Surfer Girl turns 55. On August 3, 1963, Brian Wilson got his first producer credit as this Capitol Records release cracked the Billboard Hot 100. It stayed on the charts for 56 weeks, peaking at number 7. Keener’s debut was still a little over two months away when this quintessential summer song was released but The Beach Boys would become Motor City Favorites, charting 21 times on the WKNR Music Guide, making them the 7th most popular artists in the Keener era. Here’s a link to a live “Surfer Girl” performance from 1964. You get a great sense for the power of the boys’ harmonies and their ability to recreate the Wrecking Crew’s studio work on stage.
It’s been 26 years since a Detroit Tiger entered the baseball hall of fame. That error was rectified as Alan Trammell and Jack Morris were inducted at Cooperstown. The last tiger to enter the hall was Hal “Prince” Newhouser. Sparky Anderson made it back in 2000. But although his longest big league gig was in Detroit, his induction was associated with his leadership of the Cincinnati Reds. Even though, most of us Keenerfans identify with the ’68 tigers, Trammell and Morris brought the pennant home to Detroit as members of the 1984 World Championship team.
From the Bob Seger trivia department, there is now a bar honoring one of Seger’s biggest hits. According to MLive, Cat Man Do celebrated a grand opening in Unionville on July 27. Owner Dennis Collon first encountered Seger when he and “The Last Heard” played the American Legion Hall in Unionville in 1967. The Cat Man Do menu includes a “Silver Bullet” burger, “Katmandu” burger and “Bob Seger” grilled ham and cheese.
Monkee fans got a scare when Mike Nesmith collapsed during a sound check at a recent concert at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA. When doctors took a look they recommended quadruple bypass surgery, leading to cancellation of the last 4 dates of “The Mike and Mickey Show”. Nesmith told Rolling Stone Magazine, “I think, candidly, I’m back to 80 percent.. I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It all feels like a natural healing process.” Monkee Davy Jones died of a heart attack in February of 2012.
Paul McCartney returned to “where it all began” with a surprise concert at the Cavern Club. It’s a departure from Paul’s usual venues, stadiums holding 180,000 plus; The Cavern Club’s fire capacity is just 350 people. NBC remembered that the Beatles played at the Cavern, before finding fame, in 1961. The original club closed 12 years later and was eventually demolished. Some entrepreneurial soul saved bricks, which were used to build a new venue on the same spot. For those keeping score, The Fab Four had the most chart appearances on Keener, 47 during WKNR’s lifetime. McCartney himself did pretty well, too. He hit on the WKNR Music Guide 7 times as a solo act.
Keener #1s for the week ending August 4th include:
(1964) Bread & Butter, New Beats
(1965) I Got You Babe, Sonny & Cher
(1966) See You in September, Happenings
(1967) Society’s Child, Janis Ian
(1968) People Got To Be Free, Rascals
(1969) A Boy Named Sue, Johnny Cash
(1970) Close to You, Carpenters
(1971) How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, Bee Gees
And this week’s deep dive into the WKNR Music Guide comes from the week of August 4, 1965. Remember the Keener Lucky License Number contest? Extra credit if you also remembered the brand of gasoline that sponsored it. The Sinclair Oil Corporation was gobbled up by Atlantic Richfield in 1969.
And finally, from a Bob Hope special, two years before NBC became “The Full Color Network”, here are The We Five singing their one hit wonder, “You Were On My Mind”. It was at #2 this week in 1965.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-7QHWJOzbE
