The Monkees and Larry Lujack --
It doesn't get much better than that!
Wish I could have heard this!
Clark Besch
The Monkees made a few visits to The Big 89 during their first big year on the charts ... from what I've heard, they literally took over the studio. (They've also admitted to being higher than a kite on at least one of the ocassions!)
DeeJay Clark Weber described one such visit this way in his book "Clark Weber's Rock And Roll Radio: The Fun Years, 1955 - 1975":
"One of my favorite stories happened during the '60's when there was a group creted and packaged by a major record company with a cute look, a hit record, a so-so movie, and a television show. In other words, they were making money.
They decided to pay a visit to WLS and say hello as a goodwill gesture to help support their career. Someone had told them to act a little crazy and create some attention, and when they arrived in our lobby, they seemed to go nuts.
One of them actually began climbing up our expensive drapes and, halfway up, the drapes tore, the rods ripped out of the wall, and all of it tumbled down. I saw the mess and my reaction was to throw the four goofy rock and rollers out of WLS. RCA Records hearda bout what happened and were appalled. The record compnay asured me that they would pay for the damages and that the group would apologize to us.
Sure enough, the next day, one member of the group, with cap in hand, visited me at the station, said that all four of them were sorry for what happened, and I decided to accept the apology. The singing group climbing our drapes and, in essence, trying to catch 'The Last Train To Clarksville', were none other than The Monkees."
-- Clark Weber
And, speaking of The Monkees ...
Kent,
I just sent your info about the Monkees' '67 concert in Milwaukee
being cancelled to a longtime friend, Lindy, who lived their in the 60's. I
asked her if she remembered the race riots and planned to go to the Monkees
concert. Her reply was very cool indeed! I wish I could have been at the 69
concert!
Hi Clark,
Oh yes, I sure do remember the riots. That was not a fun time. A friend and I had tickets to the Monkees concert and were pretty excited about it.
Then things got rather nasty in MKE and the show was cancelled. My Dad couldn't get to work in the city for a few days and my brothers sat on the front porch of our house in
Hi Clark,
Oh yes, I sure do remember the riots. That was not a fun time. A friend and I had tickets to the Monkees concert and were pretty excited about it.
Then things got rather nasty in MKE and the show was cancelled. My Dad couldn't get to work in the city for a few days and my brothers sat on the front porch of our house in
Wauwatosa, the suburb just west of
Milwaukee, thinking they might have to protect it from trouble. We were nowhere
close to the riots but my brothers thought it was exciting.
I finally got to see the Monkees when WOKY brought them in several years later. I think I still have the hot dog wrapper from that show!
I had forgotten the amazing lineup at that show. Most of the acts only did a few songs but it sure would be great to see a video of it again.
Mostly what I remember about the concert was that it was cold and rainy! The bands were all good. I liked the New Colony Six, Cryan' Shames and Andy Kim. By that time I was a big fan of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and had seen them earlier that year at UW-Whitewater's winter festival so 1969 was a good year for me getting to see some great bands.
Lindy
I finally got to see the Monkees when WOKY brought them in several years later. I think I still have the hot dog wrapper from that show!
I had forgotten the amazing lineup at that show. Most of the acts only did a few songs but it sure would be great to see a video of it again.
Mostly what I remember about the concert was that it was cold and rainy! The bands were all good. I liked the New Colony Six, Cryan' Shames and Andy Kim. By that time I was a big fan of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and had seen them earlier that year at UW-Whitewater's winter festival so 1969 was a good year for me getting to see some great bands.
Lindy
When I talked with Ray Graffia, Jr., of The New Colony Six about this show several years ago, he remembered that it rained steadily throughout the day ... but most fans weathered the storm, so to speak, and stuck it out.
What an INCREDIBLE line-up!!! All presented during the course of an entire day's entertainment.
The
Monkees, The Buckinghams, The Classics IV, The Cryan' Shames, Eddie Floyd
and the Bar-Kays, The Guess Who, Tommy James and the Shondells, Andy Kim, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The New Colony Six, The Royal Guardsmen and The Bob Seger System! Unreal!
