1967 Bonus #23

re:  Kudos For Forgotten Hits:  
This has been a great run of stuff.  Almost every time I read the 1967 FH blog, I think of something I could share.  The key is FINDING it.  :)  
Keep up the great memories. 
Clark  
I appreciate everything you've sent - this series has certainly sparked some great memories ... and we kick of May on Monday!!!  (kk)   

I have been reading your column for at least the past seven or eight years now and it never ceases to amaze me the quality that comes through on a consistent basis.  
You have always maintained that Forgotten Hits is "all about the music" - but I'll venture to say that it is so much more than that.  
Two recent examples that back up my case in point: Carolyn's recollections of The Outsiders playing at her local J.C. Penney's store ... and the mere mention of Frank Bond's Steak House triggering up another long-lost piece of her youth ... you were able to conjure up memories that I'd be willing to bet hadn't crossed her mind in 40-50 years! And your recent piece on Muhammad Ali was outstanding - what did THAT have to do with music (other than your mention of Cassius Clay's recording of Stand By Me?)  
You're not a sportswriter yet in just ten paragraphs you were able to encapsulate Ali's entire career into a cliff books edition that all of us reading it could enjoy and understand.  Truly an outstanding piece of journalism that would rival anything put together by some of the best sportswriters in the country.  
The fact that you come to us every morning and ask nothing back in return is a testament to your passion for these memories ... and you invoke them from us on a nearly daily basis.  You often say "enjoy the ride" ... well, you've taken us places we haven't been in fifty years - not only through your site but also through the deepest canyons of our minds.  
I know I've said "thank you" before for all that you do - but I don't believe ANY of us can say it often enough.  
Thank you for Forgotten Hits - thank you for sharing these memories with us - thank you for holding fast against cluttering your website with advertisements that could probably earn you revenue for what you do but instead keeping it all about the music and the memories. 
And, if there is ANY doubt in your mind, let me assure you that NOBODY does it better - nor could they.  
Forgotten Hits is written BY a fan ... FOR the fans ... and we appreciate you.  
Rich Gaffney  
Wow!  How do I even respond to something like this.  I am humbled.  It's a love thing ... it's a passion that I share with (hopefully) ALL of our readers.  The artist participation ... the deejays ... that's just the icing on the cake.  Collectively, we have all lived through these precious times ... and it's the sharing of those memories that makes Forgotten Hits shine.  Thank you for appreciating what I do ... but please know that I couldn't do it without the help and support of all of you.  It's that two way street that makes all of this work.  Forgotten Hits has often been referred to as "a labor of love" and that it is ... but it's the combination of my love for the music and the memories and the love that comes back from you, the audience, that makes what we do so unique.  
I could write a million pages (and may have already done so!) but if it doesn't in some way affect those of you reading it, then it's all been for nothing.  
Thank YOU for your very kind letter ... because no one ever truly gets tired of hearing "thank you" or "you're doing a great job".  (kk)   

>>>Ali then fought a couple more "warm-up" matches before finally getting his shot against Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier in 1971.  (kk)  
Actually he did fight some in some "exhibitions" but he only had two fights before facing Frazier. One was Jerry Quarry and the other was Oscar Bonavena. I would change this sentence to read "Ali then fought Oscar Bonavena before finally getting his shot against Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier in March, 1971."  
Rich Klein  
My bad ... You are correct.  (And the Oscar Bonavena match was something ... both fighters looked completely drained ... physically exhausted at the end of their fifteen round brawl!) 
I found this cool USA Today site that show The History Of Muhammad Ali, Fight-By-Fight, for his entire career.  It's an interesting read for other Ali fans out there.  (kk) 
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2016/06/04/muhammad-ali-fight-by-fight-career/85341622/    

"Cuddly Toy" is super!  
I knew it'd been in at least one episode of their show ... that's likely where I first heard it.  
For a long time I've had at least a souvenir guide from Expo '67, in wonderful condition ... trying to think if my grandmother on mom's side (d. 1981) went there, as she was quite the traveler.  
BOB FRABLE,  
Easton, PA 
"Cuddly Toy" from The Monkees' "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd." album has always been one of my favorites, too ... a great track, written by Harry Nilsson.  He and Micky Dolenz forged a close friendship during the series ... Dolenz later cut "Daybreak" and "Good Times", the title track from last year's Monkees Reunion album, is another Nilsson track ... in fact, he and Micky share the lead vocal duties on this one on the new LP. 
Here's the clip you likely saw on their TV show ... another great music video from the days WAY before

MTV.  (Now you can see why The Monkees played so well on MTV in the mid-'80's! So much so that their brand new recording, "That Was Then, This Is Now" made The Billboard Top 20!")  kk

Yes, the Monkees just recorded Nilsson's "Cuddly Toy" 50 years ago ... HOWEVER, I prefer the soon to follow Ron Brit-oni WCFL version, myself!  It is attached.  1967 WCFL, what can ya say?

