We'll be posting "GREEN"
tunes all day long today on The Forgotten Hits Website ...
So check back
often!!!
(And be sure to check our SOUND ADVICE Column today, too, for MORE St. Patrick's Day fun!)
You can't do GREEN SONGS and not feature this #1 Hit from 1968 ... Of course I'm talking about "Green Tambourine" by The Lemon Pipers!!!
And let's not forget THIS great hit from 1963 by The New Christy Minstrels (featuring our FH Buddy Barry McGuire) ... Not to be redundant, but it's "Green Green" ... a #14 Hit that year ... And their biggest chart hit of all time!
We'll be posting "GREEN"
tunes all day long today on The Forgotten Hits Website ...
So check back
often!!!
Here's our mini-Chicagoland salute to "Think Green" ...
First up ... "Green Light" by The American Breed ... Their 1968 follow-up hit to "Bend Me, Shape Me", which reached #30 all on its own that Spring.
And then ... with a little bit of a stretch .... But SO worth it ('cause it's such a great song!!!) Our buddies The Cryan' Shames and their 1968, #73 Hit "Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles David Smith and Jones"!!!
We'll be posting "GREEN"
tunes all day long today on The Forgotten Hits Website ...
So check back
often!!!
(And be sure to check today's SOUND ADVICE column, too!)
Of course we ALL know "Green Onions" by Booker T. and the MG's ... It's been used in COUNTLESS movies, commercials, television shows and promotions over the years ... And you're still likely to hear this one every single day on the radio ...
But does anybody out there remember "The Green Mosquito" by The Tune Rockers?!?!? It was a #40 Hit in 1958 ... and has fallen off the radar ever since!
--->
COMPLETE MONKEES PICTURE SLEEVE COLLECTION FOR SALE!!!
(SOLD ONLY AS
A COMPLETE SET ... WILL NOT SEPARATE)
As times get tougher,
I find myself selling back pieces of my life ... and with so much recent
outpouring of love and affection for all things Monkees, I've decided to part
with my personal Monkees picture sleeve collection. (Trust me, this is a tough
and painful decision ... but there are some REAL hard-to-find rarities here ...
and these are in exceptionally good condition. If this goes well, I may follow
suit with other artist collections in the months to come ... as necessary ... so
stay tuned!) kk
Last Train To
Clarksville (Colgems 1001)
The first Monkees
single was actually released with TWO different Picture Sleeves ...
A full-color, slick
paper stock version (with a strip along the bottom encouraging fans to "Write to
The Monkees Fan Club") ... and a "paper" version with a sepia-tone photo of the
band. We've got 'em both. VG+ condition on each (with a little bit of ringwear
showing on the color version)
I'm A Believer
(Colgems 1002) VG++
Pleasant Valley
Sunday / Words (Colgems 1007) VG+ (The sleeve itself is in great shape ...
but there's a small staple hole in one corner and a not-so-completely removed
sticker in the other, on top of the Colgems logo)
Daydream Believer
(Colgems 1012) stills from "The Rainbow Room" that we told you about a week or
two ago. VG+
D.W. Washburn
(Colgems 1023) A beautiful sleeve ... and damn near mint
The Porpoise Song
(Colgems 1031) A tough sleeve to find in good condition ... because of the
solid black background, nearly every one I've ever seen has had a significant
amount of ringwear ... this one has NONE but does have a bit of a "wave" to it
... still a solid VG+
Tear Drop City
(Colgems 5000) Another tough one to find, this one's a very strong VG++ /
M-
Someday Man (Colgems
5004) Probably the weakest in the bunch ... quite a bit of ringwear and record
impression on both sides) I'd have to call this one VG (although the sleeve
itself is in pretty good shape)
Good Clean Fun
(Colgems 5005) VG+ with a couple of very small scuffs and tears on one side ... but
another very hard one to find.
Oh My My (Colgems
5011) Solid VG++ / M- (The Monkees were down to two at this point ... but
this sleeve features GREAT shots of Micky and Davy on the full color cover ... perhaps their rarest
sleeve.)
The running joke in the industry at the time ... as the group kept
getting smaller and smaller ... was that whoever was left would eventually
release a record as "The Monkee"!!!
That Was Then, This
Is Now (Arista 9505) Solid VG++
Daydream Believer
(Arista 9532) '80's reissue (with original artwork reproduced on one side ...
and a promo for their "Then And Now / Best Of" album on the other. Flipside of
this single was "Randy Scouse Git" from "Headquarters". Nice sleeve ... VG++ /
M-
Every Step Of The
Way (Rhino 74410) Hard-Cover sleeve, M-
Heart And Soul
(Rhino 74408) Another cool sleeve that's a bit hard to find, M-
(Records included on
the last two)
BONUS:
The Monkees EP
(Colgems 101) Hard-Cover EP sleeve from their first LP ... includes the rare 33
1/3" single featuring Theme from The Monkees / I Wanna Be Free / Take A Giant
Step and three others ... I can't tell you what the three others are without
playing it because THIS record has the Side 1 label affixed to BOTH sides!!!
lol Still quite a rarity. The sleeve is a solid VG++ ... the record itself looks to
be a VG to VG+
More Of The Monkees
EP (Colgems 102) Hard Cover EP sleeve from their second LP ... again, WITH the
record featuring I'm A Believer / Mary Mary / When Love Comes Knocking At Your
Door / Steppin' Stone / The Kind Of Girl I Could Love / She. Sleeve is VG++ /
M-; record looks to be VG+ ... and this one even comes with jukebox
strips!!!
Cereal Box Record
(#3), featuring Papa Gene's Blues. Cardboard record from a series of 4 releases
in this edition.
Cereal Box Record
(#4) featuring Valleri. Cardboard record from a series of 4 releases, but of an
entirely different series.
Christmas Is My Time
Of Year (Record and Picture Sleeve) Released in 1986 as "We Three Monkees",
this is the sleeve AND record ... both in VG++ shape (except somebody wrote
their name on the back of the sleeve!)
