Saturday, July 17, 2021

THE WEEKEND COMMENTS

Sounds like our little time travel back to this week in 1967 has been clicking with the listeners of the shows who’ve been featuring these.  There was good response to Jeff James’ special spotlight treatment during this week’s edition of Windy City Wednesday … and listeners enjoyed it so much on Bob Sirott’s program Thursday Morning that he’s running it again on Monday, between 5:30 and 6:00 am.

(Bob and his engineer put together a short medley featuring seven of the tracks from our Chicagoland Local Heroes … he left out Michael and the Messengers since technically they were from across the border up in Milwaukee … and listeners LOVED the way it took them back to that very special time when WLS and WCFL ruled the airwaves here in Chicago.)

On the July 14th, 1967 WLS chart, a full 20% of the Top 40 Tunes in Chicago were by local artists (scroll back to last Wednesday’s post if you missed it … you can also hear all eight tracks on the website.)  Bob read a series of very positive texts, emails and tweets on Friday Morning’s program from listeners, telling him how much they enjoyed the segment.  (We reminded Bob, too, of his EXCELLENT WTTW special from several years back spotlighting “When Chicago Rocked The ‘60’s” … and he posted a link to that program, too, on his Facebook page.  You’ll find a link to that up on the FH site as part of Wednesday’s post, too, as well as below.)  It’s a VERY solid half hour tribute to the bands we grew up with here in The Windy City, most of which went on to achieve national attention, too.  It holds up very well ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3p-lqKYu2g

But my FAVORITE email was the last one he read … ‘cause there’s always one in every crowd …

“Jeez, Bob … if I wanted to listen to music, I’d listen to a different station!”  (lol)

Phil Nee picks up the baton (yes, that WAS an Olympics reference!) tonight on his “Those Were The Days” radio program, playing selections from the entire WLS Top 40 list this evening between 6 pm and Midnight ... https://www.wrco.com

And, speaking of the entire Top 40, Forgotten Hits Reader Ben Meijering from The Netherlands (who you met in Thursday’s post as well) sent in a remarkable recording that HE made counting down the ENTIRE Top 40, right off the WLS Chart.  (He mentioned this in his original email … and then sent me a WeTransfer link to share with those of you who'd like to play it at home.)  At a length of two hours, it’s just too long to post here … but I must say that he did an excellent job and we’ll be hearing more from Ben next week in Forgotten Hits.  Since he said that I could share the link this weekend on the website with other fans of 1960’s Top 40 Radio … and the great Chicago sounds of The Buckinghams, The Cryan’ Shames, The New Colony Six, The Mauds, The American Breed, The Flock and Spanky and Our Gang … not to mention all of the OTHER outstanding artists featured on this week’s chart … you'll find it below.  (I believe it's "live" through August 4th.)  kk

From Ben …

Hi Kent,

First of all, I’d like to let you know how much I love your blog. I’ve been reading your postings almost every day since Mike Hartman was so kind to point me to your blog.

My name is Ben Meijering … I live in the Netherlands (Europe), I’m 65 years old and I lived in Wheaton between November, 1983, and February, 1985, working at Bell Labs. Indeed, I was there when WJMK started, and I listened to WAUR every weekend (when Mike Hartman was a DJ on WAUR).

During that period, I started to become familiar with a lot of the “local” Chicago bands and artists like the New Colony Six, the Buckinghams, the Ides of March (whom I already knew from Vehicle), the Cryan’ Shames, Spanky & Our Gang, Alliotta, Haynes & Jeremiah, etc.

After I had returned to the Netherlands, I spent a lot of time, during my business trips back to the US in record stores to find CDs / LPs with all those great songs, so I could put together my own compilations. So when you write:

I've said this MANY times over the years ...

We didn't like this music because it was made by Chicago artists ...

We liked this music because it was GREAT music ...

