Friday, June 29, 2007

Canada Day Celebration - Treasure Island Oldies


Sunday, July 1st is Canada Day, celebrating 140 years of Confederation. Join me on Treasure Island Oldies for our annual Canada Day Special. We'll spotlight some of the best singers, musicians and songwriters from Canada, some of whom made their mark from coast to coast, and others who attained recognition and success internationally.

Canadians don't tend to toot their own horn all that much, but this week on the show, we'll be doing exactly that. You'll hear from Lighthouse, Paul Anka, Bill Amesbury, Bobby Curtola, Motherlode, Mashmakhan, Anne Murray, The Beau-Marks, J.B. and the Playboys, the Mamas and Papas, Gordon Lightfoot, Andy Kim, The Stampeders, The Guess Who, Skylark, The Crew Cuts, David Clayton Thomas and the Bossmen, Steppenwolf, and so many more.

Join us for the live show, Sunday, July 1st from 6 to 10 p.m. Pacific time, and later on the Archives.

Happy Canada Day from Treasure Island Oldies!

Michael

Monday, June 25, 2007

Anne Murray - Voice Your Choice

I first met Anne Murray when I was working as Music Director at CFCF Radio in Montreal. A candid photo was taken of the two of us deep in conversation during a reception for her. Thought I'd dig up that old photo of us from the early 1970s; we were really just a couple of kids back then. Anne was on her first promo tour across Canada.

Anne Murray was born in the mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia on June 20, 1945. She got her start on a CBC-TV show, Singalong Jubilee. She first recorded for a small Toronto label, Arc Records, one of Canada's earliest record companies. Her big break came with Capitol Records and her first single Snowbird, written by Gene McLellan, who also wrote Put Your Hand In The Hand, recorded by Ocean on Arc Records.

Anne has charted 28 times on the Billboard Hot 100, 54 times on the country chart and has also had 41 Adult Contemporary hits, all between 1970 and 1987.

This week on the Treasure Island Oldies Canada Day Special, Voice Your Choice features Anne Murray with two of her biggest hits for your votes: Snowbird and You Needed Me. Come to the Voice Your Choice page and make your selection. The song with the most votes will be played in Hour 3 of our Canada Day Special this week on Treasure Island Oldies.

Lovin' Spoonful - Song of the Week

This week on Treasure Island Oldies it's our 11th Annual Summer Beach Party. Be sure to listen to the archived show here.

Our Song of the Week is in keeping with our Summer Beach Party Special. It's the national anthem of summer: Summer In The City by The Lovin' Spoonful.

Enjoy!
Michael

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Hank Medress - The Tokens R. I. P.

Hank Medress, the founder of The Tokens, who had many hits including the all time classic The Lion Sleeps Tonight, has passed away after a long illness with lung cancer. He was also the producer of He's So Fine by The Chiffons, as well as Candida, Knock Three Times, and Tie A Yellow Ribbon, all by Tony Orlando and Dawn.

My friend Artie Wayne had a long interview with Hank last October 31st that I am sure you will find very interesting. Click here to read this fascinating interview.

Artie, thank you for passing on this sad news to me.

Michael

Monday, June 18, 2007

Little Peggy March - Voice Your Choice

Little Peggy March was born Margaret Battivio on March 8, 1948 in Lansdale, Pennsylvania.

Her debut single and her signature song, I Will Follow Him went all the way to Number One on the Billboard Top 100 chart, remaining there for three weeks. At the time, she was the youngest female singer to have a #1 song on the pop charts.

What's also interesting to note is that I Will Follow Him was adapted from the French song Chariot, which was a hit for Petula Clark in 1963 and sung in French before she broke through in North America with Downtown in 1965.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice spotlights Little Peggy March and two of her biggest hits: I Will Follow Him and I Wish I Were A Princess. Have a preference? Come to the the Voice Your Choice page and make your selection. We'll play the winning song in Hour 3 on next week's show.

The Beatles - Song of the Week

This week's Treasure Island Oldies Song of the Week features The Beatles in a clip from the TV show Shindig in 1964. They perform Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey, I'm A Loser, and Boys.

My thanks to listener Fred Waterer for the tip to this great clip.

