Monday, August 30, 2010

Today In Oldies 8/30/2010

Golden Hits Radio.....where today's news goes straight to the toilet.......

Where In The World Is.........Robert Knight?

Robert Knight is one of the few artists who always had a fall back plan in case stardom was fleeting.  Born in 1945, his first taste of chart success came as a member of The Paramounts, who had a 1961 R&B hit, "Free Me".  The breakup of the group several years later prompted Knight to return to college at Tennessee State University to study Chemistry.  He continued to dabble in music during his days as an undergrad, forming a group called The Fairlanes.  As a result, he was offered a contract as a solo artist with Nashville-based Rising Sun Records.  Success was almost immediate with a song that has been covered dozens of times by a diverse roster of artists including Carl Carlton, Gloria Estefan, Rex Smith (w/ Rachel Sweet), and U2.  "Everlasting Love" was a Top 20 hit for Robert Knight in 1967, with Carlton taking it to the Top 10 in 1974 and Estefan doing it again in 1995.  

As with many American artists, Knight's star shone brighter in the UK than it did in his homeland.  He only charted 2 more songs after "Everlasting Love" in America, but success in Britain continued throughout the 70's as several other covers of that song became a hit for other artists. 

Today, Robert Knight is primarily involved with the fall back plan.  He returned to a career in chemistry.  While he occasionally records and plays live, he is employed as a chemist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Here's the concoction of elements that made him a star in 1967.........

Golden Hits Radio's Burning Question of the Day

Bruce Springsteen has written several songs that became hits for other artists in the 70's, including a #1 smash.  Name two. 

Check back tomorrow @ Everything Oldies for the answer, and leave a Comment with your best guess!

Friday's Burning Question (and Answer) of the Day

In Bobbie Gentry's classic song "Ode To Billie Joe", what was it that the song's "narrator" and Billie Joe McAllister threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge?

Answer: This is the first "trick question" we've given you, although there is at least one answer that could be accepted as being correct.  To this day, Bobbie Gentry has never publicly stated what was thrown off the bridge in any interview or public forum of any sort.  Dozens of theories have been proposed by musicologists over the years, but none that has ever been confirmed by the writer and performer of the song.  Gentry optioned the rights to the song to be made into a 1976 feature film that starred Robby Benson and Glynnis O' Connor and directed by Max Baer, Jr. (Jethro Bodine of The Beverly Hillbillies).  In the film version, a rag doll was the object thrown off the bridge, but once again, Bobbie Gentry distanced herself from that scene indicating it was a liberty taken by the film's writers.  While the "official" answer is that there is no answer, the film based on the song showed a rag doll being thrown off the bridge.  We'll try not to trick you too often from this point on :-)

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