Rewound Radio has already started collecting votes for your all-time favorites for their annual Top 77 Countdown (which REALLY numbers into the well over THREE THOUSAND favorites once all the votes are tabulated!)
You can vote for your ten favorites now … and then Rewound Radio will play them back (plus all the extras) during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
Vote here: https://musicradio77.com/voting2022.html
Paul Haney tells us that all of the pre-orders for the new Record Research book spotlighting The Gavin Report have shipped ... and I can't wait to get my copy!
This is one that I talked to Joel Whitburn about for years ... SO glad to see it finally come to light. (And I know how long it took to finally track down copies of all of these charts ... essentially just a mailing list that radio programmers adopted as their guide when it came to adding new music to their playlists and measuring the potential of upcoming hit material.) You can still order your copy thru the Record Research website: https://www.recordresearch.com/
(I still hope to see Bill Gavin's columns come to print some day!)
Speaking of Joel Whitburn, The Forgotten Hits 1st Annual Joel Whitburn Day is just around the corner. (November 29th)
We've got a few things planned (more details coming up) ... with a special trivia contest put together by Paul and Joel's daughter Kim, the winner of which will win a copy of the Record Research book of their choice ... meaning a copy of the new Gavin Report book ... or any OTHER book currently in print. (Again, check the website via the link above ... and then keep watching these pages for more information.)
In the meantime, we would LOVE to share more of your thoughts about what Joel's books (and Joel!) have meant to you over the past fifty years. Please send along your comments and memories and we'll run some of those on the 29th as well. (kk)
The limited edition (3000 copies) of the brand new Paul McCartney solo singles box set has already sold out. (Hmm ... 3000 copies @ $612 per set ... that's another $1.8 million that Macca just earned ... and Lord knows he needs the money!!! lol)
Still ... can you imagine what these will be selling for shortly ... and in the future ... on the collectors market??? (Might have been worth it just for that!) kk
And that incredible Howard Stern / Bruce Springsteen interview that we were telling you about a couple of weeks ago will soon be airing as an HBO television special. (Now THIS I've gotta see!)
The two hour special will premier on Sunday, November 27th, at 10 pm (eastern) and then be available for streaming on HBO Max.
And remember that this year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony also airs this weekend and then begins streaming as well. (Honestly, this sounds like one of the most interesting ceremonies in quite a while ... so I'll be checking THAT out, too!) kk
Hey Kent,
Just a memory of a Dick Dale show I attended at the “CABOOZE MUSIC CLUB” (in Minneapolis) in the summer of 2013.
The place was packed with mostly younger music fans. My friend and I were part of a handful of age appropriate fans who were around in the 60’s and 70’s. It was so nice to see that his music was discovered by so many younger fans. The crowd was so very appreciative of Dick’s guitar shredding.
Anyway after the show, Dick was there for pictures, signings and plenty of music talk. As the place was emptying out, a fan brought in a full size surfboard for Dick to autograph. It was so cool. The “King of the Surf Guitar” was happy to autograph the board. I will always remember that July night.
Gary Maurer
Here's a nice pic of Dick Dale. Pam Pulice contacted me back in 2016, to mention that Dale was playing at Durty Nellie's, so we met up out there. That guy could shred a guitar like no other. And to be able to do it when his health was as bad as it was ... unreal.
Mike
Although it never charted, one of Bobby Vee's best and rockingest singles was his version of the Buddy Holly song "Well All Right" from 1978 (mp3 attached).
– Randy Price
Sad to hear that Roberta Flack can no longer sing due to her affliction to ALS (best known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.) According to a press release, it is now “impossible to sing and not easy to speak … but it will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon.” Sadly, the announcement comes just days before the release of “Roberta,” which will premiere at DOCNYC on Nov. 17th. According to Billboard Magazine, “the film explores the complexity of Flack’s lyrical and thematic choices as well as the classical and soul influences that helped her develop her musical style and subsequently inspired many others.”
Between 1971 and 1978, Roberta earned eight National Top 40 Hits, including two MASSIVE #1 Hits, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (1972) and “Killing Me Softly With His Song” (1973) She topped the charts for a third time in 1974 with “Feel Like Makin’ Love.” She twice made The Top Five singing duets with Donny Hathaway, “Where Is The Love” (#5, 1972) and “The Closer I Get To You” (#2, 1978) kk
Billboard also tells us that Arlo Guthrie is coming out of retirement to do four shows with his wife … his first live shows since suffering a series of strokes in 2019/2020.
