The Saturday Surveys

Our special 2014 series draws to a close this week with this final batch of charts.

Very special thanks again to Clark Besch, who supplied the lion's share of surveys featured this past year ... it made for a nice weekend diversion.  (Beginning on January 5th, we're going to launch a brand new weekly feature that will combine both our 50 Years Ago This Weekend series with The Saturday Surveys ... rather than concentrate solely on The British Invasion acts that occupied the charts, this will be more of a weekly overview of music in generous, featuring charts from all over the USA with a few surprises thrown in.  We hope you will join us every Monday for this brand new feature.)

*****

Check out this Miami / WFUN Chart from the last week of 1964.  Petula Clark leads us into 1965 with her first U.S. Hit "Downtown".  (This one wouldn't top The Billboard Chart until January 23rd, nearly a full month later!)

Marianne Faithfull sits at #2 with "As Tears Go By", a record that never climbed any higher than #22 on the Billboard chart.  You'll also find The Bachelors at #3 with "I Wouldn't Trade Your For The World" ... (they've also got this week's Pick Hit / Fun Discovery) ... and "Roses Are Red, My Love" by The You Know Who Group at #4 ... as well as the COMPLETELY unfamiliar "The Hero" by Bernadette Carroll at #5!  (All of these before you hit The Beatles at #6 with "I Feel Fine", a song that seemed to top the charts this week everywhere ELSE but Miami!!!  lol)

A couple of neat novelty hits in The Top Ten ... "Leader Of The Laundromat" by The Detergents (featuring our FH Buddy Ron Dante) ... and "I Want My Baby Back" by Jimmy Cross ... a rather macabre tale probably most famous for mentioning The Beatles in the lyrics ... it was a staple on Dr. Demento's Program for YEARS ... and a complete flop on the charts nationally, peaking at #92 in Billboard ... but a Top Ten Hit here in Miami!

John Records Landecker is pictured on this WLS Chart from December 27, 1980 ... his biography is still "highly recommended reading" for anyone who grow up listening to his program in the '70's.

John Lennon's got the #1 song with his "comeback hit" "Starting Over" ... this chart was published about three weeks after Lennon was murdered outside his Dakota Home in New York City.  We had a huge local hit here with "This Beat Goes On" / "Switchin' To Glide" by The Kings ... "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors was also VERY big here in Chicago ... and these were all amongst my late 1980 favorites.  I also liked the Eddie Rabbit hit "Drivin' My Life Away" ... and when's the last time you heard the Doobie Brothers debut at #45, "One Step Closer"???

Check out the LP Cuts featured on this WAPE List from 1971 ... "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin would eventually be released as a single ... but the Wings version of "Love Is Strange" never got that far.  (Too bad ... it probably would have been a hit!)

Despite these heavy sounds ... you'll also find Sly and the Family Stone, Dennis Coffey (misspelled along with at least half a dozen other artists and / or song titles), Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker, Rare Earth and Lee Michaels ... it's The New Seekers who you'll find holding down the #2 position this week with their Coca Cola Commercial Hit "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing".

Here's a station that was light years ahead of its time ... WRKO  bragged about being "Your Automated All Music Station" from 9 am - Midnight in 1966 ... today you're lucky to find a live "jock" in the studio in virtually ANY city in the USA!!!

Check out the Forgotten Hits Favorite at #2 this week ... EVERY time we've ever had a discussion about the Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich hit "Bend It", we strike a nerve with readers from coast to coast ... yet somehow this record NEVER made Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart.  EVERYBODY knows it ... EVERYBODY loves it ... and the best it could do was "bubble under" at #110.  (That's one I've NEVER understood!!!)

Illinois Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen is also on this 1966 chart ... we're giving "Gallant Men" a spin ... because this is one you may NEVER hear anywhere else again!!!  (After the success of this record, comedian Bill Minkin cut the novelty hit "Wild Thing" as Senator Bobby, another cult-favorite.  Senator Bobby and Senator McKinley even had a follow-up "hit" with their version of Donovan's "Mellow Yellow".  (It peaked at #99 in its only week on the Billboard Chart!)  You'll find the Donovan original version of the classic '60's hit at #13 on this WRKO Chart.  (And yes, that IS Paul McCartney whooping it up in the background.  Story goes that Donovan gave Paul the line "sky of blue, sea of green" to use in "Yellow Submarine" ... so Paul paid back the favor by joining Donovan in the studio for his next big hit record!)

