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!).