DAYLIGHT SAVING???
“FOR THOSE ABOUT TO CHANGE CLOCKS, WE SALUTE YOU” AM/PM … OR AC/DC
GARY
Several years ago I was on the opposite end of the Daylight Saving(s) Time philosophy (sorry … I have ALWAYS called it “savings”).
I had flown to New Jersey for a short vacation and one of my stops during that trip was at Dave The Rave’s No Static Attic. The idea was for me to be on the show live as we played back your All-Time Favorite, Forgotten B-Sides.
http://www.forgottenhits.com/your_top_200_favorite_forgotten_b-sides
Well, Dave’s show ran six hours … and we had ALL kinds of celebrity guests call in to talk about some of their B-Sides … it really was a very fascinating show … but as it so happened, when the show was SUPPOSED to end at 2 am, we had to set the clocks back an hour and do another hour of broadcasting. (I had never even considered this possibility when we worked out all the details!)
Having been up since 6 that morning (and making several stops along the way as we drove from Philadelphia to New Jersey), I was (as you might imagine) pretty exhausted by this point ... and not mentally prepared to "fall back" an hour! (Frannie had actually fallen asleep on Dave’s couch a few hours before.) Plus, we had an 8:00 flight that same morning to head back to Chicago. (Fortunately, our hotel was right on the airport grounds ... but boarding with only about 90 minutes of sleep, I had effectively pulled a 24+ hour all-nighter!)
So, at what was
now, once again, 1:15 AM, I decided to call it a night and politely excused myself to head back to the hotel, playing one of MY Favorite, Forgotten B-Sides, The
Angels’ “Thank You And Good Night” as the theme to my exit!
The show was so popular that Top Shelf Oldies agreed to run it again on Thanksgiving Day for the benefit of those who may have missed it a few weeks before.
Tired as I was, I still have to rank it as one of the favorite things I’ve done thru Forgotten Hits … and would LOVE to have a copy of the whole show if it still somehow exists after all these years. (kk)
UHM ... Clock Boy ...
NOW I WON'T BE ABLE TO SLEEP AT ALL TONIGHT!
At least with insomnia, I won't lose sleep about it.
BUT - I am going to see Jay and the Americans in concert tonight!
Could they make it an all-nighter? ;-)
Shelley J Sweet-Tufano
Last week, Congress was actually debating (this is true) as to whether or not Daylight Saving Time should be discontinued. (This is NOT the first time this topic has come up!)
As we sprung ahead last night, I couldn't help but think that if Congress actually DID decide to do away with it ... and this truly was the last time ... we will NEVER get that hour back. (kk)
Pretty sad to see all the squabbling going on over Elvis’ estate.
If Elvis’ wishes were for his daughter Lisa Marie to inherit the rights to his legacy at the time of his death, so be it. And if Lisa Marie’s wishes were to pass those rights on to her own children at the time of her death, why is Priscilla so insistent on meddling her way back in?
She gave up the rights to the Presley name (although she has NEVER stopped using it – and most certainly to her advantage over the past 50 years since their divorce) … so move on and stop trying to cash in on your time together and let the departed family members’ wishes be carried out as they were intended.
Riley Keough, of course, is now starring as Daisy Jones in the new Amazon Prime television series we told you about the other day, Daisy Jones and the Six.
Not that this stuff doesn’t always get messy (and petty), but I feel like Priscilla has been milking what SHE decided to give up for decades now! (kk)
The Midnight Special FINALLY has their own YouTube Channel, offering up hundreds of clips from the late night music series that ran from 1972 – 1981.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=midnight+special+channel
Best Classic Bands shared THIS rare and unusual clip of The Bee Gees jammin’ with (of all people!) Chuck Berry!!!
Trust me … You have never seen The Brothers Gibb rock out like this before. It is just so completely out of character that you cannot look away. (And how about those dance steps?!?!?) kk
You Should Be Dancing, indeed ... or, in this case, maybe not!!! (I'm wondering where I can get a pair of pants like Chuck’s! (lol) kk
With The Oscars airing tonight, this seemed like an appropriate and timely piece to share … (although I WILL admit that I am quite shocked to see that it came from Billboard Magazine!!!)
They have selected The Top 15 Least-Deserving, WORST Oscar-Winning Songs Ever …
And while, yes, some of these are truly awful (and some I’ve never even heard of!), there are a few legitimate, bona fide hits on this list. (Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re any good!!!) kk
Clark Besch tells us that later today you can catch a brand new interview with Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of The Zombies (who just happen to have a brand new album coming out later this month ... March 31st, to be exact!)
From Clark:
Dear Kent
I really enjoyed reading the comments and the thread of the 'Dave Dee Dies' Forgotten Hits article.
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2009/01/dave-dee-dies.html
It has always been a mystery and actually, a disappointing story as to why DDDBM&T never cracked the States in any way. Not even as was correctly stated in the article as a "one hit wonder".
Their first USA single release 'You Make It Move' was in early 1966. The band were really keen at the time to have a USA hit and Billboard predicted it would go Top 60 in their "Singles Spotlight". It was an excellent record but unfortunately failed.
Their 2nd single 'Hold Tight' charted in some USA locations, i.e. Denver Colorado's Radio KIMN Top 50 chart where it peaked at #23. Made primarily for the USA, there was a wonderful 1966 promo video with DDDBM&T (along with Snow White) driving around the roads of outer London in an old 1930/40s open top Bentley. One would have thought that the hip young American teenage girls would have liked and gone for this number in a big way. Again, Billboard's Spotlight Singles predicted that the track would go Top 60. At this time, they desperately wanted to come and tour the States, but their US Visas (Work Permits) were rejected (seemingly as part of a backlash to the British Invasion). Already you had three nails in the coffin.
