Thursday, December 31, 2009

The Final Comments Page Of 2009

re: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!:

As 2009 draws to a close, I'd like to throw out one more round of thanks to all of you out there who kept Forgotten Hits going for another year ... our TENTH!!! ... along with a New Year's greeting from one of our readers:

Kent ... I think there are a lot of great Christmas Songs. Not too many great New Years Songs. Here's my favorite New Years Song.
Frank B.

YouTube - Orioles - What Are You Doing New Year's Eve (original version)

And, as 2009 draws to a close, we look back at some of those that we've lost these past 365 days ... all of whom touched our lives in some way:

Kent ...

The R.I.P. / Rock in Perpetuity Archives have been updated and now include our musical heroes who passed away in 2009. http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/rip-rock-in-perpetuity-archives/
Wishing you Peace, Love, and Happiness in 2010!

Artie Wayne

re: LOOKING BACK AT THE PHILLY SOUND:

THE PHILLY SOUND BEGAN ON THE WINGS OF A BUTTERFLY!

DECEMBER 30, 1956 --- DECEMBER 30, 2009: THE "PHILLY SOUND" TURNS 53!
CHARLIE GRACIE and the birth of the "Philly Sound" are synonymous!
Signed to the newly formed Cameo Record Label, Charlie entered the Reco-Art studio in downtown Philadelphia on DECEMBER 3OTH, 1956 to record the Lowe / Mann compositions, "Butterfly" and "Ninety-Nine Ways." By March of 1957, "Butterfly" went straight to the national Number 1 position, while "Ninety-Nine Ways" reached Number 11.
CHARLIE became the first native born Philly artist of the Rock 'n' Roll Era to become an international success. Other hits followed for him in the U.S. and U.K: "Fabulous," "I Love You So Much It Hurts, "Wanderin' Eyes" and "Cool Baby." THE PATH WAS NOW CUT FOR SO MANY OTHER GREAT PHILLY ARTISTS WHO FOLLOWED -- a list that boggles the mind!
Says Charlie: "I was happy to be there at the beginning and grateful to God that I'm still active today. Where the years have gone ... I just don't know! When I was 10 years old, my dad encouraged me to pick a guitar out of a storefront window on SOUTH STREET (Hey Orlons!). Who knew it would lead to a 59-year career that would take me around the world many times? What foresight that man had!
Charlie's new CD with Graham Nash, Al Kooper, Peter Noone, Keb Mo and more will be out by the Spring of 2010! His 2010 Schedule will soon be posted --including a Five Week Tour of the UNITED KINGDOM and FRANCE!
www.charliegracie.com
AND LOOK FOR SOME UPCOMING CAMEO - PARKWAY REVIVAL SHOWS IN 20I0 -- with CHARLIE GRACIE, DEE DEE SHARP, THE TYMES AND THE ORLONS -- STAY TUNED!
Enjoy!

Charlie, Jr.

And, speaking of Charlie Gracie and the Philly Sound ...

Kent,

Check out the new mummers benefit song online: http://www.reverbnation.com/clutchcargo"

Watch "The Mummers Strut (More Than A Tradition)"

Performed by: Tony Luke Jr. & The Tacony Funk Machine

with Charlie Gracie (R&R pioneer), Rocco Notte (The A's, Clutch Cargo), Barry Warhoftig (Hot Club of Philly), Su Teears (of Clutch Cargo), Chip Roberts (Lives in Crises productions), Winkle (American Dream), Dave Humphreys, George Manney (Clutch Cargo), Skip Denenberg

Written by: Skip Denenberg

Produced, engineered & mixed by: George Manney

Asst. engineer: Tommy Stinson (Guns N' Roses-Replacements)

Chip's guitars Recorded at: Geo Sound

http://www.GeoSound.org

A Clutch Cargo Production

http://www.clutchcargomusic.com

Mastered by: Peter Humphreys - Masterwork Recording

Have a Great New Year!!!

George Manney


re: MORE OF YOUR COMMERCIAL FAVORITES:

>>>Was there a jingle or commercial used for the song 'Happiness Is" by The Association??? (Jerry)
Hmm. Happiness is the taste of Kent, and I do mean the cigarette so don't think I'm losing it here. I don''t know who sang the commercial. I remember a Ray Conniff singers version of the song. Wikipedia notes: A special version of the song "Happiness Is" was recorded for use in a TV commercial for
Kent cigarettes, prior to the ban on TV advertising of tobacco products.
Mister Hil
I suppose for some of us non-smokers out there "Happiness" COULD be Kent ... and his Forgotten Hits Newsletter!!! (lol) kk


Hey Kent,

Pepsi made a whole bunch of great commercials back when, thank you Joanie Sommers, Del Shannon, et al. However, one that remains in my head, but I'm not sure who it was for, was Billy Joe Royal letting go and really bringing life to some telephone operators, and some other folks. I think it showed BJR singing on top of a hill. Anyway, I can still see it vividly in my memory banks.
Jim Southern (aka chuckwroste)

Anybody out there able to help out with this one??? (kk)


I don't know if this is useable for Forgotten Hits ... but, if you have the time, take a look, and let me know what you think. You were doing commercial songs ... I recently got the dvd's of THE PAPER CHASE (tv series) ... and during the theme song (Seals and Crofts), I kept wanting to sing the lyrics to the FOLGERS COFFEE commercial. They both Youtube ... but the Folgers version in my head doesn't seem to be there ... it almost sounds in my head that one of the incarnations of Folgers could have been done by Seals & Crofts ... although I'm sure they didn't. ARE THE SONGS SIMILAR? Maybe one inspired the other?

I COULD BE COMPLETELY WRONG AND LOOK STUPID ... BUT HEY ... WHAT CAN I SAY ... THAT'S ME!

Renfield

I didn't watch "The Paper Chase" on television ... didn't quite get the movie either (despite a fair amount of critical acclaim) ... so I'm not familiar with this theme ... however, I DO seem to remember Seals and Crofts doing a Folgers commercial. Does this ring a bell with anyone else out there??? (kk)


re: HELPING OUT OUR READERS:

Note the attached ad from Billboard in early 1965. "Leroy" (adapted from the Ken-L-Ration commercial, which in turn was adapted from a Tom Paxton song) was sung by a 9-year-old girl. And she got her picture in Billboard! I'm wondering if Norma was the youngest artist ever to chart on Billboard (including the Bubblers).

-- Jeff Duntemann

Colorado Springs, Colorado

We featured this track back on December 26th ... scroll back to give it a listen! As for your question regarding the youngest artist ever to chart in Billboard, we deferred to Joel Whitburn on this one! (kk)

Hi Kent,
As far as the youngest artist to ever make the Billboard “Hot 100”, I believe it would be “Jordy”. He is a French boy that was 5 years old when he hit with “Dur Dur D’Etre Bebe! (It’s Tough To Be A Baby!)” in 1993. There were younger artists to appear on recordings such as “Baby Sittin’ Boogie”, however, as the sole artist, he would be the youngest. A 6-year-old girl from Texas hit the charts with “Dear Mr. Jesus” in 1987, however, the artist is listed as “Powersource”.
Happy New Year, Kent!
Joel

>>>F.Y.I. The name "YOUNG" was first used by AM-CAN records in 1963 on my recording TWELVE TO SEVEN (Don Young)
How cool is that ... I never would've guessed that Don Young and Donny Young were the same person ... in fact, all of the info I had found on the internet had led me to believe that Donny Young was a pseudonym for Johnny Paycheck (and it was, but apparently not in this case ... and what a nice surprise to discover that, too). From Twelve To Seven is one of my favorite records of all time ... and one I'm still looking for on 45 rpm, too.
My question for Don is, "Was there ever a B side to the single? Everyone I know with a copy of the record has a one sided promotional copy." Tom Diehl




Hi Kent,

Happy New Year!

"12 to 7" was released as a one sided record for air play promo only. The B side was called "Please Tell Her For Me". I have the master of that side but never got a 2 sided record. Since we did make some local charts with "12 to 7", it is possible that they exist. Please pass this on to Tom Diehl.

