We were the first to let you know that Micky Dolenz will be touring with Felix Cavaliere next year. (Naturally, Micky’s feeling a little bit out of sorts right now after the passing of his long-time friend and former bandmate, Michael Nesmith) …
In fact,
FH Reader Frank B. told us know Micky and Felix flip-flopped their appearances
on Cousin Brucie’s show last weekend (and this weekend) to give Micky a little
more “recovery time.”
According to Felix:
“We'll try five or six shows ... and if it works,
we'll do more.”
Felix
also has a new CD coming out ... as well as a new book, which should be out in
March.
As for
the tour, only two dates have officially been announced thus far ...
Saturday,
January 22 | The Palladium Times Square | N.Y.C., N.Y. | Tickets
Sunday, January
23 | Lynn Auditorium | Lynn, Mass. | Tickets
A new
batch of dates will be released after Xmas
(kk)
UPDATE: Micky’s PR Guy David Salidor let us know about three more
confirmed concert dates …
Saturday, 4/23 - American Music , Lancaster,
PA
Thursday, 5/12 - Count Basic Center, Red Bank,
NJ
Saturday, 5/14 - Patchogue Theater, Patchogue,
NY
(As you can see, this represents a three month
“break in the action” … we are still waiting for confirmation as to whether or
not Micky will be doing the oldies cruise during this hiatus.) kk
And,
speaking of Felix Cavaliere, long-time FH Reader tells us about a recent
experience that he considers to be “A highlight of my musical career” …
Read on …
Some of
you may have heard about an amazing show I did last month. Some of you may have
heard me blathering on about it all month and are sick of hearing about it. Ha!
But for
those of you who didn’t hear about it and are fans of the band The (Young)
Rascals, these are a couple video clips from the set we did when I backed up their
original keyboardist, Felix Cavaliere.
I had no
idea how many really great songs this guy had written and sang lead on when he
was with the band back in the ‘60s. Great player and singer and actually a
really nice guy on top of it. Very easy to work with.
I had three
days to learn his show, bass and backup vocals on about a dozen songs and it
was a challenge, but it was worth all the trouble. And it was a night I’ll
never forget.
The
songs I’ve attached here are In The Midnight Hour and Groovin’. Because
of licensing issues, we’re not allowed to post these on YouTube, etc.
I hope you enjoy them.We’ll see ya on the flip side!Dean MilanoHall of Fame Committee - Illinois Museum of Rock & RollSelection Committee- Model Car Hall of FameAuthor- Chicago Music Scene: 1960s & 1970s.Available at my website:www.toys-n-cars.comdeanguy@ameritech.net
That’s our buddy Dean, stage left … wtg, Deano!!! (I also see our FH friends Bruce Mattey and Dave Zane up there on stage … this was filmed at the recent Cornerstones show that we told you about the other day when we brought you up to date on The Dick Biondi Film!) kk And, speaking of The Dick Biondi Film …Kent,Pam's announcement in today's column gave me great satisfaction and the warmest fuzzies I've had in ages. It makes me feel very proud and happy to be a small part of the "team" for this undertaking. Dick is a wonderful, humble guy, and I think he's a little nervous about the movie. He deserves to be spotlighted, and this film will show America what a gentleman and a great radio personality he is.
Pam is such a hard-working, patient lady! Can't wait to see the finished product!I met Pam over 7 years ago, on my 65th birthday, at the Route 66 Car Show in BURRRRwyn. Dick was autographing my New Colony Six t-shirt (which was designedby Gary Strobl), and she came over and asked me how well I knew Dick. I told her, and we instantly hit it off. We sat down on a concrete block and she "interviewed" me for a few minutes.
I originally met Dick in 1961, at the Deborah Boys Club in my old neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago. He was hosting a sock hop (I guess some DJs did those on the weekends to gain popularity). Thus began our 60-year friendship.
