Wednesday Wednesday

And the comments just keep comin' ... so we're sharing a few more with you today!

re:  THIS GUY HAD THE MOVES LIKE JAGGER!:

Hey Kent,

I am wondering if you saw Mick Jagger host Saturday Night Live this past weekend.  I thought he was a natural!  No problems with the monologue and presented MUCH better than 90% do as guest hosts.  He performed great Stones songs from "Last Time" to "19th Nervous Breakdown" to "It's Only R&R" as well as a new song he wrote about the political situation with Jeff Beck on blues guitar.  Then, he was in most of the skits as well!  Many not funny, but he was great.  The best was the karaoke bar where guys kept going up and singing Jagger tunes while he sat there saying "Jagger doesn't do that."  Then, his impersonation of Steven Tyler on American Idol was good, as one could imagine.  All in all, one of the best SNL shows (not sayin much there) I have seen in a long time. 

Clark Besch

We missed it (but will watch it on "On Demand" this weekend.)  I've heard really good things from several readers ... but YOUR note makes me want to flip it on right now!  (kk)   

Kent ...

It's Only Rock and Roll.

Mick Jagger's collaborations through the years:  From Live-Aid to Obama
http://wcbsfm.cbslocal.com/2012/05/18/from-live-aid-to-obama-mick-jaggers-collaborations-through-the-years/ 
Frank B.

Some great clips here!  (kk)   

This was supposed to be bad. A tired rock star giving the middle finger to bandmates who can't tour without him.
But from the very beginning of the show, Jagger exuded a charisma and confidence that was incredibly endearing, even in the skits. Instead of looking desperate, he took the whole show up a notch.
And then he performed with Arcade Fire.
Half the magic was the brilliant execution of the stinging guitar riff. But it was more than that, this was a band, not in the least bit self-conscious, thrilled to back up the best frontman in rock and roll. Who delivered.
What is it with Jagger ... He can barely enunciate on the Super Bowl, the live shows are creepy, then he goes on the Grammys and tears it up and delivers here. Huh?
This was supposed to be a victory lap. Old man on old show, both past their prime. But it turned into a tour de force.
It wasn't perfect.
Great rock and roll never is.
But it had undeniable energy, just like the original British Invasion. You just wanted to get closer, the music eclipsed the antics of the comedians, it was everything.
Jagger showed us how to do it.
But he couldn't have done it without Arcade Fire.
And this performance would get a standing O on "Idol", because magic is undeniable.
It would have been criticized on "The Voice", but those phonies have no idea what's real.
But Tyler does. Jagger inspired him to hit his peaks.
And tonight Mick reminded the rest of us that money can't buy you love and there's no joy like making (and listening!) to music.

Bob Lefsetz 

re:  GARAGE BANDS: 

How are The Trashmen doing?  

Ken

Pretty well, actually ... with 98 votes, they're certainly in the running ... not enough to win this thing ... but they might make The Top 20.  (kk)

re:  FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN B-SIDES:

Kent,

I thought I'd share some thoughts with you as I go plowing through my record collection for my annual inventory.  My, how that does stir up the cobwebs.
I checked your "B-sides list" and I need to mention a few.  Absolutely one of the worst produced and engineered records I ever heard, and yet I love to listen to it is "Don't You Worry, My Little Pet", a Phil Spector production on the flip side of "To Know Him Is To Love Him" by the Teddy Bears.  
I'll also mention the two "That's My Desire" flip sides, from Dion & Belmonts and also the Lettermen.

Chuck Wroste

We're going to be spinning some of those Favorite, Forgotten B-Sides with Y-103.9's Jeff James real soon ... in fact, he's even filming this for his YouTube "From The Vault" series.  We'll have more details shortly for you on this!  (kk)   

re:  THE BEE GEES:

Sorry bout the Bee Gees errors I made.  I was writing quick before bed and not for broadcast worldwide on CNN.  haha.

Clark

Point noted ... my only thing was showing that it happens to EVERYBODY ... happens to me all of the time ... my mind knows EXACTLY what I want to say and then I'll transpose a wrong name or something, even thought I knew exactly what it was SUPPOSED to say!  (I've thought about getting one of those "Say And Type" things for the computer ... but the one's I've seen aren't very accurate ... right now they make more mistakes than I do ... so I muddle along!)  No harm, no foul ... but we HAVE to set the record straight on stuff like this.

