Monday, September 4, 2017

1967 BONUS #42

I had the rare opportunity to listen to oldies radio for eleven consecutive hours on Friday so I split my time between Rewound Radio, The True Oldies Channel and Me-TV-FM.

I was struck by a few things ... first how many of the same songs they each played during a given random three hour stretch (stressing again that other than those occasional "wow" songs they each slipped in, everybody's still playing it safe for the most part by featuring the generic play list adopted by radio for the past several decades) ... and secondly (as mentioned here before) just how many songs from 1967 are still in heavy oldies rotation (proving again just what an incredibly strong year it was for timeless, long-lasting music.) 

Rewound Radio and Me-TV-FM seem to be the most "adventurous" when it comes to programming surprises off the the traditional grid ... each station played one or two unexpected gems every hour, which is kinda disappointing when one considers that only Scott Shannon is bold enough to call his network "The True Oldies Channel," thus displaying the dreaded and forbidden "oldies" word proudly for all the world to see ... which might make one think that HE should be the one featuring more goodies and surprises than anyone else (but instead he seems to be playing it safe for the most part) ... but during my full, extended day of listening, all three stations relied heavily on the music magic of 1967.

In random order, I heard (during an 11 hour stretch):  

"Daydream Believer" by The Monkees (twice), 
"Windy" by The Association (twice), 
"Groovin'" by The Young Rascals, 
"The Letter" by The Box Tops, 
"Light My Fire" by The Doors (I also heard the Jose Feliciano version from '68), 
"Happy Together" by The Turtles, 
"Hello Goodbye" by the Beatles, 
"Respect" by Aretha Franklin (twice), 
"Kind Of A Drag" by The Buckinghams, 
"Incense And Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock,
"Penny Lane' by The Beatles, 
"Little Bit O' Soul" by Music Explosion, 
"The Rain, The Park And Other Things" by The Cowsills,
"Never My Love" by The Association, 
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli, 
"A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" by The Monkees, 
"Come Back When You Grow Up" by Bobby Vee, 
"It Must Be Him" by Vikki Carr, 
"Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees, 
"Baby, I Need Your Lovin'" by Johnny Rivers, 
"San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie (twice), 
"I Second That Emotion" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, 
"Good Thing" by Paul Revere and the Raiders,
"There's A Kind Of Hush" by Herman's Hermits, 
"Don't Sleep In the Subway" by Petula Clark, 
"Mercy Mercy Mercy" by The Buckinghams, 
"Higher And Higher" by Jackie Wilson, 
"Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" by The Casinos, 
"Gimme Some Lovin'" by The Spencer Davis Group, 
"For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield, 
"Let's Live For Today" by The Grass Roots, 
"Gimme Little Sign" by Brenton Wood (twice), 
"C'mon Marianne" by The Four Seasons, 
"I Dig Rock And Roll Music" by Peter, Paul and Mary, 
"A Girl Like You" by The Young Rascals (twice), 
"Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison, 
"I'm A Man" by The Spencer Davis Group, 
"Massachusetts" by The Bee Gees, 
"On A Carousel" by The Hollies, 
"Hey Baby, They're Playing Our Song" by The Buckinghams,
"Heroes And Villains" by The Beach Boys, 
"Keep The Ball Rollin'" by Jay and the Techniques, 
"Museum" by Herman's Hermits, 
"Happy" by The Blades Of Grass and 
"Nights In White Satin" by The Moody Blues (a hit in 1972 but recorded and first released in 1967).

Do the math ... if each station typically programs 16 songs per hour ... and I listened for 11 hours ... that means I had the potential to hear about 175 songs.  If 50 of those all came from 1967, that accounts for an astonishing 28.5%!!!  When one considers that the other 71.5% were split between the roughly remaining 30 years of music that fits the oldiesformat, this becomes an almost staggering ratio.

But hey, we've been telling you that all year long!!!  1967 was THE year for music ... and there are at least another 50 songs from 1967 that are also regularly featured in somewhat heavy rotation that I just didn't happen to hear during my eleven hour stretch.  Amazing!!!


Here are the Top 40 British Charts for September, 1967, courtesy of our FH Buddy Rockin' Lord Geoff Lambert:  

According to Record Retailer the top thirty singles on the UK charts for week ending September 9th 1967 were:

WK LW TW 
03 - 03 - 01 - Engelbert Humperdinck - The Last Waltz
09 - 01 - 02 - Scott McKenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)
07 - 02 - 03 - Tom Jones - I'll Never Fall In Love Again
03 - 07 - 04 - Rolling Stones - We Love You
04 - 13 - 05 - Keith West - Excerpt from 'A Teenage Opera'

06 - 05 - 06 - Tremeloes - Even the Bad Times Are Good

05 - 04 - 07 - Alan Price Set - The House That Jack Built
09 - 06 - 08 - Stevie Wonder - I Was Made To Love Her
09 - 08 - 09 - Anita Harris - Just Loving You
03 - 11 - 10 - Beach Boys - Heroes and Villains
04 - 10 - 11 - Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday
04 - 12 - 12 - Small Faces - Itchycoo Park
09 - 09 - 13 - Beatles - All You Need Is Love
02 - 21 - 14 - Flowerpot Men - Let's Go To San Francisco
03 - 18 - 15 - Jimi Hendrix Experience - The Burning Of the Midnight Lamp
04 - 20 - 16 - Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hangin' On
01 - NE - 17 - Diana Ross and the Supremes - Reflections
02 - 27 - 17 - Traffic - Hole In My Shoe
03 - 25 - 19 - Frankie Vaughan - There Must Be A Way
09 - 15 - 20 - Johnny Mann Singers - Up, Up and Away
04 - 21 - 21 - Cliff Richard - The Day I Met Marie
06 - 17 - 22 - Mamas and the Papas - Creeque Alley
12 - 16 - 23 - Vikki Carr - It Must Be Him
06 - 19 - 24 - Amen Corner - Gin House Blues
08 - 14 - 25 - Dave Davies - Death of a Clown
02 - 30 - 26 - Cat Stevens - A Bad Night
16 - 28 - 27 - Engelbert Humperdinck - There Goes My Everything
08 - 29 - 28 - Otis Redding and Carla Thomas - Tramp
08 - 23 - 29 - Nancy Sinatra - You Only Live Twice
01 - NE - 30 - Dubliners - Black Velvet Band

According to Record Retailer the top thirty singles on the UK charts for week ending September 16th 1967 were:

