Thursday This And That

re:  More Great Shows:

Yesterday we ran a list of live concerts happening in our area in August.

A few more upcoming shows of note:  

October 16th The Zombies perform at Star Plaza.  Four of the original Zombies reunited to present a hits-filled show along with a complete performance of their album classic "Odessey And Oracle".  

The Arcada Theatre presents The Temptations Review with Dennis Edwards on September 4th, Three Faces of Elvis on September 5th, Belinda Carlisle (formerly of The Go Gos) on September 9th, The Stylistics on September 11th (we're not missing that one!), Kashmir, the premier Led Zeppelin tribute band, on September 12th, our FH Buddy Burton Cummings on September 18th (his third year in a row at this venue and ALWAYS "the show to see"!), Poco and Firefall, a GREAT double bill on September 25th, J.T. Taylor, former lead singer of Kool and the Gang on September 26th, country music superstar Ronnie Milsap on September 27th, Sam Moore (of Sam and Dave) on October 3rd, Neil Sedaka on October 4th, the legendary Buddy Guy on October 8th, The Liverpool Legends, performing a special birthday salute on what would have been John Lennon's 75th birthday on October 9th, Los Lonely Boys on October 10th, Leon Russell on October 16th, The Time Jumpers featuring Vince Gill on October 17th, Kansas on October 23rd, Mickey Gilley on October 25th and Blood, Sweat and Tears, featuring American Idol Runner-Up Bo Bice on lead vocals, on October 30th.  

More great shows continue through the end of the year including Tanya Tucker, Sheena Easton, The Bronx Wanderers, Vicki Lawrence, Johnny Rivers, Christopher Cross and America along with special Christmas concerts starring Michael McDonald, The Lettermen, Felix Cavaliere's Rascals and The Ides Of March.  (No wonder The Arcada is now the #1 Music Venue in the Midwest!!!)  More details and ticket information can be found on The Arcada's website:  www.oshows.com.  (Proprietor Ron Onesti is already booking more headlining acts for next year including Paul Anka and a double bill featuring Tommy Roe and Chris Montez.  More 2016 dates to be announced shortly.)  

Can you believe The Village of Bolingbrook STILL can't announce The Happy Together Show appearing there this Sunday, August 16th, at 7 pm???  It's a contractual thing, due to their show the following Friday Night at The Paramount Theatre in Aurora.  As such, Bolingbrook is billing this as "The Concert To End All Concerts" and, in that respect, they're absolutely right.  The Turtles, The Association, The Buckinghams, The Cowsills, The Grass Roots and Mark Lindsay, former lead singer of Paul Revere and the Raiders, will all take the stage in what can only be described as a '60's Music Extravaganza!!!  And Chicago is blessed to have TWO chances to see all of these great acts.  The Paramount will also be presenting Peter Cetera, formerly of Chicago, on September 4th, Jay Leno on October 30th, Peter and Paul on November 8th.  Still waiting for the official word on the make-up dates for Donny and Marie.  Their previously scheduled concert had to be cancelled due to Donny Osmond's vocal cord surgery. 

Kent ... 
I know that they're on the "Happy Together Tour" now.  
Here they are on the Mike Douglas Show.  
Frank B.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JktRp8uQciI   

The Genesee Theatre presents "Zappa Plays Zappa" starring Dweezil Zappa, Hippiefest on October 4th, starring The Family Stone, Rick Derringer, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels and Badfinger, featuring Joey Molland, The Indigo Girls on October 16th, Jay Leno on October 29th, Michael Bolton on December 8th and Darlene Love's Christmas Show on December 16th.

The Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet also hosts Hippiefeat on October 3rd, Lyle Lovett and John Haitt on October 15th, Pure Prairie League with Firefall on November 7th and Tommy James and the Shondells with Gary Puckett and the Union Gap on November 13th.