All the best

Don Albano (Young)

>>>I have a very good friend looking for "Somebody New" by the Riverias. He has searched all over and went thru each GoldMine publication and still no luck. Please let me know if you ever hear of one of the listeners finding this song. I tried I-Tunes with no luck. (Vic Morrow)
>>>Let's just post it here, Vic, and see what comes back from our readers. (kk)
This one's also on the WLS ONLY CD's!
Ed Erxleben

I checked my Rivieras' Greatest Hits CD and didn't see it listed there so my first thought was that it might be by the R&B '50's Group The Rivieras ... never thought to check our local charts ... but I see now that "Somebody New" went to #32 on WLS in 1965. Thanks, Ed! (Those WLS Only CDs have come into good use here lately!!!) kk

Tom Diehl sent us a copy as well:

Here's the Rivieras song (a very nice tune, indeed!)

Tom









More on the local charts ... and the local guys below ...

re: GLORIA:
I guess there will be times when we have to agree to disagree. Total respect for you Kent , BUT to say that "Gloria" by The Shadows of Knight creamed the version by "Them" is the epitome of Chi-town bias. We are all entitled to our opinions, and I'll probably inspire some hatred from your demographic, but I've got to speak up. Van Morrison and Them put some grittiness in their version that no group can reproduce. The Shadows of Knight obviously thought so, and not to take away from their effort, did a very good and close cover, but the sandpaper is missing from it. Their version is more commercial, but the "Them" version is the real Sho Nuff. All of this writing is of course my humble opinion.
Alex Valdez
Yellow Balloon
When I say that The Shadows Of Knight's version of "Gloria" creamed the Them version, it's more than stating my opinion ... the fact that the original version peaked at #71 while The Shadows' remake soared all the way to #7 nationally would indicate that this was the feeling of MOST of America back in 1966. That's taking nothing away from Them's "gritty" version ... it's simply stating a fact that the MAJORITY of record buyers out there found The Shadows Of Knight's version to be more "commercially acceptable" ... and rewarded it as such with its considerably higher chart showing. (That being said, the whole reason The Shadows Of Knight tackled the song in the first place is because WLS disc jockey Clark Weber HEARD the appeal in the Them version but just didn't think the majority of the listening audience would accept this cruder version ... he told The Shadows Of Knight's manager that if HIS group cut the record in a cleaner, more listener-friendly manner, he would put it on the air. They did ... HE did ... and "Gloria" soon topped the charts here in Chi-Town (as well as several other radio markets.) Safe to say mainstream America just wasn't ready of Them at the time ... as Van Morrison went on to enjoy quite a successful career here in The States. (By the way, we steered clear of any "Gloria" discussions LAST week thinking that ANYTHING Gloria-related would have to be followed by "in Excelsis Deo"!!!) kk

And, speaking of our local guys ...

re: THE NEW COLONY SIX:
One of the publications we print at work is The Saint Viator Alumni Newsletter ... and this new Winter 2009 / 2010 Edition features a short article on The New Colony Six's appearance at a recent fund-raiser held at the school. It's always neat to see something about The NC6 in a publication other than ours!!! (lol) Of course they ALSO erroneously referred to Ray Graffia, Jr. and Bruce Mattey as the only two "original members" of the band ... which isn't EXACTLY the case ... but these guys have been together so long now that the CURRENT version of The New Colony Six FAR outlasted ANY of the "hit-making" versions back in the day ... speaking of which ...
With regards to "The New Colony Six", I recall them being on some of the shows we were on when touring the midwest. At the time I guess I paid them no real attention as we were intoxicated with what we were about and the business at hand. As of late I've been Youtubing listening to their songs, and I have to say
that they had some kickass songs. Whoever wrote them had real skills, and the harmonies are spot on. So you can chalk up some sales of their CD's to me. All of this writing is of course my humble opinion.
Keep up the good work Kent, and have a great New Year
Alex Valdez
Yellow Balloon
For some reason, the impact of The New Colony Six seems to have been diminished in hindsight over the years ... but during the '60's, they scored more Top 40 Chicagoland Hits than ANY other local act ... an incredible 17 in all ... and they STILL sound great today. We did a month-long spotlight feature on the band a few years back and introduced music fans all over the country to some GREAT music that many of them had missed the first time around. (Nationally, only three of their hits made The Top 40: "I Will Always Think About You", #22, 1968, "Things I'd Like To Say", #13, 1969 and "I Could Never Lie To You", #40, 1969, meaning that most music fans never had the chance to enjoy many of our local favorites like "I Confess", "Love You So Much", "Can't You See Me Cry", "Roll On", "Long Time To Be Alone", "I'm Just Waitin', Anticipatin' For Her To Show Up", "You're Gonna Be Mine", "I Want You To Know" and "Treat Her Groovy", all of which made ... or JUST missed ... our Local Top Ten.) And, addressing one of your other comments, these guys wrote ALL their own songs ... pretty impressive indeed! (kk)

Here's one of MY personal favorites ... and one that ABSOLUTELY shoulda been a bigger hit, circa 1967!!! (kk)






















re: MORE ON / MORON RADIO:

Forgotten Hits has made me acutely aware of the problems facing oldies stations today and I’ve been working on a several ideas to help revitalize the genre and expand the current playlists.
Regards,

Artie Wayne

http://artiewayne.com


Kent -

You did an excellent job of capturing the current state of radio in your recent "Moron Radio" piece.

Far too many of us have experienced the logic of these so-called "know-it-all" programmers and consultants first hand -- and watched 30+ years of on-the-air experience evaporate into thin air.

I'm with you -- kudos to anyone out there trying to make radio interesting again!

Jack Ross


re: DIGGIN' FORGOTTEN HITS:
I thoroughly enjoy 'sharing' my memories with the "FH" readers -- and reading about their contributions and memories in return. You've assembled a great group of folks ... and their regular contributions only confirm the great job you're doing.
May 2010 be healthy, prosperous and blessed for you and the family. I'm looking forward to the opportunity of meeting you 'live and in-person' one of these days:) Fred Vail

Hi to my friends in the Oldies community!
“Santa’s Stuck Up In The Chimney”ended the holidays with over130,000 You Tube Views!
A big “Thank you” to all of you who played “Santa’s Stuck” during the holidays. There’s no doubt that you helped move the numbers.
Thanks again, and I wish you all a peaceful, healthy, and a successful 2010.
Paul Evans

Click here to see the video one mo' time!

Click here: YouTube - Santa's Stuck up in the Chimney


Kent …

How ya’ doin’?

Once again I want to thank you and your Forgotten Hits readers for making 2009 one of the best years I’ve ever had. Not only did the hits on my blog, Artie Wayne on the Web, exceed 1,380,000, but the views on YouTube last week of my Michael Jackson song “Little Christmas Tree” (Clinton / Wayne) topped 100,000!
Looking forward to more of your stimulating excursions into our collective musical past and wishing you all the best for 2010!
Regards, Artie Wayne

http://artiewayne.com


Hi Kent!
Now, during the 12 Days of Christmas, I want to wish you the very best of everything in the New Year! -- And to thank you for the wonderful FORGOTTEN HITS site! It's so informative and SUCH FUN -- and yes, there was a long ago day when I once wore "Windsong" perfume (may still have it in some old drawer somewhere).
Remembering the past just makes the present so much richer. That's what FORGOTTEN HITS does for so many of us. Thank you for all you do!
Connie Szerszen,
"Top Rock Girly Jock"

Thanks, Gang ... what makes Forgotten Hits work is the participation of SO many music fans around the globe ... we can all come here for a few minutes each day, if only as a brief diversion from the real world, and share our memories and love of this music together in an atmosphere where you know we're all here for the same reason and purpose. Thank you all again for the past ten years! (kk)

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

12 - 30 - 66 ... and 4 - 28 - 67!!!

(click charts to enlarge)

We haven't done a WLS "flashback" chart in a while ... so we thought we'd end the year with one ... (or maybe even TWO!!!)