One more before we wrap things up this year ...

This WSAI Chart from Cincinnati (circa 1970) features another one of our FH Buddies, Don Young (we know him as Donny Albano) with his One-Hit Wonder "She Lets Her Hair Down".  (This song came from a shampoo commercial that has proven to be VERY popular with our Forgotten Hits Readers over the years ... I can't tell you how many times this topic has come up in these pages!!!)  Don jumps from #20 to #5 this week ... so (by Cincinnati standards anyway), he's got a major hit on his hands!

We recently featured "Fancy" by Bobbie Gentry ... and told you that this is always a GREAT one for our "One You Know ... One You Didn't Even Know You Forgot" feature.  Well, right ahead of it on this week's chart is "Early In The Morning" by Vanity Fare ... ANOTHER one that fits the bill of "One You Know ... One You Didn't Even Know You Forgot" when you pair it with their mega-hit "Hitchin' A Ride"!

You'll also find the recently-discussed Wilbert Harrison version of "Let's Work Together" on this chart at #24 ... and Crow at #26 with "Evil Woman", another Forgotten Hits favorite!

50 Years Ago This Weekend

December 26-27-28:  

The Beatles close out 1964 on top as "I Feel Fine" becomes this week's brand new #1 Record on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart.  "She's A Woman", the flipside, jumps up ten places to fall right behind it at #4.  (Back in the day, I seem to remember them playing both sides of this record pretty equally here in Chicago, with perhaps a SLIGHT edge to "I Feel Fine".) 

The Zombies are at #5 with "She's Not There", holding on to a Top Ten Spot for their seventh week in a row.  Other British Acts of note:  "Time Is On My Side" (#10 for The Rolling Stones), "Love Potion Number Nine" by The Searchers, which jumps from #30 to #11 this week, "Sha La La" by Manfred Mann, now sitting at #13, "The Wedding" by Julie Rogers is right behind it at #14, "I'm Into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits (#17), "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks (#18), "Any Way You Want It" by The Dave Clark Five (#19), "Willow Weep For Me" by Chad and Jeremy (#24), "As Tears Go By" by Marianne Faithful (#26), "Walk Away" by Matt Monro (#40), "Downtown" by Petula Clark, which leaps all the way from #87 to #41 (!), "Boom Boom" by The Animals (#49), "I'll Be There" by Gerry and the Pacemakers (#51), "There's Always Something There To Remind Me" by Sandi Shaw (#54), "I Can't Stop" by The Honeycombs (#68), "All Day And All Of The Night" by The Kinks, brand new at #69 and "No Arms Can Ever Hold You" by The Bachelors, which premiers at #98.

Seem like a lop-sided list???  Well, as we head into 1965, this just goes to show again what kind of stranglehold the British acts had on our American charts during 1964 ... a full 20% of The Top 100 Hits belong to British Artists. 

Taking a quick look at Billboard's Year End Chart, we find British Invasion Artists holding down sixteen of the Top 50 positions.  Six of those positions belong to The Beatles:  "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (#1), "She Loves You" (#2), "A Hard Day's Night" (#11), "Love Me Do"(#12), "Please Please Me" (#16) and "Twist And Shout" (#40). 

The other ten spots on the year-end countdown belong to Manfred Mann ("Do Wah Diddy Diddy", #15), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas ("Little Children", #18), The Dave Clark Five ("Glad All Over", #23 and "Bits And Pieces", #45), Peter And Gordon ("A World Without Love", #30), The Honeycombs ("Have I The Right", #31), Dusty Springfield ("Wishin' And Hopin'", #35), The Animals ("House Of The Rising Sun", #38), Gerry and the Pacemakers ("Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying", #49) and Chad and Jeremy ("A Summer Song", #50). 

The last 1964 WLS Silver Dollar Survey Chart was dated Christmas Day ... their official "Year End Chart" (counting down The 20 Best Selling #1 Records of 1964) was issued on Gold Paper on January 1st.  (That chart also listed The Top 20 Hits of the week.  You'll find it posted here on January 5th when we revamp our "50 Years Ago This Weekend" series and our "Saturday Surveys" feature into one weekly posting.)    