Matthew and Gunnar Nelson return to Chicago for their "Tribute to Ricky Nelson" on Sunday, August 30th, this time stopping at The City Winery.  Justin Hayward does two shows at this venue on September 6th and September 8th, Dr. John comes by on September 9th and 11th, Lucinda Williams on September 23rd and 24th, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on September 27th, Herb Alpert with Lani Hall on October 1st and Aaron Neville October 12th and 13th.

re:  This And That:

Antenna TV is bringing back The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson ...

Beginning January 1st, the cable network will begin airing COMPLETE programs of the series that ran on NBC during Carson's reign.

As we all know, Carson RULED late night TV back in the day ... and these aren't just "clip fests" of "The Best of Carson" ... these are complete 60 and 90 minute episodes that will air "intact", exactly as they were broadcast the first time around.

Antenna TV has licensed HUNDREDS of hours of programs through The Carson Entertainment Group that ran between 1972 and 1992, the year that Johnny retired.  (Because NBC owns the rights to the name "The Tonight Show", Antenna TV will run these as simply "Johnny Carson" ... what?!?!  Not "Here's Johnny!"?!?!)  They'll even air these programs against today's current late night competition beginning at 11 pm eastern time, with one hour programs running Monday thru Friday and 90 minute versions on weekends.

Variety is reporting that the scheduling of episodes will be carefully curated to run as themed weeks or months, as well as episodes that coincide with notable anniversaries, holidays and other milestones. Those could include everything from a week’s worth of “Tonight Show” debuts by future comedy superstars such as Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Ellen DeGeneres, Richard Pryor, David Letterman, Jim Carrey and Tim Allen to a month of Christmas episodes in December. Antenna’s “Tonight Show” run will begin with the New Year’s Day episode from 1982 featuring Eddie Murphy and “MASH” star McLean Stevenson.  (kk)   

Columbia House filed for bankruptcy this week.  I guess the digital age finally did them in.  Is there ANYBODY out there who wasn't a member at some point of their lives?!?!  How big were they?  I remember the running joke going around in the late '70's and early '80's about people being denied mortgages because they hadn't fulfilled their Columbia House obligation to buy that 9th album yet!!!  The end of an era for sure.  This is yet another major blow to my youth ... turns out I can't use my S&H Green Stamps anymore either!!!  (kk)

Speaking of stamps, the brand new Elvis Presley stamp came out this week ... haven't had time to get to the post office yet, but a couple of our readers chimed in on this one ...

8/12/2015 = Today is the first day of release for the new Elvis Stamp.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU5xxh5UX4U
First one made sense ... but I'll bet you didn't see this one coming, did you?  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0IjMzCw8IQ  
Frank B. 

(January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977  Elvis Tribute)  

(written by: L J Coon and Donna L. Cleaves ) - L J Coon Music Publishing BMI

In the winter of thirty five

Tupelo, Mississippi's pride

A mother gave birth to a rock-n-roll King

He crossed the river to the other side

The Memphis Sun and stars in his eye's

They told his Mama,"That boy can sing"

And, we can see him on the silver screen

The way he wiggles the girls would scream

The gentle way he sang each song

Jenny never missed a single show

Except the day, she didn't go

The day I asked her for her hand

She loved Elvis - I couldn't take her from a better man

I remember the day he died

And every tear, we cried and cried

And how we stayed up all night long

Just playing old forty five's

In every song, he was still alive

We sat there thinking - was he really gone

And on the news they said, "They found"

Everybody gathered round - I couldn't believe my eyes

'Cause, I could see him on the silver screen

The way he wiggled the girls would scream

The gentle way he sang each song

Jenny never missed a single show

Except the day we didn't go

The day I asked her for her hand

See, she loved Elvis - I couldn't take her from a better man

She loved Elvis - I couldn't take her from a better man

In the winter of thirty five

Tupelo, Mississippi's pride

A mother gave birth to a rock-n-roll King  
L J Coon      
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ljcoon 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fZtT9vQons&feature=youtu.be    

re:  Smile:  
>>>Carl Giammarese tells us that in addition to these two major area shows, he'll be back in Chicago to sing The National Anthem at Wrigley Field on September 19th.

