We are about to kick off a brand new TRIPLE Series here in FORGOTTEN HITS ... and, mark my words, you will clearly sense my displeasure and disappointment during the first phase of this new series. That's because in order to qualify songs for our up-coming FAVORITE FORGOTTEN B-SIDES SERIES we first had to determine which songs could NOT be on that list ... and, in order to do THAT, we had to first determine THE BIGGEST TWO-SIDED HITS OF ALL TIME ... and, as you'll see throughout this series, I've done nothing to hide my disappointment with some of these results. That's because some of the songs that made the list are SO undeserving of this honor when weighed against songs that did NOT make the list ... many of which constitute a virtual "Who's Who" list of great music that we all know and love. Unfortunately, because of their original chart positions, some GREAT music was left off the list while some songs that barely even qualify as FORGOTTEN HITS ... more like "Complete Unknowns" ... are prominently ranked in THE TOP 200. No matter how many times I tried to rework the list, the results came out the same ... fact is, (and these results pretty much prove it), some of us older folks (and / or many of our parents) were simply buying some REALLY crappy records back in the late '50's and early '60's!!! Now part of that just may be the fact that the selection of really GOOD music simply wasn't available at the time ... FAR more TWO-SIDED HITS occurred during the years 1955-1963 than any period thereafter ... when radio regularly played both sides of a record by a "name" artist. This frustration just grew and grew ... I rewrote the first four chapters of this series four or five times each ... before I finally just resigned myself to the fact that I would NEVER get this series off the ground if I didn't just give in to the statistical facts. After all, the point of the FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN B-SIDES SERIES was to introduce the list to some songs they may have never heard before ... might as well do that with THE TOP 200 TWO-SIDED HITS OF ALL TIME, too ... and, as long as I was able to offer "honorable mention" to some of the great music that was left off the list, I decided to proceed with an accurate countdown. (My only other choice was to call the list MY PERSONAL FAVORITE TWO-SIDED HITS ... and that simply wouldn't be a fair or accurate representation of music history ... no matter HOW distorted REALITY may seem once you see the final list!!! Or once again poll our audience ... and make it a list of "Fan Favorites" ... but we'd already announced that tactic for our FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN B-SIDES Series.) No, the ONLY way to do this right was to present a historically accurate list, ranked by the records' original chart performances themselves. So ... without further adieu ... and with a whole lot of disgruntled mumbling, kicking and screaming ... we FIRST present THE TOP 200 TWO-SIDED HITS OF ALL TIME. This series will be followed (FINALLY!!!) by our exclusive interview with PETER NOONE of HERMAN'S HERMITS. (I talked to PETER several times over a two month period right at the end of last year and into early January ... actually, it ties in perfectly as the "bridge" between our two new "bookmark" series as HERMAN'S HERMITS recorded some of the GREATEST B-SIDES I've ever heard ... yet only one (NO MILK TODAY) ever made the pop charts. This will be your chance to hear some of these FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN B-SIDES that I grew up enjoying ... and also get to know the REAL PETER NOONE. (And, in keeping with the overall "difficult" tone of putting this whole series together, let me tell you that this was the TOUGHEST interview I've ever done ... some questions were asked five or six times and STILL ignored ... many other times, despite whatever the subject matter may have been at hand, NOONE used this public forum as an opportunity to do some ALLEN KLEIN bashing ... questions and answers were often lost back and forth in transit ... and, on more than one occasion, obvious boredom had set in: PETER NOONE: "I didn't know you were going to be writing a book." (LOL) In any event, our interview with PETER NOONE will take us into our ALL-TIME FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN B-SIDES SERIES, with literally HUNDREDS of songs nominated by our FORGOTTEN HITS list members. So, sit back, relax and enjoy some GREAT new music ... some vaguely familiar, some mostly forgotten, and some never before heard ... this one's gonna take a while!!! (And it all kicks off tomorrow in FORGOTTEN HITS!)
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P.S. If you know someone who would enjoy reading any of these new series that we have planned, have them contact me right away so that I can get them on-board before we get too far into it!!!P.P.S. One final plea ... if you're STILL not enjoying FORGOTTEN HITS WITH the music, this really would be the time to switch over. We will be featuring SO many songs over the next several months ... many of which I'm quite confident that you've never heard before ... that you'll truly be missing out on a lot without the capability to listen along as we go. (Besides, how ya gonna vote if you don't know what the songs sound like?!?!?) So, if there is ANOTHER email address that might be better-suited to this format, please let me know THAT right away as well. The success of our B-SIDES Series is directly dependent on your audience participation ... so let's make this a good one!!! (C'mon Guys ... I've been working on this for over six months now ... and want to see some of your responses!!!) Lemme know!!!
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