Saturday, April 11, 2015

The Sunday Comments ( 04 - 12 - 15 )

re:  The IRS Countdown:  
Posting this rather late ... but you can still catch the countdown results all day Sunday ...  
Check out this link and see where YOUR favorites landed on the list!  
Hi Kent,  
Thought you might want to let FH readers know when to catch what on this I.R.S. weekend. http://www.musicradio77.com/IRS.html  
Thanks!  
- Rich   

re:  The New Colony Six:  
Next weekend (April 19th) is the big benefit fund-raiser at The Arcada Theatre featuring The New Colony Six, Denny Diamond and The Cadillac Casanovas.  There are still seats available so we hope you'll join us for an evening of great music for a great cause. (Scroll back to read our interview with the organizer of this even, Robert Colletti on March 31st.)    

Hey, all roads lead to Ron Onesti's Arcada Theater. Next Sunday, my pal Ray Graffia and the New Colony Six headline with the Cadillac Casanovas and Denny Diamond, "The Neil Diamond Man."Ronnie and I will co-emcee ... can't wait to see you and a flock of FH readers.See ya next Sunday, champ.
Chet Coppock: Host, Notre Dame Football on WLS
Looking forward to it ... I'm told I even get to introduce The Cadillac Casanovas, one of my favorite local groups, so that should be really cool.
Here's a shot of you, me and Ray Graffia, Jr., warming up the mics right before The New Colony Six / Paul Revere and the Raiders show last year.  (kk)

Got this email from FH Reader David Lewis, who saw one-time NC6-er Bob Wilson in Nashville the other night ...

I saw Bob Wilson the other night at a show here in Nashville and he pulled me aside to tell me about what fun he'd had the previous weekend. He attended the Skip Griparis show on March 27th at the Joliet Area Historical Museum where Skip asked him to do a couple of numbers from Trilogy. The big surprise was when Skip had audience member Ronnie Rice come to the stage and do some of his regular stuff, which of course includes NC6 songs as well as Ronnie's impressions of so many big acts. Bob said the venue was great and everyone had a blast, going out together afterward reminiscing about the Chicago music scene on the 60s and 70s.
David
Would have been fun to see that.  All three (Bob, Skip and Ronnie) were latter-day members of The New Colony Six ... I think by that point the only original member left may have been guitarist Jerry Van Kollenberg, the ONLY member to have stayed with the band from the first through the last day.
The current line-up features original member Ray Graffia, Jr. ... but they still manage to feature songs from all eras of the band's history. 

In fact, Ray was recently interviewed on Phil Nee's radio program about the benefit concert (short clip below about the good old days) ... and has another interview coming up here on a local LaGrange High School radio station!
Thanks for running the update about the upcoming fund-raiser and for the continuing support for this event (and our career).  I enjoyed your interview with Robert Colletti.
In fact, I did a fun interview with Phil Nee at WRCO on 3-25 and he told me he’d be sending both of us copies of what he ran on the show, anticipating running it last weekend; doing another one on the Saturday night before the event with a high schooler in LaGrange (see below) who was put in touch with me by Jeannie Mikota.  In case that name does not ring a bell, she runs the New Colony Six Facebook page. 
Ray  

Here's the info on the WLTL radio program:
Brandon Herman 
88.1 FM, WLTL, Saturdays 7 PM to 9 PM 

And here's a short clip from Phil Nee's interview with Ray Graffia, Jr. ... talking not about the upcoming show at The Arcada ... but a classic 1968 show The New Colony Six did at Milwaukee's County Stadium.  Check out this line-up:  The Classics IV, The Bob Seger System, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The Cryan' Shames, Tommy James and the Shondells, The New Colony Six, Andy Kim, The Buckinghams, The Royal Guardsmen and The Guess Who as well as The Monkees and assorted other incidental acts.  (Did it get any better than this back in the day???  I don't think so!)


re:  Me-TV-FM: 
>>>It feels as though they're playing "Strawberry Letter 23" AGAIN for about the 97th time this week.  (kk)
Even with a play list as extensive and exhilarating as the one being employed at Me-TV-FM, it's still not enough to just string bunch of songs together that you haven't heard for awhile ... you've STILL got to give some serious consideration as to what these songs SOUND like on the radio ... you have to LISTEN to your station and hear for yourself what is and isn't working ... because it's REALLY obvious once you tune in and listen.  These days a radio station can't afford to give up a quarter hour by risking playing something that might make a listener tune out in search of something better ... because they might not come back for awhile.  Quarter-hour shares make or break terrestrial radio stations today.  But I absolutely believe a radio station with a deeper well to draw from can succeed and make a difference, winning over a whole new audience that has become frustrated with the same old / same old, day in and day out, at every other stop on the dial.  (See the email below from yet another frustrated listener ... and recent Me-TV-FM convert.)  kk 