Again, all items sold
ONLY as a set ... $1250. Drop me a line if you're interested. (These items
have NOT gone up for sale through any other means at this point in time ...
we're trying this method first. If this works out, watch for other special
offers in the future via Kenny The K's Swap and Shop!!! lol)
It makes me feel so good to see so many people express
their love for Davy Jones. He was a cool cat, a great singer, and a fantastic
performer, and he deserves all the tributes he can get. Yes, it's maddening
that The Monkess aren't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - I really don't want
to believe that Jann Wenner is STILL pissed about the studio musician thing. He
should have left those ridiculous thoughts behind in the closet he came out of.
I guess us Monkees fans have to have an "Occupy Roling Stone" event to get them
in.
I was checking out amazon.com, and
I saw that the 1972 Bell Records solo album that contains "Rainy Jane" is
selling for $150. I bought it from Abbey Road Records in Washington back in
high school, along with the Capitol release of "Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart"
for $20, total. I'm glad to see them back on the charts again, just too
bad it's for Davy's demise. The Monkees, and Davy (or, as Davy said his
Japanese fans pronounced it, 'Daby, Daby, Daby!') will always be too cool for
school. Save the Texas Prairie Chicken! Later, Kent.
Ed
If anybody's going to hide behind
the studio musician thing, then they'd better un-induct The Mamas and the Papas,
The Beach Boys, The Byrds and about half of the other artists in there. You
can't have a different set of rulesor criteria based
on the artist. According to all that I've heard and read, The Monkees were "black-listed" by
Wenner YEARS ago ... implying that OTHER members of the nominating and voting
committee believed they belonged there ... but Jann put the kibosh on the idea. Perhaps now in light of all this new
"love and affection" being shown the group ... including front page coverage by
Wenner himself ... they'll FINALLY get their due. What a RIDICULOUS shame (or
would that be sham?!?!?) that it took Davy's death to finally get this done.
(kk)
Recently, CBS Sunday Morning had a story on Davy's
death, but again, they played only two songs that DAVY sang lead on. How hard
is it to do some research and play songs he sang? No one Plays "A Little Bit
Me" on their tributes on TV. I see the fluff piece on Davy in People, but it IS
good they gave him a front page like the 60's teen mags. The comment underneath
saying he changed music is TRUE. HE and the MONKEES changed the face of music
-- good or bad. Back then and in retrospect now, I think for the good. It was
just plain GREAT music! I am happy to see their songs back on the playlists,
although with Monkees fans being somewhat like Elvis fans in ways, I can see
some people downloading the songs for .99 cents (that would be like buying a 45
for 10 cents in the 60's) just to pay tribute even tho they may have already had
the MP3s. As far as the Rolling Stone thing, yes, that is a bit weird having
them pay tribute after their 60's snub.
Clark Besch
Weirder yet, did you read the Mike Nesmith interview in
Rolling Stone? Where he says that in HIS mind Davy WAS The Monkees ... and the
rest of them were just his back-up band?!?! Where the hell did THAT come
from!?!?!? Nesmith probably executed more control than all of the other Monkees
combined ... and regularly had his compositions featured on each and every LP.
And Micky sang more leads than Davy. Was Davy the heart-throb teen idol
figure? Sure ... that's why he always had those glistening stars in his eyes
every time he saw a pretty girl. But the others were hardly his "back-up"
band. (There IS some truth to the fact that Davy pretty much had the gig from
the beginning ... I've heard that numerous times before ... yet we've shown you video proof that
he also went through the auditioning screening process just like everybody else ...
so I can't say with all certainty that it was a "given" ... I think it was just
something they were hoping they could make work ... and obviously it did!) One could argue that the show was built around Davy ... but the concept all along was for a "group", based more so on the antics of The Beatles in THEIR romp "A Hard Day's Night". (kk)
Yeah, I DID read that! When you read Andrew Sandoval's
book on the day to day Monkees activities back in 66, you would know that
Nesmith was doing all he could to be writing and arranging Monkees tunes before
the TV show even aired! YES, Davy was the idol of the bunch, but almost EVERY
Monkees member was on every teen mag all of the time and I am not remembering at
all that Davy was more popular than the others -- and I have 100's of those teen
mags still! He certainly was NOT the lead on most of their biggest hits, but
was VERY important as a singer and "cute" Monkee. I think Nesmith was being
Nesmith -- tell Rolling Stone whatever he wants to tell them and not necessarily
what really happened. Why not? The Hall of Fame is a RS sham and he would know
it for sure.
Clark
I think there was a certain push to have Davy be the
teen idol / sex symbol of the band by the teen magazines ... he was always
played up as the cute one and, while the others certainly had their share of
magazine covers, I personally think Davy had them all beat by a very large margin. Hey, it
was all part of marketing the band ... and everybody benefited from it. (What was it I
read the other day? Something about Micky being the most sexually active of The
Monkees ... but Davy being the sex symbol that brought the girls in, ultimately
allowing Micky to make his moves?!?!? Crazy times to be sure!)
kk
REMEMBERING DAVY JONES ...
Where to begin ... probably like everybody
else ... when I was a young fan of the Monkees. We all were unexplainably drawn
to their crazy antics, screaming girls and pre-MTV-style concert footage. The
music was infectious and it sure wasn't the shows' plots that kept me engaged.
As unique as each Monkee was, Davy was the most endearing. His natural
qualities as a human being transcended into his character.
I was fortunate to work with Davy on many
occasions. Each time we got together, I was met with a warm embrace and his own
impersonation of my Chic-ah-go style "How ya doin'". He really loved coming
back to Chicago, marveling at the deep-dish pizza and the sincere love his
midwest fans always showed him.
The first time I brought him to my Arcada
Theatre, he fell in love with the City of St. Charles. He would ask me to bring
him in a day or two early just so he could check out the town. Many times he
was spotted just walking down Main Street and chatting with the shop
owners.
