Monday, March 20, 2017

This Week on Treasure Island Oldies - Week of March 19th, 2017

Week of March 19th, 2017 to March 26th, 2017

Thanks for listening to this week's show. I must say I was surprised and shocked to learn of the passing of Chuck Berry. It's not that he wasn't old at this point in his life; he was 90 after all. It's just that there was no word of him being in poor health. In fact, he wasn't in poor health. He died of natural causes according to his personal doctor and there will be no autopsy. Nice way to end a long life. No matter who he was, how he acted at times, I still can't have anything but admiration and respect for an artist that created the Rock and Roll canvas his own way. Yes, there were others like Bill Haley and His Comets who scored big a year after Rock Around The Clock was released, because of the impact of the movie that had the song in it, Blackboard Jungle. However, Chuck Berry ended up having such an amazing influence on others who themselves would go on to great achievements and massive success, like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dave Clark Five, Johnny Rivers, and so many others. I was always taken with his sense of lyrics and how easy they were to relate to. For example, You Never Can Tell had amazing imagery in the lyrics about a recently married couple, the young monsieur and madame who rang the chapel bell: "They furnished off an apartment with a two room Roebuck  sale, The coolerator was crammed with TV dinners and ginger ale". Very simple yet very poetic. Love the word he used for the refrigerator - the coolerator! What a vivid image! Such a great talent and such a legacy of music. I scrambled to adjust and change the playlist for the show to be sure I could do a great musical tribute to Chuck Berry and his music. I am so glad I did and so pleased you enjoyed it too.

Please mark your calendar for our next special coming up in a few weeks, the Name Game Special. Every song will have the name of a person in the song title. And if there's a song you'd like me to play for you, send an email to me michael@treasureislandoldies.com or click on the Request button on the left side of any page of the website. I'll do my best to play it for you. The date for The Name Game Special is Sunday, April 2nd.

Happy Birthday to our good friend, Rick Canode in Madison, Wisconsin. His weekly feature in the 3rd hour Rick's Rare Rock & Roll Relic is always a treat to hear what he uncovers for you every week. I'd also like to wish Happy Birthday to Joel Drucker in Randolph, New Jersey. Do you have a birthday coming up soon? It's a tradition on Treasure Island Oldies to help celebrate your special day. Send the details to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com and I'll wish you Happy Birthday and play Birthday by The Beatles for you.

The Top Five Countdown this week is from 1958 and the Number One song is Tequila by The Champs. It's playing at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog. Enjoy!

Next week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice presents Bobby Darin, with two of his many hit records. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either Artificial Flowers or Clementine. I'll play the winning song on next week's show.

Here's this week's Rock and Roll News Podcast.

That's all for this week.

Bye for now.
Michael