Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Tuesday This And That

Did you get a chance to listen to Phil Nee’s salute to 1971 Saturday Night?

I guess there were a few glitches early on with people being unable to stream the station (I myself had issues), but things were corrected early enough to air the balance (and bulk) of the show.


I’ve personally received some very good feedback (and I’m hoping that Phil has, too.)  He did a GREAT job of presenting not only your Top 40 Favorites, but also a TON of extras.  (And I love the way he was able to edit in my contributions as well as many of his vintage interviews with these artists and distribute them throughout the six hour program.)  A GREAT job … and a reminder of just how solid the music of ’71 really was.


(If you’re curious as to how The Top 40 shaped up, I can now reveal the list for those who may have missed the show):

 

1

Brown Sugar - Rolling Stones

2

It's Too Late - Carole King

3

LA Goodbye - Ides Of March

4

Mighty Clouds Of Joy - BJ Thomas

5

Joy To The World - Three Dog Night

6

What Is Life - George Harrison

7

If I Were Your Woman - Gladys Knight and the Pips

8

It Don't Come Easy - Ringo Starr

9

Lucky Man- Emerson, Lake and Palmer

10

Bell Bottom Blues - Derek and the Dominoes

11

I'd Love To Change The World - Ten Years After

12

Lonely Days - Bee Gees

13

Me And You And A Dog Named Boo - Lobo

14

Riders On The Storm - Doors

15

Do You Know What I Mean - Lee Michaels

16

Black Magic Woman - Santana

17

Maggie May - Rod Stewart

18

Baby I'm-A Want You - Bread

19

Temptation Eyes - Grass Roots

20

Woodstock - Matthews' Southern Comfort

21

Just My Imagination - Temptations

22

We Gotta Get You A Woman - Runt

23

Roll On - New Colony Six

24

Get It On - Chase

25

Sooner or Later - Grass Roots

26

Fresh As A Daisy - Emitt Rhodes

27

Rings - Cymarron

28

Won't Get Fooled Again - Who

29

Eighteen - Alice Cooper

30

Have You Seen Her - Chi-Lites

31

Draggin' The Line - Tommy James

32

Let Your Love Go - Bread

33

I Just Want To Celebrate - Rare Earth

34

Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers

35

Wild World - Cat Stevens

36

Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin

37

Indian Reservation - Paul Revere and the Raiders

38

Walk Away - James Gang

39

It's A Cryin' Shame - Gayle McCormick

40

Treat Her Like A Lady - Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose


When all was said and done, 151 songs were nominated and 5286 votes were cast.  (kk)

It was a great show (after I got it.)  Great interviews, too.

Clark Besch

On the radio …

Good morning!

In baseball, when a player has a very brief stint in the big leagues or a short career overall, they like to call it “a cup of coffee.” In popular music, the shortest career of all, having but a single hit song on the pop charts, puts the artist in a special category, that of one-hit wonder. Like most fans of pop music, we hold a special affection for these one-and-done artists. Later in the week, we’ll be marking their all-too-brief time in the spotlight with a One-Hit Wonder Weekend to coincide with National One-Hit Wonder Day, which is this Saturday, the 25th of September. We’ll kick off our weekend feature, as we always do, in the 7:00 pm hour on Friday.

Care to make any suggestions for our celebration of One-Hit Wonders? Feel free to drop us a line using contact@metv.fm anytime. Your input is always welcome here.

Have a good week!

Rick O’Dell / Me-TV-FM

And, from Chuck Buell, whom I think it’s safe to say is NOT a “One Hit Wonder,” although he has played all of these Forgotten Hits on his Big Radio Shows Across the Land over the years!

We bring this up because this Saturday is Officially “National One-Hit Wonder Day,” honoring those who HIT it Big - ONCE - then FADED away!  So many of these songs still resonate among our personal favorites!

 

This by no means is a comprehensive list but just a taste of some of those singular songs from that Forgotten Hit Decade known as the unforgettable 1960s! What’s interesting is, you can almost immediately “hear” these songs in your head just by reading their titles!