He loved our former restaurant, The Onesti
Dinner Club, that was built within a 160 year old church. He had purchased an
old church, but really did not know what to do with it. One look at our place
and his face truly lit up. We would spend hours talking about ways of
re-creating what we had done at his place.
Then there was the time I brought him back on
stage after one of his fabulous concerts. As he genuinely thanked the standing
ovation, he said, "Ron, this audience is tremendous! I would love to hug you
all!" He then retreated to the dressing room. I walked in and reminded him of
the meet and greet he was to do. He said, "Oh yeah. What have ya got, 15 or 20
folks?" I said, "Well my friend, you just told 900 fans that you wanted to hug
them. I've got 900 people waiting in the theatre for their hug ... nobody is
leaving!" So for the next four hours, Davy smiled and
posed and signed. Entertainers rarely do anything like that these
days.
I was on the phone with my "big sister" Deana
Martin, Dean Martin's daughter one day. I told her that Davy was coming to the
theatre and she told me that Davy actually only had one major girlfriend on the
show ... and it was her! She also said they had a little fling off screen,
too. She promised to send me the clip from the show.
So the last time he was by me, I once again
asked him to join me back on stage after another superb performance. I told him
I had a little surprise for him. I brought our 40 foot screen down and played
the clip from the show that he and Deana sat staring into each other's eyes
while stars were shooting out. The crowd roared and he somewhat embarrassingly
smiled.
I asked him who the girl was and he
replied,"That was actually Dean Martin's daughter, Deana. What a lovely girl
she was." I asked him if had kept in touch with the daughter of the legend.
He said, "I haven't seen her in 40 years. I would love to see her
again."
At that moment the big screen was raised and
there she stood, arms outstretched, and her gleaming smile. His jaw dropped
and they rushed to hug each other. They then sang the Dean Martin classic
Everybody Loves Somebody together. A truly incredible moment and one
of the best memories I have in my 30 year career.
But that was Davy. Each moment spent with
him, whether you were one on one with him, or part of the throngs of fans
singing along with him, was special. Aside from the fact that I literally saw
eye to eye with him, I always valued the time we spent driving to see Dick
Biondi at the radio station, or going out to eat as much, if not more so, than
his time on our stage.
Of course, his memory will live on in his
music and on tv. The entertainment industry lost a small-framed giant this
leap-year February 29. It was Davy that helped me realize that I am a good dad
to my seven year old daughter. A Monkees song came on in the car and she said,
"That's Davy Jones!" If I have had anything to do with perpetuating his memory
to the next generation, I have truly shown my appreciation for
Davy.
What was most amazing to me was how warm he
remained in a business that he felt kind of left him behind. He would tell me
stories of the show making millions, but he and the guys each making $500 a
week. It was the fans that really kept him going all those years. He loved
giving back to his fans, knowing the jockey from Manchester made so many people
happy.
Thank you, my friend. As you take your "last
train," remember that you have enlightened our lives, and you will be missed.
Anytime anybody asks me how "I'm doin'," I'll
think of you.
Ron Onesti
Onesti Entertainment / The Arcada
Theatre
Please join us Friday, March 30, 2012, at 8 PM
for a very special evening at The Arcada Theatre as we present our
SPECIAL SALUTE TO OUR FRIEND,
DAVY JONES,
FEATURING STORIES OF OUR EXPERIENCES WITH DAVY, VIDEO
FOOTAGE, THE PONDHAWKS' LIVE TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF THE MONKEES AND A CARD TO
HIS WIDOW, JACKIE, SIGNED BY THE ENTIRE AUDIENCE.
A FABULOUS, LIVE SHOW WITH BILL MEDLEY AND THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS
WILL FOLLOW. THERE ARE A FEW SEATS LEFT FOR THIS
VERY SPECIAL
EVENING.
The Arcada Theatre, 105 Main
Street, St. Charles, IL
Davy Jones with Ron Onesti
Davy Jones' Family says their final goodbyes to the former Monkee
in Manchester, England -- R.I.P., Davy
Interesting to see Micky's comment
about the three surviving Monkees getting back together to perform at a New York
service for their former comrade ... I've got mixed emotions on that whole idea.
(More on Micky's latest activities below!)
kk
Hi Kent, Where else
could go with this question other than the Forgotten hits site, right? I saw
in the Sunday Comments that the Monkees out sold the Stones and the Beatles in
1967. I've seen that before, too, but I've always wondered how many songs did
the Stones and Beatles release in that year versus how many the Monkees
released. Could the lack of releases versus the flooding the market with
releases the Monkees seemed to do in 1967 scue those
numbers? Bill
The
Monkees were INCREDIBLY popular in 1967 ... and yes, they released a tremendous amount of product that year. (FOUR Monkees albums topped the charts in 1967 ...
their LP debut "The Monkees" was still #1 on the charts when the year began, only
to be displaced in the top spot by their follow up album, "More Of The Monkees", which
then topped the charts for another incredible 18 weeks, giving The Monkees a 31 week consecutive lock on the #1 Album position!
In June, "Headquarters" spent
a week at #1. The Pre-Fab Four closed out the year on top, too, with their latest
release, "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd.", which spent another five
weeks on top of the charts, giving The Monkees an incredible THIRTY WEEKS at #1
during 1967 alone. (Add in the first seven weeks of their debut album's run at #1
in 1966 and that's an amazing 37 weeks on top of the charts ... an incredible
62% of the year holding down the #1
position for that time period!!!)
What
did The Beatles do that year? Well, the album that knocked "Headquarters" out
of the top spot was a little thing you may remember called "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band"!!! "Pepper" topped the charts for a total of fifteen weeks,
still three weeks shy of The Monkees' second album. The Beatles would knock
them out of the #1 spot once again when their "Magical Mystery Tour" soundtrack
album replaced "Pisces" at the top of the charts at the turn of the calendar
page, circa 1968.
