Teen Idol Bobby Sherman has passed away. He was 81.
Bobby first started hitting the teenie bop magazines in 1965 when we was appearing on the hit television music series "Shindig!" He went on to star in "Here Come The Brides," during which time his singing career really took off. Bobby scored eight Top 40 Hits between 1969 and 1971, including the Top Ten Hits "Little Woman" (#1, 1969), "La-La-La (If I Had You)," #8, 1969, "Easy Come, Easy Go" (#5, 1970), "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" (my favorite, #1, 1970) and "Cried Like A Baby" (#10, 1971. One of his costars on the series was actor David Soul, who would go on to have a #1 hit of his own with "Don't Give Up On Us." (David passed away last year.) Despite the fact that Bobby sang the show's theme song "Seattle" in the series and the cast boasted two future #1 recording artists, it was veteran crooner Perry Como who scored the chart hit. Bobby recently placed three songs on our list of Top 40 All-Time Bubblegum Favorites.
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2024/10/october-6th-1964-and-look-at-your-all.html
In addition to his 52 episodes of "Here Comes The Brides," Bobby also starred in the Partridge Family spin-off "Getting Together" (which ran for 14 episodes) and famously had a major guest role on "The Monkees" as well, sparring against Davy Jones in the teen idol category. (The episode included one of Davy's pre-Monkees tunes and showed his solo album cover!)
I only met him one time but he was a super nice guy ... VERY appreciative of his long-standing and loyal fans.
It was for a Teen Idols show at Navy Pier that also starred Micky Dolenz and Peter Noone. (Frannie got a kiss from Bobby that day before the show ... and I think our friend Kristy/C-Gals, who we met there for the show, may have gotten kisses from both Bobby and her teen idol heart-throb, Micky Dolenz.)
After his pop career fizzled, Bobby went to work for The Los Angeles Police Department as an EMT, working out of the back of an ambulance and teaching CPR ... word is that he donated his salary ... but from time to time he would be coaxed out of retirement and his "normal" life to sing for the fans once again. He was always humbled by the sincerity of their love for him. (kk)
kk ...
Bobby Sherman Died ... 81.
We Thought Last Year Was Bad .
FB
The month of June must have set some kind of record for big-name celebrities passing away ... and there's still a week to go!!! (kk)
Look for more Bobby Sherman, tomorrow in FORGOTTEN HITS!
Sadly, we also have another death to report ...
Mick Ralphs, a founding member of both Mott The Hoople and Bad Company, has died. He was 81.
Ralphs toured with Bad Company through 2016, at which time he had a debilitating stroke. He remained bedridden until his passing. Sadly, he will miss seeing Bad Company’s induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame later this year. (kk)
Ian Hunter, Mott the Hoople bandleader, on Mick Ralphs (co-founder of Mott the Hoople and Bad Company) as told to Harvey Kubernik …
During 2015, I interviewed Ian Hunter, bandleader of Mott the Hoople. We talked about Neil Young's "Ohio" and the band Mountain. Mott the Hoople recorded a live version of the tune in 1971 when they were supporting Free at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon, South London.
“In his twenties, Mick Ralphs had a voice uncannily similar to Neil Young’s,” Ian Hunter emailed me in 2015. “We were doing an album called Wildlife and Mick had a lot to do with that album — a tad of country common sense in among our usual sea of chaos. Mick came in with it — sang it — and that’s the one you’re hearing. I was over on the Jerry Lee Lewis side of things.”
Ian and I chatted about Mountain. He always cited them as one of your favorite groups. I asked him to explain his fascination with Mountain. He covered them as well. We both always thought they were underrated.
"They were amazing. And I think they did their best to underrate it actually. When you saw Mountain, it was one of the greatest rock bands ever. The organ player plays twiddly one-liners up against this enormous Leslie West sound. And Leslie is like a great player. And I’ve seen him slip into Hendrix stuff and other stuff. I produced him at one point. He’s a great singer. I think what he misses is Felix (Pappalardi), because those two used to be nose-to-nose and somehow Felix would translate. Felix had a quality. A musical quality and they would go nose-to-nose. It was almost like Leslie was playing what Felix was thinking. Amazing band.
