A Date With Judy Guest Star Frank Sinatra

Here is the old family comedy A Date With Judy and with guest star Frank Sinatra.

Broadway Is My Beat

Your average person who didn't grow up with radio shows or anyone who loved those shows just think of Fibber McGee and Molly, Superman, the Lone Ranger etc. However, there is a wealth of other shows that the average person may never hear. This is one of them the drama Broadway Is My Beat. Listen and enjoy.

The Whistler

This weekend the Old Time Radio Convention comes to town. I won't be able to attend and for those like me I am posting links to some OTR shows. Here is one from the Whistler.

Donations Please

A word from the Comic Book Letterheads Museum.
Just another word that if you wish to donate any scans of letterheads from the letters pages of your favorite comic book you can e-mail them to me and I will post them here. If you have a "G" rated site I will post a link to it and list you as a benefactor as you will be helping to preserve what may soon be a forgotten art. At present from my small collection I have enough to post to the museum till April 18th of this month. So go to the "view my complete profile" to the right to get my email address and send them today. I would really like the ones from Nova in the 1970's as he was my favorite growing up and now I don't have them anymore.

What Should Have Been Released As 45's For The Monkees

Well over at Forgotten Hits as well as their e-mail newsletter they have gotten me to thinking about alot musically. Mostly they have gotten me to wondering what popular album cuts should have been released as singles. Many fans know them as well as the hits. Now Kent of Forgotten hits has said that She should have been a single. I agree and while it wasn't released in the USA as a 45 I believe it was overseas. As Kent said Words was released as an A side but quickly became the B side when Pleasant Valley Sunday proved to be slightly more popular and this gave the Monkees a double sided hit. Also they mention I Wanna Be Free as it was a popular song on AM radio back when it first came out. Enough recap of that now I am here to tell you what I believe should have been released from the albums. Forgotten hits has already covered the first two tunes.

First is the Monkees first album. I think they got it right with only releasing Last Train to Clarksville. Since it was #1 in the USA that goes without saying. If I had to chose any song as a possible follow up it would have to be Saturday's Child written by a young David Gates, Take A Giant Step or maybe, and it is a longshot, I'll Be True To You.

More of the Monkees was their second album and as She was mentioned above it isn't included here. However, Mary,Mary should not have been passed over either. Others are Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) and the one I can't believe they missed was Sometime In The Morning. That is the song that could have let only radio listeners know the depth of Micky Dolenz's singing.

Their third album was Headquarters and the one that finally showed how well they could produce their own music. Nearly every song is worthy of hit single status but for some reason no single came forth in America. I won't include Randy Scouse Git as it was released in Britain. For me the two stand outs are Forget That Girl, with Davy's best vocal performance in my opinion, and can anyone believe they never released For Pete's Sake as a 45? It is a brilliant pop tune co-written by Peter Tork that sums up the flower child generation of the 60's and a wonderful vocal performance by Micky. To top it off since it was the closing theme of their sit-com in the 2nd season it was given more exposure then any of their songs as it was on TV once a week that year. This could have been one of their biggest hits. Another big hit could have been the song called Band 6...just kidding. No I think Shades of Gray should have been a single. Pop tunes were getting more introspective at that time and this would have been a great way to show the Monkees music was starting to grow up.

Their fourth album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. also had a lot of potential hits. The biggest ones that I believe should have been released are She Hangs Out and Star Collector. They were played almost every other week on their TV show. Others that may have been hits are The Door Into Summer and Love Is Only Sleeping. Actually I heard that Love Is Only Sleeping was to be released but it was taking too long to re-mix and Daydream Believer was already done so that was released instead. Love Is Only Sleeping was to come out later but it was never released.

Their 5th lp, Birds, the Bees and the Monkees is really the weakest of their first 5 albums and the hits here are Daydream Believer that came out before the album and Valleri. They are the best songs on the album. The only possible other 45 could have been Tapioca Tundra. It is an odd little tune but it's catchy and enjoyable.

As you can see the Monkees could have had a lot of other hits. I wonder why Colgems never released them?

