HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'd like to take a moment and thank those of you who discovered my station during 2012 and have remained loyal listeners; I'd also like to wish you and everyone else a very happy 2013!

I will continue to showcase more unique oldies tracks that you don't hear anymore. I also hope to soon start a partnership with one of the more established oldies internet radio stations; we are looking to get me more exposure via my upcoming editions of my "American Bottom 45" countdown shows. A couple of my other show ideas I mentioned 2 to 3 months ago may turn into podcasts as I feel they will work out better in that method("Retro AOR - The Retro Attic Of Rock" and "The Retro Attic Presents 90 Minutes Of 90's" - the material I want to play in these two shows would mostly fall outside of my station's radar). The podcasts would be accessible through this webpage, so that may help me get additional exposure!

Tune in starting on Wednesday for our January Artist Of The Month, The Byrds. You will hear a track from them or a related solo effort once every hour. Coming in February will be The Grass Roots. Further down the road, I am planning on showcasing The Hollies, Bread/David Gates, Rush and Heart(this will be a double bill in April to honor their inductions into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame), Paul Anka, and Sonny And Cher.

Thanks again and keep on spreading the word about us, because there is still plenty of unearthing to do in the vaults!

THE HOLLIES - Look Through Any Window - Live B&W Beat Club Performance

I just recently added this superb top 40 pop gem(it peaked at #32 and should have been a much bigger hit) to my rotation, and it reminded me of the below related performance of it. Do you remember watching MTV in the mid 80's? They had this occasional feature called "Closet Classics" that mainly drew from the Beat Club archives(regular airings included performances from Blue Cheer, Vanilla Fudge, Cream, Tommy James And The Shondells, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Spooky Tooth, The Who, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, etc.). I always thought this was one of the better ones, mainly because The Hollies performed this live. The only other act I remember seeing on "Closet Classics" that performed live was The Easybeats with "Friday On My Mind."

Anyways, enjoy this clip. This is how it should have always been done...a nice, simple setup...no Pro Tools...no tuned down, distorted guitars...no depressing lyrics...happy, dancing teens...I could go on and on!

Speaking of live performances, I was also checking out the rare newsreel footage of The Byrds and The Grass Roots from the Newport Festival in '69. Simply amazing stuff! If I was given a chance to step into a time machine, I would just want to attend one of those festivals and stay there all day. 3 to 5 dollar tickets...are you kidding me? Who wouldn't want to?

ARTIST OF THE MONTH FOR NOVEMBER PUSHED BACK TO DECEMBER, THANKS TO A GAL NAMED SANDY!

Hurricane Sandy wreaked a little havoc with my radio station during the last couple of days. I am up and running again, but the storm put me way behind with my new adds. It wasn't due so much to the wind and the rain, but a freak lightning storm that lasted only 5 minutes.

Therefore, The Everly Brothers will be pushed back to being the featured Artist Of The Month for December. This will give me more time to beef up content on them as well as being able to devote more time to new adds for the general rotation.

Thank you for your understanding...and now back to our regular programming...

CHANGING MY MIND MORE OFTEN THAN MENUDO CHANGED THEIR LINEUP!

I listened to my master playlist a few times this past weekend in its "no repeat" format, and I have decided that it's not the most ideal way to present my programming. I found that occasionally I would have wanted to move a few tracks either up or down in the rotation, which would mean saving the changes afterwards. Saving the changes results in the master playlist starting all over again. This would have created more work for me as the flow would have needed constant reorganizing.

I would rather spend more of my time presenting new content with song facts and artist promotional commentary. Once I submit my new content, the programming does its thing automatically; having to do additional steps with it is not why I got into music broadcasting in the first place.

And speaking of new content/new adds, that was another major issue. I don't want my listeners to have to wait at least a week to hear any new tracks I add. I have found that my new adds get thrown into the mix fairly promptly with my master playlist being on random shuffling.

I honestly think that any issues I have with a few tracks repeating either twice a day or on consecutive days are very minor. You need to stop and think about what I'm playing, which is seldom-heard oldies! These are tracks that never got a ton of airplay to begin with; they're far from being in the overplayed league of "Stairway To Heaven" and "More Than A Feeling!" Let's face it...with the playlist being on random shuffling, at least the daily mix is virtually guaranteed to be different! The "no repeat" format would have grown old a lot quicker; you would have noticed the same tracks being played every Monday. Does this make any sense?

