PHIL NEE: Those Were The Days - featuring BURTON CUMMINGS
Another new Forgotten Hits feature for 2022 will be weekly interview clips provided by WRCO Disc Jockey Phil Nee, who has been hosting "Those Were The Days" for decades now.
Just click on the headphones for 100.9 and enjoy the show!
(I've been a guest on Phil's show a number of times over the years ... and it is ALWAYS a good time!)
[Phil's guest tonight is Susan Cowsill!!! I'll sure be listening!]
We kick things off THIS Saturday, the very first day of 2022, with bits and pieces of Phil's interview with Burton Cummings from several years ago. (You can read OUR interview with BC as well by clicking on this link: Forgotten Hits - bc ... which gives me yet another excuse to run this great promo clip that Burton made for Forgotten Hits) ...
Phil tells us ...
I began my Those Were the Days radio show in 1986 and have been honored to have hundreds of guests. The station is located in 'nowhere, Wisconsin,' and as a result, most of these interviews were conducted over the phone. A few stopped by the station if they were playing in Wisconsin Dells or other locations that were within our radius.
My first rock and roll related guest was Nigel Olsson (Elton John's drummer), an artist that put out a few radio hits in the late '70's.
Kent Kotal has encouraged me to revisit some of these special moments.
I have converted some of these tapes to digital but many more remain on cassettes stored in rubbermaid containers. The day I play my last song, my kids will most likely toss the tapes in a dumpster and so it is time to start saving some of these.
The chance to share sound bytes on the Forgotten Hits site has inspired me to start preserving more of my collection. I hope you enjoy my memories, running most Saturdays during this year of 2022.
The first interview that I am sharing is with Burton Cummings. The Guess Who have always been a favorite of mine.
I first saw Burton's solo act in the Summer of 1985 at Marty Zivco's Rock and Roll Palace in Hartford, Wisconsin. I became even more of a fan after seeing his
show. My chance to have him on my program happened in 1994 shortly after Rhino records released a greatest hits cd of his solo work.
One reason for featuring Burton Cummings for our first journey of the year is the fact that he celebrates a birthday this weekend. He was born December 31st of 1947 in Winnipeg, Canada.
Cummings enjoyed fifteen Top 40 Hits while fronting The Guess Who between 1969 and 1975. These included The Top 10 Hits "These Eyes" (#3, 1969), "Laughing" (#5, 1969), "No Time" (#3, 1970), "Share The Land" (#5, 1970) and "Clap For The Wolfman" (#6, 1974), as well as the #1 Hit "American Woman" (1970).
His first success as a solo artist came right out of the box when "Stand Tall" went all the way to #5 in 1976.
Here, Phil asks him about The Guess Who's biggest hit ...
