We've been running so much 60 YEARS AGO TODAY stuff lately that we've fallen behind on our CURRENT Music News!
So tonight, a quick SATURDAY EVENING POST in an effort to at least catch up a little bit!
Herb Alpert has announced that for 2025 he will be reforming The Tijuana Brass (albeit with all new members) for a tour celebrating the 60th Anniversary release of his #1 Album “Whipped Cream … And Other Delights.” (They’re even calling the tour “Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and Other Delights!”)
(I don’t know if any of you young-ins out there are familiar with this landmark LP or not but it came out with a pretty popular cover!)
In fact, on March 31st, the recording legend will celebrate his 90th birthday with a concert at New York’s Jazz, held at Lincoln Center.
Confirmed dates include:
2025: “Herb
Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights”
February 11th – Ft Lauderdale, FL – Wells Hall at The Parker
February 12th – Sarasota, FL – Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
February 13th – Orlando, FL – Dr Phillips Center Steinmetz Hall
February 15th – Augusta, GA – Miller Theater
February 16th – Lexington, KY – Lexington Opera House
March 25th – Detroit, MI – Masonic Cathedral Theatre
March 26th – Akron, OH – Goodyear Theater
March 28th – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo State PAC
March 29th – Boston, MA – Shubert Wang Theatre
March 31st – New York, NY – Jazz at Lincoln Center – Rose Theater
I have not yet been able to confirm as to whether band members will have to perform covered in whipped cream or not. (kk)
Artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Eminem have all thrown in their support for the Kamala Harris For President campaign. They join Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Oprah Winfrey, Billie Eilish and more as the campaign winds into its final two weeks. (kk)
We heard from several Forgotten Hits Readers about the passing of Jack Jones this past week.
Jones (who probably won over more of our moms than he did listeners from our generation) had a beautiful, clean voice that I also found quite appealing in an Easy Listening / Middle Of The Road sort of way.
And he DID have his own collection of Top 40 Pop Songs along the way … six in all, in fact, including three that climbed as high as The Top 20: “Wives And Lovers” (#12, 1963); “Dear Heart” (#15, 1965) and “The Race Is On” (#12, 1965), which was one of the 45’s given to me by my next door neighbor Sharon Kolar when she learned I was into Top 40 Radio.
“Wives And Lovers” caused quite the chauvinistic uproar when it was rediscovered a couple of decades later after being used in the film “Goodfellas.”
Jack also famously sang the theme to the hit television series “The Love Boat,” for which he cut a disco version when THAT craze was all the rage. He passed away at the age of 86 from leukemia on Wednesday, the 23rd. (kk)
Kent,
I was just notified and I am sure you know by now that singer Jack Jones has passed away. One of his bigger hits here in OKC was THE RACE IS ON (1965), which also was big here by singer George Jones. A very big record here in OKC by Jack Jones was THE WEEKEND, also from 1965. This one did not chart nationally, I believe, but was a Top 10 Hit here locally.
Larry
“The Weekend” appeared at #100 for exactly one week in Cash Box Magazine in February of 1966. It “bubbled under” in both Record World (#109) and Billboard (#123)
Thanks for running my forgotten pix in Forgotten Hits!
Remembering Jack Jones as he celebrates with Nancy Sinatra at her birthday party at Chasen's.
Jim Roup
We recently told you about a fund-raising concert that Stephen Stills and Neil Young did together for Neil’s pet projects, The Bridge School and Painted Turtle.
http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2024/10/thursday-this-and-that.html
Well, Graham Nash (who is currently out on tour … and doing a couple of shows with Judy Collins) recently told Rolling Stone Magazine that he doesn’t think he’ll be playing with Stills and Young ever again. (As we’ve learned here so many times before, never say never … just with these three ALONE, how many “never say never”’s have fallen b the wayside?!?!)
Anyway, Nash (who does a great story-telling show, by the way) told Rolling Stone:
"I don’t think that me and Stephen and Neil will ever play together again. There's no heart there. David was the center of it all, as crazy as he was. And my God, he was crazy. But he was the heart of this band. And that's why I think that if Stephen and Neil and I ever played together, people would be missing Crosby. We would be missing Crosby. It just would be a much colder scene.
"I really miss him. I miss him more every day because life is choices, and I only choose to remember the good times that David and I had, the good music that we made together. When I try and think about the bad things that happened, I don't want to do that. I made the choice to only remember the good stuff."