My listener count is not really where I want it to be right now, so I'm not going to be moving full steam ahead on any new show ideas until after 2013 begins. Speaking of new show ideas, I do have a few going through my head right now. Please visit my webpage at http://retroatticrareoldiesradio.blogspot.com and look for my current poll; please participate in it and let me know which show ideas sound the best to you(you can make multiple choices).

I have plenty of cool new adds coming this week(in addition to the ones I have already added in the past week, which can be viewed in my "New Attic Adds" section of my webpage), so please keep tuning in and thanks for being a loyal listener!

PANHANDLE - HEY GIRL - 1969 SINGLE ON HAPPY TIGER RECORDS - INTERNET MYSTERY SOLVED!

I recently added this record to my rotation; I liked it a lot, so I decided to track down some information on it. It turned out that ever since 2004, no one on the net seemed to know anything about this group. I think I have the puzzle pieces all in place, so here goes my theory:

"Hey Girl" by Florida group Panhandle(Happy Tiger Records 523) bubbled under at #122 for 1 week on November 22, 1969. The group name apparently came about due to the songwriter's Texas and Florida connections. The song was written by Galen Ray, who was with a Texas garage band called The Checkmates. In 1965, The Checkmates released "Hey Girl" b/w "All The Time Now" on the Ruff Records label. "All The Time Now" is also the flip of the Happy Tiger record. Both versions of "Hey Girl" sound very similar, but there is a difference. The Ruff Records version is straight-ahead jangly guitar pop in the style of The Byrds and The Beau Brummels. The Happy Tiger version adds in some horns, which in 1969 was the "in" thing(think of Thee Prophets' "Playgirl" as an example). The time lengths are almost identical(maybe a 2 second difference).

Ruff Records was run by Ray Ruff, who would later join the staff of Happy Tiger Records as an engineer and a producer. So as you can see, we had one happy family here who apparently stayed in touch for a few years. From what I can gather, Galen knew a fellow musician who lived on the Georgia/Florida border, so that is probably how he ended up in Florida.

Panhandle would release 1 more 45 on Happy Tiger 532 in 1970("Everyday" b/w "Tears Come With Forgetting You"). I have yet to hear it, but I look forward to it.

Thanks goes out to http://www.garagehangover.com for leading me in the right direction. Keep an ear out for this great pop gem here on The Retro Attic - 50s To 80s Rare Oldies!

NEW PROGRAMMING CHANGES FOR 2013!

The Retro Attic - 50s To 80s Rare Oldies is going to have a few noticeable changes in its programming to kick off 2013. I'll mention the major ones:

1. We will start off the new year being as close to a true "No Repeat Workdays...And Weekends" station as you can get. In other words, there will be a different playlist for each day of the week. Right now, I certainly have plenty in the inventory so that I can pull this off. A couple of my listeners have noted that certain songs are getting heard on consecutive days, which is a bit strange because none of the songs on my master list carry any special weight over the others(it's just one of those crazy "luck of the draw" situations). While it hasn't been such a problem that it would make people want to change the dial, I don't want to end up being like my local classic rock station who is lucky if they manage to repeat a song every other day(trust me, they play plenty of the same titles each and every day!). I'm always adding new titles, so you won't be hearing the same exact playlist every Monday(as an example). If you don't want to wait a week to hear a certain song, then put my request form to good use, which is located on my webpage at http://retroatticrareoldiesradio.blogspot.com.

2. "The American Bottom 45 - The Other Grooves" will return in January and will be a monthly feature. We will focus on a specific week from that month in a specific year, counting down all the records from #100 through #41 along with a "Bubbling Under" entry. The show will air twice a week(one weekday and one weekend night, yet to be determined). I can tell you that the first two shows of 2013 will be taking you back to January 1981 and February 1969. I did a test run of the show in October, but I will be unable to present any new shows for the rest of 2012 as I will be pretty busy(holidays, day job, etc.).

3. Retro commercials will be thrown into the regular programming. Whether it's an ad for a vintage cereal, an ad for some band's "new album," an ad for "state-of-the-art" stereo equipment, or an ad for a classic TV show...you'll never know when you will be hearing them!

