Thursday, November 14, 2013

Thursday This And That

e:  THIS AND THAT: 
It used to be that a song reaching 25 years of age would be considered an "oldie" ... actually, this still may be the case with so many radio stations now focusing on the music of the '80's, the '90's and beyond ... so it was interesting to see Yahoo take a look back at the Biggest #1 Hits from 1988 ... 25 Years Ago.  (Also interesting to note that in order to be considered for a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nomination, the selected artist had to record their first music at least 25 years ago.)  Makes for some interesting pickin''s ... (although I don't ever see Tiffany, Debbie Gibson or Rick Astley ever coming up for serious consideration!)  kk

And, speaking of 25 Year Anniversaries, we got this note from Joe Klein last week ...
Kent,
Hard to believe it was 25 YEARS AGO this week that the very cool "Rockumentary" U2 RATTLE AND HUM opened in theaters in the U.S. My production company, L.A. TRAX, was producing radio commercials for several major record labels and few movie studios back then. Paramount Pictures hired us to produce a series of radio commercials for the movie, which was a pretty "well-paying gig" to be sure (although I recall feeling that it was "almost enough" at the time).
Here's a couple of the spots for the movie which were airing on radio stations all over the country 25 years ago which were CLIO Award
finalists.in 1989 ... http://soundcloud.com/prowlerdog/u2-rattle-and-hum-radio-spots
-- Joe Klein

Meanwhile, Wanda Jackson's name has come up a number of times over the years in Forgotten Hits ... so I'm sure these readers will be happy to hear this bit of news: 
 
RollingStone.com To Premiere A New Wanda Jackson Recording From The Forthcoming Jack White Tribute Album
Los Angeles, CA - The Queen of Rockabilly, music legend Wanda Jackson, has recorded a brand new cover version of The White Stripes’ “In The Cold, Cold Night,” which will be premiered as a full audio stream on RollingStone.com November 12th. The slow burner penned by Jack White for The Stripes’ breakout album Elephant is the first single from the brand new tribute album Rockin’ Legends Pay Tribute To Jack White to be released on both CD and vinyl as well as digital November 19th by Cleopatra Records. The album is a one of a kind tribute that features several of White’s musical predecessors, giants of rockabilly, early rock and classic punk on whose shoulders White has stood, including Big Jay McNeely, Sonny Burgess, Gary U.S. Bonds, Bobby Vee, Walter Lure of Johnny Thunders’ The Heartbreakers, Knox of UK punk legends The Vibrators and many more!
Listen to the stream here: 
Not all of these names may be familiar to fans of Jack White, but most will know of his deep admiration for the pioneering performer Wanda Jackson who broke new ground in the 1950s as the first popular female rockabilly artist. In 2009, White produced Wanda’s critically acclaimed solo album The Party Ain’t Over, which landed Jackson on the Billboard Top 200 album charts for the very first time in her long career. On Rockin’ Legends, Wanda shows the admiration is mutual with her slightly countrified, ultra sultry take on “In The Cold, Cold Night,” which also features instrumentation and production by Shooter Jennings, son of famed country outlaw Waylon Jennings.
And hers is not the only inventive spin on White’s modern alternative classics. Big Jay McNeely brings a swingin’ vocal to “I’m Shakin’” as he trades sax solos with Hawkwind wild man Nik Turner. Speaking of wild men, the lucha libre masked guitar slingin’ trio Los Straightjackets throw down a raucous instrumental version of “Icky Thump” while the aforementioned punk rockers, Knox and Walter Lure, team up with drum hero W.S. “Fluke” Holland, the skinsman for both Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash, on “Seven Nation Army.” Exploring the outer reaches of Jack White’s diverse career, Sonny Burgess brings in his Legendary Pacers on a cover of The Raconteur’s “Steady As She Goes” and Tex-Mex singer Rosie Flores crashes the boys club with a stellar cover of the titular track from White’s recent solo album Blunderbuss.
From rockabilly to punk, neo surf to traditional country, no other tribute album has spanned so much musical diversity and history, a testament to the vast range of influences that inspired Jack White’s incredible career.
1. In The Cold, Cold Night - Wanda Jackson feat. Shooter Jennings
2. I’m Shakin’ - Big Jay McNeely & Nik Turner
3. Salute Your Solution - Gary U.S. Bonds
4. Steady As She Goes - Sonny Burgess & The Legendary Pacers
5. Trash Tongue Talker - Joe Clay & Cranston Clements
6. Another Way To Die - Robert Gordon & Chris Spedding
7. Seven Nation Army - Knox, Walter Lure & W.S. “Fluke” Holland
8. Fly Farm Blues - Johnny Powers
9. We’re Going To Be Friends - Bobby Vee
10. Blunderbuss - Rosie Flores
11. Fell In Love With A Girl - The Dirt Daubers
12. You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told) - Rejected Youth Nation feat. Cyril Neville
13. Top Yourself - The Denver Broncos UK
14. Icky Thump - Los Straightjackets
Purchase the CD at Amazon: http://georiot.co/2cyL
Download the album at iTunes: http://georiot.co/3OUH
Kent,  
I don't know if you saw last week's "Pawn Stars" on the History Channel, but it featured my and Forgotten Hits' friend, the legendary session guitarist Vic Flick.
He successfully sold his 1961 Olympic White Fender Stratocaster for $55,000.00!!!  (see attached photo).  Both guitars are featured on his book's jacket.  
A while ago, I helped broker the electric Vox 12-String he used on Peter & Gordon's "World Without Love".  (see picture of me playing it, attached).  
Of interest, Vic still has for sale his 1939 Clifford Essex (with D'Armond pick-up).  This is the guitar he used to play and record the iconic "James Bond Theme" in 1962.  (see photo of guitar on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum).  
Also attached is a partial discography of only some of the hits on which Vic played guitar.  This is part of the paperwork that he presented to Rick at the pawn shop featured on the television program. 
Perhaps you have readers who have an active interest in owning this bit of rock and roll history.  
Thanks, my friend, and keep up the great work!  (and finally, see attached of me and a friend of mine).Best Regards, 
Bob Rush  ("The Beat Magazine")
drrzr@comcast.net



