The Saturday Surveys: April 5th

This was the week that The Beatles did the impossible ... 

They occupied the Top Five Positions of The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart!

This week "Can't Buy Me Love" was the #1 Record in the Country, followed by "Twist And Shout" at #2, "She Loves You" at #3, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" at #4 and "Please Please Me" at #5.  In addition, The Beatles also had seven OTHER titles on the chart that week:  "I Saw Her Standing There" (#31), "From Me To You" (#41), "Do You Want To Know A Secret" (#46), "All My Loving" (#58), "You Can't Do That" (#65), "Roll Over Beethoven" (#68) and "Thank You Girl" (#79), giving The Beatles TWELVE of the Top 100 spots on the chart.  Incredibly, they would increase that total to 14 the following week when "There's A Place" and "Love Me Do" premiered on the charts!

This week we take a look at some of the other charts from around the country for this week in 1964, starting with this WMEX Chart from Boston, where we find The Beatles holding down a dozen positions.  What's odd here are some of those titles ... "P.S. I Love You", the flip-side of "Love Me Do", is already at #1 ... it wouldn't even debut on The Billboard Chart until the following week.  ("Love Me Do" is listed separately at #8, while The Beatles' OTHER Top Ten Records include the two-sided hits "Twist And Shout" / "There's A Place" and "Thank You Girl" / "Do You Want To Know A Secret".  In addition, you'll also find their latest release "Can't Buy Me Love" as well as "All My Lovin'" nested in The Top Ten.



Drop down the chart and you'll find two LP tracks, "Till There Was You" and "Please Mr. Postman" at numbers 11 and 14 ... and then, in the "Ten More" section, The Fab Four are back with "This Boy" and "Boys", songs not released as singles here in The States.  (Apparently WMEX was all over the place with their reporting back in 1964!!!)

Jumping over to WABC, The Beatles are at #1 with "She Loves You", #3 with "Twist And Shout", #4 with "I Want To Hold Your Hand", #6 with "Please Please Me" and #9 with "Can't Buy Me Love"!  (Five of The Top Ten Records belong to The Fab Four!)

They've also got four more tracks in the lower region of the chart ... that's where you'll find songs like "Do You Want To Know A Secret", "Roll Over Beethoven", "All My Lovin'" and "I Saw Her Standing There".

The British Invasion is also represented with hits by The Dave Clark Five, The Searchers, Dusty Springfield, The Swinging Blue Jeans and (in the "Pick Hit Of The Week" spot) The Hollies!  That means 15 of the 33 titles listed on this chart belong to British Artists we'd never even heard of four months earlier!

WHK, a Tunedex station out of Cleveland, shows that this British Flavor was not reserved for just the East Coast ... they've got The Dave Clark Five at #1 with "Glad All Over" (as well as at #8 with their follow-up hit "Bits And Pieces".

You'll find The Beatles all over this chart, too ... with "Do You Want To Know A Secret" at #3, "Can't Buy Me Love" at #4, "Twist and Shout" at #6, "She Loves You" at #10, "Please Please Me" / "From Me To You" at #23 and "I Want To Hold Your Hand" / "I Saw Her Standing There" at #33.  They also held down two of The Top Ten Album positions with "Meet The Beatles" (#2) and "Introducing The Beatles" (#6)

For those of you Beatle'd out by the ways of 1964, we jump ahead a year and find Herman's Hermits with two of the top three hits on the WICE Mighty 1290 Hits Of The Week Survey.  "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter" is at #2, followed by "Silhouettes" (up 14 positions from the week before) at #3.  Peter Noone and Company also have the #13 record with "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat".

It's still a VERY British-looking chart however ... Freddie and the Dreamers are at #1 with "I'm Telling You Now", Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders are at #4 with "Game Of Love" and The Kinks ("Tired Of Waiting For You", #6), Petula Clark ("I Know A Place", #7), The Moody Blues ("Go Now",#8), The Ivy League ("Funny How Love Can Be", #10), The Rolling Stones ("The Last Time", #11), The Seekers, and Australian act who made their mark when the relocated to Great Britain (as The Bee Gees would a few years later) at #12 with "I'll Never Find Another You",  Sandie Shaw ("Girl Don't Come", #14), "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" (Sounds Orchestral, #17), The Beatles ("Eight Days A Week", #19), Shirley Bassey ("Goldfinger", #23), The Hollies ("Yes I Will", #25), Chad and Jeremy ("If I Loved You", #26), The Searchers ("Bumble Bee", #27), Gerry and the Pacemakers ("It's Gonna Be All-Right", #31) and The Zephyrs ("She's Lost You" at #36), giving British Artists a stranglehold on TWENTY of The Top 40 Hits!

Jumping ahead to 1968, we see our own Chicagoland WCFL Chart saluting our local talent ... The New Colony Six are at #1 with "I Will Always Think About You", ahead of three of the biggest acts of the day, The Beatles, The Monkees and The Union Gap ... while The Cryan' Shames are holding steady at #11 with their version of "Up On The Roof", a version Carole King liked so much she actually had it played at one of her weddings!  (Or so we're told!)

Not much else here in the way of surprises (although after seeing this chart I was inspired to play Georgie Fame's long-forgotten hit "The Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde") ... so you'll find that one here today, along with the latest hits from our hometown heroes!

Finally, for anybody who thinks all good music stopped in the '70's, I dare you to take a look at this chart from April 3, 1970 and NOT feel inspired to dig out some of your old 45's.

MAN, what a list!!!  Apple Records dominating three out of the top four positions with "Let It Be" by The Beatles, "Instant Karma" by John Ono Lennon and "Come And Get It" by Badfinger.

And check out this Top Ten!  The Carpenters' version of "Ticket To Ride"!!!  The Frijid Pink version of "House Of The Rising Sun"!  You get hits like "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum and "American Woman" by The Guess Who, songs that are STILL played to death on a daily basis 44 years later alongside GREAT tracks like "Something's Burning" by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition and "Love Or Let Me Be Lonely" by The Friends Of Distraction ... INCREDIBLE music that is virtually ignored today.

Going down the chart I wanna just play this entire Top 40 for you!!!

"Long Lonesome Highway" by Michael Parks (the theme song from "Then Came Bronson"), "Little Green Bag" by The George Baker Selection (which you hear today in television commercials ... yet radio still won't play it!), "For The Love Of Him" by Bobbi Martin, "Reflections Of My Life" by Marmalade, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel, Chicago's own Ides of March with "Vehicle", "Up The Ladder To The Roof", a GREAT hit by the post-Diana Ross Supremes, "Shilo" by Neil Diamond, "My Baby Loves Lovin'" by White Plains and "Hitchin' A Ride" by Vanity Fare ... "Which Way You Goin' Billy" by The Poppy Family and "Get Ready" by Rare Earth.  Damn ... now THIS is a countdown!!!

And check out #18 ... it's the Tension version of "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is", a song we featured several months back here in Forgotten Hits.  Meanwhile, Chicago is climbing the charts with "Make Me Smile", the success of which will prompt Columbia Records to re-release some of the great tracks from their first CTA album that were over-looked the first time around.