WK LW TW
04 - 01 - 01 - Engelbert Humperdinck - The Last Waltz
08 - 03 - 02 - Tom Jones - I'll Never Fall In Love Again
05 - 05 - 03 - Keith West - Excerpt From 'A Teenage Opera'
10 - 02 - 04 - Scott Mckenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)
05 - 12 - 05 - Small Faces - Itchycoo Park
07 - 06 - 06 - Tremeloes - Even The Bad Times Are Good
04 - 04 - 07 - Rolling Stones - We Love You
03 - 14 - 08 - Flowerpot Men - Let's Go To San Francisco
02 - 17 - 09 - Diana Ross And The Supremes - Reflections
10 - 09 - 10 - Anita Harris - Just Loving You
06 - 07 - 11 - Alan Price Set - The House That Jack Built
10 - 08 - 12 - Stevie Wonder - I Was Made To Love Her
04 - 10 - 13 - Beach Boys - Heroes And Villains
05 - 21 - 14 - Cliff Richard - The Day I Met Marie
04 - 15 - 15 - Jimi Hendrix Experience - The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp
05 - 11 - 16 - Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday
04 - 19 - 17 - Frankie Vaughan - There Must Be A Way
01 - NE - 18 - Move - Flowers In The Rain
03 - 17 - 19 - Traffic - Hole In My Shoe
10 - 13 - 20 - Beatles - All You Need Is Love
02 - 30 - 21 - Dubliners - Black Velvet Band
05 - 16 - 22 - Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hangin' On
07 - 22 - 23 - Mamas And The Papas - Creeque Alley
01 - NE - 24 - Eric Burdon And The Animals - Good Times
07 - 24 - 25 - Amen Corner - Gin House Blues
01 - NE - 26 - Temptations - You're My Everything
09 - 25 - 27 - Dave Davies - Death Of A Clown
10 - 20 - 28 - Johnny Mann Singers - Up, Up And Away
01 - NE - 28 - Bee Gees - Massachussetts
09 - 29 - 30 - Nancy Sinatra - You Only Live Twice

According to Record Retailer the top thirty singles on the UK charts for week ending September 23rd 1967 were:

WK LW TW
05 - 01 - 01 - Engelbert Humperdinck - The Last Waltz
06 - 03 - 02 - Keith West - Excerpt From 'A Teenage Opera'
06 - 05 - 03 - Small Faces - Itchycoo Park
09 - 02 - 04 - Tom Jones - I'll Never Fall In Love Again
04 - 08 - 05 - Flowerpot Men - Let's Go To San Francisco
03 - 09 - 06 - Diana Ross And The Supremes - Reflections
11 - 04 - 07 - Scott Mckenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)
02 - 18 - 08 - Move - Flowers In The Rain
08 - 06 - 09 - Tremeloes - Even The Bad Times Are Good
11 - 10 - 10 - Anita Harris - Just Loving You
04 - 19 - 11 - Traffic - Hole In My Shoe
06 - 14 - 12 - Cliff Richard - The Day I Met Marie
05 - 07 - 13 - Rolling Stones - We Love You
05 - 17 - 14 - Frankie Vaughan - There Must Be A Way
05 - 13 - 15 - Beach Boys - Heroes And Villains
11 - 12 - 16 - Stevie Wonder - I Was Made To Love Her
05 - 15 - 17 - Jimi Hendrix Experience - The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp
07 - 11 - 18 - Alan Price Set - The House That Jack Built
02 - 28 - 19 - Bee Gees - Massachussetts
03 - 21 - 20 - Dubliners - Black Velvet Band
02 - 24 - 21 - Eric Burdon And The Animals - Good Times
01 - NE - 22 - Box Tops - The Letter
06 - 16 - 23 - Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday
06 - 22 - 24 - Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hangin' On
01 - NE - 25 - Frankie Mcbride - Five Little Fingers
01 - NE - 26 - Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billy Joe
01 - RE - 27 - Engelbert Humperdinck - There Goes My Everything
01 - NE - 28 - Frank Sinatra - The World We Knew
11 - 28 - 29 - Johnny Mann Singers - Up, Up And Away
02 - 26 - 30 - Temptations - You're My Everything

According to Record Retailer the top thirty singles on the UK charts for week ending September 30th 1967 were:

WK LW TW
06 - 01 - 01 - Engelbert Humperdinck - The Last Waltz
07 - 02 - 02 - Keith West - Excerpt From 'A Teenage Opera'
03 - 08 - 03 - Move - Flowers In The Rain
04 - 06 - 04 - Diana Ross And The Supremes - Reflections
05 - 11 - 05 - Traffic - Hole In My Shoe
07 - 03 - 06 - Small Faces - Itchycoo Park
05 - 05 - 07 - Flowerpot Men - Let's Go To San Francisco
10 - 04 - 08 - Tom Jones - I'll Never Fall In Love Again
06 - 14 - 09 - Frankie Vaughan - There Must Be A Way
12 - 07 - 10 - Scott Mckenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)
07 - 12 - 11 - Cliff Richard - The Day I Met Marie
02 - 22 - 12 - Box Tops - The Letter
03 - 19 - 13 - Bee Gees - Massachussetts
12 - 10 - 14 - Anita Harris - Just Loving You
09 - 09 - 15 - Tremeloes - Even The Bad Times Are Good
04 - 20 - 16 - Dubliners - Black Velvet Band
01 - NE - 17 - Seekers - When Will The Good Apples Fall
06 - 13 - 18 - Rolling Stones - We Love You
02 - 26 - 19 - Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billy Joe
02 - 25 - 20 - Frankie Mcbride - Five Little Fingers
03 - 21 - 21 - Eric Burdon And The Animals - Good Times
06 - 15 - 22 - Beach Boys - Heroes And Villains
12 - 16 - 23 - Stevie Wonder - I Was Made To Love Her
01 - NE - 23 - Herd - From The Underworld
06 - 17 - 25 - Jimi Hendrix Experience - The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp
01 - NE - 26 - Mindbenders - The Letter
02 - 27 - 27 - Engelbert Humperdinck - There Goes My Everything
07 - 24 - 28 - Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hangin' On
01 - NE - 29 - Hollies - King Midas In Reverse
01 - NE - 30 - Georgie Fame - Try My World
Take care, 
Rockin’ Lord Geoff (in England)


>>>I really enjoyed your coverage of the 50th anniversary of the final episode of The Fugitive. That stands as one of my personal Top 5 significant TV moments of all time. I can still hear announcer Hank Simms' voice saying "August 29th, 1967 - The Day The Running Stopped."   (David Lewis) 
>>>That wasn't William Conrad?  Check out this clip ... and listen to that famous line ... where the heck did THIS come from?!?!?  (kk) 
Wow - It was indeed William Conrad who spoke that line. Dick Wesson and Hank Simms both shared announcing duties for the credits (but not the narration), and I though Hank had said that line -- but it was Conrad for sure. As for the other question, the final episodes must've been delayed a week in some markets, perhaps Hawaii? We all heard August, but this is Bill Conrad saying September 5, without the year.
David 
I was shocked to hear the alternate date ... the only way I've ever heard it was "August 29th".  (kk)  

Kent,  
So many comments to make regarding your recent posts.
First up, Roy Orbison as a gun fighter just did not work for me -- or for the public, I think.  For one thing, without his signature sunglasses, it was odd to see HIS face!  Plus, the best song on that soundtrack, if I remember correctly, was not even in the film.  "There Won't Be Many Coming Home" was the song that I bought the soundtrack for.  In the mid-60's, this could have been a very important song for him amidst all the war turmoil, but no one ever heard it.  It rivals "Waist deep in the big Muddy" by Pete Seeger.  If only the Smothers would have had Roy on to sing this in 1967!

Also ... Charlie OFD wrote: The "Ode To Billie Joe" clip led me to "Harper Valley PTA" from '68, but two songs that compliment one another (at least in my head). 
I agree with Charlie.  I always think about "Billie Joe" knocking the Beatles off the top and then revenge came in '68 with "Hey Jude" besting "PTA". 

I am also loving the banter between the Cryan' Shames members.  Great memories.  Sorry, I cannot vote on top four songs by them, as they change constantly.  Wink 

As for Carl Giammerese's and JC Hooke's "no money" thing, it happened so much and yet ... it made us fans remember you guys for 50 years!  Without Bonafede and DJs like Dex Card, who knows if you would have been remembered at all, or signed with Columbia. 

