Saturday, January 5, 2013

The Sunday Comments ( 01 - 06 - 13 )

re: PAUL REVERE:

Forgotten Hits salutes Paul Revere, who will be celebrating his 75th Birthday tomorrow (on Monday, January 7th!!!) I swear, the man doesn't even look 60!!! He's in GREAT shape ... and he's still rockin' up a storm! We publicly invite Jack Black to check these guys out in concert ... he'll be blown away! (Black recently made a comment that he's seen artists rock in their 50's and their 60's ... but he's never seen anybody rock in their 70's. Jack, I'd love to be sitting there next to you when Paul Revere and the Raiders take the stage ... you'll be chomping at the bit to jump on on stage and join them in all the rock and roll craziness!)    kk  

Raiders Drummer Tommy Scheckel tells us ...  

He’s still one of the funniest and most entertaining guys in show biz today and shows zero sign of slowing down. The younger guys in the band will be dragging through an airport after getting two hours sleep and Paul is still bright, sharp and making jokes, AND kicking butt later that night at the show. An amazing, amazing man!   

Tommy even sent in this special Birthday Banner to share with our readers ...



Paul Revere and the Raiders are just getting ready to set sail on the 2013 Concerts At Sea "Where The Action Is" cruise (departing January 20th) ... and now comes word that they're already booked for the 2014 Cruise, too!  Next year's line up will include B.J. Thomas, Mary Wilson and The Drifters! You'll find complete booking information here:


re: THE RASCALS:
Little Steven is one of the very few in showbiz that can bring great artists like these (back) together. Bravo!
-- BOB FRABLE
 

I've been listening to the soundtrack for a brand new motion picture called "Not Fade Away", for which Little Steven was the musical director. The film was made by David Chase, who created "The Sopranos", on which Stevie Van Zandt starred as Silvio Dante. (In fact, the film also stars Tony Soprano himself, James Gandolfini!)  
It tells the story of three best friends living in the suburbs of New Jersey who decide to form a rock band after seeing The Rolling Stones appear on television ... and the soundtrack features a couple of real Stones tracks along with some remakes recorded by this "new" group, calling themselves The Twylight Zones (in which Van Zandt both performed and produced.)    
Thanks to Little Steven's involvement, we're also treated to original tracks by The Rascals, Bob Dylan, Bo Diddley, The Moody Blues, The Small Faces, The Left Banke, Robert Johnson, Johnny Burnett and the Rock 'n' Roll Trio, Elmore James, Van Morrison, The Sex Pistols and Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood! The Twylight Zones perform credible covers of '60's classics like "Pipeline", "Bo Diddley", "Subterranean Homesick Blues", "Time Is On My Side" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'".  
The soundtrack is available on ABKCO Records and the film is currently playing in select theaters around the country. (Check your local listings to see when "Not Fade Away" may be opening in your area.) kk

  
re: THIS AND THAT:
Why not have an Ed Sullivan tribute show on New Years? There would be some GREAT color gems to show the public that 70% have never seen, despite us 30% who have seen most of these. The overall public probably would LOVE a New Years show with Ed and FULL clips (none of this five seconds or banners) and not this silly musical dumbing down commentary on the DVDs. Have Casey Kasem or Dick Bartley host it. Someone the public can relate to. If ABC or whomever needs to have NAME acts, you cannot find more from 60's and 70's than those on the Sullivan show.
Clark Besch  

It's been the talk of the weekend ... The Rolling Stones have confirmed that they WILL tour during 2013. Details are being worked out as I type this. (kk)
Kent ...
For the record = When the Beach Boys say 50 years, they mean exactly 50 years.
When the Rolling Stones say 50 years, they mean 50+ years.
Frank B.
Click here: The Rolling Stones Confirm 2013 Shows – And Coachella Hints Hard « WCBS-FM 101.1
Yes, they're now calling it the "Fifty and Counting" tour. LOTS of hype for this one ... and probably your last chance to see them ... so get your tickets early! (kk)   

