Monday, August 5, 2013

A Monday Morning Quickie

re:  RECENT AND UP-COMING SHOWS: 
AL PACINO FILMS MOVIE SCENE IN MIDDLE OF CHICAGO CONCERT IN L.A. 
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An Al Pacino movie broke out in the middle of a concert by the band Chicago, with thousands of fans serving as extras. 
Cameras were wheeled onstage during intermission of the group's show at the Greek Theatre on Friday night to film a scene from Pacino's upcoming movie "Imagine," in which he plays aging rock star Danny Collins. 
With coaching from the director, the crowd chanted the name of Pacino's character as the 73-year-old actor walked on stage to sing "Hey Baby Doll" in a black suit. The movie co-stars Michael Caine, Annette Bening and Jennifer Garner. 
"This is an improvisation," Pacino told the crowd. "You just came in and got it. That's not easy." 
Chicago's band members remained on stage to watch and clap along during the 25-minute filming.  
Earlier in Chicago's set, Joe Mantegna of CBS' "Criminal Minds" joined his hometown band to sing "If You Leave Me Now." 
Pacino returned to the stage during Chicago's encore and sang and danced to their hit "25 or 6 to 4." 
"For a shy guy from the South Bronx, this has been great," Pacino said.  
And here's Al, joining the band on stage to sing "25 or 6 to 4"  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAE6a_WQpN4   

Davie Allan will be at the 6th Annual SurfGuitar101.com Convention (CA)   
When - August 10, 8 am – 8 pm  
Where - The Starting Gate, 5052 Katella Ave, Los Alamitos, CA 90720 (map)  
It's the 6th SurfGuitar101 convention. Please see the SurfGuitar101 forum thread for the latest news and updates.  
It is to my understanding that he is not scheduled to perform on stage but he will be there for his fans to come out and meet him. Davie Allan's newly released CD "RETROPHONIC 4" will be available for purchase in the vending area where he will be signing them in person!
KING OF THE FUZZ GUITAR!
Come and meet the originator of underground instrumental music!
A true living legend and one of the original architects of heavy guitar music. 
The Arrows were aimed and fired to usher it all in and Davie Allan has kept it alive and kick started!
"Eric Von Zipper"

Hi Kent,
Just saw in Forgotten Hits that you will be catching Burton Cummings in concert on September 27th, and I wanted to let you know you are in for a real treat as he still is in good voice at 65.  I got a kick out of you also mentioning you were excited about seeing the Zombies, too (and nice to know Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent are still touring).  I have a couple of interesting stories to tell you concerning these artists.  
I grew up in northeastern North Dakota and my best friend's family owned a cottage on the Manitoba - Ontario border and one night my buddy and I took in a concert in Keewatin, Ontario, just outside of Kenora.  The band was a killer, with the lead-singer that was unbelievable, pulling out all the stops with astounding vocals and gymnastics including standing on the keyboards.  The band was the Deverons out of Winnipeg and the lead-singer was Burton Cummings.  He remains my favorite singer all these 49 years later.  Six months after I initially saw him I caught his second night with the Guess Who at the Grand Forks Pavilion -- a stellar performance.  Years later, about 1980, while he was promoting his song "You Saved My Soul" and starring in the movie "Melanie", I had the chance to interview him on the radio and prior to going on the air I told him I remembered him in the Deverons and he said "You made my day, you made my week."  I saw him some years later at Colorado College in Colorado Springs where he played on his "Up Close And Alone" Tour, and during the show I yelled out "how about one for the Deverons" and, somewhat startled, he replied "what did you say?" and I yelled back "how about one for the Deverons" and he replied "I thought I was a long way from home but apparently I am a little closer than I thought."  After the show, I was able to meet him backstage and talk with him for awhile but in retrospect, having a chance to meet my favorite singer, I was a bit star-struck and I am sure I came off like a dork.  Last year I caught his show in Denver -- and he still has the voice that remains one of the finest, if not the finest in Rock.  You will really enjoy "The Voice of the Man from Manitoba!"  
And to make a short story long, just a quick ditty on the Zombies.  In 1965, several Dick Clark Caravan of Stars were touring the country and one of the tours had an open day between Fargo and Winnipeg and booked a night in Grafton, North Dakota.  So here it was on a cold winter night in a town of less than 5000 in our armory we enjoyed the likes of The Shangri-Las, Dee Dee Sharp, Mel Carter, Jewel Akens, The Ikettes, and of course, the Zombies, and their house-band The Executives with Jimmy Guercio and other members that made up part of a future band called Chicago.  What a show, what a moment in time.  Somehow I don't think Jay-Z and Beyonce are going to be in Grafton, North Dakota tonight!  
Peace,  
Tim Kiley
GREAT stories, Tim ... thanks for sharing.  I've seen Burton probably six or seven times, both with The Guess Who and as a solo artist, and he has never disappointed.  (In fact, I caught him as part of Ringo Starr's All-Star band, too ... and backing up ... believe it or not of all people ... both Melissa Manchester and, a few months later, Alice Cooper, when he was trying to get his solo career off the ground ... and "Stand Tall", one of my all-time favorites, was climbing the charts.)  He is amongst my all-time favorites, too, and, since I missed his show here two years ago on The Fourth Of July (when the temperatures climbed to 110 degrees ... and our air-conditioning went out!!!), I am REALLY looking forward to seeing this show.  The Zombies (who I have never seen) are the icing on the cake ... I've heard that they still sound remarkable.  Truly looking forward to this one!  (Tickets are still available through www.oshows.com to see both acts at The Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, IL, on September 27th.)  kk

