For a farm boy on a budget, K-tel albums were the best choice. Music Power was an early favorite. I guess Pretty Lady made the first side of Music Power. Other rare good cuts include: Mammy Blue by Stories, By The Devil I Was Tempted - Blue Mink, and Can This Be Real by the Natural Four. I have included a clip of Paul Hoffert of Lighthouse talking about Pretty Lady and why it sounded different than their previous radio songs.
Phil -WRCO
Side One
1. Smokin' in the Boys Room - Brownsville Station
2. Spiders & Snakes - Jim Stafford
3. Rockin' Roll Baby - The Stylistics
4. Painted Ladies - Ian Thomas
5. Pillow Talk - Sylvia
6. Hurts So Good - Millie Jackson
7. Mammy Blue - Stories
8. Pretty Lady - Lighthouse
9. Where Peaceful Waters Flow - Gladys Knight & the Pips
10. When You Say Love - Sonny & Cher
11. The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion) - Gordon Sinclair
Side Two
1. Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose-Dawn, featuring Tony Orlando
2. Keeper of the Castle-The Four Tops
3. Two Divided By Love-The Grass Roots
4. By the Devil I Was Tempted-Blue Mink
5. Oh Girl-The Chi-Lites
6. Can This Be Real-The Natural Four
7. Tonight-The Raspberries
8. Little Willy-The Sweet
9. River-Joe Simon
10. Drift Away-Dobie Gray
11. I've Got So Much to Give-Barry White
Great clip from Paul Hoffert!
“Pretty Lady” wasn’t their biggest … not HERE anyway … but the band hailed from Canada where “Pretty Lady” did, in fact, become their biggest hit.
Here is a Lighthouse Hit List, showing the US and then the Canadian peak for each of their Top 50 songs. Notice that their Billboard peaks tended to be considerably lower than their national showings … sometimes by as many as 20 points!
LIGHTHOUSE HIT LIST:
1969 – If There Ever Was A Time (US – xx / Canada – 24)
1971 – Hats Off (To The Stranger) US – xx / Canada - 27
1971 – One Fine Morning (#13 Record World … but #24 Billboard / #13 Canada – CHUM)
1972 – Take It Slow (Out In The Country) #41 Record World … but #64 Billboard / Canada – xx)
1972 – Sunny Days (#29 US / #10 Canada)
1973 – Pretty Lady (#31 US Cash Box … but #53 Billboard / #6 Canada – CHUM)
Skip Prokop, the band’s drummer, wrote their three biggest US hits.
Truth be told, the band sounded significantly different on all of their hit recordings. “One Fine Morning,” which launched Lighthouse here in The States, was a driving horn rocker … “Sunny Days” was a much more laid-back, almost Loggins and Messina sounding track … and “Pretty Lady” is just pure pop. (It really should have been a much bigger hit. Thankfully, it has survived and continues to get played some 48 years later on your station, WRCO, Rewound Radio, Me-TV-FM and other great oldies stations around the country.) kk
Speaking of the K-Tel / Ronco hit collections I saw on the news thru several different sources that Ron Popeil died just last month.
David Lewis
Yes, we covered it briefly in FH. Some of his sales figures were staggering. He really helped to pioneer the whole late night home shopping / infomercials idea … heck, he led the pack! (kk)
kk …
The other day you mentioned Elvis and the song "ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK" …
Last week the last member of Bill Haley's Comets died … Joey Ambrose.
FB
Joey D’Ambrosio (Joey Ambrose), The Comets’ sax player, died on August 9th … and you’re right, he was the last surviving member of Bill Haley’s original Comets that performed on the hit record version of “Rock Around The Clock.” (What ISN’T pointed out most of the time is that Ambrose QUIT the band a year later over a salary dispute, along with bassist Marshall Lytle and drummer Dick Richards. All three would eventually return to the line-up over the next several decades … in fact, putting together a Comets Family Tree would likely include over a hundred of members who have come and gone over the years.)
While “Rock Around The Clock” is hailed as the song that launched the rock and roll era, Haley and his Comets had been recording rock and roll tunes for a couple of years already by the time “Rock Around The Clock” went all the way to #1. (Prior to that, they performed as a country swing band under the moniker Bill Haley and the Saddlemen.) It was their switch over to the rock side that made them stars.
