Congratulations, Kent … twenty years old and still going strong.
Five million members can’t ask for more than that!
Well, alright, maybe ten … then there will be twice as many people interested in keeping our love of oldies going strong.
So very, very glad I tripped over your site / link many years ago and here’s to the next twenty.
Take care,
Rockin' Lord Geoff (In England)
Kent –
Congratulations! 20 years of love to rock and roll and keeping us informed. I don't know how you do it, but I thank you for your passion and love.
To twenty great years and 20 more, my friend.
Mike De Martino
Happy Twentieth Anniversary, Kent
You (and FH) have come a long way, a fun ride! Man, the work you've put in!
Ron & Belle
❤
Wow, congratulations, Kent!
I'm guessing FH holds the title of "longest-running music newsletter." Great work.
Carl Wiser
Songfacts.com
I don’t know about that … but the time really did fly by! (kk)
Congratulations on a great twenty years! I've enjoyed all of 'em!
Dube
Congrats on 20 Years, Kent! Great Job!
Ken
You are the rock oldie champion!
Thanks for all you do to keep the good vibes alive,
Phil Miglioratti
Congratulations, Kent!
You and Sgt Pepper!
Frank
Kent,
I found this in my old saved messages, so I am guessing I have been a FH reader for 14 years at least and it HAS been a blast.
(Did I ever do anything on this? I doubt it. Haha)
Clark Besch
-----Original Message-----
From: The60sshop <The60sshop@aol.com>
To: WLSCLARK <WLSCLARK@aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Sep 23, 2005 8:03 am
Subject: (no subject)
Hi Clark!
Any interest in writing a short piece on the CHEROKEE phase of THE ROBBS' career for an upcoming FORGOTTEN HITS feature?
Nothing major ... 3-4 paragraphs would be great. Probably would need it in about two weeks or so. Let me know if you're interested. Thanks!
kk
I don’t know if we ever followed up specifically on this piece of not … but we definitely have covered The Robbs any number of times over the years …
Here’s one page devoted to the boys from 2010 … in it, it references a piece you wrote in 2003 … so you’ve been a Forgotten Hits Reader even longer than you think!!! (kk)
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2010/05/wrapping-things-up-in-wisconsin-with.html
Hi there Kent,
I'm guessing FH holds the title of "longest-running music newsletter." Great work.
Carl Wiser
Songfacts.com
I don’t know about that … but the time really did fly by! (kk)
Congratulations on a great twenty years! I've enjoyed all of 'em!
Dube
Congrats on 20 Years, Kent! Great Job!
Ken
You are the rock oldie champion!
Thanks for all you do to keep the good vibes alive,
Phil Miglioratti
Congratulations, Kent!
You and Sgt Pepper!
Frank
Kent,
I found this in my old saved messages, so I am guessing I have been a FH reader for 14 years at least and it HAS been a blast.
(Did I ever do anything on this? I doubt it. Haha)
Clark Besch
-----Original Message-----
From: The60sshop <The60sshop@aol.com>
To: WLSCLARK <WLSCLARK@aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Sep 23, 2005 8:03 am
Subject: (no subject)
Hi Clark!
Any interest in writing a short piece on the CHEROKEE phase of THE ROBBS' career for an upcoming FORGOTTEN HITS feature?
Nothing major ... 3-4 paragraphs would be great. Probably would need it in about two weeks or so. Let me know if you're interested. Thanks!
kk
I don’t know if we ever followed up specifically on this piece of not … but we definitely have covered The Robbs any number of times over the years …
Here’s one page devoted to the boys from 2010 … in it, it references a piece you wrote in 2003 … so you’ve been a Forgotten Hits Reader even longer than you think!!! (kk)
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2010/05/wrapping-things-up-in-wisconsin-with.html
Hi there Kent,
I would like to add my congratulations on twenty years of success with Forgotten Hits. I just wish I knew about your newsletter back in 1999 when it first started. I was actually on the net back then and, a few years later, I did sign up for the Golden Oldies Newsletter and NaustalgiaMagazine, but I didn't learn about Forgotten Hits until just a couple of years ago.
Having run an oldies website for twelve years, I know the hard work that's involved in an undertaking such as yours,
and, like so many of your other oldies fans, I wish to commend you in keeping the oldies of our baby boomer generation alive, which the majority of oldies stations have ignored. Hell, the oldies format is dying on radio these days, and it is being replaced by the Classic Hits format, which completely ignores the fifties and sixties, and that is so sad.
Despite the fact that those of us that are over 65 tend to have more money than the 25 to 49 year old age bracket, advertisers still seem to think that this is the primary age bracket to reach, even though many people over age 65 buy cars more often, take cruises and travel more often, and generally have more money to spend.
