Phil Nee of WRCO-FM / 100.9 in Richland Center,
Wisconsin, is running a six hour radio special Saturday Night (from 6 pm -
Midnight local time) based on our recent "What's The Name Of That Song"
feature. If you happen to be in the area, be sure to check it out!
And WRLR-FM / 98.3 in Round Lake,
Illinois, will be running a rebroadcast of Phil's show this weekend as well ...
and you can stream this one as it happens here: http://wrlr.fm/. Be sure to check
their program grid for air times. (It's been a little while since we put together a radio program so I'm really looking forward to hearing this one myself! lol And, we've got a couple more "specials" coming up ... so stay tuned for more details.) kk
Hey Kent,
I am enjoying reading through Uncut
magazine's "Ultimate Guide" on the Beach Boys.
This is not another rehash of old,
overly repeated news . It is an album-by-album coverage of their career
interspersed with contemporaneous articles and interviews from NME and Melody
Maker archives ... the stuff we wanted but could not get our hands on
back-in-the-day.
When Tiger Beat puff pieces was
about it for the US, British fans were feasting on serious interviews that
respected Beach Boys music and asked serious questions. For this olderly BB fan,
this is what I searched for but could never find.
Phil
Will have to look for this one ... I just checked
Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com and neither had it listed ... gonna have to do
a bit more digging. Thanks, Phil! (kk)
Speaking of The Beach Boys, David Beard just
interviewed Al Jardine about the Pet Sounds
tour currently running through October ... you can catch it here:
That Beattles record
you reference in your story (Please Please Me) was first pressed in Owosso,
Michigan, at the American Record Pressing Company factory. They pressed many of
the Vee Jay records in that era. I suspect the first person in America to place
that record on a turntable was in the sound / testing room at the Owosso factory
as they did with samples of all the records they pressed. There was a print
shop in the factory where they printed the record name and artist etc, on the
bottom and sides, with the rest of the circular
labels being pre-printed and shipped to the factory. Therein is the likely
source of the spelling error.
I am working on getting the
printer’s or typesetter’s name with two 90-year old friends who worked in the
factory at that time. If I ever get it, and it seems credible, I’ll send it
along. The factory also pressed the Introducing the Beatles album here and a
few other Vee Jay 45’s and got the spelling corrected.
Phil Hathaway,
Owosso, MI
As far as I know, the original pressing of
"Please Please Me" released in February of 1963 was the only time they
misspelled it as "Beattles" ... somebody just not paying attention is my guess!
(kk)
Kent,
My buddy, Billy J. Kramer, has a new book out: "Do You Want to Know a Secret."
His new (well, several years now) band features Liberty DeVitto on drums.
Lib told me that when he played the Cavern Club in Liverpool with Billy J. a few years ago, the experience was more exciting than when he used to play with Billy Joel! (I can only imagine! I played with Billy J. for a year - but never in Liverpool! :))
Best,
Bob
My buddy, Billy J. Kramer, has a new book out: "Do You Want to Know a Secret."
His new (well, several years now) band features Liberty DeVitto on drums.
Lib told me that when he played the Cavern Club in Liverpool with Billy J. a few years ago, the experience was more exciting than when he used to play with Billy Joel! (I can only imagine! I played with Billy J. for a year - but never in Liverpool! :))
Best,
Bob
I tried to contact Billy J. Kramer a week or two
ago as I was hoping he might comment on The Fest For Beatles Fans recently held
in New York but never heard back. (I also emailed him a couple of times in the
past about sharing his Ed Sullivan Show appearance memories for our standing web
feature on this topic and never got a response.)
Nevertheless, I am still happy to help plug his
new book ... and any upcoming appearances he may have here in The States.
(Actually, I was hoping to see him in August if he does the Chicagoland Beatles
Fest show.)
I've not read his new book but would be happy to
interview him afterwards if he sends me a copy! (Autographed, please!!! lol)
Meanwhile, here's how other folks can get it ...
UPDATE: Billy and I did exchange emails on
Thursday ... and we're going to get together to talk about all of the above ...
so stay tuned to Forgotten Hits for more detaisl. (kk)
I like what you doing. I am very interested in the preservation of pop and rock music.
I like what you doing. I am very interested in the preservation of pop and rock music.
Billy
Speaking of new rock biographies, I just received
my copy of Bobby Rydell's new book yesterday ... so hopefully we will be able to
interview Bobby in the not-too-distant future about it for Forgotten Hits. Stay
tuned! (kk)
More book news ...
Hi Kent,
I found this quite interesting.
Have you read it?
It is Joel Selvin's "Here Comes the
Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues".
Actually, no I haven't ... nor had I even heard
about it before. Sounds interesting ... but I think I have 22 brand new books
stacked up right now to read, a few of which I've already promised to do reviews
on ... so I don't think I'll be adding this one to the list anytime soon. I
would, however, welcome YOUR review so that other interested parties can pick up
a copy of they're interested. Wanna give it a go? (kk)
Sounds like our FH Buddy Harvey Kubernik's been
busy ... with brand new articles running in
Record Collector right now! Plus he's also deeply entrenched in a brand new book due out the first of the
year! More info below ...
Carlos
Santana builds his legacy
with a new album, Santana IV and a new memoir, The Universal Tone: Bringing My
Story to Light By Harvey Kubernik For more than four decades -
from Carlos
Santana’s earliest days as a groundbreaking ...
In 1967
Carole King joined the proto-folk group The City. Light In The Attic has
reissued their 1968 album, Now That Everything's Been Said by Harvey Kubernik.
The Light In The Attic record label in late 2015 reissued the Lou Adler-produced
...
