This is how we closed out 1966 on the national level. (It's actually the perfect break … these records are ranked in order of sales and popularity for the week ending December 31, 1966 … the last day of the year.)
Yesterday we showed you the twenty biggest records in Chicago during 1966.
Billboard's National Year-End "Best of 1966" Chart tells an entirely different story …
Here S/Sgt Barry Sadler's had the biggest record of the year with his five week chart-topper "The Ballad Of The Green Beret".
The #2 Record of the Year was "Cherish" by The Association. Coming in at #3 was "Soul And Inspiration" by The Righteous Brothers, followed by "Reach Out, I'll Be There" by The Four Tops (#4), "96 Tears" by ? and the Mysterians (#5), "Last Train To Clarksville" by The Monkees (#6), "Monday, Monday" by The Mamas and the Papas (#7), "You Can't Hurry Love" by The Supremes (#8), "Poor Side Of Town" by Johnny Rivers (#9) and "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas and the Papas (#10). (This gives the brand new … and fire hot … Mamas and Papas TWO of the year's ten biggest records … and The Monkees … who would rule the charts in 1967 … one of the year's biggest singles in just the few months remaining after its first release.)
Rounding out The Top 20:
#11 - Summer in The City - Lovin' Spoonful #12 - Born Free - Roger Williams (wow!) #13 - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' - Nancy Sinatra #14 - What Becomes of the Broken Hearted - Jimmy Ruffin #15 - Strangers In The Night - Frank Sinatra #16 - We Can Work It Out - The Beatles #17 - Good Lovin' - The Young Rascals #18 - Winchester Cathedral - The New Vaudeville Band #19 - Hanky Panky - Tommy James and the Shondells #20 - When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge
Our brand new series kicks off today with a look back 50 years ... And we'll continue to do so for ALL of 2017 ... Please join us as we recreate 1967 ... exactly as it happened . But first we've got to show you how it got there!
*****
Here's how things shaped up here in Chicago as 1966 drew to a close.
Notice that The Monkees have the #1 Record on WLS but, for whatever reason, they're showing "Steppin' Stone" as the A-Side of the hit! (This will be the only time the record appears that way in the #1 slot.) The Monkees haven't reached the top the WCFL chart yet … they're showing "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" by The Royal Guardsman on top ... and it'll occupy the #1 spot on Super 'CFL for three weeks.
Some of Chicago's Top 20 Records didn't fare nearly as well on the national charts … "Grizzly Bear" by The Youngbloods, "Love You So Much" by The New Colony Six, "There's Got To Be A Word" by Innocence would be prime examples.
Both charts offer recaps of The Top 20 Hits of 1966 … but with surprisingly different results. Although 17 titles (18 if you count "Day Tripper" by The Beatles, listed as a two-sided hit on the WCFL chart) appear on both year-end charts, some are in surprisingly different rankings.
For example, WCFL shows "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas and the Papas as the biggest hit of 1966 … but it ranks at #6 on the WLS chart. Likewise, WLS' #1 Record of 1966, "Hanky Panky" by Tommy James and the Shondells" only musters a #8 showing on the 'CFL chart. "Kicks" by Paul Revere and the Raiders ranks as both #3 and #9, "96 Tears" by ? and the Mysterians fared better on WLS (#7) than it did on WCFL (#19) and "Sounds Of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel was either the 8th … or the 13th biggest hit record of the year.
Making the WLS list (but not the WCFL chart) are "Last Train To Clarksville" by The Monkees (#14) and "Five O'Clock World" by The Vogues (#19). (Again the balance is off because WLS listed "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper" as separate entries at #11 and #12 respectively).
WCFL shows "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra at #10, "Reach Out, I'll Be There" by The Four Tops (#12) and "Barbara Ann" by The Beach Boys (#15) … none of these records made the WLS Year-End Top 20.
It's the final SWEET 16 of 2016 ... And thanks to a little help from our Forgotten Hits Readers ... (and a little bit of cheating!) ... We've come up with the PERFECT way to wrap up this series. It's the SWEET 16 Sixteen!!! We had a lot of fun putting these together for you every month ... And hope that you've enjoyed them, too. So please give a listen to our Final SWEET 16 ... And then be prepared to be blown away tomorrow when our BRAND NEW Series kicks off in Forgotten Hits. It's the most ambitious project we've ever undertaken ... (Literally 50 years in the making!) Trust me ... you won't want to miss a thing ... So please, tell EVERY music fan you know to start hitting The Forgotten Hits Website tomorrow!