I almost never listen to terrestrial radio any more, finding it totally boring and uninspiring, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this opinion of today's radio broadcasting.
Believe it or not, I started listening to the radio as early as age three. I know I listened to one of Boston's early top forty radio stations, WCOP, which, like WJJD, was a Plow, Inc. station.
I wish I could remember what I heard back then, but about the earliest I can go back to is 1959 at age five.
I definitely remember hearing songs like Come Softly To Me by the Fleetwoods, Alvin's Harmonica by David Seville and
the Chipmunks, The Battle Of New Orleans by Johnny Horton, Waterloo by Stonewall Jackson, You've Got Personality by Lloyd Price and Lonely Boy by Paul Anka when they were out.
I continued to live in the Boston area until 1965, but even then, I spent more time in Boston at a school for the blind than in my hometown of Burlington, Vermont.
Burlington was a rather strange and quirky market for music, because it was not only influenced by Boston, but also Montreal and Albany, New York, plus its own local music scene.
While the number 1 song for the year 1967 in most U.S. cities was one of three songs ... Light My Fire by the Doors, The Letter by the Box Tops or To Sir With Love by Lulu ... the number 1 song for the year in Burlington was a song that nobody could even buy! ... The Monkees' TV show version of Valleri, which didn't become available until 1990 when Rhino finally released it on the Monkees' Missing Links Volume II album.
Also, a good fifteen months after For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield was released in 1967, the B side of that record, Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It, ended up being the number 2 song on the WDOT Jet Set Survey
for the Week of June 22, 1968, although the survey mistitled the song as Do I Have To Come Right Out And Tell You.
Also, during the summer of 1967, WDOT played a pretty strange record quite often, To Fernando, With Love by Googy And Joe's Workshop on Parkway 154. See what I mean?
Burlington was a real strange place to be living!
Sometimes Burlington was playing songs considerably ahead of the Boston stations, and with other songs, they seriously lagged behind. For example, I was hearing Gimme A Little
Sign by Brenton Wood around Thanksgiving of 1967 on WDOT, but it was off the Boston surveys by mid October.
Anyway, as I think about some of the songs I liked, I seem to remember some songs that almost no one else I know seems to remember.
For example:
That's For Me To Know And For You To Find Out by Tommy Manno from 1962
Don't Pick On My Baby by Larry and the Legends from 1964, in which chimes were played through a phase shifter, giving them a wind tunnel effect.
Marble Breazks and Iron Bends by a German group called Drafi Deutscher, which Bruce Bradley played on WBZ in Boston.
Hey Ho, What You Do To Me by the Guess Who from the summer of 1965, which WDOT in Burlington played. (That makes sense since the Guess Who was a Canadian group.) Hold Tight by Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich from the summer of 1966.
Bend it, also by Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich from very early 1967.
I Need Somebody by ? and the Mysterians from around November of 1967
Bears, the Fastest Group Alive from late 1966
Give Me Some Lovin' by The Jordan Brothers from early 1967, which I heard several months before the Spencer Davis Group's version and which I like a whole lot better.
Live by the Merry-go-round from the spring of 1967
Sound Of Love by the Five Americans from around the same time period in the spring of '67
See You In The Summertime by the Outsiders from the summer of 1967. I heard this song on two radio stations in northern New England, WBRL in Berlin, New Hampshire and WDOT in Burlington, Vermont.
She's Not There by the Road from early 1969
The Thought Of Loving You by the Crystal Mansion from around the same time period.
I am not sure I'm right about this, but I seem to recall that that group was from Chicago. Do you know?
Anyway, those are a few more forgotten hits that are NOT forgotten in MY memory, but which I dare say, few if any radio stations ever play.
Anyway I know I'm rambling here, but I just wanted to congratulate you on twenty years of success with Forgotten Hits.
With warmest regards,
All the best,
Sam Ward in Canada
Believe it or not, we heard about half of the songs you mentioned here in Chicago, too ... but most got played a time or two and then disappeared.
(You need to send this list to Dave The Rave ... this is RIGHT up his alley ... and I'll bet he'd devote an hour of his program to playing most ... if not all of them! His Relics and Rarities Program has been airing for YEARS ... and this guy's got one of the largest collections of obscure 45's you've ever seen!)
By the way, we actually ran a piece on The Jordan Brothers several years ago ... I was not aware of their version of "Gimme Some Lovin'" ... if I remember correctly, it was one of the family members ... or maybe even one of the group members who contacted me. I'll have to see if I have that anywhere in the archives.