The Five Stairsteps doing The Beatles' hit "Dear Prudence" ... this one would ultimately end up on the B-Side of their first big hit a month or two later, "O-o-h Child" ... along with SO many long-forgotten hits that barely made a dent on the national charts.  Now THIS is a cool chart!

 

Wow!  What to feature when there's just SO much great music to choose from!  Hopefully you'll be inspired to seek out some of these tracks for your own listening enjoyment ... meanwhile, we couldn't narrow it down to less than ten tracks that we really wanted to hear again!

That last chart was too good ... so we're jacked to run one more.  (Wow!  SEVEN charts this week in our Saturday Surveys Feature!!!  Hope you guys are lovin' this as much as I am!!!)

This next chart surprised me ... coming from WHAR, a Clarksburg, West Virginia radio station, I was amazed to see a station billing itself as "The Rock Pile" featuring songs in its countdown by The Bellamy Brothers, Silver Connection, Barry Manilow, The Pure Prairie League, Joni Mitchell, The Captain and Tennille, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Neil Sedaka, Seals and Crofts, John Sebastian, Donna Summer, The Bay City Rollers, The Carpenters and Barry White ... somehow, it just didn't seem to fit.  If you were rock, you were rock!

And, to a degree anyway, they WERE rock ... 

You'll find big hits on this week's chart by Gary Wright, Peter Frampton, Bad Company, The Electric Light Orchestra, Fleetwood Mac, Nazareth, Kiss, The J. Geils Band, Jethro Tull, Ted Nugent, Aerosmith and Queen ... it just had to be kind of weird counting these down and hearing "Love To Love You Baby" played back-to-back with "Locomotive Breath" ... or numbers 24 thru 19 played "countdown style":  "Theme from S.W.A.T." by The Rhythm Heritage into "Queen Of Clubs" by K.C. and the Sunshine Band into the beautiful "Shannon" by Henry Gross, segued into "Shout It Out Loud" by Kiss into "Lonely Night" by The Captain and Tennille into "Love Hurts" by Nazareth.

Then again, it is EXACTLY THIS that made Top 40 Radio so interesting and exciting back in the day.  (Although I will be the first to admit that, for me anyway, it had gotten a whole lot LESS exciting by 1976!!!)

Still this chart shows the wide variety we might hear while spinning the dial circa 1976.

50 Years Ago This Weekend (April 4th)

April 4th, 1964 ... THIS WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS … 

For the first (and ONLY) time in pop music history, an artist occupied THE TOP FIVE POSITIONS on The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart at the same time.  CAN'T BUY ME LOVE (#1), TWIST AND SHOUT (#2), SHE LOVES YOU (#3), I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND (#4) and PLEASE PLEASE ME (#5) broke all industry protocol … Beatlemania was, without question, in full bloom.

In addition, The Fab Four held down seven other spots on the chart that week:  I SAW HER STANDING THERE (#31), FROM ME TO YOU (#41), DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET (up 32 points from #78 to #46), ALL MY LOVING (#58), YOU CAN'T DO THAT (the flip-side of their #1 Hit CAN'T BUY ME LOVE, premiering at #65), ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN (#68) and THANK YOU GIRL (the flip-side of DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET, coming in at #79) … thus giving THE BEATLES TWELVE of the Top 100 spots on the chart.  Incredibly, they would increase that total to 14 positions the following week when THERE'S A PLACE and LOVE ME DO premiered on the chart.

Other British acts in the countdown:  GLAD ALL OVER by THE DAVE CLARK FIVE (#10), NEEDLES AND PINS by THE SEARCHERS (15), HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE by THE SWINGING BLUE JEANS (#24), BITS AND PIECES (new for THE DAVE CLARK FIVE) at #48 and STAY AWHILE by DUSTY SPRINFIELD (#75).  The American Charts were chock-full of British hits!

(By the way, VERY SPECIAL THANKS to Joe over at BEATLEBAY.com for the use of these vintage Billboard Charts ... you will find ALL kinds of Beatles-related memorabilia posted on their site with brand new merchandise postings every single day.  You can check it all out right here):  www.beatlebay.com

*****

As big as The Beatles were on the Billboard Chart this week (holding down The Top Five positions!), they were spread a little thinner on the WLS Chart.  (That being said, they still had EIGHT titles on the Top 40 list … that's a "not-too-shabby" 20% for those of you keeping score!)  

This week's chart included "Twist And Shout" at #1, "Glad All Over" at #3, "Can't Buy Me Love" at #5, "She Loves You" at #7, "It's All In The Game" at #8, "Thank You Girl" at #10, "Please Please Me" at #12, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" sharing the #13 spot, "Needles And Pins" at #15, "Hippy Hippy Shake" at #24, "All My Lovin'" at #25, "We Love You Beatles" at #26, "Beatle Time" at #33 and "Bits And Pieces", the latest from The Dave Clark Five, at #37.  Lest ANYBODY out there thinking that The British Invasion wasn't "all that" ... and may have been embellished over time ... just take a look at this chart from April of 1964 and then try to argue that case!  

Also this weekend:  On Sunday, April 5th, The Searchers appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and performed "Needles And Pins" and "Ain't That Just Like Me".

We Had One Hell Of A Rock And Roll Weekend!

Yes we did!!!  (In fact, thanks to the entertainment on hand, we partied like it was 1957 ... or 1971 ... or 1980 ...  depending on which night you happen to be talking about!)
I don't think I've been to three concerts in a row like that since I was 19 years old!!!

At the invitation of Ron Onesti, we spent our weekend rockin' to the sounds he was featuring at The Arcada Theatre ... 

That meant Three Dog Night on Friday Night ...

A triple bill on Saturday Night, starring The Chicago Six (featuring three members of the 1985 Super Bowl Championship Team, Steve McMichael, Dan Hampton and Otis Wilson), Bobby Kimball, original lead vocalist of Toto and '80's rocker Eddie Money ...

And an incredible rockabilly tribute on Sunday Night, brought to us by The Cadillac Casanovas and Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, Rick Nelson's twin sons, with their loving tribute to their father, all part of a multi-media presentation they call "Ricky Nelson Remembered".

It's exactly this type of musical versatility that makes The Arcada Theatre THE place to go, week after week after week.  Check out their up-coming line-up and you'll be blown away by the number of superstars headed their way ... with more acts being added all the time.

You want musical variety?  How about Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, paired with The Cowsills, together in an incredible double bill, with an on-stage performance of William Shakespeare's "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream" another night, followed by some head-bangin' '80's music, courtesy of Lita Ford, Vixen, Slaughter, Vince Neil of Motley Crue, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Tom Keifer of Cinderella and Winger!

Up-coming shows include B.J. Thomas, Johnny Rivers, Felix Cavaliere's Rascals, an incredible '70's triple bill featuring Ambrosia, Firefall and Orleans, The Little River Band, The Spinners ... followed by musical tributes to Frank Sinatra, Patti Page and Glenn Miller!!!  And then, of course, there's Tommy James and the Shondells, Rare Earth, Al Stewart and The Alan Parsons Project!!!  (Intersperced with Deep Purple and The Orchestra, featuring former members of ELO, The Ten Tenors, Air Supply and The Bronx Wanderers!!!)

