We're back in my neck of the woods this week with this chart from Madison, Wisconsin. You can see that The New Colony Six have the #2 Record, right behind the unstoppable "Honey" by Bobby Goldsboro. I also love the #3 song ... a long, forgotten Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart track that just happens to be one of my favorites by them "Goodbye Baby." (Rumor has it that Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys liked this recording so much he approached Boyce and Hart about possibly producing the next Beach Boys album ... since Brian Wilson just "wasn't himself" lately. Unfortunately, nothing ever came of these discussions ... as it would have been interesting to see what type of approach they would have taken with the band.)
Speaking of The Beach Boys, you'll find them listed in the Music Power / Coming Up portion of the chart with their latest, "Friends." (And I've got to admit that I'm just a LITTLE bit curious about the Speedy and the Alka-Seltzers' recording of "Cathy Lost Her Love Today"!!!) kk
4-27-68 - WISM - Madison, Wisconsin
A three hour drive got you from Madison to Chicago in 1968 and thus, lots of Chicago and Wisconsin bands got their records on Madison radio.
Our famed NC6 were pushing hard on "Honey" to make #1, while obscure area bands got their chances among the 50 groovy songs listed here. Only the Madison Crucibles with their intriguing "Salem Witch Trial" 45 actually was one such in the top 30. Chicago's USA Records signed the Invaders for their new release "The Flower Song" which was this week's "Battle of Sounds Winner!" Likely, the idea was born with FH's 5th Estate ("Ding Dong the Witch is Dead") for the Invaders to do a version of a song from Walt Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" film. I think it came off pretty cool, but never charted nationally. Oddly enough, WISM FM was easy listening music and listed their featured albums and 45s on the survey back side.
-- Clark Besch
THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS:
Here are some of the musical events that took place this week in 1968 ...
4/22/68:The fifth album by The Monkees, The Birds, The Bees & the
Monkees, is released.This is their
first LP NOT to go to #1.Also released
today is a new album by a group called The City, “Now That Everything’s Been
Said,” which features songwriter Carole King.(This one doesn’t come anywhere CLOSE to #1.)
That night Herb Alpert
performs “This Guy’s In Love With You” on his CBS Television Special “The Beat
Of The Brass,” singing it to his first wife.The single release of that track, featuring Herb’s vocal, will race up
the charts to #1 a few months later, giving Herb his first Billboard #1 Record,
after years of success on the charts as an instrumental act, The Tijuana Brass
4/24/68:On the look-out for new talent to sign to
their brand new record label, today The Beatles’ Apple Records Company turns
down a young David Bowie.
4/28/68:The popular musical Hair moves to
Broadway and The Biltmore Theatre, where it will play to 1750 performances.
Richard Harris performs
“Didn’t We” and “Camelot” on The Ed Sullivan Show.Talk about your counter-culture … that same
night The Seeds make an appearance on the NBC television series “The
Mothers-In-Law”.
In something billed as
“The H. Andrew Williams Kaleidoscope Company,” Andy Williams welcomes Simon and
Garfunkel, Mama Cass Elliott, Ray Charles and Burt Bacharach to his program.
And The Smothers Brothers
welcome The Happenings to their program.
One of the perks of doing Forgotten Hits has been meeting some of the artists and disc jockeys who filled our lives with musical joy during the most impressionable and formative years of our lives.
As such, we have really enjoyed being able to bring you many of Chuck's comments over the past few years (and I think he kinda digs Forgotten Hits, too!)
So today's tribute, put together by Clark Besch, a major Chuck Buell fan and regular FH contributor, is just our way of saluting one of the voices that enriched our lives back in the day.
Enjoy! kk
Hey, I wanna stay at that 1967 hotel, not the 1962 one! Chuck has the wrong year for me!
I listened to Chuck from Dodge City when he was at KIMN and then WLS, as I could receive both stations. KIMN was always trial and error, but at 950 sandwiched between 890 WLS and 1000 WCFL on the close knit top 40 dial that was also sporting great top 40 radio from 900 KEYN Wichita, 910 KLSI Salina, Ks, 930 WKY OKC, 940 KIXZ Amarillo, 990 KNIN Wichita Falls, Tx, we were not searching long on ANY one station often, except for my Chicago faves. However, KIMN often had a different music choice, as their surveys showed.