1953 gave us “Crazy, Man, Crazy” (#12) and in 1954, Haley’s version of “Shake, Rattle And Roll” went all the way to #6. (“Rock Around The Clock” was actually recorded and released in 1954 as well … and went absolutely nowhere. Then, when it was used as the opening theme to the film “Blackboard Jungle” the following year, it exploded around the world, topping the US charts for six weeks.)
Haley had a string of a dozen straight Top 20 Hits between 1953 and 1956. After “Shake, Rattle And Roll,” his streak continued with “Dim, Dim The Lights” (#11, 1955); “Birth Of The Boogie” (#17, 1955); “Mambo Rock” (#14, 1955); “Rock Around The Clock” (#1, 1955); “Razzle-Dazzle” (#15, 1955); “Rock-A-Beatin’ Boogie” (#23, 1955); “Burn That Candle” (#9, 1956); “See You Later, Alligator” (#6, 1956); “R-O-C-K” (#16, 1956, which came from the film titled after Haley’s biggest hit, “Rock Around The Clock,” starring Alan Freed) and “The Saints Rock ‘n’ Roll” (#18, 1956).
In 1987, Bill Haley was inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame but, as it turned out, only as a solo artist. The organization finally did right by The Comets 25 years later and, in 2012, inducted Al Rex, Billy Williamson, Danny Cedrone, Dick Richards, Fran Beecher, Joey Ambrose, Johnny Grande, Marshall Lytle, Ralph Jones and Rudy Pompilli in a mass induction ceremony that also recognized Gene Vincent’s Blue Caps, Buddy Holly’s Crickets, James Brown’s Fabulous Flames and Smokey Robinson’s Miracles.
DIDJAKNOW?: Rock And Roll didn't even have a name yet when "Rock Around The Clock" was first released as a single. As such, the record label described it as a "Fox Trot with Vocals!!!" (kk)
Joel Whitburn mentioned "the takeover of the cassette single."
You may find this interesting.
My friends sometimes ask me if I want to take their old records off their hands. I take them, go through them to see if there's anything I need and donate the rest to my local library. The library started taking donations again since the lockdown lifted. When I brought in some records there was this sign on the wall: "We don't accept cassettes." So you can't even give them away anymore.
Ed #1
After reading some of the additional posts about the venues based on the Rod Stewart / Faces show I saw, with 5 - 8 encores, that was listed at The Syndrome, I am more confused than ever.
From 1968 - 1970 I attended three major concerts in Chicago, all of which took place during the cold weather months.
The first was on February 25th, 1968, featuring The Jimi Hendrix Experience. This show took place at the Civic Opera House, which I remember as some type of theater with multiple balconies.
The second show was Jimi Hendrix without The Experience at The Coliseum. This was an afternoon show so I presume there must have been two shows that day. Please note that I was not from Chicago and I didn’t remember any of the specific names or locations of the venues until I researched them from archived tour lists. My memories of the venue for that show at the Coliseum can best be described as “a dump.” It was more like an empty industrial / storage building with concrete posts. Everything was like a gray concrete color. The stage was a temporary erected structure and you sat on the concrete floor, no folding chairs. It was also gray, cloudy and cold outside ... but Jimi was playing, so who cared.
After attending the Faces concert with Rod Stewart in Milwaukee on 11/13/70, I attended another Faces / Stewart concert on a colder night in Chicago. The venue for this show was listed as The Syndrome, which is a name I have never heard of until recently.
This information was taken from Ronnie Lane’s archived tour list:
According to the posts, The Syndrome was previously named The Coliseum. The problem is that this was not the same Coliseum that I saw Hendrix at. This venue was more like a theater with sloped floors, a permanent stage, permanent seats and multiple balconies. It did not strike me as a dump. In reviewing the list of Faces / Stewart shows, I could find no other shows in Chicago I could have confused this with. With the exception of venue names and locations, I typically have a good memory of shows that I have attended, so where did this show take place?
Robert Campbell
I asked Ken Voss (aka Voodoo Child) our resident Jimi Hendrix expert to see if he could shed any additional light on this topic. Here is what he sent me …
Jimi Hendrix played Chicago three times – all in 1968. The Opera House, the Auditorium Theatre and the Coliseum. Actually, the Experience was scheduled to play a fourth time at the University of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus, but even though 2,500 had showed up to hear Hendrix, he had to cancel the show because of equipment problems.
