It's Halloween Week On Treasure Island Oldies

This week on Treasure Island Oldies

October 28th, 2012 to November 3rd, 2012

Happy Halloween! I hope you enjoy our Annual Halloween Spooktacular. During the Live show, the Crypt aka Chat Room was busy with all kinds of characters "hanging" out. And all the great ghoul tunes were fun to hear again this year. In case you missed the Live show, and especially on Halloween itself, be sure to listen to the Archive. Well listen if you dare! LOL My special thanks go out to our "Web"-Master, Eddy "Munster" Fisher for the great Halloween decorations. Eddy, you've outdone yourself this year.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to California Barb and to Andy Desilet in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's capital city. If you have a birthday coming up, send the details of your name, city and birthday date to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com. I'll help you celebrate by wishing you Happy Birthday on the show and I'll also play Birthday by The Beatles

It's Halloween Week at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog and we're playing Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt Kickers with the all-time Halloween favourite, Monster Mash. It's our Song Of The Week. Booooooooo!

Voice Your Choice returns to Treasure Island Oldies after a week off with one of the top pop singers of the 1960s, Tommy Roe. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice Page for either Sheila or Sweet Pea. The winner will be played in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

Here is this week's Rock & Roll News for the Week of October 28th, 2012

Have a very Happy Halloween and see you on next week's show.

Boo for now. lol

Count Michael

Monster Mash - Song Of The Week

It's Halloween Week on Treasure Island Oldies and to celebrate our Annual Halloween Spooktacular, here is the king of Halloween with a monster of a Halloween hit.

Our Song Of The Week is by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt Kickers with the al- time classic, Monster Mash.

Happy Halloween!
Count Michael

Bill Dees - Roy Orbison's Co-writer Has Passed Away

Bill Dees, one-time co-writer with Roy Orbison,  who gave us such hits as "It's Over" and "Oh, Pretty Woman", died of brain cancer at a nursing facility in Mountain Home, Arkansas Wednesday (October 24). He was 73. 

Among the other artists who recorded Bill's songs were Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and Glen Campbell.

Roy and Bill are pictured receiving a plaque for Oh, Pretty Woman.

Radio Performers Lunch

Many years ago now my good friend and broadcast pioneer Red Robinson and I started a group we called RPM, Radio Performers Membership. It started as a result of attending the funeral for radio personality Rick Honey. Comments were made that we only get to see each other and have a visit when one of us died and that's just not right.

So RPM began. Over the years this has grown into a semi-annual get together for lunch and social time. This week was the fall lunch with over 65 attending. And not all are retired or out of work, many are still on the air today.

It was good to see my old friend Terry David Mulligan (pictured on the left with yours truly). He was a former RCMP officer turned DJ, working as a "Good Guy" at C-FUN Vancouver. Today Terry does a weekly radio show about wine. It's a tasty show. :-)

Global TV News' Mike McCardell came by and shot some cool footage and did a few interviews. Below is a clip.

My thanks to my great friend Red Robinson and to Gord Landsell for continuing the RPM tradition in such a successful way.

Michael

This Week On Treasure Island Oldies - October 21st to 27th, 2012

October 21st, 2012 to October 27th, 2012

October 21st, 2012 - what a day! And what a great 60th Birthday Celebration we had on the show. I would immediately like to thank my good friend Matt Meaney who lives in Langley, BC. You came up with the idea of contacting all the regular Nuts in the Hut, the Treasure Island Oldies Chat Room. He contacted Eddy Fisher, our excellent Webmaster, and got the additional help of the Old Relic Retriever, Rick Canode in Madison, Wisconsin. Together they conspired to get recorded birthday greetings from long-time listeners and friends. Matt, thank you for all your hard work; and thank you Rick and Eddy for making it all happen and come together for playback on the show. 

