Thursday, December 20, 2012

Thursday This And That

re: MERRY CHRISTMAS:  
To my "Oldies" community friends,  
My "Santa's Stuck Up In The Chimney" video has gone over the 1,000,000 hits mark on You Tube.
================================ 
Thanks for the hits and thanks for the Christmas plays!
=================================
Now ... How to spread the word to radio Christmas programmers for next year? 
Thanks again. You all have been very important to me. 
Have a great holiday season, a Merry Christmas, and a happy and healthy 2013, 
Paul Evans  
We've been putting the word out for several years now, Paul ... I think it's a great track ... and with 1,000,000 hits I can't believe radio hasn't added it as at least a Christmas holiday novelty track each season. Cool tune! (kk)






Best wishes for a peaceful and safe, prosperous season and new year. 
TOMMY ROE  
www.tommyroeonline.com  
Look for a long-forgotten Tommy Roe track tomorrow in Forgotten Hits! (More info below) kk   

This sounds like some interesting Christmas programming ... Forgotten Hits for Christmas!!!  (Several years ago Jim Shea and I put together a list of long-forgotten Christmas tunes to play on his program ... and we had a ball. And then, to cap it all off, he even played my "Lonely Christmas" tune!!!)  Check it out:    

WLTL 88.1 brings back a holiday tradition. First aired 
on 1530 WJJG “A Hometown Christmas” was heard  

between 1995-2010, playing the holiday hits from  

the golden age of top 40. After a one-year hiatus, on 

Tuesday, December 25, 2012 “A Hometown Holiday” 

will broadcast from 7 in the morning till 4 in the 

afternoon on WLTL 88.1 FM. Hosted by Mike Baker 

And The Forgotten 45s, the holiday special also will
 
be available via the free tune in app. A one hit 

wonder Christmas listing is posted at 




Mike Baker





Ah ... what the heck!!!  (Maybe we'll get six more views!!!) kk  
Click here: Kent Kotal - Lonely Christmas - YouTube   

re: THE BEACH BOYS:

re: THIS AND THAT:

Kent ... 
Nancy & the wrong Frank.  
Frank B.  
I remember watching this when it first aired on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and thinking "OK, what's creepier ... singing a love song with your father or singing a love song with your brother???" Too close to call ... but Frank, Jr. DOES sound a little bit like his old man on this take, a bit sped up from the hit single but still getting the point across.




And, for some "slowed down" Nancy, check out this clip of her doing the Cher song "Bang Bang", resurrected a few years ago for the "Kill Bill" movie franchise. (kk)


Kent,
Just like in Chicago, Fleetwood Mac's 1969 instrumental ALBATROSS made our local survey peaking at #29. (Epic) Also, you mentioned the Vibrations' version of HANG ON SLOOPY and posted it. It reminded me and I had to get it out one more time to play it, their 1961 Checker release THE WATUSI.
Thanks again for the memories
Larry

Listening back to The Vibrations' recording of "My Girl Sloopy" today, it's hard to believe that this was EVER a Top 40 Hit back in the day. By the time this record hit the charts, American was in the midst of full throttle Beatlemania ... SO few non-British acts were getting airplay ... it's REALLY hard to believe that this one (which is literally falling apart throughout!) became one of those rare exceptions to the rule. (kk)



Still reading your installments and it's really impressive ... forgotten hits has really developed over years, it is one of a kind! ...
... Kinda like the Beatles, which no one could ever really match, so here's "I'll Cry Instead" ... hopefully capturing some essence des Beatles but certainly not trying to clone the original ... also, I'm sure you'd love to hear how things are going here at Wilfred Studios these days. So please check out the latest.
Got the SOMETHING NEW LP from a kid up the street for walking over to the gas station and picking him up a 30 cent pack of Marlboros.
Dan Hudelson


