time most of us heard RON DANTE on the radio was in the novelty hit, LEADER OF THE LAUNDROMAT by THE DETERGENTS. Was that pretty much a studio band created solely for the purposes of making that record or had you guys worked together before?
RD: The other Detergents were Danny Jordan and Tommy Wynn. They were staff writers at Don Kirshner's Aldon Music and we wrote many songs together. Danny's Uncle was a hit song writer by the name of Paul Vance. He asked the us to come in one night and put our voices on Leader of the Laundromat. The next thing we knew it was out as a single and a hit. We did an album in a week to catch up with the single while is was on the charts.
FH: Your biggest break, of course, came by way of THE ARCHIES. This, of course, put you working pretty much hand-in-hand with the legendary DON KIRSHNER. Now you had known and worked with KIRSHNER prior to this experience ... what was his actual involvement with THE ARCHIES? Selecting Material? Marketing? Strategy? What were the original goals set for developing this "band" ... do you feel that you achieved these goals? And how did those goals change as time went on (especially after SUGAR, SUGAR was SO big out of the box)?
RD: I knew Don Kirshner from my early days at his publishing company, Aldon Music and from Screen Gems where he was President of the Music Division. Don picked the producer, Jeff Barry, to write and produce The Archies' material. I had worked with Jeff before, also doing background singing for him around that time. Don helped pick the songs but left the arrangements to Jeff totally. The original goal of The Archies was to keep it a cartoon and the keep the voices behind it a mystery. That game plan never changed all through the four years the show was on the air.
FH: Over the years, we've heard about the friction between DON KIRSHNER and TONI WINE, who handled the majority of the female lead voices on THE ARCHIES' records. What can you tell us about the fall-out between TONI WINE and DON KIRSHNER (now that the statutes of limitations has passed LOL!!!) And was RAY STEVENS really involved in these recordings???RD: Ray Stevens played tambourine on Sugar, Sugar and did hand claps with Jeff Barry, Toni Wine and myself. Toni stopped recording with The Archies (rightfully so) when no attempt was made to compensate her for all her for all her talented singing. Today she is good friends with Don Kirshner and he's made amends.
(She also performs with Ron in concert from time to time these days! - kk)
FH: KIRSHNER had been around the music business for QUITE some time by 1969. (He used to write jingles with his old Brooklyn buddy BOBBY DARIN in the mid-'50's prior to assembling his ULTRA successful stable of songwriters.) This had to be a VERY frustrating time for DONNIE, coming off having just being fired from THE MONKEES ... especially after making them the BIGGEST group on the planet at the time! (Also, it's been reported for decades now that THE MONKEES turned down SUGAR, SUGAR as being "too bubblegum" for the image they were trying to portray at the time ... but I've since heard that this is absolutely not true ... they were never even offered the song. Can you confirm or deny???)
RD: All I know is that Sugar, Sugar was written directly for The Archies. Andy Kim told me of a conversation with Jeff Barry where he asked Andy to write some songs for our group. Kirshner may have played the song for the Monkees, but I doubt it.
FH: Speaking of THE MONKEES ... in 1970 (when the band was down to just a duo of MICKY DOLENZ and DAVY JONES), both ANDY KIM and JEFF BARRY got together to write and produce their (at the time) final album. This had to be right in the thick of all THE ARCHIES stuff that they were involved with. Do you have any memories regarding this period? Were you in any way involved in THE MONKEES' CHANGES album?
RD: I auditioned for the Monkees but was beat out by Davy Jones getting the part. I had produced a few singles on Davy with my Detergent friends Danny Jordan and Tommy Wynn for Colgems Records and knew and liked him. After they became the biggest group in the world, I didn't have any contact with them for many years. I'm friends with Davy and Micky today and perform some Monkees songs as part of my stage act.
FH: Tell us a little bit more about your audition for THE MONKEES ... what was that whole experience like? And then, watching them explode around the world as the biggest thing happening musically on the planet! What early DAVY JONES tracks were you involved with? Were any of your compositions submitted to THE MONKEES for consideration?
RD: I auditioned with hundreds of others in New York. It was a cattle call and I even backed some friends up playing guitar. We all knew this was going to be a hit show since Don Kirshner was doing the music supervision.
FH: When did it first become public knowledge that you were the lead singer for THE ARCHIES?
RD: Two years after the Archies came out, I did a solo album and Kirshner took out tons of ads announcing I was the voice of The Archies.
For three consecutive weeks in October / November of 1969, RON DANTE had TWO songs in Billboard's Top Ten ... yet virtually NOBODY knew who he was!!! That's because (despite the fact that he was the lead singer of both THE ARCHIES ... who's latest single, SUGAR, SUGAR had just topped the charts for four straight weeks ... and THE CUFF LINKS ... who's debut single TRACY was quickly rising into The National Top Ten), RON DANTE filled those roles in an anonymous position ... NOBODY was supposed to know that he was heading up these two fictitious bands!!! The gamble paid off ... THE ARCHIES would have a total of six Top 40 Pop Hits between 1968 and 1970 ... and THE CUFF LINKS hit The Top 40 twice ... first with the aforementioned Top Ten Hit TRACY ... and then again with their follow-up release, WHEN JULIE COMES AROUND.
FH: In 1969 you had TWO songs in the Top Ten at the same time ... yet NOBODY really knew ... or was supposed to know ... who RON DANTE was!!! Meanwhile, TRACY (by THE CUFF LINKS) and SUGAR, SUGAR (by THE ARCHIES) fought each other for chart position back in 1969!!! What was that like ... having TWO Top Ten Records ... and receiving virtually NO recognition for it?!?!?
RD: Having both Sugar, Sugar and Tracy as hits at the same time was a dream come true. I always wanted to be on the radio and this was twice the airplay all over the world. Tracy was also a hit in the UK, too. The fact that my name was not on those records did not bother me too much. I knew the word would get out as to who was the lead singer and good things would follow. They did. I ended up being one of the top jingle singers in the business during those years and had my own solo album coming out. Those were wonderful days.
FH: To a degree, the success of your whole career has been almost as an anonymous, faceless presence ... we all know the voice, but (at the time anyway) the name of RON DANTE never really came into play. Was this a conscious move on your part? Was there a specific reason for staying behind the scenes ... something as simple as stagefright perhaps ... or were you simply a victim of circumstances? (Obviously, behind the scenes you could be on as many different recordings as you wanted ... but did you ever miss the spotlight? The touring and reaction from the fans? The simple acknowledgment of your talent?) Now that you're making live appearances, what is it like performing for a live audience? For the most part, are the people who come out to see these shows already familiar with your work ... or are they somewhat surprised by some of the material you've been involved with? And, what does a RON DANTE concert generally cover?
RD: Not using my name was not my idea and it just happened that way. As a singer by trade, I just sang as much as possible and in almost any circumstances. My concerts usually consist of my Archie hits: Sugar, Sugar, Jingle Jangle and Bang Shang A Lang, along with a couple of my Cuff Link hits, Tracy and When Julie Comes Around. I also include songs by The Monkees, The Ohio Express, The Turtles and The Dave Clark Five. I have to do at least one song from my Manilow days and a bunch of commercials.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
How To Make A Hit Record
re: HOW TO MAKE A HIT RECORD:
>>>How Vinyl Records Are Made – If they could only tell us how Hit Records are made, that would be something. (Frank B.)
One of your readers wanted to know or wondered how to make a "hit record" ...
I believe Brook Benton answered that question back in 1962 on Mercury records.
Larry Neal
He sure did ... with one of MY favorites, too! (Talk about your Forgotten Hits!!!) You know, when oldies radio first started back in the early '70's, one of the most-played oldies I remember was "The Boll Weevil Song" by Brook Benton ... in fact, it was how I first discovered this tune. Today, the ONLY song you're likely to hear by Brook is "Rainy Night In Georgia", a #2 Hit from 1970. That means oldies radio has chosen to ignore 26 of Brook Benton's Top 40 Hits that came before it ... and that's just WRONG!!! You've probably heard his duets with Dinah Washington in a movie or two ("Baby, You've Got What It Takes", #2, 1960, and "A Rockin' Good Way", #5, 1960) ... but what about his OTHER legitimate Top Ten Hits like "It's Just A Matter Of Time" (#2, 1959); "Thank You, Pretty Baby" (#10, 1959); "So Many Ways" (#3, 1959); "Kiddio" (#3, 1960); "Think Twice" (#7, 1961); "The Boll Weevil Song" (#2, 1961); and "Hotel Happiness" (#3, 1963)? These songs are destined to disappear FOREVER ... as though they never even happened ... because radio has ignored them for SO many years. We'll promise to feature at least ONE of these in our new "Today's Forgotten Hit" feature somewhere down the road ... and play "Hit Record" here today ... a VERY clever, upbeat song that peaked at #36 back in 1962. (kk)
Of course making a hit record just might also lead to winning a Grammy! ...
re: FROM ONE OF THIS YEAR'S GRAMMY NOMINEES:
Kent -
This was on our local CH 19 TV News the other day ... I've done so many TV, Radio and Press Interviews lately, I am totally hoarse from talking!
Merrell
Click here: YouTube - Merrell Fankhauser for Grammy
>>>How Vinyl Records Are Made – If they could only tell us how Hit Records are made, that would be something. (Frank B.)
One of your readers wanted to know or wondered how to make a "hit record" ...
I believe Brook Benton answered that question back in 1962 on Mercury records.
Larry Neal
He sure did ... with one of MY favorites, too! (Talk about your Forgotten Hits!!!) You know, when oldies radio first started back in the early '70's, one of the most-played oldies I remember was "The Boll Weevil Song" by Brook Benton ... in fact, it was how I first discovered this tune. Today, the ONLY song you're likely to hear by Brook is "Rainy Night In Georgia", a #2 Hit from 1970. That means oldies radio has chosen to ignore 26 of Brook Benton's Top 40 Hits that came before it ... and that's just WRONG!!! You've probably heard his duets with Dinah Washington in a movie or two ("Baby, You've Got What It Takes", #2, 1960, and "A Rockin' Good Way", #5, 1960) ... but what about his OTHER legitimate Top Ten Hits like "It's Just A Matter Of Time" (#2, 1959); "Thank You, Pretty Baby" (#10, 1959); "So Many Ways" (#3, 1959); "Kiddio" (#3, 1960); "Think Twice" (#7, 1961); "The Boll Weevil Song" (#2, 1961); and "Hotel Happiness" (#3, 1963)? These songs are destined to disappear FOREVER ... as though they never even happened ... because radio has ignored them for SO many years. We'll promise to feature at least ONE of these in our new "Today's Forgotten Hit" feature somewhere down the road ... and play "Hit Record" here today ... a VERY clever, upbeat song that peaked at #36 back in 1962. (kk)
Of course making a hit record just might also lead to winning a Grammy! ...
re: FROM ONE OF THIS YEAR'S GRAMMY NOMINEES:
Kent -
This was on our local CH 19 TV News the other day ... I've done so many TV, Radio and Press Interviews lately, I am totally hoarse from talking!
Merrell
Click here: YouTube - Merrell Fankhauser for Grammy
Monday, January 17, 2011
HELPING OUT OUR READERS
Here's the latest batch of inquiries from our readers ... if you can provide some answers or information on any of these topics, please drop us an email at forgottenhits@aol.com.
re: ANTHONY AND THE SOPHOMORES:
Anthony & The Sophomores - Play Those Oldies Mr. Dee Jay
Mercury Records #72103
Written by: "Madera", White, Finizio, Pirolo.
Could that be the Philadelphia song writing duo, John Madara and Dave White?
Know who Finizio is, but Pirolo is unknown. My guess, since this song was modified, credit was given to both the original writers and those who modified it.
This version possibly contains the original lyrics, Ex "Play Those Oldies Mr. Bassman". Not even sure when it charted, since Record and Music Historian, Paul Wolpow, didn't provide any dates.
Not a bad ditty of a song; assume to be recorded about 1963. Maybe Kent (or others) can obtain information on this particular recording, such as, where it was recorded (assume Philly); what is this version (maybe what was offered to Mercury Records before it was modified and re-recorded)?; what was the first major hit to contain the word "Oldies"?
As with many other Philadelphia artists, Anthony & The Sophomores ended up in Monophonic sound. Though this appears to be from tape, the recording quality is a bit crude, even after I enhanced it ... http://www.angelfire.com/empire/abpsp/images/playoldies.mp3
Best,
Jersey John
I sent your letter to John Madara but hadn't heard anything back by press time ... maybe he'll respond once he sees this up on the website. (We covered this song briefly in our FH Interview but nothing was said that would shed any new light on your questions and comments.) Meanwhile, maybe some other Philly folk might like to chime in with THEIR thoughts and memories. (I still say "Play Those Oldies, Mr. Dee Jay" should have been a HUGE hit nationally ... EVERY Top 40 jock had the PERFECT lead in ... or exit song for their program with this one!) kk
re: THE SILHOUETTES:
Check this out!
Whatever became of the Silhouettes?
http://www.thesilhouettes.org/video.htm
I love that song!
Wild Bill
Anybody out there care to put together a Silhouettes career retrospective for our readers?
I'd be happy to run it! (kk)
re: THE DRIFTERS:
Does anybody ourt there have a copy of Only In America by the Drifters with the original protest lyrics?
I'd love to hear it.
MARK
I'm not familiar with that at all ... so now I'D love to hear it, too!!! Anybody have a copy? (kk)
re: YEH YEH:
>>>I think it was in one of your mailing where you stated that some of the best seldom heard songs can be heard in food stores. Well, I was in one and they played a song I hadn't heard in ages!!!I didn't know title or artist!!! I dropped everything and stood below the ceiling speaker listening closely! I later was told it was Georgie Fame's "Yeh, Yeh". What a fantastic song!!! (John)
>>>Yep, one of MY very favorites, too ... oldies jocks on the list should this one a spin, too! Another bona fide Top 20 Hit that gets virtually NO airplay these days. "Yeh, Yeh" ROCKS!!! (kk)
>>>The stereo version actually is the British single version (conveniently the youtube video shows the british single ... which was mono only, the stereo mix first showed up I believe around 2001). The sax solo was cut out of the US 45 (why?? it really makes the song better!). He also cut a version of the song in German with a different backing track, in an era when it was cheaper to use the original backing track (I guess the multitrack tape had already been lost by that point). tom
Hello Kent,
I REALLY love your site. I have the German version of Yeh! Yeh! by Georgie Fame, if you need it and will gladly send it to you.