Clark Besch

 
Just watched "Inside Pop" ...
This documentary is well worth the 50 minutes one will spend on it.
From Janis Ian to Peter Noone, it is a fantastic show.
David Lewis
I remember watching this back in 1967 when it first aired and being somewhat bored by Leonard Bernstein's heavy-handed analysis of the pop scene.  Watching it again, I still feel his delivery is WAY over the top on the heavy-handed scale ... but there's not getting around some of these great performances you get to view once he finally stops talking!  (lol)  Highly recommended.  (kk)

Kent -
Just want to say a big thank you to you and to Clark Besch for pointing out that "Inside Pop" CBS Documentary ... Just Great!
Having been there and played with some of those folks, I never thought I would hear myself saying this, but seems Frank Zappa, of all, had the most far sighted opinion there, as it seems, to me at least, that it is completely spot on as to where we have come to TODAY!
Frank could see the other end of that paradigm even then - not that it hasn't done much really good, it surely has.  Many things are better.
But the bad side might be somewhat of a hangover right now.  And I know from hangovers!!!
ALSO - Clark has been very helpful to us, The Fifth Estate, on several other matters and also I was wondering if he or anyone else on your list would have the exact date that Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead was released here in the USA?
After all these years the only date we have is near the end of April 1967, which is right about NOW, 50 years ago. 
Up till now, 50 years ago, the band was touring over two earlier single releases - So Little Time (as The D-Men still) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhfWItQ1n3A and then, after that fiasco with Murray The K at WINS / NYC, the band was renamed to The Fifth Estate and was out with Love Is All A Game  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX05OCMSO2w 
We were playing so much at that time that I don't think we paid much attention then to when that song actually came out.
Thanks folks. 
Hope to hear,
Furvus
Anybody out there able to supply the definitive answer as to the release date of "Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead"?  (This sounds like something that would be right up Tom Diehl's alley!!!)
It looks like it premiered in both Cash Box and Record World on May 13th (but not in Billboard until a week later), so I'm guessing that would most likely be a week or two after its initial release ... which would put you right at your "near the end of April" timeframe ... but maybe has something a bit more specific to share?  Let us know.  Thanks, folks!  (kk)

Kent,
I thought I’d give you an exclusive on this Buckinghams release coming out this summer on the Now Sounds label.  Scott Schinder did the liner notes and he interviewed Dennis Tufano and I for it.
I don't think there's an official release date yet, but I imagine that it should be out sometime this summer on Now Sounds (https://www.cherryred.co.uk/label/now-sounds/). The full title is "The Complete Singles Collection (1966 - 1970)."  It's technically a British release (although Now Sounds is based in L.A.), but will be distributed in America as if it was a domestic release, so it will be available through all of the usual outlets at a non-import price. 
 
Here's the list of songs on the album:
 
THE BUCKINGHAMS "The Complete Singles Collection (1966-1970)
1. I'll Go Crazy (USA 844)
2. Don't Want To Cry (USA 844)
3. I Call Your Name (USA 848)
4. Makin' Up and Breakin' Up (USA 848)
5. I've Been Wrong USA 853)
6. Love Ain't Enough USA 853)
7. Kind of a Drag (USA 860)
8. You Make Me Feel So Good (USA 860)
9. Lawdy Miss Clawdy (USA 869)
10. I Call Your Name (USA 869)
11. Don't You Care (Columbia 4-44053)
12. Why Don't You Love Me (Columbia 4-44053)
13. Summertime (USA 873)
14. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (Columbia 4-44182)
15. You Are Gone (Columbia 4-44182)
16. Hey, Baby (They're Playing Our Song) (Columbia 4-44254)
17. And Our Love (Columbia 4-44254)
18. Susan (Columbia 4-44378)
19. Foreign Policy (Columbia 4-44378)
20. Back In Love Again (Columbia 4-44533)
21. You Misunderstood Me (Columbia 4-44533)
22. Where Did You Come From (Columbia 4-44672)
23. Song Of The Breeze (Columbia 4-44672)
24. This is How Much I Love You (Columbia 4-44790)
25. Can't Find The Words (Columbia 4-44790)
26. It's a Beautiful Day (Columbia 4-44923)
27. Difference of Opinion (Columbia 4-44923)
28. I Got a Feelin' (Columbia 4-45066)
29. It Took Forever (Columbia 4-45066) 
Carl Giammarese
THE BUCKINGHAMS 
www.thebuckinghams.com www.facebook.com/thebuckinghams www.facebook/carlgiammarese  

