If you've been to the grocery store lately, you already know about both the shortage and often crazy prices of EGGS!!! (What the hell is going on here??? Seriously, people in Schaumburg, a fairly affluent suburb, are starting to raise chickens!!!)
Chuck Buell hits the nail squarely on the head with this International News Report ...
This seems to be EGGSactly what's been going on here lately!!!
(This isn't just something he's hatched up ...
It's for real!!!)
[Quite honestly, we don't buy a whole lotta eggs ...
But the ones we DO buy are typically on sale for $0.99 per dozen.
Today, those eggzact same twelve eggs cost five bucks!!!
FIVE TIMES the normal price!!! (and those were the cheap ones!)]
Now the United States Has to Deal with a Mexican "Egg Cartel"
On Sunday, we ran a VERY cool clip from the late ‘60’s / early ‘70’s TV Series “This Is Tom Jones,” featuring Jones performing with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Jones, like Johnny Cash on HIS short-lived variety shows, went out of his way to present acts that weren’t your normal television “fixtures.” This is why an artist like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young would appear on a show like “This Is Tom Jones” (which was actually a British import leased to ABC Television here in America) and Johnny Cash could capture an extremely rare performance of Derek and the Dominoes and an act like Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Other artists to appear on Tom Jones’ show include Mary Hopkin, The Moody Blues, Davy Jones, Lulu, Herman’s Hermits, Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, The Bee Gees, The Fifth Dimension, Julie Driscoll with Brian Auger and the Trinity, Dusty Springfield, Engelbert Humperdinck, The Foundations, Paul Anka, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Cass Elliot, The Dave Clark Five, Jerry Lee Lewis, Donovan, Bobby Goldsboro, The Who, Stevie Wonder, The Hollies and Sonny and Cher … and that was just in Season One!!!
Season Two featured acts like Bobby Darin, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Tony Bennett, Wilson Pickett, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Glen Campbell, Janis Joplin, Judy Collins, The Rascals, Joni Mitchell, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, Joe Cocker, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Bobbie Gentry and Ray Charles …
And in Season Three we were treated to Burt Bacharach, Aretha Franklin, Nancy Sinatra, Jerry Reed, The Supremes, Ray Stevens, Joey Heatherton, Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Bassey, John Denver and Petula Clark.
That’s quite an impressive mix of entertainment over the years!
Typically, Jones sang at least one song with most of these acts … it was, after all, HIS show … and the guy had a pretty dynamic voice and stage presence … and still does by all accounts!
Some of these performances were released on home video (both VHS and DVD) but are now long out of print. You WILL find a variety of clips on YouTube, however, including Tom’s performances with CSNY, Janis Joplin, The Moody Blues, Cher, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Dusty Springfield, Joe Cocker, Wilson Pickett, The Rascals, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Smokey Robinson and many more. (kk)
Sean Ross offered up some good listening choices for ‘70’s music in last week’s “Ross On Radio” column …
(I have to admit that I have been THOROUGHLY enjoying listening to these old WLS and WCFL air checks from 1972, a year we just finished honoring in Forgotten Hits. To hear these tracks again as they were presented when they were BRAND NEW … and NOT in the context of oldies radio … is quite enlightening … and, until Phil Nee and I counted down our Top 40 Favorites from that year a few months back, I had forgotten about just how much great music hit the airwaves in ’72. TOTALLY diggin’ it … the second time around!)
Anyway, here’s Sean’s report …
(And be sure to check out the variety being offered by Tucson’s version of “The Drive,” which here in Chicago is a Classic Rock station) …
https://radioinsight.com/blogs/247551/70s-on-7-gets-poppier-the-drive-gets-even-bigger/
We got this Nashville chart from 1967 from FH Reader Timmy C … along with the subject line:
Talk about being out of touch and disconnected with reality ...
Well, it certainly isn’t Top 40 Rock and Roll … and despite being from Nashville, it isn’t exactly Country either.
What we’ve got here seems to be a chart from Nashville’s premier Adult Contemporary radio station (although a FEW legitimate pop songs have seemed to “cross over” … The Association are at #17 with their #1 Pop Hit “Windy,” the Fifth Dimension fall a few spots lower at #19 with “Up, Up And Away,” and Petula Clark brings up the rear at #24 with “Don’t Sleep In The Subway” (mis-titled here, a trend we’ve seen on SO many Top 40 Charts from coast-to-coast over the years.)