Sincerely,
Brad Howard
Sure, I'd love to hear it! This is a GREAT song in ANY language! (And notice that the German version contains the sax solo, too!) kk
I heard that there's a new lead singer for The Brooklyn Bridge.
Any idea who it might be?
Stu
It sounds like members Fred Ferrara and Les Cauchi have taken over the main vocal duties ... I double-checked the official Johnny Maestro / Brooklyn Bridge Website to see if any kind of an announcement had been posted regarding a "new hire" ... and didn't see anything there about it. I also emailed Lois Dixon, President of the Johnny Maestro Fan Club, to see if she was able to shed any new light on this subject ... and she had some VERY big news to share.
Here's all the latest information. (kk):
Johnny wanted The Brooklyn Bridge to keep his music alive, so he picked Joel Katz to fill in for him during the final weeks of his illness. Katz also sang lead for the group for several concerts after Johnny's death.
In August 2010, Roy Michaels announced on Facebook and on his official website http://www.roymichaels.com/index.html that he was the new lead singer.
Les Cauchi made this announcement on Facebook:
"RECENTLY, THE GROUP HAS INVITED AN ADDITIONAL VOICE. ROY MICHAELS, ORIGINALLY FROM THE NETHERLANDS, VIA MASSACHUSETTS AND SETTLING IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA, IS ADDING HIS TALENTS AND STAGE EXPERIENCE TO OUR MUSIC."
The Brooklyn Bridge has several concerts scheduled, which should be posted on their website soon: http://www.j-maestro-bklyn-bridge.com/shows.html
Two shows are already posted for February, and they are doing three shows in south Florida in early March. Original members Fred Ferrara and Les Cauchi continue to sing backup.
I should also mention that today, January 17, is the one-year anniversary of Johnny Maestro's final concert. It was at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. He closed the show with "You'll Never Walk Alone" ... the last song he would sing onstage with The Brooklyn Bridge.
Lois Dixon
Wow, then our timing on this is impeccable! Thanks for all the details, Lois! (kk)
re: THE NEW COLONY SIX:
I was watching a biography on Jimi Hendrix and thought of a guy I met in Viet Nam.
I was driving my five ton truck and a bunch of grunts hopped on for a ride. One guy rode with me in the cab. He was telling me about Woodstock and how he had been there with a group called New Colony Six. I was really into music there but couldn't place the name of group and didn't know much about Woodstock till I got back. We were having other pressing things to think about like getting our loads through the country without getting hit. I remembered the name of the group to this day and decided to look it up on Google and that's how I came across your site. I would have loved to have known the guy's name and how he's doing.
Does anyone have a contact for the group or know if any members went to VietNam in 1970 to March of 1971? He could have just worked with the band but I thought he said he played with them.
R. Carter
We're in contact with MOST of the members of The New Colony Six so I'm happy to pass your email around and see if it rings a bell with anyone. (I even checked with NC6 Historian Jerry Schollenberger and Chet Coppock, local sports personality who roadied for the band way back when!)
For starters, just to be clear, The New Colony Six did NOT perform at Woodstock (but I suppose one of them COULD have attended the concert ... or, perhaps he was simply reporting back about some of the music events going on back home to a fellow comrade in arms.) What will really narrow this down is determining if any of them then served in Viet Nam in 1970 / 1971. (The group continued performing and recording for a few years after that so it would have had to have been somebody that was with the band in '69 but then left either due to being drafted or enlisting I guess.)
Here's what we've found out so far:
I wonder if this is the same guy who once found me by phone – I have heard this before … Since I am unaware of any NC6ers, even those post my departure, who were in the military and went to Viet Nam, maybe it was one of the roadies. Besides Chet Coppock, I recall some of our other roadies’ names: Steve Thorpe; “Fat” Marty, whose last name escapes me but I think Bruce Gordon would know it because we talked about him in the past; Rick Sahnook (not positive about the spelling but Rick was Native American and that looks about right). However, I don’t know if any of them were drafted or involved in Viet Nam. Wait --- I might have it --- see if Bruce Sneath is the name. Bruce was to be our bass player and even did some 4 AM bar gigs with us that first summer as I recall. Gerry Van Kollenberg and I still cannot put the sequence together as Bruce being pre- or post- Wally but we both concluded it must have been pre- because he then went into the service at which point I think Walt filled his spot. When he was discharged, he spent time traveling with us as advisor, buddy, roadie, bill collector (collected checks from the promoters), etc., so that could be the connection, or it might be that Bruce was in the military way too early to meet the timeframe in R. Carter’s note. Chic may still have a means to get in touch with Bruce and by copy of this note, presuming they have not floated away from all the flooding in San Diego ... he may respond to you and might even be able to clear up the Sneath sequence of events for Gerry and me! Anyway, Kent, you and yours have a super Christmas.
Peace to all,
Ray Graffia, Jr.
I know for a fact that the New Colony Six NEVER appeared or performed at Woodstock ... I also know that none of the original band members were ever in Viet Nam. All of the guys were draft-deferred college students while being in the group at the same time.
After reading Ray's response, I would have to agree with his suggestion that it was either Bruce Sneath (a very early, non-recording band member) or one of the roadies that worked for the group at some point. The only other possibility would be that (very short-time) band member Ellery Temple (who only appeared on the "Treat Her groovy" 45), might have went into the military after his short stint with the band ... Ellery passed away a few years ago, so there's no way to find out from him.
It's also entirely possible that the person who posed this question to FH is confusing the New Colony Six with possibly another group from the same era who used the "New" word in their name (such as The New Hope, The New Wave, etc ... )
Sorry for not being able to offer a precise answer to this question, but one may not exist.
Jerry Schollenberger
Ray passed our email along to a couple of the other original New Colony Six members ... so we got THESE guesses, too!
Here's my story, and I'm stickin' to it ... (hmmm, could be a song??? ... whatever.) Right after graduation from St. Pat's, Gerry, Chic and myself were in different garage bands playing around the area. Chic's band was the Playboys and the bass player was Bruce Sneath. After the success at St Pats with the Beatles knock-off, the Patsmen was formed with Chic, Gerry, Ray, Pat and Bruce. I can't recall who was on keyboard (or accordian???) (Chris Wolski – whose mom made him quit since he was two years younger than C, G, P and me … Ray Graffia, Jr.). I was in another group, but we all hung together and I was going to work with them as their first Road Manager. Before anything really got off the ground, Bruce got the dreaded letter from the SS (that's Selective Service for anyone younger than us) and was headed off to 'Nam. That would be the summer of '64. It seemed to make sense for me to step in, so I quit my other group, sold my bright red Danelectro and amp, bought a Fender Jazz bass and dual Showman (to match Gerry's) and became the bass player for the Patsmen. Shortly afterwards (and that's another story), we became the New Colony Six. I can't recall if I introduced Craig to the guys before I was in the group (meaning someone else was already there) or afterwards. Any help there, guys??? And that's the whole truth, give or take a lie or two (hmmm, could be a good tag line from a movie??? ... whatever)
Walt Kemp
As I remember, I joined the band in the summer of 1964 and Bruce Sneath was the Bass Player when I joined. (We worked that Go-Go place on Rush Street then. It was not too long after that that Bruce told us he had been drafted and had to go into the army. I also remember we went to California in 1965, if I'm not mistaken, and after Bruce had left, Wally became the Bassist. Not sure how long Bruce was in the Army, but I remember hearing, from Chic I think, that he was back associated with the band as a road manager. By that time, Ronnie had replaced me, so it was after 1966 and might have been as late as 1970 or ‘71. (Could not have been that late, Kent, since Chic left before I did and I left in August of ’69 … Ray Graffia)
And yes, that is true, The New Colony Six did not perform at Woodstock; I think we would have remembered that. This is about all I recall on personnel. Hope this helps somewhat.
Greg
We're going to throw every name we can at this guy ... but timing-wise this all sounds WAY too early. Bruce Sneath would have been a Patsman perhaps ... but if he was called into military service in 1964 or 1965 (BEFORE the band became The New Colony Six), it's unlikely he'd have very many stories to tell ... they hadn't even made their first record yet at this point. It's also about five years too early to run into R. Carter in Viet Nam ... and, even if he HAD been in the service that long, how would he have known all about the Woodstock thing? I think we're either focusing on the wrong guy ... or, as Jerry Schollenberger suggested, R. Carter's got the wrong "New" band. (Or somebody could have just been blowing smoke ...
several years ago I received a few emails from a woman ... I wanna say down in Florida ... that was questioning whether or not the guy she was dating really was a former member of The New Colony Six, as he had claimed to be. She just found too many holes in the stories he told her and figured that since I was from Chicago, I would automatically know if the guy was for real or not. She even sent me several pictures to compare to old NC6 album covers and such. Turned out the guy was a complete fake ... and believe me, he's not the ONLY one we've run across over the past twelve years of doing this. (This is an even more likely scenario when you're talking about some of the "faceless" bands who performed back in the day ... if they weren't household names, it was unlikely very many folks could name ... or recognize ... most of them. And, with these bands changing their line-ups as often as they did, you sometimes had a case of trying to keep up with a revolving door of group members! As you can see above, even some of the band members who were THERE don't remember all the specifics after all this time!)
Over the years, we've run into people who have invented COMPLETELY new lives for themselves by claiming to be somebody they're not ... an even greater risk when the Internet is involved since you can tell anybody virtually ANYTHING and they have no way of proving or disproving it. (kk)
I even talked to Chet Coppock, former New Colony Six Roadie during the band's hey-day to see what HE remembered:
kent ...
the closest i got to woodstock was the regal theater ... damn, i miss those days ...
i only made about fifty buck a week but had the thrill of being at 2120 where the 6 turned out so many great songs ... plus i loved ray and ronnie rice ... i know "the vet" wasn't steve thorpe or fat marty ... frankly, i'm at a loss ...
i really would love to see ray ... lets go check out the colony next time they play ...
i'll buy dinner ... we can laugh about the bit i used to do with the band where i impersonated wayne cochrran ... ya, i miss those days when wayne was playing the old happy medium on rush street ...
the best,
chet coppock
I wish I could have seen the band during their original hey-day ... I hear they really tore it up in concert back then. You've got a date for dinner ... next gig I know about is Reggie's in April (but I'm sure Ray can fill us in on any other details we should know about!)
I remember going to see Woodstock (the movie) the weekend it opened ... I was TOTALLY blown away. So much so that even with close to a three hour running length, we still sat through it twice ... I just couldn't get enough of this great music ... and went out and bought the album the very next day (and have probably watched that film at least 25 times since, including most recently on the 40th Anniversary of the event!)
I remember trying to talk a friend of mine into going ... I wasn't even 16 yet ... there's absolutely NO way we EVER would have gotten away with it ... and, in hindsight, no way I could have handled that whole scene anyway. (I was a pretty sheltered, naive 16 year old!!! lol) My buddy said that they'd never pull it off ... no way that many big name acts were going to show up for the same festival! Who knew!
A couple of years later that same friend tried to talk me into heading out to New York to see George Harrison's "Concert For Bangla Desh" ... this time I was the one who said, "What the heck do I want to go to New York to see George Harrison perform with Ravi Shankar for?!?!?" Little did I EVER dream what an amazing night that would turn out to be!!! (kk)
Chet is one-of-a-kind and a great guy to boot; you’ll have a ball at dinner, especially since C.C.’s picking up the check! And he flat-out killed as Wayne Cochran – with Steve Thorpe (co-roadie at the time) on trumpet, and the band doing choreography in support ... we really looked forward to that part of the show as much as they did.
As things stand today regarding upcoming gigs, our first group appearance of any kind in 2011 is indeed the show at Reggie's to help out with Jimy’s medical expenses so, presuming nothing else comes up positively (such as another gig) or negatively (like another death-related benefit), we’ll hope to see you both there in April.
Stay warm and hope all this input helps out the reader with the inquiry; please send him my personal thanks and all NC6 band members’ (present and past) gratitude for his service, OK?
Ray
If any of the other late '60's / early '70's New Colony Sixers can shed any light on this, we would LOVE to hear from you! (kk)
Meanwhile, here's another local hit worth repeating ...
re: SUMMER SUN:
Hey Kent,
I wanted to ask if anybody has an mp3 of Jamestown Massacre - Summer Sun, that they could send me? I've looked on iTunes, Amazon, Deep Discounts and other sites but cannot find this song anywhere. There are a couple of postings on YouTube but the sound quality is not so good. Can anyone help me out? I'd really appreciate it. It's such a great song!! Sounds like it should have been on Chicago's III album, lol!!
Thanks for your help,
Eddie Burke,
Orange, CT
Well, I'm certainly happy to run it again. What a GREAT song! (And one of your Summer Favorites this past summer, too, based on the votes our readers cast from all over the country.) This is one of those that ABSOLUTELY should have been a HUGE hit ... but nationally it never climbed any higher thatn #78 in Cash Box Magazine. Here in Chicago it reached #20 ... but deserved to be a Top Ten Hit across the boards. Lead vocalist Dave Bickler later went on to front Survivor. (kk)
Hey Kent,
Thank You so very much for sending this song! I agree, it should have been a huge hit! I will share it with all my friends here in the east who may not have heard it!
Thanks Again!!
Eddie Burke,
Orange, CT
re: LITTLE WILLY:
Kent,
I was hoping this find would turn out positive, since a previous find just yielded Fox On The Run in its crudest demo form. I'm not sure what this (snippet) is as no information is provided. An early take? Recorded at? Date? Anything! Some others are stated as previously unreleased outtakes, but not this one. Same holds true for Fox On The Run, also included, similar to this. The sound was unfinished, so I touched it up. Maybe you have a Sweet expert at FH. Great group! Thank You!!