Clark Weber commented about liking "Zip Code."  I agree that it is a great record, but when I worked with Sundazed Music on their Five Americans CDs, I told them that WCFL's "Winter Gold" various hits album had a long version of the song not available elsewhere.  This was when Clark had moved over to 'CFL in '69.  Maybe he got the song for that LP.  Anyway, Sundazed eventually bought the entire Abnak Records masters and did a new CD that included the long version that Kent posted.  The original 45 version had a shorter mid-solo and ending. 



The back cover showed all the CFL jocks, of which MOST were on WLS not long before!

I have to agree with you ... Roy Orbison just doesn't look right without his trademark sunglasses. (Think "Shades" in "That Thing You Do"!!!)
Simply put, he's not a handsome man ... or what you would expect as "leading man" material in a motion picture!  (A likely factor in this being his only screen role.)  I remember when WLS DJ Fred Winston got in trouble for introducing a Roy Orbison song as being by "the ugliest man in show business"!  lol
I wasn't familiar with the track you featured but I really like it.  Again, I agree ... this could have been a very timely hit for Roy in 1967.
I'll have to look for another copy of "Zip Code" (the single mix) ... the only copy I have is the one I posted, which came from the Sundazed collection you mentioned.
And how many of us bought those WCFL compilation albums back in the days before K-Tel cornered the market!!!  I'm sure I still have a complete set buried around here somewhere!
Thanks, Clark!  (kk)  

Out this week (Friday, September 8th), is a brand new Beatles documentary "It Was Fifty Years Ago Today," exploring The Beatles during their "Sgt. Pepper" era.





 
Read more here:



You can hear us count down some of our 1967 Favorites here:
http://fh1967listeningstation.blogspot.com/
at

Friday, September 1, 2017

1967 BONUS #41

You asked:  
Was there a Summer of Love in The UK or was that just an American thing??? 
My memory Kent just a US thing we just loved the music. Take care,
Rockin’ Lord Geoff (England)


Hola Kent,
Wow where has the Summah Gone? 
FH67 rolling along and maintaining its quality ... it never gets boring ... well done.
However the "Ode To Billie Joe" clip led me to "Harper Valley PTA" from '68, but two songs that compliment one another (at least in my head).
The Fugitive with David Janssen evoked memories of his attempt at recording.  "The Hidden Island" was a surreal soft spoken ballad of unrequited love that, at the time, was only heard on late night music shows. Kind of a tribute to Fantasy Island with a kick in the pants at the end. Pretty decent lyrics and wordplay. 
It came out in '65 so off topic, but on youtube still.
Have a great Labor Day!
CharlieOFD
Boy, you're not kidding ... this whole YEAR is flying by for me. 
When I was building the 1967 Series I thought it would be so nice to just relax a little bit and watch it unfold ... I still check it every morning myself because I can't remember every little detail I snuck in there.  Even having created it I am still amazed by what I find!  (Yeah, I'm pretty proud of this one.)
I wasn't aware of the David Janssen clip ... will have to check that out.  "The Fugitive" was ... and still remains ... one of my all-time favorite shows.  It has aged very well ... good writing, good acting, good directing ... just a top notch series for the ages.
"Harper Valley PTA"???  Not so much.  (kk)

Your extensive coverage of the two-part finale of The Fugitive shows your passion for the show - not only as a fan but one with deep appreciation for all that went into making Dr. Richard Kimble's four year run a successful one.  It's a shame that none of the principle characters are still with us today as I think they would have appreciated your tribute.
Edward
Yeah, I loved it ... and I still do.  I remember when the show first went into syndication I was still in school and used to come home for lunch ... it ran from noon to 1:00 Chicago time and I would sit there in front of the tv, always having to leave ten minutes before it ended to head back to school.  Frustrating as all hell (but I still watched it every day anyway!)  When a tv station would run the finale, even in syndication, it would always create a huge buzz of publicity.  Just a consistently good show that still holds up today.  (kk)

"The Fugitive" is one of my favorite old shows.  I can still recite the William Conrad ("Cannon") intro word for word.  Don't ask me why!
I always thought -- no matter how bad the economy was, Richard Kimble had no trouble finding a new job every week.
Frank B. 

Kent,
I really enjoyed your coverage of the 50th anniversary of the final episode of The Fugitive. That stands as one of my personal Top 5 significant TV moments of all time. I can still hear announcer Hank Simms' voice saying "August 29th, 1967 - The Day The Running Stopped." 
David Lewis
That wasn't William Conrad?
Check out this clip ... and listen to that famous line ... where the heck did THIS come from?!?!?  (kk)
>>>I always thought -- no matter how bad the economy was, Richard Kimble had no trouble finding a new job every week.  (Frank B) 
Not only did Richard Kimble have a cool job in every town, he had a number of hot girl friends. 
Randy  
Yes, he did ... and they all seemed to fall in love with him in under 20 minutes!!!  (It didn't seem like he was missing his wife all that much, did it???)  kk


Kent:
Diggin' the more-or-less interactive back and forth!  
I'd like to respond to Jimmy Pilster's (really great) piece: 
It is really good to know that Jimmy was happy. He was a really important motivator for on-stage energy! And he's a solid business motivator as well.
I think that perhaps my thoughts on Moby Grape were misinterpreted: I felt that they, in their own way, were as poorly managed by CBS as we were. They were over-hyped, to where the public was turned-off. We were under-promoted, to where only our (greater midwest) fans 'got it'.
A few thoughts on 'First Train', et al. ...
I'm just being the same person that I was in the 60's: looking for a better take, a new sound. It's my way of being true to the spirit of this. I've had volumes of feedback from those who see and sense this, which I'd be glad to share (if they don't mind) ... but for me, if you REALLY want to pay tribute, you've got to dig down and find that part of you that drove you back then ... and bring it. 
It's the best that I have to offer.
All the best,
James

Hey Kent (and Jim):
Jim Pilster's recollections are spot on. He and I lived for a live performance. It is really hard to relate what the band was at that particular time. We sang great. We played great. And we had an absolutely explosive live show. At that time, groups that played their own instruments just came out on stage stood behind a microphone and sang the songs. We didn't. We took up the whole stage and projected manic energy for 90 minutes. The reason we did this is that we were so excited to play our songs ... we wanted people to feel not only the song but the energy that we had. Being 72, we are just not going to be able to replicate that, although we can make the song sound as good as possible.
My personal favorite set for the four songs we do would be "It Could Be We're In Love," "I Wanna Meet You," "Up On The Roof," and "Sugar And Spice."  But there are three of us in the group and some of us want to do songs one way and others want to do things another way. The secret to us playing currently is compromise.
I do have an idea. Maybe we could have the fans give us an idea of the four songs they would like us to perform. They can either send them into you at Forgotten Hits, they could send them to the Cryan' Shames website on Facebook or they can send them to my page, or Jim Pilster's page, or James Fairs' page.
I want all of you to know that I consider it a great joy to be able to play this music still. Even though we will never be able to capture the magic of our youth, hearing the songs again can give all of us great memories of a magical time passed.
Toad
I'm up for taking votes but my guess is they'll come in exactly the way you've listed them here.  If taken in the true spirit of "Majority Rules," then the set list should be golden.  And, I would encourage you guys to do some shows outside the realm of Cornerstones so you can have it both ways as a means of satisfying EVERYONE in the band ... think how many more cool songs could be added.  (James had suggested "Hey Joe" and has even written a new track ... honestly within the context of a stand-alone Cryan' Shames show, the prospects are limitless!  And I'll betcha fans would LOVE to see it!)
But, for the sake of Cornerstones, put your very best foot forward ... and give the fans what they came to hear.  (kk)

