The brand new Rolling Stones album “Hackney Diamonds” debuts at #4 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart this week. (I have been listening to it … and nothing else … non-stop since my copy arrived … I honestly don’t know that they’ve ever sounded better … a pretty incredible statement considering this is their 60th YEAR recording together!!!)
The first two singles, “Angry” and “Sweet Sounds Of Heaven,” are incredibly strong tracks … but there are no “losers” on this LP. And it’s just amazing how much these tracks still sound like vintage Stones yet contemporary as can be.
But the BIG question here is, who is going to play them???
Radio is so strictly formatted these days that 2023 Rolling Stones music doesn’t really “fit” anywhere (although I have heard “Angry” a few times now on Sirius XM, which was a very pleasant surprise.) Incredibly, it didn’t even make Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart. Now how can that be???
Despite this fact, the new LP still sold enough copies to come in at #4. (Betcha The Beatles won’t have this same issue when the “Now And Then” single is released next week … and both of the expanded compilation CD’s, 1962 – 1966 and 1967 – 1970, the week after. Of course, The Beatles have their OWN Sirius XM Channel … and they’ll be all over this thing! So lack of airplay won’t be a problem.)
Billboard wondered earlier in the week where The Stones would finish once all the calculating was done. (They called it a race between Blink 182 … seriously??? … and The Stones for the top spot … but Drake, last week’s hold-over #1 LP and Bad Bunny, who coincidentally hosted Saturday Night Live last weekend … with surprise guests Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga … slipped into the #2 and #3 spots respectively, ahead of The Stones.)
Andrew Watt did an outstanding job of drawing out the best of the band … every song sounds fresh and new and invigorating yet still maintains that vintage Stones sound. I love the loose feel, too, with Steve Jordan counting in nearly every track by clicking his drum sticks together … it sounds like the whole band is really enjoying themselves, while being rightfully proud of the end results. (Late Drummer Charlie Watts also appears on a couple of tracks … but Jordan fits right in as his replacement. Even former Stone Bill Wyman makes an appearance, making for a full Stones Reunion on “Live By The Sword,” another great track on the new album. It’s his first appearance on a Rolling Stones record since 1989.
While much has been made about the “guest stars” appearing throughout the LP, the only one that really claims any portion of the spotlight is Lady Gaga for her brilliant vocal-play between Mick Jagger. Gaga has worked with The Stones before (most notably performing “Gimme Shelter” live with the band in concert) and she slips right in where she belongs to help accentuate this track, capturing and achieving the “sweet sound of heaven” in the process. (I can only assume that now that Tony Bennett is gone, Gaga went out and found the next oldest person on earth that she could successfully collaborate with!) But I’m telling you that IT WORKS … the track reaches new heights in Rolling Stones history. (The presence of Stevie Wonder also helps lift this track into the stratosphere with its authentic and contemporary gospel sound.) Elton John and Paul McCartney also make appearances, but more as “session players” than anything else … nothing to particularly draw attention to themselves.)
Great LP … and highly recommended. (kk)
Tom Cuddy sent us in this report on the new Rolling Stones album from Roger Friedman …
We’ve been telling you about Mark Bego’s new book, spotlighting the career of Joe Cocker.
Well, now’s your chance to win a copy. (The book comes out on November 17th.)
Mark has put together a brief Joe Cocker Trivia Contest, especially for Forgotten Hits Readers.
Get your entries in quick and we’ll announce the winners in a couple of weeks.
Here we go …
What Joe Cocker song won the Academy Award?
What Record Label launched Joe Cocker’s career in the 1960s and 1970s?
What was the biggest selling album with Joe Cocker music on it?
How many Beatles-composed songs did Joe Cocker record in his career?
Think you know the answers?
Drop us a line at kk@forgottenhits.com … just put JOE COCKER in the subject line … and then consider yourself entered and in the running to win a copy of Mark Bego’s new book. (kk)
Cal Lynch, who counted down selections from our Top 200 Biggest Two-Sided Hits Of All-Time Chart last night (great job, Cal … and thanks again … looking forward to more to come!), posed this two-sided hits question …
Hi Kent –
Glad you liked my show Saturday Night …
In your and Randy’s perusal of the National Charts, I have a question regarding the double sided hits on 45…
What was the very first 45 double sided hit recorded by any chart ???