Blue Oyster Cult, Echoes of Pompeii (and their AMAZING tribute to Pink Floyd), The Guess Who ... and Engelbert Humperdinck!!!  Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits, Jay and the Americans, The Yardbirds, the return of Three Dog Night (as part of the big 4th of July Celebration that will also feature The Chicago Six Band, Dennis DeYoung of Styx and Creedence Clearwater Revisited!) ... I'm telling you, this guy is the Ed Sullivan of St. Charles, IL!!!  And incredibly, he makes it all fit!!!

Watch for shows by Dave Mason, CTA (featuring Chicago founding member Danny Seraphine on drums, Bill Champlin on vocals and Larry Braggs, former lead singer of Tower Of Power), Foghat, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Dean Torrence with The Surf City All-Stars and ... Kevin Costner (?!?!?)  There is NO limit to the variety of entertainment you can find here ... and new shows are rumored to include the return of America (ALWAYS a sell-out) and Olivia Newton-John.  (We've suggested a few acts as well!)  There isn't ANYBODY that Ron won't consider booking as part of his on-going commitment to bring the very best to St. Charles, IL.

Check out the OShows.com website for updates and ticket information:  www.oshows.com

But first, let's get back to the matter at hand ... reviews of the three incredible shows we saw this past weekend! 


Friday:  THREE DOG NIGHT

On the afternoon of the Three Dog Night concert last Friday some of the folks at work who overheard me talking about the band were surprised to hear that they were still together.  Now I'll be the first to admit that MOST of these folks aren't particularly music-savvy ... while they all seemed to have at least HEARD of the band, they weren't really sure just what they were known for ... and, as such, I was subjected to a number of asinine questions ...  

Is it the same guys?  
How do they sound?  
(Well no ... it's actually just TWO Dog Night nowadays ... but they're both original members ... Danny Hutton and Cory Wells)  

Isn't the lead singer dead?  
(The lead singer?!?!  What made Three Dog Night so unique was the fact that they had THREE lead singers ... who frequently traded off leads during the course of their songs)  

Is that one guy still in jail?  
(Which guy is that???)

But the one that REALLY set me off ... and put me over the edge was when one of the guys came up to me, singing "one is the loneliest number" and asked "So is 'One' the only hit they ever had???" 
That did it.  I blew up.

No ... "One" is NOT the only hit they ever had. 

Three Dog Night had 21 consecutive Top 40 Hits between 1969 and 1975.

During that time they were the #1, top-grossing touring act on the planet.  They sold more records than ANY other recording artist and played to packed, sold-out house around the globe.  NOBODY deserves to go through life questioning, thinking ... or worse yet, BELIEVING ... that "One" was Three Dog Night's only hit.  (It wasn't even their BIGGEST Hit!!!)  

According to the national charts, Three Dog Night had SEVEN #1 Hits ... "One" just happened to be one of them.  (It was their break-through hit in 1969 ... but other Number One's followed: "Easy To Be Hard" (also 1969); "Mama Told Me Not To Come" (1970); "Joy To The World" ... their biggest hit EVER in 1971, topping the chart for SIX incredible weeks ... going on to become The Biggest Single of the Year for 1971; "Black And White" (1972); "Shambala" (1973) and "The Show Must Go On" (1974). 

I couldn't take it.  I had to burn this guy a CD over the weekend.  I narrowed it down to 14 of those 21 Top 40 Hits ... brought it to work with me on Monday and made him play it loud enough for the whole office to hear, betting him the he would know AT LEAST half of these songs the moment he heard them.  (He did ... although he still managed to ask the question "So Three Dog Night did 'Never Been To Spain' ... and then, what, Elvis covered it?"  Yeah ... something like that.) 

So how was the show???

REAL good ... albeit pretty much exactly what we expected, having just seen them last summer in Elk Grove Village.  (In fact, they'll be back again in a couple of months, performing as part of The 4th of July Celebration in Festival Park in Elgin, another Ron Onesti Production.)  

Still, it was a complete sell out, the crowd LOVED them and the guys (Danny Hutton and Cory Wells) were in FINE voice, playing all of the hits you'd expect them to play along with a few surprises (well, surprises had you NOT just seen them nine months earlier!), including a couple of new tracks and some LP cuts like "It Ain't Easy" and "You Can Leave Your Hat On". 

I referred back to my previous review to try and pinpoint the major differences.
http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/search?q=three+dog+night

For one thing, it was a much shorter set ... and, as such, Cory classics like "Try A Little Tenderness" and "Eli's Coming" were left off the list.  The highlights of the night for me were (once again) Danny's INCREDIBLE reading of "Liar" ... and their encore performance of "Prayer Of The Children", an absolutely STUNNING a capella performance that rivals the very best of anything else you've ever heard.  Those were certainly the pluses ... although everything they performed was certainly of the highest caliber.  But ... once again ... the lead vocals were sorely lacking the high end that Chuck Negron provided on hits like "One" and "Joy To The World" ... these two REALLY need some work ... but how do you omit two of your biggest hits?  (Suggestion to the band ... your bass player Paul Kingery supplied some of the finest high-end harmonies I've ever heard, all night long ... would it be so bad to let him take a stab at those "challenging" lines in "One" and "Joy To The World" that you guys are having difficulty reaching to better fill out the sound?  You can still fill in the rest in solid Three Dog Night fashion ... and I don't think ANYONE in the audience will be any the wiser.  Just a thought.  Rather than have these two MAJOR hits stand out as the "weakest links" of the show, give it your best shot instead ... if only for the preservation of the music.) 

Honestly, there was a certain "muddiness" to the sound Friday Night, particularly on Cory's vocals, which were often lost in the overall mix.  My best guess is that Cory may have been feeling a little bit under the weather ... (at least that's the vibe that I got) ... and, as such, may have been holding back just a little bit.  When we saw them in July (followed by Chuck Negron a month later on the Happy Together Tour), I singled Cory out as the strongest singer of the bunch ... but Friday night it was Danny who continually impressed while Cory seemed to struggle. 

Their revamped hip-hop version of "Mama Told Me Not To Come" got a GREAT reaction Friday Night ... much better than it did at the Elk Grove show ... and we enjoyed it quite a bit more this time around, too ... they cut the length in half and played it up with just the right amount of humor to really win the crowd over. 

As mentioned earlier, if you missed them this time around, Three Dog Night returns to the area on July 3rd for a holiday celebration concert at Festival Park in Elgin, IL, a concert also promoted by Ron Onesti.  It's all part of a major concert weekend that also features Chicago Six (led by three 1985 Super Bowl Champion Bears ... we saw them Saturday Night as the opening act for Bobby Kimball of Toto and Eddie Money), Dennis DeYoung of Styx and Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

The Saturday Night Special ... 

