Saturday, October 28, 2023

Tonight's The Night!

 


 

Tune in tonight to listen!

SATURDAY 28 OCTOBER 2023 7PM PACIFIC 10PM EASTERN

www.memorylaneoldies.com

 

View the complete list here ...

http://forgottenhits.com/the_top_200_two-sided_hits_of_all-time

 

One more plug for the new ROLLING STONES ICON book ...

An incredible collection of photographs taken over the years.

Sharing a few more of them with you now ...





It's out next week ...

Order your copy now ...

https://www.amazon.com/Rolling-Stones-ACC-Art-Books/dp/1788842383/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2OCJ7UCSLCIZO&keywords=rolling+stones+icon&qid=1698404913&s=books&sprefix=rolling+stones+icon%2Cstripbooks%2C79&sr=1-1

Friday, October 27, 2023

THE FRIDAY FLASH

The Eagles have added six more dates to their farewell tour schedule, including Chicago on March 8, 2004.  (I’m guessing at least another night or two will be added here in The Windy City as they have twelve open dates surrounding this one scheduled appearance.)

 

The presale begins November 1st … and sales to the general public a couple of days later on November 3rd.

 

The new dates announced this week include:

January 19th - Phoenix, AZ - Footprint Center
February 2nd - Austin, TX - Moody Center
February 16th - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
March 1st - Hollywood, FL - Hard Rock Live
March 8th - Chicago, IL - United Center
March 13th - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena

(Actually every one of these dates allows for more shows to be added, they’re spread so far apart!) 

I just want really good mezzanine seats at face value … do NOT want to miss what will likely be our last chance to ever see them, especially since we’ve never seen them with Vince Gill and Deacon Frey.  (kk)

The Beatles finally announced how they’re going to distribute their “new” song “Now And Then,” which is being promoted as “The Last Beatles Song” … another unfinished John Lennon track that Paul, George and Ringo overdubbed their parts to during the “Anthology” sessions.

A downloadable edition (as well as several different single colored vinyl options) will become available on November 2nd.  “Now And Then” will also be included in the newly revamped “1967 – 1970” Beatles collection.  (As expected, expanded editions of their Red and Blue Hit Collections are also being released on November 10th.)

A short documentary will debut on The Beatles YouTube Channel on November 1st, along with a special music video put together by Peter Jackson on November 3rd to coincide with the official release of “Now And Then” on November 2nd.

It’s a full court press to get this “new” track out there for the world to hear and enjoy.  (kk)

SO HOW’D I DO???

Back in July when the speculation first began about how “Now And Then” would make its appearance, the most common belief was that The Beatles’ two compilation albums, “1962 – 1966” and “1967 – 1970,” would be expanded to include more classic tracks, possibly by adding a third CD to each.

We immediately threw our nominations into the ring as to what might make both of these collections a bit more encompassing and complete.

‘60’s FLASHBACK:

If YOU were going to add a full album (of 13 or 14 more tracks), what would YOU add to the Red (1962 – 1966) and Blue (1967 – 1970) albums?

Figure in the fact that the Blue Album will likely include the new “Now And Then” track.  (So does that mean that it will also include the other post-John tunes that Paul, George and Ringo did together?  “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” might warrant a title change to 1967 – 2023!)

I’m VERY partial to the early Beatles sound … I could easily come up with two dozen more deserving tracks that would rank as among their best in my book.  (Some because they performed so well here in America when released as singles there during the initial wave of Beatlemania.)

I’m talking about tracks like “Twist And Shout,” “P.S. I Love You,” “Do You Want To Know A Secret,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “This Boy,” “I Should Have Known Better,” “If I Fell,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “No Reply,” “I’m A Loser,” “Rain,” “Taxman,” “Here, There And Everywhere,” “Good Day Sunshine,” “For No One,” “Got To Get You Into My Life” and “Tomorrow Never Knows” … ALL absolute Beatles standards today.

