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Today in Rock History – October 16

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1966, Grace Slick performs as a member of Jefferson Airplane for the first time at San Francisco’s Fillmore West after Signe Anderson bows out of the group’s lineup. Slick, who was with fellow San Francisco band Great Society, introduces the band to two new songs, her composition “White Rabbit,” and “Somebody to Love,” written by her then brother-in-law Darby Slick.

1967, Folk singer Joan Baez was arrested, along with 123 others, for blocking the entrance to an Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California.

1968, Pink Floyd performed at Theatre du Huitieme in Lyon, France with a psychedelic light show by the London Arts Laboratory.

1969, Record company executive and founder of the Chess record label, Leonard Chess, died of a heart attack aged 52. Chicago based Chess was home to Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Jimmy Reed and Sonny Boy Williamson.

1969, Bobbie Gentry was atop on the UK singles chart with the Burt Bacharach and Hal David song “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again,” the singer’s only UK number one.

1970, Rod Stewart & The Faces appear at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1971, Isaac Hayes releases the Theme From Shaft.” The theme music of the hit blaxsploitation film would go to number one.

1971, Neil Diamond performed at the Indiana State University Arena in Terre Haute, Indiana.

1972, Creedence Clearwater Revival split up following the failure of their most recent album, Mardi Gras. After limited success as a solo act and some legal hassles with Fantasy Records, John Fogarty would have two big hits in 1980, “Center Field” and “Rock and Roll Girl.” John’s brother Tom Fogarty died in September, 1990.

1974, The Grateful Dead played the first of five nights at the Winterland Arena, San Francisco, California.

1974, Hawkwind appear at Ellis Auditorium North Hall in Memphis, Tennessee.

1975, The Who played at the Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland.

1976, One hit wonder Rick Dees and his Cast Of Idiots went to number one on the singles chart with “Disco Duck.”

1976, Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key Of Life went to number one on the album charts, featuring the tracks “Sir Duke,” “I Wish,” and “Isn’t She Lovely.”

1977, Rush appeared at Taylor County Expo Center Coliseum, Abilene, Texas.

1978, Hawkwind played at Guild Hall, Portsmouth, England.

1979, AC/DC headlined at Towson University, Towson, Maryland.

1980, Jeff Beck appears at Cobo Arena, Detroit,Michigan.

1981, Eric Clapton played at Vejlby-Risskovhallen, Aarhus, Denmark.

1982, Culture Club appeared on UK TV’s Top Of The Pops performing “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me,” which they got thanks to Shakin’ Stevens being ill and not able to appear. The song became a major hit after their memorable performance on the music TV show.

1983, ZZ Top appeared at the Marquee Club, London.

1986, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Robert Cray joined other artists on stage in St Louis, for Chuck Berry’s 60th birthday concert, as featured in the film ‘Hail Hail! Rock & Roll’.

1992, Bob Dylan’s 30th Anniversary (of his recording debut) tribute concert took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Guest performers include Neil Young, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Ron Wood, and Dylan himself.

2006, CBGB, the legendary New York punk club credited with discovering Patti Smith and The Ramones, closed after a final gig by Smith herself. Blondie and Talking Heads also found fame after performing at the club, which helped launch US punk music. The venue first opened in December 1973, its full name CBGB OMFUG standing for “country, bluegrass, blues and other music for uplifting gormandizers”.

2010, Auburn University graduate student Justin Havird named a new species of fish, Lepidocephalichthys zeppelini, because the fish’s pectoral fin reminded him of the double-neck guitar used by Jimmy Page. “I’m a big Led Zeppelin fan, and I was listening to them while I was working on the fish,” Havird said. “The structure that makes this species unique just reminded me of the guitar that Jimmy Page played.”

