We're now just a week away from the big Labor Day Weekend Event!!!
When something feels THIS good, you just wanna do it again …
and again …
So this year, Rewound Radio is presenting the 2nd
Annual WLS / WCFL Rewound …
ALL Labor Day Weekend long, kicking off at 6 am Eastern on
Saturday Morning, September 2nd …
And running straight thru past Midnight on Monday Night,
September 4th!
Nothing but non-stop, vintage airchecks from the glory days
of WLS and WCFL …
The ‘60’s … The ‘70’s … and even a splash of the ‘80’s …
ALL the great jocks … playing ALL that great music … EXACTLY
as it aired at the time
(Heck, they’re even featuring the original commercials … and
some of the newscasts from back in the day)
It was THE GLORY DAYS of AM TOP 40 RADIO … as these two
mega-giant 50,000 watt radio stations battled it out for listeners.
If you were one of them … (and these signals were so
powerful they could often be picked up in 48 different states, WAY before the
idea of “streaming” had even been invented!) …
Or if you just appreciate good ol’ Top 40 Radio … when the
Music … and Personality … were King …
Thank you for the wonderful write-up on It Could
Be We’re In Love.
I got a copy of the WLS survey yesterday from
a couple of fans. It's amazing that we were number one in Chicago … but
it’s even MORE amazing to me that that was 56 years ago, and that people are
still so invested in the song.
Thanks again for doing this. You know I
think you do great work … keep it up.
Toad
My
pleasure, Tom …
It’s
a great song … and it was a great time for music … SO many incredible
memories.(kk)
REMINDER:Rewound Radio will be featuring the 2nd
Annual WLS / WCFL REWOUND all Labor Day Weekend, rebroadcasting airchecks from
the Glory Days of Top 40 Radio, Chicago Style …
All
the great jocks … all the great music … running non-stop beginning at 5 am
Central Time on Saturday, September 2nd, and running straight thru
past midnight on Monday Night, September 4th.
Thanks so much for running the
Cryan’ Shames thing. Of course, they get inducted into the Illinois Rock
& Roll Museum in the coming days, too. How many capes does JC Hooke
have? He has one in the Hard Rock already!
Clark Besch
The Cryan’ Shames will be inducted into The Illinois Rock
And Roll Hall Of Fame in a live ceremony taking place on Sunday, September 17th
from 6 – 9 pm at The Rialto Square Theatre in downtown Joliet.
And The Cryan’ Shames will also be performing at the upcoming
screening of the new Dick Biondi Documentary, “The Voice That Rocked America”
on Thursday, September 7th, at The Bolingbrook Golf Club.
Thanks for the write up. And a big HAPPY B-DAY,
youngster!!!
Hope you are planning on making it to the R&R
Hall Of Fame induction on September 17th ... should be pretty cool.
Thanks again to you and superfan Clark Besch,
Jimmy P
The Cryan' Shames
Just wanted to stop by for a HOWDY!!!!!
Love the Cryan’ Shames and play them every Wednesday
on WINDY CITY WEDNESDAY on 101.5.
When I dig into their LP tracks, listeners’
ears really pick up, as they pretty much stuck to buying the 45's back then
apparently.
Have a great rest of the summer, man, and keep
the info flying!
Jeff James
AND ...
CAN I RUIN RADIO Again????
Yep! WLSClark is doing
another WFMU show -- this time, two hours …
NOT Strictly 60's, but filling
in for the Flot's Spot Thursday Night show, 9 - 11 PM EASTERN TIME, 8 - 10
CENTRAL.(That’s tonight, folks … August
24th!)
This show will be suited more
towards that show's regular listeners, so some things may be geared towards an inside
joke some listeners may not get, but basically it will be what my 1980s radio
shows were like on KZUM, with a definite slant towards my Dodge City days,
Lincoln days, broadcasting days, Chicago music/radio times, WFMU's artificial
intelligence DJ, joking with the regular Flot show host, MY fave artists, the
60's, general silliness, the fab Four and more!
Tune in if you dare! Take
the pledge: "I believe in radio!"
To hear the show, just find the
little tiny"Pop Up" words just under "Rock N
Soul Radio" words at the site below and click on them and
then hit play in next window and you are locked in the fury. Hope
you come and have fun! IF you can't join that night and want to hear the
show, you can visit same link later anytime and it will have a "Pop up
PLAYER" that you can click to listen post-show time.
WLSClark
In other radio news ...
Hello Kids:
Just an FYI, I
will be on Dewey's Basement Show on WMSE 91.7 on Friday at 6PM. We will
be playing the Summer of 1963 Songs. 60 Years Ago! Many Classics. As
always , we play records. Hope you tune in!
Ken Freck
N*Sync is reuniting with a new song for the next Trolls
movie???
