I am not a SiriusXM subscriber, but rely on others I know to keep up with what's going on there.
I discovered from one of them that last week, Pat St John on Facebook verified that the 60s Gold channel played "Happy Together" by the Turtles, apparently breaking a long embargo either the channel or the organization had on either the song or the group.
Kent, I don't presume you or Frannie to be SXM listeners either, but as David Letterman used to periodically ask about random stunt performances on his "Late Show," "Is this anything?"
Thanks.
Bob Frable
Actually, we’re both Sirius XM subscribers and have been for many years … and Frannie is an avid listener to Pat St. John’s show but evidently didn’t know or hear anything about this comment or posting.
YEARS ago (like 1999???) The Turtles / Flo and Eddie / Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan filed suit against the satellite network for not paying royalties for the Turtles music they were playing on their station. (Volman and Kaylan own the rights to all of their recordings.) I can’t remember all of the details, but Sirius XM took the platform that said royalties for music recorded before 1972 was exempt from royalty payments by government law. (In fact, new federal copyright law was written at the time to protect all music recorded beginning in 1972 and forward … but it ignored music recorded during the previous hundred years.) Flo and Eddie challenged this ruling and, once a lawsuit was filed, Sirius simply stopped playing Turtles music, figuring (I presume) that lack of airplay would show them who really held all the cards here in this debate.
Mind you, it wasn’t just The Turtles’ music that was affected here … Sirius XM wasn’t paying royalties on ANY of the music it was playing from pre-1972 … thousands and thousands of records by hundreds and hundreds of artists.
As such, Volman and Kaylan filed a class action suit which was finally settled in 2016 with a ruling that the satellite network would have to pay $99 million in back royalties to all of the artists that they had ignored. Except this, too, was appealed and eventually overturned. To complicate matters even further, there were different guidelines regarding royalty obligations in place for different states. It wasn’t until 2021 that things began to be sorted out … but even at this point, it still took several more years before Sirius XM would agree to start playing Turtles music again. (If you can imagine, this “Turtles Ban” significantly messed up programing for regular ‘60’s Gold features like DJ Dave Hoeffel’s “‘60s Satellite Survey” show, which plays the top forty hits of selected weeks from throughout the decade … they literally had to go out of their way when programming this feature in order to skip any week that included a Turtles tune!)
Funnily enough, the whole incident was kept pretty well under wraps during the 25+ year suit … very few listeners were any the wiser that something like this was even going on. (And Sirius XM DID play some Turtles tunes from time to time during this period … how could they not??? The Turtles were one of the biggest groups of the ‘60’s.) Still, that’s part of what makes it odd that they are publicly acknowledging it now by letting listeners know they’re playing Turtles music again. (A little bit of gloating, perhaps???)
I won’t say that all is forgiven and forgotten at this point … it sounds like Volman and Kaylan never actually got any money (and probably spent a fortune litigating the case) … but at least The Turtles are back on the ‘60’s Channel again where they belong.
On a side not, the music of The Turtles hasn’t really waned during all this time … The Happy Together Tour, covered extensively here for decades now, is still one of the biggest drawing cards of the summer for fan attendance … and their music is every bit as popular as ever. (kk)
>>>Aliens on other planets must be wondering if there are any intelligent signs of life on Earth right now. (kk)
That’s because the intelligent signs of life are quieter ... probably in shock.
Shelley
There's a future rumor going around that in the year 2525 The Who will still be trying to figure out the firing of Zak back in 2025.
David Lewis
Foreigner’s Farewell Tour is no longer a farewell tour …
The band announced that they will continue on with new lead singer Luis Maldonado now that previous lead singer Kelly Hansen, who is retiring from the road to spend more time with his family.
Their music holds up incredibly well … and now that they’re officially Rock And Roll Hall of Famers, it will never die. (In our TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK SONGS OF ALL TIME, Forgotten Hits Readers voted fourteen of their songs on to the list, including NINE that made The Top 500:
|
62 |
Cold As Ice |
|
75 |
Juke Box Hero |
|
146 |
Feels Like The First Time |
|
199 |
I Want To Know What Love Is |
|
224 |
Hot Blooded |
|
249 |
Long, Long Way From Home |
|
287 |
Waiting For A Girl Like You |
|
312 |
Urgent |
|
386 |
Double Vision |
Want a copy of the list? Just drop me an email at kk@forgottenhits.com and we’ll get one off to you.
PLEASE NOTE: I am currently in the process of revamping this list … a VERY slow and tedious project … but when it’s done, you guys will be the first to know.
Meanwhile, you can still view the list “as is” right here: https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/
>>>I think our friend Kristy/C-Gals, who we met there for the show, may have gotten kisses from both Bobby Sherman and her teen idol heart-throb, Micky Dolenz. (kk)
I didn't! I would have been impossible to live with if I had! I'd be actively talking about it today if I had. My life would have been consumed with it. Move over, Marcia Brady's cheek!!
Kristy
Actually, I think that day as we were walking over to meet them all, you said, "All I wanna do is lick Micky's cheek!" lol (kk)
bwahaha YEP that was the day!
Kristy
Happy Birthday 🎈🎂!!! to Mick Fleetwood on June 24th. Caught Mick at The Century Plaza hotel during The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Awards. Recall seeing Mick with Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green at The Whisky a few times. First band I recall casually drinking beers on stage during the show., 🍺🍻🍻!!!
Jim Roup
Speaking of Happy Birthdays, Happy Birthday to June Lockhart, who turned 100 on Wednesday (June 25th)!