Neal Adams, Lee Majors and Santa

I know this isn't Neal Adams art but I saw the art for this Peter Pan record over at Neal Adams.com and it reminded me of a segment in the movie Scrooged. You can see it in the video below. Makes you wonder if they really thought about doing that Christmas Special.

SCTV's Perry Como Special

Yesterday I mentioned that Eugene Levy played Perry Como on SCTV in a funny segment. Well here is that segment.

Rest In Peace Charlton Heston

I heard early this morning that Charlton Heston died. Unlike some people I have reported on here whose works I like I actually met Mr. Heston. It was at Media Play in Florence, Ky. when he was promoting the book above. There were alot of people there and I was asked how far I came to meet Mr. Heston by a local reporter. Since I lived in the neighboring town I didn't make the cut for the news. The reporter seemed frustrated that most of the people there were locals. They wanted to get interviews with people who lived much farther away. I read the first chapter in line and when I got to talk to Mr. Heston he was very nice. He asked me if I liked the book. I thought perhaps he thought I bought it earlier and already read it. I told him I only read the first chapter in line and it seemed pretty good. He signed the book and said "I hope you like it." I told him I was sure I would and I moved on as I didn't want to hold up the line with a lot of questions.




Yesterday, I watched the movie I Am Legend starring Will Smith. It is another movie based on the book by Richard Matheson. Mr. Heston starred in the Omega Man that was also another movie based on the book. In a way I Am Legend is a remake of the Omega Man. Sad to say I didn't care for Omega Man but the new version is pretty good.

Later that night my wife and I watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory. You can see the streaming video of the episode if you go here. It has a scene where Leonard and some friends put on monkey mask to see a movie marathon of Planet of the Apes. It is all in order to stay away from Sheldon who is sick and not a very good patient. When I heard Mr. Heston died I thought that my Saturday afternoon was, without my realizing it, a tribute to Charlton Heston. It is nice to have a pleasant memory of meeting him and I can always enjoy his work when I see his classic movies again.

This Day In Music History: Perry Como and Round and Round

Perry Como was signed to one record label for quite a long time. In fact he was with RCA longer then most singers have been alive. He was signed to the label in June of 1943 and in 1983 RCA held a dinner in his honor to celebrate his 40th year with the label and his 50th year in show business.

Round and Round wasn't his first #1 hit but on this day in music history, April 6, 1957, it was his first in the Rock and Roll era. He had 8 #1 hits between 1945 and 1954. The first time he sang Round and Round was on his television show and the audience loved it so much RCA released it as a single.

Perry was the 7th son of the 7th son. He was the first of Pietro and Lucia Como's 13 children to be born in the United States. He was born May 18, 1912 in Canonsburg, Pa. It was a mining town but Perry avoided work in the mines by becoming an apprentice Barber. Soon he had his own barbershop where folks could get a shave, haircut and a song. He earned $125 a week as a barber. While on vacation he auditioned for Freddy Carlone's band. He was offered the job that paid $28 a week. He took the job.

Later Perry married Roselle Belline on July 31, 1933. Four days later he went on tour with with the band. Three years later Perry was singing in Warren, Ohio. Bandleader Ted Weems heard him and offered him a job on the spot as his lead vocalist for $50 a week. Perry accepted the job.
In 1942 Weems broke up the band because of the war and Perry returned home to Canonsburg. He intended to return to being a Barber. He was about to sign for a new shop when General Artists Corp. told him they wanted to give him his own radio show. He talked it over with his wife and they decided that if it didn't work out he could still return to barbering. So he signed on to host the Chesterfield Supper Club. He was also given some nightclub bookings and signed to RCA Victor as a solo artist.

Soon his first single Goodbye Sue was released and on NBC the Chesterfield Supper Club was a hit. He received rave reviews for his appearance at the nightclubs in New York. 20th Century Fox signed him to a movie deal. He made his first appearance in Something For The Boys with Phil Silver and Carmen Miranda and Vivian Blaine. He began to have a string of hits. The ones he had before Round and Round include Till The End Of Time, Prisoner Of Love, Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes and a huge hit with Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom).

