Today's Forgotten Oldie...

Peter & Gordon were a British Duo with a string of hits in the 60's.  Their biggest hits were songs written by Beatles Paul and John (Peter's sister Jane was Paul's girl friend), but they also had hits with remakes of older rock songs. Buddy Holly's song "True Love Ways" was their biggest cover, going all the way to #14 in March of 1965. Actually, I think Peter & Gordon's version is the best and I can't figure out why it never gets airplay any more!

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

In 1969 Harry Nilsson broke into the Top 40 with the song "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City". The song was originally intended to be used as the theme for the movie "Midnight Cowboy" but another Nilsson song "Everybody's Talkin' wound up being used instead.  Harry never toured, rarely made public appearances and spent a lot of time hitting the bottle heavily, often with buddy John Lennon.  But his music was always amazingly good, and I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City deserves air play.
Incidentally, Nilsson is part of the weirdest rock trivia question ever:
Question- what do Keith Moon of the Who and Mama Cass Elliot's deaths have in common?
Answer- they both died in the same bedroom of Harry Nilsson's London flat.

Ringo's Photo

Taken in 1964, this photo taken by Ringo has an amazing story behind it!

The story...

My favorite costumes yet!!

Minions!!!

How about this?

Another great costume idea for that Halloween party... texting might be tough though...

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

Today a song originally written for blues singer Nina Simone. Actually, this song became her signature song in the late 50's. Later it was redone in a disco version and was a hit record in the 70's for Santa Esmerelda.  But in between... the Animals took "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" to #3 in Britain, #15 in the USA and #4 in Canada. Rolling Stone lists the song at #315 of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  Hard to understand how this great song has become a forgotten oldie!

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

After the Beatles took the U.S. by storm in February of 1964, the second English band to chart in the states was another 4-piece Liverpool group named The Searchers.  Their first hit in the U.S. was Needles and Pins in March of '64.  Other hits followed one after the other, and later the same year another top twenty hit "When You Walk In The Room" hit the airwaves.  The record had the Searchers unique Merseybeat sound, and is truly a great song deserving airplay.

Here's another great costume idea...

Hope he has a good back!

Sad day...

Yup, Friday we brought the camper home from Goose.  Now it spends a few days in the driveway getting washed, cleaned and emptied... and then off to winter storage.  Sad... winter's coming... ugh.

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

"Let it All Hang Out" was not only a slang expression born in the '60's, but it was a top twenty hit for the Memphis band The Hombres in 1967.  "Let it Out (Let it all hang out)" shot to number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the charts for half the year.  I love the opening to the song, a carnival barker voice belts out the words " "A preachment, dear friends, you are about to receive on John Barleycorn, nicotine and the temptations of Eve". 

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

Today a top 20 Rolling Stones song that got a ton of air-play back in 1967, climbing to #14 in the USA.  Originally released as the B side to "We Love You", the song "Dandelion" quickly became the A side (must have been those darned radio disc jockeys!).  This is another great example of a bonafide hit that isn't played any more because the artist had so many hits that only the monster hits get played.

More Halloween Costume Ideas...

Actually, this is probably an insult to clowns...

Another costume idea...

This was sent by a friend.  He's a Jurassic Park nut...

Halloween Costume Ideas...

Over the next couple of weeks I'll post some Halloween Costume ideas... but I'm not guaranteeing they're GOOD ideas.  Here's one we call "a deer in the headlights."

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

Today it's Donovan's "Season of the Witch".  Although it was never released as a single, it was on the Donovan LP "Sunshine Superman", out in 1968.  But it's had tons of airplay, been recorded and covered by dozens of bands and artists from Robert Plant to Lou Rawls, it's been in many, many movies, it's been three movie titles, two book titles and appeared on uncounted TV shows... even the Simpsons.  Recently the song appeared in the movies "The Other Guys" with Will Ferrell and "Dark Shadows" with Johnny Depp.  It's also on the list of Billboard's top ten Halloween Songs.

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

Today is John Lennon's birthday, John would have been 73 today.  In 1975 he recorded an entire album of oldie covers titled "Rock and Roll".  His version of "Stand By Me" reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 later that year. Stand By Me is truly a great song, and John's version completely moves the song from R & B to R & R.  Actually, Ben E. King's and John Lennon's versions deserve more airplay than they get...

Traffic jam...

And you thought La Crosse's traffic was bad...

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

The Dave Clark Five had many, many hits...  perhaps so many we lose track of them.  "Reelin' and Rockin'" was a cover of Chuck Berry's song that reached the Top 20 in 1965.  Just a good solid song!

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

Today a song that in my opinion was covered by a huge percentage of local bands in the mid 60's... and recorded by several big names as well from the Byrds to Hendrix to the Cryan Shames!  The Leaves were an American garage band formed in California in 1963. Their biggest hit was the song "Hey Joe", which was a hit in 1966. Theirs is the earliest release of this song. "Hey Joe" became a rock standard, and it's influence was strong enough that the song was included in a garage rock compilation called "Nuggets" in the 70's. The song is truly a great example of American rock of the British invasion era.