Tag: Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame

#MusicMonday 🎵 The Rascals

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

It’s been a long time since I posted a #MusicMonday video. Today I present The Rascals at their induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. They performed a 9-minute medley of their hits:

  • Good Lovin’
  • Groovin’
  • How Can I Be Sure, as sung by Eddie Brigati
  • People Got To Be Free (a favorite 😍 of mine when I was a kid)

Reference:

BetaGems Lost Media. (2019, November 6). The Rascals reunion performance 5-9-97 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaXCqaR-qYA

I didn’t realize what killer musicians Felix Cavaliere (vocals, organ) and Dino Danelli (drums) were.

The Bee Gees (whom I love, love, love) were also inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Their performance was a disappointment 😞 just snippets of their songs 🎵.

On the Fresh Air radio show, Robert Plant said that The Rascals were very influential to budding musicians in the UK in the 1960s (begin 2:59).

Paraphrase:

The Rascals had a fantastic reputation amongst all musicians and still do. The quality of writing and the performance fantastic vocals and there was a great dynamism in their work. When I first started singing that song, I was 16, and to try and get anywhere near the quality and the style of the rascals in England at that time was virtually impossible. We just didn’t have the Italian stuff in the blood or the street corner stuff that they’d come out of. 

Watch this playlist featuring The Bee Gees #video #MusicMonday

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

For this week’s #MusicMonday feature, I created a video playlist that features The Bee Gees. My friend Ann and I exchanged videos of early Bee Gees (or so we thought) by Messenger. She shared “Words” and I shared “To Love Somebody.”

I found the video for Time is Passing By on YouTube. The video dates back to 1960, and might be The Bee Gees’ debut on TV. This was seven years before they broke internationally. Barry Gibb was 13 or 14, and the (fraternal) twins Robin and Maurice were 10 or 11. To put this into perspective, Barry turned 76 on September 1, 2022.

Watch this playlist featuring The Bee Gees

I’ve also added The Bee Gees’ induction into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame. Barry described The Bee Gees as the “enigma with a stigma,” perhaps because of the backlash after Saturday Night Fever. We were oversaturated by The Bee Gees and the songs that they wrote for others.

There are other surprises, including:

  • Maurice’s appearance with his former wife Lulu for a duet of First of May.
  • Maurice and Robin as contestants on The Dating Game. (The third contestant is champion swimmer Don Schollander, shortly before going to the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City).
  • Robin’s funeral procession, where his coffin is carried in a glass carriage led by high-stepping black horses. People follow the carriage on foot. Not surprisingly, Barry gets cheers when he walks by.

Fittingly, Brian Wilson inducted The Bee Gees into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame. He too sang and harmonized with his brothers Carl and Dennis. Like Barry, he is the eldest brother who has outlived his younger brothers. 😢

Be sure to watch and listen to the whole playlist!

Rock & Roll House of Fame Class of 2020 – Doobie Brothers

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

Damn. With all the attention paid to the recent Presidential elections and coronavirus, I overlooked the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominations and inductions. While I think that the whole damn thing is a farce, it is always fun to grouse about who was nominated or not nominated and who was ultimately inducted or not.

The Doobie Brothers were inducted this year. I was never a fan of the Doobie Brothers’ music and I was grossed out by the album cover’s centerfold showing naked band members and women.

The Doobie Brothers with Michael McDonald (center)

Still, I have to give a shoutout to local boy Michael McDonald. Here’s a picture of Michael McDonald with his first band Mike and the Majestics:

Mike and the Majestics

Damn. I remember those collarless plaid shirts. My brother had one and I think that he wore it in a school photo.

PS The source for this picture is the Metro St. Louis Live Music Historical Society, http://www.stlmusicyesterdays.com. This website also provides a lot of coverage on Gayle McCormack, whom I featured in a past article.