Little Willy UK: 1972, US: 1973
http://www.angelfire.com/empire/abpsp/images/willy-a.mp3
Best,
Jersey John
"Little Willy" is clearly a fan favorite here in Forgotten Hits ... this whole thing kicked off in the Ross On Radio Column a few weeks back and we're STILL getting responses! So I guess I'll fuel the fire a little bit further by saying ... "Hey, anybody else out there think 'Little Willy' sounds just a little bit like 'Quick Joey Small', an early bubblegum hit by The Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus from 1968?" (And wouldn't THAT be a great one to feature in our new "Today's Forgotten Hit" feature???) It went all the way to #18 in Cash Box Magazine back in the Fall of 1968. Ah, what the heck ... we'll just feature it here today instead! (kk)
re: THE GRASS ROOTS:
Seems like EVERY time we feature The Grass Roots, we get more and more letters about The Grass Roots! (lol) Not that there's anything wrong with that ... we've got a couple of their tracks planned for our new "Today's Forgotten Hit" feature, too. Meanwhile, here's a few letters we received in the past week or so:
Since you brought up the Grass Roots, one of my all-time favorites, can this reader get some help?
(1) As a college student in the summer of 1971, I was visiting relatives in Ohio and was listening to a lot of radio ... and keeping notes! One thing I heard was a Pubic Service spot, probably 60 seconds, for Smokey the Bear & forest fire prevention ... sung by the Grass Roots! My notes read "first verse country style." Anybody got this?
(2) A reel of music taped off TV ... unfortunately, it's long gone, but the written contents remains. Based on the line up, the time period is 1973-1974. There are three Grass Roots cuts: Temptation Eyes and Midnight Confessions, and I remember one of these was interesting because it was a lot slower than the normal version, but I can't recall which. The 3rd cut was what I wrote down as "Rock 'n' Roll" and I believe this was a title, not a description. Nearest I can find is "Midnight Special" 3/23/73, hosted by Lou Rawls ... they performed "Midnight Confessions" but also "Love Is What You Make It", so that wouldn't be it. Any Grass Roots fans got a clue?
Thanx a ton!
--- stolf
Well, we have quite a few Grass Roots fans on the list apparently, so let's see if anybody comes back with anything. A lot of this "Midnight Special" stuff is coming out on DVD right now, so you may want to check their website, too.
I'll never forget a record convention I went to back in the '80's ... some guy was going table to table asking for ANYTHING by The Grass Roots, primarily looking for old photos and / or video of appearances. Seems he was a latter-day member of the band and was trying to build his own collection of memorabilia that he literally lived through. We've seen it SO many times ... these artists are so much a part of the moment that they don't think to set aside some collectibles and mementos of the day, often having to "buy back their past" at a premium at a later day, just leave something for their family to remember them by. Kinda sad, really. That's why it means so much to us when we rekindle a long forgotten memory ... both for the music fans AND the artists! It's really what Forgotten Hits is all about. (kk)
>Their first release (a cover of the Bob Dylan song ... again, in true Byrds / Turtles fashion) ... "Mr. Jones" failed to chart. (kk)
Failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100, true, but it did "Bubble Under" in Billboard at #121. It fared a bit better in Cash Box, hitting #105 on its "Looking Ahead" chart (the equivalent of "Bubbling Under"), and it actually spent three weeks in Record World's Top 100, peaking at #95.
-– Randy Price
Here's one of my favorite Grass Roots tracks again ... this being the special WMAK / Nashville Mix of their "Sooner Or Later" single ... sent into us by FH Reader David Lewis a couple of years back ...
And, speaking of David Lewis ...
Kent,
It's really easy to get these two versions of "Where Were You When I Needed You" mixed up. The Fulton version and the Grill versions you posted the other day were reversed.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: They have since been reversed back ... I swear I listened to these three or four times each because I was SO sure I was going to mix them up ... then ended up doing so anyway!!! lol kk)
I kept the files you sent a couple of years ago, which were correct. To further verify, the Fulton / Sloan version is on the original Dunhill 45 (not a re-pressing) -- and that's the version you had labeled as Grill's today. And to triple verify, the version on the Golden Grass LP and the other Greatest Hits LP matches the one you had labeled as Fulton today, which of course is Grill.
Here's the surefire fail-safe way to keep these straight. In the original, at just past a minute into the track, Bill / Phil says "I've already decided" with just a slight break in the voice after the word "already". Listen a few times and you may detect some John Wayne effect in that line. In Rob's vocal, he says that phrase smoothly. Also, Rob's voice is a little higher and he has a little bit of a southern accent. Several of these releases and re-releases have the music eq'd slightly different, so don't let that fool you. Even on a scratchy original Dunhill 45, including the one posted on YouTube, you can hear what I describe above in Fulton / Sloan's voice.
David Lewis
>>>To answer your SPECIFIC question, it is MY understanding that P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri ultimately sang EVERY song as it was released on The Grass Roots' first album. (Also titled "Where Were You When I Needed You", it failed to chart.) However, Bill Fulton did receive credit on the LP ... (chalk the experience up as part of his fifteen minutes of fame) ... so who knows!!! (Quite honestly, I'm not sure ANYBODY knows for sure anymore. I once read an interview with P.F. Sloan where he admitted that even HE couldn't tell the difference between the tracks ... and had long since forgotten which version of which songs were ultimately used on the LP!!!) kk
Somehow this falls apart when Sloan says he really doesn't remember. It seems he'd know his own voice and could certainly clarify whether that's Fulton or himself on the original Dunhill release. Is he maintaining the mystery intentionally, just for fun? I've also read from another Bedouin guy that Sloan went back and replaced Fulton's vocal with his own just prior to the original being mastered and pressed, but that could of course be just more hearsay. Phil should let us know so I can sleep nights.
David
LOL ... for some reason I thought P.F. Sloan passed away a couple of years ago ... but apparently not. Checking several websites dedicated to his songwriting only adds more confusion to the mix. At this stage, I don't know that we'll EVER really know for sure who sang what! And everybody who DID sing his songs back then did so in a way that mimicked Sloan's style anyway, so EVERYTHING sounded like Sloan singing! (kk)
Confusing things even FURTHER (again!!!), David also sent me THIS article:
And here's a review of a 1994 CD that says it includes both the Sloan / Barri vocal and the Fulton vocal. Are you familiar with this particular CD? And did they really get a Sloan / Barri vocal along with the Fulton vocal on Where Were You When I Needed You?
David
http://www.fretplay.com/reviews.php?band=grass_roots&title=Where+Were+You+When+I+Needed+You&format=cd&id=B0000014UP 'Where Were You When I Needed You' reviewed
Band: Grass Roots
Title: Where Were You When I Needed You
Released: 16. Aug. 1994
Media: cd
This first album with the Grass Roots name mostly features PF Sloan and Steve Barri who produced and wrote the songs and performed them under the Grass Roots name. Note: This is NOT the Rob Grill led Grass Roots who scored big with "Midnight Confessions", "Temptation Eyes", or "I'd Wait a Million Years". Not willing to hit the road, Sloan & Barri hired a new band twice, the first being a short lived stint by a group led by Bill Fulton and his version of the 'Roots has a couple of songs here. His vocal version (same track) of "Where Were You When I Needed You" was on the original LP version of this album, however, for the CD release, the original hit single version with Sloane and Barri gets the nod. Note: The lead vocal was re-recorded yet a 3rd time with Rob Grill and that is the superior version which still has not seen the light of digital day. It's only appearance was on the Golden Grass vinyl collection in 1968. There are other pleasant folk-rock songs here, especially "Only When You're Lonely",and a nice take on Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man (Mr Jones)", along with a shoulda been hit - "Tip Of My Tongue". The CD release adds a few extra tracks, including folky covers of "I Am a Rock", "You Baby", and "Eve Of Destruction" that are so so.
Anybody out there got a copy of this CD? Maybe you can check it out and get back to us ... or send us copies of the tracks in question.
And, in what may be the FINAL word on all of this ... we heard from P.F. Sloan himself (by way of David Lewis):
Kent,
Here's an email I just received. I don't know how Phil could have obtained my email address, and I don't know which forum or discussion group he's replying to me from. I did some checking and it looks like this truly is his email address. Maybe he reads FH as a lurker.
Hmmmm
David
A lot of these artists have "Google Alerts" that notify them when they are mentioned on the web ... we've heard from several over the years who found Forgotten Hits because we featured something about them on our site ... and a few have even stuck around to talk about OTHER music, too! (lol) I get three or four of these notices every single day and am AMAZED to see how many other websites are quoting from Forgotten Hits ... NEVER would have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes.
If this really IS from P.F. Sloan, then this has got to be the final word on this topic ... but I sure would like to get my hands on that CD that you mentioned above just to be sure! (kk)
It's probably Rob Grill ... there aren't any recordings out there with my lead vocal ...
hope that helps ...
best,
pf sloan
re: ANTHONY AND THE SOPHOMORES:
Anthony & The Sophomores - Play Those Oldies Mr. Dee Jay
Mercury Records #72103
Written by: "Madera", White, Finizio, Pirolo.
Could that be the Philadelphia song writing duo, John Madara and Dave White?
Know who Finizio is, but Pirolo is unknown. My guess, since this song was modified, credit was given to both the original writers and those who modified it.
This version possibly contains the original lyrics, Ex "Play Those Oldies Mr. Bassman". Not even sure when it charted, since Record and Music Historian, Paul Wolpow, didn't provide any dates.
Not a bad ditty of a song; assume to be recorded about 1963. Maybe Kent (or others) can obtain information on this particular recording, such as, where it was recorded (assume Philly); what is this version (maybe what was offered to Mercury Records before it was modified and re-recorded)?; what was the first major hit to contain the word "Oldies"?
As with many other Philadelphia artists, Anthony & The Sophomores ended up in Monophonic sound. Though this appears to be from tape, the recording quality is a bit crude, even after I enhanced it ... http://www.angelfire.com/empire/abpsp/images/playoldies.mp3
Best,
Jersey John
I sent your letter to John Madara but hadn't heard anything back by press time ... maybe he'll respond once he sees this up on the website. (We covered this song briefly in our FH Interview but nothing was said that would shed any new light on your questions and comments.) Meanwhile, maybe some other Philly folk might like to chime in with THEIR thoughts and memories. (I still say "Play Those Oldies, Mr. Dee Jay" should have been a HUGE hit nationally ... EVERY Top 40 jock had the PERFECT lead in ... or exit song for their program with this one!) kk
re: THE SILHOUETTES:
Check this out!
Whatever became of the Silhouettes?
http://www.thesilhouettes.org/video.htm
I love that song!
Wild Bill
Anybody out there care to put together a Silhouettes career retrospective for our readers?
I'd be happy to run it! (kk)
re: THE DRIFTERS:
Does anybody ourt there have a copy of Only In America by the Drifters with the original protest lyrics?
I'd love to hear it.
MARK
I'm not familiar with that at all ... so now I'D love to hear it, too!!! Anybody have a copy? (kk)
re: YEH YEH:
>>>I think it was in one of your mailing where you stated that some of the best seldom heard songs can be heard in food stores. Well, I was in one and they played a song I hadn't heard in ages!!!I didn't know title or artist!!! I dropped everything and stood below the ceiling speaker listening closely! I later was told it was Georgie Fame's "Yeh, Yeh". What a fantastic song!!! (John)
>>>Yep, one of MY very favorites, too ... oldies jocks on the list should this one a spin, too! Another bona fide Top 20 Hit that gets virtually NO airplay these days. "Yeh, Yeh" ROCKS!!! (kk)
>>>The stereo version actually is the British single version (conveniently the youtube video shows the british single ... which was mono only, the stereo mix first showed up I believe around 2001). The sax solo was cut out of the US 45 (why?? it really makes the song better!). He also cut a version of the song in German with a different backing track, in an era when it was cheaper to use the original backing track (I guess the multitrack tape had already been lost by that point). tom
Hello Kent,
I REALLY love your site. I have the German version of Yeh! Yeh! by Georgie Fame, if you need it and will gladly send it to you.
Sincerely,
Brad Howard
Sure, I'd love to hear it! This is a GREAT song in ANY language! (And notice that the German version contains the sax solo, too!) kk
I heard that there's a new lead singer for The Brooklyn Bridge.
Any idea who it might be?
Stu
It sounds like members Fred Ferrara and Les Cauchi have taken over the main vocal duties ... I double-checked the official Johnny Maestro / Brooklyn Bridge Website to see if any kind of an announcement had been posted regarding a "new hire" ... and didn't see anything there about it. I also emailed Lois Dixon, President of the Johnny Maestro Fan Club, to see if she was able to shed any new light on this subject ... and she had some VERY big news to share.
Here's all the latest information. (kk):
Johnny wanted The Brooklyn Bridge to keep his music alive, so he picked Joel Katz to fill in for him during the final weeks of his illness. Katz also sang lead for the group for several concerts after Johnny's death.
In August 2010, Roy Michaels announced on Facebook and on his official website http://www.roymichaels.com/index.html that he was the new lead singer.
Les Cauchi made this announcement on Facebook:
"RECENTLY, THE GROUP HAS INVITED AN ADDITIONAL VOICE. ROY MICHAELS, ORIGINALLY FROM THE NETHERLANDS, VIA MASSACHUSETTS AND SETTLING IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA, IS ADDING HIS TALENTS AND STAGE EXPERIENCE TO OUR MUSIC."
The Brooklyn Bridge has several concerts scheduled, which should be posted on their website soon: http://www.j-maestro-bklyn-bridge.com/shows.html
Two shows are already posted for February, and they are doing three shows in south Florida in early March. Original members Fred Ferrara and Les Cauchi continue to sing backup.
I should also mention that today, January 17, is the one-year anniversary of Johnny Maestro's final concert. It was at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. He closed the show with "You'll Never Walk Alone" ... the last song he would sing onstage with The Brooklyn Bridge.
