Those of us of a certain age had several opportunities to
enjoy and appreciate the talents of Johnny Crawford while we were growing up …
Whether it was as an original member of “The Mickey Mouse
Club” …
Or as Mark McCain, son of rancher Lucas McCain on “The
Rifleman” …
Or it was through the five hits he placed in The National
Top 40 between 1962 and 1963.
Crawford passed away on Thursday, April 29th, at
the age of 75.
On the pop side of things, Johnny scored THREE Top 20 Hits
in 1962: “Cindy’s Birthday” (#8), “Your
Nose Is Gonna Grow” (#14) and “Rumors” (#12) ... and he was a regular fixture on the teen magazine covers at the time.
Crawford proved talent was all in the family when, in 1959, he
was nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series for
his role as Mark McCain in “The Rifleman;” his older brother, Robert Crawford
Jr., was nominated for Best Single Performance By An Actor (for "Playhouse 90") and their
father, Robert Crawford, was nominated for Film Editing (for The Bob Cummings Show).
His role on “The Mickey Mouse Club” lasted
for all of one season (the series’ first), after which time the cast was trimmed by 50%.Crawford used to joke that he was “a has been by the age of nine” ... but the truth is that Johnny would go on to fill many roles in both television and on the big screen
In 2019, it was revealed that he was suffering from
Alzheimer’s Disease and fellow child star (and child star advocate) Paul
Petesen of “The Donna Reed Show” started a Go Fund Me Page to try to help raise
money to help offset some of Johnny’s medical bills.Last year, he contracted Covid 19 (and then
pneumonia), ultimately proving to be more than his body could bear. For those of us who grew up with him (many of us at nearly the same age), he will be missed.
We’re going to our first live show in over a year this Saturday
Night as the guests of Jim Peterik to see Jim and Carl Giammarese of The
Buckinghams perform an acoustic, storytellers show at The Genesee Theatre.Really looking forward to this (and it seems
all social distancing protocol is in place) so watch for a full review on
Monday!
Genesis has added US dates to their previously postponed European
tour – and guess what – the tour kicks off right here in Chicago on November 15th!
Here’s their complete US Concert Schedule (as it currently
stands) …
Genesis 2021 North
American Tour
Nov. 15 - Chicago, IL @ United Center
Nov. 18 - Washington, DC @Capitol One Arena
Nov. 20 - Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center
Nov. 22 - Montreal, QC @ Centre Bell
Nov. 25 - Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
Nov. 27 - Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center
Nov. 29 - Detroit, MI @ Little Ceasars Arena
Nov. 30 - Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Dec. 2 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wells
Fargo Center
Dec. 5 - New York, NY @ Madison Square
Garden
Dec. 8 - Columbus, OH @ Nationwide
Arena
Dec. 10 - Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena
Dec. 13 - Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints
Arena
Dec. 15 - Boston, MA @ TD Garden
Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks are all
participating (and Phil’s son Nic will be on drums!)
I’ve never seen Genesis (or Phil Collins … or Mike
and the Mechanics!) live before and quite honestly, I don’t know that they’ve
ever really been very high on my “must see" list …
But there's just something about all of this that really appeals to me. If this really is the full reunion, final tour it's being played up to be, I
think I just might have to go and check this out!!!(kk)
The Arcada Theatre is readying to reopen their doors
in mid-July (following all social distancing protocol)
This from Ron Onesti:
While the theatre remains closed, we are currently in the process of
rebooking all shows postponed due to our closure. We are planning to reopen,
with CDC guidelines in place, mid-July.
For updated show information, please visit our website.
All previously purchased tickets will be transferred to the new
date.There is nothing you need to do at
this point. We will reach out to all ticket holders as new show
dates are confirmed. Thank you for your patience.
You
can view a list of those rescheduled shows here …
Here’s
how Bon Jovi is handling things in New Jersey …
kk:
Bon Jovi, the
New Jersey rock band, is shooting a new concert at the Paramount Theatre in
Asbury Park, New Jersey.The movie will
be shown May 22nd in Bay Shore, New York, and 300 other screens around the
world.
Here's how it
works:
They charge $89
+ fees per car (up to 6 people)Tickets
must be pre- purchased.
No ticket sales
on site. The sound will be broadcast through FM radio. They suggest that concertgoers
bring a battery-operated FM radio to listen to the concert and not to use their
car battery.
FB
I dunno … seems like an AWFUL
lot of bother (AND MONEY!!!) to watch a movie in your car and listen to it on
the radio.Now if Bon Jovi was
PERFORMING at The Drive In, that might make a little more sense … but $89 per
carload to watch a film???Nope, sorry …
I don’t quite get that one!(kk)
Watch
for yet another Brian Wilson documentary coming out this June.(Hey, it doesn’t matter … we’d watch TEN more
of them!!!)
The book is great!He's one of my biggest fans and promoters. I
guess releasing that vocal album (Neon Lights - Linda Sarian) was a mistake but,
it was a labor of love. Working on a new instro album but ... releasing it?
Hmmmm ...
Davie
We’re also about to start reading the new Paul Evans book, “Happy
Go Lucky Me,” available here in The States later this year.
You can read all about it (and maybe even preorder a copy!)
here:
Wilson Pickett’s previously
obscure recording of “Hello Sunshine” is certainly enjoying new life and a new
audience of late.We told you a few
weeks ago that it was being used in a Walmart commercial … and then it was also
prominently featured as the central theme in an episode of the NBC Drama “New
Amsterdam” about a week ago.(If you
aren’t already watching this show, you’re missing one of the best written and
best acted shows on television … stellar since day one.)
