Saturday, August 16, 2014

The Sunday Comments ( 08 - 17 - 14 )

re: The Saturday Surveys:  
Kent,
I noticed on CKWX's survey from 1961 that Lonnie Donegan had the number 9 song with HAVE A DRINK ON ME, down from song position 3 the week before. That particular song also did quite well here in OKC. However, Lonnie Donegan's
version was never played. The version played here in OKC was by a singer by the name of Buddy Thomas on Todd Records, the same label that Joe Henderson recorded SNAP YOUR FINGERS. I don't really know anything about him to be
honest with you. However, his version of HAVE A DRINK ON ME was on the survey for some 12 weeks. It peaked at number 12 in August of 1961. I tried just now to find
Buddy Thomas' version on you tube but couldn't. I do have Lonnie Donegan's version on an LP of mine.
Larry
 
Hi Kent - 
A couple of quick points ... 
Surveys:  At one point or another I had all three of those albums on the KYSN survey. A point you failed to mention on the WBBF survey was that it was very unusual to see a survey issued as late as 1968 to have 55 songs listed. There's about 20 songs listed there that I never heard a note of on WLS or WCFL.
Regarding the sorry state of radio today:  Sorry to beat a dead horse here ... I meant to post this a couple weeks ago, although it was an old topic then, too. In July, I had to take a road trip from downstate Illinois to Chicago, about 300 miles. It's a trip I do every two months, so I'm familiar enough with the radio stations along the way to make the trip bearable. I could listen to CDs, but I get tired of having to change discs on the fly. However from Chicago I then continued on to Rochester, Minnesota, on personal business. Once I got into Wisconsin I had no luck finding any station I could listen to for any length of time. So on the way back, I did not have the radio on for the entire 9 1/2 hour drive home. Ironically it was a rental car and I didn't realize there was a CD player in the radio. (There was nothing on the radio unit saying CD player). Why is this ironic? Because I had eight crates of CDs ... about 600 discs ... in the trunk from the record show. I'm fairly sure there were some albums I could have listened to. Still silence was preferable to hearing the same songs I hear every day. 
Jack  
 
Another great selections of surveys this week.  But did you notice that the #1 Record the previous week on your 1963 chart was something called Please Don't Talk To The Lifeguard?  I don't think I've ever heard that song before.  What do you know about it?  
Ted  
Actually that would have been a good one to point out and feature (so we'll do it right now!)  "Please Don't Talk To The Lifeguard" never climbed higher than #31 on the Billboard chart ... so seeing it at #1 in Eau Claire IS a bit of a surprise!  It's by Diane Ray and is another one of those One Hit Wonders ... she never charted again.  (You'll see this track on some of those Girl Group compilation CD's ... but you'll also hear it here today in Forgotten Hits ... something you CAN'T say about oldies radio these days where they seem to only recognize about 250 of the 10,000 hits that the rest of us remember!!!)  kk  

re:  Wisconsin Rock:  
Hi Kent,  
John Gehring of Waupaca asked about a few Milwaukee area bands. If I may, I'd like to call his attention to my two Wisconsin books which, as you know, cover those bands and a few hundred others (and they are now available at clearance prices).http://www.music-gem.com/wisconsin-music-books.html  
Gary E. Myers / MusicGem
ANYBODY interested in Wisconsin and Midwest Rock would do well to pick up copies of Gary's books ... they are the definitive history of this era.  You'll find ALL kinds of bands listed guaranteed to spark a memory or two ... and hundreds more you've probably never even heard of!  Then again, if you were active in the bar scene during this era, you just may surprise yourself.  Check out the link above.  (kk)   

Hi Kent:   
For John from Waupaca. All three of the groups he mentions were based in Milwaukee. The Robbs, Skunks & Tony’s Tygers. They did have members who were from outlying suburbs etc. They all had Chart success here, especially the Robbs.  “Bittersweet” actually gets to #1 in Milwaukee.  
Ken   

