This Week On Treasure Island Oldies - Week Of August 26th, 2013

August 25th, 2013 to August 31st, 2013

It sure was an action packed show this week, with yet again many requests. And the Chat Room welcomed Ineyda Velasquez, from Homestead, Florida, for the first time. She discovered the show last fall while listening to Team-FM in the UK, one of the  Treasure Island Oldies Broadcast Partners Network stations. It was great to have her stop by for her first visit and she was warmly welcomed by the other regulars. I think she is now officially a Nut in the Hut. I invite you to increase your enjoyment of the show by coming to the Chat Room during the Live show every Sunday beginning at 6 pm Pacific time. Click Chat on any page of the website for more information and easy to follow instructions.

Join me next week for our annual Labour Day Back To School End Of Summer Special. There'll be lots of work related songs, school tunes and the last chance this year to hear some of the greatest summer hits of all time. I look forward to keeping you company with this fun special.

Earlier in the week I was in touch via Facebook with Danny Marks, a great guitarist who hosted a CBC Radio program and currently the host of a blues show in JAZZ.FM91 in Toronto. Danny was a founding member of Edward Bear (You Me And Mexico, The Last Song, etc.). He eventually became the guitarist for Malcolm Tomlinson, the first recording artist I ever signed with A&M Records. We did two albums with Malcolm: Coming Outta Nowhere and Rock & Roll Hermit. The latter album was produced by John Anthony, who worked with Ace (How Long Has This Been Going On), Queen, Genesis, Roxy Music and many others. Malcolm's debut album was produced by Jack Richardson (The Guess Who, Bob Seger, and many others). The album also featured some legendary sidemen: Papa John Creach on fiddle, plus the great Brecker Brothers, Randy and Michael on horns. Danny and I exchanged several posts on Facebook, which gave me the idea of playing Malcolm on my show and to let you hear my first artist discovery. It was a treat for me to hear Knockin' My Head for the first time in many years. I'll always be proud of signing Malcolm Tomlinson. I hope you enjoyed hearing him on the show. If you missed it, you can hear the Archive at the Listen page.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to my good friend Fay Greenwood, in Langley, British Columbia. You'll recall Fay presented the weekly feature Hits From Across The Pond on the show. Happy Birthday also to Don Graham in Toronto, Ontario, Alexander Van Engelen in Long Island, New York, long time colleague Lee Smith (who went by J. Lee Smith at CKGM in Montreal) in Saskatchewan, and finally to Carl Fiset in Quebec City, Quebec. If you have a birthday coming up, I invite you to let me know so that I can wish you Happy Birthday on the show and play Birthday by The Beatles for you. Send the details to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com.

This week at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog, I thought I'd feature the song that started off this week's show. I know you'll enjoy The Yardbirds with Over Under Sideways Down. It's our Song Of The Week.

Voice Your Choice keeps up the pace with next week's show, the annual Labour Day Back To School End Of Summer Special, by spotlighting the late great Billy Stewart with two of his great summer hits. Cast your vote for either Sitting In The Park or Summertime. I'll play the winning tune in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

Here's the Rock And Roll News for the week of August 25^th





Listen to the Top 5 Countdown from 1962

See you next week.

Bye for now.

Michael

Billy Stewart - Voice Your Choice

Billy Stewart was born on March 24, 1937 in Washington DC. He died in a car crash on January 17, 1970 at the very young age of 32. Billy was an R&B singer, composer, and keyboardist who was discovered by Bo Diddley in 1956.

Although he garnered no hits at the time, he first recorded for the Chess/Argo Record company in 1956. Perhaps because of that lack of hits, he did not record from 1957-61. His first Billboard chart appearance was in 1962 with Reap What You Sow, that peaked at number 72 . Nicknamed "Fat Boy", Billy Stewart was the first cousin of Grace Ruffin of The Jewels.

In 1965 and 1966, he had his greatest success and we feature those two songs this week on Voice Your Choice. Cast your vote for either Sitting In The Park or Summertime. I'll play the winning song in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

The Yardbirds - Song Of The Week

I started this week's Treasure Island Oldies show with The Yardbirds and I thought it would be fun to feature that fist song here at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog.