Happy to help get the word out on this.  Since the similarly titled domestic release "The Complete Hit Singles", released on Varese Vintage, didn't, I couldn't help but wonder if this new release will feature the full-length single version of "Susan".  (It'll be great to get all the A and B Sides on this one)  
Kent,
I will check on that.  
Carl 
It's funny because The Bucks didn't particularly like the psychedelic interlude producer James Guercio snuck in on their hit single without their knowledge ... but that's the way radio played it and that's the way we heard it and grew to love it ... and, if you bought the 45, that's the version that you got ... so I'm just hoping that this "error in judgement" had finally been corrected, making this new release the DEFINITIVE Buckinghams singles collection.  (kk)

Thank you for posting the Davie Allan And The Arrows tune "Blues' Theme".  It will always be my favorite instrumental. It sounds as good now as it did then. The song is a "verb"eration! 
I've been quiet and waiting on this 1967 chart maker to be mentioned. 
Davie Allan has a new download musical offering that can be accessed by visiting www.davieallan.com which showcases a teen girl singer named Paige Mills! 
Thanks for always being a great Davie Allan fan and featuring his posts and doing wonderful things that only you do.   
https://m.youtube.com/?reload=7&rdm=2jytwd4yz#/watch?v=3WPnXAHxNjw  
The mix of "Blues' Theme" we featured the other day is a FH Exclusive mix, heretofore unavailable.  (My hope was that Mike Curb might consider using this mix on some type of commemorative album celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Davie Allan's hit ... but since that no longer seems likely, we decided to run it here so fans can enjoy this new, crystal-clear stereo mix.) 
I'm no technician but the method of creating this mix was explained to me this way:  
For the creation of this brand new stereo version, the song was taken apart with "Spectral Editing," which allows you to remove various parts of a song and then remix the song into stereo. 
All I know is that when Davie Allan heard it, he was blown away by the new mix, and he, too, tried to persuade Curb find some type of home for its release.  (I know it's only May so who knows ... maybe we'll get some good news over the next several months!)  kk

1967 Bonus #22

Wow! ...

We're about to enter May and we're already up to our 22nd Bonus Posting.  (I figured, if the series did REALLY well, we might get enough feedback to do 30 of these during the course of the year ... at this rate we'll be well over 60!!!)  

That's OK, folks ... keep those cards and letter coming ... because that just means that you're diggin' what we're doing and you want to share some of YOUR memories, too ... and we appreciate it!  (kk)    

Hi Kent, 
You have really outdone yourself with this 1967 series ... It is amazing!   
Bill

Hey Kent,

Excellent series on the music of '67!  Hope you and Frannie are well.

Bob Burns

Hi Kent,  
Enjoyed your "1967 Scrap Book Memories."  

I have some of my own ...

1.  Saw Sonny and Cher in person premiering their movie 'Good Times' at the old North Riverside Cinema. I don't remember who the MC was.

2.  When Art Roberts was doing an oldies radio show on station WGOLD from the former Oak Park Arms Hotel, I interviewed to be his secretary, but then his plans changed and he left the station!!

3.  At the JC Penney store in the Cermak Plaza, I saw the Outsiders performing their hit song 'Time Won't Let Me' as a young couple danced to the song!

4.  You mentioned Frank Bond's Teen Club. I remember eating at his 'Frank Bond's Steak House', located on Harlem Avenue in Berwyn!!!  It was known for its steaks!

Thanks for all the great memories, Kent.  1967 was one FANTASTIC YEAR with memories I will never forget!!!

Carolyn  

If you were into music in 1967 / 68, the "Inside Pop" CBS documentary Kent talked of HAS to be seen.  
Here's the entire program:   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afU76JJcquI  
Clark Besch  
It was good seeing this again - I forgot just how diverse it really was.  (It still cracks me up that sophisticated Leonard Bernstein was trying to explain ... and convert adults ... to the current pop music scene.)  But it also shows you in glorified and detailed example after example just how much the pop music was changing at this time.  (kk)

Hi Kent:

Just in case you are interested, I will be on a Radio Show playing 1967 “Flip” Sides. Some you will know, some you may not. It is on “Dewey’s Corner” show, airing on Friday (TONIGHT!) at approximately 6 PM on WMSE Radio 91.7 in Milwaukee.  (It's a College Radio Station).

