Tuesday, December 29, 2015

A Tuesday Short Stack

Still lots of running around this week ... 

AND working on FINALLY getting our Bobby Darin Series posted to the site ...
(yes, Frank, it's really happening!!!)

So please be patient while we continue to share WHAT we can ... WHEN we can!!! 

re:  Congratulations:
To Stacee McDermott of Springfield, Missouri ... she's the winner of the brand new Joel Whitburn book Complete Cash Box Charts of the Sixities.  (No small accomplishment this time around, I might add ... we had over 150 entries to choose from ... but Stacee was the winner in our random drawing so congrats to you ... your book shipped yesterday.)
Other Forgotten Hits fans who would like to add this essential book to their collections can do so here:
http://www.recordresearch.com/billboard_chart_collections/cash_box_top_100_charts_the_sixties.php

re:  Feeling Sad:  
There are people who pass thru your life ... not necessarily someone you met or who made a lasting, life-changing impression on you the way, say, a Beatle or someone like Muhammad Ali might ... not an "idol" per se ... or a mentor ... not someone you aspired to be ... not someone you gave a whole lot of thought to on a regular basis ... yet you really appreciated them being there every time you had the opportunity to see them ... it's hard to put into words exactly ... just somebody who touched your life and made you smile every single time, in a way that no one else could.  
I lost one of those people this past weekend when Meadowlark Lemon passed away.  
No, I never met him ... never saw him play live (although I probably DID see him showboat it for the television cameras a couple hundred times!)  At the point I could have seen him, Lemon was well past his prime and the memory SO far outweighed the current reality that I didn't want to do anything that might taint that image.  I just wanted to always remember what he made me feel like every time I saw him.  
Lemon played for The Harlem Globetrotters for 24 years ... and traveled the world numerous times over, performing his schtick before millions of people.  He was the "clown prince" of basketball ... and probably could have been one of the most talented people to ever play the game ... yet chose instead to entertain.

I, for one, feel blessed to have seen him.  Like I said, he ALWAYS put a smile on my face, no matter how many times I had seen the same routine.  After joining The Globetrotters right out of high school in 1954, legend says he missed only one game ... it happened in 1955 after eating a bad bowl of goulash in Germany ... but he never missed another one, performing in (according this his own calculations) over 16,000 exhibitions over the next 40 years.  (Do the math ... it's staggering ... that would be the equivalent of playing one game a day ... EVERY day ... for 44 straight years!!!  Probably a little far-fetched, don'tcha think???)
Regardless, he entertained me EVERY time he appeared on TV ... The Harlen Globetrotters played in The Olympics ... they were immortalized in cartoons!!!  Heck, Meadowlark even made a movie appearance or two over the years!!! 
I'll miss ya, Meadowlark ... and I'll never forget ya!  (kk)



re:  Peter Cetera:  
Hi Kent -   
I'm just as anxious as everyone else to hear what Peter Cetera has to say about the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony ... will he or won't he?  
Having read all the previous posts on his site, including the teaser he dropped the other day ... I've got to say he has a rather consistent sarcastic streak in his postings. But, I do think he is rather happy / satisfied that Chicago is finally "in".    
Going back to an October post, he is keenly aware of the  fan voting, and wary of the committee's tactics: 
October 24, 2015: 
Hold your horses, all you folks that are so excited about this Hall of Fame voting. Let me remind you that whomever has this vendetta that has kept the original Chicago out of the HOF is still in charge. We should have been in years ago, of course, and that’s my point. They have put in so many who don’t belong that it’s an insult to think that they might have to be forced to at least finally put us in the nominee category. Also, this fan vote only counts for ONE vote out of the hundreds of voters out there so there’s still a chance for them to finagle their way out of “letting” us in. I also heard something about Chicago fans cheating by voting early and voting often! Keep it up because you never know what might happen!  
Ciao, 
Peter  
My opinion ... the chip on his shoulder may just keep him away from the ceremony. I hope I am wrong! 
- Mike Lane 
It would be a shame to have waited THIS long and then snub your nose at The Hall when the FINALLY let you in.  Those original albums were revolutionary ... these guys are LONG overdue. 
That being said, I hope you're right ... that Peter IS a "Happy Man" ... and will enjoy his moment in the spotlight with his former bandmates.  (He can always go back to hating them a day or two later!!!)  kk



re:  Richard Marx:  
Richard Marx (the star of our last concert of 2015) married girlfriend Daisy Fuentes over the Christmas Holiday Weekend in Colorado.  (There ARE worse ways to spend an evening!!!)  Congratulations to the happy couple.  (kk)


re:  Elk Grove's Already Jammin' With Their 2016 Summer Concert Series:
Quite a line-up has already been set for next July's series of shows ... all are free concerts in the park including incoming Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer (should he choose to participate)! Peter Cetera on The 4th of July, LeAnn Rimes on July 12th, Foreigner on Sunday, July 17th, followed by a big fireworks display and then Michael McDonald, closing things out for the season, on July 26th.  Elk Grove has been putting together some killer line-ups for these well-attended events for several years now ... where else are you going to see this kind of talent absolutely free???  Mark your calendars now so that you don't miss ANY of these big shows.  (kk)