*****
At the age of 76, Ringo Starr says he can no longer sing his 1973 #1 Hit "You're Sixteen" anymore ... I guess it is kinda creepy ... but man, what a great record he made. (That's Harry Nilsson doing all the background vocals, Producer Richard Perry hitting the low bass note and Paul McCartney playing kazoo ... actually a comb covered in wax paper ... on the track!)
If you play "Eight Days A Week" twice, that's 16, right???
It is, without question, the most ambitious project we've ever put together
...
50 Years In The Making ... plus literally THOUSANDS of hours this past year
alone assembling the final product.
Something of this nature doesn't just fall together over night ...
So let me thank a few people before the official launch on Friday, December
30th.
Thank you to Randy Price, who assembled The Super Charts. FOR THE FIRST
TIME ANYWHERE, Forgotten Hits Readers will have the chance to see what I believe
to be the most accurate and honest representation of the music AS IT HAPPENED
back in 1967.
Over the years, we have pointed out the discrepancies of chart positions as
tabulated by "The Big Three" national trade publication devoted to presenting
this information ... Billboard, Cash Box and Record World. It was not uncommon
to find spreads of twenty chart positions between the three magazines.
Along the way we learned that, much like payola affected which records got
airplay in the late '50's and early '60's, numerous "favors" were granted in
exchange for a better chart position ... little things like "buy a full page ad
in next week's issue and your record will show up with a bullet and a ten point
jump" ... and other practices far more involved.
However, the bottom line is each of these publications used their own
resources to calculate their chart information. They each polled various radio
stations for airplay and popularity, record distributors and record stores for
number of units shipped (and number of units purchased) as well as any other
number of "secret sources" to determine the relative popularity of any given
song or artist. But each of these trades used DIFFERENT sources to gather and
tabulate this information. Some factored in actual sales as a higher criteria
... others factored in airplay as being the key determining factor.
The idea behind The Super Chart was to take ALL of this research and
evaluation into consideration ... and then determine an across-the-boards
ranking of the relative popularity of each week's hits by factoring in ALL of
this research material available. I came up with the concept ... but Randy
Price did ALL of the heavy lifting, scouring through decades of published charts
to determine "the most accurate ranking" possible by utilizing ALL of this
available information and research. I will stand and defend the end result as the most
POSITIVE and ACCURATE charts available ... and our Special 1967 Fifty Year
Flashback Feature will utilize ALL of this information each and every week of
the year. It is the first time EVER that this information has been shared and
is yet another EXCLUSIVE of our commitment here in Forgotten Hits to
consistently bring you THE MOST ACCURATE TRUTH POSSIBLE. (Our hope is that
after reviewing these results, we can FINALLY get this tremendous volume of work
published and out to radio stations and interested fans and collectors to once
and for all document the DEFINITIVE history of the pop charts as it needs to be
shown.)
You will also find the WLS Silver Dollar Survey and The WCFL Sound Ten
Survey represented each and every week. Copies of these charts came from
lifelong collector Jack Levin who tediously scanned and sent every single week
for both Top 40 Powerhouse 50,000 Watt Radio Stations here in Chicago. (Due to
their clear channel broadcasting, both WLS and WCFL could be picked up at night
in nearly every state in the country.) 1967 also happened to be an EXTREMELY
good year for Local Talent on our charts ... so you will be able to view the
chart performances of many of our Local Heroes like The Buckinghams, The Cryan'
Shames, The New Colony Six, The Ides Of March, Spanky And Our Gang, The Mauds,
The Riddles and several others. This, too, puts a unique spin on our series as
we capture the "local feel" of the charts right alongside the national hit
makers.
Putting together a calendar of this sort presented MANY challenges along
the way. You would not believe the number of discrepancies published on the
Internet as "fact". As such, we found publications like Ron Smith's "Eight Days A Week",
Bob Dearborn's "Olde Disc Jockey Almanac" and websites like "This Date In
Rock And Roll History" to be invaluable sources. Dozens of other "timeline"
type sites were consulted and discrepancies were tracked down and investigated
until we got a definitive confirmation of these dates. Sometimes this meant
checking newspaper pressings, a variety of specialty websites devoted to
specific topics and yes, even Wikipedia from time to time ... what we found is
that even if they weren't 100% accurate, they usually gave us a viable starting
point that started us looking in the right direction. I can only tell you it
was exhaustive ... but necessary. Along the way, we had some of these other
sites and services make corrections to their OWN publications based on the
documented facts we were able to offer, thus making ALL of this information far more reliable for future researchers. (Think about it ... we only researched
1967 ... can you imagine how many OTHER erroneous facts are still floating
around out there?!?!?)
We researched TV Guide listings and websites devoted to programs like The
Ed Sullivan Show, Where The Action Is, The Hollywood Palace, The Smothers
Brothers Comedy Hour and many, many more to try and present an accurate listing
as to who performed what, when and where. Are we still missing some? I'd be
shocked if we weren't! But hopefully good response to this series will offer
further insight and documentation to help make things more accurate for the
future.
Finally, whenever we could, we tried to talk to some of the artists
themselves. They, after all, were the ones who were there. (Of course, Micky
Dolenz's catch phrase has always been "I was there ... and they told me I had a
really good time.") Be that as it may, hopefully again we can present some
interesting insight not found anywhere else. (My hope is that as the series continues to unfold, more and more artists will contact us to share some of their personal memories and milestones with our readers.)
And thanks, too, to the many deejays who have pledged their support in getting the word out about our brand new series. Guys like Scott Shannon, Rick O'Dell, Phil Nee, Allan Sniffen, Rich Appell, Citizen Bill, Mr. C, Lou Simon, Phlash Phelps and many, many more are going to be featuring tidbits from our series throughout the year ... meaning that you're going to get to hear even MORE great music from 1967 as the year unfolds.
Please stick around for the ride. A new posting will hit the site EVERY
DAY ... from December 30th, 2016 thru January 2nd, 2018, at EXACTLY 6 am Chicago time. We
will NOT be sending out reminders for these postings ... we're trusting you to
bookmark the site and visit it daily.
We can ALL have a really good time with this ... so feel free to comment
and share your memories with us. It is for that reason that we're asking you to
subscribe to Forgotten Hits. THOSE memories will go out as supplemental emails,
typically once or twice a week, to the subscription list only. If you haven't
already done so, drop me an email at eitherforgottenhits@aol.com
or kk@forgottenhits.com and
ask us to put you on The 67 List. Trust me ... you won't want to miss a thing
... and we encourage you to experience the WHOLE enchiladas!!!
Stay tuned ... we're just hours away from the big launch. Please tell
everybody you know to jump on The Forgotten Hits '67 Bandwagon. It's gonna be
one hell of a ride!
Although posting it THIS late, it's practically a Nooner!!!
2016 claimed another superstar victim ... this time on Christmas Day ...
when it was announced that George Michael had passed away.
Michael ruled the charts in the '80's, first as one half of Wham! (seven
Top Ten Hits, including three #1's) and then as a solo artist, scoring 14 more
Top 10's and 7 more #1's (including a stretch a string of four in a row from his
"Faith" album.)
George's life wasn't without controversy ... and the official cause of
death won't be announced until after an autopsy.
THE GEORGE MICHAEL HIT LIST
(released as George Michael unless otherwise
shown)
1984 - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (#1) as WHAM! (#1 UK)
1985 - Careless Whisper (#1) as WHAM! featuring George Michael (#1
UK)
1985 - Everything She Wants (#1) as WHAM!
1985 - Freedom (#3) as WHAM! (#1 UK)
1986 - I'm Your Man (#3) as WHAM! (#1 UK)
1986 - A Different Corner (#7) (#1 UK)
1986 - The Edge Of Heaven (#10) as WHAM! (#1 UK)
1986 - Where Did Your Heart Go? (#50) as WHAM! 1987 - I Knew You Were
Waiting For Me (#1) as Aretha Franklin and George Michael (#1 UK)
1987 - I Want Your Sex (#1)
1987 - Faith (#1)
1988 - Father Figure (#1)
1988 - One More Try (#1)
1988 - Monkey (#1)
1988 - Kissing A Fool (#5)
1989 - Heaven Help Me (#5) as Deon Estus with George Martin
1990 - Praying For Time (#1)
1990 - Freedom (#8) ... different song than above
1991 - Waiting For The Day (#27)
1991 - Mother's Pride (#46)
1992 - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (#1) as George Michael and Elton
John (a live recording of Elton's big 1973 hit) (#1 UK)
1992 - Too Funky (#10)
1993 - Somebody To Love (#30) George Michael and Queen (recorded live at
the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert)
1996 - Jesus To A Child (#7) (#1 UK)
1996 - Fastlove (#8) (#1 UK)
WHAM! also scored with their Christmas classic "Last Christmas", now a
holiday staple, as is "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid, on which George
Michael was prominently featured (kk)
Take care ... and have a great Christmas and healthy
new year
Geoff
I think this'll be our last blast of Christmas for 2016 ... although our All-Christmas Radio Station has announced that they'll continue playing holiday music through New Year's Eve before returning to their regular format. (WHY!?!?!?!? Have you not already beaten this to death???) kk
Hi Kent -
Merry Christmas to
you and your family!
Any word on a concert tour yet for
Cornerstones ? Would love to see this in NE Ohio
Take care
Tom
Recent conversations with Carl Giammarese of The
Buckinghams, Jim Peterik of The Ides of March and Ron Onesti of The Arcada
Theatre indicate that a Midwestern Tour is definitely in the plans for 2017 ...
but several details still need to be worked out.
My suggestion ... help get some momentum going by
contacting venues in your area (Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri,
etc., asking them to book this show ... have them contact Ron@OShows.com for more information. I know
all the guys are chomping at the bit to take this show on the road!
(kk)
Speaking of The Arcada Theatre, here's a nice
piece Ron did on Burton Cummings, who returns to The Arcada on April 21st (and we can't
wait!)
Hope you
can tune in for the songs which got the most votes this year, plus some notes on
the songs and some fun trivia questions! There will be a pre-show starting at
#140 with Allan Sniffen at 10 AM. So, please make a note to join me, Mike Riccio
and Bob Radil!
Plus, all
week long after the show, Rewound Radio will be playing only songs which
received votes this year, no matter where they turned up on the
list.
Thanks!
Tom Natoli
/ Rewound Radio
Hopefully most of you
will see this in time to tune in ... and if not, they typically replay the
countdown numerous times during the week. Check out www.rewoundradio.com for
more details.
Speaking of countdowns
...
Hi again
Kent, I mentioned Roy Orbison's backing band The Candymen in my
earlier post. If my memory is correct, I heard back in 1967 that
the group was originally formed in Dothan, Alabama, by Bobby Goldsboro as
The Webs. Roy changed their name to The Candymen after the B-side
of his 1961 smash hit "Crying". As a guitarist, Bobby toured with
Roy until "See The Funny Little Clown" became a hit and he went
solo. I am enclosing our 1966 year end radio station chart
showing Bobby at #15 with "Blue Autumn". Mike
G
Again, I STRONGLY suggest picking up
a copy of the new "Where Have All The Pop Stars Gone" (Volume Three) book by
Jeff March and Marti Smiley Childs.
What I especially like about this
edition is that several of the artists featured are cross-referenced because
their paths crossed behind the scenes along the way. The formation of The
Candymen is well documented ... and you might be surprised about who played in
that group over a period of time.
(In fact, pick up the whole
collection ... you'll find Bobby Goldsboro profiled in Volume
Two!)
FH Reader Tom Cuddy sent us this
piece spotlighting Bev Bevan and his take on the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Induction of The Electric Light Orchestra ...
ELO's Bev Bevan Talks Rock Hall Induction, Jeff Lynne Rift
The 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will bring
together many bandmates that haven't shared a stage in a long, long time … Read it on
rollingstone.com
Sounds like Henry Gross has been busy!!! He just filed this report
...
Hi Kent!
Happy holidays!
I just returned from nine weeks in the U.K., touring with my pal,
the amazing Joe Brown ... his most successful tour ever ... just playing ...
great tour.
Then I played on a benefit for the Musicians Fund in Nashville in
honor of my dear friend and my bassist of 30 years, the incomparable Mike
Chapman. Mike played on just about every recording Garth Brooks ever made as
well as a slew of other country hits. I miss him every day!
Then I played a solo show at Lafayette's in Memphis, TN, this past
Friday night at what was the best Xmas party!
Gonna take it easy for a while and figure out what's next.
Hope your having a wonderful holiday.
Henry
Sounds like you've been having a blast, Henry ... thanks for
checking in! And keep us advised of any new music and shows you may be sending
our way in 2017! (kk)
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 whatwe 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.
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, partlybecause 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.
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 shemade 40 years later just for this collaboration!
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 50th 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)
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 knowthat 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".