Enjoy!

Michael

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Happy Father's Day - Paul Peterson My Dad

Happy Father's Day! Here is a clip of Paul Peterson singing his hit song My Dad on the Donna Reed Show You'll need to click the link as it is not available as an embedded file. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-vYuV3OmhE

My thanks to listener Fred Waterer for the tip to the clip!

Enjoy!

Michael

Monday, June 11, 2007

Janis Ian - Voice Your Choice

Janis Ian was born Janis Eddy Fink on April 7, 1951 in Brooklyn, New York. While she has not had many appearances on the Billboard charts, her two biggest hits were very impressive.

When she was only 14 in 1965, she wrote Society's Child, a song about interracial relationships, very topical and controversial for the times. When it was released in 1967 it became a Top Twenty hit. Then in 1975 she released At Seventeen, an introspective look back at being 17 years old; and that became a Top Five hit.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice features her two big hits for your votes. Decide which song you prefer, Society's Child or At Seventeen. Come to the Voice Your Choice page and make your selection. We'll play the song with the most votes in Hour 3 of this week's show.

The Zombies She's Not There - Song of the Week

Last week I saw a really enjoyable British Beat music special hosted by Petula Clark on PBS. Among the many stars on this live concert performance were The Zombies, and did they ever sound great. So I thought for this week's Song of the Week, we'd go back to October of 1964 for this clip by The Zombies and their first hit single She's Not Here.

Enjoy!
Michael

Friday, June 08, 2007

Freddie Scott - R.I.P.

Sad news today, as Freddie Scott, the singer of that fantastic Soul ballad Hey Girl, has died. Here's the full story from The Independent.

Freddie Scott
Singer of 'Hey Girl'
Published: 06 June 2007

Freddie Scott, singer: born Providence, Rhode Island 24 April 1933; married; died 4 June 2007.

In 1963, Freddie Scott cut a demonstration record of "Hey Girl", a new song by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. The intended recipient was the hit-making Chuck Jackson, but he turned the song down. Instead, Goffin and King liked Scott's voice so much that they recorded their own version with him. Phil Spector heard the results and said, "You've got to put that out. It's a smash." "Hey Girl" was a Top Ten US hit and became a club favourite in the UK, being covered by several beat groups of the time.

Scott was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1933. In his early teens, he sang with his grandmother's gospel group the Gospel Keys, who performed in the UK in 1946. Freddie Scott studied medicine at the University of Rhode Island but gave it up for singing. He recorded his first solo single, "Running Home", for the small J&S label in 1956 and a succession of singles for independent labels, including "Baby, You're a Long Time Dead" for Joy.

Scott followed his success with the mesmerising, melancholic "Hey Girl" by having R&B hits with a revival of Ray Charles's "I Got a Woman" and the plaintive "Where Does Love Go?" He made the album Freddie Scott Sings and Sings and Sings (1963), which contained a fine ballad which deserved to be a single, "What Do I See In the Girl", written by Goffin with Jack Keller.

Scott moved to Columbia where the producer Clyde Otis dubbed him "the million-dollar baby" and had him crooning on "One Heartache Too Many" (1964). He did show tunes on the LP Everything I Have Is Yours (1964) and was more soulful on Lonely Man (1965). His final singles for the label were prophetically titled "Don't Let It End This Way" (1965) and "Forget Me If You Can" (1966).

In 1966, he was signed by Bert Berns, the producer, songwriter and owner of Shout Records. Berns, an intensely soulful individual, recorded over 100 takes of "Are You Lonely for Me?" with Scott. It was worth it, as the song topped the R&B charts for four weeks. Then Scott slowed down Solomon Burke's "Cry to Me" for a chart single and had further success with "Am I Grooving You?" He did well with the album Are You Lonely For Me?, but Berns's death at the end of 1967 meant that he was again on the move. His only further success was with a soul version of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" in 1970. Mostly, he wrote advertising jingles and took minor acting roles, appearing in the film of the Harold Robbins book Stiletto in 1969.

Scott's key tracks have frequently been reissued and in 1989 the rap singer Biz Markie used Scott's 1968 single, "(You) Got What I Need" for his own "Just a Friend". In 2001, Scott released his first album of new songs in 30 years, Brand New Man. On the Van Morrison tribute album Vanthology (2003), he performed "Brown-Eyed Man".

