Treasure Island Oldies

July 5th to 11th, 2009

I have to thank you very much for the immediate comments and feedback I have already received about this week's Music of Canada Special. I was absolutely blown away by how may non-Canadian listeners were completely familiar with some of the artists whose records did not hit the Billboard chart. Linda in LaHabra, California floored me when she raved about hearing Brainwashed by David Clayton Thomas and the Bossmen. And there were many other examples. Another listener, Rich in Hillside, Illinois suggested that there was so much great music made in Canada that he'd love to hear the Music of Canada Special every July, but also several other times in the year. Thanks for the suggestion, Rich. It was also fun to run down some of the everyday inventions that we all take for granted that were invented in Canada. Of course, we will continue with our weekly Made In Canada feature in the first hour of the show.

It was great the way the Nuts in the Hut welcomed both Shirley from Cincinnati, Ohio and Paul (Music000) from Ellicott City, Maryland to the Chat Room. It was great to get his input on the songs being played on the show. The Chat Room regulars were impressed with his music knowledge. Next Sunday you should consider stopping by the Chat Room for a visit. Click Chat on the Menu for complete directions on how to log into the Chat Room.

It was wonderful to play some great Terry Black records for you as well. Sadly, he lost his life at 62 from Multiple Sclerosis. He was the first artist to be signed to Lou Adler's then brand new label, Dunhill Records, which later became home to the Mamas and Papas, Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night and others in later years. He had a hit single in Canada and the United States called Unless You Care plus other solo hits in Canada. He later became a member of Dr. Music and married one of the group's members, Laurel Ward. Together they recorded and scored a hit with Goin' Down (On The Road to L.A.). I was a friend and fan of Terry Black. He'll be missed.

We've got another special coming up for you before the end of July. It will be a Cover Tune Special. Tom Locke, who researches and writes the Moment In Time weekly feature on the show, are hard at work planning this special. Tom will join me in the studio for this special. Looking forward to it. I will let you know the exact date next week. Be sure to listen to one of the most popular annual specials, the Instrumental gems - Wordless Wonders Special live Sunday, August 2nd. And don't wait to get your requests in that show. There tends to be a lot of songs listeners want to hear. Click the Requests button on any page of the website and drop me a note. Or give me a call on the Treasure Island Oldies Listeners Request Line. Call us 24/7 at 206-203-4678 and record your voicemail request message. I'll play it back on the show, along with your song.

In celebration of our Music of Canada Special, this week at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog we present a rare clip of Mashmakhan performing As The Years Go By. Taken from the movie documentary Festival Express, it starts out as a jam for about the first minute and a half then goes right into the song. I had never seen it before although I was aware of the music festival that went from city to city on a train. I am sure you'll enjoy our Song of the Week.

Next week on Voice Your Choice we spotlight Bob Dylan with two of his classic songs: I Want You and Just Like A Woman. Cast your vote for the song you'd like me to play. Just click the Voice Your Choice button on any page of the website and make your selection. We'll play the winner in Hour 3 of next week's show.

Have a great week and I hope you are enjoying summer, or winter if you're Down Under.

Bye for now.

Michael

Bob Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota, and raised in Hibbing, Minnesota. He became one of the most influential American songwriters and an innovator of the folk-rock style of music. He got his start playing in coffee houses in Greenwich Village and got signed to Columbia Records in October 1961.

This highly lauded singer/songwriter was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy's in 1991.

As a recording artist he has appeared twenty-three times between 1965 beginning with Subterranean Homesick Blues, and with Sweetheart Like You in 1983. Considered by many as his signature song, Like A Rolling Stone featured Al Kooper on organ, who later went onto form Blood, Sweat & Tears.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice spotlights Bob Dylan with I Want You and Just like A Woman. Which song would you like to hear? Cast your vote by making your selection on the Voice Your Choice page. We'll play the song with the greatest percentage of votes in Hour 3 of next week's show.

In celebration of our annual Music of Canada Special on Treasure Island Oldies, here is a rare clip of Mashmakhan, taken from the music documentary movie Festival Express. Festival Express was unique among rock festivals - rather than being held in one location, it was staged in three - Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary (Vancouver was to have been the fourth city, but was canceled due to "anti-hippie" edicts from Vancouver mayor Tom Campbell). The idea was that rather than flying to each city, the musicians would travel by chartered Canadian National Railways train, fostering an atmosphere of musical creativity and closeness between the performers. The trips between cities were a mix of jam sessions and partying, fueled by excess alcohol. Among the memorable scenes depicted in the film was a drunken and acid-fueled jam with The Band's Rick Danko, the Dead's Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, and Janis Joplin.

