LOTS of new comments this week ... more than can fill just one page here ... so look for more to follow over the next day or two!
Phil Nee got pre-empted this past Saturday so we could run our Forgotten Hits / Me-TV-FM cross-over event. Hopefully, some of you had the chance to listen to him interview Tommy James.
Phil tells us …
This Saturday night Tommy James will be my guest. We recorded an interview about his October 1st show in Wisconsin Dells at Crystal Grand Music Theatre. He gave me an update on the movie being produced from his book and about a new Greatest Hits release due in November.
Phil
Maybe we can run some clips on FH so that some of the folks who may have missed it (like me!!!) can have a second chance to listen! (kk)
Speaking of which ...
Did you enjoy our Weekend of Comings and Goings???
>>>I am happy to announce that Forgotten Hits and Me-TV-FM have teamed up to bring you a very special weekend that will cross-over between both formats! (kk)
Really Very Cool, Kent!
CB
Kent,
Nice coming and going songs … but you missed my favorite Blood, Sweat and Tears record, “Go Down Gamblin’.”
Bob Verbos
We featured it at 8 am on Saturday Morning … and I believe Me-TV-FM played it, too (although I can’t give you a specific time as they didn’t really follow the programming outline I sent them.) I don’t think this is one that they typically play … so this was a nice “bonus surprise” for Me listeners this weekend! (kk)
"Something's COMING Up" by Barry Manilow is a well-crafted song.
Alex Valdez
Good song … and I missed that one. (Maybe Me snuck it in … they added several selections of their own during the course of the weekend!) If not, we’ll have to add it to the list for next time. Thanks, Alex. (kk)
Kent,
With the announcement that there will be a "Weekend of Comings and Goings" on
Me-TV-FM, the first song I thought of was Brook Benton's 1964 record GOING GOING GONE. I am wondering if that song will be a part of the two song combinations?
I am going
to go out on a limb and say NO.
Larry Neal
If you followed along this weekend, then you already know that it WAS featured on my site. Truth is, I doubt that the listeners of Me-TV-FM even knows what that song is! That being said, it has always been one of my favorite Brook Benton songs. (“Going Going Gone” peaked at #30 in 1964 … and I truly believe that song could be a hit again today with the right arrangement … maybe on the country stations.) kk
That song GOING GOING GONE by Brook Benton might be considered to be obscure and odd by most people ... but if one really knows the music, they would know that Brook Benton made that record back in 1964 on Mercury. Again, I'm going to try to figure out what would be the song that would be opposite that.
Larry
Don’t spend TOO much time thinking about it … most of the match-ups this weekend are totally random … although there were a couple of cool ones I came up with … Such as HERE COMES MY BABY by The Tremeloes and THERE GOES MY BABY by The Drifters!!! (That was one of my favorite 2-fers … and we both featured it over the weekend. Hope you guys got a chance to listen from time to time … you know, between wherever else you might have been coming or going!) kk
Brook Benton is one of those great overlooked artists from the rock era, reduced to One Hit Wonder status for his 1970 smash “Rainy Night In Georgia” but otherwise completely ignored on oldies radio, despite also hitting The Top 40 another thirty times during his career. He had one of the smoothest and soulful voices, accentuated by his baritone dips that he managed to work into most of his hit records. (I remember when oldies radio was brand new I used to hear “The Boll Weevil Song,” a #2 hit from 1961, all the time … so at that time I guess I’d have to say that he was more of a “novelty” artist … again, just never earning his due.
The really GOOD
oldies stations will play his 1959 #2 smash “It’s Just A Matter Of Time” now
and then … and you’ll hear his two fun duets with Dinah Washington every once
in a while (“Baby, You’ve Got What It Takes,” #2 in 1960 and “A Rockin’ Good
Way,” #5 in 1960) … I think at least one of these was being used in a
television commercial there for awhile … it was always fun to hear Brook
stepping on Dinah’s spot!!! Other Top
Ten Hits include “Thank You, Pretty Baby” (#9, 1959), “So Many Ways” (#3,
1959), “Kiddio” (#3, 1960), “Think Twice” (#7, 1961), “Lie To Me” (#10, 1962)
and “Hotel Happiness” (#3, 1962) … which must have been located on the OTHER
end of Lonely Street! Benton wrote quite
a few of his own hits … and also penned “A Lover’s Question,” which became a
Top Ten Hit for Clyde McPhatter in 1956 (#6) and was also covered by Otis
Redding (#35, 1969) and Loggins and Messina (#89, 1975.) kk
Kent,
Doin' a fantastic job this weekend with the two-fers. This hour's song by the Chicago Loop I always liked. Originally done by the Coasters, I believe, in 1957.
