Keener 13

By Bob Berry

An American Treasure celebrates a birthday today.

Tony Bennett is 89 joyful years young.

And all of us at Keener13.com wanted to say thanks, for the artistry, for waking us, via MTV Live, to the music of the Great American Songbook, and for the gracious collaborations with artists of all generations and genres.

We’re very glad you’ve been part soundtrack of our lives.

By Bob Berry

The fifth Mission Impossible movie, “Rouge Nation“, starring Tom Cruise opens today. Lots of action, effects, and stunts, the MI theme and lots of the Tom Cruise formula. Tom Long in today’s Detroit News calls the movie a “happy meal“.

Is that a bad thing? Perhaps, if as Mr. Long suggests, you remember when Tom Cruise made really good movies. Or perhaps not, for those of us who enjoyed the original TV show for the escapist drama it was.  But in the end, I always remember the immortal words of Dobie Grey’s 1966 Keener classic “The In Crowd”:

“The original is still the greatest“. And so, they can re-mix, re-invent and re-imagine all they want. But for my money, there will never be a better theme song than the theme to the original Mission: Impossible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lih-z4G4jY

And, while we’re at it, check out this PBS clip on the original TV show, with some fun facts and cool stories:

By Bob Berry

Today is the anniversary of The Beatles album Yesterday and Today starting 5 weeks at Number One in the U.S. back in 1966.

And in celebration of the LP that gave us “Nowhere Man”, “We Can Work It Out”, “Yesterday” and 7 other great tunes, I wanted to share an amazing website with you: “Inside Abbey Road“, presented by Google.

It’s an extraordinary, interactive website, with layer upon layer of photos, videos and anecdotes of perhaps the greatest-certainly the most famous, recording studio in the world.The place where The Beatles and so many others (The Hollies, Pink Floyd, The London Symphony Orchestra) made music history.

Here’s the preview, click the link above, or here, to go “Inside Abbey Road”.

By Bob Berry

Poor Rob Lowe.

Star of a series of very funny ads for Direct TV.

Noted celebrity, star of three iconic movies of the 80’s. Hey, he even helped “invent” sex-tape scandals!

Out-done by an NFL quarterback! TWICE!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dun9MGPTFWk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvJiMiJcghA

Once upon a time, radio was a participation sport. Call Keener and there was a good chance you might become part of the show.

And that’s how it was this week in 1967 when the Parliaments “I Wanna Testify” was climbing the charts. Scott Regen was at the height of his Keener fame, with a monster audience joining in the fun. He invited listeners to call in and “testify” what their boyfriend / girlfriend’s love had done for them. And boy, did they.

Here’s an aircheck that includes a whole bunch of Detroiters Testifiers. Were you one of them?

By Bob Berry

One of our good friends of Keener13.com, Jeff Smith, found this video on Facebook this morning, and it’s fantastic.

Paul, George and Ringo Starr jamming on Bill Monroe’s bluegrass classic (and Elvis’ first hit), “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” at George’s studio at his Friar Park mansion in Henley-on-Thames, England on June 23, 1994.

It’s so interesting to watch Paul messing with a chord, then George getting the right one. The two of them working out a harmony. And Ringo jumping in with a basic beat, plus giving a nod at the end, before they finish the song with a flourish.

When people wonder why we find The Beatles so fascinating, here’s another of the million reasons why!

By Bob Berry

The Muppets. Kermie, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear. Fun for us Keener Kids, but very much fun for our own children-and dare I say grandchildren?

There was The Muppet Movie and The Muppets Take Manhattan. And perhaps their most truly loved project, The Muppet Show.

And on September 22, the ABC Television Network is bringing them back, in a reality-based series! According to Kermit, in a Rolling Stone Magazine story ,”The show’s gonna be all about our personal lives – behind the scenes, at home, our relationships. Sort of an adult Muppet Show…“.

Here’s the trailer, watch for a great gag with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker about 1 minute into the clip!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2B5d-8H588

By Bob Berry

Bugs Bunny, that “wascally wabbit” is 75 today.

And isn’t it nice to know that Looney Tunes” Number One star, who entertained us on countless Saturday (or Sunday) mornings, doesn’t act his age either?

Countless, by the way, including various. mornings in our formative and beyond years, in the aftermath of “should have known better/got moving earlier/what were we thinking” OR “Hey, Bugs was on” moments.

Created by the great Warner Brothers cartoon department, Bugs made his “major league” debut on July 27, 1940. “A Wild Hare” was the first film to feature Bugs and Elmer Fudd was hunter and hunted, and the first with Mel Blanc providing Bugs’ voice and the signature line “What’s Up, Doc”. It was nominated, but did not win an Oscar for Best Cartoon Short Subject.

