Here's a fun challenge from our friends at Me-TV
...
What were YOUR viewing choices back in
1967?
(And why were there so many better options back
in the day when there were only three channels than there are today with over
500?!?!?)
Final Reminder
...
This is your last chance to take advantage of
our special Buy One, Get One Free ticket offer to see Tommy James and the
Shondells (along with special guests The Association) NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT (March
25th) at The Genesee Theatre.
Just click on the link below ... and enter the
special promotion code FORGOTTENHITS
at the online box office. There are a few great seats still available but you
need to hurry ... this special offer expires at 10 am on Monday, March
20th.
Any Forgotten Hits e-mail which
includes "Western Union" by The Five Americans, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by The
Buckinghams and "Mechanical Man" by Bent Bolt & the Nuts can't help but
brighten ANY day.
Along with those tracks you
featured "Mairzy Doats" by The Innocence -- who, of course, were actually The
Trade Winds ("New York's a Lonely Town"), recording under another name. But
where did a crazy song like "Mairzy Doats" come from?
Well, as it turns out, one day the
four year old daughter of songwriter Milton Drake came home from school singing
"Cowzy tweet and sowzy tweet -- and liddle sharksy doisters." When Mr. Drake
asked the little girl what the song meant, she slowed it down. “Cows eat wheat
-- and sows eat wheat -- and little sharks eat oysters.” That in itself was an
old English nursery rhyme. Wondering if something new be made of that kind of
double talk, Milton made up his own lyrics and got Al Hoffman and Jerry
Livingston to set them to music. Then for a year that trio tried to get any
music publisher interested in the result -- but every single one turned down
such a silly song. Finally, in 1944, Al Trace & his Silly Symphonists took
a chance on the tune -- and within weeks there were five hit versions of "Marizy
Doats" all on the charts at the same time! This one by The Merry Macs reached
#1.
Gary Theroux
"The History of Rock 'n'
Roll"
I was familiar with the tune before The
Innocence released it as a single in 1967 ... my mom must have sung it around
the house or something because I don't recall ever hearing the record before.
Kind of an odd choice to come out during the psychedelic sounds of the
mid-to-late '60's ... but one has to remember that one of the things I love the
most about the music of 1967 is that this was a period of Anything Goes ...
which, coincidently, was a hit for Harpers Bizarre when they revived the old
Cole Porter tune!
Although it didn't do nearly as well nationally,
"Mairzy Doats" was a #21 Hit here in Chicago on The WLS Silver Dollar Survey!
(kk)
Chuck Buell recalls that on
March 21st, 1967, in Denver, Colorado, Top 40 KIMN Radio continued
its consistent Total Market Dominance, this time by driving KBTR Radio off their
short-lived attempt with their unsuccessful Hot 100 music format to switch to
--- All News.
~ KIMN's On-Air Radio
Personality Dominators were led in part by (left to tight):
Hal 'Baby' Moore / Early
Evenings; Chuck Buell / Afternoon Drive; Gary Todd / Morning Drive; and Johnny
Presley / All Night Drive ~
CB (which stands for "Conquering
Boy!")
I sang the praises of "My Foolish Pride" last week on The Ides
Of March ... where we also world premiered four brand new tracks WEEKS before
they'll be available anywhere else.
Excellent Kent!!! Thanks for the premier!
Looks and sounds great.
Happy Ides Of March and thanx for all you do for
us and the whole nostalgia music community.
Rock steady!!!
Jimbo
Here is an excerpt from my interview with Jim Peterik in
conjunction with their deluxe box set being released a few years ago
...
KENT KOTAL / FORGOTTEN HITS: Next to "You Wouldn't Listen", "My Foolish Pride" is my all-time
favorite Parrot track by The Ides Of March ... yet I don't recall EVER hearing
it on the radio and, as such, it died a quiet death, completely unnoticed. In
hindsight, it acts as the perfect precursor to your horn period to come in
1970. In fact, from this point forward you'll find horns featured on nearly
every Ides Of March track. If only given a chance, this one absolutely should
have been a hit. The Ides hinted at a brassy sound with "My Foolish Pride" ... tell
us a little bit about how that track came to be ... and how that sound was
developed.
