Friday, June 19, 2015

The Friday Flash

re:  This Weekend:  
Man, what a great stretch of musical opportunities we have to choose from over the next four days!   Hopefully radio is capitalizing on this ...
Yesterday was Paul McCartney's birthday and, of course, Macca is hotter than ever with a whole new audience.
Then on Saturday we've got Brian Wilson's birthday ... and with "Love And Mercy" out now in theaters, there's a whole new generation discovering the music of The Beach Boys.
And then on Sunday, we've not only got Father's Day to celebrate ... but also The First Day Of Summer!
In fact, we've put together an entire day of musical surprises for you on Sunday ... brand new postings throughout the day (some as often as every 15-20 minutes!), featuring 70 songs saluting Dad right along with your summer favorites.  (No Favorite Songs of Summer this weekend ... but you CAN check out our official list here:  http://forgottenhits.com/your_all-time_summer_favorites ).  In fact, refer back to the website and you'll find The Biggest Songs Of Summer for every year, 1955 - 1980!)
Please make plans to join us on Saturday for more Brian Wilson / Love And Mercy comments ... and be sure to check back often on Sunday to hear some of the Father's Day / Summer Songs surprises we've got planned for you!  (kk) 

Hola Kent,
You missed a great opportunity to reply to reader David Lewis' comment on the scarce airplay of Tom Jones' hit "Daughter Of Darkness" with "It's Not Unusual"!
This is a great time of year to remember the songs of Summers Past and trying to keep up with all the great info you post.
Have a Wondeful Summer! And Congratulations to the Blackhawks !!!
CharlieOFD
We didn't do a Summer Favorites Poll this year ... but check out the link above to see where your favorites came in the last time around ... as well as the biggest charted hits of summer, 1955 - 1980.  (kk)

By the way, DJ Stu Weiss is doing a salute to Father's Day and The First Day of Summer on HIS program tonight as well ...
This Friday we'll be celebrating Fathers Day plus the official start of summer in song!!!!!
8:00 till 12:00 (AM) Eastern - This is it!  The show that everybody loves. 
This Friday it will be a combination of summer songs and Fathers Day. Lots of fun / lots of great music. This show is worth staying home for. Join me! Lots of familiar songs to sing along with plus many that might be new to you.  
Stu
www.oldiesyourway.com   

And, speaking of great radio ...   

re:  Me-TV-FM:  
Hi Kent!  
I’m enjoying the sampler of tracks that you might hear Me/FM and I’m glad that Me/FM tries a lot of tracks that you don’t hear on radio. It basically puts my hometown “oldies” station – WWSW-FM in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – to shame. Now if only Me/FM could come to Pittsburgh.
Kelly Izaj
I've been telling them ever since they launched that they need to stream and they need to syndicate ... we have been sorely lacking a radio station like this for far too long ... pretty much the epitome of what we've been proposing as "Forgotten Hits Radio" for going on sixteen years now.  (I'd still do a fair amount of "fine tuning" ... and I like the idea of "localizing" for each new market ... but they are SO close to getting this right it's hard to argue with the variety they're offering.)  kk   

Kent,
Talking about ME-TV-FM, I got a chuckle when you said that James Taylor is your new Steve Miller / John Mellencamp over-saturated artist. As you probably know, James Taylor has his own channel on Sirius XM but I thought I heard or read it will be discontinued in a few weeks.
Larry
For the most part, I love JT ... just not in EVERY musical block I tune in to hear!  (kk)   

Heard from Scott Shannon this week ... I swear this guy is hotter than EVER ... #1 Morning Show in New York City ... syndicated weekend show ("America's Greatest Hits") and still steering The True Oldies Channel Mothership 24/7 online.  All we can say is CONGRATULATIONS!!!  He's having the time of his life!
GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU KENT ... 
THINGS ARE GOING REALLY WELL HERE, WITH HUGE LISTENERSHIP ON THE NEW TRUE OLDIES CHANNEL, ON -- IHEARTRADIO. COM -- OR ON -- INETRADIO.COM ... AND, OF COURSE, EVERY MORNING ON CBS-FM ALL OVER NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY AND CONN ... PLUS THE 4 HOUR NATIONWIDE SHOW ON WEEKENDS, "AMERICA'S GREATEST HITS".
LIFE IS GOOD!
SCOTT
Dear Kent,
The genius of Al Kooper's keyboard combined with Dylan's stirring vocal are most certainly the ingredients that made "Like A Rolling Stone" the most prolific composition in rock 'n roll history.
Chet Coppock   