After much discussion and consideration, Arlo and his wife decided that he could recuperate much better in front of a live audience, rather than just sit at home … and then they both agreed they should get back out there as part of my rehabilitation.
Arlo’s biggest chart hit was his version of the Steve Goodman song “City Of New Orleans” … but, of course, he’ll always be best remembered for “Alice’s Restaurant” … and, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, this seems like the PERFECT time for him to pull up a stool and entertain an audience again. (kk)
Foreigner has announced their farewell tour, kicking off next summer (with a trip around the world!) Leader and founder Mick Jones said “Many years ago, I wrote a song called ‘Feels Like The First Time’ and today we are launching one last worldwide tour. We will be presenting a show that I know will have the same enthusiasm as our very first appearances.”
U.S. appearances are listed below. (kk)
July 6th – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank
Amphitheatre
July 8th – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
July 9th – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
July 11th – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheatre
July 14th – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
July 18th – Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre
July 19th – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
July 21st – Indianapolis, IN – Ruoff Music Center
July 22nd – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
July 24th – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center
July 25th – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
July 28th – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
July 29th – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake
August 1st – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
August 2nd – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach
August 4th – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
August 5th – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
August 8th – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
August 9th – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
August 11th – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
August 12th – Houston, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 14th – Austin, TX – Moody Center
August 16th – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
August 18th – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheater
August 20th – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion
August 21st – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheater
August 23rd – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheater
August 24th – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
August 30th – Detroit, MI – Pine Knob Music Theater
September 1st – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
September 2nd – Syracuse, NY – St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
September 3rd – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
THE FOREIGNER HIT LIST:
1977 – Feels Like The First Time (#4)
1977 – Cold As Ice (#6)
1978 – Long, Long Way From Home (#20)
1978 – Hot Blooded (#3)
1978 – Double Vision (#2)
1979 – Blue Morning, Blue Day (#15)
1979 – Dirty White Boy (#12)
1979 – Head Games (#14)
1980 – Women (#41)
1981 – Urgent (#4)
1981 – Waiting For A Girl Like You (#2 – FOR TEN WEEKS!!!)
1982 – Juke Box Hero (#26)
1982 – Break It Up (#26)
1985 – I Want To Know What Love Is (#1)
1985 – That Was Yesterday (#12)
1988 – Say You Will (#6)
1988 – I Don’t Want To Live Without You (#5)
1995 – Until The End Of Time (#42)
AM i the only one out here that has grown COMPLETELY tired of hearing Fleetwood Mac’s 1988 Hit “Everywhere” non-stop in that new Chevy commercial???
I swear, it comes on every fifteen minutes or so! I have lost all affection for an otherwise GREAT song that I used to LOVE to hear come on the radio every now and then. (But every fifteen minutes is just a little too much!!!)
Fleetwood Mac took their hit to #14 in early 1988 …
And the STRANGEST thing happened the other night …
In consecutive back-to-back commercials, they played Lindsay Buckingham’s “Holiday Road” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere”!!! (I guarantee you the guy programming this had absolutely NO idea what he was doing … it was just one of those curious happenstances that made me smile … and actually enjoy hearing both songs again.)
Buckingham’s hit came from the National Lampoon Movie “Vacation” and wasn’t much of a hit at all, peaking at only #82 in Billboard Magazine in 1983 … but I have always loved this tune … ALL of Lindsay’s solo hits, in fact. “Trouble” led things off for the Fleetwood Mac guitarist, going to #9 in 1982 … and “Go Insane” became a #23 hit for Lindsay in 1984. (kk)
By the way, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (#26), Bobby “Boris” Picket’s “Monster Mash” (#47) and Ray Parker, Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” (#49) all re-entered Billboard’s Top 50 last week in honor of Halloween airplay, downloads and streaming. (I guess that’s one cool thing about the way the charts are being calculated these days … literally ANYTHING could pop up here again if it gets enough buzz!) kk
MICKY DOLENZ APPEARS ON NAKED LUNCH THIS THURSDAY (November 17th) with Phil Rosenthal and David Wild
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/naked-lunch/id1620018481
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Micky, David Wild and Phil Rosenthal
OK … so maybe Taylor Swift really IS bigger than The Beatles!!!
She’s got the #1 Album … AND The Top Ten Singles …
And when tickets went on sale Tuesday for her upcoming Eras Tour (Tuesday, as in the same day she was nominated for four Grammy Awards), so many MILLIONS of fans tried to get online to buy them that the traffic actually shut Ticketmaster down!!! The demand for tickets was more than the service could handle … and this was just for the PRESALE!!! (By the time tickets actually go on sale to the general public, they’ll already be sold out! Taylor may have to add dates in every major city just to accommodate the demand!) kk
Coming Dec 16 to Disney+, a doc on Abbey Road studios that looks enticing!
