Friday, August 27, 2010

A Friday Short Stack

Not sure if we'll get a Sunday Comments Page ready in time this week ... so here's a Friday Short Stack to tide you over for a few days!

re: YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY:
Kent ...
Happy Birthday. Hope you have many more.
Thanks for all the musical memories.
Whatever your plans are, have a great day.
Frank B.

YouTube - Happy Birthday says Elvis
Thanks, Frank ... big plans tonight include seeing Paul Revere and the Raiders at the Arcada Theater out in St. Charles ... other than that, a pretty low-key day (but at least a day off from work!!!) kk

KK, I noticed on your website today that you mentioned you have a birthday coming up in a couple of day. Happy Birthday and may you have many, many more as well as continued success with your website. Maybe on that day you could get out every song you can think of that pertains to birthdays and play them for yourself.
I don't know how the record did nationally without checking, but in 1969 on Intrepid Records, I believe, there was a group called the Underground Sunshine with the version of the Beatles' tune Birthday. Got a lot of airplay here in the OKC area.
Larry
It did incredibly well here in Chicago, too ... #2 in fact! We saluted The Underground Sunshine version a couple of years ago in Forgotten Hits ... in fact, you NEVER hear this one on the radio anymore. (FH Reader / Y103.9 DeeJay Jim Shea even played The Underground Sunshine version of "Birthday" on the anniversary of The Beatles' White Album that year ... probably the first time it's been played on commercial radio in DECADES!!!)
Actually, it's a pretty weak rendition ... back in 1968 / 1969, nearly EVERY high school and garage band added "Birthday" and "Back In The U.S.S.R." to their repertoire after The White Album came out ... and I'd venture to say that most (if not ALL) performed it better than these guys did ... but THEY are the ones who were smart enough to release it as a single ... and it reached #19 nationally (and #2 locally here in Chi-Town!) kk
You can read our complete take here:
Click here: Forgotten Hits: Underground Sunshine
Read our review of The Beatles' White Album (40 years on) here: Click here: Forgotten Hits - Forgotten Hits Salutes The 40th Anniversary Of The Beatles' White Album

and listen to the song one more time here:



And, speaking of The Beatles ...
re: BEATLES-RELATED NEWS:
A special edition of Rolling Stone Magazine just hit the streets announcing their writers' picks as The 100 Greatest Beatles Songs of All-Time ... we'll try to cover THAT topic in greater detail in the next day or two, too! (kk)

Kent ...
How did we get from his music to his toilet ?
Frank B.

Paul Fraser Collectibles 'Love me loo...' John Lennon's toilet goes up for auction in Liverpool
To quote the article, "Another Week, Another Beatles Auction" ... what WON'T they sell? (Pardon my pun, but this is REALLY kinda crappy!!!) kk

re: A FEW MORE UP-COMING EVENTS:
On June 5th, 2010, a series of tornadoes hit several towns in a rural area 100 miles southwest of Chicago. Touchdowns in Peoria, Streator, Dwight, Elmwood and Kankakee left behind flattened homes, downed power lines and, in one instance, a derailed train. The communities affected by the devastation were left with the task of rebuilding their homes, their lives and their well being.
Kevin Chalfant, a long time resident of Streator is answering the call for aid. The storms of that night affected a number of good family friends and his beloved community. His plan? To hold an all star concert to support rebuilding efforts and counseling needed to cope with losses.
Currently, Kevin Chalfant is a member of Voices of Rock Radio, a group of national recording artists who tour together. He is a former lead singer for Journey and The Storm and was instrumental in the Alan Parsons Live Project and Shooting Star. He has earned a BMI award and Chicago Music Award and the devotion of fans around the world. The forthcoming benefit concert is Kevin's call to action for all to support the cause!
Several companies have pulled together to form a force in bringing relief to these communities. Horseshoe Casino and Talent Concepts Inc., along with Clique Productions and Dream Machines Car Club, are set to hold an all star benefit concert at The Venue (777 Casino Center Drive in Hammond, Indiana) on Saturday, September 4th to support rebuilding efforts and counseling needed to cope with losses. The Voices of Rock Radio will be donating their time performing at The Venue, a 2500 seat theater. Jimi Jamison (famous for several hits including "Eye Of The Tiger," “ Can’t Hold Back,“ and "High On You"), Derek St. Holmes (vocalist and guitarist for the Ted Nugent Band known for such hits as "Cat Scratch Fever," "Stranglehold" and "Hey Baby"), Wally Palmar (lead singer for The Romantics who had a #1 hit with "What I Like About You" along with other hit singles such as "Talking In Your Sleep") and John Cafferty (who, along with The Beaver Brown Band, is best known for the #1 hits "On The Dark Side" and "C.I.T.Y." that were recorded for the popular 1983 movie, Eddie and the Cruisers) will be performing with Kevin Chalfant. Together they present an energetic concert filled with hit songs they made famous!
In addition to seeking corporate sponsors for the benefit, the website www.TornadoBenefit.com has been launched for individual donations. It contains photos of some of the devastation, information about the concert, and an area where you can make a donation. Kevin is optimistic that, with the support of local corporations and citizens, the proceeds from the concert can bring some relief to the community.
Tickets are available by calling The Venue at Horseshoe Hammond box office at 219-473-6060 or by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000. Tickets are also available online via the Ticketmaster website at www.ticketmaster.com. A limited number of VIP Suites will also be available for the show (630-373-3689). The Venue will open at 6:00 pm for Golden Circle ticket holders for the pre-show meet and greet. Other guests of the show can arrive beginning at 7:00 pm for the 8:00 pm show.
http://www.tornadobenefit.com/
--submitted by Michele Abrams