Al Kooper – I was blown away by your story about what happened that day in the studio and the killer picture!  Thanks for posting that and thanks, Kent, for yet another killer story!!!   
Jeff James  

re:  Lesley Gore:
Recently I mentioned that I found a ton of mail sitting in my GMail box ... some of it dating back over six months (as I no longer use this account).
From time to time we'll share some of that with you (I figure if folks took the time to write, they at least deserve to be heard!) starting with these pieces that arrived after the passing of Lesley Gore ...

So sad to hear about Lesley Gore. I guess now it really is Judy's Turn To Cry
Steve Davidson
PS - Thanks for sharing "You've Come Back"  I agree it could have been a hit on its own
Lesley had a very unique and distinctive voice ... with Quincy Jones behind her in the control booth she placed hit after hit after hit on the charts in the mid-'60's.  I feel bad that I never got the chance to see her live ... but you'll find LOTS of great performances preserved forever on YouTube.
And I've got to tell you, I am REALLY liking the new Grace remake of "You Don't Own Me", one of my all-time favorite songs anyway.  She, too, has an incredible voice ... and really wails on this one.  (kk)

Kent,  
What a damn shame.  Lesley Gore was awesome!  Been listening to "Leave Me Alone" and " It's Gotta Be You" from "Boys, Boys, Boys" / the film "The Girls On The Beach".  Her songs were empowering for everyone, not just women.  A true talent who will outshine all the current pop twats who try to ascend her throne.  Hate being at this age (50 on April 7th), losing the performers who really mattered.  Bye bye, Lesley ...  
Ed Pond   

So many years ago ...

DJ Stu
That's DJ Stu Weiss and Lesley Gore, circa 1963.  (kk)

re:  This And That:
Kent,  
I just finished your online tome on Top 20 Favorite Psychedelic Hits and was truly impressed by the entire piece. The material was thorough, well presented (in its own psychedelic way),  and very entertaining.  
I produce the podcast Saturday Morning Cartoons, and today I began research for an episode spotlighting psychedelic music, as this month marks the 50th anniversary of The Charlatans' gig at The Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada. (attached poster).
Your site was a fun trip ... so to say.
Greg Williams  
Thanks, Greg ... glad you enjoyed it ... this was a fun piece to put together, thanks to all the audience participation.  Please mention the Forgotten Hits website during your podcast since it ties in so nicely with what you're doing  (www.forgottenhits.com) ... and let us know when this show will be available so we can let our readers know to tune in.  Thanks again!  (kk)
Our "What Is Psychedelic Music" piece is one of the most-read issues of Forgotten Hits ever ... well over 250,000 people have now enjoyed this solitary piece.
Haven't read it yet?  Then check it out here:
http://forgottenhits.com/top_20_favorite_psychedelic_songs


Hi.
I just saw Bobby Hart's book and remembered how high I was on their music when I was a kid. Learning about the musical SUNSHINE POP is a revelation! Is there any way I can help you guys get this on? I want to get involved in "crowdfunding". That means KICKSTARTER / INDIEGOGO, etc. Boyce & Hart had so many fans that it won't be tough to utilise this method to get this show in front of the world (where it finally belongs). I'm Greg and I live in L.A. I'm currently making a documentary on Bob Dylan. I just returned from his hometown in Minnesota.  There's a festival of his life right round his birthday each year.  Let's meet and talk. This is great news.
Greg Anchors
We're working hard to drum up some notice for the Boyce and Hart documentary ... in fact I talked to Bobby yesterday about coming to Chicago to do a film screening and book signing. (Stay tuned for more details).
Meanwhile, be sure to check out our Boyce and Hart features on The Forgotten Hits Website ...
And, from Bobby's own site ...
http://forgottenhits.com/forgotten_hits_interviews_bobby_hart   

