FORGOTTEN HITS: The Sunday Comments ( 02 - 27

Sunday, February 27, 2022

The Sunday Comments ( 02 - 27 - 22 )

From Mike Wolstein …

February 25th: Happy 79th to George Harrison!

What a GREAT shot of Ravi Shankar and George Harrison, sent in by Harvey Kubernik!!!

From Noise 11 …

Elton John’s private jet reportedly had to make an emergency landing after suffering hydraulic failure mid-air on Monday

Elton’s flight left Farnborough Airport in Hampshire, England, for the U.S. at 10.20 am on Monday, according to The Sun, but had to return after suffering a malfunction an hour into the transatlantic trip.

The pilot tried to land again at Farnborough but then struggled to bring the craft down in Storm Franklin’s 80 miles per hour winds. When the plane did finally reach the tarmac, fire crews were called out to attend.

“Firefighters from Rushmoor, Hartley Wintney, Basingstoke, Fleet, Yateley and Surrey FRS were called at 11.16 on Monday morning to an incident at Farnborough Airport,” Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service representatives told the newspaper.

Witnesses saw the jet, which is emblazoned with a giant letter ‘E’ near the cockpit, having difficulties as it tried to land.

Plumber Philip Thomson, who was working locally, said, “The terrible weather and epic gusts made it almost impossible to land. Two attempts to touch down failed. The plane was being buffeted and couldn’t make it. The aircraft’s nose was far too vertical. The plane was descending and was halfway along the runway when it gave up trying to hit the tarmac. It soared back in the air.

“A crowd had gathered after word went around that Elton was in difficulty. And as the plane came around again for a second attempt to land, the storm was doing its worst.”

Revealing how he feared for Elton’s life, Thomson added, “It was only at the third attempt to land that the plane got down. The pilot made a flatter approach and the wind had dropped slightly. Everyone watching was mightily relieved.

“It was a horrible thing to see, and you wouldn’t have swapped places with Elton on that small plane for anything. I bet he said a few prayers of thanks.”

Despite the ordeal, Elton swiftly jumped on another flight to ensure he could perform at Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday.

Sir Elton has yet to comment on the report.

Take me to the pilot, indeed!!! Congrats to the man who safely landed this plane and avoided yet another rock and roll tragedy. (kk)

Your article on the longest running #2 hits that didn't reach #1 was fascinating. It must have taken a lot of research.

I was looking for Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" on the list. It spent six weeks at #2 on Billboard without reaching #1. I see it reached #1 in Cash Box though, so it didn't meet the criteria.

There were some who thought it should have reached #1 in Billboard, according to this passage in the PhD thesis of Len O'Kelly, now Dr. O'Kelly, I presume, who used to be the overnight DJ at Real Oldies:

>>>It is also possible that the chart makers themselves were subject to external forces of manipulation. Scott Paton, a producer with the “American Top 40” countdown show hosted by Casey Kasem, recounted a story involving Andy Gibb threatening not to perform at a Billboard function if he was bumped from the #1 position on the chart. Paton explained that the chart that he received for the show, which listed Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street” as the number one record, was suddenly recalled and corrected by the publication. Paton indicated that “it probably was a frequent occurrence in the first four decades of the charts, throughout the various trade papers” (Paton, S., interview with Jim Bartlett, 2013).<<<

Whatever really happened here, when the one reporting on a trade also has an stake in it, there's always that question of conflict of interest.

Ed #1

Your story is fascinating and, since Scott Paton is a regular Forgotten Hits Reader, I had to ask him about it!!!

As for “chart manipulation,” I have no doubt that it was going on.

Over the years of doing this, I’ve heard several stories about the various trades making deals with the record labels along the lines of … “Take out a $10,000 full page in the next issue and we’ll give ‘so-and-so’’s new record a bullet and move it up ten places on the chart” … it sounds like these were more regular occurrences than one might expect with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. As such, there is no doubt in my mind that this kind of thing was happening on a somewhat regular basis, making the charts only as accurate as you can imagine.