Born on this day: Nico, The Velvet Underground (1938); Fred Turner, bass, vocals, Bachman Turner Overdrive (1943); Bob Weir, Grateful Dead (1947); Michael Balzary, (Flea), Red Hot Chili Peppers (1962); John Mayer (1977)

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Today in Rock History – October 13

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1965, The Who go into IBC Studio A in London for a midnight session to record their next single. The final release version of “My Generation” is laid down as well as “The Kids Are Alright.” The next day Glyn Johns makes mono mixes of the two songs plus the UK B-side to “My Generation,” “Shout and Shimmy,” that had been recorded in April. He also prepares the 2:42 edited version of “The Kids Are Alright” that will ultimately be released in the US.

1965, The Beatles begin and complete “Drive My Car” in four takes plus overdubs, during the recording of the album Rubber Soul at Abbey Road studios.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at The Pavilion in Weymouth England. The concert was presented by The Steering Wheel Clubs, supported by Freddie Mack & the Mack Sound, and Denise Scott & The Soundmen. The setlist was: Astronomy Domine / Reaction In G’ / Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun / Matilda Mother / Interstellar Overdrive / Pow R Toc H.

1967, Cream performed at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1968, The Grateful Dead played at the famed Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco.

1970, Janis Joplin’s ashes were scattered at Stinson Beach in Marin County, California.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the South Georgia College Gym, Douglas, Georgia.

1970, Clothing and pieces of equipment from The Who are included in one of the first Rock collectibles auction at The Fillmore East. The items include a pair of broken drumsticks, a shard of one of Pete’s guitars, Roger’s suede fringe jacket from the Isle Of Wight concert and a disposable lighter Keith had thrown away.

1970, The Who performed at Locarno Ballroom in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

1971, King Crimson played at Town Hall, Birmingham, England.

1971, Yes played at City Hall, Sheffield, England.

1972, King Crimson appeared at Zoom Club, Frankfurt, Germany.

1973, Queen appeared at Underground, Bad Godesberg, Bonn, Germany.

1973, The Rolling Stones started a four week run at number one on the US album chart with “Goats Head Soup” the group’s fourth US chart topper.

1974, David Bowie played at the MECCA Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1974, Roxy Music appeared at Winter Gardens, Bournemouth, England.

1974, TV host Ed Sullivan died. Leader of the Ed Sullivan Singers and Orchestra. He introduced The Beatles and other UK acts to American audiences via his Ed Sullivan TV show, from New York City, which ran from June 20, 1948 to June 6, 1971, on CBS every Sunday night at 8pm. The Beatles appearance on February 9, 1964 is considered a milestone in American pop culture and the beginning of the British Invasion in music. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers.

1975, Roxy Music performed at City Hall, Newcastle, England.

1975, Neil Young underwent an operation at a Los Angeles hospital to remove an object from his vocal cords.

1976, The Who appeared at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon.

1976, Aerosmith performed at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool, England.

1977, 32 year old Shirley Brickley of The Orlons was shot and killed by an intruder in her Philadelphia home. The Orlons had five US top 20 hits in the ’60s including “The Wah Watusi,” “Don’t Hang Up,” and “South Street.”

1977, Rush played at City Bank Coliseum, Lubbock, Texas.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at The Olympia, Detroit, Michigan.

1978, Genesis appeared at the Uptown Theater in Chicago.

1979, Michael Jackson went to the top on the US singles chart with “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough,” his second US solo number one, and a number three hit in the UK.

1979, Reggatta De Blanc, the second album from The Police started a four-week run at number one.

1980, Frank Zappa performed at the Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona.

1980, Black Sabbath appeared Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1981, The Grateful Dead played at Walter Kobel Halle, in Russelsheim, Germany.

1982, Van Halen played at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, while The Who appeared at nearby Shea Stadium in Queens.

1984, Stevie Wonder started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “I Just Called To Say I Love You.”

1984, U2 scored their second number one album with The Unforgettable Fire. The album was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois and featured the single “Pride (In The Name Of Love.”)

1990, George Michael went to number one on the US singles chart with “Praying For Time,” his sixth US solo number one song, and his the last solo single to occupy the top of the charts in the US.

