Securing The Beach Boys to perform at your venue ON The 4th of July is no small task ... the demand must be incredible ... and typically, a high-profile spot would be selected that would draw the most attention to the event (as many of these have been televised in the past)
So it came as a GREAT surprise when it was announced yesterday that The Beach Boys would be performing next year's 4th of July show right here in Elk Grove Village, IL. (The Beach Boys have played at these "street fairs" here before ... and always drawn a large crowd of spectators ... but I think THIS one is going to push things over the top ... especially since this is a FREE event!!!)
And speaking of securing important, significant and specific dates, The Ides Of March will be celebrating their 60th Anniversary ON the Ides of March next year (March 15th, 2024) with a concert backed by a full symphony orchestra!!! (Now THAT will be something to see!!!)
For right now, we're sworn to secrecy ...
But more details to come on this one as they become available ...
But it looks like Chicago will be rockin' in the new year! (kk)
OK, so how messed up is this??? …
And I want you to REALLY think about this for a second …
During the Christmas season, ALL of the old, traditional tunes are now charting again, notching up bigger numbers than they did when these songs were new.
It is not at all unusual to look at some of these December charts and see vintage artists like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, John Lennon, Andy Williams, Brenda Lee, Jose Feliciano, Gene Autry (!), The Beach Boys, Burl Ives, Bobby Helms, Wham!, Paul McCartney, Dean Martin, Hall and Oates, The Ronettes, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Darlene Love, Frank Sinatra, The Jackson Five, Madonna and Eartha Kitt all ranking in The Top 100 again … artists who couldn’t BUY a hit at any other time during the course of the year … yet at Christmas time, we find it totally acceptable to embrace these artists once again. (The Rolling Stones released one of the best albums of their career this past year yet neither “Angry” or “Sweet Sounds Of Heaven” even charted.)
Now look at the opposite dilemma …
How does a current artist even hope to score a new Christmas hit when all the vintage acts are taking up all the spots on the chart?!? We seem to be SO reluctant to allow the opportunity to produce a NEW future Christmas classic because we prefer to stick with the tried and true! It’s the classic example of reverse discrimination working BOTH ways against each other.
Certainly there must be SOME compromise that can be reached that would allow ALL of these acts to meet in the middle and share air time with one another.
I always flash back to our buddy Mason Ramsey’s concept of “Music For The Ages” … where ALL of this great music gets played side-by-side … because we KNOW all of this great music … we grew up listening to ALL of this great music ... and we LOVE all of this great music … surely there must be another half dozen Dean Martin track or Brenda Lee tracks or Elvis, Chuck Berry and Beach Boys tracks that could be thrown into the mix under the banner of “If it feels good … and it sounds good … PLAY IT!!!”
In fact, ME-TV-FM has very successfully proven that you CAN sprinkle this music throughout the year without causing any great or long-lasting harm to society … it doesn’t only have to be programmed during the most wonderful time of the year. (A random scan of police blotters all over the area, dating back over the past four years, did not turn up ONE single instance in which someone’s suicide note said “They played Andy Williams in April!!!”)
I know, we seem to rehash this every year … but radio programmers STILL seem to be so closed minded when it comes to pushing the envelope just a little bit. Is there ANY Stones fan out there who wouldn’t love to hear “Angry” a couple of times a week, mixed in with all of their other great classic rock tracks?
And artists like Andy Williams, Jose Feliciano and The Ronettes recorded a few OTHER songs you might like … if you were only given the chance to hear them … rather than the same track being played over and over and over again until they’ve just beaten the life out of it and you end up switching the station.
Just my two cents … which is still only worth two cents … but with the ridiculous price of groceries these days, go ahead and use that money to purchase food for thought! (kk)
And, speaking of Christmas Music, this cartoon from Chuck Buell made me smile … (how true, how true!)
A Chuck Buell Holiday HO! HO! HO!
Where "KFHS" stands for "K-Forgotten Hits Radio!" …
And also for THAT Radio Station in your Town.
CB
Don’t be fooled for a moment …
That's actually a picture of Chuck Buell … and NOT Santa!!! (kk)
I was going thru some old CD’s while driving back and forth to work this past week and came across some real gems …
Things I hadn’t listened to since I first did them back in 2007.