Never released as a single,
somebody knew their stuff when they picked this one for the Walmart campaign.(kk)
Kent,
I don't know if
you watch Fox News or not, but there are some two or three shows on that when
they go into a commercial or come out of a commercial break, they play a
snippet of a song for some 10-15 seconds.
Now I don't
know how or who decides on what snippets to play. Some of the songs go way
back, and I do mean way back. I just heard Sam Cooke's 1964 version of
TENNESSEE WALTZ. Again, how and or who decided on this one.
Larry
Some people out there working
for ad agencies these days that really know and love our music … and I’m
guessing these are all second or maybe even third generation fans who grew up
hearing it at home and it made a lasting impression.(That’s what good music’ll do for
ya!!!)kk
And,
speaking of Sam Cooke, Harvey Kubernik’s EXCELLENT piece on Sam Cooke
appears in Classic Bands today as the revamped “Sam Cooke: Legend” DVD is
re-released.(We ran an abbreviated
version in Forgotten Hits five weeks ago … so this is a welcome read!)
>>>I think Linda was
just in a very strange mood the other day when we saw this sign and she said, "That
reminds me, I just want you to know I'd go the extra mile to save money on your
burial."
But really, we were
talking about how they can take one's ashes these days and using force, make them
into diamonds to be set in jewelry pieces. She asked me how I felt
about that.
I said, "Don't
pressure me!"
CB!
There are a couple of
companies that I read about a few years back that (for reals) will take your
ashes and actually mix them in with their materials to put on a fireworks
display ... man, what a send-off THAT would be!(kk)
Yeah, I saw that. No
thanx … I can hear my comedic Sons now saying,
“Did you know our Dad had Blue
Eyes?”
“Really?!”
“Yeah, one just blew that way and the other blew that
other way!”
Or, you could choose any of the following, all legitimate means …
You could “Become a Coral Reef!” If I did that, I'd get a herd of
Singing Seahorses. I could keep them in my Coral Choral Corral.
But they’d have to perform “Live Rock!”
Or “Ashes at Sea?” Not for
me. After I saw the movie “Jaws,” I didn’t take a bath for six months!
You could also consider “Ashes to Portraits” where your
ashes are placed over special portrait paint where they then can actually be
seen. Once I heard about that, I immediately stopped dusting my
paintings. It could be someone I used to know!
Or, your remains could be
interned in a Colorful Party-size Balloon and be gently released into the
Stratosphere. But you know what happens when a Balloon goes too high?!
Yep! Bang! (“Did
you know my Dad had Blue eyes . . . ?” )
And there’s a procedure where your body’s discomposure is accelerated
and turned into compost! In
fact, earlier this week, the Colorado House passed a Bill that would legalize
natural organic reduction of human remains into soil. (True!)
I asked my Sons if I chose this method, would they like part of me for
their gardening or something. They both said, “No, thanx, Dad, but we
appreciate the sediment!”
And with that, I’m going to bail outta here to the music of Queen’s “Another
One Bites the Dust” followed by Kansas, “Dust in the Wind!”
CB
Many, many years ago when my daughter was
around five or six years old, she won a goldfish at a carnival.Of course, we didn’t have anything to keep it
in, so it slept in its bag of water that night until I could go out and pick up some
fish food and a small fish bowl to keep it in.
(This was back in the day when you could
just walk into Woolworth's and find an entire pet department inside the store!!!)
So I bought six more fish, brought them
home and set up my daughter’s very firstKid Aquarium.She named them all
and had never been happier.
About three days later, we found one of the
fish (TuTone) floating sideways on top of the water.Naturally, she was heartbroken … but we
staged a ceremonial Burial At Sea (via the toilet bowl) and said goodbye.
We had just gotten past the sniffling and the very next
day Fish #2 (Golden Tail) was found in the same position, doing the sidestroke
in our little bowl.
Again, we went thru the ritual (less
sobbing this time) and hoped for the best.
But then the very next day, Fish #3 was
toast … only by this time, my daughter had come to expect the inevitable, scooped
him up in the net herself and flushed him down the toilet, boldly announcing, “Another
One Bites The Dust.”I’ve gotta admit,
it TOTALLY cracked me up.(That same
daughter … now about to turn 36 with two kids of her own … has also never
forgiven me for taking her to see “Jaws” at “too early an age.”Lol) And them ain't no fish tales!!! (That same daughter gave away little bowls of beta fish at her wedding many years later!)
So yes, I can relate to the many parallels
in your comments.(kk)
Flash Forward 20 years and youngest daughter Paige won a goldfish at yet another carnival. Because she was going out with friends afterwards, she gave it to Frannie to take home, who then decided to care for it (who was now named "Millie," because Paige was currently starring in a production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at the time) and (short of carrying Millie along with us when we walked the dog!) made her feel like an equally loved household pet. I never knew a goldfish could grow to be that big! And the beautiful colors that came out, too ... amazing! Millie lived for about twelve years ... a carnival goldfish!!! Who would have ever thought! (She received a proper land burial once her time had come so that she could always still be here near us.) kk
OK, so now that I'm a bit tearing eyed after waxing nostalgic about some very special family memories, I've got to lighten the mood a little ... so, here's another Chuckles Buellism that TOTALLY cracked me up!!!