An original founding member of The Grateful Dead has passed away …
Bassist Phil Lesh died this past week at the age of 84. He had been having health issues for quite some time. The last two surviving original members, Bill Kreutzmann and Bob Weir, along with Mickey Hart who joined the group shortly afterwards, posted a tribute to their “brother” …
“Today we lost a brother. Our hearts and love go out to Jill Lesh, Brian and Grahame. Phil Lesh was irreplaceable. In one note from the Phil Zone, you could hear and feel the world being born. His bass flowed like a river would flow. It went where the muse took it. He was an explorer of inner and outer space who just happened to play bass. He was a circumnavigator of formerly unknown musical worlds. And more.
“We can count on the fingers of one hand the people we can say had as profound an influence on our development – in every sense. And there have been even less people who did so continuously over the decades and will continue to for as long as we live. What a gift he was for us. We won’t say he will be missed, as in any given moment, nothing we do will be without the lessons he taught us – and the lessons that are yet to come, as the conversations will go on.
“Phil loved the Dead Heads and always kept them in his heart and mind. The thing is… Phil was so much more than a virtuoso bass player, a composer, a family man, a cultural icon …
“There will be a lot of tributes, and they will all say important things. But for us, we’ve spent a lifetime making music with Phil Lesh and the music has a way of saying it all. So listen to the Grateful Dead and, in that way, we’ll all take a little bit of Phil with us, forever.
“For this is all a dream we dreamed one afternoon, long ago …
“Mickey, Billy and Bobby”
Micky Dolenz attended the weekend's Gallatin Comic Con in Nashville and was a guest on ‘Local On 2 ‘ (WKRN) with Donny Most from Happy Days – also an attendee at the Comic-Con.
As soon as I read that line about Santa Claus and Tommy Roe, (“He’s Everywhere”), I thought to myself "Wait, it was Santa Claus, but it was also Chickenman." I don't think I've ever consciously thought about the fact that the phrase was recorded first by Ray Stevens, then a few years later by Dick Orkin and gang (Chicago Radio Syndicate).
David Lewis
Nor did I until you just pointed it out. “He’s Everywhere, He’s Everywhere” has ALWAYS meant Chickenman to me, growing up here in Chicago where Dick Orkin ruled the airwaves with his creative series and non-stop commercials for any wide variety of products.
But you’re right … the Santa Claus thing completely escaped me … until I listened again to Ray Stevens’ 1962 Hit “Santa Claus Is Watching You.”
Tommy, being a hit recording star right around the same time (and having music running thru his veins his whole life) would only naturally gravitate toward the musical connection! (kk)
From Harvey Kubernik:
October 24th Premier: Bruce Springsteen "Road Diaries”
Photos: Bruce Springsteen, Thom Zimny, Steven Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen (Courtesy of Disney); Bruce Springsteen, 1973 Photo by Henry Diltz, Courtesy of Gary Strobl at the Diltz Library
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I was invited to The Academy Museum / David Geffen Theater in Los Angeles for a screening of the Thom Zimny "ROAD DIARY: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band," an original Hulu documentary that will premier October 24th on Disney+.
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band offer the most in-depth look ever at the creation of their legendary live performances - sharing fly-on-the-wall footage of band rehearsals and special moments backstage - as well as hearing directly from Springsteen on the topic.
Fans get the chance to experience professionally shot footage from the 2023-2024 tour for the first time ever - while following the band through their one-of-a-kind preparation process, and onto performances for tens-of-thousands across continents.
Thom Zimny really invited the viewer into the archival and 2023-2024 touring world of Springsteen and the deep bond Bruce and the E Street Band have with the audience. Bruce mentioned after the screening, ‘On stage you have to mentally project yourself into the audience.’
Zimny, who has worked with Springsteen on projects for a quarter of a century, said during the Q&A session that the project unfolded as shooting was under way.
“I think it evolves every day that I was experiencing the band, filming and seeing what was going on. I think it’s a conversation that happens with Jon [Landau, Springsteen’s manager] and Bruce from day one and I just stay really open to what I’m experiencing. The first day of rehearsals. I was just so blown away by everyone’s sense of happiness and I knew that I wanted that to come across, that sense of gratitude that they can perform again. But by time I reached the American concerts and Europe, the film evolved. I think a big thing is to be open, not have a set POV. I go for the adventure.”
This might be one of the best edited music documentaries ever done. Zimny’s directorial endeavors began in the analog world, and his editing techniques with today’s technology were marvelously displayed on screen. On the red carpet, Thom told me, “One of the technical things working with a small crew on this documentary was that I was very influenced by the sixties style of filmmakers like D.A. Pennebaker. I’m really honing in, using everything I can with modern technology and the language. The beauty of having the experience of cutting in film, editing, is that you develop your rhythm. I started off with a steenbeck or moviola and that was reflected in my editing today as a director editor. That was the grounding, and my education in film.”
