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!
The writer and performer of a 70's era sports stadium rocker will rake in big money when it's played during the Super Bowl on Sunday.......but he'll never see a dime from it
Time for a new game @ Everything Oldies called "My Three Songs". We'll give you video clips of three songs, and you tell us what they have in common. We'll start off with a very easy one today. Take a look and give us your answer in the Comment box below........
Today in 1969, a music legend was told he could not perform the song he had chosen for his appearance on The Jackie Gleason Show, causing him to walk off the set and cancel his appearance. Who was he and what song was he denied permission to sing?
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
Which legendary band, known for their stage theatrics, played their first concert together at New York's Coventry Club today in 1973?
Several artists made more famous and infamous appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show during its 23 year run, but one of Sullivan's personal favorites appeared more often than any other pop or rock act of the era. This week in 1969, the most successful incarnation of this group appeared for the 16th and final time.
Their first appearance came around this same of the year in December 1964. They would average 5 appearances a year through 1967. By December 21, 1969, however, internal tensions within the group, a major shakeup at their label, Motown Records, and a shift in musical tastes had marked the end of the road for the most successful female group in music history. Motown founder Berry Gordy also had a plan in place for the leader of the group to launch a solo career, and he felt the timing was right to send her out alone.
The country was stunned following this performance at Ed Sullivan's announcement that the leader of The Supremes, Diana Ross, was leaving the group. Their story, however, ended well, with the song they performed becoming their final #1 song in that incarnation and providing a fitting springboard for Diana Ross to enter the 70's as one of the A-list superstars of the decade.
For one last time, here are The Supremes performing the hit that would be their swan song on The Ed Sullivan Show..............
The #1 song this week in 1969 was Peter, Paul, and Mary's classic "Leaving On A Jet Plane". You know who sang it, but do you remember who wrote it? Come back to Everything Oldies tomorrow to find the answer, and leave a Comment below with your best guess! Friday's Burning Question (and Answer) of the Day Which rock and roll TV special was filmed today in 1968........but never seen until 1996? Answer: The Rolling Stones' "Rock and Roll Circus"......a performance special featuring members of The Beatles and The Who (among others) but unseen until a VHS home video release 28 years later
The number of hit songs in the U.S. sung in foreign languages could be counted on one hand. Nena is on that very short but distinguished list, but her only hit in the States was a massive one, and globally, she remains a big hitmaker.
Born Gabriele Susanne Kerner in Hagen, Germany, Nena was in training as a goldsmith following high school when she began her magnetic attraction to music. She joined a band called The Stripes in 1979. They had one modest European hit but no lasting success and were gone by 1981. In 1982, she moved with her boyfriend to West Berlin, where they formed a band they decided to name after Nena. Their first single was a smash in Germany. Next stop......global domination!
Nena's first album hit stores in 1983. Its first single translated into English as "99 Air Balloons". The group's record label deemed that not "catchy". So the title became "99 Red Balloons". The original German version, "99 Luftballoons", was played prominently in America at the same time. Regardless of language, the song was an unmistakable international smash, hitting #1 in the UK, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and #2 in the U.S. The music video accompanying the song was also a staple on MTV. Could lightning strike twice for Nena in America?
The answer turned out to be no, with "99 Luftballoons" being Nena's one and only hit in the U.S. Internationally, however, the group continued to make plenty of hits until their breakup in 1987. Nena then took a break from the music business and re-emerged in the 1990's as an artist and European TV personality. Her recordings were primarily aimed at children, and she hosted two successful German television shows. She returned to adult-based pop in 2002, with a 20th anniversary album of newly recorded versions of her own songs. She has released a consistent stream of hit albums and singles in Europe while also branching out into other areas. Her voice can be heard in the German-translated version of the hit feature film Eragon. In 2007, she became a co-founder of the Neue Schule Hamburg, a school founded on the Sudbury model where students make their own schedule. She has also written her autobiography, Willst du mit mir gehn (Do You Want To Go With Me?), giving her account of various life events.
And now, relive the AMERICAN highlight of Nena's life..............in her native tongue AND ours. Apparently, German women weren't fond of shaving their armpits in those days :-)
Which R&B legend did the sax solo on Foreigner's 1981 hit "Urgent"?
Check back tomorrow @ Everything Oldies for the answer, and leave a Comment with your best guess!
Yesterday's Burning Question (and Answer) 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?
Answer: Angelina Jolie......Chip Taylor's brother is actor Jon Voight, Angelina Jolie's father!
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?
