The Friday Flash

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you ... 

Enjoy our last posting until after Christmas ... 

We'll have new postings on Monday, December 26th ...

Wednesday, December 28th ...

Our Final SWEET 16 of 2016 on Thursday, December 29th ...

And then get ready to flashback with us fifty years to 1967 ...

The 369 day series kicks off on Friday, December 30th, and runs DAILY until Monday, January 2nd, 2018!!!

Bookmark this page NOW ... and please make it a point to check it first thing every morning.

And, if you haven't already done so ... and you want to receive the bonus material via email ... drop me a line NOW and have us add you to the 1967 List.

Meanwhile ... 

Best In Show  
Thx Kent!!  
3 outa 10 ain't bad!! (I glommed onto 38 too. Lol!) 
Have a wonderful Christmas and a awesome new year, my friend! 
Warm regards,
Jimbo   

Hi Kent ... 
Man what a big surprise!
Thank you for voting our show at Ron Onesti’s Arcada Theatre the #8 Best of 2016.
I am really honored for the recognition given to Chris and me for our show.
We love what we do and it is much appreciated. 
Thank you, thank you, thank you ...
Tommy  
www.tommyroe.com  

Dear Kent,
As Chris Montez’ manager, I want to thank you for picking the show with Chris Montez and Tommy Roe as one of your tops in 2016!
Oscar Arslanian
Hollywood, CA  90028 

HI KENT! 
Fantastic list of top 10 shows ... 
Some unexpected, too!
Tommy and Chris are honored to be in this list ... and yep, its a killer show!!! 
Hope to see you again ... with the BOX TOPS or on Happy Together.
RICK LEVY

I think my favorite concert was Cat Stevens at NY's Beacon; second, Peter Gabriel / Sting at MSG. 
David Salidor  

Earlier this week we ran our list of TWENTY BEST CONCERTS of 2016 ...

And now we're giving away tickets to the first really big concert of 2017 ... 

A SALUTE TO THE '60's ...

Featuring Herman's Hermits Starring Peter Noone, The Grass Roots and The Buckinghams!!!

Why not start out the new year with a night filled with feel-good music!  ALL these guys put on a GREAT show.

Enter online now (at either forgottenhits@aol.com or kk@forgottenhits.com) ... and we'll pick the winners on January 10th.

Three lucky winners will each win a pair of tickets (donated by the artists themselves!) to see this great show!
We hope to see you there!

(Tickets also available thru The Star Plaza Online Box Office ... 
http://www.ticketmaster.com/salute-to-the-sixties-merrillville-indiana-01-21-2017/event/0700503BE2137240?artistid=821381&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1#efeat4211) 

1967  

Hi Kent,
I was a deejay at a Florida top 40 station in 1967 before Uncle Sam sent me to Great Lakes and then to London, England.
A personal favorite forgotten hit from that great year is Georgia Pines by Roy Orbison's backing band, The Candymen, several of whom formed the more successful Atlanta Rhythm Section.
Please add me to your 1967 list. 
Love your site.
Mike G 
I was just reading all about The Atlanta Rhythm Section in the brand new Jeff March / Marti Smiley Childs book "Where Have All The Pop Stars Gone", a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at some of the most popular artists of our time.
If you're into the music of this era, you will enjoy ALL of the books that make up this series.
More details on their website: 
http://editpros.com/bookshelf/WHATPSG_Vol_3.html
Although they were highly regarded as both Roy Orbison's back-up band and on their own, "Georgia Pines" is about as close as The Candymen ever came to having a hit record of their own.  (This is another one of those chart mysteries that just doesn't make any sense ... it peaked at #44 in Record World, went to #54 in Cash Box ... but stalled out at #81 in Billboard ... so the typical statistical representation makes this look like a dud.  How can you have a chart discrepancy of nearly 40 places on the same record?!?!  All the more reason to enjoy our Super Charts when they kick off in just a few more days!)  kk

Mornin'!
I graduated from high school in 1967 ... Career Academy School of Famous Broadcasters in '68.
(I was never one of the "famous" graduates) and am stuck in the 1969 to 1972 era ... so please add me to the 1967 Mailing List.
Thanks - 
rlb


A few more "Forget-Me-Nots" I forgot about:

LET IT OUT (LET IT ALL HANG OUT) - Hombres

BEG BORROW AND STEAL - Ohio Express / Rare Breed

HEAVY MUSIC - Bob Seger & The Last Heard 

LOVE IS STRANGE - Peaches & Herb

IT MUST BE HIM - Vikki Carr

BLUES' THEME - Davie Allan & The Arrows

RESPECT - Rationales

I HAD TOO MUCH TO DREAM LAST NIGHT - Electric Prunes

COME ON DOWN TO MY BOAT - Every Mother's Son

SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR - The Byrds

MR. DREAM MERCHANT - Jerry Butler

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE - Kenny O'Dell

A BANDA - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

KNIGHT IN RUSTY ARMOUR - Peter & Gordon

YOU KEEP RUNNING AWAY - Four Tops

BABY I LOVE YOU - Aretha Franklin

FAKIN' IT - Simon & Garfunkel

STAND BY ME - Spyder Turner

HELLO HELLO - Sopwith Camel

LIGHTNING'S GIRL - Nancy Sinatra

WILD THING - Senator Bobby

TOO MUCH OF NOTHING - Peter Paul & Mary

PUSHIN' TOO HARD - Seeds

IN THE CHAPEL IN THE MOONLIGHT - Dean Martin

THE LAST WALTZ - Engelbert Humperdinck

A LOVE THAT'S REAL - Intruders

GIRLS IN LOVE - Gary Lewis & The Playboys

"Forget-Me-Nots" are never to be overlooked.

Tal Hartsfeld

You won't hear 'em all ... but you'll hear DAMN NEAR 'em all ... when this series kicks off EXACTLY one week from today!!!  (kk)

This And That

Of course it's already old news by now but The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has announced their Class of 2017 Inductees. 

Joining the ranks next year are Journey, The Electric Light Orchestra, Yes, Tupac Shakur, Pearl Jam and Joan Baez ... plus a special nod to Nile Rodgers, who'll be inducted for his influence and musical excellence (since his band Chic STILL couldn't get in after eleven times on the ballot!!!)

Not a bad group of inductees as things go ... Journey was one of those that nobody thought would ever get in ... while Yes and The Electric Light Orchestra get LONG overdue acknowledgement for all that they did to advance this thing we call rock and roll.

And honestly, despite all the bitching (mine included), we have made some headway these past ten years.

I took a look at the very first "Deserving And Denied" list we made back in 2007 and see that a number of these acts from the original Top 40 (and honorable mention list) have now been recognized and inducted by The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

They include ABBA, Chicago, The Dave Clark Five, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Neil Diamond, The Electric Light Orchestra, Genesis, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Heart, The Hollies, Joan Jett, Journey, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Steve Miller, Linda Ronstadt, Leon Russell, The Ventures and Yes.  That's NINETEEN acts previously ignored or overlooked by The Hall.  (Now if they can just open their eyes and see it fit to induct The Guess Who and The Moody Blues, damn near everything else in the world will be right again!)

Congratulations to all of the new inductees from Forgotten Hits.  (kk)

John Kay of Steppenwolf posted a thank you letter on his Facebook thanking all the fans who voted for Steppenwolf for Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction ...

To The Wolfpack and all our supporters ...

As many of you know, Steppenwolf was nominated for induction into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. However, the final votes are now in and The Wolf did not make it. Well, so it goes, nothing to complain about. 
(As we know, there are millions around the world, and here at home, who do have many legitimate and often tragic reasons to complain and I am just grateful that I'm not one of them.)

I am told that The Wolf received around 110,000 votes from our fans. Many - and you may be one of them - went to the RRHF website and voted every day on our behalf. Well Steppenwolf and I owe you a great big THANK YOU for your loyalty, support and dedication to our band ... may the new year be good to all of you. I'd also like to express my appreciation to whoever at the RRHF was responsible for our nomination in the first place.

The Summer of 2017 will mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of Steppenwolf. During the Summer of 1967 five young Blues Rockers got their act together in the Garage at 7408 Fountain Ave in LA, a rather humble beginning. But from there The Wolf moved on and soon scaled the highs of the Rock n Roll pinnacle. During the following decades there were triumphs and failures, many highs and some lows, but our friends and fans stayed with us through up and downs and continue to support us to this day. While a RRHF induction would be nice, first and foremost in importance is The Wolfpack. Without the Pack Steppenwolf would have faded away years ago.

Hope to see you in 2017: JK

Me-TV-FM is up a couple more points in the latest ratings just released this week.  They've now pulled ahead of WLUP and WLS-AM.  Their holiday special, The 100 Greatest Christmas Songs Of All-Time, begins airing at 8 am on Christmas Eve. 

And, speaking of holiday radio specials ... 

