Roberts collapsed on Christmas Eve while walking her dogs and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
After the announcement came out late Sunday night of her passing, news that was quickly circulated all over the world (including here in Forgotten Hits), it turns out that her husband was notified on Monday Morning that Tanya was still alive and had been placed on a ventilator. (Hmmm ... sounds like the couple were REAL close!!!)
Of course all of this information could change again tomorrow ... but let's hope not. As of right now, Tanya Roberts is still alive, although likely fighting to remain that way.
(Lesson learned ... don't announce anyone's death until TMZ announces it ... even if that person's husband tells you that it's so!!!) kk
>>>When I turned the Rewound Radio Countdown on for the first time last Saturday, the very first song I heard was "Things We'd Like To Say" by The New Colony Six, which came in at #68 on this year's list. (For the record, they were the ONLY Chicago-based act to make The Top 100!) Congratulations, guys! (kk)
Can I get a woohoo, Kent? Not bad for a “B” side, eh?
Thank you and R.I.P., Larry Lujack, plus a major “danke schoen” for my dear friend, fellow Cornerstone and, at times, song-writing partner “in the day.” Mr. Rice! How goes it, Ronnie?
Happy New Year to both of you and all of us.
How cool to hear from Forgotten Hits that one of our hits has not yet been forgotten!!!
Ray
Hi Kent –
Strange thing about this pandemic - I seem to have less time than ever!
It took a while, but I’ve finally figured out why.
I used to sleep about six hours a day ... now I average about nine hours!
I read until around 1am and then don’t get up until 10! What a lazy bum😂
(Of course, I’ll be 77 in five days, so I guess it’s ok) 🤗
Anyway, I thought I’d check in, as it’s been a long time.
Keep up your great work
I know how much time you spend on this and I can’t believe you work as well.
I’ve had some stuff put aside for you for a couple of years - maybe this is the year that I get it to you!
Danny
Good to hear from you … and Happy New Year to all.
FH Reader (and former WLS DJ) Chuck Buell made a comment on New Year’s Eve that really got me to thinking …
As we get older, staying up till midnight on New Year’s Eve isn’t all that meaningful and important anymore … if I’m tired, I’d just as soon be sleeping …
But THIS year I think a lot of us wanted to stick around till midnight JUST to make sure that 2020 really left us!!!
We’re not out of the woods yet, by any stretch … but hopefully there will be much more to look forward to … and actually be able to DO … in 2021! (kk)
GERRY MARSDEN:
Frank B. sent us this awesome YouTube clip of Paul McCartney saluting Gerry Marsden from quite a few years back ... the two always stayed close, due to their Liverpool ties. (It was almost like they went thru the war together, with The Beatles and The Pacemakers being the top two bands in Liverpool at the time.)
Paul even included Gerry in the pub scene from his 1973 TV Special James Paul McCartney, singing a bunch of the old standards ... and then took part in the 1989 fund-raising disc remake of "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey," singing much of the lead vocal along with Gerry and members of The Christians, Holly Johnson and others ... it topped the British Pop Singles Chart for three weeks!
Good Morning, Kent:
Enjoyed your reflections on Gerry Marsden and the Pacemakers.
What’s always struck me about them is that they left behind an odd and perhaps unique career arc on the American charts.
As popular as they were, their chart run was remarkably short, in light of how much successful product they released.
All of their charted singles (there were ten of them, as you listed) cover just a two year period, from May of 1964 (beginning with their debut “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying”) to September of 1966 (ending with “Girl On A Swing”). On top of that, their entire catalogue of charted albums (five of them!) represents an even shorter period, less than a full year, from July of 1964 (with their debut, Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying) to May of 1965 (with their Greatest Hits collection).
Has there ever been a group that began with that successful a splash seen their run end so abruptly and quickly, a group that didn’t disband or suffer the premature death of a key member, that is?
All the best to you and Frannie in 2021.
Rick O’Dell
Much as with The Beatles, part of this was simply a case of America catching up with The Brits.