As for
The Rolling Stones ... they had no #1 albums in 1967 ... between The Monkees and The
Beatles ruling the charts, that only left EIGHT WEEKS for any other artist to
bask in the glory ... and those eight weeks were spread out between Diana Ross
and the Supremes (and their Greatest Hits album, which spent five weeks at #1),
Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billie Joe" (two weeks at #1) and a week at the top for
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass album "Sounds
Like".
The Stones reached #2 with "Between The Buttons" and "Their Satanic Majesties Request" (which also peaked at #2 the
following year).
On the
singles chart, The Monkees scored Top 40 Hits with "I'm A Believer" (#1 for seven weeks) and
its flip-side "Steppin' Stone" (#20), "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" (#1)
and ITS flip-side "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" (#39), another two-sided hit with
"Pleasant Valley Sunday" (#3) and "Words" (#5) and the #1 Hit "Daydream
Believer" wrapping up the year.
The
Beatles hit #1 with "Penny Lane", "All You Need Is Love" and "Hello Goodbye" ...
and the B-Sides of all three of those singles also charted ("Strawberry Fields
Forever", #8, "Baby, You're A Rich Man", #34 and "I Am The Walrus",
#46).
Comparatively speaking, 1967 was not a banner year for The Rolling
Stones ... but they still placed four sides on the chart that year, including
the #1 Hit "Ruby Tuesday", followed by "Let's Spend The Night Together" (#28),
"Dandelion" (#6) and "We Love You" (#50), which just happened to feature a
couple of The Beatles on background vocals! While
I don't have actual "official" sales figures, it looks like "Between The
Buttons" and "Their Satanic Majesties Request" both went gold, "Sgt. Pepper"
went platinum eleven times over (but that includes all sales SINCE 1967, too)
and "Magical Mystery Tour" has sold upwards of six million copies since it was first
released. The Monkees sold five million copies of each of their first two LPs
and two million each of "Headquarters" and "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and
Jones, Ltd."
Heading back to the singles charts, The
Beatles went gold with all three of their single releases, The Stones struck
gold with "Ruby Tuesday" and The Monkees reached gold status with all four of
their new single releases.
Going strictly from memory (having been there!), it was DEFINITELY The Monkees' year, hands down. Actual physical sales and chart statistics would indicate that if they didn't outsell The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined, it had to be pretty damn close! (kk)
DOLENZ’s GARAGE BAND IN NYC
NY – Monkee - MICKY DOLENZ was in New York last
week reading for a possible new role in GARAGE BAND, produced and directed by
Ken Davenport. The play’s reading was held at club Ha! Comedy Club in New York
City.
Seen after the reading (L - R): Dolenz agent
Ken Melamed, from the Bret Adams Ltd. agency; Dolenz; and, fellow cast member Donnie
Kehr.
And, speaking of "Garage Bands"
...
re: GARAGE
BANDS:Hi Kent -
Getting back to Question Mark and
the Mysterians, their backgrounds must still be a
mystery since the "master" doesn't know.
Just a thought, I think the two best
Garage Band Songs came out the same year
1966: 96 Tears and Gloria
by the Shadows of Knight.
Would be interesting to see some of your
readers favorite Garage Band Songs.
Keep up the Great Work!!!
Carolyn
Well, we did our
Psychedelic Poll a few years back ... I don't see why we couldn't put together a
Garage Band Poll, too. My fear is that many of these bands would be so obscure
that we might not be able to find musical selections for all of them! And the
line between garage band and psychedelia seems to have blurred and blended into what we now
refer to as "nuggets" these days ... quite honestly, it might be difficult to make a distinction
between the two. But hey, I'm up for anything. (Maybe we can enlist our buddy
Mike Dugo, who runs the 60's Garage Bands website, to assist us with this
project ... what do you say, Mike???) kk
Your 60's Flashback about Bobby Darin was incredibly
interesting, especially his relationship with Sinatra. One thing you might not
know about Bobby was his close relationship with Roger McGuinn: After hired as a
sideman by the Limeliters and the Chad Mitchell Trio, and producing for Judy
Collins (he produced her early 60's album that included "Turn, Turn, Turn"),
Bobby hired Roger (Jim) to play guitar and sing backup harmonies as Bobby wanted
to add some folk roots to his repertoire. Unfortunately, about a year and a half
after Roger began his relationship with Bobby, Darin became seriously ill and
retired from singing. Bobby then opened T.M. Music in the legendary Brill
Building in New York City, hiring Roger as a song writer for $35.00 a
week!!!
And just a sidenote on Roger, Feb 8th was my 63rd B-day
and I was asked to fill in for Mornings on KIGN-FM for a Morning Guy that lost
his voice. Wouldn't you know it, I was on live from 6 -10 am, at about 6:08 the
station phone rang and on the other end of the line was Roger wishing me a Happy
B-Day! He had just finished a gig on the West Coast and he and his wife Camilla
were on their way driving back to their home in Florida. Talk about a pleasant
surprise! It definitely made my day!
"Wild" Bill Cody
VERY Cool, Wild Bill! Here's how we covered the Bobby Darin / Roger McGuinn
connection in our series way back when:
'60's
FLASHBACK:
In late 1962, Bobby Darin went to see Lenny Bruce perform at The Crescendo
in Los Angeles. The Chad Mitchell Trio were the opening act that night and
Bobby fell in love with the stylings of their guitarist. In fact, after the
show was over, he went backstage to meet the band and offered the guitar player
DOUBLE what he was currently making to join his own back-up band. As it turned
out, the guitarist was bored with the music of The Chad Mitchell Trio ... and
was already considering an offer to join The New Christy Minstrels.
Darin persuaded him that he would be lost in the crowd of such a large outfit
and that he would be better served "hooking up with me." And, that's how it
came to be that future-Byrd Roger McGuinn began playing guitar for Bobby
Darin!