Hi Dan!  Long time, no talk! (Speaking of which, that must have been a LONG time ago when Marlboros were still only 30-cents a pack!!!)
Cool little rockabilly rave-up of "I'll Cry Instead", not one of The Beatles songs that's been played to death. (Just in case there's anybody out there who doesn't already know this, "I'll Cry Instead" was one of THREE singles released to cash in on The Beatles' first film "A Hard Day's Night" and, backed with "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You", it climbed to #22 on the U.S. Pop Singles Chart. (It was never released as a single in Great Britain.  Here in the States, the record was edited to repeat a verse, adding just over a minute to the overall length of the song.) Dropped from the film (but later reinstated before the opening credits when the movie was first released on video decades later), this is a great little John rocker. Billy Joel did an EXCELLENT live version of this song, too ... it was featured as the B-Side of his "An Innocent Man" single.  We've featured it once or twice before in Forgotten Hits.
And, because SOMEBODY is going to ask ... the OTHER movie singles released by Capitol in the Summer of '64 were "A Hard Day's Night" / "I Should Have Known Better" and "And I Love Her" / "If I Fell". The only official NEW movie song NOT released as a single was "Tell Me Why" ... but radio still played the heck out of it anyway! (kk)

FH Reader Tom Diehl sent us a cleaned-up version of the live Billy Joel track ... along with HIS favorite cover version of "I'll Cry Instead"  ...



My favorite version of the song is an early release by Joe Cocker. 
Tom



Joe Cocker launched his career doing interesting interpretations of Beatles tunes ... in addition to "I'll Cry Instead" (his first US single), Joe also did amazing reworkings of "With A Little Help From My Friends" (I like Joe's version better than The Beatles' original!) and "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window."  (kk)



Sitting here playing that spot you sent out today and my wife walks in and yells "Sun-In! I used that. With not so great results. It gave me a green spot in the back of my head." 
David Lewis  
From what I understand, she's not the only one! (lol) kk
 
re: COLLECTING RADIO SURVEYS:

I saw on your site that Jack Levin had posted that he had old record charts by the assload and that they were in mint condition. Well I ordered the charts I was interested in from the Chitown stations back in 67 from him. Anybody interested in these charts should give him a feel. After I sent him his fair asking price, he promptly forwarded what he said he would. These charts had coffee stains and were water damaged LOL. No, really, they were mint and in pristine condition with no fold marks and everything exactly as he said they'd be. He had packaged them meticulously so even an inept mailman couldn't damage them. Give him a shout and help him out, he is a standup guy. PS: I also liked that you don't have to wait weeks for your check to hit your statement. I'd venture to say that no more than 20 minutes goes by from his hand going into the mailbox and the check being deposited in his bank. I vouch for Jack. I'm just messin wif ya Jack.
Alex Valdez
I've known Jack for over thirty years ... we met thru a mutual interest in collecting WLS and WCFL surveys ... he's just stayed with it longer than I have, supplying mint copies to the world at large ever since. Sounds like you've had some pleasant dealings together, too, so happy to post this glowing endorsement. (We told FH Readers a few weeks ago about a haul of literally THOUSANDS of old WLS and WCFL Surveys that Jack was making available to sell and, from the sounds of things, quite a few readers contacted him about them, supplying the "want lists" and such.) kk

Please thank him for the endorsement and thank you, too, Kent. I gotta post some small to mid market surveys I recently picked up. There are some MAJOR surprises. I gotta say that WLS and especially WCFL missed the boat on a lot of songs. 
Jack (The survey Kahuna)


re: BOBBY GOLDSBORO:

Kent,
Enjoyed hearing the song by Bobby Goldsboro which you had posted. What a ton of hits he had back in the sixties which one doesn't hear on the radio anymore. It reminded me of one he made in 1968, a song called PLEDGE OF LOVE which peaked at number 5 here in OKC but didn't chart nationally. I thought it should have been a bigger hit than what it was.
Incidentally, speaking of Bobby Goldsboro, remember when he appeared occasionally on shows like the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, in his conversations he sometimes made a noise like a chirping cricket.
Larry
P.S. Whatever became of Mr. B. G. anyway?

I wasn't familiar with "Pledge Of Love" ... so I had to look that one up! Looks like it "bubbled under" in Billboard, reaching #118 as half of a two-sided hit. (The flipside "Jo Jo's Place" peaked at #111.)