I cannot agree more, being a Dutchman, who was born in the Netherlands and grew up without knowing about all the great records.  I fell in love with all these groups when I lived in Chicagoland.

I took the WLS Super Summer Survey that you posted last week, mixed the records with WLS jingles and countdown jingles and posted that on one of the local radio-freak forums over here as a podcast. People loved it!

Keep up the good work, Kent! I’m a big fan of your blog.

Ben

P.S.  You’re very welcome to share the wetransfer link that I sent to you on you blog: https://we.tl/t-XVHrpm4N8l

Clark Besch also sent us a rather cool ‘60’s radio clip to share … spotlighting many of the songs and artists featured on this week’s Super Summer Survey from 1967, along with the local jocks who counted them down this week in ’67 …

Kent,

These great moments of Summer, ‘67 that you bring up are great.  Add to that Chicago local music talent the fact that two legends of Chicago radio traded places on the dial that month.  Look at the WLS and CFL charts you posted.  Then, listen to Dex Card and Larry Lujack as one switches from WLS to ‘CFL and the other from WCFL to WLS that July!  Thanks to FH'er Stu Shea for some of these clips, too.

A year later, FH'er Chuck Buell would come to WLS and Ron Riley would soon leave WLS for WCFL as well.

Clark

Speaking of our local talent, Jim Peterik (of The Ides Of March) and Carl Giammarese (of The Buckinghams) are bringing their pooled talent to The City Winery on Monday, August 26th, for another Songs And Stories show.  (We were there for the first one of these at The Cabaret Club inside The Genesee Theatre a couple of months ago ... see review below):

https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2021/05/concert-review-carl-giammarese-and-jim.html

It’s an intimate night of music … and you can order tickets here:

https://citywinery.com/chicago/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=CHI-jim-peterik-carl-giammarese-8-16-21&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=&utm_source=City+Winery+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5bc4d01719-CHI_GP_NEWSLETTER_7_16_21&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_81d5d477d8-5bc4d01719-11166665&mc_cid=5bc4d01719&mc_eid=98b0f1c70d

Kent,  

Great to see Bob Stroud get nominated for The Radio Hall of Fame.  Last year was 40 years on the air in Chicago ... This year he’s a Radio Hall of Fame nominee.  The Stroud Crowd continued to widen and grow!

Clark Besch

Congratulations to Micky Dolenz (and his whole team) for making Ultimate Classic Rock’s list of The Top 20 Albums of 2021 (so far) announced this week.  Micky’s “Dolenz Sings Nesmith” came in at #20, tied with the new solo album by Nancy Wilson of Heart.

Other classic rock acts on the list include Steve Lukather of Toto, Cheap Trick, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Styx, Alice Cooper, Peter Frampton and Chrissie Hynde (for her Bob Dylan tribute album.) 

You can see the whole list (and read the commentary) here:

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/best-rock-albums-2021/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign&utm_term=UCR

Tom Cuddy sent us this link to Bandstand Memories that I think some of you will really enjoy …

How American Bandstand Changed American Culture:

Revisit Scenes from the Iconic Music Show
https://www.openculture.com/2021/07/how-american-bandstand-changed-american-culture.html

And Billboard Magazine’s Adult Contemporary Chart celebrates its 60th Anniversary this month.  Billboard first began charting the “Soft Rock” hits in their issue dated July 17th, 1961.  (The first #1 Record on that chart???  “The Boll Weevil Song” by Brook Benton.  Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since then.)

Some of the stats are pretty impressive … and you can see the highlights here:

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9601724/adult-contemporary-chart-60-years-60-fun-facts/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily&utm_term=daily_digest

The HBO Bee Gees Documentary “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” has been nominated for SIX Emmy Awards this year!  (The Emmys Ceremony is scheduled to be broadcast live on Sunday, September 19th.)

Categories of Excellence include: Outstanding Directing Documentary / Nonfiction Program; Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program; Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special; Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera); Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program and Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program.

