Monday, September 27, 2021

A Monday Morning Quickie

Saturday was One Hit Wonders Day.  (How did YOU celebrate?!?!)  And Best Classic Bands celebrated by honoring Steam’s #1 Hit “Na Na, Hey Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye” from 1969 … of course, immortalized forever by our very own Chicago White Sox several years later adopted it as their “theme song” whenever the opposing team was switching pitchers.  (Organist Nancy Faust would play the song and the crowd would sing along.)  It became SO popular, in fact, that the single was rereleased with a Chicago White Sox Picture Sleeve!!!



And then in a White Sox ad campaign ...


 

Here are The Top Ten Hits from that week in December of 1969 when Steam topped the Record World Chart with their only hit …

 


Wait a second … how is that possible???  There’s not a single bleeped-out swear word in any one of these titles!!!  How the heck did THESE melodious and memorable tunes become Top Ten Hits???  (Even 52 years later I still heard every single one of these songs on the radio last week … and some more than once!)  kk

 

The Rolling Stones kicked off their resumed “No Filter” tour in St. Louis last night, revamping the set list slightly from their warm-up show they gave the week before for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s “private party.”

 

Here is last night’s set list according to Best Classic Bands …

Street Fighting Man
It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)
Tumbling Dice
Under My Thumb
19th Nervous Breakdown
Wild Horses
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Living In a Ghost Town
Start Me Up
Honky Tonk Women
Happy
Slipping Away
Miss You
Midnight Rambler
Paint It Black
Sympathy For the Devil
Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Encore
Gimme Shelter
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

Is the 21st day of September becoming the new 3rd of June? How about the 3rd of September, or even the 6th of June?

Jack

All memorable dates for sure!  But I’d have to say that Earth, Wind and Fire are leading the pack in this department right now, with The Temptations likely their closest competition.  (Ten-Four, Good Buddy!)  kk

 

>>>In case someone didn't mention it yet … The Moody Blues’ "Nights In White Satin" was first released in January, 1968. Scattered national airplay but a #5 hit on our man Clark Besch's fave station KLMS in April!  Original 1968 pressings show the writer credit incorrectly as “Redwave" (!) and play a shorter edit version.  It was then re-released in June/July of 1972 with the now-familiar longer version. 

(Mike Markesich)

Pass this on to Mike: The Moodies knew who Redwave was... check it out...

http://otten.freeshell.org/moodyblues/FAQ-6-04.htm

--Bob Frable

From Bob’s link …

On the original LP release of Days of Future Passed the credits list "All music composed: Redwave/Knight", and on the CD releases, Redwave/Knight are listed as authors of "The Day Begins". Also, some single versions of "Nights in White Satin" were credited to Redwave.  As noted in Sections 3.1 and 3.3, Peter Knight was the conductor who wrote and arranged the orchestral passages between the Moodies' songs. "Redwave" is a fictional name, on which Justin Hayward has commented: "it was just us guys, really."

MY COUSIN VINNIE's Debut on WABC 77 AM … 9/25/2021

kk:

I'm Giving Him High Marks For His First Show.

Good Music + Fast Paced + High Energy.

1 = Volare / Bobby Rydell

2 = I Only Want To Be With You / Dusty Springfield

3 = Be My Baby / Ronettes

4 = Lovers Concerto / Toys

5 = The Lion Sleeps Tonight / Tokens

6 = He's A Rebel / Crystals

7 = I Say A Little Prayer / Dionne Warwick

8 = Walk Right On In / Jackie Wilson

9 = Bless You / Tony Orlando

10 = The Rain, The Park & Other Things / Cowsills –

One member of the group said it was the first time the mother ever sang

11 = In & Out Of Love = Supremes

12 = Everybody Loves A Clown / Gary Lewis & Playboys

13 = Bristol Stomp / Dovells

14 = 1 - 2 -3 Red Light / 1910 Fruitgum Company

15= My Love / Petula Clark

16 = Baby Come Back / Eagles

[I’m guessing he means The Equals – kk]

17 = I Want To Hold Your Hand / Beatles

He reviewed the year, 1964

18 = Shoop Shoop Song / Betty Everett

19 = Rag Doll / 4 Seasons

20 = Cara Mia / Jay & Americans

Vinnie said that this is his favorite song

# 8 - He's calling this a song "OUT OF THE VAULT" that we haven't heard in a long time.  Since Vinnie isn't reading Ron Smith's book like we are, I don't think he knew that 9/25 was the anniversary of Jackie Wilson's heart attack in 1975.

(He knows it now, cause I told him.)

One hour doesn't seem long enough ...

Seems like he's just getting started & it’s over.

I think it will be extended to two hours in the near future.

FB

 

Alan Lancaster, founding member and bassist for Status Quo, passed away this past weekend.  He was 72 years old and had been suffering from multiple sclerosis for quite some time.

Although the band only had one major hit here in The States (“Pictures Of Matchstick Men,” #11, 1968), they continued to chart regularly in Jolly Ol’ England well into the 2000’s.

“Pictures Of Matchstick Men” was my favorite song at the time … it was so unlike anything else on the radio at the time … and it remains one of my all-time favorite one hit wonders.  (kk)

 

Also leaving us yesterday was George Frayne (aka Commander Cody.)  Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen scored a Top Ten Hit with their 1972 remake of the early rock classic “Hot Rod Lincoln.”  (The origins of this song actually date back to the early 1900’s!  Check out the link provided below.)  They also charted with a couple of other remakes, including “Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar” (#75, 1972), “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! That Cigarette” (#71, 1973) and “Don’t Let Go” (#43, 1975) … but it will always be their version of “Hot Rod Lincoln” that they will be remembered by. It reached #6 on the national charts and was a #2 Hit here in Chicago on the WCFL Chart.  (Inexplicably, it never charted on WLS!)

Frayne took his stage name and christened his band from an old movie serial called “Lost Planet Airmen” (originally “King Of The Rocket Men”), which featured a character named Kommando Kody.

We did an in-depth feature on the song “Hot Rod Lincoln” many years ago in Forgotten Hits.  You can find it here:  Forgotten Hits - THE STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS  (Just scroll down to the “Hot Rod Lincoln” section toward the bottom of the page.)  kk