Gerry and the Pacemakers had their first four hits in Great Britain before America was even aware of them ... and this includes THREE #1 Singles ... and a #2 Hit! (In order, "How Do You Do It," "I Like It," "You'll Never Walk Alone" ... all reaching UK #1 ... and "I'm The One," which peaked at UK #2.) "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin'" was their first "concurrent" hit, making the charts in both countries at the same time ... and it actually did slightly better here in America, thanks to the whole wave of The British Invasion being in high gear and appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. So that adds a full year to the trajectory of their career, still incredibly short with such a high volume of hit material. (Incredibly, "Girl On A Swing" didn't even chart in England!)
We have since learned that "How Do You Do It" and "I'm The One" bubbled under in Cash Box in 1963 and early 1964, both reaching #132 in the process ... but being pre-Beatles, nobody even noticed!
"You'll Never Walk Alone," the song Gerry and the Pacemakers are best remembered for in England, was first issued as a B-Side here in The States, on the US "How Do You Do It" single. (That'd be a good one to add to your next Flip Sides Weekend!!! Kind of a little known fact!)
It was then issued again as an A-Side a full year later, when it peaked at US #48.
A few British bands fell victim to their 1963 material going unnoticed here in The States before The Beatles knocked the door down. (The Beatles themselves had already released four British singles before "I Want To Hold Your Hand" hit both charts somewhat simultaneously.)
The Dave Clark Five charted in Great Britain in 1963 with "Do You Love Me" (#30) and "Glad All Over" (#1) before they ever had a hit here ...
But perhaps the BEST example of waiting out an American Hit belongs to Freddie and the Dreamers. Their singles "I'm Telling You Now" (UK #2) and "You Were Made For Me" (UK #3) were both British hits in 1963 ... but didn't hit the charts here in The States until 1965!!! Incredibly, Capitol Records was pushing THEIR records (without success) in '63 instead of The Beatles' latest releases! (Must have been that crazy jumping-jacks image they were going for!!! lol) kk
Speaking of "Do You Love Me," Forgotten Hitter Chuck Buell sent us THIS cool little clip, showing the advancement of robot technology, circa 2021 ...
A Question from Forgotten Hitter,
Chuck Buell ~~~
Do You Love Me?
Or Am I just a Little Scary?!
Boston Dynamics, a well-known robotics company known for creating advanced robots, released their latest video to help usher in 2021.
To quote Rod Serling, “between science and superstition, (this) lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge.”
It’s Boston Dynamics’ "Dancing Robots!" Along with their now already well-known robot dog, “Spot,” from a year or so ago, and a "friend" rockin’ out to the Forgotten Hit, “Do You Love Me?" by the Contours!
And, I did go to Two Reliable Sources to verify the possible reality of this!
Snopes.com received many questions from humans wondering if they were computer generated. Snopes says they learned that they were not, and declared this video as ~~~
Even Tesla creator Elon Musk tweeted, “This is not CGI.”
So, be a Believer or be a Skeptic. I submit for your consideration ~~~
CB ( which stands for “Cyborg Boy!” )
Chuck also sent us this awesome photo of his New Year's Eve socks ...
Everybody could use a pair!!!
THE SUPER CHARTS:
kk:
I see you opened with the 1/2/1971 Super Chart.
I notice that "KNOCK THREE TIMES" by Dawn checked in at #3. I wonder if Tony Orlando is going to talk about it on tonight's show. Maybe I should write to him and remind him about it.
I know you have Ron Smith's book "EIGHT DAYS A WEEK," so I’m sure that it’s no surprise to you that today would've been Roger Miller's Birthday … born 1/2/1936.
I'm going to make Cousin Brucie an offer he can refuse ...
If he plays my request, "KING OF THE ROAD," I'll play "QUEEN OF THE HOUSE" for his wife Jody.
FB
P.S. Don't know if you get the SUNDANCE Channel, but they’re running 48 hours of COLUMBO.
Frank
Since The Super Chart for the week ending January 2nd, 1971, included a couple of days of 1971 chart information … and since we had the Saturday open … we decided to wrap up the OLD year and then kick off the NEW Year the very next day with the chart ending the week of January 9th.
