Wow ... just heard about this one from Geoff Lambert's weekly music sheet ... "news" from over 36 months ago!
Dave “Baby” Cortez, best known for his world-wide hit, The Happy Organ in 1959, which topped the US Billboard charts in May, 1959, died at the age of eighty three at his home in New York way back on May 20th in 2022!!! Strange state of affairs, as according to his daughter she had not seen him since 2009 because he had become a total recluse. She was advised of his death by the company who handled his writing royalties and in July, 2025, released the details. He also had Rinky Dink, a UK top ten hit single in 1962 David Cortez Clowney was born on August 13th, 1938 in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Now THAT'S a strange one!!! I just checked Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles book to see if perhaps this had been announced before, but Joel still showed Cortez as living when he published his last book. That came out, however, in 2021, so even with this surprising news, he still would have been. Not sure how oldies nation missed this one! That's gotta be a record of some sorts!
Speaking of records, Dave had THREE of them that made our National Top 40 here in The States. In addition to the two tunes mentioned by Geoff above, Cortez scord a #29 Hit with "The Whistling Organ" in 1959 on the Music Vendor Chart. (another one of those Top 40 anomalies in that this one only peaked at #61 in Billboard, a spread of over thirty places. "Rinky Dink" hit #9 in Music Vendor and peaked at #10 in Billboard. "The Happy Organ" topped all three national charts in 1959 ... two weeks in Cash Box and one week each in Music Vendor and Billboard. (kk)
Geoff also told us about an article that appeared in Billboard Magazine the week of July 16th, 1955 ... a concert review of an appearance by Bill Haley and his Comets right here at The Chicago Theatre - timely in OUR world as we just celebrated the 70th Anniversary of "Rock Around The Clock" topping The Super Chart!
Bill Haley's Comets - Chicago Theatre - Haley and his Comets are masters of mob psychology and mass hysteria. They build slow but hard and by the time they hit their last three numbers, there's hardly a member of the audience, young or old, who isn't clapping and foot stomping. The Comets are master showmen and instrumentalists as well as accomplished solo vocalists. Included in the repertoire were Shake, Rattle and Roll, Rock Around the Clock, Birth of the Boogie and Razzie Dazzle. This unit should prove one of the biggest money- makers of the year and are definitely destined to carve a bigger niche in the one-nighters concert field.
If you're interested in getting on Geoff's weekly list, drop him a note at geoff.lambert@btinternet.com ... and tell him Forgotten Hits sent you! (kk)
We've been talking about the new Billy Joel documentary for a couple of months now ... and Tom Cuddy just sent us this new trailer ... https://youtu.be/fvCB4gg7yS0?si=nM0yoFERNVItPdiy
>>>Jeff Lynne ended up cancelling his final performance ... a real shame as this was supposed to be his last live appearance ever. Fact is, he is evidently much sicker than originally indicated. The official word put out by the press is that "Jeff has been battling a systemic infection and is currently in the care of a team of doctors" and performing would be the worst thing he could do right now. (Doctors advised Lynne that "performing is simply not possible at this time.") kk
Poor guy ... he booked those dates long in advance and had everyone lined up just to end up with such intense health issues. Not the way you’d want to end a long career. Hopefully he’ll get better and be able to give it another try.
Rich Vaniotis
I think that's what all his fans are hoping for at this point. It's gotta be breaking his heart that he can't honor these commitments and perform for his fans one last time. Hyde Park was ESPECIALLY important to him as that's where he made his first "comeback" appearance ... he wanted to wind things up there as well. All we can do now is hope for the best and wish him the best toward a full recovery. (kk)
From Harvey Kubernik ...
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Fleetwood Mac 50th Anniversary of Self-Titled Album Due August 8th By Harvey Kubernik © Copyright 1976, 2025
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THE LAST YEAR has brought Fleetwood Mac a platinum LP –Fleetwood Mac – their eighth album for Reprise records, from which two top ten singles, 'Over My Head' and 'Rhiannon' have been culled.