Congratulations to all involved.  (kk)

https://bestclassicbands.com/bee-gees-documentary-hbo-7-13-21/

Diane Diekman is reporting that Actor Dennis Quaid has teamed with The Bellamy Brothers to cover "I Can Help," the Billy Swan song that went all the way to #1 in Billboard Magazine in 1974.

"It couldn't have been more fun recording 'I Can Help' with David and Howard Bellamy," Quaid told PEOPLE MAGAZINE. "I felt like I was a kid skipping school and jamming with a band." David and Howard Bellamy (who topped Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart themselves in 1976 with “Let Your Love Flow), were not fond of covering other artists' songs, but they thought Dennis would be a great collaborator and “I Can Help” was the perfect track for their new project.  As a result, The Bellamy Brothers plan to release their first-ever complete covers album, Covers from the Brothers, this fall. (kk)

YAY!!!!!

MYSTERY SOLVED!!!

Thanks to Team Forgotten Hits collaborating with the followers of Glen Fisher’s Doo Wop Ramblings, it is now confirmed that we found the Mystery Song that FH Reader Colin Donahue has been searching for!!!

Read on …

This was a tough assignment, but thanks to a lot of subscribers to Doo Wop Ramblings, we were able to find and confirm the song. This is what is going into Sunday’s newsletter. Thanks for including us. 

Glen


     THE MYSTERY SONG SOLVED


The Suns Message  The Destinations

Hi Glen, 
YES!!! This is exactly it! 
I’ll have to see if I can find that album somewhere, because this absolutely is the song that I heard. Thank you very much for your hard work in tracking this down for me. 
After reading your response earlier in Forgotten Hits, I started subscribing to your email newsletter. I loved my first issue - keep up the great work!

COLIN


THE DESTINATIONS were an a cappella group from Philadelphia. They formed in January, 1966, and recorded on Cameo. The group consisted of Al "Froggy" Byer on lead vocal, Paul "Pinky" Fiore on lead and second tenor, Joe Fiore on first tenor, Ken Goodman on baritone, and Jerry Utter on bass. They recorded two a cappella songs in 1967 that were released in 2003 on Philadelphia's Greatest A cappella album on Pantomime. It included our mystery song, Sun's Message. Thanks to my friend King Arthur, Carlos Alvarez for sending me the song. He is a fellow dee jay on Doo Wop radio who managed the Destinations back in their heyday. He also recorded them on his Andro label. 

While the Glam heavy metal rock group Cinderella doesn’t necessarily fit into the normal scheme of things here in Forgotten Hits, it was still a shock to see TWO former members of the band pass away on the very same day!

Cleopatra Records made this statement when the news of Guitarist Jeff LaBar’s death first hit.  (Rumors of LaBar’s death circulated for about a day before the official announcement was made.  The death of fellow Cinderella Keyboardist Gary Corbett came later in the day.  Not an original member of the band, Corbett joined Cinderella in 1990. He passed on the day before his birthday.)

Cleopatra Records Mourns The Passing Of CINDERELLA Guitarist JEFF LABAR

Cleopatra Records is sad to hear of the passing of the supremely talented rock guitarist Jeff LaBar at age 58. LaBar’s dexterous and melodic playing helped propel Cinderella’s 1986 debut album Night Songs to the #3 spot on the Billboard album charts and would soon be certified platinum. Being an integral part of Cinderella’s sound, LaBar would continue with the group all the way through to their final recording as a band, the phenomenal 1999 concert album Live At The Key Club, which was released on CD by Cleopatra Records’ metal imprint Deadline Music. LaBar’s talent showed through on that live recording as well as on the impressive video concert document In Concert, which was released as a DVD in 2005, capturing LaBar and the boys on their massive 1991 Heartbreak Station tour. The DVD would be RIAA Certified Gold later that year. LaBar continued to record with other projects like Freak Show featuring Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali and the band Naked Beggars and would occasionally re-unite with Tom Keifer and the rest of Cinderella for some spectacular live performances that are certain to live on in fan’s memories for years to come. 