It's often been said (and quite a few times in these pages, for that matter!) that the "oldies radio" format didn't really get its start until the early 1970's. Thanks to concert acts like Sha-Na-Na, movies like "American Graffiti" and television shows like "Happy Days", the nostalgia movement was in full swing. (We've also covered before the "comeback" hits of artists like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Rick Nelson and a few others, who dominated the upper region of the pop charts in 1972.)

But SOME radio stations were embracing their rich musical heritage YEARS earlier. I recently found a clip on YouTube of Neil Sedaka performing his 1962 #1 Hit "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" on the "Saturday Hop" Television Program in 1966. Host Rick Shaw says, before introducing Sedaka, that his radio station does a "Million Dollar Weekend" every weekend ... where every other song is a "golden oldie" ... and many of the WLS Charts we've featured in the past have shown the biggest hits of the years gone by right alongside the current hits of the day. (WLS switched over to a Top 40 / Rock And Roll format in 1960 ... and they often looked back at the biggest hits of those earlier years along with the current week's Top Twenty Hits when publishing their weekly charts.)

Check out Neil's appearance on "Saturday Hop" ... it's hard to tell who feels more uncomfortable ... Neil up there trying to shimmy along with his lip-synching or a few of the bored audience members in the background!!! (lol)

The 12/30/66 WLS Chart above shows the week's twenty biggest hits along with a look back at The Top 20 Records of the previous year. Taking a quick look at this week's Top 20, we find The Monkees in the #1 Spot with their biggest hit of all-time, a two sided hit, only THIS week, WLS is showing "Steppin' Stone" as the A-Side with "I'm A Believer" as the flip. In fact, for the first four weeks that this record charted here in Chicago, THIS is how the titles were displayed. (The following week, things would be rectified and from that point forward, "I'm A Believer" would rule the top of the charts as the A-Side ... and it STAYED at #1 for a total of SEVEN WEEKS on WLS, finally being displaced on February 17th by The Seeds' monster garage-band hit "Pushin' Too Hard".)

At #2 was the first of the Snoopy-related novelty hits for the Royal Guardsmen ... "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" actually topped the WCFL Chart across town this same week. In at #3 was "Kind Of A Drag" ... incredibly, Chicago's own Buckinghams never reached the #1 Spot here at home, but went on to reach the summit in Billboard Magazine, a NATIONAL publication, on February 18th when they knocked The Monkees out of the top spot after a seven week Billboard run. "Winchester Cathedral" by The New Vaudeville Band was this week's #4 Hit ... it had just spent the previous three weeks holding down the #1 spot ... and coming in at #5 was one of MY favorites of this era, "Sugar Town" by Nancy Sinatra. (Many of you will remember that "Sugar Town"'s B-Side, "Summer Wine" scored VERY well in our Favorite, Forgotten B-Sides Poll a few years ago!)

There are a few "Forgotten Hits" in The WLS Top 20 this week that you just don't hear on the radio anymore ... "Just One Smile" by Gene Pitney (#11), "Grizzly Bear" by The Youngbloods" (#13), "Cry" by Ronnie Dove (#17) and "There's Got To Be A Word" by Innocence (#18) certainly fall into that category ... and, quite honestly, you don't hear "East, West" by Herman's Hermits, "Words Of Love" by The Mamas and the Papas, "Standing In The Shadows Of Love" by The Four Tops or "Nashville Cats" by The Lovin' Spoonful all that much lately either.

Chicago's New Colony Six were climbing the charts with THEIR latest hit, "Love You So Much" ... it would peak at #2 by the end of the month. The following week, the chart expanded back to its normal Top 40 positions and it would stay that way until April 28th when WLS issued ANOTHER "Solid Gold" Silver Dollar Survey, this time commemorating "The Best Selling Records Of The '60's" as:

1967 - I'm A Believer - The Monkees and Winchester Cathedral - The New Vaudeville Band (now moved up as one of THIS year's biggest hit records);
1966 - Hanky Panky - Tommy James and the Shondells and Cherish - The Association;
1965 - Downtown - Petula Clark (a little bit of a surprise, as normally "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones was listed as 1965's biggest record whenever WLS looked back);
1964 - I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles (typically, "She Loves You" is ALSO listed as one of 1964's biggest hits);
1963 - Limbo Rock - Chubby Checker (huh?!?!?);
1962 - I Can't Stop Loving You - Ray Charles;
1961 - Will You Love Me Tomorrow - The Shirelles;
1960 - Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith

This chart was used to kick off "Super Summer" which was starting "with the good sound of music spectacular" on May 5th. (By the way, The Monkees also ranked pretty high on THIS week's chart, too ... "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" was the #3 Record, after spending the previous two weeks at #1 ... and The Buckinghams finally reached the #1 Spot here at home when "Don't You Care" sat on top of the charts for the first of three weeks!)

Nancy Sinatra was back in The Top Five, this time singing a duet with her father on "Somethin' Stupid". (She also had a SOLO hit on the charts ... "Love Eyes", another one of my "forgotten favorites", was in at #25.)

The Seeds were charting with THEIR follow-up hit, too, as "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" was this week's #24 record. And Chicago's Cryan' Shames ("Mr. Unreliable", #12), New Colony Six ("You're Gonna Be Mine", #13), The Riddles ("Sweets For My Sweet", #23) and Milwaukee's Michael and the Messengers ("In The Midnight Hour", #14) were all climbing the charts as well.

Vocal versions of "The Happening" by The Supremes and "Music To Watch Girls By" by Andy Williams were riding the 'LS Chart but their instrumental counterparts (by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and The Bob Crewe Generation respectively) were nowhere to be found. In fact, the ONLY instrumental on the chart this week was "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" by Whistling Jack Smith!

Other Forgotten Hits favorites include "California Nights" by Lesley Gore, "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" by Neil Diamond, "At The Zoo" by Simon and Garfunkel, "Beggin'" by The Four Seasons and "Six O'Clock", another "lost classic" by The Lovin' Spoonful.









Steppin' Stone - The Monkees









Grizzly Bear - The Youngbloods









Words Of Love - The Mamas and the Papas









Don't You Care - The Buckinghams









At The Zoo - Simon and Garfunkel









Beggin' - The Four Seasons

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Kent Kotal: More On Radio (And, In SOME Cases, Moron Radio!!!)

Over the past ten years we've recorded COUNTLESS commentaries on the current state of radio ... some times more "biting" than others ... but ALWAYS with the intention to CHALLENGE and MOTIVATE today's oldies programmers to "take the blinders off" and look beyond those same 200-300 songs that every other station in the country is playing. If one were to ask me, "Is Oldies Radio Better TODAY than it was ten years ago when Forgotten Hits first began", I would have to answer "Yes" ... and, hopefully, we've helped to play at least SOME small role in that.

Radio has expanded through much more free-form programming thanks to the Internet ... and now, with Wi-Fi Radio as the next big step (we've watched the rise ... and fall ... of satellite radio during these past ten years, too!), we are encouraged that things are only going to get better.

As more and more terrestrial stations throw in the towel, the field is widening for those radio entrepenaurs willing to give their listening audience just a little more credit ... yes, we really CAN digest more than those same "tried and true" oldies ... and yes, we really DO remember MANY more songs from our youth. If you will INTELLIGENTLY present them to us (without all the "adult diaper" / "erectile dysfunction" / "incontinence" ads), we WILL listen!!!

In fact, OUR demographic ... those aged 45-65 ... is now the LARGEST radio demographic out there ... with the most disposable income ... despite the fact that "conventional" radio has chosen to ignore us for years. (Hell, they wrote us off AGES ago ... and now many of the folks in charge have NO clue as to what we're all about ... how to reach us ... or what we REALLY want in a radio station.)
History has shown that in tough economic times, radio has ALWAYS been a salvation ... it's "free" entertainment that can be enjoyed at home ... but we've squeezed and syphoned all the personality out of radio for SO long now by introducing more and more automation that the CONNECTION an audience used to make with those on the air that we listened to has all but disappeared. The "art" of radio is gone.