February 25, 1968 - Civic Opera House
The first time Hendrix came to Chicago was in February of 1968 for two sold-out shows at the Civic Opera House. Show times were 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. with Soft Machine opening as support act.
In a review of the performance by Robb Baker in the Chicago Tribune, he said, “Electric guitar hiding his face, he started plucking the strings with his tongue and teeth. He scraped the guitar against the mike and made suggestive gestures with it. Across the stage, the bass player threw his instrument behind his neck. Then Hendrix began rushing the amps, banging the guitar against them, each time with a louder thud. He finally stopped, backed toward the audience, and flung the instrument crashing into the equipment. He turned around, smiled a supercool smile, and said goodbye. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was over.”
Baker goes on to define how what Hendrix does is not only entertaining, but is a socio-political statement. “The music is undeniably powerful. Without coming right out and saying so, it lets you know there is a war in Viet Nam and there will be more big city riots next summer, that the world is not very pretty and people don’t communicate and want to escape, that there are things like sex and drugs and violence which people are afraid to talk about but maybe they should.”
March 29, 1968 - University of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus
2,500 people showed up for the concert at the Circle Campus. Soft Machine opened the show. But then when it was time for the Experience to go on, the road crew was battling with equipment problems. Hendrix’s Marshall stacks acted like a radio receiver and were picking up radio station WLS-AM 890. After almost a half hour of trying to resolve the situation without success, Hendrix cancelled his performance.
Still with an itch to play, Hendrix headed over to the Cheetah (later to be renamed the Aragon Ballroom) where he jammed with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
Before the group headed off to Toledo for their concert the next night, they had another rendezvous with the Plastercasters. This time, the girls corralled Noel Redding in an attempt to cast his erect organ.
August 10, 1968 – Jimi Hendrix Experience perform two shows at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. Support act: Soft Machine.
Second show set list: Are You Experienced, I Don’t Live Today, Fire, Red House, Foxy Lady, Purple Haze, Wild Thing
In one review of the show by the Chicago Tribune’s Robb Baker, he said, “The music of the Jimi Hendrix Experience (and of the Soft Machine, the group that shared the bill with Hendrix in two sold-out concerts Saturday night) is just that: dissonant, disjointed, deafeningly loud, and replete with all sorts of sight and sound gimmickry, gauged to shatter every convention (musical or moral) in the book. The criteria for judgement in such instances is strange indeed. It’s difficult to judge creativity when it becomes a basically destructive force. One ends up trying to decide, first of all, whether the artists is honest and, secondly, whether or not his art works. This writer saw Hendrix in the Opera House last spring, going there rather unimpressed with his two albums, not expecting to like him much at all. The result was a complete conversion. It was a disturbing, but a startingly fresh and exciting show. Hendrix was clearly a master musician and performer. A second reversal came Saturday night, this time with the writer expecting to be turned on in the same way as before. It didn’t happen. The freshness and excitement were almost completely gone. Gimmicks looked like gimmicks. The sensualism now seemed crude and, like many other things in the show, tacked on simply for effect. And, at the end of the show, when Hendrix threw his guitar into the amplifiers, you could see someone’s hands behind the amps, holding them so they wouldn’t topple, and even worse a shrug in Hendrix’s shoulders that seemed to say, ‘What the hell. I’ve done this 1,000 times before.’”
Baker goes on to say there were some good moments, trying to apologize with a comment, “Perhaps the Auditorium’s famed acoustics are just too good for rock.”
Another review by Glenna Syse noted, “Saturday night was a night for swallowing. If you’ve heard the Jimi Hendrix Experience or Soft Machine, you know what I mean. If you have not, a word of explanation ...
It’s a matter of sound, you see - sound multiplied by man and machine to the infinite, sound extended past any mere decibel count – not necessarily the sound of the 60s, more the sound of 2001. It gives you that express-elevator, jet-flight feeling, a taste of labyrinthitis. And once you can stop hanging onto your seat, it also gives you the sensation of a seventh sense, of living life on a new level at six full feet above the rest of the world.”