Lois Dixon
Wow, then our timing on this is impeccable! Thanks for all the details, Lois! (kk)
re: THE NEW COLONY SIX:
I was watching a biography on Jimi Hendrix and thought of a guy I met in Viet Nam.
I was driving my five ton truck and a bunch of grunts hopped on for a ride. One guy rode with me in the cab. He was telling me about Woodstock and how he had been there with a group called New Colony Six. I was really into music there but couldn't place the name of group and didn't know much about Woodstock till I got back. We were having other pressing things to think about like getting our loads through the country without getting hit. I remembered the name of the group to this day and decided to look it up on Google and that's how I came across your site. I would have loved to have known the guy's name and how he's doing.
Does anyone have a contact for the group or know if any members went to VietNam in 1970 to March of 1971? He could have just worked with the band but I thought he said he played with them.
R. Carter
We're in contact with MOST of the members of The New Colony Six so I'm happy to pass your email around and see if it rings a bell with anyone. (I even checked with NC6 Historian Jerry Schollenberger and Chet Coppock, local sports personality who roadied for the band way back when!)
For starters, just to be clear, The New Colony Six did NOT perform at Woodstock (but I suppose one of them COULD have attended the concert ... or, perhaps he was simply reporting back about some of the music events going on back home to a fellow comrade in arms.) What will really narrow this down is determining if any of them then served in Viet Nam in 1970 / 1971. (The group continued performing and recording for a few years after that so it would have had to have been somebody that was with the band in '69 but then left either due to being drafted or enlisting I guess.)
Here's what we've found out so far:
I wonder if this is the same guy who once found me by phone – I have heard this before … Since I am unaware of any NC6ers, even those post my departure, who were in the military and went to Viet Nam, maybe it was one of the roadies. Besides Chet Coppock, I recall some of our other roadies’ names: Steve Thorpe; “Fat” Marty, whose last name escapes me but I think Bruce Gordon would know it because we talked about him in the past; Rick Sahnook (not positive about the spelling but Rick was Native American and that looks about right). However, I don’t know if any of them were drafted or involved in Viet Nam. Wait --- I might have it --- see if Bruce Sneath is the name. Bruce was to be our bass player and even did some 4 AM bar gigs with us that first summer as I recall. Gerry Van Kollenberg and I still cannot put the sequence together as Bruce being pre- or post- Wally but we both concluded it must have been pre- because he then went into the service at which point I think Walt filled his spot. When he was discharged, he spent time traveling with us as advisor, buddy, roadie, bill collector (collected checks from the promoters), etc., so that could be the connection, or it might be that Bruce was in the military way too early to meet the timeframe in R. Carter’s note. Chic may still have a means to get in touch with Bruce and by copy of this note, presuming they have not floated away from all the flooding in San Diego ... he may respond to you and might even be able to clear up the Sneath sequence of events for Gerry and me! Anyway, Kent, you and yours have a super Christmas.
Peace to all,
Ray Graffia, Jr.
I know for a fact that the New Colony Six NEVER appeared or performed at Woodstock ... I also know that none of the original band members were ever in Viet Nam. All of the guys were draft-deferred college students while being in the group at the same time.
After reading Ray's response, I would have to agree with his suggestion that it was either Bruce Sneath (a very early, non-recording band member) or one of the roadies that worked for the group at some point. The only other possibility would be that (very short-time) band member Ellery Temple (who only appeared on the "Treat Her groovy" 45), might have went into the military after his short stint with the band ... Ellery passed away a few years ago, so there's no way to find out from him.
It's also entirely possible that the person who posed this question to FH is confusing the New Colony Six with possibly another group from the same era who used the "New" word in their name (such as The New Hope, The New Wave, etc ... )
Sorry for not being able to offer a precise answer to this question, but one may not exist.
Jerry Schollenberger
Ray passed our email along to a couple of the other original New Colony Six members ... so we got THESE guesses, too!
Here's my story, and I'm stickin' to it ... (hmmm, could be a song??? ... whatever.) Right after graduation from St. Pat's, Gerry, Chic and myself were in different garage bands playing around the area. Chic's band was the Playboys and the bass player was Bruce Sneath. After the success at St Pats with the Beatles knock-off, the Patsmen was formed with Chic, Gerry, Ray, Pat and Bruce. I can't recall who was on keyboard (or accordian???) (Chris Wolski – whose mom made him quit since he was two years younger than C, G, P and me … Ray Graffia, Jr.). I was in another group, but we all hung together and I was going to work with them as their first Road Manager. Before anything really got off the ground, Bruce got the dreaded letter from the SS (that's Selective Service for anyone younger than us) and was headed off to 'Nam. That would be the summer of '64. It seemed to make sense for me to step in, so I quit my other group, sold my bright red Danelectro and amp, bought a Fender Jazz bass and dual Showman (to match Gerry's) and became the bass player for the Patsmen. Shortly afterwards (and that's another story), we became the New Colony Six. I can't recall if I introduced Craig to the guys before I was in the group (meaning someone else was already there) or afterwards. Any help there, guys??? And that's the whole truth, give or take a lie or two (hmmm, could be a good tag line from a movie??? ... whatever)
Walt Kemp
As I remember, I joined the band in the summer of 1964 and Bruce Sneath was the Bass Player when I joined. (We worked that Go-Go place on Rush Street then. It was not too long after that that Bruce told us he had been drafted and had to go into the army. I also remember we went to California in 1965, if I'm not mistaken, and after Bruce had left, Wally became the Bassist. Not sure how long Bruce was in the Army, but I remember hearing, from Chic I think, that he was back associated with the band as a road manager. By that time, Ronnie had replaced me, so it was after 1966 and might have been as late as 1970 or ‘71. (Could not have been that late, Kent, since Chic left before I did and I left in August of ’69 … Ray Graffia)
And yes, that is true, The New Colony Six did not perform at Woodstock; I think we would have remembered that. This is about all I recall on personnel. Hope this helps somewhat.
Greg
We're going to throw every name we can at this guy ... but timing-wise this all sounds WAY too early. Bruce Sneath would have been a Patsman perhaps ... but if he was called into military service in 1964 or 1965 (BEFORE the band became The New Colony Six), it's unlikely he'd have very many stories to tell ... they hadn't even made their first record yet at this point. It's also about five years too early to run into R. Carter in Viet Nam ... and, even if he HAD been in the service that long, how would he have known all about the Woodstock thing? I think we're either focusing on the wrong guy ... or, as Jerry Schollenberger suggested, R. Carter's got the wrong "New" band. (Or somebody could have just been blowing smoke ...
several years ago I received a few emails from a woman ... I wanna say down in Florida ... that was questioning whether or not the guy she was dating really was a former member of The New Colony Six, as he had claimed to be. She just found too many holes in the stories he told her and figured that since I was from Chicago, I would automatically know if the guy was for real or not. She even sent me several pictures to compare to old NC6 album covers and such. Turned out the guy was a complete fake ... and believe me, he's not the ONLY one we've run across over the past twelve years of doing this. (This is an even more likely scenario when you're talking about some of the "faceless" bands who performed back in the day ... if they weren't household names, it was unlikely very many folks could name ... or recognize ... most of them. And, with these bands changing their line-ups as often as they did, you sometimes had a case of trying to keep up with a revolving door of group members! As you can see above, even some of the band members who were THERE don't remember all the specifics after all this time!)
Over the years, we've run into people who have invented COMPLETELY new lives for themselves by claiming to be somebody they're not ... an even greater risk when the Internet is involved since you can tell anybody virtually ANYTHING and they have no way of proving or disproving it. (kk)
I even talked to Chet Coppock, former New Colony Six Roadie during the band's hey-day to see what HE remembered:
kent ...
the closest i got to woodstock was the regal theater ... damn, i miss those days ...
i only made about fifty buck a week but had the thrill of being at 2120 where the 6 turned out so many great songs ... plus i loved ray and ronnie rice ... i know "the vet" wasn't steve thorpe or fat marty ... frankly, i'm at a loss ...
i really would love to see ray ... lets go check out the colony next time they play ...
i'll buy dinner ... we can laugh about the bit i used to do with the band where i impersonated wayne cochrran ... ya, i miss those days when wayne was playing the old happy medium on rush street ...
the best,
chet coppock
I wish I could have seen the band during their original hey-day ... I hear they really tore it up in concert back then. You've got a date for dinner ... next gig I know about is Reggie's in April (but I'm sure Ray can fill us in on any other details we should know about!)
I remember going to see Woodstock (the movie) the weekend it opened ... I was TOTALLY blown away. So much so that even with close to a three hour running length, we still sat through it twice ... I just couldn't get enough of this great music ... and went out and bought the album the very next day (and have probably watched that film at least 25 times since, including most recently on the 40th Anniversary of the event!)
I remember trying to talk a friend of mine into going ... I wasn't even 16 yet ... there's absolutely NO way we EVER would have gotten away with it ... and, in hindsight, no way I could have handled that whole scene anyway. (I was a pretty sheltered, naive 16 year old!!! lol) My buddy said that they'd never pull it off ... no way that many big name acts were going to show up for the same festival! Who knew!
A couple of years later that same friend tried to talk me into heading out to New York to see George Harrison's "Concert For Bangla Desh" ... this time I was the one who said, "What the heck do I want to go to New York to see George Harrison perform with Ravi Shankar for?!?!?" Little did I EVER dream what an amazing night that would turn out to be!!! (kk)
Chet is one-of-a-kind and a great guy to boot; you’ll have a ball at dinner, especially since C.C.’s picking up the check! And he flat-out killed as Wayne Cochran – with Steve Thorpe (co-roadie at the time) on trumpet, and the band doing choreography in support ... we really looked forward to that part of the show as much as they did.
As things stand today regarding upcoming gigs, our first group appearance of any kind in 2011 is indeed the show at Reggie's to help out with Jimy’s medical expenses so, presuming nothing else comes up positively (such as another gig) or negatively (like another death-related benefit), we’ll hope to see you both there in April.
Stay warm and hope all this input helps out the reader with the inquiry; please send him my personal thanks and all NC6 band members’ (present and past) gratitude for his service, OK?
Ray
If any of the other late '60's / early '70's New Colony Sixers can shed any light on this, we would LOVE to hear from you! (kk)
Meanwhile, here's another local hit worth repeating ...
re: SUMMER SUN:
Hey Kent,
I wanted to ask if anybody has an mp3 of Jamestown Massacre - Summer Sun, that they could send me? I've looked on iTunes, Amazon, Deep Discounts and other sites but cannot find this song anywhere. There are a couple of postings on YouTube but the sound quality is not so good. Can anyone help me out? I'd really appreciate it. It's such a great song!! Sounds like it should have been on Chicago's III album, lol!!
Thanks for your help,
Eddie Burke,
Orange, CT
Well, I'm certainly happy to run it again. What a GREAT song! (And one of your Summer Favorites this past summer, too, based on the votes our readers cast from all over the country.) This is one of those that ABSOLUTELY should have been a HUGE hit ... but nationally it never climbed any higher thatn #78 in Cash Box Magazine. Here in Chicago it reached #20 ... but deserved to be a Top Ten Hit across the boards. Lead vocalist Dave Bickler later went on to front Survivor. (kk)
Hey Kent,
Thank You so very much for sending this song! I agree, it should have been a huge hit! I will share it with all my friends here in the east who may not have heard it!
Thanks Again!!
Eddie Burke,
Orange, CT
re: LITTLE WILLY:
Kent,
I was hoping this find would turn out positive, since a previous find just yielded Fox On The Run in its crudest demo form. I'm not sure what this (snippet) is as no information is provided. An early take? Recorded at? Date? Anything! Some others are stated as previously unreleased outtakes, but not this one. Same holds true for Fox On The Run, also included, similar to this. The sound was unfinished, so I touched it up. Maybe you have a Sweet expert at FH. Great group! Thank You!!
Little Willy UK: 1972, US: 1973
http://www.angelfire.com/empire/abpsp/images/willy-a.mp3
Best,
Jersey John
"Little Willy" is clearly a fan favorite here in Forgotten Hits ... this whole thing kicked off in the Ross On Radio Column a few weeks back and we're STILL getting responses! So I guess I'll fuel the fire a little bit further by saying ... "Hey, anybody else out there think 'Little Willy' sounds just a little bit like 'Quick Joey Small', an early bubblegum hit by The Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus from 1968?" (And wouldn't THAT be a great one to feature in our new "Today's Forgotten Hit" feature???) It went all the way to #18 in Cash Box Magazine back in the Fall of 1968. Ah, what the heck ... we'll just feature it here today instead! (kk)
re: THE GRASS ROOTS:
Seems like EVERY time we feature The Grass Roots, we get more and more letters about The Grass Roots! (lol) Not that there's anything wrong with that ... we've got a couple of their tracks planned for our new "Today's Forgotten Hit" feature, too. Meanwhile, here's a few letters we received in the past week or so:
Since you brought up the Grass Roots, one of my all-time favorites, can this reader get some help?
(1) As a college student in the summer of 1971, I was visiting relatives in Ohio and was listening to a lot of radio ... and keeping notes! One thing I heard was a Pubic Service spot, probably 60 seconds, for Smokey the Bear & forest fire prevention ... sung by the Grass Roots! My notes read "first verse country style." Anybody got this?
(2) A reel of music taped off TV ... unfortunately, it's long gone, but the written contents remains. Based on the line up, the time period is 1973-1974. There are three Grass Roots cuts: Temptation Eyes and Midnight Confessions, and I remember one of these was interesting because it was a lot slower than the normal version, but I can't recall which. The 3rd cut was what I wrote down as "Rock 'n' Roll" and I believe this was a title, not a description. Nearest I can find is "Midnight Special" 3/23/73, hosted by Lou Rawls ... they performed "Midnight Confessions" but also "Love Is What You Make It", so that wouldn't be it. Any Grass Roots fans got a clue?
Thanx a ton!
--- stolf
Well, we have quite a few Grass Roots fans on the list apparently, so let's see if anybody comes back with anything. A lot of this "Midnight Special" stuff is coming out on DVD right now, so you may want to check their website, too.