It's a little tougher on the 1967 – 1970 box set … most of the good ones have already been captured …

But there’s still room for tracks like “She’s Leaving Home,” “When I’m 64,” “Rocky Raccoon,” “I Will,” “Birthday,” “Helter Skelter,” “Sexy Sadie,” “Hey Bulldog” and “Oh! Darling.”  (Plus most of these tracks are longer and would take up more space on the bonus disc.)  kk

Here’s the official new track line-up for both CD’s being reissued on November 10th:

1962-1966 (2023 EDITION)

* = newly added track (new titles shown in red made our list of choices)

CD1

1: Love Me Do (2023 Mix)

2: Please Please Me (2023 Mix)

3: I Saw Her Standing There (2023 Mix) *

4: Twist And Shout (2023 Mix) *

5: From Me To You (2023 Mix) 

6: She Loves You (2023 Mix)

7: I Want To Hold Your Hand (2023 Mix)

8: This Boy (2023 Mix) *

9: All My Loving (2023 Mix)

10: Roll Over Beethoven (2023 Mix) *

11: You Really Got A Hold On Me (2023 Mix) *

12: Can’t Buy Me Love (2023 Mix)

13: You Can’t Do That (2023 Mix) *

14: A Hard Day’s Night (2023 Mix)

15: And I Love Her (2023 Mix)

16: Eight Days A Week (2023 Mix)

17: I Feel Fine (2023 Mix)

18: Ticket To Ride (2023 Mix)

19: Yesterday (2023 Mix)

CD2

1: Help! (2023 Mix)

2: You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away (2023 Mix)

3: We Can Work It Out (2023 Mix)

4: Day Tripper (2023 Mix)

5: Drive My Car (2023 Mix)

6 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (2023 Mix)

7: Nowhere Man (2023 Mix)

8: Michelle (2023 Mix)

9: In My Life (2023 Mix)

10: If I Needed Someone (2023 Mix) *

11: Girl (2023 Mix)

12: Paperback Writer (2022 Mix) 

13: Eleanor Rigby (2022 Mix) 

14: Yellow Submarine (2022 Mix)

15: Taxman (2022 Mix) *

16: Got To Get You Into My Life (2022 Mix) *

17: I’m Only Sleeping (2022 Mix) *

18: Here, There And Everywhere (2022 Mix) *

19: Tomorrow Never Knows (2022 Mix) *

[I got eight out of twelve … not too shabby.  “If I Needed Someone” is a great choice that I overlooked … but I still think some of my other picks … “Do You Want To Know A Secret,” “I Should Have Known Better,” “Rain,” “If I Fell” and “Good Day Sunshine” were perhaps a bit more deserving than say “I’m Only Sleeping,” “You Really Got A Hold On Me” and “You Can’t Do That.”]


1967-1970 (2023 EDITION)

* = newly added track

CD1

1: Strawberry Fields Forever (2015 Stereo Mix / 2023 Dolby Atmos Mix)

2: Penny Lane (2017 Mix)

3: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (2017 Mix)

4: With A Little Help From My Friends (2017 Mix)

5: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (2017 Mix) 

6: Within You Without You (2017 Mix) *

7: A Day In The Life (2017 Mix)

8: All You Need Is Love (2015 Stereo Mix / 2023 Dolby Atmos Mix)

9: I Am The Walrus (2023 Mix)

10: Hello, Goodbye (2015 Stereo Mix / 2023 Dolby Atmos Mix)

11: The Fool On The Hill (2023 Mix)

12: Magical Mystery Tour (2023 Mix)

13: Lady Madonna (2015 Stereo Mix / 2023 Dolby Atmos Mix)

14: Hey Jude (2015 Stereo Mix / 2023 Dolby Atmos Mix)

15: Revolution (2023 Mix)

CD2

1: Back In The U.S.S.R. (2018 Mix) 

2: Dear Prudence (2018 Mix) *

3: While My Guitar Gently Weeps (2018 Mix) 

4: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (2018 Mix) 

5: Glass Onion (2018 Mix) *

6: Blackbird (2018 Mix) *

7: Hey Bulldog (2023 Mix) *

8: Get Back (2015 Stereo Mix / 2023 Dolby Atmos Mix)

9: Don’t Let Me Down (2021 Mix) 

10: The Ballad Of John And Yoko (2015 Stereo Mix / 2023 Dolby Atmos Mix)

11: Old Brown Shoe (2023 Mix)

12: Here Comes The Sun (2019 Mix) 

13: Come Together (2019 Mix)

14: Something (2019 Mix) 

15: Octopus’s Garden (2019 Mix)

16: Oh! Darling (2019 Mix) *

17: I Want You (She’s So Heavy) (2019 Mix) *

18: Let It Be (2021 Mix) 

19: Across The Universe (2021 Mix)

20: I Me Mine (2021 Mix) *

21: The Long And Winding Road (2021 Mix)

22: Now And Then *

I didn’t do as well on this one … but I also have a hard time justifying tracks like “Within You Without You” and “I Me Mine” simply to give George Harrison better representation.