The audience at the show was “a very young crowd,” writes Syse. “Some came barefoot, none came wide-eyed. Some came simply clad, others costumed. And all came to sit in rapt intensity.” Of Hendrix, she notes, “He’s a free spirit, this young man with the orbiting hairdo and the purple bell-bottoms. Sexy? Yes. Offensive? No. A musician? You bet your life.”
The Experience stayed at the Conrad Hilton just a couple blocks south of the Auditorium. When Jimi got back to his room, he relaxed by watching a Chicago Bears versus Baltimore Colts exhibition football game.
December 1, 1968 - Coliseum
This was the last night of the 1968 U.S. tour.
A sold-out crowd estimated at 10,000 crammed into the Coliseum on South Wabash Street for this afternoon performance by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, returning to Chicago less than four months after their two shows at the Auditorium Theatre in August.
The concert kicked off on time, a rare 2 p.m. start. Since their last appearance, they swapped Soft Machine for Cat Mother & The All-Night Newsboys as opening act.
Unlike the décor and acoustics of the Opera House and Auditorium on his previous stops, Jam Productions moved this visit down to the Coliseum, an old construction with folding chairs on the floor and gymnasium-style bleacher seats around.
Hendrix was dressed in high white boots, black pants and a lavender shirt.
Noel Redding recalled in his diary, “Chicago is the last show this time round and we did an exceptionally good show … all the ravers came around afterwards including the Plaster Casters, Terry Reid, et al.”
1968 – Jimi Hendrix Experience perform at the Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois.
Recordings of that concert can be found on the Jimi Hendrix website - http://www.jimihendrix.com/concert-broadcast/jimi-hendrix-live-in-chicago-1211968/
The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live In Chicago is a roughly 68-minute recording made during The Experience’s December 1, 1968 concert at the Chicago Coliseum. Although the recording is a little rough around the edges, Hendrix and crew are definitely in the groove on this night as they deliver fiery renditions of some of the group’s most beloved classics including “Spanish Castle Magic,” “Red House,” “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” and “Purple Haze,” plus a handful of poignant tributes to fellow musicians with Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” and Cream’s “Sunshine Of Your Love.”
Plaster Casters! By Ellen Sander ($2.99) – We have to bring this volume to light as both Jimi Hendrix and Noel Redding are involved in the legend of the Plaster Casters, two 60s groupies who set out to create plaster casts of rock star penises. Author Sander does collaborate with Cynthia Plaster Caster. For those who don’t know the story, it’s a glorified lengthy magazine article written in a fanciful, compelling style that’s worth the read.
Cynthia began her unusual career in 1968 when she and a friend, under the guise of The Plaster Casters of Chicago, used guitarist Jimi Hendrix's appendage as their first famous model. Despite not having their techniques down to a science when they started, Cynthia has, over time, perfected her methods into a fine art, which she is now making publicly available in limited editions for the first time.
2/25 Jimi Hendrix
3/30 Noel Redding
--submitted by Ken Voss
Guess who’s got a Top Ten Album this week???
None other than George Harrison!
The 50th Anniversary Collectors Box Set of Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" album sold enough physical copies the first week of its release (a good many by preorder, I’m sure) to debut as the #7 album in the country! (For the record, despite increasing temptation to do so, I have stood firm and still not ordered a copy!!!)
The collectors’ set was offered in a variety of configurations … and Billboard Magazine notes that ALL versions of the album’s sales were combined to achieve the total sales amount to rank it at #7. (I wonder how many $1000 copies this included!!! Lol) Sales registered as 32,000 units.
It began its original chart run back in December of 1970 … and spent seven weeks at #1 during January and February of 1971. George’s last Top Ten album occurred in 1988 when “Cloud Nine” peaked at #8.
Not a bad showing for a “vintage artist.” (To prove my point, the rest of The Top Ten is occupied by Billie Eilish, #1, Olivia Rodrigo, #2, Nas, #3, The Kid LAROI, #4, Doja Cat, #5, Morgen Wallen, #6, Lil Baby and Lil Durk, #8, Dua Lipa, #9 and Polo G, #10 … all future Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers, I’m sure.) kk
Speaking of anniversary reissue albums, the 40th Anniversary “Tattoo You” album by The Rolling Stones promises some interesting new cuts.
