The Day The Music Died

February 3, 1959
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper all died in a plane crash shortly after leaving Clear Lake, Iowa enroute to Fargo, North Dakota. Some have referred to this sad event as The Day The Music Died, perhaps more so as a result of the Don McLean hit "American Pie". Fortunately, music didn't die that day nor did their memory. This Sunday on Treasure Island Oldies I will devote the entire 4th hour to remembering Buddy, Ritchie and the Big Bopper. I'll play some of their most known and also less known recordings, plus a couple of neat songs as well. The UK's Mike Berry recorded A Tribute To Buddy and Waylon Jennings, who was actually supposed to be on the plane that night but took the tour bus instead, recorded a wonderful Buddy Holly Medley. Hear them both and more on my show live Sunday, February 1 from 6 to 10 p.m. Pacific or the Archive.

John Martyn British Singer-Songwriter Dies

London - Cult British singer-songwriter John Martyn, a contemporary of Eric Clapton known for his fusion of folk and blues guitar, has died, it was announced on his website January 29, 2009.

Martyn, who only a few weeks ago was honoured with an Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in this year's New Year honours list, was 60.

"With heavy heart and an unbearable sense of loss we must announce that John died this morning," the online announcement said, without giving the cause of death.

Martyn, whose real name was Iain David McGeachy, was born in New Malden, southwest of London, in 1948 but grew up in Glasgow, brought up by his grandmother.

He released his debut album London Conversation in October 1967 and made another 20 studio albums in a career that saw him witk with musicians suchg as Clapton, Genesis star Phil Collins and Pink Floyd frontman David Gilmour.

His most well-known album was probably 1973's Solid Air, which included the song "May You Never", later covered by Clapton and said to have inspired Irish mega rockers U2.
- AFP

Lynyrd Skynyrd Keyboardist Billy Powell Dies

By Jonathan Cohen
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist Billy Powell died
Wednesday morning (January 28) at his home in Orange Park, Florida. He was
56.
According to the Associated Press, Powell called 9-11 around 12:55 a.m.,
saying he was having trouble breathing. Rescue crews arrived at the
home, but Powell was pronounced dead just before 2 a.m.
Orange Park Police Lieutenant Mark Cornett told the AP that Powell had
missed an appointment yesterday for a cardiac evaluation.
Powell, whose fluid piano runs spiced such classic Skynyrd songs as
"Freebird," "Call Me the Breeze" and "Sweet Home Alabama," and founding
guitarist Gary Rossington were the only two original members of the
Southern rock band to survive the 1977 plane crash that killed singer
Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup vocalist Cassie Gaines.
Since then, guitarist Allen Collins and bassist Leon Wilkeson have also
died; former drummer Artimus Pyle survived the crash but no longer
tours with the band, which re-formed in 1987 and still is a powerful
concert draw.
Skynyrd lore has it that Powell, a former roadie for the band in its
earliest incarnations, was asked to join by Van Zant when the latter
heard Powell's keyboard take on "Freebird."
According to the band's publicist, as-yet-unspecified shows will be
canceled as a result of Powell's death. Skynyrd was slated to perform
Friday (January 30) in Kinder, La., and the following day in Biloxi,
Miss. A European tour was set to begin May 20 in Finland

This Week on Treasure Island Oldies

Our Webmaster, Eddy Fisher, asked me to extend his thanks to the many of you who sent an email to him at webmaster@treasureislandoldies.com to wish him well with his knee surgery. It happened last Friday and he is on the mend. Many thanks for your kindness. Just a note though that it may take a bit longer to have the website updated or certain features of it. Please be patient while the patient recuperates.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to loyal listener and fellow Nut in the Hut, Fred Waterer in Ste. Catharines, Ontario. Fred is a regular in the Chat Room every week and is always ready with a funny comment or quip. Come find out just how much fun we have in the Chat Room every week. Logon on next Sunday when the show is live. Click Chat on the Menu of any page of the website and follow the instructions. Hope to see you next Sunday.