 

 
Some great photos here ... thanks, Bob!  As for Vic's discography, it's too long to run here (45 pages!!!  And counting!!!)  But I'll be happy to email it to anybody who asks for a copy.  (It's a PDF format which we can't run on the site anyway ... suffice to say that Vic Flick has had a VERY extensive career making music in the British studios!!!)

And, speaking of all things British ...

Great Britain's ITV recently ran a poll of The Top 20 Favorite Elvis Songs ... not a bad list (with a few surprises.)  I don't think I could narrow mine down to just twenty ... and I tend to enjoy the ones that weren't the biggest hits ... things like "Such A Night" (probably my all-time favorite Elvis recording) and "Easy Question" or "It Hurts Me" or "Fame And Fortune" ... "Treat Me Nice" or "A Mess Of Blues" ... SO many great tracks that never get airplay anymore.  (Heck they don't even play his BIGGEST hits on the radio anymore!  In fact, for all intents and purposes, radio has reduced Elvis down to a One Hit Wonder with "Suspicious Minds".  If you DO hear anything else, it'll probably be "Burnin' Love" or the remix of "A Little Less Conversation" from a few years ago ... which isn't even Elvis anymore!  Culture-changing hits like "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", "All Shook Up" and "Heartbreak Hotel" have all but disappeared from the airwaves (although I WAS shocked to hear "Love Me Tender" included in a recent episode of Showtime's "Masters Of Sex" ... bet they paid dearly to license that track!!!)

