HELLO DOLLY:
Dolly Parton has respectfully bowed out of consideration for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Just when you thought you couldn't love here even more.
Of course, I would have preferred if she had said "I must respectfully bow out because we don't need a self-appointed overlord dictating to us who matters and who doesn't. This goes against everything that Rock and Roll stands for" … but a polite southern girl like Dolly would never talk like that.
Here's My favorite Dolly quote, showing how truly down-to-earth she is:
A reunion of the film "Steel Magnolias" was being made and all the actors of the film were interviewed. One of the common complaints that all the actors had during filming, was the extreme heat that they had to endure while they were making the film.
The only actor that was not complaining of the heat was Dolly. Then the makers of the documentary asked Dolly why she wasn’t complaining of the heat.
She quickly replied, “My entire life I’ve dreamt of being rich and famous. Now, I am rich and famous, so I have nothing to complain about.”
Elvis wanted to record her song "I Will Always Love You," but when his management demanded half the publishing rights, Dolly declined. She agonized over this decision, but years later when Whitney Houston's version of that song went quadruple platinum it proved to be the right one.
On top of that, she's been married to the same guy for 56 years, a rarity in the entertainment industry. Dolly has a history of making good choices.
Ed #1
We said that Dolly Parton didn’t need to go out and record a rock and roll album in order to justify her spot in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. (My guess is that now, after all this controversy and debate, she’s pretty much a shoo-in!)
Check out Dolly performing this Led Zeppelin classic from a few years ago …
Not quite Heart … but still pretty heartfelt. (kk)
>>>When I checked the site Monday night, Parton’s name was still on the ballot. Maybe this is like that time when Pat Paulsen said, “If I’m nominated, I will not run … and if I’m elected, I will not serve” … or was that LBJ that said that?!?! (kk)
This was actually attributed to William T. Sherman, when he was encouraged to run for President.
Brad
BTW, as of Saturday Night, Parton had a little over 300,000 votes, good enough for fourth place … about 120,000 votes behind Pat Benatar in third place … and about 360,000 votes behind current leader Duran Duran. (Eminem is still second with about 575,000 votes) kk
As we continue to remember the music of 1972 … (and as much
as we LOVE the stories behind the songs) … it was a real treat to receive this
link from Tom Cuddy … The Real
Stories Behind 13 of the Most Beloved Songs of 1972
https://parade.com/1344761/jimfarber/best-songs-of-1972/
On more than a few occasions, we have mentioned “The Lost Factor” charts assembled by radio analyst Sean Ross over the past couple of years.
Well, this week he reran the article that started the whole series …
And radio programmers might pick up an interesting “Wow!” idea by investigating some of these titles (and their lack of airplay over the years, despite being HUGE hits at the time of their original release.)
Now I’ve talked to Russ about this a couple of times, too … you WILL hear a good number of these songs if you simply listen in the right places! (Rewound Radio, WCFLChicago.com, Me-TV-FM, and several other internet oldies show make it a point to feature the unexpected. In fact, you can still catch Rich Appel’s “Wow Factor Countdown” running this weekend on all kinds of stations around the world.) You just have to know where to listen.
Still, it’s a point-on commentary about oldies radio in general … and all the songs they’ve left behind. (kk)
https://radioinsight.com/ross/185677/how-lost-are-pop-music-lost-hits/
https://www.thatthingshow.com/listen-guide
https://www.mixcloud.com/ThatThingWithRichAppel/
Kent,
Have you ever had a relapse of memory? I haven't located them yet, but I am supposed to have on cassette the complete History of Rock and Roll, which I taped over my radio. Now I am talking about the early 1970's which, I believe, was originally some 48 hours long. I can't remember offhand the DJ who did the series. He has probably passed away by now. Not getting into any sordid details, but I believe he went to prison for a homicide he did. Know who I mean? His name is on the tip of my tongue, but my tongue isn't long enough to see. (lol). Incidentally, a few years later the series would be expanded to some 52 hours.
Larry
The original series was a Drake-Chenault production. (Thanks to FH Reader David Lewis, I was able to relisten to the entire broadcast a few months ago, as well as the Canadian version that preceded it. They both definitely sound dated … but are still entertaining and informative to say the least. Keep in mind that prior to these programs, nothing like this had ever been attempted before. Gary Theroux, who writes the current editions airing now in circulation all over the world, was involved with the first series as well and conducted a number of these interviews himself.)
It was Bill Drake who narrated the original series, which first launched in 1978. (20/20 hindsight shows this era of the ‘70’s as being the make-up of Classic Rock Radio today! At the time, it was too new to even mention!) You are correct in that Drake passed away in 2008 and Chenault died in 2010. (kk)
Greetings and cheers! As I daily reader of Forgotten Hits, I see all your posts and thank you for sharing your insights and information.
I would just like to let you know that you’re missing a date on your recent listing of this summer's Happy Together Tour, which will appear here once again this summer in our very own Southern Oregon venue: the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, OR, on Tuesday July 12th. (I'm looking forward to seeing this show as it will be only my 5th
concert since the pandemic began. All the other four shows I've seen have also been at the lovely outdoor Britt Festival, nestled among the beautiful hills of Southern Oregon that we locals call home.)