"I remember Mick Ralphs was in tears in Texas on a tour which was Traffic, Mountain and us. And I said to Mick, 'What’s the matter with you?' And he said, 'Well, have you ever aimed at something your entire life and seen it before you got there?' Yeah..."
HK
SICK BAY ... BUT STILL WITH US ...
Imagine being overseas and needing an emergency appendectomy!
That's what happened to Steven Van Zandt, touring Europe with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
The band was in San Sebastian, Spain, to perform a gig at the Reale Arena.
“Got a sharp pain in my stomach… thought it was food poisoning, turned out to be appendicitis,” Van Zandt wrote on social media.
“Got lucky with an exceptional hospital in San Sebastian. Operation was a complete success and I’m hoping to get back on stage for at least one of the shows in Milan. Thank you all for all the good vibes. See you soon.”
Sounds like Little Steven will miss a week’s worth of shows while he’s recovering. (The tour wraps up July 3rd in Italy, but Van Zandt is hoping to return to the stage by then.) kkWhen I call it “the never ending story,” this truly seems to be the case …
More words from Pete Townshend this week regarding the Zak Starkey firing …
WHY is anybody still talking about this?!?! Least of all the guilty participants?!?!?
Are they really this desperate for “ink” to promote their upcoming farewell tour?
(And yet here I am, giving it to them!!!)
This has to be one of the most RIDICULOUS stories in the History of Rock And Roll!
Pete Townshend is now telling “iPaper” in an interview that not even he fully understands what happened to cause drummer Zak Starkey to be dismissed from the band. He agrees that Starkey's performance seemed to be fine.
"I couldn't see anything wrong. What you see is a band who haven't played together for a long time. But I think it was probably to do with the sound. I've lost my sound man as a result.
"I think Roger just got lost. Roger's finding it difficult. I have to be careful what I say about Roger because he gets angry if I say anything about him at all. He’ll be sacking me next. But that’s not to say that he sacked Zak. It's a decision Roger and I tried to make together, but it kind of got out of hand."
Ya think?????
(Isn’t really time for EVERYBODY to stop talking about this already?!?!) kk
You got me thinking and looking at my reviews. I do not have any where Lou did NOT sing Blue Horizon. He loved to talk about this song being responsible for his NYC brownstone. Again ... does having me in the audience make a difference? He knew my faves were Beyond the Blue Horizon and I'm Gonna Make You Mine ... which was his opener.🤷
Shelley
He mentioned in one of those Joey Reynolds interviews that he rarely gets to sing it … but loves it as well. I know he did not perform it the night that I saw him because I was waiting for it! I guess it just depends on the circumstances (which most likely means his allotted time slot.) kk
WILD WAYNE + LOU CHRISTIE + ME --
Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco Was Born 2/19/1943
He Later Changed His Name To Lou Christie. His Father liked It ‘Cause It Included Christ.
His First Group = The Crewnecks. He Started Songwriting At 15 Years Old.
He Met Twyla Herbert. She Was 20 Years Older Than Him. They Wrote Together For 20 Years.
His Music Teacher Wanted Him To Pursue A Classical Career. Lou Had His Own Ideas.
He Was Advised To Listen To The Four Seasons’ "SHERRY." / That Led To "THE GYPSY CRIED."
Next Came "TWO FACES HAVE I." He Was Off The Charts For The Next 2 & 1/2 Years Thanks To The Army.
1966 = "LIGHTNING STRIKES" / The President Of MGM Hated This Song. He Crumbled Up The Lyrics & Threw Them In A Waste Basket … Called It Garbage. Luckily, He Still Let Lou Record It And It Became His Signature Song.
"RHAPSODY IN THE RAIN" Was Banned By Many Radio Stations Because of Its Suggestive Lyrics.
5/18/2014 = Lou's Son Died In A Texas Motorcycle Accident.
He Recorded An Oldies Album With Leslie Gore. They Also Did Some Shows Together.
Wild Wayne Closed His Show With "BEYOND THE BLUE HORIZON." I Think Its Kent's Favorite Lou Christie Song.
I Really Don't Remember This One. Now That I've Heard It, I Like It.