2001, Australian singer songwriter Peter Doyle died of throat cancer aged 52. Solo artist and a member of The New Seekers. Scored the hits, “What Have They Done To My Song Ma,” “Never Ending Song of Love,”and “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” with The New Seekers.

2002, UK rock band Muse took legal action against Celine Dion after she announced her forthcoming Las Vegas show would be called Muse. Singer Matt Bellamy from the band said “We don’t want anyone to think we’re Celine Dion’s backing band.”

2004, The US Internal Revenue Service charged 63-year-old Ronald Isley, lead singer of the Isley Brothers, with tax evasion for failing to report income from royalties and performances by the band between 1997 and 2002. He was later found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison.

2009, Al Martino, a crooner who scored over ten hits including “I Love You Because”, “Spanish Eyes” and ‘I Love You More And More Every Day,” died at the age of 82. He was often remembered for playing the Frank Sinatra-type role of Johnny Fontane in The Godfather. Martino was at number one on the first ever UK pop chart published on November 8, 1952 by the New Musical Express.

2011,  Maroon 5 were on the top 10 of the UK singles chart with “Moves Like Jagger,” featuring Christina Aguilera. Its lyrics referred to a male’s ability to impress a female with his dance moves, which he compared to those of Mick Jagger. The video featured old video footage of Jagger and his iconic dance moves. “Moves Like Jagger” was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards.

Born on October 13: Chris Farlowe, singer, Colosseum, Atomic Rooster (1940); Paul Simon (1941) Robert Lamm, Chicago (1944);  Sammy Haggar (1947); Alan Wakeman, sax, clarinet, Soft Machine (1947); John Ford Coley, England Dan & John Ford Coley (1948); Simon Nicol, guitar, Fairport Convention (1950); Marie Osmond (1959); Joey Belladonna, singer-songwriter, Anthrax (1960); Justin Peroff, drummer, Broken Social Scene (1977)

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #32 – The Trashmen: “Surfin’ Bird” b/w The Castaways “Liar Liar” – Eric 45 RPM Single 247 (E4/F4)

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #32 – The Trashmen: “Surfin’ Bird” b/w The Castaways “Liar Liar” – Eric 45 RPM Single 247 (E4/F4)

“The Jukebox Series” focuses on the 80 records that inhabit my 1963 Seeburg LPC1 jukebox. I’ve had my jukebox (or as I like to call it “the prehistoric iPod”) for a little over twelve years and in that time I’d like to think that I’ve perfected the mix of 45s within.

Today’s jukebox classic is a near-perfect pairing of two garage rock classics by two different artists on one solid 45 RPM record. One side gives us the stompin’ “Surfin’ Bird,” a song that set ‘60s frat parties into motion by The Trashmen. It is paired with another garage classic on the flip, The Castaways’ one-hit wonder “Liar Liar,” in all its primal glory.

The Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird” was itself an amalgam of two other hits originally by The Rivingtons, one being “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow,” and the other, “The Bird Is The Word.” The Trashmen took the chorus to both Rivington songs and strung them together to make this nonsensical garage rock classic. When the record came out, the songwriting was credited to the group’s singer and drummer Steve Wahrer whose idea it was to string the two songs together. After legal representatives from The Rivingtons’ camp contacted The Trashmen, later copies of the single gave The Rivingtons sole writing credit of the song.

The Trashmen formed in Minneapolis in 1962 and consisted of Tony Andreason on lead guitar and vocals, Dal Winslow on guitar and vocals, Steve Wahrer on drums and vocals and Bob Reed on bass guitar. Along with “Surfin’ Bird,” they placed five other singles in the charts including “Bird Dance Beat” which climbed to #30 in 1964.

The song has been covered by the likes of The Ramones, Silverchair, The Cramps and Pee Wee Herman who sang it in the movie Back To The Beach. It was also awarded screen time in the movies E.T., Full Metal Jacket and in John Waters’ classic cult film Pink Flamingoes.

Most recently, the song was used in a 2009 episode of Family Guy which brought the track back to the #50 position on UK singles charts, and #10 on the iTunes chart. It was also the subject of a Facebook campaign to send the song up the UK charts in 2010, in order to keep the winner of X-Factor off the top of the charts during the Christmas season. The campaign resulted in the song’s highest chart position of #3. The group broke up in 1967, but reformed in the 1980s and have toured on and off in some form ever since.

On the flip of today’s double A-sided single is another garage classic, “Liar Liar” by the one-hit-wonder garage rock group The Castaways. The Castaways were also from Minnesota and consisted of James Donna on keyboards, Robert Folschow and Dick Roby on guitar, Roy Hensley on bass and Dennis Craswell on drums.

The group formed to play frat parties where today’s song became popular enough to allow the group to record and release the track on the Soma record label. It is Folschow’s falsetto that is heard on the single which climbed up to the #12 position of the singles charts in 1965. The group performed the song in the 1967 beach movie It’s A Bikini World.

The song was also used in the films Good Morning Vietnam and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and was covered by Debbie Harry of Blondie in 1988 for the film Married To The Mob. Harry’s version climbed to #14 on the Modern Rock charts. The group still exists today with James Donna the only original member.

Oh, and as for the reissue label of today’s jukebox classic, you really can’t go wrong with a label named Eric…

Today in Rock History – September 9

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1965, The Hollywood Reporter ran the following classified ad, “Madness folk & roll musicians, singers wanted for acting roles in new TV show. Parts for 4 insane boys.” The Monkees were born.

1965, The Rolling Stones were at number one  with (“I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

1967, Pink Floyd opened a four-date Scandanavian tour at the Boom Dancing Center in Aarhus, Denmark, supported by Wishful Thinking, Step by Step, Shaking Phantoms, and Barnet And His Dandy-Brothers. More than one thousand people attended the show. The microphones failed forcing the band to play an instrumental set.

1967, The Doors appeared at the Village Theater in New York City. The venue was to become The Fillmore East.

1968, Working at Abbey Road studios The Beatles recorded “Helter Skelter.” John Lennon played bass and honked on a saxophone, roadie Mal Evans tried his best at playing trumpet. Paul McCartney recorded his lead vocal and George Harrison ran about the studio holding a flaming ashtray above his head.

1970, Elvis Presley performs at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona.

1971, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at Hampton Roads Coliseum in Hampton.

1972, Slade were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Mama Weer All Crazee Now,” the group”s third UK chart topper, taken from their album Slayed?

1972, Jim Croce started a five-week run at number one on the album chart with You Don”t Mess Around With Jim.

1973, Genesis performed at The Olympia Theatre, Paris, as they began touring in support of Selling England By The Pound.

1975, The Allman Brothers Band play at Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio.

1977, David Bowie appeared on Marc Bolan’s ITV show, Marc, singing “Heroes” as well as a duet with Bolan, “Standing Next To You,” which is prematurely terminated when Bolan fell from the stage, much to Bowie’s amusement. After the show the pair recorded demos together which were never finished because Bolan was killed in a car crash a week later.

1977, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention appeared at the SDSU Open Air Theatre, San Diego, California.

1978, Frank Zappa, The Tubes, Peter Gabriel, The Boomtown Rats, Rockpile and Wilko Johnson’s Solid Senders all appeared at Knebworth Park, England tickets cost £5.50 ($8.80) in advance or £6.00 ($9.60) at the gate.

1978, U2 appeared at Top Hat Ballroom, Dublin, Ireland.

1980, Foghat played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1982, Van Halen performed at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1989, New Kids On The Block scored their second US chart topping single with “Hangin’ Tough,” also a number one in the UK in 1990. The group also went to number one on the US album chart on this day with Hangin’ Tough.