Can't Forget the Britt Festival City (more like a small town, though),
John Pumilia
Grants Pass, OR
Sorry about that … but we just went with the list we were given.
I just checked our list against the official Ticketmaster list and it looks like our shows some added dates as well …
As far as I can see, the July 12th show in Jacksonville, OR, is the only one missing from what we ran. (Scroll back to Friday’s post if you missed it.)
Thanks, John! (kk)
Speaking of upcoming shows, here are a couple of great ones coming to Chicago …
Along with a review of the “50 Years Ago Today” from one of our readers …
The other night I attended probably one of the best concerts I've ever seen - and that's saying a whole lot!
It was called" It was Fifty Years Ago Today," and it is currently on tour.
It was featured as being the Beatles’ Rubber Soul and Revolver albums as played by Denny Laine (Moody Blues, Wings), Todd Rundgren, Christopher Cross, Joey Molland (Badfinger) and Jason Scheff (Chicago.)
Not only did they do an amazing job on the Beatles songs, but they all sang their own tunes, including an amazing "Go Now", which I didn't get a video of, as I sat there in awe watching!!!
It was two hours of song after song after song.
If this comes to your city, this is one concert you definitely should not miss!
Eileen
(Kent, here are a couple of pictures I took at the concert. I've also included links to a couple video clips I was able to make.)
This is now the third go’round of these “50 Years Ago Today” tours …
It all started several years ago with their tribute to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” … then, two years ago, we saw their tribute to The White Album, which was outstanding …
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2019/10/it-was-50-years-ago-today-tribute-to.html
I don’t see a Chicagoland stop on this year’s Rubber Soul / Revolver tour (which is too bad because I think this would be a great one to see!) … but I DO know that Ron Onesti was looking into it to see if he could book a stop at The Arcada Theatre here in St. Charles. (I also know that a couple of shows were cancelled along the way … not sure if those are be rescheduled and made up or just off the list.)
Meanwhile, Ron DID book the Al Jardine Friends and Family show for his new Des Plaines Theater …
And we’re DEFINITELY going to that one!!!
Here are some of the other shows coming up at both Ron’s Arcada and Des Plaines Theaters …
Tonight, March 20th at the Des Plaines Theatre – Tower Of Power
April 3rd – Jay and the Americans with Paul Revere’s Raiders at the Arcada Theatre
April 9th – Lee Greenwood at the Arcada Theatre
April 15th – Loverboy at the Arcada Theatre
Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo with Tony Orlando – April 23rd at the Des Plaines Theatre and April 24th at The Arcada Theatre
May 6th – The Righteous Brothers at the Des Plaines Theatre
May 11th – Michael Bolton at the Arcada Theatre
May 14th – Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone at the Des Plaines Theatre and
May 15th at The Arcada Theatre
May 20th – Firefall with Pablo Cruise at the Des Plaines Theatre
May 25th – Billy Bob Thornton at the Des Plaines Theatre
May 27th – Al Jardine – Friends and Family (featuring Wendy and Carnie Wilson of Wilson Phillips) at the Des Plaines Theatre
June 4th – The Atlanta Rhythm Section with Pure Praire League at The Arcada Theatre
June 4th – Debbie Gibson at the Des Plaines Theatre
June 9th – Mitch Ryder’s All-Star Band (featuring Mitch Ryder, Peter Rivera, original Lead Singer & Drummer for Rare Earth, Supe Granda, founding member of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Larry Boyd, founding member of Head East) at The Arcada Theatre
June 12th – Chubby Checker at The Arcada Theatre
Shaun Cassidy - June 18th at the Des Plaines Theatre and June 19th at The Arcada Theatre
Leonid and Friends (the incredible Russian Chicago Tribute Band we’ve been telling you about) June 24th at the Des Plaines Theatre and June 25th at The Arcada Theatre
June 26th – Tesla at the Des Plaines Theatre
July 1st – The Village People at The Des Plaines Theatre
July 23rd and 24th – Ted Nugent at The Arcada Theatre
July 25th – Five For Fighting with The Verve Pipe at the Des Plaines Theatre
A Flock Of Seagulls with Wang Chung – August 20th at The Arcada Theatre and August 21st at The Des Plaines Theatre
October 15th – Spyro Gyra at the Des Plaines Theatre
Richard Marx – October 20th at The Arcada Theatre and October 21st at the Des Plaines Theatre
Other shows of interest coming to the Chicagoland area
include:
April 1st - Night Ranger - Genesee Theatre
April 23rd - Alan Parsons - Genesee Theatre
April 24th - Dionne Warwick - Genesee Theatre
April 27th – The Ides Of March – City Winery
May 5th - Air Supply - Genesee Theatre
July 16th - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – City Winery
August 6th - The Happy Together Tour - Genesee Theatre (featuring The Turtles, featuring Ron Dante, Chuck Negron, former lead singer of Three Dog Night, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, The Association, The Vogues, The Cowsills)
So, while I’m still finding clocks I didn’t find to reset for Daylight Saving Time last weekend, the process has given me time to think about this whole time-changing scenario.