And this narrow-minded, tunnel-vision method of programming is finally coming around to bite them in the ass ... as more and more listeners are turning off their car radios in search of other avenues of entertainment. We've been warning those who'd listen to us for a decade now ... and we've grown by leaps and bounds thanks to commentary and insight from many of the jocks on the list who have dedicated and devoted their entire lives and careers to making radio fun. (Of course, MOST of these guys are unemployed right now ... so they've had all kinds of extra time to participate with us!!! lol Sad ... but true.)

In fact, literally MINUTES after we posted our most recent "On The Radio" Segment (sermon?) last weekend, Citadel filed for bankruptcy, a topic not lost on many of our readers. Here ... in our final Radio Address To The Nation of the Year ... are a few more comments that we've received ... radio-related ... in the past few days:

re: ON THE RADIO:
Well, it's official ... this announcement came in just a few short minutes after last week's Sunday Comments went out ... I can't say that anyone was too surprised by this (and it almost sounds like a formality step in their reorganization) ... but quite a few of you found it interesting that this announcement came just days after Citadel moved Scott Shannon to the VP of Programming spot! (Rest assured, Scott'll be just fine!) kk


1:40 PM ET Sunday, December 20, 2009
It's official - Citadel files for pre-arranged bankruptcy
Citadel Broadcasting lists assets of $1.4 billion and debt of $2.5 billion in a filing that came today (Sunday, December 20). Its largest unsecured creditors (according to Bloomberg) are JPMorgan Chase Bank, Wilmington Trust ($49.2 million) and the Walt Disney Company ($11.2 million). Backer Forstmann Little holds 29% of Citadel's common stock, and Chairman / CEO Farid Suleman about 3%. Citadel was facing an impossible deadline on January 15, 2010 to have a large amount of cash on hand. Friday morning's T-R-I Newsletter predicted that a filing was imminent and reported that Suleman had succeeded in winning support from more than 50% of the money behind the company. The Wall Street Journal reports that Citadel would emerge from the pre-arranged filing with debt of about $762 million. Suleman will likely continue leading Citadel, post-bankruptcy. More of the continuing coverage of Citadel online now at

Radio-Info.com.

TIMING LIKE MINE? SCOTT SHANNON GOES "NATIONAL" WITH THE BIG-MARKET CITADEL STATIONS, AS VP / PROGRAMMING ... CITADEL just filed for bankrupcy protection ... I predict they'll survive ... (gary) RENFIELD
Citadel Broadcasting Files for Bankruptcy Protection (Update1) - Bloomberg.com


Kent ...
Did you hear this story ?

Frank B.
Again, trust me, Scott'll do just fine. There was virtually NO surprise in this announcement at all ... it was only a matter of time before they'd announce it. (OK, maybe there was just a LITTLE surprise that it happened on a SUNDAY!!! lol) But this was one of those "worst-kept secrets" you hear about from time to time. (kk)


And, a day after Citadel filed for bankruptcy, so did Next Media!!! Our whole radio world is changing!

ANOTHER YEAR-END FILING:
Like Citadel, this is a debt-for-equity exchange, though the first-lien debt and general unsecured creditors will be paid in full. The creditors in line behind them will have their debt converted into 95% of the equity in radio-and-outdoor firm NextMedia. The company will emerge from the plan with debt of about $128 million. It operates radio stations in the Carolinas, Texas, California, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and the area around Chicago. Unlike Citadel Broadcasting, NextMedia is privately-held, though it once tried to go public through an initial public offering. More now at Radio-Info.com.

re: HERE ARE MORE OF YOUR RECENT RADIO COMMENTS ...

ALONG WITH SOME UP-COMING ANNOUNCEMENTS ...
AND "FORGOTTEN HITS RAVE-OUTS"!!!:

::sigh::: Remember when Chicago radio was the best thing ever?
If only they knew -- for real -- how truly stupid it is now ...
Kristy
Did you happen to watch the Johnny B. video??? Pretty funny stuff ... and right on the money as far as the current thinking on programming. (kk)
Yes I did ... too bad it won't have one bit of effect on anything. :(
k

I THOUGHT I heard Scott's voice doing bumpers and spots for KLOS (I listen online here in FL) ...
Scott Levison
Pinellas Park, FL
Scott's been HUGE in Florida for quite a while now ... in fact, next to our Chicagoland readers, Florida is OUR second biggest market for Forgotten Hits, too ... they seem to REALLY love their oldies down there!!! (kk)


I hope to get this to you in plenty of time. My show "The Pop Shoppe" on www.topshelfoldies.com
Fridays from 7 PM till 3:01 AM

On Friday January 1 (New Years Day) I will have two special country segments besides my assorted oldies.
At 9 PM, I will be interviewing Diane Diekman, who has written a book about Faron Young. She is also working on a book on Marty Robbins. This should prove to be something not to miss.
At 12 AM I will be doing a tribute to the late and great Hank Williams on my "Midnight Country" portion of my show. Don't miss this special evening as we start off the New Year.
The Pop Shoppe has been on the Internet on topshelfoldies for 8 years.
Stu Weiss / DJ Stu
Got this posted with plenty of notice ... thanks, Stu!
Diane has been participating with us here in Forgotten Hits recently, too ... and just wrote a very nice "overview" of the career of Marty Robbins. (In fact, we featured a few of Marty's biggest hits on our web page a short while back ... you can find them here, along with some of Diane's commentary.) Thanks! (kk)
Click here: Forgotten Hits: MARTY ROBBINS


Kent,
Just so your listeners / readers know, Uncle Ricky will be playing the replay aircheck of the Big 89 of 1969 on its' 40th Anniversary Year on New Years Day! It's eight hours of great music and the DJs we grew up with and loved! The New Colony Six are well represented, too. IF they play the Art Roberts hour leading up to the countdown (and I believe after the show, too), you'll hear my fave "Barbara, I love You" and the NC6 are IN the countdown and a greeting from Ronnie Rice himself around #20 in the countdown!! The Big 89 forever!!
WLSClark
Also, Christmas brings us Holiday jingle Samplers, Cousin Brucie Christmas and WNBC Christmas shows!!
Check it out at: http://www.reelradio.com/

Linda November and Artie Schroeck are on my next radio interview show!
Some of you may look at these two names and say "who are they"?
Linda November and Artie Schroeck may not be household names but they are two of the most respected people in the music business. And almost everyone on the planet is familiar with some of their work even if they are not familiar with their names. Hopefully this show will give these two "class acts" -- who also happen to be wife and husband -- some well-deserved long-overdue public recognition.

This super-sized show -- 80 minutes -- covers a lot of ground but it barely scratches the surface in conveying the extent of what these two have accomplished. I may suggest to them that we do a second show or even a mini-series some time in the future!

Linda has recorded 22,000 advertising jingles and was the "Meow Meow Meow Meow" cat on the legendary Meow Mix commercial. She portayed that singing cat for a whopping 17 years! Her portfolio includes almost all of the most famous brands in the world. She personally compiled for me a top 25 list of her most popular commercials and performs each of them LIVE during this show. But that's only a part of her story. Linda's sung on dozens of hit records. We sample some of them during the show including "Love Me With All Your Heart" (she was a Ray Charles singer!), "The World We Knew" (she was the solo soprano voice singing underneath Frank Sinatra), "Do You Know The Way To San Jose" ("wo-wo-ing" with Valerie Simpson on the Dionne Warwick smash), "After The Lovin'" by Englebert Humperdinck, "Stoney End" by Barbra Streisand and a legendary disco hit called "Baby Face" by the Wing and a Prayer Fife and Drum Corps in which her voice was the main one heard. And she was one of the anonymous studio voices of Dawn (along with Tony Orlando) on their first two smash hits "Candida" and "Knock Three Times." [Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent, who shortly thereafter became the "official" Dawn and toured with Tony, were not on those above two hits.]

