Thanks for the spotlight coverage, Kent!
1969 was a great year for me ... now only with Sugar,Sugar hitting number one but my other group, The Cuff Links, hitting the top ten at the same time!
The Happy Together Tour just finished 53 shows this summer to sold out audiences and we are already getting booked for 2020.
All the best pal,
Ron
In fact, this year's tour no sooner ended and they were already announcing the line-up for next year's tour!!!
In 2020, you can see The Turtles, The Association, The Vogues (first timers ... this should be an interesting set!), Mark Lindsay, Chuck Negron and the Cowsills.
This show sells out everywhere so don't miss your chance to see it the next time it comes around to your area. You're not going to find a better line up of '60's hits anywhere else, all performing together on the same stage. (kk)
Kent-
It was great to hear Ron Dante's memories of "Sugar Sugar." Ray Stevens is indeed on the song.
Here's what Toni Wine told us about it:
Ronnie
was Archie, and I was Betty and Veronica. We went in, we did the
record. It was a fun session, it was a blast. We just knew that
something huge was going to happen. We didn't really know how huge, but
it was huge. In fact, a friend of mine had been in town, Ray Stevens,
who's an incredible songwriter, singer, producer, musician. We were
going to grab a bite to eat, so I told him to just meet me at the
studio, pick me up, and then we'll go eat. And he wound up handclapping
on "Sugar, Sugar."
Her full interview is here:
Be Well,
Carl Wiser
I always thought that was a cool video for "Sugar, Sugar" ... [scroll back to see yesterday's post - kk]
I know that Ron mentioned all the tremendous singers and players on this #1 recording, but "they all look the same to me!"
Clark
And, speaking of The Archies, check out THIS email that we received after our three-day salute to "Sugar Sugar" ran ...
Hi Kent,
Maybe you can help me ...
When Sugar, Sugar came out and I was in
like the 8th or 9th grade, we had a sock-hop at our grade
school, with a great live band.
Well, lo and behold, they played Sugar, Sugar, as well as some other songs and, being a drummer, I stopped dead in my
tracks to listen ... and I'm like No Way, the Archies!?!?! In Rogue River, Oregon!?!?!
So, after the crowd settled down, I asked a few teachers who were
working that nite keeping us in line if that was, indeed, The
Archies ... and our track coach, a nice young lady, (it was '68 or '69) nods
her head yes and gives me the shhhh sign.
Evidently she was friends of one
or more of the members of the band and they were visiting her that week so they
played incognito for our sock hop...what do you think?
They rushed out
after the party so I couldn't talk to them.
Curt Hinkle
You know the odds have got to be a zillion to one ... but I sent your email along to Ron Dante anyway to see if he might comment on it. (Hey, if nothing else, this can FINALLY give you peace of mind after fifty years of wondering "Could it REALLY have been them?!?!?!" lol)
Over the years, Mark Volman of The Turtles has shared some stories of his "close
encounters" with fans from back in the day ... and he's got some great
ones! (All, apparently, fictitious exaggerations that loom large in the
memories of the fans who were there when all of this was happening!) The "legends" seem to grow as more time passes (and less people are around to dispute the circumstances!)
But hey ... I'm not taking ANY chances ... let's ask Toni Wine, too, if she just happened to stop by to visit an old track coach buddy in 1969 and ended up putting on a free sock hop concert for a bunch of eighth graders! (You just never know!!!) kk
Kent,
I've
got one quick question about the WLS survey for September 1. In song
position #40, who or what was Pete Howard who supposedly was the artist
on "Mah-Na, Mah-Na"? Was he an individual who worked for WLS at the
time?
When that record made its debut here in OKC, it was listed as
Aunt Effie, or Aunt Effie Farquar, who was a voice character of DJ Don
Wallace who was working mid-days at WKY. I didn't know who was on the
record until I bought it.
This makes me wonder if other radio stations across the country that played MAH-NA
MAH-NA used some other name on the survey other than Piero Umiliani? I
mean, I didn't know who this person was or had ever heard of him.
Probably if other stations played the record, the DJ's probably couldn't
pronounce his name. What say you?
Larry Neal
Speaking of "Mah Na Mah Na" debuting on WLS makes me remember that when I
first heard it, I was sure it was ART ROBERTS singing it! Doesn't it
sound just like him? It would have been great to have him imitate it on
air back then. I would guess that he did, but have never heard a tape
of it from WLS. Likely most EVERYONE remembers this either from 1969 or
from its use on Sesame Street.
Clark Besch
I have NO idea who Pete Howard is ... nor have I ever seen a pressing of the record with that name on it. (I've also seen it listed as "Sweden Heaven And Hell" as the artist ... but I think that's because this was the name of the movie / soundtrack for which the song was first used.)
Obviously it was used extensively in Sesame Street ... but it also seemed to be one of Benny Hill's favorites, too! (kk)
>>>Here’s a brain teaser for your followers.The
first person who identifies which of the old Chicago disc jockeys used
to exclaim “Whopper Waffles!” wins a copy of the brand new Ides cd. (It’ll prob be Clark! Lol!) Jim Peterik
Man,
I just saw this ON SUNDAY morning! I could have won!!!
Art Roberts
used "whopper waffles" back mostly in the early 60's on WLS.
Do you
know how he used to sign his shows off back then???
Answer at bottom of email.
BTW,
I just ordered the new Ides and World Stage CDs from Amazon and will
review when I get them!!! Cool to see the vintage songs on the 2LP set
too. As Jim mentioned, Art helped many artists make their mark, as did
many WLS DJs in the day.
Here
is a 1961 survey that I always thought the tease at the bottom was
"Whopper Waffles" but never knew for sure as it would only have enough
letters to spell
"Whopper Waffle." Maybe Clark (the OTHER Clark) Weber
remembers??
Trivia answer below:
Art Roberts closed his shows with "This has been a work of Art" and "Excelsior!"