And “they” are talking about making Daylight Saving time permanent across the country.
OK, but if they don’t, how about at least making a couple of changes in the way it’s done now?
For instance, instead of “Springing Forward” at 2 AM Sunday Morning, wouldn’t it be better if we set our clocks ahead an hour at 4 PM Monday Afternoon and end Monday an hour earlier?!
And instead of “Falling Back” at 2 AM Sunday morning,” why not set our clocks back at 9 PM Saturday night just when we’re getting going and having another extra hour to continue no matter what we’re doing?!
I think these would be timely changes!
CB ( which stands for “Clock Boy!” )
Hmm ... I'm wondering if this would have been more appropriate as a Tik-Tok posting!!! Thanks, Chuck ... I like the way you think! (kk)
In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Keith Richards says that The Rolling Stones were about halfway through the completion of their new album when Charlie Watts died. The balance of the LP will be recorded with new drummer Steve Jordan.
As the group prepares for their European tour, kicking off in June, Richards reflected on The Stones’ 60th anniversary as only he can …
“Who can wrap their head around 60 fucking years? It all seems impossible, that it’s been that long.”
-- Keith Richards
Speaking of The Rolling Stones, if you’re a fan of their album “Exile On Main Street,” you may enjoy this recent piece published by our FH Buddy Harvey Kubernik …
https://bestclassicbands.com/rolling-stones-andy-johns-exile-50th-3-17-22/
Kent,
I enjoyed the FH featuring ? and the Mysterians. Didn't that group take its name from the 1957 science fiction movie of the same name? Anyway, I have all their 45's that made the top 100. They were played here locally in OKC.
I never can remember this for some reason and I always have to check, but I never can remember if their DO SOMETHING TO ME was the original and covered by Tommy James or vice versa Their DO SOMETHING TO ME was played here locally. To be honest with you, I always did like their version better than Tommy James'.
Larry
As far as I know, ? and the Mysterians did this song first … I seem to remember Tommy James talking about hearing it and wanting to cut it with his band. Actually, I think they’re both very similar recordings … and I have always liked this song. (Tommy James and the Shondells had the hit here in Chicago, where the record went to #19. Nationally, it peaked at #24 / #38 in Billboard.)
? and the Mysterians charted first (in September of 1967), peaking at #97 in Record World and bubbling under in Billboard at #110. The Tommy James version came out a full year later in October of 1968.
Believe it or not, ? and the Mysterians’ version of “Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby” was actually a cover version of a tune first recorded by The Four Seasons!!! (And a quite awful version at that!!!) I vaguely remember the song from ‘66/’67 … but sure do love the Smash Mouth remake from 1998. (kk)
Did anyone know ABKCO was still doing anything? These guys sit on stuff for decades and dole out one thing years at a time it seems. They are reissuing the first two ? LPs on vinyl with NO bonus tracks (promised in future on CD WITH bonus tracks – when??? - maybe a couple years from now???)
Price of $22 isn't too bad comparatively, but NOTHING extra??
Are there new liners? Doesn't sound like it.
OH, and LIMIT 4??? People actually would buy FOUR copies let alone TWO at that price??? Things at ABKCO never seem to change.
https://shop.abkco.com/search?q=%3F+and+The+Mysterians
Clark Besch
ABKCO has actually been pretty forthcoming with new releases of late, including some key movie soundtracks. With Jody Klein now in charge, they’ve also taken a much “freer” approach with the extensive catalog.
The below information came along with the same press release that we featured on the ? and the Mysterians vinyl reissues …
ABKCO Music & Records, Inc., is one of the world’s leading independent entertainment companies. It is home to iconic music catalogues that include compositions and recordings by Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, Bobby Womack, Eric Burdon, The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Marianne Faithfull, The Kinks as well as the Cameo Parkway masters by such artists as Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, Clint Eastwood, The Dovells, ? & The Mysterians, The Orlons, Dee Dee Sharp, Charlie Gracie, Bob Seger, and The Tymes. Releases on ABKCO’s SAR Records include albums by L.C. Cooke, The Soul Stirrers, Billy Preston, Johnnie Taylor, The Valentinos, and more. ABKCO is active on many fronts, including the release of critically lauded soundtracks, compilations, reissues from its catalog, film, commercial placement of its master recordings and music publishing properties in all media. One Night In Miami … , ABKCO’s latest theatrical production, received a nomination for the 2017 Olivier® Award for Best New Play and three Academy Award nominations as a Major Motion Picture directed by Oscar® winner Regina King. ABKCO’s latest TV production is The Durrells in Corfu, based on Gerald Durrell’s book The Corfu Trilogy and ABKCO’s latest releases are The French Dispatch Original Soundtrack and its companion album Tip Top by Jarvis Cocker.