Here's a short bit from summer of 66 we brothers taped mentioning Chuck playing "Along Comes Mary" on the survey countdown show he did then, followed by two years later at the BIG 89 playing the crudely cropped station edit of "Those Were the Days." I have a tape somewhere of KIMN playing an exclusive (they said so in the middle of the song, as stations did back then) of "No Milk Today" as it was a UK 45 months before turning up here in the US. The tape was November 66 and it was charting on KIMN as an exclusive, but was not available until the 45 here in January, 67.
Also, I have the New Seekers' "Buy the World a Coke" jingles I had on tape that Chuck thought might have his voice overs. The only ones I found with voice overs don't sound like him, but are attached. There were probably many DJs who did those voice overs, tho.
Here's a whole bunch of small files that I think should come thru to you from newspapers.Also, back in the early 1980's, KIMN had a reunion of the jocks and pulled out stuff from the closet (Djs included?) and spent 30 hours reliving 30 years as a top 40 station. The great radio newspaper of the day was "Radio & Records," which I LOVED reading as much as Billboard in that day and age, and KIMN put together a 30 minute composite of the 30 years in 30 hours special that actually came on cassetteWITH the newspaper that year in one issue!!! Can you believe how cool that was to get back then for a 60's radio maniac like me??? Anyway, I have transferred the tape to digital and you can download the 30 minute 28 MB clip below. Lots of Buell and more (or should I say Moore? -- inside joke for KIMN followers).
Hope you enjoy all this Chuck Buell remembrances. I'll sign off as: Clark Besch, the guy who liked listening to Chuck Buell SO much that he asked for the same initials!
Hey Chuck ... hopefully you'll find a few things here missing from your own collection! Enjoy! (kk)
A couple of folks on the list didn’t take too kindly to Pat Boone bearing the brunt of the blame for his recording of “Technique” back in the late ‘50’s …
>>>On the topic of "You Don't Own Me" by Lesley Gore - that song was badly needed as an antidote to Pat Boone's "Technique" a few years earlier, which was released as the title cut on an EP. Hard to imagine that somebody so religious, so straight-laced would come out with something like this - somebody so pure and so white ... oh, wait ...
(Frank Merrill, Jr.)
The song "Technique" is from the 1957 feature film "Bernadine," which is about the fascination three high school boys have for a fictional girl by that name. 20th Century Fox had bought the movie rights to the 1952 play by Denver playwright Mary Coyle Chase, who also wrote the iconic Broadway smash "Harvey." Fox had intended to star Robert Wagner in "Bernadine," but as Pat Boone has become such hot stuff by 1957, a bidding war broke out among the Hollywood studios for the charismatic Pat's on-camera services. As the high bidder wound up being Fox, the studio chose to retool "Bernadine" a bit as a debut film vehicle for Boone -- who then went ahead and recorded Johnny Mercer's title tune. Needing a B side for the "Bernadine" single, Pat wound up waxing something called "Love Letters In the Sand," which wound up being the second-biggest hit of the year (after Elvis' "All Shook Up").
Anyway, the thing to keep in mind is that, like all actors in a motion picture, Boone was hired to play a CHARACTER -- and to the character Boone portrayed, the view of male-female relationship expressed in the tongue-in-cheek lyrics of "Technique" made perfect sense. They did not reflect Boone's personal view of romantic relationships but instead those of his film CHARACTER. Regarding Chubby Checker being inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, that's something that should have taken place decades ago. Chubby kicked off and led the entire early '60s dance craze chapter of rock 'n' roll history, introducing and popularizing everything from "The Twist" (and variations like "Slow Twistin'" and the Grammy-winning "Let's Twist Again") to "The Fly," "The Hucklebuck," "Pony Time," "Limbo Rock," "Popeye (The Hitchhiker)," etc. He even ventured into folk-rock ("Hey Bobba Needle," "Hooka Tooka," etc.). The fact that Chubby didn't write "The Twist" (but did compose some of his other material) is irrelevant. After all, how many of his hits did Elvis pen?
Chubby scored 33 rockin' hits between 1959 and 1986, a lot more than some folks already enshrined in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame whose impact on rock and pop history far pales when compared to his.
So why isn't Chubby Checker in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame already? The fact that most of his hits were recorded for the Cameo-Parkway labels did not help -- as Allan Klein, who came to own those master recordings, deliberately kept them out of print for decades. That stupid move killed ongoing sales and heavily curtailed oldies airplay. Beyond that, though, it appears that Jann Wenner, who came to use the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame as a way of rewarding his personal fave-raves (if they deserved it or not), simply did not rate Chubby Checker all that high.
