Thursday, March 28, 2024

Thursday This And That

Along with their brand new book (out next week), The Beach Boys have a brand new career-spanning documentary coming to Disney+.

The documentary (premiering May 24th) promises never-before-seen footage, plus new interviews with Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks, Bruce Johnston … as well as vintage comments by Carl and Dennis Wilson.  A new soundtrack album will also be released that same day.

I’ve been looking forward to the new book ever since it was first announced.


The Beach Boys tell their own story in their own words, with TONS of pictures of the band thru the years.  It’s available Tuesday, April 2nd.  (kk)

Hi Kent,

Thanks for paying attention to the start of Radio Caroline on March 27, 1964!

In 2000 I paid a visit to KRTH in LA. One of the people I talked to was a station technician. When we spoke, he told me that he actually was familiar with Radio Caroline. I had not expected that, with all the great radio stations that you had in the US, someone would even know about the existence of a station like Radio Caroline.

Radio Caroline has been using a number of different boats/ships since they started; the one that they used on March 27, 1964, was the MV Caroline, which carried the name MV Frederica until the Caroline organization renamed it to MV Caroline.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Caroline#/media/File:MV_Caroline_(crop_colour_tidy_etc).jpg

Kind regards,

Ben Meijering

PS The first Dutch “pirate” (or offshore) radio station started test transmissions on April 18, 1960, and started official transmissions on May 17, 1960. The station was called Radio Veronica.


Vincent Bonham, a founding member of the pop / R&B group Raydio with Ray Parker, Jr., died this week at the age of 67.

Raydio (soon to be renamed Ray Parker, Jr. and Raydio) hit The National Top 40 Pop Charts five times before Parker departed for a solo career.

Three of those records made The National Top Ten: “Jack And Jill” (#6, 1978), “You Can’t Change That” (#9, 1979) and “A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do),” 4, 1981.  (kk)

When Pattie Boyd holds a garage sale, it’s not just any garage sale!!!

Boyd recently sold her selections from her private collection of artifacts, which included the original painting from the cover of 1970's “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs,” along with various items collected during her marriages to both George Harrison and Eric Clapton.

The painting, titled “La Jeune Fille au Bouquet,” was created in the mid-‘50’s by Emile Theeodore Frandsen.  Clapton acquired it directly thru the artist's son in 1970 … and later gifted it to Harrison in the late '70s who, in turn, gifted to Boyd in the late '80s. Boyd has now sold the painting for $2.5 million.  Total sales from her auction netted just over $3.6 million and also included love letters written by Clapton (many while she was still married to Harrison), photos and hand-written lyrics.  “Layla” was inspired by Clapton’s pining love for his best friend’s wife.  (kk)

I think Bob Sirott did a good interview today of Billy J. Kramer.

Not sure why the sound quality was so bad on the music, but learned new stuff, which isn’t always easy with new interviews! 

Thanks, Bob!

Clark Besch

Just in case you missed Billy J. Kramer on Bob Sirott’s show Tuesday Morning, you can catch it here (minus the music altogether!):

https://wgnradio.com/bob-sirott/bob-sirott-celebrates-the-beatles/billy-j-kramer-remembers-working-with-john-lennon-and-paul-mccartney/

And, since somehow the names Bob Sirott and John Records Landecker always seem to go together … they’re STILL together on WGN Radio today!!! … we just wanted to take a moment to remind you that Part Two of Rewound Radio’s salute to John Records Landecker airs this Saturday, starting at Noon Eastern.  It’s all part of their six-hour DJ Hall Of Fame tribute … and, of course, you can listen live at rewoundradio.com.