>>>Radio stations would "go out on a limb and try something different" if the audience supported such actions.   They evidently don't. Most classic rock-based stations like the Drive don't play new music, except on very rare occasions.  We do heavy research at least twice a year regarding first and foremost music, programming, jocks, contests etc. ... and the research always comes back basically the same ... listeners don't want to hear new music, period ... even by classic artists.  They only care about the same, basically, 400 songs they have ever cared about. Really in a nut-shell, it's not radio that has stagnated, it's the audience. There is simply not enough passionate music lovers like you and I to support a station that plays thousands of songs. In this day and age of the Personal People Meter that gathers ratings, if a metered individual is listening to the Drive and we're playing some deep Guess Who track, maybe "Sour Suite," and he punches out to the Loop and they're playing "Stairway to Heaven," who wins?  And if he decides to stay with the Loop for any amount of time, we've just lost a very important quarter hour listener.   It's a bottom line business, Kent, with owners constantly on our backs about ratings and revenue. They make it exceedingly difficult on us to perform. They want their money.   Believe it or not, that's who's mostly out there ... and it's just too easy to lose with the competition that's out there. A company wouldn't think twice about changing the format if we're not bringing in the revenue they expect. That's the lay of the land with radio today.    (Bob Stroud)
Kent -
Tell ya what -- Bob really hit it on the head ... it's not radio that has stagnated, it's the audience.  WOW!  Great spin on the problem ... don’t know why I never put two and two together – it goes right back to the close-minded people.
Take care
Jeff James  

Kent,
I"m curious - why are KHits and WLS using the same play lists, right down to the commercials? Several times in the past couple of weeks, if MeTV-FM is playing a song I don't particularly like, I will switch to the other stations only to find the same song playing - one may be further along than the other, but still the same song, followed by the same commercial.  This will happen more than once in about a two hour span.  What are they trying to do?
Thanks,
Donna
I'm not sure what they're TRYING to do ... but what they're SUCCEEDING in doing is driving more and more listeners away with the insane redundancy.  Even worse is the fact that they don't CARE!!!  They already realize they're sharing the same listener base ... so if people are tuning in to hear one particular "brand" of music, why risk being inventive and play something else?  Clearly THIS is what the listeners want ... at least that's what all the know-it-all consultants keep telling us.  All the MORE reason why Me-TV-FM is in the PERFECT position to make a difference in that mind-set.  They need to stay away from the repetition ... keep up the variety and liven things up with a little between song entertainment ... NO other station in town is better poised to do so right now ... which is why we keep preaching the way we have been.  FIX THIS ... and you'll soon have a radio dynasty of your very own!  (kk) 

Hi Kent,
I've been reading about the travails with Me-TV-FM's shrinking/repeating playlist, and thought I'd point you at KOZT in Mendocino. I first heard them when I was driving up the coast, and now they're on my list of online radio listening. I grabbed a sample of what they were playing in the past hour:
16:09:48  • Rain On The Scarecrow - Live  • John Mellencamp
16:05:17  • Let Me Roll It - Live  • Mccartney
15:58:22  • Keep On Growing  • Derek & The Dominoes
15:55:12  • I Don't Want To Know  • Fleetwood Mac
15:50:48  • Standin'tall  • Subdudes
15:43:04  • Rain Down On Me  •  Santana W/D.Matthews/C.Beauf
15:40:01  • Raised On Robbery  • Joni Mitchell
15:35:47  • Ol' 55  • Eagles
15:29:12  • Back On Top  • Van Morrison
15:26:05  • It's My Life  • Animals
15:21:00  • Make You Better  • The Decemberists

I have heard a lot of "wow, I haven't heard that in years" on KOZT, and a bit of "never heard that before, but that's pretty good" as well. 
If you're not rolling up the Pacific Coast Highway on a fine Spring day, they're online at: http://www.kozt.com/kozt-live/#
No association with the station, other than someone who was really happy to hear someone playing something other than the same satellite feed as the other stations.
Cheers!
Laurie
There's a lot of variety out there ... you just don't typically find it in your car anymore ... so it's a real treat when you discover something like this.
I find one of the most entertaining things The Drive does here in Chicago is their 10-day-long A-Z feature ... not a single repeat in ten days ... and they change it up just enough each time to where you never really know for sure what song may be coming up next.  (And, quite honestly, half the fun for me is trying to guess what it might be in advance!)  Yet incredibly Bob Stroud tells us that this is a turn-off for many of their listeners because it breaks with the format of playing the exact same songs every day instead.  Too bad.
I still maintain that there are enough intelligent listeners out there who can digest more than the same steady diet of 200-300 songs ... and be totally enchanted with some creative variety now and again.  (kk) 

For YEARS now we have been preaching the oldies gospel ... expose the new generation to our music and they will fall in love with it just as we did. 
Here's a quick story from frequent FH contributor Shelley Sweet-Tufano regarding an incident from a few weeks ago where she brought John Denver to third grade.  
(Huh???)  
I'll let her explain ... 