“Blackbird” was a complete oversight on my part … shame on me … but “Glass Onion” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” over Beatles classics like “Birthday,” “Sexy Sadie,” “Helter Skelter,” “When I’m 64,” “I Will,” “Rocky Raccoon” and “She’s Leaving Home???”

Yeah, I know … quit your bitchin’ … we ALL know I’m going to buy them both again anyway!!!  Lol  (kk)

Dolly Parton is making the most of her rock album debut on November 17th

Two days before, she has a special “in theaters only” event planned to launch the album … and on November 15th and 16th Dolly fans can watch clips of Dolly assembling her Who’s Who List of Rock Musicians who helped her to make her first foray into the rock arena.  (After Dolly was inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, she insisted that she earn those stripes by actually recording a rock album … her first … although several of her country hits have found crossover success on the pop charts over the years.

Why not?  Movie theater attendance has been very kind to Taylor Swift these past few weeks!  (kk)

From the “No Such Thing As Bad News” Department, sales up Britney Spears’ music catalog are up 21% in the past week due to all the hype surrounding her new book, “The Woman In Me,” which doesn’t even come out for a couple more weeks.  (Excerpts in People Magazine … and widely circulated news coverage of her abortion during her time with Justin Timberlake have only helped to fuel the Britney machine.)

 

In all fairness, Spears did capture the teen market with eight straight Top 40 Hits between 1999 and 2001 … and a total of 24 Billboard Top 40 Hits overall between 1999 and 2016.  (That’s right, folks … Britney has been in our airwaves for damn near twenty years now!)  Her biggest and most memorable chart successes include “ … Baby One More Time” (#1, 1999); “(You Drive Me) Crazy” (#10, 1999); “Oops! I Did It Again” (#9, 2000); “Stronger” (#11, 2001); “Toxic” (#9, 2004); “Gimme More” (#3, 2007); “Piece Of Me” (#18, 2008); “Womanizer” (#1, 2008); “3” (#1, 2009); “Hold It Against Me” (#1, 2011); “Till The World Ends” (#3, 2011) and “Work Bitch!” #12, 2013.  (That’s four #1 Hits overall, if you’re keeping score.)  kk

 

REMINDER:

HI HOT WAXERS!

This week on Hot Wax & Doo Wop Memories show, I will be looking at the many Double Sided Hits of the 50s 60s and 70s …

Kent Kotal and the folks over at “Forgotten Hits” calls them “THE SUPER CHARTS.”

Using a mathematical formula, they researched and compiled a list that ranks the double sided hit 45 rpm recordings from across all three national charts.  The list is called “Top 200 Biggest Two Sided Hits Of All Time” …

And this Saturday I will  be counting down and playing as many double sided tunes as will fit, from the top 100 of this revealing SUPER CHART. 

Naturally, you can expect to hear two sided hits from Mega Stars like Elvis, The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Ricky Nelson.

However, others will surely surprise you!

Join DJ Cal this Saturday Night for an evening of awesome music and interesting trivia.

SATURDAY 28 OCTOBER 2023 7PM PACIFIC 10PM EASTERN

www.memorylaneoldies.com

And, if this is too late for you, check out these re-airs the following week:

Monday 2pm Pacific, 5pm Eastern

Wednesday 8am Pacific, 11am Eastern

Friday 9am Pacific, Noon Eastern

See you there!

