Today In Oldies 12/17/2010

Golden Hits Radio & GHR-2's Everything Oldies stands for Oldies news!

• Aretha Franklin speaks for the first time about her health issues
• The band will be back together for one artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year
• A 70's star holds his annual fundraiser
• Which 80's star, in the news for all the wrong reasons recently, could be a judge on Simon Cowell's American version of The X Factor?
• Paul McCartney gets intimate to save a London club from extinction

A Shot At The Title

All this week, Everything Oldies will play "What if?", as we spotlight songs with their original working titles.  Imagine what a different world we'd live in if the most covered song of all time were The Beatles' classic, "Scrambled Eggs".....which was the original working title of......"Yesterday".  Enjoy the stories behind the titles.....and why they changed.

• This Doobie Brothers classic had several different names before it was officially recorded and released.  Lead singer and songwriter Tom Johnston explained that it began as a song with no real lyrics, merely providing filler on the group's set list in their early days playing live.  Names for the song included "Osborne" and "Parliament".  Upon signing with Warner Brothers Records, producer Ted Templeman heard the song and suggested they should cut it.  At that point, Johnston gave the song some lyrics built around a transportation theme, and the song with multiple names finally settled on a permanent one.......

• With this song, we can safely declare that not only would it have never been a #1 hit under its original title, it likely would have never received the first spin on a radio station turntable.  The song was born on New Year's Eve 1977, when two members of Chic, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, were denied entrance into New York's legendary Studio 54.  They were just beginning to break big, and at least two of their songs, "Dance, Dance, Dance" and "Everybody Dance", were staples of the club's playlist.  Dejected, they returned to Rodgers' apartment and began to write a song in protest of the club and what had happened.  In their furor, they began to chant "Ahhhh, f--- off!" as the basis for, and title of, the song.  Later that night, they wisely decided against naming the song "F-- Off" when Rodgers came up with "Ahhhhhh, freak out!"  Those were the first words of a song that became a smash that hit #1 three different times as.......

• Paul McCartney's song about a lonely old woman he encountered growing up in England was written with the working title "Miss Daisy Hawkins".  The title under which we know and love it is a combination of an actress's first name and the name of a wine and spirit shipping center.  According to Rolling Stone, when McCartney first played it for his neighbor, singer Donovan ("Sunshine Superman", "Mellow Yellow"), the lyrics were "Ola Na Tungee, blowing his mind in the dark with a pipe full of clay."  Bear in mind that many "mind expanding" substances were being used in those days.  The actress in question is Eleanor Bron.  The shipping center was named Rigby and Evens Ltd Wine and Spirit Shipper.  And the hit for The Beatles became............

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

Who was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums hit #1 on the Billboard album charts?

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

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

Over the course of its 8-year run on TV, Solid Gold had a total of 5 different hosts.  Name three.

Answer: Dionne Warwick, Marilyn McCoo, Andy Gibb (co-host w/ McCoo), Rex Smith (co-host w/ McCoo), and Rick Dees

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Today In Oldies 10/12/2010

Golden Hits Radio and GHR-2's Everything Oldies......Oldies news guaranteed fresh or it's free! 

• Wanna hear how well Huey Lewis & The News pull off covering an Otis Redding classic?  Click here to find out!
• A Billboard chart record set more than 4 decades ago by The Beatles has been broken!  Who's the new standard bearer?
• Speaking of the Fab Four, if you're in the market for the ultimate piece of Beatles memorabilia, how about Paul McCartney's house?
• An Oscar winner will play Phil Spector in an upcoming HBO movie.  Good luck doing those courtroom scenes with the whole "looks like he just stuck his finger in a light socket" hairdo and all.......
• If you're George Michael, do you really WANT to get out of prison? 
• Stories from Keith Richards' autobiography are beginning to emerge.  Read one here. 
• The tragic life of ex-Supreme Florence Ballard is discussed here

Where In The World Is..........Walter Egan?

If you were looking to break into the music business circa 1978, you could have done a lot worse than hanging around the members of Fleetwood Mac.  Walter Egan did just that, and as a result, several members of that group had a big hand in his brief success.  In fact, his crush on one of them provided the inspiration for his one and only hit! 

Born in Jamaica, New York, Walter Egan signed with Columbia Records in the 70's.  1977 saw the release of his debut album, Fundamental Roll.  That year, there was no bigger act in music than Fleetwood Mac, with Rumors putting them on the A-list.  Imagine being a new artist and finding out Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks will be producing your first album!  While that album didn't produce any substantial hits, his collaboration with Mac members would continue. 

