WLS Top 40 for Week of May 11, 1970-- Part 2: "Make Me Smile"

I always go to You Tube and listen to every songs when I do a Top 40.  As they say, really takes me back.   Listening to the Fifth Dimension's "Puppet Man" right now.

35.  MAKE ME SMILE--  Chicago     #9   (D)  Horns and more horns!!  I love a good horns band.  And, from Chicago.  Originally the Chicago Transit Authority.

34.  MY BABY LOVES LOVIN'--  White Plains      #13      A great 3-minute piece of pop music if there ever was one.  That's Tony Burrows singing lead.   He also sang hits for the Pipkins, Edison Lighthouse, Brotherhood of Man (which means he had two songs in this week's Top 40) and White Plains.  A Man of Many Groups, that Tony.

33.  THE SEEKER--  Who   #44     Great guitar intro.  "I asked Bobby Dylan, I asked the Beatles."

32.  PEOPLE AND ME--  New Colony Six     Did not make Top 100.    Never heard of this song before.  But, a much heavier effort than they usually did in the Ronnie Rice era.  This was WLS pushing local talent in Chicago.

31.  LET IT BE--  Beatles      #1   Another good song for these days.  Buy, hey, they had problems back fifty years ago as well.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "When I Find Myself In Time of Trouble Mother Mary Comes To Me."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Let It Be"

WLS Top 40 for May 12, 1969-- Part 4: "Hawaii Five-O"

25.  YOU'VE MADE ME SO VERY HAPPY--  Blood, Sweat & Tears     #2    Love those horns.  Horns just make any song better.  The first of three straight #2 songs.  They were like CCR who had five #2s and never a #1.

24.  I COULD NEVER LIE TO YOU--  New Colony Six     #50      This is WLS supporting local Chicago groups.

23.  DON'T GIVE IN TO HIM--  Gary Puckett /Union Gap      #15    More of this group's sex songs.   The Union Gap formed in San Diego in 1967.

22.  HAWAII FIVE-0--  Ventures     #4     One really cool instrumental.  That riff makes me see that huge wave.  From the TV series of the same name, starring Jack Lord.

21.  NOTHING BUT A HEARTACHE--  Flirtations       #34    When I saw this song, I didn't think I'd heard of it before, but I had.  What voices this trio had.  They should have been more than a one-hit wonder.  Not to be confused with the Supreme's "Nothing But Heartaches" which is a different song.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "I Lost At Love Before, Got Mad And Closed The Door."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"You've Made Me So Very Happy"

WLS Top 40 for February 12, 1968-- Part 2: "Mission Impossible"

(D) means debut.

35.  WOMAN, WOMAN--  #4   Their first hit.     Before Gary Puckett stepped out in front.  Had four straight top tens.  All of them could pretty much get you arrested.

34.  I WILL ALWAYS THINK ABOUT YOU--  New Colony Six   (D)  #22   WLS pushing a local Chicago band again, something they did a lot.

33.  TO GIVE--  Frankie Valli    #29   Born Francis Castelluchio.  Italian, anybody?

32.  MISSION IMPOSSIBLE--  Lalo Schifrin     #41   Yep, that song.

31.  DARLIN'--   Beach Boys   #19   Not those sun, sand and surf guys anymore.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Have You Got Cheating On Your Mind."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

ACCIDENT REPORTS:  "In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole."

"Woman, Woman"

Kennedy Center Honors, R&B Hall of Fame and Chicago Bands at Ballparks

**  Kennedy Center Honors will go to James Taylor, the Eagles and Mavis Staples on December 3, 2016, in Hollywood.

**  R&B Hall of Fame Inductees:  4th class will be inducted August 21, 2016, in Detroit:  Smokey Robinson, Supremes, Fats Domino, Sam and Dave, Prince, Jimi Hendrix, Dionne Warwick, Eddie Floyd and Eddie Holman.