This has been the biography section of our reading curriculum.  One teacher I work with was reading the book Manfish, the story of Jacques Cousteau, to her third grade class.  Of course my mind instantly connected to music and I ran out to my car to grab a John Denver cd.  I quickly jumped on a computer, printed out the words to 'Calypso', made 22 copies and ran back to the class.  I showed my teacher friend and she said, Go for it!  So I passed out copies of the lyrics to each student, and explained who John Denver was and that he had written a theme song for Cousteau that had been used in his movies and TV shows.  When I started playing the song, every head was bowed reading along with the words.  By the second chorus, they were singing along!  When it finished ... they applauded.  A room full of eight year olds applauded John Denver. 
I rest my case ... again ... until tomorrow.
Shelley



I've been talking with Melissa Kennedy of Me-TV-FM and she tells me that the station hopes to be streaming soon.  That means Forgotten Hits Readers all over the country can soon be enjoying the great mix of music that we're now getting here in Chicago.
Stay tuned to Forgotten Hits for more details.  (kk)

re:  In Other Radio News:
Got this from Frank B, President and Founding Member of the WCBS-FM fan club ...   
Kent ...
According to the NY Daily News, Pat St. John of WCBS-FM is about to do final NYC radio show Sunday
After 42 years on New York radio, Pat St. John retiring (from New York radio only).  He's moving to San Diego, to be near his family.
Frank B.
Meanwhile, our FH Buddy Scott Shannon is still celebrating his one year anniversary with the station!
Kent ...
Scott's breakfast anniversary party. Happy Anniversary, Scott!
Frank B.

re:  The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame:
Did you happen to see this article in Billboard?  An inside look behind the scenes of Jann Wenner's Top Secret Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Induction Process. 
Interesting ... nothing that we didn't suspect but some hope because of newer, younger members on the committee.
Danny Guilfoyle  

re:  This And That:
Kent,
Thanks for all you do.I'm surprised that you don't use a Tivo to record all these musical performances on the various talk shows.  I have my Tivo programmed to record the last ten to fifteen minutes of all the late night shows and then I watch them when I get a chance. If I like them, I keep them, since they don't take up much hard drive space.  That Brian Wilson performance is probably on youTube as well.
As for the basketball game, you could have recorded that, too, and watched it when you got home, skipping the commercials and other stoppages. It's 2015, you don't have to miss concerts for sporting events!  It's no longer the sixties in that regard! 
Bill Mulvy
Yeah, I'm still pretty old school when it comes to that kind of stuff ... although we do seem to watch an awful lot of television programs "on demand".
Your last comment made me laugh ... one of the promos for the new hit comedy "Black-ish" shows the kids talking about the old days when you had to be there to watch a television program live ... "or it was gone forever!!!"  Thankfully, much of THAT has been preserved as well!  (kk) 

I hope Brian Wilson's new cd is a big hit.  I know the one he put out 16 years ago with the Wondermints was excellent.  However it probably wont get any airplay.  I heard the Imagination cd one time when I went to the CVS.  That's about it.  It doesn't matter how good it sounds.  I am glad that Brian made it to the Jimmy Kimmel show.  So cool and Brian rocks!  Thanks, too, for the reminder about the Love and Mercy movie ... and for the interview info with Brian Wilson  Kudos!
Blossmwrld
Brian has a very loyal, dedicated audience that will buy virtually ANYTHING (and everything) he releases ... we're certainly in that group ... so sales the first week should be good ... and then will most likely taper off from there.  Sadly, you're probably right about the airplay issue ... it's hard to find ANYBODY who'll give airplay to these "vintage" artists, no matter how good their material remains.  As such, they have come to depend on the support of their loyal fans.  Too bad because more people might respond if they were only exposed to it ... so I like the idea that Brian is doing so much press for the new CD.  It certainly can't be comfortable for him ... but he recognizes the necessity.  Even a song as great as "That's Why God Made The Radio" received limited radio airplay ... yet generated a Top Three Album!  The "Love And Mercy" film will generate even more attention to this great music, both old and new ... this could end up being one of Brian Wilson's biggest summers ever!  (kk)