As for your comment about the media getting their facts wrong, I witnessed this first hand on the way to work one morning this week.  Eddie and Jo-Bo (who I honestly can't STAND in the mornings ... but I listen for their "Senseless Survey" bit) were talking about the passing of "a Bee Gee" when Jo-Bo said, "Did you know that Maurice Gibb once quit the band to try and make it as a solo?  Yeah, he thought he should be the lead singer!" To which Eddie replied, "Well, he DID do a good job on "I Started A Joke".  Couldn't have gotten it more wrong ... Maurice never sang lead on ANY of The Bee Gees' hits ... and it was Robin (who is the one who passed last week, and NOT his twin brother Maurice) not only sang lead on "I Started A Joke" but also quit the band for a while at the prompting of too many hangers-on who convinced him that HE was the sound of the whole band anyway and ought to try and make it as a solo act.  Meanwhile, ANYBODY listening who didn't know any better got their heads filled with COMPLETELY erroneous information ... and this is on one of Chicago's OLDIES stations!!! (K-Hits prides themselves on playing the hits of the '60's, the '70's and the '80's ... it'd be even cooler if they knew the first thing about any of this music!)  kk  

Boy, you guys have a lot more admiration for disco and Saturday Night Fever than me.

For The Rockers it was part of the downfall of Western Civilization!

Ken

And I felt EXACTLY the same way at the time ... I HATED Disco (and still do, for the most part) ... but some of this music has aged very well.  "Saturday Night Fever" is pretty much an AWFUL, unwatchable movie today ... but there is no denying its impact on pop culture then AND all these years later.  Truthfully, I'm one of those rare birds out there that will admit to loving ALL of The Bee Gees' music ... from the earliest stuff right on up through their last album ... I could find something of merit in every phase of their career ... but that doesn't mean I was a fan of disco music.  (For the record, I still turn off the radio EVERY single time a Barry White or a Village People song comes on!!!  lol  And I was there, cheering Steve Dahl on ... albeit from my couch rather than a ringside seat ... when he blew up all those disco records at Comiskey Park.  I, too, embraced the "Classic Rock" alternative at the time.)  In fact, playing in a band at the time, disco put a lot of us out of work ... and I hated the whole "dress-up game" you had to play with the gold chains, platform shoes and all of that ilk ... but a whole generation embraced it and were out on that light-up dance floor every weekend.  It was never for me ... but some of what we THEN called "disco music" plays pretty well today as some great R&B.  (kk)

Tuesday Tuesday

A few more comments from the bleachers!

re:  THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME:

Kent,

With all the recent talk about the Rock 'n" Roll Hall of Fame it made me think of yet another group of people the nominating committee has overlooked. Elvis Presley's TCB Band, the band Elvis used from 1969 to 1977. James Burton is in the Hall but Ronnie Tutt, Jerry Scheff, Glen D. Hardin, John Wilkerson are not. Also, his backing vocal groups, The Jordanaires and The Sweet Inspirations are not in the Hall.

All The Best,
Cory Cooper
Elvis Historian, Consultant, Technical Advisor

Of course Elvis' original guys ... Scotty Moore, Bill Black and DJ Fontana are all Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees, too ... and I'll agree that The Jordanaires certainly deserve some recognition for all their vocal contributions over the years ... but honestly (and with no disrespect to Elvis' latter-day back up band), if THESE guys got in before deserving (and long-ignored) artists like Chicago, The Moody Blues, The Guess Who, Genesis, Heart, Yes, Linda Ronstadt, Hall and Oates and so many others that are sure to make our latest Deserving And Denied List, I'd have to rank that decision right up there with all of the OTHER bonehead decisions The Hall Of Fame has made of late!  Not that they don't deserve it ... it's just that I can think of about 300 OTHER artists who deserve it first!  (kk)  

Kent,

In regards to whether Rod McKuen should or should not be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I say why not.  (tongue in cheek). Who could ever forget such memorable records such as OLIVER TWIST out of 1961 on Spiral Records and his novelty type record out of 1959 THE MUMMY on Brunswick with Bob McFadden and Rod doing the voice of the mummy Dor (Rod spelled backwards), both records charting here in OKC.
Larry Neal   

re:  ROCK AND ROLL'S FIRST RECORD /

WHAT IF THERE WAS NO ROCK AND ROLL:

Going back to WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THERE WAS NO ROCK AND ROLL, your readers are right with ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO STAY. and don't forget the Showmen's
IT WILL STAND out of early 1962, which was big here in OKC.