McGuinn takes credit for first introducing Bobby Darin to the music of Bob
Dylan ... all the more fitting in that The Byrds launched their career with a
cover of the Dylan song "Mr. Tambourine Man". Likewise, Bobby's philosophy on
rock and roll is said to have influenced Roger McGuinn, prompting The Byrds to
plug in their guitars and perform "electric" folk music, something that
Dylan himself would later go on to do.
While McGuinn's time in Bobby Darin's back-up band was short-lived (he was
also employed as a staff-writer at Darin's Trinity Music Publishing Company ...
but would soon leave to pursue his own musical interests, ultimately forming The
Byrds and helping to set off the folk / rock phase!), Bobby continued to stay in
touch with Roger over the years and never lost respect for him as an artist. He
also wished him well in all of his musical endeavors ... and never begrudged him
for trying to make his own name in the music business. (He also never stopped
considering opportunities for the two of them to work together again
either!)
In 1966, Bobby got the idea to make his own movie ... a film that was to be
called "The Vendors" ... and he worked on it on and off for the next several
years. Although the film never really materialized, Darin poured vast amounts
of his time and money into the making of the film, which was never released.
From the sounds of things, this is GOOD news ... the film was reportedly a
disaster!
At first, Bobby considered Roger McGuinn for the lead role. (Of course by
1966, Roger was already leading The Byrds during their biggest moment in the sun
and the move really wouldn't have made much sense.) However, early on (while
Roger was still playing guitar in Bobby's band), he had once told Bobby that he
wanted to get into movies ... and Darin considered THIS role to be the perfect
springboard for a film career ... hell, it had already worked for him! In
Bobby's mind, why COULDN'T Roger do both ... and be a success at both! So he
set up a filming date to see if Roger could handle the part. When all was said
and done, the role of a heroin addict / junkie wasn't something Roger McGuinn
wanted to be associated with for the rest of his career and, at the very last
minute, he backed out. When word got back to Bobby, Darin sent him the bill for
a lost day of shooting! (kk)
LOL: At this rate, if this
keeps up, we'll have rerun our entire Bobby Darin Series (albeit out of
chronological order!) on the website pretty soon! That's OK ... you guys really
seem to like these excerpts ... so we'll feature them when we can (until the
whole thing ultimately gets posted.)
Here's another cool Roger McGuinn clip where he recounts his amazing
history ...
There's a good friend of mine on my "Byrds Enthusiasts"
Facebook page who just posted this video of Roger McGuinn on "The Midnight
Special". It's an interview and his song "Take Me Away" circa '75 ... get aload
of Roger's hair!
WHOA!
To date, this has been seen by ONE person in the entire
world, ME!
I'm reading Freddy Cannon's book "Where The
Action Is!"
Page 154 - He compares the deaths of Elvis
and Bobby.
In Bobby's case , there wasn't much that he
could have done to have avoided his fate. On the other hand, Elvis was
unfortunately a victim of something he could have prevented. I think that Bobby
Darin met an especially sad ending.
I knew Bobby, and I liked him. Not everyone did. He was
undeniably a huge superstar in show business. When I first met him he was
billing himself as a songwriter, before he had his own hits with "Dream Lover"
and "Splish Splash." He had a little office here in Los Angeles. I talked to
him on the phone, and he said to me, "Come over here, Freddy. I want to play you
some songs that you might be interested in recording." I can't remember
what the songs were at the time, but he was trying to write a song for me.
Nothing really came out of it, but I loved meeting him.
Bobby Darin was a great guy, and I really liked him.
Unfortunately , some people have said that he was "an idiot" and he was "a jerk"
who was hard to get along with. I didn't find that at all. I think that
recording artists don't act that way towards each other, because they have
a mutual respect for each other.! There is something of a sense of
peer camaraderie. When well-known singers get together, there is usually no
pretense. Bobby Darin should not have died so young. To have died at the age of
37, of heart disease, should not have happened to him at all.Like me, he had
once contracted both rheumatic fever and scarlet fever. He also had a heart
murmur, like I did. In my case, my body repaired it -- I grew out of
it. However, his did not, and he had a heart attack and died. Bobby Darin
was brilliant. What a talent he was.! He could have been big still today. He
seemed to have the knack to be able to sing any song, and to sell it. I loved
his early rock & roll records, but as time went on, he started moving into
singing big pop songs like Frank Sinatra. What a varied catalogue of music
that he created: from "Mack The Knife" in 1959 to his Top Ten version of "If I
Were A Carpenter" in 1966, to his version of the song "Happy" in 1973. There was
nothing he could not sing, and make every song all his own. His death in 1973
was really tragic. It was not his fault, or at his own hands. It was simply a
"roll of the dice," and his name came up. In my eyes, he was truly a great guy.
I believe what Freddy says about Bobby. In other parts
of the book he has no trouble talking about people he didn't like like Cher
and Dionne Warwick. I
do think the part where he said when us famous singers get together - there is a
certain respect. Frank B.
Thanks,
Frank. I just landed in NYC and I LOVED reading this. If it's ok with you, I'd
like to post it to the group. It seems to me that most people who knew
Darin liked him. I think there was a lot of truth to the young, brash BD but it
also became a lazy writer's construct. Thanks heaps, my pal.
Jamie
I finished Freddy's book a couple
of weeks ago ... a quick, fun read from a guy who TRULY appreciates the support
his fans have shown him for all these years. Freddy Cannon and Bobby Darin were
a couple of REALLY big names during the early days of rock and roll ... cool to
see that they seemed to have a mutual respect for one another. (As I've said so
many times before, one of the highlights of doing this is talking with some of
the artists and finding out that they're just as big a fan of some of these
other artists as WE are!!!) kk
Improving radio is ALWAYS a hot topic here at Forgotten
Hits ...
Here are a few of your recent ideas,
thoughts, suggestions, recommendations and memories ...
Hi Kent,
I've been reading, with interest, the various comments
over the past week concerning today's radio. Having recently retired from the
business last year I thought I'd throw in my nickel's worth.
