Tuesday This And That

3 Savile Row is one of the most famous locations in The Beatles' history as the original headquarters of Apple Corps, the recording studio for Let It Be, and the location of the legendary rooftop concert in 1969.

Beginning in 2027, 3 Savile Row will open its doors to all for the first time. The Beatles at 3 Savile Row will feature seven floors of never-seen-before archive material, rotating exhibitions, a fan store, and the recreation of the original studio where Let it Be was recorded. 

It will also give fans the opportunity to tread in the band's footsteps as they relive the iconic rooftop concert - as immortalized in Peter Jackson’s Get Back - on exactly the spot it happened.

More information to come as it becomes available … but what a cool way to spend the day THIS would be.  (kk)

Here’s Harvey Kubernik’s take on the 60th Anniversary of Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde … 

https://ugly-things.com/bob-dylans-blonde-on-blonde-turns-60/

Happy 80th Birthday 🎊🎂! to Donovan, seen here at The House of Blues and The Viper Room with wife Linda Lawrence in Hollywood.

 

I am sad to report that after being placed in a medically induced coma, Bonnie Tyler suffered cardiac arrest.  She was resuscitated, but her health at this point can only be referred to as “fragile.”  (kk)

>>>Only one single was released by Karen Carpenter:  "Looking For Love" / "I'll Be Yours," with only 500 copies being pressed. The record label folded in 1967 and the single remains a collectors’ item.  (kk)

Actually, "Looking For Love" was the B-side of the single; the A-side was "I'll Be Yours."

– Randy

Then let’s feature that one, too!  (Although I think “Looking For Love” is the stronger track … and certainly more representative of the Karen Carpenter voice we would all come to love a few years later.)  kk

From Tom Cuddy …

Melissa Manchester Reminds Us What Great Songwriting Sounds Like at 54 Below NYC | Times Square Chronicles

https://t2conline.com/melissa-manchester-reminds-us-what-great-songwriting-sounds-like-at-54-below/

I always liked Melissa Manchester … had the pleasure of seeing her a couple of times during her ‘70’s hey-day, both as an opening act and as a headliner (when Burton Cummings, then launching his solo career, opened for her!)  I know she’s done some Broadway work in the recent past … so it was nice to see her stepping out in concert again.  (kk)

As seen in Forgotten Hits, Timmy contributed this vintage television schedule from NBC, the Peacock Network (circa 1967 - 1968)

 

 

 

 

 

 

And what about those sad kids whose families hadn't yet "splurged" for one of those new, "expensive" COLOR TVs?!

 

 

 

 

There was an Appliance Store Downtown where I grew up, the kind of store where most TVs were sold at the time. They had a big display of Color TVs in their main streetside window.  We guys thought it was kinda cool when either the transmission or reception of the fancy new Color TV signal "glitched" and created an array of colorful, constantly, flickering crazy designs! 

 

 

 

 

 

Early Electronic Art at its Best!

And, who as a kid, can forget the small tinge of excitement when an early Color TV Show began with this famous announcement?!

Now, for the answer to your question, Kent ~~~

>>>And you stumped me … What IS that “Name That Tune” tune???  (kk)

Admittedly, not a Big Forgotten Hit, peaking at Number 27 in 1959, it's "Caribbean" from Singer-Songwriter Michael Torok!  Why I remember it so well myself, I don't know, but here it is for ya!

CB (which stands for "Caribbean Boy!")

That one escaped me … I was only six at the time and let’s face it, it hasn’t remained in any type of regular rotation since, so I don’t know that I’ve EVER heard it before.

Still, you didn’t stump FH Reader Larry Neal … he knew it right away!  (kk)

Kent,

Where is M.C. Bert Parks when you need him?

In regards to CB's NAME THAT TUNE, my first and really only guess would be Mitchell Torok's 1959 song CARIBBEAN on Guyden records. Speaking of Mitchell Torok, also that same year he had a top ten record here in OKC with THE P.T.A. ROCK & ROLL on Decca.