The Beatles topped BOTH of these charts with their latest two-sided hit "I Feel Fine" / "She's A Woman".  On the December 25th chart, The Zombies came in at #3 with "She's Not There", followed by Herman's Hermits and "I'm Into Something Good" at #4.  The Dave Clark Five and Julie Rogers wrapped up Chicagoland's Top Ten at #9 and #10 respectively with "Any Way You Want It" and "The Wedding". 

"Sha La La" by Manfred Mann sat at #12 this week, followed by "As Tears Go By" by Marianne Faithful at #13, "Love Potion Number Nine" by The Searchers at #15, "Walk Away" by Matt Monro at #19, "Boom Boom" by The Animals at #20, "Willow Weep For Me" by Chad and Jeremy at #23, "Google Eye" by The Nashville Teens at #25 and "Downtown" by Petula Clark at #27. 

A week later, "Any Way You Want It" would climb to #4, "Love Potion Number Nine" would move to #6, "The Wedding" would jump up a couple of places to #8, "Downtown" would leap to #11 (from #27) and "Willow Weep For Me" would move up ten spots to #13, while "She's  Not There" by The Zombies and "I'm Into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits would continue their descent down the charts at #5 and #7 respectively. 

According to WLS' Year End Chart, The Beatles (spelled Beatle's AGAIN!!!) held down FIVE of the top 8 spots with "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (#1), "A Hard Day's Night" (#3), "She Loves You" (#4), "Twist And Shout" (#6) and "Love Me Do" (#8). Other British acts in the Year End Top 20 include Peter And Gordon (#14 with "A World Without Love"), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas at #17 with "Little Children", The Animals at #18 with "House Of The Rising Sun" and Herman's Hermits at #20 with "I'm Into Something Good", giving The Brits 45% of the spots on this special chart.  

This concludes our "50 Years Ago This Weekend" / British Invasion special feature that has run throughout the entire year ... we hope you have enjoyed it.  (It was a HUGE undertaking ... Scroll back to ANY Friday in 2014 to catch up on what you may have missed!)  We appreciate your support ... and your input.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our Forgotten Hits Readers!

Happy Holidays From Forgotten Hits

And, for our musically inclined Jewish friends (courtesy of Fred Glickstein of The Flock) ...

Mojo ... Or, Perhaps More Accurately ... Mo' Joe!

re:  Remembering Joe Cocker:   
Billy Joel got a few of us buzzing a few months ago when he mentioned Joe Cocker from the stage during one of his many sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden.  Joel referred to Cocker as "not very well right now" and soon several of us started asking, "What have you heard about Joe Cocker?  Have you heard anything about Joe's health?  Billy Joel just said he wasn't very well."  Even a quick Google Search turned up nothing so it was quickly dismissed and forgotten.  

As such, the news of Joe's death on Monday was still a bit unsettling. 

Several of his long-time friends and musical comrades came forward with statements, offering praise, tributes and accolades for this one-of-a-kind performer:   

Goodbye and God bless to Joe Cocker from one of his friends, 

Peace and love,
Ringo Starr    

It’s really sad to hear about Joe’s passing. He was a lovely northern lad who I loved a lot and like many people I loved his singing. I was especially pleased when he decided to cover ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ and I remember him and Denny Cordell coming round to the studio in Saville Row and playing me what they’d recorded and it was just mind blowing, totally turned the song into a soul anthem and I was forever grateful for him for doing that. I knew him through the years as a good mate and I was so sad to hear that he had been ill.  He was a great guy, a lovely guy who brought so much to the world and we’ll all miss him.  
Paul McCartney     

This is sad news indeed. What a unique and great musician he was. Everything was from his heart. 
Graham Nash     

The cutting edge of Sheffield steel will be missed. Rest in peace to Joe Cocker, one of the greatest voices England ever produced.  
Eric Burdon    

Sad to hear Joe Cocker has passed away. Our prayers go out to his family.  
Gene Simmons     

Although I haven’t really caught up with him over the years, the 10th Anniversary Woodstock Reunion Tour (Europe ’79) we did together will remain one of the most memorable tours I ever did. Joe was the featured artist, and he deserved to be. He brought down the house every night. I believe it was because he was willing to be so vulnerable and real ... there were no games. He just sang his heart out. And we all loved him for it. What a loss.  
Arlo Guthrie     

He was a really good guy and of course a great, great artist.  
Randy Newman  

So sad to hear of Joe Cocker's passing. "You Are So Beautiful" is both Joe and Nicky Hopkins piano at their very best. Gonna play it now RIP.
Peter Frampton    

Joe Cocker has died. RIP my good friend, you were one of the best rock singers EVER.   
Bryan Adams 

WE LOVED YOU FOREVER, WE WILL MISS YOU ALWAYS ... RIP JOE COCKER.  
STEVEN TYLER   

Goodbye to Joe Cocker. There was never anyone like him, and there never will be again. The one of the Sounds of an Era passes. 
Bette Midler 

And from some of our readers as well ...   

