The Encore Show - Best of the 60s, 70s, and 80s

This is a replay from the Top Ten of our highest rated shows – Episode 11. Sandy Deane has been with Jay and the Americans since their inception back in the early Sixties and the hits never stopped coming – Cara Mia, Come a Little Bit Closer, Only in America, and This Magic Moment. Would you believe they were one of the bands that was on the bill when the Beatles played their first concert in the U.S. at the Washington Coliseum in ...

This is a replay from the Top Ten of our highest rated shows -  Episode 18. On this week’s episode, we’re going to meet three different stars. The festivities begin with a 1967 song written by Jim Webb for the 5th Dimension. Florence La Rue, one of their original members who is still performing today, remembers Up, Up, and Away with us. Then we’re shifting the tone to San Francisco’s Summer of Love and the Sixties music scene recal...

This is a replay from the Top Ten of our highest rated shows – Episode 14. When Bob Berryhill and his Surfaris recorded the all-time surf hit “Wipeout”, he was only fifteen years old and they made the record for a hundred and fifty bucks in an old hole-in-the wall studio in Cucamonga, CA. “Wipeout” was originally the B side of that record; the A side was a song called “Surfer Joe”. No matter – both songs became hits in the early Si...

This is a replay from the Top Ten of our highest rated shows – Episode 15. The Standells are considered by many to be the godfathers of punk rock. Their big hit from 1966, Dirty Water is today the theme song for every victory by the Boston Red Sox even though none of the band members including this week’s guest, lead singer Larry Tamblyn were from Massachusetts. Second up on this week’s show is David Logeman who’s been involved in ...

Deana Martin is a world-class entertainer who is equally comfortable singing with a celebrated symphony or on an intimate cabaret stage with a swinging jazz quintet. And I must add, she recorded her most recent album at Capitol Records Studio A which is famous in its own right. She’s a New York Times best-selling author, a gifted actor, a vocalist of incredible depth and passion and a licensed pilot. But when talent is part of the ...

This week we’re listening to a replay of one of our highest rated shows. It’s from July of 2017. We meet Tony Butala and you’ll know who he is when I rattle off a few of their hits: The Way You Look Tonight, Hurts So Bad, Goin’ Outa My Head/ Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You. Tony’s the only original member left of the Lettermen. And recently, TV legend and film star Dick Van Dyke became the first ever recipient of the Red Skelton Amer...

On our second highest rated show of the season, we spent an hour talking with Peter Rivera of Rare Earth. Here’s a replay of that show.

 In 1970, Motown started an affiliated record label that included certain bands with white members only, and Rare Earth happened to be the first big hit-making act signed for Motown’s new imprint label The record company didn’t actually have a name for the new label yet and one of the band members ...

Since the humble beginnings of Seattle’s Emerald City Guitars more than 20 years ago, Jay Boone has built a high standard of trust and integrity, making him one of the frontrunners in the worldwide vintage guitar market. Jay has bought and sold vintage guitars to many super stars over the years and we’re going to hear some fascinating stories about who is playing what nowadays.  I get to ask him about a guitar that I’ve kept over t...

Who remembers the song “I Met Him on a Sunday? Well, we’re going to meet her today. “Her” is Beverly Lee who’s been with the Shirelles from the very beginning. Beverly and the Shirelles have performed on five continents and appeared before many heads of state and U.S. Presidents, But first up, we tend to think of Dawn Wells in the role of Mary Ann on Gilligan’s Island, although she also appeared in various tv episodes from the earl...

“Crystal Blue Persuasion”, “I Think We’re Alone Now”, “Hanky Panky”, “Crimson and Clover” – 23 gold records and 9 platinum albums for Tommy James and the Shondells. Tommy’s with us on this week’s show talking about his live album recorded at the Bitter End in New York City and his book, Me, the Mob, and the Music which is Tommy’s story of Morris Levy, known as the Godfather of the music business. The book is part rock and roll fair...

If you’ve seen the movie Moonstruck with Cher more than a few times, you’ve heard “It Must Be Him” more than a few times. That was Vikki Carr’s million-selling gold record and she’s our guest this week talking about that and a mile-long list of accomplishments including the Vikki Carr Scholarship Foundation which is based in Texas and offers scholarships to Latino students who want to pursue their dreams of a college education. Do ...

Dr. Joel Wallach, pioneer of the health supplement program called Youngevity talks about health issues facing the Baby Boomer generation, ages 50 and up. Doc Wallach dedicates part of his time to lecturing throughout the world on the therapeutic benefits of vitamins and minerals and on advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on behalf of the dietary supplement industry. I’m a Type 2 Diabetic, so this whole hour had my full a...

We’re going to visit some great memories today with the chart-topping ‘60s hits from the Buckinghams. Their original lead guitarist, Carl Giammarese is here to tell us how it all began with their No. 1 Billboard hit, “Kind of a Drag”. They followed that with a string of hits including “Don’t You Care” and “Hey, Baby They’re Playing Our Song”. Billboard Magazine named them “The Most Listened To Band In America” and they went on to p...

Do you remember the Detroit songwriting team of Holland, Dozier, and Holland. They wrote “Band of Gold” for Freda Payne who is our first guest this week. Freda’s sister, Sherrie became one of the Supremes and her two backup singers started a group called Tony Orlando and Dawn. Second up on this show is a guy who is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and the Grammy Hall of Fame, Felix Cavaliere of th...

Most people aren’t aware of what goes on behind the scenes when recording artists try to get their records played on the radio. In the Sixties, we used to call them “promo guys” and this week we’re talking with Jeff Trager, the consummate record promotion man who got all kinds of records played for Ray Charles, Tom Jones, Linda Ronstadt, the Eagles, and the Bee Gees. He’ll talk about that and some of the fundraisers he’s put togeth...

It may have been one of the most well-known rock interviews of the ‘80s when Dave Sholin and his crew arrived at the Dakota apartments in New York City for a scheduled audience with John and Yoko. After the interview, Dave caught a flight back to the Bay Area and Lennon stopped in the courtyard to autograph a record for a stranger in an overcoat. Later that evening, Dec. 8, 1980, John Lennon was pronounced dead at Roosevelt Hospita...

Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero started out as an accordion player, but when she changed her name to Connie Francis, the hits just wouldn’t stop coming. With fifteen million sellers and a life story that has more ups and downs than the roller coaster at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Connie talks about “Who’s Sorry Now”, which she only recorded at her father’s insistence and the many recordings she’s made in fifteen different languages. ...

Perry Botkin, Jr., through his arrangements, launched an abundance of hit records while conducting the Wrecking Crew at many of the famed recording studios in Hollywood. You’ll know Perry’s sound when you hear the backing tracks for the Lettermen, Bobby Darin, Harry Nilsson, Harpers Bizarre, and Barbra Streisand. On this week’s show, we get the stories behind all those recording sessions from the man whose charts graced many a musi...