FRANK B.
Great, great story about Lou Christie recording "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," only to have his voice removed from the record and replaced by Robert John's (who also just passed recently.)
DIS
And here’s the link to Billboard’s Forever Number One piece on Lou Christie …
www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/lou-christie-dead-lightnin-strikes-forever-number-one-1236004742/
And, after Shelley’s review of The Happy Together Concert on Monday, she sent me this …
Even if your readers do not enjoy my reviews, they should be so glad to see them posted. It means no one has died.
Shelley
(And then, of course, Bobby Sherman passed away to muck everything up again!!!) kk
I don't know if you are aware of the fact that Shadoe Stevens has been recording the intro's for The Happy Together Tour for at least the past ten years. He & Volman & Kaylan have been pretty close compadres since their old live radio days in L.A. at KROQ / AM & FM & KMET /FM, during the mid 1970's.
I did attend two H.T. shows, two years in a row, about ten years ago in the L.A. area.
Timmy
Yes, I think he’s kicked off every show I’ve ever seen! (kk)
Last week we posted links to two different Brian Wilson Pizza Stories … and I knew that our buddy (and former Y103.9 deejay) Jim Shea had a great one to tell … but it took me a few days to track him now, so I’m running it now …
It was the kind of day that truly embodies the spirit of a holy day, which is the core meaning of holiday. All the heavens were aligned that 4th of July, 2003.
It was Friday. I had the whole weekend and the whole rest of my life glistening up ahead like the promised land in the summer heat of Nashville. In two weeks, I was to begin working morning drive radio in the Milwaukee market and was going to marry my girlfriend Georgiann in four weeks and we were finally going to be together every awesome day.
We’d been dating since summer 1999 but always meeting in hotels, which were magical places. The one in downtown Nashville where we met that morning was about to get more magical.
We met there around 11 am, which seemed wicked and wonderful, like day drinking in church. On the tv was a 4th of July concert being broadcast live from Nashville. It featured Rev. Al Green and some other interesting artists, like Brian Wilson. I had a passing thought about traffic patterns affecting the rest of our day, but that was it. Strictly background. We could just as easily have been barely watching Friends or something like that.
Late in the afternoon, our “plan it as you go” fancy turned to pizza. We wandered around in the throbbing city heat and ordered Papa John’s to go.
Toting a large pepperoni as we entered the hotel lobby, we noticed a bunch of guys who exuded the body guard vibe clustered around an older gray haired guy in a Hawaiian shirt who was seated on a bench, surrounded by luggage. Passersby were drawn to him like a carnival ride as they assessed the risk/reward of coming closer.
“Do you know who this is?” asked one of the goombahs to a group of teenagers. They said no, but still sensed that the gray haired guy with the far away gaze was someone special. The man’s gaze locked on me. I can’t quite describe it. But it was holy.
I pulled away from Georgiann and came closer. I loudly declared that I knew who he was. One bodyguard intercepted me and chuckled.
“Can Brian Wilson have your pizza?”
Yes, I said, he can have the whole thing.
Brian looked agonized.
“No, no! Just one piece” he said, making a hand gesture indicating a tiny thing, talking curiously out of the corner of his mouth.
The seas parted and I walked right up to him and put a slice on a napkin and placed it in the hand of the man who had given the world his song and sacrificed much of his brain to the study of pharmacology. He had the look of a man recovering from a mild stroke. His motions were a bit jerky and he devoured the slice in maybe 20 seconds.
It was like the scene in Love and Mercy where John Cusak, playing Brian, grabbed the hamburger and tore into it like a child, only to be reproached by Dr. Gene, played by Paul Giamatti. They nailed it, and I know because I saw it in real life.
Like any accident, pleasant or otherwise, it was all over in an instant, leaving you to ponder it from memory even in that moment. I asked that he autograph the napkin he had used and he was instantly provided with a sharpie and did so. There was a quick thank you as he was still licking his chops. I offered more but he refused with a wave it off hand gesture.
