Arif Mardin - Legendary Producer and Arranger Dies

Arif Mardin, the legendary record producer and arranger for many great singers, has died in New York City of pancreatic cancer at age 74. He was one of three major producers for Atlantic Records, along with Tom Dowd and Jerry Wexler, although only Arif was an arranger as well. He was one of the most successful behind the scenes music figures in popular music in the last half-century.

Arif Mardin is responsible for arranging the pop-soul-gospel sound that catapulted Aretha Franklin to the top of the charts, resulting in her being named "Queen Of Soul". Born in Istanbul, Turkey, he worked with Atlantic Records founders and fellow Turks, brothers Ahmet Ertegun and Nesuhi Ertegen for nearly four decades, beginning in 1963 until re retired in 2001. However that did not last long, as he became Senior Vice-President and Co-General Manager of Manhattan Records, an EMI label. His first project was the ground-breaking success of the debut album by Nora Jones, Come Away With Me.

During his amazing career, Arif Mardin worked alongside some very "high end" artists, producing some of their biggest hits including The Bee Gees (Jive Talkin'), Judy Collins (Send In The Clowns), Bette Midler (The Wind Beneath My Wings), Phil Collins (Against My Wings), Carly Simon (You Belong To Me) and Chaka Khan (I'm Every Woman).

He is also credited with the term "blue-eyed soul", by taking the "Atlantic Sound" and applying it to white musicians such as Dusty Springfield, Darryl Hall and John Oates, Average White Band, and The Bee Gees.

Arif Mardin was a self-taught arranger and composer, and while at a jazz concert in Istanbul he met Quincy Jones who was so impressed with his work that Arif became the recipient of the first Quincy Jones Scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

At the time of his death, he was working with his son Joe Mardin, co-producing an album of Arif's own compositions and performed by many artists including Norah Jones, Bette Midler, Chaka Khan, Carly Simon, and others.

As a long time fan of all those wonderful Atlantic Records artists, I am grateful and thankful to Arif Mardin for his creativity and passion for music.

Arif Mardin, R.I.P.

Michael Godin

Treasure Hunters

Are you a Treasure Hunter? Well look no further. Come on over to Treasure Island Oldies, one of the longest running Internet oldies music radio shows in the world. You'll hear the best oldies music from the 1950s, '60s and '70s by all your favourite recording artists and groups. The music library has over 12,000 songs, so you definitely will not hear the same songs week after week.

Treasure Island Oldies is also the Home of Lost Treasures, songs you'll recognize immediately but haven't heard in years and years. Come listen for yourself why the show has been reviewed as "Quite possibly the Internet's finest oldies netcast show..." - Robert Fontenot, oldies.about.com

Listen live every Sunday from 6 to 10 p.m. Pacific and also on the Treasure Island Oldies Archives. You can also hear the show via satellite on MBN, the Mobile Broadcast Network, and on radio in Sweden on Radio 88 FM in Gothenburg as well as 106.3 Radio NAPA-FM in Cyprus. Get full details at the Treasure Island Oldies website.

Join me for the world's best oldies on Treasure Island Oldies.
Bye for now.
Michael Godin

The Guess Who

The Guess Who formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in the mid-'60s. The original group was named Chad Allen & The Expressions and consisted of Chad Allen (lead vocals and guitar), Randy Bachman (guitar), Bob Ashley (piano), Jim Kale (bass), and Garry Peterson (drums). From that line-up came one of the best rock and roll records ever to come out of Canada, Shakin' All Over, originally recorded by England's Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. But in my opinion, Chad Allen's riveting vocals and the entire band's electric performance completely outshone the original UK single. Two interesting notes about this record: 1 - this song was recorded in a TV studio, CKY in Winnipeg; and 2 - when released in the United States by Scepter Records in New York City, the label felt it had a real "British Invasion" sound and so decided to not reveal the name of the group, but simply printed "Guess Who" on the label. Well the name obviously stuck!

Burton Cummings joined the band in 1966, replacing Bob Ashley on piano. Shortly thereafter Chad Allen left, and Burton became the new lead singer. It took four years and a great record producer, Jack Richardson (who by the way also produced the Bob Seger classic Night Moves at Toronto's Nimbus 9 Studios), but the end result was their first Gold record, the chart smash These Eyes.

The hits kept on coming for the next five years until the end of 1974, including six Top Ten songs and three Gold Records.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, in celebration of our Made In Canada special, Voice Your Choice features two "choice" songs by The Guess Who: These Eyes and Laughing.

Which song do YOU want to hear? Come to Treasure Island Oldies and click on the Voice Your Choice button, then make your section. The song with the most votes will get played in the third hour of the show.