JIM PETERIK / THE IDES OF MARCH: My Foolish Pride was very Rubber Soul inspired (reference Girl). I wrote it on this cheap little Performachord organ that Larry had sitting around and in fact that sound made it on to the record and contributed to its unique character. Steve Daniels had just joined the band on trumpet and I wrote a cool line for him to play. We joked around by changing the title to My Polish Bride.
kk: It is, without question, one of my all-time favorite Ides Of March tracks. This song should have been a monster hit. Was this an attempt to take the band in another direction?
JP: To an extent, since this was really the first use of horns on an Ides record.
kk: Honestly in hindsight it sounds a little Tijuana Brassy ... but it has SUCH a great feel to it ... there isn't another Ides record that I can think of that captures so many different moods in under three minutes!
JP: It's a really bittersweet ode. Many moods as you say. And that cheesy Performachord organ really makes it. Yes, Tijuana Brassy for sure. The Lonely Berwyn Bull.
>>>Speaking of "My Foolish Pride",
notice a similar guitar intro to
the Jimi Hendrix song "Purple
Haze" ... which wouldn't come out here in The
States for another five months! Hmm ... kinda makes you wonder ... which came
first?!?!? (kk)
I'm not sure exactly when "My
Foolish Pride" was recorded, but "Purple Haze" entered the UK singles chart the
week of March 23,1967, so it was likely recorded in January or February at the
latest (possibly as early as late October 1966, when the first sessions for the
tracks on Are You Experienced took place).
– Randy
Price
Doing a
little fact checking, it looks like Hendrix started recording "Purple Haze" on
January 11th, 1967 ... and finished it up during sessions held between February
3rd and February 8th. It was released in Great Britain on March 17th and
premiered on the chart a week later. (Here in The States, however, it didn't
come out until August, nearly six months later.)
I'd have to
say that the odds of a teenage kid still in high school in Berwyn, IL, hearing
this British release are pretty slim ... so probably more likely that both tunes
have a similar guitar lick. (Since Jimi's tune has probably been played a few
more times over the years, we gave the nod to The Ides in our special feature!)
All of that
being said, according to the Ides Box Set, "My Foolish Pride" was released in
"Winter, 1966" ... which could mean anything from December of 1966 thru early
March of 1967 ... so I'm thinking The Ides actually completed their recording
first ... and it's just a happy coincidence that both tracks start off with a
similar guitar sound. (kk)
>>>"For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" by Bobby Vinton
moves up to #75 from #99. (Does ANYBODY even remember this recording???)
kk
Kent,
You asked if anyone remembered Bobby Vinton's
FOR HE'S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW. Personally, this was a new one on me. Just now
played it on you tube. Probably did a lot better on the Adult Contemporary
charts at the time as opposed to Hot 100, I don't know.
I'll go out on a limb and say of all your
readers, maybe not more than two remember it.
Again, I don't know.
Larry
Well, one who does is Randy Price, who compiled
The Super Charts for our very special 1967 Series.
"For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" reached #54 on
The National Pop Charts. (It peaked at #66 in Billboard.) Actually, it didn't
make their Easy Listening / Adult Contemporary Chart at all! (kk)
Not that it's one of my
favorites, but I do remember hearing it quite a few times on WMCA (New York) 50
years ago, where it peaked at #21 on the Fabulous 57 survey (http://www.musicradio77.com/wmca/surveys/1967/surveymar1567.html).
– Randy Price
And, speaking of the Super Charts
...
Kent,
Will you have access to every
week of the Super Charts for 1967? These are great and I am saving any you
post, but I only saw one from January 1967 and the last two weeks of February -
any way I can get the ones I am missing?
CLAY PASTERNACK
Rocky River, Ohio
Rocky River, Ohio
EVERY chart
will run during our 1967 series ... and we haven't skipped one yet, so I'm not
sure why you're missing some. They typically go up on Sunday or Monday ...
scroll back and check again ... they should all be there.
We are hoping
to generate enough interest in these charts to FINALLY get them published. I
still maintain that they are the most accurate representation of what was
happening on the charts nationally, thanks to pooling information collected by
all three major trades and their resources of radio stations and record shops.
(Aside to Joel Whitburn ... now that you've had a look, what do you think? I
know Lou Simon at Sirius / XM was interested at one point ... and maybe Bob
Merlis, too??? I think fans and collectors would LOVE to get their hands on a
complete set of charts like these ... which I believe run from 1955 thru 1982.
