Saturday, January 6, 2018

1967 BONUS #52

Our 1967 Series may have ended ... but your comments sure haven't!

 LOTS of VERY positive feedback on our efforts, some of which we'll share with you today.  (Eventually we hope to move the entire series to this website in chronological order ... but that's going to take some time ... so please be patient.)

Meanwhile, please enjoy these rave reviews ... and all the cool new stuff we're posting on almost a daily basis!

[REMINDER:  Use the kk@forgottenhits.com email address from this point forward ... we will eventually be closing out our AOL account] 



Mike Smith will always be remembered as the producer for The Beatles' failed audition at Decca's West Hampstead studios on New Year's Day, 1962.  It was his recommendation that Decca boss Dick Rowe take a pass on the provincial Beatles and instead sign a local London group, The Tremeloes, to a record contract. Smith must have felt somewhat vindicated in 1963 when he produced The Tremeloes' cover of "Do You Love Me" that knocked The Beatles' own all time best selling UK single, "She Loves You," from the number one spot.

When lead singer Brian Poole went solo, Smith followed the rest of The Tremeloes to CBS Records and produced their 1967 UK #1 hit "Silence Is Golden." 
At CBS in December, 1967, he produced two records that would be back-to-back number ones early in the new year.
UK songwriters Mitch Murray and Peter Callander had been to the London movie premiere of BONNIE AND CLYDE and couldn't believe it didn't contain a theme song about the notorious couple. And so they co-wrote what became known as the unauthorized "The Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde". Mike Smith produced it with Georgie Fame ("Yeh Yeh") handling the vocals. Fame wasn't too keen on the song but it managed to end The Beatles' seven week UK #1 run of "Hello Goodbye" on January 24.
Smith also knew that Robert Knight's "Everlasting Love" would have a UK release in January and so he had The Love Affair version recorded and released in mid-December. The Love Affair drew comparisons to The Small Faces. Smith recorded lead singer Steve Ellis' vocals with studio musicians, which caught the ire of music critics.  Nevertheless, the single replaced Georgie Fame's at UK #1 on February 3. It subverted Robert Knight's original version which only reached UK #40 but
upon a 1974 re-release it entered the UK top twenty at #19.
In 1974 Murray and Callander wrote another story song about American gangsters. "The Night Chicago Died" was a US #1 for Paper Lace in both Billboard and Cashbox.
Mike G

I've enjoyed the 1967 series very much … incredible attention to detail … great stuff!!
Looking forward to whatever you cook up for 2018!
Eddie

Hi, Kent ...
Man, great chart pics ... thanks so much! 
What memories you bring back in your work.  Bless ya, my friend.
Enjoy the Holidays and eat like a bear ... lol
Barry Winslow / The Royal Guardsmen
We definitely kicked it up food-wise over the holiday weekend ... out to dinner Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday!!!  And Good Eats everywhere we went.
I'm inclined to keep SOME type of chart thing going for next year ... because they really are a popular feature in Forgotten Hits ... just need to figure out how I want to present them ... maybe go back to "The Saturday Survey" thing we did a few years ago.  (kk)

>>>Rewound Radio ran an incredible year end Top 30 Countdown this past weekend hosted by multi-award winning announcer  (WAY too  many to mention here!),  Johnny Holliday.  (kk)
Kent,
Merry Christmas!!
I'm still with ya! I highlighted Johnny Holliday's name because he was a long time announcer in D.C. radio. One of the best! Great voice, and he was also the radio voice of the Maryland Terrapins basketball team.  I met him once about 35 years ago, and he couldn't have been a nicer guy!!!!  Since I moved here to Delaware back in 86, I haven't kept up much with my hometown Washington, D.C. radio scene ... I imagine JH is still in D.C.?????????  Anyway, just thought I'd toss that in.
May the New Year bring you, Fran,and your family the Happiest, Healthiest and Safest New Year. And to all the FH readers, the same thing goes.
I really enjoyed this year long journey through 1967!!!  As always, you did an INCREDIBLE job with this project. I look forward to the next undertaking, my friend.
And, thanks again for putting some really great people in touch with me ... I am honored and blessed. I'm hoping that I will be with you through 2018.  
As always, Thanks!
Pete Garrison
You hang in there, Pete ... hopefully we can come up with enough goodies over the next few years to keep you vertical and reading!!!  Thanks for the kind words ... and the Happiest New Year to you and yours as well.  (kk)

Kent,
I can't believe we're down to just one week left in your incredibly entertaining look at Pop / Rock Music from 1967 … of course I also can't believe it's been fifty years since we've first heard these great songs.  Thanks so much for all your work. 
Randy Monk

