Me and the beauty queen...

This past Tuesday we had the Logger Fan Fest party, and there was a celebrity softball game. I was the coach/head honcho for one of the teams sponsored by Miken. My team won 5-3, and we had a great time. And guess who was on my team... Reanna Johnson, the current Miss Wisconsin. Eat you hearts out boys...

Wednesday's Forgotten Oldie...

The Shadows of Knight are an American rock band from the Chicago suburbs, formed in the 1960s, who played a form of British blues mixed with influences from their native city. At the time they first started recording, the band's self-description was as follows: "The Stones, Animals and Yardbirds took the Chicago Blues and gave it an English interpretation. We've taken the English version of the Blues and re-added a Chicago touch," to which noted rock critic Richie Unterberger commented: "The Shadows of Knight's self-description was fairly accurate." Their first big hit, released in December 1965, was "Gloria", which made it as high as #7... maybe. Most rock historians agree the song probably reached as high as number one or two on the charts, but because their label was not a national one (Dunwich Records) the song suffered a staggered national release as well as little credit from Billboard because it was a cover of Van Morrison/Them's single from a year earlier. Their follow-up single "Oh Yeah" suffered the same staggered release issues. It was also a cover, this time of a Bo Diddley song. Although it only reached #39 nationally, Oh Yeah flew off the shelves and was actually hard to find in many markets... quite simply the demand exceeded the product. If a bigger company would have had the record, it easily could have been a top 20 song.

Wednesday's Forgotten Oldie...

Bob Lind's "Elusive Butterfly" was a smash hit in 1966, going to #5 in both the USA and the UK. It turned out to be the only hit for Lind. He wrote "Elusive Butterfly" as the sun was coming up after staying up all night. He says the song is about "The magic of the quest, the thrill of searching, even when that which is sought is hard to see." After signing a deal with Metro Music, Sonny Bono was assigned to work with Lind, but got busy and passed him off to Jack Nitzsche, who was known for his work with The Rolling Stones. "Elusive Butterfly" was one of the first songs they recorded, and Nitzsche came up with an innovative string arrangement, making this one of the first Folk-Rock songs to feature a string section. Los Angeles in the '60s was a great place to find talented session musicians, and some of the best appeared on this track, including Leon Russell on piano and Carol Kaye on bass. This was originally the B-side in America of the 23-year-old Bob Lind's recording debut. The A-side was "Cheryl's Goin' Home," and when a DJ on the Florida station WQAM flipped the record and started playing "Elusive Butterfly," it kickstarted the song's success. The song gave World Pacific Records its one and only big hit, however Bob's solo career lost impetus as World Pacific's choices for follow-up singles were terrible, and squandered the momentum of "Elusive Butterfly". Also plagued by drug and alcohol problems, Lind gained a reputation in the business for being "hard to work with." In 1969, Lind severed ties with World Pacific and dropped out of the music industry.

Lind returned to music in 2004 when, at the urging of his friend Arlo Guthrie, he played The Guthrie Center in Beckett, Mass. Since then Lind has been touring nonstop, playing England, Spain and Canada, as well as all over the USA.

Memorial Day is Almost Here!

I don't need a Fortune Teller... my future is full of camping, relaxing, bags (or cornhole if you prefer), a beer or two, and fishing! I also have this Friday off to get a head start on the fishing. Did I mention I'll be fishing this weekend? Does it sound like I need a day off and some R&R? Hey we all do! Plus I get to use my favorite fishing picture again... ;)

Cheater!

A lady in Superior had a weird garage sale this week... she put all of her husband's personal belongings on the yard with a "free" sign. Then she painted "cheater" on his vehicle and let the air out of his tires. Tough luck for the cheater... gee, I can hear the song play every time I look at

this picture!

Wednesday Forgotten Oldie....

The Rolling Stones are true rock and roll icons, often referred to as "the greatest rock band of all time". But do you remember the first song you ever heard by the Stones on the radio? "Tell Me" is the song by The Rolling Stones, featured on their 1964 self-titled album (US title: England's Newest Hit Makers), that I remember as the first. It was released as a single A-side in the US only, and was the first Jagger/Richards song released as a single A-side, and their first record to enter the US Top 40. The single reached #24 in the US and #1 in Sweden. It was never released as a single in the UK. They had released "Not Fade Away" earlier in 1964, the Buddy Holly cover reached #48 on the hot 100, but I don't remember hearing it on the radio. Then came "Tell Me", which got my attention big time. After that, "It's All Over Now" was released. Many people believe "It's All Over Now" was the Stones first monster hit, and I agree to a point... but even though it was #1 in the UK, it was only #26 in the USA, supporting my contention that "Tell Me" should not be a Forgotten Oldie!