I've done a few small tasks to help with the production, but the one I'm most proud of is when I connected Pam with Scott Berman. One day, she said she wanted to do a "re-enactment" scene, which required an old-time drive-in restaurant, like in American Grafitti. She said that there just weren't any of those left in our area. I contacted Scott, who, when we were kids, lived a few blocks from me and we graduated from the same high school, one year apart. He gave Pam use of Super Dawg, and the rest is history. Made me feel great to be of help. Back in our teen years, we used to hop on the train, go downtown, and watch the WLS DJs through the glass window at the Stone Container Building, home of WLS.
Now I understand why it took so long to make "The Wrecking Crew" … and I give those folks so much credit for holding out for all those years, in order to put out a superb product. Can't just rush into an undertaking like this. Gotta be patient!
Mike Wolstein
It looks like the music catalog of James Brown is the latest to fetch big bucks on the market.Reports have come in that all of Brown’s music assets have been sold by his estate for $90 million. The deal reportedly includes “the entirety of Brown’s publishing, master income stream, and name and likeness rights” that were previously held by the estate.
The Godfather of Soul passed away in 2006 at the age of 73 from
congestive heart failure … and his fortune has been tied up in a series of
family disputes ever since. In his will,
Brown indicated that he wanted to create scholarship programs for disadvantaged
youth in Georgia and South Carolina. However,
his heirs, who inherited his possessions, costumes, and $2 million for his
grandchildren’s education, have delayed establishing these funds. Things have been tied up in litigation ever
since and, according to a report from The New York Times, this new transaction
may not go thru until some of these other matters have been settled. Brown hit Billboard’s Pop, Soul and R&B
Charts an incredible 118 times between 1956 and 1998. 17 of these records went all the way to #1 on
the R&B Chart while seven tunes crossed over into The Top Ten on the Pop
Chart, too. (kk)
Chuck Buell
Remembers A Sign!
Reading in
Forgotten Hits about the recent transition of Les Emmerson, lead vocalist and
guitar player for The Five Man Electrical Band, reminded me that one their
favorite songs of mine, so relatable for the times, was and still is, “Signs.”
You’ve run
this photo before in FHs and it’s timely here:
It was also great
to hear in Forgotten Hits, a brief segment of Phil Nee’s phone call with Les
Emmerson about how he came about to write the song. In it, Emmerson mentioned
how he was inspired by some personal "hairy" experiences as many of
us Long-haired Guys were at the time!
I was but a
young Rock ‘n’ Rollin’ Air Personality on WLS in Chicago then and I loved
playing “Signs” on my show because it truly related to me, too!
For
instance, my hair was a bit long then, cuz that was the
“style!” I remember my Dad saying to me once, “How can you wear your
hair like that?! Doesn’t it tickle the back of your neck?!”
The station’s
Promotion Department got aboard the “anti-long hair” notoriety and used this
picture of me, while tongue in cheekingly quoting my Program Director, on the
May 31, 1971 “WLS Hit Parade Survey” about four months before “Signs”
started charting in Chicago.
Now I don’t know for sure if this was a legitimate Barber Shop sign of the day, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was!
Now I was also serving out the remaining term of my military service in those days by attending Army Reserve Meetings one weekend a month, among other requirements. The Army said, even tho we were only meeting two short days a month, our hair had to be military standard - read that as “SHORT!”
Well, a lot
of the Civilian-type Guys begrudgingly had their hair cut accordingly, which
was “an inch or two maximum on top and no inches down in the
back!” I, like most of the rest, hated that we had to do that and look so
“square” in those "hip" contemporary times.
UNTIL, one
of the guys in my unit, whose hair always looked pretty “poster quality” told
me his secret. There was a, basically ladies’, wig shop in North Chicago
who was aware of the plight of the “part time military guy” and sold a
“close-cut on top, short-trim in the back, military cut” wig for Guys!! For
like twenty-five bucks or so!