Why now to reveal the behind-the-scenes machinations?
At a Q&A following the event, 75 year old Springsteen weaved in a mortality theme and quipped, “Well, if we didn’t make it now, I’d be dead pretty soon so we got to make these while we can. That’s all there is to it. Like I say in the film, there’s a lot more yesterdays and goodbyes once you get up around where we are then there was 30 or 40 years ago.”
Zimny was asked about the genesis of the documentary, “I think it evolves every day that I was experiencing the band, filming and seeing what was going on. I think it’s a conversation that happens with Jon [Landau, Springsteen’s manager] and Bruce from day one and I just stay really open to what I’m experiencing. The first day of rehearsals. I was just so blown away by that sense of everyone’s happiness and I knew that I wanted that to come across, that sense of gratitude that they can perform again. But by time I reached the American concerts and Europe, the film evolved. I think a big thing is to be open, not have a set POV. I go for the adventure.”
I've been going to Bruce and the band's shows since 1974.
The 2024 documentary, written and narrated by Springsteen, ends with a quote on screen from the Doors’ James Douglas Morrison.
In the Q&A session at the venue, which also featured Landau and Springsteen’s longtime right-hand man Steven Van Zandt, and moderator John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, Springsteen revealed the origin of the Morrison quote displayed on screen.
Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa attended the same Doors show at the Asbury Park New Jersey Convention Center in 1968, though they hadn’t met yet. They were in the same room.
One evening Bruce and Patti were talking about the ’68 Doors show and found the setlist online. “We got in bed and we said, ‘OK, we’re going to recreate the entire show,’” he volunteered. “I found live Doors cuts and we recreated the entire show from 1968 and listened to it before we went to sleep. Suddenly, I sort of went on a bit of a Doors binge and I started reading several books and I came across the quote and it just seemed like the perfect way to sum up what the band is about, what our relationship to our fans means, what our mission statement has been for the past 50 years. It just seemed to sum it up in those four very brief lines.”
In 2007 I interviewed drummer John Densmore, co-founder of the Doors. He relayed a Springsteen anecdote from their 1993 encounter at the Doors’ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in Century City, Ca. “At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, (Bruce) Springsteen came up to me and said, ‘I like your drumming. It’s so quiet, and then you drop a bomb.’ Thank you, Boss.”
HK
So what WAS the mystery quote that closed the film???
(I told Harvey, “C’mon, Man … you can’t leave us hangin’ like this!!!”) … and he finally spilled …
"O' great creator of being, grant us one more hour to perform our art and perfect our lives."
This is the lyric on the screen in the doc from "An American Prayer."
HK
As seen in FHs ~~~
>>>A statue honoring John Mellencamp has been erected and unveiled at The University of Indiana. The revolutionary artist is now permanently stoned for all the world to see. (Although it's hard to tell in this photograph, that's the REAL John Mellencamp at the right) kk
Yep! And just like so many of us ole Forgotten Hits Rock 'N' Rollers, his Hairline has also receded a bit!
Yes! "Let he who altho not cast in stone himself but is also with receding hairline, cast the first stone."
And that, of course, would be ~~~
Buell!
I’ve been one of the fortunate one for sure … still have to get a haircut every month as it grows so fast, it’s falling in my face otherwise.
But I can certainly sympathize with those who, like John Mellencamp, have experienced the “statue of limitation” in the hair department. (kk)
From Tom Cuddy …
CTV visits Anne Murray (2024)
https://youtu.be/0nP4P8xhyDI?si=KwF4k1IqHDPkDS4m
Kent,
After reading about ‘Playground In My Mind’ in Forgotten Hits the other day, you got my curiosity aroused.
I checked and here in OKC, Clint Holmes' record made its initial appearance on our local Top 40 radio station for the week of March 14, 1973. It was on the survey for 11 weeks, peaking at #9 for the week of May 23, 1973. I noticed that before that, it was at position #10 for four weeks in a row. This was on a survey that listed The Top 20 Records with 10 records below titled HIT BOUND and 10 records below those titled EXTRA.
Larry
Clint Holmes went all the way to #2 on the WCFL Chart … but only managed a #8 showing on WLS. Even back then in 1973 I turned it off nearly EVERY time it ever came on the radio!!! (I’ve mentioned before that 1973 and 1974 are my two LEAST favorite years in rock and roll history … this song is a big reason why! Lol) kk
Kent,
Just want you to know I enjoyed and appreciated the video you posted today. Always did enjoy the Rolling Stone's version of ROUND AND ROUND'
Larry
A 1999 Rolling Stones concert held at Shepherds Bush in London is being released in a variety of formats.
