A Well Respected Man

The British band The Kinks have four songs on the list of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 songs that shaped rock and roll, and today's forgotten oldie is one of them.  "A Well Respected Man" was an international smash, scoring big in Europe and reaching #13 in the USA.  It marked an expansion of styles for the Kinks and heavily influenced many bands and song writers of the time, bringing out subtle social unrest, and serving as a preview of things to come in rock and roll.  Today, other than appearing on several TV shows, it's a forgotten oldie...
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Timothy

In 1971, a Pennsylvania band named the Buoys had a top twenty hit with a little song called "Timothy".  I remember playing the song on the radio, and slowly realizing it was about three miners trapped underground and how two of the miners survive by eating the third... poor Timothy.  The unusual theme made it tough for the Buoys to have a successful follow-up and they faded away.  But their #17 hit remains the only song I remember about cannibalism, and is a true forgotten oldie.
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The Searchers

One of my favorite British Invasion bands, the Searchers released a bunch of records in the USA during the 60's.  Even though they were well received and considered a big part of the invasion, they only had three top twenty hits, all during 1964.  This song is my favorite Searchers tune, "Don't Throw Your Love Away", a cover of a very minor Orlons' hit from 1963.  To me the song is a great example of that smooth Searchers sound, with great vocals and tasty guitar.  Unfortunately a forgotten oldie today.
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Hey Joe

This is probably my favorite forgotten oldie of all time.  In 1966 the L.A. band The Leaves were the first to hit the charts with the song "Hey Joe".  The song reached the top 40 despite a barrage of versions recorded and released by other bands and artists.  The song is truly a garage band classic, back in the 60's if you went to a party with a band they did a version of "Hey Joe", everybody did the song.  The three bands I was in back in the 60's all did a version of the song... and yet today, mostly forgotten.
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This Guy's In Love...

In 1968 the leader of a big brass band scored a #1 hit with "This Guy's In Love With You".  Herb Alpert was well known for his instrumental records with the Tijuana Brass, but this time he sang the song, and it not only went to #1 on the Hot 100, but it went #1 on the Easy Listening chart as well!  Between the two charts, the song was #1 a total of 14 weeks!  And yet today the song is just another forgotten oldie...
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Another Bobby!

Rock and roll has seen it's share of Bobby's.  And it was 1969 when Bobby Sherman had his breakout hit with "Little Woman".  The song climbed to #3 on the hot 100 earning a gold record.  At the time, Bobby Sherman was a huge star with girls screaming at every concert.  He had a successful TV series, Here Come The Brides, many TV and even movie roles, several hit records, and a solid career.  But in the 70's he stepped away from it all, eventually becoming a paramedic and later a police officer. Interesting guy... unfortunately his music is largely forgotten today.
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Happy Birthday Donovan!

Today is Donovan's 71st birthday, so it's appropriate that our forgotten oldie is one of Donovan's many forgotten hits.  Released in 1966 on the Sunshine Superman album, "Season of the Witch" is Donovan's signature song, always asked for by fans at his concerts, and played more than his bigger hits.  The song was never released as a single, but has been covered by literally dozens of big name performers, and definitely fits the bill as a forgotten oldie!
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Shop Around

Today's forgotten oldie was requested by a listener... from 1976 "Shop Around" by the Captain and Tenille.  The song had been a huge hit for the Miracles 15 years before, reaching #1 on the R & B chart.  The Captain and Tenille did the song proud however, their version hitting #4 on the Hot 100 and selling a million records.  Today, like most of  Daryl and Toni's music, it's another forgotten oldie.
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Smith, of course...

Smith was a California rock band that roared to #5 in 1969 with a cover of a song that had already been a hit twice... the old Shirelles and Beatles tune "Baby It's You".  The Smith version out-charted it's predecessors and sold over a million copies.  Unfortunately, the band broke up not long after, and band members never repeated their one-hit wonder success story.  It's a shame, because the song deserves airplay but instead is a forgotten oldie.
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