Monday, September 29, 2014

This Week on Treasure Island Oldies - Week of September 28th, 2014


September 28th, 2014 to October 4th, 2014

It was great to spend four hours with you again this week on the show; and did the four hours ever fly by quickly! And I’ve already had emails and comments from listeners about the songs I played. Some of their favourite songs included the Montanas and You’ve Got To Be Loved; as well as Ring Dang Doo, a rarely heard hit for Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs. I also got response to the Made In Canada song by Jackson Hawke, Set Me Free, their debut single. Tim Ryan of the group had such a great voice. And I was also pleased to get great feedback on the new song by Bryan Adams. As many of you know, I signed Bryan to a record contract when I was the head of the A&R Department for A&M Records. His new album is being released this week and it titled Tracks Of My Years; it’s full of covers of songs he grew up listening to as a kid and early teenager before he started on his own musical career. He sure did a great job on The BeatlesAny Time At All.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to long time listener Ed Sanderson in Toronto, Ontario. If your birthday is coming up soon, let me know by sending the details to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com. I’ll wish you Happy Birthday on the show and also play Birthday by The Beatles for you.

The Treasure Island Oldies Blog is playing a rarely seen clip of The Rose Garden and Next Plane To London. It’s our Song Of The Week. Enjoy!

Voice Your Choice presents the ‘Wicked’ Wilson Pickett with two of his classic soul hits. Cast your vote for either 634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.) or Funky Broadway. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page and I’ll play the winning song in the 3rd hour of next week’s show.

Here’s the Rock And Roll News for the week of September 28th





Listen to the Top 5 Countdown from 1958


http://www.treasureislandoldies.com/assets/multimedia/top_5.ram


Well until we get together again next week on Treasure Island Oldies, have a great week.

Bye for now.

Michael

Wilson Pickett - Voice Your Choice

Wilson Pickett was born March 18, 1941 in Prattville, Alabama, but later grew up in Detroit, Michigan. What a soul singer! He was a member of The Falcons from 1961 to 1963 and eventually went off on his own. He signed with Atlantic Records when he teamed up with the amazing guitarist Steve Cropper, who also was a producer.

During his Atlantic years, he hit the charts an impressive 37 times, including two Top Tens smashes and also received two Gold Records.

Next on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice presents Wilson Pickett. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either 604-5789 (Soulsville U.S.A.) or Funky Broadway. I'll play the winner during the 3rd hour of next week;s show.

The Rose Garden - Song of the Week

This Los Angeles band originally called themselves Giant Sunflower. When that didn't work, they kept the flower motif but changed it to the Rose Garden. The Treasure Island Oldies Blog is pleased to present a rarely seen clip of The Rose Garden with Next Plane To London. It's our Song of the Week.

Enjoy!

Michael


Monday, September 22, 2014

This Week On Treasure Island Oldies - Week of September 21st, 2014



September 21st , 2014 to September 28th, 2014

It was great to be back again for this week’s live show and thanks for the great welcome home. I had a great visit with my family back east near Ottawa, but also good be home again.

I’d like to welcome another new radio station to the Broadcast Partners Network. A big hello to Kelly Jones and everyone at WZCO 89.9 FM in Chadburn, North Carolina. We’ll be with you every weekend, Friday evenings from 7 to 11 and again Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5 pm. I’m also looking forward to hearing from listeners in the Chadburn area and to playing your requests. Welcome aboard the Island!

If your birthday is coming up, be sure to let me know so that I can help celebrate your special day on the show. Send the details to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com and I’ll wish you Happy Birthday on the show and also play The Beatles and Birthday for you.

Continuing our tribute to the late George Hamilton IV, who passed away last week at age 77 due to a heart attack, there’s a very nice TV show clip of him at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog. He performs Abilene plus Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston. It’s our Song of the Week.

Voice Your Choice presents a group signed to Motown Records’ subsidiary label, Rare Earth, which also is name of the group. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either (I Know) I’m Losing You or Get Ready. I’ll play the winner in the 3rd hour of next week’s show.

Here’s the Rock and Roll News for the week of September 21st.


Listen to the Top 5 Countdown from 1963.


http://www.treasureislandoldies.com/assets/multimedia/top_5.ram


Remember if you missed the Live show, the Archive is available for your listening pleasure at the Listen page.

Have a good week.

Bye for now.

Michael

Rare Earth - Voice Your Choice

Rare Earth were a hot rock group from Detroit, and one of the first successful white acts signed to Motown. In fact, Motown created a whole new label which they called Rare Earth Records. The original line-up consisted of Pete Rivera (lead vocals and drums), Rod Richards (guitar), Kenny James (keyboards), Gil Bridges (sax), Ed Guzman (percussion), and John Persh (bass).

Their first two charted hits, Get Ready and (I Know) I'm Losing You, were cover versions of classic Motown hits originally recorded by The Temptations; and both were Top Ten hits.

And they are the two songs being spotlighted. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either (I Know) I'm Losing You or Get Ready. I'll play the winner in the 3rd hour of next week's show.


George Hamilton IV - Song of the Week

In tribute to George Hamilton IV who passed away last week, here he is in a clip from a TV show from 1966. He performs his signature song, Abilene, plus another tune Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston.

