Helping Out Our Readers

re:  BELA FLECK AND THE FLECKTONES:

Thank you to Guy for the info on the Flecktones. After reading his post I went to youtube and found an interesting video titled Bela Fleck & The Flecktones "Rocket Science" (Behind the Scenes). I found it interesting.

Stacee

re:  SINCE YOU BEEN GONE:

MAYBE played on US Classic Rock radio stations; not sure. I assume this is the same [England] Rainbow group that barely made US Top 40 in 1981.  At least the Polydor / Mercury record labels make sense. Pretty good song, I feel! Maybe a UK hit, maybe even a Japan hit, since that is where I found it on audio CD! 
http://www.angelfire.com/empire/abpsp/images/ubeengone.mp3 
Jersey John

This is a GREAT song ... in fact, I used to play this one with my band Blind Spot in the '80's ... The Rainbow version is actually a cover of a song written and first recorded by Russ Ballard of The Zombies ... whose version never charted ... but it was a modest US Hit for Rainbow (#56 in Cash Box, #57 in Billboard) in 1979 ... and it got a TON of play here in Chicago on the Classic Rock stations.  You still hear it once in a while, alternated with the Head East version, a  #46 hit the year before.  (Although Head East had the bigger hit version, it seems to be the Rainbow version that is best known ... and they do a KILLER rendition.  Possibly because of Ritchie Blackmore's involvement ... Blackmore, of course, best known for his time with Deep Purple.)  kk

Thanks, Mr. K! Yeah, I noticed the song writing credit (what isn't in Japanese) didn't match any Rainbow members. Thanks for the Chicago radio info, too!
Best,
John

I wasn't really familiar with the Russ Ballard version so I downloaded it to check it out.  

The Russ Ballard Original Version 

Sounds like everybody stayed pretty true to the original ... and, to my ears, any one of these COULD have been a hit.  According to Wikipedia, it was also covered by The Brian May Band ... now THAT might be an interesting one to hear ... which featured Cozy Powell on drums ... Powell also played drums on the Rainbow version.  (Maybe Tom Diehl can put his hands on that one for us!)  Versions were also recorded by Clout, Cherie Currie, Master Blaster and Impellitteri.  The Rainbow version was also featured in a T-Mobile commercial, filmed at Liverpool Street Station in London, England in 2009.  (kk)

This is all I could find ... a live version from 2009.
Tom

The "Live" Brian May Version 

This'll work.  Thanks, Tom!  (Wikipedia also says that May has professed his love for this song numerous times over the years ... and even called it one of his "desert island discs" ... and he's not the only one.  In a VH-1 "Best Hard Rock Songs Ever" poll, "Since You Been Gone" came in at #82!!!  Not bad for a non-Top 40 classic!)  kk

The Head East "Hit" Version 

The Rainbow "Classic" Version

re:  INTERNET JUKEBOX:

Kent ...

I don't know if you're familiar with the new Internet Jukebox.  Maybe one of your experts can answer a question for me.

If you play a song that's in the Jukebox, it costs 1 credit = .50 cents.
If you play a song off the Internet it costs 2 credits = 1 dollar.
Let's take Gene Pitney for example. Either way, in the Jukebox or off the Internet, I can only find 2 songs by Gene ... "Every Breath I Take" and "The Man Who Shot Liberty
Valance."
Whoever owns the rights to his songs, why wouldn't they want to make ALL of them available for play?

Speaking of a Gene Pitney song, we'll have to update "If I Didn't Have A Dime."
Thanks.

Here's another one that bothers me before I go.

I can get dozens of versions of "Stardust" ... but I can't get the version I want ... Billy Ward and The Dominos, with Eugene Mumford singing lead.

I better say goodbye for now, before I think of more complaints.
Frank B.

Not knowing anything about the Internet Jukebox or how it works (or what licensing agreements they may have to be able to charge a fee for the rights to listen to these songs), it really isn't fair for me to comment.  Basically, you're right ... if this is a legitimate source of music, you'd think they'd have an artist's complete catalog available for listening.  (Go to Amazon or iTunes and you'll find literally MILLIONS of digital downloads available ... but they pay royalties to the artists and record labels, too.  I'm not so sure about what the Internet Jukebox does.)

Quite honestly, it sounds like a waste of money to me ... why would you pay $1.00 to HEAR a song one time ... when for $0.99 you can BUY the digital download of that song ... OWN it ... and play it whenever you like.  Just my opinion.  (kk)

re:  NEW QUESTIONS:

Hallo people,

I'm one of the sixties followers and I've been looking for a song called "Much More Love" by Tommy Roe (or I think it was him) for ages.  I had the seven single and I do have a taped version of it but I battle to get the cd version.  Can you maybe help me please and just point me in the right direction as sites like Amazon are of no use.
Thank you so much.
Gideon Vermeulen

"Much More Love" was the B-Side to Tommy Roe's 1966 Top Then Hit "Sweet Pea".  I'm not sure if it's currently available on CD or not.  (Looking at the Amazon listings, I'd have to say "not".)  So we asked Tommy Roe to see if he knew whether or not this track was available on perhaps an import CD.  Here's what he had to say:

I don't think it is on a CD ... Maybe check Ebay ... sometimes they have imports.

