HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABY (Part Two)

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of FORGOTTEN HITS!!!

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would still be doing this ... and that you guys would have stuck around (!) ... for this length of time!

It truly is for the love of the music that we're all still here today ... 

And I truly do ... and always have ... appreciate your support.

Over the years, I gotten the chance to meet so many of you ... and so many of the artists that we celebrate here in these pages day after day after day.  I am STILL blown away by all of this, as I will ALWAYS be a fan first.

When Forgotten Hits started 25 YEARS AGO TODAY, it was simply an AOL Newsletter, emailed out to 35 friends I had met in the old AOL Oldies Music Chat Room.  

I remember asking folks, "If I put together an occasional newsletter spotlighting some of the great songs and artists that radio has forgotten, would you read it?"  (We've done over 6000 since!)

Back then, I was still known as The60sShop ... but as the newsletter grew and more and more oldies artists and deejays got onboard, it just became too much to handle via email ... so in 2008, THIS site was born.  (Even by then I had already exceeded my original dream of "Wouldn't it be cool if I could do this for five years?"  LOL!!!)

And it continues to grow every day, now with over 6 1/2 million visitors coming by to check out what we might be talking about today in FH.

Our first Forgotten Hit?

Yeah, you guys remember ...

Even if you weren't one of the "original 35," we've featured it enough times on previous anniversaries to let you know that our very first spotlight feature was "Shape Of Things To Come" by Max Frost and the Troopers, a Top 20 Hit from 1968 that went all the way to #3 here in Chicago on the old WCFL Chart. 

Thank you all again for your love and your loyalty.  Please know it is appreciated and never taken for granted.  We are ALL part of The Forgotten Hits Family ... and I couldn't do what I do without you.  (kk)

Kent Kotal

Forgotten Hits

From our buddy Chuck Buell ...

A Great FHs Milestone to be recognized!  And something to be proud of from a simple email to a Blog Site of Worldwide Adulation!

(Of course, I had to get MY Fandom Base using only 50,000 watts of power!  You've got the whole freakin' Internet at YOUR disposal!)

Nevertheless, way to Go, Pal!  Congratulations!

 

The Best!

Chuck

And now, back to our current feature,

60 YEARS AGO TODAY:

11/26/64 – The Zombies record “Tell Her No”

Also on 11/26 – A Folk Group known as The Jet Set, recently signed to Columbia Records, decide over Thanksgiving Dinner to change the name of their group to The Byrds.  The band at this time consists of Roger McGuinn (then Jim), David Crosby, Michael Clarke, Gene Clark and Chris Hillman.  Who knew then the amount of impact and influence they would have on the sound of music over the decades to come.

Beatles '64

We had the good fortune to be able to watch an advance screening of the new Disney+ documentary "Beatles '64" over the weekend.  The film OFFICIALLY premiers this Friday, the 29th, The Day After Thanksgiving, EXCLUSIVELY on Disney+ ... but we were sent a special screener copy for review purposes ... so that's EXACTLY what we're going to do here today.  (The strict rules governing the allowable window to publish a review of the film is the reason for today's late post ... after being invited to see it, I certainly wasn't about to break any rules regarding helping to promote it!!!)

In light of the fact that Apple has just released the first six US / American Beatles albums on vinyl (in mono no less!) in a special collectors' box set (also titled "Beatles '64"), the title of this film can be a little deceiving.  (The box set also comes with the 2-LP documentary set, "The Beatles Story."  The other commercial albums are also available for individual purchase.)

https://usastore.thebeatles.com/collections/us-albums-music-and-merch/products/the-beatles-1964-albums-in-mono?utm_source=dotmailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=623408_11.22.24_US%20albums%20out%20now_all_349491_US&dm_i=7HO3,DD0W,2VR08M,20MUX,1

Rather than covering the whole year and the incredible impact and effect they had on America when they first landed on these shores to do The Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964, the film is pretty well confined to that first visit and that first visit only. 