My thanks to the following friends for their recorded birthday wishes: Matt Meaney, Fay Greenwood, Rick Canode, Red Robinson (what an amazing and fun recording he made for me and all the voice characterizations are done by Red!), California Barb, Rich and Kitten Howe, and Radio 88 in Gothenburg, Sweden. They were the very first station to carry Treasure Island Oldies on their station. Eight years later and thanks to the late Ulf Ligander, whose idea it was to carry my show on Radio 88, we are still on the station every week. Additional thanks go out to Guylaine Côté for her greeting. She used to listen to my show in 1974 when I worked at CFOM in Quebec City and has been listen to my show for several years now. Thanks to Bruce Toews, Roy Geldart, Sunny, California Barb, Shirley, and Lenny Bronstein. He and I both worked at A&M Records, he was in Los Angeles and I was in Toronto. We've kept in touch through the years and he never misses my birthday. And what a fun birthday song he sent too.  

I'd like to say thanks to Linda Guy for her wishes and for the Sheriff John's Birthday Song. He was such a staple on TV in Los Angeles with so many kids growing up with him. That song had a real classic Gene Autry feel to me. Great. And last, but not least, my thanks to Paul Evans for taking the time to send his greeting. He's such a nice guy and I'm pleased he had those big hits like Seven Little Girls (Sitting In The Back Seat) and Happy Go Lucky Me. He's just a nice guy. And if that wasn't more than enough, I received over 90 birthday wishes from friends on facebook. Wow! All in all, it was a wonderful 60th birthday celebration. Thank you very much.

Speaking of birthdays, my best wishes for a Happy Birthday go out to Mike Dillon in 100 Mile House, British Columbia, Jimi Bertucci, from the group Abraham's Children, Jamie Anstey in Vancouver, and to Bette Carl and Kern Walker. If you have a birthday coming up, send the details of your name, city and birthday date to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com. I'll help you celebrate by wishing you Happy Birthday on the show and I'll also play Birthday by The Beatles

Be sure to join us for the 16th Annual Halloween Spooktacular. We'll be coming to you Live from the Island Crypt Sunday, October 28 at 6 pm Pacific time. The Halloween Spooktacular is considered by long time listeners as one of the two best shows of the entire year. The other being, of course, the Traditional Treasure Island Oldies Christmas Special. So I invite you to join be as I turn into Count Michael for next week's show. Listen - if you dare!

We're keeping the party going at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog with Lesley Gore and It's My Party. It's our Song Of The Week. Enjoy!

There will be no Voice Your Choice on next week's Halloween Spooktacular. Voice Your Choice returns Sunday, November 4 with Tommy Roe and two of his many hit records. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either Sheila or Sweet Pea. I'll play the winning song in the 3rd hour of the show.

Here is this week's Rock & Roll News for the Week of October 21st, 2012

And here's the Top 5 Countdown from this week in 1957.

Once again, thanks for a fun birthday party with you. I had a great time.

See you next week for the 16th Annual Halloween Spooktacular.

Bye for now.

Michael

P.S. My thanks to listener Jeff March in Davis, California for the photo of Happy Birthday Michael birthday cake.

Tommy Roe - Voice Your Choice

Next week is the Treasure Island Oldies 16th Annual Halloween Spooktacular; there will no Voice Your Choice. 

Voice Your Choice returns Sunday, November 4 with Tommy Roe.  He was born May 9, 1942 in Atlanta, Georgia. He had his first Number One and his first Gold record when he was only 20 years old. Between 1962 and 1973, he appeared on the Billboard charts a total of 22 times, and had six Top Ten hits plus four Gold Records, a very impressive pop career.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice presents Tommy Roe with two of his big hits for your votes. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either Sheila or Sweet Pea. Be listening to hear the winner in Hour 3 of the  show.

Lesley Gore - Song Of The Week

Seeing as we had such a great party celebrating my 60th birthday on Treasure Island Oldies this week, I thought it would be fitting and fun to keep the party going. In case you missed the live show, you can enjoy the Archive. Check it out.

Here's the great Lesley Gore with her first and also her signature hit, It's My Party. It's our Song Of The Week.

Enjoy!