Her
latest album features songs written by Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Linda
Perry, Jimmy Webb, Desmond Child and others By Harvey Kubernik Vocalist Darlene
Love has released her first new album in decades ...
Kent,
Need your readers' help with a release date for a
song.
Homer Banks "(Ain't That) A Lot of Love" on Minit Records #
32000. It was released in 1966 ... but I hope someone out there knows the
actual month and / or day.
Thanks Kent and readers.
Doug Thompson
Toronto
Based on this complete Minit Records 45
Discography, it looks like it came out in May of 1966. It also looks like it
never charted on any of the domestic trade charts ... or the CHUM Chart either
for that matter! (kk)
Here's an even better link:
Did you have a copy
of any top 100 or greater hits of the 70s (usually starts with “You Light Up My
Life or a Bee Gees song) as a whole decade you could email me? I am really
looking for a Record World or Cashbox listing ... Billboard is easy to get!!
Thanks for
considering.
Eddie
Spencer
There are SO many of these types of lists out
there (although usually "by year" rather than by decade) ... I don't have one in
particular as a reference point because they all use a different method of
tabulating their results.
There is a book, however, that lists EVERY record
to chart during the '70's and then ranks them on a point basis based on their
individual chart performance. This is a pretty accurate representation. (Their
'70's book is based on the Cash Box Charts ... they also did one for the '60's
based on Billboard's information.) I'm not aware of any similar publications
based on Record World's information.
Dann Isbell is a regular Forgotten Hits
reader and contributor so I'm sure he'll have no problem at all with me
recommending his latest work ...
Here's the link to his 60's book, too, if you're
interested ...
Hope this helps! (kk)
I actually have that book, that is what got me
started in this interest.
In the book you referenced “Ranking the 70’s”,
the authors talk about a 70s decade top 100 or so that “I Go Crazy” by Paul
Davis is number 1 ... have you even seen that one??
Thanks very much.
If you happen to come across a top 100 or greater decade 70’s song list
please let me know.
Thanks
again.
Eddie
There are SO many variations
of Top 100 Hits out there it would be impossible to pick a "definitive" version,
as all are compiled using different criteria. Dann's "Ranking The '70's" book,
however, has a very clear explanation as to how they came up with their results
that makes logical sense.
I've never seen "I Go Crazy"
listed as the Biggest Song of the '70's anywhere ... I remember it caused quite
a buzz back in the day when it became the first pop single to ever spend 40
weeks on the chart ... but even that wouldn't have earned it enough points to
come in at #1 because it simply didn't chart high enough ... and most of those
weeks were spent slowly climbing the chart to reach that position. (It would be
#1 for "most weeks charted" in the '70's, I suppose ... but that and $3.00 will
get you a cup of coffee at Dunkin' Donuts!)
kk
Here are our original views
of Dann Isbell's two "Ranking" books ... along with one I found on Amazon.com of
Eddie's impression of "Ranking the
'70's".
(scroll forward from this
review and watch us count down the biggest hits of the
'70's)
(again, browse around this
area of the website to find more countdown
information)
And here's Eddie's Amazon
Review:
I am very glad the authors decided to
use Cashbox chart history, it made for a
very interesting comparison between Cashbox and Billboard. I could not be
happier.
Eddie
Spencer
Graham Nash has sent a VIDEO
TRIBUTE to honor CHARLIE GRACIE to be shown at the CLEF CLUB THEATER on MAY 14TH
for his 80th Birthday Tribute hosted by the Philadelphia Music Hall of Fame.
Call to reserve your tickets: (215) 893-9912.
🎸 Live Music, Live Radio Broadcast
with Steve Kurtz (92.1 FM) Broadcast, Celebrity Tributes, Dancing, Philly Faire,
Champagne Toast, Cake: Cash Bar
A couple more notes on your
cornerstones of rock comments ...
In 2001 a DVD was released called
“Garage Rock USA”. I believe it was put together by some of the guys from WORT
FM in Madison, WI. One of the songs on the DVD is a live performance of “Gloria”
featuring, if I remember correctly, Jim Sohns, Joe Kelley and Bun E. Carlos.
They did not seem to have much difficulty getting the rights for that.
A quality recording of “Louie
Louie” is an oxymoron. I doubt if I would recognize a quality performance or
recording of that song, let alone understand the words. I remember viewing it at
the end of the televised version and it never entered my mind that it was
sub-par. It’s always sub-par, that’s the unique feature of the song. You cannot
“F” it up. It did not have any trouble making the cut in “Animal House”.
Robert Campbell
Just got my 6th letter today from
WTTW wanting me to send money. I am guessing that by the time they get done
sending me stuff in NEBRASKA about me enjoying TV in Chicago, they will have
equaled my $96 purchase of "Cornerstones."
Clark Besch
I think this topic has run its course ... and it sounds like the furor has really died down this week so once again we're ready to put it to
rest. We never got a response from WTTW about any plans to make this right
(kind of a shame, really, but it
is what it is). At this point all I can suggest is that outraged fans direct
their emails directly to the station and let them know how unhappy they
are after receiving a product
inferior to what was originally advertised and promoted during the initial
broadcasts. I don't believe there is any more that Forgotten Hits can do to
better this situation if the station itself feels they did nothing wrong by
misleading the public. As such, I'm ready to move on with one last cautionary
note ... Buyer Beware in the future ... you may not always be getting what you
THINK you're getting ... or what they TELL you you're getting. However they
will ALWAYS be happy to take your money ... and hound you repeatedly for more
once you do contribute. Like I said, kind of a shame.
(kk)
