60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
8/18/66 - The Doors officially signed with Elektra Records. The contract called for the band to produce seven albums. They also agreed (albeit somewhat reluctantly) to release “Break On Through” as their first single. However, in order to do so, the lyric "She gets high / she gets high / she gets high" was changed to “She gets / she gets / she gets" in order to secure radio play. (A year later, Jim Morrison would refuse to change the lyrics to “Light My Fire” when The Doors performed it on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”) I didn’t know about this earlier incident … I guess they were only willing to bend once in order to compromise their music. It makes a lot more sense now!
It took almost nine months for the band to REALLY break on through to national success ... but once they did, The Doors were unstoppable, scoring a dozen National Top 40 Hits ... not bad for an "album rock" band!
THE DOORS HIT LIST:
1967 - Light My Fire (#1)
1967 - People Are Strange (#10)
1968 - Love Me Two Times (#21)
1968 - The Unknown Soldier (#22)
1968 - Hello I Love You (#1)
1969 - Touch Me (#1)
1969 - Wishful Sinful (#28)
1969 - Tell All The People (#32)
1969 - Runnin' Blue (#36)
1970 - You Make Me Real (#28)
1971 - Love Her Madly (#7)
1971 - Riders On The Storm (#12)
(For some reason, The Doors always seemed to chart lower in Billboard than they did in the other major trades - peaks shown are for their BEST national peak position as graded by Billboard, Cash Box and Record World magazines) kk
TUESDAY THIS AND THAT:
Michelle Branch has recorded a new version of her song "The Game Of Love" (originally done with Santana), this time teaming up with The New Radicals ... and it still sounds great! (I've always said, "A Good Song Is A Good Song Is A Good Song")
Thanks for "Last Train." One of the first anti-war songs if you listen carefully ...
DIS
Thousands of fans gathered in Swansea, Wales, yesterday (8/17) for a celebration of life for singer Bonnie Tyler, who died on July 8th … this after huge crowds lined the streets of Mumbles on Saturday as her coffin, draped in a Welsh flag, was driven through the place she once called home. The organist played music by fellow Welsh music stars Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey, as well as some of Tyler’s own hits, to start to ceremony. (kk)
Rock Critic David Marsh has passed away – no cause of death has been given. He was 76.
Marsh is a long-time, well-respected voice of our music, writing for Creem, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice and several others. His biographies on Bruce Springsteen and The Who are considered to be rock and roll gems. Perhaps his best known book is “The Heart of Rock and Soul: the 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made,” in which he named Marvin Gaye’s recording of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” as the Number One Single Of All Time. (kk)
Sadder still for me was the passing of Tommy John, who was a crucial part of The Chicago White Sox when I was a kid growing up.
Long before he gained national acclaim with The Dodgers (and even had a medical procedure named after him!), John mowed ‘em down in The Sox’s run for the pennant in 1967. He was an immediate favorite in a pitching roster that also included Joel Horlen (whose no hitter I watched on television that year at my grandparents’ house!), Gary Peters and knuckleballers Hoyt Wilhelm and Wilbur Wood.
Over 26 seasons, John won 288 games and was named to The All Star Team four times. (Incredibly, he was never inducted into The Major League Baseball Hall Of Fame. His 288 wins is second only to Roger Clemens for most wins ever recorded by a non-Hall Of Fame Pitcher.)
It was while pitching for the Dodgers in 1974 that he threw out his left elbow in what everyone thought was a career-ending event. But a new revolutionary surgery performed by Dodgers Team Physician Frank Jobe rebuilt John’s arm and elbow, using tendons and ligaments from his right arm, drilling thru bone to anchor them in place. John sat out the 1975 season but came back two years later with a 20-7 record, a Cy Young Award and a Los Angeles Dodgers pennant.
Sadly, this didn’t mark the end of tragedy for the Tommy John family. In 1981, his two year old son Travis fell out of a third story window and lie in a coma for 19 days. Fortunately, he made a full recovery … but John lost another son in 2010 due to an overdose to prescription drugs.
Tommy John started his career with The Cleveland Indians, prior to being traded to The Chicago White Sox. After spending six years with The Los Angeles Dodgers, he later pitched for The New York Yankees and The California Angels, followed by a brief stint with The Oakland Athletics, followed by a return to The Yankees to finish out his career in 1986. His career record was 288-231 with 2245 strike outs and an ERA of 3.34. (kk)
From our “These Things Always Happen In Three’s” Department, it looks like long-term we were NOT able to “save the cheerleader” … actress Hayden Panettiere has died at age 36 of an apparent overdose. (kk)
Hi Kent,
As a fan of “Mr. Dieingly Sad,” may I suggest Shelby Flint’s version of “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” sitting on this week’s chart at #80. It would eventually peak at #61 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the AC chart. It’s an underrated gem.
Chris Cavanaugh
https://youtu.be/lV95anEcoyM?is=sdkPqTU0cUlehsZ_
Shelby Flint is probably best remembered for her #22 pop hit “Angel On My Shoulder” in 1961.
There were FIVE charted versions of “Cast Your Fate To The Wind in the mid-‘60’s, two of which were vocal versions. Shelby’s topped out at #59 in Record World while Steve Alaimo’s version hit #89 in Billboard. His is the vocal version that I remember … probably because I saw him do it on “Where The Action Is” or something because I don’t show it charting here in Chicago. (kk)
You can check out his version here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iFynJ13xTE&list=RD8iFynJ13xTE&start_radio=1
>>>I’ve also commented before on how it truly does a bit of a disservice to all the hard work that goes into putting on shows like these when you don’t properly acknowledge all of the guys who help to make it happen. Just sayin’ (kk)
Kent, you and I saw a perfect solution at Don Felder's concert. As he introduced each band member, their picture came up on the back screen with a list of all the bands they were connected with in their careers. Unfortunately, this is not practical for every group or performer, but it made everything so simple. I will attempt to continue giving credit where credit is due, delving into social and informational media to be as accurate as possible.
Another thought is that I could
be given a list of names at each concert. 
Oh, and maybe meet
all the performers. 
Shelley
I just went to a really cool
annual Hawaiian Tiki event in San Diego called Tiki Oasis — the theme this year
was groovy psychedelic tiki and the headlining artist was Strawberry Alarm
Clock. They blew me away and their new album is incredibly GREAT:
https://youtu.be/3vj91VpHv7o?si=TKd8SajtD8J620E5
I don’t work for them, just love their new
album — check it out, this is my fave song:
https://youtu.be/aq1VyPcY-IA?si=3aL97w1mDrBdsIKO
Enjoy!
Spud
VERY cool … happy to pass this along. Thanks, Spud! (Watch for our exclusive interview with Al Jardine, coming up Wednesday Night, 8/19, in Forgotten Hits!) kk
Came across this quite by accident the other day ...
Chalk this one up to "Good A.I." (kk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItbmkuGuq8g&list=RD6KeBoIFVYuw&index=2
*****SPECIAL NOTICE*****
LOOK FOR OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH AL JARDINE, FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE BEACH BOYS, COMING UP TOMORROW IN A SPECIAL WEDNESDAY EVENING POST!