Meanwhile, here's how The Brits voted their all-time favorites:  

#1 - Always on My Mind  (not even a hit here in The States ... a B-Side in fact!)
2 - Suspicious Minds
3 - Can't Help Falling in Love  (another one of my all-time favorites)
4 - In the Ghetto  (kinda cool to think that in England they're enjoying hearing about "a cold and gray Chicago morning!!!)
5 - A Little Less Conversation (that dreaded remake!)
6 - Jailhouse Rock
7 - Hound Dog
8 - Love Me Tender
9 - Return to Sender  (another fave ... and apparently one of Scott Shannon's, too ... I still hear him play this one quite a bit)  
10 - Are You Lonesome Tonight   11 - The Wonder of You 
12 - Blue Suede Shoes  (Wow!  A Carl Perkins tune that the Elvis fans love!)
13 - All Shook Love
14 - It's Now or Never
15 - An American Trilogy
16 - Heartbreak Hotel
17 - Viva Las Vegas
18 - Don't Be Cruel
19 - If I Can Dream  (a great track from his comeback television special ... the show-stopping closer)
20 - King Creole  (I wouldn't have expected to see THIS one on the list ... would you???)
A special soundtrack album of these Top 20 Favorites (along with a second disk of other well-loved Elvis tunes) was released in the U.K. this past week ... and went immediately into The Top Ten.  (Amazing to me how here in The States, radio stations won't even PLAY The King of Rock And Roll anymore ... yet over in Britain, he just scored his 50th TOP TEN ALBUM ... the first artist EVER in the history of the pop charts ... to do so.  (Man, what's wrong with THIS picture?!?!)  Are programmers here REALLY that out of touch?  I mean why on earth would anybody play any of Elvis' hundreds of chart hits when you can simply play the same Steve Miller song four times a day instead?!?!?  I just don't get it ... and I'm guessing I never will.  (kk)
And this is kinda cool ...  
ROY ORBISON’S “OH, PRETTY WOMAN” TO RECEIVE THE ICONIC RIFF AWARD FROM THE MUSICIANS HALL OF FAME 
On January 28, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (MHOF), located in Nashville, TN, will posthumously honor music legend Roy Orbison by granting him the Iconic Riff Award for his 1964 number one hit single “Oh, Pretty Woman.”  Orbison will have the distinction of being the first ever recipient of this bestowal.  MHOF honors musicians from all genres and eras of recorded music, and inductees are nominated by current members of the American Federation of Musicians and by other music industry professionals. 
Roy Orbison began making his mark on the music world in 1956 while recording for Sun Records, which boasted a roster of unparalleled talent that also included Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash.  However, it was during his years on Monument Records in the early-to-mid 1960s, when Orbison’s commercial success reached stratospheric levels, the apex of which was “Oh, Pretty Woman,” a song co-written by Orbison and Bill Dees.  It went on to sell 7 million copies, spend three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and also topped the British charts for three weeks.  It was unprecedented for any American to have this kind of chart-topping power simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic in the Beatles-dominated year of 1964. 
While Roy Orbison, who is already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, is acknowledged to have one of the most uniquely beautiful and haunting voices in popular music, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum is focusing on the unmistakable riff that kicks off “Oh, Pretty Woman.”  It remains a truly iconic and timeless refrain, evidenced by the innumerable cover versions of the song by artists as diverse as Al Green, a young John Mellencamp, Johnny Rivers, Bon Jovi, Green Day, and Van Halen, the latter of which achieved a sizeable hit with their own 1982 version, showcasing the splendiferous guitar theatrics of group leader Eddie Van Halen.  The song inspired the title of and is heard on the soundtrack from Pretty Woman, the blockbuster film starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. 
Although Roy Orbison passed away in 1988, his presence endures.  This is due, in large measure, to the ongoing effort to preserve his legacy by sons Alex, Roy Kelton, and Wesley Orbison, whose Roy’s Boys LLC manages their father’s name, likeness, image, and musical output, offering a series of audio and DVD reissues, as well as newly curated releases.  