Larry   

When I think of the 1^st Rock n Roll 45 it’s Probably “Good Rockin’ Tonight”. If not, maybe “Rocket 88” by Jackie Brenstan.  

Ken

Both of these tunes come up quite often on this list ... and are both good candidates for the title.  While Bill Haley and the Comets' recording of "Rock Around The Clock" going to #1 has been cited as the start of "The Rock and Roll Era", these guys also recorded "Shake, Rattle And Roll" a full year earlier ... and it went to #7 ... yet has been virtually overlooked in these tabulations.  Then again, Big Joe Turner's 1954 version is probably the more deserving of the two!  (kk)    

re:  THE BEE GEES:

Barry has now seen all three of his younger brothers pass before him, like Brian Wilson has seen younger brothers Carl and Dennis pass before him.  That has to be tough. 

CNN butchered their story on Robin completely.  They showed an LP cover from 1970 when Robin was separated from the Bee Gees, showed credits from a TV special when same thing was happening and showed Travolta TWICE as the only video footage in whole story.  Thing is, they showed the Saturday Night Live footage while playing "You Should be Dancing" which was NOT in SNF film!  I think media coverage of such a talent was VERY poor today as it was for Davy Jones.

Clark Besch

And it's not like the history of The Bee Gees isn't well-documented ... there are TONS of clips available.  It's a shame how our so-called "reliable news sources" continue to get the facts wrong so often.  (Lends even more credence to the recent "Beatles 3000" clip we ran again the other day): Click here: beatles 3000 - YouTube

But it's easy to see how little mistakes can sometimes slip by.  In your email, for example, you refer to "Saturday Night Live" rather than "Saturday Night Fever", which is what I'm sure you MEANT to say!  And, for the record, "You Should Be Dancing" IS used in the film ... in a key dance scene, in fact ... it just wasn't written FOR the film ... but neither were some of the best-known tracks from the soundtrack ... read on!  (kk)  

Kent ...

I'm reading a story about the Bee Gees in the Daily News.  

I quote Robin Gibb:  "We were never a disco group. The songs in the movie, Saturday Night Fever, weren't written as disco songs."  He sure fooled me. What do you think about it?

Frank B.

Robin spoke the truth.  The Bee Gees were already writing and recording tracks for what was supposed to be their next studio album ... and "How Deep Is Your Love" and "Stayin' Alive" were already in the can ... with "Night Fever" nearly complete as well.  When their manager Robert Stigwood approached them and told them that he had just signed on to produce a new film, he simply asked "What have you got?"  It was just another lucky musical happenstance ... The Bee Gees abandoned their new LP and began crafting songs to be used on the soundtrack, eventually filling in the gaps with a few of their older tracks (like "You Should Be Dancing" and "Jive Talkin'") and writing new material like "If I Can't Have You" and "More Than A Woman" ... both originally planned as Bee Gees tracks but then given to Yvonne Elliman and Tavares respectively to break up the monotony of the soundtrack a little bit ... and a MAJOR hit was born.

The Bee Gees NEVER presented themselves as a "disco band" ... and never felt that they were one.  This was something that radio and the media came up with and, because the film "Saturday Night Fever" was ABOUT a dancer who spent all of his spare time and money at a disco, they became the "poster children" of this popular new music art form.  Truthfully this "new" sound just happened to be their musical platform at the time, leaning more toward an R&B sound that they first started developing on their "Main Course" album with hits like "Jive Talkin'" and "Nights On Broadway".  In fact, when Stigwood asked them to rewrite "Stayin' Alive" as "Saturday Night", The Brothers Gibb finally put their collective foot down.  Feeling there were already enough songs about Saturday Night (The Bay City Rollers had recently topped the charts with THEIR song of the same name), they came up with "Night Fever" as a means to still capitalize on the title of the film.  The rest, as they say, is history ... but The Bee Gees took the hit for over saturation and paid dearly for it.  As mentioned in our recent Bee Gees tribute piece, history has also shown songs like "How Deep Is Your Love" and "Stayin' Alive" to be a couple of the strongest and most enduring tracks of our generation ... but at the time, there was a whole lot of Bee Gees-bashing going on.  (kk)   

re:  LEFT BANKE:

Here's a clip of The Left Banke performing "Pretty Ballerina" live at B.B. King's with the elusive Michael Brown on keyboard.