4. It was suggested that I throw in some material from the early 90's, so I will include some "here and there." It won't be so much that I will be forced to change my station IDs or sweepers; I want the main emphasis of my station to remain "50s To 80s Rare Oldies." In my opinion, the quality of the charts started going way downhill after 1993. Therefore, you will more than likely hear me play material from Roxette, Sophie B. Hawkins, Danger Danger, Go West, The Gin Blossoms, Steelheart, etc. Don't expect to hear gangsta rap or "Rump Shaker." I would rather play The Digable Planets or something from Milli Vanilli's little-known post-Grammy fiasco than that stuff! I may also dabble with mid to late 40's tunes, but I'm going to educate myself further on those first.

5. News updates on artists in my rotation will either be worked into certain songs or will be featured as posts on my webpage. I'm probably going to start that right away.

You have the rest of this year to voice your opinion on the above changes, so feel free to let me know what you think!

WEEKLY NEWS UPDATES ON 3 "FORGOTTEN ARTISTS"

Starting tomorrow(October 9th), I will be airing a short segment every 2 hours that will give my listeners an update on 3 "forgotten artists" that I always have in my regular rotation. The main purposes will be to give those who were/are fans of these artists their official website addresses and/or information on their latest album releases and whether they're out there touring or not.

I want to make sure that ample opportunity is given to hear each update, so a new update on 3 other artists will come out every Tuesday morning.

The first update will focus on the 70's and 80's era, featuring Quarterflash, Shoes, and Atlanta Rhythm Section. I hope this will strike a chord with you!

DJ GILBERT MATTHEWS SPEAKS!

In order to get geared up for next month's premiere of my show "The American Bottom 45 - The Other Grooves," I have started to add commentary to my new adds. It has been a long time coming, I know...

I'm sure that I was starting to sound like just a small step above a glorified jukebox! I'm now realizing that I need to continue evolving, so hopefully some personality and occasional artist/song facts at the beginning of the tracks will get me on the path toward a bigger listening audience.

In case you were wondering, the premiere edition of "The American Bottom 45 - The Other Grooves" will focus on 1975. You will have to wait and see what week I pick!

COMING IN OCTOBER...

I hope you're enjoying our unique musical trip back to yesteryear! I strive to bring back some attention to many records that got left in the bottom of program directors' mailbags, mainly because there was once a time where the music industry was thriving so much that some artists(whether they deserved to or not) didn't get a chance to be heard.

Coming in October, I will be doing a test run of a show I am tentatively calling "The Other Grooves - The American Bottom 45." I will be picking a week from October from a past year and will be counting down all of the records that sat between #41 and #100; there will also be a bonus "Under The Bubble" cut. I figure that top 40 countdowns have been done to death already, and besides, I will be playing records at some point that were on their way to or had been in the top 40. This also means I will be doing more commentary, which may or may not be a good thing! You may be thinking to yourself "why aren't you counting down 45 instead of 60?" It's because I'm referring to 45 as in a 45 rpm record, which is what the Hot 100 charts were all about! The show's premiere will air twice a week during October; your feedback will be crucial in my determining whether it will be worth making future editions of the show or not.

Our respective Artists Of The Month during September and October will be Chicago and Paul Revere And The Raiders; more information can be found a little further down on the right side of our webpage.

I look forward to handling more of your challenging requests in the days, weeks and months to come. Please tell all of your friends about us!

Was This 60's Pop Perfection Or What? THE CRITTERS - Mr. Dieingly Sad - 1966

Without a doubt, this was the greatest song that The Lovin' Spoonful never did! This group from New Jersey took this gorgeous number into the top 20 in the late summer of '66. It will forever be a staple here on The Retro Attic!

This is the only '66 era clip I have ever seen of this song. It was from Dick Clark's "Where The Action Is" show; it's not the greatest quality, but it will have to do.

We have played their remake of The Spoonful's "Younger Girl" in the past and are currently playing "Marryin' Kind Of Love," which bubbled under in '67. Keep tuning in!

THE PORTRAITS FROM MILWAUKEE(LATE 60'S) - A RETRO ATTIC ONLINE ENCOUNTER!

One of the main reasons why I started this station was to help people rediscover some of the musical gems from yesteryear that they never got a chance to hear originally or that they totally forgot about over time. What makes this objective even cooler is when a musician from the golden age of rock n' roll hears my station, requests one of his tunes, and tells me to keep up the great work!