Hi Kent,
On Thursday, April 9th, I was flipping through the channels and found Brian Wilson and Friends performing on Channel 11's Soundstage. They did a mixture of the new music and old.
Al Jardine was in fine form also ... loved him doing his first solo "Help Me Rhonda".  Brian looked so happy!
Keep up the great work,
Carolyn
Wow!  Will have to watch for that!  Didn't even know they had filmed one!  (Just checked my local listings, as they say ... the program airs again tonight ... Saturday ... on PBS Channel 11 at 10 pm ... for those of you who catch this in time and live in the Chicagoland area.)  kk


Kent,
Again let me take the time to say Thank You. All I was expecting was a little e-mail telling me where to look for the great British Invasion Countdown and then when I got he chance to go to my computer there it is. WOW!!! This is what makes your web sites one of the best.
Thanks Again,
Randy Anderson

Today's plug for Pittsburgh's Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll was a much appreciated surprise.
Last Wednesday the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran a full page article about the book:
Ed Salamon
Glad to continue to help spread the word.  (Plus it tied in so nicely with that Pittsburgh Concert Review!!!  lol)  Thanks, Ed ... the book is available NOW through all the usual sources.  (kk)

VERY sad to hear about the passing of comedian / writer / humorist / satirist / ad man Stan Freberg.  Anybody of "our generation" grew up loving this guy ... he could always make you smile.  While "hit recording artist" may not have been the main resume credit most would come to know him for, Stan DID make fifteen trips to the national charts, peaking at #1 with his biggest hit, "St. George And The Dragonet" in 1953, followed up with his #2 hit in 1955, a novelty send-up of the Mitch Miller classic "The Yellow Rose Of Texas".  I also enjoyed his takes on Elvis ("Heartbreak Hotel", #19, 1956) and "Banana Boat (Day-O)", #11, 1957.  And who could forget his appearance on "The Monkees"?!?!? He will be missed.  (kk)

Satirist Stan Freberg passed away Tuesday morning (April 7) in a Santa Monica, California hospital at the age of 88. The Pasadena native got off a bus right out of high school and walked in to a Hollywood talent agency and a job at Warner Brothers. As a voice-over actor, he was heard in many WB and Disney cartoons, but was probably best-known for his work in "Time For Beany", the children's TV show featuring the title character and Cecil, the sea-sick serpent. In radio, Stan hosted the medium's last original comedy program when his self-titled summer replacement show for Jack Benny aired in 1957. By then, Stan was known for his biting satire (often at the expense of the advertising community) which kept him from getting the sponsorship to continue the show after the short run. Ironically, Stan became known for inventive and creative TV and radio commercials in the '60s -- including Jeno's Pizza Rolls (with the Lone Ranger), Contadina Tomato Paste ("Who put 8 great tomatoes in that little bitty can?") and Sunsweet Prunes ("Today the pits -- tomorrow the wrinkles"). Of course he will always be remembered for his recordings, including parodies of "Sh-Boom" (#14 - 1954), "The Banana Boat Song" (#25 - 1957) and "Heartbreak Hotel" (#79 - 1956). His original take-offs on radio's popular "Dragnet" series ("St. George And The Dragonet" -- #1 - 1953 -- and "Christmas Dragnet" -- #13 - 1953) led Jack Webb himself to lend him the 4-note opening to the real drama. Stan's irreverent Christmas comedy recording, "Green Chri$tma$" was a #44 hit in 1958 despite being banned by many radio stations for its "anti-commercialization of Christmas" subject matter. His classic album, "Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America" in 1961 led to an eventual sequel in 1996. He continued to appear in television roles, including shots on "The Monkees" and a recurring role in "Roseanne." He was elected to the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. His autobiography, "It Only Hurts When I Laugh," was published in 1988.
-- Ron Smith   

Here's more from Jeremy Roberts' excellent on-going interview piece on Mark Lindsay ...
Links to older articles are also included ...