Michael

This Week On Treasure Island Oldies October 14th to 20th, 2012

October 14th, 2012 to October 20th, 2012

Wow what another great time we had this week on Treasure Island Oldies. Thanks for your requests; I enjoy both your emails and phone calls (206-339-0709-The Treasure Island Oldies Listener Line). And many thanks for the great comments on all the songs played during this week's show. It's interesting that even though every week has great records played, some weeks the combination of all the songs just strikes a chord with listeners. I've heard from some listeners who commented that this week's show had some of the best music mixes they'd heard in a while. I'm so glad you enjoyed it; I had a great time putting together the playlist. In case you missed hearing the live show, be sure to click Archives on the Listen Page and you can also check out the Playlist and see what songs were played.

I don't want to frighten you, but our 16th Annual Halloween Spooktacular will surface from the Crypt Sunday, October 28th and all week long on the Archives. Be there if you dare and be sure to click on the Preview YouTube Video. If you have a good monitor and high speed broadband, be sure to click on the HD version.

I enjoyed watching Beatles Stories, a new DVD just released on the market. It contains interviews with several recording artists and other stars who had occasion to meet with one or all Beatles. For true Beatles fans, you may want to check out the DVD.

When we re-launched the website several years ago, the main graphic we adopted was painted by artist Ali Knight. A portion of the money raised from selling copies of her artwork was designated for Autism research. While that link she provided no longer works, I'm pleased to provide you with a new link for information about Autism. My thanks to listener Charlotte Kellogg for getting in touch and for the new link. Click here for more information about Autism.

The Treasure Island Oldies Blog is playing the very song that started off this week's show. And what a great soulful tune it is, Nothing But A Heartache by The Flirtations. It's our Song Of The Week. Enjoy!

Voice Your Choice presents the great soulful voice of Bill Withers. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice Page for either Ain't No Sunshine or Lean On Me. I'll play the winner in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

If you have a birthday coming up, send the details of your name, city and birthday date to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com. I'd sure like to help celebrate your birthday too, by wishing you Happy Birthday on the show and also by playing Birthday by The Beatles.

Here is this week's Rock & Roll News for the Week of October 14th, 2012

And here's the Top 5 Countdown from this week in 1966.

Keep on listening to the show while you're on the go with the Tune In Radio app. You can listen to the Live Show, the Rock & Roll News Podcasts, and the Archived Show as well. Just be sure that to do a search for Treasure Island Oldies. Get more out of your iPhone or other smartphone with the Tune In Radio app, available at the iTunes Store.

Hope you have a great week. See you on next week's show.

Bye for now.

Michael

Bill Withers - Voice Your Choice

Bill Withers was born on the 4th of July, 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia. He debuted on the charts in 1972 with a Gold Record and the Number Three hit Ain't No Sunshine. That song and its follow-up, Grandma's Hands, were produced by Booker T. Jones, from Booker T. & The MGs. He also produced the B Side of Ain't No Sunshine, the stunning Harlem! That song is one of my personal all-time favourite R&B Soul songs.

He had a very impressive 14 songs on the charts between 1971 and 1984, and this week on Treasure Island Oldies,Voice Your Choice spotlights two of the three Gold Records for Bill Withers: Ain't No Sunshine and Lean On Me.

I wonder if the results will be close. Help decide which song will be the winner. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice Page for either Ain't No Sunshine or Lean On Me. The winner will get played in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

The Flirtations - Song Of The Week

When this record first came out in 1969, many elements stood out to me then and now. The melody, arrangement, vocals, and overall production were and are top notch.

Ever since, I've enjoyed hearing it and in particular, playing it on the show. It sets up the energy level for an entire hour of great music. So here's the song that started of this week's edition of Treasure Island Oldies.

Here are The Flirtations with their 1969 R&B smash, Nothing But A Heartache. It's our Song Of The Week.

Enjoy!