In reference to a comment that Jim Pilster made on your website, yes, we all get screwed back in the day.
First off, these are my feelings, so I’m not speaking for Nick Fortuna, Dennis Tufano, John Poulos or Marty Grebb. 
I think it was because of several reasons. We were young, new and trusting. In 1965, we didn’t care about anything except making music, and meeting girls. We didn’t pay much attention to the business side of it.
Yeah, there were deals cut behind closed doors that we didn’t know about, and we really didn’t care, and because of that, we were taken advantage of … wish I knew then what I know now. Carl Bonafede may have gotten money from USA Records we didn’t know about, but we paid him 10% of what we made, and the guy worked his ass off for us. Unfortunately our parents didn’t get involved and trusted everyone at the time. 
Carl Bonafede brought us Kind Of A Drag. The Buckinghams went as far as we could in and around Chicago and the tri-state area. We had a lot of momentum and a great following. The band looked great, and sounded great, but we desperately needed a national hit, an original song and Bonafede found that for us with Kind Of A Drag. That changed everything! The song went to #1 nationally and our contract with USA ran out. Like I said, we didn’t know much about the business end of the music business, but collectively we knew down deep inside we were headed to being one hit wonders like many other Chicago bands at the time. Some really good bands became no hit wonders because they stayed with certain Chicago music people. Carl Bonafede was the first to admit he couldn’t take us any further. Because of Bonafede and USA we missed out on capitalizing on the #1 success of Kind Of A Drag ... no national TV, no teen magazine articles, not much promotion.   Thats when James William Guercio, and Garrick Ebbins came along. Guercio was originally from Chicago but now was writing songs and playing with Chad & Jeremy. Ebbins was an LA guy whose father, I think, managed Anthony Quinn. Even with a #1 record we still weren’t making any serious money. 
I remember being threatened by certain people associated with USA Records that we’d never get another record played on Chicago radio. We were all scared, afraid they were right. We made the move anyway.
Guercio signed us with Columbia, we recorded another Jim Holvay song, Don’t You Care, and soon found out Chicago had to play it because it took off everywhere in the country. In other words, the treat had no teeth. We probably got screwed by USA as I never saw any serious money from them. 
Guercio was not only our manager, but was also our record producer. God only knows what kind of deal he had with Columbia. We had four top ten records he produced while managing us. We should have known something was wrong. Even with all those hits, we were drawing a salary of about $100 a week and Guercio was driving around LA in a Jaguar XKE and wearing Brioni suits. Also, his accountant handled all the money we made, definitely a conflict of interest. In 1967 we were on the road playing maybe 250 or more dates at about $4,000 per date ... that could have been $1,000,000 or more gross that year? And we were getting $100 per week ... ha! In 1967, a million was like 10 million today.
At the time I think the highest paid group was the Beach Boys, making about $10,000 per night.
When I think about it, Guercio only managed us for a little over a year. Things came to a head when we finally realized there was money to be made in music publishing. Even though none of us were writers at the time except Marty Grebb, but even Marty never wrote a hit. I believe Jim Guercio took publishing and some of the writing from Holvay, too. Guercio was way ahead of us ... he realized early on there was a lot of money to be made from publishing.
When Guercio promised us publishing on our song writing from the Portraits album and then reneged, we fired him. Until today I think am the only one who thinks it was a mistake ... we shouldn’t have left him. I believe we would have had at least another three hits if we stayed with Jim, maybe more. After that we made a lot more mistakes until we disbanded by 1970.
Carl Bonafede is still a dear friend. I am probably the only Buckingham that still communicates with Guercio. He gave me an interview for an autobiography that I still haven’t finished. It shed some light on things and we talk occasionally. Don’t get me wrong, I have reminded him of the fact that I felt he wasn’t looking out for us and took advantage of the situation. But like I said, he managed us for barely over a year, and it was 50 years ago. I can’t be bitter because since the resurgence in our music in 1980, and because of our great fans, Nick Fortuna and I have been able to resurrect The Buckinghams with great success. It has allowed us to make a living from what we love to do ... make music.
Carl GiammareseThe Buckinghams
I do believe EVERYBODY got screwed in some fashion back in the day ... and I'm sure it's still going on to some degree today.  You had a bunch of teenage and barely 20 kids living their ultimate dream ... playing music ... having the adoration of the fans ... touring the country and getting on tv ... most were happily living in the moment with little thought as to what might be going on behind the scenes.  In hindsight, they all got cheated ... but at the time they were all just having too much fun to really think about it.  (And think of the schedules and pressures back then!)  Not much anybody can do about it now (although most have taken all these matters into their own hands at this point to at least know where every dollar is being spent!)  Still, I'd venture to say that most, if not all, wouldn't have considered trading it away even for a moment.  The priceless memories ... NOTHING can take that away.  SO proud that we could share so many with our readers through Forgotten Hits over the years.  Back in the day we couldn't have dreamed of getting anywhere near these artists ... but now, some fifty years on, I am happy to claim so many of them as friends and supporters of what we do here.  We truly have come full cycle.  And I believe that most (if not all) of these artists are more appreciative NOW of the success and loyalty they've earned than at any time when they were living in the bubble of success.  (kk)

One reason I got into the business end of music was that even a dozen years after picking up a guitar, I wanted to know how the recording industry worked, so I wouldn't get screwed out of the mega millions I stood to earn from my hit singles and albums. Also I wanted to make sure I got that extra dollar for eight tracks.
I would have been that teenager Carl talks about in his response to the Cryan' Shames article you posted.
You were a musician, Kent ... you know it could have been you, too. All it takes is the right set of ears and eyes at the right time, and it's, "C'mon, kid, we're gonna make you a star."
Truth be told, managers who will go to the mat for their clients are very few. The government has nothing on the suits in the record business when it comes to creative accounting.
We had a saying at a one of the record distributors I worked for. The record went out gold, and came back platinum. It is difficult to fathom how 50,000 singles ordered end up to be 75,000 singles returned. Then, by the time the final accounting is done, and by the time the figures are shown to the client, the count is now 100,000. So much for your advance, buckaroo.
Of course we're assuming Carl and the others ever saw a realistic accounting. Columbia wasn't as bad as some others. Dunhill and Motown come to mind, not to mention the countless number of small labels that pop up and disappear after ripping off their artist.
There's promotional expenses, recording costs, and someone's got to put up the payola money. It's certainly not gonna be Clive Davis, Berry Gordy, Morris Levy, or any other executive. Any number of musicians who participate in FH can attest to it.
It's a coincidence that Carl's post runs on the anniversary of Brian Epstein's death. By all accounts, it seems that Brian was a fair manager, but he too was naive. He shouldn't have allowed the Beatles to sell their publishing. Elvis Presley is probably the biggest name in entertainment ever ... talk about getting the short end of the stick!
Colonel Parker rightly assumed that as long as his boy had more money than he knew what to do with, he would (could) pocket the rest. Can you imagine the money Elvis must have brought in thru record sales, movies, merchandise sales, etc? I would have asked Priscilla where did the money go?
Now that us aging baby boomers have either had their rock and roll dreams come true, or shattered, it's time to pass the advice on to the next generation, or the one after that. 
Rule #1:  Don't sign anything, especially if you're not 21.
Rule #2:  Get two lawyers to look at the contract. Make sure they don't know one another, and don't tell either about the other.
Rule #3:  Get an accountant ... and don't trust him / her either. If it sounds funky to you, it probably is.
No matter what figure they throw at you, it's too low.
I know now of the shenanigans the labels play, but at age 67 I don't think my rock and roll dreams are going to come true ... unless I can get Jim Steinman to produce my music.
I've still got my master recordings. If he's not available, I'd settle for Jim Peterik or Jimy Sohns.
At this point in time, if it means a million seller, I'll give you a slice of the publishing.
Have your people call mine.
Kent has the number.
Jack Levin

