FORGOTTEN HITS: A Monday Morning Quickie

Monday, July 24, 2023

A Monday Morning Quickie

Hello, Kent:

I'm still hanging around. All this stuff is interesting. Of course, Tony Bennett and I go way back. Hell, he was only eight years older than I.

I was a teenager when he came upon the scene. Our house was filled with that kind of music. We actually heard "In The Middle Of An Island." When Tony was hot, Sinatra was not. He was singing almost anything trying to reclaim the glory of his 1940s success. Bim Bam Baby and Mama Will Bark were Mitch Miller's attempt to salvage Frank's career. He was two years away from "From Here To Eternity," Capitol Records, Nelson Riddle, etc. So I was a Bennett fan before I became a Sinatra fan. Frank won me over, but both are in my top 3 male vocalists, along with Nat King Cole.

Now, about the Beatles and that critique ...

I was about thirty when the Beatles landed and totally incapable of getting what was going on. Hell, I had a time with Little Richard, Fats Domino, Elvis and all that stuff as I transitioned away from the world of pop music and the likes of Kay Starr, Dinah Shore and Doris Day. Now this. We thought it was a joke when The Beatles did Ed Sullivan. Well, my family anyway. It was our ignorance and it took some time and a lot of listening to transition into this whole new world which we had not grown up in. So Mr. Jones was writing with a tightly closed mind and a lot of us agreed.

The Beatles now reside in about a zillion mp3s on my hard drive. Love 'em.

Having eclectic tastes myself, I enjoyed reading Obama's list.

I totally agree about Lady Gaga. In the world of show business sometimes you have to focus on the show. She can sing.

Hil

Those who weren't around in the early days of rock 'n roll like I was may have a different opinion, but in 1955 to Alan Freed (and me), Tony Bennett was a rock 'n roll star.

Please fel free to post and share his program cover from my collection.

Ed Salamon

CBS reran the Tony Bennett / Lady Gaga special from 2021 Sunday Night ... and CBS Morning paid tribute to Tony as well.

(See, these are the kinds of things you can do when you're in the middle of a seemingly endless writers and actors strike ... think outside the box and run some interesting timely broadcasting instead!) kk

More on the writers strike below, courtesy of Chuck Buell!

>>>The State of Arizona is now offering an Alice Cooper license plate! (kk)

This may be one of the first -- if not THE first Rock & Roll license plate in the country...

Tim K.

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/the-alice-cooper-specialty-license-plate-is-now-available-in-arizona-16680329

Hi Kent ...

Mitch Schecter (formerly of The Rip Chords) here.

I wanted to let you, and the whole Forgotten Hits community know that Richie Rotkin passed away last Saturday. He was 82. We will miss him greatly.

I've attached a photo of one of Richie's happiest moments ... us onstage with Al Jardine (who he loved) in Las Vegas at a show we did together.

Mitch Schecter

Mitch, Richie and Al

So sorry to hear this.

Richie was one of the original members of The Rip Chords, after Bruce (Johnston) and Terry (Melcher) launched the group in the early '60's.

They had a couple of big surf/pop hits in 1964, most notably "Hey Little Cobra," which went all the way to # 4 on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart.

Thanks so much for letting us know. (kk)

kk …

The Forgotten Hits Saturday Evening Post …

I Like It … Clever …

But Why Stop At Saturday?

You Could Always Do:

The Monday, Monday Post

The Tuesday Afternoon Post

Wednesday's Child Post

Thursday ... I Got Nothing … Can You Think Of One?

The Monday I Have Friday On My Mind Post

The Saturday In The Park Post

And The Sunday & Me Posting

Going to the dogs: Jeff Barry ("Sugar Sugar," "Be My Baby,"

"Chapel of Love," etc.) shoots the shit w/ Paul Shaffer @TWOR 9/13.

Tix now!

LEGENDARY SONGWRITER JEFF BARRY IS SET TO JOIN PAUL SHAFFER SEPTEMBER 13^th AT DOO WAH DITTIES FOR DOGGIES, BENEFIT EVENING FOR PUP CULTURE, LA-BASED DOG RESCUE ORGANIZATION

Purchase Doo Wah Ditties for Doggies tickets

Over the course of a hit songwriting career that spans more than sixty years, Brooklyn born Jeff Barry has had a hand in creating 23 Top 20 singles, with seven of his compositions going to #1.