Artie has written songs and arrangements for a veritable "Who's Who" of the top names in the business. Just to name a few: Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, Neil Diamond, Liza Minnelli, Petula Clark, Sammy Davis Jr., Barry Manilow and the Cowsills. He was the co-writer of one of the most admired Frank Sinatra songs entitled "Here's To The Band." Possibly Artie's most famous arrangement was also his most commercially successful. It's an artist that I have yet to mention. Artie arranged "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" for Frankie Valli and did other arrangements for the Four Seasons as well.This interview show is chock full of fun and surprises. It was such a joy doing it.

Oh, one other thing before I list the tracks. This was the first interview that I did using "Skype." I was able to see Linda and Artie on my computer monitor while I was talking to them! For me it had the feel of being an "in-studio" interview.

Following are the tracks on the show in sequence. Most of the "excerpts" (except the "Meow Mix" opening excerpt) are about a minute long. Those listed as "edits" contain more than half of the recording.

1 OPENING: "Meow Mix" commercial (excerpt) followed by "Studio Singer" (excerpt) -- Linda November
2 Nanny, Nanny, It's Time For My Fix! -- Linda November [don't ask!]
3 The World We Knew -- Frank Sinatra (excerpt)
4 Love Me With All Your Heart -- The Ray Charles Singers (excerpt)
5 Candida -- Dawn (excerpt)
6 Knock Three Times -- Dawn (excerpt)
7 Here's To The Band -- Frank Sinatra (edit)
8 To Keep My Love Alive -- Linda November [a dark humor hilarity written by Rodgers and Hart]
9 Not Getting Married Today -- Linda November (edit) [she sings this Stephen Sondheim song from "Company" at about 200 M.P.H.!]
10 Teach Me Tonight -- Liza Minnelli (edit)
11 Can't Take My Eyes Off You -- Frankie Valli
12 We Can Fly -- The Cowsills (excerpt)
13 Do You Know The Way To San Jose (excerpt)
14 After The Lovin' -- Engelbert Humperdinck (excerpt)
15 Stoney End -- Barbra Streisand (excerpt)
16 Baby Face -- The Wing and a Prayer Fife and Drum Corps (excerpt)'
17 "Meow Mix" commercial
18 Come Fly With Me -- Linda November and Artie Schroeck

Notes: #1, #2, #8 and #9 were recorded at a live performance in NYC on May 8, 1987 entitled "November In May" #18 was recorded at a "Suncoast" live performance in January, 2008

To access this Linda November and Artie Schroeck radio interview show or any of my previous ones, please visit the "Jersey Girls Sing" website at http://www.jerseygirlssing.com

When that home page comes up, please click the "Ronnie Allen Theater" (the name has a yellow background) in the picture on the right-hand side. That will bring you to my index page. Please click on "Ronnie's Radio Page" and you will then be able to access the show (it's the first one listed under the blue heading "Current Radio Interview Shows") or any of my previous ones, which are listed in reverse chronological order.
Ronnie Allen

Milwaukee – The label on 95.7 is once again “Oldies”, with Clear Channel ditching WRIT’s “My 95.7” approach for a plain-spoken “Oldies 95.7.” The station’s been classic hits and now is adjusting by leaning on the 1960s and 1970s. New slogan – “Milwaukee’s only oldies station.” The Wisconsin Board is talking “oldies” now.

Vince Martell, lead guitarist of late-60's psychedelic rock group Vanilla Fudge, is scheduled to be my guest on "Legends" on Tuesday, Dec. 29. The two-hour show runs from 9-11 p.m. Eastern Time on Vinyl Dynasty, part of the live365.com group. Vinny should be appearing sometime after 10 o'clock. To tune in, click
Online Rock Radio Station - Live365 Internet Radio - Vinyl Dynasty
Tim Jensen

Kent -
We've been hearing for months and months now that Hit Parade Radio has hired Larry Lujack but when I go online all I hear is music. Apparently per your blog the format will change during the 1st quarter of 2010. Please please please let us know when Uncle Lar will start broadcasting and at what times of the day, too. Frankly speaking, there are thousands of internet oldies stations out there, and most of them seem to be playing a lot of the same boring music. Hit Parade Radio runs the risk of just becoming another one of them ... however, adding Lujack and Martindale should change that.
Steve Davidson
Whenever I've tuned in, I've heard drop-ins by both Martindale and Lujack ... but as more of a "promo / sampling" nature about what's coming up rather than as an actual radio broadcast ... the purpose here is to let folks know about the new station and what kind of music they can expect to hear.

Internet Radio has been able to offer more variety in programming because most of these stations are independently owned and operated ... heck, SOME of these guys are literally broadcasting out of their bedrooms!!! ... and this new-found freedom and expansion has benefited the oldies music fan in that we get to hear something OTHER than the same old, same old typically being broadcast by terrestrial radio today.

Let's face it ... a few short years ago, a number of major conventional radio markets had already given up on the oldies format ... thanks to guys like Scott Shannon and The True Oldies Channel, nearly 100 cities are now enjoying their oldies again ... but it's tough to program a station like that for "mass-market" listeners, especially when you've got people to answer to ... certain "concessions have to be made.

Here in Chicago, for example, Shannon's only on a limited number of hours each week, despite the fact that HIS ratings are the highest the station experiences. Local programming cuts into the majority of the week day waking hours and now even the weekends are being eaten up by programs WLS-FM has chosen to air other than Scott Shannon's 24/7 broadcast. (This makes it ESPECIALLY tough for me as a listener ... I've got another Forgotten Hits / True Oldies Channel Weekend coming up and will miss better than half of it thanks to these local "cut-aways" unless I dedicate myself to listening online ... a difficult thing to do when you're doing your normal weekend's worth of running around!)

John Rook and Hit Parade Radio are running into some of the same obstacles. By trying to reach an audience both on the Internet and Wi-Fi ... as well as securing a stable of AM and FM radio stations across the country ... he's had to compromise some of HIS programming ideas in an effort to please the "majority".

But John has taken an aggressive approach to programming his station. Whereas MOST oldies stations have a library of about 250 - 300 songs ... and even some of the BEST ones top out right around 750 - 800 titles ... Hit Parade Radio is programming over 3000 oldies ... in theory, they wouldn't have to repeat a single song all week long ... and it's been that CONSTANT repetition that has driven even some of the most die-hard oldies fans away from conventional radio.

True, it has taken much longer than ANYONE anticipated getting things up and running ... but before we let our patience get the better of us, let's keep things in perspective:

In this economic climate, when companies in all walks of life are closing their doors left and right ... and MAJOR radio corporations are filing bankruptcy and shutting down stations ... starting and marketing a brand new radio venture HAS to be considered more than just a little bit risky ... some might even say crazy.

But what Rook and Lujack and Martindale bring to the table is close to 150 years of accumulative experience behind them of when radio was done right ... a proven track record ... and they're going after a target audience demographic that has been largely ignored by conventional radio for far too long.

Think THAT isn't an obstacle??? It HAS to be, especially when trying to sell the idea to some executives that probably weren't even born yet during this radio hey-day ... and there have also been any number of unexpected set-backs along the way, too ... but despite it all, they've persevered ... and are as anxious to bring this format to the listeners as WE are to hear something fresh and exciting again.

Believe me when I say that we're ALL anxiously waiting to hear Larry Lujack on the air again. But will we ever hear Lujack doing a regular radio program on Hit Parade Radio? I'm not so sure we will ... not in the traditional four or five hour weekday morning stint anyway. Keep in mind that Hit Parade Radio will be syndicated around the country. If Larry WAS going to do a 5 am show (and, at this stage of his career, I personally can't even IMAGINE that Lujack would want to get up early enough to do a 5 am show every morning anymore, although he DID do that here in Chi-Town as part of the short-lived "Real Oldies" venture), WHICH 5 am would you be talking about? 5 am East Coast Time? 5 am West Coast Time? These are factors that the average listener doesn't even take into consideration.

A far BETTER strategy might be to sprinkle both Larry Lujack and Wink Martindale in small vignettes throughout the whole day ... that way they'd be available 24 / 7 ... whenever people tune in, meaning that you'll be likely to catch SOMETHING featuring these two "flagship" guys on the station no matter WHEN you turned on Hit Parade Radio. True, this falls back into more of the same "syndication / automation" syndrome that we keep harping about ... and we truly do miss the "live" spontaneity that a REAL radio broadcast has to offer ... but at least INITIALLY this set up would allow their talents to be far better utilized by spreading them out throughout the day, a marketing strategy that should serve Hit Parade Radio well during the initial phase of reaching listeners worldwide.