Tommy
Tom Diehl came up with a fair-sounding copy for us to feature today ... but DivShare hasn't been working for the past three days so I can't upload it.  (Anybody out there know of any other music-sharing sites we can look at? Keywords being:  free --- reliable --- massive storage???)  I haven't heard this one before.  Thanks, Tom (and Tommy)!  We'll share it with our readers as soon as we can.  (Who knows ... maybe Tom'll come up with a better copy in the meantime!)  kk

Hi Kent,

Do you happen to have the song "I Only Know" by Mel Carter?

I can't find this song anywhere.

Thanks,

Carrie

Sorry, but I don't see this one charting either ... I don't have it ... but maybe a FH Reader does???  (kk)  

Well I don't have it ... and I haven't got 99 cents to buy it ... but I can help out by pointing the requestor to where they can buy it:

http://www.amazon.com/I-Only-Know/dp/B006LZ1T8A

Tom Diehl

Hey, that's more than fair ... besides, if they're the one looking for it, why have you snatch up a copy when they can grab it for themselves!  (kk)
 

My husband (age 61) and his sister (age 63) asked me to find a song.  They think it was on the b side of a Ventures' record (???)  The song title is Midnight Sun and it was done with electric or steel guitars.  Any web link please.

Rosetta Link

Well, I don't see "Midnight Sun" listed as any of their charted singles (A-Side OR B-Side).  I checked a couple on online Ventures discographies, too, and don't see this title listed ... so I'm thinking that either the title ... or artist ... is wrong.  Let's see if any of our Forgotten Hits sleuths out there can come up with anything on this one.  (kk)

>>>I forgot who did the original "Hippy Hippy Shake", but it's still noting the "British / U.K. Invasion" period for giving us a few "garage band" classics from "across the pond".
Tal Hartsfeld
Chan Romero originated the Hippy Hippy Shake at Del-Fi in 1959. If he's still around, he's probably still performing it live. 
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/ChanRomero1.html 
There are multiple clips of it at Youtube.

Bob In Jersey  
Kent,

One of your readers couldn't remember who did the original HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE.  I think it was Chan Romero in 1959 unless someone did it earlier. Incidentally, when I hear the name Swingin' Blue Jeans, they had a big record here in OKC back in 1966 on Imperial Records, DON'T MAKE ME OVER, the old Dionne Warwicke tune.

Larry Neal

Romero's record never made the charts ... which is too bad because it's really a rockin' record.  I'm a little surprised not to see this one listed in Joel Whitburn's latest book as one of those "Classic Non-Hot 100 Songs". Great track.  (kk)

Kent,
This has nothing to do with garage bands :-)  but might be fodder for a future posting -- unless you have written about it before.
June, 1960, saw something that, as far as I'm concerned, is one of the oddest quirks of the Billboard Hot 100 pop music charts.
A British singer named Garry Mills entered the charts then with "Look for a  Star," a tune that had originally been used in the 1960 Donald Pleasance film  "Circus of Horrors."   At exactly the same time, an American singer  named Garry Miles also entered the charts, also with a similar-sounding version  of "Look for a Star."  Both versions climbed the charts simultaneously,  although the one by the American singer both outlasted and reached a higher  position than the British singer's.
Garry Mills -- Garry Miles.  Almost identically-named singers, each with almost identical versions of the same song at the same time.  What gives?
My suspicion is that the American, whose real name apparently was James "Buzz" Cason, changed his name to cash in on the popularity of the original British recording.  But is this so?  If this is the case, is there any record of this having happened before -- such as a group going by "The Beetles" to try to cash in on someone else's fame? Do any of your readers know the background of this?  It seems that Cason was at one time in Brenda  Lee's backing band.
-- Henry McNulty

It was an unusual pair of releases ... and I'm sure these caused more than a little bit of confusion at the record stores ... more folks probably the wrong version than the right version (although both charted similarly ... now HERE'S a case where these records really SHOULD have shared the same chart position!!!)

For the record, Garry Mills' version reached #26 on the Billboard Chart and peaked at #13 in Cash Box Magazine.  It was released on the Imperial record label.

Garry Miles' version (how many "Gary's" spelled their names with two "R"'s like these guys?!?!  All the MORE confusion!) peaked at #16 in Billboard and shared the #13 spot with the Garry Mills counterpart.