The Chicago Six (featuring 1985 Chicago Bears Super Bowl Champions Dan Hampton, Otis Wilson and Steve McMichael),  Bobby Kimball (former lead vocalist of Toto) and Eddie Money

Man, this was a LOUD concert!!!  (And we sat up in the balcony for this one ... and STILL got blasted out of our seats!!!)

The Chicago Six is a Chicago Bears Tradition, dating back to before The Bears even made The Super Bowl in '85.  (In fact, at one time Walter Payton ... in all his "sweetness" with his high falsetto was a member of the group!)  They have recently regrouped (along with a few back-up musicians) and pretty much feature a mix of feel-good, party-music ... played pretty darn well for a bunch of football players!  (At one point, they reminded us ... if we spotted any musical weaknesses ... that they used to tackle guys for a living!)

The incomparable Chet Coppock introduced the act and they played a decent set of warm-up music.  Not a bad way to kick off the evening!

Next up was Bobby Kimball.  We saw Bobby a few years ago when he performed as part of Schaumburgfest, sharing the bill with Mickey Thomas of Jefferson Starship.  That night he only performed a few songs, but he sounded quite capable of still hitting all the notes that needed to be hit ... and that helped define the early sound of Toto ... but he was more of a "featured guest performer" than a headlining soloist.

This time he was performing as the main event with his own band ... which included some pretty stellar musicians who were able to faithfully replicate the intricate sounds of Toto, live on stage.  (No easy task, for these tracks were originally laid down by seasoned studio musicians, who were some of the best in the business!)       

In order to best represent the overall sound of Toto, Kimball enlisted the help of co-vocalist, which not only  complimented the sound but also enabled the duo to recreate both ends of the Toto vocal spectrum ... in fact at times he sounded just like the record, handling the vocals originally waxed by David Paich with flair and ease (despite looking a bit like a deranged Leprechaun from one of those "worst-nightmare" horror films from years ago while prancing around the stage!)  Over the course of the night, in fact, I'd have to say the lead vocals were equally shared ... as many of the hits performed that night like "Rosanna", "Africa" and "99" weren't primarily Kimball vocals in the first place ... which is why I find it all that much more surprising that I can't find this poor guy credited ANYWHERE on the Internet or Kimball's website ... between us, Frannie and I searched 40-50 pages last night trying to properly credit this guy, who was in equally fine voice Saturday Night and lended a real authenticity to the sound of this material.  (If ANYBODY out there can properly credit him, please let me know ... he deserves some recognition for the fine job he did.  Our best guess is that it MAY have been Neil Baruelo ... but I've yet to receive an official confirmation on that.)  Regardless, it's just WRONG that Kimball doesn't properly acknowledge his band on his site ... bad form, Bobby!

All in all, an enjoyable (if loud) performance ... which set the stage perfectly for the evening's headliner, Eddie Money.

Without question, this was Eddie's crowd.  Money has played The Arcada several times in the past and always packs the house.  Saturday Night was no exception ... the crowd was up on its feet, singing along for the majority of his set.  (I've never seen Eddie Money perform live before ... it was a bit unusual in several ways ... he never really looked comfortable when it was his turn to command the stage ... yet command it he did.  About the nicest thing I can say (and I truly do mean this in the most flattering way) is that Eddie Money sounded just like Eddie Money!!!

All of the vocal chops were there ... and the crowd hung on every note.  Money's choreography consists of not much more than spinning around in a circle and wiping fake tears from his eyes or simply holding his head ... nowhere near as "spastic" as say Joe Cocker (who just HAD to be an early influence judging by his stage presence) ... although he tries ... but never really looking comfortable in the process, once he hits the spotlight.  (He almost seems surprised to be the center of attention at his own show!)

All the hits were there, including one of my Forgotten Hits favorites, "I Wanna Go Back", a #14 Hit from 1987.  Ron Onesti quipped early on that he sold "900 tickets to paradise" for this sold out event ... and Eddie played it to the hilt.  Again, strong musicianship throughout the very loud show ... but ALL the hits were covered to rousing ovations.

SUNDAY - The Nelson Brothers - Ricky Nelson Remembered

We also had the fortunate pleasure of seeing Rick's sons, Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, perform their loving tribute to their father on Sunday at The Arcada Theatre.  This is a show I have been waiting to see for a long, long time ... seems like every time it hit our area, it sold out immediately ... so it was real treat to finally get to see it.  (Having seen Rick live in concert six times ... and having been a MAJOR Rick Nelson fan my entire life ... let me just say that this is a show you NEED to see if it comes to your area.) 

In a stroke of pure genius, Ron Onesti booked The Cadillac Casanovas as the opening act ... an authentic rockabilly band that are a pure delight to watch.  Guitarist / Lead Vocalist Carl Schreiber (formerly of The Neverly Brothers) has mastered every lick known to man ... and wears a pompadour that would make even the great Wayne Cochran jealous!  (It's been described as "gravity defying" ... and honestly, I think he looks a little bit like an older Adam Lambert!) 

Rick Uppling (who Frannie thinks looks a little like Woody Harrleson!) is an absolute wild man on the upright bass ... don't blink or you may miss him spinning it around, climbing onboard or lifting it to play as a traditional bass guitar ... all antics you don't want to miss and have to see to believe! 

Drummer Tracy Shepherd rounds out the trio, who get a lot of mileage out their limited instrumentation.   (At one point bassist Uppling explained the somewhat shallow sound of an Everly Brothers tune by saying "You have to remember that we've got but one guitar between us"!!!)  Great line!  And a great show!

They made the perfect fit as the opening act for The Nelson Brothers (who later clarified that The Cadillac Casanovas weren't so much opening for The Nelson Brothers as much as The Nelson Brothers were closing for The Cadillac Casanovas!) 

As a bonus treat, The Nelsons came out to join The Cadillac Casanovas for their final number, the little known Rick Nelson track "Do You Know What I Mean" (actually one of my favorites from his own early '80's Rockabillly Renaissance.  Can you believe it's been nearly thirty years that Rick has been gone?!?!?) 



Once they cleared the set, The Nelson Brothers came out and did a fitting tribute to the music of their father, telling little known stories and showing vintage video clips and home movies.  Their vocals and musicianship were outstanding for a two-man band ... stellar in fact ... but apparently they felt something was missing ... so after a brief intermission they surprised EVERYBODY (and probably the warm-up band most of all!) by inviting The Cadillac Casanovas back on stage to finish up the show with them! 

This mixture added a whole new punch to their set ... and I'm here to tell you that the boys fit right in.   

(I remember thinking, "Man, if they sound THIS good off the cuff, imagine what they'd sound like together after a couple of rehearsals!!!)  I told Frannie, "The Nelson Brothers should invite these guys out on the road with them ... as both their opening act and support act for the second half of the show!"  It kinda felt like history in the making ... they TOTALLY complimented each other's playing and in no time flat the entire audience came alive and was up on its feet rocking and rolling along. 