A suburban Chicago tradition dating back to 1995 continues.
“A Hometown Holiday” airs Christmas Day, 7 am - 4 pm, on WLTL-FM 88.1 and streams at wltl.net.  Mike Baker And The Forgotten 45s hosts the annual Christmas special with favorites from the golden age of top-40. 
First heard on the Chicago AM dial, the holiday broadcasts also includes groups and artists whose only hit single is a Christmas song.  This list is available at https://mikebaker45s.wordpress.com/a-hometown-holiday/

One of MY favorite radio features is The Drive's A to Z, which kicks off again at 6 am the day after Christmas, Monday, December 26th.  This time around it'll run daily for over a week between 6 am and Midnight, giving listeners a chance to hear more of their favorites.

As always, they've revamped the list a little bit again ...

This is always a fun listen, partly because you never really know what song is coming up next (although it's just as much fun to try and guess what it might be, since they are, after all, played back-to-back alphabetically!)  Plus you'll hear a number of tracks that don't always necessarily get played together ... that's the great thing about this context ... a WHOLE lot of surprises along the way.

You can listen live here:  http://wdrv.com/

Hey, Kent! 

As one of your "Forgotten Hits" Sunday, you featured Jim Lowe's "Green Door."  Wow, another song that when I first heard on the radio, I had to run down to my local record store and buy it!  (I did a lot more running to record stores when I was a kid than I do running anywhere today!)

A real "Theater of the Mind" Song! Listening to it once again after all these years, I can still visualize in my mind the back of a gloomy building in a dimly-lit, shadowy alley with a worn, nondescript door whose very dark and dingy Green Color is hard to distinguish. I still can even imagine what must be going on "be-hind the Gre-e-e en Door!"  What a uniquely different and well written crazy fun song! Thanx for including it! 

You also featured "Baja" by the Astronauts, correctly stating it was barely even a minor hit in 1963, peaking at Number 93 in Billboard. Another unique "Forgotten Hit," this time an instrumental, with some great, twangy guitar work! Now then, while I don't know of its success in California, that you mentioned, I can attest for its "hit factor" here in Denver, Colorado! ("Surfin' Music as High as the Rockies?!")

The Astronauts were a Huge Local Group in Denver, originally forming while its members were attending Colorado State University in Boulder, Colorado, only about 30 miles away. As Denver University students, we used to spend many weekend nights driving up to a small club in Boulder called "Tulagi's" where they often presented their high energy and highly entertaining shows.

The Astronauts were so popular that when they released their first major label song (on RCA), we at KIMN in Denver immediately began playing it. Surprise! Surprise! It became a Number One song on the KIMN Hit Parade!"

At the time, I was one of the first "Dual City Air Personalities" during my early University years, hosting Afternoon Drive on KIMN Denver Colorado during the school year, and Afternoon Drive on KIMM Rapid City, South Dakota, during the Summers and Holidays (no connection between the two stations - just similar Call Letters!)

So in the Summer of 1964, a year after "Baja," I booked them into Rapid City for one night, billing their appearance as "The Biggest Show and Dance" to hit the Black Hills area! And it was! A huge, sell out night at the unusually large, hanger sized "Pancake House" that was closed down for the evening to allow me to stage the event, which was attended by some 2,000+ high school and college kids from all around the area!

Whew!  Big Fun for this College Guy!

As a closing tie-in note:  We've been talking a bit lately about one of the Original 7 U.S. Astronauts, John Glenn, and a spoken word rendition, the "Theme from Freedom 7," in particular. The Band, the Astronauts, named themselves that to pay tribute to yet another one of the Original 7 Astronauts, Scott Carpenter, who was born in and spent several of his early years in Boulder. ~~~

Chuck Buell

So I'm thinking that I'm a few years younger (and whole lot more perverted) than you are ... because when I think of "The Green Door", my theater of the mind conjures up images of Marilyn Chambers!  (lol)

As for the Colorado local scene, we used to hear from Wild Bill Cody quite a bit back in the day ... don't know if you two ever crossed paths along the way, but he was REALLY big on the local Colorado talent (much as I've been known to plug some of our big Chicago groups from the '60's!)

In fact, thanks to Bill (who passed away a few years ago), a couple of The Moonrakers are still on the Forgotten Hits list ... and I'm sure you've heard of THESE guys ... HUGE local talents who backed up virtually EVERYBODY who passed through town ... and scored a couple of #1 KIMN Records for themselves along the way, too!  Thank, Chuck!  (kk)

Here's a little something for you to share for Christmas ... I just think this is so cool!