Survivor Finale...

Last night's wrap-up of the Survivor One World series turned out exactly as I predicted last week... Kim won. Again the producers went out of their way to convince us that Kim would betray her original alliance of Chelsea and Sabrina, but nope... didn't happen. It was the first time the last five were all women, and front-runner Kim (picture) received seven of the nine jury votes. The only surprise last night was Kat's maturity at the last tribal council and the reunion show... everyone expected her to be childish and bitter, but instead she was gracious and understanding. Anyhow, I predicted Kim... but so did everybody else.

Survivor Update - 5/9/12 episode

TOO PREDICTABLE!!!! Yeah, I haven't done a Survivor update for a couple weeks because it's been so frustratingly predictable! I know, I've been saying this a while, but two weeks ago my prediction came true when Troyzan lost the immunity challenge and got voted off... see what I mean? Last week the producers tried so hard to convince us that Tarzan (the last male) was going, but that's always a dead giveaway that something else will happen. Bingo! Kat got voted off. Now if you've been watching, you knew she wouldn't last to the end anyway, heck, she was so dumb that she thought appendicitis was contagious! Sheesh! So last night, the producers showed clips designed to convince us that Chelsea was getting the boot. No, no, no... too obvious. Since they never focused on another woman, I knew by the halfway point that Tarzan was going. It became even more obvious when he started talking about making the final three. Obvious writing on the wall folks! And now we have Sabrina, Alicia, Kim, Chelsea and Christina... all ladies. And since Kim has the best chance to win a physical immunity challenge AND an immunity idol, I think she'll be almost automatic for the final three. Christina has been under the radar so long that I think her time is about up, and Sabrina is too big a threat for jury votes, so I think Alicia and Chelsea will be the other two finalists. Predicting again. Anyhow, I should put Kim's picture here but since she seems to be controlling the game I'll probably post her picture on Monday as the winner. So, I'll put Chelsea's picture... because she's the best looking one left. (See, I'm predictable too)

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

"Nashville Cats" by the Lovin Spoonful climbed to number 8 on the Billboard hot 100 in late 1966, and was the seventh consecutive hit by the Spoonful to reach the top 10. Only one other group of the 60's accomplished that feat; Gary Lewis and the Playboys. The Lovin Spoonful was riding a wave of popularity when the song was on the radio, with a unique formula of turning blues and jug band songs into monster pop/rock hits. Their influence was amazing, the original Grateful Dead members saw the Spoonful in concert and traded their acoustic guitars for electric guitars and revamped their entire sound. Nashville Cats was influential that way, rerouting thousands of college students from Florida beaches to the hills of

Tennessee when spring break 1967 rolled around. How does a #8 song by a major U.S. band become a forgotten oldie? That's a good question!

Probably camping!

I think that's my message for the summer, "probably camping". It'll be the answer to many questions this summer... questions like "what are you doing this weekend?" Or "where are you going on vacation?" Or "what's the most fun you had so far this year?" Or "where were you when we had the big thunderstorm two weeks ago?" Or "where's you favorite fishin' hole?" Yup, we have a permanent site at Goose Island this year... so I'm "probably camping!"

WEDNESDAY FORGOTTEN OLDIE...

Today a song by a performer who hung out with the Beatles and the Stones, and was considered a leader of the 60's hippie movement. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" by Donovan was actually considered an anthem for free-spirited hippies at the time due to its psychedelic sound. It was written and recorded in early 1968 and released in May as a single. It gave its name to the album The Hurdy Gurdy Man, which was released in October of that year. It reached #5 in the U.S. and #4 in the UK pop charts. The song was written for the band Hurdy Gurdy (which included Donovan's old friend and guitar mentor Mac MacLeod) with Donovan intending to be the producer, but due to creative disagreements this collaboration was cancelled, and Donovan recorded the song himself. The song features a harder rock sound than Donovan's usual material, supplying a range of distorted guitars. Donovan had originally hoped Jimi Hendrix would play on the song, but he was unavailable. The song

also features an Indian influence with the use of a tambura. Hurdy Gurdy Man is a great song, perhaps a bit dated in sound, but heck, aren't most songs from the 60's that way?

IT'S MAY - TIME FOR A WEIRD PHOTO! Just imagine... a bridge over a river carrying boats on another river. Huh?? Anyhow, this is an actual bridge with a river above a river, Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany. Look it up, it's very cool!