7 on the Dot - TICK TICK TICK...

PIGGYBACK COLD OPEN:

CLICK TO START FIRST VIDEO.

AT THE 5 SEC. MARK, CLICK
TO START SECOND VIDEO!

"(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" - Bill Haley And His Comets

(June thru Aug. 1955, highest chart pos. #1 Hot 100 & Cash Box)

Kicking off my show with a timely tune, the granddaddy of all

rock 'n' roll songs, "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock"

by Bill Haley And His Comets. The clock rocker was a

smash hit and best seller on both sides of the Atlantic.

Hard to believe that the now-famous song started

out in obscurity as the B side of Haley's single!

Hi everyone, I'm Dorothy
"Dot" Everest, one of the
stars of The Tick, the TV

series that has critics
raving, nominated for
a Saturn Award in the

category of "Best New

Media Superhero Series."

You've heard of the

Blue Man Group and

"The Little Blue Man."
The Tick is a big man

dressed in a bright blue

costume. (Don't ask.)

Nearly invincible,
The Tick is a super
hero who fights

underworld crime

to save the city.

Arthur Everest is the Tick's nervous, nerdy sidekick,

and I'm Arthur's sister, well, more like his mother

because I am always looking out for him.

I have my

brother's back

and an angel's

face, but don't

let my looks

fool you.

I'm no cream puff.
When the chips

are down... I'm

one tough cookie.

(See what I did there?)

By day I am an ordinary, hard working EMT.

By night I reveal my secret

identity as a crime fighting

vigilante heroine on Team

Tick. I am equipped with
a superpower, a unique
time management skill
they don't teach in Tony
Robbins seminars. Let's
just say I have mastered
the five second do-over.
I'm breaking way badass,
so evildoers beware.

I will not fail my brother.

I will not fail my city,

and I will not fail you

the listener. Beginning

now, this very second,

I'll turn back the clock

to bring you some of
the best sounds of the

20th and 21st centuries.

I am also proud to let you know that Shady Del Knight

has picked me to become the latest member of his

Shady Bunch DJ team on S-P-M-M Retro Radio.

Today I'm bringing you a sneak preview of

my new show which will be called

7 on the Dot - TICK TICK TICK...

- 7 songs in a row and every one of them about

marking time or the passing of time -
past, present and future.

You're in Dot's time zone

and the clock is ticking.

From this moment on it's more

music with less tock Get it? 😝

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

It might be a 5 o'clock world... but there's something

special about "Six O'Clock." Here to explain are

John Sebastian and The Lovin' Spoonful!

"Six O'Clock" - The Lovin' Spoonful

(May/June 1967, highest chart pos. #17 Cash Box/#18 Hot 100)

Flashing back to the spring of 1967,

that was John Sebastian along with

his jug-band pop and folk rock group

The Lovin' Spoonful and their top 20

hit "Six "O'clock," a record that

brushed the top 10 in Canada.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

There might be something special
'bout "Six O'clock" but wait a minute.

In fact... wait six hours, because...

"After Midnight" we're gonna let

it all hang out. So sings Eric

Clapton in his 1970 cover
of he J.J. Cale song!

"After Midnight" - Eric Clapton

(Nov./Dec. 1970, highest chart pos. #13 Cash Box/#18 Hot 100)

Hot on the chart at the end of 1970

and the start of '71, that was Eric

Clapton with one of his signature

songs, "After Midnight," a cover

of the J.J. Cale song originally

released in 1966.

If you're just tuning in, I'm Dot

Everest from The Tick and this

is a sneak preview of my new

S-P-M-M radio show coming

next year to Shady's Place.

It's a 7-in-a-row nonstop

blockbuster, so let's get

right back to the music.

START VIDEO NOW!

Listen! Can you hear the
TICK TICK TICK?

If you've got the time, I've got
the tune. It's the gospel-tinged
soul of The Mighty Clouds Of

Joy with our next pertinent
platter-- "Time!"