Soon the radio show moved to TV. Between NBC and a move to CBS his show was on TV from December 24, 1948 to June 12, 1963. Perry was so popular that the title soon changed to The Perry Como Show. When it went off the air Perry was still popular on TV as the host of the Kraft Music Hall Specials till 1967 and had his own Christmas specials for years. Always known as being laidback and relaxed, it was rumored that he took a nap till he had to go on the air. SCTV even did segment with Eugene Levy as a barely awake Perry singing during a TV show.

On May 12, 2001 after a long illness, Perry passed away in his sleep at his home in Florida. He was 88 years old.

Below is a video of Perry singing the song on his show. They show a new way they have to preform the song and it seems that everyone enjoys the new way.

The Black Hood

Here is another for you old time radio fans. An episode from the short lived radio drama based on the MLJ/Archie comics character the Black Hood.

Forgotten Hits Boyce and Hart series

Well a happy April Fool's Day to you and this is no joke. I must have really been sick this weekend even more then I thought. As big a fan of the Monkees and Boyce and Hart as I am I completely forgot that Kent of Forgotten Hits started his Boyce and Hart series on Sunday. I just got an e-mail from his site reminding me and I have read the beginning and it is off to a great start. It has on line music one of which is I'll Remember Carol. I never heard that song before but it is the singing debut of Tommy Boyce. It also has comments from Bobby Hart so he can set the record straight. Bobby is also trying to get a publisher for his bio so if any of them read this site, I believe Ben Ohmart of Bearmanor Media stops by from time to time, you may want to get in touch with Bobby Hart or Kent Kotal. Go to Forgotten Hits right now and have fun reading and listening.

A hero returns

Not feeling well but I wanted to post this that Matt Maupin who lived less then an hour away from me and who has been MIA for about 4 years now has been found. Sadly it was his remains that have been found. While many of us have hoped for a safe return they have gotten less with each passing year. Still there was that glimmer that he would be alive. Today it came to a sad end as the public was told that Matt had been found dead. I am not to ashamed to admit that I shed a tear this morning as I heard the news.

At least now his parents have closure that there son died bravely serving his country. Today is the opening day of baseball season. Cincinnati had its parade and a tribute was appropriately paid to baseball and Reds legend Joe Nuxhall who died last year. While it may have been fun to watch Joe play and I had fun listening to him colorize the broadcast of a Reds game on radio he was not the biggest hero they paid tribute to today. A moment of silence was given in honor and memory to Sgt. Matt Maupin. It was men like him who have kept me safe so I could stay home to listen to Joe Nuxhall on radio. The hero will soon return home and while his mission is completed ours will continue. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

Sad News

Well it's sad to me anyway. I have been under the weather this weekend and even missed time at work due in part to a cold and an allergy reaction. Not much could have been done about the cold except more to take more vitamin c and now I have to take steps about the allergy. I have known for years that I have been allergic to must and mold but it never got in the way of my hobbies of book collecting and record collecting. This weekend I had sever allergy headaches that were from going in to musty old books and records shops and buying old comic books that I wanted to read and share with you on my sites. Since most of them were team and team-ups they would have appeared on Mail It To Team Up.
Some of you may know that I have been trying to rebuild my collection. I had to sell all of it to pay some bills when I was laid off and had to take a lower paying job. Well some people I guess don't keep their books in places of the house that don't get musty as almost everyone smelled that way to me. If it was just one or two books it would not be so tough but it was all of them and since they are gathered together in one room I really should not have been in that room with them. So they all had to go for health reasons. Also, I will probably have to stop reading the black and white editions that Marvel and DC have released as the newspaper print they use has the same smell and also makes me sick. This was one of the reasons that I quit reading the newspapers and now get my news from TV and online. So if any of you know of where I can get my comic books on line from the golden age to the present where I can download them to a disc to read later, for free if possible, I would appreciate you letting me know. Normally I would not ask for free but I promise God, myself and my wife that I would not buy my comics with a credit card when the balance was starting to get too high due mostly to my purchases at comic book stores. Since most places I know what you to pay with a credit card on line that option is out.
I plan on keeping my sites up and running and will post at least the covers of the books that I had to get rid of at Mail It To Team Up. I will also post the letter heads at Comic Book Letterheads but if you have scans of the letterheads of your favorite comic books that you want to send for me to post there now is the time to do it. I really want to help preserve this part of the comic books as it will become a lost art since they have done away with the letters pages. Thank you all for your time and support.