Challenge
solved! Each couple of Reserve Mornings a month, my wife and I got up at like
five in the morning so I could shower, dress in uniform, put on my wig AND take
an important ten minutes where she would tuck my long hair up and under my wig,
bobby pin it so my long hair and the pins wouldn’t show, put on my cap and I
was, funnily enough, “standing tall!” Crazily, it passed muster! But I couldn’t
wait to take it off at the end of the day because it was eight hours of tight,
uncomfortable, restrictiveness!
CB ( which
stands for “Coiffured Boy!" )
So she tucked your hair up under your cap and sent you on your
way! (lol) Too funny!
(kk)
Here’s a picture of me with my hair at its all-time longest … circa
1973. (I think I probably could have
qualified for Doobie Brothers status at the time with this look!)
And, since we’re hair … I mean here … what a coincidence to receive THIS email from Harvey Kubernik just two emails later this morning …
Here is an interview with my old pal Leslie Caverndish, who
was The Beatles hairdresser ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkSCjZLyAxE&list=RDIkSCjZLyAxE&start_radio=1&rv=IkSCjZLyAxE&t=647
Here’s a new book that looks pretty interesting. (Boy, Wild Bill Cody would have LOVED this
one!!!)
THE BYRDS: 1964-1967,
LARGE-FORMAT 400-PAGE
COLLECTIBLE
TABLETOP BOOK
CURATED BY THE BAND’S
THREE SURVIVING
FOUNDING MEMBERS,
ROGER MCGUINN, CHRIS HILLMAN, AND DAVID CROSBY,
COMING IN 2022 FROM BMG
Presales for the Super Deluxe Limited Edition — autographed by
McGuinn,
Hillman, and Crosby — are available now exclusively at byrdsbook.com.
When the Byrds
released “Mr. Tambourine Man” in 1965, they introduced Bob Dylan’s
songs to a new audience and launched a career that would make them among the
most influential rock bands of all time. With their unmistakable harmonies and
Roger McGuinn’s innovative12-string Rickenbacker guitar, the Byrds never
stopped experimenting. They incorporated folk, country, and jazz influences
into a fresh blend that helped define an era. “And not to be too
shallow,” Tom Petty once wrote, “but they also were just the
best-dressed band around. They had those great clothes and hairdos.”
Now the band’s
three surviving founding members — Roger McGuinn, Chris
Hillman, and David Crosby — have come together to
present The Byrds:
1964-1967, a large-format tabletop book that offers a unique visual history of
the group. Featuring more than 500 images from legendary photographers such
as Henry Diltz, Barry Feinstein, Curt Gunther, Jim
Marshall, Linda McCartney, Tom Gundelfinger O’Neal,
and Guy Webster, the book also includes restored images from the Columbia
Records archives and the personal archives of the band’s original
manager. Accompanied by a running commentary of their memories of the group,
the era, one another, and their late compatriots Gene Clark and Michael
Clarke, this carefully crafted volume is a truly unique collector’s item
for Byrds fans.
To be released in 2022, The Byrds: 1964-1967 will be
published in four configurations: a Standard Version, a Deluxe Limited Edition,
a Super Deluxe Limited Edition, and a Super Deluxe Limited Edition with Fine
Art Print. While the future Deluxe Limited Edition will be signed, the Super
Deluxe Limited Editions — which are available for presale now at
byrdsbook.com — are the only configurations that will include the
signatures of all three surviving founding members: McGuinn, Hillman, and
Crosby. The Super Deluxe Limited Edition, which comes housed in a custom
clamshell box, is limited to only 750 hand-signed and numbered copies, while
the Super Deluxe Limited Edition with Fine Art Print is limited to only 75
copies and includes a choice of one of three exclusive 11x14-inch prints from
photographers Henry Diltz, Barry Feinstein, and Jim
Marshall. The Super Deluxe Limited Edition is available for presale now at
$475, while the Super Deluxe Limited Edition with Fine Art Print is available
for $1,700. Once these editions sell out, they will not be reprinted.