CAL

LOTS of buzz this week about a new 13-minute clip called “From The Monkees To The Hollywood Bowl,” which you can now view below on Forgotten Hits …

Clive Davis’ Pre-Grammy Parties are legendary …

And, as Tom Cuddy, tells us, a new documentary will take even the most casual fan on an “inside look” …

https://www.billboard.com/media/podcasts/clive-davis-interview-pre-grammy-party-film-pop-shop-podcast-1235452267/

I’m afraid that I’ve fallen quite behind on reading all things, Kent … hence, first on my list for "catching up" this morning was FH. 

Working backwards starting on Monday, skipping much of yesterday and beginning very early this morning, I am now current!  Hence, seeing your posting today re: "I'm Just Waitin' ...," I merely wanted to extend another sincere thank you for the mention and endorsement.  What might only be a sentence or two as too often is NOT my custom, while this could go on for days of appreciation for your ongoing work and Clark's, Chuck's and Shelley's contributions along with so many others, I shall be brief. I so deeply appreciate your friendship and the FH postings that this could have gotten quite lengthy but shall close now --- thanking you for the ongoing support and adding six (What other #, right?) pics from recent times and reiterating my gratitude and love forever...  







We recently asked you to send in your memories on Bobby Darin and Joel Whitburn for planned “salute days” coming up in Forgotten Hits … we’d love to hear from you.  (Everyone who sends in a memory for our Second Annual Joel Whitburn Day will be automatically registered to win a book from Record Research, the company that Joel founded.  We'll pick one winner, who'll be able to choose the book of his or her choice.  Special thanks to Paul Haney and Record Research for their promotional consideration!)  kk

In the meantime, I have a Bobby Darin story of my own to share with you.

Earlier this week, I just happened to walk into our prepress department and heard someone singing the golden chestnut “Won’t You Come Home, Bill Bailey” … and just casually mentioned that Bobby Darin did a GREAT version of that song.

“Bobby Darin?!?!?” was the universal reply.  “Yeah,” I said … “You ought to check it out.”

And because in today’s day and age you can do exactly that, before the words were even out of my mouth, somebody had cued up Bobby’s version on YouTube, playing it for the whole department to hear. (Bobby took “Bill Bailey” to #16 in 1960.)

None of them (a bunch of young turks, the oldest of which MIGHT be in his early 50’s) had ever heard Bobby’s recording before … and thought Darin was square at best.

But once they heard it, they were hooked.  In fact, they played it THREE MORE TIMES!!!  (“And you were bald!” became an instant catch phrase!)

Now, whenever I walk into that department, “Won’t You Come Home, Bill Bailey” comes on … almost as my theme song!  (I don’t care … in fact, I love it!)

What we seem to find out here all the time is that if you introduce them to it, the next generations will end up loving this music as much as we do … they’ve just got to be exposed to it.  (Now 1960 even predates MY radio listening days … but after doing our Bobby Darin Series … which was so popular back in the day we had to send it out three separate times before ultimately posting it permanently on The Forgotten Hits Archive Website … I familiarized myself with Bobby’s recorded catalog … and while there are an expected schmaltzy share of duds, some of this music is both timeless and priceless … and this tune falls into the latter category.)

Please send us some of your Bobby Darin memories … and Joel Whitburn tributes and memories, too … so we can share them with the rest of the list.

Meanwhile, here’s that link again, just in case you still haven’t read it …

http://forgottenhits.com/the_bobby_darin_story ...

Our piece, first published in 2003, is celebrating its 20th Anniversary in the year of the 50th Anniversary of Bobby Darin’s passing.  (kk)

Thursday, October 26, 2023

Chuck Buell Gets Us Ready For Halloween

Today, Forgotten Hits’ “Mr. Social,” Chuck Buell, gives us some Hot Halloween Facts so that you can be the fascinating and scary-good conversationalist at any Halloween Party!

Halloween is the second largest commercial holiday in the country. It ranks second only after Christmas. Halloweeners generally spend 9 billion dollars on Halloween according to the National Retail Federation. 


And there are always some people who also dress their pets in Halloween costumes. 

 

Great Doggie Costume!                        


Those people spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on pet costumes alone!

 

Love 'em or hate ‘em, one of the Holiday's biggest candy sellers is Candy Corn. Originally called "Chicken Feed," the recipe of these small, triangular, tri-colored, mini “sugar bombs” has gone largely unchanged since they were first introduced over a hundred years ago in the 1880s. No overload sugary taste surprise every time! And even though Candy Corn usually does make the Top 10 in candy sales, it's Skittles that are generally the top-selling Halloween candy.