Also coming ... next weekend (Saturday to be exact), the "Sail Rock" concert we've been telling you about, featuring SEVEN great acts from the late '70's and early '80's, including Christopher Cross, Firefall, John Ford Coley, Gary Wright, Player, Orleans and Robbie Dupree.  More details here:

re:  THIS AND THAT:  
>>> The Sunrays’ Andrea (a worse use of harmony I’ve rarely heard) - this is one of those "sharpened pencil songs" that you alluded to the other day -- songs that make you feel compelled to drive sharpened pencils through your eyes.  (CW Martin)  
>>>Can't go along with you on this one ... you see, I LOVE The Sunrays' version of "Andrea"!  (kk)   
"Andrea”!!! An Eye Gouger! Yikes! With all the empty skulled mush over the last 40 years, to pick “Andrea”.  
Holy Crap! 
Ken    


Hey Kent,
In celebration of my 100th "Vinyl Arkhives" show (a considerable feat since the show only airs every other Wednesday Night), I have decided to go DEEP into the "arkhives" and play nothing but music that PEAKED at #100 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Charts!
Between 1955 and 1979, there was just over 100 songs which barely made it on the Billboard Pop Charts -- some a flash in the pan, others doing better on other Billboard charts.  There will be remakes of bigger hits, and some surprises as well.  I will be playing a good chunk of them this Wednesday night from 9 PM well into the Midnight Hour, Mountain Time on 88.1FM / KAFM in Grand Junction, CO.
For he 99.99% of you not in Western Colorado, you can pick us up on the internet at www.kafmradio.org (and click on the listen live tab), or if you have the TuneIn Radio app, just search for KAFM and listen on your smartphone or Roku device.
Tune in this Wednesday and be sure to roll tape -- it's gonna be good!
"Uncle T. Jay" DexterThe Vinyl Arkhives    

Speaking of The Hot 100 (which just celebrated its 55th birthday last week), Sirius / XM's Lou Simon just sent me this link to a new series that Billboard Magazine is running, counting down The Top 100 Singles since this chart began.  (Incredibly, in the five years since the last ran such a list ... in honor of the chart's 50th anniversary ... TWELVE new songs have been added to the list ... another reflection on how the times have changed ... more and more of our long-standing favorites are being eliminated, due to the fact that music today STAYS on the chart for a year or better!  Saddest of all ... and we've covered this numerous times before ... by now starting their "rock and roll history" chart at August of 1958, 33 of Elvis' earliest hits have been eliminated from the equation ... and that's just wrong!!!  We're talking about the Elvis Peak Years here ... during that time, he scored eleven #1 hits, a full third of his chart output, topping the Billboard Singles Chart!  Rock and Roll classics like "Heartbreak Hotel","Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", "Love Me Tender", "All Shook Up", "Teddy Bear" and "Jailhouse Rock".  Nevertheless, this still makes for an interesting list!
I have always maintained (and have discussed this several times with Joel Whitburn, Randy Price and anyone else who would listen) that the only TRUE way to measure a record's success is to award it a "hit index" ... how can you compare a #1 hit of the '60's that captured America by storm but only stayed on the charts for 8-10 weeks because artists were releasing 4-5 new singles per year back then against a song today that stays on the chart for a year and a half?!?!?  The ONLY fair way to do it is to take the assigned chart point total a given record has earned and then divide that total by the weeks spent on the chart, thus giving you a fraction which becomes the measurement of the hit index.  As such, a record like "Hey Jude" that was #1 for nine weeks and spent 19 weeks on the chart wouldn't be ranked side by side with such other unworthy titles by artists like Jewel (a #2 record that spent 65 weeks on the chart), Usher (45 weeks on the chart), Mariah Carey (43 weeks on the chart) and LMFAO (68 weeks on the chart).
"Yesterday" was a MAMMOTH hit ... but only spent a total of 11 weeks on the chart ... however FOUR of those weeks were at #1 ... as such, its hit ratio is going to be heavily weighted against songs that made this new Billboard list ... incredibly, according to THIS Top 100, "Yesterday" doesn't even make the list at all!  (For that matter, neither does a single Elvis Presley record, save "Are You Lonesome Tonight" at #91.) 
This tally shows that "Abracadabra" and "Gangsta's Paradise" rank higher than "Billie Jean" ... is that the way YOU remember rock and roll history?  Paula Abdul makes the list but The Rolling Stones don't?!?!?  (Well, I guess technically they're represented ... because Maroon Five's "Moves Like Jagger" made this countdown, too!)
Even a monster hit like Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", #1 for 14 weeks, falls at #49 in the scheme of things, behind Alicia Keys and Carly Rae Jepson's "Call Me Maybe"!!!  Meanwhile "Too Close" by Next comes in at #27.  Sing a verse of it for me ... I dare ya!!!
Does anybody out there REALLY believe ... for a second ... that Usher's "Yeah!" was a bigger hit than "Yesterday"???  Or, for that matter, "Theme From 'A Summer Place'", "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "I'm A Believer" and about 1000 other timeless tracks that have reached EVERY generation since they were first released?!?!  Sadly, we won't be around 50 years from now to see how much Usher, Justin Bieber, LMFAO and Ke$ha radio is still playing.  My guess is that even 50 years from now, you'll still hear some version of "Yesterday" before you'll hear ANY of this other pop music.  Most of today's music seems to have an expiration date stamped right on the label ... and that's just the cold hard facts.
kk