That was when our big Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Series ran in Forgotten Hits …
So popular, in fact, that we had to rerun several more times just to keep up with the demand. (Word of mouth was VERY good back then … and deejays all over the country were talking about our piece … and our list of “Deserving And Denied” Artists that had been snubbed and ignored by The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.)
We were guesting on radio show quite a bit back then … sometimes for as long as two hour segments (which completely blew me away in hindsight … I mean, I remember doing a whole bunch of these things … but I sure didn’t remember ANY of them lasting as long as they did.)
One of the fun moments I came across was the very first time I ever guested on Dave The Rave’s Relics And Rarities Show … and another hour-plus segment on Gerri’s Place. In both cases, we took calls from fans of their programs as well as FH Readers, all of whom were appalled to find out some of the big name artists that not only weren’t in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame … but had never even been so much as nominated!!!
(Now I will say this … since 2007, a LOT of these artists have since found their way into that hallowed hall … so some progress has been made … but there are still others that continue to be slighted by whatever mysterious criteria the nominating committee uses in their selection process.)
I pulled up the original list of Top 40 Artists … and these artists have been recognized for their unique contributions to the rock and roll landscape … but NONE of them had been inducted as of 2007 when our article first ran, this despite the fact that several of these acts had already been eligible for decades …
ABBA, Pat Benatar, Chicago, The Dave Clark Five, Neil Diamond, The Doobie Brothers, Genesis, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Heart, The Hollies, Joan Jett, John Mellencamp, The Moody Blues, Linda Ronstadt, The Ventures, Yes, The Zombies
While these others continue to just hang in limbo waiting for somebody to FINALLY put their foot down and say, “What are we, CRAZY?!?! We have GOT to make this right!” … and FINALLY induct some of these well-deserving artists:
Paul Anka, Pat Boone, Glen Campbell, Chubby Checker, Jim Croce, Electric Light Orchestra, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Connie Francis, Grand Funk Railroad, The Guess Who, Herman’s Hermits, Tommy James and the Shondells, Jethro Tull, The Monkees, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Johnny Rivers, Neil Sedaka, Styx, Ed Sullivan, Three Dog Night, The Turtles, … hey, what about Joel Whitburn???
Anyway, it was fun to listen in again to all the passion surrounding these grave injustices.
Soon, The Rock Hall will be announcing the Class of 2024 Nominees … I wonder how many … if ANY … of these acts will make the ballot this year. (Quite honestly, it’s not likely … as more and more time goes by … and more and more “new” acts become eligible … nearly all of the “older” acts will fade from memory completely … and that truly is a shame.) kk
Cher made HER feelings known about The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on The Kelly Clarkson Show this past week …
“And I'm not in the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame. You know what, I wouldn't be in it now if they gave me a million
dollars. I'm not kidding you, I was about to say I'm not shitting you. I'm
never changing my mind. They can just go you-know-what-themselves.”
The quote was picked up by every music trade around.
From People Magazine (by way of Billboard) …
Cher made history this month as the first female artist to have a No. 1 song for the past seven decades straight, with her holiday single, "DJ Play a Christmas Song," topping Billboard's Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart.
Joining her in that milestone landmark are the Rolling Stones, who have also had at least one new No. 1 on the Billboard charts every decade between the 1960s and 2020s.
"It took four of them to be one of me," she joked to Clarkson on Friday's episode.
She went on to note that "I changed music forever with 'Believe'" — referencing her 1998 smash hit. The song, one of the best-selling singles in music history, is known for pioneering the use of Auto-Tune, which is widely used in the industry today.
Recapping Cher’s #1 Hits (on a variety of charts, mind you … The Stones nabbed all of theirs on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart) … the article goes on to say …
"Believe" was one of three Billboard #1 hits that Cher had in the '90’s, alongside "Strong Enough" and "All Or Nothing."
Her first chart-topper came in 1965 with the song “I Got You Babe” by Sonny & Cher. Her solo songs “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves,” “Half-Breed” and “Dark Lady” also earned her top honors during the 1970s, as did another song she cut with her ex-husband Sonny Bono, “All I Ever Need Is You.”