What was up with that, Doc?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S0kJXm-lRs

By Bob Berry

This week is the anniversary of Paul Revere and The Raiders”  “Indian Reservation” hitting Number One on the Keener Guide and the Billboard Magazine Hot 100. It’s also reminder of one of the great lessons of my radio career:

NEVER underestimate the power of American Bandstand!

Spring 1971, I was working at WIBM, a small AM station in Jackson, Michigan. It’s a Saturday, and I’m hanging around my apartment, waiting to do my show. American Bandstand is on the TV, and Dick Clark intro’s a new song by Paul Revere and the Raiders, “Indian Reservation”.

I watch and listen, think “that’s got a chance”, and make a mental note to check into putting in rotation next week. Headed into the station, got on the air, and got call after call for “that new Raiders record”, or the “song about the Indians”. Needless to say, we did not wait for Monday to start playing the song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ6RjP7MlXk

By the way. “Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)” was written by John D. Loudermilk, who wrote the 1964 Keener Classics “Thou Shalt Not Steal” by Dick and Dee Dee, and “Tobacco Road” by the Nashville Teens. Mr. Loudermilk also wrote one of the greatest slow dance/spotlight dance songs of all time, 1967’s “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” by the Casinos.

By Bob Berry

I had about an hour drive on I-75 last night, and after selecting a CD for the ride (and playing it at a far too loud volume), came to this conclusion:

It had been too doggone long, since I had played or heard, Marvin Gaye’s “doggone” song, and the other early 60’s classics. Hits like “Stubborn Kind of Fellow”, “Pride and Joy”, “Hitchhike”, “Ain’t That Peculiar”, “You’re A Wonderful One”, Marvin’s first hit duet, “It Takes Two”, with the great Kim Weston, and, yes, the Smokey Robinson written and produced “I’ll Be Doggone”.

Remarkable songs, sometimes over-looked in the rightful appreciation of  “What’s Going On” and on through to  “Sexual Healing”. But take another listen to the early Marvin Gaye “songbook”. From his use of his three-octave range, through the evolution of The Funk Brothers, to working with Motown’s writer/producers Mickey Stevenson, Holland-Dozier-Holland and Smokey; the results that came out of the”Snakepit”, were fabulous!

Conclusion?  ANY Marvin is great Marvin. And maybe better, live. Check out Marvin’s medley on 1964’s “The T.A.M.I. Show”, with Darlene Love and The Blossoms and the “Wrecking Crew” house band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpnf82hD5Ic

Were you DC or Marvel? Archie or Dick Tracy? Or were you really considered off the deep end as a fan of Mad Magazine?

Comic bo0ks were as much a part of growing up as were the DJs we loved. Saving up enough to head to our favorite comic store for the latest issue may have paralleled picking up the then current WKNR Music Guide.

With news that Archie Comics cartoonist, Tom Moore passed away, another wave of nostalgia came over us. We’re told that the Keener Generation lived in what is now being called “The Silver Age” of American comics. For some of us, tastes evolved away from super heroes and in the direction of crime, romance and horror. By the 70s, underground comics were in full bloom, with artists like R. Crumb creating concert posters and even the logo for the famed Detroit music magazine, Creem. Crumb is still remembered for his Fritz the Cat series, which appeared in several magazines between 1965 and 1972.

And who can forget the Sunday funnies? With to significant newspapers in Detroit, how many times did you find yourself buying both on Sunday, just for the funny papers?

by Bob Berry

You probably have read about the passing of songwriter Wayne Carson, who died Monday at the age of 72. Mr. Carson’s songs, included two that proved the old adage “never sell your copyright”.  One of them, co-written with Mark James and Johnny Christopher, was   “Always On My Mind”; a hit for Elvis and for Willie Nelson, and the CMA Song of the Year in both 1982 and 1983.

The other title, “The Letter”, had a Keener connection you may have forgotten. Originally a million-selling #1 smash for The Boxtops in 1967 and a the Top Ten song in 1971 by Joe Cocker;  Keener fans will recall a local group, Ann Arbor’s, The Arbors, who received lots of airplay with their version of “The Letter”, a flip side of another cover, Blood, Sweat and Tears’ “I Can’t Quit Her”.

Here’s a triple play of three distinct versions of one of the great songs in rock and roll, beginning with the amazing harmonies of brothers Fred and Ed Ferran and Scott and Tom Herrick. The Arbors are back on Keener!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8OU8YHyXck