Kent;  
Certainly enjoying the return of WLS’s 1967 Super Summer promotion including the Treasure Truck.
I was the WLS PD at that time and I had to fight ABC New York tooth and nail to get the funds for that promotion. While WLS was making money hand over fist, it was being funneled into new station FM budgets which were at that time a money pit trying to get a foothold in the market. Now it’s the other way around!
This week in '67 WLS charted “Zip Code” by the Five Americans at #15 and WCFL listed it as #17. Both Jim Stagg, the PD at WCFL and I were guessing on the success of that song and we both struck out!
Clark Weber
Well, it was big in Chicago ... #12 on WLS ... and I liked it!  (In fact, I still do!)  kk

Perhaps the trippiest single during the Summer Of Love came from the UK group Traffic. "Hole In My Shoe," their second single, was released at the end of August, 1967. It was mostly a Dave Mason production and, to the rest of the group's dismay, the British public loved it. The now psych-pop classic became the group's biggest hit, peaking at UK #2, but failed to chart in the US.
The lyrics suggested LSD hallucinogenic imagery although Mason insisted the ideas for the song came to him in a dream. Nonetheless the record created discord within the group as the others didn't want Traffic to be a pop singles band. Steve Winwood envisioned them being more of an eclectic blend of English folk rock, jazz, blues, and psychedelia. Contentiousness over differences of musical opinion led Mason to briefly leave the group by year's end.  
Traffic would become a staple of American album oriented FM rock stations in the Seventies. The young girl in the song with the whispered interlude about an albatross was Island Records boss Chris Blackwell's stepdaughter.          
"I climbed on the back of a giant albatross,
Which flew through a crack in the cloud, 
To a place where happiness reigned all year round,
And music played ever so loudly"
Peter Green was inspired by it to name his Fleetwood Mac 1969 UK #1 instrumental "Albatross".
Mike G
at

Saturday, August 26, 2017

1967 BONUS #40 (and The Cryan' Shames - Part 3)

So this is the 34th Week of our 1967 Calendar Series ...

 And our 40th Bonus Post!

 Glad you guys are enjoying this enough to keep those comments coming.

 We've got a brand new batch to share with you today ...

 Along with some memories from Jim "Hooke" Pilster of The Cryan' Shames about The Summer Of Love and their big Chicagoland #1 Hit "It Could Be We're In Love" ...

 Enjoy! 

From Jim Pilster of The Cryan' Shames ...

I could never equal Tom's or Fairs's  recollections ...  

as James said, we all remember differently.  

I do remember how everything just seemed to fall into place and we got to keep playing and I had fun and the people in front of us were having fun.

We don't have a lot of old clips from back then - we were SO early that any pictures you have of us were taken on a Brownie - I don't think I really have ANY film of us from then either - we didn't do a lot of television - it was tough being the first one out of the box - and in this city, we really were the first.  We were the first one to sign to a major label - I think The New Colony Six may have had a record or two out before we did, but their dad ran their label.

I didn't really go out and try to join a group - I mean, I didn't really play anything - my voice is not that good - I just always had a lot of enthusiasm - and a friend of mine, Fred Bohlander, who managed The Shames before they were The Shames - The Travelers - he was one grade ahead of me in high school - and we got to be friends and I saw the group play at the high school one time - and I think they might have even had a girl singer at the time - and I liked it and it was fun and Fred was trying to help them and he got them some gigs and somehow he got me up on stage and then my mom and I had a down rod and we made a hook with a screw in it and I started wearing that so that I didn't have to bang my hand on a tambourine and it got to be kind of a little thing - I mean I wasn't really lookin' for this, it just kind of happened, and I never really wanted it - I just wanted to be out there - and movin' - I've gotta keep movin', ya know.  Fred ended up owning Monterrey Peninsula Artists, a giant booking agency that at one time handled everyone from Aerosmith to Huey Lewis and Bonnie Raitt ... and he is still working.  We dedicated our first album to him.

I really don't remember that much about it because it just happened so fast - and it was just all so matter of fact for me - sort of like meeting two beautiful women and marrying them and getting four holes in one, one-handed.

Shit just happens.

And even when we thought we had a big hit, it was really hard feeling like big shit when you were driving down the East coast in a van and a station wagon on your promotion tour which, when we played live, we had such a GREAT live show - it was so different from anything they had seen - other guys would just stand there and we were all over the place - me and Doody were jumpin' around all over the place and the other guys would just have to step back - we had such an energetic, mesmerizing live show that it just carried the band ... it just made us hard to forget. 

And then when I started wearing that big hook, that was REALLY weird.  At some point, I cut everybody in the group - to where our only rule on stage was "Hooke, don't hurt anybody!"  It was REALLY sharp when I first got it, but we honed it down and tried to keep it safe - but along the way I cut me, I cut everybody in the group.
It was hard to feel like you were hot shit when you were traveling in a van and a station wagon and I remember when we crossed over the Georgia / Florida line in the middle of the night and we were going down to Miami for the Columbia convention and we were listening to WLS and we heard that our song went #1 - that was the most excited I ever got about charts or anything else - we were just jumping around inside the van - it was amazing.

Fairs was wrong about one thing ... I was happy; when we were on stage, making people smile, moving.  Everything else ... recording, rehearsing, meetings, management, record label ... were all bullshit we put up with so we could get up and perform and please the fans ... and we were awesome in concert with me and Tom jumping around ... and those Shames harmonies ... the band was tight and everything just seemed to fit.  

I really hated recording - it was really boring and Doody and I would go out and walk around while Fairs worked on getting his special sound for a day and a half.  He really was the producer on that album - I don't care what anybody says or what it says on the cover - he produced it.  Golden and Monaco were up in the hallways while Fairs got drum sounds for ten hours, bass sounds for eight hours - he produced the whole thing because he knew what he wanted.  

We really got control - when we went to the studio in Chicago, we had four-track mono studio, which I didn't like - me and Doody slept underneath the piano while they were doing all the tracks.  We would go up and play in Wisconsin, do our show, and then drive down to the studio and then be there all night. And then we'd be driving home and hear the song we were doing in the studio that night on the radio - it was crazy times.

And when we got the contract with Columbia, we had to record in a Columbia studio per the contract - and the Columbia studios in Chicago were terrible - so we either had to go to Nashville or New York or LA - and management decided that we would go to New York - and we would just go in there and we'd think, "Oh God, this place is SO great" - and we would have these LONG sessions, getting everything we wanted - and of course later we found out it all came off our royalties - so did the studio time - I think we spent fifteen hours recording the first album and then the next one was 112, I think, with tracks like "It Could Be We're In Love" and "Up On The Roof".  Great sounds - great songs.
And Jim (it's still hard for me to call him James!) just had such persistence - he knew exactly what he wanted to hear but we didn't know what he was doing - it was taking a long time, I know that - but obviously it worked.