Perhaps eventually things will settle into more of a format that would allow Wink or Larry to do a four-hour show at a set time period every day ... "appointment radio" if you will ... but moving forward with the current goal of getting everything up and running by the first quarter of 2010, Priority One for the Powers That Be is to make Hit Parade Radio available not only through their current Internet and Wi-Fi connections, but ALSO on a selection of local AM and FM radio stations across the country in the very near future as well ... and the recent addition of Liz Doyle, a long-time affiliates executive with Citadel, should help make this transition much more likely.

Honestly, the timing really couldn't be any better ... since radio adopted the People Meter as a means to more accurately measure listenership, ratings are showing big gains for “oldie” radio recently ... all positive signs that a very viable market still exists for this music and this listening audience. (Better still is the fact that we are CONSTANTLY encouraged by the number of YOUNG folks discovering this great music that we all grew up with!)

John Rook brought up another very interesting programming point in this regard during the holidays ... definitely some "food for thought" regarding what really "fits" on the radio today when it comes to oldies music ... we recently found THIS piece of wisdom posted on his website:

With the holidays once again upon us, music radio has begun to discover the recording artists they neglect all year long. Bing Crosby, Nat “King” Cole, the Carpenters, Brenda Lee, Andy Williams and dozens of others suddenly “fit,” when played right along with a steady diet of rock performers. Who can argue that any artist is better known than Elvis Presley, with an estate that rakes in more than one hundred million dollars annually, thirty years after his death. Yet, even with dozens of chart toppers over a thirty year span, most “oldies” stations today struggle to program more than two or three of his hits. It was described as “Top Forty,” but the format that reinvented radio during Elvis’ early career would better have been termed as “variety.” Much of the success of music radio in those days came from the tremendous amount of musical variety presented by on-air talent who introduced the artist with believable enthusiasm. Like the commercial product they sold, they did so with the music also. Right along with the rock of Elvis, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard and Chubby Checker, were the hits of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Patti Page, Percy Faith, Perez Prado and even foreign language chart toppers from Italy’s Domenico Modugno to Japan’s Kyu Sakamoto. Folk and country artist were included as were novelty hits like Monster Mash and Mr. Custer. Music excitement glued listeners to the radio, something that rarely takes place today when the programming of just a few hundred songs at the most is the norm. 'Tis said that history repeats itself. With that in mind, Hit Parade Radio is being created featuring as many as 3,000 hit songs, with hundreds of hit makers of the past largely forgotten by radio given new life. The format expected to debut on your local radio station in the first quarter of 2010 will be music intensive, exactly what most listeners to music radio expect. Among the on-air talent will be the Radio Hall of Fame’s, SuperJock Larry Lujack and the award winning, Hollywood Walk of Fame Inductee Wink Martindale. For more information or sample it now at: www.HitParadeRadio.com
-- John Rook

We wish him continued success in bringing this station to the people and providing a chance to hear some music that has been absent from the radio airwaves for decades now. No, you won't hear a lot of "hard rock" on Hit Parade Radio ... there are already plenty of other stations for that if this is what you're looking for.

What you WILL hear is music by artists who CONSISTENTLY found themselves on The Hit Parade Charts. Instead of the same two or three Elvis songs, you'll hear as many as 30 or 35 OTHER hits by The King. Instead of hearing "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee for ten days at Christmastime and then nothing else by Little Miss Dynamite for the rest of the year, you'll hear some of her 20+ Top Twenty Hits played in regular rotation. No radio station will EVER please everyone ... but I think this is a step in the right direction to offer some alternative programming and still stay within the oldies genre. Let's face it ... many of us are button-pushers anyway ... we've conditioned ourselves to seeing "what else is on" rather than listening to what IS on ... because much of what HAS been on is simply more of the same. Hit Parade Radio will give you a chance to hear some music you just haven't heard in a long, long time. We'll keep you posted as things develop. (kk)

Meanwhile, one final word of encouragement from John ...
Thank you, Kent, for your encouragement and the great job you and your contributors do in keeping interests alive for those Forgotten Hits ... that shouldn’t be. And thank you for sharing the memories of radio when.
-- John Rook

Meanwhile, our FH Radio Buddy Rich Appel makes an interesting analogy in this month's edition of his "Hz So Good" online music newsletter regarding the "Radio With Blinders On" mentality we've been experiencing these past several decades. (I'm reading Rich's new "Book Of Days - The '70's" right now, by the way! You'll find it available EXCLUSIVELY at Barnes and Noble.) Unfortunately, talking about the mistakes radio has made these past 25 years is a bit like closing the barn door after the cow's already gotten away, I'm afraid ... but this is still some pretty insightful thinking. (kk)

As we stand on the cusp of 2010, I’d like to, for a moment, go back to 1960 for something that I feel everyone in radio should be aware of. I’m not referring to Elvis Presley coming back or payola – for radio, the good and bad of 1960, respectively – but rather, Theodore Levitt’s groundbreaking paper Marketing Myopia, which first appeared in the Harvard Business Review that year. Anyone who’s taken college marketing courses has read Marketing Myopia, the title of which refers to the shortsightedness of a business when determining what business it’s in. The often-cited example is if companies who made buggy whips in the early 1900s had had the foresight to see a day when horses would be replaced by horsepower engines, thereby seeing themselves in the far-reaching “transportation business.” The original radio networks were therefore ahead of the curve, thanks to guys like David Sarnoff and Bill Paley, who easily brought NBC and CBS into the television age. Did the networks see themselves in the “radio business” or “broadcasting business”? Not as long as each had sound recording companies – RCA and Columbia – putting them in the wider-spanning “home entertainment business,” perhaps. So what business do most radio station owners think they’re in right now? Good question. It appears that most owners never saw a day coming where digital technology would provide arguably better alternatives to radio broadcasting. We’ve come to a place where nearly every entertaining element of radio can be found somewhere else 24 / 7, via one’s computer, mobile phone or another radio. What’s more, these elements can either come as listeners want them, or in some cases listeners can program the elements themselves. Clearly, radio will need to broaden the definition of the business it’s in – and back that up by committing to whatever the future of audio delivery is – or risk the same fate as the buggy whip. On top of that, stations will have to brand – or re-brand – themselves, to adapt to this new world. Put another way, radio must avoid both “Marketing Myopia” and identity crisis. It doesn’t matter whether a station is mostly music or talk: digital has proven itself an equal opportunity kicking-and-screaming dragger: If you’re a news / talker (or in some cases, a music FM) that interrupts your schedule for sports play-by-play, congratulations: you’ve sent listeners to another all-day source for news or music. If you’ve got one sports station but not the game rights to every team in town, you have to hope those fans find their way back to you. If you’re a music station whose morning show is mostly talk, there go your listeners to AOL, Yahoo, Sirius or any other non-stop music service. And if your music service isn’t listener-interactive, say goodbye to those who want to hear their favorite songs on demand. The solution to all the above is, of course, product line expansion: new addresses for your radio service, whether that means a second station that does what the first one does, or going live on the ’net. For news, it means having a 24 / 7 spot for that no matter what. For sports, it means having at least two of them. For music, it means covering all the bases with a group of stations / services within your format of choice, so passive listening if you want it, or on-demand if you need it. When it comes to station branding, there’s a bit of irony. Over the past 30 years, traditional call letters have given way to “handles” such as Kiss, Lite, X, Wired or The End, to name a few. But hundreds of stations using the same handle won’t be able to carve their own identities in other media, not to mention that the dial position that made these stations distinctive won’t matter anymore. “X99.9” means bupkis online. There are at least two remedies to this: 1. The ironic one, which is, return to using call letters, since only WABC can be WABC. 2. Create more unique station / service names. A daunting challenge, because your new name will need to reflect both your station’s geographic target and what your station does. Hy Lit Radio is already doing this for fans of Philly gold. By the way, radio is not the only medium guilty of marketing myopia. While tuned to the local cable news station yesterday, I saw this flash on-screen “News 12 New Jersey: Only on cable, Never on FIOS, Never on satellite.” Which tells me there’s a nice wide-open niche for local news on FIOS and satellite, which probably won’t be filled by News 12. Smart? I’d say not. -- Rich Appel

There is, without question, a feeling that the listener has "dumbed down" to a point where what's on "in the background" really doesn't matter anymore ... that's because the average listener is most likely "multi-tasking" ... on the computer with the TV softly muted, all the while sitting in their easy chair with the headphones to their iPod firmly planted in each ear. We just don't seem to have the attention span we used to have when life moved along at a slower pace ... and there weren't so many distractions all around us. But it's ALSO because nobody's been giving us much worth watching or listening to lately!