Oh by the way, Canada is NOT spelled C eh N eh D eh, LOL

See you this week for the Made in Canada Special on Treasure Island Oldies.

Oh! Canada

Canada isn't just the home of SCTV's Bob & Doug McKenzie!

Canada has has made many contributions to the world, and has a rich history of great music. This week on Treasure Island Oldies, in celebration of Canada Day on July 1st, we recognize and salute the singers, groups, musicians and songwriters from coast to coast in Canada.

You'll hear lots of familiar songs, along with Canadian Lost Treasures, songs that were hits in Canada, but for one reason or another did not reach the far corners of the world.

You're in for a real musical treat from artists and groups such as Andy Kim, Mashmakhan, J.B. & The Playboys, Paul Anka, The Guess Who, David Clayton Thomas & The Bossmen, Blood Sweat & Tears, Motherlode, The Poppy Family, Bachman Tuirner Overdrive, The Stampeders, April Wine, Lighthouse, Edward Bear, The Original Caste, The Diamonds, and the list goes on and on.

I'm proud to be a Canadian and also proud to bring you Treasure Island Oldies every week from Canada's West Coast, Vancouver, British Columbia, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Join me as we celebrate the great music from Canada on the Made In Canada special edition of Treasure Island Oldies.

Oldies Music Heard On TV

Some of you may be aware that I have recently moved to a new home. After hours and hours of unpacking, it's nice to sit on the couch and relax in front of the tube. Over the past few days, I have been quite surprised at just how much oldies music is on the air in commercials.

For example, I have heard The Very Thought Of You ( a hit for many artists including Ricky Nelson), All Day And All Of The Night by The Kinks, Pretty Little Angel Eyes by Curtis Lee, Who Are You by The Who, and even Walking The Dog by Rufus Thomas. These songs have been used in far ranging products, from iced tea to mobile cell phones.

It is amazing how the ad agency creative directors and producers continue to turn to oldies music, some of the best songs ever recorded, to get their message across. Now personally, I prefer to hear the entire song, not just segments edited into a 30 second spot.

If you feel the same way, I invite you to come to Treasure Island Oldies and listen to the ENTIRE songs - the way they were meant to be heard. You'll hear the greatest oldies music from the 1950s, '60s and '70s, plus lots of Lost Treasures, songs you nearly forgot all about - until NOW!

Join me for Treasure Island Oldies Live every Sunday from 6 to 10 p.m. Pacific, and also anytime on the Archives page.

Bye for now.
Michael

Continuous Oldies Music

Do you have a website? Now you can have a link to Continuous 24/7 Treasure Island Oldies for Windows Media Player on your web page.

While at your site, your visitors will be able to listen to Treasure Island Oldies, "quite possibly the Internet's finest oldies netcast show" - Robert Fontenot, oldies.about.com

Just place this link on your page http://treasureislandoldies.com/pages/listen2.html and be sure to have it open a new window, so your visitors don't leave your site.

I hope you enjoy using the Continuous 24/7 Feed link for your site. It's another great service from Treasure Island Oldies, the Home of Lost Treasures.

Thanks.
Michael

The Beach Boys

The city of Hawthorne, California is more famous for being the home of The Beach Boys than the Western Museum of Flight. The group consisted of three Wilson brothers: Brian, Carl and Dennis, and also included cousin Mike Love and Al Jardine. Glen Campbell joined the group briefly in 1964 until Bruce Johnston became a permanent member in April 1965.

In high school they were known variously as Kenny & The Cadets, Carl & The Passions, then The Pendletones. Their first record, Surfin, on the tiny Candix label, is worth about $250 today if you can find a copy. In 1962, they signed with Capitol Records in Hollywood, California and they ignited the surf-rock craze. Their popularity has never really waned throughout all the years and they continue performing today. The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and received a Lifetme Achivement Award at the Grammy's in 2001.

Throughout their career they charted 60 singles on the Billboard chart, and incredibly their second to last song to hit the charts, Kokomo from the movie Cocktail, became one of their biggest songs ever, reaching #1 and selling in excess of Platinum. Eighteen hits landed in the Top Ten, with two of them reaching Gold and one Platinum status; but all have become classics.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, as we celebrate our 10th Annual Summer Beach Party, we spotlight two Beach Boys songs on Voice Your Choice: Surfin Safari and Surfer Girl. Come to Treasure Island Oldies and click on the Voice Your Choice button to make your selection. We'll play the winning song in the third segment of the show.

10th Annual Summer Beach Party

It's time to get our the sunscreen and your beach blanket! Join us this week on Treasure Island Oldies for our 10th Annual Summer Beach Party. We've scoured the Treasure Island Oldies music library to bring you four hours of the best oldies music featuring the sounds and memories of Summer, including many rare Lost Treasures, along with all of our regular weekly features.