1992, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic knocked himself unconscious during the MTV music and video awards after being hit on the head with his guitar after throwing it ‘up in the air’.

2004, US guitar maker Ernie Ball died after a long illness. In the late 50’s Ball opened the first music store in the USA in Tarzana, California to sell guitars exclusively. He developed the guitar strings called ‘Slinkys’ specifically designed for rock and roll electric guitar.

2014, Scottish guitarist Robert “Throb” Young died at the age of 49. Young founded Primal Scream with school friend and singer Bobby Gillespie in Glasgow in 1984. As a member of Primal Scream, Young performed on all of the group’s records up to 2006’s Riot City Blues, and including their most famous album, Screamadelica.

Born on September 9: Joe Negroni, singer, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (1940), Otis Redding (1941) Doug Ingle, Iron Butterfly (1945); Bruce Palmer, bass, Buffalo Springfield (1946); Freddy Weller, Paul Revere and the Raiders (1947); Dave Stewart, Eurythmics (1952); Michael Buble (1975)

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Today in Rock History – September 2

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1965, The Doors recorded their first demo’s at World Pacific Jazz Studios in Los Angeles, California, where they cut six Jim Morrison songs.

1966, The Who played at Locarno Ballroom in Basildon, Essex, England.

1967, Pink Floyd, The Move, Soft Machine, Fairport Convention, The Nack, and Denny Lane performed at the UFO Festival held at the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London.

1970, The Rolling Stones played at Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland.

1971, Grateful Dead’s former manager was arrested after disappearing with over $70,000 of the band’s money.

1972, Rod Stewart was at number one on the UK singles chart with “You Wear It Well,” the singers second chart topper. It was taken from his album Never A Dull Moment. In America, Gilbert O’Sullivan claimed the top spot with “Alone Againn (Naturally).

1972, The Erie Canal Soda Pop Festival was held over three days on Bull Island, near Griffin, Indiana. The Promoters expected over 50,000 music fans. More than 200,000 attended the festival. Many bands pulled out as the festival drifted steadily into anarchy. Bands that did appear included Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids, Black Oak Arkansas, Cheech and Chong, Foghat, Albert King, Brownsville Station, Canned heat, Flash, Ravi Shankar, Rory Gallagher, Lee Michaels and Frosty, The Eagles, The Amboy Dukes, and Gentle Giant. Three concert goers drowned in the Wabash River and as the festival ended, and the remnants of the crowd burned down the music stand.

1974, David Bowie played the first of seven sold-out nights on his Diamond Dogs Tour at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, California.

1978, George Harrison married Olivia Arias at Henley-on-Thames register office.

1978, Teddy Pendergrass, the former lead singer of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, set out to promote his latest album Life Is A Song Worth Singing by performing a concert for women only.

1979, The Grateful Dead played at the  Civic Center in Augusta, Maine.

1984, U2 played the second of two nights at the Logan Cambell Centre, Auckland, New Zealand during their Unforgettable Fire world tour.

1988, The Human Rights Now! world tour kicked off at Wembley Stadium London with Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssu n’Dour. Taking in five continents and claiming to be the most ambitious rock tour in history.

1995, Michael Jackson went to No.1 on the US singles chart with a song written by R. Kelly “You Are Not Alone.” It holds a Guinness World Record as the first song in the 37 year history of the Billboard Hot 100 to debut at No.1.

2001, American saxophonist Jay Migliori died of cancer aged 70. As a session musician he recorded with The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra and Frank Zappa and was the founding member of Supersax, a tribute band to Charlie Parker.

2006, Lead singer of the Isley Brothers, Ronald Isley was sentenced to three years in a US prison for multiple counts of tax fraud. The 64-year-old, was also ordered to pay more than $3.1m (£1.62m) to the Internal Revenue Service for “pathological” evasion. The court heard he cashed royalty checks belonging to his brother O’Kelly, who died in 1996, and also spent millions of dollars made from undeclared performances on a yacht and two homes.