November 26th (the Tuesday before “Black Friday”) will mark the release of The Monument Boxset, a vinyl-only package that includes three classic Monument-era Orbison studio albums (Lonely and Blue, Crying, In Dreams) as well as a fourth album, centered around the track “Oh, Pretty Woman” that had never previously existed. Entitled Oh! Pretty Woman, the LP consists of tracks reflective of the period and, as determined by the team at Roy’s Boys, to be the songs that would have comprised a fourth Monument studio album. 
“Oh, Pretty Woman,” a staple of Roy Orbison’s live performances, is also featured as an encore in the Black & White Night DVD, just released through Sony’s Legacy Recordings this week.  The concert, filmed in September of 1987, features an all-star line up that includes outspoken Roy admirers Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, JD Souther and Tom Waits, among others, joining Orbison on the show’s closer, “Oh, Pretty Woman.” 
The time-honored tune was, in fact, the last song Roy Orbison ever recorded. On December 4, 1988, just two days before his sudden passing, he performed at a Cleveland-area venue.  
That concert performance was taped and is set for release this December 3rd as The Last Concert – 25th Anniversary Edition through Legacy Recordings.  Orbison, typically, closed his shows with “Running Scared,” but the engineer ran out of tape that night almost 25 years ago, thus making his penultimate number, “Oh, Pretty Woman,” the final document of his melodious brilliance. 
-- submitted by Bob Merlis
A couple of weeks ago we told you about The Eagles extending their tour into 2014 (and also mentioned that earlier on Don Henley had said that they would probably continue to tour behind "The History Of The Eagles" well into 2015!)
Well now comes word of another leg being added ...
The Eagles are soaring off to Europe ... with dates in England and Ireland extending through June of next year ... here's the latest (with more dates likely to be added):
05/28 - Birmingham, England - LG Arena Birmingham
05/31 - Glasgow, Scotland - The Hydro
06/04 - Dublin, Ireland - The O2
06/16 - London, England - The O2
06/23 - Leeds, England - First Direct Arena
06/25 - Manchester, England - Phones 4u Arena
And Vintage Vinyl News reports a possible ABBA reunion next year, too ... in honor of the group's 40th Anniversary ...
Agnetha Faltskog, one fourth of the group ABBA, has told a German newspaper that a reunion of the group for the 40th anniversary of their commercial breakthrough is "something we're thinking about."
Faltskog has been one of the main sticking points to any reunion due to her private lifestyle along with an aversion to fly; however, the success of her 2013 album A had led her back to public eye.
On April 6, 1974, the band ABBA hit huge when they performed the winning song, Waterloo, on the broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest.  A year earlier, they had hit the top ten in Australia with Ring, Ring but Waterloo was a totally different creature, going to number 1 in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Britain, 2 in Australia and 6 in the U.S.
In an interview with Germany's
Welt am Sonntag, Faltskog said (translated) "There seem to be plans to do something to mark this anniversary in some way. But I can't say at this point what will come of them."
Agnetha also said she doesn't want to dwell on a possible reunion "That eats up too much energy. Don't just think about it, just do it.
"We're all getting older. I can't imagine going onto the stage on crutches.
"I dream often lately of the other three members of ABBA. They are good dreams. ... ABBA is a big part of all of us still."
Last week we told you about Stevie Wonder performing his entire Grammy-winning album "Songs In The Key Of Life" in concert and mentioned that this seems to have become quite the "fad" in live shows of late.  Brian Wilson helped to kick off this trend with his shows spotlighting both the "Pet Sounds" LP as well as the long-missing-in-action, lost Beach Boys album "Smile".  Other artists like Styx and several others have been keeping the music alive in much the same way.
Now comes word that John Fogerty will perform both CCR's "Bayou Country" album AND "Cosmo's Factory" as part of his three night gig at The Beacon Theatre in New York kicking off this evening.  ("Cosmo's Factory" has long been my favorite Creedence Clearwater Revival album ... although I've got to put "Green River" as a pretty close second, followed by "Willy And The Poorboys".  "Bayou Country"???  Not so much.)
