One aspect of the closing of Metroland’s 70 newspapers which hasn’t been mentioned is the number of kids who delivered these newspapers every week are now out of their jobs which provided some pocket money. Yes, I know the paper was technically free, and it was vehicle to deliver flyers, but also included was local news and city announcements. There was always an option to pay two bucks to the newspaper carrier, which I have done. I delivered the Globe & Mail as a kid and my son had a “This Week” route when the paper published three days per week.

Our carrier is a good young person (maybe 13- 14 or so), always has a smile, and brought the paper faithfully every week. She was learning responsibility, and the skill of being able to look an adult in the eye, smile, and carry on a short conversation ( as well as make some money). Those are skills that you take with you in life. They’re probably the last of the kids who slung newspapers to people’s homes. Give `em a couple of bucks if you see them in the neighbourhood.

 

Caught this report last evening on PBS News Hour about the future of AM radio. It’s a little over 5 minutes. The interviewee is Katie Thornton, a writer who apparently hosts a podcast called The Divided Dial.

https://www.pbs.org/video/slow-fade-1688238096/


 

The two chairs in Archie and Edith’s living room are listed. I saw these in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, along with other notable tv and movie props back in 2005. The small table between the chairs, complete with the crocheted doily, ash tray and beer can were also displayed.  The auction listing photo has an ash tray and tv remote. Could be these items were on a temporary loan for a themed display, which often occurs in museums. The reserve amount is $100,000.
 

RA, your sister was correct about the screaming crowd drowning out The Beatles. I still have my Maple Leaf Gardens ticket stub for the Sept 7/64 4PM show. Five bucks. The audio equipment of the times just was not adequate for huge venues and of course there were no large video screens, so the Beatles appeared very tiny on stage, even though my brother and I had seats on the floor.

The Hawk’s Nest was located upstairs at 331 Yonge Street; Ronnie Hawkins was associated with it, possibly as part owner. At the time the drinking age was 21, so he felt there was a good entertainment market for teenagers, and the Hawk’s Nest was an ideal location, featuring primarily R&B bands. I have a couple of actual “membership” cards for the place, along with other spots such as The Mynah Bird and Chez Monique’s in Yorkville, as well as a spot called the Gogue Inn. I played at the Hawk’s Nest once as well - we backed up 3 soul singers from Detroit called The Fabulous Peps, reminiscent of bands like the Temptations.

One of the entertainers at the Hawk’s Nest in your ad lists The Mandala, and George Oliver and his Children. This is confusing because in 1968 George was the lead singer for the Mandala (formerly The Rogues), a band heavily promoted by Rafael Markowitz, aka Randy Martin, who apparently called himself Randy Dandy for a while, a clown who performed in Buffalo. For some time The Mandala was probably the most exciting R&B/Soul band in Toronto, attracting crowds of screaming girls thanks to Randy’s heavy promotion. With the great Domenic Troiano on guitar, this band was a real powerhouse, and enjoyed one major record, “Opportunity,” with Dom playing a blistering solo.  After The Mandala had its run George later formed The Soul Crusade and then continued singing for some time. Dom went on for many years, playing with a number of well known bands, including Bush, The James Gang, a stint with The Guess Who, and had many other personal projects and recordings.

I noticed on the 1961 CHUM chart posted by Doug Thompson that Bill Black’s Combo listed at #23 with “Blue Tango.” As a kid, when I saw the Beatles’ first show at Maple Leaf Gardens Sept 7/64, the opening act was Bill Black’s Combo, the band apparently being requested by The Beatles to do the tour with them. Black had quite a musical history, which included backing up Elvis Presley in his very early days, and was a heck of a musician. You can locate more info on him, and listen to “Blue Tango” as well. It’s always interesting learning a bit more about the people behind the many instrumentals that once made the playlists.
Oh, and Booker T & The MG’s “Green Onions,” from 1962, is considered to be one of the best known rock/blues instrumental tunes ever recorded, a classic 12-bar, 3-chord arrangement. Booker T. Jones penned it when he was 17.

Mendelson Joe carved his own way in life. He teamed up with well-known blues guitarist Mike McKenna in the late 60's, forming McKenna Mendelson Mainline for a few years, a great band based in Toronto, but short-lived. (Mike McKenna has continued to be a very respected blues player for decades.)

Over the years Joe showed another aspect of his talent, this time as a painter and produced a number of works - some with a wry sense of humour. He’d moved to quiet area of central Ontario by then. I’ve seen some of his work presented in various galleries. He was also a prolific writer and along with penning many books, he periodically in past years wrote letters to the editor which were printed in papers such as the Toronto Star. Mendelson Joe had the rare talent of crafting very succinct and poignant social and political comment. What he wrote  in four or five short sentences would take most columnists 600 words.

I seem to recall him doing one television interview many years ago from his cabin, with Paula Todd when she was with TVO. (Hope I’ve got that correct.)  He was a very unique man. Not surprisingly, Mendelson Joe left on his own terms.