Cleopatra Records owner Brian Perera remarked “Jeff LaBar was such an amazing guitarist and a very dear friend. We will miss him and the good times we shared. We extend all our love and deepest sympathies to his family and fans.”

Big news day for heavy metal and hard rock bands …

It was just announced that a 42-CD Box Set (“Hell Bent:  50 Years of Heavy Metal Music”) spanning the career of Judas Priest will be released on October 15th.

Kicking off with the band’s 1974 debut album, “Rocka Rolla,” the collection will include every single one of the band’s official live and studio albums to date plus 13 discs of previously unreleased live material.  (Now that’s a lotta metal!!!)  Judas Priest will tour the U.S. this fall to coincide with the box’s release.  (kk)

And, since we’ve taken this road, I will also tell you about Jack Russell’s Great White’s new release, “Great Zeppelin II: A Tribute To Led Zeppelin.”  (The group first paid homage to their heroes in 1998 … so I guess one could say this follow-up is long overdue!)

The new tribute CD features “Whole Lotta Love,” “Good Times, Bad Times,” “Misty Mountain Hop,” “Dancin' Days,” “No Quarter,” “Kashmir,” “Houses Of The Holy,” “Trampled Underfoot,” “Moby Dick,” “The Rover,” “Stairway To Heaven,” “Heartbreaker,” “Livin' Lovin’ Maid” and “Communication Breakdown.”

Lead vocalist Jack Russell (stepping into some pretty big shoes to fill left by Robert Plant!) has this to say:

“I’m really excited about Great Zep 2. We had such a great time recording it and took the opportunity to choose songs we hadn’t covered on the first one. The band played beautifully and the sound, I believe, is first class. I’m hopeful everyone will enjoy listening to it as much as we did playing it.”  

Stream / download the single "Whole Lotta Love" here:  

https://orcd.co/jack_russells_great_white_whole_lotta_love 

And check this out …

MEGADETH Announces The First Commercial Release Of Their Unplugged Concert Performed In 2001!

(Wait a minute … WHAT is it we’re reading here again???  Forgotten Hits?!?!?)

It was one of the most unique and sought-after concert experiences in Megadeth fandom - an intimate, scaled-down performance featuring Dave Mustaine & Co. on acoustic guitars stripping down their heavy metal anthems to their primal elements. These special engagements became the stuff of legend over the years and recordings of these performances were made available exclusively through the Megadeth fan club. But now, the band have partnered with Los Angeles-based indie label Cleopatra Records to make this experience open to all with the first-ever commercial release of Unplugged In Boston, a spectacular acoustic concert recorded in 2001.

Coming just on the heels of the band’s stylishly aggressive album The World Needs A Hero, the set list kicks off with one of that album’s best tracks, the turbulent “Dread And The Fugitive Mind” before launching into a string of older favorites including several from the 1997 album Cryptic Writings as well as an excerpt from “Holy Wars … The Punishment Due.” But Mustaine & Gang save the best for last, closing the show with a superb one-two punch of “Moto Psycho,” Hero’s highest charting single, and the unforgettable “Symphony Of Destruction,” Megadeth’s mainstream breakthrough that still manages to get the audience’s blood pumping! All in all, it’s an extraordinary concert that Megadeth fans will not want to miss!

Track List:
1. Dread And The Fugitive Mind
2. Trust
3. Time: The Beginning
4. Use The Man
5. Holy Wars...The Punishment Due
6. Almost Honest
7. Promises
8. She-Wolf
9. Moto Psycho
10. Symphony Of Destruction

And finally …

Why Neil Peart’s Silver Surfers are the stars at this year’s Pebble Beach | Financial Times 

Here’s another rock / car article.

