WLS Best-Selling Records of the 1960s

This appeared on their April 28, 1967 Silver Dollar Survey.

I'M A BELIEVER--  Monkees   (1967)
WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL--  New Vaudeville Band   (1967)
HANKY PANKY--  Tommy James & Shondells   (1966)

CHERISH--  Association   (1966)
DOWNTOWN--  Petula Clark   (1965)
I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND--  Beatles   (1964)
LIMBO ROCK--  Chubby Checker    (1963)

I CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU--  Ray Charles    (1962)
WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW--  Shirelles   (1962)
THEME FROM "A SUMMER PLACE"--  Percy Faith   (1960)

Name That Tune (from above songs):  "Those Happy Hours That We Once Knew."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

SOME INTERESTING & IRONIC PREDICTIONS:  "Rail travel at high speeds is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe would die of asphyxia!"  --Dr. Dion Lardner   1830

"I Can't Stop Loving You"

It's Them, Not Me: Dadburn Downloaders

Last year, 2010, was the fourth straight year where sales of albums (CDs) were down, and they dropped by 20%!! Their days are numbered.

A total of 326.2 million units were sold, the lowest since 1991. Only 13 managed to break a million in sales.

Most record stores or out of business and when you go into Wal-Marts, K-Marts, Best Buys and the like, every few weeks, the amount of space they have goes down. It's just a matter of time before there will be none.

And the culprit? All you downloaders and the record companies as well. Record companies should have drastically lowered the price of CDs.

Sadly, you downloading types will never have the pleasure of going to a store and physically thumbing through albums or CDs, talking music in mom and pop stores, and finding that one or two "right" offerings.

Just Something Else "They" Are Taking Away from Me. --RoadDog


MAXINE SAYS: They call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken.

And I Am Told I Have Too Many Records

I have quite a large collection of albums, 45s, cassettes and CDs, but back in 2008, there was a really large collection offered for sale with a price starting at $3 million.

The March 7, 2008, Chicago Tribune had an article "For the audiophile who has everything" by Sean D. Hamill.

Paul Mawhinney had been trying to sell his collection from his Record-Rama store north of Pittsburgh for over a month. And, this is NO LITTLE COLLECTION. He refers to it as "The greatest collection collection in the world," and with the 3-million plus albums, singles , CDs, tapes and 8-tracks which he has spent his lifetime collecting, he has a good case for the claim.

I have never counted, but probably have around 4,000, many as a result of the nearly 27 years I spent deejaying.

He says the Library of Congress says he has twice as many as them.

And, his is organized. He claims that he can find anything in a minute.

I can sort of do that as well.

Way Too Much Time and Money In This for Me. --RoadDog

Vinyl Record Day-- Part 1

I just saw it today, but yesterday, the Chicago Tribune said was Vinyl Record Day, celebrating Thomas Edison's invention of the phonograph which some say took place August 12, 1877. This date is questioned by historians and many folks under thirty wonder what a vinyl record is. Can you download it?

Although i really like CDs, I still miss the old LPs (Long Playing). And, they were considerably CHEAPER, something I especially like. I started deejaying playing 45s and lps on turntables. But, I didn't like carrying a whole album if I was just going to play one song. So, I switched to cassette tapes, which I still use even though they are increasingly hard to find.

Lately, I have been playing the "Easy Rider" and "Woodstock" albums in honor of the 40th anniversaries of those two events. Before that, it had been awhile since I played one which was probably Jaime Brockett's "Ballad of the USS Titanic" where he put his own spin on what caused that ship sank.

What Are You Going to Do With 297-a-half Feet of Rope? --RoadDog

I must still have ten or twelve turntables and a thousand albums and who knows how many 45s. I really should count them some day.

"Anyway You Want It" --First or Second Single?

Yesterday, Bob Stroud played Dave Clark 5's "Any Way You Want It" on his Rock and Roll Roots show and said that it was released in December 1964. The lead singer of the group, Mike Smith, will turn 63 this week.

This single brought back some memories for me. This was either the first or second single I ever bought. If it wasn't the first, then "Look Through Any Window" by the Hollies was. I bought both about the same time in 1964, but kept the purchase secret from my dad as he believed records to be a waste of money.

On the subject of the Dave Clark 5, two weeks ago, Little Steven played "Glad All Over" on his Underground Garage radio show, here in Chicago at WXRT FM and streaming world-wide. The show is syndicated so might be in your market as well.

He had Mike Smith introduce it and said that this song was a few minutes of pounding. It was the DC5 who dethroned the Beatles on the top of British charts back when anything the Beatles did went straight to number one.

According to Little Steven: "Go make a record better than 'Glad All Over'. Go ahead. I'll give you an unlimited amount of money. Go make a record better than that. You can't do it. Dave and Mike Smith were a fantastic combination." Little Steven, like myself, believes that it is a shame that the Dave Clark 5 have not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Maybe 2008 will be the year.

At one time, the DC5 were told that they couldn't play "Bits and Pieces" at concerts as promoters feared the crowd's jumping up and down would cause damage to the dancehall floors.

I always thought drummer Dave Clark was the lead singer. He did provide vocals, but Mike Smith did most of the singing on their big hits. But, we didn't have anything like an MTV back when they used to play videos, so I never got to see who was singing.

DAVE CLARK 5 for the ROCK AND ROLL HALL of FAME!!!!!!

Sure Wish I Could Remember Which One I Bought First. --RoadDog