Their first big hit... forgotten!

Jay and the Americans had several monster hits.  Their first biggie was "She Cried", which hit #5 on the Hot 100 in 1962.  The song was later covered by the Shangri-La's and even later by Aerosmith.  The lead singer then was Jay Traynor who quit the group when their next two singles failed to chart.  The rest of Jay and the Americans hits were all sung by Jay Black, the new guy.  But "She Cried" was the song that started it all for the group, and is such a great song!  It deserves to be more than a forgotten oldie!

Suspicion!!

On April 4, 1964 The Beatles held the top five positions on the Hot 100.  "Suspicion" by Terry Stafford was the song at #6, and a week later peaked at #3.  Stafford spent his life in music but never recorded another hit record, however he co-wrote "Amarillo by Morning", a monster hit for George Strait in 1982.  But Suspicion is another great song that's now a forgotten oldie...

Nice Sleeping Weather!

Wasn't last night great!  Such great sleeping weather... I slept soundly right up to the alarm going off.  And it's obvious that a lot of folks and critters enjoy it too... I wonder how my friend Tammy brushes her teeth??

Blast from the past...

Found this online today... I actually had this poster in my apartment back in the day.  I think I paid five bucks for it at what they used to call a "head shop".  Cool memories...

Please... drive smarter!!!

I'm still sick over the crash on I-90 yesterday morning that took a young life.  I really don't know the exact circumstances, but I'm betting there was some tailgating involved.  This is an epidemic of bad driving that you see constantly in recent years.  It's not safe, it has to stop!!!

Billy and the Dakotas

Today's forgotten oldie was #1 in Britain and #7 in the U.S.A. in late 1964... "Little Children" by Liverpool's Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas.  The flip side "Bad To Me" (written by Lennon-McCartney) later went to #9 on it's own, the only time two sides of a single hit the top ten independent of each other.  Regardless, the song Little Children is simply too good to be forgotten...

Chase!!

Chase was an American rock band that was started by four jazz trumpeters, and as you can guess their sound was always solid with horns.  Their debut album featured a top ten hit "Get It On" which stayed on the charts for 13 weeks from May into August 1971.  Despite their amazing success initially, and barely being beat out of the grammy for best new artist by Carly Simon, Chase is largely forgotten today.

Flood update at Goose!

All the flood water is gone!  The flooded campsites are drying out.  We no longer have a swimmin' hole on our back 40!  Here's our campsite at Goose Island, first when the flood waters were high lookingat the camper, and then what it looked like last weekend looking from the camper...

Had a chill run down my spine...

Yeah, when I saw this picture.  Three rock and roll icons, that all died within a two year period from 7/3/69 to 7/3/71.  I never realized there was a picture of the three together and I found this online yesterday.

Illegal in Wisconsin?

Playing checkers in La Crosse?  Yup, it's illegal and still on the books!
Funny... click here

A cool picture...

I really like this... maybe a good reminder to give mom and dad a call this weekend!

Kinda kinky today...

The Kinks had a top 40 hit with "Who'll Be The Next in Line" in the summer of 1965.  Not a huge hit, it came at a time when the Kinks weren't allowed to perform in the U.S.  If they'd had a tour to support the music they were producing, their chart success would likely have been a lot stronger.  It's a great song, forgotten today!

Coconut... oh yeah!

"Coconut" was the third single off Harry Nilsson's "Nilsson Schmilsson" album, and reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972..  It was the first song Harry wrote and recorded himself to reach the Hot 100. The song is unusual, cool, and still pops up in commercials, movies and TV shows now and then... but I rarely hear it on the radio, another top-ten forgotten oldie!

So, what did you do on the 4th?

I was busy playing drums.  We played at Whispering Pines campground North of Holmen.  Our playlist could easily be four hours of listening to the Eagle.  Gotta love the classic rock/oldies!

Ringo Starr is 74 today!

Happy Birthday Ringo... my favorite Beatle!

Animals!!

Today's forgotten oldie is my favorite song from the Animals and Eric Burdon.  "Don't Bring Me Down" peaked at #12 on the hot 100 on July 2nd, 1966... 48 years ago.  The song was from the Animalization LP and was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin.  A totally different song than the Beatles song of the same name, the song has that great Animals' sound.

Strangest song ever?

I found this song in the library here recently, and it's been many, many years since I heard it. "Pay You Back With Interest" by the Hollies... was a top 40 song in 1967 reaching #28 on the hot 100.  It;s a very strange song, both musically and lyrically, but it has the trademark Hollies 3-part harmony and it's worth a listen. See if you remember today's forgotten oldie.