Buckingham and Rumors co-producer Richard Dashut were behind the mixing board for Egan's second album, Not Shy.  By that time, Stevie Nicks, fresh from her breakup with Lindsey Buckingham, had become the apple of Walter Egan's eye.  His schoolboy crush inspired him to write a song, and it became the stuff from which one hit wonders are created!  "Magnet and Steel" was a Top 10 hit, hitting #8 in 1978.  Whether she knew the song was about her or not, Stevie Nicks sang background vocals on "Magnet and Steel", giving it an ironic twist.  Lindsey Buckingham also backed Egan up on that song.  Quite a few 70's songs have found new life in subsequent decades after being included on movie soundtracks, and "Magnet and Steel" is no exception.  It has been featured in several films including Boogie Nights and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.  With his Fleetwood Mac connections, certainly Walter Egan was bound to have a few more hits left in him. 

Unfortunately, further hits eluded Walter Egan, but he didn't slip into total oblivion.  He joined a later incarnation of the group Spirit, and he wrote songs that became hits for other artists, most notably "Hot Summer Nights" for the group Night in 1979.  He has become a well-rounded individual in recent years, and you might have seen him in a somewhat unusual place several years after "Magnet and Steel".  As the royalty checks became less frequent, Egan tried his luck as a TV game show contestant, appearing on Scrabble.  When he mentioned that he was a singer and songwriter, host Chuck Woolery asked if the audience might recognize any of his songs.  He replied by breaking out into the chorus of "Magnet and Steel" to wild applause from the studio audience. 

Today, Walter Egan continues to write, record, and perform, and once again, you'll probably find him in places you wouldn't expect.  He serves as a substitute teacher at Centennial High School in Franklin, Tennessee.  He was also recently given a songwriter credit on a pop hit called "We Made You" by, of all people, hip hop superstar Eminem!  The song used samples from Egan's version of "Hot Summer Nights". 

See what else Walter Egan is up to these days by visiting his official website and his MySpace page, and now enjoy his ode to Stevie Nicks......

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

The 60's classic "Wild Thing" by The Troggs was written by Chip Taylor.  His niece is currently one of the world's biggest female movie stars (and married to one of the world's biggest MALE movie stars).  Who is she?

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

In a recent interview, which British music superstar claims to have been offered the role of James Bond following Sean Connery's departure from the role?

Answer: Tom Jones -- he tells the story in this article

Today In Oldies 10/5/2010

Golden Hits Radio and GHR-2.......where Oldies news comes first! 

• Click this link at your own risk!  It's like riding by a car accident......
• Here's a complete rundown of John Lennon 70th birthday shindigs
• A rock legend.....and one of the rare males who has suffered from and beaten breast cancer.....commemorates Breast Cancer Awareness Month
• If you were making a list of the Top 10 Classic Rock Albums of All Time, would it look like this?  What would you add?  What would you remove?  
• From one British rock legend to another........
• Just give Van Morrison his privacy, and no one will have an injunction filed against them

Where In The World Is.......Zager and Evans?

Zager and Evans were a duo whose one hit had a futuristic, sci-fi-ish sound.  In reality, however, they grew up about as far from outer space as possible.  They met in Lincoln, Nebraska as students at Nebraska Wesleyan University.  Denny Zager and Rick Evans picked up a couple of side men to round out the band, and in 1969 they struck gold.......if only for a moment. 

Their one moment in the spotlight came with a song that was already 5 years old and had been released for over a year when it became a hit.  "In The Year 2525" covered some much deeper themes than what was generally heard on AM radio in 1969.  A cautionary tale about the dangers of technology and innovation, its lyrics ran counter to the major world event that captivated the world when it hit #1 the week of July 20, 1969.... Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon.  The song had been written long before the moon landing in 1964, and recorded in 1968 on the Truth Records label.  It finally became a hit thanks to a radio station in Odessa, Texas picking up on it.  The rest of the country soon followed, and RCA Records handled its distribution during its run up the charts.  As of 2010, the single has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.  RCA also signed Zager and Evans to an album deal following the success of "In The Year 2525", proclaiming them to be the "next big thing".  

RCA's "next big thing" didn't even do many little things in terms of chart success or record sales following "In The Year 2525".  They never hit the Hot 100 again, and by the mid-70's, the duo who had a smash hit about the events of the future were a thing of the past. 

Both Denny Zager and Rick Evans remain active in the music industry.  Zager now builds custom guitars, which you can find on the official Zager Guitars website.  Evans has worked primarily as a solo artist, continuing to write, record, and perform. 

From a TV appearance during the whirlwind that was 1969 for Zager and Evans.........

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

On Oct. 4, 1961, Bob Dylan played the legendary Carnegie Hall for the very first time.  In front of how many people did he perform? 

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 member of a huge 70's musical duo was the only female backup singer credited on Pink Floyd's landmark album, "The Wall"?

Answer: Toni Tenille of Captain & Tenille ("Love Will Keep Us Together", "Muskrat Love")