Micky Dolenz has always been one of my favorite singers -- but his version of "Diary" is a textbook example of how the wrong arrangement can completely ruin a first-rate musical composition.
"Diary" is one of the most intimate songs ever composed -- and the sensitive simplicity of Bread's original recording perfectly showcased its understated yet deeply heartfelt sentiment.  In contrast, Micky was left trying to evoke the same feeling backed by an overwrought, overblown, overpowering percussion-driven instrumental track.  The incongruity was not unlike trying to do a heavy metal version of "Silent Night."  
Every once in a while a song comes along on the radio so engaging, so riveting that conversation stops and all you can do is become swept into the portrait of an emotion the recording so powerfully paints.  (Judy Colllins' "Amazing Grace" was one; Roberta Flack's "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was another.)  
Bread's "Diary" is just such a recording -- a magical match of David Gates' carefully-crafted words and music, his tender vocal and just the right low-key acoustic guitar-led backup.  It wasn't the biggest Bread hit ever, but, in many ways, was the most moving -- especially with it's unexpected storyline twist at the end.  For any cover version of "Diary" to succeed, the performance has to evoke the same simple, gentle, heartfelt power of the original.  I think Micky could pull it off -- if redirected. 
Gary Theroux
"The History of Rock 'n' Roll"
I agree with you 2000%.  "Diary" grabbed me the first time I heard it ... I actually remember welling up with tears.  (To this very day, depending on my exact state of mind at that moment, it can STILL have that effect on me.)
I was a MAJOR Bread and David Gates fan ... but this track was such a well-executed surprise that it completely caught me off guard.  Thanks to Me-TV-FM, we're hearing it in Chicago again after being absent from the airwaves for FAR too long.
I am also a HUGE Micky Dolenz fan ... and have ALWAYS maintained that he is one of the most underrated singers from this era ... but his version of "Diary" is NOT his best performance ... by ANY stretch.  (I do like the comment posted under your YouTube link, however ... "I found her iPhone underneath the tree and started reading about me. The text she'd written took me by surprise ..." - 2015 version)
The first David Gates song recorded by The Monkees was "Saturday's Child" from their first LP ... and Micky sang that one, too.  As for "Diary", I cannot help but wonder if The Monkees were really offered this song ... since it came out in 1972 by Bread, long after the band's hey-hey day.  The group had already split up by this point.  
We've pointed out similar "embellishments" (convenient fabrications?) in the past ... like Micky's claim of being there in the studio when The Fab Four recorded "Oh! Darling".  Simply put, it never happened ... but it sets up the opportunity for Micky to take a crack at the song in concert (which he does very well, by the way).  
The Monkees DID visit The Beatles in the studio when they were working on the Sgt. Pepper album ... and there are well-publicized photos of Micky and Paul McCartney sitting together.  However, as I recall, that session was for John's "Good Morning, Good Morning" ... and NOT "Oh! Darling", which was recorded two years later for the "Abbey Road" album.  


(There's Micky with the Birthday Boy now ... don'tcha just LOVE it when this stuff all ties together?!?!?)   
I will say this, however ... Micky's "King For A Day" album is outstanding ... it features his covers of over a dozen Carole King tunes.  (The Monkees had a big hit with her "Pleasant Valley Sunday" in 1967 ... during "The Summer of Love / Summer of Pepper")  kk   


 

Dear Kent,  
I've been diggin' Neil Young's "Ragged Glory" CD from back in the 80's. The disk, of course, is Neil's plaintiff cry regarding the dreams and hopes so many of us had as we reached adulthood right before
1970.
Sample time: "There's a mansion on the hill ... psychedelic music lives there still"
"'Cause there's very few of us left my friends from the days that used to be"
"Love and only love will endure ... hate is everything you think it is."
You get my point, right?
Young's guitar work is at once raging and mournful. If a F.H. reader hasn't dug this remarkable slice of music, they have truly missed a gem ... Ragged Glory may well be the most underrated disc in rock 'n roll history. The piece also shows how far Neil had advanced from "Old Man" and "Heart of Gold' and to a lesser degree "Hey Hey My My - Out of the Blue into the Black."
Would kill to see Neil Young at Ronnie Onesti's Arcada Theater ... or for that reason - since he's so damn good - a 7-Eleven on Western Avenue.
Chet Coppock
Author: Buffone: Monster of the Midway (Release date; Sept. 1.)
Of course Neil's back in the news this week after telling Donald Trump NOT to use his song as part of his presidential campaign. (And dueting with Jimmy Fallon a few weeks ago probably didn't hurt either!  lol)  kk   