Don McLean would have had to look far and wide to find a Better Time (or 'Better Timing') to sell off "The Day The Music Died".
With all of the coverage you provided, and all of the coverage worldwide, a Don McLean sale of "The Day The Music Died" just happens to take place within a month of the worldwide publicity generated from the renewed interest in a new investigation into the circumstances surrounding the plane crash that took the lives of Roger Peterson, Buddy Holley, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson? Wow!
Just to recap ...
On September 23, 1959, The Civil Aeronautics Board concluded that the primary cause of the crash was pilot error due to Peterson's inabillity to accurately interpret the plane's Sperry F3 attitude indicator, which he was forced to rely upon in the prevailing weather conditions.
The theory is that Peterson may have read the unusual gyroscope as though it was a conventional gyro and thought that the plane was gaining altitude when it was actually descending, resulting in him encountering spatial disorientation while airborne.   
Peterson was not certified to fly solely by reference to instruments.
A secondary factor was that  the pilot had not been informed of adverse flash weather forecasts.
Pilot Roger Peterson:  
Departed Mason City airport to the South (on an FAA certified VFR Night flight ... I call this an FAA certified VFR Night Flight because that is what Dwyer Air Service was certified to fly only by The FAA in 1953 through February 3, 1959) and not a snow storm ... so let's go forward here with all thoughts of weather being the certified VFR Night kind of weather. 
And ... let's go forward with the knowledge that the fFamous 'Sperry Attitude Gyro Indicator' was installed by the previous owner of N3794N.  So, The Sperry Attitude Gyro Indicator was always in N3794N as far as The Dwyer Flying Service and Pilot Roger Peterson is concerned.    
Lets take this 3.5 minute flight: from the Mason City runway out 4.9 miles:  
Depart Mason City airport to the South (on an FAA certified VFR Night flight) -climbing left turn at night, VFR (with The Sperry Attitude Gyro) bringing the aircraft around to a 315 degree heading, climbing to 800 foot AGL (with The Sperry Attitude Gyro)
Pilot Roger Peterson flew the 315 degree heading (he flies through the instrument tuned in / pre-planned MCW-360 degree radial with The Sperry Attitude Gyro)
Now this is the point in this 3.5 minute flight, where:
(Something is taking place inside or with The Aircraft ...
As Roger stops the climb at 800 foot AG, Pilot Roger Peterson continues on the 315 degree heading level at 800 feet AGL for two minutes (with The Sperry Attitude Gyro, right there in front of him, as it has been for the previous 710 hours: 45 minutes of total flying time for Pilot Roger Peterson ...
As it had been for the 90 days before the February 3, 1959 accident ... 208:50 hours of flying time, including the most recent 48:10 hours in the Bonanza-35 N3794N ... 14:40 night, 7:00 Instrument
That 'Sperry Attitude Gyro Indicator' was right there, on the Instrument panel, in front of Roger Peterson from the very day he started flying for Dwyer Flying Service Chartered Flights FAA certified VFR (both Day and Night).
Two minutes out into this flight, Roger Peterson started a controlled 750 foot per minute witnessed "slow descent" (with The Sperry Attitude Gyro right there, in front of him).  This witnessed 'slow descent' of 750 feet per minute will take 1 minute and 6 seconds to reach the farm field.
(The aircraft wasn't rolling over ... it wasn't falling out of the Hollywood 'Snow Storm' ... this was a VFR Night witnessed 'slow descent' because the aircraft wouldn't climb any further than 800 foot AGL, and Pilot Roger Peterson needed to set the plane down on a farm field.)
In addition:
a). Roger Peterson would fly his plane to work at an early age, and land in the Iowa farm fields.
b). It was reported that Pilot Roger Peterson turned the aircraft's landing lights back on in the witnessed 'slow descent'.
c). It was reported that the aircraft maneuvered several times to miss farm homes, as the pilot searched for a landing.
(And 'The Sperry Attitude Gyro Indicator was right there, in front of the pilot, on the instrument panel, just as it had been since day one, when N3794N was purchased from it's previous owner.)
The Civil Aeronautics Board released the following statement on September 23, 1959 regarding that point where N3794N reaches 'The Farm Field':
The fact that the aircraft struck the ground in a turn but with the nose lowered only slightly, indicates that  some control was being effected at the time. "
Remember ... This was supposed to have been an FAA certified VFR Night Flight.  FAA didn't prosecute or de-certify Dwyer Flying Service after February 3, 1959 ... the Insurance Company didn't cancel them ... in fact, The Insurance company settled a Lawsuit just days before the CAB's report on September 23, 1959. 
More and more interesting facts continue to come to light as we investigate further.
Thank you again, Kent, for sharing this developing story with your readers.
L J
L J Coon

