Keener 13

Two perennial questions for James Bond fans: Who is your favorite Bond and what is your favorite Bond movie? On December 22, 1964, the third film in the long running series, “Goldfinger,” starring Sean Connery, Shirley Eaton, Gert Fröbe, and Honor Blackman, had its North American premiere in New York City.

Some Bond trivia: Gert Fröbe’s English was so bad that British voice actor, Michael Collins, was hired to loop it. That’s also Collins voice you hear speaking the lines of Tiger Tanaka, the head of the Japanese Secret Service in “You Only Live Twice”.

For me, there is still no bond like Sean. Daniel Craig is evolving into second place on my list. What’s the most underrated Bond flick? To my taste “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, starring one time Bond, George Lazenby and former Avenger, Dianna Rigg doesn’t get enough love. One wonders how it would rate in the series had Sean Connery hung around?

On December 21st, 1985, Bruce Springsteen‘s album, “Born in the USA” passed Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” to become the second-longest lasting album in the Billboard Top 10. It remained there for 79 weeks, a tenure surpassed only by the original Broadway cast album of “The Sound of Music” at 109 weeks.

What LP holds the distinction of the longest ever run on the the Billboard album charts? Pink Floyd‘s “Dark Side of the Moon”. It was in circulation for 939 weeks, just over 18 years.

Born In the USA – Live

This week’s edition of “Remembering a Forgotten Star” features prolific actress Irene Hervey, who died on December 20, 1998. She was born Beulah Irene Herwick on  July 11, 1909. Under the stage name Irene Hervey, she was a ubiquitous face on screen, appearing in more than fifty films and numerous television series over a career spanning five decades.

Among her film credits:  The Stranger’s Return (1933), with Lionel Barrymore, The Count of Monte Cristo (1934),  Destry Rides Again (1939) opposite Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich,  The House of Fear (1939), and the musical The Boys from Syracuse (1940), in which she starred with her then-husband, Allan Jones.

Who was Allan Jones? If you’ve seen A Night at the Opera, you know him as the good-guy tenor managed by Chico Marx, and romancing Kitty Carlisle.

Hervey became a horror queen in the late 40s and 50s, appearing in  Night Monster (1942) opposite Bela Lugosi, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), and A Cry in the Night (1956).

She made a seamless transition to television appearing in dozens of programs, including Perry Mason, Honey West, and My Three Sons, where she earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Single Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role. Later in her career, she had minor roles in the Goldie Hawn vehicle Cactus Flower (1969) and Clint Eastwood‘s  Play Misty for Me (1971).

She continued to work on television through the 70s, guesting on Dr. Kildare, The Twilight Zone, Burke’s Law, Ironside, The Mod Squad and Charlie’s Angels. Her last appearance was in the Animal House TV spin off, Delta House in 1979.

She was married to Jones from 1936 to 1957, giving birth to two children, one of whom was singer Jack Jones.

Irene Hervey lived to age 89 and although not a household name, she’s one of those familiar faces you see on MeTV and say, “Hey, don’t I know that woman?”

Via Wikipedia

On December 19, 1957, he original Broadway production of Meredith Willson’s musical “The Music Man,” starring Robert Preston, Barbara Cook as Marian, Eddie Hodges as Winthrop, Pert Kelton as Mrs. Paroo, Iggie Wolfington as Marcellus Washburn and David Burns as Mayor Shinn, opened at New York’s Majestic Theatre for 1,375 performances.

Where was Shirley Jones? She didn’t appear on the scene until the film was made in 1962. The Broadway role was performed by Barbara Cook . It was Cook’s third appearance on the Great White Way, previously starring in Plain and Fancy (1955), Candide (1956). Her her “vocal agility, wide range, warm sound, and emotive interpretations” were renown, taking on a darker tone as the years passed. She continued to be considered one of the leading interpreters of song well into her 80s. Via Wikipedia.

The young actor, Eddie Hodges, also made his Broadway debut in The Music Man in the role of Winthrop, made famous on screen by Ronnie Howard. A bit of trivia. If you’ve seen the film The Right Stuff, the Hodges character is seen competing with as  Ed Harris as John Glenn on the game show Name That Tune. This is a true event that happened on October 4, 1957, the day the Russians launched Sputnik 1.

Watch the dance sequence in the Steven Spielberg film 1941 closely and you’ll see Iggie Wolfington as the talent agent, “Myron Mishkin”.