I'll never forget a record convention I went to back in the '80's ... some guy was going table to table asking for ANYTHING by The Grass Roots, primarily looking for old photos and / or video of appearances. Seems he was a latter-day member of the band and was trying to build his own collection of memorabilia that he literally lived through. We've seen it SO many times ... these artists are so much a part of the moment that they don't think to set aside some collectibles and mementos of the day, often having to "buy back their past" at a premium at a later day, just leave something for their family to remember them by. Kinda sad, really. That's why it means so much to us when we rekindle a long forgotten memory ... both for the music fans AND the artists! It's really what Forgotten Hits is all about. (kk)
>Their first release (a cover of the Bob Dylan song ... again, in true Byrds / Turtles fashion) ... "Mr. Jones" failed to chart. (kk)
Failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100, true, but it did "Bubble Under" in Billboard at #121. It fared a bit better in Cash Box, hitting #105 on its "Looking Ahead" chart (the equivalent of "Bubbling Under"), and it actually spent three weeks in Record World's Top 100, peaking at #95.
-– Randy Price
Here's one of my favorite Grass Roots tracks again ... this being the special WMAK / Nashville Mix of their "Sooner Or Later" single ... sent into us by FH Reader David Lewis a couple of years back ...
And, speaking of David Lewis ...
Kent,
It's really easy to get these two versions of "Where Were You When I Needed You" mixed up. The Fulton version and the Grill versions you posted the other day were reversed.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: They have since been reversed back ... I swear I listened to these three or four times each because I was SO sure I was going to mix them up ... then ended up doing so anyway!!! lol kk)
I kept the files you sent a couple of years ago, which were correct. To further verify, the Fulton / Sloan version is on the original Dunhill 45 (not a re-pressing) -- and that's the version you had labeled as Grill's today. And to triple verify, the version on the Golden Grass LP and the other Greatest Hits LP matches the one you had labeled as Fulton today, which of course is Grill.
Here's the surefire fail-safe way to keep these straight. In the original, at just past a minute into the track, Bill / Phil says "I've already decided" with just a slight break in the voice after the word "already". Listen a few times and you may detect some John Wayne effect in that line. In Rob's vocal, he says that phrase smoothly. Also, Rob's voice is a little higher and he has a little bit of a southern accent. Several of these releases and re-releases have the music eq'd slightly different, so don't let that fool you. Even on a scratchy original Dunhill 45, including the one posted on YouTube, you can hear what I describe above in Fulton / Sloan's voice.
David Lewis
>>>To answer your SPECIFIC question, it is MY understanding that P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri ultimately sang EVERY song as it was released on The Grass Roots' first album. (Also titled "Where Were You When I Needed You", it failed to chart.) However, Bill Fulton did receive credit on the LP ... (chalk the experience up as part of his fifteen minutes of fame) ... so who knows!!! (Quite honestly, I'm not sure ANYBODY knows for sure anymore. I once read an interview with P.F. Sloan where he admitted that even HE couldn't tell the difference between the tracks ... and had long since forgotten which version of which songs were ultimately used on the LP!!!) kk
Somehow this falls apart when Sloan says he really doesn't remember. It seems he'd know his own voice and could certainly clarify whether that's Fulton or himself on the original Dunhill release. Is he maintaining the mystery intentionally, just for fun? I've also read from another Bedouin guy that Sloan went back and replaced Fulton's vocal with his own just prior to the original being mastered and pressed, but that could of course be just more hearsay. Phil should let us know so I can sleep nights.
David
LOL ... for some reason I thought P.F. Sloan passed away a couple of years ago ... but apparently not. Checking several websites dedicated to his songwriting only adds more confusion to the mix. At this stage, I don't know that we'll EVER really know for sure who sang what! And everybody who DID sing his songs back then did so in a way that mimicked Sloan's style anyway, so EVERYTHING sounded like Sloan singing! (kk)
Confusing things even FURTHER (again!!!), David also sent me THIS article:
And here's a review of a 1994 CD that says it includes both the Sloan / Barri vocal and the Fulton vocal. Are you familiar with this particular CD? And did they really get a Sloan / Barri vocal along with the Fulton vocal on Where Were You When I Needed You?
David
http://www.fretplay.com/reviews.php?band=grass_roots&title=Where+Were+You+When+I+Needed+You&format=cd&id=B0000014UP 'Where Were You When I Needed You' reviewed
Band: Grass Roots
Title: Where Were You When I Needed You
Released: 16. Aug. 1994
Media: cd
This first album with the Grass Roots name mostly features PF Sloan and Steve Barri who produced and wrote the songs and performed them under the Grass Roots name. Note: This is NOT the Rob Grill led Grass Roots who scored big with "Midnight Confessions", "Temptation Eyes", or "I'd Wait a Million Years". Not willing to hit the road, Sloan & Barri hired a new band twice, the first being a short lived stint by a group led by Bill Fulton and his version of the 'Roots has a couple of songs here. His vocal version (same track) of "Where Were You When I Needed You" was on the original LP version of this album, however, for the CD release, the original hit single version with Sloane and Barri gets the nod. Note: The lead vocal was re-recorded yet a 3rd time with Rob Grill and that is the superior version which still has not seen the light of digital day. It's only appearance was on the Golden Grass vinyl collection in 1968. There are other pleasant folk-rock songs here, especially "Only When You're Lonely",and a nice take on Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man (Mr Jones)", along with a shoulda been hit - "Tip Of My Tongue". The CD release adds a few extra tracks, including folky covers of "I Am a Rock", "You Baby", and "Eve Of Destruction" that are so so.
Anybody out there got a copy of this CD? Maybe you can check it out and get back to us ... or send us copies of the tracks in question.
And, in what may be the FINAL word on all of this ... we heard from P.F. Sloan himself (by way of David Lewis):
Kent,
Here's an email I just received. I don't know how Phil could have obtained my email address, and I don't know which forum or discussion group he's replying to me from. I did some checking and it looks like this truly is his email address. Maybe he reads FH as a lurker.
Hmmmm
David
A lot of these artists have "Google Alerts" that notify them when they are mentioned on the web ... we've heard from several over the years who found Forgotten Hits because we featured something about them on our site ... and a few have even stuck around to talk about OTHER music, too! (lol) I get three or four of these notices every single day and am AMAZED to see how many other websites are quoting from Forgotten Hits ... NEVER would have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes.
If this really IS from P.F. Sloan, then this has got to be the final word on this topic ... but I sure would like to get my hands on that CD that you mentioned above just to be sure! (kk)
It's probably Rob Grill ... there aren't any recordings out there with my lead vocal ...
hope that helps ...
best,
pf sloan
Sunday, January 16, 2011
The Sunday Comments ( 01 - 16 - 11 )
Another edition of The Sunday Comments ...
re: ALAN O'DAY:
Kent,
Got Alan O'Day's CD yesterday. Really good - I'd forgotten about the album version of "Undercover Angel". Excellent!
What else can I win? :-) Talk to you later!
Ed Pond
It's an EXCELLENT mix, isn't it??? (kk)
re: JACK SCOTT:
Last chance to send in your questions for Jack Scott. Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be compiling the final list of questions for our exclusive Forgotten Hits Interview. So if there's something that YOU'D like to ask this recording legend, email your questions NOW to forgottenhits@aol.com. (kk)
re: HENRY THE VIII:
Kent ...
Do you think that Peter Noone might be interested in bidding on this item ?
Frank B.
Paul Fraser Collectibles Henry VIII (1491-1547) (PF343)
I dunno ... let's ask him! (lol) kk
re: TOMMY ROE / SHEILA:
>>>I have a copy of Tommy Roe's SHEILA on Judd as well as another record he came out with that same year, 1960, CAVEMAN. (I know what some of your readers said, but I have always been under the impression it came out in 1960.) It seems to me, without checking my copy, that the song CAVEMAN says that Tommy Roe is backed by singers known as the Satins and Flamingos. (Larry Neal) >>>Hmmm ... first I've heard of that ... anybody know for sure what this might be about? (Hard to imagine The Satins and / or The Flamingos singing background on this unknown artist's record, especially for a regional label ... but we've heard stranger stories over the years!!!) kk
I just pulled my copies of the two singles that Tommy Roe recorded for Judd Records and the label info is as follows:
1. Caveman b/w I Got A Girl (Judd #1018) ... it says on the label underneath his name THE SATINS ... on both sides.
2. Shelia b/w Pretty Girl (Judd #1022) It says on the label Tommy Roe and The Satins with The Flamingos.
I have wondered occasionally if these groups were the same of THE Flamingos. Also, the group is referred to as Satins, not the 5 Satins.
One final note. On Tommy Roes' recording of Sheila above, I did not misspell it. That's how it was on the label.
I have one or two records, I believe, in which the title or maybe the artist or group's name was misspelled somehow.
Larry
Still wondering if there's ANY way these backing groups could have been the famous doo-wop groups of this era, The Flamingos and / or The Five Satins. (I really doubt it ... it just doesn't make sense!)
Again, if anybody out there can shed some light on that, we would appreciate it.
Meanwhile, here's another shot of the Judd Record label, showing both the title misspelling AND the background vocal group credits (kk)
I, too, have a number of records in my collection with either the artists' name spelled wrong, the title of the song spelled wrong and / or the songwriting credit spelled wrong. One of the more famous ones is a red label re-issue series single of Elvis Presley doing "That's All-Right", released on the RCA Gold Standard Record Label. Even after ALL those years, they STILL misspelled Presley's name on the record label as Presely!!!
Of course the most famous one of all is probably The Beattles misspelling on the first pressings of "Please Please Me" issued by Vee Jay Records in 1963, prior to Beatlemania hitting our shores. (On another Elvis-related note, we bought the "From Memphis To Vegas / From Vegas To Memphis" album when it first came out and the album cover said that Presley was doing a live version of the Tommy Boyce / Bobby Hart / Monkees Hit "Words" ... when, in fact, it was really The Bee Gees' tune of the same name! Ironically, Bobby Hart later told me that HE was fooled by the same thing when he picked the album up at an all-night record store at Hollywood and Vine out in California!) kk
>>>I have wondered occasionally if these groups were the same of THE Flamingos. Also, the group is referred to as Satins, not the 5 Satins. (Larry Neal)They were local groups from somewhere around the Atlanta area, not the hit making groups.
Tom Diehl
Kinda figured as much ... but cannot help but wonder how they got away with using the "Flamingos" name!!! (kk)
re: SNOOPY AND THE RED BARON:
>>>SNOOPY ... I MEAN "SQUEAKY" ... vs. THE RED BARON ... I MEAN BLACK KNIGHT!!! (Huh?!?!?): The Royal Guardsmen had to change the song "Snoopy" due to its commercial possibilities, so in Canada, the Royal Guardsmen released this as the official release! (Courtesy of Clark Besch) kk
It took me several years and about $60 but I finally own a copy of the Canadian 45 ... it is incredibly rare ... I know of only a handful of copies out there (in all honesty, I'd have to guess maybe 100 or so), as it was only commercially available in one part of Canada only, for two weeks ... and then the version that became a US hit became the standard Canadian copy as well, as some copyright issues were resolved within that time.
Tom Diehl
The Royal Guardsmen scored a #2 Hit with this one in Canada, too, in early 1967. I had never heard the Squeaky / Black Knight version before ... so kudos to Clark Besch for sending it in so all of us can enjoy it. (And, with The Royal Guardsmen now part of our Forgotten Hits Family, hopefully THEY got a kick out of it, too!) kk
LOVED THE "STRANGE" ALTERNATE (CANADIAN) VERSION OF SNOOPY VS. THE RED BARON. I'VE NEVER HEARD IT BEFORE, BUT REALIZE THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE ALL ABOUT. THANKS FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPERB DETECTIVE WORK & DELICIOUS AUDIO DESSERTS...
MICHAEL G. BUSH
re: GERRY RAFFERTY:
What a bummer! I used to listen to my local FM station and wait for the long version of "Baker Street". "Stuck In the Middle With You" is also a great song. Gerry will be missed.
Ed
Gerry's music was subdued and that made it so memorable! The "City to City" album is just great. Who cannot resist putting on "Baker Street" and rolling down the windows on a summer drive? "Everyone's Agreed" (45 VERSION) is just another great song too by Stealers Wheel. He made some wonderfully unique music!
Clark Besch
That he did. "City To City" is a masterpiece, start to finish ... I've played the HELL out of that album over the past 30 years! (kk)
Kent,
The music of Stealers Wheel serves as a collective memory of happy times of all-nighters writing eternal, infernal chemistry lab reports, with good music on in the background to keep me awake. With all the great Gerry Rafferty comments so far, would you entertain another two cents being tossed in for good measure?
Ever wonder how “Stuck in the Middle” wound up on the charts? It almost didn’t. Were it not for a multitalented man and fortuitous happenstance, (then) Chicago resident, Peter Shelton visiting his native UK on vacation, it never would have happened.
Early Stealers Wheel bandmate, Tony Williams, has written a splendid foreword to Shelton’s newest book, “Rock ‘n Roll Fever: Blackpool in the 60s” (scheduled for release February, 2011) that tells the story. The foreword is a poignant chronicle of friendship, regard, and respect between music colleagues as I’ve ever read. Tony is a dynamic, accomplished man whose primary career as musician (Stealers Wheel, Jethro Tull) also includes diverse stints as a councilor in Blackpool, PR consultant, and conservationist.
Here, by permission, is an excerpt from the foreword:
(Shelton) “was on a surprise visit from the US and in Blackpool for just one day and then off to London on business. In a moment of uncanny coincidence that had a supernatural ending ... Pete had not only solved my travel problems and got me back to London and to Apple Studios, but his arrival and short intervention had a massive influence and impact on my own and other’s careers.
While in Apple Studios, Pete took some photos of the session and hung out with Leiber and Stoller, who were producing our album, and discovering that they had many famous mutual friends in the music business back in the USA.
At the end of the day’s session, we sat back and listened to the playbacks and paid special attention to a track called ‘Late Again’ that we all thought would be our breakthrough single. The last track to be played was a throwaway song that we considered to be just a filler, as we had run out of material. That song was called ‘Stuck in the Middle with You’. We didn’t pay any serious attention, but Pete immediately stuck his finger in the air and declared very positively ‘That’s a Hit!’