Gary Theroux
"The History of Rock 'n' Roll"
Kent,
You're blaming the singer for something that could be blamed on the songwriter.
Sadly, in this case, that would be the beloved Johnny Mercer, who left us over 40 years ago.
BOB FRABLE
I didn't know Darin #2 from "Bewitched" was in this flick! (Honestly, I've never seen it.) kk
We got to see Mark Farner (formerly of Grand Funk Railroad) when he was the featured headliner at this year's World Stage Show, presented by Jim Peterik.
Now you can see him, too, as he headlines his own show at The Arcada Theatre this Saturday Night (April 28th).More info below …
Legendary all-American frontman and guitarist Mark Farner was the engine that pulled the original Grand Funk Railroad to the top of the charts, and this Saturday, April 28, he performs those mega-hits live on the historic Arcada stage.
At age 69, the multi-platinum recording artist commands the stage with the same intensity and outpouring of love as he did at 20 during the summer of ’69, and his fans are still flocking to their captain. The rock patriot’s synergy and open heart come through in epic hits that defined a generation — “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home),” “We’re An American Band,” a recut of “The Loco-Motion” and “Some Kind of Wonderful."
Throughout Farner's career, one constant has remained - the message. “I think our fans connected to our songs because we were sincere,” Farner said. “My lyrics were about Mother Earth, stop the war, and all about love. They still have a point of reference with me in their heart ... Love is unconditional,” he continues. “Just like when you hold a baby, the love transfers. I feel that when I’m on stage from the audience.”
Farner, the rock patriot that he is, works tirelessly to honor service personnel and Veterans everywhere. He wants everyone to remember the huge sacrifices the men and women of our armed services give up to protect our amazing country and our freedoms.
Tickets for the 8 pm show are $39, $49, $59, $69 or $79 and are available at oshows.com or by calling 630-962-7000.
The Historic Arcada Theatre is a 900-seat Vaudeville-era theatre that hosts over 300 live concerts annually.
THE GRAND FUNK RAILROAD HIT LIST
There was a time when their albums were outselling The Beatles!Their first eleven albums all went gold or platinum … and eight of them made The Top Ten.These include "We're An American Band" (#2, 1973); "Live" (#5, 1971, multi-platinum); "E Pluribus Funk" (#5, 1972); "Shinin' On" (#5, 1974); "Closer To Home" (#6, 1970, and multi-platinum); "Survival" (#6, 1971); "Phoenix" (#7, 1972) and "All The Girls In The World Beware!!!" (#10, 1975). But they also tore up the Pop Singles Chart!Nine of their singles made The Top 40:
1. The Locomotion(#1 - 1974)
2. We're An American Band (#1 - 1973)
3. Some Kind Of Wonderful (#3 - 1975)
4. Bad Time (#4 - 1975)
5. Shinin' On (#11 - 1974)
6. Walk Like A Man (#17 - 1973)
7. Closer To Home (I'm Your Captain) #22 - 1970
8. Rock 'n' Roll Soul(#24, 1972)
9. Footstompin' Music(#28, 1972)
10. Time Machine (#42, 1969)
Kent,
Just thought you might like to know I finally got to see Jim Peterik perform live. He performed at the Jam for Jimi here in Memphis. The venue features artists who volunteer their time to support Jimi’s memory, a local music producer who has cancer and Jimi’s favorite charity, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Since Jim wrote or co-wrote many of Survivor’s hits when Jimi fronted that band, he closed out the show with songs like Burning Heart and Eye of the Tiger.
Other performers included Mike Reno of Loverboy, John Cafferty, Gunnar Nelson, and Kelly Keigy of Night Ranger. We had a great time!
Mike Schooler
We've got The Ides coming up on Sunday at the Cornerstones show at The Arcada Theatre … and then again on Thursday, May 3rd, at City Winery.ALWAYS a great show!(kk)
FH Reader Danny Guilfoyle sent us this new Rascals poster by way of Gene Cornish, who will be joining Felix Cavaliere for a series of shows this summer …
I like this one — it has that ‘60s feel to it.
Danny
Another fun event you might be interested in …
The 2018 "Fab 4 Music Festival" will be held on Saturday, June 9th, at the Toyota Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, CT. There will be two stages of performances, half of the twenty groups will be performing indoors, under the Dome, while the other half will be playing outside on the "Octopus' Garden" patio. The hours are 1pm until 10pm. There is ample free parking.
