Celebrating the music that shaped our lives. The 50's. The 60's. The 70's. We give you the latest news from your favorite artists & track down those in obscurity!
Many of the folks who made the music heard on Golden Hits Radio over the years did NOT perform under the name on their birth certificate. This week, let's play another game and see how well you know the real names of your favorite 50's, 60's, and 70's hitmakers. We'll give you the birth name and you drop us your answer in the Comment box below. ***HINT: EACH ARTIST WILL PLAY SOMETIME TODAY ON GOLDEN HITS RADIO*** Here we go!
1) Patricia Louise Holte-Jones ____________________
2) Robert Louis Ridarelli ___________________
3) Ernest Evans _____________________
YESTERDAY'S WHAT'S IN A NAME ANSWERS
1) Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero Connie Francis
2) Peter Charles Green (also known as Peter Lee Stirling) Daniel Boone ("Beautiful Sunday")
Many of the folks who made the music heard on Golden Hits Radio over the years did NOT perform under the name on their birth certificate. This week, let's play another game and see how well you know the real names of your favorite 50's, 60's, and 70's hitmakers. We'll give you the birth name and you drop us your answer in the Comment box below. ***HINT: EACH ARTIST WILL PLAY SOMETIME TODAY ON GOLDEN HITS RADIO*** Here we go!
1) Patricia Louise Holte-Jones ____________________
2) Robert Louis Ridarelli ___________________
3) Ernest Evans _____________________
YESTERDAY'S WHAT'S IN A NAME ANSWERS
1) Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero Connie Francis
2) Peter Charles Green (also known as Peter Lee Stirling) Daniel Boone ("Beautiful Sunday")
Welcome to the latest in our series of Everything Oldies Games! We call this one "What's In A Name?". We'll give you the origin of a band's name heard every day at either Golden Hits Radio or GHR-2, and you fill in the blank with the name of the band. The answers will appear in the next day's edition of Everything Oldies.
This band, who became superstars thanks to a 1978 live album, reportedly consulted a Ouija board to get their name _________________________
A Ouija board also gave this early heavy metal band (who also recently became Rock & Roll Hall of Famers) their name. Their charismatic leader kept the name for himself after the band split up ___________________
This British band named themselves after their financial situation in their early days ____________________
Members of which legendary R&B group were session musicians on Phil Collins' 1985 smash "Sussudio", and were later sued by Collins for overpayment of royalties?
Check back tomorrow at Everything Oldies for the answer, and leave a comment here with your best guess!
Yesterday's Burning Question (and Answer) of the Day
Which 50's legend didn't play his first gig in the UK until 1967?
Welcome to the latest in our series of Everything Oldies Games! We call this one "What's In A Name?". We'll give you the origin of a band's name heard every day at either Golden Hits Radio or GHR-2, and you fill in the blank with the name of the band. The answers will appear in the next day's edition of Everything Oldies.
1) This band's name came from the original working title of The Beatles' classic "With A Little Help From My Friends" _____________________
2) This band's name came from an Australian Aborigine custom _______________________________
3) This band took its name from a character in the Jane Fonda film Barbarella _____________________________________
Welcome to the first in our series of Everything Oldies Games! Play along and show off your knowledge of the music of the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's by leaving a comment with your answers. Our first game is Common Knowledge. We'll give you a series of 3 songs accompanied by video. You tell us what they have in common. ***KEEP IN MIND THE COMMON BOND COULD BE FOUND IN THE SONGS, THE ARTISTS, AND/OR THE VIDEO CLIPS*** We'll give you the answers for the entire week in Friday's Everything Oldies
Stevie Wonder - Tavis Smiley - PBS (check local listings)
Paul Simon - The Colbert Report - Comedy Central (11:30 Eastern/10:30 Central)
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.
The title of this one hit wonder, originally written as an ode to influential British singer/songwriter Nick Drake, was originally titled "Morning Lasted All Day". Their record label was less than enthused with the song, feeling it needed more drums. The band refused to change it, but did give it a different title. The retitled song became a Top 10 hit for the Dream Academy. The title became.....
This early disco classic began with the name "Drive Talking". Producer Arif Mardin suggested a name change to play to teenage sensibilities of the time, so a word used to indicate slang was substituted for "drive", and the song became a smash. The Bee Gees took "Drive Talking" all the way to the top of the charts in 1975 as.......
Originally a B-side, this song began its life as "That's What I Like". While the A-side got some airplay, the B-side eventually became a smash and one of the most played songs of 1958. Its legend would grow even bigger with the death of the artist on The Day The Music Died. We know "That's What I Like" better as..........
John Mellencamp - Late Show with David Letterman - CBS
Where In The World Is.....Bonnie Tyler?
Sometimes success comes in spite of everything an artist might do to sabotage it. Such is the case with Bonnie Tyler. After several years of relative obscurity and mediocrity, a primal scream against the wishes of her doctor changed both her voice.....and her career for the better.