First, on the recommendation of one of your writers
this morning, I'm listening to WGVU as I type away. They have a "standards" show
on Sunday morning which is featuring some tunes that were hits before my time,
but I recognize most of them and am enjoying it. I look forward to hearing their
other shows.
I thought Clark was writing about me in this morning's
note about listening to the radio when he was young. Hanging on every word that
the local dj spoke, listening to the music for hours and hours, anticipating
trips to the record store, needing each week's survey and having his
own imaginary radio station. Mine was in the basement. Old record player, fake
microphone and plenty of 45's to spin. I guess that was the beginning of my
radio career. What wonderful memories.
Mason Ramsey's comments were quite interesting this
week. I started in the business when it was fun. I retired after several years
with Clear Channel and another corporate owner. I agree with Mason that it's
unfortunate the business has been diluted down to "liner jocks," voice tracking
and book readers. But I'm not sure how the jocks can rebel against the corporate
programming. For every jock who actually has a job in the business there are a
few dozen guys and gals waiting in line for the job. So they suck it up just to
remain on the radio.
Prior to retiring, I was program director at a news /
talk station. Of course that's not enough in today's corporate world. I also
voice tracked middays on the classic rock station. They had me doing the noon
hour "live" because they thought there should be some interaction between the
jock / station and the listener. One hour ... what a joke! And, as Mason
referred to, the playlist was pathetically small. After working just one hour a
day "live" I was totally sick of the same songs after just a few months. So
imagine how I felt after playing the same stuff for SIX YEARS!!! Think how the
morning guy and the drive guy felt having to listen to the same songs for a few
hours a day. Not to mention the poor listeners. Yes, we all complained
constantly but every word fell on deaf ears.
And then there was the consultant. On one occasion when
he was in town he came into my office and asked if I had any thoughts. I was all
over his ass about the music. I asked why we only play two Def Leppard tunes
when they had tons of hits. I asked why we only play two Bon Jovi songs when
they had tons of hits as well. He said Bon Jovi was an 80's hair band that
nobody cared for anymore. Hair band? Bon Jovi? I told him Cinderella was a hair
band, Warrant was a hair band, Poison was a hair band. I suggested that Bon
Jovi transcended that image, that they went on to great musical success and were
legends. I asked if he was talking about the same Bon Jovi that I had recently
seen in a sold out concert in Omaha. I asked if we were talking about the same
Bon Jovi that has consistently been one of the top concert draws over the past
several years. It was obvious that neither of us was going to win the
discussion. He politely excused himself and we kept playing "Runaway" and
"Livin' On A Prayer."
It doesn't matter what you may think of Bon Jovi and
their music. I'm simply using this as an example of the corporate / consultant
mentality. As long as their thinking (and playlists) are so narrow minded, as
long as their sole interest is money, the listener is doomed. Radio once
broadcast in the public interest. Today they broadcast in the owners
interest.
Steve Hotvedt
>>>Check out
wgvu.org/realoldies. It is a PBS station out of Grand Valley State
University near Grand Rapids, Michigan ... but unlike any PBS or oldies station
you have ever heard. They play records that will make you say out loud "OH,
YEAH!, I forgot about that one." For instance, I have heard lately: "Charity
Ball" by Fanny, "Cinnamon Cinder" by Pastel Six, "The Sound of Love" by the 5
Americans, "Out and About" by Boyce & Hart, "Help Me Girl" by the Outsiders
and hundreds of local and area (read Chicago) bands. Plus you can click to see
the playlist for song and artist. Give it an hour or two and you will be hooked.
Yeah, they play some of the same 60 or 70 songs that the "oldies" stations have
in their rotations, but the other two thirds of the time is delightful.
(Dube)
FH reader and wonderful friend, Bob Stroud, grew up selling 45s in
the Grand Rapids record stores. Although I have many GR radio surveys from the
late 60's (WKNX mostly), Bob sent me hundreds more years ago and I cherish
those. Together with mine and his, GR had a great set of stations that played
TONS of Forgotten Hits and lower charting 45s that would have made growing up
near and selling 45s in GR a great time. Maybe that is what WGVU is working
towards. The Stroud Crowd stretches beyond Chicago in all directions! :)
Clark Besch
I put WGVU on for awhile on Sunday afternoon ... here's
a link to their playlist:
LOTS of Forgotten Hits tunes on this list ... including a couple that are
coming up in the next week or two in our Sound Advice feature. Cool, too, that
this is considered a "Real Oldies" station ... boy, we sure miss ours here in
Chicago!
I devoted a good percentage of my early teen years making up my own charts,
too ... growing up here in Chicago, we had TWO powerhouse AM stations ... and my
whole world revolved around them. I'd faithfully pick up both the WLS and the
WCFL survey each and every Friday ... and then put together a "combined" chart
based on the overall performance of these records based on the two stations'
lists. (I had NO idea what Billboard or Cash Box Magazine were back in 1967 ...
my scope for music never extended beyond Chicago ... I just figured that if WE
were hearing it, the whole WORLD must be hearing it!!!)
I can't count the times my dad would come into my room while I was hovering
over my surveys compiling my own list and scream "Stop playing with your papers
and go outside and get some exercise!" or something to that effect. That's what
he called them ... my "papers". (lol) How ironic, I suppose in hindsight, that
many of my "friends" were playing with THEIR papers in THEIR bedrooms, too ...
only THEIR papers were ROLLING papers and they were embracing the
ever-blossoming drug scene. Meanwhile, I was perfectly content to just sit
there with my records and my surveys, playing back my own countdown from my
limited collection.
I can't tell you how many people have shared a similar growing-up
experience with us over the years. There was no limit to the passion that we
held for this music ... and the fact that it has carried over all these 40-50
years later proves again just HOW powerful it really was. (kk)
By the way, we heard recently from Lou Simon over at XM / Sirius Radio ...
he does a weekly countdown on their '60's Station that incorporates The Top 40
Biggest Hit Records of the week based on a combination of the national charts.