And think about this ... MOST of these artists are still touring and performing today, some fifty years later!!!
Who would have EVER thought about the long-lasting power of rock and roll ... that "fad" that was going to peter-out in a couple of months back in the '50's. (Yeah, right!) kk
If you're a Monkees fan be sure to check out our August 2nd calendar posting if you haven't already done so ... some GREAT Monkees videos posted, all of which were filmed right here in Chicago at The Rainbow Room. (Hopefully you're still starting your day ... each and every day ... with our 1967 Series!)
http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2017/08/august-2nd.html
http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/
"New" Chickenman podcasts are being released???
If you're a Monkees fan be sure to check out our August 2nd calendar posting if you haven't already done so ... some GREAT Monkees videos posted, all of which were filmed right here in Chicago at The Rainbow Room. (Hopefully you're still starting your day ... each and every day ... with our 1967 Series!)
http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2017/08/august-2nd.html
http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/
"New" Chickenman podcasts are being released???
Fine art reigns!!!
I have a fond memory of crashing the WCFL office and hearing the latest
episode over the air while searching for Ron Britain ... fun days ...
FH Reader Ken Freck sent us these two charts from 50 years ago out of Providence, Rhode Island ...
John Carter and Ken Lewis were a successful UK songwriting team and studio artists but reluctant pop stars. Early in their careers they were likened to the Everly Brothers. During the British Beat Boom they had hit records and toured with Perry Ford singing three part harmonies as The Ivy League. The group's repertoire was a pastiche to The Four Freshmen and The Hi-Los with a British approach. In 1967 Carter and Lewis decided to stop touring to concentrate on songwriting and session work.
With Carter as lead singer they recorded "Let's Go To San Francisco" with session musicians. The song celebrated that city's destination as the epicenter of the Summer Of Love when upwards of 100,000 young people sojourned to Haight-Ashbury. They called this new group The Flower Pot Men as a subtle nod to flower power and cannabis. It was released on August 4, 1967, at the same time Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)" was topping the UK charts. It peaked at UK #4. It became a top ten hit in many countries but failed to chart in the US. A group was quickly assembled to tour as The Flower Pot Men that for a short time included two future founding members of Deep Purple.
Another notable FPM was Tony Burrows. He went on to become one of the most in-demand session singers in the world. International hit songs he sang lead on include "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes"(Edison Lighthouse), "My Baby Loves Lovin' (White Plains), "Gimme Dat Ding" (The Pipkins), "United We Stand" (Brotherhood Of Man), and "Beach Baby"(First Class).
The Ivy League released the superb original recording of "My World Fell Down" which was brilliantly covered by the the American studio supergroup Sagittarius. Was that really Glen Campbell singing lead?
Referred to as the best single The Beach Boys never made, it was written by John Carter and Geoff Stephens. Carter was the studio singer on the Stephen's penned "Winchester Cathedral" which astoundingly won for Best Contemporary Rock and Roll Recording at the 1967 Grammy Awards. Carter and Lewis wrote The Music Explosion's 1967 US hit "A Little Bit Of Soul". In 1970 The Flower Pot Men became White Plains with five UK top twenty hits through 1973 and two US chart entries.
Mike G
The Flower Pot Men actually did chart once in America with a track called "In A Moment Of Madness," which failed to chart in The UK but "bubbled under" at #129 in Cash Box Magazine only. (kk)
Phil
These are the actual original episodes as aired back in the day ... still a time for rejoicing! (kk)
I checked and that "Summer of Love" PBS television special I mentioned recently IS available On Demand. Hoping to catch it this weekend ... and you guys can check it out as well. (kk)
I checked and that "Summer of Love" PBS television special I mentioned recently IS available On Demand. Hoping to catch it this weekend ... and you guys can check it out as well. (kk)
Happy August Kent,
Your tireless
dedication to the Forgotten Hits blog is greatly appreciated here in Boston. (’67
was our Red Sox Impossible Dream year and our local papers are chronicling the
year similarly to your FH67 tribute, certainly a great
year).