Larry

OK, so now that I know what I’m talking about, I can tell you that Torok’s “Caribbean” peaked nationally at #27 (as Chuck said) in Billboard … but “The PTA Rock And Roll” failed to chart at all.  NEITHER record made the charts here in Chicago … which is probably another reason I’m not at all familiar with it.  (kk)

TVOD = transactional video-on-demand, what for years was called pay-per-view, where the viewer requests the content from the provider, usually through an interactive feature on their smart TV or cable box or whatever

SVOD = subscription video on demand, where the viewer pays a monthly or annual fee to a provider, such as Disney+/Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix

AVOD = advertising-based video on demand, where the viewer signs up for a service without any fees and has to watch commercials at some point, such Tubi, Roku Channel, and PlutoTV

YVOD = likely means Youtube, which has both SVOD and AVOD aspects

Bob Frable

 

And here's the weekend score card from Frank B ... 

 

kk …

HERE’S A RECAP OF LAST WEEKEND’S OLDIES PROGRAMS, INCLUDING COUSIN BRUCIE’S SATURDAY INTERVIEW & SUNDAY’S WILD WAYNE INTERVIEW --

This Saturday, Cousin Brucie Talks To Gary Puckett (Union Gap).

1968 = Columbia & Colgems Were Interested In Signing The Group.

They Picked Columbia. Right Decision. Jerry Fuller Produced Their First Hit, "WOMAN, WOMAN."

Gary Said It Sold One & A Half Million Records.

Gary Promised Brucie He Would Appear With Him At PNC In New Jersey After The "HAPPY TOGETHER" Tour Wraps Up In September.

Wild Wayne's 50th Anniversary Flashback Interview With Lee Andrews (Of Lee Andrews & The Hearts, A Philadelphia Group) Came From October Of 1983.

He Formed His First Group At 16, The Dreamers.

You Know The Story -- Singing On The Corner To Meet Girls.

Group Changed Its Name To The Hearts.  Lee Said He Wrote Songs Telling How He Felt At The Time. Nothing Fancy.

First Big Hit Came In 1957 With "LONG LONELY NIGHTS."  He Wrote This Song While Riding On A Bus, After Breaking Up With His Girlfriend.  He Felt Lousy.

Followed Up That Song With "TEARDROPS" In 1958.  Lee's Son Is Questlove, A Member Of Jimmy Fallon's Band.

FRANK B.

Questlove’s done a WHOLE lot more than perform with Jimmy Fallon’s band.  He’s also a successful movie producer, record producer, actor and more.  He won an Academy Award for his documentary “Summer Of Soul,” was a co-producer of the Broadway Cast Recording of “Hamilton” and has also won five Grammy Awards.  He’s also written eight books and has become known as a noted music historian, making him an in-demand “get” for several other music documentaries over the years.  And yes, he’s the drummer and front man for The Roots, who have been Jimmy Fallon’s “house band” for the past twelve years.  (kk)

 

60 YEARS AGO TODAY:

5/12/66 – Busch Stadium opens in St. Louis as the Cardinals beat The Atlanta Braves by a score of 4-3 in 12 innings

BIOGRAPHER TO THE ROCK STARS MARK BEGO REVIEWS THE NEW MICHAEL JACKSON BIO PIC "MICHAEL" - EXCLUSIVELY for FORGOTTEN HITS

“Finding The Magic of Michael Jackson All Over Again”

By Mark Bego

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1984 I wrote two best-selling books on Michael Jackson, with nine million copies sold, and I was right in the middle of the whole exciting Jackson universe that whole year.  I knew it was a one-in-a-lifetime streak of fame for the man whom the press called “Jacko.”  That year everything was “Michael Jackson,” from his music, his videos, he sequined glove, and everything in between.  However, since that time I didn’t think it was something that could be repeated.  