On this week’s edition, John returns “home” to Chicago for stints at WLS, WJMK and WLUP … as well as stops in Cleveland … and Canada!  (kk)

Hi Kent,

A big “Thank You” to everyone who tuned in to hear our salute to John Records Landecker last Saturday on the DJ Hall of Fame. This three-hour special featured John in the early part of his career back in the 60s and 70s. In addition to hearing John hone his craft, we were treated to some rare music from those two decades. Some often forgotten songs from the 60s playlist included “Boogaloo Down Broadway” from The Fantastic Johnny C, “I Can’t Explain” by the Who, and “Lonely Atmosphere” from The Lemon Pipers. When we moved into the early 70s, we were treated to “Signs” by the Five Man Electrical Band from Ottawa, Ontario, “Questions 67 and 68” from Chicago, and “Smiling Faces Sometimes” by The Undisputed Truth. It was an interesting mix you could find in early Top 40 radio.

As you can imagine, the response last Saturday was above expectations, from the regular listeners of Rewound Radio, to the people that were a part of John’s career from the early days, such as DJ Joey Reynolds and “Radio’s Best Friend,” Art Vuolo. In fact, Art told me that he and Joey called John during the show, and he was listening, too.  One of the things that stood out about this special was the inclusion of segments of John’s recent interview with Rik Anthony from the “Someone You Should Know” podcast.

Another nice surprise was that Jonathon Wolfert, President of JAM Creative Productions, did a full-length radio show on the creation of WLS jingles the very next day on Rewound Radio. He dug deep into the history of WLS jingles, dating back to when WLS first became a popular music station in 1960. There was so much information, that this unique topic will be continued this coming Sunday, beginning at 3:00 pm ET /2:00 pm CT ... so if you are one of those people that is interested in something like this, here’s a link to last weekend’s WLS Jingle Show. 

https://www.jingles.com/audio/rr/rewound-20240324-sc.mp3

As they say on TV, “But wait, there’s more”. You can hear part two of this amazing retrospective this weekend. The John Records Landecker DJ Hall of Fame continues Saturday at 12:00 Noon ET / 11:00 am CT on Rewound Radio. We will follow John on his “Rock Star Tour” from Chicago, to Toronto, to Chicago, to Cleveland, and yes, back to Chicago.  Of course, that’s where he still is today, broadcasting Monday - Thursday nights on 720 WGN. To get you into the mood, here are some promos telling you more about this special event.   

Thanks,

Ted Gorden Smucker, along with Bill Shannon

CFTR Don Pardo:  https://app.box.com/s/zq1ef2pnxttdjcnijhf5sq0v6zvxf6ra 

John Gehron:  https://app.box.com/s/u1vbsznudazcae22q3p427xkvz1fty9s

Kipper McGee:  https://app.box.com/s/4f3y0hmrggz6jhifpweukdd79w4cmrr7

 

Now, another Forgotten Hit "Deeeep Thought" from Chuck Buell …

 

(And sometimes it doesn't take much to get his mind going!)

 

As our Forgotten Hitters in the Great Plains State of Kansas know, in March of this year, a new more contemporary, more simply designed, Official State License Plate was introduced.

 

If Kent lived in Kansas, he quite possibly would have this Custom Vanity Plate  ~~~

Actual New Kansas State License Plate Design.

           ( Altho I might have reworded their Slogan. )

 

Nevertheless, have you ever wondered if we've been pronouncing the Forgotten Hits’ group's name, "Kansas" wrong?

 

When I pronounce the state, "Arkansas," and then pronounce "Arkansas" without the sound of the first two letters, "Ar," . . .

 

I get just . . . "Kuhn-saw."

 

(Ar) Kuhn-saw!  Therefore, the group's name "Kansas" might actually be . . . "Kuhn-saw."

 

"Now, Here's 'Dust in the Wind,' by Kuhn-saw!"

 

 

This has been occupying my thoughts lately probably more than it should, but still . . . 

 

CB ( which stands for "Contemplating Boy!" 

 

[Reminds me of the time Dorothy said, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kuhn-saw anymore!]  kk

 

60 YEARS AGO TODAY:

3/28/64 - Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London unveils figures of The Beatles; these will later appear on their “Sgt. Pepper” album cover