The Rolling Stones ‘From The Vault: The Marquee – Live In 1971’ -To be Released June 23, 2015
  • Sought-after club performance released for the first time on DVD in four formats 
  • Rare gig from The Rolling Stones in 1971 filmed at The Marquee Club
  • A classic, must-own performance 
  • Part of the “From The Vault” series from The Rolling Stones archive
New York, NY (April 8, 2015)—A sought-after, rare club performance from The Rolling Stones in 1971 filmed at London’s iconic Marquee Club will finally see the light of day, after almost two decades of being stored away in an attic. The Rolling Stones From The Vault: The Marquee – Live in 1971 will be released on DVD in four formats and on iTunes via Eagle Rock on June 23, 2015. 
This remarkable performance was filmed for US television in 1971, shortly after The Rolling Stones had completed their 1971 Farewell Tour of the UK, and a month before the release of the album Sticky Fingers. The gig marked the first time tracks “Brown Sugar,” “Dead Flowers,” “Bitch,” and the rarely performed “I Got The Blues” were showcased live; four tracks taken from the Sticky Fingers album. The line-up at this time was Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Mick Taylor and Bill Wyman
The show was an intimate, rare club appearance and very little footage has been released, until now. Part of the “From The Vault” series of live concerts from the band’s archive, The Rolling Stones From The Vault: The Marquee – Live In 1971 is a must own DVD for any Stones fan, featuring carefully restored footage and sound mixed to perfection by Bob Clearmountain, including 5.1 surround sound on the DVD and SD Blu-ray formats. 
The release of The Rolling Stones From The Vault: The Marquee – Live In 1971 coincides with the special edition of album Sticky Fingers, and includes alternative takes of “I Got The Blues” and “Bitch,” plus a Top of the Pops performance of “Brown Sugar” from 1971. 
The Rolling Stones From The Vault: The Marquee – Live In 1971 is available in four formats:
DVD:  Main track listing & bonus features
SD Blu-ray:  Main track listing & bonus features
DVD + CD:  The DVD and a single CD
DVD + LP:  DVD and a single LP (main track listing only)
TRACK LISTING: 
Live With Me
Dead Flowers
I Got The Blues
Let It Rock
Midnight Rambler
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Bitch
Brown Sugar
BONUS TRACKS: 
I Got The Blues – Take 1
I Got The Blues – Take 2
Bitch – Take 1
Bitch – take 2
Brown Sugar (Top Of The Pops, 1971)  
The Rolling Stones From The Vault: The Marquee – Live In 1971 is released via Eagle Rock Entertainment on June 23, 2015
Meanwhile, The Stones will soon be embarking on their "Zip Code Tour".  (Closest they come to Chicago is Milwaukee ... but every radio station in town is already giving away tickets!!!)  In an interview last week, Mick Jagger said that he has no intentions of retiring.  (Can "The Stones at 80" tour be far behind???)  kk  

Paul Cashmere, the guy who went very public with the story about The Little River Band performing a 40th Anniversary appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, has a new report out about Blood, Sweat And Tears touring without any original members ... not even the guy who owns the right to their name, Bobby Colomby. 
Colomby defends the current line-up this way:
"When you're at a Yankee game, you do not expect to see Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  They're not going to be there.  But what you will see is a top-notch brand, the pinstripes and the best possible combination of players on the field to represent the Yankee legend.  So that when the Yankees play magnificently and when, no one's going to say "Where's the Bambino? Where's Mickey Mantle?"
Yeah, ok ... whatever you say, Bobby!
Blood, Sweat And Tears ARE keeping the "brand name" alive ... with American Idol Runner-Up Bo Bice now handling the lead vocals.  (We've run some YouTube clips before and they sound pretty good.  For a long while they were touring with Chuck Negron, formerly of Three Dog Night.)
They'll be appearing at The Arcada Theatre on October 30th. 
And, if you need even more of an Idol fix, Scotty McCreery is there this Sunday ... and Ruben Studdard will be performing his tribute to Luther Vandross on June 5th.  (kk)

Kent,
You have mentioned this set in Forgotten Hits and as I have owned it for a few weeks now, I am finally getting around to annotating my thoughts. 
The cd is a compilation of all the songs you would expect on a "Greatest" by Herman's Hermits.  For my work and home, I can never get enough copies of my favorite music so this works well for me.  You will, however, get a few hits that do not show up often.  There is 'Hold On' from the movie of same name, "This Door Swings Both Ways", "Don't Go Out Into the Rain", "Museum" (given to HH when Donovan did not agree he should do it), 'I Can Take Or Leave Your Loving' (one of my friend's faves) and 'My Sentimental Friend', all combined with Peter Noone's current set list to make a complete 20 track history for most fans.  Not for me, but I teach "music obscurra" so I am always looking for that off-beat track that others do not know much about.  The hit for me here is the dvd.  It is short.  For me, again, too short.  I never grow tired of watching, BUT the single idea that snapped me into the moment is that Peter Noone says these are some of his favorite under-viewed videos.  I have seen them all, but he is right.  Not everyone has, and they are difficult to find.  So now I have them.  They show fun, delight, annoyance, indifference, boredom, apathy, and truth.  Yes, truth.  Being Pop Tarts does not make one happy with themselves, their band, their fans, ALL the time.  No one ever is.  I get it.  Will you?
Shelley  

