Now THAT really is a great article and interview -
But I can’t help it - I get SO annoyed when Rolling Stone FINALLY
does an intelligent piece on The Monkees yet won’t EVER consider them
for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. (And then to have the nerve to ASK him, as part of the interview, how he feels about The Rock Hall!!!)
They did a BEAUTIFUL profile of Mike Nesmith when he passed away - and some very nice
pieces have sporadically popped up on the band over the past dozen years or so - yet
there is not so much as even the slightest hint of consideration when it comes to putting them in. I'm sorry ... but it just REALLY grates me - because they are so rarely taken seriously by the rock press.
(Sorry - just venting ... it really IS a good article.) kk
Kent,
Speaking of being on the opposite side of
Daylight Saving Time, years ago when I was doing my Wax Museum on KOMA, I
initially was on Saturday nights beginning at twelve midnight and going until
5:30 the next morning. You talk about being somewhat tired when 5:30 came
around and I had been on the air 6 1/2 hours instead of 5 1/2. That's when
Little Willie John's SLEEP would have sounded great.
As for DDDBM&T's BEND IT, for the week of
March 16, 1967, the song itself peaked at #2 here in OKC. Not by DDDBM&T,
but by a local group the Noblemen.
Larry
>>>I decided to call it a night and politely
excused myself to head back to the hotel, playing one of MY Favorite, Forgotten
B-Sides, The Angels’ “Thank You And Good Night” as the theme to my exit! (kk)
That's the song I played at the end of my
first Top Shelf Oldies show in 2011 ... and again on the 10th Anniversary show
(you do the math.)
What song did I open with on those shows?
"Randy" by Blue Mink, of course!
– Randy Price
>>>I'm wondering where I can get
a pair of pants like Chuck’s! (lol) kk
Kent,
I recall that my mother had a pair of pants
similar to the one worn by Chuck Berry in that Reelin' & Rockin' video from
Midnight Special.
And I agree that whoever thought bringing the
Bee Gees up on to the stage with Chuck must've been high on something.
Joe Cantello
Marietta, Ga
On Sunday, Clark Besch
sent us a link to listen to a brand new interview with Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent
of The Zombies … which you can STILL hear via this link …
Kent,
What always amazed me about "Napoleon XIV" was something I found out
about 7 or 8 years after he recorded "They're Coming To Take Me Away"
in 1966.
This same guy, whose real
name was Jerry Samuels, wrote "The Shelter of Your Arms," a fairly
big hit for Sammy Davis Jr., and one of the most beautiful tunes to make the
pop charts.
Never know what you'll hear
...
Mike
It’s true …
The Samuels-penned tune became a National Top 20 Hit
in early 1964 … two years before he went off the deep end as his alter-ego,
Napoleon XIV.(kk)
A few years ago we told you that the personal diaries,
journals and manuscripts of Beatles Roadie Mal Evans were being gathered
together in the hopes of putting together a book that would reveal what it was
like to work for The Beatles … from the time before they were famous and right
on thru the end.(In fact, Mal was
working on this project at the time of his death in 1976.)
Well, that book is finally a reality … and will be released
on November 14th.(Evans was,
unfortunately, shot to death by a Los Angeles policeman under questionable
circumstances.)
Kenneth Womack (who has previously written and published a
biography on Beatles Producer George Martin, as well as books spotlighting John
Lennon, George Harrison and Abbey Road Studios) has taken on the task of
sorting all of Mal’s memories, notations, photographs, illustrations and
memorabilia into a lifelong testament to the band the whole world fell in love
with called “Living the
Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans.”Rights to turning over these files were first agreed to by Mal’s family
back in 2020, which is most likely when we first mentioned it, too.I won’t say that three years of anticipation
have been killing me … but this does promise to be one hell of a book!So much so, in fact, that it will be
published in two volumes, with the second edition hitting the streets sometime
in 2024.(Womack’s biography of George
Martin was also published in two volumes.)