The book caters to the collector’s market and is presented in a lavish 10.5 x
13-inch format. Featuring more than 500 images, many of them never previously
published, the 400-page book will be custom printed in Italy on 200 gsm premium
art paper and will feature the highest quality thread-sewn binding, luxurious
quarter-bound casing, and a custom clamshell box for the Super Deluxe Limited
Editions.
This is the first in-depth visual book about the Byrds, who were inducted into
the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, and the first collaborative book by
the surviving founding members. It’s also the first time McGuinn, Hillman, and
Crosby have all worked on a project together since recording new tracks for a
retrospective box set in 1990. The title is published by BMG, which also
recently published Chris Hillman’s critically-acclaimed memoir, Time
Between: My Life as a Byrd, Burrito Brother & Beyond. BMG additionally
represents David Crosby’s publishing and recording catalog, and produced the
award-winning documentary David Crosby:Remember My Name.
The Super Deluxe Editions are exclusively available for presale now at www.byrdsbook.com.
This sounds mammoth … much like the recently released Andrew
Sandoval book on The Monkees.
Preordering information can be found above. (kk)
Have you seen the group A Girl Named Tom that just won this season’s competition on The Voice?
Quite honestly, we stopped watching show this
a long time ago … but we just happened to come across them performing the old
Foundations song “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You” in a new and interesting way
the other night while flipping thru the channels.
What a unique take on this tune! (And it looks like they have a real penchant
for the oldies … other songs performed include “Wichita Lineman,” “Helplessly
Hoping,” “Dust In The Wind,” Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” and many more.)
Check ‘em out … this is the one that won
me over! (kk)
I was especially shocked to see the news about Les Emmerson a couple of days ago. His solo outing, "Control Of Me," received a fair amount of airplay around here and is a very nice departure from most of his other work. He used to tell the story about driving across the USA on Route 66, seeing all the billboards, and then sitting down to write the song. Also, I don't think I've seen this in FH yet … https://bestclassicbands.com/gil-bridges-obituary-rare-earth-12-9-21/
David Lewis
I heard from a few people regarding Les’
solo offering “Control Of Me.” I wasn’t
familiar with the tune, but I see that it DID make The Top 40 in both Cash Box
and Record World, peaking at #37 in both publications. (It stopped at #51 in
Billboard.) I tried to download the
track thru iTunes but it wasn’t available.
I did find it on YouTube, however, so we’ll share that one with our
readers today as well.
Gil Bridges was a founding member and the sax player for Rare Earth, who had several Top 40 Hits in the mid-to-late ‘70’s. We lost Gil back on December 8th. (kk)
Kent,
Watching Monday Night Football as usual. Now I
don't know if I had mentioned this to you before, but a while ago I heard a
commercial (15 sec. in length) and I believe the product was for Dior (woman's
fragrance.) I may have heard this once
before. Anyway, the song playing in the background was CRY BABY. CRY BABY!!!
Now there's a song I haven't heard in years. This version was not Garnett Mimms
and the Enchanters' version out of 1963 (UA). I feel like crying when one is no
longer able to hear these tunes on radio.
Larry
You’ve gotta listen to
Rewound Radio … they play ‘em all … and, the week between Christmas and New
Year’s they’ll be playing the songs their listeners voted as their all-time
favorites. (When all is said and done, it’s
likely to be a list of over 3000 titles … so LOTS of variety along the way.)
Now I can’t promise you
that you’ll hear Garnett Mimms and the Enchanters there either …
But you WILL hear some
tracks that will absolutely blow you away.
Check it out! (kk)
Frank B. sent us this cool clipping
asking the musical question …
Mark Lindsay … Keith Allison …
Brothers???
Hi oldies heroes,
Today - December 14th - is my anniversary.
Below is the first love song that I wrote for my wife, Susan.