Much of this has already been documented in the Albert and David Maysles film "The Beatles' First US Visit," which has been available for decades now.  The Maysles Brothers were given unlimited access to travel with and film The Fab Four throughout their first trip here to The States.  This included their appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and their concerts in Washington, D.C. and at Carnegie Hall.  (Of course you also get Murray The K hangin' out with the guys ... and Ronnie Spector acting as their personal tour guide, taking the group to a soul club ... and out for BBQ ... in Harlem!)  Paul and Ringo chime in from time to time, reflecting back on what this trip meant to the group at the time ... and we also hear from George and John through old videos and sound recordings ... so on the one hand, the presentation has an "all in" vibe to it.

The film and sound quality is excellent and although the excitement of the audience is captured at every appearance, whether it be on the stage or just waiting outside their hotel hoping to catch a glimpse of their idols, I feel that the film itself lacks that excitement factor ... it just seems to be presented as more of a monotone series of facts.  I guess I was just expecting more "sparkle," as the world had never seen anything quite like this at the time ... or since.  (Purely by coincidence, this weekend we also watched the new Elvis Presley documentary "Return Of The King: The Fall And Rise Of Elvis Presley" airing on Netflix.  It's a lengthy recap of Elvis' career and its trajectory leading up to the 1968 Singer Comeback Special.  At least half a dozen times I was emotionally moved by how much this opportunity meant to him ... to the point of actually being choked up on more than one occasion.  The new Beatles doc SHOULD have had that same kind of impact on me as I lived thru BOTH of these incredible events ... and yet it felt more like watching a newsreel than a celebration. Some upbeat narration may have helped its cause.)

We DO get to see some great footage of the Fabs performing on television and in concert ... and several of their earliest hits are presented in some fashion. ("I Want To Hold Your Hand," "I Saw Her Standing There," "She Loves You," "Twist And Shout," "This Boy'," where John flubs the first word of the lyrics and then shares a quick smile with Paul about his goof, "All My Lovin'," "Till There Was You" and a few others) are all presented, although sometimes in very truncated form.

The Beatles hit the US Pop Singles Chart an incredible 34 times that year alone ... 21 of these releases made The National Top 40 ... 11 of those made The Top Ten and SEVEN of them went all the way to #1.  In fact, for one week, they held the Top Five Spots on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart ... an unprecedented feat.  They also had the #1 Album in America for THIRTY WEEKS ... and by summer, their first film, "A Hard Day's Night," was opening in theaters across the country ...

But you won't see or hear ANY of that in the new Disney+ film ... because all of the focus is on their first visit and their first visit only ... this despite the landmark importance of all of these other events that also happened that same year.  (There is mention of "the film" in an ironic sequence filmed on a train ride to another publicity stop ... John mentions that he imagines this will be much like what filming the train sequence will feel like when they make their first film.  "A Hard Day's Night" would go on to be considered an iconic achievement as well ... but it's never even mentioned by name.)

Don't get me wrong ... the film as a whole is entertaining to watch ... as ANYTHING having to do with this era is exciting to watch, especially for those of us who lived through it.  I just think that if you're going to call the documentary "Beatles '64," it should have encompassed ALL of the events of 1964 and not just the 14 days the Maysles Brothers were allowed to film them.  There is just SO much more story to tell.  (kk)

Kent Kotal

Forgotten Hits

THE SUNDAY COMMENTS ( 11 - 24 - 24 )

HAPPY SUNDAY!

Kicking things off with another friendly reminder from Mike Riccio to get YOUR votes in for the annual Rewound Radio Top Songs of All-Time list …

Hi!

Time's running out!

If you still haven't voted for your favorite in our once-a-year vote for the Top Songs of All-Time, we want your opinion ... so please vote today!

Voting will be ending within a few weeks ... so get your vote in ASAP for the 27th edition of the Top Songs of All-Time at OldiesBoard.com.

You can choose from one to ten of your favorite songs to determine the results.

Once the results are tabulated you can see where yours placed at OldiesBoard.com and even have your own copy of the list of all the songs that votes, in order of their popularity.

So if you haven't already voted this year, please email your choices.