Still it would be AMAZING to see John pay tribute to these great LPs, a corner-stone of my youth.  (I played CCR virtually non-stop for several years in the late '60's and early '70's.)
Read our History of CCR Report here:  Click here: Forgotten Hits - Creedence Clearwater Revival
re:  JIMI HENDRIX:
>>>I've heard really good things about the Jimi Hendrix special currently running on PBS but haven't had a chance to see it yet.  Will have to keep an eye out for that one.  (kk) "
Hello KK!
Watch it online!http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/jimi-hendrix/film-jimi-hendrix-hear-my-train-a-comin/2756/
A neatly sanitized version with a non conspiracy ending.
Boobie
And here's the chance of a lifetime ...
Big Jimi Hendrix fan, are you???
Well check this out ... 
JIMI HENDRIX GUITAR COMPETITION UNDERWAY ...
ENTER YOUR COVER OF A HENDRIX CLASSIC AND WIN A SPOT ON THE 2014 EXPERIENCE HENDRIX TOUR
Experience Hendrix LLC, in partnership with Talenthouse, has announced the Jimi Hendrix Guitar Competition, a celebration of the music and heritage of the greatest guitarist of all time.  Together with Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings and IK Multimedia, Talenthouse and Experience Hendrix have launched a competition that offers entrants a chance to win a performing slot on the annual Experience Hendrix tribute tour, set to roll in March 2014. 
Contestants are invited to submit a video that shows them performing a Jimi Hendrix track.  One winner will be selected by a team of judges, consisting of Janie Hendrix, Jimi’s sister and Experience Hendrix CEO; and legendary engineer / producer Eddie Kramer who worked with Jimi Hendrix at the very start of his recording career in London, and, later at Woodstock and subsequently worked on the authorized series of posthumous Hendrix album releases.  Judges also include Brad Tolinski, Guitar World Magazine Editor-in-Chief and author of Light & Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page; and Dave Stewart, the musician and producer known for his role in the Eurhythmics and work with Mick Jagger, Orianthi, Bryan Ferry, Ringo Starr, Stevie Nicks and No Doubt, among others. 
The winner, as selected by the panel of judges, will be invited to perform a song as part of the Experience Hendrix 2014 Tour.  Travel and accommodations will be provided for the winner and a guest. The Experience Hendrix Tour is an annual event featuring the greatest guitarists of our generation including Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, and many others. The 2014 tour line up will be announced shortly. 
Click here http://tlnt.io/qurKI  for further details.  
The overall winner as well as five popular winners (runners up) will receive an assortment of exclusive Jimi Hendrix merchandise provided by IK Multimedia, in addition to prizes from FenderGuitar CenterDunlopHal LeonardLevy’s Leathers, and Guitar World Magazine. 
The ‘Judges Choice’ (overall winner) will have the incredible opportunity to perform a song on the Experience Hendrix 2014 Tour, sharing the stage with several of today’s top guitarists in celebration of Jimi Hendrix.* In addition, the winner will receive an assortment of exclusive product and merchandise, including: 
IK Multimedia custom prize package including: iLoud portable speaker, iRig Pro, iRig BlueBoard, iKlip for iPad 
$2,500 
Fender Classic Series '70s Stratocaster®
Dunlop Pedals: JH F1 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face, JH OC1 Jimi Hendrix Octavio, JH 1D Jimi Hendrix Signature Wah
Guitar Center Gift Card
One year subscription to Guitar World Magazine
An assortment of Jimi Hendrix merchandise and music including Hal Leonard Jimi Hendrix Instruction Books
Levy’s Leathers collectible album cover guitar strap, featuring many of Jimi's album covers
*Travel and two nights’ accommodation to Experience Hendrix Tour date provided for the winner plus guest  The ‘Five Popular Winners’ (runners up) will each receive: 
IK Multimedia custom prize package including: iRig Pro, iRig BlueBoard, iKlip for iPad
Fender Squier Vintage Modified Stratocaster®
Dunlop Pedals JH 1D Jimi Hendrix Signature Wah
Guitar Center Gift Card
One year subscription to Guitar World Magazine
An assortment of Jimi Hendrix merchandise and music including Hal Leonard Jimi Hendrix Instruction Books
Levy’s Leathers collectible album cover guitar strap, featuring many of Jimi's album covers

