The Day - | News from southeastern Connecticut

Nothing Going on Here, Keep Walking

What we thought we would do with this fucking blog is anybody's guess. But like so many blogs before this, we are gone. Check out WTIT.net for the latest on WTIT. Or better yet, our comedy blog is at WTIT.org.

Candance Glover Wins Idol season 12!

Candace Glover wins season 12 of American Idol!!!

We Remember The Day the Music Died

The Day Disco Music Died

From Rolling Stone:  Disco legend Donna Summer died this morning in Florida at the age of 63, family sources have told the Associated Press. The singer had been battling cancer for some time.

"Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith," reads a statement from the singer's family. "While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy. Words truly can't express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time."

Summer was a five-time Grammy winner best known for smash hits including "I Feel Love," "Love to Love You Baby" and "She Works Hard for the Money." Her collaborations with producer Giorgio Moroder in the the Seventies broke ground for dance music and have been hugely influential on electronic music in the decades since.
/br> Born and raised in Boston, Summer grew up singing in church before joining a short-lived psychedelic rock band. After winning a role in a touring production of Hair, she moved to Germany, where she would meet Moroder. Their collaboration on the suggestive "Love to Love You Baby," which Summer sang with Marilyn Monroe's breathy singing style in mind, became a huge dancefloor hit after Casablanca Records' Neil Bogart requested a long version of the song – 17 minutes.

Summer went on to major success during the disco era, scoring Number One pop singles with "Hot Stuff," "Bad Girls" and an unlikely version of Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park." In 2004 Summer was elected to the Dance Music Hall of Fame, and in 2009 she performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in honor of President Obama.

Asked upon the release of her 2008 album Crayons whether she felt vindicated by her longevity, Summer replied, "I don't think they made fun of my music as much as they made fun of some of the music that maybe came as a result of that whole genre. But I do think in the course of time it is nice to reestablish something and to say, 'Okay, this stood the test of time. . . ' I have nothing to prove to anyone. I just get out there and do my best, and those who love it, great. And those who don't, they'll move on to something else."


Additional reporting by Steve Balt

Goodbye Davy Jones

WTIT would like to bid farewell to Davy Jones of The Monkees. Davy was born David Thomas Jones in Manchester, England, on December 30, 1945. Ironically, he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show with the cast of the musical “Oliver” the night The Beatles debuted. The Monkees were formed to cash in from the idea of turning The Beatles “A Hard Day's Night” film into a weekly TV comedy. WTIT attended the mid 80's reunion of The Monkees, (without Michael Nesmith) in Connecticut. Davy suffered a fatal heart attack while tending his horses in Florida. Davy was 66.

R.I.P. Dobey Gray

 

 WTIT wants to acknowledge the death of Dobie Gray (July 26, 1940 – December 6, 2011). Dobie will always be remembered for on the biggest hits of 1973, "Drift Away" which sold over one million copies. It's still played daily on radio broadcasts and has been covered by many including Ringo Starr.

We Become The Dirty Half Dozen!

Recently we uncovered original copies of what we called WTIT Newsletters. We only did them for a short while in 1967-1968. We thought we’d share them. It might shed insight on how we really thought everyone listened to WTIT. Though you’d have to be in our studio (to this day) to hear it. But back then, we were in high school and we played a lot of tapes at parties.  Here’s a piece of trivia: We always note that our original DJ staff was Bud Weiser, Galloping Gary, Bouncing Billy, Johnnie Walker and Killer Joe. And that was the first true staff that carried the ball from 1968 to 1973. But in our first year in 1967, Bud, Gary and Billy tried out a ton of guys who were given a shot before we settled on Joe and Johnnie. (In today's re-post of this WTIT Newsletter Tiny Tim is introduced. He lasted just one show.) Johnnie and Joe literal joined WTIT on the same night in June of 1968. Johnnie and Bud are the only two original DJs that are still with the world's first and longest running Tape Radio Station.

FROM THE FUN TOWER: November 8, 1967

“What’s Terrific in T-I-T-Land”

Volume 1 Number 3

In Downtown West Hartford things are looking up. Bud Weiser just turned sixteen. It was “standing room only” at the WTIT party for Bud.