We’ll be saluting 1971 all year long with new charts every Sunday … along with weekly recaps of the events of that week, fifty years ago.
If you have Tony Orlando’s email address, please send it to me … I’ve been wanting to talk to him for YEARS now about something and every lead I’ve been given has proven to be a dead end.
Didn’t catch any of the Columbo marathon … and didn’t bother with the annual Twilight Zone one this year either. I mentioned a few days back that we’ve been binging Chicago PD … and were within about four episodes of finishing Season Three when, lo and behold Friday Morning it was no longer available to watch on Amazon Prime!!! We were shocked (and more than a little bit upset and disappointed.) What do we do now??? Pay $2.99 per episode from this point forward. (I don’t think so!!!)
I even went so far as to seeing how much it would cost to buy the first seven seasons on Amazon … and it was something like $138 … to see a show we had watched for free the night before!!!
FORTUNATELY, I got an email the very next day saying that Chicago PD would now be appearing on Peacock (Seasons 1-7), beginning on January 2nd, which saved the day (and $138!) for us … and got the new year off on the right foot after all. (Let’s face it … there isn’t much you can do these days but watch tv … and clean the snow off your cars!!!) kk
Happy New Year Kent,
Well, I don't think I'll be saving all the blog entries for this year, since you are now dealing with 1971, and that's just not one of my favorite years in music.
Don't get me wrong … there were some great songs that came out in 1971, but there was way too much Partridge Family, way too much Osmonds (especially Donny), way too much Bobby Sherman and then there were songs like Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep by Mac and Katie Kassoon.
I will certainly be checking in each day as always, but I don't imagine I'll be saving every blog entry as I have been.
I think I'll have to go back to 2016 and see how you covered another of my favorite years in music, 1966.
Sam Ward
You won’t find a salute to 1966 … our year-long tribute to 1967 was our first venture into this area (and honestly no year since has come close to the dedicated and concentrated effort that went into putting together that year-long piece.)
You’ll find 1971 to be even a bit more minimalistic … A Super Chart every Sunday with a recap of the events of that week in ’71.
Now there’ll be the occasional spotlight feature along the way … but not to the degree we’ve done in the past. (I really AM trying to cut back this year … and use some of that time toward new and special projects!)
I think 1971 was still a pretty banner year for music, however.
The era of the singer/songwriter really came to the top around this time … even Carole King, who’d been writing songs for others for over a decade, seeing hit after hit after hit top the charts, worked up the courage to record an album of her own material … and what a MONSTER album it was!
Sweet Baby James Taylor continued to flourish in 1971 … and other acts like Bread and Elton John started to make their mark, too. (Three Dog Night was HUGE that year as well!)
And it was a big year for Beatles solo hits … Paul McCartney released “Ram” and John Lennon gave us “Imagine,” two of the strongest LPs of the year.
Years ago we did a rather informal poll in Forgotten Hits, trying to determine “the demise of good popular music.”
Naturally, we got ALL kinds of responses, pretty indicative of the age group the came from.
For example, there were a number of emails stating how The Beatles and The British Invasion ruined music forever … but honestly, a lot of popular music was turning pretty bland by 1961 – 1963. Sure, there were still some GREAT hits coming out … but even Elvis himself had gone the “middle of the road” path once he came out of the army … and none of that raw excitement was there anymore. Yes, his records still rose to the top of the charts on a consistent basis … but a lot of this was due to his loyal fan base that were going to buy ANYTHING he released. In hindsight, I’m not so sure Elvis tracks like “It’s Now Or Never,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight” or “Surrender” hold up quite as well as some of his earlier, ground-breaking work. (And then “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” probably his greatest ballad EVER, fails to reach #1, while tracks like “Soldier Boy,” Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You,” “Roses Are Red” and “Michael Row The Boat Ashore” made it to the top.
The most common consensus we got was that great pop music ended after 1972.