Have you seen the new commercial by Google with Etta James in the background, singing SECURITY? At least it is somewhat new to me.
Larry
Nope – I haven’t seen that one yet … but yet another song you would never expect to pop up in a television commercial!!! This song only made it to #32 in Record World (and #36 in Billboard) … hardly an oldie that “rolls off the tongue!” (kk)
Hi Kent,
Of all the themed music shows I've heard or programmed myself, a "Coming & Going" concept has never crossed my ears or mind. Great selections, too, especially the deep obscurities. I hope MeTV-FM is tossing you a bone or two for your input all the great promotion you provide.
Regards,
Scott
Whenever I put together something like this, I always try to get the radio station who’s hosting it to step outside their comfort zone a little bit and play a few things they’ve never played before. Let’s face it – you just never know – a few of these might click with your listeners and good word of mouth is what makes a successful radio station these days. I pushed hard for a few of these that aren’t on Me-TV-FM’s typical play list … and won several of those battles (negotiations), which really pleased me … it’ll be interesting to see and hear what kind of feedback they get.
Doing the monthly Sweet 16 features again this year were fun to put together – I love coming up with themed programming – and to get 16 you sometimes scrape the bottom of the barrel and other times end up leaving behind a couple of dozen favorites that would have sounded great.
Putting together an entire weekend of 200+ songs that all fit the same theme is a bit more challenging … but we did it on this one … and they even came up with quite a few that I hadn’t thought of … and because they didn’t really follow the outline I gave them, I was as surprised as every other listener by some of the pairings. (kk)
What's next for us???
Well, THIS SATURDAY NIGHT (September 24th) I'll be guesting on Phil Nee's "Those Were The Days" radio program on WRCO and Phil and I will be playing back our personal favorite songs from 1972, fifty years ago.
(Keep in mind, these are our FAVORITE songs ... and not a countdown of the year's biggest hits!)
But I think you'll find it quite entertaining as between us, we only picked NINE songs in common when each of us independently selected our Top 40 Favorites.
That means LOTS of music and lots of variety.
(Would you believe that we didn't even have a single song in common in each of our Top 10's?!?!)
Be sure to tune in and listen, this Saturday Night, beginning at 6 PM Central (and running straight up till Midnight)
You can Listen Live here: WRCO AM FM Radio Richland Center Wisconsin
And here's the latest news on some of our local guys ...
Hi Kent,
We've been getting some questions about our exciting upcoming LaPorte, Indiana, Cornerstones of Rock show that was booked when Jimy Sohns was still with us.
We wanted everyone to know that we're fortunate to have singer Dirty Dan Buck from the Boyzz of Illinoizz, who will cover Jimy's songs for us that night so he will still be with us in spirit as well as in music.
We're looking forward to another great night of music and bringing the Cornerstones show back to live audiences again.
In fact, we have Cornerstones concerts September 30th at The Civic Center in LaPorte, IN, and October 1st at the Genesee in Waukegan.
Tickets are available here: www.LaPorteCivicAuditorium.com
Carl Giammarese / The Buckinghams
Come on out and support our Local Heroes … these are their first shows since the passing of Jimy Sohns of The Shadows Of Knight! (As Jim Peterik said at the time “The Cornerstones Of Rock has lost a boulder.”)