 

The Forgotten Hit, “Monster Mash” charted at #1 on the Hot 100 in 1962 just before Halloween and later recharted in August of 1973. It truly was, and is still, a “graveyard smash!”

 

The mask in the Halloween horror films franchise was created using a William Shatner Captain Kirk mask painted white with the eye holes cut a little bigger.

 

Harry Houdini died on Halloween in 1926.

 

Now, when I was a Kid, Halloween had its own Day.

 

And Thanxgiving had its own Day.

 

And Christmas had its own Day, too.

 

Today, it seems they’re all mashed up together!

 

So then, how about a Halloween-Thanxgiving-Christmas Tree?!

 

 

And a pair of Halloween-Christmas Wreaths to go along with your Holiday décor!


This one . . . ?

 


Or this one?!

 


And for the Ultimate in Inflatable Front Lawn Yard Decorations, just roll a couple pumpkins their way and toss a little Orange, Brown, Red and Green Garland over these two!

 

They’re the infamous 6-foot-high Inflatable Halloween Lovers Skeletons complete with built-in LEDs to keep the “Love Light” burning all night long!

 


If your sensibilities are on the milder side, there’s the Inflatable “Wannabe Forgotten Hits Rockin’ Skeletons!”

 

Take your Pick!

 

So many Holidays to mash up together and so little time!

 

CB ( which stands for “Crypt-kickin’ Boy!” )


 

 

Chuck will be back next week with more Halloween fodder ...


Which is a pretty scary thought all by itself!  (kk)

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

News You Can Use!

Calvin Lynch, who holds court on Saturday Nights on MemoryLaneOldies.com, will be playing selections from our list of The Top 200 Biggest Two-Sided Hits of All-Time on his program this Saturday Night.  (It airs Saturday Nights at 10 pm Eastern and runs for three hours)

Listen live links are provided below

www.memorylaneoldies.com

www.hotwaxdoowopmemories.com

You’ll find the complete list here:

http://forgottenhits.com/the_top_200_two-sided_hits_of_all-time

 

Cal sent us this opening teaser to share … it picks up right after he opens his show with Herman’s Hermits singing “There’s A Kind Of Hush” … the #100 single on the list ...

 

 

Please help us to spread the word!  (kk)

 

This review of Paul McCartney’s show Down Under in Australia is quite glowing …

 

In the critic’s own words, “even his voice was better” …

 

He was in fine form tonight, very chatty with the crowd, much chattier than on the 2017 Australian tour. His voice was also better too. In 2017 his voice took about four of five songs to settle. This time the vocal cords were there right from the start.

 

The review is well-written and puts into perspective all that McCartney has done since he first played Australia as a 22 year old Beatle in 1964.

 

https://www.noise11.com/news/paul-mccartney-is-getting-better-all-the-time-at-most-likely-last-ever-melbourne-show-review-20231022

 

Might I get a chance to see Heart live in concert after all? 

 

It was just announced that Ann and Nancy Wilson are reforming Heart for a special performance on New Year's Eve in the band's native Seattle.  Are more shows coming?

 

 

For right now, this is just a one-off concert ... 

 

It'll be The Wilson Sisters' first full-on performance since 2019.  (Nancy did join Ann on stage a couple of weeks ago to perform their hit "Barracuda" ... so hopefully they're working some things out.)  They have supposedly also been working on some NEW material together ... and what better excuse to tour than having a new album to promote???

 

Hang tight, Heart fans ... 

