Noise 11 is reporting that Micky Dolenz will bring his “60 Years Of The Monkees” tour to Australia next year.
Micky Dolenz will bring a new 60th anniversary production celebrating The Monkees to Australia in May 2027, with ten performances
Dolenz will return to Australia in May, 2027, for a ten-date national tour celebrating 60 Years Of The Monkees, scheduled to begin at QPAC in Brisbane on May 6 and conclude at Perth’s Astor Theatre on May 26. Micky will do ten performances in all, traveling across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT.
For all our readers down under, here is the tour schedule:
May 6, Brisbane, QPAC
May 8, Gold Coast, HOTA
May 12, Newcastle, Civic Theatre
May 14, Sydney, State Theatre
May 16, Thirroul, Anita’s Theatre
May 18, Canberra, Canberra Theatre Centre
May 20, Geelong, Costa Hall
May 22, Melbourne, Palais Theatre
May 24, Adelaide, AEC Theatre
May 26, Perth, Astor Theatre
The Australian shows will present the group’s music chronologically, combining live performances with a multimedia presentation documenting key moments from The Monkees’ history.
The Monkees were HUGE in Australia, scoring 17 Top 20 hits between 1966 and 1970.
You can read the full article here: https://www.noise11.com/news/micky-dolenz-60-years-of-the-monkees-australian-tour-2027-20260825
Randy Bachman has announced that after the current Guess Who tour wraps up, he’ll head back out on the road with Bachman-Turner Overdrive right after the first of the year. This’ll keep them busy thru the month of March. Tickets for most shows are on sale now.
Tour dates currently scheduled include:
January 7th – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
January 8th – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
January 10th – Naples, FL – Hayes Hall
January 11th – Jacksonville, FL – The Florida Theatre
January 13th – Montgomery, AL – Montgomery Performing Arts Centre
January 15th – Biloxi, MS – IP Casino Resort Spa
January 17th – San Antonio, TX – Tobin Center
January 19th – Tucson, AZ – Fox Tucson Theatre
January 21st – Thousand Oaks, CA – Bank Of America Performing Arts Center
January 23rd – Indio, CA – Fantasy Springs Resort Casino
January 24th – Cerritos, CA – Cerritos Center For The Performing Arts
January 26th – Modesto, CA – Gallo Center For The Arts
February 27th – Bensalem, PA – Parx Casino Xcite Center
February 28th – Lancaster, PA – American Music Theatre
March 2nd – Montclair, NJ – Wellmont Theater
March 3rd – Wheeling, WV – Capitol Theatre
March 5th – Shipshewana, IN – Blue Gate Performing Arts Center
March 6th – Davenport, IA – Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center
March 9th – Effingham, IL – Effingham Performance Center
March 10th – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
March 12th – Tulsa, OK – Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
March 13th – Quapaw, OK – Downstream Casino Resort The Pavilion
March 15th – Des Moines, IA – Hoyt Sherman Place
March 16th – La Vista, NE – The Astro Theater
March 18th – Mayetta, KS – Prairie Band Casino & Resort Great Lakes Ballroom
March 20th – Carlton, MN – Black Bear Casino Resort
We lost another female icon this past week … Jaye P. Morgan, who had a dozen Top 40 hits in the ‘50’s, and then went on to even greater fame to a whole new generation on “The Gong Show,” has passed away. She was 94. (She also served as a vocalist on the ABC quiz show “Stop the Music” in 1954-1955; hosted her NBC variety program in 1956 while also appearing as a regular on Robert Q. Lewis’ CBS daytime show.) She was a regular guest on “The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson,” appearing about 150 times, which is where she honed her “naughty reputation.”
While I don’t think I ever saw a single episode, her double entendres made her the delight of “The Gong Show” fans. One act featured two young women sitting on the stage licking orange Popsicles. (Yes, that was the whole act!) Phyllis Diller gave them a zero and Jamie Farr gave them a 2, but Jaye P. Morgan gave the girls a 10, the highest score possible, stating “Don’t you know that’s the way I started?” It was baring her breasts during another act’s performance that ultimately got her fired from the program. (OK, maybe I’ll look for this on YouTube!) kk
I think she lived the Madonna persona before Madonna did in the 1970's when The Gong Show came about.