"Time" - The Mighty Clouds Of Joy

(Oct./Nov. 1974, highest chart pos. #32 R&B/#102 Bubbling Under)

All we need is just a little

more time. Ain't it the truth,

though? Those gentlemen

are The Mighty Clouds of

Joy, an L-A based gospel

group that crossed over

the bridge to the secular

side and achieved hits

on the soul and disco

charts in the mid 70s

with "Mighty High,"

"Mighty Cloud Of Joy"

and the song I just

played for you- "Time."

The Charleston was once the rage. History has turned a page.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

A sign of the times and a sound of the times from Sonny and

Cher who remind us that the show and the beat goes on.

"The Beat Goes On" - Sonny And Cher

(Feb./Mar. 1967, highest chart pos. #6 Hot 100/#7 Cash Box)

What a cool couple! That

was Sonny & Cher making

a convincing run at the

top 5 in 1967 with the

time referencing song

"The Beat Goes On."

START VIDEO NOW!

Released around Halloween

in 1982, "The Day Before

You Came" is one of ABBA's

last singles. At Christmas that

year, the Swedish super group

sang the song in Germany on

the TV series Show Express.

"The Day Before You Came" - ABBA

(Oct. thru Dec. 1982, highest chart pos. #32 UK/#2 Finland,

#3 Sweden, Belgium & Netherlands, live performance on

Show Express on West German PBS station ZDF, Dec. 1982)

That was "Aggie" - Agnetha Fältskog - singing lead for ABBA on

"The Day Before You Came" on German TV.  The record went
top 3 in four European countries, brushed the top 30 in the

UK and was released in the U.S. only as a DJ promo.

By the way, at nearly 6 minutes "TRT" - total run time, "The Day
Before You Came" it is ABBA's second longest single, after "Eagle."

Before I go, I wanna invite you to watch my

TV series The Tick on Amazon Prime Video.

If you haven't seen it yet, it's high time you did.

Oh darn... look at the clock.

Baby baby baby, we're out of time.

Dot's all folks - I gotta dash.

(See what I did there?)

I hope you enjoyed

this preview of my

new radio series

7 on the Dot -

TICK TICK TICK...

coming to Shady Place

next year, and I hope

when the time comes

you'll set aside a few

minutes to tune me in.

Heck, you might even

come back for seconds.

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

Stick around. Coming up after the news, it's time to Flash Back

with Iris West, here on S-P-M-M Retrosonic Radio. To play

us off, here's Miu, the German retro blue-eyed soul band

fronted by singer/songwriter Nina Graf. Three months

have now passed (tick tick tick) since Christmas

and it seems Nina's "Chocolate Santa" has

overstayed his welcome. Now this is Dot

Everest saying bye-bye and see you in '23!

"Chocolate Santa" - Miu (Apr. 2020)

March Gladness: It's a Slam Dunk as Jim Sieling and Dell Rat Tom Introduce THE BIG THREE!

You've heard of the Sweet Sixteen,

the Elite Eight and the Final Four. 

Dell Rat Tom circa 1961, age 11

Today Jim and I are spreading 

  MARCH GLADNESS

and introducing you to

 THE BIG THREE! 

Hi, friends!

Dell Rat Tom

back to share with you another

surprise from my hometown -

York, PA. It's another picture

that's directly related to my old

alma mater - The Shady Dell. 

The picture arrived in an

email sent by my friend

Jim Sieling, a Yorker

with family ties to

John Ettline and

The Dell. 

As you recall, Jim is the husband of Nancy Rae Sieling,

the niece of Dell owner John Ettline. 

 Last year, Jim sent me pictures of a 45 rpm record, "Close Your Eyes" by the

Five Keys, the song that tops my list of the 200 Greatest Hits of the Shady Dell.

Writing on the label indicates that my first wife and I shipped that record to

Helen & John at the Dell in 1973. I had forgotten all about it over the years!

Jim found the 45 in a large batch of records salvaged from the Dell's

dance hall jukebox (above) which Jim also owns. A few months later,

Jim surprised me again by sending pics of another record of special

interest to Dell rats, another record that I had sent to the Ettlines

and forgot about - "Jingle Bell Rock." Today I present the third

surprise from Jim, yet another priceless picture. Jim explained: 

Tom -- It’s been a while since I last contacted you. I’ve been busy organizing

 the 45’s that were saved from the Shady Dell. Most are now in artist sequence,

 have title strips, and are in sleeves. There are still a few that need title strips

and some of them also need sleeves. Once they are merged together the

final step will be log them into my computer so a particular record

can be found either by artist or song. There may be as many as

2500 records – once they have been entered into the

database we will have a good count. 