So here they are the legendary Yardbirds with Over Under Sideways Down. It's our Song Of The Week.

Enjoy!

Michael

This Week On Treasure Island Oldies - Week Of August 18th, 2013

August 18th, 2013 to August 24th, 2013

Be sure to join me for our multi-themed special, the Annual Labour Day Back To School End Of Summer Special, Live, September 1, 2013, and then on the Archives at the Listen page. It's my way to help you make the transition from summer to fall, with great songs to fit the themes. And a reminder that the following week, September 8th, I will be taking a week's vacation so there will be an Encore Presentation of a show from February 2008 with special guest in the studio, Chad Allen, the original lead singer of The Guess Who. Chad joins me during the first hour of the show and shares lots of great early Guess Who days memories, along with lots of their early recordings. I know you'll enjoy this encore presentation.

Happy Birthday wishes go out this week to my good friend Fay Greenwood in Langley, British Columbia. You will recall Fay hosted the very enjoyable feature on the show, Hits From Across The Pond. Happy Birthday also to Jerry Gaule from AM 1700 Classic Car Gold, in Albany, Oregon, a Broadcast Partners Network station. If you have a birthday coming up, I invite you to let me know so that I can wish you Happy Birthday on the show and play Birthday by The Beatles for you. Send the details to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com.

The Treasure Island Oldies Blog spotlights The Equals with Eddy Grant in a 1968 clip from the British TV show, Top Of The Pops. The Equals with Baby Come Back is our Song Of The Week. Enjoy!

Voice Your Choice presents Jimmy Ruffin, a former member of The Temptations. Cast Your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either I've Passed This Way Before or Gonna Give Her All The Love I've Got. I'll play the winner in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

Here's the Rock And Roll News for the week of August 18^th

Listen to the Top 5 Countdown from 1970

See you next week.

Bye for now.

Michael

Jimmy Ruffin - Voice Your Choice

One of Motown's greatest singers, Jimmy Ruffin, is in the spotlight this week for Voice Your Choice on Treasure Island Oldies.

Jimmy Ruffin was born May 7, 1939 in Collinsville, Mississippi. While signed to Motown Records, he had 8 appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1966 and 1971.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice presents the fantastic Jimmy Ruffin with two of his solo artist Motown singles. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either I've Passed This Way Before or Gonna Give Her All The Love I've Got.

For me, this is a difficult vote to cast. Fortunately I don't have to, but you must decide which song will get played. I'll play the winner in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

The Equals - Song Of The Week

From the first moment I heard Baby Come Back by The Equals, with its signature guitar riff followed by the roll on the snare drum, I was hooked. And I love playing this song on Treasure Island Oldies every now and then. Well this week happened to be one of those times. And I am pleased to play it here for you this week at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog.

Here then are The Equals, in a clip from the TV show Top Of The Pops with Baby Come Back. It`s our Song Of The Week.

Enjoy!
Michael

This Week On Treasure Island Oldies - Week Of August 11th, 2013

August 11th, 2013 to August 17th, 2013

It was great to be together with you again this week on Treasure Island Oldies and it was my pleasure to play your requests. Keep the coming! Click the Requests button on any page of the website or Call the Listener Line at 206-339-0709 and record your greeting and request.

I was surprised and saddened with the news of the passing of long time popular entertainer Eydie Gorme. There are more details at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog. I was glad to have quite a few of her hits that I could play on the show in tribute, and so I was able to play her signature hit Blame It On The Bossa Nova, plus You Need Hands, I Want To Stay Here and I Can't Stop Talking About You, both duets with her husband of almost 56 years, Steve Lawrence.

There are more specials on the way for your enjoyment. On Live show September 1st it's our Annual Labour Day Back To School End Of Summer Special, and also on the Archive all week long. The following week, September 8th I will be taking a week off for a little vacation. I have planned a wonderful Encore Playback of a show from February 2008 with special guest in the studio with me, Chad Allen, the original lead singer of The Guess Who, including their career launching hit version of Shakin' All Over, originally recorded by the British group Johnny Kid & The Pirates. The first hour of the show is with Chad and he will share just a TON of memories from those early days of the group, how they got their name, and many interesting stories. Of course, we'll be playing lots of early songs by The Guess Who. I know you will enjoy listening to this special encore of the show.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Matt Meaney, my good friend in Langley, British Columbia, and to Warren Cosford in Windsor, Ontario. If you have a birthday coming up, I invite you to let me know so that I can wish you Happy Birthday on the show and play Birthday by The Beatles for you. Send the details to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com.

