Today's Forgotten Oldie...

You Keep Me Hanging On was a number one hit for the Supremes in 1965.  Two years later, Vanilla Fudge released what I call the "acid rock" version of the song. Vanilla Fudge was the epitome of psychedelic, hard driving, early heavy metal rock and roll.  Almost exclusively a cover band, Vanilla Fudge toured extensively in the 60's, and at one time had a newly emerging Led Zeppelin as their opening act.  You Keep Me Hanging On climbed to number 6 on the Hot 100 in 1967, and yet is largely forgotten today. It's a shame too, because with three original members, Vanilla Fudge is still touring in 2013.

I wonder...

Do you think this is how they do the Tour de Pearl in Spokane?

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

"I Wanna Be With You" was the third record released by the Raspberries in 1972, and reached the top twenty of the Billboard Hot 100.  Notable for their matching tuxedo's and bouffant hair-do's, the Raspberries seemed to be everywhere for a couple of years, but actually only put three songs in the top twenty over a four year career.  Although it's similar to their previous hit "Go All the Way", "I Wanna Be With You" is a good, dance-able song that deserves air-play.

The Grandma Drummer

This is such a cool story... a little old lady walks into a drum store, gets on the drums and wows the employees.  She comes back and plays a few more times and somebody finally video tapes her. They put the video on youtube and it gets nearly 3 million hits in four days.  That's viral... big time.  Now she's getting calls from Good Morning America, Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, The View, and others. So cool. Stop into Coalition Drums downtown, maybe you'll see the drumming grandma in action!

The Paul McCartney concert...

And a couple more...

Paul McCartney concert...

And later...

The Paul McCartney concert...

These are from 7/16/13, courtesy of my buddy Mark Bruns.  These are pretty exclusive, from right in front of the stage at Miller Park during the sound check.  Enjoy...

Headed for Paul McCartney!

At 1:00 today, the bus heads to Milwaukee to see Paul McCartney.  I can't wait!  Here's a couple pix from the current tour...

Everybody misses Kansas!

Boy is this accurate... Dorothy, I agree 200%!!!

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

The song "Coconut" by Harry Nilsson was the third single from the 1971 Nilsson Schmilsson album.  The song was a top ten smash, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972.  It's a crazy song, with Harry singing three parts; the narrator, the sister and the doctor.  Listed as a calypso, the entire song is played with one chord... C7th.  Coconut has appeared in many movies and TV shows... and yet we never hear it on the radio.

Oh no!!!

Lightning knocked our cable out... what do we do??

Do you listen?

According to psychologists, a big problem in marriages is the listening factor.  Apparently this was a problem 80 years ago also.

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

The Searchers were a big part of the British Invasion, and the second British band to chart in the U.S. in 1964 when Needles and Pins roared to number 13 on the hot 100.  The Searchers' follow-up, Don't Throw Your Love Away also cracked the top 20, reaching number 16.  Both of these two Searchers' records reached number one in England.  I loved all the Searchers records, they were my second favorite of the Merseybeat bands.  They had a long career with a lot of minor hits, but as an almost strictly cover band, they never scored a top ten smash hit.  None the less, Don't Throw Your Love Away is a great song and today's Forgotten Oldie.

Just one tree in a field...