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OLDIES MUSIC
SMOKEY TO GET AWARD
Smokey Robinson will get the 2011 Ella Award from the Society of Singers September 19 in Beverly Hills. The award is named after the late Ella Fitzgerald
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All Rights Reserved - 2011
LAST MEMBER
FOUR FRESHMEN DIES
Ross Barbour, the last surviving original member of the Four Freshmen, died of cancer Saturday (August 20) in Simi Valley, California. He was 82. His cousin, Bob Flanagan died just three months ago. Originally called the Toppers, the group was formed in 1952 at the Jordan School of Music at Butler University in Indianapolis by Ross, Bob, his brother Don and Hal Kratsch. The group's intricate harmonies influenced many later groups, including the Lettermen and the Beach Boys. The Freshmen, however, patterned their sound after the arrangements of Stan Kenton's orchestra. It was Kenton who helped them get a contract with Captol Records. Their first single, "It's A Blue World," reached #30 in 1952, followed by "Day By Day," (#72-1955), "Charmaine" (#69-1956) and "Graduation Day" (#17-1956). The quartet also charted eight albums in the top 40 between 1954 and 1960 and won six Grammy awards. Ross retired from performing in 1977 and but was inducted along with the others into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.
Oldies tunes are typically from R&B, pop and rock music genres. Country, jazz, classical music, and other formats are generally not considered oldies music, although some of those genres have their own oldies format (for instance, classic country), and a number of songs "crossed over" from country to Top 40. Occasionally the term is used to describe the rare station that includes 1940s music as well, although music from before 1955 (coinciding with the "birth of rock'n'roll") is typically the domain of the adult standards format. However, the term constitutes ambiguity for people who like old dancing music.
This format is sometimes called Golden Oldies (after another album series of the same name, which was sold through bulk TV commercials), though this term usually refers to music exclusively from the 1950s and 1960s. Oldies radio typically features artists such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, The Four Seasons, and Sam Cooke; as well as such musical movements and genres as doo-wop, rockabilly, rock and roll, Motown, British Invasion, early girl groups, surf music, teen idol singers, and bubblegum pop.
Most traditional oldies stations limit their on-air playlists to no more than 300 songs, on the philosophy that average listeners will stay tuned provided they are familiar with the hits being played. The drawback to this concept is the endless repetition of the station's program library. Oldies has some overlap with the classic rock format, which concentrates on the rock music of the late-'60s and '70s and also plays newer material made in the same style as the older songs.
LES PAUL MONUMENT
A 500 square-foot granite monument will now mark the grave of Les Paul in Waukesha, Wisconsin. A public dedication ceremony will be held on Saturday September 10, 2011. Paul died two years ago at the age of 94.
HEROES AND LEGENDS AWARDS
The Heroes And Legends Awards will be given out September 11 in Beverly Hills. Founded by Motown songwriter Janie Bradford to honor positive role models, the awards will salute the Temptations, Ray Parker and Bobby Womack.
SINGER INDUCTED
The late Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers will be among those inducted into the Anaheim, California High School Hall of Fame September 15. His son, Dustin will accept the honor at a dinner that evening.
ESTHER GORDY
DIES
Esther Gordy Edwards, sister of Motown President Berry Gordy, Jr. and Vice-President and CEO at one time of the label, died Wednesday (August 24) in Detroit at the age of 91. In later years, Esther was the driving force behind the Motown Museum at the label's original Detroit location.
TOMMY JAMES SPEAKS
Tommy James, who campaigned for Hubert Humphrey for president in 1968, spoke at the centennial birthday celebration of the late Vice-President on May 27 in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Senator also wrote the liner notes for Tommy's "Crimson And Clover" album in 1969.
MONKEES TOUR
CANCELLED
The remainder of the Monkees tour was cancelled on Monday August 8, 2011. In his staement, a spokesman for Micky Dolenz said, "Management had booked a number of dates with the venues without running them by the group first... so we had to cancel the remaining dates. Micky is disappointed but his solo tour is still going strong for the rest of the year. It has nothing to do with any sort of substance abuse whatsoever."
BUDDY HOLLY STAR
It's been announced that Buddy Holly's posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame will be dedicated September 7, on what would have been his 75th birthday.
ELVIS BACKUP SINGERS RELEASE
"This Time," a documentary on the careers of the Sweet Inspirations, will be released on iTunes. The group not only sang backup for Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield, but had elevenchart records of their own, including the #18 hit "Sweet Inspiration" in 1968.