I don’t know that I need either of the original ? and the Mysterians LPs … on vinyl OR CD … I didn’t buy them when they came out so don’t see why I’d buy them now … especially since there is already a great ? and the Mysterians Greatest Hits CD available (which includes every single track coming out on these two “new” albums anyway!) And for about a QUARTER of the price you just mentioned! (You even get the bonus single “Do Something To Me” and a couple of previously unreleased versions of “Midnight Hour” and “96 Tears.” Sounds like the better buy to me … unless you simply must have everything!) kk
I just wanted to let you know that I, too, was a huge ? and the Mysterians fan, and I remember that when 96 Tears first came out, it seemed to fade quite a bit earlier, right around the time he is saying "Yeah, all night long." Then suddenly one night, I heard a version on WPTR in Albany, New York, that ended with just the organ. I remember thinking at the time, "What the hell? Are they taking this from an album?" But it seems that later pressings of the single ended with the organ as well.
One thing that wasn't mention in the discussion of ? and the Mysterians though, is that they recorded the song Do Something To Me a good year before Tommy James and the Shondells did, and although I like his version of the song, I think I prefer ? and the Mysterians’ original version.
Sam Ward
As you can see, this connection was also mentioned above by another reader. Tommy’s version DEFINITELY came later. (On a WDOT survey that Sam pointed me to, I found the ? and the Mysterians’ version charting at #16 … while Tommy James and the Shondells were just ahead of them at #14 with their current hit at the time, “Out Of The Blue.” (But what the heck is “Little Black Egg” by Jamie Lyons doing at #1?!?! That song never even charted nationally!!! A local talent perhaps???) kk
You mentioned a very interesting song today, Don't Say You Don't Remember, by Beverly Bremers. A friend of mine who has unfortunately passed on, pointed out to me that that song was recorded in May of 1971, and I don't know why there was such a delay in releasing the song. I heard that she tried to get it released in the summer of 1971, but it just didn't happen.
Sam Ward
I can’t say for sure but this might be a case where it was first recorded for a minor label that summer but wasn’t picked up by a major label (in this case, Scepter Records) until later. It premiered on The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart the week ending December 18th, 1971, and peaked at #15 there in early 1972 during its 16 week chart run. (kk)
Kent,
You are right in that I couldn't sing half a line of Beverly Bremers’ WE'RE FREE. She had a follow up to that called I'LL MAKE YOU MUSIC. All of these records made our weekly top 40 survey here in OKC. As such, you are right in that technically she wasn't a one hit wonder. It reminds me of years ago I was reading a book and it said that Bobby Lewis' TOSSIN' & TURNIN' was also technically not a one hit wonder. He had a follow up ONE TRACK MIND which I believed peaked at #40 in Billboard.
Larry
“One Track Mind” went all the way to #9 in Billboard … so Bobby had TWO Top Ten Hits in 1961. Give it a listen and see if it rings a bell …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGrXgl6cMqs
(It definitely has a “Tossin’ And Turnin’’ feel to it!)
As for Beverly Bremers, “I”ll Make You Music” peaked at #63 in Billboard … it went to #54 in Cash Box. (kk)
Hi, Kent -
I stumbled across this the other day.
Very
interesting, lots of cool pix and info: https://www.radiotimeline.com/chicago/
Take care,
Mike
Hi there, Kent,
I recently noticed an interesting and rather humorous oddity on some of the WLS Silver Dollar Surveys from January and February of 1962. Of course, being totally blind, I am not reading the actual printed surveys, but I am reading them from the ARSA website. I appreciate that website so much as a totally blind person, because the site offers so many surveys from thousands of radio stations all over the world, and new surveys are being added to the site on a daily basis. The webmaster of the site always states:
NOTE: The song titles and artists shown above are presented exactly as they are shown on the printed survey. Any typos, spelling errors and/or other anomalies are as they appear on the printed sheet.
So, this oddity has to do with the Gene Pitney song Town Without Pity.
The first week that Gene Pitney entered the WLS Silver Dollar Survey with Town Without Pity was the week of December 30, 1961, where the song debuted at #29. The next week, January 6, 1962, the song had jumped to #8. But that's OK … that's NOT what I'm concerned about here.
The following week, the week of January 13, 1962, the song had risen one spot to #7, but it was now shown on the survey as Town Without Pitney. Now at first, I just dismissed this as an honest typo, but as you'll see, calling the song Town Without Pitney continues.
I don't know who was actually responsible for typing up the WLS surveys back then, but it kind of makes me wonder if the Music Director of the station either didn't like the song, didn't like Gene Pitney very much, or maybe was just showing a bit of his sense of humor.
Well, the week of January 20th, the song was #1 and was shown with its correct title of Town Without Pity. But then, during the week of January 27th, the song was still #1, but this time it was shown again as Town Without Pitney.
It was the same for the following week, February 3, 1962 … Town Without Pity was still #1, but shown on the survey as Town Without Pitney. The week of February 10th, the song dropped to #4, but was still written as Town Without Pitney.
The song rose one position for the week of February 17th to #3, but still was credited as Town Without Pitney. For the week of February 24th, the song had dropped all the way to #23, but had been on the charts for nearly two months by this time, and finally it is shown by its correct title of Town Without Pity. The following week, March 3rd, the song finally dropped off the charts.
So naturally, what I'm wondering is, do the printed versions of these WLS Silver Dollar Surveys show these same errors in them? And secondly, is there anyone that was working at WLS at the time that can give us the inside story on this? What can I tell
You … enquiring minds need to know, grin.