Born on September 2: Hugo Montenegro, composer (1925); Rosalind Ashford, The Vandellas, Ashford and Simpson (1943); Billy Preston (1946) and Steve Porcaro, Toto (1957)

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Song Of The Day – “At The Hop” from “Woodstock” by Sha Na Na

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WoodstockThey were the penultimate act at the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair, coming on right before Jimi Hendrix 44 years ago today.

Sha Na Na was a 1950s revival group that hailed from Columbia University in New York City. By a stroke of luck, they were booked to perform at the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair in Bethel, New York in August of 1969 by festival producer Michael Lang who saw them perform in a small club.

They were on site for the whole weekend waiting for their turn to appear, but it wasn’t until Monday morning after most people already left the grounds that they took the stage.

It was by a stroke of luck that their blazing performance of “At The Hop” was included in the Woodstock film bringing them national attention. While their music was totally out of step with the times, they managed to cause a sensation with their greased back hair, gold lame suits and in-synch dance routines.

Several years ago, a six CD set was released that included two more songs from their morning set. I would still like to see, and yes hear, their entire set from Woodstock. Hopefully, someday the powers that be will release all of the music and footage captured that weekend. Perhaps they’re saving it all for the 50th Anniversary in 2019.

The group went on to record numerous albums for Buddah Records, host their own variety show on TV from 1977 through 1981, and appear in the film version of the musical Grease. Henry Gross, an original member of the group went on to score the huge ‘70s top ten hit “Shannon.”

The group continues to tour today with several original members amongst its ranks.

Boogi3D Family

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I’m your Uncle Marty, with chapter 547 of The 3D RadioActivity, as on this journey we’re going to Boogie in a family way. Not all the kiddos out there are wee ones, Babies can refer to toddlers or a squeeze as the music tells the story.

Download or play here:
https://archive.org/download/The3dRadioactivity/3dradio_20200809-Boogi3DFamily.mp3

We’ve done a variety of BOOGIEs with you and there’s plenty more to come in our Summer of Boogie as we check out the visual hue options of this descriptive musical concept. Based on a circle showing the colors of the spectrum originally fashioned by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, the wheel he created serves many purposes as we go from Black and Blue to White and Read all over the playlist. Tell me your suggestions via email, or with a message on our Facebook  page which has links to the archives of all the earlier episodes and graphics in the photo section.  Look for us on Denver’s  MileHiRadio,   Theacidflashback.com,   TuneIn and  InternetFM dot com, because the best FM radio is now on the Internet.

Until we meet again, Keep Rockin’ On!

…Uncle Marty

“It’s not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on.”

…Marilyn Monroe

Song Of The Day – The Jukebox Series #4 – The Kinks – “Starstruck” b/w “Picture Book” – German Pye 45 DV-14795 (G1/H1)

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #4 – The Kinks  – “Starstruck” b/w “Picture Book”  – German Pye 45 DV-14795  (G1/H1)

“The Jukebox Series” focuses on the 80 records that inhabit my 1963 Seeburg LPC1 jukebox. I’ve had my jukebox (or as I like to call it “the prehistoric iPod”) for a little over twelve years and in that time I’d like to think that I’ve perfected the mix of 45s within.

In a year that saw the release of The Beatles’ White Album and Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland, it’s no surprise that a low-key gem like The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks would fall through the cracks. However, when one considers the high caliber and quality of the album, it is surprising that it took so long for it to take its place amongst the greatest albums of the 1960s, easily equaling, it not surpassing the two aforementioned albums.

Part of the explanation for the record being ignored is that it was totally out of step with what was going on musically during the late 1960s.  While bands were letting their freak flags fly with psychedelia, The Kinks dropped a laid-back nostalgic look at England on an unsuspecting public. Perhaps the record was also a little too British for American ears, but the fact is that The Kinks hadn’t had a proper hit on the U.S. charts since “Sunny Afternoon” hit the top twenty in 1966, and the band’s decision not to tour in support of the album upon its release didn’t help matters either.