Warped Movies! WTIT has begun our parodies of film classics. We take no prisoners when we spoof Cleopatra on Tape 14 on Bud's show.

Ticker-Ticker-Ding-Ding-Ding! That's the sound our WTIT Time Machine makes while we become Travelers In Time. On Tape 1 check out our visit to see the Lone Ranger first put on the mask. Bud Weiser, Galloping Gary, Bouncing Bill and Dynamic Dick star in the bit.

WTIT DJs become The Dirty Half Dozen with the addition of Tiny Tim. The Travelers in Time hit again as we find King Author. Sid Schaefer brings his nasty Adam and Eve poem. He didn't write it, but it's a riot! It's all part of Tape 14.

To Dick With Love! Anyone have an extra girlfriend? Dynamic Dick has juggled two since he joined WTIT. Who could guess that if they found out about each other that they would both break up with him? Anyway, Dick begged so much, we felt compelled to tell our fans about his lonely dilemma.

Next issue? Galloping Gary is busy working on our next newsletter. That's it for this week. Come by the WTIT to hear our latest bits. As you know our tapes numbers are random. Gary speculates that WTIT might go from mono to stereo! We can only hope. We do take donations. That's the way it isn't on November 8, 1967. See you next time!

Please check out our comedy blog at WTIT.net!

Gone Too Soon: Amy Winehouse Dies at 27

Amy Winehouse dies at 27
RIP...

So Long Davey Come to CT

My son James was living with me in 2006 when he announced that he was moving to San Diego to find himself a rock 'n roll band that needed a songwriter and guitar man. Hewas 24. On Craig's List he found a singer and front man named David Vaughn. The dude has pipes. James basically signed up to be the guitarist in his back-up band. The move surprised me a bit because David's music on my space seemed too pop for James. James is an alternative guy. But, then something happened. David and James started writing music together. It gave the band a unique sound because of the blend of pop into the alternative. Instead of being "David Vaughn" the band became So Long Davey. They are still unsigned, but have played to open for bands like The Plain White T's. They regularly play at The House of Blues in both San Diego and LA. In these past five years they've recorded incredible music. I've never seen the band live. I keep meaning to go to San Diego, but $$$ has held me back. To surprise James, David booked them two gigs on the east coast. Wednesday the 27th they are in NYC and Friday an hour down the road inn New Haven. I am stoked. Here's a video of what could be their best song, Six Feet Down.

Midnight Confessions: RIP Rob Grill

Left: Dennis Provisor, Warren Entner, Rob Grill and Rick Coonce

We were very hip as DJs of WTIT. Ask us what groups were great in the 60s at that time and we'd say The Beatles, The Byrds, The Stones or Creedence. But, we'd wouldn't come forth with the fact that we all LOVED The Grass Roots. Killer Joe, Galloping Gary, Johnnie Walker and I once saw them do two shows on the same day at what is now known as Six Flags New England And we were in the front row at both shows. (the old Riverside Park). Rob Grill the lead singer, died this week. He was 67. Here is the story from The New York Times:

Rob Grill, the longtime lead singer and a very nearly original member of the Grass Roots, the immensely popular rock group of the 1960s and afterward, died on Monday in Tavares, Fla. He was 67.

The cause was complications of a head injury he sustained in a fall last month, his wife, Nancy, said. Mr. Grill was a longtime resident of Mount Dora, Fla.

From the mid-1960s to the mid-’70s, the Grass Roots were a fixture on the airwaves and a regular presence on “American Bandstand.” They sold tens of millions of records and had more than a dozen Top 40 hits. Among their best known are “Let’s Live for Today,” “Midnight Confessions,” “Temptation Eyes” and “Two Divided by Love.”

The band’s style married elements of folk-rock, soul, blues and R&B. Its songs, whose close-knit harmonies evoked the British pop groups of the period, were bouncy, accessible and eminently danceable, often backed by an upbeat brass section.

“The Grass Roots weren’t the hippest band on the block,” The Boston Globe wrote in 1989. “But they were — and remain — a sure-fire guilty pleasure, a blissful package of pure pop.”

