We promised you a new ABBA single on Friday … and now it’s Friday … so here it is!
First recorded in 1978
(and then revisited for release this past year), this is another great up-tempo tune
from Sweden’s Sweethearts, who rose to worldwide fame, earning fourteen Top 40
Hits here in The States between 1974 and 1982.
I like it! (kk)
I have been holding tickets for over a year
for the Tommy James concert at The Arcada Theatre … and finally got to see one
of my faves on Sunday.
Well, it was worth the wait!
Tommy never disappoints, hit after hit!
I was fortunate to also see the sound check
before the official concert, thanks to a friend of a friend. He really cares about the music … time after
time, he stopped the rehearsal to advise the band members / sound man about the
tempo or the sound quality. He really cares about the music.
I wish there was more time for some
more hits like Out of the Blue, She, Gotta Get Back To You, Ball and Chain
and my favorite, Get Out Now. A bigger mystery is why 3 Times in Love, his big
comeback song, is never performed. I wonder why?
Talked to Ronnie Rice yesterday. Boy, I could
talk to him for hours. BOY, ARE WE FORTUNATE to have the BUCKS, the NC Six, the
SHAMES, the IDES and JIMY SOHNS ... all great performers and even better
people!!
Mike De Martino
Tommy James NEVER
disappoints in concert … he’s a class act and puts on one of the best shows out
there.
Over the years, we’ve
heard from many, many fans who have told us that the song they would MOST like
to hear Tommy perform is “She” … it’s one of my all-time favorites by him,
too.
I mentioned this to
Tommy’s manager a couple of years ago and she said she would pass the info
along to Tommy … it sure would make for an interesting surprise to hear that
one (and a few of the others you mentioned) again once in a while.
Still, when you’ve had
24 National Top 40 Hits, it’s hard to miss with any selection you choose to
perform … and that doesn’t even include hits like “Tighter, Tighter” and “Sugar
On Sunday” that he wrote and/or produced for other artists. Several of Tommy’s own hits have gone on to
become hits all over again when performed by other artists … so yes, if you
haven’t had the pleasure yet of seeing one of Tommy’s shows, do yourself a big
favor and get your tickets now. You will
not be disappointed. (Tommy returns to
the area on December 4th with a show at The Genesee Theatre.) kk
Billboard Magazine give Stevie Wonder the spotlight treatment this week in their on-going Grammy salute. (And who more deserving than Stevie … who’s been nominated 74 times and taken home the statuette 25 of those times!)
Stevie
Wonder Is Still Going For Grammy Gold And Defying Expectations | Billboard
One of this year’s Black Friday Record Store Day releases will be a live album featuring both performances by Big Brother and the Holding Company (featuring Janis Joplin)’s performance at The Monterey Pop Festival.
As Harvey Kubernik tells us …
Big Brother
performed at the Monterey Pop festival on both Saturday, June 17th and Sunday,
June 18th, 1967.
Both sets are
included on this Record Store Day Black Friday release pressed on psychedelic
color vinyl in a high-gloss tip-on jacket. I had the pleasure of writing the
liner notes for this brand new release.
Side 1 (set one):
Down On Me / Combination Of The Two / Harry / Road Block / Ball and Chain
Side 2 (set two): Combination of the Two / Harry
/ Ball and Chain
The Fest For Beatles Fans certainly gets this analysis right …
This has been an amazing year of new releases for Beatles Fans.
From McCartney
III in late December of 2020, to Ringo's Zoom In EP, to
John's Plastic Ono Band,
to George's incredible All
Things Must Pass, to Ringo's Change
The World EP, to Let
It Be last week, to Paul's Lyrics Books, all leading up to the
Thanksgiving airing of the 6+ hours of Peter Jackson's The Beatles Get Back on
Disney + over three nights. YEAH YEAH YEAH!!
I’m not quite sure how you top this!!! (What kind of anniversaries are coming up
NEXT year??!) kk
Next week The Genesee Theatre celebrates with the Pop 2000
Show, featuring Chris Kirkpatrick of N*Sync, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray and
performances by Ryan Cabrera, OTown and LFO.
Still plenty of great seats are available for next Thursday’s
(October 28th) show.
POP 2000 Tour Tickets
Oct 28, 2021 Waukegan, IL | Ticketmaster
Kent,
There's
been some discussion lately about how some of the big stars have lost their
singing voices over the years - and I'd like to bring up the same topic
regarding some of our favorite DJs. Have you heard how rough John Landecker
sounds lately? Compare his voice to Kris Erik Stevens or Jeff Davis. It's
interesting how some keep their voices while others don't. And Tony Orlando -
who isn't famous as a DJ but is on WABC nonetheless - his voice is really
difficult to listen to.
Just
a couple of observations ...