LEAD SINGER DIES
Rob Grill, lead singer with the Grass Roots, died Monday (July 11) after falling a month ago at his Lake County, Florida home and suffering a brain injury. Rob's wife had reported July 1 that he was stricken with pneumonia and was in a coma. Rob was 67. Born in Hollywood, he graduated from Hollywood High, then went to work at American Recording Studios there. Encouraged to record on his own, he joined the 13th Floor when their lead singer was drafted. The group came to the attention of producer/writers P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, who were looking for a band who could portray their studio creation, the Grass Roots, in 1967. Starting with "Let's Live For Today" (#8), the group-- with Rob providing lead vocals-- notched 13 top hits, including "Midnight Confessions" (#5-1968), "Sooner Or Later" (#9-1971), "I'd Wait A Million Years" (#15-1969), "Temptation Eyes" (#15-1971) and "Two Divided By Love" (#16-1971). By 1975 the hits dried up and Rob started a solo career four years later, though he retained the rights to the group name and reformed them in 1982. It came to light when Rob was arrested for illegally obtaining prescription painkillers in 2007 that he had a bone-degenerating disease and had undergone six hip replacement surgeries. Rob underwent an intervention program to avoid jail time. His failing health forced him to withdraw from fronting the group last year.
PRESLEY, LEWIS,
CASH & PERKINS
"Million Dollar Quartet," the Broadway musical about the real-life meeting of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins in 1956, will be ending its Broadway run SundayJune 12, 2011. It will move next month to an off-Broadway theatre.
FORMAL INDUCTION
John Bettis, who wrote the Carpenters' hits "Top Of The World" and "Yesterday Once More," the Pointer Sisters' "Slow Hand" and the Whitney Houston tune "One Moment In Time," was named Monday (August 22) to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Formal induction will take place October 16
MUSIC VIDEO FEATURES
Some Rare Video Footage Included Here...
COVERING A WIDE SPECTRUM OF THE MUSIC SCENE ACROSS AMERICA & AROUND THE GLOBE...
10.05.11-MusicWire Magazine - The Duprees is an American musical group of Doo-Wop style which had a series of hit records in the early 1960s. The group originated in the early 1960s in Jersey City, New Jersey, and comprised William L. Dickinson High School students Michael Arnone, Joe Santollo, John Salvato, Tom Bialoglow, and lead singer Joe Canzano (Vann). George Paxton, a former big band leader, liked the group's style and signed them to his Coed Records label. Their first single "You Belong to Me" had previously been a success for Jo Stafford in 1952. The Duprees' version was given a big band backing by Paxton and reached the US top ten in 1962. The group had more top 40 hits during the next few years. On November 6, 2008 the Duprees were officially inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
10.03.11-MusicWire Magazine - The Capris are an Italian-American Doo Wop group originating in the Ozone Park section of Queens, New York in the late 1950s. The group originated in Ozone Park, Queens in 1957 when they were teenagers. In the spring/summer of 1958 the final member was recruited and really got things together. They originally called themselves "the Supremes" but soon changed to "The Capris." It is often thought their name came from the island of Capri, since the boys were all Italian, but Nick confirmed in a 1993 interview with Greg Milewski, that they named themselves after the 1957 Lincoln Capri. By 1958 the group had started gaining experience and popularity by performing at local venues, school dances and churches. They attracted the attention of independent record producers. Soon they would record their first single.
Their break came when they responded to an ad placed in a local paper by two wanna-be producers. At the audition, they sang a ballad, "There's A Moon Out Tonight" (words and music by Joseph Luccisano, Alfonso Gentile & Alfred Striano) and soon they found themselves at Bell Sound Studios New York cutting the song, along with an uptempo number, "Indian Girl."
10.02.11-MusicWire Magazine - "The Wanderer" is a song written by Ernie Maresca and originally recorded by Dion. The song, with a 12-bar blues-base verse and an eight-bar bridge, tells the story of a travelling man and his many loves. The song is ranked #239 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Dion Francis DiMucci, better known as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, pop oldies music, rock and R&B styles. One of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era, Dion had over a dozen Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 60s. He is best remembered for the 1961 singles "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer". The Del-Satins were an American vocal group in the 1960s who recorded on their own but are best remembered for their harmonies on hit records for Dion and others. The group was formed in 1958 in Manhattan, New York through a merger of two existing street corner groups, the Yorkville Melodys and the Jokers. They chose the name Del-Satins as a tribute to The Dells and The Five Satins, and built a solid following with their live performances, coming first in a prestigious New York city-wide "Battle of the Groups".