Enjoy,
Paul (Evans)
From Diane Diekman’s Country Music
Newsletter …
After
"All Too Well" broke the record held by "American Pie"
since 1971 as the longest song to go No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100
chart, CMT News reports, Taylor Swift sent Don
McLean an over-the-top arrangement of white roses, lilies and orchids. Her
10-minute version of "All Too Well" bumped his 8:42-minute
"American Pie." Taylor's note said, "I will never forget that
I'm standing on the shoulders of giants. Your music has been so important to
me. Sending love, one writer of long songs to another." He posted his
photo with the flowers and wrote on Instagram, "What a class act! Thank
you Taylor Swift for the flowers and note."
From our Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction
Department, you’ve just GOT to read this story about former O’Jays Guitarist
Frankie Little, Jr. … who disappeared some 40 years ago! (kk)
Remains of Missing
O’Jays Guitarist Identified After 40 Years (ultimateclassicrock.com)
Sadly, a couple of more Music Heroes deaths to report this week ...
Pop / Soul Singer Joe Simon ...
from Billboard: https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/joe-simon-dead-1235010357/amp/?fbclid=IwAR0sAz0HFe6cfQ6_gdtiRdb0pxvgR8cIog1Gz0b7PrUp1tFTij9tvbjxIBg
Between 1968 and 1975, Simon crossed over to The Pop Top 40 ten times with big hits like "The Chokin' Kind" (#11, 1969), "Drowning In the Sea Of Love" (#6, 1971), "Power Of Love" (#6, 1972), "Theme from 'Cleopatra Jones'" (#14, 1973) and "Get Down, Get Down, Get On The Floor' (#8, 1975.) He hit the #1 spot on Billboard's R&B Singles Chart three times. (kk)
And Wanda Young, one of the Marvelettes ...
Wanda Young, Singer For Iconic Motown Group The Marvelettes, Dies At 78
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/wanda-young-marvelettes-dies/
The Marvelettes scored four Top Ten Pop Hits between 1961 and 1966 ... "Please Mr. Postman," which went all the way to #1 in 1961, "Playboy" (#7, 1962), "Don't Mess With Bill" (#7, 1966) and "My Baby Must Be A Magician" (#10, 1968.)
I’ve been keeping a list of the celebrity deaths for 2021 and it’s staggering … now up to NINE full 8.5 x 11 typed pages. (The scary part is already knowing that the list still isn’t complete, with two weeks yet to go before we hit 2022.)
We’ll run an In Memoriam segment at
year’s end, but seeing some of these names on the list is still heartbreaking,
even now …
JANUARY: Gerry
Marsden – Gerry and the Pacemakers; Tanya Roberts – actress, Charlie’s Angels,
That ‘70’s Show, Bond Girl; Tommy Lasorda – Long-time manager of The Los
Angeles Dodgers; Siegfried Fischbacher of Siegfried and Roy, top Las Vegas
strip act for decades; Record Producer Phil Spector, creator of The Wall Of
Sound; Hank Aaron – Home Run King that first broke Babe Ruth’s career home runs
total; Talk Show Host Larry King; Actress Cloris Leachman; Actress Cicely Tyson
FEBRUARY: Former
Heavyweight Champion Leon Spinks (one of the few to ever beat Muhammad Ali);
Mary Wilson (of The Supremes); Jazz Great Chick Corea; Larry Flynt (Publisher
of Hustler Magazine); Controversial Radio Talk Show Host Rush Limbaugh
MARCH: Actor George Segal;
Actress Jessica Walter
APRIL: Prince Philip;
Bernie Madoff (Ponzi Schemer); Former Vice President Walter Mondale
MAY: Actress Olympia
Dukakis; Early Rock And Roller Lloyd Price; Actor Gavin MacLeod (The Mary Tyler
Moore Show / Love Boat); Singer B.J. Thomas (one of my all-time faves)
JUNE: Power Attorney
F. Lee Bailey (O.J. Simpson, Patty
Hearst, The Boston Strangler (Albert DeSalvo), Sam Shepard and many others); Clarence