Very nice tribute Kent.  
When the "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" tour came to Rochester around 1970 it amazed me as it was so unusual -- almost like a variety show with one grouping of artists after another with Joe featured in many, but not all, of the songs. It was also the first time that I saw Claudia Lennear and Rita Coolidge and I kinda' fell in love with both of them! Along with Leon Russell, another "Mad Dog" was Don Preston, who had been playing with Leon since 1960 and is a guitar legend in his own right. Don would become part of our   family when my son married his step-daughter in 2002.  
Small world! 
Danny G.  
PS -- Don has played with everyone from Ritchie Valens to Ricky Nelson to Freddie King to George Harrison -- quite a history of rock story on his own.  

"Ain't it high time we went." I love Joe Cocker - his passion, his energy, his earthy soul. Quite frankly - and this goes back four decades - it broke my heart the night Joe appeared on SNL as a tag team
partner to John Belushi. Yes, I laughed like hell at the way John mimicked Joe, but I couldn't help but feel that he was really going out of way to make Cocker look stupid.
Joe Cocker, there was nobody like him. In some regards, at least to me, he was something of a white Otis Redding. I would have killed to hear Joe, in his prime, sing "I've Been Lovin' You Too Long" or "These Arms of Mine." I often wondered what kind of magic Joe might have produced if he had hooked up with Booker T., Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper.
Sadly, we'll never know.  
R.I.P. #MusicalGenius
Chet Coppock
Host: Notre Dame Football,. WLS
Host: Chicago Blackhawks Heritage Series    

JOE COCKER, the incomparable Sheffield, English born blues rocker passed at the age of 70 today. COCKER long admired CHARLIE GRACIE and attended his UK concerts as a teenager back in the 50's.   SAYS CHARLIE: "When we met a few times in the late 90's JOE would tease: "CHARLIE GRACIE I HATE YOU ... YOU STILL HAVE ALL YOUR HAIR!"  We lost a unique and great artist today. The man was electrifying on stage and gave his all!      
-- Charlie Gracie, Jr.   

And then this from Charlie himself ...     

My daughter Angela was a big fan of Joe's, too, and I was happy I could introduce her to him! Our paths crossed three or four times over the last 20-years and we always talked music! JOE had fond memories of the early days of R&R and had lots of praise for us originators. I am saddened by his passing and he will be sorely missed!

God Rest his Soul 
Charlie Gracie  

Below:  The Late JOE COCKER and Philly's first R&R star, CHARLIE GRACIE ...
(photo courtesy of Charlie Gracie, Jr.)

About the Belushi imitation: that always cracked me up.  Of course he couldn't actually "be" Cocker (just as Belushi and Ackroyd weren't no Sam and Dave, either) ... but their "duet" had to be a respectful mocking, highlighting the most unique stage mannerisms we'll ever see.  Better than Eddie Murphy's Stevie Wonder, I'd say.

I saw Joe back around '73 (Chicago Auditorium Theatre), and again much later, two times, when opening for the (real) Guess Who in '01.  Much better in '01.  Amazing that he could still deliver with such force, considering his style that seemed oblivious to how it should effect human vocal cords.  Definitely lost a great one. 
Dan Hudelson  
What made the whole Saturday Night Live thing so great and so hysterically funny at the time was NOT Belushi's imitation ... although it WAS spot-on! ... we had seen that before ... but the fact that he DID that impersonation right in front of Joe Cocker who was literally standing right beside him!  (There is a VERY brief ... and badly edited ... clip of this performance at the Billboard link below.  The highlight for me is when Cocker walks back to take off his jacket and then shoots a glance over his shoulder toward Belushi as if to say "What the fuck is this guy doing?!?!")