As for "Baker Street," I feel quite certain (based on the amount of sales and airplay it was receiving at the time) it should have been a #1 Record. (As you mentioned, it DID reach #1 in Cash Box ... and it stayed there for two weeks. It stayed at #2 in Billboard for six weeks and at #2 for four weeks in Record World.)

This is way (AGAIN!!!) I have to defer to the accuracy of our Super Charts … which COMBINE the chart stats of all three major publications to give a more accurate picture of how these records were REALLY doing at the time. (When you had chart discrepancies of 20+ places between some of these charts, it becomes REAL obvious that they were using different methods of calculations!) That being said, the combination of ALL of their resources paints a far more accurate picture of reality … so I swear by our findings in compiling these.

By the way, I asked Randy Price (curator of The Super Charts) if "Baker Street" made it to #1 on those charts ...

"Baker Street" was #2 for 5 weeks (behind "Shadow Dancing").
– Randy

And that really doesn't surprise me since it peaked at #2 on two of the three major charts. (But if the Billboard Charts were in some way distorted, then ...) kk

As for your your Scott Paton comment, here is his response …

Hi Kent,

First, a quick point of clarification ... my ultimate "title" at American Top 40 was Assistant Producer, but I appreciate the promotion, Kent!

In my opinion, the '70s was the real heyday of AT40, so I was very fortunate to have worked there at that time. During my three years with the show, I did hundreds of interviews with the performers, writers and producers who landed hits on Billboard's Top 40 on which our chart was based -- 99% of the time; more on that later! -- and every now and then, friendships developed.

One of the more significant friendships I developed with an artist was with Andy Gibb. Andy was just one month and a day older than me, so being two kids in a crazy business certainly provided some degree of sympatico. We were both huge fans of his big brothers, the Bee Gees, and if Andy pulled out a guitar, we'd end up singing their hits late into the night. I spent time with him in L.A., Miami, Hawaii and several other locations around the country when he was on tour.

In just a matter of a few months, I saw him go from being a complete unknown to one of the most famous, successful acts in the world. It was quite a window on the impact of sudden success and fame and, as we've seen so many times, the results are not always so favorable. But '77 thru '79 were largely good times for Andy. During that time, I got to know his parents pretty well, too, and I'd bump into Barry, Robin and Maurice on multiple occasions as well.

That 99 percent of the time comment I made regarding AT40's adherence to the Billboard chart was in reference to the fact that when we were compiling our annual, year-end countdown of the Hot 100 hits in December, 1977, our tally differed from the magazine's. A record that split its chart-run over weeks spanning December into January was always a tough tabulation*. In which year should you assign its predominant popularity? Well, in 1977, Billboard decided that Rod Stewart's "Tonight's The Night" -- a clear '76 hit in our estimation -- would be the Number One hit of '77. The staff of AT40 disagreed, and as our statistician, Sandy Stert-Benjamin, had been compiling the preliminary year-end chart for weeks, we broke with Billboard and declared that Andy's "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" would be Number One.

Obviously, Andy, his family and his label, RSO Records, were all pleased with the results. Billboard's head of the chart department, Bill Wardlow, was not as happy with our breakaway approach to the chart stats, but it fell far short of an international incident!

But the details surrounding "Shadow Dancing's" eclipsing of "Baker Street" is a different story.

I can't tell you exactly what week in June it occurred, but in the Summer of '78, in the midst of Andy's run at Number One with "Shadow Dancing," we received the weekly chart numbers from Billboard -- Wednesday nights, I believe -- a few days prior to publication. Casey would track the show on Thursday morning, so we would be busy the afternoon/evening before assembling the chart stats, anecdotes and feature stories as they would appear in the show. And on this week, Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" climbed to Number One, knocking Andy to the Number Two position.