Hi Kent ...
I recognized all of the songs on your hit parade from 1967.  I have the capacity to remember things like the music. I can rattle off who is singing that song.  My husband is very amazed by this. One of my talents.  Nothing like you and some of the others though, I am sure.   
It sounds like you had a great time seeing the Grass Roots, one of my all time favorite bands. Temptation Eyes, Sooner or Later, Midnight Confessions ... this is my favorite "cruisin" cd when I am taking a long road trip. 
So sad about Rob Grill.  He was the big talent behind the Grass Roots ... bass playing, singing, song writing and stage presence. He rocked!  
Also I love the Buckinghams. They are classic. You look happy in the pics. Glad you had a good time.  
You are a lucky guy to get to meet so many talented people. Timothy B. Schmit would be great to see as well.  He has a wonderful voice. Always professional, always on key.  How does he do that? 
We don't get the shows here that you do.  It seems like Chicago is more into oldies music than the NYC area.  Here, who’s in drag or gay seems to take the priority.  Wish I lived closer to Chicago where the action seems to be!
Happy New Year!
Sandy

As your 1967 series comes to a close, I just want to tell you how much I have enjoyed it! That was a huge year in my life, when I graduated high school, and  was totally into music at that time. Thanks again for all the time and effort you put into Forgotten Hits!
Eileen (EShanks5) 

Hey Kent -
Wow! What a labor of love from the past year. I have no idea how you pulled it off.
It’s hard enough for me to come up with a few sentences for a single daily blog entry. But the comprehensive extent of material you put into this feature is just freakin’ unreal. Thoroughly enjoyed it each day. Congrats!
- Larry Cave
  50yearsagoonthehot100.blogspot.com
Thanks, Larry … I appreciate the kind words.  (kk)

Thank you for an absolutely brilliant series – enjoyed every memory as I read your daily posts.  I have a whole new perspective on 1967 now – so much that I had forgotten.
Ed

Kent,
I've told you more than once, I don't know where you find the time to put this all together. My time is my own and I had to totally rearrange things so I could scan the 1967 charts for you, when you first approached me with the idea. That being said, I'm glad I was able to contribute. It seems to me, somewhere in your archives is the combined WLS / WCFL charts we did for 1967, about eight, or nine years ago, using Randy Price's formula. I must have mine somewhere.
Jack
We put together a local list of The Biggest Hits Of Summer for June, July and August of each year these charts were available, as I recall.  Those lists are still posted on the other Forgotten Hits Website for all the world to see … and I know a number of radio stations around the country have used these lists as the basis for their own summer countdowns.  (kk)
http://forgottenhits.com/

Thank you for all your hard work, Kent.
A healthy and Happy New Year!
MIKE DE MARTINO

Kent,
Thank you so much for the 1967 Series. I can only begin to imagine how much work went into it. It has been a wonderful addition to my life this past year, and I'm confident that I speak for many, many others.
Dan Crabtree

Kent –
I enjoyed every post of your tireless effort for 1967!
Please keep up the great work!
Joe Malin

Hi Kent:  
Here is the last Milwaukee Survey from 1967.  
Merry Xmas,
Ken
There's Little Becky's Christmas Wish again!!!  I'll betcha THIS one didn't make Gary Theroux's Top 100 Christmas Hits List!!!  (kk)

Hello Kent: 
Thanks again for all your support on my 1967 book as well as your devotion to year 1967.  I'm sort of sad it's over. 
But plenty of great music was issued in 1968!
Peace ~
Harvey Kubernik
I hate to see it end, too … and actually thought about doing SOMETHING to honor 1968 … either go back to The Saturday Surveys or more of a recap / “That Was The Week That Was” sort of thing.  (Guess I’d better decide pretty quickly, eh?!?!?)  kk

Hello Kent, 
Thank you very much for this series. Although I thought that I’d get tired of it, I managed to look at it  every single day.  Fun to see a lot of stuff that I forgot about but especially to be reminded of musical guests on Sullivan or the Smothers Brothers, that I watched. It also helped that the days in 1967 were the same in 2017.
 Wishing you all the best for 2018.
 Alex Lifson

Thank you for your spectacular work on the year of '67.  It was
enjoyable and valuable for those of us that played along in radio land. 
Our three specials were well received.  The Top Forty of 1967 countdown went well ... I will send you a copy of the aircheck.  Sorry that we couldn't connect for an interview, but I know how busy the holiday season is. 
I look foward to 2018 and perhaps more radio specials.
Phil Nee – WRCO
Yeah, things got kinda hectic there at the end … but I’m sure you did a FINE job of counting down The Top 40 Biggest Hits of 1967 …. And now your listeners can enjoy the COMPLETE list on The Forgotten Hits Website.  Thanks, Phil!  (kk)