The only other similar situation that came immediately to mind was the 1956 battle between Dick Hyman and Richard Hayman, both of whom released versions of "A Theme From 'The Three-Penny Opera" (Moritat), a song better known today as "Mack The Knife".  Hayman's version went to #12 on The Billboard Top 100 Chart (and failed to chart in Cash Box.)  Hyman's recording went to #9 on The Billboard Chart and peaked at #7 in Cash Box Magazine.  Both are long-Forgotten Hits, absent from the radio for over 50 years.  (kk)

Hi Kent!
I was wondering if you or your readers could tell me if there are any videotapes of the tv show  from Philadelphia " Saturday Afternoon at Aquarama", hosted by Ed Hurst.  I have a website about Gloria Stavers, editor-in-chief of 16 Magazine, and she was a frequent guest on the show.  I believe there was also a show from the Steele Pier that Gloria was on.  Thank you for any information you can give me. 

Karen Steele

I'm not aware of any ... but we have a pretty large readership in the Philadelphia area so let's see if anything comes back on this.  (I'm assuming you've already checked the obvious places like YouTube???)  kk

Hey, Kent,

Remember the Daisy L feminine cologne spray TV ad from the late ‘70s, with a shapely brunette who faked trombone playing? Is there any place I can go to, to see that ad again? Please let me know. Thanks!

Dave Wollenberg,

Wheaton, IL

Wow ... I honestly DON'T remember that ad!!! (Maybe if I saw it?!?!?)  I assume you've checked the obvious spots (like YouTube and such) ... anybody else out there know where he might find this one?  (kk)

In his reply to you, Allan Conner mentions his WALKIN' THE CHALK with a year of 2010. Is this a remake or do you know? The original version peaked at #19 here in OKC for the week of October 10, 1963, on our local top 40 radio station's survey. The flip was MILK COW BLUES.  The label was on OKC's Boyd Records but listed on the weekly survey in the far right column under the title of labels for the various songs, it was written in as Boyd-Bond. The Swingin' Conner Family, as I remember, did radio and television commercials for Bond Bread. They are no longer around, Bond Bread that is, but I believe they changed their name to Rainbo Bread. The record number was #122 and it does say on the label that it is produced by Bond Bread.  I assume that this record did not chart in Chicago (?)
Larry Neal

Actually, Allan was referring to a 2010 article we wrote about The Swingin' Conners.  "Walkin' The Chalk" came out in 1963 and was a regional hit (evidently in the Oklahoma and Nebraska area ... it never officially charted here in Chicago ... OR nationally for that matter.)  As I recall, FH Regular Clark Besch wrote in asking something about the group because he had seem them perform at some outdoor live concert or something in his area when he was just a kid.  In yet another example of what never ceases to amaze me about the wide-scope reading of Forgotten Hits, one of The Conner Brothers SAW our posting and started communicating with Forgotten Hits.  (Clark was looking for his original 45 with a picture sleeve, which may have been a "give-away" at the live show ... I honestly don't remember all the details but this may spark another response that'll help clarify some of this.)  Or you can simply click back to January 27, 2010, and read the article first-hand!  (kk) 

Click here: Forgotten Hits: The Swingin' Conners ... and The Youngtones

I have a question about Raymond LeFevre.  I remember hearing an instrumental by him in 68 or 69 ... heard the tune while oversees in the army ... but can't find now. Can you help?

Patrick LaFevers

Wow!  Any relation???  The song you're thinking of is "Soul Coaxing" (Ame Caline), which has turned into quite the fan favorite over the past 25 years.  Ironically, it wasn't that big of a hit when it first charted back in 1968, reaching only #36 in Cash Box Magazine ... but it seems to consistently come up on most of the Top Ten Favorites Lists we've seen over the past several years. (I've sent you a copy under separate cover ... and am featuring it here today so that others may enjoy it, too!)  kk

Hi,

In your post on the Ides - Shames reunion, the following paragraph about a recording is there:

>>>Ron DID send me a copy of one of the songs from that live Thirsty Whale tape. It's a VERY interesting cut called "Long Goodbye" ... which sounds like absolutely NOTHING either of these bands did on their own. Perhaps we're right ... using the familiar names got them their initial bookings ... but then they tried to forge their own musical identity. All I know is that this one sounds pretty good to me ... especially for a live cut ... and they don't come much rarer than this!!! (Thanks to ALL the guys for letting us "World Premier" this cut here in Forgotten Hits!!!)  kk

I could not find the recording and, the Cryan' Shames being my favorite group, I'd sure like to hear it.  Please share the link with me.

Cheers,

John

Riverside, CA from South Bend, IN

Wow, I had forgotten all about this one!  No idea why the clip doesn't appear on the website anymore ... but here it is again ... and, like I said in that original article, sounding absolutely NOTHING like either The Cryan' Shames OR The Ides Of March!!  (kk)