The last album by the original quartet of Ray and Dave Davies, Pete Quaife and Mick Avory also had a tough birthing process which saw an early 12-track version pulled at the last minute by Ray Davies because he wasn’t satisfied with its quality. The band’s label then balked at Davies’ request to turn it into a double album, finally settling on the 15-track masterpiece we know today.

Today’s Song Of The Day inhabits position G1/H1 in the jukebox and comes from a German single on the Pye record label. I purchased the single on EBay about ten years ago and it was quite pricey for a 45rpm record, but considering the greatness of both songs, it was well worth the price of admission to be able to have these tracks cycle through on the juke.

The single was released in many territories around the world including the U.S., and failed to chart in all of them. The A-Side of the single is “Starstruck” which is a tuneful cautionary tale about the foibles of living the nightlife, something Ray Davies was probably no stranger to at the time. While I’ve always loved the song, it’s the B-side that got me to seek out a copy of the single for the juke.

“Picture Book” was one of a trilogy of songs about nostalgia for photographs that Ray Davies wrote around this time. The other two were “People Take Pictures Of Each Other” which ended up on the Village Green album, and “Pictures In The Sand” which wasn’t released until 1973 on The Great Lost Kinks Album compilation.

The song finally gained wide exposure in 2004 when it was used in an award-winning Hewlett-Packard ad campaign for digital photography. After all those years as an album cut that was only familiar to die-hard Kinks fans, the song finally got heard. Ray Davies: “I always knew that song would have its day…sometimes you just know. It was never a hit, but it’s become a hit in another way.”

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Don’t Let’s Start” by They Might Be Giants

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Don’t Let’s Start” by They Might Be Giants

You can’t bottle creativity, but in the case of They Might Be Giants, you certainly can buy it! They were two wild and crazy nerd-boys when they burst onto the scene in the mid-1980s, we just didn’t realize how wild and crazy they really were.

The two Johns: Flansburgh and Linnell have always looked at the world through different glasses than the rest of us, and it has manifested itself in some of the most creative ways to hear music. Case in point was “Dial-A-Song,” where you could call a phone number and hear a new original song on an answering machine…every day! The call was to a Brooklyn exchange, so they came up with the tag line “Free when you call from work” to publicize the service. This went on for several years.

“Dial-A-Song” got them signed to their first record deal and today’s Song Of The Day comes from their debut album released in 1986. Once they conquered your telephone, it was only a matter of time before TMBG discovered the internet where they were amongst the first groups to use the medium to publicize and distribute their music.

With songs like “Birdhouse In Your Soul,” “Dinner Bell,” “Why Does The Sun Shine (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas),” and “Older” in their repertoire, it was only a matter of time before they got into the children’s music game releasing the album No! in 2002. They’ve since released several more children’s record insuring that their original fan base would take their kids to see them some day.

Indeed, I fulfilled my duty as a parent and took my own kids to see them in 2002 when they were eight and five years old respectively. On the road, they perform adult and kids shows at most tour stops and they also have a penchant for debuting newly written songs about each town they’re performing in each night.

The two Johns are still very active today on stage and off where they regularly record and release enjoyable and inventive podcasts. If you’ve never heard their records or seen their shows, you really should before you grow up, or even worse, they do!

Today in Rock History – July 23

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1964, The Beatles were atop the UK singles chart with “A Hard Days Night,” the group’s fifth.  They would be number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in August.

1964, The Beatles take part in the Night of a Hundred Stars at the London Palladium.

1965, The Kinks perform “You Really Got Me” on the TV show, Where the Action Is.

1965,  The Dave Clark Five played at Independence Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina.

1966, Frank Sinatra went to number one on the album chart with Strangers In The Night. The LP would be the most successful of his career, being certified platinum for 1 million copies sold in the US. The title track would earn him two Grammy awards for Record Of The Year and Best Male Vocal Performance.