From FH Reader Tom Cuddy ...  
STYX: Dennis De Young Is a Vinyl Fan  
He explains why music sounds better on vinyl. 
Styx is the latest classic band jumping on the back-to-vinyl bandwagon. With the eight-LP deluxe set Styx: The A&M Albums 1975-1984 coming May 12th, original frontman Dennis DeYoung proudly calls himself a vinyl fan.
Dennis De Young says it's simple -- music sounds better on vinyl. 
"I understand why the world went to digital. It's just that analog is a better medium because it absolutely captures the full spectrum of music that human beings can hear." Dennis De Young says digital formats are a step in the wrong direction. 
"Music has gone backward from the '70s and '80s in terms of quality of sound. Everybody knows this.  NeilYoung -- did you know he's my brother? I just put the D-E on the front of my name to confuse people? Neil Young has that thing called Pono or Ponno or whatever the hell it is ... There are ways where people could get digital music and a higher sampling rate. But, you know, it didn't go that way. In fact, it went the opposite where things got compressed into mp3s to make them smaller and more mobile." 
Dennis De Young is proud that his days with Styx came during what he feels were the heyday of the music biz. "From '72 to '84, it was the greatest time in the history of mankind to be a musician. Never before and never after, where so many musicians have the opportunities that all us cats and chicks had from that time to have long and fruitful careers. That'll be the opening line from the autobiography I'm writing. I was lucky by birth. Music was central to young people's lives -- because they didn't have all the distractions of the modern world. They were looking for answers: they were looking for entertainment. They were looking for ... hey! ... what we're all looking for. Why are we here and where the hell are we going?"
Styx: The A&M Albums 1975-1984 includes the band's releases from Equinox through Caught in the Act.
The former front-man of Styx got an offer from the label that released his live DVD set.
Dennis DeYoung isn't just keeping his Styx classics alive. The singer-songwriter, who now fronts his own band, will soon be returning to the studio. The label that released Chicago's most recent album -- as well as Dennis' live DVD -- made him an offer he wouldn't refuse.  Dennis DeYoung will record another album.
"I was just offered this week a chance to make a brand new studio album for Frontiers Records. You know, they just released my last DVD, the double-live thing. That's exciting to think I'm 68 and people still even care."

Thought you might like this article from Mix magazine on the Dave Clark Five  
http://www.mixonline.com/news/classic-tracks/classic-track-glad-all-over-dave-clark-five/424148
Ken