Let's face it ... catching Joe Cocker for the very first time at the beginning was a bit of a shock to the system ... that voice!!!  All those spastic gyrations!!!  Was this just Joe losing himself in the song, much the way Elvis claimed his hips took on a life of their own every time he sang rock and roll?  Was it all just a  gimmick to gain attention?  (If so, it worked!)  Was this guy actually having an epileptic fit live on stage, right before our very eyes?  (And, if so, shouldn't we call someone?)  Was it the drugs?  (He was, after all, of "The Woodstock Generation"!)  Or was it quite simply all of the above??? 
As part of all the tributes flowing this week in memory of this great singer, some have said that Joe Cocker could sing ANYTHING and make it sound fresh and original.  I don't know if that's really true or not ... I kinda doubt it ... but I DO know that if a song happened to come along and Joe "felt it", he could make his audience feel it, too ... he had that kind of power in his presentation.  (kk)  

Sad to hear about his passing.  He was a great singer.  That raspy voice was so cool!   It would be hard to pick a fave for me.  Probably "The Letter."  Still, so many songs.  "Cry Me a River" "High Time We Went"  "Give Peace a Chance" "Delta Lady" etc, etc.  No one sounded like him and turned a song to be completely his own.  
Bobby Jones, formerly of Aorta and other groups, was one of the members of the "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" backing group and is pictured on the LP cover as well!  Maybe we'll hear something from him on this, too.   
Clark Besch  

Somehow, it's always different when it's somebody from OUR generation that passes away ... somebody who "moved us" and had an impact on our life ... a "mortality check" every time.  I heard newscaster David Hagen on K-Hits telling the story about how while he was away at college, he once took in an abandoned puppy and named him "Joe" ... because he was a Cocker.  Hearing the news of Joe Cocker's death yesterday (the famous one, not the puppy!) brought back a wave of memories that have probably LONG since been absent from his consciousness.  It's amazing how music can do that ... cause an impact strong enough to share it on the air this morning with millions of strangers ... yet knowing that each and every one of us would somehow understand EXACTLY what he was saying and feeling.  (kk)      

Billboard Magazine put up some great clips of Joe Cocker (sent into us by Tom Cuddy) ... you'll definitely want to check these out!

You'll also find a link spotlighting Joe Cocker's Ten Biggest Hits in Billboard ...   
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6415045/joe-cocker-essential-moments-woodstock-snl?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=biz_breakingnews&utm_campaign=Breaking%20News   

I heard the news on the radio and it set me back.    
Joe Cocker had passed away.    
I was surprised, as I had not known of his illness.    
70! Way too young, but taking into account the 70's lifestyle he had led, not that surprising.    
Yet, I was very sad. I have four musical acts from that era that I totally adored - Little Feat, Leon Russell, The Band and Joe Cocker.    
Now, Cocker had passed and I felt a void.  
I figured that Forgotten Hits would publish some type of tribute to Cocker, but I also figured that it would be very plain, as I was pretty sure that Kent Kotal was not a huge Cocker fan.  
I decided that it would be my responsibility to write a tribute to Joe Cocker and send it to Kent, so as to help him out.  
I picked up a yellow pad and a pen and made ample notes throughout the day. I'd pick up the pad, jot a note or two, and then put it down.  
I figured that by day's end I would have my thoughts sorted out well enough to type something good enough to praise the man whose work and talents had given me so much pleasure over the years.  
Then, the e-mail came telling me that the Forgotten Hits tribute had just been published. I clicked to go to the website. I wasn't expecting anything too good, to be perfectly honest.  
I read Kent Kotal's tribute article about Joe Cocker.  
I picked up my yellow pad. I peeled off the top two sheets of paper. I crumpled them into a ball. I flipped them into the wastebasket.  
There was nothing more to say.  
Kent Kotal had nailed it.  
Kent, my friend, thank you for what I consider to be your finest work.  
Thank you -  
Steve Sarley    
Wow!  High praise indeed!  No, I wasn't the major fan you were ... but his music still touched me ... I believe it touched us all ... and I felt inspired last night to at least put SOMETHING down to commemorate this great artist.  It flowed very quickly ... it usually does when it comes straight from the heart.  Thank you for your validation ... EVERYBODY likes an "Atta Boy" once in a while ... it's always nice to hear that "ya done good!"  (kk)