All year I have been following the look back at 1967. I was 17 that year and loved the music and listened to music all the time, as well as attended the shows at the local venues. On any given Friday and Saturday night there could be five different choices of local rock music venues, (six if you were willing to drive a little … and seven if you count Majestic Hills in Lake Geneva during the summer!)
I have found that I have a broad spectrum of opinions on the songs showcased. I had a close group of about 8 - 12 friends that I hung out with at the time and music was a prominent part of our life. In review of your project, I realize that these are the top 100 hits for all age groups across the board, not just the top songs that 17 year old kids purchased and listened to. Due to the fact that my age group purchased the majority of the records, places a lot of songs that we liked in this category, but it is not exclusive to us.
For example, The Monkees were given a lot of attention during this year, but they were a non-entity to us. Yes, a rock band on TV was a novelty to us at the time, but we really did not listen to their music. So what I did is I went through the entire 67 hits of 67 and categorized them as I remember the impression that they made on us at the time. The number on the end indicates how many songs were placed in each category.
Category 1: Loved the song and listened to it all the time: (11)
Category 2: A good song, listened to it as well, but not as good as Category 1: (18)
Category 3: An OK song, enjoyed it, but very possibly would surf the radio for a song from category 1 or 2. Would come back to this song if nothing better was on: (18)
Category 4: Did not really care for these songs and would surf the radio for a better one. Might come back to it if nothing else was on, but would then surf again before it was over until an alternate came along: (14)
Category 5: Strongly disliked (hated) these songs. The buttons would be hit immediately when these songs came on and the radio would be turned off if nothing better was found: (6)
In our community we had two local stations in addition to WLS and WCFL, so we had a total of four buttons to choose from as well as the off / on knob. As we listened to music all of the time, I was a little surprised that I only really liked (11) songs from this list. At this time we were purchasing albums instead of 45s and the 8-track tape decks were also emerging on the market, so we had alternatives.
I’m not going to list the songs in each category but my favorite song on the list is “Light My Fire” by The Doors, preferably the long version. The most hated goes to “Ode To Billie Joe”. This song was so disliked that everyone riding in the car at the time would literally dive for the buttons when the first note came on, which created a couple of near accident situations.   
Robert Campbell
I think we were all in pretty much the same boat back then.  Being a bit younger (13 in 1967), I would have been more into the teeny-bopper scene than you would have, already venturing out into clubs.
There are songs on The Top 67 that I wouldn’t have been caught dead listening to at the time.  (“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” immediately comes to mind … that’s not rock and roll!!!!  You can throw Nancy and Frank Sinatra into that category, too.)
I actually liked “Ode To Billie Joe” until they played it to death.  Other favorites included both monster hits by The Association (“Windy” and “Never My Love” … they played at my High School that year, as did The Turtles … I dug “She’d Rather Be With Me,” “Guide For The Married Man” and “You Know What I Mean”) … Paul Revere and the Raiders, Tommy James and the Shondells, The Mamas and the Papas and, of course, all of the local guys like The Cryan’ Shames, The New Colony Six and The Buckinghams, who were ALWAYS on the charts back then.
“Light My Fire” was a bit too heavy for me at the time … I even favored The Monkees over The Beatles back then because The Beatles grew up WAY faster than I did!  Honestly, they kinda lost me after “Beatles VI” … and I didn’t really get back onboard in a big way until The White Album came out in 1968.  (I had to rediscover things like “Rubber Soul,” “Revolver” and even “Sgt. Pepper” later because I just couldn’t relate to it back then.)
I loved The Cowsills till I found out their Mom was in the band! (lol)  But what a GREAT record that was.  Top Ten Hits by Lulu, The Box Tops and Aretha went right past me (although I DID love Aretha’s “Baby I Love You” and Stevie Wonder’s “I Was Made To Love Her”.  Even The Beach Boys were a little too “far out” for me back then.  (Yet I still consider the Jefferson Airplane track “White Rabbit” and Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” amongst my very favorite records of all time … so go figure!)
It was an AMAZING year for music … hopefully if nothing else, we reiterated that fact during our year-long series … our most ambitious project yet!  Glad to know that we rekindled a few of YOUR memories out there, too!  (kk)

