With heartfelt gratitude to the
many amazing people who made this dream possible — The Voice That Rocked
America – The Dick Biondi Story is now streaming worldwide! Many of you in this
email played pivotal roles. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! On March
29th, Ron Onesti is rolling out the red carpet at the Des Plaines Theatre for
our Movie Premier. I hope you’ll join us. Doors open 3:30 pm for a special day
that celebrates Dick Biondi, Chicago radio, and all of you.
Pam Enzweiler-Pulice
David Brigati, older brother of Rascal Eddie Brigati, passed away on March 7th. He was 85 years old.
David
was also a singer and it was he who was first tabbed by Joey Dee for
The Starliters ... and it was David's voice that graced the band's first
single, "Face Of An Angel." (It failed to chart.)
The
group became the house band at The Peppermint Lounge and hit it big
with their chart-topper "Peppermint Twist," which went all the way to #1
in early 1962 as the twist craze rocked the nation. David left the
band in 1964 to pursue other interests and was replaced by his
brother Eddie, Also present in the band at that time were Felix
Cavaliere and Gene Cornish. (For a VERY brief period of time, their
guitarist was a guy by the name of Jimi Hendrix ... although he wasn't
using that name yet ... the other Starliters knew him as Jimmy James.)
In late 1964 / early 1965, Eddie,
Felix and Gene left Joey Dee's band to form their own combo, adding
drummer Dino Danelli. Although they hated the name, they were ultimately called The Young Rascals.
David Brigati
sang background on several Rascals cuts but was never formally a member
of the band. He DID perform with the band when they were inducted into
The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. (He also went back and did a few shows
with Joey Dee and the Starliters in the early 2010's.) kk
Also leaving us this past week was Country Joe McDonald, who grabbed ALL of our attention with his "Fixin' To Die Rag" performed at Woodstock following the Fish Chant of "Give Me An F, Give Me A U ... well you know the rest.) Joe was 84. Complications from Parkinson's Disease was given as the cause of death. (kk)
Here's Country Joe McDonald in front of The Whisky A Go Go Anniversary party. I heard his band from outside the Whisky in 1967!
Jim Roup
Jim also gave us this news ... Remembering keyboard player Augie Meyers who passed away at 85. He was
the sound of Tex-Mex music 🎵🎶!
Here is Augie and Sir Doug Sahm
arriving for a gig at The House of Blues in West Hollywood.
Jim Roup
Augie was a founding member of The Sir Douglas Quintet, who recorded TWO smash hits in the '60's ... "She's About A Mover" (#13, 1965) and "Mendocino" (#14, 1969). It was Augie who provided that very distinctive organ sound on these hits ... it was really unlike any other at the time. (Mike Nesmith was a fan ... and later copied that sound for his Monkees recording "Salesman.") He and leader Doug Sahm later formed The Texas Tornadoes and continued to play together thru Sahm's death in 1999. (kk)
Also leaving us this past week was Tommy DeCarlo, long time (get it?) lead singer of the rock group Boston. Tommy took over lead vocals after original lead singer Brad Delp died in 2007. Incredibly, BOTH singers died on March 9th, 19 years apart.)
DeCarlo got the gig after he recorded a tribute to Delp and posted it along with covers of several Boston songs, on his MySpace page. Boston leader Tom Schotz, who wrote all of the band's hits, heard these and offered DeCarlo an audition. In his own words, Schotz said, “He came up and sang ‘Don’t Look Back’ and just blew our socks off. He had never been in a band before."
Tommy died after a brief battle with brain cancer. He was 60 years old. (kk)
Tom Cuddy sent us this shot of The Guess Who (featuring
Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings) performing on The Rock Legends Cruise. (Maybe they should have invited The
Association along for this trip so they could sing “Everyone knows it’s
Windy!!!) Love Burton's shirt! (kk)
There's a GREAT interview with Randy and Burton running on Sirius XM's '60's Channel ... put together by Lou Simon ... definitely worth seeking out. (kk)
John Fogerty and Steve Winwood just announced that they will be doing a number of dates together throughout the month of September. (What a show THAT'S going to be!!!)
It all kicks off right here in Chicago on September 3rd. Other confirmed dates are:
September 3rd – Tinley Park, IL – Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
September 5th – Canandaigua, NY – Constellation Brands – Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center
September 6th – Lenox, MA – Tanglewood Music Center
September 8th – Boston, MA – Leader Bank Pavilion
September 9th – Bridgeport, CT – Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater
September 11th – Atlantic City, NJ – Ocean Casino Resort
September 12th – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
September 13th – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Event Gallery
September 15th – Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts – Filene Center
September 16th – Charlotte, NC – Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre
September 18th – St. Augustine, FL – The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre
September 19th – Clearwater, FL – Coachman Park – The BayCare Sound
September 20th – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
And, on a local note, our buddies The New Colony Six will be doing a fund-raiser at North Central College's Wentz Concert Hall in Naperville on May 30th. More information (including how and where to buy tickets) can be found here:
https://northcentral.vbotickets.com/event/Alive_and_Well_Starring_Chicagos_Original_Garage_Band_New_Colony_Six/186813
HI KENT –
THANK YOU FOR POSTING THAT BANNER FOR MY NEW SINGLE.
CAN YOU ASK SOME OF YOUR READERS TO VOTE FOR MY SONG IN THE
UK?
“EVERYBODY’S ROCKIN’ TONGHT” ON HERITAGE CHART RADIO …
YOU CAN VOTE HERE: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/522BLGP
THANK YOU
FREDDY CANNON
Shakira played to a record breaking 400,000+ fans in Mexico
City on March 1st and yet she’s way down in 12th place on the leaderboard for
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction as part of The Class of 2026. When I checked this morning, she had only received around 177,000 votes … and that’s just wrong!