Let us hear from you if you're interested. We've been trying to find a home for
these for about a decade now! (kk)
Hi Kent:
You may already be aware of this, but comedian Gilbert Gottfried's
"Amazing Colossal Podcast" has had several guests that you and your followers
might enjoy.
Since we're now deep into your 1967
series, featuring many acknowledgments to the Monkees' success that year, take a
listen to both Mickey Dolenz and Mike Nesmith during their separate visits to
Gilbert's podcast (Dolenz was December 7, 2014, Nesmith was May 11, 2015).
I realize Gilbert is not everyone's
cup of tea (I happen to think he's a comic genius), but he and co-host Frank
Santopadre get into great -- and very funny -- discussions with current A-list
stars of film, TV, and music, as well as older entertainers who have lived
fabulous lives in show business, but who don't get interviewed very often these
days.
Other 60's music stars like Howard Kaylan, Bobby Rydell, and Mark
Hudson have also been on, and all of the episodes (and the shorter,
mid-week mini-episodes) are available to hear for free.
Anyway, Mike Nesmith's appearance was especially hilarious and
informative, especially the story about how the statistic that the Monkees at
one time sold more records than the Beatles and Rolling Stones combined came to
be. According to him, that was something he made up, to sort of test a young
reporter, to see if it would actually get printed -- which it did, and then made
it onto the news wires around the world. Great stuff!
Just thought I'd pass it along.
-- Garry Berman
Will definitely have to check this out.
I got to visit with both Micky and Michael after a Star Plaza show a couple of
years ago ... who would have EVER thought that this little TV show that lasted
two seasons FIFTY YEARS AGO would afford them a lifetime of fame and
fortune?!?!? And with the release of their "Good Times" album last year ... one
of their strongest LP's EVER ... the legend just keeps on growin'!
(kk)
It was so good to hear
George Carlin's "Al Sleet - Your Hippy Dippy Weatherman" again last week. I
remember watching him perform this bit on The Ed Sullivan Show. But I'm
surprised - they actually released this as a single? And it
charted?
Craig
They did ... I have a copy of the RCA 45
(catalog number 47-9110). It "bubbled under" in Record World, reaching #129.
The intended A-Side ("Wonderful W-I-N-O", which also got some airplay here in
Chicago) got to #133 in Record World. (Billboard and Cash Box passed on both
sides.)
Here in Chicago "Al Sleet, Your Hippy
Dippy Weatherman" got to #20 on the WCFL Chart and reached #17 on The WLS Silver
Dollar Survey, where it spent seven weeks on the chart. (Like I keep saying, it
was "anything goes" back in 1967!!!) kk
I listened to you and Mark
Dawson pick your '67 faves. There are a couple that are on my list as
well.
You guys did a great job
and maybe you should consider doing a regular program together.
The only thing that I can't
agree with is picking the worst. That year was so good, it is even hard
to find a bad one. Even though Let It Out by the Hombres is weak in many regards, I still don't mind hearing it once in a while. It is proof that just about anything went on the charts during that year. As
a side note, a guy that works at the station saw the Hombres in '67 and thinks that may have been the only song they played ... and it was about a 20 minute version of it!
to find a bad one. Even though Let It Out by the Hombres is weak in many regards, I still don't mind hearing it once in a while. It is proof that just about anything went on the charts during that year. As
a side note, a guy that works at the station saw the Hombres in '67 and thinks that may have been the only song they played ... and it was about a 20 minute version of it!
Can't wait to do our Top 10
lists my show coming up on April 8th.
Phil Nee -
WRCO
Several people have commented on how well
Mark and I worked together on that ... which, as you know, is sometimes hard to
do over the phone when you can't react as quickly as you might being in the same
room ... but maybe he'll have me on again later this year as the series
continues. (I'm still working on my Top Ten ... with literally 200 faves to
choose from, it's tough to narrow it down to ten ... and still try to keep it
different enough from The Top Five we've already done ... but I honestly think
... with a couple of repeats here and there ... I could probably do two months
of Top Ten Favorites if tasked with doing so ... there was just SO much great
music that came out in 1967!)
For anyone who hasn't heard the "Makin' Noise With Mark Dawson" show we did a couple of weeks ago, you can still check it out online via the link below:
