February 2015 – Page 3 – Motor City Radio Flashbacks

FLASHBACK MOTOR CITY HAPPENINGS ’67-’68. . . JANUARY 6, 1968

From the MCRFB news archive: 1968

Music Happenings In and Around Detroit Town 1967-1968

**A CKLW TV 9 ad for December 31, 1967.** *(Click on this image for large detailed view).*

DETROIT — The Roostertail, Detroit’s largest nightclub, plans to devote one night a week to the 21 and under crowd. Disk jockey Robin Seymour will host the first “night for the young” Sunday (January 7) with four bands providing entertainment. Seymour has also taped a special New Year’s Eve TV show for CKLW Channel 9. Featured on that show will be Deon Jackson, Robert Knight, Bobbie Gentry, the Cowsills, and others . . . . Radio station WCHB hosted its annual Christmas stage show at the Fox Theater December 16, featuring Motown acts.

The annual Motor Town Revue ran for ten days (December 23-January 1). Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Marvelettes, Willie Tyler and Lester, and a new Motown group called Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers appeared for the ten-day run of the show. Stevie Wonder headlined the first five days, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles headlined the last five shows . . . . Gino Washington and Merit Music Distributors have released Gino’s successful recording of “Gino Is A Coward” . . . .

The Utopias, released their first recording locally on the LaSalle label, titled, “Girls Are Against Me,” distributed by Solid Hitbounds Productions . . . . Brenda Holloway is in town to work on her next Motown recordings. END

(Information and news source: Billboard; January 6, 1968).

Motor Town Revue Poster; Detroit Fox Theater December 23, 1967 - January 1, 1968 (Click on image 2x for largest view). — **A Motor Town Revue Poster. Detroit Fox Theater December 23, 1967 – January 1, 1968** *(Click on image 2x for largest view).*

THIS WEEK 50 YEARS AGO: THE HOTTEST HIT IN THE USA!

NUMBER 1 IN AMERICA ’65 * Gary Lewis * WEEKS OF 2/14 – 2/27/1965

TWELVE WEEKS on the singles chart, “This Diamond Ring,” by Gary Lewis and the Playboys peaked No. 1 (2 weeks) on the Billboard Hot 100, weeks of February 14, 1965 through February 27, 1965. (source: Billboard).

MCRFB Link: For the previous No. 1 record in the U.S.A. 1965 GO HERE.

CKLW-TV 9 SWINGIN’ TIME! THE EVERLY BROTHERS 1966

Lesley Gore, Teen Heartbreak Hits Icon, Dies at 68

OBITUARIES

’60s TEEN FAVE LESLEY GORE DIES OF LUNG CANCER AT 68

By John Pareles | NY TIMES Staff Writer | February 16, 2015, 4:30 PM

Lesley Gore, Teenage Voice of Heartbreak, Dies at 68 – NYTimes.com .

Lesley Gore circa 1963 (click on image for largest view). — **Lesley Gore** circa 1963 *(click on image for largest view).*

LESLEY GORE, who was a teenager in the 1960s when she recorded hit songs about heartbreak and resilience that went on to become feminist touchstones, died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 68.

Lois Sasson, her partner of 33 years, said Ms. Gore, a nonsmoker, died of lung cancer at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital.

With songs like “It’s My Party,” “Judy’s Turn to Cry” and the indelibly defiant 1964 single “You Don’t Own Me” — all recorded before she was 18 — Ms. Gore made herself the voice of teenage girls aggrieved by fickle boyfriends, moving quickly from tearful self-pity to fierce self-assertion.

“You Don’t Own Me,” written by John Madara and David White, originally reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has been repeatedly rerecorded and revived by performers including Dusty Springfield, Joan Jett and the cast of the 1996 movie “The First Wives Club.”

“When I heard it for the first time, I thought it had an important humanist quality,” Ms. Gore told The Minneapolis Star-Tribune in 2010. “As I got older, feminism became more a part of my life and more a part of our whole awareness, and I could see why people would use it as a feminist anthem. I don’t care what age you are — whether you’re 16 or 116 — there’s nothing more wonderful than standing on the stage and shaking your finger and singing, ‘Don’t tell me what to do.’ ”

MCRFB note: For the rest of this New York Times Lesley Gore Obituary article (February 16, 2015), please GO HERE.