10.03.11-MusicWire Magazine - Ritchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted only eight months. During this time, however, he scored several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which was originally a Mexican folk song that Valens transformed with a rock rhythm and beat that became a hit in 1958, making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and roll movement.
On February 3, 1959, on what has become known as The Day the Music Died, Valens was killed in a small-plane crash in Iowa, a tragedy that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. Valens was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
After the February 2, 1959, performance in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly, Richardson, and Valens flew out of the Mason City airport in a small plane that Holly had chartered. He was on the plane because he won a coin toss. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff in a snow storm. At 17, Valens was the youngest to die on the flight. The event inspired singer Don McLean's popular 1971 ballad "American Pie", and immortalized February 3 as "The Day the Music Died".
10.05.11-MusicWire Magazine - The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). Rooted in skiffle and 1950s rock and roll, the group later worked in many genres ranging from pop ballads to psychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. The nature of their enormous popularity, which first emerged as "Beatlemania", transformed as their songwriting grew in sophistication. They came to be perceived as the embodiment of ideals of the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.
10.01.11-MusicWire Magazine - Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King". Presley is regarded as one of the most important figures of 20th-century popular culture. He had a versatile voice and unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including country, pop ballads, gospel, and blues. He is the best-selling solo artist in the history of popular music. Nominated for 14 competitive Grammys, he won three, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36. He has been inducted into four music halls of fame.
10.02.11-MusicWire Magazine - The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period. They performed a mixture of current soul music songs.
The Box Tops' music combined elements of soul music and light pop. Their records are prime examples of the styles made popular by Moman and Penn at American Sound Studio in Memphis. Many of their lesser known Top 40 hits are considered minor classics; these include "Neon Rainbow"; "Sweet Cream Ladies, Forward March"; and "I Met Her in Church." As rock critic Lester Bangs wrote in a review of the group's Super Hits album, "A song like 'Soul Deep' is obvious enough, a patented commercial sound, yet within these strictures it communicates with a depth and sincerity of feeling that holds the attention and brings you back often."
Each of the original members went on to work in the music industry in subsequent years after leaving the Box Tops.
There was a brief Box Tops reunion for a concert in Nashville, Tennessee at a venue called Ace of Clubs in 1989.
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis. His greatest success came with Monument Records in the early to mid 1960s when 22 of his songs placed on the Billboard Top Forty, including "Only the Lonely", "Crying", "In Dreams", and "Oh, Pretty Woman". His career stagnated through the 1970s, but several covers of his songs and the use of one in a film by David Lynch revived his career in the 1980s. In 1988, he joined the supergroup Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne and also released a new solo album. He died of a heart attack in December that year, at the zenith of his resurgence. His life was marred by tragedy, including the death of his first wife and two of his children in separate accidents.
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The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name "Lovin' Spoonful" from a line in Hurt's song, "Coffee Blues".
The song "Coffee Blues" is a tribute to Maxwell House Coffee, which he describes, "rapping" in the beginning of the song, as being two or three times any other brand, ergo, he only needs one spoonful to make him feel alright, what he describes as "my lovin' spoonful" in the song.
The band had its roots in the folk music scene based in the Greenwich Village section of lower Manhattan during the early 1960s.
The Buckinghams are an American Sunshine Pop band from Chicago, Illinois. They formed in 1966 and went on to become one of the top selling acts of 1967. The band dissolved in 1970 but reformed in 1980 and as of 2011continue to tour throughout the United States.
In 1965 guitarist Carl Giammarese and bassist Nick Fortuna were invited to join a band called The Centuries. They, along with keyboardist Dennis Miccolis, later became members of another band, The Pulsations, whose members included drummer John Poulos and vocalists George LeGros and Dennis Tufano. After winning a local battle of the bands competition, The Pulsations secured a job as the house band on WGN-TV's variety show called All-Time Hits in 1966. The show's producers suggested they adopt a name reflective of the British invasion, which was popular at the time, and the band adopted the name The Buckinghams, which was suggested by a security guard at the station.
Sir Cliff Richard, is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist. With his backing group The Shadows, Richard, originally positioned as a rebellious rock and roll singer in the style of Elvis Presley, dominated the British popular music scene in the pre-Beatles period of the late 1950s and early 1960s. His 1958 hit single "Move It" is often described as Britain's first authentic rock and roll song, and John Lennon once claimed that "before Cliff and the Shadows, there had been nothing worth listening to in British music. A conversion to Christianity and subsequent softening of his music later led to a more middle of the road pop image, sometimes venturing into gospel music.