>>>Hopefully the Cubs will be in the playoffs by then.  (Carl)

>>>Cubs ... playoffs?!?!  Now those are two words you don't often find in the same sentence!!!  (kk)  
"Back to the Future" predicted it would happen in 2015. Yeah yeah I know ... Florida is in the wrong league for us to play them in the World Series ... but stranger things have happened!   
I haven't made any concerts this summer, but I still read Forgotten Hits.  
Just yesterday I did a follow-up MRI and they want to take some more images.  They saw something that did look good.  
Here's a picture of the Imaging Technician ... I wish!   I couldn't see her in the tube. As Dan Hartman would say "I Can Dream About You". 
Bill Hengels

Glad to see you haven't lost your sense of humor!  Best of luck to you, Bill!  (kk)

Kent, 
If you can, check out today's (August 11) comic strip of DENNIS THE MENACE. It somewhat reminded me of FH in the music of yesterday and the music being played today, of which I am not familiar.' 
Larry

Man, it seems like the daily comics are infringing on MY turf lately!!!  Larry also sent us this Blondie clip a few weeks ago ...

From Gary Pike, formerly of The Lettermen ...

The White House, one year after Donald Trump is elected president ...

(I guess the 8-foot tall letters come during Year 2)  kk

SO Many Great Shows Coming Up This Month Here In Chicago!

Wow!

 

What a month for concerts!

 

The music of Chicago seems to be the common theme this month ...

 

The 2015 Bolingbrook Jubilee presents The Chicago Experience on Friday, August 14th ...

 

The Arcada Theatre presents CTA, featuring founding Chicago member Danny Seraphine along with former vocalist and keyboardist Bill Champlin on Sunday, the 14th ...

 

AND, you can catch the REAL DEAL when Chicago themselves perform at Ravinia on Saturday, August 22nd and Sunday, August 23rd!

 

The 2015 Happy Together Tour makes TWO stops in the Chicagoland area during the next ten days ...

 

First performing a free concert on Sunday, August 16th, as part of the 2015 Bolingbrook Jubilee ...

 

And then again on Friday, August 21st, at The Paramount Theatre in Aurora.

 

What an incredible line-up this year:  The Turtles, The Association, The Buckinghams, The Grass Roots, The Cowsills and Mark Lindsay

 

Carl Giammarese tells us that in addition to these two major area shows, he'll be back in Chicago to sing The National Anthem at Wrigley Field on September 19th.

 

Hopefully the Cubs will be in the playoffs by then

- Carl

 

Cubs ... playoffs?!?!  Now those are two words you don't often find in the same sentence!!! 

 

On Friday, August 28th, The Arcada Theatre presents '70's Pop Fest, featuring the music of Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods, Looking Glass, The Ohio Express, The 1910 Fruitgum Company and The Bay City Rollers.  (Although the current ad also lists The Archies, Ron Dante tells me that he'll be performing in the UK that evening)

 

The group August performs their tribute to Joe Cocker on Saturday, August 29th.  We've seen these guys before and they put on a tremendous show.  And, speaking of tribute bands, they don't come much better than American English, ALSO performing at The 2015 Bolingbrook Jubilee on Saturday, the 15th.  And, The Arcada hosts "The Magic Of Motown" starring So Good For The Soul this Friday night, the 14th.

 

Italian Fest West, held in Addison, IL, boasts Jay and the Americans on Friday the 21st and Lou Christie on Sunday, the 23rd.  New York's The Bronx Wanderers will close the show Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  These guys are supposed to be amazing!

 

You can catch Boz Scaggs at The Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet this Friday Night, the 14th ... and the following Friday, August 21st, Engelbert Humperdinck performs his make-up show at The Rialto.  (Engelbert had to cancel his May appearance due to health issues)

 

ZZ Top is playing Ravinia on my birthday, August 27th, a Thursday Night ... and then Santana lights up the Ravinia stage for two nights on Saturday, the 29th, and Sunday, the 30th.  Country Music Fans can see Little Big Town on Friday, the 28th and Alan Jackson on Monday, August 31st.