The group’s longest-serving member, Mr. Grill appeared with the Grass Roots for more than four decades: first in the group’s heyday and again as the band has enjoyed a renaissance on the oldies circuit. His voice — high, sweet and supple — was memorably urgent and beseeching in the group’s many songs of love.

He also played bass and wrote some of the group’s songs, though the Grass Roots’ best-known material was written primarily by nonmembers.

The Grass Roots began life as a phantom. In the mid-1960s, two Los Angeles songwriters, Steve Barri and P. F. Sloan, were asked by their label, Dunhill Records, for songs that would capitalize on the growing appetite for folk-rock.

They wrote “Where Were You When I Needed You” and, as the Grass Roots, recorded a demo. When the song had some success on the radio, they cast about for an existing band to become the Grass Roots.

They enlisted a San Francisco group named the Bedouins, who recorded the first Grass Roots album, also titled “Where Were You When I Needed You.”

In 1967, after the Bedouins decamped, Mr. Barri and Mr. Sloan recruited the 13th Floor, a Los Angeles band comprising Creed Bratton, Rick Coonce, Warren Entner and Kenny Fukomoto. (Mr. Bratton, the lead guitarist, later worked as an actor; he is known for playing the eccentric quality assurance director — also named Creed Bratton — on the American sitcom “The Office.”)

Just as the 13th Floor was about to sign on as the Grass Roots, Mr. Fukomoto was drafted, and Mr. Grill was brought in as a replacement. He remained with the group through the late ’70s, when it faded from view, a casualty of changing popular taste.

Mr. Grill managed new incarnations of the band in 1978 and ’79, rejoining it in the early 1980s. He performed with the Grass Roots throughout much of the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s.

Mr. Grill appeared on many of the band’s albums and also recorded a solo album, “Uprooted,” released in 1979.
Robert Frank Grill was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 30, 1943. Intending to become a lawyer, he studied at California State University, Los Angeles, before pursuing a career in music.

Mr. Grill’s first marriage ended in divorce. Besides his wife, the former Nancy Pilski, whom he married in 1986, he is survived by a brother, James. A son from his first marriage, Christian, died of cancer last year.

Mr. Grill lived for years with chronic pain as a result of a degenerative bone disorder known as avascular necrosis and the multiple hip-replacement operations it entailed. In 2007, he was arrested on charges of having obtained the prescription painkiller oxycodone from multiple doctors, in violation of Florida law.

He entered a guilty plea, which was later vacated after he completed a pretrial intervention program, his wife said.

On the whole, however, Mr. Grill’s life — and the lives of his band mates — was so tame that it became, in some quarters, a professional sticking point.

“I asked one of the guys at VH1’s ‘Behind the Music’ why we weren’t on,” Mr. Grill told The Huntsville (Ala.) Times in 2005. “And he said, ‘Were you guys ever into heroin?’ and I said, ‘No.’ He said we just weren’t compelling enough.”

The New York Times gave this report.

The Big Man is Gone (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011)

 

Bruce Springsteen said the late E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons loved their fans and gave everything he had every night on stage.

"Clarence lived a wonderful life," Springsteen said on his Web site following Saturday's news that the 69-year-old Clemons died following complications from a stroke he suffered June 12. (From B.J. Hammerstein, Detroit Free Press.)

This Just in: A Football Score from 1967!

Recently we uncovered original copies of what we called WTIT Newsletters. We only did them for a short while in 1967-1968. We thought we’d share them. It might shed insight on how we really thought everyone listened to WTIT. Though you’d have to be in our studio (to this day) to hear it. But back then, we were in high school and we played a lot of tapes at parties.  Here’s a piece of trivia: We always note that our original DJ staff was Bud Weiser, Galloping Gary, Bouncing Billy, Johnnie Walker and Killer Joe. And that was the first true staff that carried the ball from 1968 to 1973. But in our first year in 1967, Bud, Gary and Billy tried out a ton of guys who were given a shot before we settled on Joe and Johnnie. They literal joined WTIT on the same night in June of 1968. Johnnie and Bud are the only two original DJs that are still with the world's first and longest running Tape Radio Station.