This week at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog I am pleased to feature one of my all time favourite groups, The Moody Blues. They are amazing in concert, so here they are performing Question, the last song of their concert at Royal Albert Hall in London. It's our Song of the Week. Enjoy!

Next week on the show Voice Your Choice presents the Rock & Roll poet, Chuck Berry. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either Johnny B Goode or Maybelline. I'll play the winning song in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

Here's the Rock And Roll News for the week of August 11^th

Listen to the Top 5 Countdown from 1959

See you next week. 

Bye for now. 

Michael

Chuck Berry - Voice Your Choice

Chuck Berry was born Charles Edward Anderson Berry on October 18, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri. He became one of the most influential recording artists, songwriters, and performers of the Rock and Roll era. His first record, Maybelline, was an instant success and he has never looked back since he got his start with Chess Records.

He's been lauded with many awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards in 1984, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and many others.

He appeared on the charts a total of 27 times between 1955 and 1973. Surprisingly, he only ever had one Number 1 song in his career, despite scoring 7 Top Ten hits. And that Number One song was definitely not his best, in my opinion; it was My Ding-A-Ling.

Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either Johnny B Goode or Maybelline. I'll play the winner on next week`s show in the 3rd hour.

The Moody Blues - Song Of The Week

 

This week on Treasure Island Oldies I played Question by The Moody Blues. I just love the group and have seen them in concert several times and each show was excellent. Playing them on the show inspired me to want to play them here for you at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog.

Here are the fantastic Moody Blues, live at the Royal Albert Hall, performing the last song of their show, Question.

It's our Song Of The Week.

Enjoy!

Michael

Singer Eydie Gorme Has Died At Age 84

From the L.A. Times

Eydie Gorme, a pop vocalist who entertained nightclub audiences and TV viewers as a solo artist and with her husband, Steve Lawrence, died Saturday. She was 84.

Gorme died at a Las Vegas hospital of an undisclosed illness, said her publicist, Howard Bragman. Since the mid-1950s, first as a soloist and then as part of the Steve and Eydie duo, Gorme sang pop hits, standards and show tunes while decked out in sequins and engaging in playful stage patter.

Her first album with Lawrence, "We Got Us," won a Grammy Award in 1960. The two also recorded separately, he making Billboard's top 10 with "Go Away Little Girl" in 1962 and she having a hit with "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" in 1963 and winning a Grammy for "If He Walked into My Life" in 1966. Together they starred in the Broadway musical "Golden Rainbow" in 1968.

"Eydie has been my partner onstage and in life for more than 55 years," Lawrence said in a statement. "I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and even more the first time I heard her sing. While my personal loss is unimaginable, the world has lost one of the greatest pop vocalists of all time."

Gorme (pronounced Gor-MAY) had been a singer with the Tex Beneke Band when Steve Allen hired her for his New York variety TV show in 1953. Lawrence was also part of the show's ensemble, and the two sang and acted in comedy sketches. They made the leap with Allen when his "Tonight" show was picked up by the NBC network in 1954, and for three years they were regulars on the late-night hit.

In 1957 Gorme appeared with comedian Jerry Lewis at the Palace Theatre on Broadway and with comic Joe E. Brown in Las Vegas. That December she married Lawrence in Las Vegas. They returned to television in 1958 with "The Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme Show" before Lawrence was called to the Army.

While he served for two years, she performed on her own, and upon his discharge in 1960 they resumed their professional partnership, billing themselves as Steve and Eydie.

"What has been the nature of their success?" Allen said in a 1996 Times story. "First, the fact that they are a couple has something to do with it. Secondly, they are damned good singers. And thirdly — this has both hurt and helped them — they concentrated for the most part on good music. This lost them the youthful audience, who prefer crap to Cole Porter's music. But it endeared them to people with sophisticated taste."