This happened for the first time late last week. I had been in contact with a musician's relative before(the late jazz great Paul Hucklebuck Williams), but never directly with a musician. I heard from John Rondell(also known by the last name of Beilfuss), a Milwaukee guitarist who wrote a song for his group The Portraits called "Runaround Girl." It came out in December of '67 and was paired with "Over The Rainbow," which some of you may recall as a top 20 hit for The Demensions in the summer of '60. The group had cool vocal harmonies in the style of The Vogues, Jay And The Americans, The Buckinghams, The Happenings, and The 4 Seasons. They also had some occasional nods to garage; I pointed out to John that the intro guitar segment of "Runaround Girl" had some similarities to the one you hear at the beginning of The 4 Seasons' "Let's Hang On." They were on the Sidewalk label, which was also at times the home of The Stone Poneys, The Mugwumps, Chad Stuart, and Terry Stafford of "Suspicion" fame. Unfortunately, the record never broke nationally, but it was a top 20 hit in the Salt Lake City, Utah market.

I dig stuff like this, so I recommend checking out a website that Portraits member Gary Myers set up where you can order a CD of released and rare recordings that the group made: The Portraits 1966 - 1968

And in the meantime, keep an ear out for "Runaround Girl" here on The Retro Attic - 50s To 80s Rare Oldies!

I'm trying to build up the courage to ask the next musician that contacts me for an online interview/chat. If I can help promote a long-forgotten musician from the days of vinyl and 8 tracks, then I couldn't think of anything more satisfying in being an oldies lover(except perhaps owning a sealed first state Beatles butcher cover - never mind, a musician interview is definitely more realistic!).

ON THIS DAZE IN CHART HISTORY - JULY 27, 1971!

Moving up 12 to #48 on this day in 1971 was "Mother Freedom" by 70's superstars Bread. This was without a doubt the hardest-edged tune that ever charted for them; since it didn't have any pickup lines that people could use in their romantic pursuits, it would end up only peaking at #37.

Bread and David Gates material hold a special place in The Retro Attic's hearts, so keep tuning in!

ON THIS DAZE IN CHART HISTORY - JULY 26, 1973!

Coming in at #18(up 4) on this day in 1973 was the third top 10 hit for Irishman Gilbert O'Sullivan, who was known for his college sweater fashion sense. This peaked at #7 and is probably the least-played of his top 10 hits. I remember hearing this all of the time back then and now it proudly takes residence in The Retro Attic rotation!

A chart side note: also on this day in '73, Maureen McGovern raced up 11 spots to #9 with "The Morning After" from the classic film "The Poseidon Adventure." It would soon hit #1, and I remember Casey Kasem not liking it too much when it got there. At that time, American Top 40 was predicting what would be #1 the following week, and Casey made a quick and confident prediction that she would be knocked off the top. He was right! It's all good though; I would rather listen to a Maureen McGovern hits collection than a bunch of so-called LMFAO classics!

ON THIS DAZE IN CHART HISTORY - JULY 25, 1969!

The Underground Sunshine were a late 60's quartet made up of members from Wisconsin and Germany. On this day in 1969, their one and only hit(a remake of The Beatles' White Album classic track "Birthday") jumped up 24 spots to #76. It would eventually peak at #26.

Their sole album on the Intrepid label is worth hunting down for its cool psychedelia. The highlight for me was their tripped-out 8 minute workout of "Gimme Some Lovin'," the Spencer Davis Group hit.

Enjoy this rare lipsynch clip of "Birthday" from American Bandstand and keep your ears open for this long-forgotten top 40 hit here on The Retro Attic!

DAVE CLARK FIVE, DON GRADY AND STATION MUSINGS

Even though it's the last day of June, I decided to get an early start on July's Artist Of The Month because the artist in question happens to be one of my all-time favorite groups. Crank up The Retro Attic in July as we look back at all of the great material that The Dave Clark Five left us! I had forgotten how much of a rocker "Any Way You Want It" was. If you're a fan of The Box Tops, The Grass Roots and Badfinger, then I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how good some of their overlooked singles and flip sides from the late 60's and early 70's were("Paradise Is Half As Nice," "Think Of Me," etc.). We will be showcasing one of their tracks every hour during July.

