Rockin' Remnants is broadcast from WVBR-FM Ithaca. Check out our webpage, like us on Facebook, and tune in to 93.5 or stream the show every Saturday night from 6-9pm! (Or download the WVBR+ app now available for iOS and Android!). Thanks to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every week!
Vote for Rockin' Remnants as the "Best Radio Show" and one of the hosts or The Remnants Team" for "Best Radio DJ" in the Ithaca Time annual "Best Of" poll.
You can vote online by going to the Times website:
ithaca.com or pick up a paper copy and send in the poll!
Date: August 18, 2018
Host: JR
Feature: Multi-Purpose Oldies Show, with some early 80's!
Playlist
[yellow song titles are YouTube links; songs with * were requests; all chart information comes from the Billboard Top 100 (for chart dates before/during July 1958) or Billboard Hot 100 (for chart dates during/after Aug 1958) unless otherwise noted]
6-7pm
OPENING THEME: Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll – Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys (1969, #29, produced by Jimi
Hendrix.)
Rockin' Remnants pays tribute to soul legend Aretha Franklin, who passed away on August 16th, age 76. Click here to see the bio of the "Queen of Soul".
I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You (1967, #9, her first Hot 100 Top 10 hit.)
Baby I Love You (1967, #4.)
The House That Jack Built (1968, #6.)
Chain Of Fools (1968, #2.)
One Step Ahead (1965, #119; before Aretha hit her stride with Atlantic Records, she was discovered by the legendary John Hammond, Sr., and signed to Columbia. Records in 1961. For 6 years Columbia tried her vocal talents in many different music styles, but only charted one Top 40 hit with "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody" at #37 and not exactly the kind of material that would kick-start a soul singer's career.)
Whispers (Gettin' Louder) – Jackie Wilson (1966, #11).
There's A Kind Of Hush – Herman's Hermits (1967, #4; the last Top 10 hit for this British combo and their lead singer, Peter Noone.)
Okolona River Bottom Band – Bobbie Gentry (1967, #54; this was Bobbie's follow-up to the big #1 "Ode to Bille Joe", it's low-charting was a disappointment and her career never reached the same heights
You Were On My Mind – We Five (1965, #3; written by Canadian Sylvia Fricker, the ringing guitars and harmony vocals were part of the up-and-coming "Folk Rock" movement.) Very cool live performance video!
Bye Bye Love – The Everly Brothers (1957, #2; First Top 10 single for Phil and Don, who were the highest-charting duo in the rock era until they were eclipsed by Hall & Oates.)
The Yellow Rose Of Texas – Mitch Miller & his Orch. and Chorus (1955, #1,6 weeks; Mitch and the gang were more interested in their vocals, rather than their words, as the "Rio Grande" became the "Rye-o Grande"!) Listen here.
Soul Deep – The Box Tops (1969, #18).
Don't Take It So Hard - Paul Revere And The Raiders featuring Mark Lindsay (1968, #27; these guys from Idaho should have been the "American Rolling Stones"! They wrote their own material, played their own instruments and they rocked!)
Try Too Hard - Dave Clark Five (1966, #12)
7-8pm
Birthday Calendar
Aug 12 – Mark Knopfler - 69
Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens - 1929
Aug 13 – Dan Fogelberg – 1951
Aug 14 – Dash Crofts – 78
David Crosby - 77
Aug 15 – Jimmy Webb - 72
Bobby Helms - 1933
Aug 16 – J.T. Taylor (Kool & The Gang) – 65
Aug 17 - Belinda Carlisle - 60
Aug 18 - Johnny Preston - 1939
Running Bear – Johnny Preston (1960, #1, 3 weeks; written by J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, who also supplies background grunts.)
I'll Be Back – Jimmy Webb (1968, from the LP Jim Webb Sings Jim Webb; probably best know for penning songs for others, this was his first solo vocal effort.) For Jimmy's songwriting credits, click here. Who's the bloke Jimmy's with in that photo holding the flowers? The answer at the end of the show!
My Special Angel – Bobby Helms (1957, #7; this was covered 11 years later by The Vogues, who also took it to #7 on the Hot 100.)
We May Never Pass This Way (Again) – Seals and Crofts (1973, #21; Jimmy Seals, the hat guy, sang most of the lead vocals on this duo's hits, and it was Dash Crofts who supplied the unique harmony vocals.)
Laughing – David Crosby (1971; from his first solo LP If Only I Could Remember My Name this track featured The Grateful Dead playing behind Crosby.)