On December 18, 1972, Australian Singer, Helen Reddy struck gold with her liberation anthem, “I Am Woman“. The tune was written by Reddy in collaboration with singer/songwriter Ray Burton.

Here’s how she came up with the idea:

“I couldn’t find any songs that said what I thought being woman was about. I thought about all these strong women in my family who had gotten through the Depression and world wars and drunken, abusive husbands. But there was nothing in music that reflected that.

“The only songs were ‘I Feel Pretty’ or that dreadful song ‘Born A Woman’. (The 1966 hit by Sandy Posey had observed that if you’re born a woman “you’re born to be stepped on, lied to, cheated on and treated like dirt. I’m glad it happened that way”.) These are not exactly empowering lyrics. I certainly never thought of myself as a songwriter, but it came down to having to do it.” Via WikiPedia.

Born October 25 1941, Helen Reddy placed 15 singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six made the Top 10 and three reached No. 1. She appeared in the Disney film “Pete’s Dragon” and was one of the all star cast in the movie “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”.

From this week in 1964 at WKNR, in Detroit. It was definitely the cold and flu season as evidenced by the Vicks Cough Drop ad on the back of the guide.

Data courtesy Keener13.com.

WKNR, DETROIT, MI
Survey for week ending Thursday December 17, 1964

TW  TITLE                          ARTIST                  LW
 1. Love Potion Number Nine        Searchers                2
 2. I Feel Fine/She's a Women      Beatles                  1
 3. Paper Tiger                    Sue Thompson             5
 4. I Still Love You               Bobbi Martin            10
 5. That Shall Not Steal           Dick & Deedee            3
 6. Name Game                      Shirley Ellis           27
 7. One More Time                  Ray Charles Singers      7
 8. Shabby Little Hut              Reflections             19
 9. The Wedding                    Julie Rogers             6
10. Have You Looked into Your 
    Heart                          Jerry Vale              20
11. Oh No Not My Baby              Maxine Brown             8
12. You've Lost That Lovin Feeling Righteous Brothers      21
13. Since I Dont Have You          Chuck Jackson           18
14. Dear Heart/Emily               Andy Williams / Jack 
                                   Jones                   12
15. Come See About Me              Supremes                 4
16. My Love Forgive Me             Robert Goulet           14
17. Roses are Red                  You Know Whos           13
18. Leader of the Laundromat       Detergents              11
19. Promised Land                  Chuck Berry             25
20. Can You Jerk Like Me           Contours                23
21. Downtown                       Petula Clark            --
22. I'll Be There                  Gerry & The Pacemakers  26
23. Amen                           Impressions / Sisters   24
24. My Buddy Seat                  Hondells                28
25. Give Him a Great Big Kiss      Shangri-Las             --
26. Wild One                       Martha & The Vandellas  29
27. Across the Street              Ray Peterson            31
28. Running Scared                 Sunset Strings          30
29. Let's Lock the Door            Jay & The Americans     --
30. The In Crowd                   Dobie Gray              --
31. Keep Searchin                  Del Shannon             --


(Key Song of the Week)

All Day & All The Night - Kinks

This week’s forgotten classic. A one hit wonder from Julie Rogers called “The Wedding”. The British sensation had two more top 40 UK hits with “Like a Child” (UK No. 20, US No. 67) and “Hawaiian Wedding Song” (UK No. 31), both in 1965. She also recorded a demo of “You Only Live Twice”, which appeared on the 1992 limited edition version of the album, The Best of Bond…James Bond. The song’s writers, composer John Barry (composer) and lyricist Leslie Bricusse, later wrote a completely different title song of the same name and it was Nancy Sinatra’s subsequent recording of this that was used in the film. Via Wikipedia

I regularly check in with ItsAboutTV.com to see what I was watching back in the day. December 16 1967 was a Saturday night and we were perusing TV guide to preview Sunday’s top shows, Ed Sullivan (CBS) and the Hollywood Palace (ABC). Here are the guest lineups for each:

Ed Sullivan: Scheduled: Joel Grey of the Broadway musical “Cabaret”; singers Patti Page, Spanky and Our Gang, the Kim Sisters and the Berlin Mozart Choir; impressionist David Frye; comedians Richard Pryor, and Stiller and Meara; and puppet Topo Gigio..

Hollywood Palace: It’s family night at the Palace as host Bing Crosby introduces his wife, Kathryn, daughter Mary Francis and sons Harry and Nathaniel. Also on hand: the singing King Family, comic Louis Nye, Adam “Batman” West and the Marquis Chimps.