 >>>Thanks so much for including New York’s a Lonely Town in this past Friday’s post. This track will forever remind me of the year that I lived with my family in a small resort town in South Jersey, (Avalon), 1964-65. I remember first hearing this song on WABC New York and the contrasting images of being in a wintry NY and the sunny climate of Southern California. As this song was climbing up the charts, I was trying to sled down sand dunes in a mixture of sand and swirling snow with the strong winds whipping around us, with no one else on the beach except us crazy kids. Thanks also for the Cape Of Good Hope track in this Sunday’s post. I am putting together a couple of compilations of Sunshine and Psych-Pop tracks from the late 60s where this track will have a place. (Justin)  
Maybe Justin in Minnesota would like to hear the great Winter's Children on the radio circa Christmas time '66! It was on the WCFL survey for a week and here played on one of my fave stations of the era, WKYC Cleveland as I taped. He would probably dig Dave Edmunds' 60's tribute to "NY's a Lonely Town" from across the big pond too!
Clark Besch
Justin:  Drop me a line if you'd like me to forward you the WKYC aircheck.  Meanwhile, I've got to tell you ... this Dave Edmunds track is GREAT! I've never heard it before. Edmunds has done his own arrangement of "New York's A Lonely Town" and retitled it "London's A Lonely Town", giving it a completely local flavor ... and it's killer. Be sure to check out this YouTube Clip! (Now I want the MP3!!!)  kk
UPDATE:  And, thanks to Tom Diehl, I've already got one!!!  Great version ... check it out!

Here's a great interview that Fontella Bass did with Fresh Aire. Even if the listener isn't interested in hearing the whole thing, start listening at 8:00 for an important piece of music trivia you'll never forget.
David Lewis 



Here's a brand new story about The Wrecking Crew documentary ...
Tom Cuddy  

The story behind Carly Simon's #1 Hit "You're So Vain" has come up numerous times before in Forgotten Hits. Here, on the 40th Anniversary of the song topping the charts is a special feature put together by Frank B's favorite radio station, WCBS-FM:

Kent,
To answer your question, the record by Michael Landon which you had posted Friday did not make the local survey here in OKC back in 1962. I did not know that M.L. had made any recordings. I checked the internet and, as you probably already know, said record in question he recorded earlier in 1957 when he debuted in the movie I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF. It was re-released years later in 1962 when the television show BONANZA was a hit.
Larry Neal
Michael Landon's publicity agent had a full court press on trying to make him an across-the-boards star, pursuing any and all avenues once his face was plastered on all the teen magazines. Although Michael always maintained that he was never a singer, they released this record anyway ... and honestly, I didn't think it was all that bad. (Landon and his castmates from Bonanza recorded a couple of albums together, too ... and I remember getting one of them for Christmas circa 1964 or 1965 ... and it being one of my most prized possessions at the time! lol) Figured you weren't going to hear Michael Landon sing anywhere else but Forgotten Hits so I featured "Gimme A Little Kiss" as a bonus treat last week. (kk)


>>>I agree with you in that I wouldn't classify Patti Page as a country singer. Here in OKC back in the late fifties - early sixties, the great majority of her Mercury recordings made our local top 40 radio station's weekly survey. I played last night her 1962 song, THE BOYS NIGHT OUT. Her recording of HUSH! HUSH! SWEET CHARLOTTE made it to number one here in OKC. (Larry)  
Larry,
I spent the summer in OKC 1965 where I first started taping off the radio and Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte was a BIG memory for me because it was played non-stop at the time. The Yardbirds' "For Your Love" was such a huge #1 in OKC about then, too, that the Yardbirds played OKC on their first American Tour because of the song reaching #1 there! It was a big culture shock for the group traveling across the south. I went to see Gary Lewis & the Playboys as a 9 year old that summer and all the KOMA jocks were there and Gary played "For Your Love", too!
Clark  

There is a GREAT Kenny Rogers double feature running on GAC later today. (Check your local listings ... here in Chicago it airs on Sunday at 4 pm). First up ... a one hour program called "Backstory" that gives you a complete overview of Kenny's career (and ties in nicely with his recently published autobiography.) Then a 90-minute, all-star tribute concert celebrating Kenny's 50th Year in Show Business. (Yep, another one!!!) Some great performances and duets, especially the Lionel Richie / Kenny Rogers working of "Lady", Kenny's HUGE #1 Smash from 1980. The original First Edition even get back together ... a fun way to spend 2 1/2 hours on a Sunday Afternoon ... highly recommended. (kk)


re: TODAY'S FORGOTTEN HIT:
We've got a couple of good ones scattered through today's posting ... but here's another bonus ... Don Covay and the Goodtimers doing "Mercy, Mercy", a #26 Pop Hit from 1964. (kk)