Cal
We restricted our research to The Top 40 Rock and Roll Era of 1955 – 1979 when compiling our list … but two-sided hits date back much further than that. (In fact, they were a pretty common occurrence back when there were fewer songs to choose from when programing radio.)
My chart research books only date back to Billboard’s 1940 Pop Charts … but within those pages I found two-sided hits charted by The Ames Brothers, The Andrews Sisters, Ray Anthon, Louis Armstrong, Eddy Arnold, Blue Barron, Count Basie, Tex Beneke, Tony Bennett, Les Brown, Red Buttons, Mindy Caron, Carmen Cavallaro, Don Cherry, Buddy Clark, Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Vic Damone, Dennis Day, Doris Day, Sam Donahue, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Eddy Duchin, Eddie Fisher, Ella Fitzgerald, Ralph Flanagan, Red Foley, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Helen Forrest, The Four Aces, The Four King Sisters, The Four Lads, Stan Freberg, Sunny Gale, The Gaylords, Benny Goodman, Dick Haymes, Woody Herman, The Hilltoppers, Eddy Howard, Betty Hutton, The Ink Spots, Harry James, Joni James, Gordon Jenkins, Louis Jordan, Sammy Kaye, Stan Kenton, Evelyn Knight, Gene Krupa, Kay Kyser, Frankie Laine, Jack Lathrop, Peggy Lee, Guy Lombardo, Johnny Long, Art Lund, Gordon MacRae, Freddy Martin, Tony Martin, The McGuire Sisters, Johnny Mercer, Glenn Miller, The Mills Brothers, Guy Mitchell, Vaughn Monroe, Art Mooney, Ross Morgan, Ella Mae Morse, Patti Page, Tony Pastor, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Jan Peerce, Johnnie Ray, Alvino Rey, Tex Ritter, Andy Russell, Primo Scala's Banjo and Accordion Orchestra, Artie Shaw, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Kate Smith, The Song Spinners, Charlie Spivak, The Sportsmen, Jo Stafford, Kay Starr, The Three Suns, Martha Tilton, Mel Torme, Jimmy Wakely, The Weavers, Lawrence Welk, Paul Weston, Margaret Whiting, Tex Williams, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, Hugo Winterhalter, Yogi Yorgesson and Victor Young.
The earliest two-sided hit I could find belonged to Artie Shaw, whose hit "Frenesi" (released in August of 1940) went all the way to #1 ... and stayed there for 13 weeks, while its flipside, "Adios, Mariquita Linda" spent one week at #20 in September.
I found instances where records were flipped over during their run on the charts and charted right after each other (but not simultaneously) … and several of these examples were Jubebox or Disc Jockey hits only and not necessarily Best Sellers, which was the “gold standard” of the Billboard Charts back then.
Randy may come up with a few better answers once he sees this list ... but suffice to say there were plenty ... maybe even enough for another Top 200! (kk)
ANOTHER INTERESTING LIST YOU MIGHT LIKE ...
(and one that we've had lots of fun with over the years) is our TOP 200 ALL-TIME FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN B-SIDES ... records which offered GREAT B-Sides that never got the chart respect they deserved.
You can find THAT countdown here:
http://forgottenhits.com/your_top_200_favorite_forgotten_b-sides (kk)
UPDATE: Cal began the countdown of The Top 100 Two-Sided Hits last night and got as far as #72. (It takes longer than one might think since every position is an automatic twin-spin! lol) It provided a great chance to hear songs you literally NEVER hear on the radio anymore.
He'll pick things up again next weekend ... and carry on right to the top spot. (My guess is that this will take him at least the next two or three weekends - so you'll have plenty more chances to listen.)