Act Naturally - Buck Owens (1963, #1, BB Country Singles Chart; who would have guessed the Beatles were a fan of ol' Buckeroo? Covered by the Fab Four in 1965 with Ringo on lead vocals.) Same label, too! How cool...
Tell Me To My Face – Tim Weisberg/Dan Fogelberg (1978; from the LP Twin Sons Of Different Mothers.)
Time for a little Rockin' Remnants Trivia! We're giving away a gift card to Papa John's and a pair of tickets to Cinemapolis! And the question is: what do the next 3 songs have in common?
Smokey Joe's Cafe – The Robins (1955, #79).
Is That All There Is - Peggy Lee (1969, #11).
Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel (1973, #6).
Congratulations to Dan calling in from Ithaca who knew the answer to this tricky question! You can scroll down to the end of the blog to find out what Dan knew to snag that pizza and those movie tix.
I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight – Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart (#8, 1968; Boyce and Hart were best known as songwriters and producers for The Monkees before releasing their own singles. Tommy Boyce committed suicide in November, 1994.)
My Pledge Of Love – The Joe Jeffrey Group (1969, #14.)
Back On The Street Again – The Sunshine Company (1967, #36).
Making Time - The Creation (1966, dnc; this song only charted at #69 on the British Pop Charts, but was revived here in The States via an Xfinity TV commercial in 2017 and an Audi TV commercial in 2018!)
Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms) – Detroit Emeralds (1972, #24).
(What A) Wonderful World – Art Garfunkel with James Taylor & Paul Simon (1978, #17; this oft-covered nugget was originally released on the Garfunkel LP Watermark.)
Gone At Last - Paul Simon/Phoebe Snow and The Jessy Dixon Singers (1975, #23; Paul Simon went through a bit of a "Gospel" phase in the mid-70's, here enlisting The Jessy Dixon Singers and also enlisting The Dixie Hummingbirds for "Loves Me Like A Rock" in 1973.)
Lonely Boy - Andrew Gold (1977, #7; this sturdy studio musician of the 70's had former employer Linda Ronstadt sing harmony vocals on the semi-autobiographical tune.)
Loving Arms – Dobie Gray (1973, #61; the follow-up to "Drift Away" this stalled out mid-chart, which is a shame. This should have been a bigger hit, although some reviewer begged to differ:
We're going to wind down this week's Birthday Calendar
with the Go-Go's for Belinda Carlisle and Kool & The Gang for lead singer J.T. Taylor and Dire Straits for Mark Knopfler!
Vacation – Go-Go's (1982, #8).
Let's Go Dancin' (Ohh La, La, La) - Kool & The Gang (1982, #30).
Are you ready for some 70's? These next 3 songs remind me of Summertime 1972, 1974 and 1978, respectively. The first 2 are off the original 45's from the JRchives, and the last one was unfortunately corrupted on CD, but I'll put a link to the full-length version of the Kenny Loggins/Stevie Nicks duet.
Hold Your Head Up – Argent (1972, #5).
Radar Love – Golden Earring (1974, #13; to me, this is the classic sound of Summertime '74 when I was glued to the AM radio.)
Whenever I Call You "Friend" – Kenny Loggins with Stevie Nicks (1978, #5).
Heartbeat – Gary Wright (1981, Bubbling Under #107).
- The fellow standing with Jimmy Webb is none other than Richard Harris, who had a huge hit with Jimmy's "Mac Arthur Park".
- What did those 3 songs have in common? They were either written and/or produced by the legendary Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, RRHOF inductees in 1987.
CLOSING THEME: Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)
Glossary of terms
dnc = did not chart.
nr = not released as a single at the time.
AC = Billboard's chart for "Adult Contemporary" singles.
Bubbling Under = songs that were ranked, but below the Hot 100 (spots 101 - 130),
Bubbling Under = songs that were ranked, but below the Hot 100 (spots 101 - 130),
BB = Billboard Magazine, which publishes the Hot 100 chart (previously known at the Top 100), along with several other charts.
C&W = Billboard's chart for "Country & Western" singles.
R&B = Billboards's chart for "Rhythm & Blues" singles.
RRHOF = Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
RS500 = Rolling Stones Magazine's ranked list of the top 500 singles of all-time.
RRHOF = Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
RS500 = Rolling Stones Magazine's ranked list of the top 500 singles of all-time.
Host Next Week (July 28): GJ the DJ with "Off The Charts": Cool Songs that never made it into the Hot 100!
Thanks for tuning in! You can listen to Rockin' Remnants every Saturday night from 6-9pm on WVBR (93.5 FM in Ithaca, NY) or streaming here. Thanks to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their continued support!