Uncle T. Jay
More here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jaye-p-morgan-dead-gong-show-singer-1236681831/
Toldja I’d do it!!! (lol) kk
Tim Curry, 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' Star, Dies at 80
In July, 1995, in Los Angeles at the MET Theatre on Oxford Avenue I produced and co-curated with director Darrell Larson a month-long Rock and Roll in Literature series at the venue. Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger reunited and played “Peace Frog,” “Love Me Two Times” and “Little Red Rooster” on July 8. Kirk Silsbee read from Art Pepper’s Straight Life, John Densmore did an entry from his new novel, and Michael Ontkean recited Ode to L.A. by Jim Morrison.
Mick Farren, Don Waller, Tim Curry, David Ritz, Roger Steffens, Lewis MacAdams, David Leaf, Bill Pullman, Paul Body, Ed Kirk Silsbee, Ed Harris, MET event associate producer Daniel Weizmann and I also shared reflections during July, 1995, on Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Bob Marley, Motown and The Band.
I will always relish Tim Curry delivering a stellar reading from John Lennon's "A Spaniard In The Works."
Harvey Kubernik
And I just got the sad news that James Fairs, one of the founding members of The Cryan' Shames, has passed away. Jim (which is how I first knew him) was responsible for writing two of my all-time favorite Shames songs, "It Could Be We're In Love" (#1 here in Chicago for four weeks in 1967) and "I Wanna Meet You," a #6 local hit in 1966.
I met Jim for the very first time thru some rather unusual circumstances. He had run an ad in the local paper, trying to sell his starburst Gretsch Country Gentleman Guitar, and I was in the market for a new guitar at the time. I had my heart set on a new one but my dad said he'd drive me up there to take a look at this one as, being used, I couldn't probably save a little bit of money. When I met Jim, I had no idea who he was at the time ... and quite honestly, I caught them right on the verge of fame.
They were playing an outdoor gig at the Hillside Shopping Center back in 1966 ... and weren't even called The Cryan' Shames yet. Back then, they were still known as The Travelers. Between sets, he took me into their trailer and showed me the guitar. Man, he could play it ... I was just a novice starting out ... but his demo would have impressed anybody.
WLS "East Of Midnight" Jock Don Phillips was emceeing the show and after the show, I was able to collect a bunch of autographs from him and the members of the band, all of which disappeared AGES ago! ... but I didn't buy the guitar. In fact, it would be the following year that I bought a brand new Gibson ES335 instead. (Thankfully, I had improved a little bit by then!)
Still, he was a legend in our hometown. The Cryan' Shames placed EIGHT songs on the local and national charts between 1966 and 1970. They all became part of my DNA living here in Chicago at a very exciting time in music. (Speaking of which, be sure to listen to the WLS/WCFL Rewound Labor Day Weekend Radio Special on Rewound Radio ... more on this below!) Special thanks to David Lewis for letting me know about James' passing ... he said he heard about it on Rollye James' radio show on Thursday Night, where she played a tribute to the band. (The Buckinghams also posted that they will perform a tribute to James Fairs at the next Cornerstones show scheduled for September 2nd.) kk
| THE CRYAN' SHAMES HIT LIST | US PEAK |
CHI PEAK | |
| 1966 | Sugar And Spice | 39 | 4 |
| 1966 | I Wanna Meet You | 62 | 6 |
| 1967 | Mr. Unreliable | 100 | 7 |
| 1967 | It Could Be We're In Love | 52 | 1 |
| 1968 | Up On The Roof | 60 | 7 |
| 1968 | Young Birds Fly | 86 | 12 |
| 1968 | Greeburg, Glickstein, Charles David Smith And Jones | 73 | 9 |
| 1969 | First Train To California | 103 | 26 |
From Ken Voss, who maintains The Illinois Music Archives Facebook Page ... https://www.facebook.com/groups/illinoisrockandrollmusicarchives/
Due to raised concerns regarding her health and well-being (including some raised right here in Forgotten Hits), Gladys Knight has announced that she is retiring from the road to concentrate on the next level of her career ... which include spending more time on projects with her husband and visiting with her grandbabies. Gladys says that she is looking forward to this new era. (kk)
Here complete statement is below ...
After much soul searching I’ve decided that I will be easing into fewer performances while focusing on transitioning into the next stage of my career and life moving forward. I’ll be spending more time on projects with my husband and visiting with my grandbabies and am looking forward to this new era.
I’d like to take a moment, in advance, to thank all my fans over this last three quarters of a century for making a little girl’s dream come true and supporting her every step of the way. I am immensely grateful to all of you and send my eternal love back to you. I hope to see your smiling faces out and about and on the road. God bless all of you and hope to see you soon.