And, speaking of more chances to listen, if you happened to miss Saturday Night's show, it will be rebroadcast tomorrow at 5 pm Eastern, Wednesday at 11 am Eastern and again on Friday at Noon Eastern. (Randy Price and I both stopped by the live chatroom during the broadcast and had the chance to visit with other listeners enjoying the countdown.) kk
Hard to believe that Taylor Swift just celebrated the 17th anniversary of her first chart album. During that time, she has had TWELVE albums reach the #1 spot on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart, an incredible achievement of itself
Billboard ranked the Top 20 Acts on each of their 17th anniversaries for comparison’s sake. Suffice to say that Ms. Swift ranks in some pretty good company. (Who would have ever thought???) kk
The Cowsills Release New Christmas EP A Christmas Offering From The Cowsills Out Now via Omnivore Recordings
Includes Two Original Holiday Songs Plus A New Version Of “Winter Wonderland”
October 27, 2023: The Cowsills, the hit family singing group of the ‘60s, have released A Christmas Offering From The Cowsills, a new digital-only Christmas EP featuring two originals, “Christmastime (Song For Marissa)” and “Some Good Years,” plus a new acapella version of the holiday favorite “Winter Wonderland.” The EP follows a very busy year for The Cowsills, who released their first album in 30 years, Rhythm Of The World (2022), and have been touring extensively the past 9 summers on the Turtles' annual Happy Together Tour.
Formed in 1965, The Cowsills would become a worldwide phenomenon when “The Rain, The Park And Other Things” spent two weeks at #2 in 1967 (blocked from the top of the charts by The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer.”) The Top 10 “Indian Lake” followed in 1968, and “Hair” matched their two weeks at #2 benchmark in 1969. The family band became the inspiration for The Partridge Family, and even recorded the theme to Love, American Style.
In the early ‘90s, the family regrouped to record a Christmas single “Christmastime (Song for Marissa).” The melody for “Christmastime (Song for Marissa)” was written in the late ‘70s and sat for years without lyrics as an instrumental. Once it was recognized as Christmas music, the lyrics were added in 1986 and a brand new Christmas carol was born. Joined by friends and admirers including The Bangles’ Vicki Peterson and Michael Steele, as well as Peter Holsapple of The dB’s, “Christmastime (Song For Marissa)” was finally recorded in the summer of 1992. Along with “Some Good Years,” these two songs were actually released as a collector’s 45 RPM single edition on Rockville Records in 1993.
These tracks return three decades later on A Christmas Offering From The Cowsills, joined by an all-new, acapella version of the holiday classic “Winter Wonderland.” Available digitally, these tracks help illuminate why The Cowsills stay in our collective ears.
Rhino Records has put together several “Nuggets” bundles, now available for purchase. (Their original “Nuggets” LP paved the way for classic garage rock and psychedelic rock back in the day … and has been reissued in various expanded formats over the years, including a new series of LP’s that helped to keep the spirit alive.)
Here are some of the new ways you can get in on the fun …
https://store.rhino.com/en/rhino-store/artists/nuggets/
It looks like our Bobby Darin track fell off the website sometime yesterday …
So here it is again for those who might like to give a listen to Bobby performing his rendition of the classic “Won’t You Come Home, Bill Bailey,” a #16 Hit in 1960. (kk)
It looks like we’ve got another great Rewound Radio Dee Jay Hall Of Fame Tribute coming up from Ted Gorden Smucker …
It is hard to believe that Superjock, Larry Lujack, passed away ten years ago this coming December 18th.
As we all know, so many Midwesterners listened to Larry from the late 60s into the late 80s on WLS and WCFL, including well known personalities such as David Letterman and Rush Limbaugh. Larry inspired countless young people to begin a career in radio. After retiring from WLS in August, 1987, he returned to Chicago radio as a co-host on “The Beat” and “Real Oldies 1690”.
As we approach the Tenth Anniversary of Larry’s passing, Bill Shannon and I are preparing a salute to this great radio talent. We will be presenting a six hour special on “The DJ Hall of Fame” on Rewound Radio, on Saturday of Thanksgiving Weekend. You will hear airchecks of Larry on WLS and WCFL, as well as from his time before Chicago. We will also review his later years on both WUBT and WRLL in the early part of the 2000s.
Larry Lujack on “The DJ Hall of Fame '' beginning at 12 noon ET / 11 am CT on Rewound Radio.com. Stay tuned for more information.