I can agree with some of that argument … by 1973 and 1974, things had gotten too schmaltzy again … #1 Hits like “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia,” “The Morning After,” “Touch Me In The Morning,” “Delta Dawn,” “Half Breed,” “The Way We Were,” “Dark Lady” and “I Honestly Love You” set music back fifteen years.
There was a slight rebound in 1975 … great tracks like Elton John’s version of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” Linda Ronstadt’s remake of “You’re No Good,” “Lady Marmalade,” “Sister Golden Hair,” “Love Will Keep Us Together,” “Listen To What The Man Said,” David Bowie’s “Fame” and The Eagles’ “One Of These Nights” … but the truth is, we were already slipping into disco by year’s end, another factor that MANY readers cited as bringing an end to all good pop music.
Bottom line … it’s all subjective. Some of the titles I just mentioned as being “lame” in my book may be among your all-time favorites.
One thing we WILL try to do in our 1971 recap is bring you some of our long-time favorites, many of which fall into the Forgotten Hits category simply because they’ve fallen off of the radar of mainstream radio. (Thanks to stations like Me-TV-FM, Rewound Radio, The True Oldies Channel and WCFLChicago.com, this isn’t ALWAYS the case anymore … but it does seem to be the norm.)
Let’s face it … are there really any more oldies stations out there on terrestrial radio these days? Or have they all gone the internet route so that they can offer more in the way of variety?
Give our lists a look-over every Sunday and see what you think.
We’ve already spotlighted great tracks like “Fresh As A Daisy,” “When I’m Dead And Gone,” “Let Your Love Go” and “Sweet Mary” … and that’s after only two charts!!! (kk)
Hi Kent:
Seeing some of the responses on the charts, my question would be:
Can the Super Charts be any more accurate, if all the info they are taken from is inaccurate?
Apparently, “Vehicle” did better here than on WCFL! Doesn’t sound right, but it was big here, too.
Sad about Mary Ann!!! Don’t forget Phyllis McGuire.
Good Riddance 2020. Hopefully we will have a much happier New Year.
Ken Freck
My thinking is that The Super Charts help to eliminate the wide discrepancies we keep running into from chart to chart to chart … sometimes position spreads of 20-30 places. A Top Ten Hit is going to be a Top Ten Hit on all three charts … but how does “Dock Of The Bay,” for example, top Billboard’s chart for four weeks … and never make it to #1 at all in Cash Box or Record World? It’s things like these that just don’t make logical sense. (So yes, if some behind-the-scenes monkey business was going on with this record to push it to #1 after Otis Redding’s death, the lower positions shown in the other two publications will help to balance out something closer to reality.
“Hey
Jude” was #1 in Billboard for nine weeks … and there is absolutely NO question
about how big a record this was … but EVERYWHERE else (including any local
chart I’ve ever seen for this time period) also shows “Those Were The Days”
reaching the top (and here in Chicago, “Over You” by Gary Puckett and the Union
Gap, "Little Green Apples" by O.C. Smith and “Fire” by The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, too! In fact, "Hey Jude" topped the WLS Chart for exactly one week ... and never even made it to #1 on the 'CFL Chart at all! Now we all know that THAT'S not exactly accurate reporting either.)
The point isn’t to take anything away from how well these records charted … but more to paint a more accurate picture of how these records REALLY did from coast to coast. And, since each publication used their own unique sources to tabulate their results, the accumulation of ALL of this chart data would help to produce a far more accurate account.
I
don’t think you’ll see a lot of records do much WORSE than what you remember …
but you MAY see several records chart 10-15 places HIGHER than you remember,
once the other stats are factored in. (One exception might be "Good Vibrations," which reached #1 on ALL of the national charts ... yet never made it to #1 on The Super Chart because it didn't have enough points in any given week to do so ... the record's #1 peak in Billboard, Cash Box and Record World came during different weeks so it wasn't able to accumulate enough points during any given week to outrank "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by The Supremes ... and thus failed to hit the top of The Super Chart.)
I still stand behind them as the most accurate 20/20 Hindsight Charts that can be produced. It's a snapshot of that exact moment in time, which is really the very definition of popular music! (kk)