We are SO glad we got to see Gladys before she made this announcement. She was on OUR bucket list for quite some time. (kk)
[You'll find the link to our review below] :
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/search?q=gladys+knight+review
This week the Playboys of Edinburg were mentioned in a Forgotten Hits. I talk with group member James Williams on a weekly basis. He is still involved in music after all these years as a promoter of independent artists. We talk every once in a while about the Playboys.
Phil Nee – WRCO
Very cool! I wasn’t familiar with them at all until someone mentioned them here … but I see that they did have TWO records that “bubbled under” on the national charts:
“Look At Me Girl” made it to #106 in Record World (#107 in Billboard) and “Let’s Get Back To Rock And Roll” also reached #106 in Record World but only #130 in Cash Box. If you’ve got copies of these to share, I’d love to hear them. Thanks, Phil! (kk)
And here's one of 'em ...
Seriously, at this point would anybody be surprised?!?!? (kk)
The future is back -- from 1969
Lincoln, Nebraska's own "Nostradomus duo" is back via J. Vincent Edward, who has released a new version of the 1969 Woodstock era hit "In The Year 2525." The new version in the link below is very true to the original song, with no lyric changes. It has debuted on the UK's Heritage Chart at #36. You certainly can’t complain much about any inaccuracies in the story as it was in 1969 … or today.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nrD1nmcZ04
Lincoln's biggest claim to fame in music took the entire world by storm in this month in 1969 when the moonwalk and Woodstock were the big new of the time. It spent an entire month at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and was soon #1 worldwide. It took only four weeks to reach #1 on the Billboard chart after it debuted on the Hot 100, despite reaching #1 on KLMS here in Lincoln at EASTER, 1969!
The charts don’t lie. KLMS, Lincoln, April 5, 1969 … Billboard national Hot 100 FOUR MONTHS later in August and now showing at #35 this week, exactly 57 YEARS later!
Funny that the Rolling Stones’ new hit record "Honky Tonk Women" would zoom to #1 and knock Zager & Evans off the top a month later above … but in this week's new Heritage chart, the Stones are flying towards the top, currently sitting at #5, up from #9 the week before!
As to where are Zager & Evans today? Rick Evans passed away in 2018 at age 75. Denny Zager builds custom guitars here in Lincoln. Evans wrote "2525" and got the publishing money, an issue that created a huge wedge between the two and they were estranged for over 50 years, never performing together again since the early 70's.
Clark Besch
It looks like Micky Dolenz is climbing the Heritage Chart right now, too ... his new single "Terri" moves up from #21 to #19.
Clark ALSO told me that BMG is releasing the COMPLETE Dave Clark Five collected works.
It'll be spread out over three box set releases, the first of which hits the streets on October 23rd (and yes, I've already preordered my copy. While I've already owned their complete collected works for YEARS, spread out over individual bootleg CD releases ... I want the REAL high quality authorized thing ... as endorsed by Dave Clark himself!!!)
The first release ... a 5-disc set ... will feature their first five US album releases, covering 1964 and 1965. Attractively priced at only $27.96, too!
Kent,
FB said he found a way to get rich involving pillows. Couldn't help but think of the following:
1. SEND ME THE PILLOW THAT YOU DREAM ON------Johnny Tillotson (1963)
2. SEND ME THE PILLOW THAT YOU DREAM ON------Hank Locklin (1958)
3 IF MY PILLOW COULD TALK--------------------------------Connie Francis (1963)
4 PILLOW TALK----------------------------------------------------Sylvia (1973)
There may be one or two more but can't think of any
offhand.
Larry
One of MY personal favorites is “Pillow Time” by The Monkees. It comes from their "Present" LP.
What’s really fun is that you can hear Micky Dolenz working the track out in his head during the “Headquarters” sessions a couple of years earlier. (It’s amazing he remembered it at all … from the sounds of things, he was stoned out of his mind during this rehearsal! Lol)
And still MORE on The Monkees ... from Gary Strobl ...
And here's an anniversary we completely missed ...
Thanks again to Gary Strobl for keeping us current!
From Tom Cuddy …
How Ron Dante Became the Voice of a Generation | The Magnificent Others
https://youtu.be/QZYeV4MgIgk?si=t7X8Ses2LnkDgxuM
And now ~~~
This Special Birthday Songs MixTape for you, Kent!