In any event, after reading your blog I kept my eyes open and found

the original copies of your Shady Dell top three songs and have

attached a photo of all three together to this note. 

Apparently at one time ‘Close Your Eyes’ was at location A 3...

...and N 8 was pressed for ‘Peace of Mind’.  I hope the pictures

bring back even more fond memories of The Dell. - Jim 

Jim, you have me shaking my head

and smiling ear to ear, my friend!

I am very grateful to you for sharing

these priceless pictures with me and

with Shady's Place readers. It blows

my mind to gaze at these records,

"The Big Three" - the top three

Jukebox Giants of the Dell -

and to realize these are the

actual records I listened and

danced to hundreds of times

at the Dell in the mid 1960s.

It's surreal that these are the

same title strips I squinted

to read as I peered into that

Seeburg  jukebox in the

 dimly lit Dell dance hall,

the strips that compelled

me to play these great

songs countless times.

 Yes, Jim, thanks to you my mind is indeed reeling and filled with fond

memories. Thank you very much for this kind gesture, my friend! 

Now that the field of 200 Greatest Dell Hits has been whittled down to

THE BIG THREE, let's listen to a few songs. Last year, in my first

post inspired by Jim's generosity, I played "Close Your Eyes."

To listen to the song again, click HERE. For today's post,

Jim sent me the picture below, a marvelous closeup of

 the label and the many different title strips used in

the jukebox over the years for "Close Your Eyes."

 Jim wrote: This one record (out of all the records found at the Dell) had

so many title strips. (I don’t think any other one had more than 4). There

must have been something special about this 45 !!!! Probably about 90% +

of all of the hand written strips over all the years were printed by the same

person (notice the L’s, G’s, & T’s). I’m guessing it had to be either John or Helen. 

Yes indeed, there was something special

about that 45, Jim. As you already know,

"Close Your Eyes" ranks #1 on my list of

The Dell's Greatest Hits. It also earned

the title of Record of Greatest Longevity

because it first entered the Dell jukebox

shortly after its release in January, 1955,

and it was still being played frequently

 ten years later in 1965 when I arrived

on the scene. In fact, "Close Your Eyes"

was still in the "Barn box" and still

popular in 1971 when I ended my

stint as a Dell rat and moved away

from York. To my knowledge, no

other record lasted that long on the

Dell's main jukebox. It should be noted

that many other 1950s doo-wop records

were eventually retired from the jukebox

in the Barn and found a new home inside

the music machine in Helen's snack bar.

 

Since I played the A side

song "Close Your Eyes"

last year, today I'd like

to spin the seldom heard

B side of that Five Keys

single. I honestly don't

remember this song

being played at Dell,

even though it's on

the back of the #1

ranked Dell hit.

From what I've gathered

on YouTube, the song is

an early example of the

Carolina Beach Music

genre. Here now are

The Five Keys with--

"Doggone It, You Did It." 

"Doggone It, You Did It" - The Five Keys

(Jan. 1955, B side of "Close Your Eyes") 

The second biggest hit of the Shady Dell is by the local York group

The Del-Chords aka Del-Cords led by Dave Bupp and Buddy King. 

Released in 1964, this dreamy soul ballad was played on radio stations

across the mid-Atlantic region and is one of Pittsburgh's Favorite Oldies.

In "the Barn" at the Dell, it was a monster, a genuine Jukebox Giant.

Here are Bupp, King and The Del-Chords reminding us that--

"Everybody's Gotta Lose Someday." 

"Everybody's Gotta Lose Someday" - The Del-Chords

(1964, uncharted nationally #2 Shady Dell) 

I consider the Del-Chords' platter a double-sider, because the flip

is also fantastic. Here's a sad story that's got to be told, a song

originally titled "Daddy's Lonely," and officially released

as-- "Your Mommy Lied To Your Daddy." 