As anyone around at that time can attest, "Baker Street" was as dominant on the airwaves as any popular hit can possibly be. It's ascendance to the top of the chart was certainly no surprise. Casey cut the voice tracks, and the post-production team went about editing and assembling the final show that would be heard around the country the following week.

But then a call came in. It was Billboard's Bill Wardlow on the line. An "error in tabulation" had been made. Andy's "Shadow Dancing" was back on top. Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" was relegated to pole position at Number Two. You can imagine the tizzy this put the AT40 staff into. The last two quarter-hours of the show had to be rewritten -- Casey's famous tease of the Number One record prior to the final commercial break, and the copy for both of the top two discs of the week, especially the Number One record. Casey was called back to the studio to re-track, and the production team put in some extra hours to redo the closing segments of the revamped show.

Billboard's vague explanation of this incident had left us scratching our heads, but we had no concrete theories as to what had happened, so we took them at their word that it was simply "an error in tabulation." But then "Shadow Dancing" went on to log another four or five weeks at the top of the chart, leaving Rafferty stuck at Number Two for an incredible six weeks total. A short time thereafter, I was visiting with Andy and his parents at the Beverly Hilton, where they frequently stayed when they were in L.A., and I mentioned this odd event. I believe it was Barbara Gibb who responded first. "Oh, we know. We and RSO made them put Andy back at Number One."

Andy chimed in a tiny bit sheepishly, "Yes, we called Bill Wardlow and said that all the reports RSO has from the big markets indicated that "Shadow Dancing" was still tops in airplay."

Hugh Gibb added, "You can't turn on the radio and not hear 'Shadow Dancing,' besides, you know how this business works."

I was already a bit taken back, as "Baker Street's" ubiquity was every bit a match for Andy's record. But then Andy added, "You know, Wardlow's the guy who got the Disco Chart added to Billboard, and I was headlining his Disco Forum in New York the following week. RSO and I told him I wouldn't appear if "Shadow Dancing" dropped from Number One."

Wow, huh?! Perhaps, at 20, I was a still a bit naive. And, inspite of Hugh Gibb's suggestion that I knew "how this business works," perhaps I didn't fully understand just yet. I was both a fan and personally fond of all the Gibbs, but the Gibb Family's dominance of the popular music scene at the time rivaled that of the Beatles a dozen years earlier. They weren't immune to employing the capital of their success, and there were several other rumors of RSO Records doing behind-the-scene deals for securing airplay, distribution and chart positions for all their acts thanks to the success of the Bee Gees, Andy and Saturday Night Fever.

(*The split of chart points over two calendar years that caused Billboard to credit Rod Stewart's "Tonight's The Night" is the same policy that cost Debby Boone the Number One spot on the 1977 year-end chart with "You Light Up My Life." Ultimately, she would rack up 10 weeks at the top, while Andy Gibb only had four with "I Just Want To Be Your Everything," but her points were split between '77 & '78. If you look these examples up in Joel Whitburn's Pop Annuals, you will see that he has corrected these inadvertent "chart injustices." As a result, his tallies of the top records of any given year may not match up with what Billboard (or AT40) cited at the time, but they are certainly much better reflective of these records' popularity back in the day.)

By the way, Kent, author Matthew Hild will be publishing his biography of Andy Gibb via Bear Manor Media later this spring. Over the course of the past year and-a-half, I've gotten to know him quite well. He's a meticulous researcher and an excellent writer who really committed to give Andy and his story a fair shake. I'm certain that any Andy, Bee Gees or '70s/'80s music fan will find the book a great and informative read. My extended communications with him have really made the times I spent with Andy and those memories very immediate again, despite the 34 years since Andy's tragic early passing.

Scott

Here are some stats you may find interesting and compelling ... if not just a little bit surprising.

Best Classic Bands ran a piece the other day celebrating the fact that The Eagles’ Greatest Hits, 1971 – 1975, is now once again (and officially) the best selling album of all time.

