From Timmy, news of this year's Radio Hall Of Fame Inductees ...
Presenting the selection of eight new inductees into the Radio Hall of Fame ...
Boomer Esiason, Dennis Green, Shotgun Tom Kelly, Helen Little, Bob Pittman, Rickey Smiley, Charlie Van Dyke and Fred Winston
This year’s inductees will be honored at the 2026 Induction Ceremony on Thursday, October 8th at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago.
Tickets for the 2026 Induction Ceremony are on sale now.
More information here: https://www.radiohalloffame.com/2026-inductees
Speaking of radio ...
Be sure to join us this Saturday, August 15th, for Part 2 of our WCFL Salute from 12 noon - 3 pm Central Time on Road to Rock Radio from the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66. This radio special originally aired on Rewound Radio in recognition of the 50th Anniversary of WCFL switching formats from Top 40 to Beautiful Music. This Saturday on Part 2 we will feature an interview from Jim Hampton from the USA Radio Museum as he talks with Ken Draper, legendary WCFL Programmer. You’ll also hear a bit of Bob Dearborn and a whole lot of Larry Lujack on the last day of Rock Music, over 50 years ago this last March 15th. We will cap it off with an 18-minute montage of the jocks that graced the airwaves of “The Voice of Labor”. This Saturday on the DJ Hall of Fame, originally heard on RewoundRadio.com and played back for you this weekend at 12 noon Central on Saturday. At that time, click on this link for this fantastic retrospect:
https://live365.com/station/Road-To-Rock-Radio-a44007
Thanks,
Ted Gorden Smucker
Keeping the radio groove going, this just in from Timmy ...
A new Dick Biondi / KRLA YouTube Posting from 1981 ...
The Asher show was great and it weaved the story perfectly as the characters kept showing up as the story kept going and would often return to it. Had NO idea Peter and his sisters were film stars as early as 1953! And sister Jane was a true actress for years in the 50s. All three redheaded siblings appeared in a few films as children, as you may know. I was happy to see Andrew Gold get lots of mentions. He's been a huge fave of mine since 70s. A great story about him in it. I noticed Randy Meisner (Eagles) was one Peter hired for the first WB James Taylor LP! Randy was, of course, from NEBRASKA!
They talk about how Peter and Gordon were total opposites -- Peter quiet and Gordon handsome and chased girls and partied. I believe it, as our local band the Coachmen opened for the Dick Clark package tour (in Nebraska) of about eight acts in ‘65 and Peter & Gordon were on the bus with them in Nebraska traveling and one Coachmen buddy said Gordon and Jackie DeShannon were getting it on, in the back! Still, very happy he had so much of their career.
Before the film started, a woman in front of us turned around beaming and asked the ten or so there if we all remembered Peter & Gordon and we all said yes. After the film was over, she again turned to the now twenty (most showed up after the lights had gone off at 7) and said "Wasn’t that great?!" I could tell she wanted to have some kind of banter and I would have liked to pipe up, but I was kinda choked up, so kept quiet. It woulda been hard to talk about loving Peter & Gordon and the film without being emotional, I think. Yes, really. :)
Clark Besch
It’s a GREAT film and is very well done. (I’ve seen it twice now and certain moments still get to me … the end of Peter’s marriage, for example, and the tie-in to the hit song “Her Town, Too.” Never knew THAT story before!)
Highly recommended … and still playing at special showings all over the country.
Here are the dates thru the end of August … https://peterashermovie.com/buy-tickets
Our original review: https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2026/06/tuesday-this-and-that_01478749616.html (scroll down to see it)
Boy, I’ll tell you what … type PETER ASHER into the Forgotten Hits search engine in the upper left hand corner and you won’t BELIEVE how many things pop up!!! (kk)
Clark also sent us this interesting article about the history of stereo sound ...
This is quite a story that you may or may not have known.
From our "Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News" Department:
Rod Stewart had to cancel another show (Cincinnati, August 9th).
He was rushed to the hospital for a "medical procedure."