Tuesday This And That

re:  On The Radio:  
Congratulations to our FH Buds Jimmy Holliday and Tom Kent who were both nominated for Radio Hall Of Fame Awards this past week.  Best of luck to the both of you!  (I can say that because they're each nominated in different categories! lol)  I hope you both win your respected category.  
Chicago's own Eric and Kathy are ALSO nominated ... they have had one of the top-ranked morning shows here in Chi-Town for YEARS now!    

A complete list of nominees is shown below ... I'm sure you'll find a few of YOUR local heroes on this list as well!  (kk)   

Active Local / Regional (10 years or more): 

Big Boy (Kurt Alexander), Los Angeles
Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison, Philadelphia
Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart, Chicago
Garland Robinette, New Orleans

Longstanding Local / Regional (20 years or more):
Tom Barnard, Minneapolis
Johnny Dare, Kansas City
Johnny Holliday, Washington, D.C.
Ronn Owens, San Francisco

Networks / Syndication (10 years or more):
Tom Kent, Cleveland
Dave Ramsey, Nashville
Diane Rehm, Washington, D.C.
Michael Savage, San Francisco

Longstanding Network / Syndication (20 years or more):
Bob Kevoian & Tom Griswold, Indianapolis
Bob Kingsley, Weatherford
Marketplace, Los Angeles
Harry Shearer, Los Angeles

Music Format On-Air Personality:
Delilah, Seattle
Elvis Duran, New York
Steve Harvey, Atlanta
Ryan Seacrest, Los Angeles

Spoken Word On-Air Personality:
Sean Hannity, New York
Clark Howard, Atlanta
Jim Rome, Los Angeles
Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Los Angeles   

Hi Kent,  
Thank you so much!  
tk

>>>My wife and I just  spent a week in upstate New York (Saratoga Races and Cooperstown).  The trip was fantastic, but the radio was horrid!  We have been long time Sirius subscribers listening to 60s at 6 and Underground Garage roughly 80 per cent of the time.  They play a few songs quite a bit, but always (especially Garage) mix in some obscure titles.   However with our rental  car we were forced to listen to what you call the 'classic hits station' mix.  In six days the only songs I heard from the 60s were by the Beatles ... and I heard Hey Jude three times!  Not one song by the Stones or Elvis.  Some 70s ... Fleetwood Mac, Linda Ronstadt, and The Eagles ... and lots and lots of 80s crud.   When we got in our own car back in Omaha, my wife said, "Lets hear some decent music."  We were both overjoyed to hear Mark Lindsay's voice belting out the long version of Hungry.  Today's classic hits radio truly does stink ... I'm not getting rid of Sirius anytime soon.  Thanks for the great site ... I check you out daily.  (Randy M)  
Interesting - My wife and I also spent some days in very-far-upstate New York the week before last (up at the Canadian border, kayaked on the St. Lawrence Seaway) and we discovered a great-sounding local AM with wonderful music and live DJs. Check out WMSA if you're ever in that neighborhood. Here in Nashville, Music City USA, radio is in awful shape.  
David Lewis    

It happened! 9:25am Saturday morning Me -TV FM played Summer Sun by Jamestown Massacre. Fantastic!
Mike Hartman  
Yep, we heard it, too.  Ah, the power of suggestion!  (We've got a few other ideas we're sharing with Me-TV as well ... stay tuned ... hoping to have some very good news to report real soon.)  kk    

Chuck Buell's Favorite Radio Question for Today ~~~ 
“Did you go into radio to get rich or was it to work just 4 hours a day?” 

re:  The Labor Day 500 Countdown:   

A reminder -- balloting has begun for this year's bi-annual Labor Day 500 -- the first since 2013 and fourteenth overall. Yes, we were Oldies when Oldies wasn't Old.
Once again this year, we've expanded the ballot to your 15 favorite songs from the '50s, '60s and '70s. So please spread the word!
Vote now at:
http://www.oldiesmusic.com/500.htm
Voting runs through Sunday, August 30 and those who request it will get a copy of the full list when it's out Labor Day weekend.
Need some memory joggers?