Ted Gorden Smucker
Can’t wait! Lujack was one of my absolute favorites. Thanks for the heads up, Ted! (kk)
Here’s a promo track that Chuck Buell recorded for the program …
>>>But still … as amazing of a feat as this truly is … NO OTHER ARTIST can boast about EACH MEMBER having their own series of #1 Hits as solo artists in addition to their still record-breaking 20 #1 Hits as a group!!! (Yeah, I’m partial … but those are the facts, Jack!!!) kk
Binge-reading your old posts when I came across this one about the Beatles. I wondered if there were any groups in which every member even charted independently of the group, let alone reached #1. I couldn't think of any, so I decided to check this out.
I considered a group to be any collection that had a distinct group name, not the names of the artists. It should not contain artists who were already popular. It should have a relatively stable line-up, at least when it was at its most popular.
Everything I needed was in the 2018 edition of Joel Whitburn's "Top Pop Singles." In each group's bio, he highlights every artist who has their own entry. I searched every group listed in his Top 500 Artist list, and I didn't find many that fit my criteria.
First, the icing on the cake. Not only did every member of the Beatles chart independently, but so did their producer, George Martin.
One Direction did well. Every one of their five past and present members: Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Chris Tomlinson, Zayn Malik & Harry Styles all charted. Malik and Styles got to #1.
All six members of New Edition charted outside that group; Ralph Tresvant, Johnny Gill and Bobby Brown charted as solo acts. Ricky Bell, Michael Bivens and Ronald Devoe charted as Bell Biv Devoe. Brown got to #1.
The rest were all duos: Eurythmics, Outkast and the Righteous Brothers.
I found a few groups with only one holdout:
Bee Gees - Maurice Gibb
Destiny's Child - Michelle Williams
Eagles - Bernie Leadon
Genesis - Tony Banks
Kiss - Peter Criss
Monkees - Peter Tork
Steely Dan - Walter Becker
TLC - Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas
U2 - Dave "The Edge" Evans
Who - Keith Moon
Anyway, that's how I spent my day.
Ed Erxleben
Interesting … and just another example of how valuable the information in the Whitburn books really is. (I mean, how would you even begin to do a search such as this without them?!?!)
Remember … we’re looking for tributes/comments for our Second Annual Joel Whitburn Day …
Please send us YOUR thoughts so we can include them. (And if we do, you are automatically registered to win a copy of one of Joel’s book … which, I believe, Ed Erxleben did last year!!!) kk
A brand new tribute to The Judds (I was a major fan!) is now available …
Order your copy here:
Halloween is Tuesday … which means we’ve already hit the end of October.
Can it be more than a few minutes away before 24/7 Christmas Music programming starts?!?! (kk)
More sad news yesterday as the word spread that Matthew Perry has passed away. He was only 54.
Perry certainly has had his share of problems over the years, coping and dealing with fame ... and turning to both drink and drugs to try and deal with his inner demons. After a big campaign last year to face his addictions head-on while promoting his book, we all hoped that maybe he had finally turned the corner. Matthew was smart enough and aware enough to know that he would never truly be free of these addictions ... they would always be part of him and be there tempting him ... and he would have to fight off any urges to give in on a daily basis. (He also admitted that he might give in from time to time ... but would start the battle anew the very next day. He estimated he had relapsed 60 or 70 times ... and had almost died a couple of times already. In his book, Perry disclosed that he made over a dozen trips to rehap and spent over $7 million trying to beat his addictions. One can only imagine how many millions more he spent fueling it. At one point, it became so serious that he spent two weeks in a coma and was given a 2% chance to live.)
Early reports state that it looks like he suffered cardiac arrest and drowned in his hot tub ... no evidence of drugs or foul play were found at the scene.
As Chandler Bing, he was everybody's Friend for ten years. He skyrocketed to fame thanks to the success of the show and was soon dating Julia Roberts and making $1 million per episode. He was the charming, wise-cracking guy who you always knew was going to chime in with the great comeback response.
But he also found success in recurring dramatic roles on programs like "The West Wing" and "The Good Wife" and a starring role on "Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip."
He was certainly loved ... and he will certainly be missed.
Could we be any sadder? (kk)
From Timmy …
We’re starting a new super group for seniors