Liverpool Productions has announced that THE FIFTH ESTATE will be joining the line-up as Special Guest performers.
The band began in 1963, and they made a number of TV appearances, including several historic NYC Clay Cole appearances, the first of which they were on the same taping session as The Rolling Stones when The Stones made their very first U.S. East Coast TV appearance. They also appeared on the hit show "Hullabaloo." The program was co-hosted by Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, who expressed an interest in signing them. They later won a Murray The K contest for best new release over The Dave Clark Five and The Animals in 1965. In 1966 they changed their name to "The Fifth Estate," and they had a national / international hit in 1967 with "Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead," which reached #11 on the charts.
In 1968, on "The Frodis Caper," the last of their 58 TV show episodes, The Monkees covered The Fifth Estate's version of "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead."
The Fifth Estate toured with acts such as The Byrds, Count Five, The Electric Prunes, Velvet Underground, The Buckinghams, The Music Explosion The Ronettes, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Turtles, The Easybeats, and Connecticut's Gene Pitney.
They will be performing on the main stage along with such acts as The Hofners, Penny Lane, Number Nine, The Taxmen, Rotary, Take Two & Call Me In The Morning, Double The Dial, Corporation TeeShirt, Beatlehead and Pat Horgan's Thunder Road.
Outside patio artists include Dramatic Turn's Brideau & Miller, Fools On The Hill Sal & Allen, Dizzyfish Acoustic with Eric Herbst, The Navels,Scott Ringle, David Tessier's Pre-Fab Monkees All-Star Show and Suns of Walrus .
The popular New York / New England regional Beatles-themed festival, known in past years as "Danbury Fields Forever," is a family-friendly Music, Foods And Arts Festival featuring the music of The Beatles, their solo material and classic songs from the sixties. Along with the great entertainment of 20 bands, there will be Beatles and music memorabilia dealers and vendors, exhibitors, kid-friendly activities, along with food trucks and other attractions.
In 1968 The Beatles produced their most whimsical work, "Yellow Submarine," as both an album and theatrical animated film, and also recorded their most intense collection of songs released as a two-record set, "The White Album." In celebration of the 50th anniversary of these historic releases and the year 1968, advance "Ticket to Ride" general admissions are only $19.68. There are also V.I.P. tickets available. Note that admission will be higher at the door. Advance tickets available at Ticketmaster.
The "Fab 4 Music Festival" on Saturday, June 9, 2018, is presented by Live Nation is association with Liverpool Productions, the same Beatles Fan Club that presented "NYC FAB 50: The Beatles' 50th Anniversary Celebration" in New York City, and have produced the Connecticut Beatles Conventions since 1978. They also organize the annual fan vacations to Liverpool and London known as the "Magical History Tour."
With a full day of fab 4 fun, 20 bands and non-stop music for all ages, as The Beatles sang, "It's Guaranteed to Raise a Smile."
I will be on the air again on WMSE 91.7 in Milwaukee on Dewey’s Corner, Friday at approximately 6 PM ... available on the internet.
We will be counting down a WRIT Survey from April, 1968, 50 years ago. This list will feature a couple of Milwaukee Groups, a couple of Chicago Groups, etc. And, as always, we play Records!
Tune in if you get a chance.
Ken Freck
kk –
Here’s another one of my all time favorite WKRP quotes …
After Les Nesman' s news and big introduction, the Venus Flytrap show is about to begin … "More Music and Less Nesman."
FB
While flipping thru the channels late the other night I stumbled upon “Reefer Madness,” the cult-favorite propaganda film, and was shocked to learn that Frannie had never seen it before!(I clearly remember being shown this film in high school, some 40+ years ago, when it was already wildly out of date by then!)
Almost impossible to think that this film is now 90 YEARS OLD!!!(And amazing to me to know that even back then, some 90 years ago, they were already referring to the dreaded marijuana (then spelled with an “h” instead of a “j”) as “reefer” and “weed” … I guess I just always thought that this was some type of slang come up by our generation!
In addition to being horribly dated and terribly acted, I am happy to report that the film is just as hysterical as ever.(We especially liked “the laughing man”!!!)This was one of those flicks that always seemed to make the bill during all those Midnight Movies we went to back in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s … but I hadn’t seen it since.Check your cable listings as typically something like this will end up airing several times over the course of the month.(kk)
