January 11th, 1970

1970:  January 11^th – In what is considered to be a major upset, The Kansas City Chiefs defeat The Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV by a score of 23-7

The Friday Flash

We got this from FH Reader Frank Sennish … who sent in this year-end chart from 1968 as published by CKLW in The Motor City!

 

Some pretty obscure titles can be found on this year-end chart ... right alongside many of the biggest hits of the day!  (kk)

And then, a jump to 1969, with Clark Besch …

 

Kent,

So many thoughts about your final week posting of 1969, but the passing of Marty Grebb kinda put me back.  I will attach a few photos and thoughts now. 

First, what a great year in music and you did a great job with it all.  I look forward now to a dial move from 890 to 1000 for the new decade. 

Despite the fact that we talked so much this past year about the then long time top bands of 60's Chicago rock, 1969 ended in a different atmosphere for those bands and Chicago music in general.  There was a change in so many ways going into 1970 for all of us.  The Buckinghams would take a country sound, the Cryan’  Shames would dissolve into country-rock Possum River and other incarnations.  The Shadows of Knight?  Not sure by this point what they were.  NC6 would do a hard rock song to start the year, while my 1969 #1 song, “Barbara I Love You" would still top my personal chart with their standard soft rock style.  The NC6 won the WLS "Best Local Group" award.  The Ides of March had moved to Warner Brothers with a soft rock style song for their first release, soon to blow up into a great horn rock outfit in 1970, bringing the groups Chicago and Crow along with them.  The American Breed would move towards the RNB sound morphing into Ask Rufus and then Rufus. 

Now, it was a new decade and a new breed of music and radio.  FM was sending new stereo vibes to our ears.  This is witnessed by the December 30, 1969, Aragon Ballroom Pop Festival below.  As quickly as the transistor radio got under our pillow with Art Roberts, it was being replaced by stereo headphones and FM radio, it seemed.

ALL of the above mentioned bands from the 60's are not present in the pop fest and MOST could scarcely be heard on the Big 89 or Big 10 Radio. 

JC Hooke and Clark Weber did have a little bit to do with Coven, I believe, in their first LP and the jocks from these stations DID do some gigs with some of these bands, too.  Some of these went on to stardom in the coming decade (Seger, Cooper) and some would get acclaim without sales (MC5, Stooges, Litter) while others had TONS of talent but could not get over the hump and would dissolve. (Baby Huey, Rotary Connection, Mason Proffit, Bangor Flying Circus).  Looks at how the Trib wrote up the show description:

It's not under MUSIC, it's under "Variety."  True, but ...

THIS article from the Bensenville, Ill paper on 12-30-1969 gave possible insight to the 70's, but the 60's is still remembered more fondly by far than most any other decades in music, I believe.

Clark Besch

Kent,
Here's MY Top 100 of 1969 vs. Billboard's OFFICIAL Top 100 from their December 27, 1969 MEGA 75th anniversary issue.  Both differ from Joel Whitburn's most likely more accurate chart, but interesting to see.
By my count, MY chart has 17 Chicago area artists' records in my top 100, including #1, #3 and #4 in the top 10 ... 11 in the top 50 and 17 total in the top 100.  Locally in Chicago, 1970 would see local (generally) area artists like Tommy James, Jackson 5, Ides of March, Tyrone Davis, New Colony 6, Chicago (CTA), 5 Stairsteps, Impressions, Neighborhood, Gene Chandler, Crow, Happy Day, Lost Generation, Bobby Trend, and the Mob make the WLS and WCFL charts.

Clark 

And, of course, we, too, have turned the page and entered the ‘70’s with damn-near-daily calendar postings of all that was happening exactly 50 Years Ago Today.

Watch for WCFL weekly Top 40 Surveys beginning this Sunday, January 12^th, to follow every week throughout the year.