Mal was
privy to SO many Beatle details along the way and went from breaking down and
then hauling their equipment in the earliest days of their career, years before
they hit it big, to running out in the middle of the “Sgt. Pepper” sessions
because John suddenly decided he wanted some orange socks.The story goes that it was on a flight back
to London with Paul McCartney that Mal inspired the names “Sgt. Pepper” in the
first place when Paul misheard him to “pass the salt and pepper.”Word is that on that very flight the concept
of The Beatles taking on alter egos and performing as someone else for their
new LP took place … and that Mal even helped (uncredited) with some of the
lyrics to the title song.
I imagine
I’ll be adding these volumes to my much-overloaded coffee table as soon as they
are available.(kk)
Forgotten
Hitters may also be interested in the newly published memoirs of Barbara
Feldon, best remembered as Agent 99 in the “Get Smart” series and as the
growling “Top Brass” girl egging on “all you tigers out there” to buy the
product.But DIDJAKNOW
that she ALSO won the grand prize on “The $64,000 Question”???)
“FOR THOSE ABOUT TO CHANGE
CLOCKS, WE SALUTE YOU” AM/PM … OR AC/DC
GARY
Several years ago I was on the opposite end of the Daylight
Saving(s) Time philosophy (sorry … I have ALWAYS called it “savings”).
I had flown to New Jersey for a short vacation and one of my
stops during that trip was at Dave The Rave’s No Static Attic.The idea was for me to be on the show live as
we played back your All-Time Favorite, Forgotten B-Sides.
Well, Dave’s show ran six hours … and we had ALL kinds of
celebrity guests call in to talk about some of their B-Sides … it really was a
very fascinating show … but as it so happened, when the show was SUPPOSED to
end at 2 am, we had to set the clocks back an hour and do another hour of
broadcasting.(I had never even
considered this possibility when we worked out all the details!)
Having been up since 6 that morning (and making several
stops along the way as we drove from Philadelphia to New Jersey), I was (as you
might imagine) pretty exhausted by this point ... and not mentally prepared to "fall back" an hour! (Frannie had actually fallen asleep on Dave’s couch a few hours before.)Plus, we had an 8:00 flight that same morning
to head back to Chicago.(Fortunately,
our hotel was right on the airport grounds ... but boarding with only about 90 minutes of sleep, I had effectively pulled a 24+ hour all-nighter!)
So, at what was
now, once again, 1:15 AM, I decided to call it a night and politely excused myself to head back to the hotel, playing one of MY Favorite, Forgotten B-Sides, The
Angels’ “Thank You And Good Night” as the theme to my exit!
The show was so popular that Top Shelf Oldies agreed to run
it again on Thanksgiving Day for the benefit of those who may have missed it a
few weeks before.
Tired as I was, I still have to rank it as one of the favorite
things I’ve done thru Forgotten Hits … and would LOVE to have a copy of the
whole show if it still somehow exists after all these years.(kk)
Me and Dave ... exploring the No Static Attic
UHM ... Clock Boy ...
NOW I WON'T BE ABLE TO SLEEP AT ALL TONIGHT!
At least with insomnia, I won't lose sleep
about it.
BUT - I am going to see Jay and the Americans
in concert tonight!
Could they make it an all-nighter? ;-)
Shelley J Sweet-Tufano
Last week, Congress was actually debating (this is true) as to whether or not Daylight Saving Time should be discontinued. (This is NOT the first time this topic has come up!)
As we sprung ahead last night, I couldn't help but think that if Congress actually DID decide to do away with it ... and this truly was the last time ... we will NEVER get that hour back. (kk)
Pretty sad to see all the squabbling going on over Elvis’
estate.
If Elvis’ wishes were for his daughter Lisa Marie to inherit
the rights to his legacy at the time of his death, so be it.And if Lisa Marie’s wishes were to pass those
rights on to her own children at the time of her death, why is Priscilla so
insistent on meddling her way back in?
She gave up the rights to the Presley name (although she has
NEVER stopped using it – and most certainly to her advantage over the past 50
years since their divorce) … so move on and stop trying to cash in on your time
together and let the departed family members’ wishes be carried out as they
were intended.
Riley Keough, of course, is now starring as Daisy Jones in
the new Amazon Prime television series we told you about the other day, Daisy
Jones and the Six.
Not that this stuff doesn’t always get messy (and petty),
but I feel like Priscilla has been milking what SHE decided to give up for
decades now!(kk)
Best Classic Bands shared THIS rare and unusual clip of The
Bee Gees jammin’ with (of all people!) Chuck Berry!!!