Months after its release, Fleetwood Mac was still lodged at number five in the American chart.
Fleetwood Mac exemplify the notion that if you stick around and work hard enough, success is bound to happen.
Initially a by-product of the Mayall School of Blues, circa '67, personnel changes, coupled with the growing sophistication of Seventies audiences, has shifted the emphasis of their music from a British Rock pose to a "soft" song style reflecting the languid life of Southern California, where they now reside.
Enter tall and lanky drummer Mick Fleetwood. Sixteen months ago, when Bob Welch, after a four-year stint with the Mac, was leaving to form another group (later to be called Paris), Fleetwood ran into a guy at a supermarket. "He told me about a studio, Sound City in Van Nuys. I went out there, since I was looking for a studio to do our next album, and they played me a tape of Stevie Nicks (female vocalist) and Lindsey Buckingham (guitars, vocals) which they had done a couple of years ago.
"At the time I made a mental note about them, and soon after made a phone call to them asking if they wanted to join."
The two recruits brought new influences and stylistic direction, Buckingham contributing a harder rock sound, and Nicks providing a second female voice which allowed greater scope for harmonies.
"They called up and said, 'Do you want to do an album together?'" remembers Stevie Nicks, then working as a waitress at Clementine's, a Beverly Hills food and drink establishment. I knew Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks with her best friend since age 15, Robin Andersen. Robin would inspire Nicks’ song “Gypsy.”
“Lindsey and I said, 'Are you kidding?' and joined,” emphasized Nicks.
Buckingham was then punching the clock in the advertising world after the flop of their joint debut Polydor album, Buckingham-Nicks.
One of the reasons for Fleetwood Mac's current success is that they've always been a working group, but they had to make huge efforts to re-establish themselves after the 'fake' Fleetwood Mac episode. The band's former manager Clifford Davis, put an ersatz Fleetwood Mac band on the road and lined up a series of appearances. But, after much dispute, the real Fleetwood Mac, i.e. the one containing original members, won an injunction prohibiting the ex-manager from using the group's name. The suits and counter-suits are still pending.
"We had to keep working and touring to establish our credibility. Musically, the band on record and live has always been fairly effective," says bassist John McVie.
"There's more room to stretch out, and it's more fun to play now. There's only so many ways you can play 12-bar blues, but I never felt restricted, and there's never been a conscious change in musical direction. The last album was more melodic, though, and we were able to bounce off harmony structures and ideas."
“'Over My Head' was a monster hit in America. "We would never have picked 'Over My Head' as a single," Christine McVie said recently. But the radio stations did, and 'Rhiannon,' the next 45, cemented a relationship with the important AM audience that Fleetwood Mac has been seeking in the States for years.
"People come up to me every place we play and tell me what an effect 'Rhiannon' has had on their lives; as if it has some spiritual power over them," says Nicks, whose tune about a Welsh witch, written two years earlier, is never off US radio. Onstage, she is a focal point, and enlivens Mac's past low-profile performances.
"The success of the last album went beyond my wildest expectations," muses Fleetwood. "I mean, we were confident that we had made a dynamite recording, and felt a hell of a lot of new energy and dimension from Stevie and Lindsey.
"We concentrated on the U.S. In the States, our albums pretty much sold in the 200-250,000 range. We were always appreciated and we never lost anyone. The cult kept growing. Widescale acceptance has always been around the corner. We started here at the club level and worked all the way up through small halls, second and third billings, headline status, and some outdoor things."
"We've always kept a low profile and away from hype," says McVie. "That's the way we are as people. That was the only conscious thought about the band. We never wanted to be viewed or reported as the biggest thing since sliced bread.
"Me, Chris and Mick have been working for a long time. We've eaten every day and had money for smokes. I'm proud we pushed ahead. The success now makes some justification for the effort of the past."
But there's an incredible dichotomy between their status in America and in England. "What happened," suggests Fleetwood, "is that the band was really a big band in England when Peter (Green) was in the band. We had hits, and everybody in the group was nurtured, and the people became possessive over the players.
