Monday, December 5, 2016

Monday Morning Quickie!

1967: 
Dear Kent ... 
Please add me to the '67 list ... a big time and year for me as I mention this year in a new book I'm writing on what it was like to be an A&R Executive and a staff producer at the major labels ... title so far is "You're as Good as Your Last Three Minutes".  I truly look forward to FH every week. 
Thanks for all the good memories. 
Denny Diante  

1967 doesn't mean too much to me. I was an old married man trying to feed a family by then. That said, if I am not put on your list for 1967, I will stalk you until 2067. 
Hil  
LOL ... I'm sure we can find a spot for you!  And you may enjoy 1967 more than you think ... some pretty INCREDIBLE movies released that year!  And you'll surely enjoy at least HALF of the music we're going to feature.  Glad to have you with us!  (kk)  
I enjoy all your stuff even when I can't relate to it as strongly or as closely as you and many of your readers. My musical "head", for want of a better word was already formed before R&B and Rock and Roll so everything for me was adjustment and acceptance. Liken it, if you will, to the adjustment all of us had to make with each progression in technology where we had to adapt. I based my reaction to all the new music on the old music that was already firmly implanted. Took years for me to go from Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole to Little Richard and Elvis! I'm still working on Elvis, by the way. LOL. Then came The Beatles who just scared me until they and I settled down together! 
Thanks for all you do. I love reading the comments, yours and others from another generation. Extremely interesting! 
Hil  

Kent,
I've got to be a part of the 67 activities.
In 1967, I was the #3 morning DJ on KMOR in Salt Lake City playing what would be called "light country music".  I met numerous recording stars that appeared in town that year including the Smothers Brothers, Glen Campbell, Robert Goulet, Jimmy Durante, Wayne Newton and Jimmie Rodgers.  I owned a brand new 1967 MGB and, other than my on-air shift, I was able to come and go as I pleased from the station as long as my other duties were up to date.
In 1968, I met and married my first wife, and that ended the good times with a thud.  I still am grateful for 1967, as it was a joy to wake up every day.  

Jim Southern 
Here's hoping you'll share more of those golden memories with our group moving forward.  Thanks, Jim!  (kk)   

Hi Kent,
I wanted to take a moment to say, love your new "Front Page" to include your Forgotten Hits description, testimonials, and current promotion of the '67 Feature.
Also, THANK-YOU for keeping Forgotten Hits a "political-free zone!"  In Forgotten Hits, we are all simply music-aficionados with no other categories to divide us.  What a welcome oasis!  The very radio stations that used to provide us with music and memories have now dissolved in a desert of division which they mistakenly call entertainment.
Thanks for the harmony and hard work ... I really appreciate it!
Regards,
Tim Kiley 
I admit it ... we're pushing the '67 Series in a big way ... a WHOLE lot of work went into this ... and I'm hoping that everyone on the list will do the same by helping to spread the word.
DeeJays ... talk to me about putting together a daily or weekly feature spotlighting these Fifty Year Flashbacks ... you're going to find a wealth of information here ... and please send your listeners to the site so they can enjoy our efforts, too.
And artists ... we're counting on you to share your memories from the fly-on-the-wall perspective that only you can provide. 
Take a look at our new "front page", as Tim describes it ... I think the easiest thing to do is to refer "newbies" to forgottenhits.com ... there they'll not only find many of our classic archival pieces ... but also a "front and center" link to the brand new '67 Series, kicking off December 30th. Sign up NOW if you haven't already ... I think you're really going to enjoy this!  (kk)  


The State Of Radio Today:  
It's an ongoing battle - and the very root of our existence. 
Is radio better today than it was in 1999 when Forgotten Hits first started? 
In many cases, it is ...  LOTS more options (especially through the Internet and Satellite services)  

Our latest soap box moment sparked a few quick responses ... 

Let's be honest kids, the past and the future of Rock And Roll is not on the AM or the FM dial.
It is on the internet and on satellite radio.
I don't listen to internet radio, as my computer speakers are crap and my hearing is shot. 
However, about six months ago, I spent my lunch money on a new car stereo, and had satellite radio installed. OMG!  Every day, I hear any number of songs that I have never heard played on the radio. I've yet to hear anything by the following artists:  Journey, Boston, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Foreigner, Def Leppard, Genesis / Phil Collins, Fleetwood Mac, etc. There are channels that play them, but my dial is stuck at Little Steven's Underground Garage. 
You want music from the 50's thru today? This is the real deal.
The other day, I got in the car and the first song I hear is When You Walk Into The Room, the original, by Jackie DeShannon. Then it's followed up by the Searchers cover version. Music from all genres except the 250 songs that have been played to death on classic rock / oldies radio.   Also many a time you get the story behind the song.
It's not cost prohibitive, and you can just choose a music package. Commercial radio doesn't want to listen to you, so don't listen to them. I'm not going back.   
Jack    