We all looked at him, as though he had been on another planet ... how could he be serious ...? The track was meant to be a joke! Several months later after our first two singles had flopped, everyone wondered what should be the next release from the album to try and gain lost ground. Someone said, ‘What about “Stuck”?’ and remembered what Pete had said. The next single was indeed ‘Stuck in the Middle with You’ and the rest, as they say, is history.”
There’s more of course, in this fascinating book, Peter’s insight (he managed the famed Picador Club in Blackpool) of so many future stars who started in Blackpool (Ian Anderson, Barriemore Barlow, and Jeff Hammond) gathered on-the-scene of successes is written in a conversational, personal tone that makes it a fascinating fast-read.
Regards,
Dawn Lee Wakefield
FYI: Enthusiasm Disclaimer: I had the pleasure of editing Peter’s book and even greater joy of connecting with him when I interviewed him for the book Carl Giammarese and I are completing.
Undoubtedly, the music world is a very small place — Chicago is definitely one of the hubs from which a lifetime of tremendous songs have originated. Peter served as the tour manager for The Buckinghams (great stories of those days, 1967-1969); prior to that, as a bass player, he was briefly a part The Outsiders, right after “Time Won’t Let Me” broke. Shelton always had a keen ear for hit songs; in 1970 he produced the group, “Green Lyte Sunday” for RCA (killer version of “Chelsea Morning”), who included Michael Losekamp (previously of The Cyrkle, who coincidentally were co-featured with The Buckinghams on a Sony rerelease of selected hits). In the early 70s, Shelton co-produced early demos for “Dennis and Carl”, a duo that would later be known as Tufano & Giammarese — took some incredible photos of the early days following their transition from The Buckinghams into individual / duo singers / songwriters. Shelton’s photos are also featured on many Singers Unlimited album covers. Music is central to his universe — so naturally, Peter Shelton had a casual, but important, influence on the success of Stealers Wheel. For many years after he returned to Blackpool, he worked as a major UK soccer talent scout. While others would be content to retire, Peter is already working on his next book of his own photography. He is indeed, a one-of-a-kind gentleman who has taught me so much about 60s music, both USA and UK.
GREAT stuff, Dawn Lee ... thanks for sharing this with our readers! (kk)
And, speaking of book reviews ...
re: BOOK REVIEWS:
Did you see Dick Stewart's book "Eleven Unsung Heroes of Early Rock and Roll"?
Great stories on all involved (some of it is quite surprising).
Davie Allan
I've been meaning to pick this one up ... don't think I've seen it in bookstores yet but know that it's available online. (Of course ONE of those great guitar heroes just happens to be some guy named Davie Allan!!! lol) kk
Kent ...
Just finished reading "The Girl In The Song" by Michael Heatley and Frank Hopkinson.
Interesting. Very easy to read. Each description of the girl who inspired the song to be written is two pages long. No long chapters to read.
Carrie Anne = Marianne Faithful
Dear Prudence = Prudence Farrow (Mia's Sister)
Diana = Diana Ayoub
The Girl From Ipanema = Helosia Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto
Jennifer Juniper = Jenny Boyd
Lola = Candy Darling (born James Slattery)
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds = Lucy O' Donnell
Philadelphia Freedom = Billie Jean King's team in the World Tennis League
Tiny Dancer = Maxine Feibelman
Uptown Girl = Elle Macpherson and Christie Brinkley
If you want more details and more girl songs, you'll have to read the book.
Frank B.
Hi Kent, its Hoss.
The book is published and out. You can get it on
I also gave out your email to a friend of mine in Memphis. His name is David Fleischman. He was on tour with the Raiders 3 or 4 times in the 60’s and the Band’s name was Flash and the Board of Directors. He has an Internet radio station called AllMemphisMusic.com and I just did an interview with him. My assistant Ellen will send out notices when it will be aired. I told him to contract you because he was looking for some songs he couldn’t find. Stay in touch.
Thanks,
Hoss
Hope to hear from him. Congrats on the book finally being out ... can't wait to read a copy! (kk)
re: NEWS OF ANOTHER NEW "MUSIC" MOVIE:
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there is a movie being produced called “Since I Don’t Have You”! The movie is based on the life and untimely death of Janet Vogel Rapp, “The Skyliners” original female vocalist, as seen through the eyes of her son Gavin Rapp who was 13 yrs. old at the time.
It is slated to premier in the fall of this year. There are a couple of clips out there. Jimmy helped them with the castings. (click below)
Click here: Since I Don't Have You - the movie
Here is a link to the Part 1 documentary that the Tribune Review (news paper) is doing following the production. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_702015.html
Nick
And, speaking of movies ...
re: THE WRECKING CREW:
Happy New Year. Just a short note to let you know where you might catch a screening of The Wrecking Crew in January. Thanks for the support.
Wednesday, January 12th, I will be in Norfolk Virginia SCHOOL OF MUSIC FOR ARMY, NAVY and MARINE CORPSNorfolk, VA
Info/Directions on the Wrecking Crew Facebook page
Sunday, January 16th, NAMM SHOW @ Anaheim convention center
Hot Zone: Rm 204C 10:00am
Must be a member of NAMM
Door Prizes include products from Ovation, Zildjian, Modern Drummer and "Sticks 'n' Skins".
Saturday, January 22 7:00pm
2809 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, CA
Q & A with Director Denny Tedesco
Followed by a Mixer, Music, Cash Bar
We’ve also just added a feature on the website for visitors to post comments or messages. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Hope to see you at one of the screenings,
Denny Tedesco
If you're in the area and have an opportunity to see this film, do yourself a favor and check it out. It's a MUST SEE Film for those who love this music of our generation. (kk)
re: AND NOW IT'S TIME FOR "JERSEY GIRLS":
Kent ...
Got this out of my newspaper.
Coming to Broadway this Spring ... "Baby, It's You".
It's a jukebox musical about the Shirelles.
The musical tells the story of Florence Greenberg , a housewife from Passaic,NJ, who discovered the Shirelles singing at her daughter's high school. Greenberg became their manager and eventually created a recording empire. Sounds like a hit.
Frank B.
re: WAX:
Last week we ran a "New Release" notice about the Wax CD ... sounds like they've already received a review from David Fricke in "Rolling Stone" Magazine! Congrats!
WAX - Melted (Lightyear)
This one is personal. Wax were from my hometown, Philadelphia, and they were everywhere between 1969 and 1971 -- in the clubs, opening shows for John Mayall, the Byrds and Chicago -- while I was away at college. They never made an album, so I would only know them by reputation and the members' later success: Singer-keyboardist Rob Hyman co-founded the Hooters; drummer Rick Chertoff produced them; and singer David Kagan was the bright voice, with Hyman, in the fine Philly group Baby Grand, which I DID see. MELTED is a set of songs Wax taped live in the sudio, near the end of their tether, and it is vintage early-Seventies ambition: progressive songwriting with snappy instrumental digressions, just enough pop gloss and that inevitable Philly-R&B tang. Now I know what I missed -- and I wish I'd been there.
-- David Fricke
re: COLLECTIBLES:
Got a few extra bucks in your pocket this week that you don't know what to do with? Then be sure to check this out ...
Paul Fraser Collectibles John Lennon's classic Ferrari 330 GT could roll to $220,000 at Bonhams
Kent ...
Baby you can drive my car.
Frank B.
re: GOLDEN OLDIES:
>>>This is grandma; or rather, great-grandma; checking in. really feel ancient after reading about other's first 45's. I had to scroll almost to the bottom before someone else remembered the early 50's as I do. How I found your website -- I was looking for release dates of my records. Sometimes, I'm lucky but would like the Top Ten (or 40) Charts for 1951-54, if anyone can guide me there.
I lost my wonderful husband in February of 2009 and music was our life. We "courted" to all those wonderful hits in 1953-54. I'm in the process of making a memory album for our children, grand-children and great-grandchildren (7, to be exact). It's hard to hear them again but something I feel compelled to do. My only only regret is that I didn't do this while he was alive. We would have had so much fun remembering those times together. Altho, they were rough times. We only saw each other on weekends that year before we married. Miserable. The song titles certainly played our emotions. Is there going to be anyone out there that remembers any of these???? (bpg42)
There may not be a LOT of people out here, but as you know, this is certainly within my era. I would love to let this wonderful great-grandmother know that I remember almost every record she mentioned. What really got my attention was when she mentioned Billy May, my absolute favorite of favorite bandleaders growing up and I also knew when he was the backing orchestra for Sinatra, Cole, Ella Mae Morse, Keely Smith and many others on the Capitol label. Is there some way you can tell her about me? I have so much music and memories to share and so few folks from my generation with which to share them.
Hil
Happy to pass your note along, Hil. This email especially touched my heart and I'm sure she'd love to reminisce about this music from this special era. (kk)
I also just heard from Top Shelf Oldies DJ Stu Weiss ... he very well may be putting together a little special program built around these song titles. (And wouldn't it be cool if we could get Grandman / Great-Grandma to call in and reminisce a little bit on the air???) Stay tuned ... as soon as we know more, we'll let you know ... this would be a program I think many of our readers would enjoy tuning in and listening to. (kk)
re: THE ASSOCIATION:
Hello,
I'm in the process of going through all of your past "editions." Just read your assessment of The Association written on Dec 29, 2008. The group you saw is comprised of 2-3 original members. I saw the original guys four times (after the death of Brian Cole) and they played their songs flawlessly. They were absolutely beautiful vocally and instrumentally. What is touring as The Association now, whom you saw twice, are a total abomination on what once was. It's unfortunate that you never got to see the Real Deal. I hate to say it, but I agree with you completely, but there was a time ...
Thanks for listening.
Sincerely,
David Capps
Actually, I DID get to see the original band back in 1967 ... they played at my High School ... and it was at the absolute PEAK of their career. ("Windy" and "Never My Love" both went to #1 that year!) So I have SOME appreciation for what they were (although honestly even THEN it was virtually impossible to duplicate their meticulous studio sound live on stage.) After seeing them perform a couple of years ago ... KNOWING what they once were ... it was a HUGE disappointment. As I mentioned in my review, I've probably only walked out of two or three concerts in my life ... but this was one of them! This summer The Association will be touring as part of The Happy Together Again Tour ... along with Rob Grill and the Grass Roots who ALSO received bad review after bad review after bad review last year for poor vocal performance. It's very sad to see when some of our musical heroes just can't do it anymore ... but it's also a fact of getting older. On the other hand, many of these performers sound as good today as ever ... and in some cases, even better ... but sometimes I've found it best to keep those OLD memories intact rather than tarnish them with a bad or disappointing performance. Fortunately, we have all the old music to listen to ... and, let's face it, back then the whole WORLD was perfect!!! This is hardly the case in ANY aspect of our lives these days. (kk)
Here's a review of the Association concert in 1968 in Chicago. This, just a couple months before the CFL chart I sent from November, 1968. Note that "Reqium" was the big hit of the night! B side of "Never My Love" and was #100 for 2 weeks on Hot 100, an odd piece at that. They sang it on Smothers Brothers live too at that time!
Note Dunwich's Will-O-Bees making a good impression as well!!
WLSClark
"Requiem For The Masses" is an AMAZING piece of music ... I remember getting chills the first time I heard them do it (and it may very well have been on The Smothers Brothers Show) ... nothing short of incredible. It received quite a few votes as a Favorite, Forgotten B-Sides a few years back, too. (kk)
re: THE ADDRISI BROTHERS:
>>>I agree that The Addrisi Brothers should have had more success on their own ... The follow-up single, "I Can Feel You", is my personal favorite ... and it actually made The Top 20 here in Chicago. (Nationally, it stalled at #90!) kk Yes, "I Can Feel You" is just as good as their hit "We've Got to Get it on Again". How was that not a national hit??
Clark
Wow!!!! I knew both of those songs by the Addrisi Brothers ... I just didn't know I knew them!
Stacee
And that's EXACTLY what Forgotten Hits is all about. ALL this music is still locked away SOMEWHERE up in the vault ... we're just here to stimulate those brain cells and make you sing along again!!! (Of course if radio was doing THEIR job, then there'd be no reason for us to do ours ... thankfully it doesn't look like that'll change anytime soon!!!) kk
re: THE SKYLINERS:
In addition to the new Skyliners film we just told you about above, we got this note from Nick Pociask, which we're happy to pass along to any fans of the band who may have lost contact with them recently. Sounds like they're attempting to update their address book ... and have a brand new Alaskan Doo-Wop Cruise coming up, featuring The Skyliners, The Crystals and The Cleftones! Check it out below. (kk)
To all our friends and fans,
We hope your Holidays were Joyous and Memorable!!
You may not have heard from us in awhile only because we’ve recently experienced a “computer crash” this past June. We had lost over a year's worth of data (information prior to June of 2009 through July of 2010).
If it’s not too much trouble and you have retained any correspondence with us within this period please re-send it to us as we are attempting to up date a different computer.
We will also attempt to keep you informed of concerts within your area, so please let us know the exact area in which you are located ... but please do monitor our web site “tour section” for any additional concerts you might attend since we are not aware of any travel restrictions you may have.
Would you like to join us on a cruise to Alaska?
Please visit our ‘NEW” web site for more details -- http://www.theskyliners.com/
Thank you very much for your interest in, and support of, The Skyliners through out the years.
Take care and stay healthy.
All the Best to you and yours,
Nick A. Pociask, (bass / baritone vocal)
The Skyliners
(Jimmy, Donna, Rick, Nick)
I've been through a few of those nasty computer crashes myself, Nick, so I can certainly sympathize. Happy to pass this info along ... interested fans should check out The Skyliners website at the link above. (kk)
re: OTHER UP-COMING OR RECENT SHOWS:
Just read your piece about Bob Lind and John Beland ...
It'd be great to see these guys at the same venue. I met John at a restaurant gig in Sebastopol, about 60 miles north of San Francisco.