In 1989, Cher had two #1’s with “If I Could Turn Back Time” and "After All," a duet with Peter Cetera. Her hits “Song for the Lonely,” “A Different Kind of Love Song,” and “When the Money’s Gone,” also all reached the milestone in the 2000s, while “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” and “Woman’s World,” triumphed in 2011 and 2013.
Cher’s brand new, first-ever Christmas album is out now. (kk)
From Tom Cuddy …
Michael McDonald Has A Memoir On the Way Co-Written By Paul Reisner
If nothing else, this should be a real fun read!!! (I've already pre-ordered my copy!) kk
Taylor Swift has had quite a year!
In addition to being named Time Magazine’s “Person Of The Year,” Swift has slowly been rerecording and rereleasing her music catalog, has a hit concert film and has just come off the most successful tour of the year. Billboard estimates that Taylor grossed upwards of $1.8 BILLION Dollars during the past twelve months, thanks to all of the above, along with royalties, commercial endorsements and merchandise. (She truly is “the new, one-woman Beatles!”)
And, as mentioned in Forgotten Hits the other day in honor of her 34th birthday, she has been INCREDIBLY generous not only with her own staff but also with various charitable organizations, truly “sharing the wealth” as a way of saying thank you for this unprecedented success. (kk)
Hot on the heels of our “Walk This Way” / Aerosmith feature on Friday came this mega-interesting story about the band’s big 1987 comeback hit “Dude (Looks Like A Lady”) …
Noted songwriter/record producer Desmond Child was brought in to help relaunch the band … but when he first met the guys (in their rehearsal space inside an old airplane hanger), he wasn’t especially knocked out by what he heard …
When he first got there, Steven brought him over to where the band was rehearsing and said “What do you think about this” … and then proceeded to sing “Cruising for the ladies” to which Desmond responded, “I think that’s really bad!”
Whether this was just his way of “marking his territory” as the band’s new producer or not, Child went on to say “I don’t think Van Halen would put that on the B-side of their worst record! No, I mean, like, what is that? Top-down cruising for the ladies? I mean, these guys were like mature guys. What are you?”
Child says Guitarist Joe Perry was noticeably pissed … but then Steven, who’s more of a “crowd pleaser” said, “Well, originally I was singing, ‘Dude looks like a lady”’ … and I said …”Now THAT’S a hit title!’
Perry said, ‘We don’t know what that means,” and Desmond replied, “Well, I know what that means.” Joe said, “Well, we don’t want to offend the gay community’ … and I said, “I’m gay, taking no offense here.”
To make his point, Child said that a song title should set up an intriguing story and that “Cruising for the ladies” didn’t do that … while “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” did.
The record brought Aerosmith back into The Top 20 for the first time in ten years. (kk)
My own PERSONAL experience … from the first time we ever visited San Francisco …
I immediately dubbed this pic “Dude Looks Like A Lady!!!” (kk)
I’ve always been fascinated with the Year End Charts … as, despite their best efforts (and varying criteria), they don’t always accurately reflect the biggest moments of the year gone by. (Now I will admit that although I used to buy, if nothing else, the year-end issue of Billboard no matter what to add it to my collection, I even stopped that practice several years ago when it became obviously apparent to me that I didn’t even know ten of those Top 100 Hits anymore!)
But back in the day, it was tough to contain the excitement of “the big reveal.” (The biggest songs didn’t always reflect obvious factors like most weeks at #1 or longevity on the chart … in fact, in 1965 Billboard declared “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs to be the biggest hit of the year … and that one never actually made it to #1 at all!!!
And we’re talking 1965 here … the year when “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones was almost universally accepted as the biggest record of the year … or, if not, then probably “Downtown” by Petula Clark or “Yesterday” by The Beatles … or “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” by The Righteous Brothers … in other words, just about ANYTHING but “Wooly Bully!!!”
But Billboard declared THESE to be The Top Ten Records of the Year:
#10 – My Girl by The Temptations
# 9 – Crying In The Chapel by Elvis Presley (wait, what?!?!)
# 8 – Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat by Herman’s Hermits (seriously???)
# 7 – Help! By The Beatles (well, at least this one hit #1!)
# 6 – Downtown by Petula Clark
# 5 – You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling by The Righteous Brothers (the most played song in the history of the rock charts … but only good enough for #5)
# 4 – You Were On My Mind by We Five (OK, can somebody please tell me just exactly what’s going on here?!?! This record spent one week at #3!!!)