"Your Mommy Lied To Your Daddy" - The Del-Chords

(1964, B side of "Everybody's Gotta Lose Someday")

We now move to the third record scan sent in by Jim Sieling,

the #3 ranked Dell song "Peace Of Mind" by our hometown

heroes... The Magnificent Men. Lead singers Dave Bupp

and Buddy King founded the all white member R&B

 and soul band after dissolving The Del-Chords.

Along with "Stormy Weather," this is one of the group's signature songs,

a smash hit at the Dell in 1966 and beyond. Rats scurried out to the

dance floor, formed a line and rode the tempo as The Mag Men

performed-- "Peace Of Mind."

"Peace Of Mind" - The Magnificent Men

(Mar. thru Sept. 1966, uncharted, #3 Shady Dell )

Those were The Magnificent Men with

 the sweet soul anthem "Peace Of Mind,"

a single that missed the national chart

but hit the Dell like a tsunami, earning

the lofty position of #3 on my list -

the third most popular song on the

Shady Dell jukebox in the mid 60s. 

Now let's flip that platter, because

it's another genuine double-sider...

two great songs for the price of one.

Here again are "our blue-eyed soul

brothers," The Magnificent Men,

with the Northern dancer-- "All

Your Lovin's Gone To My Head."

"All Your Lovin's Gone To My Head"

- The Magnificent Men (Mar. thru Sept.

1966, B side of "Peace Of Mind,"

#18 Shady Dell)

As a bonus, I will expand 

THE BIG THREE

into

 THE VINYL FOUR

and play the 4th biggest hit of

the Shady Dell in the mid 60s. 

The majestic fanfare at

the start of this record

was the signal that sent

Dell couples flocking to

the floor for three minutes

of heavenly embrace -

ample time to do some

huggin' and smoochin'.

Hands down this is one of

the greatest R&B ballads

of all time. At #4 on the

Dell's 200 Greatest Hits

survey, Mr. Dynamite,

James Brown, sings--

"It's a Man's Man's

Man's World."

"It's A Man's Man's Man's World"

James Brown And The Famous Flames

(May, June 1966, highest chart pos. #1 R&B,

#4 Cash Box/#8 Hot 100/#4 Shady Dell)

You just witnessed a steaming, sizzling, sweat-drenched performance by

The hardest working man in show business, James Brown, along with

his crackerjack band, The Famous Flames, doing "It's A Man's Man's

Man's World," the song ranked #4 on my Dell's Greatest Hits list.

Once again I wish to thank my good friend Jim Sieling in York

for his kindness and generosity, and for doing so much

to preserve the Shady Dell legacy. 

Have a Shady day! 

B in 23 + S & Z = !!!!!

BREAKING NEWS:

THE WAR IN UKRAINE

Dear friend, this post was completed

more than a year ago and scheduled

to run sometime in 2022. I decided

to publish it today because I found

a time sensitive message directly

related to the current crisis in

Ukraine. It was placed on

 YouTube and Facebook by

the Ukranian rock duo Sergey

Sershen and Daria Zaritskaya,

the featured artists in this post.

Their message to concerned

fans reads as follows:

This video was supposed to be released on feb 24, but the war had other plans

for us. It’s been 13 days since we’ve been living in fear, (Editor's Note: 21 days

as of today's publication date), not knowing if there will be tomorrow. But even

in the darkest days, music has always been our salvation. We simply refuse to

  give up on our dreams, we refuse to stop fighting, refuse to abandon things

we love to do. We refuse to lay down our arms- guitars, mics and drumsticks.

We will clench our teeth and cling to our hopes with every fiber of being.

With life being so unpredictable today - at any moment we can lose this

connection, or they’ll shut down YouTube, we decided to share this

video now. We’ve had such a massive support from you guys.

We are so thankful to have such an amazing community!

Together We Stand!

- Sershen & Zarítskaya, March 8, 2022 

NOW, HERE BELOW IS THE POST

AS ORIGINALLY PRODUCED:

WASSUP,

U PARTY

MONSTER?