Not only did Goldsboro appear on a wide assortment of television shows in the '60's and '70's, he also hosted his own for three years. His "tree frog" sound was one of his trademark bits.
In the brand new book "Where Have All The Pop Stars Gone, Volume Two", Bobby tells authors Jeff March and Marti Smiley Childs: "I started doing it back in the seventh grade. I would spook all the teachers and everybody would laugh. I did it on 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson' when he was still in New York. He'd be asking me questions and I'd do the frog sound and then I would answer the question. He would be looking around. Finally, after two or three times, Johnny said 'I hate to interrupt you, but there's a cricket or frog or something in here,' and the audience just starts laughing. Then I told him it was me."
The hits pretty much stopped with 1973's "Summer (The First Time)", a song that Bobby says he believes is the best song he has ever written. As for what he's been doing since, he's been INCREDIBLY busy! Bobby has written several childrens' books including "Snuffy, The Elf Who Saved Christmas" and "Easter Egg Morning". These have branched off into television specials and series on both The Disney Channel and PBS. In "The Swamp Critters of Lost Lagoon" Bobby got to bring back his tree frog character in the form of "Ribbit E. Lee", a Southern frog who teaches children valuable lessons in self-esteem. A book called "The Boy Who Became A Frog" followed (keeping the gimmick alive!) and ... for his 65th birthday ... Bobby took up oil painting!!! And he's damn good at it, too ... check out his website! (kk)
re: TODAY'S FORGOTTEN HIT:  
Hi Kent, 
Thank you for posting "If I Loved You" ... my Mom used to sing that all the time ... she had a lovely voice. 
It seems to me that since the new computer there is a freshness to the FH site ... not that it wasn't good before ... it just feels to me that you have a renewed energy and I am really enjoying what you have been doing. Thanks again. 
Stacee 
Hearing "If I Loved You" was quite a pleasant surprise for me, too. I always liked Chad and Jeremy (and every once in a while will throw on the "The Redcoats Are Coming" episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show just for fun!) Other forgotten favorites include "Willow Weep For Me" (#15, 1965) and "I Don't Wanna Lose You Baby" (#33, 1965), along with their two best known hits "Yesterday's Gone (#21, 1964) and "A Summer Song" (#6, 1964). Because my Mom had a Chad and Jeremy album, I knew THEIR version of the Lennon and McCartney tune "From A Window" (#79, 1965) before I knew the Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas version! Oops ... I left out two other Chad and Jeremy Top 40 Hits ... "Before And After" (#15, 1965) and "Distant Shores" (#30, 1966) ... that makes seven Top 40 charters in all ... so how come we only ever get to hear "A Summer Song" by these guys?!?!? (kk)


And, since you mentioned it, I absolutely DO want to take just a moment (as 2012 draws to a close) to thank everybody once again who made getting this new computer possible ... I honestly can't even imagine not having spent the last six months with all of you guys ... and I think we HAVE put together some pretty amazing new series during that time ... so it's great to hear that YOU guys think so, too. This has been a very tough year ... and I'm still not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel any time soon ... so please know just how very, very much it means to have had your support to keep Forgotten Hits going another year. I can honestly say that I couldn't have done it without you ... so, from the bottom of my heart, thanks again. (kk)


Kent,
You asked the question when was the last time one heard NATHAN JONES on the radio.  
The last time I heard it on the radio was the last time I had a bowl of that chili that is advertised on television. I had that bowl of chili while I was vacationing in New York City. New York City!!!! I' ll have to admit that that's too long.
Larry Neal



Thanks for posting the song "Nathan Jones", Kent. One of my top three Supreme songs ever. Bought it the day I first heard it. 
Alex Valdez


Kent,
I noticed from today's comments (Tuesday) that on Friday you will be welcoming Winter in. First songs that came to my mind were IT'S NOW WINTERS DAY by TOMMY ROE and a record that was top 10 here in OKC back in 1969 by a group called Rejoice on Dunhill. The name of the song was NOVEMBER SNOW, which I believe did not chart nationally. 
Larry  
Proving once again that great minds think alike, we will, indeed, feature Tommy Roe's "It's Now Winter's Day" on the First Day of Winter ... I believe this marks the THIRD time we've done that in the past 14 years that Forgotten Hits has existed. (And those are probably the ONLY three times you've heard that song during that time period, too! lol) kk
 
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