David
Lewis
No doubt about it,
we’re all getting older … and when you make your living with your voice (as
both singers and deejays do), it certainly becomes a point of concern. (I know several artists who, WAY before
covid, refused to do Meet and Greets after concert appearances for fear of
catching something after hugging or shaking hands with a fan … they just
couldn’t risk getting a cold or throat infection and risking their whole
livelihood by being sidelined with some type of virus or infection. Others simply say “the more the merrier” … so
we say “to each his own … just do what you’re comfortable with.”
I still haven’t
listened to Tony’s show … but his singing voice is still very strong … we’ve
seen him a couple of times in the past few years and were always very satisfied
with his performance. (kk)
Check out this
incredible looking 12-LP set celebrating some of Quincy Jones’ best work, put
together by Vinyl Me Please.
While not exactly a
Greatest Hits collection by any means (the hits we know him for best aren’t
even part of this collection … maybe there’s more to come?), this is still a
great way to explore Quincy’s jazz roots and collaborations with Frank Sinatra
and Miles Davis. (And it’s just so darn
pretty!!!) kk
I learned from Diane
Diekman’s Country Newsletter this week that Clint Black and Lisa Hartman are still married – who knew?!?!
– and they’re going out on tour together – Wow!!!
Even MORE fun???
They’re billing it as “The Hits … and The Mrs.” Tour!!! (lol) –
He’s 59 and she’s 65 … and apparently they’re still making
beautiful music together .. so how cool is THAT?!?!? (kk)
>>>I will tell you that I've sworn off
asparagus since the age of seven ... never cared for the taste ... and it makes
your pee smell funny!!! (kk)
I, too, have long sworn it off! At a similarly young age, we had the name of that vegetable that shall not be named, and I was convinced it was that that later in the evening made me throw up!
So imagine how I CANNOT GET how anyone can eat
even "Roasted A-------s!"
CB ( which then stood for "upChuck
Boy!!" )
And another thing …
I never did like that
"Dawning of Aquarius" song!
And listening to it again, as I was capturing
the caption to your cartoon to be sure I was close to its "Name
Chorus" repetition, I really didn't like it!
Again!
To me, it's just too much of a
saccharin overdose of cosmic hippieness!
CB ( which stands for
"Curmudgeon Boy!" )
Well, on this one, I
think you’ll find that you’re probably in the minority. Not only did it top the charts for five weeks
back in 1969, but it’s still very popular with oldies radio and oldies fans in
general.
The fact that it comes
from the hit musical “Hair” probably adds to its street-cred … there are a lot
of show-tunes that have captured the hearts of America the way this one
did. (Keep in mind that “Hair” spawned
FOUR big hit singles … “Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In,” #1 for The Fifth
Dimension, “Hair,” #1 for The Cowsills, “Easy To Be Hard,” #1 for Three Dog
Night and “Good Morning Starshine,” #3 for Oliver. That’s one heck of a Broadway Soundtrack! (kk)
[Of course, I came for
the songs … and stayed for the nudity!]
A couple more things to
make you smile …
Can you believe the
Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone is celebrating its 60th
Anniversary??? (C’mon, what kid didn’t have one of these!!!)
And, to capitalize on
this special historic event, a REAL, wireless phone edition is being made
available in honor of the toy’s 60th Birthday!
From Me-TV: Since its
launch in 1961, the Chatter Telephone toy from Fisher-Price has become one of
the most iconic playthings the company has ever produced.
The colorful, friendly-faced phone has remained mostly unchanged
over the past six decades. The original wood base is gone but you can still buy
new versions with a rotary dial.
Because of its longevity, the phone pulls at the nostalgic
heartstrings of three different generations who all pretended to make important
calls with it as kids, sometimes well past the one to three-year-old age range
designated by Fisher-Price.
The company hopes to capitalize on this prolific nostalgia with
the launch of a special, real and working edition of the Chatter Telephone to
celebrate its 60th birthday. It can make and receive phone
calls and even has a speaker phone option.
Instead of a landline, it’s a wireless device that connects to
any cellphone via Bluetooth. It even has a rechargeable battery!
Luckily, the modern amenities stop there. It comes with a
working rotary dial and the only thing “mobile” about it is the wheels. In
fact, Fisher-Price touts it as “a phone smart enough not to come with any
apps.”
While you can pick up the toy version for ten dollars, this 60th anniversary
Bluetooth edition will set you back sixty bucks. It’s currently available for
preorder online from Best Buy. No
word yet on if the eyes wobble when you pull it.
Don’tcha just HAVE to have one???? (kk)
Here’s a clip from the American Idol 2018 Finale, sent in by FH Reader Tom Cuddy. (How can you not feel good when an icon like Steve Perry shows up to hear you sing one of his most famous songs?!?!) kk
