Radio & Records

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• September 1, 2020 at QZVX

  Jay Hamilton says:

  In the “For The Record” listing of “The Top 20” in the Seattle area in March ’69 (based on sales information) #16 is “Tunesmith” by The Bards … a NW band originally from Moses Lake, whom I became acquainted with while I was PD/MD/deejay at KSEM-Moses Lake in the mid-60s. At the time they were known as The Fabulous Continentals because Ken McDonald, their then leader & drummer, was the son of the owner of the local Lincoln/Mercury dealership. Anyway, this particular song was written by Jimmy Webb, who was at the height of his career at that time … writer of such classics as “Galveston”, “Wichita Lineman” & “MacArthur Park”. The band chose Jeff Afdem of the Springfield Rifle (mentioned in the same section above) to arrange and produce that particular recording … which was released on Parrott Records (a U.S. subsidiary of London Records). The B-side of the record was “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues” which The Bards had hoped would be the A-side … and was written by another NW talent Danny O’Keefe, who would actually have a national hit with the song 3 yrs after The Bards’ version.
  Here’s a link to “The Tunesmith”:
  https://youtu.be/pb38_dRvRGg

  Perhaps The Bards most successful NW release was “The Owl & The Pussycat”.

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• September 4, 2020 at QZVX

  Steven Smith says:

  Jay…I remember the song. Did not realize the flip was the Danny O’Keefe song.

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• September 4, 2020 at QZVX

  dan strode says:

  “The Owl & The Pussycat”

  piccadilly https://youtu.be/dNYp3GKyEXI

  Capitol https://youtu.be/B1fPaad1nZg

  are different recordings

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• September 4, 2020 at QZVX

  Steven Smith says:

  Dan,
  That they are. So in the NW which was the bigger hit…the version on Piccadilly which as I recall was a NW label…or Capitol. I prefer the first simpler version.

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• September 5, 2020 at QZVX

  dan strode says:

  Don’t remember when but it was much later when I heard the Capitol version.

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