In more recent times, 'Hold Tight' did have some acclaim in Tarantino's 'Death Proof' film plus also the 1968 UK hit 'Last Night In Soho' was in Edgar Wright's film 'Last Night In Soho'.
Would be great that one day that there might be a documentary made of DDDBM&T (in the opposite sense so to speak) to document and to try and understand why this act never made it in the USA. There's plenty of speculation and ideas but difficult to find what really went wrong and why. Something like that Documentary on the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 that completely disappeared.
By the way, Dave Dee had the cancer for nine long years (from 2000) and it was as a result of a routine examination/intervention that went terribly wrong.
Thanks for taking the time to read.
Cheers -
All the very best
Ron Cooper
Since our piece ran in 2009 at the time of Dave Dee’s death (STILL hard to say ten times fast!), Record Research published their Comparison Chart Book … and we see that the group actually placed FOUR records on the American charts …
“Hold Tight” (#125 in Record World only), “Bend It” (#100 in Cash Box … but only #110 in Billboard), Zabadak (#52, Billboard, but charting in all three trade publications) and “The Legend Of Xanadu” (again, charting in all three trades, but peaking at #110 in Record World and #123 in Billboard, despite being their biggest, #1 British hit.)
I downloaded "Last Night In Soho" as soon as I heard it in the film of the same name. (Great track ... and talk about a bizarre movie ... yet I was still fascinated watching it the whole time ... an EXCELLENT soundtrack ... and I know I'll end up watching it again, if only to see what other little oddities I can pick up along the way during a second viewing!)
As for the CD I mentioned at the time, I DID order it … and it’s just them doing cover versions of these tunes … and nothing more. Hardly worth $32 … but still nice to have at least SOMETHING by them in my collection. (I STILL think “Bend It” should have easily been a Top Ten US Hit.) kk
I was surprised to hear that Jerry Samuels passed away on Friday (March 10th). [Honestly, I thought he had died YEARS ago … but I guess I was wrong.]
While some of you may not instantly recognize his name, you will likely never forget his claim to fame, One Hit Wonder, “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!” that raced to the top of the charts in 1966 during its very brief seven week novelty run. (Once the novelty wore off, it plummeted back down again.)
The record actually reached #1 in both Cash Box and Record World, while it officially peaked at #3 in Billboard. In today’s politically correct world, it probably couldn’t get played at all … and it was still considered pretty shocking by 1966 standards, too.
(I’ll never forget the time that my daughter Kristen, who was working in a mental health facility at the time, called me in shock when she heard Scott Shannon play the record over The True Oldies Channel. She had to sheepishly admit to all her coworkers, who also heard the tune, that “Yeah … my dad knows this guy.” Lol)
Records back then just didn’t make this kind of meteoric rise up the charts … it wasn’t like today, where songs regularly premier at #1. Back then, you had to gain sales and airplay first and then work your way up the chart … even The Beatles had to go thru a series of steps before they ultimately reached #1 … but check out the chart history for Napoleon XIV’s rise up the charts:
CASH BOX: Premiered at #20 on the chart dated July 23, 1966 – and then jumped right to #1 the following week. It then fell to #2, where it sat for two weeks (behind “Lil’ Red Riding Hood by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs and “Summer In The City” by The Lovin’ Spoonful) … then to #4 … then #13 … then #30 and then off the chart completely
Cash Box and Record World even ran this ad for the record …
Speaking of which, in RECORD WORLD, it debuted at #56 (also on July 23rd) and then leaped to #6 (a move of 50 places!), hitting #1 the following week. It then fell to #3, #5, #11, #34 and then gone
BILLBOARD ranked it this way: #50 on July 23rd, #11 the following week, #5, #3, back down to #5, then a deep drop to #37 and then gone
Using my Hit Index strategy, that makes “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!” one of the biggest hits of the rock era. (It certainly commanded your attention!!!)
We salute you, Napoleon XIV. (kk)
They're coming to take him away, oh my... ;-(
Mike
Jerry (as Napoleon XIV) actually recorded a couple of answer records to his own hit. The first one, titled “I’m Happy They Took You Away, Ha-Haaa!” by “Josephine XV”, appeared on his album recorded to cash in on the success of the hit single. Then, years later in 1988, he released a sequel called “They’re Coming To Get Me Again, Ha Haaa!” In between, Warner Brothers re-released the original version again in 1973 ... but this time it only got as high as #73 in Record World (and #87 in Billboard ... it "bubbled under" in Cash Box.)
A regular feature on The Dr. Demento Show (on which Samuels appeared a few times as a guest), The Good Doctor also played his records "I Live In A Split-Level Head" and "Photogenic, Schizophrenic You."
Since you mentioned it, another backwards B-Side that immediately comes to mind is "Noollab Wolley" by The Yellow Balloon! (Especially timely since we were just talking B-Sides a few minutes ago!
DONCHAJiSTLuVIT WHEN ALL THIS STUFF TIES TOGETHER?!?!
I figured I was in the middle of a pretty high-end celebrity roll the other day when I received comments from both Andrew Loog Oldham and Al Kooper …
So I figured I’d just shoot the wadd and emailed Keith Richards to see if he would like to do a Forgotten Hits interview.
This is what I got back …
Certainly burst MY bubble in a hurry! (lol)
Just kidding … but
this shot was just too cool not to pass along. (kk)