**  The Buckinghams and Ides of March sang the National Anthem at Chicago baseball stadiums.  The Buckinghams performed for the Cubs at Wrigley Field August 2 (Cubs won 5-0).  The Ides of March were at Comiskey Park August 25.  (Sox won 7-6).

--RoadDog

Another Good Weekend-- Part 2: The Shadows of Knight at Taste of Summer

JULY 16, SATURDAY

We went to Antioch, Illinois, for their Taste of Summer festival.  Jimmy Sohns and the Shadows of Knight were playing from noon to 2.  It was Jim's first time performing after suffering a bad stroke back in April.  Of course, they are best known for their 1966 song "Gloria" which went to #10 on Billboard.  It was a real trip back.

However, the hot sun and warm temperatures beat us down so bad, we decided not to go to The Grove for the Blues Jam right after it.

Later that evening, we went to Sunnyside.

JULY 17, SUNDAY

After listening to Bob Stroud's Rock and Roll Roots, we went to Hickory Lodge in McCullom Lake for their great pizza and beer special.  Then, we went to Sunnyside.

Came home and I got to enjoy sitting out in the gazebo.

--RoadDog

AIN'T IT THE TRUTH:  Success is when you look back at your life, and the memories make you smile.

Cryan' Shames "Sugar and Spice"

I just noticed that the Cryan' Shames had the #8 song on the WLS Silver Dollar Survey on July 15, 1966, fifty years ago.  It was the title track of the album by them that I have at the top of this blog and has been for quite some time now.

It would eventually peak at #4 in Chicago and hit #49 on Billboard in August.  Joel Whitman wrote this about tge group:  "Six-man rock band from Chicago-- Thomas Doody, lead singer."

Coincidence?  How About That?  --RoadDog

AIN'T IT THE TRUTH:  I would rather be judge by 12 than carried by 6.

WLS Top 40 Survey for July 15, 1966-- Part 5: ""Over, Under, Sideways Down"

20.  OVER,UNDER, SIDEWAYS, DOWN--  Yardbirds   #13 on Billboard.
19.  STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT--  Frank Sinatra
18.  LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD--  Sam the Sham   #2 on Billboard

17.  THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY--  Napoleon the 14th  Actually, Jerry Samuels, a recording engineer from New York.  Went to #3 on Billboard.  definitely not pc.
16.  YOU WOULDN'T LISTEN--  Ides of March   Another WLS/WCFL Chicago band.
15.  SUMMER IN THE CITY--  Lovin' Spoonful    Jumped from #38.
14.  MOTHER'S LITTLE HELPER--  Rolling Stones

13.  SWEET PEA--  Tommy Roe
12.  ALONG COMES MARY--  Association
11.  DIRTY WATER--  Standells

Name That Tune (from the above):  "Remember When You Ran Away and I Got On My Knees."  --RoadDog

AIN'T IT THE TRUTH:  I don't have gray hair, I have "wisdom highlights."  I am just very wise.

(They're Coming To Take Me Away"

WLS Top 40 Survey for July 15, 1966-- Part 3: "Somewhere My Love"

30.  SWEET DREAMS--  Tommy McLaine   #15 on Billboard.  A true one-hit wonder of a Patsy Cline hit.  Tommy McLaine (spelled McLain) was from Louisiana and almost sounded like a woman.

29.  SOMEWHERE MY LOVE--  Ray Conniff   #9 on Billboard.  His biggest hit from the movie "Dr. Zhivago."

28.  MUDDY WATER--  Johnny Rivers   #19 on Billboard  Full title name "(I Washed My hands In) Muddy Water."  Real name John Ramistella, born New York City and raised in Baton Rouge.

27.  BORN A WOMAN--  Sandy Posey   #12.  Country and western singer, session singer in Nashville, born Jasper, Alabama in 1944.