The Listener photos are now arriving for inclusion on our brand new Listener Gallery coming soon to the website. Show the rest of the world who is listening to the show. Send your photo, first name and city to michael@treasureislandoldies.com and stand by to see yourself as a proud "Island" Listener.

We are just a couple of weeks away from our Annual Valentine's Day Special on Sunday, February 8th and I'd love to play that special song for your own Cupid. Click or Call with your request and dedication to 206-203-5678 or requests@treasureislandoldies.com.

The Treasure Island Oldies Blog is playing R&B singer extraordinaire Wilson Picket in a live performance of Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, our Song of the Week. Enjoy!

Speaking of R&B, Voice Your Choice is featuring the former lead singer of The Drifters, Ben E. King, with two of his solo smashes: Spanish Harlem and Amor. Cast your vote for the song you would like to hear on the show. Click Voice Your Choice on any page of the Website and make your selection. The winner will get played in Hour 3 of next week's show. I wonder if we'll end up with a tie like we had with Johnny Cash last week.

If you missed the live show, you can enjoy the Archive of January 25, 2009; just click the Listen button on the Menu. And remember, you can now also check out the Playlist and see the list of all the songs we played on the show.

Have a good week.

Michael

Ben E. King - Voice Your Choice

Ben E. King was born Benjamin Earl Nelson on September 23, 1938 in Henderson, North Carolina and was raised in Harlem, New York. While he was still in high school, he sang with The Moonglows and in 1957 he joined the Five Crowns, which became The Drifters in 1959. His first lead vocal performance with The Drifters was on There Goes My Baby, and he even wrote the song's lyrics. He left the group to pursue a solo career in 1960.

He appeared on the Billboard charts twenty-two times between the end of 1960 and 1986, with his last chart entry a repeat of his third hit, Stand By Me, due to its popularity in the movie of the same name starring River Phoenix and Will Wheaton.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice spotlights Ben E. King and two of his signature songs: Spanish Harlem and Amor. Cast your vote for the song you'd like to hear. Click Voice Your Choice on any page of the website and make your selection. We'll play the winner in Hour 3 of next week's show.

Wilson Pickett - Song of the Week

The "Wicked" Wilson Pickett, R&B singer extraordinaire, is in the spotlight this week and captured live in this performance video clip of Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, our Song of the Week.

Enjoy!
Michael

This Week on Treasure Island Oldies

This Week on Treasure Island Oldies
January 18th to 24th, 2009

In case you did not read the notice at the website for the live show Sunday night, you would not known why the show began 45 minutes late. One of the major bridges in the Vancouver area had a fire on a section of the bridge structure that had wood decking. The result is the entire bridge is now closed for assessment and repairs for at least 4 to 6 weeks. It immediately created massive traffic congestion, not only on the other highway leading to the other main bridge into Vancouver, but on the feeder routes leading to the highway and bridge. It took me over one hour to travel the distance from home to the bridge, which should have taken no more than 10 minutes. So I apologize for the delay and any inconvenience it may have caused you or any affiliates of our Broadcast Partners Network that carry the show live. The circumstances were way beyond my control.

Nice to know that our friend and loyal listener, Craig Smith, one of the Nuts in the Hut, is out of the hospital and back home. He dropped by the Chat Room for a short visit to let everyone know he was recouperating and feeling a bit better.

Our very best wishes also go out to our Webmaster, Eddy Fisher, who is going into the hospital this Friday, Janaury 23rd for knee surgery. Hope everything goes well and that the surgery is a great success, Eddy. I'll update you next week as to how he is doing. Please note there will more than likely be some delays in keeping the website maintained and up to date. Your patience is much appreciated while the patient recouperates.

Thank you for all your great feedback regarding the return of the Playlist to the website. Eddy has placed it conveniently beside the link to the latest Archived show.

I recently checked to see how our weekly Podcast of the Rock and Roll News feature of the show is doing. In the past 30 days there have been more than 10,500 downloads of the Podcasts! That's a lot of people downloading the Podcast for their iPod from places such as iTunes. The Podcast is even being played back on other podcasts as a special feature of the host's show. For more info click Podcast from the Menu bar on any page of the website.