As I say, when I saw it the first week of January 13th, I was sure it was just a typo ... but when I continued to see it on more and more of the charts, I could only conclude that somebody was doing this on purpose.
Sam Ward
Well, I can honestly say that I never noticed this before (and I have looked at an AWFUL lot of WLS Silver Dollar Surveys over the years … although 1962 predates my awareness of The Top 40 by a couple of years) … so I had to check it out for myself … and I can assure you that the title was spelled correctly every single week that it charted. (Maybe it’s somebody over at ARSA that’s having some fun with this! So much for their “disclaimer” about the accuracy of their reproduced charts!)
Funnily enough, WLS’s big competition on the weekly Top 40 Charts at the time was a sheet distributed in record stores called “Top Tunes Of Greater Chicago” … and they regularly poked fun by coming up with some outrageous names for the songs and artists that graced their charts each week … funny stuff indeed!
So, I took a look at THEIR charts as well to see if perhaps THIS is where ARSA was getting their information … but no, they played it straight, too.
Sounds like the culprit (and perhaps non-Gene Pitney fan) is on ARSA’s end. (kk)
UPDATE: So much for “Truth In Advertising” …
On ARSA’s site, I checked out some of the surveys you questioned … and on the January 13th chart, for example, they show their typed rendition as “Town Without Pitney” just as you said … but displayed on the very same page is an actual copy of the WLS survey for that week, showing the title spelled correctly. (kk)
ARSA’s typed WLS Silver Dollar Survey for 1-13-62 looks like this:
WLS - RADIO 890
SILVER DOLLAR SURVEY
CHICAGO'S AUTHENTIC RADIO RECORD SURVEY
JANUARY 13, 1962
1. The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Tokens
2. Peppermint Twist - Joey Dee
3. Let There Be Drums - Sandy Nelson
4. Run To Him - Bobby Vee
5. The Twist - Chubby Checker
6. Moon River - Henry Mancini
7. Town Without Pitney - Gene Pitney
8. Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen - Neil Sedaka
9. Walk On By - Leroy Van Dyke
10. Can't Help Falling In Love/Rock A Hula - Elvis Presley
11. Smoky Places - Corsairs
12. I Know - Barbara George
13. She's Everything - Ral Donner
14. Please Mr. Postman - Marvelettes
15. I Don't Know Why - Linda Scott
16. The Majestic/The Wanderer - Dion
17. When I Fall In Love - Lettermen
18. Night Owl - Dukays
19. When The Boy In Your Arms - Connie Francis
20. Flying Circle - Frank Slay
And here's a photo of the actual chart released that week … which is displayed on the VERY SAME PAGE as this typed rendering …
And then this from Sam as well …
Hi there Kent, and FH Readers,
Well, I have quite a story to tell you about the original version of Valleri by the Monkees, the version that was featured on their TV show back in 1967.
When I came home to Burlington, Vermont, for my 1967 Easter vacation from the Perkins School for the blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, outside Boston, our local top forty station at the time, WDOT at 1400 in Burlington was playing the hell out of two songs by the Monkees … Valleri and She Hangs Out. This was a totally different version of She Hangs Out than appeared on the Monkees' Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd album.
Now, I was NOT a huge Monkees fan by any means. I had kind of liked Last Train To Clarksville, but I got so sick of I'm A Believer when it was out. I actually liked some of the album cuts on the first two Monkees albums much better than the singles. I thought that A Little Bit Me And A Little Bit You, and The Girl The I Knew Somewhere were OK songs, not great, but certainly listenable. But these two new songs, Valleri and She Hangs Out, were absolutely GREAT, and I loved them both! I really dug the awesome fuzz guitar in Valleri. Also, I knew a girl named Valleri that I had a crush on, but was too shy to let her know at the time.
Burlington, Vermont, was quite an interesting radio market. But being 250 miles from Boston, New England's largest city, didn't have the biggest influence on the station's surveys. WDOT seemed to be influenced even more by both Montreal Quebec in Canada which was only a hundred miles away, and also Albany, New York, the home of the Famous 1540, WPTR. All that Easter week, I heard those two Monkees songs on WDOT a lot, at least once an hour, and I thought they were the best songs that the group had ever come out with so far.
When I got back to Boston, none of the Boston radio stations were playing either song. I was ranting and raving about these songs to my friends at Perkins, and very few of them had ever heard either song. They didn't know what I was talking about.
A couple of weeks later, WMEX started playing Valleri, but not in heavy rotation. I would hear the song sporadically on WPTR in Albany, WKBW in Buffalo, WORC in Worcester Massachusetts and WDRC and WPOP in Hartford, Connecticut. I wondered why these two songs weren't getting played more, because they sure were being played on WDOT. In fact, much later, I discovered a WDOT chart on the net for the week of May 6, 1967, where both songs, Valleri and She Hangs Out, were shown as number 3, but no one in Burlington could buy either song yet. Incidentally, that chart is available to view at: http://www.las-solanas.com/arsa/surveys_item.php?sv=9873
Then I heard a rumor that this was actually a Canadian pressing, and I actually phoned a record store up in Montreal, and they told me that that rumor wasn't true, and that they had no record of Valleri available.