# 3 – Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones, a four week chart-topper, the most of ANY record this past year other than “Yesterday,” which also spent four weeks at #1. (Oh, by the way, “Yesterday” didn’t even make The Top 50!!!!!)
# 2 – I Can’t Help Myself by The Four Tops
# 1 – Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
There are SO many different ways to rank the biggest hits … and in the nearly sixty years since, we’ve seen most of them … but almost invariably, the songs that finish in that top spot are typically the ones I mentioned at the start of this piece.
Still, if you’re a chartaholic like me, here’s Billboard’s (brief) look back at some of their year-end charts …
Denny Tedesco’s new documentary “Immediate Family” is now available for streaming on a wide variety of platforms. We worked closely with Denny in helping to promote his first film, “The Wrecking Crew,” the story of the unsung heroes that appeared on countless hit recordings throughout the ‘60’s.
“Immediate Family” picks up the next chapter, spotlighting the singer/songwriters and musicians of the ‘70’s … and all the clips that we have seen make the film look quite intriguing.
Check your local cable outlet to see how, when and where you can catch this great new film. (kk)
Micky Dolenz has just been added as a guest / special feature for next year's very special 50th Anniversary New York Fest For Beatles Fans, February 9th thru February 11th. (Dolenz last appeared at a Beatlefest 12 years ago ... and to say that he was a big hit is an understatement.)
Micky will be on hand for the entire weekend, performing some Monkees
and Beatles songs with Liverpool and may even join in the Denny Laine
tribute with former Wings members Laurence Juber and Steve Holley. (He was part of the benefit concert held the week before Denny died.)
From the Fest For Beatles Fans Announcement:
Micky started his acting career at age ten and, after appearing on numerous TV shows, he applied for a role a new television series in 1965 and, before he knew it, he was cast on a weekly show called The Monkees with three other actors / musicians named Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork, portraying a rock and roll band - and the rest is history. Their first four albums all reached #1 and they had three #1 hit singles and numerous other top 10 hits. Micky wrote the song Randy Scouse Git, which made a Beatles reference in the lyrics (The four kings of EMI). Micky has a brand new picture book diary coming out shortly, called I'm Told I Had a Good Time. We welcome him back to our stage for all three days!
And now this update from the Chuck Buell Forgotten Hits News Bureau
(apologies if any of this comes across as just the least bit spacey!) …
"Put Another Nickel In the ( Space-traveling ) Nickelodeon."
Fifteen BILLION Miles now separate NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft from Earth as it explores the outer reaches of the solar system.
BUT, the 46-year-old probe recently stopped communicating with its mission team and is no longer sending NASA any usable data.
Forgotten Hitters will recall this, and its twin, "Voyager 2," are carrying the Ultimate "Long Distant Dedication," Chuck Berry's song, Johnny B. Goode, to unknown Beings of the Universe. That Disc and its Disk Player are unaffected.
However, unless this issue is fixed, we may never know if Berry's song will ever be heard outside our Solar System!
Meanwhile, here is Teresa Brewer's Number One Hit from April 1950!
CB
Musikfest, one of our nation's largest mostly-free musical events, announced Lynyrd Skynyrd (whose original members are all deceased) will headline there on August 7th (the festival runs Aug 2-11, with a preview night the 1st)
Not a group you followed back in the day, but ...
Bob Frable
Unfortunately, we have reached the point where in many if not most cases moving forward, if you want to continue to hear and enjoy the music of the artists we all grew up loving, it will be some form of “substitute” or “tribute” band bringing you these sounds … as, sadly, FAR too many of these original artists have left us.
It was a difficult transition for me, but I’ve come to accept this fact …
And, as long as these performers treat these artists with the love and respect they deserve … and present their music in the most complimentary way … and don’t PRETEND to have any real association with the original artists, I guess I’m fine with it … meaning that if I want to hear an evening of ELO or Beatles music presented in the highest fashion, I’ll gladly take in a show by either The Orchestra or The Fab Four, both of whom do the original artists proud with their representation of their body of work.