FROM THE FUN TOWER: October 30, 1967

“What’s Terrific in T-I-T-Land”

Volume 1 Number 2

Number 2? Not us! This is the second in our series of newsletters. The popular demand for these have been overwhelming. We think you are using the back for scrap paper.

Football: The Hartford Charter Oaks: Last Saturday Bud Weiser and Galloping Gary attending the Oaks football game. The announcer was fantastic. We are in negotiations to add him to the WTIT DJ staff. Bouncing Billy and his dad were pleased that Hartford beat Montreal 38-14. Why? Bouncing Billy's dad is one of the owners of the Charter Oaks. 

Soul Tape: On WTIT Tape 1, Bud and Gary hosted a Supremes' Hour!  What an hour! When fellow DJs Billy, Sid and Dick heard the show they suddenly got nauseous and left the studio. 

A new jingle player, please! Our last show had no jingles because our tape deck that we use for them crapped out! We asked for donations, but our fans say they hate the jingles even more than the shows. If you'd like to voice you opinion call the WTIT Fun Line at 232-1936.  

Please check out our comedy blog at WTIT.net!

WTIT NEWSLETTER 1

FROM THE FUN TOWER: October 21, 1967

“What’s Terrific in T-I-T-Land”

Volume 1 Number 1

What’s this department? This is the first in a series of newsletters prepared by the DJs of Tape Radio Station WTIT. Our aim is to let our fans learn more about The Big Station and our tapes.

Voila! We’ve started a new policy of cutting off a record if we don’t want to hear the rest. We always say “Here’s a WTIT Record Cut - Voila!” The first caller to WTIT wins whatever is left of the record.

Interpretation Songs! This summer Bouncing Billy, Sid Schaefer and Bud Weiser starting making up our own lyrics to the songs that we play. It tends to usually be the same song, Tommy James’ "I Think We’re Alone Now". It’s a honey of a disc!!

Mothers! For an interesting view on how to deal with your mother, check out Sid Schaefer’s take on Bud’s show on WTIT Tape 17.

And Fathers? Sid comes through again with the parent of the opposite sex on The Sid Schaefer Show on WTIT Tape 13.

Charlie and Boney! Check out the new additions to The Galloping Gary Garage Show. They’re the latest “engineers”. They are trying to rival Bud Weiser’s cast of Fats and Skinny.

Stop the Tape? Never! But if you phone should go - be in the know! Know how much cash is in the WTIT Jackpot.

Summertime 1967: Fun is the shows we did this summer! Check out WTIT Tapes 9, 11, 13 and 17 for summer fun on Tape Radio Number One!

The WTIT Weather Girl! Whether or not there’s weather, you will find up to the minute (perhaps “up to the year”) reports from our charming Weather Girl Leslie on WTIT Tapes 12, 14 and 17.

The WTIT Top Ten Songs of the Week!

1. The Beatles, "Penny Lane"

2. Aretha Franklin, "Respect"

3. The Rolling Stones, "Let's Spend the Night Together"

4. The Who, "I Can See For Miles"

5. Jackie Wilson, " Higher and Higher"

6. Sam and Dave, "Soul Man"

7. The Doors, "Light My Fire"

8. The Buffalo Springfield, "For What It's Worth"

9. Procol Harum, "A Whiter Shade Of Pale"

10. Otis Redding, "Try A Little Tenderness"

RIP Gerry Rafferty

Gerry died yesterday at 63. While Stuck in the Middle with You was our favorite tune, he was best know for his solo hits Baker Street and Right Down the Line. (To watch the video, turn off the music at the bottom of this page.)

So This Is Christmas 2010

We Still Miss You, John

Words cannot convey the loss I felt 30 years ago tonight
when Howard Cossell announced
on Monday Night Football 

that John had been assassinated.

I heard from a lot of friends after that.
They knew how I felt.

My lady bought me a neat Lennon tee today.
Johnnie Walker texted me.

It still stings after 30 years.

We miss you, John.