Lockhart was part of our lives growing up, appearing in 200 episodes of “Lassie” as Timmy’s mother, Ruth Martin, before taking off again in the cult classic “Lost In Space.” (88 episodes as Maureen Robinson)
Both of her “Lost In Space” children posted birthday greetings …
From Bill Mumy (of “Danger Will Robinson” fame):
Happy 100th Birthday to the Mighty JUNE LOCKHART today!! What a gal! She is truly special! Onward.
And Angela Cartwright (my first school boy crush):
One hundred years!
What an extraordinary milestone — what an extraordinary person.
Happy 100th Birthday to someone who has touched generations with her wisdom, strength, and that rock and roll unforgettable spark.
Here’s to the joy of celebrating you today, June ... 100 Years Young
Me-TV posted this awesome tribute …
(Meanwhile, Mel Brooks just turned 99 yesterday!!!)
[or would that be 2099???] kk
Hi Kent.
In this busy month of June I'm not sure you got this news on the death of singer Patti Drew. Here are some links with the sad news. She passed on June 16th at the age of 80.
60's Soul/Pop Singer Patti Drew, Known for hit "Tell Him" Has Passed Away
Santi Paradoa
Miami, Florida
I heard about this shortly after it happened and meant to post something but completely forgot with all the other deaths this month … unreal!
Patti had a hit twice with the song “Tell Him,” first with her group The Drew-Vels in 1964 (#76) and then again as a solo artist a few years later in 1967. (#81)
She charted with “Workin’ On A Groovy Thing” a year before The Fifth Dimension took it into The Top 20. (Patti’s version stopped at #41 in Record World … and #62 in Billboard.
For some reason, her records always did better here in Chicago than they did on the national charts. The Drew-Vels’ version of “Tell Him” went all the way to #19 here in Chi-Town while “Workin’ On A Groovy Thing” peaked at #17 … so when I first heard The Fifth Dimension’s version, it registered immediately as a remake for 16-year-old me! (kk)
Lalo Schifrin has died …
Will this ever end? He was 93.
He wrote many really great film and TV scores, from Bullitt to TV'ers like Mannix (MY FAVE LALO SONG) and Mission: Impossible, just some classic themes and songs.
Lalo Schifrin, Prolific Film Composer Who Wrote ‘Mission: Impossible’ Theme, Dies at 93
One 1968 Lalo 45 I have is from the movie "The Fox" called That Night.
Vocal on it by Sally Stevens, who sang on 100s of The Simpsons episodes, including the theme song.
She sang on 100s of films, TV shows as well. She is living at 85 now.
Her career rivals Lalo's to an extent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgUSiyfbpwo&list=RDmgUSiyfbpwo&start_radio=1
Clark Besch
Schifrin's movie and TV score resume was quite impressive indeed.
In addition to his most famous, "Mission Impossible" theme, Lalo's music could also be heard in landmark films like "Bullitt," "Dirty Harry," "The Amityville Horror" and "Cool Hand Luke" as well as TV series like "Mannix," "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," "The Big Valley" and "Medical Center." Whether we knew it our not, his music was all around us growing up. (kk)
Among the great theme songs composed by Lalo Schifrin is "Burning Bridges" for the movie "Kelly's Heroes." Mike Curb is credited with the lyrics. For those few FH readers who ever heard of a group called "Pink Martini," they adapted the same melody to their wonderful track "Splendor In The Grass."
David Lewis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52w-XKTqlXU&list=RD52w-XKTqlXU&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcOGbIBpH-I&list=RDIcOGbIBpH-I&start_radio=1
No question about it, The Celebrity Death Beeper has been in overdrive this month …
There were three more show-biz related deaths to report on Thursday / Friday (6/26-6/27):
In the music world, Buster Poindexter / David Johansen, leader of The New York Dolls. (He was the last original surviving member.) Johansen earned his biggest hit as a solo artist under his alter-ego name in 1988 with “Hot Hot Hot.”
Actor Rick Hurst of “The Dukes Of Hazzard” and news journalist Bill Moyers also left us. (kk)
The Beach Boys cancelled their show tonight ... no reason was given ... but we saw video of one of their performances last week and Mike Love looked and sounded exceptionally frail.
Meanwhile, Paul Simon has also cancelled a couple of shows, due to insufferable back pain. After reviewing all of the above, I hate to say it, but I think the days of seeing our '60's heroes live in concert many quickly be coming to an end.
Director Laurence Harlan Jacobs has put together a new music video for Norman Greenbaum’s classic #1 1970 Hit “Spirit In The Sky.” It stars Conor Sherry (Happy Gilmore 2, Snack Shack) and Abby Ryder Fortson (Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, The Pitt) … and Greenbaum even appears in the clip as the shop owner.
I’ll be honest with you, I don’t quite get the point of the story here … but this is such a great song, you’ve just got to watch it all the way through regardless. (kk)
Looking at this week’s chart and seeing the two songs at number 4 and 5 (with Wonderful World just ahead of For Your Love) reminds me that Herman's Hermits recorded For Your Love as well but always thought The Yardbirds trumped them on this song. This is also the song that made Eric Clapton leave The Yardbirds. I always loved the song, not knowing there was any derision behind it.
Shelley
Herman’s Hermits are still holding strong on this week’s chart with three entries, including the week’s highest premier, “I’m Henry The VIII, I Am,” new at #23. “Wonderful World” is still climbing at #4, while “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter” has finally run out of gas at #81. (“Silhouettes must have just slipped off this week … it was #51 last week.) kk