The remarkable thing about the whole encounter was that it was stripped of all the grueling artifice of fan interaction. No gushing about the famous person. No aw shucks, you’re too kind. It was basic. Primal. A man wanted glorious food to light up the pleasure centers of his brain. Make that a famous man wanted that, and in providing it, I got a glimpse of the man that still lights up the pleasure centers in mine every time I dig out that napkin.
Jim
A prized possession for sure! Thanks, Jim ... or, as I like to call him … and can quite accurately do so these days, Dr. Shea!!! (More on Jim below) kk
Speaking of Brian Wilson, here are a couple of awkward and embarrassing Mike Love moments.
Last week, Mike Love, once again proclaiming his love for his cousin, posted a picture of himself and Brian … except the picture was actually of Love and CARL Wilson!!! He quickly pulled it down once the error was pointed out to him … but still … what an EMBARASSING display of so-called genuine affection!
I think over the years Brian and Mike spent a lot more time at odds than they ever did in true harmony. Frannie sent me this clip from several years ago as a reminder …
I also found this very unflattering video posted of a song Mike did after Covid hit called “This Too Shall Pass.” The clips show Mike singing the song BEFORE auto-tune was added … and then the “cleaned-up” results afterwards. I’d never heard the song before so I don’t know that it got a whole lot of publicity.
This is not to say that most recording artists don’t use the available “tricks of the trade” while in the recording studio …
But this one makes you wonder how well Mike can carry a tune in the real world these days. (Again, the guy is 85 years old … and the clip of Al Jardine holding Brian Wilson’s nose to get that Mike Love “nasally effect” is priceless … but I think many of these artists truly NEED these enhancements in order to display their best work these days.) kk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8OVy33V_OI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwcPpWwGwCA
CBS Sunday Morning did a nice piece on The Doors this week …
It ties in nicely with the upcoming release of their “Night Divides The Day” book.
And who knew the surviving members were still performing full album renditions every month at The Whisky A Go-Go?!?! (Well, Robby Krieger anyway … but John Densmore joined him for this special performance) kk
https://youtu.be/RRaFFcSzjx4?si=vucErrxDxZrMmV3c
Timmy sent in this excellent “group photo” of Nilsson, Ringo, Elton John, Paul and Linda, and (I believe) Wings drummer Joe English
With the 4th of July right around the corner, how cool would it have been to go to THIS concert??? Look at this line-up of acts, also sent in by Timmy.
Happy Birthdays 🎉 🍰! to Ray Davies and Nils Lofgren this month. Ray is seen after a gig at House of Blues and Nils down the street at The Roxy with wife Cis.
Birthday 🎊 🎂 Greetings to Peter Asher seen at some Beverly Hilton event. Also, Todd Rundgren on Sunset at House of Blues with The Comedy Store club in the background. Also, Todd outside The Trinity club which looks like a used car lot. He was hanging outside with Mick Jones of Foreigner that night.
And how about Adam Faith
Jim Roup
Miss hearing Jim Shea's voice on the radio???
Well, as it turns out, you can listen to his current radio gig, "Outlaw's Hideout," live on Saturday Mornings.
In Jim's own words ...
Outlaw's Hideout is a unique half hour audio experience for the true fan of Country Music, now in its 5th year, paying tribute with songs and stories of the legendary artists of the Outlaw Country Movement, as well as their early influences.
Join "The Doc," Jim Shea and Gary Webster every Saturday Morning from 9:30 am - 10:00 am Eastern, live on WKKY-FM 104.7 in HD in Northeast Ohio and worldwide at wkky.com. (kk)
And, finally, I got this from another great radio voice of the past, Chuck Buell, which just goes to prove that the further we go, the behinder we get!
Now, from the "Official Oval Office Presidential Golden-Orange Oldies Collection," attached is "This Week's Number One HIT!"
CB ( which stands for Music "Chart Boy!" )
Just so I’m clear …
Everybody’s 401K’s and investments took a serious nosedive a month ago, prices at the grocery store are now TRIPLE what they used to be on several items, and bombing Iran is expected to jack up gas prices to as high as $5 - $7/gallon.
Yep, we’re making America strong again. (Well, at least the "undesirables" have stopped eating our cats and dogs!)
Aliens on other planets must be wondering if there are any intelligent signs of life on Earth right now.) kk