During the Memorial Day Weekend of 1967, I spent that weekend with a good friend who lived in Bellingham, Massachusetts, just over the state line from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, home of little WNRI, 1380, in Woonsocket. The station invited listeners to call in with their favorite requests any time of day. Well, I did call in for my request,
and several times that weekend I called and requested either Valleri or She Hangs Out. WNRI had both songs, but finally the operator taking requests said, "Look, you obviously love those two songs, but they are getting old now, and there are a lot of new Monkees songs that we need to play. So how about laying off the calls for Valleri and She Hangs Out?" Yes, it was true … their Headquarters album had just come out, and in a few weeks, a new single would be out as well, the Carole King written Pleasant Valley Sunday and Words.
Well, life went on, and new songs came and went during that extraordinary year of 1967. But I never forgot about those two great songs, Valleri and She Hangs Out.
On New Year's Eve, my parents went out, but they had a babysitter come to look after us, not that I needed one at age thirteen. But they were afraid that I'd start fighting with my seven year old sister. I did stay up until about 12:30 on New Year's morning of 1968. I knew that WDOT was counting down the top 100 songs of 1967. But I had been awake since around 7:30 that morning, and I just couldn't stay awake any longer. But the babysitter had stayed up and she left a note for my parents to read me. I remember Mom actually waking me up when they arrived home at close to 4 AM, and she said to me, "I don't know if this means anything to you or not, but it doesn't make any sense to me. She just wrote Valleri was number 1." Amazing!
On most U.S.radio stations, the number 1 song for the year 1967 was one of three songs … Light My Fire by the Doors, The Letter by the Box Tops or To Sir, With Love by Lulu. But on WDOT in Burlington, Vermont, the number 1 song for the entire year of 1967 was Valleri by the Monkees, a song that no one could buy even now. Perhaps that was part of the reason that the song was number 1 for the year.
Well, when I came home for the February Washington's Birthday vacation, WDOT was playing this new version of Valleri and I didn't like it at all. I thought it was HORRIBLE!!! First of all, it was in a lower key and secondly, they had added this terrible brass section to the song which I hated, and thought was completely unnecessary. You've got to consider that from my standpoint, this was a remake, and I had loved the old version of this song that I had been hearing for eleven months now.
Well, WDOT did something really sneaky which I didn't appreciate at all at the time. The had this promo running for the Monkees' song that had been the number 1 song of the year 1967, and people could finally buy it. They started playing the older version of Valeri and disc jockey Bob Hebert said, "We know you loved this record when we first played it here on WDOT, and you've been very patient. The song was number 1 for the year, but you couldn't buy it." Then they cross faded it to the new
single version of Valleri and Bob Hebert continued, "Bailey's Music Room at 88 Church Street in downtown Burlington has also been well aware of how much you folks wanted to buy this record. And finally, after eleven months, Baileys has tracked the song down, and has finally been able to make it available to you." Of course the truth was, this was complete hype. Bailey's had done no such thing. The new single of
Valleri had been released, and Baileys was carrying it, plain and simple. So the only involvement that Bailey's Music Room had with the record, is that they were carrying it, just like any other record that had been released.
Well, with high hopes, I had Mom drive me over to Bailey's Music Room and, alas, it was the new version of Valleri that they were carrying, NOT the older version that the promo on WDOT had started with. The only saving grace is that I really did like the
Tapioca Tundra side of the record.
Well, I didn't give up on getting the old version of Valleri. I knew one of the WDOT disc jockeys pretty well, and I asked him if he could put those two Monkees songs onto a reel of tape for me, and he promised me several times that he would, and they'd be waiting out at the front desk for me the following Saturday around noon. I don't know whether once the single version of Valleri got released, if the original carts
got erased or what, but I just wish he had been honest and up front with me. Needless to say, I was absolutely delighted when FINALLY in 1990, that original version of Valleri was released on the Rhino CD Missing Links, Volume II. That was indeed a day of celebration for me.
Sam Ward
Filling in a few gaps to your story that might help the whole thing make a bit more sense, even 55 years in hindsight.
Knowing how hot The Monkees were in 1967, a number of radio stations across the country started airing a tape of the original recording of “Valleri” after it aired on the “Captain Crocodile” episode of The Monkees’ TV show. (Here in Chicago, it was WCFL that jumped on this track … and they played the heck out of it … sometimes with the “Super ‘CFL Exclusive” spliced in on top of the recording in a few key places.)
Much like many other radio stations across the country, WCFL also had a nightly countdown program of “The Top Three Three Most Requested Songs Of The Day” … and “Valleri” topped THAT chart for a couple of months … again, despite the fact that you couldn’t actually buy it anywhere. (In hindsight it’s incredible to think that Colgems Records didn’t jump at the chance to release this immediately as a single as it was a sure-fire #1 hit. But any number of Monkees album tracks were also played in heavy rotation … “She” from their second album, “More Of The Monkees,” was voted the most requested song, too, for weeks on end, but was never released as a single. Other popular tracks played as often as other hit singles at the time include “Mary, Mary,” “Look Out, Here Comes Tomorrow” and “I Wanna Be Free” from The Monkees’ first album. The logic at the time was these tracks were deliberately NOT released as singles in order to spur album sales.