re:  Mystery Tune:
In this 1971 WLS Larry Lujack Aircheck, there's a song at 10:28 from the group Free and Easy titled "Are You Goin' My Way." Larry doesn't clearly say that title, but the track appears on Big Tree 118, and I've never heard it before. Are you familiar with it as something heard often in Chicago in '71?  
David Lewis
I did a fair amount of searching for this one and can't find anything listed for either of our big 50,000 Watt Top 40 Stations for this era.  All of the other songs Lujack plays are readily identifiable ... but not this one some reason.  Checking all three national trades, I don't see that it charted (or bubbled under) there either ... nor could I find it anywhere on YouTube ... but a Big Tree Records singles discography backs up your claim of being single release #118 in 1971.  Any help out there from anyone?  (kk)
TRACK LIST:  "I Feel The Earth Move" by Carole King"; "I'm The Only One" by Lobo, a fellow Big Tree artist; "Where You Lead" by Barbra Streisand (ironically another Carole King song from her "Tapestry" album); then they mysterious "Are You Goin' My Way" by Free And Easy, a song I can honesty say I've never heard before, followed by  "How'd We Ever Get This Way" by Andy Kim, a big hit for Andy in Chicago 1968.  Then "Summer Sand", a long-forgotten hit by Tony Orlando and Dawn.  A few more familiar tracks follow.
This is hardly a WLS A-List of tunes:  "I Feel The Earth Move" was a B-Side, peaking at #15, Lobo's hit was ALSO a B-Side that reached #11 on the WLS Chart, the Streisand track got limited airplay but never actually charted, nor did "Are You Goin' My Way", so all in all a pretty weak set of music for a big-time Top 40 Radio Station!

re:  This And That:
Kent ...
By the way, I go to Sonny O's Pub near my house in Valley Stream, New York.
I got to know this guy Steve. He comes in and takes the money out of  the machines, including the Jukebox.
Since I'm the only one who plays the Jukebox, he always leaves me some free credits. Most of my friends play Quickdraw and other games.
On Sunday, Steve taps me on the shoulder and says " I left you some free plays on the jukebox. 
You better hurry up --- somebody might get there ahead of you and play a song that's less than 50 years old. "
I thought that was a great line ... also a true statement!
Finally, I've been listening to Rewound Radio ... It's Not How Old It Is ... It's How GOOD It Is.
They've been playing their Top 77 Countdown.  I thought you might want to check it out.
They come up with the top 77 'cause it used to be WABC 77 AM on the dial.
They keep saying its a top 77 Countdown but on 12/26/2015 they started at noon with song #110 - "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty.
At 2:00 PM The Top 77 Countdown started.
Song #77 - "Elusive Butterfly" by Bob Lind.
Here's the top 20 --
 1 = " Hey Jude " - Beatles
 2 = " Satisfaction " - Rolling Stones
 3 = " Light My Fire " - Doors
 4 = " American Pie " - Don McLean
 5 = " Let It Be " - Beatles
 6 = " MacArthur Park " - Richard Harris
 7 = " Born To Run " - Bruce Springsteen
 8 = " Stairway To Heaven " - Led Zeppelin
 9 = " Bridge Over Troubled Water " - Simon & Garfunkel
10 = " Rag Doll " - Four Seasons
11 = " In The Still Of The Night " - Five Satins
12 = " She Loves You " - Beatles
13 = " I Want To Hold Your Hand " - Beatles 
14 = " Good Vibrations " - Beach Boys
15 = " God Only Knows " - Beach Boys
16 = " Be My Baby " - Ronettes
17 = " Runaway " - Del Shannon
18 = " My Girl " - Temptations
19 = " Waterloo Sunset " - Kinks
20 = " Like A Rolling Stone " - Bob Dylan.
They tell me this was the 18th time they've done this countdown.  First time I listened to it. Never heard song # 19 before.
Frank B.
I LOVE Rewound Radio and have promoted it many, many times in the past.  (Obviously a list like this is much more to our liking!!!)  But I'm guessing it's also fan-based votes that would propel a track like "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks in to the #19 position!
FH Reader Bob Lind will be pleased to see HIS big hit record kicking off the countdown at #77!  And FOUR Beatles songs in The Top 20???  Plus TWO by The Beach Boys and tracks like "Rag Doll", "Satisfaction", "In The Still Of The Nite" and "Be My Baby" ALL making The Top 20!!!  Wow!
Rewound Radio is good-time listening all year round ... and on the weekends they featured vintage airchecks from some of the biggest and best Top 40 Radio Stations across America.  Once you tune in, you'll never tune out!  (kk)
http://stations.pronetlicensing.com/rewound/home.html
 
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