John Quayle of Washington responds to last week's article about songs that should have been bigger hits.
Your column got me thinking about my choices. In no particular order, they'd look something like this:
• "I Hear Trumpets Blow" - the Tokens (No. 30, 1966);
• "She Lets Her Hair Down (Early in the Morning)" - the Tokens (61, 1970);
• "Mexico" - James Taylor (49, 1975);
• "California Revisited" - America (only released in Britain as a B-side in the early 1970s). KDKA played this song quite a lot until they quit playing music altogether;
• "On the Wings of a Nightingale" - the Everly Brothers (50, 1984);
• Hold Me 'Til the Mornin' Comes" - Paul Anka with Peter Cetera (40, 1983);
• "God Only Knows" - the Beach Boys (39, 1966). Brian Wilson claims that Paul McCartney told him that this was his favorite Beach Boys tune of all. I know it is mine;
• "Wrap it Up" - Archie Bell and the Drells (93, 1970) - the Fabulous Thunderbirds (50, 1986);
• "Live is Life" - Opus (32, 1986);
• "These Arms of Mine" - Otis Redding (85, 1963);
• Knock On Wood" - Eddie Floyd (28, 1966), and Otis Redding and Carla Thomas (30, 1967);
• "The Dis-Advantages of You" - the Brass Ring (36, 1967);
• "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me" - Linda Ronstadt (42, 1977), and Karla Bonoff (uncharted, 1977). Bonoff wrote the song and, in my opinion, offers the better version with a little more angst than Ronstadt's version;
• "Little Black Egg" - the Nightcrawlers (85, 1967) Out of Daytona, Fla., this band first released the song in 1965, then thrice more. It only charted in 1967;
• "Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You?)" - Stevie Wonder (33, 1972);
• "I Believe (When I Fall in Love)" - Stevie Wonder (uncharted, 1972) and Art Garfunkel (uncharted, 1975);
• "Overjoyed" - Stevie Wonder (24, 1986).
Wow, I've only scratched the surface.
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Siew-San writes all the way from Singapore about our "American Idol" picks:
I agree 100 percent with your comments on the contestants. I also think it is a toss-up between Michael and Aaron. The rest can go in whatever order.
Each year that I have watched "AI," there was always someone with whom I had the emotional connection and earnest belief that should win (Melinda Doolittle, Fantasia, David A, Clay Aiken); some who I knew were in the running to win (Carrie Underwood, David Cook) and some I was fascinated to see how long they would last (Sanjaya).
However, I have never invested enough love and admiration to buy anyone's CD except Adam Lambert's. I have bought 30 CDs in his support, like a typical Glambert fangirl (I am 58 years young). Because of Adam, I am rediscovering pop and rock music and feel very "with it" again.
This year is like watching a college singing contest where contestants lack the experience and self-knowledge to express their musicality - if any- and even more unfortunately, some do not have the voice quality of the past season's Top 12. And what's with the sloppy dressing of the guys? I thought "AI" gives each contestant a dressing allowance. Being a visual treat is half the battle!
Do you think it is the judges' fault for making the wrong selections in their quest to choose a more "current" type of musician? What's with the guitars and average voices? No real belters to choose from? Contestants singing songs that are even before my time?
I am being entertained in a reverse way. I only watch to see how bad the contestants can get and the repetitve, confused and silly comments from the circus known as judges. Simon is still the only one who can shoot straight and on target, and he's showing very bad temper, indeed!
REPLY: The consensus is that the judges' choices were influenced by the the show's desire to appeal to a younger audience. Originally aimed at the 18- to 49-year-old age group, "AI" has seen an alarming increase in average viewer age the past few seasons. While it's still TV's top show, "AI" has seen a ratings decrease this year, at least partially because the singers aren't very entertaining.
And last week was the first this season in which the performances were uniformly above average. Adam Lambert has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Simon Cowell next season. The show could do worse: Lambert was entertaining and critically on the mark in his stint as a mentor last month.
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Mark Hilbrink comments on the "Daniel Boone" article:
I am also a true "Daniel Boone" fan and found the link to your article that someone sent to Darby Hinton, who played Daniel's son. I watch this show every other night (I have all of the seasons on DVD), and believe me, I sleep a lot better after "Boone" than after "Lost," "Fringe" or "24."