Today's posting was like old home week for me. I had completely forgotten about The Robbs and yet I know and love both of the songs you posted by them. Then having a reader ask about The Skunks and Tony's Tygers was just awesome. I did scroll back to the Tygers spotlight and I really got a kick out of them talking about playing with The New Colony Six at one time. This is just such a small world in which we live ... right? 
Thanks ... this posting really brightened my day! 
Stacee   
If I remember correctly, you and I first connected thanks to Tony's Tygers!  (Didn't you even win a copy of their comeback CD?)  I remember you telling me about what a MAJOR fan you were back in the day, following the group around and getting to know all of the members.  So yeah, it's kinda cool that all of this came up again.  (It's funny ... because we cover SO much ground here in Forgotten Hits ... and because new people are discovering us all the time ... some of these memories float to the back burner until somebody drudges them up again ... I love it!)  kk  
All of that is correct ... thanks for remembering. 
Stacee    

re:  This And That:  
New restrictions placed on Reel Radio (after all these years) no longer allows them to air "unscoped" / unedited clips that are under five hours in length!  How ridiculous!  Most of these clips come from private collections and are only there as a reminder of how great Top 40 Radio sounded back in the day ... nearly ALL of our favorite jocks have a presence on this website ... and this new regulation has GREATLY limited our listening enjoyment.
If anybody knows of any sources we can write to in order to overturn this ridiculous injunction, please let me know ... as we would LOVE to start a campaign asking them to reinstate the former policy so that we can go back to enjoying these vintage clips as they were meant to be heard ... if only for historical purposes.  We are private fans and collectors ... I don't think anybody's getting rich off of these old airchecks (whether it be the fans and collectors or the Reel Radio website or the jocks and the radio stations from which they originate) so please preserve these clips for their historical (and sometimes hysterical) value.  (kk)

Last night I spoke for about 30 minutes with Bruce Johnston after the Beach Boys Show in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Bruce was the producer of Bluebirds Over The Mountain, this Beach Boys' late 1968 release that reached top 20 in a bunch of cities across the country (top 10 in Netherlands according to Wikipedia).  It was sandwiched between Do It Again and I Can Hear Music, each having a more distinctive Beach Boys sound. We did not discuss Bluebirds but we did talk about I Write The Songs (for which Bruce received an Emmy) and how it was actually a hymn, to the God who "lives forever" and "makes the whole world sing."
Bruce and Mike Love and the band (now including Jeffrey Foskett) gave a non-stop, 100+ minute show swirling with car tunes, surfing songs, and even some pet sounds. The video clips correlated to many of the songs provided an enlightening visual context to the life and times of those who grew up to this Made in America soundtrack. 
A great night for this lifetime fan, especially when my grand daughter was part of the impromptu Barbara Ann dance team!
Phil Miglioratti
Stateside, "Bluebirds Over The Mountain" fared best in Record World, where it peaked at #36 in 1968.  (It missed The Top 40 completely in Billboard and Cash Box, where it peaked at #61 and #56 respectively.)  Not likely to rank on very many people's "All-Time Beach Boys Favorites" list, it just showed where the band was at at that point in time.  (kk)

Hi Kent, 
Went to a Peter Frampton concert last Monday night.  If you ever get a chance to see him, DO NOT MISS IT ... his voice is as good as ever, his guitar-work stellar, and his back-up band top-flight!  Hope you and your family are happy and healthy -- love Forgotten Hits!Thank-you,
Tim Kiley
He didn't take your cell phone and throw it up into the balcony, did he???  (Didja hear about that one?  About a week ago ... in Indiana I believe ... Frampton was doing a show and some front row fan was annoying the hell out of him, taking pictures and shooting video.  Peter apparently asked him several times during the show to stop and put the cell phone away ... but the guy just kept on shooting.  Finally, he stopped the show and said to the guy, "Well, if you're going to insist on continuing to take photos and video can I at least see what they look like?" The idiot hands Frampton his phone, who then immediately proceeds to throw it up into the balcony of the theater!!!
Sadly, we just missed an opportunity to see him here in Chicago (along with Cheap Trick) at The Drive's 13th Birthday Party.  We had tickets to the concert but due to a scheduling conflict were unable to attend.  We DID, however, snag a couple of reviews from folks who were there ... and they loved the show, too.  You can find 'em here  (kk):  
Click here: Forgotten Hits: Concert Review: The Drive's 13th Birthday Party Free Concert Celebration (starring Cheap Trick and   