Mashmakhan perform As The Years Go By, which started with a jam that lasts over a minute and a half. But the wait is worth it. Enjoy this rare clip.

Michael

Music entrepreneur Allen Klein, blamed by many for contributing to the demise of The Beatles, has died in New York at 77 after suffering from Alzheimer's.

In a career spanning five decades, Klein earned a reputation as a ruthless operator, extracting lucrative deals from labels for his clients.

In the mid-1960s, he managed The Rolling Stones for five years.

Later managing The Beatles, he tried and failed to secure control of copyrights on their behalf.

Though reviled by many, others admired his ability to negotiate with record labels.

"Don't talk to me about ethics," he once told Playboy magazine. "Every man makes his own. It's like a war."

He said John Lennon had hired him to protect his interest in The Beatles, because he wanted what he called "a real shark - someone to keep the other sharks away".

Charity gig

Klein helped the Stones negotiate a new contract with their label but the relationship soured after he bought the rights to the band's 1960s songs and recordings - classics like (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction and Jumpin' Jack Flash - from a former manager.

Keith Richards later described Klein's time with the group as "the price of an education".

The Beatles hired Klein in 1969 over the objections of Paul McCartney, who preferred his father-in-law, Lee Eastman.

At the time, a New York Times profile referred to him as "the toughest wheeler-dealer in the pop jungle".

Klein himself once sent out a holiday card parodying the 23rd Psalm:

"Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because I'm the biggest bastard in the valley."

His copyright battle for the Beatles came as tensions among the four reached breaking-point.

Eventually he did score a rich recording deal for The Beatles but by then John, Paul, George and Ringo were not even on speaking terms, and the band dissolved in 1970.

One year later, however, George Harrison hired Klein to put on the all-star Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden in New York - the forerunner of the mammoth charity gigs of the 1980s and 1990s.

Accountant at heart

"I never wanted to be a manager," Klein told The Star-Ledger of Newark in 2002. "It was going over the books that I loved. And I was good at it."

Allen Klein was born in Newark, New Jersey, on 18 December 1931 and spent several years in an orphanage after his mother's death during his infancy.

Later raised by a grandmother and an aunt, he served in the US Army before joining a Manhattan accounting firm, according to his company.

He started his own firm, which later became ABKCO, in the late 1950s.

His other clients in the music business including Sam Cooke, Bobby Darin and Herman's Hermits.

According to the Associated Press, he was reputed to be the basis for the slick manager Ron Decline played by Jon Belushi in the 1978 film The Rutles, as well as the inspiration for John Lennon's 1974 song Steel and Glass.

His funeral will take place in New York on Tuesday.

"Saturday in the Park, I think it was the fourth of July"...Happy Independence Day to all my American friends.

See you tomorrow on Treasure Island Oldies for our Annual Salute to the Music of Canada.

Michael

Fayette Pinkney, an original member of the Three Degrees who lent her strong, soulful voice to the 1970s hits “When Will I See You Again?” and “T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia),” the theme song of the television show “Soul Train,” died Saturday in Lansdale, Pa. She was 61.

The death was confirmed by Abington Health Lansdale Hospital. The cause was acute respiratory failure, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The Three Degrees formed in the early 1960s when Ms. Pinkney, who was still going to Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, joined with Shirley Porter and Linda Turner under the management of Richard Barrett, the record producer behind the Chantels and Little Anthony and the Imperials.

For more than a decade, Ms. Pinkney was the one constant in a group whose members came and went. She sang on the group’s first single, “Gee Baby (I’m Sorry),” on its 1970 hit “Maybe” and on the hits for Philadelphia International Records in the 1970s that helped the define the Philadelphia sound.

In a statement, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, the label’s founders, called the Three Degrees “our Philly sound version of Motown’s Supremes, but bigger and stronger and melodic.”

