Another "Gone But Not Forgotten"

Geeze, they seem to be dropping like flies lately. Aaron Spelling, Creator of The Love Boat, Charlie's Angels, Dynasty, Beverly Hills 90210, Fantasy Island, TJ Hooker, Hart To Hart, and the rarely mentioned favorite of mine Burke's Law (which starred Gene Barry, I was a BIG fan of Barry's pre-Burke role in Bat Masterson, sort of a western version of The Avenger's John Steed, complete with hat and cane), died this past Friday at the age of 83, he had a stroke just last week.
Not only was Burke's Law one of my two all-time Spelling favorites, The Mod Squad was the other one, Spelling was a genious!
As I used to sit in front of our small black and white TV in the living room in Hollowayville, Illinois, and gaze into that tube at Mod Squad, Star Trek, and The Monkees EVERY week, a few years later there was an Aaron Spelling cration that became a big hit that I never cared for, it was Family, although I was in love with Kristy McNichol from the show and I would watch for her scenes only, usually turning the channel as soon as my adolescent mind decided the first few scenes with McNichol were enough to satisfy me until the next issue of Bananas Magazine or Us had her picture in it, I'm telling you, I was flipped over Kristy McNichol!When Kristy and her brother Jimmy came out with their own variety TV show, I thought, wow, a weekly show with the chic I am flipped over that I can watch all the way through! But, alas, it was not to be. The Kristy & Jimmy McNichol Show was a good bit hoaky and goofy, or maybe I was just reaching an age where I thought I was "too cool" for a TV show with a brother and sister doing modernized Vaudeville skits and singing songs on network television. Yes, they sang songs, and I remember their records being in the record bin at Nichols Discount City (Now a Wal-Mart Super Center) in Gastonia, NC, but I never bought their records, nor did I ever hear them on the radio. Maybe program directors in radio at the time thought it was uncool too. No, make that a confirmation, it was uncool to play their songs on the air. Sorry Kristy.

Coupons for TV Guide

I've seen it all now. In a recent issue of the new large size TV guide: COUPONS, COUPONS, GIT YER COUPONS FER DISCOUNTS ON THE NEXT ISSUE OF TV GUIDE! Not just one, but two. I never thought I would live to see the day that TV Guide offered discount coupons. Although I have been a MAJOR fan of TV Guide for years (I collect TV Guide, I have every issue except the first one, including these new, gaudy large ones), I am still not too crazy about the large size edition, especially since they switched from local listings to "national only", but it is a nice price, lower than the last digest-size issue, especially with their 99 cents special they had a month ago. It's a shame, though, that quite a few of the newsstands that used to carry the digest-size TV Guide do not carry it at all anymore.

JOHNNY GRANDE, gone but not forgotten

What a sad week it has been since my last post here. Not only did we lose Vince Welnick, the keyboard player from The Grateful Dead at the age of 55 on June 2nd (Although I never cared for any of their songs except "Truckin" and "Touch Of Grey", both of which Welneck did not perform on, he didn't join The Dead until 1990, but give him MAJOR props for being a member of The Tubes when they had a big hit with "She's A Beauty" in the eighties), and the great Beatles keyboard player on their last few albums, Billy Preston died on June 6th after being in a coma at the age of 59 (He had his own BIG hit songs with "Nothin' From Nothin' Leaves Nothin" and "Will It Go 'Round In Circles", as well as an instrumental called "Outta' Space"), but in my most deepest sorrow, we lost Bill Haley's original keyboard player, the always-calm and talented Johnny Grande, (Pictured in glorious black and white from his early days as an original member of Bill Haley's Comets). Three keyboard players in just a few days. Damn.
Johnny was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame in 1997, only Bill Haley has been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, The Comets have not been inducted yet. Grande also had the distinction of performing with Bill Haley through all of his bands from the 1940's up to the 1960's (The Four Aces Of Western Swing, The Saddlemen, The Comets), and he continued to perform with the original surviving Comets right up until his illness from Cancer recently.
Johnny Grande played piano on the original hit recordings of "Rock Around The Clock", "Shake Rattle & Roll", "See You Later, Alligator" and other million-selling Rock And Roll standards. My all-time accordion favorite is the Bill Haley And The Comet's single "Rockin' Little Tune" that featured Grande on lead, THAT was a really rockin' tune, especially for an accordion, and Frank Beecher's guitar solo on it was really, REALLY rockin', I have never heard an accordion played more perfectly in rhythm with a slapping bass and saxophone since, and probably never will, The Comets are not only rockers, but were innovators in the 1950's, who else would have thought of putting an accordion on lead in a rock song?
Johnny Grande, you rocked.
That's Johnny below more recently from a picture taken by fellow Comets Fan Bob McLeod at The Tennessee Club where The Comets were performing. Gone but will never be forgotten.

Stumblin' In to a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

That was Suzi Quatro's first big hit song, "Stumblin' In" (with Chris Norman), I remember hearing it on WLS every afternoon after school just like it was yesterday: "Our love is alive, and so we begin. Foolishly laying our hearts on the table, Stumblin' in. Our love is a flame, burning within. Now and then firelight will catch us... Stumblin' in..." The vocal harmony stuck in my mind forever.
When my high school buddy from Bessemer City High School, Mark Conrad, told me about a hot new song in 1982, called "Lipstick", I thought, "Hmmm, he's picked some good tunes before, I'll go and buy the 45..." (I was BIG into buying all the latest records at the time). I was both surprised and happy to see "Suzi Quatro" on the Dreamland record label at Chamelot Music in The Eastridge Mall. I didn't think I would ever hear another song by my Suzi, I couldn't wait to get home and play it. Although the song was not a hit here in the states, to me it was just as good as "Stumblin' In", even more powerful and with a stronger beat. And I have never been an advocate of songs that didn't make the Top 10, but this one was strong. I'll never forget the heavy sound on the chorus: "And I nail my mouth to the evil taste of lipstick, inhale the scent of someone else's lipstick..." It was the strongest vocals by a female I had heard since Little Miss Dynamite, Brenda Lee.
Of course there are a couple of other chapters in Suzi Quatro's life story, like her appearances as "Pinky Tuskadero" on Happy Days, the band that she, Lita Ford, and Joan Jett were in called "The Runaways", and more. How synonymous that almost every time Joan Jett has written a note for me, (I have worked in the music industry for 23 years now) she signs her name, then writes "Rock Hard", that was the name of Suzi Quatro's album from which the single "Lipstick" was on. Suzi has done a lot of other stuff too, she is one talented chic.
And look at her pic today... she looks great and even better than when my sex-starved teen-age eyes saw her on Happy Days way back when. She has a new single out this week, and if they still made them on 45 rpm records, I'd buy it, see more on her website at www.suziquatro.com. Happy Birthday, Suzi Quatro. She turns 56 today, lookin' like she just turned 32, serious!

Charlotte Radio Ratings just in!

Goot Gosh! Kat Country has jumped up to the number two slot, WSOC had been the number one Country station in Charlotte for how long? Two years? At least. Of course, Power 98 is still number one over all. You can view the entire list of highest rated station in Charlotte by clicking here for the latest survey results.