Born Gaynor Hopkins on June 6, 1951 in Skewen, Neath, Wales, she grew up on the sounds of Motown and also developed an appreciation for opera (a favorite of her mother). In 1970, she entered a talent contest and took second prize. Upon joining a group called Bobby Wayne & The Dixies, she adopted the stage name Sherene Davies. Several years, and bands, later, she signed with RCA Records in 1975. At the request of her new record label, her stage name became Bonnie Tyler.
Her first single ("Lost In France") and album ("The World Starts Tonight") were big in the UK, but Bonnie Tyler was still unknown in the U.S. Before she recorded her second album, she was diagnosed with nodules on her vocal cords so severe that they would have to be surgically removed. Following the surgery, her doctor instructed her not to use her voice for six weeks. A few days later, a scream of frustration would leave her with a gravelly voice permanently. What she originally thought would end her career only served to make her unique, and would quickly bring stardom in America and worldwide.
Her first single featuring her "new voice" was a global phemonenon. "It's A Heartache" hit #3 in the U.S., #4 in Britain, #2 in Germany, and topped the French and Australian singles charts. While further chart success would be hit or miss for the next few years, Bonnie Tyler's voice was now an asset and not a liability.
Her contract with RCA expired in 1982, and she made the move to Columbia Records. She also changed management, and sought to work with master songwriter and producer Jim Steinman, who had become a household name thanks to his collaboration with Meat Loaf. The single he contributed to her album "Faster Than The Speed of Night" became another worldwide smash, and has become a timeless classic and a staple on karaoke night. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" topped the charts in four countries including the U.S. and UK in 1983. Bonnie Tyler was once again a global phenomenon.
She had a few more minor hits in America before falling off the charts for good, but she remains a huge star in Europe. She has worked with Jim Steinman on several more collaborations, and her most recent activity includes a rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" with actress Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) on the American TV reality contest Celebrity Duets and a 2010 appearance in a British TV commercial for Mastercard singing a parody of "Total Eclipse".
Let's travel back to where it all began. From a 1977 European television appearance......
Who initially rejected a song that later became a #1 hit for her because she said the guitar tracks "sounded too much like a Beatles song"?
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
A while back, we mentioned that Billy Joel's album 52nd Street was the first to be released commercially on CD, but it was NOT the first to actually be dubbed to CD. Which album holds that distinction?
Roland Kent Lavoie was born in Tallahassee, Florida on July 31, 1943. He was a veteran of numerous bands in and around central and south Florida beginning in 1961, one of which (The Rumours) included both Jim Stafford and country/rock legend Gram Parsons. Working with producer Phil Gernhard, he went solo in 1969 and changed his name. That's when success came calling.
Lavoie changed his stage name to Lobo in 1971. Working with Gernhard, who had become an executive at Big Tree Records, his first single sent him into the stratosphere. "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" was a Top 5 hit on both sides of the Atlantic, becoming Big Tree's first major national hit. His debut album, "Introducing Lobo", soon followed. After a brief flirtation with concept albums that produced no hits, Lobo went back to the well that made him a star. He made a triumphant return to the charts in 1972 with "I'd Love You To Want Me", which narrowly missed reaching the top in the U.S., hitting #2 and becoming his second domestic million seller. It fared even better in Europe, hitting #1 in both Germany and the UK. The winter of 1973 brought another Top 10 hit with "Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend". Later that year, he scored three more Top 40 hits from his album "Calumet", most notably "It Sure Took A Long, Long Time" and "How Can I Tell Her". For a two year span, Lobo had become a tried and true hitmaker with the help of Phil Gernhard.
Lobo parted ways with Big Tree Records in 1976. He put out several albums in Europe only, then signed with MCA Records in 1979. His first U.S. album release in four years, "Lobo", produced his last U.S. Top 40 hit, "Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love". So what did Lobo do when the pop chart was no longer his friend?
What he did was the same thing many pop stars who fall out of favor do. He took a shot at country stardom. Unhappy with the production values on his albums for MCA, he formed his own label, Lobo Records, and moved to Nashville. The move didn't prove as successful for Lobo as it had for many others over the years. By the late 80's, he had abandoned country music and Nashville.
While his success in the U.S. was finished, his popularity abroad began to explode in the 90's. He spent the decade recording for various Asian record labels and toured Europe extensively. In 2000, he signed with a German label, recording several new tracks for greatest hits compilations and two Christmas songs. He still tours occasionally in Europe, and his latest album, "Propinquity", was released online September 7th on Stoney Records.
And now, a man whose name translates as "wolf" singing about a dog.....with karaoke lyrics if you feel inclined to sing along......
Golden Hits Radio and GHR-2's Burning Question of the Day
"Jessie's Girl" was a #1 smash for Rick Springfield in 1981, but the central character's boyfriend in the song was NOT named "Jessie" in real life. According to Rick, what WAS the boyfriend's real life name?
Check back @ Everything Oldies tomorrow for the answer, and leave a comment here with your best guess!
Yesterday's Burning Question (and Answer) of the Day
Which R&B legend did the sax solo on Foreigner's 1981 hit "Urgent"?