We kept The Beatles out of #1 - we kept The Doors out of #1 - we kept The Monkees out of #1 - but we couldn't keep Bobbie Gentry out of #1! (Go figure that!)

But hey, four weeks at #1 is a hell of a run, you know - and Columbia didn't do nothing with it.  Wherever we played live, it went Top 10 - but they would send us on these Goddamn promotion tours and we'd come into town with just guitars and maybe a tambourine and go to the radio station and then go to the record hops and then we'd lip sync - go do a television show and lip sync - it got to be such a joke because Doody would play bass and I would play guitar - and it was just a joke.  And it never made much difference because we'd come into town and they'd be playing our record and we just used to joke that we could hear the radio station pull our record - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzip - right off the turntable as soon as we were leaving and driving out of town.  They just played it while we were there.

But where we played live, we would got Top 10.  We finally talked them into letting us go out and do some live shows - and paid for us to do it - and it worked.  We got it into the Top 80 nationally, but it was never #1 in any market at the same time.  We'd be #1 here for four weeks - and then we'd be #1 in Cleveland for four weeks - but AFTERWARDS - never at the same time - they'd never work it right.

We were the first or at least one of the first and they didn't know what to do with us.  Fairs blames it on Moby Grape but there was more to it than that.  We'd go play a town and find out that the week before or the week after, Moby Grape would be through there.  And they would just be assholes.  They would pull up in a cab and open the cab doors and then just literally roll out of the cab and roll down the street - they were trying to be really weird - so all the promotion guys really loved them and they were always a lot of fun.  They were partiers and we'd come along and they wouldn't know quite what to do with us - I mean, let's face it - we were NOT the average rock band.

First of all, you've got a one-armed guy in the band with a big hook - and they can sing like angels - but they're jumping all around and rockin' like crazy - so what are you going to do with them?  I mean Columbia could hardly handle a regular rock band!

Everybody talks about The Shames' harmonies but everybody was singing harmonies - our first set, even as The Travelers, before we started writing our own material, our first shows were always three sets - one set was The Beatles, one set was The Stones and one set was The Byrds - and that's a LOT of harmonies, except for The Stones ... but The Stones rocked.  And the guitarists were good, Dave Purple on bass was excellent and Dennis on drums could carry it as far as it could go - and Doody's voice was excellent.  And at the time, when we first broke, even the radio disc jockeys kept saying that he was from Liverpool 'cause he always talked in a British accent - and we'd be on the air, on the radio, and the disc jockey would say "So what part of Liverpool are you from?" and Doody would pour on this thick, British accent - and Doody could bullshit anything - so we went with that and that got a lot of girls all over us - and that's what I went for!  That's what I was in there for!

It was a weird time in music - and when we signed on with Columbia, I guess there was like a $100,000 signing bonus (or at least I've heard this since) and the managers got it - and that would be like a million dollars today, probably more, and we never saw any of it.  But everybody was getting screwed back then. 

Things could have been so much bigger and better than it was with Columbia - but the live shows really carried this band, at least at the beginning.  Doody and me jumping around on stage and these guys putting down really good music in the background - and, to be honest with you, the harmonies in the group live were kind of a joke because the PA systems back then were so terrible - SO terrible - we had a sponsorship with Shure - Shure sponsored us with microphones and PA's - and we ended up using their PA as monitors - and if you look on the back of the original "Sugar And Spice" album, you'll see us at the original Arie Crown Theatre at McCormick Place before it burned - we were opening for The Byrds - which we did for like $600 because we loved The Byrds - and we got to meet The Byrds - and we loved them so much we would have done the show for free just to meet them - but if you look at the back cover, we were using Shure columns for guitar amps, which was crazy.  PA systems were so bad that people would hear them on the record and then you couldn't really hear them when we played live because everybody played SO loud and the PA systems were SO bad - but even after we had the hit record and it went to #1, we'd still go back and play Dex Card's Wild Gooses and The Green Gorilla, The Purple Penguin or whatever it was - and we'd play wherever we could because there really weren't that many places to play. We didn't play nightclubs until right at the very end - downtown - no big concert venues.

We played The Auditorium Theater with Procol Harum - and that was great - that was a great show - Procol Harum and Mavis Staples and Rotary Connection - that was a great show - tickets were probably ten bucks. 

We were the first ones - the first rock band - to ever play The Aragon Theater - which was the worst place to play ever - We played with The Turtles on Wacker Drive - we did some great shows.

Keeping a group together is like keeping a marriage with six wives - you just can't do it and please everybody if all of them have a voice ... and that's what broke up the group originally.  If we were organized to the point that somebody had final say ... you could voice your opinion, take it under consideration but then ultimately one person had final say ... we would probably still be together today ... with all the same guys.

I guess that's what made me keep the Shames playing for the last four decades. But being the booker, manager, road manager, advance man, AND performer have kind of taken it's toll.  The band would love to work more ... do more group shows as just The Cryan' Shames ... but I just don't have the fire in my belly anymore to do it.

Bottom line is "It Could Be We're In Love" was a great song and its success allowed us to work more and experience better gigs. Sure, it should have been a much wider hit ... but you gotta work with what ya got. I think we have done very well with what we were given. As I said, I was proud of every single we released, and our stage show was always unique and energetic.  To be able to perform for this long has been a blessing.

I love the fact that the Cornerstones shows are drawing some attention to our music again but the truth is, it'll never be better than it was - I got to live through all the excitement of The Cryan' Shames the first time and I know we'll never create anything like that again because it was truly magical. I love the attention Forgotten Hits has been paying to the band ... but you can't live in the past.
Keep up the great work,
Your friend,
Jim P

You can say "don't live in the past," but you've got to remember that the audience - YOUR audience - LOVES these songs - grew up on these songs - and we all have very special memories of this time and this music.  When The Cryan' Shames come out as part of The Cornerstones Show ... and only get four songs ... and then waste half of their time by playing newly worked up arrangements of "First Train To California" and "Sunday Psalm" and "It Could Be We're In Love," I'm thinking that you're wasting your moment.  This is your chance to SHINE - all of the other groups put forth their very best tracks and remain faithful to the music and the memories ... that's what this show is supposed to be all about.  My word of advice ... Don't Mess With The Memories ... they're sacred.
In the context of a full blown Cryan' Shames show, sure, experiment ... play around a little bit ... have some fun and push the envelope here and there to see what works ... but during an all hits show, stick with the music that got you there ... put "Up On The Roof" and "I Wanna Meet You" back into the set, and crank out the best four song set possible.  It may not necessarily be what the band (or certain members of the band) want to do ... but it IS what the fans want to hear.  (kk)

Doody LOVES singing "Up On The Roof" - and it's a stand-out Cryan' Shames track - and "I Wanna Meet You" is a James Fairs song so you're right, it would be nice to have these in the set list - and they used to be - but part of doing these Cornerstones shows is a compromise.  When we did the show up in Waukegan, we did all of these songs - "I Wanna Meet You" and "It Could Be We're In Love" -- "Up On The Roof" and "Sugar And Spice" and the crowd went nuts - because we did all the songs they wanted to hear.  I can assure you that if we do solo Cryan' Shames shows, these songs will be back on the list and performed in the arrangements we originally recorded them.
JP

It's tough, I know.  I asked James Fairs one time why he didn't just do "It Could Be We're In Love" like the record and response was "Because I've already done that."