Meanwhile, we’ll still be slipping in all of our regular features, too …

So be sure to check back daily to The Forgotten Hits Web Page for all the latest in oldies news … then … and now!  (kk)

I received an email the other day from Shelley Sweet-Tufano asking if she had missed our coverage of the passing of Les Chadwick of Gerry and the Pacemakers.  Quite honestly, her inquiry was the first I’d heard of it … but she says that she has since received confirmation from a few other music authorities stating that Les passed away on December 26^th in Sydney, Australia at the age of 76.  (We confirmed this as well with one of our contacts over there, Geoff Dorsett, who hosts a very popular oldies music show that we guested on a few years back.) 

As the bass player for the band, it looks like Chadwick had a hand in cowriting a few of their records, including their big U.S. Smash “Ferry ‘Cross The Mersey,” which made The Top Ten here in The States in early 1965.

Gerry and the Pacemakers hold the distinction of being the first British Invasion band to score a #1 Hit at home in England when “How Do You Do It” (a song turned down by The Beatles) reached the top of the British Charts.  (Brian Epstein was managing and George Martin was producing both acts at the time.  John Lennon and Paul McCartney were adamant about writing their own material for singles release … but Martin was convinced that this tune was a #1 Hit.  The Beatles actually recorded a version that showed up decades later on their Anthology Series … after being bootlegged for nearly as long!)  When Lennon and McCartney balked about Parlophone releasing the record, Martin told them “Then write me something as good” … to which they responded with “Please Please Me,” which topped most of the British Charts (but not the “official” chart that served as their “Billboard” over there), thus allowing Gerry and the Pacemakers to reach the summit first.

It was really no contest after that … although Gerry and the Pacemakers DID go on to have a total of THREE #1 Hits in Great Britain.  (“How Do You Do It” was followed by “I Like It” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to the top of the charts.)

Here in The States they managed three Top Ten Hits:  “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” (#4, 1964); “How Do You Do It” (#9, 1964) and “Ferry ‘Cross The Mersey” (#4, 1965.)

Because Chadwick didn’t originally own a bass guitar, he played a Fender Stratocaster with special tuned bass strings to help fill in the group’s sound when he first joined the band.

Les was Chadwick’s middle name, which is most likely why Joel Whitburn’s book lists him as John Chadwick … but apparently Les is the name he went by and was most commonly known.  (Kinda like James Paul McCartney I suppose!)  He apparently moved to Australia in 1980, where he ran an employment agency.  Although we could only find a couple of mentions of his passing during our own Google search for confirmation, the best we could come up with was the date ... and no official cause of death was reported.  Geoff tells us that Chadwick died of a brain tumor.  (kk)

As The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame winds down the Fan Vote Ballot for the Class of 2020 Inductees (see below for a quick recap as to where the voting currently stands), Tom Cuddy sent us this article about other deserving candidates for consideration …

According to Chuck Yarborough, Don Cornelius, Irving Azoff and especially Peter Asher deserve to be part of Rock Hall’s Class of 2020:
https://www.cleveland.com/arts/2020/01/don-cornelius-irving-azoff-and-especially-peter-asher-deserve-to-be-part-of-rock-halls-class-of-2020-chuck-yarborough.html

Sorry, but I can’t even BEGIN to make a case for Don Cornelius since Ed Sullivan still hasn’t been inducted!!!  Ed brought the biggest names in rock and roll music right into our living rooms week after week after week, allowing ALL of America to discover these hot new acts … and he’s never even been so much as nominated!!!  Honestly, at this point, I don’t know if I can come up with a bigger snub or a more deserving candidate.

I guess one could make a case for Peter Asher … not so much as a “revolutionary” artist, perhaps, but as a very accomplished producer.  But again … how do you vote Asher in after Todd Rundgren (who produced countless acts over the years … as well as created his own Rock Hall-worthy recordings) has been ignored for so long?

Irving Azoff?  There really about to be a special wing for guys like Azoff who worked behind the scenes to make household names of some of the biggest acts of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s … and I’ll bet our list could come up with at least a dozen more just like him … and just as deserving.

But first let’s honor some of these other Deserving And Denied Artists who still haven’t found their way into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’s hallowed halls.  (The Guess Who anyone???)