On September 9th I'll be heading over to The Ridgefield Playhouse to see the British Invasion tour starring Denny Laine, Chad and Jeremy, Billy J Kramer, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Mike Pender's Searchers, and for Ridgefield, CT only, Peter Asher.  It is in honor of the 50th year of The British Invasion. 
I took this tour schedule off of the Chad and Jeremy website ... it is very limited engagement and I was just told that NO more dates would be added.  Uhm Kent ... there is nothing in the Midwest.   Who did you guys p--- off?  
Shelley  
9/9 Ridgefield, CT Ridgefield Playhouse  
9/10 Bethlehem, PA Sands Bethlehem Event Center
9/12 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theater
9/13 Philadelphia, PA Keswick Theatre
9/14 Westbury, NY NYCB Theatre At Westbury
9/15 Alexandria, VA The Birchmere
9/17 Pittsburgh, PA Palace Theatre
9/19 Los Angeles, CA Saban Theatre
9/20 Valley Center, CA Rincon Casino
9/21 Saratoga, CA Mountain Winery   

Wow!  That's one heck of a line-up ... wish they'd bring something like this Chicago.  (No more dates, huh?!?!  Maybe I need to get Ron Onesti on this ... stat!!!)  kk

Boy George and Culture Club have regrouped for both a tour and a new album.  So far six U.S. dates have been announced ...  11/15 - Rancho Mirage, CA - Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa; 11/17 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater; 11/19 - Los Angeles, CA - Shrine Auditorium; 11/22 - Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl; 11/25 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre and 11/28 - Atlantic City, NJ - Etess Arena.

One reader recently was wondering if footage existed of Petula Clark and Tony Hatch working together like the YouTube video of Cilla Black and Burt Bacharach recording Alfie.   
I recently finished reading the Burt Bacharach bio titled “Anyone Who Has A Heart”. I disregarded all the bad review and went out and purchased it because I’m such a huge Bacharach and David fan.  
If footage does exist of Clark and Hatch, I’m sure you would witness a collaboration rather than the task mastering of Burt Bacharach on the 29 take rendition of “Alfie”. The final product made it all worth wild as far as Burt was concern. 
There’s a quote in the book from Mike Myers:  If you’ve seen the video of that session on YouTube, Burt breaks Cilla in the studio. He was going to do it until it was right and I love the quote from her. “I wanted to foo-kin kill him but he was so foo-kin gorgeous”.  
I love this song and it’s one of Burt’s favorites. I think when Hal David gave him the lyrics he may have wrote them about Burt rather than an Alfie movie character.  There are many great renditions of this song but the worst and best in my opinion is done by Cher. I hated the Phil Spector influenced Bono Brill Building rendition but if you check out the old Cher Show (minus Sonny) on YouTube you’ll see a brilliant performance of this song.   
I’m so glad that there were so many ups and downs in the Dionne Warwick / David and Bacharach collaborations. Dionne appeared to want almost every successful song that the duo put out, even when many of them she originally tuned down.  
To her credit, there  may have never been the song “Don’t Make Me Over” if Dionne hadn’t yelled those word at David / Bacharach  because they chose Jerry Butler rather than her to  originally record “Make It Easy On Yourself”. 
What a pity it would have been if all we had was Dionne’s Greatest Hits Volume 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 
I would hate to think we would be deprived of a Cilla or Cher’s  “Alfie”, a Dusty’s “Look Of Love” or Jackie’s “What The World Needs Now”.    
Jerry

Frannie sent me this recent chart showing the anatomy of a song, based on whichever particular genre you're most fond of.  (Actually, some of this is spot on!  lol)  kk