I guess you can consider “Jackson” by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood (#3), “The Happening” by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (#4) and “There Goes My Everything” by Engelbert Humperdinck (#6) as pop cross-over hits, too … heck, “Jackson” may even qualify as a country entry.
Hard to say what most of US would have considered this play list to be back in 1967 … but what it most definitely ISN’T is “The Sounds of Modern America”!!! (So much for truth in advertising!) It looks like one of those stations where, if it happened to come on in the car while channel-surfing, I couldn’t hit the “next” button fast enough … and we did a fair amount of traveling down to Nashville back in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s.
1967 was one of the most exciting years in music ever. (We devoted an entire year to reliving it six years ago!)
But THIS chart has got me scratching my head!
As you look down the list, every once in a while you stumble across a pop hit … although in THIS case, it seems to be much more the exception than the rule.
And look at their Top Albums List ..
Ramsey Lewis’ “Movie Album” is #1 … old-time crooner Frankie Laine has the #2 Single and Album this week on WLAC … you’ve got Bobby Darin’s “Inside-Out” LP at #4 (I can’t believe it ever charted this high on ANY radio station!!!), Top 15 Hit LP’s by The Ray Charles Singers, The Midnight Strings and The Lettermen …
And I don’t think I’ve EVER seen an album of Beach Boys hits … BY THE HOLLYRIDGE STRINGS … show up on a local survey chart before!!!
You can check it out here:
UPDATE: WLAC was a 50,000 watt powerhouse beaming out of Nashville, Tennesee. Today, it still broadcasts with 50,000 watts of power as a talk radio station.
They first signed on the air in 1926 and two years later became a CBS Radio affiliate (which it clearly still was on this 1967 chart)
Surprisingly, according to Wikipedia, evenings in the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s, WLAC was one of the country’s premier Rhythm and Blues stations (!) They spent the ‘60’s playing “Middle-Of-The-Road” music during the daytime … and, in the ‘70’s flipped to a Top 40 Format in an effort to compete with WMAK for the teenage audience. (WMAK is the station that I would listen to while I was down there … eventually became home to Scott Shannon, which provided a HUGE boost in his career climb up the DJ Ladder.)
By contrast, look at the WLAC Chart from 1975 vs. the one that Timmy sent us …
Lin Brehmer, a Chicago radio fixture for nearly forty years, passed away this past weekend after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 68 years old.
He joined WXRT in 1991 … and became his “listeners’ best friend” over the years … just a “regular guy” who enjoyed the music as much as they did.
A devoted Cubs fan, this will be the first Cubs Opening Day Game he has missed in decades. He often brought a group of listeners with him. (A couple of folks on our list have told us about trips they won with Brehmer … who really WAS just a regular guy who LOVED to play and listen to the music, enjoy a beer and watch the ballgame.)
On and off the air several times during the past year as he fought his illness, seeking more aggressive treatment, he will be missed by the millions who welcomed him into their daily routine. (kk)
Kent --
One of my readers (I blog and write books and articles) sent me this photo, of a Hi-Flier promotional kite.
I collect kites, and I have never seen a pop song (or any kind of music) promoted on a kite. The song is nice in a goofy kind of way, especially the part about flying kites in
the rain. (Don't do that!)
Kites may not be the best way to promote pop songs, given that "Kites Are Fun" peaked at #114 on the bubblers chart at the end of 1967. WIND radio used to play the song to promote their annual kite fly in Grant Park. I've attached the MP3 in case you've never heard it.
Good luck and keep it coming!
--73--
--Jeff Duntemann K7JPD
Scottsdale, Arizona
While I’m not particularly familiar with it, I know this song has come up before in Forgotten Hits. (Jeez … after 24 years, what HASN’T come up!!! Lol)
Its #114 peak was in Billboard during its two week run at the very end of 1967 …
But incredibly, it was already charting a full month earlier in both Record World and Cash Box, logging NINE weeks on the Record World chart but only flying as high as #116. A seven week run in Cash Box launched it to #119 … so no, not a hit by any stretch.
Still cool to share ‘tho … and a pretty clever promotional idea, too!