I get it ... as a musician ... as an artist ... you need to grow ... but within the context of this particular show, THIS is what the fans want to hear ... and The Cryan' Shames should present their best collective effort to make their set stand out with all the others.  It's not "playing it safe" ... it's giving the fans what they want and what they came for.

The Cryan' Shames will be appearing (on their own) at The Arcada Family Theatre at Pheasant Run on October 27th - tickets are available now at www.oshows.com.  They'll be back at The Arcada Theatre on Saturday, November 25th (Thanksgiving Weekend) as part of The Cornerstones of Rock Show that will also feature The Ides Of March, The Buckinghams, The New Colony Six and The Shadows Of Knight.  (kk)

Hi Kent,
Really enjoy your stories about the Cryan' Shames!  I never get tired of seeing them perform or just listening to their music. I have ALL their albums.  What a variety of music they composed and performed so well! But I had one question????
What was the story behind or inspiration for their tune "Dennis Dupree from Danville"??
When in doubt ask the master ...
Carolyn
"Dennis Dupree From Danville" comes from their "A Scratch In The Sky" album.  It was one of only two songs on this album not written by the band so unfortunately I don't know that I can shed much insight.  (For the record, they got the tune from another local Chicagoland band named Saturday's Children, who were also quite popular in the bars and on the local scene at the time.)
One of MY personal favorites is "Cobblestone Road," which I believe could have been a hit single in its own right.  In hindsight, I think this song could almost be their "L.A. Goodbye" ... a feel-good, countrified track that I would LOVE to hear them perform in concert again some time.  (Maybe at the "Songs And Stories" show at Pheasant Run coming up this fall???)  It's a real departure from their traditional sound (if there IS such a thing!!!)  The Cryan' Shames were able to pull off ANY genre of music ... rockin' pop tracks like "Sugar And Spice" and "I Wanna Meet You" ... beautiful ballads like "It Could Be We're In Love" and "Up On The Roof" ... and a bit of the unexpected like "Sunday Psalm," their killer rocker "Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles David Smith And Jones" and the tracks mentioned above.  I'm hoping when they do their own full-length show, they show off a little bit of this versatility on stage.  (kk)

I really like Tom's piece; filled with detail.
James Fairs
I had to push him a little bit but I think he'd be the first to agree that it came off very well!  (kk)  
Yes, it's a great piece.  
Actually more 'on subject' than my 'ramblings' ... but then I'm a circuitous writer anyway. I have NO idea what Mr. Hooke's memories will be, but I'd guess that he'll remember the way the gigs, crowd and vibe changed. I'm hoping he does, as that would fill out the whole picture.  The kids started jamming the venues, just to hear 'that song' (ah, the power of radio). 
I remember the cars parked for miles around "The New Place" in Algonquin. There was a smile on everyone's face. So cool. They may have enjoyed the song in a way that we never could. We were more or less like the car-maker, who had to design, work with a budget, make compromises ... the kids got to drive the car, throw some theme music on that fit 'The Summer of Love' ... and take off into the world. 
Thanks for running this feature, and all the best, 
James   

Clark Besch (who wrote the liner notes for all of The Cryan' Shames Sundazed Reissues a few years back) sent in these vintage newspaper clippings announcing Shames appearances all over the area.  (How'd you get these living in Lincoln?!?!?)   Cool stuff to be sure.  (kk)













Thanks all for the great comments and to Kent for the stage for all of this. 

One thing I want to mention is how amazing it has been with all the CD reissues.  First, the 1991 comp "A Collection" with new first time stereo and hearing a small bit of studio talk on "Mr. Unreliable" as well.  I can remember Bob Irwin at Sony / Sundazed calling me one night and saying, "Hey Clark, listen to this and see if I got it right."  It was the middle break of "It Could be We're In Love" and he was trying to get the echo right without the chatter in it.  It sounded great OVER THE PHONE! 

Later, he sent me a cassette dub of the planned release and I featured "Mr. Unreliable" IN STEREO on my radio show that next week as an exclusive.  Of course, being on a Lincoln, Nebraska, station had its drawbacks for excitement from listeners.  Haha.  As you can imagine, that did NOT matter to me!  For some reason, Bob had "July" in mono, so I called him and told him that it should be available in stereo and that was changed for the CD.  I asked if we could possibly get the ending of "Ben Franklin" to instantly jump into the first notes of "I Wanna Meet You" and I think he accomplished it.  Also, getting some cold endings on songs from "Synthesis" was great to accomplish.  Getting to write the liner notes was a dream come true and I was very self conscious about doing something like that for my all-time fave band, when I knew none of you.  They DID edit them a bit, but the main goal was accomplished.  In 1996, when I got the chance to see you in Iowa, I was thrilled to go backstage and chat while watching the NC6 onstage.  I was happy that the band approved.  Sadly, my notes were so long that the pics I sent in went unused.

Later on, Bob called me and asked me if I had the 45 of "Your Love."  I was blown away.  WHAAAT???  What are you talking about?  There was NO 45 of "Your Love."  He said, "Well there was a catalog number for it issued: 4-44839."  I said it must have never been released.  Thus, we KNEW it was planned as a single, but Columbia shelved it, possibly after "First Train" and "Synthesis" did not live up to the label's expected sales(?)  The catalog number issued would have put a release of about April, 1969, as a followup to "First Train."  Sad that it did not workout to issue it.  The 45 DOES exist in one way.

Back before there was internet for most of us, I cut and pasted a 1997 30th anniversary Cryan' Shames calendar together.  I sent about 30 of these by mail to Shames fans / friends.  I hope some of you got these.  Anyway, attached are a few pages of my cut and paste example of 20 years ago's efforts.  I sent the front cover of the wall hanging calendar and as you put on the wall there is a top page filled with Shames memorabilia, different for each corresponding month.  On the bottom page would be a stock calendar month but inserted for each week would be things that happened THAT week in Chicago 60's band music history.  It was kind of a "Forgotten Hits before FH!"  Anyway, if you look close, you will see that I cut and pasted together what the actual 45 of "Your Love" would look like down to every detail.

Then, there were the individual album CD reissues with bonus tracks a decade later in 2003!  Amazing enough to get these released AND again Bob let me do the notes!   Plus, they used many of the photos I had submitted for "A Collection" a decade earlier.  Altho I was not happy that they used songs that did not fit the era as bonus tracks, sometimes, Bob told me they had to do that in order to get the right number of total tracks even for each CD.  HEY, that worked for me!! 

Getting the 45 only mixes of some songs was great as well.  He said the only unreleased thing they found was a version of "It Don't Matter To Me" that he did not feel lived up to the standards, if I remember correctly.  That is the Bread song and would have been recorded well before Bread's 45 hit with it later on in September, 1970.  The song was first on their debut album around the time of the Shames' "Rainmaker," but that LP failed.  Bread's 45 came a year later after "Make It With You" on their second album was a hit.  It was much like 1969's debut 45 "Questions 67 & 68" became a 1971 hit AFTER "Make Me Smile" put Chicago on the charts high in 1970.  Speaking of which, did you know that Nilsson's "Rainmaker" was an A side single in late '68 and the B side of his "Everybody's Talkin'" breakthrough hit in 69?  Did I miss something?  WHERE was the Shames' breakthrough single?  HOW I wish it woulda happened with ANY of those great 45s.