re:  MIS-SUNG LYRICS: 
There've been books written on misheard lyrics ("'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy" being probably one of the most famous ... although it's now been reported ... by no less a source than Forgotten Hits I might add ... that Hendrix used to actually sing the song that way in concert from time to time before planting one on the cheek of Noel Redding live on stage!), but the topic that's come up here recently is mis-SUNG lyrics ... where the artists either screwed up the recording right out of the gate (and it was never fixed ... part of the charm of some of these early releases) or (in the case of a remake) possibly misheard or misunderstood the original lyric and then proceeded to sing it wrong on their version.  

Here are a couple more examples sent in by our readers ... 

HEY KENT! 
ANYONE MENTION THE MISTAKE IN THE BACKGROUND VOCALS ON "PLEASE PLEASE ME" YET??  I NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY THEY NEVER FIXED THAT! THERE ARE A FEW OTHER BEATLE VOCAL FLUBS DURING THOSE EARLY YEARS, BUT I'M NOT JUDGING ... I GUESS STUDIO TIME WAS BOTH TIGHT AND EXPENSIVE ... AS IS THE CASE WITH MANY OTHER ARTISTS I'VE SPOKEN WITH, OFTEN THEY WERE AFRAID TO LOSE THAT SPONTANEITY OF THE "MOMENT".
MICHAEL G BUSH
I think that had a lot to do with it actually (and why you'll hear coughs in the background on a Beach Boys recording for example.)  Plus you have to remember that this was back in the days of two-track and four-track recording ... not like today where you have unlimited resources available to layer your sounds.  Back then you either nailed it or you had one hell of an engineer splicing tape together to make it sound better! 
I still maintain that it's these little flaws that give this music their charm and appeal.  They weren't perfect ... and as you well know, this helped inspire a good number of us to pick up a musical instrument thinking that WE could create these sounds as well!  (kk)