Now we may eventually see the day (trust me, it’s closer than you think!) where some of these original artists will perform again as avatar / AI / virtual reality acts, like we’re already seeing with ABBA, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash … and now Kiss (and even The Rolling Stones!) are looking at this option as a way of keeping their music alive and fresh for generations to come. (And think about it … the artists themselves don’t ever have to age!!! With a little bit of creativity, you can now put together the ULTIMATE performing band of these artists at their peak!)
Am I curious about it? Yeah, a little bit … and at least in this case, you know exactly what you’re getting when you sign up for tickets.
It’s funny to think that Disney World was doing this same type of presentation some 70 years ago now!!! (lol) kk
If last week was any indication as to how John Oates plans on spending his future time away from his estranged partner, I’m not so sure we’re going to like it!
Oates appeared on “The Masked Singer” as The Anteater … but was eliminated last week from the competition.
He explained it this way to ET:
“First of all, it's fun and I want to do things — I'm in a point in my career where I can do anything I want, and it's fun to do something different.”
The taping of “The Masked Singer” also just happened to coincide with a break in his touring schedule. (John is coming to Chicago’s City Winery next May!)
“So it worked, and I thought it would be a great way for me to do something different where I could sing and not have my voice and my personality connected to my past, which I'm really at this point now in my life, I'm really making an effort to kind of leave my past in the past and move forward. I've got a lot of good things that are happening and I want to do that. So, it was kind of a motivation to say, ‘Hey, you know what? I'm going to sing. No one's going to know who I am, and we'll see what happens.’”
There was a bit more involved with getting ready for this role than John may have realized, however …
“I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to wear that costume, do choreography and sing at the same time. Put a blindfold on, sing and count your steps while you're doing it, while people are screaming and there's confetti falling out of the sky and flashing lights, and it's about 110 degrees inside your suit.
"You know what, I never say never to anything. I don't know what's going to happen, but I just want, right now, I'm focused on where I am in life and leading the best life I can and moving forward." (kk)
Ray Graffia, Jr. sent me this link about a new piece on The New Colony Six …
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/?s=New+Colony+Six
LOTS of talk about the new Spinal Tap movie … which doesn’t even start filming until February of next year …
But nary a mention of “Beverly Hills Cop IV!!!”
(Can you believe it’s been THIRTY YEARS since we last saw Axel Foley?!?!)
The new film will launch on Netflix next Summer … and once again, the bulk of the cast is back (along with a few new and exciting players)
You can check out the advance trailer below …
(Of course this just means that that “Axel F” song will be playing non-stop in my head all over again!!!) kk
I absolutely LOVE this picture of “Robert Plant” sent in by Timmy …
And Clark Besch sent us this awesome holiday mix of
Saturday’s Children … as well as a short video titled “Dad Is My Babysitter.”
I think you’ll enjoy both!
Check out the amazing stereo mix from mono that a buddy of mine made of a Chicago classic!!! I sent this on to Saturday's Children friend Dave Carter (also Cryan’ Shames member). Hope he digs the great music and vocal separations here.
Merry Christmas from him and me.
Clark
We talk here from time to time about the great oldies being used in television commercials these days …
I heard one the other day that featured Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” … although once again I couldn’t tell you what the product was! (lol)
It seems to be the SONG that catches my attention …
and NOT the product advertised! (kk)
Have a happy weekend!
Clark
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
12/17/63 – Carroll James, a disc jockey at WWDC in Washington, D.C., plays a brand new record by a British band names The Beatles ... and "I Want To Hold Your Hand" is heard in America for the very first time!
A teenager named Marsha Albert requested the song, telling James that The Beatles were extremely popular in Great Britain right now ... and suggested that if he played their new record, "maybe they'd be popular here, too."
(Other stories say that an airline stewardess brought the record back with here after a trip to England and that's how WWDC came to be in possession of the record a month before Capitol Records released it here in The States. In fact, Capitol actually had to move up the release date in order to keep up with the demand for the hot new single once other stations around the country started playing it, too!)
Also on 12/17, President Johnson
signs “The Clean Air Act” into law