The group’s first two singles for Philadelphia International, “Dirty Ol’ Man” and “I Didn’t Know,” were modest successes, but “T.S.O.P.,” a mostly instrumental piece featuring the studio band MFSB, reached No. 1 on both the R&B and pop charts in 1974. “When Will I See You Again?,” which sold more than two million records, reached No. 2 on the pop charts that year.

Their close-harmony singing made the Three Degrees a popular nightclub act. The group performed with Engelbert Humperdinck at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas; a performance at the Copacabana in Manhattan ended up in the 1971 film “The French Connection.”

After leaving the Three Degrees and recording a solo album, “One Degree,” in 1979, Ms. Pinkney studied psychology at Temple University and earned a master’s in human services at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1985. She began working as an administrative assistant for the Medical College of Pennsylvania and rose to become an education coordinator there. She later counseled incoming patients at United Behavioral Health in Philadelphia.

She is survived by a brother, Nathaniel.

Ms. Pinkney continued to sing. “I travel with a unique group called the Intermezzo Choir Ministry,” she told the Web site thethreedegrees.com. “Yes, I do still love people and I love to make them smile.”

I am very surprised and saddened to hear of the passing of my friend Terry Black. Terry, a native of North Vancouver, British Columbia, was the first artist to be signed by Lou Adler to his brand new label in the early 1960s. His first hit single was Unless You Care, a top seller in both Canada and the United States.

I was very pleased to have Terry as a guest on my show in the studio several years back and we talked about his solo career, then his days in the fantastic group Dr. Music. That group had many talented members including Doug Riley, Brian Russell, Brenda Russell, Steve Kennedy, Terry Black and Laurel Ward. They scored a Top Ten hit in Canada with Sun Goes By. After Dr. Music, Terry Black and Laurel Ward teamed up to record several singles together including the popular Goin' Down (On The Road To L.A.) in 1972.

Thanks for the great interview and visit, Terry, and of course the music.

Michael

Here's the official news story:

1960's Canadian singing sensation, Terry Black, dies at age 62

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — A Canadian singing sensation who burst onto the scene in the 1960's at the age of 15 with the hit single "Unless You Care" has died.

Terry Black, originally from North Vancouver, was 62 when he passed away Saturday in Kamloops, B.C., a year after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

"Unless You Care" became a Canadian hit in late 1964 and went on to become a top seller in the United States, making Black one of the first Canadians to have a hit record in the U.S.

The record helped Black win the male vocalist of the year category at the Maple Music Awards, the forerunner of the Junos.

He had other hit records, but his solo career ended in 1970 when he married Laurel Ward and the two became a duo act, releasing several singles in the 1970's.

Veteran B.C. disc jockey Red Robinson says Black had a wonderful sense of humour and was shy but the shyness disappeared once he got on stage.

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Bachman Turner Overdrive, or BTO as they quickly became known, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia but were from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Randy Bachman had been a founding member of The Guess Who with Chad Allan. Between the time Randy quit the band and formed BTO, he had another group called Brave Belt.

When Randy Bachman and his brother Robbie Bachman teamed up with Fred Turner and Blair Thornton, a new page in Randy's illustrious history was about to begin. These hard rockers went on to chart 12 times between 1973 and 1979, including a Number One Gold Record.

This week on our Annual Salute to the Music of Canada on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice spotlights BTO - Bachman Turner Overdrive with two of their hard rocking tunes: Takin' Care Of Business and You Ain't See Nothing Yet. Cast your vote for the song you'd like to hear. We'll play the winner in Hour 3 of next week's show.

"Was a hot afternoon, the last day of June, and the sun was a demon."

The opening lines of Summer (The First Time) by Bobby Goldsboro. This is one of those story songs that if you close your eyes, it plays out in your mind like a movie. I call it cinematic music; another example could be The Ode To Billy Joe by Bobbie Gentry.

As we are at the end of June and the beginning of July what a perfect song for summer. It`s our Song of the Week.

Enjoy!
Michael

Sky Saxon (nee Richard Marsh), bassist and lead singer of the Seeds, died Thursday (June 25) in an Austin, Texas hospital, where he went for what is believed was an infection in his internal organs on Monday. Born sometime between 1937 and 1946, he originally sang doo-wop in the fifties as Little Richie Marsh but changed his name in 1962 when he formed the Elektra Fires group (later Sky Saxon & the Soul Rockers and finally the Seeds) in Los Angeles. While the group is remembered for "Pushin' Too Hard" (#36-1967), it's "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" (#41-1967) that has recently appeared in a television commercial. Sky (who later lengthened his alias to Sky Sunlight Saxon) broke up the group and joined a spiritual commune in 1970, but kept his hand in music-- even appearing in a Smashing Pumpkins video. He performed with his group, Shapes Have Fangs, just last Saturday.