Michael

A&M Records Canada Reunion

Back in August, a number of former A&M Records Canada staff decided to get together for a mini reunion at a pub in Toronto. Unfortunately I was unable to attend. However, with my vacation plans forming for the first week of October to go to Toronto and Gatineau to visit with my family, I got in touch with a couple of long time friends to let them know I was going to be in Toronto and wondered if a few of us could get together even if only for a coffee.

From that one facebook exchange, Michelle Henderson, with whom I worked at A&M, spoke with her dad and mom, Joe and Gloria Summers. Joe was Senior Vice-President of A&M during my time at A&M running the A&R department. Joe and Gloria decided to host a Reunion party at their gorgeous heritage home near Oshawa. Michelle then started a new facebook group, "Michael Godin's in Town - Time for Another Get-Together". And it happened Thursday, October 4th - a day I will remember for a very long time.

It was a by-invitation-only event that was attended by so many of my lifelong friends. Joe and Gloria have always been such welcoming and gracious hosts, and it was great to have a chance to visit with them at their home once again after all these years.

I can't say how A&Mazing it was to have a chance to visit with my former boss, Gerry Lacoursiere and his wife Gay. Gerry hired me in 1975 as a 23 year old kid fresh out of radio as music director and DJ. His confidence resulted in a wonderful record industry career for me and much success for our company. Bill and Dawn Ott had just returned from vacation in France a few days earlier. I've known Bill since I was in high school. We became fast friends throughout my radio years when he worked in sales and promotion for several independent record companies.

Susan Brearton, who was my assistant and A&R Administrator, was at the party. We worked together as quite a team for many years at A&M and have maintained our friendship. She's still doing well as Manager A&R Administration at Universal Music.

I'm going to do my utmost to name everyone who was also at the party. Vern Gibson, Pat Ryan, Heidi Eschbach, Susan Coles and her husband Joe (they had a two hour drive to get to the party!), Hank Koch (who has the accolade of selling 50,000 copies of an album to one customer - a GOLD record's worth!), another sales rep, Joe Toews and his wife, Dave Watt with his wife, and of course Cathy Lovell! I had not seen some of these friends for 26 years!

The only unfortunate part of the event was that Michelle Henderson, who organized the entire invitation list, was unable to attend at the very last minute. I truly missed not seeing Michelle. Next time for sure.

The incredible thing about all these people is that we were at the right place at the right time. We were a bunch of music fanatics who were passionate about the artists on A&M Records and who were committed to working together to spread that enthusiasm to radio, TV, retail, newspapers, magazines, etc. The real connection is we liked each other a lot, as witnessed by remaining in touch with each other after all these years.

I also had the chance for a wonderful visit earlier in the day with Doug and Ann Chappell, who were unable to attend the party that evening. So we got together at their home for a great visit and lunch. Doug was not only Vice-President of Promotion, but went on to become President of Island Records, Virgin Records and Mercury Records. What a career and what a friend.

The food was delicious, as was the music that was played throughout the evening, all A&M artists such as Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (Herb is the A of A&M), Bryan Adams, Supertramp, Styx, Paul Janz,  Cat Stevens, Procol Harum, The Carpenters, Gino Vannelli, The Payolas, 38 Special, The Arrows, The Police, Chris de Burgh, Squeeze, Pablo Cruise, Joan Armatrading, and so, so many more!

I will forever be grateful to Michelle Henderson for organizing the party and to Joe and Gloria Summers for hosting such a fantastic reunion in my honour.

Thank you everyone - it was so good to see each of you again.

Michael

P.S. The next day, I took a drive with my son David to see the old A&M Records office building. It was quite sad to see this magnificent building falling into its current not well maintained state. The inside of what is now a deep discount furniture store was gutted right back to the walls of the building. Nonetheless, David took a picture of me standing outside the window of what was my former office.

Canadian Thanksgiving Trivia

Here is some trivia for you about Canadian Thanksgiving. Enjoy your time together on this special day.