I'm sure you've already heard about the passing of My Three Sons actor Don Grady. Don was also a musician who flew up, up and away into the top 30 during '67 with his group The Yellow Balloon. We've had their self-titled hit in our rotation for a while now and will continue to do so. Rest in peace, Don!

As the summer progresses, I'm going to be changing the way our playlist is heard. The way it is formatted now has presented a couple of problems: certain tracks are getting played 2 or 3 times a day and I'm pretty sure that there are a few tracks that haven't received any airplay because they're buried so deep in the playlist. Eventually you will be listening to different playlists for each day of the week; if you're worried that the following Monday will sound exactly the same as the previous Monday, then don't fret: I will always be throwing in some new additions and I may occasionally rotate the playlists to different days. The Artist Of The Month will be continuing, although I will admit it will be a bit more challenging to format.

And speaking of listening, I'm going to try to be nice about the following issue. My station is all about being a GUIDE to forgotten music of the past and LISTENING/ENJOYING the tunes. If you hear something you like, then go out and Google the tune afterwards or better yet, help out my station by purchasing an MP3 via the Amazon links that are on my webpage's "Recent Tracks Played" display. I'm not a rookie when it comes to ways of the internet, and I know exactly what you "listeners" overseas(especially Germany and Russia) are doing. Those of you who are masking with outdated versions of Winamp(especially Winamp 5.50) will not be welcome here. You're not even listening; you're using a "popular" software program that "slices and dices" my programming and fulfills your precious wish lists. The same also goes to those who are showing up with a bunch of random letters of the alphabet as their user agent; I also know which software program that is. Those with no user agent displaying...don't make me laugh! And finally, how about good ol' Winamp 5.62! It looks to be legit at first, but I've seen way too many instances of it being used with a plugin(sound familiar, Mr. North Carolina?). The plugin automatically reconnects if kicked off and will continue to hammer a radio station's server if banned until the user on the other end realizes that he/she won't be getting through(I've seen this occur for several hours!). I know this is happening because I can listen to my station on Winamp 5.62 and kick myself off; guess what, it doesn't automatically reconnect!

I know some of you have busy lives and are looking to do some "time shifting" so that you have something to listen to on the way to or way back from work. I don't really have a problem with that, especially if you drop me a quick line and tell me that's what your intention is. Unfortunately, there are too many "phantoms" out there that think they can leave their devices on all day, so you will need to be monitoring as I have a listening cap in place.

I can't catch all of those that are using the above-referenced software programs, so I have started incorporating a method that will make our tracks less desirable to obtain. It's a method that terrestrial stations have been using for many years. Not sure what I mean? Keep an ear out for tracks such as Blue Cheer's "Summertime Blues" and I think you will understand! And at the same time, it won't be that much of an annoyance to my true listeners.

Questions or comments? Please use our webpage's contact form or chat with me through our live chat button that is on the right side of the page in the area where our poll and Artists Of The Month are. I'm sorry for sounding a little bitter, but I'm trying to reach out to those who truly miss the obscure oldies; if it only ends up being a very small group of loyal followers, then I'd rather have that than having my "fan club" being a bunch of flea market peddlers who display their "one-of-a-kind CDs" on some old wooden table.

And now back to the music! Thanks goes out to those of you who are listening and spreading the word about me by liking me on Facebook and liking my Tweets.

RIP - DONNA SUMMER

What a year it has been so far for losing musical icons! As you probably already heard, we lost The Queen Of Disco a couple of days ago after a long battle with cancer.

Donna's heyday was of course during the 70's, but she showed her prowess by hitting during the robotic dance/new wave era that bands such as Midnight Star had helped pave, the '83 neo-disco movement, and the late 80's Stock Aitken Waterman dance pop era that had made Kylie Minogue and Rick Astley stars. She had even managed to land a top 20 album as late as 2008.

The Retro Attic - Rare 50s To 80s Oldies will be paying tribute to her during this coming week by playing a couple of triple plays at random times. So keep your ears here "on the radio" for some of her selections that you don't hear every day(keeping in line with what you would expect from us)!

Many thanks go out to Donna for all of the great musical memories she provided us. Heaven knows it's very lucky to have her now!