We heard "Bend It" here all the time, too, yet it never charted on any of our local charts. GREAT record (if you find the right version! That's been a big point of debate over the years here, too.)
And the TV version of "Valleri" won our nightly Top Three Favorites Poll every night for about a month once WCFL started playing it in 1967. It was a HUGE mistake not to release the record then and cash in on the huge audience that was ready to scoop it up!
"Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It" has always been one of my favorite B-Sides ... and it scored well on our Favorite, Forgotten B-Sides Poll a few years ago. (In fact, Sam just featured this one on his Lost And Found Oldies Show during their last B-Sides special!)
As for Crystal Mansion, according to Joel Whitburn's book, they hailed from Philadelphia. "The Thought Of Loving You" peaked at #84 in Billboard in early 1969.
Your best bet of hearing ANY of these tunes today is on Internet Oldies Radio ... terrestrial radio won't touch anything below The Top 20 (and even then they leave half of those titles off the list!)
But there are some good ones out there ... Give Rewound Radio a try ... you'll find a sympathetic ear their from Allan Sniffen ... but I still think Dave The Rave's your best bet. (He'll probably have every one of these 45's pulled before you even call him! lol) Good Luck! (kk)
Found it:
Check this out, too ...
MEMORIES:
A great memory share from Mark Lapidos of “Beatlefest” fame …
Dear Fellow Beatles Fans,
I have very clear memories of both of these releases. I was a junior at Adelphi University and had a car. I went around to the guys in the dorm to see who wanted me to pick up a copy of Magical Mystery Tour on the day of its release and their choice of Mono or Stereo!!! There were a bunch! I was calling the nearby Record World store at Roosevelt Field every day. When it arrived (11/27/67), I immediately went to pick up both mono and stereo copies. The problem was their first shipment was stereo copies only. I was fuming. What was I going to do? In 1967, we were (falsely) led to believe that you couldn't play stereo records on a mono record player! So I just HAD to purchase a stereo record player on the spot, so I could listen to it. It was definitely worth it.
Three years to the day, (11/27/1970), came George's first proper solo album, and what an album it was! One of the greatest of all time, by anyone!! I was working at the Sam Goody Record Store in Paramus, NJ and the shipment was delivered the day before we were allowed to sell them. At the end of the evening of the 26th, I went to my manager and told him I wanted to buy it before I went home. He said no (He was in his 40s and just didn't understand!). I repeated myself (another sales person, Ralph, was by my side with the same need). I said to the mgr, either you sell me the copy now or I am going to just take it home anyway. He finally realized how important this was to both of us. I stayed up half the night listening to it and trying to take in so much music in one sitting.
Only four years and one day later, November 28, 1974, John surprised the sold out Madison Square Garden by joining Elton John to perform John's #1 hit, Whatever Gets You Through The Night, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds (that Elton took to #1) and "a song by an old estranged fiance of mine, called Paul". They ripped into an amazing version of I Saw Her Standing There. Because of a ticket mixup, I was not at this performance. I was extremely upset when I found out John actually did show up!!
It is hard to imagine these three events were 45, 49 & 52 years ago! Where does the time go? I don't know, but right now, it is time to wish every one of you a very safe and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Peace and Love,
Mark (+ Carol, Michelle Joni, and Tilly)
Three years to the day, (11/27/1970), came George's first proper solo album, and what an album it was! One of the greatest of all time, by anyone!! I was working at the Sam Goody Record Store in Paramus, NJ and the shipment was delivered the day before we were allowed to sell them. At the end of the evening of the 26th, I went to my manager and told him I wanted to buy it before I went home. He said no (He was in his 40s and just didn't understand!). I repeated myself (another sales person, Ralph, was by my side with the same need). I said to the mgr, either you sell me the copy now or I am going to just take it home anyway. He finally realized how important this was to both of us. I stayed up half the night listening to it and trying to take in so much music in one sitting.
Only four years and one day later, November 28, 1974, John surprised the sold out Madison Square Garden by joining Elton John to perform John's #1 hit, Whatever Gets You Through The Night, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds (that Elton took to #1) and "a song by an old estranged fiance of mine, called Paul". They ripped into an amazing version of I Saw Her Standing There. Because of a ticket mixup, I was not at this performance. I was extremely upset when I found out John actually did show up!!
It is hard to imagine these three events were 45, 49 & 52 years ago! Where does the time go? I don't know, but right now, it is time to wish every one of you a very safe and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Peace and Love,
Mark (+ Carol, Michelle Joni, and Tilly)
THIS AND THAT:
Kent,
I enjoyed what you said about
the charts and surveys which you have that one can tell what songs or
records made it in Chicago during the days. I am in somewhat of a
similar position.