Here is today's cover of one of the comic books I had to get rid of.

This Day In Music History: Buddy Knox and Party Doll

buddy_knox

[via FoxyTunes / Buddy Knox]

On this day in music history,March 30, 1957, Buddy Knox had the #1 hit in the country on Billboard with Party Doll. Buddy attended West Texas State University on a sports scholarship. There he met Jimmy Bowen and Don Lanier and they formed a group called the Serenaders. Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison performed on campus and Knox became friendly with them. He showed them his songs he wrote. They liked them and said he should go to Norm Petty's studio and record them. ONe of those songs was Party Doll. Buddy said he wrote the song in 1948 out on a farm behind a haystack. Buddy said other then Fats Domino he didn't know too many songs when he entered college. It was then that he started listening to Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry.
Buddy and his friends went to the studio and recorded their songs. It was with a makeshift band. They needed a bass player and hired a guy in town to play for them. Dave Alldred played drums but there wasn't a full set in the studio so they made one out of a cardboard box and stuffed it with cotton and a microphone. Buddy's sister and her friends sang background. It took 3 days to record them and Petty gave Buddy, Jimmy and Dan each an acetate of the recordings.

Buddy said that they didn't know anything about the business and didn't know what to do with the tapes. A farmer named Chester Oliver asked if he could press 1,500 copies and sell them locally. They let him and Party Doll was played on the local station KDDD and the song become a local hit.

Dan's sister called Roulette Records in New York City and they flew the 3 members to New York to sign the group to a contract. They called them the Rhythm Orchards. As soon as Roulette released Party Doll 3 other artist covered it. Two of them only charted in the bottom part of the hot 100 but Steve Lawrence's version went to #5.


With only a few months to go to get his Masters degree Buddy quit college to become a full time entertainer. He toured 11 months out of the year and lived on a farm in Canada with his wife. Buddy Knox passed away in February of 1999.

Below you can see a video of Buddy preforming the song and another hit Hula Love on the Alan Freed Show on WNEW in New York.

Buddy Knox - Party Doll/Hula Love (1957)

[via FoxyTunes / Buddy Knox]

Three Ring Circus Ending

Three Ring Circus Sad Girl

Fan Page

Here is the letters page to Amazing Fantasy #15 that contained the first appearance of Spider-Man in 1962. I got this from the DVD of The Amazing Spider-Man the Complete Collection so that will explain the big Marvel insignia in the background. I was taking the letterhead of the page and posting it on my site Comic Book Letterheads and thought I would cross-promote a little bit by posting the full page here.
As most comic book fans know Stan Lee has said that his publisher at that time thought the idea of Spider-Man was a bad idea. Stan said they were going to cancel Amazing Fantasy with issue #15 so they let him do Spider-man's origin there to get it out of his system. That was suppose to be the end of it but Spidey got a lot of letters from that issue so they gave him his own book. If you click on and read the important announcement from the editor you will see that it sounds like Spider-Man was going to be the main star of Amazing Fantasy. Why Marvel gave Spider-Man his own book or why Stan has been telling a completely different story for decades we may never know. You might as Stan but after all these years he may not remember. If you like comic books and would like to see more of the letterheads then you should take a look at Comic Book Letterheads right now.

Three Ring Circus Dean Sings

Three Ring Circus Poor Jerry

Even if it is by accident, some clowns don't like to be upstaged.

Three Ring Circus Lunch Time

You don't have to understand the language to know what they are saying in this clip.