I enjoyed the GTO portion of Burton Cummings narrative of his night with Jim Morrison. Based on his description, it must have been a 68 / 69, as that is when vinyl tops were prevalent. Since the Mustang is the only vehicle on record that Morrison owned, I wonder where the GTO came from.

Robert Campbell

https://www.ft.com/content/9a013f4e-dcf2-430e-8f64-023a8a9448a7

Thursday, July 15, 2021

Thursday This And That

Jeff James did an excellent job of representing our Chicago-heavy WLS Chart yesterday on his Windy City Wednesday Program ... so thank you, Jeff, for that!

Depending on how early you're reading this, you MIGHT have a chance to hear Bob Sirott do a mini-salute this morning, too, sometime between 7:30 and 8 am on WGN Radio ... https://wgnradio.com/on-air/

And don't forget that Phil Nee will be paying tribute to the whole list this Saturday Night on WRCO ... https://www.wrco.com/  (just click on the 100.9 headphones link)

This email made my day ... 

And acted as a great reminder of why I do what I do ...

Hi Kent, 

First of all, I’d like to let you know how much I love your blog. I’m reading your postings almost everyday since Mike Hartman was so kind to point me to your blog.  

My name is Ben Meijering, I live in the Netherlands (Europe), I’m 65 years old and I lived in Wheaton between November, 1983, and February, 1985, working at Bell Labs. Indeed, I was there when WJMK started and I listened to WAUR every weekend (when Mike Hartman was DJ on WAUR).

During that period, I started to become familiar with a lot of the “local” Chicago bands and artists like the New Colony Six, the Buckinghams, the Ides of March (whom I already knew from Vehicle), the Cryan’ Shames, Spanky & Our Gang, Aliotta Haynes & Jeremiah, etc. 

After I had returned to the Netherlands, I spent a lot of time, during my business trips back to the US, in record stores to find CDs / LPs with all those great songs, so I could put together my own compilations. A couple of years back, I even started to put together video compilations of AT40’s from the sixties and early seventies (for those records for which videomaterial exists).

So when you write:

I've said this MANY times over the years ...

We didn't like this music because it was made by Chicago artists ...

We liked this music because it was GREAT music ...

I cannot agree more.  Being a Dutchman, who was born in the Netherlands and grew up without knowing about all these great records, I fell in love with all these groups when I lived in Chicagoland.

I took the WLS Super Summer Survey that you posted last week, mixed the records with WLS jingles and countdown jingles and posted that on one of the local radio-freak forums over here as a podcast. People loved it!

Keep up the good work, Kent! I’m a big fan of your blog.

Regards

Ben Meijering

Thanks for the post, buddy!  

Ronnie Rice

The New Colony Six

Kent,

Thanks for always remembering. 

Chic James

The New Colony Six

 
Kent,
Enjoyed the ten postings of songs that made it on your local WLS survey back in 1967. To my knowledge and remembrance, five of the ten tunes you posted never made our local survey. 
You hit the nail on the head when you said at the bottom that "we liked this music because it was great music."  And again you are right in that it held its own against the other music of the day.

Larry Neal


Excellent piece on the Chicago groups from '67.

Joe Gagliardo

THANKS, MAN, for thinking of little ole me!

The show is doing very well and you would not believe how many people have listened and responded that were band members back in the day. And it looks like we got ya a couple more subscribers thanks to Wednesday's broadcast -- one lady just want gaga on the station's Facebook page about your site!

Keep it rollin', man!!!!

Jeff James

We're the perfect compliment to what you do!  Oldies fans LOVE this music ... so anytime they can discover something new, they're on it in a heartbeat.  Thanks again for featuring our list.  (kk)

So after giving so much attention to the WLS Survey from this date in 1967, I couldn’t help but wonder how our OTHER Top 40 station ‘cross town ranked these tunes for this same date. 