HAMILTON, JOE FRANK & REYNOLDS - Winners And Losers - 1975 - #21

Remember these guys? This soft rock outfit featured former members of the 60's instrumental act The T-Bones("No Matter What Shape" and "Sippin' 'N Chippin'") and the late 60's group Shango(the quasi calypso/reggae hit "Day After Day It's Slippin' Away," which is currently in our rotation).

The average 70's music fan knows that Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds had two top 40 smashes during the first half of the decade: "Don't Pull Your Love(which apparently The Grass Roots turned down, then ended up recording a similar-sounding hit in "Two Divided By Love")" and the #1 swooner "Fallin' In Love." Any oldies station worth their weight in gold is still playing these on a fairly regular basis.

But how many of you remember this song, which also hit top 40? This was one of those numbers where I heard it several times as a kid, but I lost track of it as the years went by. I always had a certain line from it stuck in my head("You know it's that....wayyyyyyy"), and it wasn't until the last 10 years that I stumbled across the song once again(I purchased the 2nd pressing of The Playboy Years disc with the improved sound quality). I felt stupid; I should have recognized that deep voice!

At this point they should have been called Hamilton, Joe Frank & Dennison(Tommy Reynolds had left 3 years earlier and was replaced by Alan Dennison), but the record company was worried that too much time had passed; therefore, they insisted that the established hit-making name should stick around for a while longer. By the time the group name changed, disco music had an even stronger grip on the American public, so subsequent singles were only minor charters.

Live footage on them is hard to find, so I was delighted to find this(live vocals - good enough!). Enjoy this clip and keep your ears open for this song and their '71 mid-charter "Annabella" in our rotation! And speaking of The T-Bones, they will be spinning soon!

MAY ARTIST OF THE MONTH - THE BEE GEES

May's Artist Of The Month here on The Retro Attic - 50s To 80s Rare Oldies should be a lot of fun! The Bee Gees left us with an amazing catalog, and I hope to cover it all through their many group charters as well as a few from Barry, Robin, and even Andy Gibb(after all, he was related and his brothers helped out on background vocals on some of his early hits). Hopefully you will have a few favorites to look forward to as we tackle the range of 1967 through 1989!

You will find that yours truly especially enjoyed the material that came out between '67 and '73 because of the Beatlesque harmonies, lite psych, and orchestration. I always felt that The Bee Gees became popular in the U.S. right away because they filled a void that a lot of Beatles fans were experiencing once the Lennon and Jesus controversy occurred as well as their feeling that the Fab Four's music was starting to get "weird" with the release of the "Revolver" album. There is no doubt in my mind that The Beatles would have continued to put out material  as strong as "Don't Forget To Remember," "Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself," "My World," "Run To Me," and "Wouldn't I Be Someone" if they had stayed together.

I will admit that when I was a kid, I absolutely hated their disco phase(mainly because I couldn't roller skate worth squat and my mother blasted "Boogie Child" as long as an hour after it was bedtime for me). I have learned to appreciate those records these days, especially when compared to what is passing for dance music now(I won't mention names). I never hated the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack enough to take it to the Comiskey Park record BBQ in the summer of '79, so rest assured that I won't ignore the most commercially successful period of their career!

I didn't really follow them that much during the 80's, but I do remember seeing the video for "You Win Again" on VH-1(back in their adult contemporary programming days when you would see VJs like Rita Coolidge and Air Supply was on for every other video, it seemed) and being amazed that it wasn't a bigger hit on the Hot 100. The average music fan had probably forgotten about them since it had been 4 years since the "Staying Alive" soundtrack had been out and everyone had Guns N' Roses on the brain!

And as mentioned earlier, Andy will be given his due. There is no denying that he was a chart force to be reckoned with during '77 and '78 and you have to give him props for having four top 40 hits after the disco era had supposedly died! Whether you like it or not, that last approximately 90 seconds of "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" won't leave your head!

This all begins on "The First Of May(one might think I had it planned this way....my lips are sealed!)." I hope you will enjoy hearing their hits every 45 minutes for the next month and I also hope you will join me in wishing a speedy recovery for Robin; to say that he experienced a miracle is truly an understatement!

5/20/12 UPDATE: The miracle wasn't meant to be...we lost Robin today. The only way to mend our broken hearts is to keep The Bee Gees' music alive, and The Retro Attic will continue to do so for a long time to come!

