Thursday Forgotten Oldie...

"Moon Shadow" by Cat Stevens was a 1971 hit off the album the Teaser and the Firecat.  The single only reached number 30 in the USA, but at the same time the album was selling half a million copies and was firmly entrenched as #1.  The song was Cat Stevens favorite, he wrote it when he saw his shadow in the moonlight while on holiday in Spain, and he considered the tune a song of hope.  I's a cool little song, mostly forgotten today.

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

The band Vanilla Fudge took the former #1 Supremes' song "You Keep Me Hanging On' and re-did it as a psychedelic, hard rock tune.  Released in 1967, this cover version surprised everyone by climbing to #6 on the Hot 100.  The edited 45 was under three minutes long, which led to a lot of album sales for the band because fans found out the album version was almost seven minutes long.  A great song, it heavily influenced my love for hard rock.

First Camping Weekend...

Soooo relaxing... highlighted by many visits by Baltimore Orioles at the bird feeder.

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

Lighthouse is a Canadian band that formed in 1968 with a whole different approach to Rock and Roll.  Their original lineup had 13 members including a 4-person violin and cello section and a 4-person horn section. Eventually, they trimmed down to ten members and dropped the violins.  They scored a monster hit in 1971 with "One Fine Morning", which was big internationally as well as #1 in Canada. The band still tours today, they're huge stars in their home country and have had several gold records.

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille heard the song "Muskrat Love" by America on the radio while driving home one night in 1973.  Toni thought it was hysterical and convinced Daryl to include it in their act.  Three years later they made an impromptu decision to record the song for the "Song of Joy" album.  Then realizing it's popularity, the Captain and Tennille released it as a single.  It soared to #4 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Easy Listening chart.  One of those songs you either love or hate, it was a huge hit and rarely played today...

Mick Jagger is a Great Grandpa... WOW!!

Mick and ex wife Bianca have a daughter named Jade.  Jade has a daughter named Assisi.  And over the weekend Assisi had a little girl, yet un-named.  But, this means Mick is a Great Grandpa!!

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

"Witchy Woman" was the Eagles' second hit single from their debut album, climbing to #9 on the charts in 1972.  Written (rumor has it) about F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife Zelda, the song has been on several TV shows including Seinfeld. It was the only song on the first Eagles album sung by Don Henley. Another top ten hit that's ignored by radio stations. Why?

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

The Cryan Shames was an American band in the 60's that never really achieved national success.  They put several singles on the charts, but could never quite make it past the middle of the Hot 100.  But in Illinois and other parts of the Midwest, they were huge.  Their live shows were amazing, with an excitement and enthusiasm that was unusual even then.  In the studio they created three solid albums that sold quite well and are still available on CD today.  They still tour as well. "It Could Be We're In Love" was one of their singles, reaching #70 on Cashbox in 1967... I remember it being played a ton on the radio that summer and fall, a great song, forgotten today.

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

The Cryan Shames was an American band in the 60's that never really achieved national success.  They put several singles on the charts, but could never quite make it past the middle of the Hot 100.  But in Illinois and other parts of the Midwest, they were huge.  Their live shows were amazing, with an excitement and enthusiasm that was unusual even then.  In the studio they created three solid albums that sold quite well and are still available on CD today.  They still tour as well. "It Could Be We're In Love" was one of their singles, reaching #70 on Cashbox in 1967... I remember it being played a ton on the radio that summer and fall.

Be careful... it's Pedestrian Season!

Monday...

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

"Lonely Days Lonely Nights" reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1970. It reached #1 on both Cashbox and Record World, and was the highest charting single to date for the Bee Gees.  With strings, piano, guitars and a tempo that builds and softens repeatedly (much like a couple of songs on the Beatles' Abbey Road album) Lonely Days established the Bee Gees as pop stylists and made them worldwide stars.  And yet today, it's rare to hear it on the radio.  Weird!

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

Runt was the self-titled debut album of a 3-piece band named Runt, that featured Todd Rundgren on guitar and vocals.  Incorrectly called Todd's debut by many rock historians, probably because the follow-up album was titled Runt, the ballad of Todd Rundgren. The album produced a single in 1970, "We Gotta Get You a Woman" that climbed to #20 in both the USA and Canada.  It's a cool song that's pretty much forgotten today.

This was me!!!!

Spring!

Yes, we finally had a nice weekend! And it's continuing most of the week too.  Pretty soon we'll be in summer mode (I hope!).  Just to get you out of the cold mindset and into warm weather mode for once and for all, here's a couple of iconic bathing suit pictures from stars of yesteryear... today, it's Liz Taylor and Farrah Fawcett!

Is this the weekend??

How many times in the past four months have we said "is this when we turn the corner?  Are our days and temperatures finally going to be normal?"  Okay, looking at the forecast it looks (knock on wood) like tomorrow could be the start of the return to normalcy.  I hope so.  The poor birds have been too cold to sing, so they've been getting together and playing little tiny instruments...

Today's Forgotten Oldie...

The band War had a huge hit in 1972 with "The Cisco Kid" from the album The World Is A Ghetto.  The song went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is of course about O. Henry's well known fictional "Robin Hood of the West" and has been featured in a 1994 TV Movie starring Jimmy Smits and Cheech Marin, and even covered by people like Willie Nelson.  How does a #2 hit record become a forgotten oldie?  Another rock and roll mystery!