David
I'm hoping that a few of our readers had the chance to check out this show and will report back to us ... we'll keep you posted! (kk)
Looking forward to our shows in NYC later this month.
Hope to see our friends at either Queensborough Performing Arts Center in Bayside Jan 29th or BB Kings Times Square Jan 30th.
All the best,
Ronnie D. 
Now THIS would be a REAL fun show to see!!! If any of our New York Readers are able to attend, please report back to us! (kk)
re: THE MONKEES:
Hi -
I saw your blurb about the "My Favorite Monkee Sings" 45 -
I’ve got a copy of this single but at the moment I’m not sure where I’ve put it.
My husband has a large record collection and I knew it was a rarity so I took it out and put it somewhere but can’t remember where but it definitely exists.
If you are interested will try and find it.
Sure I have seen a picture of this single on the net though.
Kind Regards,
Moira McKeown
Actually, you'll find a couple of pictures on our website! Check 'em out!
Click here: Forgotten Hits: DAVY JONES PRESENTS
Click here: Forgotten Hits: More Monkee-ing Around
Click here: Forgotten Hits: More Of The Monkees ... She Hangs Out (And Other Cool Stuff!)
(kk)
re: SIDEWALK RECORDS:
It seems that perhaps the same team of producers and musicians were working on several of these. Today's mention of "Three In The Attic" is interesting because Christopher Jones, who played Max Frost in "Wild In The Streets", also starred in "Three In The Attic." That's the first movie I attended illegally, being under the minimum age.
David Lewis
re: IF I SAID YOU HAD A BEAUTIFUL BODY
WOULD YOU HOLD IT AGAINST ME?:
This has always been one of MY favorite Bellamy Brothers songs ... (I thought it was another one of those really clever country song lyrics!) ... and it even had some minor pop chart success (#39, 1979, three years after they topped the charts with their cross-over hit "Let Your Love Flow") ... but it seems to be getting some brand new attention thanks to Britney Spears. What?!?!? Yep, it's true ... sounds like Britney's new song "copies" the spirit of the double entendre and along the way has sparked some interest in The Bellamy's original track ... so much so that over a quarter of a million fans went on YouTube this past week to check it out! Frank B. (our official WCBS-FM Reporter) has all the details here:
Did Britney Spears Rip Off The Bellamy Brothers? – WCBS-FM 101.1
Kent ...
Looking at the lyrics, I'd say yes. What do you think ?
Frank B.
re: FOLK HEROES:
From time to time FH has graciously repeated my quote about seeing your fave raves before it's too late. That thought came to me as I was reading the Phil Ochs piece. I was introduced to his music around 1968, more specifically the song Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends. I had to learn it on guitar and did, performing it from time to time. Never got a chance to see him perform, I don't know that he ever toured that much and / or got to Chicago. I would have seen him. He wasn't the sort of artist that WLS or WCFL would have promoted. I've read more than one review calling him a third rate Dylan, but I don't think so. Phil chose not to write commercially acceptable material. Check out his rare Canadian LP, Gunfight At Carnegie Hall where he does an Elvis medley and a Buddy Holly medley. It's evident he could have been acceptable to the mainstream, but he felt the war and social causes were too important. His song, I Ain't Marching Anymore, might be the first pop / rock song or at least one of the first to use bagpipes.
A great feature for FH would be first concerts, arena, location etc. I bring this up because the first concert I attended was Simon and Garfunkel at the Civic Opera House in Chicago in July, 1967. If you watched the You Tube clip with Andy Williams, it was exactly as you see it there. Just Paul and Artie, with Paul on guitar. No back up singers or band, like Paul had when I saw him solo in 1972. Guitarists out there, did you see the close up of Paul's guitar playing? He's not using any guitar picks. No flat pick, thumb or finger picks. Yet you hear nothing about his guitar playing abilities. Scarbourough Fair is not an easy song to do. I remember attempting it back in 1968. Forget trying to sing it solo. I've always been a fan of folk music.
Jack
re: JIMY ROGERS:
Kent,
The Jimy Rogers photo slide show is just great stuff!
He will be missed, as he already is!
Clark Besch
It's nothing short of outstanding ... Joan did a GREAT job putting this thing together ... I've watched it several times already. If you haven't seen it yet, hop on over to The Mauds website and check it out. (kk)
Click here: Jimy Rogers - When Something is Wrong
re: OLDIES BANDS:
Normally, we tend to stay away from some of these "cover / sound-alike / tribute" bands and concentrate on "the real deal" here in Forgotten Hits. I've got mixed emotions about it ... many of the artists these bands pay tribute to don't necessarily tour anymore (or at least not with the original members ... or, for that matter, even EXIST anymore ... groups like ABBA, Elvis, The Beatles, The Bee Gees and Led Zeppelin immediately come to mind) ... and, in many cases, these "copy bands" are taking work away from some of the real bands competing for the same audience at many of these summer festivals and such. But on the OTHER hand, MOST of these bands LOVE this music and are simply paying tribute in the way they best know how ... and, to that degree, they're doing the same thing that WE'RE doing, which is everything we can to help keep this great music alive. (We've certainly never had a problem promoting one of OUR favorites, The New Invaders, who pay an incredible homage to this great music that we all love.) So today, we'll tell you about a few of them ... obviously, make your OWN choices as to who you want to go out and see ... I suppose if "the real deal" was coming to town anytime soon, that'd be a pretty easy decision to make ... but sometimes a tribute show (and especially a well-done one) is the next best thing. (kk)
Kent -
Saw "Reely Dan" last night at the Metropolis Performing Arts Center in downtown Arlington Heights. (tribute band of Steely Dan). They were great! Played over two hours of non-stop music. Everyone was on their feet for the last songs.
The driving, charged pop music of the legendary Steely Dan comes alive in this amazing tribute band, Reely Dan. Featured on WGN, they sound EXACTLY like the real thing. With perfect musicianship and execution, you will be amazed by how incredible this band sounds – you’ll feel like you’re seeing Fagen and Becker and the whole band in person.
Tonight is the Piano Man. It’s like seeing two legendary pop pianists in one night, in an amazingly intimate setting! One act from this amazing tribute band is dedicated to Billy Joel and they turn up the glitz and glamour for an all Elton John second act. Sing and dance to all your favorites, everything from “Uptown Girl” and “The Longest Time” to “Benny and the Jets” and “Crocodile Rock.”
On April 22nd, Staying Alive is playing. They look like the Bee Gees, they sound like the Bee Gees and they are considered the best Bee Gees tribute band in North America. Their summer concert at Metropolis sold out in just three weeks and they're coming back for a command performance that you won't want to miss. Be a part of the singing, dancing and fun as Stayin' Alive returns to Arlington Heights.
For a full list of upcoming performances at MPAC go to http://www.metropolisarts.com/index.php/content/metropolis_performance_list.html It's nice to see that Arlington Heights has a theater with great plays, comedy acts, and musical performances in a local setting. There are also some pretty good restaurants around the Metropolis if you want to take in dinner before the show!
Bill
WLSSurvey@aol.com
Hi,
My name is Corey Crossfield and I work for Miles High Productions which represents the sixties style band, Side B. I wanted to contact you about their debut album, Greatest Hits, featuring their interpretation of some of the great songs of the sixties.
The sixties were an era of rock and roll with such greats as The Beatles, Van Morrison and The Rolling Stones. Known for its raucous good times and good vibes, the sixties encapsulated the perfect groove, something New York based band Side B captures on their debut album.
Formed in 2010 by bassist Robert Miller, Side B consists of Pam Brennan (Vocals), Ken Filmer (Guitar / Vocals) and Sean Gaffney (Drums). The band’s debut albums hosts an array of some of the sixties great songs with Side B’s own interpretation of the music. Some of the songs on the album include their versions of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl”, The Bee Gees' “To Love Somebody” and The Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love”, among some other great songs.
The band’s debut effort is full of original but true to the music renditions of the great songs of the sixties. Side B stays true to the good vibes the music of the sixties means to those who grew up listening to it.
For more information about Side B, you can visit their website here: http://www.sideB60s.com
Get a free download of Side B’s version of The Bee Gees' “To Love Somebody”: http://bit.ly/dXawrG
Thanks,
Corey
And our buddies The Renditions (who recorded those GREAT traffic jingles for MacKay In The Morning's morning radio program on The River (95.9 FM) have just cut a brand new "Beatles Edition" ... here's a sneak peek! (kk)
re: CONGRATS!:
Olivia Newton-John - Newton-John To Be A Grandmother - Contactmusic News
Kent ...
This is what happens when you get " Physical. "
Frank B.
re: FIRST ARETHA FRANKLIN ... AND NOW ETTA JAMES ...
MORE REPORTS FROM SICK BAY:
riprenfield.com has sent you a link to the following article on comcast.net:
poor etta ...
"At Last" Icon Etta James Reportedly Gravely Ill
Josh Grossberg, eonline
Sadly, the prognosis doesn't look good for R&B legend Etta James.
The "At Last" singer is currently undergoing round-the-clock treatment for dementia and leukemia at her Southern California home, according to her husband. He is now seeking to take control more than $1 million of her assets, touching off a family feud that's spilled into the public eye.
Per a court declaration filed by Artis Mills, James' husband of 41 years, the 72-year-old blues legend's health has deteriorated to the point where she can no longer manage her own affairs.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who has been diagnosed with dementia and leukemia, requires constant care to help her with eating, dressing and other basic functions, per the docs.
Mills is asking for a court order to transfer James' assets to a joint account so that he can monitor spending while Etta's son is asking a third party to do so "to avoid present and future family conflict and discrepancies."
In court papers her hubby stated that he was doing so in order to ensure that he honor the four-time Grammy winner's wish that she not live out her last days in a hospital.
Mills is also asking a judge to reassign the power of attorney James gave to her two sons, Donto James and Sametto James, in February 2008.
The veteran chanteuse has been ailing since January 2010 when she was hospitalized with a blood infection.
And we would be COMPLETELY remiss if we didn't at least mention the passing of David Nelson last week, brother of Ricky and son of Ozzie and Harriet, David was the last surviving member of The Nelson Family that charmed audiences for decades with their long-running television series. Rick, of course, went on to become a very successful rock and roll singer (and inductee into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame). David became a television producer and, after his brother's death, even produced a very moving television tribute to Rick. With Rick's twin sons Matthew and Gunnar scoring a Number One Record in 1990 ("Love And Affection"), they became the THIRD Generation of successful recording artists. Quite a talented family. (By the way, Gunnar and Matthew are coming right here to Schaumburg next month with their tribute to their father ... still hoping to attend that show!) kk
re: AND MEMORIES OF ANOTHER PASSING:
Margaret Whiting -- the singer who sold millions of records in the 1940s and 50s -- has passed away at the age of 86. The big band vocalist, famous for such classics as: Moonlight In Vermont, It Might As Well Be Spring, My Ideal and Slippin' Around, is seen here in the attached photo, just a few years ago with CHARLIE GRACIE and wife JOAN at the legendary JOE FRANKLIN CLUB in Manhattan ... as they were guests on Joe's tv / radio program. Margaret and Charlie actually met twice during their careers ... the previous time being back in the late 1950s on another New York tv program. The entertainment field has lost another colossal artist who left an indelible mark! R.I.P.
***By the way, Charlie will perform in NYC at B.B. KING'S BLUES CLUB with AL KOOPER on Friday, February 11th!
Charlie Gracie, Jr.
re: THE KING AND THE KILLER:
Kent ...
The King & The Killer talking to each other.
Sounds like a phony to me. What do you think ?
Frank B.
Controversy Rages Over New 'Elvis' Recordings TMZ.com
re: SAM COOKE:
Next Saturday would have been Sam Cooke's 80th birthday ... in an on-going campaign to help remember and celebrate all of the great music Sam left us, we're running this reminder from Bob Merlis ... as well as links to our own Forgotten Hits Sam Cooke Tribute from a while back:
Had he lived, Sam Cooke would be 80 on January 22, 2011. Though his tragic death, at the age of 33, deprived successive generations of new music from Cooke, known as ‘the man who invented soul,’ his legacy and influence endure. A feature film biography, based on Peter Guralnick's critically acclaimed book Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke, is in development.
His own catalog of original recordings continues to connect with music consumers who are now offered the possibility of hearing the core of his catalog in high-resolution digital audio by agreement between ABKCO Records and HDTracks. Four albums, Sam Cooke at the Copa, Keep Movin’ On, Ain’t That Good News and the career-encompassing compilation Portrait of a Legend 1951 – 1964 are soon to be available for download in 88.2kHz/24bit audio. Next month, The GRAMMY Museum® in Los Angeles will exhibit artifacts that reflect Cooke's life and music in celebration of his 80th year.
In 1986, 25 years after his passing, Cooke was among the first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, alongside Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly. His transition from gospel music to R&B and rock ‘n’ roll was the template followed by soul/urban performers for the past 60 years.
Cooke’s songwriting has stood the test of time with versions of his classic repertoire performed and released over the years by such notable artists as John Lennon, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Seal, The Animals, Paul McCartney, Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Tina Turner, Luther Vandross, Bobby Womack, R. Kelly and countless others.
Rod Stewart recently told Rolling Stone, “To explain what Sam Cooke meant to me, it would take a couple of hours just to scratch the surface. The man basically introduced me to soul music. The first time I heard him, his music hit me like a thunderbolt and just slapped me around the head. I was 15 years old, and he changed my life."
Aretha Franklin noted, “Sam was a singer’s singer who strongly influenced many male vocalists. He was loved, respected and revered by artists in the pop and gospel field of music, as well as by his audience, as a unique and extraordinary artist and human being.”
“Sam Cooke is somebody other singers have to measure themselves against, and most of them go back to pumping gas!” quipped Keith Richards while Muhammad Ali succinctly stated, “Sam Cooke was the world’s greatest rock-and-roll singer…the greatest singer in the world!”
Perhaps, Sam Cooke’s most influential song is “A Change Is Gonna Come” which eloquently decried racial discrimination. On the night he was elected President, Barack Obama, clearly was profoundly aware of the song when he invoked its central them stating, “It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.”