Sadly, you don't hear the music of Rick Nelson ... or Elvis ... or The Everly Brothers ... or any of these other great stars that they paid tribute to Sunday Night ... much on the radio anymore ... if at all.  Chicago is SORELY lacking an oldies station ... and by that I mean a REAL oldies station playing the music of the '50's, '60's and early '70's ... and playing ALL of this great music instead of the 50-60 tracks that the programmers have cherry-picked as the music currently saturating the airwaves today.  (All kidding aside, why don't they just start a "Jack And Diane" station?  I'm serious ... let it play 24/7 ... and then if somebody really NEEDS to hear it, they can just go there and listen to it any time they want!  Instead of "Jack-FM", just set up "Jack and Diane - FM" ... but take it out of the mainstream ... along with other saturated tracks like "Don't Stop Believin'" and "More Than A Feeling" and program in some VARIETY instead!!!  But I digress.) 

Anyway, if you get the chance to see "Ricky Nelson Remembered" featuring The Nelson Brothers, do yourself a favor and buy a ticket ... you will not be disappointed.  SO many great songs are featured and the story telling is done in both a loving and humorous way ... on more than one occasion the audience AND the band got a little emotional ... but in a way that REALLY makes you feel good.  (You'll love the vintage Ricky Nelson / Ozzie and Harriet clips, too!) 

Ron Onesti is already working on bringing The Nelson Brothers back to do their Rockabilly Christmas Show in December ... here's hoping he'll invite us out for that one, too ... along with The Cadillac Casanovas to supplement the evening.  What a GREAT time we had ... it truly captured a VERY special moment that can only be described as "magical".  (kk)

LOCALS:  Don't miss your chance to catch TWO Legendary Acts next weekend at The Arcada Theatre ...

Ron Onesti has extended an EXCLUSIVE offer for Forgotten Hits Readers only ... half price tickets to see Little Anthony and the Imperials on Saturday, April 12th (8 pm show) and Paul Revere and the Raiders on Sunday, April 13th (5 pm show).

Just go the the OShows Website:  www.oshows.com ... and type in the special promotional code FH2014 ... and your tickets are half off!

We hope to see you out there for both shows ... it promises to be another "one hell of a rock and roll weekend"!!!  (kk)

kk hangin' with The Nelsons ... back stage at Sunday Night's show.

Special thanks to Luciano J. Bilotti for taking this photo ... 

and to Ron Onesti for having us out as his guests ... 

man, what a WILD weekend!!!

Some Of Your Mid-Week Comments

re:  REGULATED RADIO:  
From what we understand, we turned more than a few "radio heads" after we presented our "what if" scenario the other day ... an interesting concept, no?  And a MAJOR violation of fair trade practices if there's even a hint of truth to it.  If nothing else, certainly food for fodder if you're a radio fan.  (Now who's going to dig a little bit deeper to see if we're on to something!)

REGULATED RADIO:  Here's an interesting question.  Remember the days of payola ... and all the under-the-table scams and deals going on?  Wouldn't it be REALLY interesting to find out, years from now, that the reason for this radio take-over of playing the same 200-300 songs ... and 25-40 artists ... is because the radio conglomerates themselves have a stake in these songs and artists?  Meaning they all get a piece of the pie ... and are lining their own pockets through royalties and kickbacks filtered through the record labels and publishers.  Would you really be surprised to find out that, thanks to all this "mandatory" airplay that they've manufactured under the guise of "consulting", they are in fact insuring that EVERY radio station across America is playing the EXACT same songs, again and again ... while corporate radio is getting hand-over-fist richer in the process?  Hey, think about it ... it's really not an unthinkable concept ... and it's not like we haven't seen this sort of thing before ... in this very medium.  Shawn Swords ... are you listening?  I think this warrants some SERIOUS investigation ... before they drive us all COMPLETELY mad with this repetitive torture!!!  (Boy, I wonder how all the jocks on the list forced to play the same songs over and over and over again, day in and day out non-stop would feel about this should it come to pass that I've uncovered radio's dirty little secret!!!)  Seriously ... it all kinda makes sense now, doesn't it?!?!?  I say there needs to be an open investigation into this new form of "regulated" radio ... and soon.  Unfair business practice?  You betcha!  Penalties for torturing the listeners?  Duly deserved.  SOMEBODY needs to look into this and put an end to it ... and make radio "for the people" again.  (kk)   

Hey Kent,
You took the thoughts right out of my mind when you wrote your final piece on Regulated Radio, in Monday's FH. It is not far-fetched to assume that there are major payoffs within the music and broadcasting industry. It parallels Fredric Dannen's  1991 book "Hit Men", about all the underhanded dealings within the recording industry. Back in the 80s, I had a student in one of my media classes, who worked in the record business, in LA. He told the class that it simply was cocaine that opened a lot of doors, if you wanted a song promoted. The main-stream media probably won't do a story on this, because of all of their connections, and because it, in itself, should be investigated for some of its practices. Maybe someone out there with a law degree is one of your subscribers, and will get the ball rolling.
- John LaPuzza

Kent,
Did you know that a lot of radio consultants went on to become Malaysian Airline Pilots.  
Have you also noticed radio lately seems to be functioning like international governments trying to coordinate a search party, they know what they are looking for they just don't know how to find it.  
Tim Kiley 

Hi Kent,  
First off, I love Forgotten Hits!  I read it every day.  It's obvious you spend a LOT of time on it and I honestly can't figure out how you have time to do anything else.  Well done sir, and your investment of time and effort is much appreciated.

I was pleased to see you passed on Keith Brodkorb's comments about KISN in Portland today.  I'm one of the three guys who started it two years ago.  It's nice to hear positive comments coming out of left field about us.  We have a lot of fun, which I guess is the whole point of the exercise.  KISN plays the hits and should-a-beens from the 50s through the 70s, and we try very hard to be faithful to the original hit versions, even when it means needle-dropping the 45s to get it right.  (It's surprising how many hit versions have never seen the light of day on CD!)  We run a lot of the original KISN jingles from the 60s and 70s and imaging voices are Duke Morgan and Jim Merkel.  There are about 800 classic spots in the library and we run one in every stopset.  A handful of the original KISN Good Guys have cut tracks for us, including Tom Murphy (later of WCFL) and Roger Hart, who left KISN to manage Paul Revere And The Raiders full-time.  We designed the station for people who grew up listening to the original 91derful KISN, but anyone else also has our permission to enjoy it!  You can find us at www.goodguyradio.com.

Thanks again for all you do to keep the oldies alive!

Scott Young

Hey Scott, great to hear from you.  No doubt about it, we've got a mutual admiration society going on here for all the great radio stations that were out there back in the day.  I tuned in to listen for a little while tonight and liked what I heard ... here's hoping other readers will check you out as well.  (kk)    

re:  DIGGIN' THE SURVEYS:  
REGARDING THE 1965 APRIL FOOL'S CHUM CHART YOU RAN ON TUESDAY ... 
CHUM did a crazy mixed up chart every April 1st (or close to) for many years.  The titles were mostly written by CHUM's then Promotion Director Allen Farrell (1959-1967).  Allen also wrote the "The CHUM Story" book in 2001, which, if you don't have a copy Kent, I'd be happy to send along. Allen Farrell was (he passed away a few years ago) the original 'wild and crazy guy'.  His contests were often corny (but that was the era), but they were always fun. 