Paul Revere has officially retired and the band is now called Paul Revere's Raiders. His son Jamie is now officially in the band ... a sad day. Paul Revere is a rock 'n' roll icon that does not get the credit he deserves for keeping the great Raiders songs going with his band, most members of which have been with him since the 70's. These Raiders are fabulous and hopefully they will keep the music alive.
phrabec
It's a tough situation ... some of these guys have been "Raiders" for 40 years now ... yet there's not a single original member left in the band ... which will call many a purist to call "foul".  What do you do when the guiding force is no longer there to lead the charge?  Yet this is GREAT music that deserves to live on.  A tough situation indeed.  (Not unlike Rob Grill's self-appointed Grass Roots that continue to perform his band's music live in concert I guess ... but that, too, has been the subject of considerable controversy.)    
Paul was such a dynamic force on stage ... he kept things moving and everyone else reacted to whatever he happened to throw out there at them ... one of the tightest, best-timed shows I've ever seen, no matter WHAT happened!  The talent, of course, is still up there ... the guys who actually PERFORM the music are still the same ... Paul was more of a "master of ceremonies" / coordinator than anything else ... and these are his hand-picked guys to carry on "The Legend Of Paul Revere" ... and the Raiders.  (They've even got a new single coming out ... and perform far more than just their own hits on stage ... it's a precision-tight, well-rounded performance from start to finish every single time!!!)  I'm just wondering how the public will respond ... it'll be interesting to see.  (Personally, I love these guys ... so I hope they can continue to keep these great hits alive.  They had 18 National Top 40 Hits between 1961 and 1972 and you're right ... they rarely get the recognition and respect they deserve as big-time hit makers.)  kk

Here's some more press for the brand new "live" Jim Croce CD we told you about a few weeks ago, this time from one of our local newspapers ... sent into Forgotten Hits by Bill Hengels, who actually recorded the concert at Harper College back in 1973!
 
Here is an article from the

Daily Herald

8/6/2014

New album features Jim Croce's 1973 concert at Harper

  • The Harbinger
    The Harbinger / Harper College News Bureau  

    Harper College is at the heart of a new compilation of Jim Croce songs about to be released, nearly 41 years after the folk-rock singer-songwriter died in a plane crash. 
    Croce performed before a capacity crowd February 2, 1973, on the Palatine campus. Ten of those songs including "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" and "New York's Not My Home" appear on the new album, Lost Time in a Bottle. The 24-track album also features several demo recordings such as renditions of his classics "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Time in a Bottle." Los Angeles-based Cleopatra Records will release the album July 22 as a CD and digital download and later on vinyl. 
    The concert was described as a showcase of both Croce's musical talent and his comedy routines, according to an article that appeared in Harper's newspaper, The Harbinger. "In an interview before the concert, Croce said that 'college students are pretty sophisticated listeners,'" the singer told student reporters Mike Morey and Greg Fife. 
    Later that year, Croce died in a plane crash just an hour after wrapping up a concert at Northwestern State University in Louisiana. The next day, one of his most iconic singles – "I Got a Name" – was released. Five of Croce's songs landed in Billboard's Top 10.

Lost Time in a Bottle


I am home sick from work today so I tuned in to Hoda and Kathi Lee this morning. They were celebrating Kathi Lees' birthday which is actually tomorrow. 
Kent, we are the same age as Kathi Lee Gifford ... do you think she looks better than us ... LOL 
Anyway, Neil Sedaka was a surprise guest for Kathi Lee. She apparently has known him for years. He sang "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" only he changed the lyrics to fit Kathi Lees' birthday. Then he and Kathi Lee sang her favorite song by Neil. It was "The Hungry Years". What a powerful song. I don't know how popular this song was but it has to be one of my all time favorites, too. 
Stacee 
Well, I won't be 60 for long ... my 61st is less than two weeks away!!! (But I still feel pretty good for 61 ... and from what I can see, look considerably younger than my years, judging by my contemporaries anyway!) 
"The Hungry Years" never hit the charts for Neil Sedaka ... although I remember hearing it quite a bit on the soft-rock stations at the time.  The closest thing to a hit single went to Mr. Las Vegas, Wayne Newton ... his single reached #81 in 1976. (kk)



Here's more info on our FH Buddy Chet Coppock's new tell-all biography ... out this week ...  
Click here: Chicago Sports Broadcasting Legend Chet Coppock Releases His Autobiography   
From what I understand, this isn't just a sports book ... Chet talks quite a bit about music within these pages, too!  It's available now through the link shown above.  (kk)   

Mark Bego's new Glen Campbell biography (written with Glen's daughter Debby) will be hitting the stands soon ... and now comes word of a brand new documentary, chronicling Glen's farewell tour, hitting theaters in late October / early November.  The film will also document Glen's early years, with commentary by many of his contemporaries and looks REALLY interesting.  (Check out the promo clip below.)