Your music clips on the FH67 days play just fine on my Imac, but the regular blog clips (a new media ?) come up as unplayable, a minor concern since the content is fulfilling in itself, I just thought I would pass it on to you in case there was a technical fix depending on the number of subscribers who are on the MAC O/S platform.
Your music clips on the FH67 days play just fine on my Imac, but the regular blog clips (a new media ?) come up as unplayable, a minor concern since the content is fulfilling in itself, I just thought I would pass it on to you in case there was a technical fix depending on the number of subscribers who are on the MAC O/S platform.
Have a great 2nd half of
Summer,
CharlieOFD
It's a concern for me, too ... and VERY frustrating. Seems like every time I find a new media source that works well with the site, they change something internally causing the music to not play on occasion (or, eventually, not at all), so once again we're looking for another outlet. (This latest change was marketed as a HUGE improvement in Box's services yet I've had nothing but trouble with it.) I am certainly open to suggestion if anyone out there can recommend a service that will allow us to post hassle-free music on the site. (kk)
A couple of interesting observations about the WVON Super Soul 45 chart.
Not only is there one but there are two Dusty Springfield entries.
Also, Erma Franklin's "Piece of My Heart" is probably the first entry of this song on a chart.
Dan Guilfoyle
I noticed the Dusty tracks, too ... always a very soulful singer (for a British White Girl!!! lol) kk
A couple of interesting observations about the WVON Super Soul 45 chart.
Not only is there one but there are two Dusty Springfield entries.
Also, Erma Franklin's "Piece of My Heart" is probably the first entry of this song on a chart.
Dan Guilfoyle
I noticed the Dusty tracks, too ... always a very soulful singer (for a British White Girl!!! lol) kk
FH Reader Ken Freck sent us these two charts from 50 years ago out of Providence, Rhode Island ...
John Carter and Ken Lewis were a successful UK songwriting team and studio artists but reluctant pop stars. Early in their careers they were likened to the Everly Brothers. During the British Beat Boom they had hit records and toured with Perry Ford singing three part harmonies as The Ivy League. The group's repertoire was a pastiche to The Four Freshmen and The Hi-Los with a British approach. In 1967 Carter and Lewis decided to stop touring to concentrate on songwriting and session work.
With Carter as lead singer they recorded "Let's Go To San Francisco" with session musicians. The song celebrated that city's destination as the epicenter of the Summer Of Love when upwards of 100,000 young people sojourned to Haight-Ashbury. They called this new group The Flower Pot Men as a subtle nod to flower power and cannabis. It was released on August 4, 1967, at the same time Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)" was topping the UK charts. It peaked at UK #4. It became a top ten hit in many countries but failed to chart in the US. A group was quickly assembled to tour as The Flower Pot Men that for a short time included two future founding members of Deep Purple.
Another notable FPM was Tony Burrows. He went on to become one of the most in-demand session singers in the world. International hit songs he sang lead on include "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes"(Edison Lighthouse), "My Baby Loves Lovin' (White Plains), "Gimme Dat Ding" (The Pipkins), "United We Stand" (Brotherhood Of Man), and "Beach Baby"(First Class).
The Ivy League released the superb original recording of "My World Fell Down" which was brilliantly covered by the the American studio supergroup Sagittarius. Was that really Glen Campbell singing lead?
Referred to as the best single The Beach Boys never made, it was written by John Carter and Geoff Stephens. Carter was the studio singer on the Stephen's penned "Winchester Cathedral" which astoundingly won for Best Contemporary Rock and Roll Recording at the 1967 Grammy Awards. Carter and Lewis wrote The Music Explosion's 1967 US hit "A Little Bit Of Soul". In 1970 The Flower Pot Men became White Plains with five UK top twenty hits through 1973 and two US chart entries.
Mike G
The Flower Pot Men actually did chart once in America with a track called "In A Moment Of Madness," which failed to chart in The UK but "bubbled under" at #129 in Cash Box Magazine only. (kk)
