This was disappointing news as we enjoyed putting this on in the background while getting some chores done around the house. (It's even more frustrating for me since I can't listen to the station in the car .. but I HAVE been listening to Me-TV-FM-Milwaukee at work quite a bit lately.)
Program Director Rick O'Dell tells us ...
Comcast / Xfinity, which had been featuring the over-the-air broadcast of 87.7FM on its Channel 877 since 2011 (when 87.7 was a smooth jazz station), decided to discontinue the simulcast as of December 1, 2018. They are re-purposing several of their channels and, despite the numerous conversations our management had with them over the past several months, they would not reconsider. Sadly, I’ve heard from several listeners who were told by Comcast customer service that it was Weigel Broadcasting that pulled out. This is not true.
Rick
You'll find seven Rock And Roll Christmas Classics back in Billboard's Top 50 this week ... and they don't necessarily rank in the order these so-called radio experts told us they should because THIS chart is based on actual downloads. (What I mean to say is, THESE are the songs people are actually BUYING this holiday season.)
Here are the seven most popular Christmas tunes according to this week's Billboard Hot 100 ... showing their ranking (#1 - #7) in terms of popularity, their actual Hot 100 chart position, and the popularity ranking given before the holiday season started by the programming gurus that determine what we actually hear on the radio these days. (As you can see, what we get isn't always necessarily what we want!)
#1 - All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey (#14 / #13)
#2 - It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Andy Williams (#21 / #7)
#3 - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee (#23 / #4)
#4 - A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives (#26 / #2)
#5 - Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms (#33 / #1)
#6 - The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) - Nat King Cole (#39 / #17)
#7 - Last Christmas - Wham (#43 / #29)
Top Ten Programming Favorites that THEY say we should be listening to ... but notably missing from this list include:
BURL IVES - RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER
JOSE FELICIANO - FELIZ NAVIDAD
CYNDI LAUPER & FRANK SINATRA - SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN
HALL & OATES - JINGLE BELL ROCK
GENE AUTRY - RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER
and THE VINCE GUARALDI TRIO - LINUS AND LUCY (That's SIX of their Top Ten so-called favorites!)
After catching part of the SNL Christmas Special last night I've got to wonder ...
How come "Dick In A Box" isn't on anybody's holiday playlist??? (kk)
On behalf of GARY, BARRY, RICK, RON, and BILL ...
THE BOX TOPS!!
We wish you all a wonderful holiday season ...
peace, joy, health, and prosperity in the new year.
Thank you for your support in helping make the BOX TOPS popularity continue to grow! We could not do it without you.
Looking forward to working more in the future with you.
THE BOX TOPS
Members Memphis Music Hall of Fame
kk ...
12/4/1956 --- the date of the "Million Dollar Quartet" recording at Sun Records in Memphis, TN.
In an interview, Don Imus once asked Jerry Lee Lewis what he was thinking when this picture was taken.
The Killer said "I was wondering why Elvis was sitting at the piano."
FB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKpg3PkGlZs
Meanwhile, we're still trying to figure out when The Rolling Stones first played Rockford, IL ... with a little help from our friends and readers. (I emailed a couple of old high school chums who I seem to remember also being at this concert but haven't heard back from any of them as of yet.)
Meanwhile, we're still trying to figure out when The Rolling Stones first played Rockford, IL ... with a little help from our friends and readers. (I emailed a couple of old high school chums who I seem to remember also being at this concert but haven't heard back from any of them as of yet.)
Here is what we HAVE found out so far ...
Kent,
Wikipedia shows the Stones at the Metro Center in Rockford on Oct 1st of 1981 as part of their 1981 American tour.
Hope this helps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones_American_Tour_1981
Dave
Hoffman Estates
That's the one that we keep finding, too ... but that would have been too late ...
Meanwhile I also found the following information through Wikipedia ...
Here's The Stones' 1972 tour schedule ... man, look how many times they performed two shows per day ... and quite often without even a day off in between! Now add in all the travel time! (Keep in mind, this was the '70's!!!):
June 3rd - Vancouver, Canada - Pacific Coliseum
June 4th - Seattle, WA (two shows) - Seattle Center Coliseum
June 6th and June 8th - San Francisco, CA (two shows each day) - Winterland Ballroom
June 9th - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium
June 10th - Long Beach, CA - Long Beach Arena
June 11th - Inglewood, CA (two shows) - The Forum
June 13th - San Diego, CA - International Sports Arena
June 14th - Tucson, AZ - Tucson Convention Center
June 15th - Albuquerque, NM - University Arena
June 16th - Denver, CO (two shows) - Denver Coliseum
June 18th - Bloomington, MN - Metropolitan Sports Center
June 19th and June 20th (two shows) Chicago, IL - International Amphitheatre
June 22nd - Kansas City, MO - Municipal Auditorium
June 24th - Fort Worth, TX (two shows) - Tarrant County Convention Center
June 25th - Houston, TX (two shows) - Hofheinz Pavilion
June 27th - Mobile, AL - Mobile Civic Center
June 28th - Tuscaloosa, AL - Memorial Coliseum
June 29th - Nashville, TN - Municipal Auditorium
July 4th - Washington, DC - Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
July 5th - Norfolk, VA - Norfolk Scope
July 6th - Charlotte, NC - Charlotte Coliseum
July 7th - Knoxville, TN - Civic Arena
July 9th - St. Louis, MO (two shows) - Kiel Convention Hall
July 11th - Akron, OH - Rubber Bowl
July 12th - Indianapolis, IN - Convention Center
July 13th and 14th - Detroit, MI - Cobo Hall
July 15th - Toronto, Canada - Maple Leaf Gardens (two shows)
July 17th - Montreal, Canada - Montreal Forum
July 18th, 19th and 20th - Boston, MA - Boston Garden
July 21st - Philadelphia, PA (two shows) - The Spectrum
July 22nd - Pittsburgh, PA - Civic Arena
July 24th, 25th (two shows) and July 26th - New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden
That's a pretty tight and full schedule. I thought they doubled-back to play Rockford as it wasn't part of the original game plan ... but I don't even see much of an opportunity to do so ... so now I'm starting to question my own sanity instead!!!
We even found the most-common set list (along with a few variations) ...
"Brown Sugar"
"Bitch"
"Rocks Off"
"Gimme Shelter"
"Happy"
"Tumbling Dice"
"Love in Vain"
"Sweet Virginia"
"You Can't Always Get What You Want"
"All Down the Line"
"Midnight Rambler"
"Bye Bye Johnny"
"Rip This Joint"
"Jumpin' Jack Flash"
"Street Fighting Man"
Encore: often none, but sometimes "Honky Tonk Women", a few times "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" / "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
Additional songs performed:
"Loving Cup" (Vancouver, 3 June; both shows in Seattle, 4 June; Winterland in San Francisco, 8 June, second show)
"Ventilator Blues" (only on opening night in Vancouver, 3 June)
"Torn and Frayed" (only on opening night in Vancouver, 3 June)
"Dead Flowers" (only in Fort Worth, 24 June, first show)
"Sweet Black Angel" (only in Fort Worth, 24 June, first show)
"Don't Lie to Me" (only in Fort Worth, 24 June, second show)
Apparently the
1981 Rockford show is on YouTube.
I am completely unaware of an earlier show.
(The Stones played two shows at the International Amphitheater in Chicago that year.)
[According to the list above, they actually played THREE ... could one of THOSE shows been subbed out for Rockford??? Maybe the first date??? Honestly, I don't see how, as tickets would have most likely already have sold out by that time. -kk]
I
can't imagine a show of that magnitude coming to Rockford in 1972
without anyone knowing about it. The only show I remember hearing about,
and not attending, was the Beach Boys at the local YWCA in 1965. I
think it was one of their first shows on their first tour.
As
far as outdoor venues go, there really weren't any at the time. We had a
decent sized band shell at a park, but that was free. The band Fuse
would play there quite often. Later in the '70s I think they started
having outdoor shows at the Rockford Speedway, but once again that was
later. Ted Nugent was one of the big headliners. They also had a series
of shows in '72 at the Winnebago County Fairgrounds located west of town.
These were good shows and the promoters lived downstairs at the time.
The biggest headliner at these shows was Leon Russell. I attended all of
these shows and once again no Stones.
The
Armory I remember a little better. The big show there was REO
Speedwagon with Badfinger as the opening act. This would have taken
place in 1972. I was involved in the financing of this show as I was the
only guy, it seemed, with a real full time job at the time. It was a
successful as well as a good show. The REO format at this time was the
make up on their first album. This was actually my favorite format
versus the more successful one that followed.
Now
this is a stretch but I thought I saw the Rolling Stones live in 1964
as part of the TAMI Show. The Stones and James Brown closed the show.
The show was shown once at the Midway Theater downtown at 10:00 am on a
Saturday morning. We thought it was one of those live telecasts similar
to the ones used to televise the Indy 500 on Memorial Day. Recently I
found out that it was recorded right before the show and then shown once
later around the country before it disappeared. I recently found a DVD
of the show with more information on it. Apparently the guy who did the
TAMI Show also did the Elvis '68 Special.
Robert Campbell
And then ...
Another thought on this mystery ...
There was no Ticketron available in
Rockford in 1972. I remember that starting in about 1970 and later in
the '70s we had to go to Elgin to purchase tickets on Ticketron. None of
the venues were connected to, or used the Ticketron system. My guess is
the Metro Center was most likely the first one.
RC
Happy Anniversary.
I saw the acorn and the oak!
Keep at it.
Hil
Yes, you did. Ladies and Gentlemen, one of the Original First 35! (kk)
I saw the acorn and the oak!
Keep at it.
Hil
Yes, you did. Ladies and Gentlemen, one of the Original First 35! (kk)