 

1960 ~~~

"Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning

"Stay" by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs
"Alley Oop" by The Hollywood Argyles

"Mr. Custer" by Larry Verne

 

1961 ~~~
"I Like It Like That" by Chris Kenner
"Apache" by Jørgen Ingmann

“Mother-in-Law” by Ernie K Doe

“The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by the Tokens

 

1962 ~~~

"Hey Baby" by Bruce Channel

“Telstar” by The Tornados

“The Stripper” by David Rose
"Rhythm of the Rain" by The Cascades
"Stranger on the Shore" by Acker Bilk

 

1963 ~~~

"Wipe Out" by The Surfaris

"The Game of Love" by Wayne Fontana

"Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto
"Sally Go Round the Roses" by The Jaynetts

“Six Days on the Road” by Dave Dudley

 

1964

“Ringo" by Lorne Greene

"Last Kiss" by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers

 

1965

"Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire

 

1966

“They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!”

 

1967
"Little Bit O' Soul" by The Music Explosion


1968

"Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)" by John Fred and His Playboy Band

"Green Tambourine" by The Lemon Pipers

"Love is Blue" by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra

“Harper Valley P.T.A.” by Jeannie C. Riley

“Grazing in the Grass”– Hugh Masekela

 

1969

“Smile a Little Smile for Me” by The Flying Machine

“Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum

"Love (Can Make You Happy)" by Mercy

"In the Year 2525" by Zager and Evans

 

And there you go!  And there they went!  One and Done!

 

CB!

(Chart Boy???)  kk

 

And, of course, our own list, put together for a radio program many years ago by Rich Appel …

 

Forgotten Hits - Top 100 One-Hit Wonders

 

And we’ve just GOT to mention the song that WE always try to encourage disc jockeys to play during any One Hit Wonder celebration  (and most have complied) …

 

It comes from the very prolific (and very clever) pen of Chicago’s own Jim Peterik, whose Ides Of March are considered by most of the world to be a One Hit Wonder (although Jim once said to me, “C’mon, we’ve got to be at least a 1 ½ Hit Wonder!”) …

 

Check out all that went into the writing of this song … a Forgotten Hits Classic that we’ve been playing for YEARS now …

 

 

And, speaking of classic One Hit Wonders ...


kk …

BRUCE interviews BRUCE –

Last Night Bruce Milner of Every Mother’s Son was interviewed by Bruce Morrow.

The group was discovered singing on the beaches of Brooklyn, New York.

They were together for three years ... one year before recording their "ONE HIT WONDER," "COME ON DOWN TO MY BOAT" and two years after.

Everybody wants to know where their name came from:  Every Mother’s Son.

One of the group members heard the quote in "MOBY DICK."  He also heard the same quote in "MERCHANT OF VENICE" and decided it would be a good group name.

After three years, the group members went their separate ways.

Bruce Milner became a Dentist. Nowadays he's Cousin Brucie's Dentist.

Don't you just love a happy ending?

FB

“Come On Down To My Boat” was a GREAT song … we STILL hear it all the time, 54 years later … definitely one of the biggest songs from The Summer of ’67 (aka The Summer Of Love.)  Big as it was, it was kept out of the #1 spot thanks to “Windy” by The Association on our WLS chart … but it DID hit #1 on WCFL.  (Nationally, it peaked at #5 … but I know it also hit #1 on other Top 40 charts around the country.)

I MC’d a show one time where former Every Mother’s Son lead singer Denny Larden appeared with The New Colony Six and sang the band’s one big hit.  (The closest they ever came to another one was with their follow-up single, “Put Your Mind At Ease” … it peaked at #36 on the charts, probably due to the immediate airplay it got coming off their previous chart success.  Billboard ranked it ten spots lower on their Hot 100 Chart.)

Frank also sent us a video of the band performing “Come On Down To My Boat,” but you’ll have to look closely to find Bruce Milner … he’s barely in any of the shots!!!

This is just one of those Real Good, Feel Good Songs!  (kk)


 

Frank also sent these cool photos from Brian Hyland’s “homecoming” ceremony …


kk …

Saturday (September 18th) was Brian Hyland's Homecoming Ceremony.

In an interview, I heard Brian say that he bought a house for his family.  They moved from Woodhaven, Queens to West Hempsteag, Long Island.