Blue Swede's remake of "Hooked On A Feeling", instead of "I'll just stay a victim and hope I can endure" says something like "I'll just stay addicted if I can for sure" (? or something like that).
J Frank Wilson's remake of "Hey Little One" has wrong lyrics on nearly the entire bridge. It's possible that he re-wrote that way intentionally but, since they also use wrong chords, I'm guessing he just didn't know the real bridge.
Gary E. Myers / MusicGemhttp://www.music-gem.com/index.html
re:  JOEL WHITBURN VIDEO:
>>>Back in 2005, Heritage Auction in Dallas came to Menomonee Falls, WI, to film a tour of my music / record archive.  They have now put it up on YouTube, so if you'd care to do the tour you can click on the link below.  Many of the books shown have long since been updated and, of course, much has been added to the collection.  Anyhow, if you're interested, here's the link.  (Joel Whitburn)
>>>Record collectors will be blown away by this clip ... a tour of Joel Whitburn's Record Research Archives.  Although it's a bit out of date (this was filmed in 2005 for a Heritage Auctions television special), it's still one of the most amazing collections you'll ever see.  In fact, there may not be another one quite like it! Hear Joel tell you in his own words how this collection was built.  Incredible!  (kk)
Have you ever wanted to see Joel Whitburn's collection?  If so AND you have a half hour to watch solid rooms of magical music history, this is a documentary that is simply amazing! 
(Cool to know there are all the Cryan Shames and New Colony 6 45's are in "the vault" as well as "Mr. Moon" by the Coachmen and a Smoke Ring 45 or two"!!)
Clark Besch
Here are the comments that I posted to the Both Sides Now (BSN) site:
I watched this and really don't know what to say.  Truly amazing amount of stuff that would make many of us (including me) say that we are a poor man's Joel Whitburn.  Not a slam at the man by ANY means!  Just sayin' we all have tried in various ways to be collectors of the music, but likely none have succeeded as much as Joel has.  Personally, my brothers and I have collected 45s, LPs, Billboards and other trades as well as CDs and videos since we were little kids.  This would likely be the case for many of us on BSN.  I love Billboard and note that much of Joel's cataloging system revolves around the Billboard charts, but many of us here live outside of the Billboard ties as well.  Joel does too, but mainly focuses on that magazine's hits and lesser knowns. 
BSN'ers may have more specific goals like collecting decades and specific music genres or MP3s or stereo tracks or DJ copies, or foreign releases, or bootleg LPs or music books or concert posters or music videos or, with me, many of all of these, but nothing totally inclusive like Joel's.  I am into airchecks and top 40 charts more than many.  When I saw him pull out the Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", I had to think that I would want to keep my autographed copy signed by Larry Lujack from his days in Idaho radio at the time over a mint copy any day ... but that's MY thing.  Many of us are into one era, while Joel tries to cover all bases of decades and genres of music. 
He uses the term "hard to find" a million times.  Many are indeed IMPOSSIBLE to find now.  Many, many more are easy to find, but in mint condition, not so easy at all to find.  I question calling his 45s mint when most seem to have a sticker attached to the label.  Thanks to Joel's books, in about 1973 or so, I went thru and stickered most of my 45s with a white dot writing the peak and dates on them, making them far from mint suddenly.  Oh well, haven't sold any of them anyway.  I'm sure Mighty John the Record Guy would say every record in my collection is worth at least $10.  He finally has started mentioning condition once in awhile.  THANKS!  That's what makes Joel's records worth money in most cases (except, of course, the Journey ones I believe he pointed out). 
I was surprised he did not have his LPs in plastic sleeves.  Also, I wondered if these were all store copies.  I am guessing so, as he only mentioned DJ copies when it came to odd pressings in the 80's and the like. 
Being a 45s guy, I was happy to see him take most pride in his Hot 100 45s collection.  Strange that LPs get mentioned so often by people and are what are brought to record shows, yet 45s seem to be much more important to collectors in general -- such as buyers of the Billboard books, Singles vs. LPs.  I'm guessing the 45s books sell multiple times more than the LP chart books do. 
I would have liked to see his Billboard, Cash Box, Record World, Music Business, Music Reporter and other magazines that had national charts.  I love them all. 
I love picture sleeves and he really impresses with his "no ring wear" copies.  Pic sleeves in most cases are sold VERY cheap at record stores compared to the old days when I was buying same.  I'm happy now that two of my sleeves ended up in Joel's collection in about 2002 when he was putting his want lists in his flyers.  I have not replaced them, but to have them in that hallowed shrine is kinda cool! 
I wonder what era and music type Joel enjoys to LISTEN to??  Anyway, it is an amazing collection that likely no one will ever amass again or has previously.  A nice documentary to watch!  Thanks to the maker and Paul for posting this.
Would I swap my collection for his?  No.  Simply because I have what I am interested in, but many WOULD trade in a heartbeat.
Now Joel, it's on to EVERY DJ copy variance like I am also trying for from my faves.    
Clark
re:  RADIO: 
HELLO!  IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR ANOTHER OLDIES STATION HERE THAT ACTUALLY PLAYS THE "OLDIES"????  I KNOW THE TWO OF US ARE NOT ALONE ... MICHAEL G BUSH
Honestly, it's not looking good ... and even the so-called "Classic Hits" stations are playing less and less "hits" and more and more album rock tracks that they wouldn't have dreamed of touching a year or two ago.  Chicago is in dire need of a station that programs "The Top 40 Years" of Rock And Roll ... 1956 - 1980 ... with a wide variety playlist encompassing ALL of the hits of this era.  I swear, if I ever win the lottery ...  Meanwhile, I just load up the car with half a dozen CD's each day ... I can't remember a time EVER when there was less variety on the dial.  The other day in the span of 40 minutes I turned of "In The Air Tonight" three times ... that used to be one of my all-time favorite songs ... now I can't get past the opening drum beat ... it's been done to death.  Today it was the same Pat Benatar song playing on the two "classic hits" stations at the exact same time.  First song I heard this morning when I got in the car to head off to work was "Fool In The Rain" by Led Zeppelin.  First song I heard this evening when I got in the car to drive home from work was "Fool In The Rain" by Led Zeppelin.  It's like there isn't even a station out there anymore that dares to be different ... or, more appropriately, even CARES to be different.  Man, what a shame ... and what a waste of air space.  (kk)
On the plus side, The Drive (WDRV in Chicago) is kicking off another week of A-Z Programming ... ALWAYS a fun thing to listen to (which also gives you a full solid week of no repeats).  It kicks off this morning at 10 am Chicago time ... and you can listen live here: Click here: 97.1fm The Drive