Not only was it the first album ever to be certified platinum by the RIAA, but it has now surpassed 38 MILLION COPIES SOLD, putting it just ahead (by a rather larger margin this time) of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album.

The RIAA listed the Top 12 Best Selling LP’s of all time (and by LP’s, I now mean ALL formats, including streaming, which is the way sales are measured these days.)

Check this out … some of these titles may really surprise you!!! (kk)

#1. Their Greatest Hits, 1971 - 1975 – Eagles (38 million)

#2. Thriller – Michael Jackson (34 million)

#3. Hotel California – Eagles (26 million)

[Damn! The Eagles have TWO of the top three best selling LP’s of all time … with sales of over 64 million copies between them!!!]

#4. Back in Black – AC/DC (25 million)

#5/6. TIE: Led Zeppelin IV (their “ruins” album with “Stairway To Heaven) and The Beatles – The Beatles (The White Album), each with 24 million

#7/8. Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II – Billy Joel (23) and The Wall – Pink Floyd (both with 23 million)

#9/10. Double Live – Garth Brooks (21) and Cracked Rear View – Hootie & the Blowfish (21 million)

#11/12. Rumours – Fleetwood Mac and Come On Over – Shania Twain (both with 20 million)

And yes, at one time or another, I bought all twelve of them!!!

I'm not sure I'm convinced that all of the top ten albums sold more than "Rumours" ... or that "Dark Side Of The Moon" (which charted for something like 14 years!) didn't make the list at all! (I know that four of these top sellers are double albums ... and, as such, get sales credit for BOTH discs sold, in theory doubling their actual sales total. As such, The Beatles' White Album appears to have sold more copies than "Abbey Road," "Sgt. Pepper" and even "Meet The Beatles," which I also don't think is a reasonable assumption ... but because of the way the sales are tabulated, it comes out this way.

AC/DC outselling Led Zeppelin, "Rumours" and Garth??? Hmm ... and how the heck did Hootie and the Blowfish sell 21 million copies of their first LP? (kk)

I found this tribute to the Buckinghams on another blog …

Jim Bartlett, afternoon-drive host at WMGN, Madison, Wisconsin, has a

fabulous blog about pop music, history, and his younger days, and to it

today he posted about how a little band from that Chi-town talked a big,

national label into picking up their contract ... / after / they'd already had a #1 hit!

You know them, or at least one of their members, well ... https://thjkoc.net/2022/02/23/our-song/

It also has a nice recent picture including that one member I mentioned.

--Bob Frable

It’s a GREAT shot … and I wish they’d bring this show to Chicago! (Of course THIS one took place back in 2015, which is already seven years ago!)

I would LOVE to see Tony Burrows, Ron Dante, Dennis Tufano of the Buckinghams, Bo Donaldson, and bubblegum singer and songwriter Kyle Vincent performing together. (All but Burrows have been Forgotten Hits participants for years now! And we’d love to get HIM on board, too!!!) kk

More praise for Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik’s Jimi Hendrix book …

(In fact, you’ll even find some sample pages!) kk

There are plenty of books about Jimi Hendrix so why did I like this new one? Rock journalists and brothers Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik have assembled a wonderful timeline-in-a-box full of photos, artifacts, and interviews that outline the event-packed last four years of Hendrix's life and career.

Great Details in new Hendrix book | Boing Boing

https://boingboing.net/2022/02/22/great-stories...

The first time Hendrix lit his guitar on fire 54 years ago …

From the College of Rock and Roll Knowledge page on Facebook: The Jimi Hendrix Experience played at the London Astoria on March 31, 1967.

The verdict is unanimous … the book the Kubernik brothers have put together present the career of Jimi Hendrix as told not only by those who were there but also those who were affected by him … BEAUTIFULLY illustrated throughout, it’s a must have for even the most casual fan. (kk)

And speaking of Harvey Kubernik, he just sent me this photo of Gary Brooker (taken by Jim Roup) after a performance at The House Of Blues

Diane Diekman is reporting that C.W. McCall (real name William Dale Fries, Jr.), the guy who scored the #1 Hit “Convoy” in 1976, is in very poor health. (“Convoy” is apparently being used by Canadian trucker protesters.)