Here are the songs that have made the list in
the past 13 surveys:
http://www.oldiesmusic.com/2013ld500accumulated.pdf- Ron Smith

re:  This And That:

Well hello my brothah!   Can you stick me in the "Helping Out Our Readers" category? I have sort of a coworker named Mike Wolf who claims to have played trumpet with some pretty big names. He says he toured with Buddy Rich during the "bus tapes" era... and also the Everly Brothers at some point.  
Your blog is very connected. I'm wondering if anyone remembers him. THANKS!   
Kristy  
Well, I can certainly ask!  Anybody out there know (or remember) this guy???  (kk)     

And another "Helping Out Our Readers" request ...   

Can you pass the word on this?   
A guy here is doing a documentary on the Beatles 1966 Ampitheater concert.  I believe the Remains and Ronnettes were two opening acts??  Anything special happen at these concerts?  Anyone with memories???  
Clark Besch  
If you've got some info or memories to share, please contact Clark directly at wlsclark@aol.com.  (kk)   

This is cool!  
https://youtu.be/aLnZ1NQm2uk  
Stacee  
Thanks, Stacy!  I enjoyed this very much ... then played it for several others ... and spent the next half hour checking out more of their videos.  Damn, these guys are book a year in advance all over the world!  How on earth did word of mouth travel so quickly?!?!  (kk)  
You are welcome. It appears they will be performing in Chicago at The Riviera Theatre on November 18th. My eldest Daughter sent the video to me. I do not know how she came across it. We like to share music new and old with each other.  
Stacee  
Well I quite enjoyed this one ... a very clever arrangement of a song most of us have grown sick of!  (lol)  My first reaction was "I'd really like to see these guys perform live" ... but then, after reviewing about 20 more of their videos (looks like they've got over a hundred!), I couldn't help thinking that I'd be bored watching the same treatment applied to so many songs.  What makes this one so unique is their completely 180-degree interpretation of "All About That Bass" ... it makes it stand apart from everything else we're hearing.  But if you're going to apply that same arrangement to every other song you do, too, the novelty wears off pretty quickly.  Still, no doubt these guys can sing!  (kk)   

Hi Kent -  
Enjoyed your "GINORMOUS"  Forgotten Hits so much!!  
It would be GREAT to put Dick Biondi in John Records Landecker's old radio spot!!!!  Enjoyed listening to John's last program. Another great legend. Hope he continues his career. Heard that he is writing a screenplay with his actor / daughter Amy.  
Miss when Dick Biondi would take requests on his show and play some good forgotten oldies for his fans plus  tell all his stories ... Go Go Dick and get that time slot. There will NEVER be another Dick Biondi!!!!!  
I know the late Lynn Anderson and her tune "Rose Garden" was her biggest record, but I have a copy of her record "I Found You Just In Time" which I liked very much.  Do you have any info on it?  
When in doubt, ask the Master.  
Carolyn  
Lynn Anderson never came close to capturing the success of "Rose Garden", her first chart hit which peaked at #3 in Billboard but went all the way to #1 in both Cash Box and Record World.  She charted nine more times on Billboard's pop chart, never climbing above #63 ... and "I Found You Just In Time" wasn't one of them.  
However, on Billboard's COUNTRY Chart she had an incredible SIXTY chart hits! ... including 18 BEFORE "Rose Garden" hit #1 in 1970 ... as well as four OTHER #1 Billboard Country Chart Hits!  
"I Found You Just In Time" was actually the B-Side of 1970's "No Love At All", her version of the song we know best by B.J. Thomas.  It hit #15 in 1970.  (kk)  

>>>I don't know if it made your survey there in Chicago, but Richard Burton in 1965 had a record called MARRIED MAN which did make our local radio survey. It was from the Broadway production "Baker Street", released on MGM records. I forgot all about it until I saw Burton's name in FH.  (Larry)

Hola Kent,

CharlieOFD from Deflateville !! (the charges bothered me until I realized that 'The Donald' is our leading current candidate for POTUS!, "What A Revoltin' Development This is!") ha ha

Did someone say "A Married Man"?  I don't know how many they sold, but I bought one, and tried to convert it to digital, so I offer you this.