The legacy of Sam Cooke will be celebrated throughout 2011 with many radio, retail and online promotions. Check www.abkco.com for updates.
Click here: Forgotten Hits: Forgotten Hits Remembers Sam Cooke
Click here: Forgotten Hits: The Sam Cooke Tribute Continues Today In Forgotten Hits
This Friday, the 21st, at 9 PM, I will be doing a tribute to Sam Cooke. Really special.
Last Friday night I did a tribute to Nick Santos.
Last night I had a phone interview with Wally Roker of The Heartbeats.
I feel that both were interesting and enjoyable.
Anybody who is interested will find both things posted (plus lots more) on my website: www.ramtownlive.com/popshoppe
And, on February 4th at 9 PM, I will be replaying a tribute I did for Buddy Holly from my old radio station back in 1999.
All this happens on "The Pop Shoppe" www.topshelfoldies.com
Sincerely,
Stuart Weiss
re: THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME:
>>>Well, according to Davie Allan, Knechtel and The Wrecking Crew were NOT part of these sessions, leading me to believe that Paul Wibier's band handled the whole thing. (kk)
Forgive me for correcting you but I actually said that the "Wrecking Crew" and myself were on the "Wild In The Streets" soundtrack but NOT on "Shape Of Things To Come" ... that was Paul Wibier's "Mom's Boys" who apparently toured as "Max Frost". Also, I'm repeating myself about this but I went into the studio (as a robot!!!) and overdubbed the guitar lead on the single and that was released as by me and the Arrows. I say "robot" because the powers that be (or was) said no "fuzz" because it was passe. Expletives go here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks,
Davie
Just to set the record straight, it was the Max Frost single that I was referring to ... we have previously acknowledged that The Wrecking Crew (and Davie Allan ... and Larry Knechtel) performed on the "Wild In The Streets" soundtrack album ... but NOT on the hit single as released as by Max Frost and the Troopers. I was a bit surprised that Wibier and the boys actually TOURED as Max Frost, however ... that had to be kind of bizarre! (Kinda like John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band having to go out on the road AS Eddie and the Cruisers ... which I don't believe they ever actually had to do. At least they still maintained their own identity in the process ... and went on to have a few hits under their own name!) Again, if Paul Wibier would simply get back to us, we could clarify all kinds of stuff here ... but he just doesn't seem interested in doing so. (kk)
You'll find some neat Mike Curb / Wild In The Streets information here: http://www.rimpo.de/secondtime.html
Vibramutant
Yes, this comes from Mike Dugo's EXCELLENT '60's Garage Band Website: www.60sgaragebands.com
re: ON THE RADIO:
Kent,
Just a quick comment to make on Saturday's postings.
One of my pet peeves through the years is when an "oldie" is played and the announcer on duty does not identify the name of the song, artist, group, year, etc. I can just imagine someone driving out in their car and an instrumental comes on. The driver can't think of the name of the instrumental and since the DJ on duty doesn't give out the name or the artist, the listener goes bunkers the rest of the day trying to come up with the name of the song.
Larry Neal
Yeah, I guess this could be ESPECIALLY annoying in the case of an instrumental. (Ironically, a few years back we were going to do an online competition called "The Instrumental Challenge" ... interested readers would have to pre-register to compete ... and then every day we would play a short 20-30 snippet of an instrumental and they would have to identify the tune by both the song title and name of the artist ... we'd just keep going until there was one final winner who could name them all ... never got that off the ground, however, but I still think it might make for an interesting competition. At some point, many of these just blend together ... and even if there's something distinctive about the sound of the artist, you may or may not be able to come up with the song title. I'll have to give this some more thought! (kk)
Thanks to your site, I recently discovered Gerri Bender of Gerri's Place, at WRDV (Radio Delware Valley). To my surprise, she's been a DJ for 18 years! She pleased my ears and my eyes *blush* (take notes, Tom Diehl) :) I happened to catch her show this past week and she plays some recognizable tunes I enjoy!! As I feel, WRDV goes a bit too overboard with obscurities, from Doo-Wop, Soul to even Big Band. The last set of R&B DJ's I mentioned this to, at WIFI-AM 1460 kHz (nearby), they lasted two more weeks then pulled the plug! One half of an Oldies DJ duo up in Trenton, NJ, admits he prefers Classic Rock when he touts the opposite in e-mails. Maybe why they almost pulled that show! Even commercial radio, I contact station managers at WOGL, WMGK and WBEB and tell them there are better sounding, even stereo, versions of some songs they play. One appreciates my input (and corrects) the others I receive some lame excuse or no reply. Not the way to impress and market HD Radio and its listeners. Anyway, enough of my Oldies Radio ranting. This one's for you, Gerri (FH participant), you go girl!!! ...
Best,
Jersey John
Kent ...
You're doing a great job with "Forgotten Hits", but I think it's time you found out about the technical part of radio.
How would you like this job?
Frank B.
http://www.liveleak.com/e/07b_1284580365
Actually, several folks on the list have sent me this clip ... in fact, the first time I got it, I forwarded it on to our radio buddy Citizen Bill down in Huntsville, Alabama ... who's been called out to repair that pesky ol' tower more than a time or two! (lol) Pretty harrowing work ... but I guess SOMEBODY's gotta do it!!! (Personally, I think I'll pass!) kk
The January issue of Keep Rockin' Magazine has two pages about me in their DJ spotlight.
Isn't this nice!!!!!
Stu Weiss
Great article, Stu, congratulations! By the way, Liz and Lou got engaged over the holidays, so congratulations to THEM, too!!! (We run into them at some of the local shows here from time to time ... and I hear Scott Shannon mention their magazine quite often on the air. Two more folks dedicated to keeping this great music alive!)
By the way, their magazine is now fully digital ... for more information, check out the website here: Click here: Keep Rockin’ Magazine, the 50’s & 60’s nostalgia magazine, 1950's, 1960's, Rock and Roll
re: AND ONE MORE WORD ABOUT TED WILLIAMS:
Hi Kent,
One final rant about this Ted Williams thing. First it should be pointed out that it is (or began as) a radio stunt from one of the best: Dave Kaelin at WNCI in Columbus. As radio stunts go, this certainly beats wasting food or making some lady hold her piss til she's dead to win a gaming system. I'm sure it started organically with the best of intentions, but I feel quite sure the first few "job offers" were cooked (lined up in advance) e. g. Cavs PA announcer gets offered spontaneously? suuuuuureBy the time AP picked up the story, the part about Ted being involved in a radio stunt disappeared, but what did not disappear was the flimsy, original premise offered by WNCI ... that here was a guy with "golden pipes" and a dream of being a radio announcer who evidently chose the crack pipe instead. Everybody loves a redemption story, and I get that bit about the prodigal son, so I'm not going to point out that I have lots of friends with "golden pipes" and dreams who never abused any kind of substance and they can't find any work ... it's just that anybody who's ever been in radio knows that it takes so many other intangibles to succeed that at best this guy was being thrown in over his head ... and at worst just plain old used, in the worst way.
And now we hear he's in rehab ... great ... at this point I'm not sure if it's still a stunt of some sort, maybe by the hand of Doctor Phil ... I joked the other day on your site that radio is more likely the cause than the remedy for homelessness and maybe he'd be best off at barber college ... there's a ring of truth to that ... unless he really has the stuff to roll up his sleeves and give his body and soul to his audience ... God knows he has one now.
If he lands something, let's hope he's not the type of radio guy who uses people for stunts.
Jim Shea
re: AND, IN OUR ON-GOING CAMPAIGN
TO HELP EDUCATE OUR READERS ... :
Here comes THIS interesting tidbit from Frank B!
Turntable Tuesday Tutorial: How Vinyl Records Are Made – WCBS-FM 101.1
Kent ...
If they could only tell us how Hit Records are made, that would be something.
Frank B.
re: THE HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL:
Kent,
In your latest comments, the first thing that came to my mind when I read about the History of Rock and Roll being heard on one of your local stations, was a 48 hour show put out in the late sixties by Producers Drake - Chenault. I am not sure but I believe I have somewhere the original 48 hours as it was put on the air. It was announced I believe by DJ Humble Harve Miller. This is all coming to me right now as I type. I could be wrong on some of the information. I am sure you are quite aware of this program. To be quite honest with you, I don't know if Drake - Chenault are still around. I read in the paper years ago that Miller was arrested out West for manslaugter I believe, but don't quote me on that.
Larry Neal
There were a couple of "competing" versions of The History Of Rock And Roll that were circulating around radio syndication back in the early '80's, one of which was put together by regular FH contributor Gary Theroux. (You can read Gary's comments below.) Honestly, I would love to have copies of BOTH of these programs, if only for their historical value. SO many of these artists have left us since this show first aired, making these vintage interviews "timeless" ... and, obviously, something that can no longer be recreated. Sure, the show would need some updating ... but I still believe that this could be an EXCELLENT regular feature as part of oldies radio programming today. Heck, run an hour every Sunday at noon and spread the thing out across the whole year ... and then continue to whet the appetite of your listeners but running Gary's daily "History Of Rock And Roll" teaser snippets Monday thru Friday ... you know, in a DIFFERENT hour than "Today's Forgotten Hit" ... or an "On This Date" Top Five ... spread out this type of programming throughout the days to KEEP listeners tuned in to hear these special features. I guarantee you, you'll become the most-listened-to radio station at work if you aired four or five of these "unique", specialized programs throughout the regular work day. (kk)
Don't know anything at all about The Drive's "History of Rock 'n' Roll." I tuned in for a few minutes and heard Blondie's "One Way Or Another" announced but never heard any artist interviews or in-depth information. I'm curious as to whether this is a homegrown project at that station or some kind of syndicated effort. Too bad they never contacted me during the development process because I could have been a lot of help.
Gary Theroux
It was most definitely a "home-grown" project, put together by the jocks at the station. As you (better than ANYONE) already know, it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE to encompass the History of Rock And Roll in one, single day session ... just WAY to many avenues to explore ... but, being that The Drive is our premier Classic Rock Station in town, I think they did a pretty fine job of catering this special to their listening audience within the constraints allowed to do so. That being said, I sadly missed MOST of it due to our "no radios" policy at work. So here's a COMPLETELY outrageous plea to Bob Stroud (or anyone else over at The Drive who reads Forgotten Hits ... YOU know who you are!!!) for a "screening copy" that I could listen to in order to enjoy the full scope of this project. I'm willing to sign IN BLOOD that I will NOT circulate, distribute, sell or broadcast ANY part of this program ... and that it is SOLELY for my own personal enjoyment ... but the truth is, I'm DYING to hear the whole thing!!! (I heard isolated chapters and most of what I heard was pretty good. Sure, there are certain topics that hold little interest for me ... which is why we all have buttons on our car radios ... and others that could have easily been expanded upon ... but overall, I think they did a pretty good job of covering the essentials.)
Meanwhile, please know that we haven't given up pushing for oldies radio to begin re-running YOUR special either, Gary ... yes, The Drive's piece was all narrative, missing ANY of the exclusive interviews and / or audio clips you were able to provide due to your extensive research. SOMEBODY out there would do well to start airing the ORIGINAL History Of Rock And Roll IN ITS ENTIRETY on a weekly, syndicated basis ... with the daily clips we mentioned above. I'm telling you, there's an audience for this ... and I also happen to know that, with a contract in hand, Gary is more than happy to continue to develop, update and expand these pieces in order to provide a never-ending, open-end series. It's a guaranteed "hit" just waiting to be rediscovered by a whole new audience. (kk)
re: TODAY'S FORGOTTEN HIT:
Your latest idea is a winner. I have been playing your forgotten gems on my program. A few of them we already play on a regular basis. White Lies Blue Eyes is just a killer track! The Underground Sunshine track is better known in Wisconsin. They even appeared on American Bandstand when that was released.
I have a suggestion for a track to feature. "Its a Cryin Shame" by Gayle McCormick. It does not appear that it charted in Chicago and it was only number 44 on the Billboard charts in 1971. It was a big song in Madison, Wisconsin. Perhaps it fits the should have been bigger chart better.
Keep up the good work.
Phil Nee
WRCO FM
Thanks, Phil. We've got lots more goodies coming up. I'm not familiar with the Gayle McCormick track ... you're right, it did not chart here in Chicago.
Gayle's the former lead singer of the group Smith, who scored a Top Five Hit with their version of "Baby It's You" back in 1969.
But just because I've never heard it doesn't mean that we don't HAVE it!!! (lol)
Here it is as a Forgotten Hits "Extra"! (kk)
Hi Kent!!
I am enjoying the newsletter (as always) and I have to smile ... I love the new feature for DJ's. Quite a few of the songs have been part of my playlist for a while! Forgot about the Georgie Fame "Yeh, Yeh." 'tho ... Great song!
DJLady Gerri
And that's really the goal ... to remind you once in a while about one that may have otherwise slipped through the cracks.
You Internet Jocks can get away with a whole lot more "creative programming" on your shows ... we're trying to get some of the "mainstream" jocks to follow suit and push the envelope once in a while. (On the other hand, we'd just LOVE it if you'd do a Forgotten Hits "recap" on your show Sunday Nights ... play all FIVE of our suggestions from the previous week as sort of a special weekly feature ... again, something your listeners might enjoy tuning in for. That goes for you, too, Phil, on your Saturday Night feature!!!) kk
re: VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK:
Wanna feel good for a few minutes? Watch this clip!
Kent ...
That's what we need in this world - more hugs.
Frank B.
And what a STIRRING performance of "Hallelujah", too ... EXCELLENT!
(That's Alexanda Burke, by the way, winner of X-Factor ... one of the most powerful performances of this song that I've ever heard.)
Ok, now where's MY hug?!?!? (kk)
Click here: YouTube - Free Hugs in Sondrio, Italy
How amazing is this girl? Watch her X-Factor Video where she performed this song LIVE ... but you'd better grab some Kleenex and keep it handy! (kk)
Click here: YouTube - X Factor 2008 FINAL: Alexandra Burke - Hallelujah: FULL HD
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