Featuring these Great Forgotten Hits ~~~
1. Let's Get A Physical
2. Ain't No Burrito Mild Enough
3. Johnny B. Old
4. How Do You Mend a Broken Everything
5. The Lack O' Motion
6. Hair Potion Number Nine
7. Doctor My Eyes (And Ears and Joints and Back and ...)
8. To All the Girls I've Disappointed Before
9. A Hard Day's Nap
10. Knock Knock Knockin' on the Bathroom Door
Buell!
Thank you, Sir Mix-Master! Much appreciated! (kk)
Look what Frannie got me for my birthday!
AND NOW ... YOUR CHANCE TO WIN TICKETS TO SEE A GREAT MICHAEL JACKSON TRIBUTE SHOW COMING TO BOTH THE ARCADA THEATRE AND THE DES PLAINES THEATER SEPTEMBER 30th and OCTOBER 1st!!!
Hot on the heels of our recent Michael Jackson series, I am happy to announce that, thanks to Ron Onesti, CEO of both The Arcada Theatre in St. Charles and The Des Plaines Theatre in Des Plaines, we have tickets to give away to see BOTH shows, featuring a Michael Jackson impersonator coming in all the way from Brazil to do a show at The Arcada Theatre on September 30th
and October 1st at The Des Plaines Theatre!
IT'S MICHAEL JACKSON LIVES!!! ...
Wanna go?
Shoot me an email at kk@forgottenhits.com with Michael Jackson Show in the subject line and we’ll enter you in our drawing to win a pair of tickets. (Please specify if you have a preference for a particular date)
Winners to be announced sometime after Labor Day Weekend.
And, speaking of Labor Day Weekend, don’t forget the 5th Annual WLS / WCFL REWOUND special running on Rewound Radio …
Over 66 hours of vintage airchecks from Chicago’s two big powerhouse AM Top 40 stations … exactly as they aired back then with original commercials, newscasts, etc.
This has become a VERY big deal of the last several years and we look forward to it every time it comes on.
Here’s Ted Smucker to give you all the details …
Here's the scoop on this year's WLS/WCFL Rewound
Hello again, Kent, from the ghost of radio past. Ted Gorden Smucker here with the latest update on this year’s WLS/WCFL Rewound. We have had many emails, and Facebook messages wondering if our annual event will be returning in 2026. Well, the answer is a resounding “YES!” The popularity of our Labor Day Playback has taken on a life of itself, and listeners from coast to coast have made this an annual tradition.
As you can imagine, a number of the WLS and WCFL personalities are members of the National Radio Hall of Fame. They include Dick Biondi, Jim Dunbar, Superjock Larry Lujack, and Dick Orkin, creator of “Chickenman” and “The Tooth Fairy.” Also, Yvonne Daniels, John Records Landecker, New York legend Jim Kerr, Don Wade, plus Steve Dahl & Garry Meier. This year, the Hall of Fame is inducting two more legends, Charlie Van Dyke and Fred Winston ... where some people have said with tongue in cheek, “It’s about time.” WLS/WCFL Rewound will be recognizing these folks, and so many more that have received accolades from their home state or region, as well as national trade publications such as Billboard Magazine.
Some of the highlights you can look forward to are Dick and Doug’s last show as they got taken off the air on WCFL the morning of March 2, 1976. It will be followed up as Dick and Doug join Fred Winston three days later on WLS. We will also feature a portion of “The Big 89 Countdown” from Christmas Day, 1971, all restored masterfully by Technical Director Bill Shannon. Other highlights throughout the weekend include some of the last shows heard as WCFL closed out its Top 40 era from John Driscoll and Bob Dearborn. We will also catch Fred Winston on his first day as the new WCFL morning man in 1981. You’ll also be treated to “Chickenman” and “Animal Stories” throughout the weekend. We will feature three radio specials, such as a retrospective on DJ Art Roberts, an in depth look at the year 1968 on Dick Biondi’s “Pop Goes the Music,” as well as our annual playback of the WLS Rock and Roll Montage, featuring snippets of the hits from 1955 - 1989. These three specials air at 11:00 am Central time on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
We invite you to join us again so you can relive that Chicago AM Top 40 Radio Battle between WLS and WCFL. It’s WLS/WCFL Rewound, streaming for three big days, beginning at 5:00 am Central time Saturday, September 5th and running straight through to Monday, the 7th, well after Midnight. Over 66 hours of spectacular radio recordings of your favorite music and jocks, presented to you almost live and definitely free on RewoundRadio.com. Join us then.
How to listen:
2. I-Heart Radio App
3. TuneIn Radio App
4. Say “Alexa, play Rewound Radio”
Ted Gorden Smucker, Executive Producer