Beginning in August of 1958 and going up through the end of 1979,
the local top 40 radio station here in OKC, WKY-930AM, printed those weekly
surveys. I have a copy for every week of every year. I like to think
that I have a history of the music that was played here in OKC during
that time.
Larry Neal
Kent --
I would think Jack's survey collection would (should) be of interest to the Chicago Broadcast Museum.
Clive
Yes, but are they going to PAY for it???
Most of this stuff is typically "on loan" or by donation ...
But Jack is looking to "cash out" for the maximum value of this collection (and the YEARS he's devoted to building it.)
Now while I personally don't think he'll ever come close to attaining his own
perceived value of this collection ... let's face it, there is a VERY limited audience for a collection like this ...I'm just trying to do my part to help get him the most bang for his buck.
Seriously, I wish I could afford to buy it myself ... I'd love to help him out after all these years ... and I'd love to have a complete collection in tip-top shape ... I'm just in no position to do so right now ... so I'm putting it out to the masses to see if perhaps somebody else can step in with better resources than I and give this collection a good home.
(Now
if the entire Forgotten Hits list wanted to take up donations to ensure
that this collections lands in a good home ... such as mine ... THAT
might be something worth pursuing!!!) But unless that happens, I'm unfortunately not in a position to help, much as I wish I could. (kk)
Yeah, I fully understand. One of the reasons MBC is "broke" is because
they only have 45 minutes worth of exhibits! What about Jack putting up
his "complete" collection at a local auction house (i.e. Leslie Hindman)
"with reserve"?
Clive
I'm sure he's looking into all kinds of options like that ... as well as talking to serious survey collectors from around the country. He's been a dealer for decades and an active eBay-er for a good twenty years ... so he's got the connections to move this. I just feel like there may only be a handful of people total that might be interested in something like this ... and first he's got to find them ... and then they'll have to negotiate what something like this is really worth. I just know that he's not going to part with it unless he gets what HE feels is a fair market value.
Stay tuned! (Meanwhile, I'm still open to the mass donation idea! lol Kind of our own Kickstarter Fund!) kk
On Saturday, November 23rd, Barbara’s Books hosted an album and calendar signing at their large Vernon Hills store.
Head honcho Georgette Coen had her great staff all ready for us with a great performance space and a pro PA.
The Ides performed a 40 minute unplugged set of songs from our new Play On album as well as some of our classics for the many fans who attended to listen and have the Ides sign merch afterwards (like our new Play On CD, the 2-Record Vinyl LP set and my two year 2020-2021 Stars And Guitars Calendar, all of which are now on sale there.)
Thanks to all our friends and fans for coming out and the whole great staff at Barbara’s. Special thanks to Kent Kotal from Forgotten Hits and his wife Frannie, to our emcee Charlie and to artist Callie Hangebrauck for the amazing t-shirt she designed.
Special thanks to Chris May, Toby Bermann and Bob Wade.Happy Thanksgiving!
Gobble, etc!
Jimbo
The party at Barbara's Books was amazing ... man, what a beautiful place! We will be back for sure!
Unfortunately, we missed the tree-lighting ceremony on Friday in Elk Grove and will also have to miss tonight's sold out Cornerstones concert at The Arcada as well.
We lost "our baby," Cha-Cha on Thanksgiving Day ... a first for me ... and the family is going thru a bit of a grieving process right now ... but we wish all the guys the very best.
We've given all of our Local Heroes a TON of coverage over the years ... and with this week being the 20th Anniversary of Forgotten Hits, it would have been GREAT to have everyone together for this special event.
We'll come around to it eventually ... right now we just need a little time. (kk)
We love you and miss you, Cha! (Sometime you just don't realize what a HUGE role in your lives they play) kk
And, speaking of books ...
I'm on vacation this whole week and had plenty of time to read Elton's new book "Me."
I
must say it's the best (IMHO) of the rock 'n roll books I ever read,
and I have read a LOT of them!
If you didn't read it yet, I highly recommend
it!
I have NOT read it yet (but I think it may be on my Christmas list! lol)
After being SO disappointed with all the inaccuracies conveyed in the "Rocket Man" film, I was hesitant to pick this up ... but I have heard good things about it. (We actually watched "Rocket Man" again the other night, as I promised I would, to see if I might enjoy it better simply as a "musical" rather than anything resembling a biopic. I didn't ... in fact, I may have actually enjoyed it less. And that's a shame because I think Taron Egerton is really good in the role ... but it just doesn't do it for me. (Guess I'll have to read the book instead! lol) kk