For those unfamiliar with the roots and construction of the original album (released in 1981), it was hastily put together because the band was about to go on tour and they wanted to have something new to promote on stage.
Since there wasn’t really time to write and record a dozen new songs, the band simply went back to the vaults to see what they had that could be easily dusted off and finished. As such, half-finished songs and old demos that had been abandoned in the archives for years were polished off to sound new again.
I’d say they didn’t do too badly … the first single, “Start Me Up,” became an instant Classic Rock classic and peaked at #2 on the pop charts. (It also finished at #10 on our Top 3333 Most Essential Classic Rock Songs Of All-Time list a couple of years ago, based on your votes.) In fact, The Rolling Stones had FIVE of the Top 13 songs on this list: “Gimme Shelter” (#5), “Satisfaction” (#7), “Start Me Up” (#10), “Honky Tonk Women (#12) and “Brown Sugar” (#13) … https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/ The follow-up single from “Tattoo You” also made The Top 20 when “Waiting On A Friend” peaked at #13.
I remembered thinking at the time, “How do you leave a track as good as “Start Me Up” behind?” but the truth is, the song as we know it today was being developed with a completely different sound and feel back then. (Although The Stones DID do a “rock and roll take” early on during recording sessions they held a full ten years earlier, the track was being developed instead with more of a reggae feel … and they could just never quite nail the sound they were looking for, so they abandoned the track all together. When they went back to review the material they had on hand to choose from, they rediscovered the original, earlier rock version … and decided to develop THAT one instead. Obviously, it worked. Another classic Keith Richards guitar riff pushed it right up the charts to become the band’s biggest record since 1978’s #1 Hit “Miss You.”) A bonus disc of “Lost And Found Rarities” included in the new 40th Anniversary set allows us to hear the reggae version for the first time ... as well as eight other “underdeveloped” tracks that missed the cut on subsequent albums. (Unused and incomplete tracks from their “Goats Head Soup," “Emotional Rescue,” “Black And Blue” and “Some Girls” albums were resurrected and reconsidered when the final track line-up for “Tattoo You” was assembled.)
Jagger later explained, "They’re all from different periods. Then, I had to write new lyrics and melodies. A lot of them didn’t have anything, which is why they weren’t used at the time – because they weren’t complete. They were just bits, or they were from early takes. And then I put them all together in an incredibly cheap fashion." Let’s just say the band worked pretty well under pressure! The album went to #1 and today is considered to be one of their best.
(In the case of "Start Me Up," Jagger says Take Two was the rock and roll version that eventually got remade into the hit single. In the meantime, the band did over twenty takes of the reggae arrangement, ultimately forgetting about how the song had started out in the first place, too focused now on not being able to achieve the sound they wanted with the reggae mix. Once they revisited the material in the vaults, they rediscovered the earlier rock arrangement ... and it was onward and upward from that point forward.)
The new box set (available in various configurations as seems to be the trend these days) boasts a 4-CD Super Deluxe edition that features a complete 2021 remix of the original album as well as a second disc of “Lost And Found Rarities” as described above. It’s all capped off with a 2-CD live recording of The Stones at Wembley Stadium circa 1982.
Because some of these tracks dated as far back as they did, the band line-up itself was expanded on record to include not only Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood … but also former guitarist Mick Taylor … as well as guest stars like Pete Townshend, saxophonist Sonny Rollins, guitarist Wayne Perkins, percussionist Michael Carabello and keyboardists Billy Preston and Nicky Hopkins.
Of appeal to many, I would imagine would be the 2-CD Live Set being billed as “Still Life: Wembley Stadium, 1982.” It’s the full, 25-song concert featuring live readings of “Under My Thumb,” “When The Whip Comes Down,” “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” “Shattered,” “Neighbours,” “Black Limousine,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” “Twenty Flight Rock,” “Going To A Go Go,” “Chantilly Lace,” “Let Me Go,” “Time Is On My Side,” “Beast Of Burden,” “Let It Bleed,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Little T&A,” “Tumbling Dice,” “She’s So Cold,” “Hang Fire,” “Miss You,” “Honky Tonk Women,” “Brown Sugar,” “Start Me Up,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” It also shows some of the “Tattoo You” material being performed live for the very first time.
