And Chuck Ghoul ... Booooell ... Buell ... for the new artwork ...
We now present a "catch-up" edition of recent comments!
might appear isn't until October 31, 2037! (Chuck Boo-ell!!)
I just marked my calendar ... wouldn't wanna miss that!!! (kk0
The Beach Boys’ concerts scheduled for Epcot Center at Disney World on November 11th and 12th are getting a little bit of a shake-up in light of Mike Love’s continuing health issues. Now performing will be John Stamos and the California Sound, featuring members of The Beach Boys Band. (They’re not allowed to perform under The Beach Boys’ name because Mike Love owns the rights to that name.) Disney did not make a special announcement, only updating the show schedule accordingly. Love, meanwhile, says he is working hard to get healthy enough to perform again. I think their music may be better served as part of “The California Sound” that they helped to create. (kk)
Hi Kent,
That French version of You Wouldn’t Listen was indeed a great find. I think both the French and the Germans prefer(ed) lyrics in the local language. Some artists also sang in e.g. French (Marianne Faithful, Petula Clark).
Have you ever heard this German cover of Kind Of A Drag by the Buckinghams?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQUnIR08Ruc
Or this Austrian singer Marianne Wendt’s cover of Mercy, Mercy, Mercy : https://youtu.be/S7Iz6AMgeGs?si=3EBedSgY_ayAQwEF
Kind regards
Ben
Last week it was a French version of The Ides Of March's hit "You Wouldn't Listen" ...
THIS week it's a German version of The Buckinghams' "Kind Of A Drag!"
Maybe our Chicagoland Local Heroes had a much farther reach than any of us ever realized!!! (kk)
I sent a copy of this recording to Jim Holvay, who wrote “Kind Of A Drag” (and three other hits) for The Buckinghams … and to Carl Giammarese, who is keeping The Buckinghams alive today …
Hey Kent-
HOLY SH_T!
I’ve never heard ANY version of “Drag” other than the Bucks.
Ricky West does a good job singing it and the track is played better than the original. (ha, ha)
THANK YOU so much for forwarding this. I just sent it to Carl G.
I’m still trying to get back to Chicago.
When the plans are confirmed, I will definitely give you a heads-up.
THANKS AGAIN,
Jimmy
And here’s Carl’s take …
Ha, that is a real hoot!! Very interesting and honored to hear our song sung in German!
I guess you’re right ... I know our hits charted in Europe and The Philippines, but to hear it rerecorded in another language is fun to hear!
Kent, thanks for sending. I hope you’re doing well,
Carl
From Clark Besch …
Who says AM radio is dead? When I went to bed last night, I checked out WGN's great late night Rollye James show, as I often do. She is incredibly knowledgeable about 60s music and radio and everything else related. Son of Wrecking Crew member Tommy Tedesco and creator of the film “The Wrecking Crew,” Denny Tedesco was her guest and they took calls with Denny telling lots of behind the scenes stories of 60s recording studios, music artists and more. It was a fun show you can hear if you download my MP3 I made of the show.
https://fromsmash.com/4RNFpSNzrD-ft
Rollye's website description:
Full show tonight starting at 10, and we’ll talk with Denny Tedesco in the first hour. Denny is infamous studio guitarist Tommy Tedesco’s son. But more than that, he’s the keeper of the flame, preserving the truth behind the records you bought, particularly in the 1950s, with his Wrecking Crew film. Click on it for more info, and read about him here at Denny Tedesco.com. Not only will we talk about the fantastic behind the scenes music stories, but we’ll also look at how he managed to get the music rights to release the movie; and his upcoming projects: Wolfman Jack? Snuff Garrett?
Denny Tedesco has been a great friend to Forgotten Hits for over twenty years now … super guy who poured his heart and soul into the making of this film, an absolute MUST HAVE for anyone fond of ‘60’s music and eager to learn more about its origins. Highly recommended … and FINALLY available everywhere. (kk)
Kent,
Here is an updated list, in case anyone is interested, in some of the songs that I featured on my Halloween Spooktacular radio program. Again, all records are Halloween related. There were even some records I didn't get around to playing.
Also, this time of year and really any time I want to, I get out my copies of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and browse through them. I've got the complete set, all 191 issues for those of your readers who are familiar with the magazine
Larry
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You can listen to all four and a half hours of Larry Neal's Halloween Spooktacular here ...
Click the link ...
It's guaranteed to make for some GREAT programming to fill out the rest of your night! (kk)
The earliest Halloween charters for this year are led by Michael Jackson (“Thriller”), Rockwell (“Somebody’s Watching Me”), Ray Parker, Jr. (“Ghostbusters”) and, of course, Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s former #1 "Monster" Hit,“Monster Mash. But Larry has come up with some REAL rarities on his list ... these should make for some great programming ideas for any other DJ’s on the list looking to spice things up during the Halloween season for years to come. You'll find some OUTSTANDING suggestions here! (kk)
Meanwhile, Billboard has compiled their own list of The Top 25 Halloween Songs based on their Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart. (You may be surprised by a few of these entries ... and the placement of a few others!)