Which show would you have watched?

Read more about this week on TV in 1967 at ItsOnTV.com.

On this day in 1966, Cartoonist, film producer and master imagineer, Walt Disney died of acute circulatory collapse caused by lung cancer at age 65.

At the time, the LA Times noted that Disney, “..won 31 Academy Awards, and more than 900 other citations from presidents, kings and queens, world statesmen and neighborhood service clubs.”

His creative output was astonishing and his empire was growing, Disney World construction was under way in Florida, even as he was dying.

“There’s no magic to my formula,” he once said. “I just make what I like — good, human stories in which you can get with people and which prove that the better things of life can be as interesting as the sordid things.”

Since then, his successors have continued to create Disney Magic using the same thought process.

And, no, nobody put Walt’s body into cryo-freeze for later revival. That’s one of the urban legends that never seems to go away.

Today, the Walt Disney Company is worth $110 billion dollars.

Every generation has our favorite holiday film. As a kid, I was partial to Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, a long forgotten gem that’s getting the blu-ray treatment and a prime time replay this year. When the kids came along, White Christmas became number one. These days, Love Actually leads our list.

What’s your favorite Christmas film? Be honest, are you like me and tear up at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life every time they show it? Do you keep an eye on the TV Guide for the annual broadcast of A Charlie Brown Christmas? Did you ever buy a Norelco razor because you saw Santa riding it down a snowy slope in between scenes of Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer?

Here’s what Entertainment Weekly says are the most popular holiday films of all time. It’s definitely not my list. Some wouldn’t be on mine at all. But let it be a conversation starter at those holiday parties we are all attending!

• It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
• A Christmas Story (1983)
• A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
• Elf (2003)
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
• Love Actually (2003)
• Bad Santa (2003)
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
• The Year Without Santa Claus (1974)
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
• Home Alone (1990)
• Trading Places (1983)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
• White Christmas (1954)
• Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
• Die Hard (1988)
• Scrooged (1988)
• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
• Gremlins (1984)
• The Santa Clause (1994)

When radio was king, why did we listen?  The music for sure, but at its zenith, the DJs were the real draw.  What they said between the tunes was the glue that kept us tuned in. That’s my goal with the @ScottOwensShow on Twitter. I try to give you useful information and entertain you as your feed rolls by. Trivia, pop culture history, musical backstories, videos, inspiration. If I’m doing it right, you’ll find it all on the feed, right between your eyes.

No political rants here; just factoids, fun and the essentials to hopefully make your day go a little bit better. I used to do exactly that on the airwaves. Let’s do it together here!

Plug us in.. Turn us on.. “Follow us” in the vernacular of today. Just like it used to be when your briefings on all that’s cool from your radio, I guarantee your cocktail conversation will be markedly improved!

Just when us old radio guys think the business is dead, it reinvents itself.

Our parents lamented when long form radio programs transferred to Television. It took visionaries like Todd Storz and Gordon Mclendon to reinvent the medium as a jukebox with personality.

That worked for many years, until consolidation and the high prices paid for radio properties forced owners to economize and homogenize. That opened the door for smart devices and today’s generation gets their content when they want it on the device they like best. Whether it’s a smartphone or a smart speaker like Alexa, it’s possible to hear whatever your favorite music is anytime, anywhere.

The difference is that the listener is in total control. Services like Amazon Music and iTunes allow you to create your own playlists. Pay a couple of bucks and you don’t even have to hear commercials.

So personalities have migrated to the podcast world. What used to be a 5 minute attention span, now can encompass more than an hour, IF the content is compelling.

That’s where you’ll find today’s radio announcers. We may not be playing the hits, but the fun stuff we did in between the music is all there. A few of the more entrepreneurial of us have found ways to monetize it. But the cool thing is that the space is wide open. Anyone can play in the sandbox!

In the old days, when radio stations were owned locally, there were places where we could learn the trade, to get away with being bad while we figured out how to be good and move up the ladder to bigger markets and bigger audiences. That’s today’s podcast space. Shows come and go. People reinvent themselves and try again. And there’s always room for the truly dedicated practitioner to succeed. And there’s a huge ecosystem of ears out there, eager to listen.

Radio is still around on line. Most every set of call letters has an audio stream and there are some small guys who are trying their hand in creating their own stations. Hopefully the new copyright rules will make it a bit easier for them to do it legally. We need more of that kind of competition to raise the bar.