It' Johnnie's Birthday, His 70th

John Lennon would have turned 70 today. I have said that The Beatles were the closest thing that I ever got close to as a religion, and that John has always been my hero. The Beatles were not just another rock group, from Rubber Soul through Let It Be, The Beatles explained their thoughts on life, love, politics and philosophy while being the most innovative rock band of all time.

I did a philosophy project in college on The Beatles. I received an A+ from my philosophy professor at Emerson College. The project was on the psycological influence of The Beatles' lyrics on a generation we now call Boomers. Emerson is a premiere arts college with broadcasting, theater and speech as its specialty. I will share just one nugget of what will be a book that I am bound to write.


The Gospel according to St. John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was good.

On The Beatles' song The Word John sang:

In the beginning I misunderstood but now I've got it, the word is good. Spread the word and you'll be free. Spread the word and be like me. Spread the worda I'm thinking of, have you heard the word is love? It's so fine, It's sunshine, It's the word, love.

From that point of the word love became sunshine with The Beatles. From Good Day Sunshine through Here Comes the Sun, the word “sun” became the word love.

I never met John Lennon. But he was my friend and mentor. So, I will just say “Happy Birthday, John.” Thank you for coming along and touching our lives. You taught us a great deal. We learned to Imagine.

A Day In The Life

We got to do a meme. The Rules? Pick out one of your favorite songs. Go to Song Facts and tell us about the song's history. I picked A Day in the Life from The Beatles. This is lifted completely from Song Facts: A 41 piece orchestra played on this song. The musicians were told to attend the session dressed formally. When they got there, they were presented with party novelties (false noses, party hats, gorilla-paw glove) to wear, which made it clear this was not going to be a typical session. The orchestra was conducted by Paul McCartney, who told them to start with the lowest note of their instruments and gradually play to the highest. (thanks, Jes - Mason City, IA) The beginning of this song was based on 2 stories John Lennon read in the Daily Mail newspaper: Guinness heir Tara Browne dying when he smashed his lotus into a parked van, and an article in the UK Daily Express in early 1967 which told of how the Blackburn Roads Surveyor had counted 4000 holes in the roads of Blackburn and commented that the volume of material needed to fill them in was enough to fill the Albert Hall. Lennon took some liberties with the Tara Browne story - he changed it so he "Blew his mind out in the car."

John Lennon stated this regarding the article about Tara Browne: "I didn't copy the accident. Tara didn't blow his mind out. But it was in my mind when I was writing that verse." At the time, Paul didn't realize the reference was to Tara. He thought it was about a "stoned politician." The article regarding the "4000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire" was taken from the UK Daily Express, January 17, 1967 in a column called Far And Near.

John's friend Terry Doran was the one who completed John's line "Now they know how many holes it takes to fill..." Terry told him "fill the Albert Hall, John."

McCartney contributed the line "I'd love to turn you on." This was a drug reference, but the BBC banned it for the line about having a smoke and going into a dream, which they thought was about marijuana. The ban was finally lifted when author David Storey picked it as one of his Desert Island Discs.

McCartney's middle section (Woke up, got out of bed...) was intended for another song.

The final chord was produced by all 4 Beatles and George Martin banging on 3 pianos simultaneously. As the sound diminished, the engineer boosted to faders. The resulting note lasts 42 seconds, and the studio air conditioners can be heard toward the end as the faders were pushed to the limit to record it.

The rising orchestra-glissando and the thundering sound are reminiscent of Entry of the Gods into Valhalla from Richard Wagner's opera "Das Rheingold," where after the rising glissando, Thor beats with his hammer. George Martin said in his 1979 book All You Need is Ears that the glissando was Lennon's idea. After Lennon's death, Martin seems to have changed his mind. In his 1995 book Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt. Pepper, he states that the rising orchestra-glissando was McCartney's idea. (thanks to Johan Cavalli, who is a music historian in Stockholm)

This being the last song on the album, The Beatles found an interesting way to close it out. After the final note, Lennon had producer George Martin dub in a high pitched tone, which most humans can't hear, but drives dogs crazy. This was followed by a loop of incomprehensible studio noise, along with Paul McCartney saying "Never could see any other way," spliced together. It was put there so vinyl copies would play this continuously in the run-out groove, sounding like something went horribly wrong with the record. Kids, ask your parents about vinyl.

