Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Today In Oldies 10/19/2010

Golden Hits Radio and GHR-2's Everything Oldies.......the Web's #1 Oldies news resource from the Web's #1 Oldies station!

Where In The World Is.........Dan Hill?

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1954, success came early in Dan Hill's pursuit of a musical career.  At 17, he left high school to become a songwriter for the publishing arm of RCA Records.  By the relatively tender age of 21, he had his major label debut album under his belt.  He was already a success in his native country, but he had yet to conquer the charts south of the Canadian border.  That would change quickly. 

In 1977, Dan Hill got his first taste of American success with a song he co-wrote with Brill Building songwriting legend Barry Mann.  "Sometimes When We Touch", from his album "Longer Fuse", became a Stateside smash, hitting #3.  While the string of hits continued to get longer in Canada, including "Let The Song Last Forever" and "I Still Reach For You", he was in grave danger of being a one hit wonder in America.  Ten years later, he was able to put that notion to rest once and for all.  "Can't We Try", a duet he recorded with relative unkown Vonda Shepard, gave Dan Hill another taste of the U.S. Top 10, hitting #6 in 1987.  This time, success in the U.S. was more prolonged, as he scored four more Top 10 Adult Contemporary hit singles over the next four years, including "Never Thought That I Could Love", "Carmelia", "Unborn Heart", and "I Fall All Over Again". 

Dan Hill remains a respected artist and star in Canada even after the hits stopped coming both in the Great White North and America.  He has continued to actively record and tour.  A devoted family man, his wife, attorney Beverly Chapin-Hill, has given him a hand in his craft, co-writing "Can't We Try" and several other songs.  He has also branched out into other areas, including writing several magazine articles detailing his son's life as a member of a Toronto-area gang.  In 2009, he published his first book, an account of his childhood entitled I Am My Father's Son: A Memoir of Love and Forgiveness.  

From his appearance on the landmark British TV series Top of the Pops, here's the song that broke Dan Hill worldwide.......

Golden Hits Radio and GHR-2's Burning Question of the Day.......Woodstock Week

***This week, each question will pertain to artists who did not appear at Woodstock and the reasons they weren't there***

Which relatively new (and soon to become legendary) band did not play Woodstock because, according to their manager, ".....we'd have just been another band on the bill"?  

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

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

Which band turned down Woodstock, because, according to one member, "......we were stupid. We thought it would be a second class repeat of (the) Monterey Pop Festival"?

Answer: Those words came from a 1996 internet chat session with guitarist Robby Krieger of.........The Doors.  Other unconfirmed explanations from over the years have ranged from the band's aversion to playing outdoor concerts to Jim Morrison having a premonition that he would be killed there. 

No comments:

Post a Comment