Not too shabby for a 50 year old 45, played on a Technics Turntable from the 80's directly into GarageBand on a seven year old Imac. Plus I kept the sleeve (but it was only plain brown paper)!!

Start the bidding ! Ha ha!
 

Great stuff in the blog ... everyday I thank God for all the wonderful songs of our lives.

Have a great weekend,

Happy Summah of '15 to all FH aficionados !

CharlieOFD

Hi Kent -

I had the pleasure of seeing the legendary Dick Dale, Father of Surf Music, on Wednesday at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

Dick was supported by a drummer and bass ... but his guitar sound filled the small venue ... amazing sound!

Dick is 78 and still touring to pay for medical expenses.  He is not well, but put on one amazing show.  He spent time telling a few stories and then raged through songs like Riders In The Sky, California Sun, House of the Rising Sun, and of course Miserlou.  He is putting out a new cover of Amazing Grace, which he performed in honor of those public servants and military who risk their lives.

Here are a few pics from the show. (I could not bring my good camera to this venue, so snuck a couple of pics with my little one)

Tom Apathy

All Dick Dale photos courtesy of Tom Apathy -- thanks, Tom!  (kk)

See Joan Jett And The Blackhearts At CBS-FM’s Saturday In The Park Thanks To WCBS-FM 101.1

It's a free concert

Frank B.

http://wcbsfm.cbslocal.com/2015/07/31/joan-jett-and-the-blackhearts-saturday-in-the-park-august-22/

Unfortunately, MOST of the Joan Jett press hasn't been very positive of late ... might be nice to kinda kick back and enjoy a free concert from this Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2015 Inductee ... if you happen to be a New Yawker that is!  (kk) 

Speaking of great concerts ...   

Hi Kent, 

Just a quick note to tell you how great The Ides of March sounded last Saturday, August First. 

I was getting ready to go onstage myself and didn't have a way to write down all the tunes they did, but rest assure The Ides did Chicago proud. 

They did old tunes, at least one new one and some of Jim P's tunes written for others. 

He was in fine form. When they did the quieter stuff, the vocals sounded very good as well. 

I really wanted to get to meet all of them but only got to meet a couple. Jim has worked with us a couple times before and is a fun guy to have around as you might expect. 

Cheers to the Ides who still sound great after 50 years. 

Bill   

One of our other readers, Jack Mongan (who just filed his review of The Chicago Experience concert) caught The Ides in Ohio this past week, too ...

He promises to file a full report soon (once his busy schedule frees up) ... but meanwhile here are few photos from this event.  (kk)

And don't miss The Little Italy Fest West the following week in Addison, IL ... 

What a GREAT line-up ...

All the way from NYC ... The Bronx Wanderers ... Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 21 - 23 (they'll close the show every night!)

Jay and the Americans - Friday, August 21st, 7:30 pm ...

and Lou Christie - Sunday, August 23, 5:45 pm ...

Great review of The Chicago Experience concert on your website this past weekend.

I guess I'll have to check them out for myself in Bolingbrook on the 14th!

Kathy

You won't be disappointed.  I'm hoping to make it out there, too, to see the full show this time.

And be sure to stop back on Sunday ... and catch The Happy Together Show for free!!!  (kk)

www.thechicagoexperience.com

https://www.facebook.com/thechicagoexperience

http://artistecard.com/thechicagoexperienceband

And finally, here's a link to Big Jay's latest weekly posting of this week in music history.  VERY cool stuff (and I especially like the link to our FH article from a few years back!)  Thanks, Jay!  (kk)

http://www.bigjaysorensen.com/portal/bigjaysorensen/WeekInPopMusicHistory.aspx