Trust me … You have never seen The Brothers Gibb rock out like
this before.It is just so completely
out of character that you cannot look away.(And how about those dance steps?!?!?)kk
You Should Be Dancing, indeed ... or, in this case, maybe not!!! (I'm wondering where I can get a pair of pants like Chuck’s!(lol)kk
With The Oscars airing tonight, this seemed like an appropriate
and timely piece to share … (although I WILL admit that I am quite shocked to
see that it came from Billboard Magazine!!!)
They have selected The Top 15 Least-Deserving, WORST
Oscar-Winning Songs Ever …
And while, yes, some of these are truly awful (and some I’ve
never even heard of!), there are a few legitimate, bona fide hits on this list.
(Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re any good!!!)kk
Clark Besch tells us that later today you can catch a brand new interview with Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of The Zombies (who just happen to have a brand new album coming out later this month ... March 31st, to be exact!)
From Clark:
The Atlantic Tunnel Channel will feature an in depth
interview with Zombies Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent today from 1 PM to 3
PM Central Time.
IF you miss it, you can hear the podcast later on anytime from the next day forward. This should be good.
It has always been a mystery and actually, a
disappointing story as to why DDDBM&T never cracked the States in any way.
Not even as was correctly stated in the article as a "one hit
wonder".
Their first USA single
release 'You Make It Move' was in early 1966. The band were really keen at the
time to have a USA hit and Billboard predicted it would go Top 60 in their
"Singles Spotlight". It was an excellent record but unfortunately
failed.
Their 2nd
single 'Hold Tight' charted in some USA locations, i.e. Denver Colorado's Radio
KIMN Top 50 chart where it peaked at #23. Made primarily for the USA, there was
a wonderful 1966 promo video with DDDBM&T (along with Snow White) driving
around the roads of outer London in an old 1930/40s open top Bentley. One would
have thought that the hip young American teenage girls would have liked and
gone for this number in a big way. Again, Billboard's Spotlight Singles
predicted that the track would go Top 60. At this time, they desperately wanted
to come and tour the States, but their US Visas (Work Permits) were rejected
(seemingly as part of a backlash to the British Invasion). Already you had three
nails in the coffin.
In more recent times,
'Hold Tight' did have some acclaim in Tarantino's 'Death Proof' film plus also
the 1968 UK hit 'Last Night In Soho' was in Edgar Wright's film 'Last Night In
Soho'.
Would be great that
one day that there might be a documentary made of DDDBM&T (in the opposite
sense so to speak) to document and to try and understand why this act never
made it in the USA. There's plenty of speculation and ideas but difficult to
find what really went wrong and why. Something like that Documentary on the
Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 that completely disappeared.
By the way, Dave Dee
had the cancer for nine long years (from 2000) and it was as a result of a
routine examination/intervention that went terribly wrong.
Thanks for taking the
time to read.
Cheers -
All the very best
Ron Cooper
Since our piece ran in
2009 at the time of Dave Dee’s death (STILL hard to say ten times fast!),
Record Research published their Comparison Chart Book … and we see that the
group actually placed FOUR records on the American charts …
“Hold Tight” (#125 in
Record World only), “Bend It” (#100 in Cash Box … but only #110 in Billboard),
Zabadak (#52, Billboard, but charting in all three trade publications) and “The
Legend Of Xanadu” (again, charting in all three trades, but peaking at #110 in
Record World and #123 in Billboard, despite being their biggest, #1 British
hit.)
I downloaded "Last Night In Soho" as soon as I heard it in the film of the same name. (Great track ... and talk about a bizarre movie ... yet I was still fascinated watching it the whole time ... an EXCELLENT soundtrack ... and I know I'll end up watching it again, if only to see what other little oddities I can pick up along the way during a second viewing!)
As for the CD I
mentioned at the time, I DID order it … and it’s just them doing cover versions
of these tunes … and nothing more.Hardly worth $32 … but still nice to have at least SOMETHING by them in
my collection.(I STILL think “Bend It”
should have easily been a Top Ten US Hit.)kk
I was surprised to
hear that Jerry Samuels passed away on Friday (March 10th).[Honestly, I thought he had died YEARS ago …
but I guess I was wrong.]