When podcasters Drew and Mike called him to ask what he thought about his song being used in this fashion, McCall (now 93) told them. "I'm in hospice," which caught his callers off-guard. His wife, Rena, has "bad arthritis problems." She is 90, and they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day. He reminds the callers he recorded "Convoy" in 1975 … and he also wrote the soundtrack for the 1978 movie.

"I'm not very well … I'm battling cancer," he said.

"They're using the song?” he asks. “Hey, that's great!"

McCall had nothing to do with the decision, but he still gets royalties from it. When Drew and Mike thanked him for his time, C.W. said, "It's amazing to me that I still have enough drawing power to have some radio station call me." (kk)

We lost the original Hot Lips Houlihan this week …

Actress Sally Kellerman (who played the role of Nurse Margaret Houlihan in the motion picture version of “M*A*S*H” in 1970, which spawned the long-running television series … which lasted longer than The Korean War!!) passed away on Thursday (February 24^th) after a long bout with dementia. She was 84 years old.

Her acting career spanned more than 150 movies and television appearances. In the 1960’s, she appeared in episodes of “The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet,” “I Spy,” “The Twilight Zone” and “My Three Sons” … and many, many more.

In 1970, she was cast to star in Robert Altman’s award-winning film, “M*A*S*H” … and the role earned her an Oscar nomination.

Other film roles followed, including starring roles in “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” (with Alan Arkin), “Shelter” (with James Caan), “A Little Romance” with Laurence Olivier and Diane Lane, “Welcome To L.A.” with Harvey Keitel and Sissy Spacek, and (of course) “Back To School” with Rodney Dangerfield. (“Call me sometime when you got no class.”)

Her nude shower scene in “M*A*S*H” was a career first … and in a 2016 interview she revealed how she got thru it …

'When I looked up, there was Gary Burghoff (Radar) stark naked standing in front of me. For the next take, [Director Robert Altman] had Tamara Horrocks — she was the more amply endowed nurse — without her shirt on … so I attribute my Academy Award nomination to the people who made my mouth hang open.” (kk)

And we’ve just lost another Chicago star …

Joni James passed away last Sunday in West Palm Beach, Florida of natural causes … she was 91.

The start of Joni’s recording career predated the rock and roll era by a few years …

In 1952, she came right out of the gate with a #1 hit and topped the charts with “Why Don’t You Believe Me,” a record that stayed there for four weeks on Billboard’s Best Sellers Chart. (It also reached #1 on their Disc Jockey Chart for six weeks and spent three weeks at #1 on their Juke Box Chart … it was what you called an “across the boards” hit.) Originally titled “You Should Believe Me,” Joni tweaked the lyrics a little bit and, accompanied by a 23-piece orchestra, her recording sold over two million copies.

Her follow up hit, “Have You Heard,” made it to #5 on the Best Sellers Chart … (ironically, BOTH of these songs were later covered by The Duprees and became hits again in 1963) … and then her version of the Hank Williams classic “Your Cheatin’ Heart” went to #7 just a month later. Other early (pre-rock era) Top 20 Hits included “Wishing Ring” (#20, 1953), “Almost Always (#18, 1953), “Is It Any Wonder” (#20, 1953) and “My Love, My Love” (#10, 1953)

Between 1952 and 1960 she would hit the Billboard Chart a total of 24 times. Other memorable hits include “How Important Can It Be?” (#8 Best Sellers but #2 on the Disc Jockey Chart, 1955), “You Are My Love” (#15 BS, #6 DJ, 1955) and “There Goes My Heart” (#19, 1958). During her career, she recorded over 40 albums, and between them, sold more than 100 million copies.