If you're an XM / Sirius subscriber, you'll definitely want to check this out
... it airs Sunday Nights at 10 PM Eastern and again on Wednesdays at 9 PM
Eastern. (kk)
Randy Price's "Randy On The Radio" internet radio show
celebrates its anniversary on Wednesday, March 14, 8 - 9 PM ET. Tune in for lots
of forgotten hits, including several rare stereo oldies, a Mystery Oldie contest
and a Guess The Segue contest. Info for accessing the stream and entering the
chat room are available athttp://topshelfoldies.org/; Previous Randy On The Radio shows are archived
at:
Would you believe this past weekend I got out Charlie Rich's MOHAIR
SAM and played it here at home since I hadn't heard it in forever how long. My all
time favorite of his wasyour posted song of LONELY WEEKENDS. Great post to your Sound
Advice. One final item and no big deal. But I believe the correct name of the
label was Phillips International. Larry
Be sure to check out TODAY's SOUND ADVICE
Column ... as Forgotten Hits salutes the very first EVER Gold Record Single!!!
(kk)
re: NEW
RELEASES:
Philly Pop Music and Clutch Cargo is
proud to announce our benefit CD release ... "Mull of Kintyre", featuring
Charlie Gracie and Clutch Cargo Street Date - March 15th Downloads @
iTunes and CD Baby plus Limited Edition Hand Numbered CD's. Partial proceeds
to benefit the Philadelphia Police and Fire, Pipes & Drums Band Featuring
special guests: Charlie Gracie, Philadelphia Police and Fire pipers, Birdie
Busch, The Orlons, The Hooligans Luke Jardel, and Skip Denenberg. Why
this song ... George Manney: "We chose the McCartney single for two reasons
... first of all, it features bagpipes and we are trying to help raise funds for
the Police & Fire Pipes and Drum band. Secondly, as a fitting tribute to
Sir Paul, we chose Philly R&R pioneer, Charlie Gracie to cover McCartney's
hit since Sir Paul covered Gracie's 1957 hit, 'Fabulous' and this year is the
35th anniversary of the original release of 'Mull of
Kintyre'."
Clutch Cargo; George Manney - drums, Irish
percussion, synthesizer , backing vocals Rocco Notte - piano, glockenspiel
Su Teears - vocals, synthesizer Dave Humphreys - bass Jim Mahoney -
lead guitar Marty Ahearn - guitar Clutch Cargo operates with a flexible
line-up of collaborators. Plus the Choir; Lamb Bristow, Lisa Ciarrocchi, Su
Teears, Luke Jardel, George Manney, Stephen Caldwell, Jean Maddox Recorded at
Geo Sound studio Produced, mixed, engineered and arranged by George
Manney Mastered by Peter Humphreys - Masterwork Recording Art Design by
Su Teears Visit PPFPD online: http://www.ppfpd.org/ Visit
Clutch Cargo online: http://www.ClutchCargoMusic.com Philly Pop Music - http://www.PhillyPopMusic.com Historically, the 1st for Cameo-Parkway artist
(The Orlons) to back-up former Cameo artist, Charlie Gracie.
George sent me a short promotional piece to
share with our readers to give them a taste as to what this new release sounds
like ... you can also click on the Amazon link to hear a 30-second snippet and
order a copy of the new release after Tuesday!
Kent, You are 'the man'! Here is a promo
that we made just for that purpose and the cover art.
Seventies Rock
Pioneer Michael Stanley To Release New CD 'The Hang'
3/12/2012 – Philadelphia, PA - Much
to the excitement of fans and music critics worldwide, music legend Michael
Stanley will be releasing his 25th album 'The Hang' on March 2012 on
ItsAboutMusic.com. From the mid '70s
to the mid '80s, the Michael Stanley Band enjoyed a strong and fiercely loyal
following, touring with some of the superstar bands of that period including
Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, Foreigner and The Doobie Brothers. With over 70
minutes of music, the latest CD from Michael Stanley features twelve new
original compositions and covers of songs written by Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler
and songwriter extraordinaire Patty Griffin. Once again the album was mixed by
legendary Bill Szymczyk and features the talents of Michael's road band, The
Resonators throughout.
“I think it would be fair to say that
this is the 'darkest' album I've ever made as it was conceived during a
particularly daunting eighteen month period in my life ... but, that being said,
I also think it's a testament of hope and to the power we accrue from those we
chose to have at our side on our journey.”
Discovered by New York record
producer, Bill Szymczyk in 1973, Michael Stanley released his debut album
'Michael Stanley' (Tumbleweed Records), and second LP, 'Friends & Legends'
(MCA) to critical acclaim. Both albums featured guest appearances by Todd
Rundgren, Joe Walsh and David Sanborn. During this time he formed a trio with
two area musicians, Daniel Pecchio and Jonah Koslen, who played Stanley's solo
songs as well as new material live. In 1974, out of work, Michael's close
friend, Joe Walsh (another Cleveland area musician) suggested he pursue music
full time. It was a turning point for Stanley, who along with Pecchio and Koslen
brought in drummer Tommy Dobeck and the The Michael Stanley Band was born!
There were several Top 20 and Top 30 hits in the early '80s,
among them "He Can't Love You" (1980) and "My Town" (1983). In late 1982, MSB
released their final album for EMI 'You Can't Fight Fashion'. The single from
the album, "My Town", made it to number 29 on the Billboard charts. The band
released two independent albums, 1983's 'Inside Moves', and 'Fourth And Ten' in
1984 (recorded live at Blossom Music Center), before formally disbanding in late
1986, shortly after performing 14 'farewell' concerts at Cleveland's Front
Row.