We see this trend in virtually EVERY type of entertainment that's brought into our homes. That's why there's so much "disposable" television programming going on these days ... a television program like one of OUR favorites, "Lost", has a very specific, hard-core audience ... a lot of folks simply won't go for a program like this because it requires TOO much attention ... you have to actually THINK about what's going on from episode to episode and a lot of folks simply aren't used to doing that anymore ... there's a committment involved! As such, a number of viewers have switched off, finding themselves "lost", too, by missing a key scene or revelation here and there.

Radio USED to be like that, too ... we hung on every word, WONDERING what the jock was going to say or do next ... we couldn't WAIT to hear the hot new music coming out of our little transistors ... heck, we'd put the radio under our pillows at night because we didn't want to miss a thing.

Sadly, today's generation will NEVER know this excitement ... because we've "dumbed down" to the lowest common denominator ... and that's a shame. All we hear today from these know-it-all consultants is "That Won't Work" ... completely forgetting the fact that it worked just fine for DECADES. (Then again, maybe a big part of the problem is that there hasn't been all that much to get excited about musically lately!!! We've conditioned ourselves not to get too excited about what will only end up being "last week's news" or this week's "Flavor Of The Month." We've spent so much time re-inventing the wheel that we seem to have forgotten what made the wheel (rock and) roll in the first place!

So much time and effort has been spent in cutting costs (and corners) through automation that MOST radio today is devoid of ANY sense of personality and interaction with the listener. To a degree, our greatest fears have been realized ... our lives are now being programmed by a computer! THEY'VE decided what we're supposed to like and not like ... what we hear and what we don't hear. This is why we hear something like "Stand By Me" or "Born To Be Wild" half a dozen times a day in literally EVERY city in the country. In THEIR minds, this is all we can handle.

But the fact is, those of us with half a brain ... those of us who like to think for ourselves ... have tuned out or given up. That's because we've reached a point where WE can program a day's worth of musical entertainment into our lives better than THEY can!!! And we now have the means to do so, thanks to things like iPods and CD burners and computers and the Internet.

And let's face it ... the criteria has changed a little bit, too ... we don't NEED the news at the top of the hour anymore ... if you want to hear the news, you can simply tune in to any one of half a dozen news-only channels now available. Want the weather? Switch over to the weather channel ... same with traffic ... or sports. Like talk? There are dozens of THOSE out there, too. Want music ONLY ... yep, just head on over to the Internet and you'll find nothing but music. It's ALL there ... segregated and streamlined to your little heart's content.

What seems to be MISSING is the personality-driven radio that we all grew up on ... we've been so programmed (or is that DE-programmed) to think that the jocks don't have anything worthwhile to say, that we don't want anything more than time, temp and music ... you can literally get a ROBOT to give you that ... and, in effect, that's EXACTLY what we're getting these days ... a "robotic", pre-recorded, voice-tracked program devoid of ANYTHING remotely resembling personality. This seems to be fine for some ... and, for many, it's all they know ... but those of us who grew up on radio know better.

Kudos to ANYBODY trying to get us back to where we once belonged ... it's been our biggest campaign here in Forgotten Hits for the past ten years. Thanks, Rich, John and everyone else who contributed ... some EXCELLENT food for thought ... and a chance for me to step up on my soap box one last time here at the end of another year! (kk)

Monday, December 28, 2009

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor ...

Your "Commercial" Comments keep coming in ... here's another round for your post-holiday enjoyment!!!

re: AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR ... :
We're STILL getting some pretty good response to our recent "commercials" features ... it's amazing how universally memorable and appealing some of these spots actually were! And we've clearly inspired you to send along a few of YOUR favorites for the rest of the list to enjoy, too!

Great job on all the versions of "She Let's Her Hair Down / Early in the Morning." I never dreamed there were so many version.
By the way, the Tokens version is the one I know, because I was in college when the other version was playing in Chicago where I am from.
Keep up the great work.
Sue Patterson


HI KENT -
So good to hear from you. I had no idea if this was a current site. I hope that I cleared up some of the mystery. In fact, I usually referred to the song as "She Let's Her Hair Down". I had forgotten that Bang used "Early In The Morning" as the title. I forgot to mention that Calla had it out as "Brainstorm" ... same record minus the classical intro, released around March or April of 1969.
I wonder if there is any record of the appearances I made in Houston (Larry Kane) or Cincinnati (Up Beat )?? Those were other cities where I made it to #1. (They sent video tape to many other shows ... I guess it was cheaper than sending me.) Check out the Ben E King CD. (Google "Ben E King cd I've Been Around") and you will get to hear portions from Amazon. Keep in touch.
Best to all for a Happy Holiday Season,
Don Young
Thanks, Don, and the same to you. We've been pushing for releases of the old "Up Beat" television series (Cleveland, I thought) for YEARS now ... seems like everybody who was anybody appeared on this program at one time or another. (I heard the video tapes are available but for an INCREDIBLE licensing fee, even just for one-time usage.) Would LOVE to see all this stuff come out again so that the rest of us around the country could enjoy it, too. Crazy to have all this great stuff sitting in a vault somewhere. The footage is truly getting less and less valuable as the audience that WANTS to see these again is shrinking!!! Might as well put it out while those who care can still enjoy it all! Thanks for all the info! (Hey, now Joel Whitburn can update HIS bio for his next edition, too!!!) kk
Hi Kent!
I have in my hand an original record from 1969. it shows the title as "SHE LETS HER HAIR DOWN" (EARLY IN THE MORNING) on BANG RECORDS by DON YOUNG. I also have the original release drom CALLA RECORDS by BRAINSTORM. The title on this is "Early In The Morning". Both records list PAUL VANCE and LEON CARR as the composers. I assume that because the CALLA record was pre-Clairol, hair was not an issue when this version was released in early 1969. (Note: this is the same record on Bang, minus the classical intro.)


I also have a record that was released around June, 1969 on ROULETTE called "HOW DO YOU MOVE A MOUNTAIN". ROULETTE chose to use my real name, DONNY ALBANO, for this venture, which was R&B. It seems that while they may have given up on "EARLY IN THE MORNING", they were still in favor of keeping me as an artist. CALLA and ROULETTE were related companys. The commercial was released around July of 1969 (and won a CLEO!)
The transfer to BANG took place around the fall of 1969. I remember doing the Up-Beat show in Cincinnati and the LARRY KANE SHOW in Houston, one week before X-MAS 1969. In both cities the record was in the top three. I recorded several more songs for BANG in 1970,however they were not released. Paul Davis wrote one ... he was on Bang at the time.
I tried to scan the records but I had a problem so I may just take a photo and send that. I find it interesting that you have a BANG record that lists Early In The Morning as the title??? Hope that information helps clear things up.
Regards,
Don "Young" Albano
F.Y.I. The name YOUNG was first used by AM-CAN records in 1963 on my recording TWELVE TO SEVEN
As the record took off in different parts of the country, Bang must have re-pressed it. Perhaps, as you suggested, "Early In The Morning" was the ORIGINAL title they went with ... and then, between the usage of this song in the Clairol commercial ad campaign (and the release of a completely different tune using the same title by Vanity Fare), they opted to just change the name to "She Lets Her Hair Down" to avoid any further confusion. (Strange, too, as we pointed out in our website piece, that Rupert Holmes produced a version called "Early In The Morning" for The Cuff Links LP but then, when he recorded it himself, changed it to "She Lets Her Hair Down" ... and, apparently, took a bit of the song-writing credit, too!!!) Again, thanks for all this extra information ... part of what makes Forgotten Hits such a COMPLETE source when it comes to things like these!!! (kk)