My book “Michael!” was released the week that the singer caught his hair on fire filming the Pepsi-Cola commercial, and the following week my biography of him was on “The New York Times” best-seller list.  The publisher, Pinnacle Books, decided that the only way I could follow it up was to go an all-expense paid three-month tour of the United States, attend 30 Jackson “Victory Tour” concerts in order to write “On The Road With Michael!"  

For me, it turned into another million-selling book, and the rock & roll summer of my lifetime!

 

Meeting and writing my two books on Jackson literally “made” my career.  Throughout the ensuing years I continued writing dozens of books, and I avidly followed the career of Michael Jackson.  Between that amazing year of 1984, and his tragic passing in 2009, the tale went from “Victory” right downhill to “lawsuits and controversy.”  How on Earth could producers make a successful movie about this incredibly talented man, and yet skip all of the sensationalistic events of his last two decades?  With the 2026 film “Michael,” a sea of producers, a great screenplay writer (John Logan), and a talented director (Antoine Fuqua) have turned Jackson’s life into the most incredible and highly entertaining film of the year.  

What this film has accomplished is to brilliantly follow the facts about Michael’s life to show his amazing and unique talent, while sufficiently demonstrating how he was abused by his forceful father / manager Joseph Jackson, and how he lived a child-like existence as a way to preserve his soul.  

The film resists going down the road to show so many possible simultaneous side stories, and to keep the camera focused on Michael and his budding talent as a performer.  That being said, his every eccentricity is touched upon, and used as entertaining touchstones to the plot, and not presented as creepy quirks.  This was obviously done to make certain that the audiences leave the theater humming hits like “Thriller” and “Beat It,” by making this brilliant movie end at a huge career high point:  a triumphant solo Michael wowing cheering crowds in London in 1988.  

Yes, we do see Bubbles the chimpanzee, Michael’s love of plastic surgery, and his obsession with turning himself into a living and breathing Peter Pan of a character.  The film wisely focuses of the fun-loving child living inside the body of the world’s most famous man / boy.  In one scene, Joseph Jackson is seen complaining about the idea that he owes Michael everything for the family’s success.  As the words come out of his mouth, we see a live giraffe from Michael’s personal menagerie walk by the window.  It is comic moments like this that buoy up the film, which could have easily become a psychological drama instead.  

Not only is the pacing of this film perfect, but the viewer gets a fascinating look behind-the-scenes at the making of the “Thriller” video, the unforgettable “Victory” tour, and the life Michael lived at the famed Encino, California family compound / mansion.  These events keep the action and the development of the characters at the perfect pace. 

Since the industry standard of a “rock & roll” bio-film was recently set by the Queen movie “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the film “Michael” takes several cues from it.  Both cinematic extravaganzas feature controversial main characters:  Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson.  However, instead of making them into tragic cartoon characters, they are presented as driven, humorous, loving, and talented singers, and not as tabloid headlines.  This Jackson biographical film follows this pattern perfectly.  

I could go on and on about the performances in this film.  It was brilliantly cast, and the make-up on everyone is “dead ringer” amazing.  Key figures in Michael’s story look exactly like the actual people who are depicted, especially his mother Katherine Jackson (Nia Long), producer Quincy Jones (Kendrick Sampson), John Branca (Miles Teller), and Berry Gordy Jr. (Larez Tate).  As a complete surprise nod to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” we humorously see Mike Myers as record company president Walter Yetnikoff.  

Needless to say, the actor who plays adult Michael Jackson is “spot on.”  He ought to be, he is Michael’s real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, who is also Jermaine Jackson’s son.  He nails the role completely. 

I had my doubts about this film when I went to see it, and I left the theater blown-away by its successful telling of one of the most complicated life stories in musical history.  I am again enthused about the music and the life of Michael Jackson.  He was the man whose story originally put me on the book best-seller lists, and I will forever be grateful to him.  This highly entertaining new film is a sheer joy.  

(photos: dis COMPANY - MARK BEGO - MICHAEL! - ON THE ROAD MICHAEL!)