Here is a copy of the WCFL Top 30 Chart for July 14th, 1967 (shown as Week Ending July 20th) …


I always found it amazing how the two stations could, at times, show such different results from week to week on their charts.  (Not much different than the national charts in this respect, I guess!)

This time around, all Top 20 Records are common to both charts (albeit not necessarily in the Top 20 on both.)

WCFL ranks The Mauds higher than WLS (#11 vs. #17)  Likewise The American Breed hit "Step Out Of Your Mind," already on its way down the chart after ten weeks but still sitting at #14 on WCFL while falling to the #23 position on WLS.

The only local hit NOT found on the 'CFL Chart is "Take Me Back" by The Flock.  I have always thought that this was a GREAT track that should have been a MUCH bigger hit than it was.  (Nationally, it charted in Cash Box only ... and even there only managed a #131 showing.)  I saw Bruce Mattey of The New Colony Six sing this song at one of those Bob Stroud Rock And Roll Roots CD release parties a few years ago and he absolutely KILLED it on this song.  (I have since suggested to Jim Peterik that they add this one to their Cornerstones Of Rock show.  Mattey's vocal backed by The Ides Of March horns would bring the house down!)  kk

It looks like the rest of the music world finally caught up to the story we ran a couple of weeks ago about The Foo Fighters cutting a side’s worth of Bee Gees tunes for their new Record Store Day album coming out on Saturday (July 17th.)  I must have gotten at least half a dozen “announcements” and videos this week already … so the word is DEFINITELY getting out!  (Now I’ve just got to get my hands on a copy!) 

The Dee Gees (David Grohls) even put together a new video since the one we ran a short while back.  You can check it out here …

In addition to “You Should Be Dancing,” you’ll also hear their renditions of “Night Fever,” “Tragedy,” “More Than A Woman” and the Andy Gibb hit “Shadow Dancing.”  The flipside of the LP will feature five live tracks of songs from their “Medicine At Midnight” LP.  (kk)

Although Paul Simon intended the title of the song to be "The Sound Of Silence" [no "s" after "sound"], and it appeared that way as a track on The Paul Simon Songbook LP, the title was shown as "The Sounds Of Silence" on the Wednesday Morning 3 A.M. LP, on the 45 release of the hit version and on the Sounds Of Silence LP.

    – Randy Price

It's funny because I changed this back and forth at least three or four times ...

I always used to say "Sounds" ...

But because I was unsure, I decided to check a few other sources to see what the protocol was.  In Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles book, he shows it as "Sound" ... (which I would have to believe came from the original 45 label as they use that as their "go to" source for everything.)

On my copy of the Collected Works CD, featuring all of Simon and Garfunkel's original recordings, it is shown as "Sound" on both LP releases, despite the fact that the second LP is called "Sounds" of Silence.  (The album cover, however, shows it as “sounds” in two places … so it doesn’t get any easier, does it?)

When I look at the original record labels from the 45 release, I can find it BOTH ways ... but predominantly it seems to be the "sounds" spelling that comes up most often.

When you listen to them sing the lyrics, however, it seems to be singular most often again.  (In fact, they only sing “sounds” on the very last line.)

So who knows!!!

I finally just decided to go with the one that Whitburn went with, which matched what I saw on the "Collected Works" CD Box.  (By the way, Disturbed's version shows as "sound" in Whitburn's book, too ... as wel as on their “official” YouTube video.)

So I guess in this case, Majority Rules!  (kk)

For Whitburn, this is revisionist history. Until recently, all editions of his books listed the title as "Sounds." (see attached). I've never seen an original 45 pressing with that word as singular. Also, all three national trade singles charts showed the title as "Sounds Of Silence."

– Randy


A convincing enough argument to change it???  Maybe … but then I’d also have to go back and change it everywhere else it appears in the previous two related articles where there, too, it is referenced as “Sound” because of the correspondence we received.  (Splice in best Vinnie Barbarino voice:  “I’m so CONFUSED!!!”)  

