Despite all the surprise and fuss made over Dylan selling his catalog earlier this week for a reported $300 million, Best Classic Bands points out this will not be the first time he has licensed his work for use in commercial advertisements.
In fact, they point out ELEVEN other instances in which he has done so. (Remember how pissed The Beatles were when Michael Jackson bought their publishing catalog and started licensing out their tunes for Nike … and other … commercials??? “Revolution” was NEVER written or designed to sell SHOES!!!)
Still, this has proven to be a very lucrative business, providing long-lasting dividends. (It has ALSO turned out to be one of the greatest ways of keeping this great music alive and attracting brand new generations to it, as we seem to be pointing out every week lately for the past several years!)
Coming hot on the heels of Stevie Nicks selling 80% of HER the week before … and late-breaking stories that Dylan had actually turned down bigger offers in the past to companies whose entire focus seems to be buying up copyrights (a very “sound” investment, one might say!) … this just may prove to be the wave of the future. (Diane Warren’s comments in this article clearly provide the other side of this argument!)
You can check it all out here:
https://bestclassicbands.com/dylan-songs-tv-commercials-12-10-20/
Another reminder from Tom Cuddy about the new Bee Gees documentary premiering tomorrow night on HBO ...
HBO Bee Gees Doc Premiering Saturday Is Must See Perfection, But Erases Group’s Embarrassing “Sgt Pepper” Movie from History
https://www.showbiz411.com/2020/12/10/hbo-bee-gees-doc-premiering-saturday-is-must-see-perfection-but-erases-groups-embarrassing-sgt-pepper-movie-from-history
I was listening to a vintage interview with The Bee Gees last weekend where they COMPLETELY denounced their involvement with the Sgt. Pepper film, literally BEGGING to be released from having to complete it. (Once they saw how awful it was during filming, The Brothers Gibb wanted OUT in the worst possible way ... but they were held to their contract ... which is kinda surprising in a way since the film was orchestrated by their manager, Robert Stigwood.)
Barry said that one of the concessions offered to keep them tied to the film was that he would be allowed to punch Alice Cooper on film!!! (In Barry's own words, "Can you believe it?!?! THAT was their concession???")
I will admit that, to this day, I have NEVER seen the film in its entirety. It was designed to be a star vehicle for Peter Frampton, incredibly hot at the time, but then right in the midst of filming, "Saturday Night Fever" blew up and made The Bee Gees all the rage. Their time could have been much better spent riding THAT wave than being attached to this crap ... not to mention the fact that they now also had to listen to all kinds of backlash from their costars in the film. (Actually, I think this would have made for a VERY interesting side story in the new HBO film ... but I also know they had to get it all down to under two hours ... and there is just SO much more story to tell when it comes to The Bee Gees!) Looking forward to checking it out tomorrow night. (kk)
And, speaking of The Bee Gees, FH Reader Mike Wolstein reminds us ...
Another anniversary! 43 years ago (12-10-77), the Bee Gees
released "Stayin' Alive", a great contribution
to Disco! ;-)
Mike
kk ...
Scott Shannon just told this story on WCBS-FM …
1980 = Flashback to death of John Lennon.
Scott was program director of Washington Station.
Owner didn't like him as a D J.
Day after John Lennon was shot, Scott was helping out, programing Beatles songs
And taking phone calls.
Owner called and asked him what he was doing.
Since he was playing Beatles songs, he thought maybe the owner didn't know that John Lennon had died.
He told him.
Owner said he knew about it … and that Scott was over-reacting.
Owner insisted he get back to the normal playlist.
A week later Scott shows owner three different magazines with John Lennon's picture on the cover ...
Better tell them they're over-reacting.
Ten days later Scott got fired.
Frank B.
Pretty insightful owner, eh???
My guess is that this guy was never heard from again, grossly failing out of radio …
While Scott Shannon went on to become one of the most famous disc jockeys in the history of popular radio!
As it should be. (kk)
My absolute favorite Peter and Gordon song is a B side of a minor hit from 1966. The "A" side was "There's No Living Without Your Loving", which barely made the BILLBOARD TOP 50. The flip side is "A Stranger With A Black Dove" … worth hearing if you never have.
And for what it's worth, I just ran another game this Wednesday using songs from your TOP 3,333 list.