As for the earlier version of “She Hangs Out,” that WAS, in fact, released as a single in Canada only … but as the B-Side to “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You.” It’s a much rockier, R&B-flavored version of the “pop” track that was released on “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd.” several months later. (I always preferred the second version of this track, which was much more in keeping with The Monkees’ sound at the time.)
All of these rare tracks were ultimately released once Rhino took over The Monkees’ catalog – along with dozens of others that never saw the light of day at the time of their original recordings. (“All The King’s Horses,” a Mike Nesmith tune, was used TWICE in episodes of the television series but never appeared on ANY album during The Monkees’ original chart run.)
How WDOT justified “Valleri” being the #1 Song of the Year for 1967 is a bit of a stretch … unless that chart was based SOLEY on listener requests. (Seriously … how can the #1 Record Of The Year NOT be available for purchase?!?! Then how did it get to #1???)
I would LOVE to see the 1967 Year-End Chart for WDOT if anyone happens to have a copy available to share. Likewise, we are STILL looking for a Vermont Top 40 Chart to feature in our 1972 Coast-To-Coast Survey feature that will be running throughout 2022 every Monday. If ANYBODY out there has access to a 1972 Vermont chart, dated between August and December of that year, PLEASE contact me so that we can obtain a copy!!! Thank you! (kk)
Speaking of The Monkees …
Micky Dolenz, on the eve of the Beach Boys Cruise next week, spoke to Mike Read of TV's One Show in the UK yesterday. Last year, Dolenz’s re-working of “Circle Sky” reached the #1 slot on his Heritage Chart there and now, Read is playing “Some Of Shelly’s Blues” off the Dolenz Sings Nesmith EP (7a Records), which is out officially on March 18th.
Dolenz, btw, gets back to live shows this Saturday night at the Little River Casino in Michigan.
And, as usual, you can't mention The Monkees without mentioning Jimi Hendrix!!! Here is more praise for the Kubernik Brothers ' Jimi Hendrix book …
Attention Jimi Hendrix Lovers!
The newly released book published in late November, 2021, "Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child" by Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik is a Must Have. You will be a kid in a candy shop delighting in psychedelic photos, posters and your very own backstage pass into the most in depth, insightful and well researched Hendrix book. Buy one for yourself and you will be hooked and tell everyone you know who is or will become a forever Jimi fan.
Scarlet Rivera
Kent,
It was nice waking up this morning to The Buckinghams’ HEY BABY (THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG.) Back in the day, when the atmospheric conditions were right on Sunday nights at 9 pm my time, I would listen to Art Roberts and his Sunday night oldies show. I discovered later on that that show was pre-recorded.
Larry Neal
A VERY popular feature from the Golden Top 40 Days of WLS AM890 for sure. It was the title of Art’s show that inspired James Holvay to write this tune for The Buckinghams, his FOURTH smash hit written for the group in 1967! (kk)
Kent,
Enjoyed the songs you posted on FH for this month’s Sweet 16. Years ago when I was doing my WAX MUSEUM on KOMA, every other week I had a theme I went by. One of these themes shows I did was doing the DO'S & DON'TS of rock and roll music. Now every song (record) I played began with either the word DO or DON'T. I had plenty of records to play for a five hour show. If I remember right, there were more DON'TS than DO’S. One of the shows I did was putting together a five hour show spotlighting the "LITTLE" people of rock and roll. For example, Anthony and the Imperials, Richard, Peggy March, Caesar and the Romans, etc. (I just now counted the list of LITTLE people of rock and roll … and would you believe there were 18 artists or groups that made records with LITTLE in front of their name!!! All of these records were being played locally here in OKC. Now there were some artists or groups that just had the one record but artists like RICHARD, ANTHONY & THE IMPERIALS and a few others had more than one.
Larry
I love doing these “themed” specials … and have created dozens and dozens of these for “specialty weekends” for various radio stations around the country … just a fun way to put a new spin on the oldies. (And the really COOL part is that, within the context of this “special programming,” stations can veer off their normal playlist every now and then and play something completely unexpected … which, they just may find, their listeners really respond to!)
We’ve got a couple more of these coming up later this year … and we’re always open to working with stations, jocks and programmers out there to put together something truly unique for their station … so don’t hesitate to ask! (kk)
Hi there, Kent,
And hello to all the FH readers.
Kent's mention of one of my very favorite songs from 1958, Click Clack by Dickie Do and the Don'ts, brought to mind a discovery that I made last year that was most
interesting and exciting to me, and I thought I'd share it with you FH readers.
Quite often, a popular radio or TV commercial was made into a song. For example, in 1957, a group called the Jumping Jacks recorded a novelty song called You'll Wonder Where The Yellow Went, which was based on a mid-fifties Pepsodent toothpaste jingle. In 1963, Jo Ann Campbell recorded another novelty song called Mother Please based on that slogan which had become a catch phrase from recent Anacin commercials. But I suppose the two biggies were the T-Bones’ late 1965 and early 1966 hit No Matter What Shape, which was based on a 1965 Alka-Seltzer commercial. Also, the Brass Ring charted with a 1967 instrumental called The Disadvantages Of You, based on a Benson Hedges 100 commercial. (Yes, cigarette commercials were still being aired until the end of 1971.)