I asked Joel Whitburn if he could shed any light on this issue ... especially since he has since changed the spelling in his updated books. (Again, the lyric as sung is singular until the very last line ... and, as you state, the song’s author intended it to be singular.  If for no other reason than out of respect for that - Paul's wishes - I'm inclined to honor his title as "Sound."  But then again, if every copy ever sold said "Sounds" ... oh man, I don't know what to do!!!  Now look what you've gotten me into!!!)  kk

Back in 2017, my daughter and I met with Paul Simon and Atlantic president Craig Kallman for breakfast to discuss the possibilities of opening a “Music Hall of Fame” in NYC.  This was about seven blocks from, at the time, Billboard’s main offices.  

Before we left breakfast, I asked him about the song title.  His response was ... "It’s ridiculous.  How can there be 'sounds' if there’s silence?"  Columbia got it wrong and he let it go with their mistake.  On Paul’s solo LP, he showed what the correct title should be.  After all, he alone wrote the song!!! 

Joel

Had to share this one with you after recently rerunning our Songs By Bob Dylan feature.

It’s a fun romp thru the eleven times that Dylan’s music has been licensed for television commercials … probably more than anyone would have thought!

https://bestclassicbands.com/dylan-songs-tv-commercials-12-10-20/

Meanwhile, as promised, I am slowly (VERY slowly!) making my way thru the complete Bob Dylan catalog.  Only a few albums in (I’m listening to every single album, in order, all the way thru, two-to-three times each in order to gain a better feel and insight into the music that so many found inspirational and ground-breaking at the time), I am at first most surprised by A) how stripped down these first few albums are … many if not most tracks featuring nothing more than Dylan alone in the studio with his guitar and harmonica … and B) how much HUMOR runs throughout the lyrics of these songs.

There is no denying the fact that Dylan was a keen observer of the times … and his commentary is both insightful and astute as well as thought-provoking and entertaining.  By employing a sense of humor (and, in many cases, some very clever irony), Bob gets his point across much clearer by allowing the listener to relax, listen and absorb those points.  I already hold him in much higher esteem than I did going into this project … as I hoped I would.

(That being said, this is going to be a LONG journey … listening to a Bob Dylan album is not necessarily a joyful experience … and I have found few passengers willing to listen to them with me!  Even my own mood has to be just right in order to take it all in … and I’m finding myself breaking between each LP to play a bit more fun and “listenable” music to kind of break things up a bit.But I am committed to completing this project, even if it takes me a couple of years to do so!  Lol)  kk

The Britney Saga continues ...

New testimony says that Britney Spears’ father used $2 Million of HER money to fight in his own defense for conservatorship!  Honest to God, this girl has never led a single moment of a normal life … and there are probably at least a thousand reasons why Britney is as fucked up as she is … but her parents are most definitely two of them!  (kk)

More Doors talk …

Now comes word that Doors Guitarist Robby Krieger has an autobiography / memoir coming out in October.  Titled “Set The Night On Fire,” this will be Krieger’s first recounting of what it was like “Living, Dying and Playing Guitar With The Doors.”

The official press release says that SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE “is packed with never-before-told stories from The Doors’ most vital years, and offers a fresh perspective on the most infamous moments of the band’s career.  Krieger also goes into heartbreaking detail about his life’s most difficult struggles, ranging from drug addiction to cancer, but he balances out the sorrow with humorous anecdotes.”  (kk)

Have you seen the list of Radio Hall Of Fame Nominees?

Your good friend Bob Stroud is one!

https://radioink.com/2021/07/12/and-the-2021-hal-of-fame-nominees-are/

-- Bob Frable

I sure have … and it couldn’t go to a more deserving guy.  (Bob was robbed of this honor last year … and I still don’t understand how!)  But hopefully 2021 will be the year he can add yet another accolade to his mantel shelf.  (kk)

Pam Pulice tells us …

Thanks to Ron Onesti, owner of the Arcada Theatre, and the newly renovated and absolutely gorgeous Des Plaines Theatre, we are about to announce A STAR-STUDDED MUSIC EXTRAVAGANZA to benefit the Dick Biondi Film.
SAVE THE DATE! SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 … Details to be announced SOON!