But the show must go on … and we could ALL use a night of good music … and who better to provide it than The Buckinghams, The Ides Of March, The New Colony Six, The Cryan’ Shames and the music of The Shadows Of Knight. (kk)
Ray Graffia, Jr. of The New Colony Six also reached out on this show …
A great Midwest location for some of the biggest bands of the Midwest of the ‘60’s and early ‘70’s … you don’t want to miss this one! (The Cornerstones Of Rock show will also be appearing at The Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, IL, on Saturday, October 1st)
And this Saturday is Jim Peterik’s WORLD STAGE show, being held again at Pfeiffer Hall at North Central College in Naperville. These are always a great time, peppered by a couple of “surprise guests.” (We never know who these are ahead of time … and even if we did, we couldn’t tell you! Lol)
I hear there are still some tickets available for this, but you’d better move fast on this one …
These shows ALWAYS sell out … so grab your tickets now before it’s too late!!! (kk)
https://finearts.northcentralcollege.edu/event/jim-peteriks-world-stage-0
The "Superman" who powers the "Vehicle" of your “Tie-Dye Princess!" This will give you an "Aire of Good Feeling"!!! You don’t want to miss this show!
Clark Besch
>>>I think some of those "Grandmother" pictures Chuck Buell ran the other day are probably GREAT-Grandmothers at this point! (Phil)
>>>LOL ... I think you're probably right about that!!! lol (kk)
HA-heh, Phil! That DOES seem quite possible now that you mention it!!
CB
WOW SONGS!
Bella Linda by The Grass Roots – Me-TV-FM – not one you expect to hear, so really good to hear it again, although I wonder how many out there really might remember it. (Even though it got to #19 in Record World and #28 in Billboard, it’s just been missing from the airwaves for so long now that I can’t even say that it qualifies as a “Forgotten Hit” … because a Forgotten Hit is one that you haven’t heard or even thought about in ages and yet the minute it comes on, you can sing right along with it. Now in all fairness, I could probably sing along with about HALF of “Bella Linda” … but I have never been accused of being “the norm!!!”)
Let’s see how many of you can TRULY say, “Oh yeah … I remember that one!!!”
(And check out Creed Bratton, Grass Roots guitarist and later from the hit television series “The Office,” right up front as the song kicks off!) lol (kk)
Folks enjoyed Jeff March’s and Marti Smiley-Childs’ Grass Roots feature last week …
I cant believe that "Anyway the Wind Blows" and "Mamacita" were not huge hits for The Grass Roots ... Great 45s!
Clark Besch
The picture you ran of The Grass Roots has Rob Grill out of his correct position.
Alex Valdez
I’m not even sure that IS Rob Grill -
This photo was supplied by Jeff March and Marti Smiley-Childs from their “Where Have All The Pop Stars Gone” feature on the band.
I think this photo may predate his time in the band. (kk)
Based on the caption sent it along with the photo (furnished by Grass Roots member Joel Larson), I would say this was taken BEFORE Rob Grill joined the band. (Keep in mind, the record label replaced ALL of their members once a touring band was needed to go out on the road and promote their records.) This is an exceptionally good article tracing the history of The Grass Roots … highly recommended (and can be found in their second “Where Have All The Pop Stars Gone” book.) kk
The Grass Roots performing at The Trip nightclub in West Hollywood in 1965
From left: David Stensen, Denny Ellis, Joel Larson and Bill Fulton
(photo courtesy of Joel Larson)
Rob Grill is in the shot just in third position … not in your lead photo, but in the later one down the blog.
Alex
From left: Rick Coonce, Rob Grill, Warren Entner and Creed Bratton
OK … NOW I see what you’re saying … the caption is wrong …
It SHOULD read (L-R) – Rick Coonce, Warren Entner, Rob Grill and Creed Bratton
That's the way it appeared in Jeff and Marti's book, too, so glad we could straighten that out. (Our website was also missing the proper photo credit ... According to "Where Have All The Pop Stars Gone? Volume 2," that photo was courtesy of Barbara Smith.)
Thank you for featuring The Grass Roots on your site the other day ...
They were my second favorite band (next to The Monkees) growing up in the '60's.
Gary
Kent,
It’s great to recall my very favorite pop group, The Grass Roots.
One of the later members during their hay-day was Milwaukee’s Reed Kailing. Reed played lead guitar on several of their hits and has had a fairly impressive music career. He originally was a member of The Destinations, a Milwaukee group who also had some Chicago exposure. In fact, Reed co-hosted the Art Robert’s TV show The Swinging Majority (an American Bandstand knock off.)