The show is significant in that it features a number of “deep tracks” that The Stones don’t typically perform in concert. (In fact, this is the ONLY time they have ever performed the track “Moon Is Up!”)
The complete 18-track show list is as follows:
Shattered; It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It); Respectable; All Down The Line; Some Girls; Melody; I Got The Blues; Brand New Car; Moon Is Up; Saint Of Me; Honky Tonk Women (With Sheryl Crow); Band Introductions; You Got The Silver; Before They Make Me Run; Route 66; You Got Me Rocking; Tumbling Dice; Brown Sugar; Jumpin’ Jack Flash
Speaking of The Rolling Stones, last week Ultimate Classic Rock ran a tally of
both the most-streamed Rolling Stones tunes ... AND the most-streamed Beatles tracks.
Some of these Stones stats may surprise you …
# 1 – Paint It Black (how about 1.3 BILLION streams!!!)
# 2 – Satisfaction (just over 770 million)
# 3 – Start Me Up (710 million streams … it’s also my ring tone!)
# 4 – Gimme Shelter (645 million)
THIS is the one I figured would have come out on top, just like it did on our TOP 3333 MOST-ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK SONGS OF ALL-TIME fan-vote
# 5 – Sympathy For The Devil (610 million streams)
# 6 – Beast Of Burden (476 million)
# 7 – Angie (385 million)
# 8 – Wild Horses (290 million)
# 9 – Brown Sugar (256 million streams)
#10 – Miss You (THAT’S the one I hear playing constantly … and it’s earned 238 million streams
#11 – Honky Tonk Women (a little over 207 million streams)
#12 – You Can’t Always Get What You Want (just over 200 million streams)
#13 – Jumpin’ Jack Flash (167 million streams)
#14 – Under My Thumb (150 million streams)
#15 – She’s A Rainbow (with all its use in advertisements lately, I would have figured this one would have rocketed up right near the top) … still, 140 million streams is nothing to sneeze at!
#16 – Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (117 million streams)
#17 – Ruby Tuesday (another one I would have never deemed to be a mass favorite)
113 million streams
#18 – Tumbling Dice (93 million streams)
#19 – Anybody Seen My Baby (NEVER would have guessed this one would make a list like this!!!) 67 million streams
#20 – Waiting On A Friend – roughly 60 million streams
As for The Beatles' list, I have to admit that I was a little surprised because the last time we checked ... which granted, was quite a few years ago ... George Harrison had the top TWO songs on the list … a pretty ironic statistic since George often had to fight for space on The Beatles’ albums since the general consensus was his songs just didn’t measure up to those by the great songwriting team of Lennon and McCartney.
But while “Here Comes The Sun” has always been top dog since The Beatles’ catalog was first released to streaming some 25 years ago, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” seems to have fallen out of favor, only coming in at #13 on this most recent list. (I like these recaps because they also show the number of streams to date at the time the list was compiled.)
So here are The Top 20 Most-Streamed Beatles Songs thus far …
#1 – Here Comes The Sun (with just under 1.5 BILLION streams!!!)
#2 – Come Together … a distant second with about HALF that many!
#3 – Let It Be – a little over 733 million streams
#4 – Yesterday (just under 700 million)
#5 - Hey Jude (616 million … I would have pegged this one higher)
#6 – Twist And Shout – 540 million
#7 – Blackbird – a little over 500 million
#8 – In My Life – a little under 450 million
#9 – I Want To Hold Your Hand – 445 million … I would have figured THIS one to have tapered off dramatically by now … despite its initial impact, seven weeks at #1 and launching The Beatles’ career here in The States, you’re far more likely to hear its B-Side (“I Saw Her Standing There”) on the radio – and other events - these days.
#10 – Something – 350 milllion streams (giving George THREE songs in The Top 20 – and surpassing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”)
#11 – Help! – 340 million – another surprise
#12 – Eleanor Rigby – 295 million streams
#13 – While My Guitar Gently Weeps – 280 million
#14 – Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da – 275 million
#15 – Love Me Do – 245 million (another surprise)
#16 – A Hard Day’s Night – 230 million
#17 – Norwegian Wood – 225 million
#18 – And I Love Her – 224 million (another one I would have never expected to see on this list … but a great song nevertheless)
#19 – Strawberry Fields Forever – 217 million
#20 – All You Need Is Love – 207 million
With nine John songs on the list and three by Harrison, that leaves Macca (far and away the most successful composer of our times) bringing up the rear with just eight tracks on the list. Still, when those tracks include “Let It Be,” “Hey Jude,” “Blackbird,” “Yesterday” and “Eleanor Rigby,” it’s hard not to be impressed!!! (kk)
Upon review, I am surprised by some of these rankings ...