Kent,
Thanks for posting the Peter Knight story - it becomes more and more interesting as time goes on.
The mystery that still intrigues me is how 18-year-old Vicki Lawrence ended up on the cover - she was pretty much an unknown at that time, having just won the "Miss Fireball" contest at her high school out in CA.  Someone knew something that no one else did. 

I wrote to her management agency and they ignored my question, asking if that truly was her ... but they did send me an autographed photo of Ms. Lawrence, which was very nice of them. I AM a fan.
But ... the quest goes on. Maybe I'll meet her someday.
Mike


Record Collectors Price Guide Guru Jerry Osborne was so intrigued by our coverage of this LP cover that he ran the inquiry in his own column!  (Maybe now we'll get some answers!!!

I'd still like to identify everybody in the picture ... so if some of you out there know FOR SURE who some of these people are, please let us know so we can build some kind of a legend.)  kk

I like your info about the Knight LP, so I put it on my "Mr. Music" column:  https://jerryosborne.com/mr.music.htm

Maybe someone will know more than we do.

We'll talk again, my friend.

Jerry

Jerry also raises a very good point ...

I thought it would be fairly easy to find the LP online, and I was right about that part. What was a disappointment is that none of the LP images I found were in decent condition (blurry). Even if there was someone I knew on the cover, they would not be clear enough to recognize.  

Jerry 

Not especially optimistic on this one ... but hoping for the best here.

Thanks, Jerry, for ANY light you can shed.  (kk) 

>>>Concerning the songs that are telephone related, here is another one that probably a lot of your readers may not remember. This one did not chart nationally, I believe, but was a Top 5 record here in the OKC area in 1961. It was called DADDY, DADDY (GOT TO GET A PHONE IN MY ROOM) by singer Robin Clark (Capitol).  Larry Neal 

>>>Robin Clark’s record bubbled under on all three major charts, placing highest in Music Vendor at #111.  (Cash Box had it ten spots lower and Billboard charted it at #120 for one week)  I’ve never heard (or heard of) the song.  (kk)

Kent,

Here's an old email from our good friend Wes Smith, who always surprised me with Robin Clark info. Robin Clark was actually named Tefft and lived in Lincoln when I spoke to her by phone in the 1980's.  It was the first time I had ever spoken with anyone who knew Dick Clark or had been on Bandstand before.  She shied away from the limelight at the time, but after hooking her up with Wes, she was grateful to him and thru his efforts, all eight Capitol 45 sides (one never released on 45) are now on CD.  Wes passed away several years ago, but he was a great buddy.

Clark

Kent,

Read your comments today and found this on YouTube …

Interesting info about her in the comments section.

Aloha,

Manny

Robin Clark - Daddy, Daddy (Gotta Get A Phone In My Room) (1961) - YouTube

I didn't realize this was such a novelty tune.  Not all that bad, actually ... and cute enough to potentially catch on ... a shame that it didn't.

Thanks, Manny!  (kk) 

Hi Kent,

You may want to catch the Time Magazine review (July 19th double-issue, page 102) of three music documentaries, "Summer Of Soul", "McCartney 3,2,1", and the less familiar, "The Sparks Brothers".  Forgotten Hits and your readers can see how their reviews compare to Stephanie Zacharek's perspective of Time magazine.

Take Care,

Tim Kiley

I am really looking forward to the “McCartney 3,2,1” documentary starting this Friday on Hulu.  (They’re FINALLY advertising it!)  I don’t think this is a one-sitting viewing (it’s six hours long!!!)  But I AM expecting to find something of interest in each and every chapter!  (kk)