Saturday, Sept. 4
WXRT Garage Rock fest featuring
The Mauds and the New Colony Six
Reggie's Music Joint
2105 S. State St. Chicago
Music starts at 8 p.m. with Blue Road
The Mauds at 9 pm

and the New Colony Six at 10 pm
Bama Lamas at 11 pm


re: MICKY DOLENZ:
OK, here's the deal ... if he agrees to do the interview with you, I will be your personal assistant, and we will get us a couple of press passes, fly out to LA, and interview him. And I will die happy, and you will have your interview. I will sell blood and donate a kidney for airfare. Let's do this.
Kristy
Well, I don't know if we'll ever really get to do the interview ... but we DO have a pair of tickets to give away to see Micky in concert with Peter Noone when they come to Star Plaza in October ... have you registered to win YOURS yet??? (See below for more details) kk

re: PETER NOONE IN CONCERT:
>>>And this show just added ... Peter Noone and Micky Dolenz will be appearing together in concert at Merrillville, Indiana's Star Plaza on Saturday, October 23rd. Now THAT should be a GREAT show!!! And, thanks to Peter Noone, we're going to have a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky Forgotten Hits Reader! Wanna go to the show? Send me an email at
kk@forgottenhits.com ... and we'll enter your name for a chance to win a couple of tickets. (But please ... ONLY enter if you can actually GO to the show!!!) We'll announce the winner in an upcoming issue of Forgotten Hits! Good Luck! (kk)
Ohmygoodness, Herman at Star Plaza!

I so want to go, will go, must go!!!
Thank you for the opportunity to win a ticket!!!
Thank you Kent & Peter Noone!!!!!

Janis Johnson
Well, Janis, yours was the very first entry we received ... anybody else interested in winning a pair of tickets needs to drop me an email right away ... we'll be giving these away next month so stay tuned! (kk)


re: STRAIGHT NO CHASER:
>>>I'd like to recommend an incredible a cappella group I saw the other night - Straight No Chaser. Friends of mine all over the country have been seeing them and they will be at Harrah's in Atlantic City all summer. Ten guys who met at University of Indiana, someone put them on a youtube clip - and now they are a phenomenon! They did a show of music through the decades, but my favorite was the 50's, when they went through all the best doowop songs ever! (Eileen)
We've seen a few of their YouTube clips and they're fantastic. Last night we had the chance to catch an entire concert on PBS. (Check your local listings ... if you find this one playing in your area, it's DEFINITELY worth checking out!!!) Outstanding vocals and showmanship ... and I just heard that they're coming to Chicago on December 11th. (My personal favorite last night was their rendition of "Time Of The Season", the Zombies' hit ... but EVERYTHING was good. There's a clip on YouTube of this ... but it doesn't do it justice ... the PBS live version is nothing short of exceptional!) kk

re: ON THE RADIO:
Hi Kent ...

8/26/10: All day long WCBS-FM, here in New York, playing what they call "BBQ Specials". Here's how it works: Once an hour they play two songs by the same artist ... one big hit followed by one lesser known song. In other words, one rare and one well done. Clever, don't you think?
Frank B.
Kinda sounds like our "One You Know, One You Didn't Even Know You Forgot" idea from a couple of years ago ... we ran a whole weekend of these on The True Oldies Channel. (And I keep saying it's time to do another one!!! C'mon, Scott ... let's put together another list of gruesome twosomes!!!) kk