re: On The Radio:
Hi, Kent - Been meaning to send this "international invitation" earlier to you and all your FH readers that my radio show, "Uncle T. Jay's Vinyl Arkhives", will be celebrating our 6th anniversary on the air playing the Billboard hits from the First 25 Years of Rock & Roll. My 6th Anniversary show will be this Wednesday Night, from 9 PM - Midnight-ish (Mountain Time or 11 PM Eastern /8 Pacific) on www.kafmradio.org or just search for KAFM on the TuneIn Radio app.In addition to our normal features (tune in to find out what those are!!!), we will be predominately playing the Billboard songs that peaked at the #40 position on the Hot 100 Pop Charts. Everyone plays the #1 songs, but nobody pays homage to the songs that barely cracked the national Top 40 Charts, usually only for a week or two ... the first songs that Casey Kasem would play on AT-40 shows in the 70s.
It's guaranteed to be a good night of music -- much has long been forgotten on the radio for decades. A few surprises and a few klunkers as well. Again, listen LIVE Wednesday Night at www.kafmradio.org via the ON-AIR tab. (Unfortunately, we cannot podcast, so get your recording devices ready, like we did in the olden days). Regards,"Uncle T. Jay
"The Vinyl Arkhives
KAFM Radio / 88.1 FM
Grand Junction, CO
Happy to pass the info along Uncle T. Jay! Many years ago when I used to go in the AOL Oldies Music Trivia Room, we would play Top 10 ... and then one night one of the players (you know who you are, Allan!) said: "C'mon ... EVERYBODY knows The Top Ten ... Let's do The BOTTOM Ten and see who the REAL players are!!!" So we did ... only songs that peaked between #91 - #100. Needless to say, Allan was in a class by himself on this one ... but ANYTHING that breaks the "norm" of radio programming earns high marks from me! (kk)
re: First 45's:
I believe my first 45 RPM was by The Pineapple Heard in 1967. The A-side was 'Valerie" and the B-side was "Old Man River" on Diamond Records. This version came out in late '67, about six months before The Monkees' had a major hit with it in '68. They were from Upstate New York and considered as a very good regional group at the time.
Jim Vona
Actually The Monkees recorded this first and performed it a couple of times on their TV show. It SHOULD have been a HUGE hit single in '67 ... but this was right around the time Don Kirshner was fired and The Monkees took control of their own recordings. (I remember it coming in as the #1 Most Request Song night after night after night on WCFL, who was airing a copy taped off the television program ... as were many other radio stations across the United States.) The original track was written and produced by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart ... but The Monkees re-recorded a version in '68 as contractually they now had to have their own names on their releases. They tried to faithfully reproduce the sound as close to the original as possible ... and it was their last really big hit before the television series was cancelled.
You can read all about the TRUE story behind The Monkees' hit "Valleri" here ...
http://forgottenhits.com/the_music_of_tommy_boyce_and_bobby_hart (Chapter 6)
Bobby Hart also covers this in his recently released biography "Psychedelic Bubblegum". (kk)
Here's the very rare Pineapple Heard version:
Speaking of First 45's, Chicago's Me-TV-FM recently polled their audience on what they remembered about their first vinyl purchase ... https://www.facebook.com/MeTVFM/posts/446864185493272
Several years ago when we first began posting our readers' responses to this popular feature, Scott Shannon and The True Oldies Channel turned it into a daily feature, reading listeners' emails about their First 45 purchases ... and then playing that record on the air. Who knows ... maybe we can get Me-TV-FM to follow suit and pick up this series once again for all the oldies fans here in Chicago! (kk)
re: Charlie Gracie:
A couple of weeks ago Charlie Gracie, Jr., reported about recent meetings his dad had with British superstars Paul McCartney and Graham Nash. Today he's got some pictures to share from these events ...
CHARLIE GRACIE is the ONE Philly Artist whose musical connection to PAUL McCARTNEY and the BEATLES goes back to the very beginning when a teenaged Paul sat in Charlie's audiences at the Liverpool Empire. Paul also covered one of Charlie's hits: 'Fabulous.'
HEARTFELT THANKS to SIR PAUL for his contribution to the Foreword in CHARLIE's autobiography: ROCK & ROLL's HIDDEN GIANT (Alfred Music Press) (Amazon.com) ... or check your local Barnes & Nobles book retailers.
6/14/15: Charlie presented Paul with a signed copy of his book at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia.
When we were starting out with the Beatles, the music coming over from America was magical to us -- and one of the artists who epitomized this magic was Charlie Gracie. The spirit of the times was captured beautifully by one of his big hits 'Fabulous' and I loved it so much I used perform it live with the boys. For me, those were times which were truly FABULOUS!
-- Sir Paul McCartney
Charlie and Paul ... with wife Joan and son Charlie, Jr.
GRAHAM NASH greets CHARLIE GRACIE with great affection after a magnificent Keswick Theater concert Saturday night outside Philadelphia.
Graham expressed a desired to record with Charlie again, too -- so stay tuned!
Graham's special commentary can be found in Charlie's autobiography: ROCK AND ROLL's HIDDEN GIANT.
Look for an exclusive interview with GRAHAM on Charlie's weekly radio show in Philly: 'A FABULOUS HOUR' this Sunday at 3:00 pm (EDST) on CRUISIN' 92.1 FM -- WVLT