Farrell wrote the 'officially sanctioned by owner Allan Waters' CHUM story (although two former CHUM DJ's took out a couple of chapters on the, ahem shall we say, extra curricular activities of much of the CHUM DJ staff of the '60's (but again, those kind of things happened at most Top 40 stations).  The book goes from the beginnings of 24 hour rock and roll radio in Canada in 1957 (and even a bit of pre-history) to when Farrell left in '67.  When he started his own creative company, he took the current Production Manager with him which is how I got to be promoted to Production Manager for CHUM AM & FM. 
I've attached the 1961 and 1964 April Fools charts if you want to repost them.  The '64 chart may need a little explanation.  
The CHUMingbirds was a folk singing quartet comprised of CHUM DJ's Bob McAdorey, John Spragge and Mike Darow (a trained singer) along with CHUM writer and weekend DJ Garry Ferrier (who also wrote and recorded "Ringo Deer" a Christmas hit in Canada on Capitol Records in 1964). 
The CHUMingbirds sang for the crowds surrounding at the CHUM trailer during the annual Canadian National Exhibition, they sang at other CHUM remote broadcasts and charitable events.  They even charted their own hit, "The Brotherhood of Man" (written by Garry Ferrier). 
I've also attached a real photo of the CHUMingbirds in action. 
Doug Thompson (Toronto)

I LOVE the '64 Chart, showing The Beatles at every position (except, of course, on their own hits!!!)  Great to see that CHUM had such a wonderful sense of humor about things ... yet still so keenly reflected what was happening in the industry at the time.  (Top Five in Billboard??? That's NOTHING compared to the Beatles Records listed on THIS chart!!!  lol)  It seems like they had a whole lotta fun programming and promoting their station - back in the day when you could be proud of such things.  (Of course having the clout that comes along with being the biggest and best at your disposal ALWAYS makes things a lot more fun, doesn't it?!?!)  kk

re:  THIS AND THAT:

We can't wait for this one ... and it's coming up right around the corner ...

FH Reader Tom Cuddy sends us this update and review of the brand new PBS Television Special spotlighting (FINALLY!!!) The Dave Clark Five!  (kk)

http://www.examiner.com/review/review-dave-clark-five-pbs-special-is-group-s-version-of-beatles-anthology

Speaking of Tom Cuddy, it sounds like some major congratulations are in order ...

I just saw this in the Times Square Gossip column ... 

CUDDY CUT INTO HALL OF FAME --- The Rhode Island Radio Hall of Fame announced the class of 2014 inductees and they include: current WOR, New York, program director Tom Cuddy (who got his start in radio at WPRO-AM in 1980); air personality and programmer Rick Everett ; current WRNI news anchor / reporter and host Dave Fallon; New England Tech teacher and 30-plus year radio station staffer Paul Perry; the late Carroll “Pappy” Philbrook, who began his career in Rhode Island radio in the 1940's as an engineer at WHIM, WHJJ and WHJY; easy listening pioneer Tony Rizzini; and entertainment icon Saucy Silvia who hosted an entertainment program on WADK for 26 years.

We've known Tom and his lovely B.W. Lisa for years and there’s never been a nicer couple in the cut-throat radio world. I mean, you can be absent from a market for years, come back, showered with praise, and then be gone a month later. When Tom was at WPLJ, he consistently put on great shows in conjunction with the late-great China Club. James Blunt; Adele; Elton John; The New Cars; and Hall & Oates come to mind. 

Congrats Tom … you've always been in our Hall of Fame! 

Jeremy Roberts, a MAJOR Rick Nelson fan who has written several articles on one of our all-time favorite artists, too, recently spoke with Nelson's manager about Rick' final, unreleased album.  Sounds like there is a movement in the works to get this album released before the 30th anniversary of Rick's sudden and untimely death on New Year's Eve, 1985.  More here ... and watch for follow-up reports as the develop.  

Click here: Rick Nelson's manager reveals whether legend's final album will see a release - National Pop Culture | Examiner.co

We had the fortunate pleasure of seeing Rick's sons, Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, perform their loving tribute to their father this past weekend at The Arcada Theatre.  This is a show I have been waiting to see for a long, long time ... seems like every time it hit our area, it sold out immediately ... so it was real treat to finally get to see it.  (Having seen Rick live in concert six times ... and having been a MAJOR Rick Nelson fan my entire life ... let me just say that this is a show you NEED to see if it comes to your area.)

You can read our complete concert review tomorrow in Forgotten Hits.  (kk) 
 

Hi kk,
Rich Appel will be giving away copies of Ranking the '60s during his Top 104 "I.R.S." show this month on Rewound Radio.  If you emailed him your favorite forgotten hits and mailing address by the April 1 deadline, you are eligible to win a copy.

Dann Isbell

Be sure to listen to Rewound Radio to hear the complete countdown!

Click here: Rewound Radio: It's not how old it is... It's how GOOD it is!!

 

Hey Kent - 
Have you ever covered the artist that because they sounded so much like a famous artist it might have killed their careers? 
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n03a7cLf0M  
Lies - The Knickerbockers  sounded like The Beatles.   
2.  Terry Stafford "Suspicion  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gzY-PrwwHk ... sounded like Elvis  
3.  Kingdom Come - Get It On  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq1tpCkAecI  - sounded like Led Zeppelin  
4  Klaatu - Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CdjZbWu98A - sounded like The Beatles 
Just to name a few. 
Mickey

Most of these examples have come up from time to time (although I had personally never heard of Kingdom Come before ... but man, they certainly have nailed the Led Zeppelin sound!)  Never done a real series on this but there've been a few examples like this over the years.  (kk) 

Here's an update on the local-area showing of "The Wrecking Crew" film ...  
Tickets to the pre-screening of "The Wrecking Crew Movie" that I will be co-hosting at the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet, IL on May 14th are on sale now. Tickets are $22.00 ea. and are available by calling the Rialto Box Office directly by calling (815) 726-7171 during normal hours of operation. The films director and son of Tommy Tedesco, guitar player from the wrecking crew, Denny Tedesco will be flying in to be here at the pre-screening.

-- Ron Romero

(As you probably know, Kent, there are several promos that Denny Tedesco has posted on youtube)

Shelley

Strangely enough, this event isn't posted on The Rialto Square Theater Box Office website ... so we're trying to nail down more details.  Stay tuned.  (kk)

Here's an update from Denny Tedesco himself ...

Hey Kent,

I think they're making a big announcement on the 4th of April ... this Friday. 
Meanwhile, here are all of the details ... hope to see you there!
Denny

Sponsorship Opportunities - 100% Tax Deductible - Take your clients to the movies!