Michael

This Week on Treasure Island Oldies - October 7th to 13th

October 7th, 2012 to October 13th, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians! And Happy Columbus Day to all my American friends. It was great to play some wonderful "thankful" songs on our Canadian Thanksgiving Special on the show, and thanks for your requests. Our next special will be the 16th Annual Halloween Spooktacular Live on Sunday, October 28th, and if you miss the live show, you can enjoy the Spooktacular on the Archive at the Listen Page.

It's great to be back after a week away on vacation. I had a wonderful visit with my Mom, Kathleen, my sister Louise and brother-in-law Claude in Gatineau, Quebec, and my son, David, and his girlfriend, Jess, in Toronto. Nothing can replace getting together with family! And the timing around Thanksgiving made it all the more special.

While in Toronto, I had an A&Mazing time at a Reunion of former A&M Records Canada co-worker friends. The party was organized by Michelle Henderson just because I was coming to Toronto. Joe and Gloria Summers hosted this by invitation only party at their beautiful heritage home. Joe was Senior Vice-President and Michelle, their daughter, also worked at A&M. I'll be writing a longer post about October 4, 2012, a day I will remember for years and years to come, at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog.

It's great that our regular Chat Room is back up and running once again. My thanks and appreciation to Mike Leeson at NeuLion, our network, and to our Webmaster, Eddy Fisher. Eddy co-ordinated all the technical details and also came up with a great temporary chat room solution. We'd love to welcome you to the Chat Room during the live show every Sunday. Click Chat on any page of the website and follow the instructions. Looking forward to you becoming one of the Nuts in the Hut on the Island.

In celebration of Canadian Thanksgiving, the Treasure Island Oldies Blog is play the great Sam & Dave with the Soul Survivors in a great live performance of I Thank You. It's our Song Of The Week. Enjoy!

Voice Your Choice presents The Who with two of their great hit songs. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice Page for either Happy Jack or I Can See For Miles. I'll play the winning song next week during the 3rd hour of the show.

If you have a birthday coming up, send the details of your name, city and birthday date to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com. I'd sure like to help celebrate your birthday too, by wishing you Happy Birthday on the show and also by playing Birthday by The Beatles.

Here is this week's Rock & Roll News for the Week of October 7th, 2012

And here's the Top 5 Countdown from this week in 1961.

With the new iPhone 5 now available, more and more folks are "mobile" than ever before. With that mobility, you'll still want to be connected to Treasure Island Oldies, and you can.  All you need is the Tune In Radio app. You can listen to the Live Show, the Rock & Roll News Podcasts, and the Archived Show as well. Just be sure that to do a search for Treasure Island Oldies. Get more out of your iPhone or other smartphone with the Tune In Radio app, available at the iTunes Store.

Show the world you're a proud Islander! Send your photo and we'll post it to the Treasure Island Oldies Listener Gallery. Send it tolistenergallery@treasureislandoldies.com.

Hope you have a great week. See you on next week's show.

Bye for now.

Michael

The Who - Voice Your Choice

 

The Who were a rock band formed in London, England, with members Roger Daltrey (vocals; born March 1, 1944), Pete Townshend (guitar, vocals; born on May 19, 1945), John Entwistle (bass;
born October 9, 1944) and Keith Moon (drums; born August 23, 1947).

They originally called themselves the High Numbers and became The Who in 1965. They became infamous for destroying their instruments on stage, and later for destroying the occasional hotel room. At one time when they did a concert in Montreal, I was invited back to their hotel room for a party. Unfortunately I had to be at the radio station, CFCF, for 8 am so i decided to pass on the "after party". That turned into quite the scene with everyone getting arresrted, guests included. Boy was i glad I didn't go!!

In 1969 they wrote, developed, recorded and performed a rock opera entitled, Tommy, and later in 1973, Quadrophenia.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice spotlights The Who. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice Page for either Happy Jack or I Can See For Miles. I'll play the winner in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

Sam & Dave - Song Of The Week

In celebration of Canadian Thanksgiving, I've decided to play a great song by a great soul duo.

Here are Sam & Dave, along with the Soul Survivors, in a great live performance of I Thank You. It's our Song Of The Week.

Enjoy!