"We started working less over there and more over here, even when Peter was in the group. People lost a grip on something that had been very intense. We started getting a following over here, and the band has been evolving since. Hopefully, towards the end of the year, if we do a European/English tour, they'll get a taste of the band, and I think they'll really like it."
McVie: "We moved here two and a half years ago. We moved after spending nine months in a lawyer's office, going through all the legal trips, Obviously, L.A. was the place to go. The record company was here, and communication is easier in America. We had to get out of England 'cause we were going crazy. We were driving up to London every day and spending all our time in an office."
"I think one day John and I will write a book on what's gone down," grins Fleetwood. "The only problem is that no one will believe us," shrugs McVie.
"John and I have been through some unbelievable moral/mental decisions," says Fleetwood. "But we never wanted to kick it. Perseverance and work kept Fleetwood Mac together and a lot of people before us gave up, sayin' this isn't worth it."
"We did interviews with Newsweek and People magazine recently," smiles McVie. "It's funny being on the same page next to a big article on Jimmy Carter. We're reaching audiences that never heard of Fleetwood Mac, and it's good to have finally gotten away from questions like, 'Whatever happened to Peter Green or Jeremy Spencer?' If Mick and I write the book, most people would think it was a science fiction story."
"People tell me all the time they hear our songs and old LPs on the radio. It's a buzz and a beautiful feeling to be discovered and rediscovered," says the likeable Fleetwood.
"This album reflects every trip and breakup," says Fleetwood. "It isn't a concept thing, but when we sat down listening to what we had, we realized every track was written about someone in the band. Introspective and interesting, kind of like a soap opera. The album will show sides of people in this group that were never exposed before."
"What I'd like to do with Fleetwood Mac," McVie interjects, "is to work out a three-hour history of the group with an intermission which will cover material from all our career."
It's funny how sometimes a particular song - no matter how many times you've heard it or how familiar you are with it - can take on a whole new meaning and generate an emotional impact when it's tied to a particular scene of a tv show.
TV Line reminds us of several such recent incidents ...
See if just reading this doesn't touch your memory banks.
(And, even better still, you can listen along as you read, thanks to the YouTube clips provided!) kk
Cousin Brucie Interviewed Bruce Channel This Past Saturday Night On His Radio Program (That's Right ... Two Brucie's For The Price Of One!)
After The Interview, Brucie Always Asks His Guest To Introduce The Song Or Medley He Is About To Play.
Bruce Channel Says " Thanks For Having Me On, Cousin Bruce And Thanks To The Fans Who Bought My Recording And Made It A #1 Hit In 1962."
A Few Seconds Go By And We Hear "BOTTLE OF WINE" By Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs.
"Wait!" Cousin Brucie Says, "We Want To Hear 'HEY BABY' By Bruce Channel. You Look Confused."
"BOTTLE OF WINE" Comes On Again -- Only This Time, They Play The Whole Song.
Bruce Channel Is Still On The Phone And He Introduces The Song Again.
Cousin Brucie Says, " After The Commercial, We Want To Hear 'HEY BABY' By Bruce Channel.
Third Time Was The Charm ... They Finally Played The Right Song.
Ah, don'tcha just love live radio!
FRANK B.
What do you suppose the odds are of hearing "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" and Roger Miller's "King Of The Road" within the span of a one hour tv dramedy in 2025???
Well, that's exactly what happened on the season finale of "Poker Face," that quirky Natasha Lyonne series on Peacock. (Even hearing those same two songs during the same hour on Sirius XM's '60's Gold Channel is a bit of a stretch!) kk
VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK ...
This just may be my new favorite song!!!
And finally, in our never-ending quest to help our readers out with creative and innovative home decorating ideas, we just HAD to pass this one along ... something for your bathroom!
Ain't it the shit?!?!? (kk)
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
7/14/65 – Adlai Stevenson II, former governor of Illinois and two-time presidential candidate, dies at the age of 65