The video of Elvis is from his “Comeback” special in 1968 (when Martina McBride was actually just around two years old!), combined with a special video she made 40 years later just for this collaboration!

This is my favorite Elvis Christmas song.

Merry Christmas to You!

I'll Have a Buell, Buell, Christmas without you . . .

CB  ( which stands for Christmas Boy!"  aka Chuck Buell )

After playing 50 different Monkees songs over the past seven months, across 66 concerts in four countries (covering 30 of the 50 United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia); a top ten pop album (Good Times!) - their first in 20 years, which generated some positively stellar reviews, including Rolling Stone; being joined by Michael Nesmith in several of the shows (he elected to skip the tour); their tour ended last week in Australia.  

Now back in the U. S. Micky Dolenz already has a full slate of activities for 2017, including a return to NYC’s Feinstein’s / 54 Below in March - where he recorded his last solo album "A Little Bit Broadway; A Little Bit Rock & Roll". His sister Coco (who has appeared on the 50^th Anniversary tour as well) will also have her own show during his run. He'll also be a featured guest Bill Kurtis’ Decades program in January.

David Salidor

And he'll be appearing at The Arcada Theatre in February!!!  (kk)

http://www.arcadalive.com/events/micky-dolenz/

And here's an interview with Glenn Gretlund and Iain Lee regarding the new 7A Records CD Release of Micky Dolenz:  The MGM Years ...

http://www.monkees.net/interview-7a-records-glenn-gretlund-and-ian-lee-talk-about-working-with-micky-dolenz-on-the-mgm-singles-collection-new-music-and-more/

And, speaking of upcoming shows, FH Reader Mike DeMartino sent us this year's Elk Grove Village concert list ... 

Kent

Happy holidays.

Below is the summer schedule for the summer shows in Elk Grove.

KILLER LINEUP FOR THE 4TH!

MIKE DE MARTINO

July 4:  5:30 pm (Rotary Green) behind E. G. High School ... 4 on the 4th (begins at 5:30 pm):  Ambrosia, Orleans, Mitch Ryder and the Demon Wheels, and the Guess Who.  Fireworks at 9:30 pm  
The next three concerts are at the Village Green at 7:30 pm.
July 11 - Credence Clearwater Revisited
July 18 - Rodney Atkins (country singer)
July 25 - Kool & the Gang 
I'm a little surprised by this year's line-up ... normally Elk Grove pulls out all the stops and brings us some top notch acts ... but this year you can go see Ambrosia (without the guy who sang all their hits), Orleans (without the guy who sang all their hits), The Guess Who (without the guy who sang all their hits), Creedence Clearwater Revisited (without the guy who sang all their hits) and Kool and the Gang (without the guy who sang all their hits)!!!  I've gotta be honest with you, I'm finding it hard to work up much excitement for this list!  
Sure, you'll still get to hear the songs we all love and adore ... and you'll certainly get your money's worth (all of the shows are free!) ... but compared to most of the shows they've booked in the past, this group is pretty underwhelming.  (kk)

Friends:  
Can anybody explain how this works?  
http://radio.garden/live/southport/z1075/ 
Chris Astle  
It's actually pretty cool ... click on any section of the map and pick up a local radio station from wherever you're at.  (kk)

Very interesting. Once the system loads, you click the geographical area and the participating online stations are listed. Click one and it starts an instantaneous stream. 
-- Dale Parsons
Hana, Hawaii  

I think you have found something there, Chris!

Frank Dwyer 

Greetings Kent,  

Happy Holidays! Forgotten Hits is a Daily Read!

Also, I wanted to let you know that Geoffery Mortimer, Bass Player for the British Pop Group, The Hullaballoos, passed away on Saturday, December 17, 2016, after a long battle with cancer.

The Hullaballoos charted two singles in the U.S. (Buddy Holly’s “I’m Gonna Love You, Too” and “Beware”.) The group released two LP’s on Roulette.

He died in his hometown of Hull, UK.

Take Care.

John Eckert

U.S. Rep / The Hullaballoos 

Wow ... THIS had to come as a bit of an upset! ... 

Sirius XM can play ’60s hit ‘Happy Together’ royalty-free | New York Post

Kent ...

Howard and Mark are still "Together" ...
They're just no longer "Happy".

Frank B.

http://nypost.com/2016/12/20/sirius-xm-can-play-60s-hit-happy-together-royalty-free/