His hit songs include “Chapel of Love,” “Leader of the Pack,” “Doo Wah Diddy Diddy,” “Sugar, Sugar,” “I Honestly Love You,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Be My Baby,” “Hanky Panky,” “Then He Kissed Me,” “Tell Laura I Love Her,” “River Deep Mountain High,” “Hanky Panky,” “Montego Bay,” “Chip Chip,” “Heavy Makes You Happy” and have resonated not only in the pop and rock marketplace but also in the country and R&B fields. He has been a pioneer in creating music for television and, accordingly, produced tracks and albums by The Monkees, The Archies and wrote the theme songs for “One Day At A Time” and “The Jeffersons.” The latter, “Movin’ On Up,” was recently named the greatest TV theme song of all time by Rolling Stone. Jeff Barry has been inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Paul Shaffer started his music career in his native Ontario as musical director for the Toronto production of Godspell. He went on to join the cast of Saturday Night Live as writer of special material and featured player and thereafter rose to renown on Late Night with David Letterman as the show’s musical director, leading the World’s Most Dangerous Band and had the same role on Late Show with David Letterman when the band was The CBS Orchestra. On the big screen, his most notable role is that of set-upon Polymer Records promotion man Artie Fufkin in This Is Spinal Tap. He is a recipient of The Order of Canada, his native land’s highest honor.

Paul Shaffer and Jeff Barry have known each other for more than 45 years and have an abiding admiration for each other’s work. They first met when Paul starred in the short-lived TV series A Year At The Top, for which Jeff created music. Paul recalls, “Obviously inspired by the Monkees series, each episode ended with a song and Jeff produced “Like A Rising Star” that was performed in the pilot, and he also wrote and produced the theme song.”

Paul Shaffer has been close to Jeff Barry’s catalog in many other ways over the years. He notes, “Ever since I saw the Ronettes sing ‘Be My Baby’ on American Bandstand I have been obsessed with the songs and repertoire associated with Jeff and his late ex-wife Ellie Greenwich.” Paul played the role of a Spectoresque record producer in Leader of the Pack, the autobiographical musical that chronicles the life and work of Greenwich. He unabashedly calls himself “the world’s foremost authority on the Barry-Greenwich catalog. He adds, “I still have some questions about Jeff and his songs and I’m going to find the stories behind the hits on September 13th. We’re all going to sing along with them and enjoy them and jog Jeff’s memory and take him back to 1650 Broadway and the Brill Building ... and help a great cause.”

Jeff Barry spoke of the forthcoming event, “Over the years, we had talked about doing something together and when he told me about Pup Culture, the dog rescue organization that his daughter Victoria started, I blurted out something like ‘When you’re in town we should do a fundraiser.’ It was a totally spontaneous ‘Let’s put on a show’ kind of thing. It’s going to be a fun evening for a good cause. We’re an interesting combination … but don’t except a slick, polished act. It’ll be a one-of-a-kind night with an impromptu aspect to it. We’ve never done anything like this before and, most likely, we won’t ever again.”

Pup Culture mission statement: We rescue homeless, mistreated, and overlooked animals both locally and internationally. Once a dog joins our “cult”, we’re devoted to providing proper medical care and rehabilitation, and finding them their ideal furever home. Pup Culture Rescue is a 501(c)(3) foster based non-profit operating out of Los Angeles, California.

Top 20 chart hits written by Jeff Barry

#1’s

“Chapel of Love” (The Dixie Cups)

“Leader of the Pack” (The Shangri-Las)

“Do Wah Diddy Diddy” (Manfred Mann)

“Hanky Panky” (Tommy James & the Shondells)

“Sugar, Sugar” (The Archies)

“I Honestly Love You” (Olivia Newton-John)

“Da Doo Ron Ron” (Shaun Cassidy)

Top 5

“Da Doo Ron Ron” (The Crystals)

“Be My Baby” (The Ronettes)

“Take Me Home Tonight” (Eddie Money)

Top 10

“Then He Kissed Me” (The Crystals)