$800 donation • 10 VIP tickets • Donor name/logo on screen before & after the film plays • Permanent inclusion on DVD when released • Permanent inclusion on Wrecking Crew web site • Your logo and link on this film sheet $1,000 donation • 15 VIP tickets • Donor name/logo on screen before & after the film plays • Permanent inclusion on DVD when released • Permanent inclusion on Wrecking Crew web site • Opportunity to dedicate one of the Wrecking Crew recorded songs on the DVD (some have been dedicated and are no longer available) • Your logo and link on this film sheet

$2,500 donation • 25 VIP tickets • Donor name/logo on screen before & after the film plays • Permanent inclusion on DVD when released • Permanent inclusion on Wrecking Crew web site • Opportunity to dedicate one of the Wrecking Crew recorded songs on the DVD (some have been dedicated and are no longer available) • Your logo and link on this film sheet

$10,000 donation • 50 VIP tickets • Donor name/logo on screen before & after the film plays • Permanent inclusion on DVD when released • Permanent inclusion on Wrecking Crew web site • Opportunity to dedicate one of the Wrecking Crew recorded songs on the DVD (some have been dedicated and are no longer available) • Your logo and link on this film sheet • Your supplied banner displayed at the screening • Your logo permanently on the film's end credits • A special private screening at YOUR location with Director Tedesco in attendance! • Your logo on screen at EVERY screening.

For more info about sponsorship, contact Karen 253/278-3605 or email karen@wreckingcrewfilm.com YOU CAN BE A PART OF THE LEGACY!!

May 14, 2014 7:00PMRialto Theater 102 N. Chicago St. Joliet, IL 60432 Q & A with Director Denny Tedesco General Admission: $22 Buy Tickets Online or call 815/726-7171 Thanks to our sponsors:         It was incredible! I felt just like I was sitting there with them at that table. It had everything I wanted to see and more that I didn't expect. Tommy's humor drew you in and the lifelong respect for each other was so evident. Thank you for making this film because it shows that these legendary musicians, who we listen to everyday, are anything but invisible!!!!!! - Peter Frampton A wonderful, touching and hilarious film about the unsung stars of so many records that you carry in your heart. - Elvis Costello If I'd known they were available, I would have used those guys on my records. 'The Wrecking Crew' is the best documentary yet about the recording scene. I loved it. - Steve Miller, Gangster of Love For more information about "The Wrecking Crew" film and The Wrecking Crew musicians, please visit www.wreckingcrewfilm.com or the The Wrecking Crew Facebook Page. The Wrecking Crew is eligible for funding through the International Documentary Foundation, a California non-profit, tax-exempt corporation. IDA's Fiscal Sponsorship Program has provided the 501(c)(3) nonprofit umbrella to more than 300 film/video projects, many of which have gone on to success at festivals and markets, getting distribution and/or broadcast, or even garnering prestigious awards from the film community. They were the studio musicians behind some of the biggest hits in the 1960s and '70s. From "Be My Baby" to "California Girls;" "Strangers in the Night" to "Mrs. Robinson;" "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" to "Up, Up and Away;" and from "Viva Las Vegas" to "Mr. Tambourine Man," the group dubbed The Wrecking Crew played on all of them. Six years in a row in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Grammy for "Record of the Year" went to Wrecking Crew member recordings. "The Wrecking Crew," a documentary film produced and directed by Denny Tedesco, son of legendary late Wrecking Crew guitarist Tommy Tedesco, has played around the world in the festival circuit with over a dozen awards and rave reviews and other accolades. The film includes wonderful interviews with Brian Wilson, Cher, Nancy Sinatra, Herb Alpert, Glen Campbell, Roger McGuinn, Gary Lewis, Dick Clark, Al Jardine, Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz as well as many of the Crew members themselves. A labor of love by director Tedesco, the film is also ultimately a love letter to the legacy of his late father and musician friends in the Crew. Documenting the work of musicians on such iconic songs, however, can be cost -- and distribution -- prohibitive. According to the American Federation of Musicians, the film may one of the largest soundtracks of any film in history, with 131 music cues. With songs by Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, The Monkees, The Byrds, Mamas and Papas, Sonny and Cher, The Beach Boys and dozens of others, the cost of licensing the music for the film is estimated at more than $300,000. With the help of social media and donations, the film has made great progress making the release a reality where other films of this nature never make it to the public. Please come and join us for this special screening of "The Wrecking Crew" May 14, 2014 7:00PM Rialto Theater 102 N. Chicago St. Joliet, IL 60432 Q & A with Director Denny Tedesco General Admission Tickets: $22 Buy Tickets Online or call 815/726-7171 Thanks to our sponsors:     If you are interested in an interview with the director, Denny Tedesco, please contact him at denny@wreckingcrewfilm.com or 818.448-4436 <!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->•  • Vancouver Radio, Jack FM • Morning TV - Vancouver • Nashville TV

>>>A forgotten 80's track from them is Getcha Back from 1985. (Phil Nee - WRCO)

I think many of us note a resemblance to "Getcha Back" in the great 2013 comeback song "That's Why God Made the Radio." 
Clark Besch

re:  HAIL CANADA!:  

Hey Kent;  
Regarding the Canadian artists section here's one people overlook ... Aldo Nova. 
During the early eighty's he came out and had a helluva group. He was the equal to Steve Perry and more than that, played guitar, wrote and sang his own music. He produced early Celine Dion albums, co-wrote some Blue Oyster Cult songs, wrote the guitar solo for Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory". He even co-wrote a song for Clay Aiken, go figure.  Youtube some of his material, he deserves some noise for his contributions. 

Alex Valdez  
Aldo Nova (and the group that bore his namesake) had two Top 20 Hits in Canada ... and both of them did pretty well here in The States, too.  You're more likely to hear "Fantasy" (if you hear anything at all) ... but my favorite has always been "Foolin' Yourself", a #65 Hits from 1982.  (kk)

>>>The Canadian acts on that chart were: # 1 "Gotta See Jane" by R. Dean Taylor (Taylor was originally from Toronto before moving to Motown)  Doug Thompson

Kent,

What your Canadian friend did not mention was that #1 "Gotta See Jane" was originally released in 1967 on US V.I.P. Records, a Motown subsidiary!  You can hear the song below. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrZJnc4_C8A

R.Dean started with the sound effects in his songs LONG before his "Indiana Wants Me" hit.  "Jane" was re-released following that hit and appears on his 1971 LP, too.  Good tune, much in same vein of "Indiana".

>>>Two other outstanding Stampeders releases were big up there; one of which you mentioned today.

(David Lewis)

>>>The Stampeders had eight Top 20 Hits on Canada's CHUM Chart in the early '70's.  "Carry Me" was their first ... it peaked at #10 in 1971.  "Sweet City Woman" (their biggest hit here) topped the chart later that year.  They also hit The Top Ten with "Devil You" (#9, 1971) and "New Orleans" (#10, 1975).  kk

David did not mention the GREAT hard rock song the Stampeders did in 1972!  Certainly far different from the "Sweet City Woman" sound and more towards a sound of Sweet, I LOVED this song in 72 when it became a minor hit on Omaha' s KOIL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdGLn_eYzGI

As far as the explaination of having to play 35% Canadian artists on Canada stations, IF you have John Landercker's great autobiography, he has an interesting take on that subject in the days he moved from WLS to Canada radio. 
Clark Besch   

In his excellent book "Records Truly Is My Middle Name", Landecker explains it this way:
I grew up listening to a Canadian station; CKLW in Windsor.  But that had been a totally different era.  CKLW was really an American station operating out of Canada, more of a Detroit station.  By the time I arrived at CFTR, the Canadian version of the FCC had implemented a number of programming rules that changed Canadian radio drastically.