While some of you may
not instantly recognize his name, you will likely never forget his claim to
fame, One Hit Wonder, “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!” that raced to
the top of the charts in 1966 during its very brief seven week novelty
run.(Once the novelty wore off, it plummeted
back down again.)
The record actually
reached #1 in both Cash Box and Record World, while it officially peaked at #3
in Billboard.In today’s politically correct
world, it probably couldn’t get played at all … and it was still considered
pretty shocking by 1966 standards, too.
(I’ll never forget the
time that my daughter Kristen, who was working in a mental health facility at
the time, called me in shock when she heard Scott Shannon play the record over
The True Oldies Channel.She had to
sheepishly admit to all her coworkers, who also heard the tune, that “Yeah … my
dad knows this guy.”Lol)
Records back then just
didn’t make this kind of meteoric rise up the charts … it wasn’t like today,
where songs regularly premier at #1.Back then, you had to gain sales and airplay first and then work your
way up the chart … even The Beatles had to go thru a series of steps before
they ultimately reached #1 … but check out the chart history for Napoleon XIV’s
rise up the charts:
CASH BOX:Premiered at #20 on the chart dated July 23,
1966 – and then jumped right to #1 the following week.It then fell to #2, where it sat for two
weeks (behind “Lil’ Red Riding Hood by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs and “Summer
In The City” by The Lovin’ Spoonful) … then to #4 … then #13 … then #30 and
then off the chart completely
Cash Box and Record World even ran this
ad for the record …
Speaking of which, in RECORD WORLD, it debuted at #56 (also on July
23rd) and then leaped to #6 (a move of 50 places!), hitting #1 the
following week.It then fell to #3, #5,
#11, #34 and then gone
BILLBOARD ranked it this way:#50 on July 23rd, #11 the following
week, #5, #3, back down to #5, then a deep drop to #37 and then gone
Using my Hit Index
strategy, that makes “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!” one of the
biggest hits of the rock era.(It
certainly commanded your attention!!!)
We salute you,
Napoleon XIV.(kk)
We lost Napoleon XIV yesterday.
They're coming to take him away, oh my... ;-(
Mike
New York-born comedy singer Jerry Samuels, who gave us the 1966 hit, "They're Coming to Take Me Away - Ha Haaaa" when he went by the name Napoleon XIV .. died this week (March 10) at the age of 84, following a recent heart attack.
Ken Voss
Kent,
I just found out that Jerry
Samuels has passed away. Jerry, aka Napoleon XIV, recorder of THEY'RE
COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY, HA-HAA in 1966. This was one of those few records in
which the flip was the same song backwards.
There was an answer called
I'M NORMAL by a man called THE EMPEROR on the label. In reality, it was DJ Bob
Hudson of Hudson & Landry.
Larry
Jerry (as Napoleon XIV) actually recorded a couple of answer records to his own hit. The first one, titled “I’m Happy They Took You Away, Ha-Haaa!” by “Josephine XV”, appeared on his album recorded to cash in on the success of the hit single. Then, years later in 1988, he released a sequel called “They’re Coming To Get
Me Again, Ha Haaa!” In between, Warner Brothers re-released the original version again in 1973 ... but this time it only got as high as #73 in Record World (and #87 in Billboard ... it "bubbled under" in Cash Box.)
A regular feature on The Dr. Demento Show (on which Samuels appeared a few times as a guest), The Good Doctor also played his records "I Live In A Split-Level Head" and "Photogenic, Schizophrenic You."
Since you mentioned it, another backwards B-Side that immediately comes to mind is "Noollab Wolley" by The Yellow Balloon! (Especially timely since we were just talking B-Sides a few minutes ago!
DONCHAJiSTLuVIT WHEN ALL THIS STUFF TIES TOGETHER?!?!
I figured I was in the
middle of a pretty high-end celebrity roll the other day when I received
comments from both Andrew Loog Oldham and Al Kooper …
So I figured I’d just
shoot the wadd and emailed Keith Richards to see if he would like to do a
Forgotten Hits interview.
This is what I got
back …
Certainly burst MY bubble in a hurry!(lol)
Just kidding … but
this shot was just too cool not to pass along. (kk)