(I, on the other hand, will be perfectly thrilled to just have the remixed album along with the second disc of work-up tapes. I don’t think I ever need to hear another Rolling Stones live album!!! Lol)
Coming on the heels of the recently expanded and very successful “Goats Head Soup” box set, there is a lot of anticipation and some pretty high expectations for this one. The new release hits the streets on October 22nd. (kk)
And The Beach Boys’ “Feel Flows” box set finally arrives next Friday (August 27th) … man, what a GREAT birthday present that’s going to be!
Assorted audio clips have been released along the way to help build anticipation … but Spud (Al Jardine’s right-hand man) just sent us this new video clip which, hopefully, is just the first in a series …
Presenting The Beach Boys Feel Flows
Chapter 1: I See Love, a visual exploration of this metamorphic and highly
influential 1969-1971 period of the band's legendary career
https://youtu.be/HGhvYTG-Nao
Maggie May Redux
Using
my investigative expertise, I simply checked the ARSA website to see if the
claim that KRLA was playing "Maggie May" in early July, 1971 holds
H2O.
Okay ... There are TWO KRLA charts archived for the first week of July, 1971.
HOWEVER, the one that was printed at the time during THAT WEEK, is dated as
July 5th through July 11th.
Rod Stewart is not listed in the Top 30, or even as an up-and-coming pick hit
during this week. His "Every Picture Tells A Story" LP is
listed along with other top LPs for that week (even though the LP came out late
in 1970).
There is another KRLA survey dated July 6th, 1971, but this one is a recollection noting: RELIVE THE SUMMER of 1971 All this weekend on KRLA!
On this "Relive The Summer of 1971" survey, "Maggie May" is listed at #4.
It must have been compiled for some sort of on-air special, perhaps for Labor Day, or even during a subsequent year. Possibly aired over a 4th of July holiday weekend years later, hence the July 6th date to make it seem official.
Therefore, I do not buy that KRLA actually played Maggie May" on a 45 anytime in the month of July.
I bought the single at the start of the school year, early September, and it was a big spin at our lunchtime 45rpm spins on the Califone record player. I remember I had to buy another copy after we wore out the first one. None of my classmates liked "Reason To Believe." Nor did I.
"Maggie May" still sounds great in 2021, as does "You Wear It Well," one I like a bit more. You can have Rod's late 1970s and beyond songs. His maudlin rasp of "Have I Told You Lately" = fingernails scraping the school blackboard for me. I had to air this as a paid jock on a dull A/C format station. Yuck-O!
WMEX was the first documented (so far) AM
radio station to show that they were spinning "Maggie May" and
"Reason To Believe" in July, 1971.
The weekly surveys prove the fact, although "Maggie May" was already
in its 4th week of spins on their July 15, 1971.
It was aired / listed as an album cut inserted into the rotation. I've probably got an aircheck of WMEX during that time somewhere in my tape archives, I've got so many at this point!
So, unless another printed / documented radio survey comes along in the future, I believe we can say the first / earliest Top 40 station to play "Maggie May" was from Beantown, U.S.A.!
Mike Markesich
>>>Billboard just announced that The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” has now logged its 88th Week on Billboard’s Hot 100. (kk)
The Weeknd's had six top 40 songs since this, but the radio keeps playing this one. I've heard "Save Your Tears," but only the remix with Ariana Grande.
Another song that's been around since last year is "Levitating" by Dua Lipa, which is still in the top 5 and I still hear it every time I'm in my car. No complaints here though. This is a great song, energetic and upbeat. It's even better now that the removed the rap by DaBaby. Never needed that anyway. But she has had three top 40 songs since then that I never hear.
Ed #1
Billboard Magazine also finally released their Top 500 Songs of Summer Chart this week. It lists the biggest chart hits attained during the Summer Months of June, July and August from 1959 (the first full summer AFTER their Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart started) thru 2020 (by which time, as we pointed out the other day, the chart was no longer only about singles ... so really just another series of apples and oranges comparisons.)
That being said, you’re going to find a little bit of EVERYTHING on this chart. (The Summer Months in our minds has always been the time period between Memorial Day and Labor Day … and Billboard took that exact same approach when building their list.)