FB




... And this tribute to legendary deejay Harry Harrison, who would have turned 91 yesterday (September 20th) …


On This Day In History:  September 20th, 1930: Harry Harrison is born. 



He has been a popular American radio personality, primarily in New York City, for over 50 years. Harrison is the only DJ to be a WMCA "Good Guy", a WABC "All-American", and on the WCBS-FM line-up when the New York station flipped to the "Jack" format in June 2005.

Harrison worked at WCFL as a summer replacement, yet remained there eight months, substituting for the permanent DJs. Harrison became program director at WPEO, Peoria and hosted the morning show as the "Morning Mayor of Peoria." In just six months, Harrison made WPEO the top station.

In 1959, Harrison joined WMCA, New York, as the mid-day "Good Guy." Joe O'Brien (mornings) and Harrison gave WMCA a "one-two punch" for over eight years. Harrison, along with wife Patti, and children Brian Joseph ["B.J."], Patti, Patrick, and Michael, called the New York suburbs "home."  In 1965, he recorded the nationally charted holiday narration "May You Always" on Amy Records. Other WMCA "Good Guys" included Jack Spector, B. Mitchel Reed, Dan Daniel and Johnny Dark, and talk show host Barry Gray.

Harrison became popular with his "Housewife Hall of Fame" feature, and participated in the 1966 WMCA Good Guy picnic. Often, he scored the highest ratings on WMCA. WABC program director Rick Sklar took note. In 1968, when WABC morning man Herb Oscar Anderson left the station, Rick Sklar hired Harrison to replace him. Harrison was followed in the WABC day by Ron Lundy.

Every year, Harrison played seasonal songs, such as his holiday greeting "May You Always" in the winter (the Amy records single of this song made the Billboard Christmas charts in 1965), and Allan Sherman's summer camp novelty, "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh", throughout the summer months. WABC personalities included, along with Harrison, Charlie Greer, Scott Muni, Bob Lewis, Lundy, Johnny Donovan, Dan Ingram, "Cousin Brucie" Bruce Morrow, Chuck Leonard, Bob Cruz, Frank Kingston Smith, and Roby Yonge, and others.

Harrison had a number of "trademark" phrases, such as "Morning, Mom," "Every brand new day should be unwrapped like a precious gift," "Stay well, stay happy, stay right here" and "Harry Harrison wishing you all the very best ... because that's exactly what you deserve!" Also, on the last day of every year, Harrison would bring his four children to work with him and at the end of his shift, he would join them in giving listeners New Year's wishes.

Harrison was let go from WABC as the station changed direction in November 1979. In March, 1980, Harrison became the morning personality at WCBS-FM (101.1), playing oldies music. In 1984, with Lundy joining the station, they were once again heard back-to-back. Harrison would interact with Morning Crew engineer Al Vertucci, Phil Pepe, who reported sports, and joke about "wacky weather" and toupee warnings with Irv "Mr. "G" Gikofsky (weather), Mary Jane Royce, and Sue Evans. At 7:20 AM, Harrison opened the "birthday book" and announced listener and celebrity birthdays. 

On April 25, 1997, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani issued a proclamation, naming April 25th "Harry Harrison Day" in honor of the second "Mayor." On March 19, 2003, after a 44-year career in New York radio, Harrison left WCBS-FM, saying "I am not retiring." His farewell to his loyal radio friends (from 5:30 to 10:00 am) was held before a live audience at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City. It offered old airchecks plus guest appearances by WCBS-FM colleagues Don K. Reed, Bobby Jay, Steve O'Brien, Randy Davis and Dan Taylor, his replacement, as well as his son and daughter, and wife Patti. Harrison took phone calls from Bob Shannon, Mike Fitzgerald, Ed Baer, and Ron Lundy. Songs included Gladys Knight's "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" and the Little River Band's "Reminiscing," before closing with "That's What Friends Are For."