What A Year Kent !!!
1967 was a great year for music. I put more stock in your opinion more than most because the music of ’67 wasn’t carrying as much baggage for your youthful age of innocence as it might have for many of your kk@forgottenhits.com followers such as myself.
I am from the High school Class of ’67 and this past year I attended my Evergreen Park High Class Of 1967 Reunion. I agree with your take on the music of 1967 but I find myself leaning towards awarding the best year in pop music to 66 - 67 when our class entered the halls of our local high school in September of 1966 and departed in June of 1967. Yes, you can add the Summer of ’67 before many of us had our last hurrah before entering the real world of college, work force or military service.
Having entered the Army in January of ’68, I lost, for the most part, my Foster Father DJ’s from WLS and WCFL. I was no longer around to police up my surveys at the local record shops and my entire gang of guys and gals had also moved on, for the most part. 
Yes, I recall a letter from “Just Me, Carol” which asked me if I like the song  Love Is Blue. I remember telling her I’m not too sure I’ve heard it ... was it a new song by The Beach Boys???  Life got a little hectic for most of us in 1968 and even if you were still at home going to school, there were many things that took place that many have put our music and innocence on the back burners.
The best part of your salute to the music of 1967 is that after 50 years it stirred up many a memory bank which now has more redraws than deposits for many of us Baby Boomers. Yes, it was music that my parents even liked. I remember my Dad liking that English girl Petula Clark and the voice of that girl singing Georgy Girl.  
I’m sure you’ve had bloggers asking you if you would salute any other years like maybe the music of 1970 which might have been your senior high school year. Yes, there might be many memories of those songs but I feel you’d have a tough time topping the quantity and quality of the music of 1967.
Thanks again, Kent, for all you do and I wish you and Fran A Very Happy and Healthy 2018.
Just me, 
Jerry
Great letter … thanks, Jerry!
I’ve had more people ask me “Why 1967?” than any other question this past year … I dunno, this was just the year that did it for me … and it still does.  An INCREDIBLE array of music, sights and sounds … a HUGE cultural change, too … I turned 14 at the tail end of The Summer Of Love so it didn’t mean to me what it did to so many others … yet the impact has been life-changing.
What pleases me most is that we’ve been able to take others on this journey thru such a special time … so your letter (and the thousands we’ve received along with it during the course of the past year) mean a lot.
We talked about doing 1971 … which will be MY 50th Year High School Reunion … and yes, there was some interesting music that year … but somehow the exciting sounds of The Osmonds and The Partridge Family just didn’t measure up to the experience of Beatlemania and Sgt. Pepper for me!  (Still, never say never … as you’ll see, we’ll be saluting 1968 in some fashion every weekend this year with the return of our Saturday Surveys feature!)
Anyway, thanks again … a special time for all of us that were there and a fun way to revisit it thanks to the power and the magic of the music.  (kk)

Hi Kent,
We loved the recap of 1967 highlights. I would never have expected to see the "Whipped Cream" LP. Happy New Year!
David Lewis
Some would argue that I will use ANY excuse to run a photo of this cover.  Now THAT sounds a bit extreme, don't you think?  I mean, even if it's true???  Happy New Year, David!  (kk)

(see what I mean!!!)

What a great year of FH! 
Thanks for making 2017 so much better than it would have been without your site to make the music drown out the year of turmoil.  I expect even more turmoil in 2018 outside of the FH cocoon, so I hope you keep this going!  Makes MY 10 hour days manageable at work, even if YOU work even more and still do FH! 
BTW, I would like to mention how GREAT Randy's "Super Charts" were this past year.  I REALLY loved seeing those weekly beside my beloved ‘CFL and ‘LS charts.
Clark Besch
Thanks, Clark … this was a fun one to do.  And very relatable.  It was great to FINALLY pay a fitting tribute to my favorite year of music … and SO many OTHER changes in the world that year, too … a pivotal time both here and abroad.
I’ve heard from SO many people who had personal milestones in 1967 … the year they graduated high school … the year they got married … the year they went into the service … the year Riverview closed down!!! … The Great Snow of ’67 … the year The Fugitive finally caught The One-Armed Man … the year they discovered a whole new world of music out there beyond what their parents were playing at home … or even the Top 40 disc jockeys of the day.
It’s magic … there’s simply no other word for it … it’s what binds us ALL together.  Great Music … Great TV … Great Movies … landmark news and sporting events … we covered ‘em all in this very special year long series. 
And we’re hoping to permanently post it soon so that others can discover it, too.  Stay tuned for more details. (I expect this will be a VERY long process … but worth it based on all the accolades we’ve received so far!)  kk

UPDATE:  We’re skipping the Super Charts for 1968 … maybe we can drive the interest up for these and finally get them published!!!  Meanwhile (as you already know better than anybody else!), we’re resurrecting our Saturday Survey again for this year … and each and every week we’ll be featuring a brand new chart for THAT week in 1968 … so still a way to keep our 50 Year Flashback alive and well.
And Clark Besch has done most of the legwork on this one … because each and every week we’ll be featuring a chart from a different state … meaning that over the course of the year we will have covered the entire United States!!!
This is another HUGE project, to be sure … but be sure to check The Forgotten Hits Website EVERY Saturday to see us cover The Biggest Hits of 1968 from Coast To Coast!  (kk)
 
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