After this year’s ceremony we may open up the polls again in order to determine who YOU GUYS think have been the most-snubbed acts … it’s been quite a while since we last updated our list and (as we recently mentioned) several of the artists who made our original Top 40 Deserving and Denied Artists List have since been inducted.

Stay tuned for this one … after we several OTHER works in progress mopped up!  (kk)

UPDATE:  Who's leading the pack right now for this year's nominees?

Well, The Dave Matthews Band seems like a shoe-in with 965,000 votes.
Pat Benatar is currently second with 855,000, followed by The Doobie Brothers with 760,000.  My guess is that all three will receive induction this year.  Bringing up 4th Place is Sound Garden (700,000) and Judas Priest is fifth with 680,000.
We have been campaigning for Todd Rundgren for years now ... he's got about 430,000 votes ... even trailing Whitney Houston (rock and roll???) who's got 575,000.
And who's dead last?  Again???
Why it's the MC5 with 155,000.  If THIS doesn't finally get them knocked off the ballot for good to allow space for at least 200 FAR more deserving artists, then something's rotten in the new RRHF regime, too!  (kk)

Kent,

I just can't imagine what Elvis Presley would look like and what he would be doing today on his 85th birthday if he were alive.

I am glad you posted those songs he did. However, to be honest with you, from what radio stations play on the air today of Elvis, I thought the only songs he ever recorded were SUSPICIOUS MINDS and BURNING LOVE. (lol).

Larry

That’s for sure.  (Oh wait … he did that “great” remix of “A Little Less Conversation” back in 2002, too … you know, 25 years after he died!!!)

How radio can justify playing THAT piece of trash while ignoring MONSTER hits like “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Jailhouse Rock” and “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Love Me Tender” and “All Shook Up” and “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Love Me” and “Teddy Bear” and at least 2-3 dozen more absolute classics is beyond me.

(In all fairness, “Kentucky Rain” also gets a ton of airplay … because, after all, Elvis’ career really took off in 1969 … the 120 songs he charted with before “Suspicious Minds” were just his warm-up act!)

We DO hear “Return To Sender” quite a bit here in Chicago … as well as occasional spins of “In The Ghetto,” “The Wonder Of You” and “My Way” from “the later years” … and “Stuck On You,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” “Surrender,” “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” “Little Sister” and “Viva Las Vegas” from the ‘60’s.

 But there is SO much more that radio COULD be playing, even if only dropping in as Wow Factor songs now and then.  Instead, it seems like we have to wait for either the anniversary of his birth or his death to hear anything out of the ordinary.  (Hey, he’s no Jay-Z!!!) kk

Kent,

I totally agree with your comments regarding the Billboard charts written on Elvis's 85th birthday. There is no comparison to the way the charts are compiled now as to how they were figured years ago. There is a huge difference to someone having to travel to purchase their favorite tunes (pre-internet days) compared to just searching for your favorite tunes online and listening as many times you want (for practically no charge).

Thanks for keeping the early years of the rock era alive.

Joe Cantello

Roswell, Ga

I’ve been preaching for decades now about a Hit Index measurement being necessary to accurately compare charts across the decades.  Reading Billboard today with new records being broken on a nearly monthly basis is just discouraging.  (We’ve run any number of examples over the years … and even Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles Book now lists Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Usher, R. Kelly, Eminem, Jay-Z and Tim McGraw among The Top 50 Artists of All-Time … ahead of far less significant acts like The Platters, Sam Cooke, The Four Tops, Bobby Darin, The Jackson Five, Linda Ronstadt, The Carpenters, Roy Orbison, Neil Sedaka, Heart, Bob Seger, Aerosmith and Earth, Wind and Fire, all of whom place between #51 and #100.

(Think that’s sad?  Johnny Cash, Santana, Three Dog Night, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, ELO, Eric Clapton, David Bowie, The Dave Clark Five, The Doobie Brothers, Chuck Berry, Styx, Herman’s Hermits, Tom Petty, Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Monkees, Petula Clark and Tommy James and the Shondells don’t even rank THAT high … falling between #101 and #200.)  The concept of comparing these artists on what Billboard presents as “a level playing field” is beyond ludicrous.  (kk)