David Lewis   
Click here: The Left Banke w/ Michael Brown at BB Kings - YouTube

Believe it or not, The Left Banke received a few votes in our on-going Favorite Garage Bands Poll.  I think they'd be amongst the first to admit that this isn't a list they belong on!  One listen to the classical sounds of this band (reformed and performing again) will show you that!  (kk)  

Meanwhile, we ARE still tabulating your votes!   

re:  GARAGE BANDS:

How about:
The Rugbys
The Balloon Farm
The Swampseeds
Tal Hartsfeld

The Rugbys were eliminated from the ballot for having under 20 votes (I believe they had four).  The Balloon Farm are doing fine ... they currently have 78 votes.  And I don't recall if The Swampseeds were ever even nominated ... if they were, it was most likely the only vote they received.  (kk)   

re:  FAVORITE INSTRUMENTALS:

I thoroughly enjoyed Al Kooper's selection of his top 50 instrumentals of all time. I guarantee you I would never have guessed at #40 Chet Atkins' BOO BOO STICK BEAT. The same can be said about #22 Ray Bryant's LITTLE SUSIE. I had forgotten how LITTLE SUSIE sounded so I just came from playing it here at home. I did remember one thing though. I did remember that on the flip side of the record (1960 Columbia) was LITTLE SUSIE (Part III), not Part II. This was probably a typo on the label when it came out
Larry Neal   

Hey Kent,
One good thing about having older brothers is that you get to listen to all their records (over and over again)! It's great when an instrumental becomes a hit, and the lists of those rankings on your site has really brought back the memories. Unfortunately, instrumental hits are almost non-existent these days. Al Kooper has just sent in his own list of favorites. First of all, I'd like to thank him for all his contributions to the industry, over the years. I'm also glad that he listed a tune, that one of my brothers brought to my attention, when it came out, "The Lonely Surfer", by Jack Nitzsche. A whole chapter could be written about all the things he did in the business, but this lone recording was intriguing. What made it so unique was that the melody was played on a bass guitar, and what REALLY is interesting is that bass on the recording was performed by David Gates. Yes, THAT David Gates of Bread fame. Years later, when I accidentally played the 45 record at 33 speed, on my college radio station's turntable, the lower bass frequency actually blew out a tube in the transmitter!

- John LaPuzza

Monday Monday

A few late stragglers ...

re:  THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME:

Just a reminder ... in addition to tabulating your votes for your All-Time Favorite Garage Bands, we are ALSO compiling an updated list of the artists that YOU feel are the most Deserving and Denied of Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction.  This poll, too, closes on June 1st ... so PLEASE get your votes and nominees in soon!  Here are a couple of recent comments that we received ...

Amongst all your RnR HoF feedback, Jeff Tamarkin's comments easily carry the most weight.  Insightful.  This is the same man who, while he was still editor of Goldmine, wrote in that publication that the Dave Clark 5 would never be inducted into the Hall.  ("Ain't gonna happen.")  In the past, I attributed his remark to personal snarkiness but having read his comments about the Moody Blues, they were probably just a reflection of the temperament and mind-set of the nominating committee in general. 

Halls of Fame are not perfect institutions.  Someone, somewhere will always be offended by inclusions and omissions.  But the inherent cronyism of the RnR HoF is saddening and self-diminishing.  It's almost too late to prevent the hall from becoming a punchline to a not-so-funny joke.