They were very sensitive about having Canadian culture overrun by their neighbors to the south, so a "Canadian Content" rule was instated, ensuring that a certain percentage of the contemporary music played on the radio was performed by a Canadian artist, or written by a Canadian songwriter, or if there was a Canadian engineer that mixed the recording session, that would quality too. Because of that rule, lots of songs were played on the air on a regular basis that otherwise never would have been played. Believe it or not, I ended up really liking that rule.  I didn't mind if we played a little more Burton Cummings or Anne Murray, because it was fair.  Every other radio station had to do it too.

Canadian radio also had restrictions on the amount of money or prizes that could be given away, which was another rule I ended up liking.  There was no way one Canadian station could buy their audience.  That meant you had to rely on the quality of the programming as opposed to a contest or prize or stunt.  You could do promotions, but there was a limit, and the limit was low enough to maintain a level playing field.

Another Canadian broadcasting rule mandated a certain amount of news and information programming during the day, even middays or overnights. Even on FM rock stations.  They appreciated it was the responsibility of the radio station to serve the local community.  I really liked that rule too.  It made stations more accountable.  It was already bothering me at that time that American stations were cutting news departments for budgetary reasons.  Canadian stations simply couldn't.

Now don't get me wrong, the point of a radio station was still to make dollars and cents ... it was a business after all ... but striving for quality was something I felt should be commended and admired.  WLS in the 1970s had been the same way, and they weren't even legally obligated to be.

-- John Records Landecker

Order John's book here:  Click here: Records Truly Is My Middle Name [The Book] | Eckhartz Press

And, speaking of Canadians, as mentioned here last week, Burton Cummings is headed back to the Chicago area in May with two appearance (the 28th and 29th) at The City Winery!  Ticket information is below ...

Click here: City Winery | Chicago | Schedule | Buy Tickets

I see Burton Cummings will be at the Chicago Winery on May 28th & 29th for a solo performance.  And on a more serious note, it brings to mind the Randy Bachman Toronto Star interview and its notes of discord concerning he and Burton.  Whether it be great song-writing teams such as Bachman-Cummings, Lennon-McCartney, Jagger-Richards, or Bacharach-David, it's sad to see the relationships that once produced with their synergistic chemistry such priceless harmony, dissolve into dysfunction. The sometime discord that occasionally never gets resolved whether it be from pride, money or both.  Like so many marriages, the relationships sometimes end with the songs being the kids, occasionally listening to their parent's barbs of resentment and acrimony at the family reunion when in reality everyone knows they still care for one another and each with reasons why they feel like they do.   
Peace,
Tim Kiley

We're really looking forward to the Burton Cummings show ... a solo outing this time, meaning a completely different set than what we saw at The Arcada Theatre last year.  Fans are STILL talking about our awesome interview with Burt ... you can check it out here:

http://forgottenhits.com/forgotten_hits_interviews_burton_cummings  

 
 

re:  PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS:

After Ron Onesti offered us a special half-price ticket deal EXCLUSIVELY for Forgotten Hits Readers to see Paul Revere and the Raiders at his beautiful Arcada Theatre, we not only had on run on ticket sales ... but also received some high praise for the band ...

My favorite band growing up in the '60's was Paul Revere and the Raiders -- I will absolutely be there to see the show on the 13th!

Georgiann  

Thanks for all you do in Forgotten Hits.  And now this concert offer is just the icing on the cake.  We'll see you there!
Henry  

I consider myself to be a major Raiders fan and wish I could attend the show ... I've heard from a number of people over the years that they really put on a great act.  Unfortunately, I'll be in Las Vegas that weekend.  (We went to Vegas a couple of months ago and saw The Australian Bee Gees Tribute -- I thought the show would never end!)

Drew

Paul Revere and the Raiders put on very much a Las Vegas-type act ... it's wall-to-wall fun ... sounds like you'll be experiencing the "real thing" that weekend ... but add these guys to your bucket list ... you won't be disappointed.  (kk)   

Put me down for two tickets ... I am REALLY looking forward to this show.  Thank you to you and Ron Onesti for this very generous offer.  Count me in!

Steve Sarley

You're gonna have a blast!  (kk)   

Would love to see Little Anthony ... he's superb ... but I'm stuck with another commitment that night.  Absolutely plan to see the Raiders ... hope to connect with you there. 

Chet Coppock

Count on it ... we won't dream of missing this one!

The other day when I was searching for something else, I found this posted on Chet's Facebook Page ...

My favorite guilty pleasure ... writing pieces for Kent Kotal"s "Forgotten Hits", the greatest rock 'n roll website in the racket. I tend to draw mixed reaction ... I know its only rock 'n roll but I like it ... http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2013_05_19_archive.html

Thanks, Chet ... that means a lot!  We haven't done a Coppock's Topics in awhile ... let me know when you feel inspired!!!  (kk)   

Paul Revere and the Raiders were my favorite group when I was growing up.  I had all of their albums but have never had the chance to see them live.  My wife and I would LOVE to go to shows like these!

John Earnest   

When I was a little girl growing up, the very first concert I ever went to was Paul Revere and the Raiders.  It was me and a bunch of my girlfriends ... and I mean we were YOUNG ... SO young, in fact, that my mother had to drive us to the show!  You never forget the experience and the excitement of your very first concert ... and I would love to see them again on the 13th. Please put me down for two tickets ... I can't wait to see the show!
Michele
They can't take away our memories!  Have a great time at the concert!  (I know you will!)  kk

I know you've talked about The Arcada Theater quite a bit over the years and it sounds like a wonderful place to see a show.  I've never been there but you won me over with this half-price ticket offer.  We'll be looking for you on the 13th.  Would love to say hello.

Joe   

OH WOW KENT!  YOUR PART OF THE COUNTRY IS SO LUCKY!

Shelley

We have found a GREAT partner in Ron Onesti in helping us to keep this great music alive ... he has a true love and affection for this music ... and has the means and the venue to bring it to a very receptive audience ... check out the list of artists coming to The Arcada Theatre that we ran on Sunday ... UNBELIEVABLE!!!  And more are being added every single day. (kk)  


re:  DID YOU ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF JOEL WHITBURN'S NEW BOOK???:

Time is running out ... we'll be collecting correct entries through April 10th ... and then we'll pick a winner for Joel's brand new "Top Pop Play List, 1955 - 1969" book.

Scroll back to Sunday to catch the fifteen trivia questions.  Match all of the lyrics to all of the song titles and you'll find entered in this very special book drawing ... all happening pre-publication thanks to the kindness of Joel Whitburn, the guy who regularly writes the books spotlighting the history of the charts.

Email your correct answers to forgottenhits@aol.com ... and then check the website to see our lucky winner!  (kk)