Fast forward from 2003 to a year ago and I was again working on the "Scratch In The Sky" MONO reissues.  Not with liners, but with pics and such.  How amazing to make a fuss over the red albums every decade!!! I liked the mono versions, of which I have DJ copies of most, but did not see a reissue coming for them.  That said, I thought the original STEREO mixes were just great.  I would ask, did you guys try to mainly mix the stereo versions in the studios (especially "Scratch"), as stereo was just about to take over in late '67 from mono for LPs.  I gotta think so when I hear the cool way you panned vocals left to right and back again on "It Could Be We're In Love" and the stereo workings on songs like "Sailing Ship" and "Town I'd Like To Go Back To." 

I actually submitted the idea to use the "Synthesis" working tapes without the added orchestration as a possible CD release by Now Sounds (the label who did the mono CDs), but they have not said anything but that they would think hard about doing so.  Maybe there is more for the future in Shames CD issues???

Thanks for reading and good luck on future shows. 

(Hey Tom, how's that book coming along???)

Clark Besch









And hey, how about this? 

Here's one that no one in the band or on the internet has ever heard, I hope.

As we hit the 50th anniversary of the Cryan' Shames' "It Could Be We're In Love" reaching #1 in Chicago, mid-August is ALSO the 35th anniversary for one of the last times the Cryan' Shames performed with most of their 60's group members.  On a Saturday night in early August, 1982, the reunited Cryan' Shames took to the WLS Vintage Rock Stage to play their music for fans.  From there, the band has now played for over three3 decades, but at that time, one wondered if this would be a one time thing.  It was, to some extent.  

That summer would be the last time the Shames members of Tom Doody, James Fairs, Jim Pilster, Lenny Kerley, Gerry Stone and Isaac Guillory would perform the Shames songs together.  Now, more members DID reunite on June 27, 2009, and one or two other dates that are historically significant as well, but it took another two decades plus for that to happen again.  Isaac had passed away and his last performances with the band were in summer of '82 at Chicagofest and McGreevey's in Glenview, Illinois.  McGreevey's was an 80's "juice bar" that catered to under-18 punks and club (pre-techno) patrons. There were two main rooms - one of which played "punk" and new wave music, and the other played more techno-ish dance stuff.  I'm not sure how the Cryan' Shames fit into this grouping, but they performed there and, as a Forgotten Hits exclusive, here's a recording of their performance at McGreevey's from that night in '82 ("After four days of practice," said Toad) of the song that celebrates 50 years of bringing lovers together this summer.  

Here are some of the 1982 Chicagofest newspaper blurbs too:




Another great Bobbie Gentry clip.  (It's a pretty sure thing that Hooke won't want to watch this one either!  Lol)  kk





 >>>I have a tune called "A Teen Poem To God" that could be a great new single (we'd need one).  (James Fairs)
Kent -
Any way I can get a copy of these lyrics?  Love this kind of stuff for my blog ...
Phil
PrayForSurf
I asked James about that (for fear that perhaps it hadn't been published yet) and he told me that the song was written to be heard ... and, since he's the guy who wrote it, to go ahead and share it with the group.
(This is a worldwide exclusive ... and keep in mind that it's just a rough demo ... honestly, it sounds a lot like that Coldplay song, "When I Ruled The World," to my ears ... maybe a little bit TOO much ... but the song was written to reflect back on the memories of "It Could Be We're In Love" being ALL over the radio here in Chicagoland fifty years ago today.)
[It certainly is and was written as a rememberance - James]
Wouldn't it be cool if The Cryan' Shames performed this song at their upcoming show at The Arcada Family Theater at Pheasant Run this fall ... to show fans they're still creating NEW music, too???  (kk)

TEEN POEM TO GOD  
(written by James Fairs)

It was more than just rock and roll

It was a key into the soul

Of everything goin' on

And the song was everywhere

It was something in the nite

We're all lookin' for the light

There was something in the air

And you could feel everywhere

It was more than just rock and roll

It was a key into the soul

Of everything goin' on

And the song was everywhere 

(rock / rock rock and roll / rock / rock rock and roll)




Wow ... FOURTEEN brand new premiers on this week's WLS chart!  That's a third of the entire chart.  Music was coming out fast and furious back in 1967, when a REALLY big record might stay on the chart for 8-12 weeks ... unlike today when a year or  a year and a half seem to be the new standard.  WCFL added five new tracks to their Top 20 ... a full 25% of their chart.  What an exciting time in music!  (kk) 

I am absolutely addicted to the weekly charts - I hope this keeps going for 1968!

My query, if anyone has the answer tabulated:

What song, as examined for the chart through August, 1967, suffers from the largest discrepancy (I dubbed it the “Discrepancy Factor") when compared to the entire chart life across all three music industry periodicals? Not just peak position, as it is more difficult for a song to move up the survey the higher it progresses.  At least that is how it was supposed to function.

It is fun for me to compare the REAL chart against my local area radio weekly survey lists.
I know how time consuming doing something like this project is, having spent 20+ years working on my book, so let me commend everyone involved once again for a TOP NOTCH job!  I’d be first in line to buy the book for the REAL CHARTS 1960s decade!

The tune “It Could Be We’re In Love” fascinates me, and epitomizes the regional airplay factor loud and clear, something that is never considered by many researchers who are, “ahem”, lazy and ignorant.  If anything, the song’s failure to chart inside the Top 40 shows the pervasive influence of the top major markets.  WABC added the song one week, likely on witness of the #1 Chicago status, but Rick Sklar followed Billboard and the song was doomed from the get-go in NYC.  Without NYC airplay and LA airplay (KHJ), the song was doomed to languish at the bottom of Billboard’s Hot 100, but you guys already know that!  If it had followed “Sugar And Spice”,  perhaps it could have had a larger impact outside of the Chicago vicinity.  In my area, “Sugar And Spice” by the Cryan' Shames hit the top 10 if only for a week.  Since that was a local hit, the follow-up, “I Wanna Meet You,” was an immediate add pick hit, but it only climbed to #44 out of a weekly 60 song chart. It did last six weeks, a pretty lengthy time for a song not into regular hit rotation.  “It Could Be We’re In Love”, never stood a chance in my area, unfortunately. 

However, “Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles, David Smith & Jones”  did chart here, peaked at #31 after only three weeks and dropped off, probably because the person who typed the survey didn’t want to keep typing the info every week.

Mike Markesich

"Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles David Smith and Jones" was a Top Ten Hit here in Chicago ... and I'm told it did pretty well in the Dallas area, too.  Here is another example of a 40-point chart discrepancy.  In Billboard, it "bubbled under" at #115 ... but in Cash Box, it climbed 42 points higher and peaked at #73.  Now how the hell can that be???  That's a full Top 40 Chart between these two peak positions!

Apparently the one-two punch of two 50,000 Watt AM Giants like WLS and WCFL didn't hold quite as much clout as we were all led to believe back in the day.  (I dunno about that either ... they way I remember it, these were both trend-setting stations that set the rest of the world on its ear ... especially since you could either WLS across the entire country on a clear night!)  It just doesn't add up ... which again makes me feel like any rankings below the obvious Top 20 were left to the digression of whoever was in charger wherever ... which is why you would find such a wide-range discrepancy.  (kk)

If you haven't already done so, be sure to bookmark the Daily Calendar Page ... and check it every morning.  Some GREAT stuff lately ... and lots more coming up.
Start your day with Forgotten Hits ...
Breakfast of Champions!
http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/
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