Vintage Vinyl News reports the story this way:   

The new documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me will open on October 24 in New York and Nashville followed by a rollout to theaters across the country. 
Directed by actor, director and producer James Keach, the film chronicles Campbell's life and his final 151-date "Goodbye Tour" while dealing with the diagnosis and effects of Alzheimer's disease.  
The film includes vintage footage of Campbell from throughout his career along with performances of his greatest hits from the tour. Among those participating in the film are Bruce Springsteen, Bill Clinton, The Edge, Paul McCartney, Jay Leno, Vince Gill, Jimmy Webb, Blake Shelton, Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Steve Martin, Chad Smith and Taylor Swift among many others.



re:  Recent Interviews:
Last night I did an interview on Blog Talk Radio.  He also played two tracks from the new Flock CD.  Here it is:
Fred Glickstein

Hi Kent ...
Check out this interview. After watching this I'm not sure if I'm 78 or 108. 
Time goes by so fast when you look at your life!  
I hope things are good with you, my friend!
Lots of love,
John

</


re:  '70's By Suggestion:
With the movie soundtrack "Guardians Of The Galaxy" poised to be the #1 Album this week, '70's music is hot again.  (The soundtrack CD features hits like the Blue Swede version of "Hooked On A Feeling", which daughter Paige can't seem to stop singing lately, "Go All The Way" by The Raspberries, "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, "I'm Not In Love" by 10cc (another "new" Paige favorite), "Come And Get Your Love" by Redbone, "O-ooh Child" by The Five Stairsteps and several others.)  We've seen a sudden resurgence of late ... "American Hustle" was also chock-full of '70's favorites.) 
Meanwhile, here are two tracks by suggestion from readers ...   

Eileen told me that she heard this song for the first time this past weekend, so thought I would share it all with you.  It charted at #12 in 1972.
Kim



Now here's a truly forgotten hit. I doubt I've heard this one since the summer of '72.
David Lewis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzsXHbGTMBQ
Actually, we've featured this one a few times now ... probably in conjunction with something to do with John Madara (see above), who dated Joey Heatherton for quite some time back in the day!  (My brother was also a big Joey fan back in her Golddiggers days.)  Personally, I thought she was pretty hot, too ... but I am still surprised that she used this photo to help sell her album!!!  (kk)

More on this '70's music comeback from Paul Grein, formerly of Billboard Magazine (courtesy of Tom Cuddy)!  

Kent:
Who would have ever predicted the #1 album in the country in August, 2014, would consist of 60s and mostly 70s tune?  Life is full of WONDERFUL surprises! 
Former Billboard writer, Paul Grein, who is now a blogger for Yahoo Music, has all the details. 
-Tom Cuddy                    

It’s too bad that radio legend Casey Kasem died two months ago. I’ve got a feeling he would have loved the soundtrack to "Guardians Of The Galaxy: Awesome Mix, Volume 1, which jumps from #3 to #1 in its second week on The Billboard 200. After all, he introduced seven of the 12 songs on his weekly American Top 40 countdown. The Five Stairsteps' “O-o-h Child” was on the very first AT40 countdown in July, 1970.  Rupert Holmes' “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” hit #1 in December 1979, when the show was in its 10th year. 
The soundtrack also includes three pop hits that predated the launch of AT40  (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's “Ain't No Mountain High Enough,” the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” and Norman Greenbaum's “Spirit In The Sky”) and two rock classics that didn't fit the show's hit-based formula (David Bowie's “Moonage Daydream” and the Runaways's “Cherry Bomb”). 
Billboard's Keith Caulfield notes that Guardians Of The Galaxy is the first soundtrack to reach #1 where the entire album consists of previously released material. All 12 songs on the album were released between 1967 and 1979. Nine of them made the top 10 on the Hot 100. Three made #1: the Jackson 5's “I Want You Back,” Blue Swede's “Hooked On A Feeling” and Rupert Holmes's “Escape (The Pina Colada Song).” 
James Gunn, who directed and co-wrote Guardians Of The Galaxy, spearheaded the use of oldies in the movie.  The movie ranked #2 at the box office after ranking #1 last weekend.
The album, which sold 109K copies this week, is the second soundtrack to reach #1 in 2014, following Frozen, which logged 13 weeks on top. This marks the first time that two or more soundtracks to theatrically-released movies have reached #1 during a calendar year since 2009, when the soundtracks to Hannah Montana: The Movie, The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Michael Jackson’s This Is It all reached the top spot. 
With soundtracks having led the chart for 14 weeks so far this year, this is the biggest year for soundtracks since 1998, when Titanic, City Of Angels and Armageddon led the chart for a combined 21 weeks during the year. 
Guardians Of The Galaxy is also #1 on Top Soundtracks for the second week.  
Here’s a little background on the three songs on the album that weren’t top 10 hits. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's original version of “Ain't No Mountain High Enough” reached #19 on the Hot 100 in July, 1967. Three years later, Diana Ross took the song to #1. David Bowie's “Moonage Daydream” was a track on his 1972 album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.The Runaways's “Cherry Bomb” “bubbled under” the Hot 100 (at #106) in August 1976. 
By Paul Grein 