Gorme was born Aug. 16, 1928, in the Bronx, N.Y., to Sephardic Jewish immigrants. Her father was a tailor from Sicily and her mother was from Turkey. Before her singing career took off, Gorme worked as a Spanish-language interpreter.

In the mid-1960s she was pitched the idea of a Spanish-language recording. "Amor" and a follow-up album with the Mexican group Trio Los Panchos became hits in the U.S. and Latin America.

Gorme and Lawrence continued to perform on television variety shows, winning an Emmy for the 1978 special "Steve and Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin," and on tour as a duo and opening for Frank Sinatra and others.

Besides her husband of nearly 56 years, Gorme is survived by their son David and a granddaughter. The couple's other son, Michael, who had a heart condition, died in 1986 at age 23.

This Week On Treasure Island Oldies - Week Of August 4th, 2013

August 4th, 2013 to August 10th, 2013

Wow we either reached or surpassed the number of requested songs in one show this week for our annual Instrumental Gems Wordless Wonders Special on Treasure Island Oldies. Thanks very much; it was great hearing from you and I'm glad I was able to play your requested songs. Mike Cleaver, former DJ and later newsman with 1050 CHUM Toronto, commented on my facebook page "hearing stuff I haven't heard radio play for decades!!". Thanks very much Mike. And there were so many other comments via the chat room, email and other on facebook as well. One listener, Kitten in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was enjoying the special so much she asked if there could be two Instrumental Gems special every year, one in winter and the usual summer show. We'll have to see about that, but I thank you all for making this special one of the most popular of the year.

If you missed the Live show, be sure to hear it on the Archives at the Listen Page.

While I am in no hurry for next special, as it will mean the end of summer, the annual Labour Day, Back To School, End Of Summer Special will happen Live Sunday, September 1st and later on the Archives at the Listen page. As always, I invite you to send in your requests, either via email by clicking the Requests Button on any page of the website or by calling the Treasure Island Oldies Listener Line at 206-339-0709.

Happy Birthday wishes go out this week to Ash Wells in Sydney, Australia, my friend and extended family member Ed Dunnett in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, and James Foster in Kansas City, Missouri. If you have a birthday coming up, I invite you to let me know so that I can wish you Happy Birthday on the show and play Birthday by The Beatles for you. Send the details to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com.

The Treasure Island Oldies Blog is keeping up the theme of this week's Instrumental Gems Wordless Wonders Special with a clip from the movie A Hard Day's Night. For some reason, this segment from the movie became a fan favourite. It's from the original motion picture soundtrack and features their producer, George Martin, who scored the music for the film. Here is Ringo's Theme (This Boy), our Instrumental Song of the Week. Enjoy!

Voice Your Choice presents a British Invasion group, The Fortunes. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either You've Got Your Troubles or Here It Comes Again. I'll play the winning song in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

Here's the Rock And Roll News for the week of August 4^th

Listen to the Top 5 Countdown from 1965

See you next week.

Bye for now.

Michael

The Fortunes - Voice Your Choice

The Fortunes were one of the many British Invasion groups to have hits everywhere. The members were Glen Dale Garforth and Barry Pritchard (vocals, guitars), David Carr (keyboards), Rod Allen Bainbridge (bass) and Andy Brown(drums). Pritchard died of heart failure on 1/11/1999 (age 54). Bainbridge died of liver cancer on 1/10/2008 (age 63).

While they only appeared on the Billboard charts in North America a total of six times, they were very significant singles. Next week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice presents The Fortunes with two of their hits songs for your votes. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either You've Got Your Troubles or Here It Comes Again. I'll play the winner in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

George Martin - Ringo's Theme - Song Of The Week

The Treasure Island Oldies Blog is sticking with the theme for this week's  on Treasure Island Oldies. You may wonder how I could play an instrumental song from A Hard Day's Night, the first feature film by The Beatles.

Their producer, George Martin, scored the movie soundtrack and they were both included on the original release of the soundtrack to A Hard Day's Night. So here is Sir George Martin with Ringo's Theme (This Boy), in a clip from the movie, A Hard Day`s Night.

Enjoy!

Michael