In 2004, McCartney did an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper where he said he was doing cocaine around this time along with marijuana: "I'd been introduced to it, and at first it seemed OK, like anything that's new and stimulating. When you start working your way through it, you start thinking, 'This is not so cool and idea,' especially when you start getting those terrible comedowns."


The movie reference is to a film Lennon acted in called How I Won The War.

Keith Richards named his second son Tara after Tara Brown, the Guinness heir who smashes his car in Lennon's first verse. Richard's son was premature and died soon after birth.

The Beatles started this with the working title In The Life of...

This is a rare Beatles song with a title that is not part of the lyrics. Another one is Yer Blues. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

That's Mal Evans doing the counting during the first transition from John to Paul. He set the alarm clock (heard on the recording) to go off at the end of his 24-bar count. Evans also helped with the composition of a couple of songs on the Sgt. Pepper album. Although he never received composer's credit, the Beatles did pay his estate a lump sum in the 1990s for his contributions. Evans died January 5, 1976 after a misunderstanding with the police. (thanks, Brad Wind - Miami, FL)

George Martin (from Q Magazine, July 2007): "John's voice - which he hated - was the kind of thing that would send shivers down your spine. If you hear those opening chords with the guitar and piano, and then his voice comes in, 'I heard the news today, oh boy' It's just so evocative of that time. He always played his songs to me on the guitar and I would sit on a stool as he strummed. The orchestral section was Paul's idea. We put two pieces of songs together that weren't connected in any way. Then we had that 24-bars-of-nothing in between. I had to write a score, but in the climax, I gave each instrument different little waypoints at each bar, so they would know roughly where they should be when they were sliding up. Just so they didn't reach the climax too quickly. With A Day In The Life, I wondered whether we were losing our audience and I was scared. But I stopped being scared when I played it to the head of Capitol Records in America and he was gob smacked. He said, That's fantastic. And of course, it was." (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England)

In the original take, a 41 piece orchestra was not used. Instead, Lennon had roadie Mal Evans count to 21 in a very trippy manner and set off an alarm clock after the 21 counts. This version is on the 2nd Anthology CD, and is a very different version than the one on Sgt. Pepper. (thanks, Emery - San Jose, CA)

David Crosby was at Abbey Road studios when The Beatles were recording this. In an interview with Filter magazine, he said: "I was, as near as I know, the first human being besides them and George Martin and the engineers to hear A Day In The Life. I was high as a kite - so high I was hunting geese with a rake. They sat me down; they had huge speakers like coffins with wheels on that they rolled up on either side of the stool. By the time it got the end of that piano chord, man my brains were on the floor." (thanks, Brian - Williamsburg, VA)

The orchestral bit was used in the Yellow Submarine movie. Photos of different geographical areas were shown as The Beatles were apparently traveling in the submarine to try and find Pepperland. (thanks, donald - as, KY)

When asked by Rolling Stone magazine what songs of his dad's constantly surprise him, Sean Lennon said: "I've listened so much to that stuff that there are very few surprises. But I do think A Day In The Life is always inspiring."
American rock band Hawthorne Heights originally named themselves A Day in the Life after this song. In 2003, lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist JT Woodruff changed it to their current name.

On June 18, 2010 John Lennon's handwritten lyric sheet for this song featuring corrections and alternate crossed-out lines was auctioned at New York Sotheby's .

It was sold for $1.2 million to an anonymous American buyer.

This was rated the greatest ever Beatles song in a special collector's edition issue by The Beatles: 100 Greatest Songs. The list was compiled to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Fab Four's final studio album, Let It Be.

That's it for today on WTIT: The Music Blog.
Catch us next time!

Hey Joe

Jimi Hendrix

It was 40 years ago today that one of the most talented rock 'n roll musicians died.

WTIT: The Music Blog wishes his family all the love and condolences on this anniversary. RIP Jimi. You will long be remembered. Join us next time on The Music Blog.