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/elton-john-paul-mccartney-talk-172346006.html?guccounter=1
How about a 22 minute fascinating video on the Butcher cover "Yesterday & Today" LP?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KzTMf4ssH0
For those who like details. For instance, the paste-overs with number 3 on the back cover (lower right) from Scranton are the easiest to peel because that plant used water-based glue for the paste-over cover, while the west coast plants (numbered 4, 5 and 6 on the back cover) used an alcohol-based glue. The video also mentions that Dave Dexter had been taken off Beatles projects after "Help!," but a Bill Miller constructed this final Capitol makeshift LP.
My brother Roger bought Yesterday & Today when it came out in 1966 and bought in Dodge City (I think) and believe it or not, IT was a Butcher cover paste over! Made it to DODGE CITY!! I believe the story was he found out about the paste idea when he was in college a couple years later at Wichita State and he and his roommate decided to unpeel the cover and SEE if there was a cover underneath. I don’t think he ever thought about rarity or worth. No one did then. Sure enough, they peeled it REALLY well and then had sense to put THAT peeled cover on cardboard and keep it. One of the best I have ever dreamed of seeing for peeling. Of course, when he brought it home on school break (1970 I think), we couldn't believe it. We still did not know about being able to tell if you HAD a butcher cover underneath until 80's when we heard that you could see the Ringo V in paste overs. Sure enough, brother Steve found one at a garage sale in Lincoln! He still has it and is still unpeeled! Roger sold his copy to a friend of mine in Lincoln who still owns it.
Clark
Now, I know you usually focus your concert and show attendance to “name” groups, but I wanted to share with you an experience we just had.
Friday Night, Linda and I went to a Rock Show here in our town in a theater similar in size to the Des Plaines Theater and saw a group I was not familiar with at all called Leonid and Friends. We went on the recommendation of a locally based Oldies Group, who we do know and really like.
I actually did not know ahead of concert time exactly what to expect and this two-hour-plus performance knocked me out from the first song to the last.
While they do not bill themselves necessarily as a “Chicago Tribute Band,” they do acknowledge that and, for me, are the best “tribute” band of any other group I’ve ever heard! For me, it was like watching Chicago at their best along with just a few other Big, Brassy Songs mixed in from Earth, Wind, & Fire, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Tower of Power and The Ides of March, which also sounded just as good playing their music! At times, I counted nine to twelve musicians on stage at once.
Here's the interesting part to me. All in the group are originally from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus, and haven’t seen Chicago perform live, yet “replicates Chicago’s arrangements amazingly note for note” while performing their “unique ability to capture the spirit, musicality and fire of the supergroup Chicago.”
And they learned all the songs and styles only by listening to recordings and watching videos! Amazing!
I can recommend to you it’s a show well worth seeing. They’ve been touring the world for the last seven years. If you ARE interested, they WILL be at the Des Plaines Theatre in a couple of weeks, Thursday Dec 1, 2022.
And that’s what I have. I didn’t want to do a full review here. That’s Shelly’s Department!
CB ( which stands for “Chicagovich Boy!” )
We have been singing the praises of Leonid and Friends for several years now ... despite never having actually seen them!!! (Check out some of their clips on YouTube … simply amazing!)
They sell out every time they play here ... and the reviews have been just phenomenal ... so you are not alone in your opinion.
Supposed to be uncanny ... and, being Russian, I believe they learned a lot of these lyrics phonetically ... yet still pull off the perfect tribute every time.
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And here’s another cool release you might be interested in …
Deluxe Box Set LOST MASTERS & DEMOS Features Unreleased Recordings From TODD RUNDGREN’s ‘60s Power-Pop Project NAZZ!
Attention music collectors and Todd Rundgren enthusiasts everywhere!
Purple Pyramid Records, a subsidiary of Cleopatra Records Inc., is proud to announce the release of an extravagant box set of long-lost studio recordings by the ‘60s power-pop/psych project that brought Todd Rundgren his first taste of musical notoriety and, Nazz. These tracks are taken directly from the original master acetates of the originally conceived 1968 rough mix of Nazz's sophomore album Nazz Nazz. It was at the sessions that Rundgren took his first turn behind the mixing board, developing the production skills and techniques that made him the highly acclaimed producer he is today!