We shine the spotlight on Gene Pitney this week at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog, for a classic ballad he performs on a TV show. Check out some of the fans in the clip. I'm Gonna Be Strong is our Song of the Week.

Voice Your Choice this week features the Man in Black, Johnny Cash, with two of his many hit songs: I Walk The Line and Guess Things Happen That Way. Cast your vote for the song you'd like to hear. Click the Voice Your Choice button on any page of the website and make your selection. The winner will be played in Hour 3 of next week's show.

It's not too soon to start thinking about Valentine's Day. Our Annual Valentine's Day Special will air live Sunday, February 8, in plenty of time for you for Valentine's Day February 14. If you'd like to request a song and dedicate it to your special Valentine, drop a note to requests@treasureislandoldies.com or just click the Requests button on any page of the website. It would also be great hearing from you on the phone. Give us a shout at 206-203-4678 and leave your request message on our 24/7 Request Line. We'll play back your phone message and play your request.

If you missed the live show, you can enjoy the Archive of January 18, 2009. Click the Listen button on the Menu.

Have a good week.

Michael

Johnny Cash - Voice Your Choice

Johnny Cash was born February 26, 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas. He was one of the original artists signed to Sun Records, along with Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. He passed away September 23, 2003. He sold over 90 million albums during a career than spanned nearly 50 years.

He appeared 48 times on the Billboard Hot 100 charts from 1956 through 1976, yet only scored one Gold Record and the Number Two position on the chart in 1969 for A Boy Named Sue.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies Voice Your Choice feature Johnny Cash with two of his big hit records for your votes: I Walk The Line and Guess Things Happen That Way. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page. We'll play the winning song in Hour 3 of next week's show.

Gene Pitney

During his long chart career, Gene Pitney recorded many wonderful ballads including Town Without Pity, Only Love Can Break A Heart, and others, but perhaps his most stirring balled, musically and lyrically is I`m Gonna Be Strong. Here is Gene in a clip from a TV show performing this emotionally intense song. It must have been difficult for him to concentrate with all those fans so close by and quite distracting at times. I know you will enjoy I`m Gonna be Strong, our Song of the Week.

Michael

See What You Hear On Treasure Island Oldies

Now you can see what you are listening to on Treasure Island Oldies every week. A new Playlist feature has just been introduced. You can now find out what songs were played on this week's show. The link to the Playlist is on the Archive Page at the website and will be updated every week.

Treasure Island Oldies Now Heard On C-VUE 105.9 FM and D-Moos.com

I am so pleased to welcome both C-VUE 105.9 FM in Sechelt, British Columbia on the b and D-Moos.com in b to the Treasure Island Oldies Broadcast Partners Network. It is very special to me that these two stations are based in Canada. A big hello to Fred Bradley at C-VUE FM and Russ Horton at D-Moos.com.

You can listen to Treasure Island Oldies on C-VUE 105.9 FM every Thursday from 10 pm to 2 am Pacific time. On D-Moos.com we are on the air twice every Sunday, from 6 to 10 am and again from 3 to 7 pm Eastern time.

For a complete list of the radio stations in the United States, Canada, England and Sweden that carry our show, click here.

Five Man Electrical Band - Voice Your Choice

Originally formed in 1964 as The Staccatos, in Ottawa, Ontario, they changed their name to the Five Man Electrical Band in 1968. The lineup consisted of Les Emmerson on guitar and lead vocals, who also wrote a lot of the songs; Ted Gerow played piano, with Brian Rading on Bass and brothers Rick and Mike Belanger who played percussion and drums respectively. It took several years for their career to really take off, but it sure did when they finally broke through with the smash hit, the Gold record Signs.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice features the Five Man Electrical Band with two of their hit songs for your votes: Absolutely Right and Signs. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page of the website. We'll play the winner in Hour 3 of next week's show.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich - Song of the Week

With the sad news of the passing of Dave Dee, I wanted to play my absolute favourite Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich single, Hold Tight. The song starts out with a bang and never lets up. The video actually shows that the band were real players, especially the drummer who is playing exactly to the record. Although they are not being mic'd, they are still playing and lip syncing to the thunderous track. Hold Tight! It's our Song of the Week.