Remember, you can vote for any artist, any era, any style ... and we NEED YOUR VOTE THIS YEAR to make this the best year ever!

Go to OldiesBoard.com for details or just vote at the following link

(It's a 100% safe and secure link.

https://musicradio77.com/voting2024.html

Feel free to invite family or friends to vote, too.

Than YOU so much for helping to make this so much fun for all these years.

Sincerely,
Mike Riccio
OldiesBoard.com moderator

And a reminder from us, too, that we’ll be celebrating our THIRD Annual JOEL WHITBURN DAY later this week on Friday, the 29^th.  Please feel free to share a thought, appreciation or memory with our readers.  (How appropriate that this falls the Day After Thanksgiving this year!)  We’ll also be sharing a few more photos from our visit up to the Music Vault a few months ago.  (kk)

We’re still waiting for information as to the official release date for “Let It Be” on home video.

Hopefully, this will keep you till we have more news to share …

Stephen Bishop, who recently announced his retirement from touring, is now offering his services to record up to a 30-second message of your choosing … and it’ll only cost you $399!!!  (Say what?!?!?  I’ll bet you 99% of the people you tell this to will respond “Stephen who?!?!?”)

But hey, if you’ve got Christmas money to burn, here’s the link …

https://www.stephenbishopmerch.com/products/stephen-bishop-personalized-audio-message

It’s the Christmas gift that goes on and on … well, for up to 30 seconds anyway …

Or, if you prefer, you can just save it for a rainy day.  (Guy’s gotta make money SOMEHOW, right???)  kk

A few more deaths to acknowledge …

Mike Pinera, guitarist for Blues Image (“Ride Captain Ride”) and The Iron Butterfly (“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”), passed away on November 20^th of liver disease

https://stpetecatalyst.com/tampa-rocker-mike-pinera-ride-captain-ride-dies/

And Alice Brock passed away on November 22^nd. 

“Who???” you may ask?

Well, she was the real-life restaurant owner Alice that Arlo Guthrie immortalized in his classic “Alice’s Restaurant” back in 1967.  Appropriately, she died just before Thanksgiving.

Here is a photograph taken just a couple of Thanksgivings ago, taken by Marti Guthrie …

Arlo Guthrie with Alice Brock and Rick Robbins, Thanksgiving 2022

Here’s a feel-good story I heard about on Phlash Phelps’ ‘60’s Gold radio program last week … talk about your long lost hits …

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=9260310607430933

And how about this …

72 YEARS after it was first recorded, there’s a brand new holiday release by DEAN MARTIN!!!

That’s right … Dino’s 1952 recording of the holiday classic “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” debuted at #30 on this week’s Adult Contemporary Chart in Billboard … 60 years, four months and three weeks after his FIRST chart hit there, “Everybody Loves Somebody,” which topped their chart in 1964, the first of FIVE AC chart-toppers for the crooner.

They’ve even released a new animated video to celebrate this release which, according to the press release, is Martin’s earliest known holiday recording, and his only recorded version of the classic carol.  The performance comes from a radio broadcast on December 16, 1952, as part of NBC’s The Martin and Lewis Show that starred Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. (Their guest that week: Ginger Rogers.)

In our Sunday Comments Page seemingly chock-full of timely coincidences, Martin died on Christmas Day in 1995 at age 78.

And, since we’re talking long-lasting hits, Billboard is reporting that Shaboozey’s current #1 Hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is on the verge of tying the record for most weeks ever at #1 if it holds on to record its 19^th week at the top on next week’s chart.  (This would tie the record set five years ago by Lil Nas X’s hit (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus), “Old Town Road.”)  Shows you the sheer lack of good, competitive music being released these days!!!  (kk)

 19 weeks at #1 ... and this is the first time I've ever heard it!

Yeah, I guess I really AM stuck living in the past!  (kk)

 

LOOK FOR A LATE POST TOMORROW MORNING 

(it'll go up at 11 am Chicago Time) ...

But it'll be worth it ...

It's OUR Exclusive Review of the brand new Martin Scorsese / Disney+ Beatles Documentary, "Beatles '64"