And, speaking of great play lists for themed program, Sean Ross (Ross On Radio) has put together a list of 103 movie songs … and you can listen to them all on Spotify here:
Some GREAT tracks here! (kk)
Andrew Sandoval makes an appearance on “Pop Goes The ‘60’s” to discuss his latest book, “The Monkees On TV, Season One.” You can view the whole interview here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dS82rtApGw
Ella Langley has reclaimed the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart this week as “Choosin’ Texas” now logs its 25th week at #1.
This marks “Choosin’ Texas”’s SEVENTH trip to the top of the survey, dating back to February 14th. It returned to #1 on March 7 and then revisited the throne from March 21st – March 28th, April 11th thru April 25, May 9th thru May -23rd, and then its longest run at #1 from July 4th thru October 3rd. (Incredible!)
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has returned to #1 for the past seven holiday seasons (running from 2019 thru 2025) and will likely do so again this year … but for Langley to climb, fall and return seven times during the same year (over an eight month period) is really quite amazing.
Is it deserving of 25 weeks at #1??? There’s no question that it’s a bona-fide #1 Hit … that point would be hard to argue … but I think a ten week run at the top would have been more in line with what we’ve seen in the past. I believe that 25 weeks at #1 is less a testament to how great a song it is rather than how extremely weak the competition has been. It’s been a hot new release that knocked it out of #1, only to be replaced a week or two later due to a lack of staying power. Sadly, that doesn’t say much about the caliber of the other material released this year. (kk)
Over the years we have paid special tribute to the books written by Jeff March and Marti Childs spotlighting artists of the ‘60’s with interesting interviews and band histories. In fact, we even serialized a few of these here in Forgotten Hits as part of a monthly feature.
So you can imagine my surprise when I got this email from Jeff the other day …
Our 'quartet' of updated pop stars books is complete
Hi, Kent,
I hope you are doing well.
After 32 years of operating our editing business (EditPros LLC), Marti Childs and I closed up shop in August, 2025. We decided at that point to refresh our four biographical books about musical performers — which had been titled Echoes of the Sixties and three volumes of Where Have All the Pop Stars Gone? I said “had been” because we have updated all four books with additional information and reissued that quartet of musical performer biographical books under the more succinct title For the Record, Volumes 1 – 4.
The updated content primarily concerned documenting changes that occurred since publication of the earlier editions (which had been published between 1999 and 2016). For living performers, we filled in the blanks about what they’ve been doing since then. A few continue to perform, while a number of them retired from public life either for health reasons or because they wanted to relax and enjoy time with family members.
For all four books, we spoke with and wrote sections on 103 performers, of whom 46 have since died. So we added information about their passing. One major change occurred in Volume 4 — the Three Dog Night chapter contains two new, additional biographical profilies — on singer Danny Hutton and guitarist Michael Allsup, who were not in the prior volume. They made some excellent contributions to that chapter.
The four books in combination contain more than 30 new photos that had not appeared in prior editions.
Volumes 1 through 3 have been published, and the materials for Volume 4 are now in the hands of the printer and distributor, and the book should be available within a week or so from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and other sellers in paperback and ebook editions. (Volume 4 contains chapters about the Atlanta Rhythm Section, the band Love, Anne Murray, Billy Joe Royal, the Standells, B.J. Thomas, and Three Dog Night.)
By all means, please spread the word about the For the Record series if you’re so inclined.
As soon as the paperback and ebook versions become available publicly, we’ll announce that in two places:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FTRbooks
- Book details: https://www.book-prep.com/published-books.html
Thank you.
— Yer old pal,
Jeff
Can’t wait to see the revised editions!
Here’s one of the spotlight features we ran … omg!, TEN years ago in FH …
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2022/04/insights-into-anne-murray.html
Aerosmith performed their first “comeback” concert at The Hollywood Bowl on Thursday, October 29th, treating fans to a six song set that included a few special guest stars …
Aerosmith’s six-song set list:
“Toys in the Attic” (Dave Grohl on drums)
“Back in the Saddle” (Dave Grohl on drums)
“Sweet Emotion” (Dave Grohl on drums)
“Dream On” (Dave Grohl on drums)
“The Train Kept A-Rollin'” (Dave Grohl on drums, Johnny Depp on guitar)
“Walk This Way” (original Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer on drums along with John Douglas … seems like a lot of hype for Kramer to only perform on one song!)
Opening acts included Guns N’ Roses (“Welcome to the Jungle” and “Paradise City” after first performing covers of Aerosmith’s “Nobody’s Fault,” Last Child” and “Seasons of Wither”), Billy Idol + Steve Stevens, Heart (“Janie’s Got A Gun”), the Black Crowes, Sammy Hagar (“Draw The Line”), Godsmack‘s Sully Erna, Warren Haynes and Eric Church. Most of the other acts were backed by an all-star band that featured musical director Don Was, Nuno Bettencourt, Kenny Aronoff, Chad Smith, Andrew Watt and Mike Inez.
Another show is scheduled for Sunday, November 1st (with more surprises promised) kk