... Ed44

It's been an unfunny joke for quite some time now ... and the real music fans out there can no longer take it seriously.  Several artists have stated on the record that if nominated and elected, they wouldn't even go ... because induction today is just part of the sham.  Too bad ... I just can't help thinking about what this COULD (and SHOULD) have been!  (kk)   

Jeff Tamarkin had a nice list of Hall of Fame nominees.  What about nominating the Wrecking Crew?  Oh, yeah ... I guess that is WHY many of Jeff's acts are on the outside looking in.  The Crew cannot get their DVD produced and the bands whose records they played on cannot get in the Hall of Shame.  Something's not right there. I am guessing the Anita Kerr Singers and Rod McKuen will be inducted next?  Rod's "The Warm" poem WAS the inspiration for the Cryan Shames single "The Warm" so maybe he deserves it -- BUT not the Cryan Shames themselves.  That seems to be the way the non-logic goes with the Rolling Stone Magazine Hall of Fame, right? 

Clark Besch

Rod McKuen probably WILL get inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame before half the folks on our Deserving And Denied List.  (Why not???  They let Leonard Cohen in!!!)  When I was a kid growing up, I was a big fan of e.e.cummings ... think HE'S got a chance of induction, too?  In all fairness, Rod McKuen and The Cryan' Shames are not worthy of Hall Of Fame Induction ... but Chicago, The Guess Who and The Moody Blues certainly are ... so what's their excuse for keeping THESE guys on the outside lookin' in???  (kk)   

If you REALLY want a historic profile of the "Rock and Roll era" simply look up the Top-100 single hits of 1954 through 1989 (via Joel Whitburn / BILLBOARD), write down all the titles -- then, somehow, put together a recorded collection of as many of them as you can, infusing a few "choice" B-sides and chestnut non-single "album" hits as well.
If you can do all that, what more does one need?
Rock and Roll came about by accident anyway. It's all derivative.
It started out as a composite of other musical styles ...

Rock and Roll is to pop music what English is to other languages.
In other words, just as English stole all of its words from all the other European and Mediterranean languages, so, too, did Rock and Roll steal all of its musical styles from all of the other popular music styles.
Tal   

re:  DONNA SUMMER:  
Hi Kent,

Sad to learn of Donna Summers passing.  Certainly she was queen of the disco era. 

My very good friend Les Hurdle, who now lives in California, was responsible for most of those 'disco bass lines' which made the music so distinctive. Yet another unsung 'Wrecking Crew' type session musician who helped make the Stars' careers.

Cheers,  

Vic Flick    

re:  ROBIN GIBB:   

STATEMENT FROM ‘THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN EARS,’  

KAL RUDMAN, PUBLISHER OF THE FRIDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK, BIBLE OF THE BROADCAST AND MUSIC INDUSTRIES, ON THE DEATH OF ROBIN GIBB OF THE BEE GEES

PHOTO CAPTION: At left, Robin Gibb with Kal Rudman, center, 

and Barry Gibb, the lone surviving member of the Bee Gees.

CHERRY HILL, NJ – 

Robin Gibb will forever be remembered for his brilliant contribution with his brothers to the seminal “disco” soundtrack, “Saturday Night Fever.” The irony, however, is that those songs were written by the Bee Gees well before any thought about the movie, or disco. Robin and his brothers totally mastered the skills in writing upbeat music for the fast dancers. And their pride as songwriters exceeded their pride as singers.

Most of the disco hits you’ll never hear again, because they didn’t have legs, as we say in show business. But numbers count, and the Bee Gees had 29 Top 40 hits over 22 years. Like their disco era contemporary, Donna Summer, that high level of longevity doesn’t come around too often.    

Bee Gee Robin Gibb has died ... and last week we had the passing of Donna Summer.  Safe to say that disco is now officially dead.  (Think Harry Casey is looking over his shoulder right now???)

Top10Kid   


re:  THE BEACH BOYS:

In response to David Beard's review of the new Beach Boys album -

Rolling Stone gave it three stars: Beach Boys Harmonize Like It's 1965 Again"'That's Why God Made the Radio' ... a harmony cascade ... kinda cosmic, sorta corny, undeniably gorgeous."

Not bad for a bunch of 70 year olds!