Thanks, Jeff! (kk)
UPDATE: LOL … a random search turned up THIS posting from 2013 …. OMG, TEN YEARS AGO already!!! … and I just had to share it.
The conversation started when FH Reader Steve Sarley mentioned that hearing the Bobby Goldsboro song “Summer (The First Time)” was enough to make him want to shove sharpened pencils into his eyes, which elicited this response from FH Reader C.W. Martin …
I saw your comment the other day about a song that left one of your readers compelled to drive sharpened pencils through his eyes and thought, now there’s a nice topic to bring up! I have two opening candidates for “sharpened pencil songs” - The Sunrays’ Andrea (a worse use of harmony I’ve rarely heard) and the Free Design’s Kites Are Fun (Which I think even toddlers would turn the station on. How about yours?
CW Martin
(I’m guessing kites will NEVER be fun again for this guy!!! Lol) kk
The REAL Marshall Tucker died on January 20th at the age of 99. (While not a performing member, Tucker provided the namesake to the popular rock and country band. As such, his name didn’t make our list of 90+ year olds the other day!)
The group formed in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in 1972. Original members included Doug Gray, Toy Caldwell, Tommy Caldwell, Jerry Eubanks, George McCorkle and Paul Riddle. Crossover pop hits included “Heard It In A Love Song” (#10, 1977), “Fire On The Mountain” (#38, 1975) and “Can’t You See” (#70, 1977.)
A statement from the band read:
“Our band’s namesake, Mr. Marshall Tucker, passed away peacefully yesterday morning at the age of 99. Though he was never a member of our band, we wouldn’t be here today without his historic name.
“In the early days when we were rehearsing in an old warehouse in Spartanburg, we found a keychain inscribed with his name. We needed a name ASAP … and the rest is history!
“Marshall was blind since birth but amazingly could play the heck out of the piano. He always said his talent was simply God-given. He tuned pianos in South Carolina for decades.
“We are thankful for Mr. Marshall Tucker and the life he lived! Sending blessings to his wife and family.”
From Davie Allan …
Thanks for all the nice reviews.
On the inside of the cover (page 2), facing the disc there is a typo:
Track 14 (not 15) is by Jim Pewter / Davie Allan and Published by Playground Music / Arrow Dynamic Music
Thanks again,
Davie
Order Davie’s new CD here …
TURN IT UP!
$13.00 EACH
(Includes U.S. Shipping & Handling)
MAKE CHECKS OR MONEY ORDERS PAYABLE TO:
DAVIE ALLAN (PLEASE SPELL THE NAME RIGHT!)
AND MAIL TO:
DAVIE ALLAN
230 Cantor
Irvine, CA 92620
Or: SEND PAYPAL TO: melodicgrunge@yahoo.com
>>>A properly played flute can enhance any recording ... there may be no sound more beautiful. Besides Chicago’s “Colour My World,” here are a few other great rock tunes that immediately come to mind, prominently featuring the flute. (kk)
Good points, Kent! And just to be Clear-er to "The Flutists at the Gate ~~~"
I have nothing against a fine flute performance! I truly appreciate the talent of an accomplished flutist. My story was about the "Recorder," and the recorder only. I did not mention or cast any disparaging comments on flutes or flutists at all nor did I suggest the "sound" was out of place in any of the hit songs exampled. I only wondered, in Fun, if the artists may have been influenced at an early age by the sound of young recorder musicians playing its unique sound ( leading to the use of a more sophisticated flute, or even a recorder, in their professional music endeavors later on ) and successfully incorporating that sound in their hit songs. And I like the sound in those songs!
I think a Flute can even sound Great performing that Super Forgotten Hit Classic . . . "Louie Louie!"
Listen . . .
Meanwhile, next, I'm taking on the Tuba!
No. Wait. Supporters and players of that instrument could cause me severe personal injury . . .
CB ( which stands for "Cacophony Boy!" )
OK, now you’ve done it …
You’ve forced me to dip WAY back into my Martin Mull collection and dig out this 1973 chart hit … no, I’m not making that up … this record actually got to #92 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart.
Mull, who would soon become a nightly fixture for us fans of “Fernwood Tonight,” released THIS record in response to the #1 Hit “Dueling Banjos,” the Theme to the “Deliverance” movie. (Now let me hear you squeal like a pig!!!) kk