1966, The Rolling Stones played at Patio Gardens in Farmington, Utah.

1966, Napoleon XIV releases the perennial novelty favorite “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” In reality he was record engineer Jerry Samuels.

1967, The Who performed at McFarlin Memorial Auditorium in Dallas, Texas.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at the Cosmopolitan Club in Carlisle, Cumbria, England.

1968,  The Beatles completed the recording of “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey” for the White Album at Abbey Road studios in London. John added a new lead vocal, while Paul and George performed the backup vocals.

1969, The Rolling Stones were at number one on the singles chart with “Honky Tonk Women,” the group’s eighth and last chart topper.

1969, Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty had big plans to proclaim today “James Brown Day.” Brown shows up at his office at 10 AM to receive the honor. But when Yorty doesn’t turn up on time, he leaves.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Alan B. Sheppard Civic Center, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

1971, The Rolling Stones and Brian Jones’ father sue former manager Allen Klein for $29 million, alleging that he mismanaged the band’s funds.

1972, Roxy Music appeared at the Black Prince, Bexley, England.

1973, Queen play at the Marquee Club in London.

1975, Yes appeared at the Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

1976, Aerosmith performed at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1977, Who drummer Keith Moon joined Led Zeppelin on stage during a gig at The Forum, Inglewood, Los Angeles playing a duet with Zeppelin drummer John Bonham before taking to the microphone and attempting to sing.

1977, Barry Manilow went to number one on the US singles chart with “Looks Like We Made It,” his third US chart topper. It was not a hit in the UK.

1978, The Rolling Stones performed at Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California.

1979, Keyboard player with The Grateful Dead Keith Godchaux died following injuries sustained in a car accident aged 32. He co-wrote songs with Lowell George (of Little Feat) and was a member of The New Riders of the Purple Sage.

1980, Black Sabbath appeared at the County Fairgrounds, Ventura, California.

1981, Blue Oyster Cult played at Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California.

1983, The Police kicked off the North American leg of their Synchronicity 107-date world tour at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois. The Police also went to number one on the US album chart with Synchronicity, which spent a total of seventeen weeks at the top.

1988, Richard Marx went to number one on the US singles chart with ‘Hold On To The Nights’, his first US chart topping single.

1988, After forty-nine weeks on the US album chart, Hysteria by Def Leppard went to the number one position.

1989, Ringo Starr kicked off his first tour since the break-up of the Beatles with a show in Dallas. His backup band included guitarist Joe Walsh, organist Billy Preston, and Bruce Springsteen’s sax man Clarence Clemons.

1990, The Grateful Dead played at the World Music Theater in Tinley Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. This would be Brent Mydland’s last show. He died three days later of an overdose.

1996, Rob Collins, keyboard player with The Charlatans died in a car crash, aged 29.  An investigation into the accident showed that Collins had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol and was not wearing a seatbelt. He died from head injuries on the roadside shortly after the accident, having been thrown through the windshield.

2004, American guitarist Bill Brown died of smoke inhalation in a house fire. Member of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils and The Titanic Blues Band.

2011, Amy Winehouse was found dead at her north London home, she was 27. A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that a 27-year-old woman had died in Camden and that the cause of death was as yet unexplained.  The troubled singer had a long battle with drink and drugs which overshadowed her musical career.

Born on July 23: Dino Danelli, drums, The Young Rascals (1945); Andy Mackay, Roxy Music (1946); Tony Joe White, singer, songwriter(1947); David Essex (1947); Blair Thorton, guitar, Bachman Turner Overdrive (1950); Martin Gore, keyboards, Depeche Mode (1961); Nick Menza, drums, Megadeth (1964); Tim Kellett, keyboards, trumpet, Simply Red (1964);  Slash, Guns N’ Roses (1965); and Alison Krauss (1971)

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