Williams III (Lincoln “Linc” Hayes on The Mod Squad); Actor Ned Beatty
(Deliverance, Homicide, Superman II, Network); Actor Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek
on WKRP in Cincinnati); Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
AUGUST: Actress Markie Post (Night Court, Chicago PD);
Joey D’Ambrosio (last original member of Bill Haley’s Comets that recorded
“Rock Around The Clock”); Tom T. Hall (country singer); Don Everly (one half of
The Everly Brothers); Drummer Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones; Actor
Ed Asner (Lou Grant / The Mary Tyler Moore Show)
SEPTEMBER: Weatherman Willard Scott; Comedian Norm Macdonald;
Child Star / Teen Actor Tommy Kirk (“Old Yeller”)
OCTOBER: Ronnie Tutt, drummer for Elvis Presley’s TCB Band
from 1969 – 1977; Former Secretary of State Colin Powell; Singer Robin
MacNamara (“Lay A Little Lovin’ On Me”); Actor Peter Scolari (“Bosom Buddies,”
“Newhart”); Singer Jay Black (of Jay and the Americans)
NOVEMBER: Graeme Edge
(of The Moody Blues); Philip Margo (The Tokens); Jeff Wald (manager and former
husband of Helen Reddy); Keith Allison (“Where The Action Is” / Paul Revere and
the Raiders); Billy Hinsche (Dino, Desi and Billy and The Beach Boys Touring
Band); Infamous Broadway Composer Stephen Sondheim
DECEMBER: Senator Bob Dole; Margaret Everly, mother of
The Everly Brothers (Don and Phil) at the sprightly age of 102. (Now the whole family is together again); Singer
John Miles (solo artist and frequent vocalist on Alan Parsons projects … pun
intended); Kentucky Derby Winning Thoroughbred Medina Spirit; Denis O’Brien
(George Harrison’s Manager and sometime business partner for most of his solo
career); Michael Nesmith of The Monkees; Ralph Tavares of the group Tavares;
Les Emmerson (Five Man Electrical Band); Author Annie Rice (“The Vampire
Diaries), Ken Kragen (manager and producer)
… and this is
just the short list. Tough year. (kk)
And have you seen
this?
It’s a new,
star-studded video spotlighting George Harrison’s #1 Hit “My Sweet Lord.”
(See how many
cameos YOU can identify!) kk
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src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/04v-SdKeEpE" title="YouTube
video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer;
autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"
allowfullscreen></iframe>
Hey
all,
I got a
surprise Christmas message from family friend Dick Bartley. Over 50
years in radio is coming to a close. HE IS RETIRING THIS WEEK!!!
Dick
kept us rocking to the oldies for over 40 years and Top 40 before that! I
think he deserves the retirement. Check out the awesome photo montage via
the link below!!! Pics from Chicago stations and even a photo of his
first WWOD station he worked at in Lynchburg, Va. in 1969!
Clark
Besch
Hi Clark,
I will be
"hanging up my headphones" at the end of the year and I thought you
might enjoy this career-retrospective picture page my webmaster and I have put
together...
https://dickbartley.com/photogallery.htm
United
Stations informed their affiliate line-up yesterday.
And I think
you're correct, the two WELK pictures are the oldest on the page (circa
1973 – 74.) Sadly, I have no studio
shots from my first four radio stations: WWOD (1969-70), WUVA
(1969-1973), WLLL (1971-72), WCHV (1971-72).
My best to
all the Besch brothers - thanks for your awesome help with true stereo
rarities and remixes over the years!
Dick B
Dick
made a homemade promo for us Besch brothers many years ago.
Years
ago, Dick shared this survey with me … the first he had been on, I
believe. OR maybe the oldest one he had.
