The amazing Janis...

When Janis Joplin burst on the scene in the late 60's it was obvious she was something special.  In 1967 singing lead for Big Brother and the Holding Company, she roared up the charts to #42 on the hot 100 with the song "Down on Me".  If you combine album sales with single sales, the record was a legitimate hit.  One of Joplin's signature songs, "Down on Me" shows the power of Janis vocals, but today her music is largely ignored, and mostly relegated to forgotten oldie status.
Listen Here

Terry Stafford

When the Beatles owned the top five songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1964, who was #6?  Who is the only singer to take a song written for Elvis Presley higher on the charts than the Elvis version?  The answer to both questions is today's forgotten oldie.... Terry Stafford's "Suspicion".  The song eventually climbed to #3 on the chart, nestled between Beatle songs.  Today the song is just a forgotten oldie.
listen here

Who

Today's forgotten oldie is "Magic Bus" by the Who.  Though the song only reached #25 on the hot 100 in 1968, it has been a fan favorite since it's release and a staple of Who concerts, and was the closing song on the 2015-2016 "Who Hits 50 Tour", usually with a long instrumental jam pushing the song length to 15 minutes or more.  Great song, rarely heard anymore.
listen here

Bee Gees... so many top ten songs!

The Bee Gees scored another international hit in 1969 with "I Started A Joke".  The song was #1 in several countries, reaching #6 on the hot 100 in the USA.  Sung by Robin Gibb, the song has an eerie quality, and Barry Gibb said later that it really has no meaning, the lyrics just sounded cool.  Today, it's another forgotten oldie.
watch here

Bee Gees... again

With a Bee Gees tribute band scheduled to play at the La Crosse Center on April 29th, today's forgotten oldie is another forgotten Bee Gees tune.  "Massachusetts" went to #11 on the hot 100 in 1967, but it was #1 in 12 other countries. The song sold 5 million copies worldwide, and was voted by fans as the third most popular Bee Gees song.  Another mystery... such a great song, mostly forgotten today.
watch it here

Paper Lace

"The Night Chicago Died" is a song by the British Group Paper Lace, that reached #1 on the hot 100 in 1974.  The song is totally fictional, about a gun battle between Al Capone's mob and the police on the East side of Chicago.  Not only did the battle never happen, there is no East Side of Chicago...  just Lake Michigan.  Anyway, it's a very cool song, a former #1, now mostly forgotten.
watch it here

First Number One

I occasionally get asked by oldie fans if I know the first #1 song their favorite band had back in the day.  Yesterday someone asked the question about the Beach Boys... I replied "I Get Around".  They couldn't believe me but it is true.  The Beach Boys song "I Get Around" went to #1 on the Hot 100 in May of 1964 and stayed for two weeks.  And yes, the first song that took the Beach Boys to the top is a forgotten oldie.  Another great song... ignored today.
watch and listen here

What Should Have Been... Paul Revere

I get frustrated talking about Paul Revere and the Raiders. This American band reminded us during the British Invasion, the USA had some pretty talented musicians as well.  Unfortunately, instead of viewing the Raiders as an answer to Great Britain, their record company (Columbia) forced them to maintain almost a bubble gum music direction.  Despite this, and many other issues, Paul Revere and the Raiders maintained a steady stream of mild hits in the 60's and 70's.  Today's forgotten oldie is a great example... "Too Much Talk", a top twenty hit from 1968 (#19).
watch here