For starters, congrats to Jim Peterik and Survivor for landing at #20 on the All-Time Summer Hits list with “Eye Of The Tiger” from 1982 … it topped Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles list for six weeks that year.
Other artists from the Forgotten Hits Era (1955 – 1989) include “Tossin’ And Turnin’” by Bobby Lewis (#3), “Every Breath You Take” by The Police (#7), “I Just Wanna Be Your Everything” by Andy Gibb (#9), The Stones again with “Satisfaction” (#13) and “In The Year 2525” by Zager and Evans (#19) to name but a few.
(This would actually make for a pretty cool and interesting countdown … and SiriusXM was supposed to relaunch their Summer Songs Channel to coincide with the release of this list. I didn't find any more information on this tie-in promotion, however.) Where else are you going to hear all of the artists named above played side by side with the likes of Puff Daddy and Faith Evans, featuring 112 (who claimed The Biggest Summer Hit of All-Time with “I’ll Be Missing You”), Mariah Carey, Robin Thicke Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, Domenico Modugno (“Volare”), Carly Rae Jepsen, The Association, Christina Aguilera, Fergie, The Doors, TheEagles, Heart, Diana Ross, Usher and Duran Duran!!!
This is an interesting list to peruse …
https://www.billboard.com/charts/greatest-of-all-time-songs-of-the-summer ...
Digging deeper, Rihanna leads the pack with EIGHT of the Top 500 Summer Songs, followed by Elton John, Paul McCartney/Wings, The Rolling Stones and Usher, who each have five summer hits, The Beatles, Drake, Lil Wayne, Katy Perry and Donna Summer, each of whom have four, followed by The Bee Gees, Justin Bieber, The Black Eyed Peas, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, Madonna, Prince and Frankie Valli, who each tally three titles on the Greatest of All Time Songs of the Summer Chart.
Billboard also put together a list of The Top Ten Singles of EVERY Summer during this same time period … much as we posted several years ago on the other Forgotten Hits website …
(I’m curious to see how our charts compare to theirs … keeping in mind that OUR summer charts are based on The Super Charts, reflecting the collective popularity of all of these tracks from 1955 – 1985.)
http://forgottenhits.com/ (Scroll down the left hand menu to find the years you’re interested in)
Just heard about Forgotten Hits today and I'm loving it!
Is there any way I can research old posts to see if there was anything about Pete "Mad Daddy" Myers ever posted?
Mike Olszewski
The name’s not familiar to me so I’m going to guess that we have not … but you can always check via the little search window at the very top, upper left-hand corner – just type in what you’re looking for and if it’s on the site somewhere, it should find it. (Likewise, with literally THOUSANDS of posts under our belts now, you can also go to Google and just type in something like Forgotten Hits Pete Mad Daddy Myers to see if anything comes up … but I really doubt that it will in this instance.) kk
How cool is it to hear our buddy Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon introducing the hits on SiriusXM’s ‘50’s on 5 Channel!!! (I just happened across this by accident the other day … but this guy can certainly share some unique insight into the music scene at the time!) Check it out if you get a chance. (kk)
Hello Kent - hope all is well with you.
I am delighted to announce that my program has returned to the internet. Brand new episodes of THE MEMORY LANE SHOW will air on RememberThenRadio.com.
The programs will be webcast three times a week:
** Sundays 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 pm PT
** Wednesdays 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 pm PT
** Wednesdays Midnight ET / 9:00 pm PT
wrtr.net -or- RememberThenRadio.com (Either
link will work)
Our first program is also available on demand here:
https://www.podcasts.com/the-memory-lane-show-with-lane-quigley/episode/memory-lane-show-1-with-lane-quigley?fbclid=IwAR3wVXJLetiF2SmKyaAoj2dICCUU28vFBlZuLjebewJ6D3qyP1LO8eKzGPA
If you feel like this is worth sharing on your blog, I would appreciate the
plug. Thanks!!
Keep on Rockin’ !!!
Lane Quigley
THE MEMORY LANE SHOW
Frank B. tells us about this landmark milestone coming up …
The Grand Ole Opry To Celebrate Historic Milestone: 5,000th Saturday Night Broadcast with Bill Anderson, Vince Gill, Connie Smith & More - American Songwriter
kk …
They’ll be broadcasting their 5000th show in October.