After his Grass Roots years, Reed co-founded the band Player, and played with Badfinger. Reed was also one of the lead voices in the Hardy Boys TV show and played the role of Paul McCartney in Beatlemania on Broadway.
Bob Verbos
The Beach Boys / YouTube mini-series wrapped up this weekend with new themed videos for “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “God Only Knows.” (Boy, what a crystal-clear sound on “God Only Knows!!!”) kk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lP8BZcyoEQ&list=PL_ZuQ6gD_Zp4PC9HafT5TdIcmeKuUoEWJ&index=3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NADx3-qRxek&list=PL_ZuQ6gD_Zp4PC9HafT5TdIcmeKuUoEWJ&index=5I’m so glad you opened today’s piece with the remembrance of Ramsey Lewis — excellent choice of photo, too. Ramsey’s death caught all of his former WNUA colleagues by surprise. We thought he’d live forever.
Rick O’Dell
Singer Janis Ian has cancelled the rest of her tour … and says she may never sing again.
Suffering from what she at first thought was laryngitis, it sounds like her situation is far more complicated than she imagined … and she posted this announcement on her Facebook page …
Ian first burst on the scene in 1967 at the age of just 14 with the controversial (and often banned) song “Society’s Child” depicting an interracial love. It peaked at #12 in Record World, #13 in Cash Box and #14 in Billboard. Her 1975 hit “At Seventeen” reached an even bigger audience, topping the chart in Cash Box and peaking at #3 in Billboard and #4 in Record World. It told her story what it was like of growing up NOT being the prettiest girl in school … and millions of other teens and young women related to it immediately. Janis ranks right up there near the top of our list of “Two Hit Wonders!” (kk)
Jim Post, the male half of Friend and Lover, who scored a Top Ten Hit in 1968 with “Reach Out Of The Darkness,” passed away last week after a long illness. He was 82.
“Reach Out Of The Darkness” reached #2 here in Chicago. A follow-up hit, “If Love Is In Your Heart,” got as high as #47 in Record World (but fizzled out at #86 in Billboard … ANOTHER amazing discrepancy in popularity! The FEMALE half of Friend and Lover was Jim’s wife (at the time) Cathy. Cathy was born right here in Chicago, and Jim had lots of local ties here for years as well. (kk)
You can read more about it here …
https://bestclassicbands.com/jim-post-obituary-friend-and-lover-9-15-22/
Best Classic Bands also has the latest on Herb Alpert’s new album (out September 30th) and upcoming tour: https://bestclassicbands.com/herb-alpert-new-album-tour-9-15-22/
That Micky Dolenz interview must be available sooner for some listeners, and later for others ... I've yet to find it on the platform I looked on … but they just posted one with Henry Winkler, who(m) lately is always entertaining ... next week, I guess ...
-- Bob Frable
It should have been there – unless this is yet another case of disappearing Micky video clips!!! (lol) (There seem to have been a rash of them lately … wonder what’s up with that?!?)
From David Salidor …
DOLENZ GUESTS ON NAKED LUNCH
MICKY DOLENZ guested on Phil Rosenthal's (Everyone Loves Raymond) NAKED LUNCH podcast this week.
Dolenz is seen here with Rosenthal (right) and writer/producer David Wild (center).
From TV Line yesterday (September 19th) …
70 years ago today, The Adventures of Superman — starring George Reeves as the Man of Steel — made its syndicated television debut.
And I’ll betcha I’ve seen every episode
at least 70 times over all those years! Lol (kk)
Best Classic Bands counts down the twenty biggest albums of 1972 …
How many of these did YOU buy at the time??? (kk)
https://bestclassicbands.com/1972-top-selling-albums-4-11-18/
And, speaking of 1972, don't forget ...
Phil Nee and I will be playing our personal favorite tunes from 1972 THIS SATURDAY NIGHT on his WRCO "Those Were The Days" radio program.
You can Listen Live here: WRCO AM FM Radio Richland Center Wisconsin
More tomorrow (if I can get my shit together!!!)
See you then! (kk)