And, speaking of '70's music, you'll want to check out this upcoming brand new release from Time / Life ... it's The Midnight Special, back out on DVD!!!  
Click here: The Midnight Special Collector’s Edition - Time Life   

re:  Clip Of The Week:    
Kent ... 
I'd like to nominate this one for clip of the week.  
What do you think?  
Frank B.




No doubt about it, it's a good one ... 

But THIS is the one that cracked ME up this past week!  (kk)

The Saturday Surveys (August 16)

Here's a GREAT looking chart from 1966 ... nothing particularly interesting or unusual in their Top 20 Listing ... but don'tcha just love the way the record store AND the record company got together to advertise their latest wares ... back in the days of co-op advertising?!?!?  

What a cool looking chart, showing the latest LP releases by Paul Revere and the Raiders, Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel ... with a dollar off all standard albums ... and only 87-cents for the latest hit singles. I Love It!!!



Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977 ... so I thought it might be nice to feature a couple of charts that included some of The King's biggest hits back in the day ...

This Fantastic 40 Survey from 1963  (Eau Claire Area's ONLY Accurate Record Popularity Survey) shows Elvis jumping up seven places to #17 with his latest, "Devil In Disguise" ... and then right below that you'll find a CKWX Chart from two years earlier where Elvis premiers on the chart with a two-sided hit, "His Latest Flame" / "Little Sister", at #13.










You'll find novelty king Ray Stevens on the CKWX chart above ... his latest piece of nonsense on the CKWX chart above ... "Jeremiah Peabody's Poly Unsaturated Quick Dissolving Fast Acting Pleasant Tasting Green And Purple Pills" ... premiers at #30.  

And then, just seven years later WBBF was taking him seriously enough to rank his stab at mainstream pop (with even a little bit of social commentary), "Mr. Businessman" at #1.






That same week in 1968 KQEO's Million Dollar Survey seems to convey TOTAL heaviosity with Their Top 20 Chart ... "Sky Pilot" by Eric Burdon and the Animals is at #1, followed by Cream ("Sunshine Of Your Love", #2), The Doors ("Hello, I Love You", #3), "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (Vanilla Fudge, 36), The Rascals at #7 with "People Got To Be Free", the Jerry Jeff Walker version of "Mr. Bojangles" at #8, The Amboy Dukes at #10 with their heavy hit "Journey To The Center Of The Mind", Steppenwolf at #17 with "Born To Be Wild" and Donovan trippin' out at #18 with "Hurdy Gurdy Man".  (So what the heck are Gary Lewis and the Playboys and Bobby Vinton doing in the Top Ten?!?!?)

This chart also features the original hit version of "Indian Reservation" by Don Fardon (done three years before Paul Revere and the Raiders took their version all the way to #1), some classic bubblegum by way of The 1910 Fruitgum Company ("1,2,3 Red Light) and pure schmaltz by the likes of Bobby Goldsboro ("Autumn Of My Life", #14) and Roger Williams ("The Impossible Dream", #16.

A mixed bag indeed!!!