To me, this has always been a really fascinating topic. Back in the early days of rock and roll, there were many more commercials that became songs, than the other way around, that is, songs being made into commercials. Now of course we hardly even think about it because the practice of songs being made into commercials has been going on for decades now. But when did it actually start? Again, I suppose there's
no definitive answer to that question, but getting back to the song Click Clack by Dickie Do and the Don'ts, I think this must have been one of the earliest songs to be made into a commercial, in this case for Tom McCann. Sorry about the audio quality of this commercial from 1958, but to even have a commercial this old that was based on a song is something of a minor miracle when you think of all the old reels of tape
that have been thrown away in dumpsters over the years, or just deteriorated beyond being able to be played any more. But I'll tell you, this just blew me away the first time I heard it. This comes from an Alan Freed aircheck on WABC in New York, with Ed North filling in at times while Freed was hosting concerts while he would normally be doing his show. The aircheck is not continuous, but seems to be taken from
around August of 1958, based on the songs that were featured on the aircheck. Some of them are well known, and some of them are pretty obscure. Anyway, I just thought you folks would like to hear this commercial that was being aired only a few months after this song became a hit. Something that I'm looking for which is a lot newer, is Shango's reworking of the song Day After Day (It's Slipping Away) that they did in 1971 for Chevrolet. Anyway folks, enjoy.
All the best,
Sam
Ward
The practice of
commercial crossovers has been going on for quite some time, as you point out
here. There are several others … right
off the top of my head, I can think of The Carpenters’ #1 Hit “We’ve Only Just
Begun,” which began life as a bank commercial!
“Wear Your Love Like Heaven” by Donovan was simultaneously on the radio
AND your television set when it was used for a perfume commercial. And who can forget “I’d Like To Teach The
World To Sing,” a hit for both The New Seekers and the Hillside Singers, based
on a popular Coca Cola commercial. “She
Lets Her Hair Down” was a hit under that title and “Early In The Morning” … and
also a popular hair-coloring commercial.
And there are probably dozens more that a little bit of digging would
turn up.
Now add in all the popular recording artists that were regularly cutting Coke and Pepsi commercials, many of which were musical themes based on their latest hit records. (Now there’s a radio special right there!) kk
Kent,
If you are like millions of Americans, you wake up each morning saddened and bewildered by the fact that there is not a single radio station in this vast country of ours that plays nothing but Joni Mitchell.
Well guess what? Happier days are ahead.
That’s right …
Your dreams have come true!
According to radioinsight.com, SiriusXM is launching a temporary all-Joni station.
Here is the info:
Listeners can hear The Joni Mitchell Channel starting today, Wednesday, March 16th, through Thursday, April 14th, on the SXM App and on satellite (Channel 105), starting Wednesday, March 30th, through Tuesday, April 5th.
The exclusive channel coincides with Mitchell being honored as the 2022 Person of the Year recipient at The Recording Academy’s MusiCares charity event on April 1st, raising funds for vital programs and relief efforts for the music community.
The Joni Mitchell Channel will feature the prolific artist’s timeless music, including home recordings, live performances, and other rarities from the recent Joni Mitchell Archives series, as well as interpretations of her music by a wide range of artists including Chaka Khan, Elton John, Norah Jones, Annie Lennox, Brandi Carlile, Bob Dylan, The Byrds and more. Listeners will also be able to catch guest hosts sharing stories about Joni’s impact while selecting some of their favorite songs.
Now Rick O'Dell, if you're reading this, you absolutely do NOT want to lose listeners to satellite radio, so I'm happy to partner with you to convert MeTV-FM to Joni Mitchell music 24/7 permanently. In fact, if you get me access to the broadcast computer, I'll happily program it for you for free.
Now I'm going to hail a big yellow taxi, and go looking for a woman to court and spark.
Colin Donahue
Well, this certainly isn’t MY dream!!!
And Rick O’Dell knows how I feel about the music of Joni Mitchell … as far as I’m concerned, Me-TV-FM already plays FAR too much of her music on the air … but I also understand that she’s a favorite of Neal Sabin, who runs the whole shooting match over there, so I half-heartedly understand. (Personally, I’d prefer it if he just listened to her on his iPod … but that’s a different story!)
That being said, Hooray for Sirius XM for saluting her … it really is well-deserved in the scheme of things … (but you won’t catch ME listening!!!)
We just recently finished watching the final season of “After Life,” the excellent Ricky Gervais dramedy that’s been running for three glorious seasons on Netflix … and he used Joni’s version of “Both Sides Now” to great dramatic effect in a pivotal scene. (A bit like they did in “Love Actually” … but still pretty powerful.)
Personally, I’d rather hear the Judy Collins version … as
well as Matthews Southern Comfort doing “Woodstock” and Neighborhood (or even
Amy Grant!) doing “Big Yellow Taxi.”
(kk)