Phil

PrayForSurf.net

Can't wait to hear it for myself ... sounds like the official Boys Of Summer have pulled off yet ANOTHER remarkable comeback!  (But then again, their unique sound has never really gone out of style!  And NOBODY does it better!)  kk   

Not everyone will be able to attend a Beach Boys concert on this tour but if you'd like to at least hear what the experience is like, a full concert can be found online here: 

http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=1098

The sound quality is pretty darn good, all things considered, and the group sounds pretty good overall. I'm looking forward to seeing them in a little over a month in Saratoga, New York, all the way back in my $15 lawn seat ... I may not be able to see them from where I'll be seated but I'll know they're there LOL.

Tom

Kent ...

Wild Wayne went to The Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Show at the Mohegan Sun, CT. Here's what he had to say about it ...

They opened with "Do It Again" and closed with "Fun, Fun, Fun."

They sang "Forever" with Dennis, via video clip.  They sang "God Only Knows" with Carl, via video clip.

The Beach Boys sang 45 songs in two and a half hours.  Wild Wayne said you could've left at the intermission and would've still got your money's worth.
Frank B.

We've heard nothing but unanimously good reviews ... so glad to hear the guys are getting along and giving their fans their money's worth.  Watch for my daughter's review next week in Forgotten Hits!  (kk)     

re:  CLIP OF THE WEEK:

If you haven't seen this yet, you have GOT to check this out.  Eliminated American Idol finalist Joshua Ledet (he officially came in third) blows the doors of the James Brown classic "It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World" ... one of my favorites anyway ... but a STELLAR, landmark Idol performance that is better than ANYTHING I've seen on one of these competition shows in a long, long time.  (Maybe the best ever!)  And I just LOVE the way the strings and horns play off him in this performance. 

Ledet never finished in The Bottom Three ... until, of course, there were only three candidates left ... and he now holds the record for most standing ovations in American Idol history with fourteen ... damn, this guy can sing!!!  (kk)

Click here: Joshua Ledet: It's A Man's Man's Man's World - Top 4 - AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 11 - YouTube    

re:  CALIFORNIA SUN:

>>>I listened to The Rivieras' Greatest Hits CD this weekend ... and their Top Five Hit Recording of "California Sun" HAD to be a fluke!!!  It's the PERFECT record in every way ... and nothing else they ever did ever came REMOTELY close to sounding like this.  (Don't believe?  Listen to their 1965 "California Sun" remake ... it's AWFUL!!!  You'd think by this point they could recreate this record in their sleep!!!) Kudos to whoever produced and engineered their hit in the studio ... because that first hit was magical.  (kk) 

Hey Kent, 

Here’s a great rendition at a recent Springsteen show  

http://youtu.be/DIukXYvEQPc 

Thanks,

Eddie Burke,

Orange, CT 

Honestly, this one does very little for me.  (A "younger" Bruce might have tackled this pretty well ... maybe Bruce should have tried this in a lower key so he wouldn't have to "reach" so much to hit some of these notes!)  Without question, it's a great song ... I'm just not feeling like this is a very great version of it.  (Readers can judge for themselves via the YouTube link above.)  kk    

re:  GARAGE BANDS:

Here is my choice of bands from best to least. I grew up in northern Ohio and now live in Massachusetts. Love your site.
1. Paul Revere and the Raiders
2. The Outsiders
3. The McCoys
4.The Buckinghams
5. The Beau Brummels
6.Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
7. Cannibal and the Headhunters
8.Gentry's
9. Music Explosion
10. The Human Beinz

Steve H

Hi Kent -

Furvus here. 

Of course I'm going to vote for The Fifth Estate as the #1 Garage Band. 

Would I vote for the other guy if I were running for president??  Hey there's an idea!! 

Ah ??? Yes, maybe I would, if I REALLY wanted a truthful accurate assessment of who would really be best as #1 Garage Band or as president, as the case may be.  So I'll rearrange my list just a little then.  This is also based largely on first hand knowledge by having played with or at least knowing about half of all the people in these bands, and some who were at my pad when I lived just outside NYC. 

Also as to The Fifth Estate, I think it is fair to say that most of our released material, except for a few early singles, would not be considered garage rock by most. BUT much of our yet unreleased BUT soon to be released material truly is!!  Here is one attached

called Night On Fire! and another we did under the pseudonym of Medicine Mike - called - I've Never Been So High^^^!   Here's the link to a compilation which it is on. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd366vOYCKA  

Also our latest album just out Time Tunnel - has been reviewed as just about as "Nuggety" as anything.