By the way, Don Young has been sending us ALL kinds of cool stuff lately ... this guy's had a pretty amazing 40+ year career in the music business. Watch for a special Don Young Tribute Page up on The Forgotten Hits Website soon! (kk)

The "Commercially Appealing" topic is GREAT stuff, Kent, and right up my alley. My focus is a little narrow, but I've always loved jingles and / or product endorsements that were recorded by '60s bands, have have collected quite a few that I list on my Web site:
http://www.60sgaragebands.com/cameosjingles/endorsementsjingles.html I must have been anywhere from 5 to 8 years old when the Windsong jingle was popular, and I still haven't forgotten it. It has to be among the best remembered jingles of all-time. Another favorite -- I was a little older when first hearing it -- was the Pabst Blue Ribbon theme: 'I have Pabst Blue Ribbon on my mind; more and more likely I find; I've got the taste for livin'; I'm drinking cold Blue Ribbon; I've got Pabst Blue Ribbon on my mind.' I'd love to find that one.
Mike Dugo
60sgaragebands.com
Well, here's one from the '70's that I just found on YouTube:
Click here: YouTube - Pabst Blue Ribbon on my mind horse racing commercial 1979
And, if you want to see a REALLY fun one, check this one out:
Click here: YouTube - Pabst Blue Ribbon Commercial Feat. Dennis Hopper

Mike Dugo has an AMAZING collection of commercials performed by Top 40 Hit Artists posted on his website ... I asked him to share a few of his favorites with our readers.





Ban Deodorant (by John Fred and his Playboy Band)





Jack In The Box (by Free Design)





Pepsi (by Three Dog Night)

The Hondells- “You Meet The Nicest People On A Honda”!! A commercial and a record. Oh Yeah, by the way ... what Girl Group sang the “Heaven Scent’ commercial? I may have missed that on your lists.
Ken
Click here: YouTube - HONDELLS -YOU MEET THE NICEST PEOPLE ON A HONDA
I don't think we ever determined just WHO sang the "Heaven Sent" commercial ... but a couple of readers mentioned that they thought it sounded like The Chiffons ... anybody know for sure??? (kk)

Kent,
These old radio jingles of commercials are such GREAT memories for me. Only one commercial might have played more than the Heaven Sent one, it seems, on WLS and CFL. That would be the "Think Drink" commercial for the Coffee society. Almost ANYONE who listened to WLS and CFL back in the late 60's heard this one. Attached is the version used at the 1967 NAB meetings, but both WLS and CFL used their jocks just rambling about coffee's possibilities over the instrumental bed usually. I have both WLS and CFL jocks doing their seemingly ad-lib rants for a minute over this bed. How can you not remember and whistle along?
Clark Besch








Incredibly, I don't remember this one at all!!! Maybe some of our other readers will recognize and remember it! Thanks, Clark! (kk)

Kent,
What as Chicago thinking by ignoring Come To The Sunshine? Great song and a preview of Brian Wilson's exotic SMiLE collaborator, Van Dyke Parks. CTTS could have been on amazing Van Dyke's Song Cycle album; similar feel and sound:
Van Dyke Parks
Palm Desert - Song Cycle - 1968 - 3:11
Laurel Canyon Blvd. - Song Cycle - 1968 - 0:30
Vine Street - Song Cycle - 1968 - 3:40
Phil

PrayForSurfblog.blogspot.com

I clearly remember a commercial jingle for a fragrance called "Charlie". I became a big fan of Bobby Short listening to that one. Yes, I remember all of the words. I can still see Shelly Hack strolling into that restaurant with Bobby Short on piano. "kinda young, kinda wow, Charlie!" Classic!
Dave Frey
The Villages, FL
Here you go ... Frannie and I remembered this one right away! (kk)
Click here: YouTube - Revlon "Charlie" Commercial with Bobby Short - 1970s

Wow, how cool it was to hear that Heaven Sent jingle again! That was one of my "guilty pleasures" back then. I thought it was a neat song and I actually figured it out on my guitar but I couldn't admit to any of my friends that I liked it, of course! ;^)
Dean Milano
Hi Kent!
Now, during the 12 Days of Christmas, I want to wish you the very best of everything in the New Year! -- And to thank you for the wonderful FORGOTTEN HITS site! It's so informative and SUCH FUN -- and yes, there was a long ago day when I once wore "Windsong" perfume (may still have it in some old drawer somewhere).
Remembering the past just makes the present so much richer. That's what FORGOTTEN HITS does for so many of us. Thank you for all you do!
Connie Szerszen,
"Top Rock Girly Jock"

Happy Holidays, Kent!
On this date ... on 22 December, 1966 ... the # 2 song on WLS / WCFL charts was "Kind Of A Drag" by The Buckinghams.
There were so many radio and TV jingles that we sometimes got the jingles mixed up with the top 40.
I and a friend of mine by the name of Jody were crusin' through Beverly, Illinois one night and a popular song of its time by The Buckinghams came on the radio. The Buckinghams, as all Kent's readers know, were huge in Chicago in 1966. It took me many years and many miles out of Chicago to find out that the rest of the country (and Jody) were not aware of the Buckinghams until about November / December of 1966. I was really surprised years later to find out that their earlier efforts, such as "I'll Go Crazy", "I Call Your Name" and "I've Been Wrong", weren't national hits. How ironic that their biggest hit never reached the top of the charts in Chicago but did nationally on Billboard. The competition between the two Chicago radio stations for #1 rating was hot. It was a common practice for all us teens to switch channels between songs so we could hear both stations DJs,songs and jingles.
The by now famous horn section intro came over the radio and then Jody burst into song.
"Canada Dry, when your baby don't love you".
"Canada Dry, when you know she's been untrue".
We had a good laugh after I put Jody straight about the real lyrics to the song. Just maybe Coca-Cola missed their chance for a nice radio jingle spot.
"The Greatest Jingles Of All Time" might make a great Top 50 poll but I'm still partial to the person you suggested a "It Should Of Been Bigger". Top 35 poll. I think there are many interesting stories behind why some great songs failed to reach their peak.
Here's Jody for Coca-Cola.
"Canada Dry is not the drink for me and you".
"Canada Dry will at best be just # 2".
Was there a jingle or commercial used for the song 'Happiness Is" by The Association???
Merry Christmas To All!
Thanks,
Jerry (jfk)
LOL ... it took me a couple of read-throughs before I realized that you were only kidding!!! (I thought maybe The Buckinghams really HAD cut a commercial for Canada Dry to the tune of "Kind Of A Drag" and somehow I just missed it!!! lol) Although I had never heard of such a commercial, I did some searching around just in case ... and, when I couldn't find anything, asked the guys if there was any truth to the rumor! Here's what I got back:
Kent -
Happy Holidays to you and your family.
Forgotten Hits has become a giant source of unbelievable music info. Congratulations, my friend.
We never did a commercial for Canada Dry. I do enjoy Ginger Ale.

I know some folks thought I was singing Canada Dry when, in reality, it was 'Kind of a Drag' ... You know how rock 'n roll singers like to mumble sometimes :)
(Just ask Jim Sohns) ;)
We did a commercial for Mr. Norm's Dodge to get a free van and that's on the end of some album as it runs off towards the label, but I don't know which one.
Looking forward to 2000-DEN!
Hope to see you in Naperville on January 29th with The Cryan' Shames and Ronnie Rice.
Stay warm and be well.
God Bless -
Dennis Tufano

Well, evidently Jerry's friend Jody was one of 'em!!! lol ... Thanks, Dennis ... have a GREAT 2010! (kk)