Shortly after he left WCBS-FM, Harrison's long-time wife, Patti, who he had always referred to as "Pretty Patti" on the air, died. Harrison returned to WCBS-FM with a Saturday morning show in 2004. It offered two hours of variety and two hours of Beatles music and memories. On Memorial Day, May 30, 2005, Harry and "Cousin" Bruce Morrow were guests on WABC Radio's annual Rewound show. Four days later, on June 3, WCBS-FM ended its "oldies" format, in favor of the new "Jack" format. However, as a result of listener disapproval, the WCBS-FM Oldies format was brought back on July 12, 2007, in a modernized form. 

#HarryHarrison #WABC #WABCAM #AMTop40 #TheMostMusic #MusicRadio #MusicRadioWABC #AM77WABC #SeventySevenWABC #WABCAM #WABCRadio #AllAmericans #WABCAllAmericans #AMRadio #Radio #OldTimeRadio #OTR #Deejays #DJs #DiscJockeys #RadioShows #GreatDJs #GreatDiscJockeys #Airchecks #WCBSFM #WCFL #WPEO #WMCA #GoodGuys #WMCAGoodGuys
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Harrison_(DJ) Harry Harrison 

Of course the big news here in Chicago yesterday was the impromptu concert by Metallic at the small 1100 seat venue The Metro … tickets sold out an hour after the show was first announced … it was the band's first appearance here at the club in 38 years.  (One of the attendees mentioned to me that he saw them then, too … and for probably the same $20 ticket price!)

Meanwhile, The Rolling Stones played a private warm-up show for Patriots Owner Robert Kraft and his family … their first ever without Charlie Watts on Drums.  The real No Filter Tour resumes on Sunday in St. Louis.  (Incredibly, this tour first launched in Hamburg, Germany, on September 9th of 2017 and played thru to August 30th of 2019 in Florida.  Plans to pick up again early last year were disrupted when the pandemic hit and forced the cancellation of all events.

Noise 11 is reporting this as the band’s set list when they performed for the Kraft’s private family party at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA:

Let’s Spend the Night Together
Tumbling Dice
Under My Thumb
Trouble’s a Coming (from the brand new “Tattoo You” expanded box set coming out next month)
Living in a Ghost Town (their pandemic single from last year)
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Midnight Rambler
Miss You
19th Nervous Breakdown
Start Me Up
Gimme Shelter
Sympathy for the Devil
Jumpin’ Jack Flash
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

And, leaving no Stone unturned ...

kk …

The Rolling Stones will darken their logo to honor Charlie Watts.  They Will Also Show Videos Of Charlie During Concerts.

FB 

https://www.audacy.com/music/classic-rock/the-rolling-stones-darken-their-logo-to-honor-charlie-watts?utm_campaign=trendingclassics&utm_content=WCBS-FM%20101.1%20-%20New%20York%27s%20Greatest%20Hits&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0qHclq-J7YUOL6JJCF9F-BcV-yIVNKYUz4BQst3ux6B1XXTteDAx_wTlM

Yes, we talked about this last week … at least SOME kind of tribute to honor their fallen bandmate.  (These poor guys couldn't even attend Charlie's funeral.)  kk

Latest band reunion to report seems to be The Fugees, who last performed together in any capacity back in 2006.  Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel (each of whom have enjoyed some degree of success as solo artists) would all be onboard.

Geared around the 25th anniversary of their 1996 album “The Score,” new recordings, a film and possibly even a tour are all being discussed.  That LP spawned their #2 Hit “Killing Me Softly,” a hip-hop remake of the Roberta Flack classic.

There have been other reunions of sorts during the past 25 years, but all have been one-offs designed around a specific event.

The first happened just a year after their announced split in 1997 when The Fugees reunited to film the music video for ‘Just Happy to Be Me’ for the “Sesame Street” special “Elmopalooza” in 1998, as well as the Grammy-winning soundtrack album.

In September of 2004, they reunited on stage for a concert in Brooklyn, and a year later, the group played a 12-minute set at the 2005 BET Awards.  (Talks of a reunion album also surfaced at the time, but only one song, “Take It Easy,” ever materialized.  It charted for just two weeks in October of 2005, only managing to bubble under at #119.  Still, The Fugees (short for Refugees) are regarded as one of the most influential groups of the 90s, having sold over 22 million records worldwide.  (They were certainly all the rage at the time!)