26.  LAST TIME AROUND--  Del-Vets   Did not rank on Billboard.  Also spelled Del-Vetts.  I'd never heard of them before, but evidently they were a Chicago band pushed by WLS and WCFL as they recorded on the Dunwich Records label.  A great fuzz bass.  Reminds me a lot of Chicago's  Shadows of Knight.

Name That Tune (from the above):  "I Was Home in Macon, Georgia."  --RoadDog



"(I Washed My Hands in) Muddy Water"

About That Song of the New Colony Six: "Cadillac"

I did a search for "Cadillac" songs on You Tube and found that the Kinks did a cover of it as well as Bo Diddle on his album "Bo Diddley is a Gunslinger,"

I listened to both versions (same song) and then while listening to the New Colony Six version, they had a closeup of the 45 and writing credits went to a person named E. McDaniel.  Further research revealed the name to be Ellas McDaniel, which was the name of none other than Bo Diddley.

Great song, give it a listen.

Bo Knows.  --RoadDog

AIN'T IT THE TRUTH:  The biggest lie I tell myself is, "I don't have to write that down, I'll remember it."

Music Deaths: Gary Loizzo-- Part 2

The group found themselves in great demand for radio commercials and did them for Coca-Cola, American Airlines, Partridge Weiners and the TV show "Temperature's Rising."

The group later changed its name to the R&B Ask Rufus, later shortened to Rufus after Gary Loizzo's departure.  This led to fame for the new lead singer Chaka Khan.  Gary then founded a suburban recording studio where he engineered and sometimes produced acts like Styx, REO Speedwagon, Survivor and Dennis De Young.

Music Deaths: Gary Loizzo of American Breed-- Part 1

GARY LOIZZO, 70, Died Jan. 16, 2016.

Lead singer and vocalist of Chicago's American Breed in the 1960s.  The band formed as Gary and the Knight Lites and had some minor local success with "If I'm Lonely Tomorrow."  You Tube has a lot of Gary and the Knight Lites songs.

The band was discovered by officials of ACTA Records who were snowed in during the Chicago Blizzard of 1967 and the name changed to American Breed.

"Step Out of Your Mind" (#24-1967,"  "Bend Me, Shape Me" (#5-1968) and "Green Light" (#39-1968) were their big hits.  They also charted locally with "Ready Willing and Able."

Fighting the Civil War, Eating BBQ, and Going Back to the 60s

Saturday and Sunday, I helped man the Camp Douglas Sons of Confederate Veterans tent at the Lakewood Forest Preserve in Wauconda, Illinois, for the 18th annual Civil War Days. Camp Douglas was an infamous prison in Chicago where over 6,000 Confederates died after being incarcerated there.

We did quite well in the recruiting area, with three new members (remember, it's not easy recruiting behind enemy lines) and about six possibles. Plus, I was happy to hear the Confederation in Illinois might be growing two more camps, one in Rockford and another in Peoria.

I saw two battle re-enactments and definitely had to keep an eye out where you walked because of all the horses.

Saturday evening, Camp Douglas had a fantastic barbecue out at Compatriot Mark's farm west of Marengo. And then, there was that smoother-than-smooth "recipe" moonshine which we all enjoyed. One of the member's daughters did not know what a live turkey looked like (well, city gal, you know). These turkeys were descendants of the ones the Pilgrims brought.

I will have more about Civil War Days in my Civil War Blog: http://sawtheelephant.blogspot.com


SUNDAY: THE WAR AND THE BAND

Sunday, I was back there again, and after breaking camp, Liz and I went to Peterson Park in McHenry for Fiesta Days and saw the 1960s-1970s band, Berwyn's Pride and Joy, the Ides of March, who had hits with "You Wouldn't Listen," "LA Goodbye," and "Vehicle."

Then, member Jim Peterik had success writing with .38 Special and Survivor and especially the huge hit "Eye of the Tiger."

Really good show and worth the $5 to get in.

I'll write more about the show in this blog.

Having My War and Music Too. --RoadDog