Hi Kent -
Loved  the banter between Big Jay Sorensen and Forgotten Hits. 
I wondered if the other Geoff was Geoff Barker? 
Regards -
Geoff (Dorsett) 
We've got Geoff Dorsett and Geoff Lambert on the list ... both British DJ's ... does that mean we're missing one?!?!  Somebody get Geoff Barker on the line right away!!!  He's gonna want to take part in our salute to '67, I'm sure!  (kk) 
UPDATE: 
There is a gent who mails you from the south of England who is fortunate enough to also be called Geoff. Me, I am known in my musical circles as Rockin’ Lord Geoff and, as much as I may have at one time wanted to be a DJ / radio producer, I am quite happy just to collect records and research the history of fifties R n R. I have been fortunate enough to have visited Sun Studios, Studio B and Norman Petty’s studio in Clovis. It is the other Geoff who you write so admirabley about lol.
Geoff (Lambert)


I've thought a lot about your main subject today ... the constant airplay some songs get while other great music just sits on the sidelines.  Many DJs are too young to remember the tune-age that turned us on.  But you'd have to be just plain lazy not to look up what was popular what year and by whom.  Maybe they just need a vintage DJ to teach them how to be sure what they're playing was considered good by the majority of the populace in any given year like you're doing with 1967.  I will hear songs by some very popular singers that I don't remember being played around here ... not that they aren't good ... but on whose whim, I am moved to wonder.  Almost anything that was recorded in the golden R&R decades is better than anything I hear that is new ... but maybe that's just my 'old fogey' coming out.  I've never stuck to any one genre and felt moved to comment on the Country Music Awards show this year that it was just plain pitiful.  They aren't making Chuck Berrys, or George Joneses, or even the Gershwins any longer. 
Patti 

Hola Kent,
What is that guy Big Jay whining about ? ha ha
I thought we were still relevant and that the music of the 50's, 60's, 70's still resonated with a 'Yuge' number of people.  (Why else would PBS offer all those wonderful Oldies, Doo Wop, Disco, and Folk Music shows in order to raise money? They know where the money is!!!)  ha ha
The way Big Jay complains, you'd think the 'Day the music died' was when Glenn Miller's Plane went down. 
I believe Oldies Music is alive and well, just not courted by the young'ns that control the airwaves now who are attempting to create something that isn't durable or as memorable ... certainly money left on table. 
Oh, one more thing ... I am a fan of your blog and it was 'news' to me that you are prejudiced toward the Chicago sound!!!  
Cheers, 
CharlieOFD 
I can't wait for '67 revisited.  

And one from the guy who started it all ... 

Kent ...
#1 = Thanks for printing my rant. You made my day.  For a brief moment I thought I was as famous as Chet Coppock.  Then reality set in. Nobody can rant like Chet.
#2 =  My idea for short term series.  Play the artist's first Billboard Hit ... plus a Christmas Hit.
Elvis = "Heartbreak Hotel" plus "Blue Christmas."
# 3 = Do I have to sign up for 1967? (Back to the Marine Corps for me ).  Add me to the list.
Belated Happy Anniversary. Keep up the great work.
Frank B.
Hey, I'll betcha you can get a couple of the jocks on the list to run with your Christmas idea.  Anybody???  (kk) 

This And That:  
Check this out ... The Turtles have won their lawsuit against Sirius/XM ... to the tune of $99 million!!!  Ok, fine ... if this is true ... then lunch is on YOU guys next time you're in Chicago!!!  (kk) 
Check out the details below ...  

Sirius settles pre-1972 airplay lawsuit. Now maybe we'll start hearing oldies again.
Ken Voss  
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/arts/music/turtles-siriusxm-1972-copyright-settlement.html?_r=0 

On Saturday, December 3rd, The City Of Chicago named a street after Gene Chandler / The Duke Of Earl at 5900 S. Racine Avenue.  (Thanks, Frank!)  kk



Frank also sent us this clip of a 16 year old Canadian kid singing "Blue Christmas".  I remember we featured this a year or two ago ... but now he's guested on Ellen ... and won himself a trip to Graceland where he will perform at their Christmas ceremony!  Check it out!  (kk)




And this Kristen Stewart video for the brand new Rolling Stones track ...



(Dang we should just call today's edition "Frankgotten Hits!!!") 

You and I were both fans of the show American Dreams. 
Timothy Craig has ties to Richland Center.  His dad is Vilas Craig of the Vicounts. 
Tim sent this to me today and I thought I would forward it to you.  He had a brief cameo in that great show.  Timothy is a singer songwriter in Nashville.  
Phil


Here are some photos from Los Angeles back when I played the role of Phil Everly of The Everly Brothers along with Mark Luna as Don. We performed a song called Gone, Gone, Gone on the NBC Television Series - American Dreams. I was sporting a huge blonde rug on my head, It's about to happen to me in the other photo, I know! Lol ...   
Tim

 

Oh yeah, I remember this episode ... because the Everly Brothers sang "Gone Gone Gone", NOT one of their better known tunes but definitely one of my favorites.  ("American Dreams" had a way of digging out that obscure track now and again ... anybody remember the episode when they featured a song sung by Rosie Greer?!?!?)  Thanks, Phil!  (kk)




Here are The Buckinghams performing at the Tree Lighting Ceremony in Elk Grove Village last week.  Holiday 2016 video thanks to Ralph Riani for posting on Facebook.  
jbkrug  
I heard about this but didn't get to see it.  (A real shame because Elk Grove Village is only twenty minutes away!)  Thanks for sharing.  (kk)