It's just us playing like us, with none of the edges shaved off!

So now with me considering some of those yet to be released songs, here's my list in order of priority:

1  Sonics

2  Electric Prunes

3  Music Explosion

4  Shadows of Night

5  The Fifth Estate

6  Chocolate Watch Band 

7  13th Floor Elevators

8  Nashville Teens

9  Blues Magoos

10 Count Five

Thanks, Kent, for putting out this very cool survey. Real fun to participate and even more to be in it!!!

Furv

The Fifth Estate

 
Hey, Furv, great to hear from you.  Actually, quite a few people on the list feel The Fifth Estate belong on the ballot ... counting YOUR vote, you guys are now up to 62!  (Not enough to win it just yet ... but hey, there's still two more weeks of voting left!!!  Lol)  We've got SIX bands now with over 200 votes each (and one of those just passed the 300 mark!) ... so this should be a pretty good representation once all of the votes have been tallied and the favorites have been announced!  Thanks for casting yours!  (kk)    

re:  THE FIRST ROCK AND ROLL RECORD:

Here's a quick Rock And Roll History lesson, courtesy of FH Reader CPass ...

World's First Rock-and-Roll Song Identified : Discovery News

Some good candidates here to be sure ... and did you notice use of the phrase dating all the way back to 1929 ... YEARS before Elvis was even born?!?!?  I'm sure we'll have more on this topic over time ... and, if I can get our buddy Ed Parker to share HIS thoughts on the subject, put together a pretty amazing series!  (kk)

Robin Gibb Has Died

After what can only be described as a miraculous recovery (after spending weeks in a coma), Bee Gee Robin Gibb has died.  Never really out of the medical woods (Gibb had numerous complications and health issues over the past couple of years), he truly was an inspiration to us all when he awoke a short month ago, while his family held vigil at his bedside, never giving up hope.  Robin was a fighter ... and vowed to sing again with his brother Barry ... but sadly it was not to be.
Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to his family.  (kk)

From Ron Smith's OldiesMusic.com website:

Bee Gee Robin Gibb became the third member of the singing Gibb family to die Sunday (May 20), succumbing to colon and liver cancer at a Chelsea hospital. He was 62. Robin's twin brother, Maurice died of complications from a twisted intestine in 2003. His younger brother Andy died from a viral infection of the heart in 1988. Robin himself underwent surgery for a blocked intestine in 2010 and the following year was diagnosed with colon and liver cancer. He first attempted alternative medicine but eventually underwent chemotherapy. In early March he declared his cancer in remission but later that month he underwent emergency intestinal surgery, which led to pneumonia and fell into a coma for more than a week. Born on the Isle of Mann, the Gibb family moved to Manchester, England, then to Queensland, Australia, where Robin, Maurice and older brother Barry honed their musical act. It was Aussie star Col Joye that helped them get a recording contract. After twelve singles, including the hit, "Spicks And Specks," the brothers returned to England, where they hooked up with manager Robert Stigwood. He obtained contracts with Polydor Records in the UK and ATCO Records in the U.S. Stigwood was rewarded with fifteen top ten British hits and an equal number in the U.S. Early hits like "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" (#1 - 1971), ""Lonely Days" (#3 - 1971) and "I Started A Joke" (#6 - 1969), with soft, intricate harmonies were replaced in later years by a rhythmic, disco sound on tunes like "Jive Talkin'" (#1 - 1975) and their hits from the movie "Saturday Night Fever" -- "Stayin' Alive" (#1 - 1978) and "Night Fever" (#1 - 1978). In fact, the Bee Gees amassed six straight number one hits from 1977 to 1979, before a disco backlash cooled their chart appearances considerably. Robin also had a flourishing solo career --  usually concurrent with his Bee Gees recordings. He charted four times in the U.S., including his version of "Oh! Darling" from the movie, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (in which he and his brothers starred), that reached #15 in 1978. His recording of "Saved By The Bell" reached #2 in England in 1969. Robin was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Bee Gees were added to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame three years later. The brothers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1979. In 2004 he was awarded Britain's Commander of the Order of the British Empire medal by the Queen.