“I Wanna Love Him So Bad” (The Jelly Beans)

“Tell Laura I Love Her” (Ray Peterson)

“Chip Chip” (Gene McDaniels)

“Jingle Jangle” (The Archies)

“Montego Bay” (Bobby Bloom)

“Baby, I Love You” (Andy Kim)

Top 20

“People Say” (The Dixie Cups)

“Maybe I Know” (Lesley Gore)

“Leader of the Laundromat” (The Detergents)

“Lay a Little Lovin’ on Me” (Robin McNamara)

“Be My Baby” (Andy Kim)

“River Deep – Mountain High” (The Supremes and the Four Tops)

7a Records, who have been releasing ALL kinds of rare Monkees-related product over the last several years, continues the tradition now with “extended family” members Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart.

7a has just released their sophomore album “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite” … which quickly became their first their first Top Ten Single under their own name as a duo. (Despite their long track record of creating Top Ten Hits for other artists, they would never hit The Top Ten again with one of their own recordings.)

Much more info here:

https://theseconddisc.com/2023/07/20/im-digging-you-digging-me-7a-reissues-tommy-boyce-and-bobby-harts-i-wonder-what-shes-doing-tonite/

And, if you haven’t already read it … or want to read it again … please check out our Boyce and Hart series (and interview with Bobby Hart) here:

http://forgottenhits.com/the_music_of_tommy_boyce_and_bobby_hart

http://forgottenhits.com/forgotten_hits_interviews_bobby_hart

It’s a pretty damn good piece, if I do say so myself!!! (lol) kk

As the TV Writers Strike continues, TV Viewing research continues to show that among the most popular TV Shows on any platform for our Forgotten Hitters Demo have been Procedural Police Crime Shows. Just check your local listings to see how many there are each week!

A 2022 poll declared that half of all Americans enjoy “Cop Shows” and network programming that can be defined as “Police Procedurals” has been as high as 40% or more of their programming at times. Tuesday and Wednesday nights seem to offer the most such shows of that genre at the moment.

I admit to a number of them that both Linda and I watch regularly. And while doing so the other night, inspiration hit and I came up with what I thought could be a Fun Police Show Drinking Game, if we were a bit younger!

Every time one of these phrases is spoken in a Police Show’s episode, one would throw back a shot ~~~

”FBI! or POLICE! OPEN UP!” We need to talk to you!”
“We know you’re in there!”
“You take the Back! I’ll take the Front!”
“I need a Bus ( this season’s new term for an ambulance ) at my location!”
“Stop! You can’t come in here. Stay behind the taped off area!”
“But that’s my ( fill in the body’s relationship )!”
“All the Security Cams are either Down or Broken.”
“Can you Zero in closer on the License Plate?!”
“Getting any match on Facial Rec?”
“It all happened so fast.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Easy. Relax. You’re safe now.”
“You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
“Here’s my card. If you think of anything else, call me.”
“Suspect is in Custody!”
“Either you start talking or your sorry ass is going to rot away in prison!”
“They won’t be getting out for a long, long time.”
“Everything’s going to be all right.”
“I’ve always wanted to be a Cop.”

BONUS SHOOTER! Every time one hears a Forgotten Hit as part

of the audio background, one would take TWO Quick Shots!

Along with “Blue Bloods,” a fictionalized Police Drama about the New York Police Department starring Tom Selleck, “The Rookie,” another imagined Police Drama about the oldest former rookie on the Los Angeles Police Force starring Nathan Fillion, is one of our favorites.

It’s already produced one “Rookie spin-off” series ( “The Rookie: Feds”. ) And here’s my show concept for another police “Rookies” show that I think could be interesting. This one would take place with the transformative and ever-changing years of the late 1940s as the background and would be based on the adventures and fast-paced lives of these Very Special Police Academy Cadets ~~~

I would make a couple of changes right off tho. For instance, in looking at this old historic photo, I wonder why the wardrobe for these women back then didn’t include “sensible heels!” I can’t imagine any one of them, determined and efficient as they may be, service revolvers at the ready, wearing the shoes in this photo while chasing a perp down a cluttered back alley and when they attempt to escape by climbing a chain link security fence to have to jump up on them and forcibly slam them to the ground and handcuff them!