June's Artist Of The Month won't be a specific artist. I have decided to welcome summer with open arms by showcasing all of those great and obscure "summer" songs from the 50's through the 80's. The Jamies, Tony Carey, War, Blue Cheer, Jamestown Massacre...I think you'll get the idea! Feel free to submit your suggestions and I'll do my best to include them.

A big thanks goes out to those who are listening to us loyally at work and/or at home. Please continue to spread the word about us, especially if you believe like me that the future of music is the past. There was so much that we audiophiles missed out on back in the golden days, and hopefully I'm accomplishing my mission by getting more of us educated.

Rock out, roll on...

DICK CLARK 1929-2012

Wow, yet another great loss! Within the past couple of weeks, I had started watching the old $25,000 Pyramid shows once again and began wondering how he was doing(in between admirations of Markie Post's skills at giving out first-rate category clues). I had caught glimpses of him during the last couple of year-end specials, but I kept switching channels because there was only so much modern music that this old DJ could stomach!

Mr. Clark was a big part of my youth. Besides hosting one of the greatest game shows of all time, he also introduced me to many classic oldies through his weekend nationally syndicated radio show "Rock, Roll And Remember." After taking in a full morning's worth of Saturday cartoons, I then looked forward to him introducing me to countless new musical acts on American Bandstand. No one could deny the impact that show had on the record-buying public; it was the MTV of its time. Don't get me wrong, Don Kirshner and The Midnight Special were great shows too, but most parents wouldn't let their kids watch TV that late(my parents never caught me - ah, the advantages of an attic room!).

I am paying tribute by throwing Barry Manilow's classic '75 track "Bandstand Boogie" into the rotation for a couple of weeks, so keep your ears open, put on your dancing shoes, and reflect on all of those great AB moments.

Speaking of Barry, most of us who grew up in the 70's and 80's will remember his singing "It's just another New Year's Eve, another night like all the rest..." That won't be the case this year; "New Year's Rockin' Eve" will never be the same again. I am really hoping that Ryan Seacrest and his co-anchors will make sure that Dick gets a proper tribute.

And now back to our regular programming. Here's hoping that these tunes will continue making us think young; that's the way Dick would have wanted it!

RONNIE MONTROSE RIP

Over the weekend, we lost yet another musical heavyweight in guitarist Ronnie Montrose. Anyone into hard rock during the 70's will remember his self-named band that gave Sammy Hagar his first break; he was also an in-demand session player that contributed to notable albums from the likes of Edgar Winter Group and Van Morrison.

Arena rock was extremely prevalent during the late 70's and early 80's, and another band that Ronnie fronted during this time that I particularly liked was Gamma. In tribute to Ronnie, please keep an ear out for their two charting singles here on The Retro Attic: 1980's "I'm Alive" and 1982's "Right The First Time."

Rest in peace Ronnie, and don't worry...as long as someone plays one of your albums, there will always be "Good Rockin' Tonight" here on Earth!

Gamma - Gamma 3 LP - 1982

A DAY WITH SHADES OF GRAY - RIP DAVY JONES

Those of us who have a love for 60's music are certainly experiencing a great deal of sadness today; Monkees singer Davy Jones has succumbed to a heart attack. The Monkees may have been a prime target for the rock critics back in the day due to their "manufactured image(discussed in the 1968 Head soundtrack segment "Ditty Diego")" and their using a lot of session musicians in their early recordings(numerous other notable 60's bands did too, yet they were never targeted), but they had certainly earned a lot more respect over the years. One cannot deny their significant contributions to the world of psychedelia, music videos, and country rock. I don't know about you, but I'm hard-pressed to come up with another musical group who can be gone for almost 20 years, reunite, and place 7 albums on the Billboard 200 during 1 year! Not bad for a "fabricated" band, I must say! Remember their 3rd album "Headquarters?" They showed that they had decent musical chops that were good enough to stay right on the heels of Sgt. Pepper during the summer of '67(after it had spent a week on top of the album charts).

I had The Monkees as The Retro Attic's February artist of the month and had Olivia Newton-John slated for March. I have decided to push Olivia back to April and continue focusing on The Monkees for March. March's difference will be the inclusion of rare Davy solo tracks and some tracks from Dolenz, Jones, Boyce And Hart's mid 70's effort. If there is a special Monkees or Davy Jones related track you would like to hear, then please feel free to use our request form on our site.