R.I.P. George Hamilton IV

Michael

Sunday, September 21, 2014

WZCO FM Joins Broadcast Partners Network


I'm very pleased to welcome another great station to the Treasure Island Oldies Broadcast Partners Network. WZCO 89.9 FM is in Chadburn, North Carolina.

You'll be able to enjoy the show twice every weekend, Fridays from 7 to 11 pm and again Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5 pm.

I extend a big welcome to all the listeners and I know you'll enjoy being part of the Island.

A shout out to Kelly Jones at WZCO for making it happen.

Cheers.
Michael

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Singer George Hamilton IV Has Died

George Hamilton IV, the 50-year "Grand Ole Opry" star known as the "International Ambassador of Country Music," died Wednesday at a Nashville hospital. Mr. Hamilton was 77 and had suffered a heart attack on Saturday.

In a business populated by brash and outlandish stars, Mr. Hamilton traded on subtlety, gentility and decency. In the liner notes of his 1968 RCA album, "The Gentle Country Sound of George Hamilton IV," he wrote of a "quiet, beautiful musical revolution in the world of country music."

"This revolutionary grew up in the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, went to college for four years, doesn't dig saloons and is happily married," he wrote. "Do I have to sing honky-tonk songs about slippin' around and wear a rhinestone-studded cowboy suit to be real?"

Mr. Hamilton burst onto the national music scene in 1956 with the million-selling "A Rose and a Baby Ruth," a John Loudermilk-penned song that rose to No. 6 on the all-genre Billboard Top 100 chart. He scored two more Top 40 hits before becoming what "Definitive Country" encyclopedia contributor Lesley-Anne Peake called "the first pop artist to switch to country."

"This was a radical move for an established pop singer, at a time when rock 'n' roll was at its height and many country stars were trying to 'go pop,'" Peake wrote.

For Mr. Hamilton, his 1959 entry into country music was a natural transition. He grew up in North Carolina, listening to "Opry" stars Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Jimmy Dickens and Eddy Arnold. He joined the "Opry" himself in February 1960, and Chet Atkins signed him to RCA Victor as a country artist. He notched his first Top 10 country hit in 1960, with "Before This Day Ends," and repeated that success with "Three Steps to the Phone (Millions of Miles)" and "If You Don't Know I Ain't Gonna Tell You." But his biggest hit came in 1963, with "Abilene," a loping tribute to a Kansas town and a four-week No. 1 country single.

Mr. Hamilton became infatuated with folk singer-songwriters, and in 1965 he became the first American recording artist to record a hit written by poetic Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. His 1966 "Steel Rail Blues" album featured songs penned by folk-leaning writers Lightfoot, Phil Ochs and John Hartford, and Mr. Hamilton became the most popular country music singer in Canada. He hosted a Canadian television show for six years and he recorded albums that crossed genres and borders. His 1967 version of "Urge For Going" also made him the first artist to record a song written by Joni Mitchell.

"George is a student and a good listener," Gordon Lightfoot told Deke Dickerson, in a conversation recounted in the liner notes to the three-disc Bear Family Records collection "George Hamilton IV: My North Country Home." "He's just a kind, generous person. I just love the way that George did all my songs."

Politics and religion
Mr. Hamilton was the rare country star to actively support progressive politicians in the 1960s, and his abiding Christian faith led was the bedrock of his belief in civil rights and racial equality. In 1968, he and wife Tink attended Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy's speech at Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym. Kennedy was late for the speech, and event organizer John Seigenthaler asked Mr. Hamilton to entertain the assembled crowd.

"He said, 'Well, it just happens I have my guitar in my trunk,' " Seigenthaler told a Vanderbilt Hustler reporter. Mr. Hamilton played for 45 minutes, and he considered "opening" for Kennedy a highlight of his musical career. Mr. Hamilton's relaxed, literate songs took him across the world. He toured extensively in Europe and studied the European roots of Nashville-based country music. "This music we call American country music had its cradle days in the British Isles," he told The Tennessean in 2012. "It had its childhood in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and it came of age in Nashville."

Mr. Hamilton played a starring role in London's "International Festival of Country Music" in 1969, and he and Bill Anderson helped persuade the Country Music Association to present a Nashville version of that International Festival: The music city festival came to be known as Fan Fair and is now branded as the CMA Music Festival, Nashville's signature event. Mr. Hamilton also hosted numerous BBC television series.

In 1973, Mr. Hamilton completed what Peake wrote was the "longest international concert tour in country music," performing 73 shows in three months. And in 1974, Mr. Hamilton became the first country artist to perform behind the Iron Curtain, playing in Czechoslovakia and in Russia. In the latter country, he lectured on the history of country music.

Mr. Hamilton left the "Opry" for five years, beginning in 1971, and by the time of his 1976 return he was known as country music's "International Ambassador." He was a passionate advocate for country music, and for his deeply held faith, frequently performing as part of Billy Graham's Christian crusades.
Mr. Hamilton's final Top 40 country hit came in 1973, but he remained vital as a touring artist and "Grand Ole Opry" attraction for the remainder of his years. In the new century, he often gave backstage tours at the Opry, providing visitors with firsthand stories about long-gone "Opry" stars Patsy Cline, Roy Acuff and Ernest Tubb.

"It's been a real honor to have been associated with the Opry for this period of time," he said in an official biography. "It's been my musical homeplace which I first started visiting as a teenager. Back then, I would regularly catch a Greyhound bus from North Carolina and dream of performing on the Opry."