This year’s Kennedy Centers Honorees include Barry Gibb and Dionne Warwick.
The ceremony will take place on Sunday, December 3rd, and be televised on CBS. (Other honorees include comedian Billy Crystal, hip-hop queen Queen Latifah and opera star Renee Fleming.) Gloria Estefan (recently honored by her induction into The Songwriters Hall Of Fame) will act as host of the televised event. (kk)
A document officially dissolving the partnership of The Beatles (signed by all four members five years after they had already split) is going up for auction and is expected to sell for right around $500M. (As I type this, only one bid has been entered … and that one’s for $100,000.)
You can place YOUR bid here: https://www.gottahaverockandroll.com/APPLE_CORPS_Limited_Dissolution_of_Contract_Signed-LOT49044.aspx
(Who knows … you might get it for a steal at $350,000 if you act quickly!!!)
Or, you can just look at it here … for free! (kk)
Harvey Kubernik tells us about a brand new 7-CD Box Set featuring Stax Records demos … 146 tracks in all, 140 of which have never been previously released.
Along with Motown and Atlantic Records, Stax posted some pretty impressive stats during its 1960’s and 1970’s run … 167 tracks that made Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Chart along with 243 tracks that made their Top 100 R&B Singles Chart. (kk)
https://bestclassicbands.com/stax-records-songwriting-demos-box-set-6-23-23/
kk …
This Past Weekend Cousin Brucie Talked To Paul Anka.
Paul Just Got Back From A European & Asian Tour ... Will Be In New York In November.
Paul Starts His Podcast In About 1 Month.
He Also Has A Documentary In The Works … Should Be Ready About 9 Months From Now.
And, They Are Developing A Broadway Play Based On Paul Anka's Career.
All In All, I'd Say That Paul Anka Is A Busy Fellow. No Signs Of Slowing Down.
FB
P.S. At 8:30 AM On 6/24/23 I Was One Of First 3 People Watching The Debut Of A Brand New Five Sharps Video. Check Out "STORMY WEATHER" By Five Sharps. Rare Recording & Interesting Story. They Were Singing On Boston Morning Show. Little Walter Tells The Story Before They Sing The Song.
Paul Anka has been performing here every year for the last several years now at The Arcada Theatre … and has shows coming up at both The Arcada and The Des Plaines Theatre in November. These are always very elaborate, Vegas-type shows, performed with a small orchestra … and they always sell out. Anka is pure class on stage … and this year’s theme is called The Seven Decades Tour, meaning Paul will be performing music from every era of his career.
Between 1957 and 1982, Paul Anka hit The Top 40 a staggering 35 times … and I have long been a fan of his music. (We saw him at one of the Arcada shows a few years back and he was outstanding.) kk
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2016/05/paul-anka.html
It seems our conversations are being overseen by higher powers???
Paul Anka is coming to Mohegan on November 4th ... so let's see what songs he chooses to sing and whether I can confirm your statement about 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore.'
Whom shall we talk about next?
Shelley
I’m sure this will be a very expensive ticket -
But it truly is like Las Vegas landed on their stage …
A show definitely worth seeing at least once.
(Sadly, despite our seemingly inspiration powers, it’s still too late to get The Beatles, The Beach Boys or The Monkees back together - but boy what shows those would be!) kk
The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Monkees? I tear up thinking about it.
I saw The Beatles at their second Shea Stadium concert. Never saw ALL Beach Boys nor Monkees. Various incarnations of both.
Just looked at prices. Ticket prices not bad, but when you go to check out, the added fees double the price.
Shelley
Anka tickets at the Arcada are $119 (plus fees) – which really isn’t bad – there are also special VIP packages available. (This is money well spent for an incredible show)
I’ve told the story many times before about having the chance to see The Beatles perform at old Comiskey Park (White Sox Park) in 1965 … but cousins had an extra ticket and invited me to come along … but my dad nixed the idea because it would required him to make an hour and a half round trip to come pick me up the next day … so I missed my one and only chance to see them.
Have seen McCartney close to a dozen times, Harrison twice and Ringo at least three or four times … but never John … and of course all of these were solo shows.
Never saw ALL of The Beach Boys together either … although I’ve seen some version of them at least another 12-15 times. And same for me with The Monkees … seen each of them solo … seen all different kinds of pair-up versions, but never all four together. (By the time Mike thought it might be cool to tour as a Monkee again, Davy was already gone.)
Thankfully, we have the music and the videos and the memories to keep their memory alive.
kk …
If I'm Reading It Right, Starting In 2024, You Must Use A Certain Percentage Of Minorities To Be Considered For Academy Award.
So, If You Were Going To Make A "GODFATHER" Or "HOLOCAUST" Type Movie, Which Doesn't Call For Minorities, You Would Be Forced To Use Them If You Want To Win Academy Award.
How Would That Work?
FB
You know, that’s a very good question … and one I don’t have an answer for. We seem to be so hell-bent on overcompensating these days, that all rhyme and reason has been thrown out of the mix … as has America’s sense of humor. It’s a shame, in a way … not that all of these groups don’t deserve fair and equal representation moving forward … but trying to undo any past injustices … or holding people accountable for something they may have said 15 – 25 – 40 or even 60 years ago – hardly seems fair either. What’s done is done.
And moving forward, if someone DID want to make a new film documenting historical events, it would be a real shame to put for the expense and the effort to tell a TRUE tale without having to alter it by being swayed at the enticement for a reward for all your efforts. The world truly has lost its sense of balance. (But then again I just read last week that Vanna White gets paid $3 million a year to turn letters on the Wheel Of Fortune gameboard … while host Pat Sajak will be walking away from a job that pays about five times that!!!) No wonder things are as fucked up as they are today!!! (kk)
This week’s Forgotten Hit award goes to Sirius XM’s “70’s on 7” channel.
Now all of their decade channels (60’s, 70’s and 80’s) regularly run weekly countdowns of the biggest hits “this week in 19xx-something,” so it’s not surprising to hear a forgotten gem every now and then during one of these broadcasts. (By the same token, invariably you’ll also hear a few head-scratchers … like “How on earth did THAT song make The Top 40?!?!?”)
But when you hear a “Wow” song during regular broadcasting hours, it’s a real treat … and last week 70’s on 7 played “Rub It In” by Billy “Crash” Craddock, a Top 20 Hit from 1974 that otherwise seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth.
Billy was an early rock and roll, charting with his first hit in 1959 when “Don’t Destroy Me” went to #77 in Cash Box (#94 in Billboard for one week) Like Conway Twitty (and eventually Billy Joe Royal), he went on to launch a very successful country music career, charting 41 times on Billboard’s Country Singles Cart. 34 of those made The Top 40 … and THREE of them (including this one) went all the way to #1.
“Rub It In” is one of those feel-good, party tunes (with just enough innuendo to perk up your ears and listen.) When’s the last time you heard THIS one??? (kk)