Thank you for all of the wonderful musical memories Davy; you will be severely missed, but rest assured that The Retro Attic - Rare 50s To 80s Oldies will keep them alive and well!

Davy's 1971 Bell LP - To Be Featured In March

"When I Was Young, Life Was Such A Gas..."

I'm sure many of you are pulling your hair out now(or in my case, gray hairs - the more I pull out, the happier I will be!) from watching the sudden hiking of the gas prices. Rumor has it they may go up as much as 60 cents by the time the summer arrives! Instead of getting more depressed with the present situation, why don't we go back over 30 years and take a somewhat humorous listen to how the gas situation used to be?

The year was 1979. During that summer, many of us sat in long lines at the gas stations due to a major oil crisis. We bided our time in our Pintos(or a forest green station wagon for yours truly) by discussing with our buddies what disco records we were going to bring to Comiskey Park for a "barbeque," what medicines could cure a stomach ache from a 6 pack of Billy Beer, what tools could pry a melted "Helen Reddy's Greatest Hits" 8 track cartridge from the dashboard, and what a bright future the TV show "240 Robert" was going to have(I don't know about you, but I liked Joanna Cassidy).

Some of you may have rushed out and bought a copy of the below minor charter by a group of British comedians called The Barron Knights. "The Topical Song" parodied a Supertramp classic and reminded us how frustrating it was to fill up the car tank back then. I know times were different, but c'mon...I'd welcome back a dollar a gallon with someone washing my windshield and checking my oil if it meant dealing with the frustration of waiting an hour to get to the full serve island!

Was that summer a "gas" for you too? If so, then keep your ears open for this long-forgotten comedy tune here on The Retro Attic!

This "Topped Off" At #70 In 9/79

Reunited With A Long-Lost Song!

Have you ever had a few words from a chorus stuck in your head for over 20 years, but you couldn't quite figure out what the song was? I got reunited with one of those songs today for the first time since hearing it on adult contemporary radio back in 1980. Nationally, it peaked out at #69, but in my old stomping grounds, you would have sworn it was a top 10 hit! The chorus went something like this: "You're taking all I've got and now you're leaving, ooohhhhh, baby don't go, I thought love was something to believe in, oooohhhhh, baby don't go..." Listen for it later on today on The Retro Attic! Thanks for the catchy tune, Karla!

Singer/Songwriter Karla Bonoff

Musical reunions with long-lost chart entries...you will soon realize that this is one of the main themes when you listen to The Retro Attic!

THE AMERICAN DREAM - Power Pop Memories From '70

Welcome to 2012 and thanks for checking out my musical time machine known as The Retro Attic - 50s To 80s Rare Oldies! I have relaunched the station this week with a clearer vision of how I'd like to do things after experimenting with a couple of formats last year; hopefully you will like what you hear and will keep coming back for a ton of surprises.

One of the genres you will hear me play frequently is Power Pop. Most music fans associate the term with the skinny tie bands of the late 70's such as The Knack("My Sharona") and The Records("Starry Eyes"). Some will argue that the genre got its start with The British Invasion of the mid 60's, and I'm cool with that. But my most favorite era for the genre was approximately 1970-1973, when American and British bands such as Feather, Redeye, Wadsworth Mansion, Raspberries, Christie, Badfinger, Big Star, and Circus were trying to fill the void left by The Beatles' breakup.

There was a band from Philadelphia that released one album on Ampex in 1970 that I particularly liked. They were The American Dream, which featured future Foghat producer and member Nick Jameson and a couple of other members who guested on Todd Rundgren's first Runt project("Birthday Carol" I believe was the song they played on). Speaking of Todd, I'm pretty sure that this band was his first producer credit after leaving The Nazz. They didn't have any charting singles, but their self-titled album did briefly chart in late February. Not all of the album's tracks were traditional power pop; a couple were a bit quirky(but still good!) and a couple were laid-back, introspective numbers. Those that were power pop come highly recommended by me(power with a capital P!).

Keep your ears open for a couple of the album's tracks here on The Retro Attic! I bought the album back in the early 80's when it was normally going for 20-30 bucks on the collector's market; I believe a copy can be found in the 10-15 range these days.