Enjoy!
Michael

British Singer Dave Dee RIP

Dave Dee, leader of the British band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, died in a hospital in Surrey, England Friday morning (January 9) after a three-year battle with cancer. He was 65. While the group's only American charted record was "Zabadak" (#52) in 1968, they had eight top ten hits in England, including the #1 record, "Legend Of Xanadu". Formed in Wiltshire, England, they were originally called Dave Dee and the Bostons and even worked-- briefly and unsuccessfully-- with producer Joe Meek before signing with Fontana Records and changing their name to include all the members. Dave left for a solo career (yielding one top 50 record in England) in 1969 while the others continued as D,B,M & T before disbanding in 1972. The group reunited in the nineties and Dave continued to play with them until shortly before his death, though his main occupation was as a justice of the peace. Dave-- whose real name was Dave Harmon-- was once a police officer and as a cadet, was at the site of Eddie Cochran's fatal car crash in 1960. It was Dave who took Eddie's Gretch guitar from the scene and held onto it until it could be returned to Eddie's family. Legend has it Dave learned to play guitar on the instrument.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! What a great celebration we had for our first show of 2009 with our annual New Year Dance Party. It was good fun to get together in the Chat Room with all the Nuts in the Hut, plus some newcomers as well. And I invite you to come visit during the live show every Sunday night from 6 to 10 pm Pacific time. For details on how to log into the Chat Room, click the Chat button on any page of the website. Look forward to seeing you next week.

I am very pleased to start of the New Year with news that the brand new Zero Radio Network, with WZEO 95.3 FM and 1580 AM in Meredith, New Hampshire and KZEO 100.5 FM and 1600 AM in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Welcome to the Treasure Island Oldies Broadcast Partners Network. We look forward to keeping you company every Saturday evening from 6 to 10 pm local time. Stay tuned, we will be adding more radio stations to our network in 2009.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Caroline in Fargo, North Dakota, Jill in Cambridge, Ontario and Shirley in Cincinnati, Ohio. I hope you all enjoy(ed) your birthdays. Of course, I played Birthday by The Beatles, our official birthday song. If you have a birthday coming up, be sure to let me know in advance and I will wish you Happy Birthday on the show. Send your name, city and birthday to michael@treasureislandoldies.com

The Treasure Island Oldies Blog is keeping our New Year Dance Party theme this week with a classic clip of Dee Dee Sharp performing Mashed Potato Time. It's our first Song of the Week for 2009. Enjoy!

Voice Your Choice features Dean Martin with two of his big hits: Everybody Loves Somebody and The Door Is Still Open To My Heart. Cast your vote for the song you prefer. Click the Voice Your Choice button on any page of the website and make your selection. The song with the most votes will be played in Hour 3 of next week's show.

If you missed the live show, you can enjoy the b of January 4, 2009. Click the Listen button on the Menu.

Have a good week.

Michael

Dean Martin - Voice Your Choice

Dean Martin was born Dino Crocetti on June 7, 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio. He was very versatile as a singer, actor, comedian, and host of his own TV variety show from 1965 to 1974. He teamed comedian Jerry Lewis in Atlantic City in 1946 and was a member of the famed Rat Pack, along with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford.

His big hit was That's Amore, which went to the #2 spot on the chart in 1953. Between 1955 and 1969, he had thirty charted records on Billboard, including two Number One hits, which were both Gold Records as well.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice features Dean Martin with two of his big hit songs for your votes: Everybody Loves Somebody and The Door Is Still Open To My Heart. Cast your vote for the song you would like to hear by coming to the Voice Your Choice page. The winning song will be played in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

Dee Dee Sharp - Song Of The Week

In keeping with our New Year Dance Party special, our first show of 2009, here is Dee Dee Sharp and her classic Mashed Potato Time. Be sure to check out some of the wild hairdos on some of the girls on the audience!
Enjoy.
Michael