Rundgren’s ambitious vision for the second Nazz album actually encompassed 26 songs spread across 2 LPs. And although the recordings were eventually scrapped and most of the songs reserved for the band’s third album III, these early versions of the songs would profoundly shape not just Nazz’s sound but the trajectory of Rundgren’s own career. In addition, the other recently discovered acetates contain alternate mixes of Nazz’s signature tune “Open My Eyes” as well as the future Rundgren hit “Hello, It’s Me.”
Set for full release on December 2nd, Lost Masters & Demos brings all of these rarities into one gorgeous package, available as either a 3CD set or 4LP set, that includes a full-color booklet with detailed liner notes from music historian Michael Armes as well as an extensive interview with Nazz engineer and future engineer on Rundgren’s first three solo albums PLUS tons of rare photos! Fans can get a small taste of what’s in store with the single “Forget All About It,” which is being released on all digital platforms prior to the box set’s full release.
Stream the single: https://orcd.co/nazz_forget_all_about_it_acetate
Order the CD/Vinyl: https://cleorecs.com/store/?s=nazz+lost+masters&post_type=product
Pre-order/pre-save Nazz Nazz – The Lost Masters: https://orcd.co/nazz_the_lost_masters
Stream/download Acetates: https://orcd.co/nazz_acetates
TRACK LIST
DISC 1
1. Forget All About It
2. Only One Winner
3. Magic Me
4. Gonna Cry Today
5. Meridian Leeward
6. Under The Ice
7. Some People
8. Rain Rider
9. Resolution
10. Old Time Lovemaking
11. Featherbedding Lover
12. Take The Hand
13. How Can You Call That Beautiful
DISC 2
1. Loosen Up
2. Sing A Song
3. Good Lovin' Woman
4. It's Not That Easy
5. Sing A Song Reprise
6. Plenty Of Lovin'
7. Letters Don't Count
8. Kiddie Boy
9. Christopher Columbus
10. Hang On Paul
11. Not Wrong Long
12. You Are My Window
13. A Beautiful Song
DISC 3
1. Get Outta Here Baby (Early Version of Rain Rider)
2. Gonna Cry Today (Alt Version - Dick Charles)
3. Hello It's Me (1st Mono Mix - Hit Factory)
4. Gonna Cry Today (Alt Version 2 - Dick Charles)
5. Kiddie Boy (Alt Version - Regent Studios)
6. Magic Me (Alt Version - John Kurland)
7. Magic Me (Mono - Regent Studios)
8. Not Wrong Long (Alt Mix - Regent Studios)
9. Open My Eyes (Alt Version Stereo No Phasing)
10. Open My Eyes (Alt Mix, No Vocals - Dick Charles)
11. Open My Eyes (Alt Version No Phasing - Dick Charles)
12. Old Time Lovemaking (Alt Version - Dick Charles)
13. Only One Winner (Alt Version - Dick Charles)
14. Under the Ice (Alt Version Mastertone)
15. Under the Ice (Stereo - Regent Studios)
16. Back of Your Mind (Alt Version - National Studios)
17. Hello It's Me (Alt Version - John Kurland)
R.I.P. Jim Bohannon, whose career took off when he joined Chicago's WCFL in 1980. I just heard that Jim has passed away. I heard Jim's late night show often driving home from work in late night and found his interviews with all types of guests to be very interesting. He would sometimes mention his days at WCFL as well. He interviewed many music guests for an hour when you never knew much about them otherwise.
Despite sometimes having political views that did not mesh with many, he sometimes might be an acquired taste and could rub you the wrong way, but unlike many, you still found the next interview fascinating. At times, I hated the way he treated a host in glorification, but also at times he was quite rude, IMO, to the guests. Same with callers. He loved cutting off good callers and bad callers alike, IMO. You never knew when he was gonna pull the rip chord on anyone. No matter what politics he spoke of, he had a great voice and delivery and went way beyond politics on his shows.
https://wgnradio.com/wgn-insider/remembering-jim-bohannon/
Clark Besch
OK, now this is especially cool!
Stephen Bishop, who celebrated his 71st birthday earlier this week, has posted a guitar tutorial showing interested guitar players exactly how to play his biggest hit, “On And On.” (#5, 1977) [Well, maybe not EXACTLY … from his announcement:
"This is a 95% accurate guitar tutorial of my song “On and On.” There are a few chords here and there that will remain trade secrets."
He has enlisted the help of guitarist Travis Bowman to take you thru the paces … and it’ll take you about 20 minutes to watch it (and then likely countless hours to master it!) … but still, I thought this was an especially cool idea …
Stephen’s birthday present to YOU. (kk)
You can view the whole thing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k85XehAN82k