Phil Collins still leads the pack with about 390,000 votes. Meanwhile, New Edition is now in
2nd place with a little over 370,000 votes. (WHY?!?!? What revolutionary contribution did THEY make
to the advancement of Rock and Roll? And
how did they amass so many votes so quickly … they didn’t even make our list
last time!),
Pink moves up to 3rd place with about 365,000 votes and
Luther Vandross is 4th with around 295,000 votes. Rounding out the Top Five is INXS with 265,000, jumping ahead of Billy Idol, who now has around 263,000. Also breaking 200,000 votes are Sade with 253,000, Wu-Tang Clan (just shy of 230,000 ... seriously?), Mariah Carey (220,000) and Lauryn Hill (200,000).
More Micky touring news and reviews …
https://www.nuvo.net/music/micky-dolenz-is-still-monkeying-around-60-years-later/collection_9284a867-e7f1-4f50-b0e4-1111d302034b.html#3
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2026/03/06/monkees-60th-anniversary-oral-history-micky-dolenz/88994069007/
Highlights from some Harvey Kubernik interviews with Micky Dolenz over the years ...
https://bestclassicbands.com/micky-dolenz-interview-monkees-1-15-222/?
Shelley sent us this clip of "Man On The Run" director Morgan Neville talking about putting this film together with Paul McCartney ... Man on the Run director says Paul McCartney got emotional watching the new movie
The excellent documentary "Becoming Led Zeppelin" is being released on BluRay home video on April 14th. (kk)
kk …
Danny Hutton Was Cousin Brucie’s
Guest On Saturday Night. He Started By
Telling Cousin Brucie He Loves His Theme Song.
It Was Written By Frankie Valli
& Bob Gaudio & Given To Him As A Gift.
Cousin Brucie Started By Telling
Danny To Write A Book.
Danny Hutton Grew Up In The
Boston Area.
Danny Worked For Hanna-Barbera.
He Became A Cartoon, "DANNY HAT ON ROCK."
Danny Produced a Corey Wells
Album & Had Known Chuck Negron For A Long Time.
He Had An Idea For A Three Man
Group. Danny Said That He Was A Studio Rat & That Corey & Chuck Were
Better Singers.
He Explained About The Name ... Nothing
To Do With Music. On A Cold Night Natives Huddled Around Three Dogs.
Their Manager Got A Few Labels
To Listen To Them. DUNHILL Signed Them.
From 1969 – 1975, They Had 21
Top 40 Hits In A Row.
They Always Looked For The Best
Material ... Didn't Care If It Was Pop, Country Or R&B.
FB
Frank B also tells us about a very special Facebook Group …
kk …
Check Out This Group.
You Are Flashing Back 60 Years.
The Frankie Avalon Group Flashes Back Every Day.
They Flashback On A Daily Basis
To A Previous Frankie Avalon Appearance ….
Dick Clark Show, Boys Of
Bandstand, Ed Sullivan, Solo Concerts, Etc.
FB
And here's more from Wild Wayne's Memory Machine ...
kk ...
2/27/26 = Neil Sedaka Died; 3/13/1939 = Neil Sedaka Born.
Came From The Brighton Beach Section Of Brooklyn.
His First Group Was The Linc-Tones From Lincoln High School.
They Later Became The Tokens.
1956 = Linc-Tones First Recording -- "WHILE I DREAM" With Neil Singing Lead.
1958 = Neil Left The Group For A Solo Career And Recorded "RING A ROCKIN'"
1953 = Neil Sedaka And His Neighbor Howie Greenfield Became A Songwriting Team That Lasted For 20 Years.
1958 = They Met Connie Francis, Who Was Looking For New Material.
She Listened To All Their Songs. She Said They Were Good -- But Not What She Was Looking For.
They Had One More Song That Howie Wanted To Play For Connie And Neil Didn't Want To Play It For Her.
Howie Said, "What Do We Have To Lose?" They Played "STUPID CUPID."
Connie Jumped Up And Said, "That's My Next Recording." Neil Played Piano At The Recording Session.
Connie Kept Writing Notes In A little Book. They Asked Her What She Was Doing And Connie Replied, "Writing In My Diary."
Neil And Howie Asked Her If They Could Read Her Diary And Maybe Get Some Song Ideas But Connie Said No.
They Wrote The Song "THE DIARY" For Little Anthony & The Imperials. Neil & Howie Didn't Like It.
It Became Neil Sedaka's First Hit Recording.
FB
One more ...
kk ...
Wild Wayne Also Played A 50th Anniversary Flashback Interview Clip From 1982 With Cleve Duncan, Lead Singer Of Penguins, An L.A. Group.
They Got Their Name From Willie -- The Penguin On The Kool Cigarettes Pack.
He Talked About Recording "EARTH ANGEL."
The Song Was Recorded In A Garage. They Had To Do It A Few Times Because Of The Neighbor's Barking Dog.
You Know The Story -- "EARTH ANGEL" Was The B-Side & "HEY SENORITA" Was A- Side ... Until A DJ Flipped It Over,
The Story I Heard Was That After The Recording Session Cleve Duncan Went To His Girlfriends House.
He Told Her It Was A Waste Of Time And Crumbled Up The Paper With Lyrics On It.
I Guess When The Song Became Popular He Changed His Mind.
FB
Good stuff, Frank ... you and Wild Wayne are on a roll tonight!!! (kk)
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
3/11/66 – Tonight’s episode of “Ready Steady Go” is
completely devoted to the music of and performances by James Brown