You'll hear hot beach music, great cruising tunes, and the songs that made all our summers so memorable.

We'll be netcasting from the beach for this week's show, live Sunday, June 25 from 6 to 10 p.m. Pacific.

Bring along something for the BBQ as well as your favourite beverage or two. Just watch out for the seagulls!

Father's Day

Please be sure to join me this week on Treasure Island Oldies for our 10th Annual Father's Day Special.

Every song throughout the four hours will have either Father, Dad, Daddy, Pop, or Papa in the song title.

Of course, there'll be the regular features as well: Voice Your Choice, Moment In Time, Rock and Roll News, Top 5 Countdown, Rock & Roll Reunion, Spot Dance, and more.

If you have not heard the show before, come check out why it has been reveiwed as "Quite possibly the Inernet's finest oldies netcast show...". You'll probably not hear oldies music like this anywhere else. Every oldies song I play appeared on the Billboard charts, whether in the lower or upper end of the Top 100. And many songs are considered Lost Treasures.

So come on over to Treasure Island Oldies and click on the Listen button Sunday, June 18 from 6 to 10 p.m. Pacific and after the show has aired, you can enjoy the Archive.

Happy Father's Day!

Billy Ward And His Dominoes

Billy Ward And His Dominoes were from Los Angeles, California and were signed to the R&B record company King/Federal. Billy was born in Los Angeles in 1921 and died at age 80 on February 16, 2002. Interesting to note that The Dominoes had three different singers at various times: Billy Ward, Jackie Wilson and Eugene Mumford. The Dominoes were Charlie White, Joe Lamont and Bill Brown.

They had 11 consecutive Top 10 hits on the R&B charts between 1951-53. They only scored four singles on the pop charts and while none of them reached the top ten, one hit Gold status.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice features those two huge hits for you to select from: Star Dust and Deep Purple.

A few interesting trivia bits on both songs...Star Dust was originally a #1 hit in 1931 for Isham Jones and #2 for Benny Goodman in 1936, followed by Artie Shaw in 1941, when it also reached #2. Deep Purple became a #1 hit for Larry Clinton's Orchestra in 1939. See, it's not just today that songs are being remade; it's been going on for a very long time.

Come to Treasure Island Oldies and click the Voice Your Choice button, then make your selection and cast your vote. The song with the most votes will get played in the third hour of this week's show.

Billy Preston

Billy Preston, known affectionately as the fifth Beatle, has died at age 59 from chronic kidney failure. According to reports, he had been in a coma since November 2005.

Billy was an amazing keyboard player and successful songwriter, penning tunes for himself and others, such as You Are So Beautiful, recorded by Joe Cocker. When he was only ten years old, he played with gospel music legend, Mahalia Jackson. In his early twenties he performed with such R&B pioneers as Little Richard and Ray Charles.

He did a lot of work with The Beatles and made invaluable contributions to Let It Be, Abbey Road and the White Album. George Harrison is the one responsible for naming Billy "the fifth Beatle". When Apple Records was formed, The Beatles signed him and released what is my own absolute Billy Preston record, That's The Way God Planned It, and follow-up with Encouraging Words. Both songs featured contributions from George.

In 1971, he was signed to A&M Records, the label I was with as Vice-President of A&R, and he was launched into superstardom. He released several albums including I Wrote A Simple Song, Music Is My Life and Everybody Likes Some Kind Of Music. From these albums came such mega-hits as Outa Space, Will It Go Round In Circles, Space Race, Nothing From Nothing, Struttin', and more. His final single released on Motown in 1982 was called I'm Never Gonna Say Goodbye.

Throughout his high profile career, he continued to perform on various recording sessions for name arsists such as Aretha Franklin, Sly & The Family Stone and Quincy Jones. He was even featured on the Red Hot Chili Peppers album, Stadium Arcadium.

I'm very sad to say so long to Billy; I loved his much a lot. And I'll play some of Billy'l great songs in the 4th hour of this week's show on Treasure Island Oldies.

Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf were John Kay, Michael Monarch, John "Goldy McJohn" Goadsby and Jerry "Edmonton" McCrohan. They formed in Los Angeles, California, and all members except for Michael Monarch were originally in the group Sparrow, based in Toronto, Ontario.

In 1968 their career took off with what has become one of the all-time classics, Born To Be Wild, and continued through 1974. They charted 9 singles, 3 Top Ten and scored 2 Gold Records.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice spotlights two of the biggest Steppeneolf hits for your vote: Born To Be Wild and Magic Carpet Ride.

Come to the website and click on the Voice Your Choice Button to select the song you prefer. The song with the most votes will be played in the 3rd segment of this week's show.

Get your motor running.....