It all boils down to this: There’s still a lot of great audio content out there. It may be a bit harder to find than when you had one radio in your car and a few stations to choose from. But whether you are a creator or a consumer, the field has never been more fertile.

Explore and enjoy. And keep an ear out. You might hear a familiar voice like mine!

The Headlines: Elvis signs with Sun Records. George gets deported. The Twist is a national craze. Dr. Who Debuts. Alices Restaurant is released.

This week in 1965 was a big one for both Elvis Presley and Sam Phillips. The owner of Sun Records sold Elvis’ contract to RCA for $35,000, the largest amount ever paid to sign a recording artist at the time. Phillips invested his proceeds from the deal in a two-year-old Memphis-based hotel chain called Holiday Inn. You can see what the original Holiday Inns looked like, inside and out at The Henry Ford.

George Harrison was deported from Hamburg, Germany this week in 1960, where The Beatles had been playing at the Kaiserkeller club. The Germans figured out he was under 18 and couldn’t legally be performing in the country.

In 1961, the popularity of The Twist (video) reached its zenith with New York television station WOR airing hourly one-to-five-minute twist lessons featuring Chubby Checker.

This week in 1963, those of us who grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia lost a friend when author, poet and essayist, C.S. Lewis, died of uremia at 64.

That same week, the long-running sci-fi television series “Doctor Who” debuted in England on BBC One.

Record releases this week include 1965 included “My Generation” (video) by The Who and Stevie Wonder‘s “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” (video). Stevie would promote the single by singing it with Scott Regen on Keener that same month. In ’68, Diana Ross And The Supremes & The Temptations released “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me.” (video) In 1970 George Harrison released “My Sweet Lord” (video) to the American audience. He would be sued for unintentionally copying Ronnie Mack’s song “He’s So Fine”, a 1963 hit for the the Chiffons.

James Brown caused a sensation and a riot in Kansas City this week in 1966. Cops stopped the show due to Brown’s “obscene dances,” and had to contend with some very unhappy fans.

A Thanksgiving radio tradition began on November 20, 1967 when Arlo Guthrie released the album “Alice’s Restaurant.” (video)  It’s been a holiday staple on classic rock stations across the country every since.

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (video) was still popular a year after it’s release in 1968. In Ashland, Virginia, Iron Butterfly performed in the 3,500-seat Crenshaw Gymnasium of Randolph-Macon College. Their opening act was a band called Steel Mill, that included Bruce Springsteen.

November 24, 1971…D.B. Cooper became a household name when he parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 over southwestern Washington state with $200,000 in ransom. Nobody ever could figure out Cooper’s whereabouts or true identity nor has all the money ever been recovered. An eight year old Brian Ingram found $5,880 in decaying $20 bills in February of 1980, which forensic experts concluded was part of the original ransom.

Keener Number Ones this week include:
1963) Louie Louie, Kingsmen
(1964) Mountain of Love, Johnny Rivers
(1965) Turn Turn Turn, Byrds
(1966) Good Vibrations, Beach Boys
(1967) Daydream Beliver/Goin’ Down, Monkees
(1968) Abraham Martin and John, Dion
(1969) Someday We’ll Be Together, Supremes
(1970) One Less Bell To Anwser, Fifth Dimension
(1971) Family Affair, Sly & The Family Stone

Our deep dive into the WKNR Music Guide features the week of November 26, 1964. For Motown records made the survey with The Supremes at Keener Hit Number One with “Come See About Me” (video).  Keener was still tossing in tunes that would later be considered “Middle of the Road”, including Bobby Vinton‘s “Mr. Lonely” (video) and Matt Monro‘s “Walk Away” (video). Robert Goulet and Andy Williams also were on the survey. Confusion reigned around The Ray Charles Singers, which many thought were under the direction of the popular soul singer. In fact, they were the creation of Charles Raymond Offenberg and so named by Perry Como in 1959. They charted three times on Keener, all in 1964. Mort Crowley had departed WKNR by November, 1964, replaced in the mornings by Frank “Swingin” Sweeney. Robin Seymour, a WKMH holdover, held down the mid-day slot. He would depart for a television career in Canada as the host of “Swingin’ Time”.

We leave you with a live performance of the Beach Boys‘s “Dance, Dance, Dance”, which was on the way down at #19 on the WKNR Music Guide this week in 1964. In the day, the band was able to recreate the studio artistry of the Wrecking Crew’s backing tracks on stage. Their trademark harmonies came across well in a live environment.