Hi Kent!
Boy, you had me going for a moment when I saw that Bear photo in the Ronnie Rice mention.
Ha! That was a good one.
FYI. I've given Pam quite a few more shots from the concert / rehearsal of the show. She's loading them into the new site that's dedicated solely to the concert so, in case any of your readers are interested, they should check it out. Some nice " nuggets " that I had missed on the first pass.
I really love your column. Every time I read it I'm amazed at the depth of knowledge and information you and your followers have. Thanks so much for the great work and "Carrying  the Rock and Roll torch ".
Jack Mongan
Thanks, Jack ... we're just trying to do our part.
Fans will find TONS of new photos and comment up on this page ... folks are STILL talking about this fabulous show.  (kk)

Kent,
I just now saw on television for the first time a 30 second commercial for Kia with Lebron James being in the ad. However, the one thing that stuck out with me was the background music. It was Brenton Wood's 1967 OOGUM BOOGUM song.  Now the one question I have is who, what, where, how, etc. was that song picked to be the background in the ad? Ah! The Sixties live on!
Larry Neal
And so they shall as long as the folks who love this music have any creative say in the process.  (Unfortunately radio seems intent on erasing every memory it can of this great music ... so it's up to folks like us to keep the candle burning.)  "Oogum Boogum" is another unlikely candidate to be sure ... typically you only here "Gimme Little Sign" on the radio ... but this was Brenton's first big hit (#34, 1967)  kk   

LC Coon isn't giving up on his quest to reopen the investigation into the Buddy Holly plane crash. 
Here's his latest campaign, urging folks to write in to NTSB demanding a further look into the circumstances of that night ... 
Jerry Dwyer has stated that the C.A.B. got it wrong ... and that he has evidence to prove it. 
The evidence he has most folks are not going to like what he has to say. 
(The aircraft N3794N is still in a Secured Hanger since February 3, 1959 examination / dismantling)  
15 minutes of Jerry Dwyer explaining The February-3-1959 accident:  http://data.desmoinesregister.com/holly/morevideo.php  
L J Coon
Through our combined efforts, They Will Listen.
Please ... Just take the time to send an e-mail to The NTSB  If you are thinking, "How Can I Help?", just reach out to The NTSB directly with the e-mail addresses I provided below.   This is about inviting The NTSB to go forward with their investigation into the aircraft accident that took the lives of Roger Peterson, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson - "The Mason City Iowa Accident of February 3, 1959"  
Please take the time to offer your support ... DON'T let The NTSB walk away from re-opening this Historic accident.
Thank You so much ... and please use the NTSB e-mail addresses -- send a message of your support -- post on your social media sites for others support!!
Example:  
Name:   __________  _________
Location:   _____________
On Behalf Of: _____________________
I am sending you this e-mail in Support of The NTSB going forward with the Investigation into
The Mason City Iowa accident of February-3-1959 that took the lives of Roger Peterson - Buddy Holley - Ritchie Valens - J P Richardson
And email to:   

>>>"Wooly Bully" capturing the #1 Song of the Year Award in Billboard has always one of rock and roll's greatest mysteries ... but apparently it earned enough point during its lengthy chart run to eclipse ALL of the records that DID hit the #1 spot during 1965  (kk)  
Applying the progressive point system I used to create the SuperCharts to the weekly Billboard charts only for 1965, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" edges out "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by about a half a point for No. 1 song of the year, with "Wooly Bully" coming in at No. 3, trailing "Lovin' Feelin'" by about 40 points. 
However, if you apply a linear point system to the weekly Billboard charts (100 points for No. 1, 99 points for No. 2, etc.), then "Wooly Bully" does indeed easily beat out all the other records for that year ... which is why I believe that using a progressive point system yields results that better represent the relative popularity of different records (based on their chart performances).
– Randy Price   

Gary Pig Gold takes another look at one of MY favorite music documentaries ...
Dear Pop Pals,
Gary Pig Gold's look at The Hollies and their incredible "Look Through Any Window" DVD has just appeared anew at the virtual address below.
https://bobsegarini.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/gary-pig-gold-knows-they-aint-heavy/   

Fred Glickstein of The Flock tells us about a brand new Flock YouTube Channel:
Elvis, before he became the King of Rock & Roll.  Check out last sentence of the article.
Frank B.
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