That’s the word … (seriously, what ELSE have they got to
do?!?!)
And we’re also hearing that Katie and Keith (WHO!?!?!?) are
being considered for this year’s Super Bowl Half-Time Show.(Seriously???)
Apparently Taylor Swift turned it down … as did Ed Sheeran …
but Katie and Keith?!?!
I’m sorry … but I have absolutely NO idea who that even
is!(kk)
Ringo Starr’s next EP release will feature a tune written
for him by former bandmate Paul McCartney.
Titled “Feeling The Sunlight,” it’s one of four new tunes
that will appear on the new EP, “Rewind Forward,” his fourth in a series.Steve Lukather and Joe Walsh also appear on
the disc, out October 13th.
McCartney also added a Mexico City date to his new tour …
Macca will be appearing in Mexico City at Foro Sol on
November 14th.(More dates
are expected to be added.)
In other Beatles news, BMG has announced that they will
begin reissuing George Harrison’s solos CD’s beginning on the 8th of
September.The first five titles to
become available again will be “Living In The Material World” (1973),
“Electronic Sound” (1969), “Dark Horse” (1974), “Extra Texture” (1975) and
“George Harrison” (1979).
There has been no mention of bonus tracks … and George’s
triple-LP sets “All Things Must Pass” and “The Concert For Bangla Desh” will
not be part of this new reissue campaign.(kk)
Here’s another one we’ll have to read!
ICONS, IDOLS AND
IDIOTS OF HOLLYWOOD :
MEMOIR OF FOUR PREPS’
BRUCE BELLAND TO BE PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 8
HIT RECORDS, CONCERTS,
NIGHT CLUBS, TV AND FILM APPEARANCES TAKE TEEN VOCALISTS TO THE TOP OF THE
CHARTS AND JUXTAPOSE THEM WITH HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS IN THE EISENHOWER AND KENNEDY
ERAS
“Bruce
tells the story so colorfully, it’s a pure joy to read.” – Nancy
Sinatra
“Everybody has a song that stays in their head
forever. ‘26 Miles’ was California, the ocean, girls – hell, it was
everything I want to be or do.” – Jimmy Buffet
Bruce
Belland has collected vivid memories of a life in music and show business
in Icons, Idols and Idiots of Hollywood, a breezy, humor-filled
conversational book subtitled My Adventures in America’s First Boy Band.
The book, out September 8 from Bear Manor Media, is a reflection of his
years in the studio, on the road, on television and in films with The Four
Preps from the Fab ‘50s through the turbulent ‘60s.
Bruce
Belland and Glen Larson formed The Four Preps for a Hollywood High School
student talent show in 1954. All the members were from working class
families and fiercely ambitious. Their first break was opening for Edgar
Bergen and Charlie McCarthy at the legendary Cocoanut Grove a little over a
year after having been there as high school prom-goers. The L.A. press gave
then laudatory reviews and their trip to the top was launched.
The
Four Preps went on to hit the Billboard charts 13 times between 1957 and
1964. Their biggest hits for Capitol Records included “26 Miles (Santa
Catalina),” “Big Man” and “Down By The Station,” all of which were
co-written by Belland and Larson at a time when it was not commonplace for
vocal groups to perform original material. “More Money For You and Me,” a send
up of contemporary vocal groups featured satiric but accurate impressions
of The Fleetwoods, The Platters, The Hollywood Argyles, The Four Freshmen,
The Kingston Trio and Dion & The Belmonts. Dedicated to newly-elected
President Kennedy, the song broke new ground as it was both recorded live –
a very rare circumstance in those days – and timed out at almost 6 minutes
when most pop singles were 2 or 3 minutes in length. The Four Preps were
discovered by A&R legend Voyle Gilmore, who also recorded Frank Sinatra,
Judy Garland, Louis Prima & Keely Smith, Dean Martin, The Kingston
Trio, Al Martino, and the Hollywood Bowl performance of The Beatles.
Belland’s
writing style is a reflection of his mirthful, self-deprecating persona
that emerged not only with his role as lead singer of The Four Preps, but
also on television where he and his fellow Preps, Glen Larson, Ed Cobb
and Marvin Ingram, backed Rick(y) Nelson on numerous episodes of The
Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, in the same way The Jordanaires backed
Elvis Presley at that time. The Preps accompanied newly-crowned “Teen Idol”
Nelson on his first national tour and were mobbed by hordes of hysterical
girls. All the while, Belland witnessed Rick’s musical maturation.
Belland
also acted on the hit sitcom, playing Rick’s college roommate on numerous
episodes in which both his musical and comedic bents served him in good
stead on the program, where he fell in (unrequited) love with Harriet and
was taken with Ozzie’s quietly commanding way. Ozzie became his early
mentor and in later years Belland would be “adopted” by George Burns who he
called “my show biz Godfather.”