And since AOL, in its infinite wisdom, is shutting down chatrooms in a little over a week, we are moving our games to a new home next week instead.
Thanks again for all the work you do, and the obvious passion you pour into it.
Wmbradspa
Wow! Frannie and I would have never met had it not been for AOL Chat Rooms … the end of an era, for sure.
Good luck with your new home for music trivia … please keep us posted.
(How are The Top 3333 going over anyway???)
Thanks, Brad! (kk)
The TOP 3,333 games are quite popular. Of course, having great material to work with doesn't hurt at all.
Brad
Hi Kent,
A FANTASTIC piece on "Peter and Gordon"!!!
They had so many wonderful songs, it is difficult for me to choose a favorite!
They were a BIG, BIG part of the BRITISH INVASION, which was my favorite era
of music by far.
Thank you, Kent, for the beautiful memories!!
Carolyn
Kent,
I'm afraid that as I get older, my gullibility level is increasing way too
quickly.
There was an argument going on, back a long time ago, about that being
"Elvira" on the Waits cover; at first, I couldn't make up my mind
whether or not I believed that it was her or not. I've been a fan of
Cassandra Peterson (as herself, not so much as her Elvira character) for
decades.
When I saw the LP pic I wasn't sure if it was her, as
it didn't look very much like her; but the general consensus was that it was
her, so I believed it.
BAD Mike! BAD! ;-)
Mike
What I find funny is that Cassandra herself wasn’t sure if she had posed for that cover or not! (lol)
I guess she had done so many music videos and photo shoots by this point that she simply lost track.
I was surprised to see it all drudged up again after all this time … but felt the info worth sharing (rather than continuing to repeat or perpetuate the myth.)
And, for the record … just in case it comes up or anyone out there is wondering …
That is NOT Cassandra Peterson on the “Whipped Cream” cover either!!!) lol
kk
Also, I found this in my "junk" … 47-year-old soul!
Larry Langford, who was one of their announcers (I think he did the newscasts), later became
a spokesperson for the Chicago Fire Department ... and owns a couple of radio stations, one of which is WGTO ("Good
Time Oldies"), across the pond in Michigan.
Mike
Some great tunes on this list ... including at least a dozen that crossed over successfully to the pop charts as well. (Man, Chet Coppock would have had a field day with this chart!!!)
And it is ALWAYS great to see Herb Kent's name mentioned, too! Thanks, Mike! (kk)
Now this looks like an interesting film concept …
"ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI …”
SOUNDTRACK REFLECTS SAM COOKE’S ENDURING LEGACY
ALBUM ALSO FEATURES LESLIE ODOM, JR’S “SPEAK NOW,” AN ORIGINAL SONG WRITTEN FOR THE FILM,
AND AN ORIGINAL SCORE COMPOSED BY TERENCE BLANCHARD
On January 15, 2021, ABKCO Records will release One Night In Miami… (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), the album that accompanies the much-anticipated film directed by Oscar® winner Regina King.
One Night In Miami… was written for the screen by Kemp Powers, based on his Olivier-nominated 2013 stage play, the film is produced by Jess Wu Calder and Keith Calder of Snoot Entertainment and Jody Klein of ABKCO Films with King and Powers serving as executive producers. The film will be distributed globally by Amazon Studios.
Set on the night of February 25, 1964, the story of One Night In Miami… follows a young Cassius Clay (shortly before he became Muhammad Ali) as he emerges from the Miami Beach Convention Center as the new World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Against all odds, he defeated Sonny Liston and shocked the sports world. While crowds of people swarm Miami Beach to celebrate the match, Clay - unable to stay on there because of Jim Crow-era segregation laws - instead spends the night at the Hampton House Motel in one of Miami's historically black neighborhoods. It was there that he celebrated his win with three of his closest friends: activist Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke and football star Jim Brown. The next morning, the four men emerge determined to define a new world for themselves and their people. The ensemble cast consist of Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X, Eli Goree as Cassius Clay, Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown and Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Cooke.
Leslie Odom Jr. performs Sam Cooke’s most celebrated repertoire in the film and on the soundtrack album including “You Send Me,” “Chain Gang,” “Good Times” and “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Apart from his performance of the Sam Cooke material, the soundtrack includes “Speak Now,” a powerful original song co-written and performed by Odom, who has long admired Sam Cooke.