Michael's 'post-MSB' years found him co-hosting WJW-Channel 8's
'Cleveland Tonight' and 'P.M. Magazine', until they were canceled. He also began
his long stint as afternoon disc jockey and on-air personality at Cleveland's
WNCX 98.5. After several well-received albums in the '90s, as well as a MSB
reunion concert, Michael Stanley & The Resonators was formed, which became
the band's performing moniker; once again pleasing their loyal MSB fans while
winning over new ones, with a set list of old favorites and clever covers
interspersed with fresh originals. The pace showed no sign of letting up as the
'The Ground', was released on October 21, 2003. Michael continues to man the
airwaves as afternoon 'drive-time' personality at Cleveland's popular WNCX,
while performing with "The Resonators" and "Midlife Chryslers" throughout
Ohio.
In 2011, Michael Stanley and all The Resonators hit the ground
running with their critically accliamed CD 'Shadowland'. And now in 2012, in a
career that spans over forty-five years, Michael Stanley's 'The Hang' is a work
that sets a new standard in the musical journey of one of rock's finest
singer/songwriters!
"He
Can't Love You" is one of my favorite tunes from the '80's ... great to hear
that Michael is still out there making new music! (kk)
That
Philly Sound is proud to announce that our newest CD, "The Great Writer /
Producer LEON HUFF" has just been released and is available to purchase through
CD Baby.
In 1962, songwriter /record producer, John Madara, discovered Leon Huff playing in a
club in West Philadelphia. John invited Leon to play on some of his and partner,
Dave White's, productions. As Leon honed his skills, he began writing and
producing songs through John's production company. John's company was located in
the Shubert Building, where he met Kenny Gamble. They would team up to write and
produce some of the most iconic songs in the history of soul music, including
"Expressway To Your Heart," "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "Love Train" and "Me
and Mrs. Jones," to name just a few. In 1971, Gamble & Huff formed
Philadelphia International Records. Their sound became known as The Sound of
Philadelphia.
This historicalCD is a
compilation of Leon Huff's early Philly Northern Soul Productions from 1963 -
1969 while he was writing and producing for John Madara's production company,
before he would break out on his own with Kenny Gamble. Leon wrote 10 songs,
co-wrote 9 songs, produced 3 songs and co-produced 15 songs. Kenny Gamble
co-wrote and / or co-produced 6 songs. John Madara co-wrote 4 songs, produced 2
songs and co-produced 13 songs. Click here to purchase "The Great Writer/Producer
Leon Huff."
Also, please go to THAT PHILLY
SOUND to purchase other rare Philly CDs from our shop and learn more about the
artists and people behind the scenes that made up "The Sound of
Philadelphia." Click here to go to THAT PHILLY
SOUND.
And, perhaps a NOT so new release
...
re: DONOVAN: >>>Just in time for his Rock And Roll
Hall Of Fame induction, we'll be treated to a new Donovan "Essential Greatest
Hits" CD. (kk)
You only have
to see Rio Scafone perform for a minute to know — she has that look in her eye,
as if all she is doing is all that matters at that very moment. The live show
exhilarates.
Whole thing
starts with a video of preachers condemning rock 'n' roll and Christian DJs
smashing rock records. Then Scafone's on stage, twisting, gyrating and owning
every inch like some sort of possessed, evangelical-satanic dervish. It's at
once nostalgic performance art, killer show band and a rock 'n' roll wonder.
Got this from our FH Buddy
Wild Bill Cody regarding this years inductees to The Colorado Music Hall Of Fame
...
Sugarloaf, the
Astronauts, Flash Cadillac, and KIMN radio will be the inductees this go around.
The Moonrakers, Rainy Daze, and one other group will get special recognition.
That will be the sixties groups. They will move on to other decades and genres
in the future. There will definitely be a folk group induction and maybe a jazz
group. We met with the folks from the hall and they have put a lot of thought
and effort into this. I think it will come off well.
Bob MacVittie
Hey All Colorado Music
Kids:
I briefly interviewed Bob
McVittie, the original drummer of the Moonrakers and Sugarloaf, two weeks ago
on my radio show concerning them going into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame
and above is the email I just received from Bob. I know so far, Red Rocks, John
Denver, Barry Fey and Harry Tuft (who opened the Denver Folklore Center in 1962)
are the ONLY INDUCTEES into the Colorado Music HOF!
I can't believe Judy Collins and
Bob Lind are NOT included here. I will definitely put a bug in the ears of the
induction committee that they certainly should be considered as
well.
Wow, this is incredible ... this
will be a special occasion, and I'll be sure to let you all know when it will
take place in case you'd like to attend!
(I wonder if this will be anything
like the Rock & Roll HOF with groups performing?) ANY members of Sugarloaf,
the remaining living Astronauts and Flash Cadillac would be a GREAT
SHOW!
Congrats to you, Bob, and the rest
of Sugarloaf, the Moonrakers and Rainy Daze!
"Wild" Bill Cody
Please pass this along to anyone
that enjoyed these groups back in the day!
Found this in the
most recent R.I.P. Renfield Newsletter ... made me laugh ...
I show up at
work the other day ... and a woman
comes running over to me, hands me a catalog, and tells me to read the product
description beneath a backyard wishing well on the back cover.
(She was in the market for
something like that.)I WAS TOLD TO READ IT TO THE
END! I got a really good
laugh out of it ... (shocked in fact
that it got in print in at a serious business)(('sneaked-in', private joke? none of the other ads
were 'funny'))IN FACT, I'M PRETTY
SURE THAT SHE AND I WERE PROBABLY THE ONLY TWO PEOPLE THAT GOT THE REFERENCE
! (funny how it got into OUR hands)
We have VERY few "pop culture" references going
on where I work ... so a gem like this would have been the highlight of my work
day. (Although the other day out of the blue, one of the sales guys was passing
through and, completely off the cuff said "They brought their trains with them"
... TOTALLY cracked up every guy in the office. Not a woman there had a CLUE
what we were laughing at. That hidden "male bond" that is "Slap Shot" ... not a
GREAT movie ... or even a particularly successful one ... but a movie that every
guy on the planet must have seen ... and loved ... at some point of his
upbringing. Funny what strikes you as funny all these years later ... thanks,
Gary! (For more of this kind of craziness, be sure to check out Gary's website
via the link above.) kk