 

We'll let you know as soon as we hear more!  (kk)


Billboard Magazine recaps some of its past Rolling Stones articles as the band moves into their SEVENTH decade with a smash new album, “Hackney Diamonds” …

 


https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/the-rolling-stones-reviews-reports-history-1235452049/#recipient_hashed=fa7e92da6f6e66bffcf0bcbf863670c6eb37d7159eb4d0ea1e44fecd5ec87eeb&recipient_salt=3a1d6b09af3b92ad7e38f8327cf18febeb049fd1c9a251b66957a07d9375735c

 

>>>Billboard Magazine recently named "Crimson And Clover" one of The Top 500 Greatest Pop Songs Ever … but I disagree … this isn’t a “pop song” … it wasn’t crafted with that purpose in mind.  (kk)

 

To build on this point, Tommy James felt that he had been out of touch for a little while with the current trends in music … he spent much of 1968 campaigning for Hubert Humphrey in his presidential bid.  Although he hit The Top Three with “Mony Mony” earlier that year, he hadn’t really seen the chart success like he had seen early on in his career with the hits “Hanky Panky” and “I Think We’re Alone Now,” both of which ARE great pop songs.  He felt like music was maybe starting to pass him by … 

 

So he dug deep down into his soul and came up with a psychedelic classic …

 

So much so, in fact, that you guys voted “Crimson and Clover” as the NINTH Greatest Psychedelic Song of All-Time in a poll we ran in 2005.  (2005?!?!  MAN, we’ve been doing this for a long time!)

 

http://forgottenhits.com/top_20_favorite_psychedelic_songs

 

To my ears, this song was so completely unique and unexpected from Tommy at the time that you couldn’t help but fall in love with it.  (kk)

 

Here's an interesting take ... especially for Billboard ...

 

Last week the magazine counted down their Critics' Picks for The Best 500 Pop Songs Of All-Time (we ran links for the whole list ... scroll back to see them if you missed anything ... but be forewarned that these are EXTREMELY slow-loading pages!)

 

Now THIS week their staff have come up with The Best 100 Pop Songs to never make The Hot 100 Chart.  (It's a bit of a misnomer, truth be told ... the fact that so many of these songs were never released as singles, a necessary criteria at the time, explains away the lion's share ... but still there are some interesting titles to be found here ... including some songs that have grown in stature by leaps and bounds since they were first released.)

 

https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-pop-songs-all-time-miss-hot-100-chart/madonna-into-the-groove-1985/#recipient_hashed=fa7e92da6f6e66bffcf0bcbf863670c6eb37d7159eb4d0ea1e44fecd5ec87eeb&recipient_salt=3a1d6b09af3b92ad7e38f8327cf18febeb049fd1c9a251b66957a07d9375735c

 

Still, if I'm allowed to throw just ONE song into the ring, let me cast my vote for "I'm Just Waitin', Anticipatin' (For Her To Show Up)" by The New Colony Six.


You're not going to find a craftier piece of music than this one ... which only managed to "Bubble Under" at #128 in Billboard in the Summer of '67.  You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a catchier tune or arrangement ... our buddies got totally robbed on this one.  (And wouldja believe the song was written by none other than Tony Orlando?!?!  Who was working as a Cameo/Parkway Distribution Rep at the time?  The Colony's Sentar Records was distributed by CP at the time.)  kk

 


We’ve been beating the drum for Icons, Idols and Idiots of Hollywood, the rollicking memoir of Bruce Belland, sole surviving member of the Four Preps who hit the Billboard chart 13 times between 1957 and 1964.

 

Both Bruce, who just celebrated his 87th birthday, and the book are delightful and most revelatory. Bruce was recently a guest of Michael Shelley’s on WFMU. We urge you to click on the link and listen to this mostly mirthful encounter. We’ve brokered quite a few interviews with Bruce, but none has been as insightful as this one. 

– Bob 

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/michael-shelley-wfmu/id214243338

 

Some of the commentary heard during that session:

“The book tells the history of America in some ways, a look into the window of show business . . . The Four Preps were on the cusp of rock ‘n’ roll but had one foot in that night club show business world.” - Michael Shelley

 

Regarding his career in entertainment, Bruce notes, “It was destined to happen. I never took ‘no’ for an answer.” He recalls an early career highlight, “Here I stand with Crosby on my left and Sinatra on my right.”  