Gale Storm, actress on "My Little Margie" and "The Gale Storm Show" (AKA "Oh, Susanna") and singer with six top ten cover records in the '50s, died Saturday (June 27) at a convalescence center in Danville, California at the age of 87. Born Josephine Owaissa Cottle in Bloomington, Texas in 1922, she won a radio contest that brought her to Hollywood, where she appeared in movies for RKO, Monogram and Universal, including three pictures with Roy Rogers. In 1952, she starred in "My Little Margie," a summer replacement for "I Love Lucy"on CBS-TV. It was so popular that NBC-TV picked it up for airing that fall and Dot Records offered Gale a recording contract. All told, 126 episodes of the sitcom aired until 1955. The following year, Gale moved on to her eponymous series, which ran until 1960, with 143 episodes. Like many singers in the mid-'50s, Gale covered the hits of the day, striking gold with "I Hear You Knockin'" (#2-1955), "Memories Are Made Of This" (#5-1956"), "Teen Age Prayer" (#6-1956), "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (#9-1956), "Ivory Tower" (#6-1956) and "Dark Moon" (#4-1057). All told, she charted twelve times between 1955 and 1957. She has four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame-- one each for radio, TV, music and movies.

As a tribute to the King of Pop, here is Michael Jackson and Billie Jean.

Long live the King of Pop.
Michael

(CNN) -- Entertainer Michael Jackson has died after being taken to a hospital on Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest, according to multiple reports including the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press. CNN has not confirmed his death.
A Los Angeles fire official told CNN that paramedics arrived at Michael Jackson's home after a 911 call.

A Los Angeles fire official told CNN that paramedics arrived at Michael Jackson's home after a 911 call.

Jackson, 50, had been in a coma at the hospital, sources told CNN.

Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney, said he was told by brother Randy Jackson that Michael Jackson collapsed at his home in west Los Angeles Thursday morning.

Family members were told of the situation and were either at the hospital or en route, Oxman said.

Fire Capt. Steve Ruda told CNN a 911 call came in from a west Los Angeles residence at 12:21 p.m.

Ruda said Jackson was treated and transferred to the UCLA Medical Center.

Asked specifics of the patient's condition, he said he could not discuss them because of federal privacy laws.

The music icon from Gary, Indiana, is known as the "King of Pop." Jackson had many No. 1 hits and his "Thriller" is one of the best-selling albums of all time. Video Jackson "as big as it gets" »

Jackson is the seventh of nine children in a well-known musical family. He has three children, Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II.

At the medical center, every entrance to the emergency room was blocked by security guards. Even hospital staffers were not permitted to enter. A few people stood inside the waiting area, some of them crying.

by Mike Bendixen

Ed McMahon, the loyal "Tonight Show" sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson with guffaws and a resounding "H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!" for 30 years, died early Tuesday. He was 86.

McMahon died shortly after midnight at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center surrounded by his wife, Pam, and other family members, said his publicist, Howard Bragman.

Bragman didn't give a cause of death, saying only that McMahon had a "multitude of health problems the last few months."

McMahon had bone cancer, among other illnesses, according to a person close to the entertainer, and had been hospitalized for several weeks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

McMahon broke his neck in a fall in March 2007, and battled a series of financial problems as his injuries prevented him from working.

McMahon and Carson had worked together for nearly five years on the game show "Who Do You Trust?" when Carson took over NBC's late-night show from Jack Paar in October 1962. McMahon played second banana on "Tonight" until Carson retired in 1992.

"You can't imagine hooking up with a guy like Carson," McMahon said an interview with The Associated Press in 1993. "There's the old phrase, hook your wagon to a star. I hitched my wagon to a great star."

McMahon kept his supporting role in perspective.

"It's like a pitcher who has a favourite catcher," he said. "The pitcher gets a little help from the catcher, but the pitcher's got to throw the ball. Well, Johnny Carson had to throw the ball, but I could give him a little help."