“Playing Sam Cooke was some big shoes to fill. It was a challenge and an honor. I have such respect and admiration and awe for his talent and what he was able to achieve,” he says.
Odom rose to prominence for originating the role of Aaron Burr in the Broadway musical Hamilton, for which he took home the Best Actor Tony® and Grammy® Awards. He recently released The Christmas album, his second holiday album, which follows the release of Mr, his third album and first of all-original material. Odom can also be heard voicing the character of Owen Tillerman in the Apple TV+ animated musical comedy series Central Park, a role which earned him an Emmy nomination.
Music from the film’s original score composed by prolific Academy Award® nominee and six-time Grammy® winner Terence Blanchard is featured on the album. The celebrated trumpeter and composer’s recent film credits include Da 5 Bloods, BlacKkKlansman, Harriet, and HBO’s Perry Mason drama series.
Throughout his career, Blanchard has consistently attached himself to artistic works of conscience in regard to which he confesses, “You get to a certain age when you ask, ‘Who’s going to stand up and speak out for us?’ Then you look around and realize that the James Baldwins, Muhammad Alis and Dr. Kings are no longer here ... and begin to understand that it falls on you. I’m not trying to say I’m here to try to correct the whole thing, I’m just trying to speak the truth.”
“I originally had an approach of scoring this film with a larger ensemble that could possibly date back to that period,” says Blanchard. “But Regina had this great idea of just using piano. It took me a while to come around to the idea but now I think the piano itself effectively creates a historical narration for the film.”
Blanchard says, “Given the nature of the score, being a jazz piano score, I gave Benny Green - a great jazz pianist - room to improvise and manipulate the melodic content for that theme.” In addition to the piano, one emotional film moment gave Blanchard a chance to use another instrument. “The prayer scene with Malcolm X, allowed me to introduce the duduk (a middle eastern wind instrument) which is also used in key spots in the film,” he says.
Cast member and Grammy®, Emmy and two-time Tony nominee Jeremy Pope portrays R&B great Jackie Wilson in the film and his version of the latter’s “Lonely Teardrops” appears on the soundtrack. Also included on the soundtrack album is a 1964 recording of “Put Me Down Easy” by L.C. Cooke (Sam’s younger brother), written by Sam Cooke for L.C. and features his accompanying vocal as well. SAR Records released “Put Me Down Easy” as well as the organ burner “Greazee” by Billy Preston, which also appears on the soundtrack. SAR Records was founded by Sam Cooke and is a chronicle of his work on behalf of the careers of others such as The Valentinos, The Soul Stirrers, and Johnnie Taylor, a storyline specifically referenced in the One Night In Miami...
One Night In Miami... has a theatrical release of December 25th and will be released on Amazon Prime Video January 15th 2021.
Stream “Chain Gang” by Leslie Odom Jr. Pre-order the soundtrack now!
One Night In Miami… (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Track Listing:
1. Rumble, Young Man, Rumble! - Terence Blanchard
2. Sam Cooke Comes to Stage / Copacabana Introduction - One Night in Miami Band
3. Tammy - Leslie Odom Jr.
4. Howl For Me Daddy - Terence Blanchard, Keb’ Mo’ and Tarriona ‘Tank’ Ball
5. Do Us All Proud - Terence Blanchard
6. I Believe To My Soul - One Night in Miami Band
7. Salah Time - Terence Blanchard
8. I'm King Of The World! - Terence Blanchard
9. Put Me Down Easy - Hampton House - Leslie Odom Jr.
10. Put Me Down Easy - L.C. Cooke
11. Greazee - Billy Preston
12. Ain't Yo Stuff Safe Here - Terence Blanchard
13. Malcolm Looks Out The Window - Terence Blanchard
14. You Send Me - Leslie Odom Jr.
15. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons - Leslie Odom Jr.
16. Brother, What Is Going On? - Terence Blanchard
17. I Wanna Damn Party - Terence Blanchard
18. Lonely Teardrops - Jeremy Pope
19. Chain Gang - Leslie Odom Jr.
20. Good Times - Leslie Odom Jr.
21. A Change Is Gonna Come - Leslie Odom Jr.
22. Speak Now - Leslie Odom Jr.
Here’s a short trailer from the film:
One for fun …
We’ve “covered” the story of Dr. Hook making The Cover Of The Rolling Stone, thanks to their hit song of the same name … a Top Five Pop Single in early 1973.