We have been doing some 50^th anniversary things the past few years. With your ’67 project this year, you may enjoy it. We will probably do at least two more of these for ’67 ... a Summer of ’67 Chart Oriented show, and, at the end of the year, we will do the Top 50 Hits of the year (according to Milwaukee Surveys). The shows are all archived as well.  (Oh yeah, we play records!)

Ken Freck

I put together a radio show featuring 1967's Biggest Two-Sided Hits and sent it to our FH Buddy Mr. C, who hosts a radio program called "The Flip Side" down in Nashville but never heard back from him as to whether or not he was interested in airing it ... so I've now also sent it to Phil Nee at WRCO up your way in Richland Center, Wisconsin, to see if he wanted to take a crack at it.

Phil and I just did a program of our Top Ten 1967 Favorites ... and are also planning a Summer Of Love Program as well as a year-end countdown ... looks like 1967 is a pretty hot topic this year!!!  (kk)

It's the 50th Anniversary of "Blues' Theme" making the charts.  I have many charts showing it hitting it's peak in April. One great one, although quite exasperating, is on KHJ Los Angeles ... it went from #19 to #3 in one week and then stayed there for four weeks! 
Thanks, 
Davie Allan

You'll see the Super Charts chart run for "Blues' Theme".  As discussed before, this record first started climbing the charts in April ... and did well in most parts of the country ... but peaked at different times, never gaining enough momentum at any one time to make a significant impact on the national charts, where it peaked at #27. (It didn't debut on the charts here in Chicago until August ... four full months after it started to chart in other parts of the country.)

Check out the brand new, Forgotten Hits Exclusive stereo mix that we recently came across ... it sounds awesome!  (kk)

Tom Seaver won his first major league ballgame 50 years ago this month ... and here's a GREAT clip of Seaver performing with The Lettermen on The Kraft Music Hall from just after The Mets won the 1969 World Series!  (kk)

MissMusicPro has shared a video with you on YouTube HA HA, HE HE !! The Lettermen and Tom Seaver on Kraft Music Hall by Elena Schmitt Host Eddy Arnold introduces Tom Seaver, who sings "Nancy With the Laughing Face" to his wife, with The Lettermen on backup. Help center • Report spam ©2017 YouTube, LLC 901 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066, USA

 

>>>April 23rd:  Bobby Vinton performs "Georgy Girl", "Matchmaker", "Sunrise, Sunset" and "L'Chain" on The Ed Sullivan Show.  (Not sure I quite get ANY of these!!!)  kk  

While there is no internet evidence to say Bobby is Jewish, doing a search indicates he does quite a bit with Jewish songs.  And I'm noting that because the day after the Ed Sullivan show in 1967 was the first Night of Passover which is probably the third most important Jewish holiday and the songs he sung (other than Georgy Girl) were from the hit musical Fiddler on the Roof. 

So, there was a logical reason he sang those songs -- and BTW -- it's L'Chaim not L'Chain. 

And there is your explanation for why he sang those songs that evening on Mr. Sullivan's show.

Thanks!

Rich Klein

I've only ever known him as "The Polish Prince" but who knows, you could be right!  (Then again, "Fiddler On The Roof" was also extremely popular at the time.  Maybe by covering both a well-know and successful movie theme along with a couple of Broadway hit, Bobby was trying to expand his audience from the pop field.  Let's face it ... he could hardly compete with the psychedelic, heavier sounds of the day!  (That being said, Bobby DID have a Top Five Smash later in the year when he recorded a remake of the 1961 Cathy Jean and the Roommats' hit "Please Love Me Forever").  By the way, I fixed the spelling ... thanks!  (kk)

We've just posted 1967 Bonus #5 ... which now includes Geoff Dorsett's one hour long "Summer of Love" radio programme from The UK ... you can check it out here!

http://forgottenhits1967bonus.blogspot.com/2017/01/1967-bonus-5.html

By the way, I'll be a guest on Geoff's show next month ... we'll have that segment to post shortly, too!  (kk)

Kent
Thanks for including my Summer of Love show ... I hope your readers like it.

Geoff

I have no doubt they'll like it.  And keep checking our 1967 Bonus Site ... we'll keep posting material there until we get up to date ... and new material as well!  (kk)

http://forgottenhits1967bonus.blogspot.com/

THE 14 HOUR TECHNICOLOUR DREAM, the UK's first be-in or happening, took place on April 29 - 30, 1967 at the Alexandra Palace in North London.
The event was a benefit to raise money for a defense fund for The International Times, an underground newspaper which had been busted on obscenity charges. The UK underground music scene united together in an all night psychedelic extravaganza at the large open floored structure.
Seven thousand people walking around were treated to wild colorful strobe lights and bands playing on two stages at the same time in different parts of the massive complex. A smaller stage was set up for other types of performance artists.