Joni James was born Giovanna Carmello Babbo in 1930 right here in Chicago, IL, and at the age of 12, began working as a dancer. (Plans for her to dance in a local production of the Broadway Musical “Bloomer Girl” had to be cancelled due to an emergency appendectomy.) By high school, she was already doing modeling. Soon after, she toured Canada as a dancer and then began her recording career. Often backed by a full orchestra, she ended up marrying her orchestral arranger / conductor Tony Acquaviva. During that time, she became the first pop singer to perform a solo concert at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, where she was backed by a 100-piece orchestra and 30 other voices. She achieved another musical milestone when she became the first American artist to record at London’s Abbey Road Studios … in fact, she ultimately recorded five albums there. (Sorry, but I couldn’t find a picture of her making her way across the zebra walkway!)

DIDJAKNOW?: Cartoonist Charles Schulz was such a fan of Joni’s music that her name appeared in two different Peanuts cartoons!)

When Acquaviva became ill with diabetes and was confined to a wheelchair facing possible leg amputation, James put her career on hold for nearly two decades to care for him. In her words, “I became the nurse and Italian Mother. I couldn’t possibly turn away from Tony. He was in a wheelchair for years. They were going to amputate his leg at one point because of gangrene, but we saved it. I used to bathe his leg six times a day.”

After Acquaviva passed away in 1986, Joni returned to performing (and even made her way back to Carnegie Hall in 1998!) She then supervised the release of her MGM catalog recordings on CD. (kk)

TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FANS NOT ON FACEBOOK … OR WHO DON'T CHECK IT OFTEN …

Today, February 25th, is the official release date for SOMETHING WORSE THAN LONELINESS, my newest and, IMO, best-ever album. Reviews so far have been ultra-kind (8/10 in UNCUT and four stars in SHINDIG) ... but you be the judge.

If you haven't ordered it yet, go ahead, do the humane thing … listen to some soul-satisfying music and help a poor singer/songwriter and all-round splendid fellow pay his rent.

It's available on zillions of sites. Just Google the album title and pick one you like.

Below are three links to sites that I know to be reliable.

Love to youse,

Bob

https://acerecords.co.uk/something-worse-than-loneliness

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/something-worse-than-loneliness-bob-lind/37611201

https://www.juno.co.uk/products/bob-lind-something-worse-than-loneliness/862569-01/

Bob Lind

www.boblind.com

Kent,

First, I enjoyed the video of The Amazing Jonathan. I had never heard of him before. Also, the record by the Five Americans, 7:30 Guided Tour, made our weekly survey here in OKC but dropped off it as quickly as it entered it.

Reader Ed#1 was correct in that THE BALLAD OF DAVY CROCKETT was not on a Disney label. I stand corrected. I was thinking of the song THE BALLAD OF JOHN COLTER, which was on the flip of WRINGLE, WRANGLE by Fess Parker on the Disney label. Fess Parker's version was released on the BUENA VISTA label, the same label that Annette recorded for.

Now, as far as the AT40 show, I have three of them ... March 11, 1973, July 7, 1973 (a special show featuring 1 hit wonders), and May 26, 1973. On the latter one, the call letters of the station I was working at the time are mentioned.

I also saw two commercials on television today for the first time.

Now these may be old to you or maybe like me, you have never seem them.

The first was for Galaxy Samsung and the background music was Wilson Pickett's LAND OF A THOUSAND DANCES. The second was for Dinty Moore beef, with the background tune being song as the same tune in DAVY CROCKETT.

Larry

Wow! Do you think all this Davy Crockett talk here in Forgotten Hits lately may have inspired this?!?! (lol)

I’ve seen/heard the Wilson Pickett one before … probably for a couple of months now … the ones I keep seeing/hearing these days are "Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf," “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and “It’s Not Unusual,” all absolute ‘60’s and '70's classics. (kk)

FORGOTTEN HITS

Sunday, February 27, 2022

The Sunday Comments ( 02 - 27 - 22 )

Great Details in new Hendrix book | Boing Boing

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