FB
And tonight Cousin Brucie pays tribute to The Cyrkle …
“Yeah, the worst is over now
The mornin' sun is shinin' like a red rubber ball … ”
How many times have you sang that song about that “bouncy” Red Rubber Ball?
Our guest visit this week will be with Don Dannemann –
Founding member and lead vocalist of THE CYRKLE.
The band was formed by Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes and Jim Maiella while they attended Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. They were originally a college band called The Rhondells and were later discovered and managed by Brian Epstein – the manager of the Beatles.
Here’s a Rock & Roll fact – John Lennon helped rename the band and gave them the “unique” spelling - The Cyrkle.
In 1966, they toured with The Beatles and were the opening act. They were also on the bill for the final Beatles concert at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966.
The Cyrkle is probably best known for their 1966 smash hit "Red Rubber Ball," which peaked at number 2 on the charts. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.
Another Rock & Roll fact: “Red Rubber Ball” was co-written by Paul Simon, of Simon and Garfunkel, and Bruce Woodley of The Seekers.
Later in 1966, they had one more Top 20 hit, "Turn-Down Day." They followed that with a few more singles and then they disbanded in 1968.
Don Danneman became a professional jingle writer after the Cyrkle disbanded.
The Cuz welcomes Don to WABC MusicRadio
So, I was looking at the people on the late shows last night and was surprised to see Colbert showing CROWDED HOUSE! Whaa? Crowded House? The 80's band we loved? Yep! Turns out Neil Finn has reformed the band using two sons as well and making them more harmonious than their 80's version, if the song below is to be believed. Cool new tune, "To the Island." They also have put up their new band version of their biggest hit. Welcome back to one of few 80's bands I cared about.
Crowded House is BACK!
Clark Besch
To the Island: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAgOE8iqlgI
Don’t Dream Its Over: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VY1scFwQro
Clark also sent us this one …
The greatest Beatles tribute band ever?
Could it be the one shown in the five minute medley at the very end of this Carol Burnett first season episode 6 show posted on youtube today?
It was broadcast October 16, 1967, about four months after Sgt Pepper's release.
WHO is the Beatles mystery cover band? Phyllis Diller as Billy Shears!!
The quartet: Carol Burnett, Phyllis Diller, Bobbie Gentry and Gwen Verdon!!!!!
(It's not really that bad!)
I loved that TV show. Still watch it on MeTV some.
Clark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLoWd838JZk
Actually, it IS that bad … but still worth sharing anyway. (Just goes to show you again what a universal impact the “Sgt. Pepper” had on all of society!) kk
Best Classic Bands’ recent tribute to the harp … the MOUTH harp that is … was just too good not to share …
https://bestclassicbands.com/rock-songs-featuring-harmonica-2-3-200/
Now I’m sure that each of us can think of more than a few others where the moment you hear that harmonica sound, the whole song takes on a new level of excitement … let’s face it, the harmonica has been part of rock and roll music (and before that, a HUGE part of blues, rhythm and blues and country and western music) since the beginning of time … so I’ve got to give BCB special props for singling out The Chipmunks as being the group who kicked off this whole craze in the first place with their 1959 Top Five Hit “Alvin’s Harmonica!!!” (kk)
More smiles …
>>>Posting precisely at Midnight Tonight (Chicago Time, of course!) The Weekend Comments … featuring news about Rewound Radio's Tribute to Larry Lujack … more speculation about the origins of "Maggie May" become a hit (I had absolutely NO idea this piece would create the buzz that it has!!!) ... and, (as one FH Reader recently so eloquently described it), a Shit Ton More!!! (kk)
Great stuff, Kent … very much appreciated!
Rick Dubridge
>>>We have a long-standing rule in Forgotten Hits that we'll only air ONE ventriloquist clip every twenty years ... so I want you to know that it is, indeed, a special honor that I am breaking that rule today to run this ... (kk)
Hey, Kent!
You don't have to run this if you don't want to, of course! No Penalty!
I just hope you enjoy it anyway!
I call it: "The Worst Ventriloquist Act Ever!"
Chuck Buell
C’mon … how can I possibly NOT run this?!?!
OK, you got me … made ME
laugh!!! (lol) kk