He is scheduled to appear here locally on September 5th at Ravinia. Still waiting to hear if any other dates will be in jeopardy. (No comment ... at some point I just feel like a broken record ... but it DOES seem like not a week goes by where I don't have to report rock news headlines such as this one.) kk
UPDATE 1: It was just announced that Rod Stewart's show at Ravinia has been cancelled, along with the balance of his tour. (Rod has since been diagnosed with a heart condition.) FH Readers know that we've been begging him to cancel the tour for at least three weeks now. Hopefully, he can now get the treatment he needs in time to actually make a difference. (Can a Frankie Valli retirement announcement be far off at this point??? Frankie's brother Bobby has essentially announced as much.) kk
UPDATE 2: Latest word is that Rod is following his doctors' advice and resting up for about four weeks ... but he now says he intends to return to the stage to make up the shows that he had to miss due to cancellations. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if he'll follow thru with these intentions rather than just calling it a career and resting on his laurels. (kk)
Founding member Frank Beard, drummer for ZZ Top has had to leave the band's tour due to health issues. (You may remember that ZZ Top cancelled their appearance at The Hollywood Bowl at the very last minute back on August 5th due to "unforeseen personnel issues.") Michael Monahan will fill in on drums so the tour can continue, leaving Billy Gibbons as the only remaining original member of the band performing. (kk)
Earth, Wind and Fire finally announced it was their drummer John Paris who experienced the "cardiac incident" that caused them to cancel their show last week. (Paris joined the band in 2001 and is married to Kathy Merrick, who has been performing as a member of The Honey Cone. since 2024) The group has started a GoFundMe campaign to help with John's medical bills. I have not seen any notifications regarding when or if the tour will resume and there is nothing currently posted on the band's website. (kk)
Meanwhile, Chicago has announced that once their tour with Styx wraps up on September 6th in Los Angeles, they will continue playing dates on their own through November. The current schedule shows:
September 17th – Paso Robles, CA – Vina Robles Amphitheatre
September 19th – Rohnert Park, CA – Graton Resort & Casino
September 20th – Reno, NV – Grand Sierra Resort and Casino
September 23rd – Jacksonville, OR – Britt Pavilion
September 25th – Hillsboro, OR – Hops Ballpark
September 26th – Puyallup, WA – Washington State Fair
September 27th – Spokane, WA – BECU Live at Northern Quest
September 29th – Missoula, MT – Adams Center Arena
September 30th – Billings, MT – First Interstate Arena at MetraPark
October 2nd – Idaho Falls, ID – Mountain America Center
November 5th – Bethlehem, PA – The Wind Creek Event Center
November 6th and 7th – Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena
November 10th – Port Chester, NY – The Capitol Theatre
November 11th – Wallingford, CT – Toyota Oakdale Theatre
November 13th – Westbury, NY – Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair
November 14th – Salamanca, NY – Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino Event Center
November 15th – Youngstown, OH – DeYor Performing Arts Center
November 17th – Youngstown, OH – Mershon Auditorium
November 18th – Mt Pleasant, MI – Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort
Our FH Buddy Scott Paton ran a great review of a show he just saw featuring Al Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band ... they hit our area later this month for two shows (one at The Arcada and one at The Des Plaines Theatre.) kk
While the new albums by Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones have already fallen out of The Top 200, Michael Jackson continues to soar ... this week "Thriller" is the #8 album in the country and his "Number Ones" LP is right behind it at #11. The Jackson biopic starts airing on Starz this week ... so there's no telling how much longer this will go on! (kk)
Never Say Never ...
85 year old Little Anthony has a new record coming out ...
And it just happens to be called "Never Say Never."
More details as we get 'em ... but right now the release date looks like August 21st. (kk)
Micky Dolenz has already released a second video from his new EP "Timeless," out September 4th ...
Listen how good HE still sounds these days!
For chart fanatics like me, you might enjoy Billboard's recent list of Staff Picks for the Best #2 Hits in Hot 100 History. (Thru last week, 542 songs have earned this distinction of a #2 Hot 100 peak.)
Before reading, please keep in mind that this list is NOT a representative recap of how well these songs charted statistically against each other, but rather a list of Staff Pick Favorites. Also be warned that the list of 542 eligibles includes every #2 peak that occurred between of August of 1958 and last week! (kk)
For a list of the ACTUAL ranking of The Top 50 #2 Hits of All-Time, try this one on for size ...
And, here's another follow-up piece they did, spotlighting "Fun Facts" about the #2 Hits ...
Billboard is apparently on a roll with this new #2's theme ... new more articles were posted before we went to press ...
Of course, "The Tide Is High" was not a new song when Blondie recorded it; the original version was done by the Jamaican ska band the Paragons, released in 1967.
– Randy Price
Yeah, but that kinda kills the whole joke, doesn’t it??? (kk)
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
8/13/66 – In an act that can only be defined as “Instant Karma,” Longview, Texas radio station KLUE is struck by lightning the day after holding a "Beatles Bonfire," knocking an engineer unconscious and causing extensive damage to equipment.