I guess I kind of expected the national leanings to better resemble our All Time Classic Rock Songs findings … a comparison is shown below.
The Rolling Stones list came out a lot closer than The Beatles comparison. Upon reflection, I think it may not have been fair to assume that the numbers should have been closer in comparison. After all, the votes collected in OUR poll were cast primarily by folks who were there at the time and BOUGHT and then grew up with this music for the past 50-60 years.
Streaming implies a much younger audience … the next couple of generations who were exposed to this music and then downloaded it for themselves. But still, the numbers are STAGGERING!!! Yet each band has one song that has passed the one billion mark. (When compared to today’s artists, it may not even be close in volume to some of the numbers being posted out there. While The Beatles may be regarded as the greatest band in rock and roll history, people today aren’t downloading their music at the same pace as say somebody like Taylor Swift ... who is capturing TODAY's audience!)
While The Rolling Stones list only has FOUR discrepancies
within The Top 20, The Beatles have an incredible NINE … and these include
timeless gems like “A Day In The Life,” “Got To Get You Into My Life,” “Lucy In
The Sky With Diamonds,” “Get Back,” “Penny Lane” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely
Hearts Club Band / With A Little Help From My Friends” that didn't make the streaming list.
On The Rolling Stones front, THREE of The Top FOUR songs came in at those positions on both lists. In fact, “Satisfaction” and “Start Me Up” came in at numbers 2 and 3 (respectively)on BOTH lists. “Gimme Shelter” was the #4 most-streamed song … while it topped OUR list of All-Time Classic Rock Favorites. “Paint It Black,” “Sympathy For The Devil,” “Brown Sugar” and “Miss You” made The Top Ten on BOTH lists. That’s a total of SEVEN Top Ten matches.
On The Beatles’ side, only FIVE tunes were common to both Top Tens … “Here Comes The Sun” fared the best, coming in at #1 in streams and #2 in Beatles favorites. “Let It Be” and “Hey Jude” made The Top Five on both lists. “In My Life” and “Come Together” were the other two tracks that made The Top Ten on both lists. (kk)
COMPARISON (Streaming Rank vs. Top 3333 Artist Rank)
ROLLING STONES:
Paint It Black (#1 / #8)
Satisfaction (#2 / #2)
Start Me Up (#3 / #3)
Gimme Shelter (#4 / #1)
Sympathy For The Devil (#5 / #9)
Beast Of Burden (#6 / #11)
Angie (#7 / #5)
Wild Horses (#8 / #18)
Brown Sugar (#9 / #5)
Miss You (#10 / #10)
Honky Tonk Women (#11 / #4)
You Can't Always Get What You Want (#12 / #6)
Jumpin' Jack Flash (#13 / #7)
Under My Thumb (#14 / #20)
She's A Rainbow (#14 / did not make The Top 20)
Can't You Hear Me Knocking (#16 / xx)
Ruby Tuesday (#17 / #12)
Tumbling Dice (#18 / #14)
Anybody Seen My Baby (#19 / xx)
Waiting On A Friend (#20 / xx)
Rolling Stones songs that made OUR Top 20 list but don't rank on the Top 20 Streaming List:
Let's Spend The Night Together (#13); It's Only Rock And Roll (#16); Get Off My Cloud (#17) and Bitch (#19)
On THE BEATLES side ...
Here Comes The Sun (#1 / #2)
Come Together (#2 / #8)
Let It Be (#3 / #5)
Yesterday (#4 / #20)
Hey Jude (#5 / #3)
Twist And Shout (#6 / xx)
Blackbird (#7 / xx)
In My Life (#8 / #6)
I Want To Hold Your Hand (#9 / xx)
Something (#10 / #13)
Help! (#11 / xx)
Eleanor Rigby (#12 / xx)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (#13 / #1)
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (#14 / #16)
Love Me Do (#15 / xx)
A Hard Day's Night (#16 / xx)
Norwegian Wood (#17 / #18)
And I Love Her (#18 / xx)
Strawberry Fields Forever (#19 / #9)
All You Need Is Love (#20 / xx)
Noticeably missing in action:
A Day In The Life (#4); Got To Get You Into My Life (#7); Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (#10); Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / With A Little Help From My Friends (#11); Get Back (#12); Penny Lane (#14); Drive My Car (15); I Saw Her Standing There (#17) and Back In The USSR (#19)
To be clear, several of the songs that made OUR list and not theirs DID, in fact, make The Top 3333 ... but for the purposes of THIS report, we are only considering songs that made The Top 20 on either list. (kk)