Among the plethora of performers were The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, The Move, Pink Floyd, The Creation, Tomorrow, The Pretty Things, The Soft Machine, John's Children, Savoy Brown, Pete Townshend, Denny Laine, and Yoko Ono. John Lennon attended with his friend John Dunbar. Lennon had met Ono the year before at Dunbar's art gallery, but, according to Philip Norman's book JOHN LENNON: THE LIFE, the future couple's path didn't cross that night.

This anti-establishment celebration of youth culture was the UK's largest indoor event at that time. It was held on May Day's eve with May Day being traditionally a pagan festival celebrating fertility. It preceded the Monterey Pop festival by six weeks.

Mike G

Kent -
I saw the exchange in your roundup email about whether the Super Charts will ever be published. Count me in as someone who'd love to see that happen. But I'm curious ... what time period do you and Randy Price cover on those? Do they start in, say, 1955, or earlier or later? And they go through ... 1982, when Record World ended, or 1996, when Cash Box ended, or ...?
-- Stephen Elders

We would LOVE to see these charts finally published.  Right now they exist from January 1st of 1955 through April of 1982 when Record World ceased publication - they would correspond nicely with Joel Whitburn's Chart Comparison Book (maybe as a companion piece) so I dropped another "not so subtle" hint the other day.

Honestly, I don't know that he'll ever do it ... but Joel is always looking for new ways to present this chart information ... so I've learned over the years to never say never.  (The idea of all three charts being displayed side by side was unthinkable ten years ago ... and now there's a new Record World Chart Book coming out showing every chart for every week from 1964 through 1972, with more volumes planned.)

My point has always been they same -- why not utilize the COMPLETE research used to develop all of these individual charts and composite the complete, most accurate Super Chart possible?  We've seen some peaks over the years that are literally a Top 40 apart between the various national charts ... there is NO way any record could have that kind of discrepancy ... so set the record straight once and for all.  I've likened it to rewriting history based on new information.  You still have the individual publication charts to refer to ... but THIS series recaps ALL of this chart data and builds the most complete chart possible.

Time will tell if anyone else will ever see it our way.  (We've looked into self-publishing ... but the costs would be prohibitive ... NOBODY would be willing to pay what it would cost to print these up and turn a reasonable profit.)  kk  

We've been telling you for months now about Harvey Kubernik's new book spotlighting 1967 ... I've seen some of the photographs and, as always, this whole package is simply outstanding.
Below please find a link to some of these incredible photos as well as a recent review of Harvey's book.  (This one's a keeper for ANY good music collection!)  kk
http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/arts-culture/books/article/Book-review-Summer-of-Love-captured-in-1967-11089291.php
http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2017/04/23/1967-a-complete-rock-music-history-of-the-summer-of-love.html

At the end of April, 1967, "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" entered our Florida radio station survey and reached as high as #2 in June.

Whistling Jack Smith did not exist at the time. Perhaps it was a nod to American vaudeville singer "Whispering" Jack Smith who was famous for the popular 1927 song "Me And My Shadow". The unusual whistled instrumental was penned by prolific UK songwriters Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook. The one-hit wonder record featured The Mike Sammes Singers plus some session musicians while John O'Neill whistled the melody. The original title was "Too Much Birdseed" but I'd like to think that the title chosen was a cheeky British takeoff on the popular I WAS LORD KITCHENER'S VALET shop on Carnaby Street.   Kaiser Bill and Lord Kitchener were historical figures from the same era. Kaiser Wilhelm was the last German emperor and batman was a military term meaning "orderly" or "valet".  A possible inspiration for the tune was "The Colonel Bogey March" from the 1957 Academy Award winner THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. Once it became a big hit, they had to find someone to assume the role of Smith and Billy Moeller was drafted to go on tour.

In 1968, Hugo Montenegro did a cover of the spaghetti western movie theme "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly" featuring whistling and had a big international hit (UK #1, US #2).

One of my personal favorite records is of the traditional Scottish folk tune "The Skye Boat Song" which combined Roger Whittaker's whistling with Des O'Connor's vocals and reached UK #10 in 1986. It is hauntingly beautiful.
Mike G

You won't believe the blitz of new merchandise being released in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

You can check out a good bulk of it here ... on the "Fest For Beatles Fans" website!

http://www.thefest.com/store/celebrate-50th-anniv-of-sgt-pepper-c-254/

And we hope to have updates for you soon on Bruce Spizer's new commemorative book, too!  (kk)