Spencer Leigh

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Glad All Over - DC5 Singer Mike Smith Going Home

From the Daily Mirror...
I'm feeling glad all over: Dave Clark Five star is going home after four years in hospital
by TAHIRA YAQOOB - More by this author » Last updated at 01:02am on 19th May 2007

Homeward bound: Mike Smith with his wife Charlie

He used to travel the globe followed by hordes of screaming fans, but for the last four years Mike Smith’s world has been his hospital room.

The former singer and keyboard player with the 1960s pop group the Dave Clark Five was left paralysed in a freak accident when he fell while trying to climb a gate at his Spanish villa.

Since then he has been treated at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire learning how to cope with being paralysed from the neck down.

Now at last he has been told he can go home to live with his wife Charlie – and the 63-year-old says he cannot wait to experience the simple pleasures which most take for granted.

"It’s the little things I am looking forward to – having an ice-cream or a picnic and drives through the countryside seeing grass, trees and cows," he said.

"It is exciting but scary at the same time. There are some things that terrify me, like being stuck in a crowd in my wheelchair.

"It is treading into the unknown. This hospital has been my home for the past four years but it has been like a prison for me.

"Now I am going to be out there and have my freedom again."

The Dave Clark Five sold 100 million records around the world with hits such as Bits And Pieces while their song Glad All Over knocked the Beatles’ I Want To Hold Your Hand off the top spot.

But clashes within the group led to them splitting up in 1971. Smith went on to sing with other bands and produce records for the likes of Dame Shirley Bassey and Michael Ball.

Scroll down for more

Chart toppers: The Dave Clark Five with Smith on the left

He also married his long-lost sweetheart Charlie, 64, in October 2001, 35 years after they first dated. The pair had lost contact but the actress tracked him down in 1999.

Their happiness was cut short in September 2003 when Smith, who was trying to climb a 7ft gate after locking himself out of their villa, fell heavily and landed on his head.

He cracked his spine in three places and was left a tetraplegic.

Smith has regained enough use of his left arm to operate an electric wheelchair but a tracheotomy he underwent means he can speak only through a plastic microphone and tube attached to his throat.

As well as having to relearn simple tasks, he is also facing a legal battle against a charity set up to raise cash for his treatment.

The Royal Theatrical Fund set up an appeal to help pay for equipment for him – but Smith and his wife claim they have received only a pair of glasses and a television, while £11,000 remains unaccounted for.

The fund has denied the allegations, saying it has paid out £20,000 to the couple.

When Smith returns to his home in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, within the next three months he will have two full-time carers on hand round the clock to dress and feed him.

His home has been adapted to accommodate his wheelchair but the couple are desperate to raise £50,000 for a van big enough for the chair.

They have already raised about £13,000 with pledges pouring in for an eBay charity auction from celebrities including Roger Daltrey, Sir Cliff Richard and Ringo Starr.

Anyone wanting to donate should visit www.mikesmith1964.com

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers - Voice Your Choice

Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers were an R&B vocal group from the Bronx, New York. Sadly a young Frankie Lymon died of a drug overdose in 1968 at age 25. In the short time they met with fame, they appeared in the movies Rock, Rock, Rock and Mister Rock 'n' Roll.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice features two big hits by Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers: Why Do Fools Fall In Love and Goody Goody.

Come to the Voice Your Choice page and cast your vote for the song you prefer. We'll play the winning tune in Hour 3 of this week's show.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Happy Birthday Sgt. Pepper 40 Years Ago

In celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the release of The Beatles milestone album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, here is a mini documentary on the making of the album, courtesy Apple Corps Ltd.

I know you'll enjoy this!
Michael

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - 40 Years Ago Today

In celebration of the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles 40 years ago this week, Treasure Island Oldies will feature the album throughout this week's show.

Hard to believe it has been 40 years ago!

Michael

The 3rd of June Another Sleepy Dusty Delta Day

Here is the classic song, Ode To Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry. After all, today being the 3rd of June, it's "another sleepy dusty delta day"

Enjoy!
Michael