Author: DOuG pRATt

Charlie Brown is no turkey

Being the loyal Peanuts fan that I am, last night I watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and today I’m pleased to see that the ratings are looking good.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving delivered its biggest audience in four years — 8.1 million viewers and a 2.2 rating in the adult demo, up 22 percent from last year. Pretty spry for a 39-year-old repeat, huh?

Thankful for Rewound Radio

Thanks to Mr. D.F. Rogers, I have Joel Whitburn Presents: Across The Charts The 1960s, and it’s the perfect companion for what Rewound Radio — by far the best oldies station on the Net — is doing this Thanksgiving weekend.

The All 60’s/No Repeat Weekend starts tomorrow morning (Thanksgiving Day) at 6AM (Eastern) and runs continuously until Sunday at 11PM on Rewound Radio. All 60’s songs with each song playing just one time.

Thanks for so many suggestions! We found almost all of them and they’re included. Rewound Radio really does play what you ask for!

We just ran the shuffle program tonight (we wanted to get as many of your songs in as possible). What a list! There are no rules other than no repeats. So, for example, you’ll hear things like Jimmy Gilmore’s “Sugar Shack” segueing into The Doors “Runnin’ Blue”. Totally unpredictable–and fun all Thanksgiving Weekend 🙂

As each song comes on I’m flipping to its entry in the book. Rewound Radio is playing *everything* from the 1960’s, and for many singles having the artist and song title is essential. Their “Instant On!” player, a great little Flash app, doesn’t do that, so I’m using Logitech’s excellent, but sadly now-discontinued, Squeezebox system.

The Whitburn book tells me that Thank U Very Much — a good song for Thanksgiving — is by The Scaffold and features Mike McGear, who is Paul McCartney’s brother. The song debuted February 10, 1968 on the Billboard hit chart, stayed for five weeks, and peaked at #68. Another option for listening to Rewound Radio and seeing the track information is to click on their PLS (Playlist) link and have the Real Player installed. Smartphone users are on their own, because I’m a confirmed clamshell guy.

Carol is making Thanksgiving dinner, and my sister’s family is coming over later. If they don’t want oldies with their meal I guess I’ll have to eat on the porch.

When I was washing dishes…

Out of nowhere, a song from high school, that I used to hear on WBCN in Boston, popped into my mind. This song.

I liked the lyric “I quit my job, ain’t got no money,” because I’d just started working at my first part-time job, washing dishes for $1.60/hour. Many times I’d work a Friday night from 4-10, then go back in Saturday morning at 8 and work until 10 that night. A sixteen-year-old kid working a 14-hour day, 20 hours out of 30. That couldn’t have been legal, even forty years ago. Back then I thought Savoy Brown was a Southern band, like the Allman Brothers, but they’re British.