 

Another Sinatra was key in the saga of “26 Miles (Santa Catalina),” the group’s breakthrough hit. “I was dating a girl who was in Nancy Sinatra‘s social club at University High School. One night the Preps went over there and sang “26 Miles” for them. Two weeks later Nancy asked, ‘When are you guys going to record that great song?’ I went back to Capitol and told them that Frank Sinatra’s daughter and her whole girls club will buy this record and they finally agreed to release it – as a B-side!” Nancy wasn’t the only famous friend who helped launch the Preps. As Bruce, who became a regular on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet playing a character named “Bruce,” tells it, “Ricky Nelson was the one that turned us on to (guitarist) Joe Maphis who you hear on ‘26 Miles.’” 

 

Unlike other vocal groups of the time who tended to play it straight, The Four Preps’ secret weapon was humor. Bruce told Michael, “If there’s one thing that distinguished us from all the other groups is that we put on a well-rounded show with as much comedy as music.” Evidence of this is heard in their parody of early rock ‘n’ roll groups titled “More Money For You and Me.” It’s included in the Spotify playlist that is linked below. 

 

The Preps’ career was flying high when world events interceded. Bruce says, “The Berlin Crisis [of 1961] happens and suddenly we’re on active duty [with the Air National Guard] in Van Nuys while co-headlining in Las Vegas.” The group commuted nightly by plane to fulfill their obligation to share the bill with George Burns and Carol Channing, donning tuxedoes in the evening and cleaning out air transport toilets by day. 

 

Towards the end of the Four Preps’ initial run they confronted the Beatles phenomenon with another funny take in “Letter To The Beatles.” The record started to rise when Capitol Records the label at which both The Four Preps and the other four from Liverpool were under contract – put an end to the fun. “We did an imitation of the Beatles that is spot-on and then we got a call from our producer who asked, “Are you sitting down?” He broke the bad news to the group and, as Bruce tells Michael, “within 24 hours, they’d issued a cease and desist and the record was gone, it disappeared.” 

 

There are many more great stories in the broadcast and in the book.  Please get in touch if you’d like to cover it 

You can hear many of The Four Preps’ hits (and misses) including “26 Miles” and “Letter To The Beatles” on this Icons, Idols and Idiots of Hollywood Spotify playlist

 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0eIFO5zvlrrKPKgIFOsQgS?si=05a0553e601145c0

ICONS, IDOLS AND IDIOTS OF HOLLYWOOD: MEMOIR OF FOUR PREPS’ BRUCE BELLAND OUT NOW

 

HIT RECORDS, CONCERTS, NIGHT CLUBS, TV AND FILM APPEARANCES TAKE TEEN VOCALISTS TO THE TOP OF THE CHARTS AND JUXTAPOSE THEM WITH HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS IN THE EISENHOWER AND KENNEDY ERAS

 


I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again …

 

This is a REAL fun book to read … highly recommended. 

 

Pick up a copy and relive a magical time in pop music history.

 

You’ll learn things you never knew (I did!) … and you’ll come away with a much greater appreciation of the “pop sounds” of the ‘50’s and early ‘60’s.  (kk)

 

This just in ... Richard Roundtree, star of the film "Shaft" has passed away.  

 

(Can you dig it?)  kk
 

And, it was also just announced that Tracy Spiridakos (Hailey Upton on Chicago P.D.) will be leaving the series after the 11th Season.  (Truthfully, with her television husband Jay Halstead gone, there may not be enough left to do with her character ... but I will say that she was sure given some meaty scripts to handle these past few seasons.)


Does it spell the end of the series?  It wouldn't surprise me.  (The context has changed quite a bit over the years with numerous cast changes ... but the idea of Dirty Cop Hank Voight becoming more of a mentor with a conscience never really hit home for me ... he was a FAR more interesting character when he was working out his own little side deals ... and bending the law to suit his own needs.)


Not sure how many Chicago P.D. fans we have out there in Forgotten Hits land but one day we took a drive out to find the Silos (we found 'em!) as well as the front of the station used for all their exterior shots.  (We even took a cautious drive thru Pilsen!!!)  lol  (kk)



>>>IDENTITIES OF PREVIOUSLY SECRET FORGOTTEN HITS HALLOWEEN CHARACTERS JUST REVEALED!

Exercise Extreme Caution if this Trio of Trick or Treat Candy Extortionists appear at your door!  (CB)

 

He spoiled it!

It was a SECRET, CHUCK! 

a SECRET!!!!

Here come the villagers with their torches again ...

Shelley