Today In Oldies 11/29/11

Golden Hits Radio's Everything Oldies.....find out what your favorite Oldies artists are up to today! 

• Donny Osmond plans for life after Las Vegas
• Which current pop superstar has Tony Bennett seen in her birthday suit?
• What housing crisis?  A 60's star and daughter of a music icon makes a 100%+ profit on her Beverly Hills home  
• Think you know where "American Pie" was written?  Don McLean says think again!

When A King Calls

The two voices you hear each day on Golden Hits Radio, Shane Wilson and Bob Burton, have a combined 60+ years of experience on the air in cities across the country.  During that time, they have taken thousands of calls on their stations' request lines, talking to the ordinary, famous, and infamous.  While those calls have provided many stories they have passed along to friends, children, and grandchildren, neither has experienced a random call from rock and roll royalty one young disc jockey received today in 1966. 

Just outside Little Rock, Arkansas, a musician was passing through, but this was certainly no ordinary musician.  Hearing a song on the radio for the first time, he called the radio station who played it to find out the title and artist.  He asked to hear it again not once, but several times in succession.  Under normal circumstances, this is the sort of thing that would get a disc jockey harshly reprimanded, if not fired.  Once the caller identified himself, however, his superiors would have most likely told the aspiring announcer to do whatever the man asked.  And he did. 

It's not every day you hear the same song several times in a row on the radio, but then again, it's not every day the caller making that request is Elvis Presley.  Nine years after he made that call, Elvis would cover that song himself.  It has become a timeless classic, covered by dozens of other artists including Kenny Rogers, Joan Baez, and Johnny Cash on his landmark live album At Folsom Prison. 

What song did Elvis love so much he wanted to hear it on the radio multiple times?

Golden Hits Radio's Burning Question of the Day

Today in 1964, John Lennon and George Harrison met members of which legendary group at the Crazy Elephant restaurant in London? 

Come back to Everything Oldies tomorrow to find the answer, and leave a Comment below with your best guess! 

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

What is the most visited music-related tourist attraction in the U.S.? 

Answer: Graceland

 

Today In Oldies 10/8/2010

Golden Hits Radio and GHR-2.....where Oldies are alive and well and making news!

• Where can you get a sneak peek at Keith Richards' autobiography? 
• Frankie Valli's life comes full circle....from the recording studio, to the concert stage, to the Broadway stage, to the big screen!
• Apparently you're not allowed to sell a superstar's fingerprints........
• Glee is bringing out the big names this season.......so who's next? 
• Donny and Marie Osmond have been called a lot of things in their lives, but are they REALLY "devious and greedy"?

Where In The World Is.......Terence Trent D'arby?

Born in Manhattan in 1962, with the name on his birth certificate reading Terence Trent Howard, Terence Trent D'arby appeared poised to rob Michael Jackson and Prince as the King of Pop in the late 80's.  The son of a Pentecostal minister and school teacher, D'arby's family was pretty itinerant as he grew up, moving from New York to New Jersey to Chicago and finally settling in Orlando, Florida.  He spent his teen years as a champion Golden Gloves boxer.  He planned to enlist in the U.S. Army after high school and enroll in boxing school, but his father insisted he attend college.  After a year at the University of Central Florida, he dropped out and ended up in the Army.  While serving in Germany, he became interested in music, playing in a band called The Touch.  Upon his discharge for going AWOL in 1983, he moved from Germany to London, joining a band called The Bojangels.  In 1987, he was signed as a solo artist to Columbia Records.

With Motown on the decline in the late 80's, the R&B world was a two man show, with Michael Jackson and Prince cleaning up on the charts, in the record stores, and on the concert stage.  Enter the next contender........Terence Trent D'arby.  As his career began, it was very clear he was a big believer in himself in interviews.  Once his debut album, Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'arby, hit record store shelves, critics and record buyers agreed wholeheartedly!  The album has sold 12 million copies worldwide as of 2010 and produced 3 Top 40 hits, including "Sign Your Name" and "Wishing Well", with the latter hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1988.  Comparisons to James Brown, Prince, and Michael Jackson were being thrown around.  Terence Trent D'arby had massive talent, a huge album, and an ego to match.  The next stop was becoming the biggest star in the world. 

Unfortunately, his huge ego proved to be his downfall.  A prolonged creative battle with Columbia Records began with the recording of his second album, Neither Fish Nor Flesh, and as a result, D'arby refused to release any songs from the album as singles.  He parted ways with the label following his 1995 album Vibrator. By then, he had long since fallen off the charts and out of favor with critics and fans.

In spite of his lack of commercial success following Introducing The Hardline......., Terence Trent D'arby has remained a prolific songwriter and performer.  He now lives in Italy, and following a series of dreams in 2001, he has changed his name to Sandana Maitreya.  In 1999, he temporarily joined INXS as a replacement for their late lead singer, Michael Hutchence, so they could perform at the 2000 Summer Olympics in their hometown of Sydney, Australia.  He has also been an early champion of using the internet to exclusively distribute his music. 

Let's look at a clip from the glory days and imagine what might have been for (the now former) Terence Trent D'arby.........

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

Which Beatles song was originally written for Tom Jones following a chance meeting with Paul McCartney in a club in the late 60's?

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

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

This one's a simple "yes" or "no" question......Are Kenny Loggins and singer/songwriter Dave Loggins, who had a hit as a solo artist with "Please Come To Boston" in 1974, related?

Answer: Yes, they are 2nd cousins