Lauryn Hill went on to even greater notoriety with the release of her solo album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in 1998 and then went on to produce tracks for artists like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige.

Haitian cousins Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel also went on to produce other artists, as well as scoring hits with their own solo releases.  In 1997, Wyclef Jean released his debut album “The Carnival,” (which just happened to feature multiple appearances from his former bandmates) while Pras Michel scored the big hit “Ghetto Supastar” (#15, 1998), featuring Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Mya (from the Warren Beatty film “Bulworth.”

FUGEES HIT LIST (includes solo hits to date)

Peaks shown were in Billboard Magazine … higher chartings also noted

1994 – Nappy Heads (by Fugees) #49

1996 – Fu-Gee-La (by Fugees – Refugee Camp)  #29 / #19 in Cash Box

1996 – Killing Me Softly (by Fugees) #2 / #1 in Radio and Records

1996 – No Woman, No Cry (by Fugees)  #38

1997 – The Sweetest Thing (as released by The Refugee Camp All-Stars, featuring Lauryn Hill)  #61

1997 – Avenues (as released by The Refugee Camp All-Stars, featuring Pras with Ky-Mani)

1998 – Gone Till November (by Wyclef Jean) #7

1998 – Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You (by Lauryn Hill)  #35

1998 – Ghetto Supastar (by Pras Michel) #15

1998 – Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauryn Hill  (#1)

1999 – Ex-Factor (by Lauryn Hill)  #21

1999 – Everything Is Everything (by Lauryn Hill)  #35

2001 – Perfect Gentleman (by Wyclef Jean)  #xx / #46 in Radio and Records

2000 – 911 (by Wyclef Jean featuring Mary J. Blige) #38

2002 – Two Wrongs (by Wyclef Jean featuring Claudette Ortiz of City High)  #28

2005 – Haven’t Found (by Pras Michel featuring Sharli McQueen)  #xx / #36 in Radio and Records

2007 – Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill) by Wyclef Jean featuring Akon, Lil Wayne and Nila  (#12)  #10 in Radio and Records

Kent,

In today's FH, you mentioned the song "Pedal Pushin' Papa" you listened to while you were a kid. Was that the version by the Dominoes or did you eliminate that one? Also was this supposed to be an answer to the song PISTOL PACKIN' MAMA?

Larry Neal

I remember it being a blue and white label 78 … so I suppose it COULD have been The Dominoes’ version … but it just doesn’t sound right to me.  (I’ve done extensive searches for this over the years and never found it … but, unfortunately, even if I found another artist who cut the track, odds are I wouldn’t be able to listen to the song to see if it was the right one … because the ONLY one shown or featured on YouTube seems to be The Dominoes’ version!)

For some reason, I think it was a white cover version … but I can’t substantiate that either.  (Years ago we were able to track down a song that Frannie had been looking for since she was a young girl … evidently a local hit only in the Dallas / Fort Worth area where she grew up.  I amazed her one year when I actually found and was able to download a copy of the track.  In fact, at one point I even talked to the artist who recorded it!!!  And it’s actually not a bad song at all!)  I just don’t think, after all this time, I’ll ever be as fortunate in my own quest.  (kk)

 

Hi Kent,

Thank you so much for the explanation of the cancellation of Randy and Burton's Concert.  With today’s problems, it is doing the safe thing.

Hope they make a lot of $$ at Biondi Bash. When they had a donation show for him in Merrionette Park, a few of my friends and me went and had to leave since there was nowhere to park in the big shopping parking lot nor by the surrounding side streets!!!

So we all sent a check.

Hope they have a great turn out. Wish I could be there, but I have a family birthday to go to. 

Thank You SO MUCH for all your help ... Was hoping to see you at their concert ... maybe next year. We have to think positive! 

Carolyn

 

A closing smile from Frank B …



I like some of the comments …

 

Charles Sedgwick Cairns:  And the rye is grey.

 

Joe Baliga:  Shouldn’t have bought it on a Monday. Just can’t trust that day…

 

Christine Kelly:  Sometimes I chuckle and shake my head …

Sometimes I just shake my head.

 

Rajani Surendar Bhat:  Cauliflower dreaming?