RA I agree with you about the irritating airline ad. I think it’s Air Transat. One problem is the volume of the shower, which sounds like rain hitting a tin roof, is too loud and the person babbling/singing in the background sounds as if she’s becoming increasingly emotionally unhinged. On top of this cacophony is the person trying to do the voice over. It’s a terrible ad, one of so many ads in general that are aired. It’s puzzling why a companies pay big bucks to have these commercials produced, approved, and distributed to run on many stations, possibly some right across the county.

Both Coast and Spence are certainly heavy advertisers and no doubt the stations appreciate the revenue. Are the ads effective? The mouthy grandchild in Coast appliances is annoying, but doesn’t usually prompt me to change the station or mute the volume. And the name Coast is repeated enough that it’s now quite familiar. However, it puzzles me how the mandatory maniacal scream in the Spence radio ads, along with this creepy Callum character who was introduced some time ago, attracts business.  Do their ads prompt people to purchase baubles? There’s lots of jewellery stores around, many of them with long-term respectable reputations and they don’t resort to barnyard squeals. I flip to another station when the Spence ad begins.

For those who love jazz and tune into stations such as Jazz FM 91.1, you’ve likely heard the incredible Hammond B3 jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco. He passed away last week, just 51. Joey played some of the Toronto Jazz Festivals in the past, and toured around the world, generally regarded as a superb artist who was simply a master of this magnificent beast, the B3. Over the years Toronto music greats such as Doug Riley and Mike Fonfara among many others, were also wonderful artists on the instrument. The B3 is paired with a Leslie speaker which has rotating horns in the top, and a 15 inch speaker facing downwards into the lower rotor. The player controls the speed of the horns and rotor with a switch on the organ. Many people consider the Hammond B3 to be a major component of the heart of R & B, rock, soul, blues, gospel and  jazz. It’s worth a search to check out the B3 and some of the musicians who made their mark in music on this double keyboard. Joey certainly was one of the greats.

Same problems with my email as well.

This is such an interesting subject. Jingles we heard as kids often resonate with us years later, and still bring back images of the products. The art of jingle writing is covered in two of Terry O’Reilly’s episodes “Under The Influence” Season 7, Episodes 12 and 13. They’re well worth a listen.
For instance it’s generally known that Barry Manilow wrote or arranged many jingles. “I am stuck on Band-Aid brand `cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me.” “Like a good neighbour, State Farm is there.” He arranged the famous “You deserve a break today....” for McDonald’s. Apparently during his performances he’s does a medley of his jingles called VSM - “very strange medley.”

Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane did a bizarre psychedelic-themed song advertising white Levi jeans. The Who recorded a number of jingles in their early years including ones for Coke.

One of the shortest jingles was “By Mennen,” just three seconds in length. Any time a jingle is used a licencing fee has to be paid, including this one when it was apparently sung in a version of Family Guy with a slight word change: “By Menonnites.”

Back in 1969 or so a number of Canadian bands were hired by Coke to record a portion of one of their songs that had received airplay. After 20 seconds or so, the songs segued into “....’cause things go better with Coca-Cola, things go better with Coke.”

One of the crazier jingles I recall was for Brylcreem, which was a tube of white grease that some guys would use on their hair. “Brylcreem, a little dab’ll do ya, Brylcreem, you’ll look so debonair, Brylcreem the gals will all pursue you, they love to get their fingers in your hair.”
Oh, you can still get this stuff if you crave the John Travolta look he sported in the movie “Grease.”

Here’s the jingle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmoDx2wJy1c

In September 1978 a Norman Lear sitcom called “Apple Pie” debuted in September on ABC. It featured Rue McLanahan, Dabney Coleman and Jack Gilford. Although 8 episodes were recorded it was canned after 2. My wife and I had tickets for the taping of the first or second episode at Metromedia Square in Hollywood in August/78. The show was absolutely terrible. The best part of the experience was sitting in front of a few of Hollywood’s former grand dames of the  B-actress grade regaling each other (and anyone else who would listen) of their salad days from the 1930's and 40's.

I went to a presentation that Randy gave at CBC’s Glen Gould studio a number of years ago - billed as “Guitarology 101." Not sure if it was ever aired on CBC Radio, but it was recorded. He had a selection of about 12 to 15 guitars set up on stands in a line on the stage and described each model’s features and sounds, why he used specific ones for various songs, the sentimental value many had for him, and gave some great demonstrations too. He even included one of his very early guitars, a cheap beginner’s “Silvertone.” That model was sold in department stores - Eatons or Simpsons.

Randy’s special delivery of telling stories on Vinyl Tap, and often explaining technical aspects of instruments and the general art of recording in plain, easy to understand terms is a talent in itself. It’s unfortunate that CBC cut ties with him. His ability to connect with the radio audience in a warm, conversational, sometimes humorous manner with his stories was very popular across Canada with many people of all ages. Might have been nice to let Randy leave on his own terms.

And by the way, to a person who loves his or her or their instrument, there’s an attachment that only a true musician would understand. And yes, it’s way more important than someone’s “gold ass watch.”

John, there will be a tribute/Celebration of Life service for Fred on Saturday August 10 at 2 PM. The location is "The Bridge - A Church for All Nations" and it’s located at 477 Kingston Road, Pickering. It’s just west of Whites Road on the south side of Kingston. Anyone who knew, played with, or remembered Fred will be warmly welcomed.