Here’s a little recap of the chain of events that helped carve out its own little unique piece of pop history, courtesy of Best Classic Bands …
https://bestclassicbands.com/dr-hook-rolling-stone-3-17-177/
HELPING OUT OUR READERS:
Anybody know this one?
Hey there,
I don't know if this is the point of your blog and if not, I apologize, but I've been looking desperately for an "unidentifiable" song.
It was posted on the web a while back and a group of people (including I) are searching for it.
The person who posted it recorded it off the radio in the 1970s. He lived in Chicago. I've been able to identify every other song on the tape except this one and it's driving me nuts!
If you recognize this song, I'd be forever thankful. I've linked an audio file of the song, this is all there was of it on the tape.
Hope this isn't a bother … and have a happy December.
Sincerely,
Ambrose
No bother at all … this is kinda what we do as part of our Helping Out Our Readers feature … so I’m more than happy to give it a shot.
With thousands of music fans, collectors, deejays and artists on the list, hopefully one of them will recognize his piece and help put your mind to rest! (Unfortunately, it’s not familiar to me at all … and I’ve lived in Chicago my whole life! Lol)
Let’s run it up the flagpole and see what comes back. Stay tuned! (kk)
Hi there, FH Readers,
I know, this is a rock music blog and NOT an easy listening or beautiful music blog. However, with the thousands of readers that check out this blog, I am hoping that there might be a beautiful music Christmas songs expert out there that might be able to ease my anguish, and come up with a title and artist of a Christmas instrumental that I've been looking for ever since the mid-seventies. How can one possibly search for an instrumental when they have no idea of either the title or the artist?
In the seventies, I lived in Columbus Ohio, and from noon on Christmas Eve through midnight Christmas night, WBNS FM in Columbus would play 36 hours of Christmas beautiful music. They played probably every single cut from Bert Kaempfert's Christmas Wonderland album, along with songs from an album of the same name recorded by Andre Kostelanetz. The station played a lot of Percy Faith, Boston Pops, James Last, Hollywood Strings and Montavani Christmas favorites. They did include some vocal Christmas music in their mix as well, but the station definitely leaned toward Christmas instrumentals.
One song that I liked in particular was by David Rose called The Christmas Tree.
This song that I'm looking for reminds me a bit of The Christmas Tree, except that it is a little faster in tempo.
All I can tell you about this song, and I realize that it's not much to go on, is that it is in the key of G, and begins with a full eight measures of nothing but sleighbells followed by the crack of a whip. It is fully orchestrated, and strings dominate the piece, and the sleighbells are heard throughout the piece. Obviously this piece tries to give an image of gliding over the snow, and it is a beautiful song, and I wish I could somehow get a nice wave file or mp3 file of this song to add to my extensive Christmas songs collection. I can still hear the song in my head, even though I've probably not heard it now since 1986. The song is NOT Sleigh Ride. I know that song very well.
Anyway, does anyone have any idea of just what this elusive Christmas instrumental in the key of G, with sleighbells throughout and a crack of the whip near the beginning might be?
I would really love to be able to hear this cheerful happy song again, which WBNS FM played every year during the holiday season.
Thanks for your help in advance.
Sam Ward
Nothing tougher than trying to track down an instrumental … and a Christmas one at that, in that quite often dozens if not hundreds of artists record the same tunes for their holiday albums … but hey, we’ll give it a shot. With readers all over the country, perhaps somebody else on the list grew up during this same area … or even programmed a beautiful music radio station back in the day.
Not sure we can get you an answer before the big holiday (can you believe Christmas is just two weeks from TODAY?!?!) … or at all, for that matter … but I’m always willing to help out our readers in any way I can to connect to the music that provided the soundtrack to THEIR lives, even if I don’t personally be familiar with it at all.
So … anybody got any ideas? (Obviously, we’d have to hear a clip … or see a YouTube video or something … in order for Sam to confirm.) Thanks, all! (kk)
LOOK FOR A SPECIAL SATURDAY POST TOMORROW IN FORGOTTEN HITS!