Kent,
I'm surprised at you. When Billboard, Cashbox and Record World put out their charts, they were not drawing from the same sources. None of them were drawing their info from polling record sales from the retail outlet, to the consumer exclusively. Just in the Chicago area alone, how many places were selling 45's? Multiply that by NY, LA and thousands of mom and pop places from every hick town in America, and I've seen surveys from all of them, and there's no way that it can be done. Furthermore record companies have been known to lay freebies like concert tix, T-shirts, albums, etc., if stores would fudge the truth a bit. For example say the record is a top ten seller when in fact they haven't sold a copy. Each of the trade publications would draw upon some record store reports in different markets, but not necessarily the same ones. It's easier to use sales from the manufacturer, to the distributor, but that, too, is littered with some major book cooking. Years ago, I related the story about how A&M records snookered Styx after their success with their Grand Illusion album. Grand Illusion indeed. I won't go into it now. I'll email Kent with the story and he can run it on a slow day in FH, in case the story has been lost thru various computer crashes. You've talked to Clark Weber about the science of compiling surveys. You don't think it wasn't done on a national level, too? Using the same sources argument, why were songs placed different on WLS & WCFL charts? It's the same metro area. As far as mentioning the running time on the survey sheet, it's rare, but not unusual. WLS did it once. I believe it's on one of the gold surveys, or one from 1967. For sure it was a Silver Dollar Survey. I've seen it on other surveys as well.
As for Bob Stroud's comments on the current state of radio, Bob, I've listened to you since you featured the Cryan' Shames on WMET on one of your first Rock And Roll Roots shows. Anyone who has survived Chicago radio wars for almost 40 years should have a plaque at the Chicago Broadcast Museum. However I disagree with you.
You are right when you say that if you feature new product from a classic rock band, the reaction is ho hum at best. However, I'm not listening to a classic rock station to hear new Pink Floyd. (I don't want to hear old Pink Floyd either, but that's another story.)  If the consultants are telling station management that your listeners would rather hear Journey than some song that doesn't get played often, if at all, get your money back. Sure people like what's familiar, but remember, Journey's first three albums went nowhere. The point is, every classic rock artist that gets played far too often, was a nobody at one time. Someone took a chance on them and it paid off. Kent has harped on this incessantly and I agree. Are the station bosses that paranoid about losing listeners if you played Rare Earth instead of Journey, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, etc? If that's the case, hand over the office keys and let someone else be in charge. You probably have any number of acquaintances who you run into, asking you about any job opportunities you know about, at the Drive, or anywhere else. I keep reading news stories about some jock who has worn out their welcome at one station, surfacing somewhere else. I have my doubts about a 20 or 30-something jock being able to convey the magic that was 50's, 60's and early 70's rock, but you never know. In some cases I'd stretch it to the 90's, but by that time, I wonder if that era should be left to another music format. You and others didn't get to where you are by spouting the company line. I gotta think you had to do a sales job on WMET's management, to launch the first Rock And Roll Roots show. Has management ever thought why your A to Z feature is popular? Still someone had to do a sales job to get the station to suspend regular programming for it. I think you're selling your listeners short. 
Jack Levin
What I meant by Billboard, Cash Box and Record World using the same sources, I meant the same means of collecting information, not necessarily the exact same stores, radio stations, etc.  They all polled sales and airplay and (earlier on) even jukebox plays.  As I mentioned, Record World seemed to assign more weight to the Chicagoland Charts as our local heroes always seemed to do better in Record World than they did in the other trades.
And believe me, I know that there was ABSOLUTELY payola on this level, too ... I've heard numerous stories over the years that nobody seems to want to officially want to go on record with ... but we all know it was happening.
As for Stroud, you know better than most that the jocks have little or no say in what they play on the air ... that's all dictated by the station and their know-it-all consultants who have decided what they want that station to sound like.  And, as he said, it's a bottom-line business ... I don't think a radio station cares WHAT they play, as long as they make money.  It's all in the ads.  I DO agree that "classic rock" means vintage late '60's, '70's and early '80's rock by established artists.  Then again, I also believe that a once-a-week program like they used to have in the old days like "New Release Tuesdays" playing tracks from brand new releases by these same established artists ... surely a radio station could devote an hour or two to let these loyal listeners ... and obvious fans of this music and these artists ... a chance to sample what they're doing now.  Most ARE still recording and releasing new music ... and conventional radio isn't going to play it.  That, too, is a "bottom-line" philosophy.  But a program dedicated to "This Week's New Releases" would be a welcome relief from the same-old / same-old they're playing every hour of the day, week after week, month after month, year after year.  (How many more times in this lifetime do we really need to hear "Stairway To Heaven" anyway?  And who doesn't own a copy???  If you want to hear it THAT bad, put it on at home!)  kk

re:  Three Things I Learned This Week:
1:  Barry Manilow is gay.
Really?!?!  I would have NEVER guessed!!!
Next you'll be telling me that Liberace and Freddie Mercury were gay, too.
Rock Hudson?  Now THAT was a surprise ...
But these others?  Not so much.

2:  The grocery store is a good place to pick up women ...
(Actually I remember rumors in the late '60's that Rock Hudson and Jim Nabors had run off to Hawaii together and gotten married ... or, at the very least, were honeymooning!!!  Still this one came as a pretty big shock to most when it was announced that leading ladies man Hudson was dying of aids.)   
Now that's not really new, revolutionary or big news ... we've been hearing this for quite some time ...
But TODAY if you hang out in the toilet paper aisle and find somebody buying Cottonelle Toilet Paper, odds are they're "commando" shopping.
(Can ANYBODY really believe that this is the company's new advertising campaign???  And that they actually signed off on this?!?!?)
"Gets you SO clean that you can go commando". 
Who would have EVER thought?!?!?

3.  You really CAN'T teach an old dog new tricks.
With nice weather FINALLY hitting our area, I decided to fulfill a life-long dream of water-skiing, something I had never attempted before (mainly due to the fact that I can't swim.)
But THIS year we decided to give it the good ol' college try.
(I figured I'd start out slowly ... and cautiously) ... 
End result ... regardless of how hard I tried or how committed I was, I could not keep it in the upright position, no matter HOW frantically fast Frannie rowed the boat ahead of me.  Just not my thing, I guess.