I'm Chloe, the titular

(don't you just love

that word?) "B-----

in Apartment 23" on

the television sitcom

Don't Trust the B-----

in Apartment 23.

I'm a hard-partying,

irresponsible, free-

loading, sexually

adventurous con

artist described as

having "the morals

of a pirate" - and

those are my

good qualities!

I love rock & roll,

so put another dime

in the jukebox, baby.

I'm revved up and

ready to rock your

world with totally

awesome sights

and sounds.

Consider this a sneak preview

of what I hope will someday

become my very own radio

show here on S-P-M-M.

I was thinking of calling

it "Whiskers on Kittens"

but I decided to go with

BLUNT

FORCE

TRAUMA.

In this sneak preview, I am excited

to present Sershen & Zaritskaya,

the Ukranian duo made up of

guitarist Sergey Sershen and

singer Daria Zaritskaya (right).

S&Z are shaking up the rock

world with their cover videos,

and I'm going to play a few

of their best. Are you ready

to par-tay down with Chloe,

the B---- in 23? Let's rock!

In 1990, Alannah Myles scored a chart-

topping hit with "Black Velvet," a song

that in 1991 won the Canadian singer

and songwriter the Grammy for Best

Female Rock Vocal Performance. 

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

Thirty years later, Daria Zaritskaya

sizzled and smoked as she and her

band performed a cover that will

stand the test of time as a

classic in its own right! 

"Black Velvet" - Alannah Myles cover

by Sershen & Zaritskaya (Nov. 2020) 

Sershen & Zaritskaya have the knack

of authentically performing songs in

various genres and styles, from

mellow, laid-back, unplugged 

soft rock to hard rock and metal.

The dynamic duo's metal cred

 is proudly on display as they

blaze through this medley +

mashup of songs by Metallica

which includes "Wherever I

May Roam," "Sad But True,"

"Master Of Puppets," "Fuel,"

"Enter Sandman"  and

"So What." 

"Metallica Medley + Mashup ("Wherever I May Roam,"

"Sad But True," "Master Of Puppets, "Fuel," "Enter Sandman"

and "So What") by Sershen & Zaritskaya (Feb. 2019)

START VIDEO NOW!

If you're just tuning in I'm Chloe,
the B----- in 23 and your new

BFF, and this is a sneak peek

at my upcoming radio show

BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA

(or something like that) on

S-P-M-M... the station that

rocks harder. Continuing

now with my salute to

Sershen & Zaritskaya, the
exciting duo from Ukraine,

here they covering Skid Row's

"Youth Gone Wild," a single

that brushed the UK top 20

in the summer of '92. Hell,

S & Z don't just tackle

this rock classic...

they wrestle it to

the ground, babe!

"Youth Gone Wild" - Skid Row cover by Sershen & Zaritskaya

feat. Kim and Shturmak (Aug. 2019)

START VIDEO NOW!

In case you're experiencing sensory

overload by now and can't even think

straight, I will remind you that you're

hard wired to a sneak preview of

BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA

(or something equally shocking)

with little old me, Chloe, the B

in 23, apprentice Shady Bunch

deejay in training, right here at

your home for rock... S-P-M-M.

We're plowing thru a 7-in-a-row

rave party... running down the

 hard and heavy sound of the

fabulous Ukrainian duo

Sergey Sershen and Daria

Zaritskaya. In Nov., 2019,

S & Z took the frequently

recorded AC/DC hit

"Back In Black" and

made it their very own!

"Back in Black" AC/DC cover by Sershen & Zaritskaya

feat. Kim and Shturmak (Nov. 2019)

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW!

Moving ahead to December,

2019, we find our featured

artists Sershen & Zaritskaya

doing justice to one of the best

known Kiss songs. It's shock

and awe time as S & Z prove

they're for real covering--

"Detroit Rock City!"

"Detroit Rock City" - Kiss cover by Sershen & Zaritskaya

ft. Kim and Shturmak (Dec. 2019)

I hope you had a blast getting it on with guitarist Sergey Sershen

and vivacious vixen Daria Zaritskaya, a duo from Ukraine

that really knows how to rock.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

Stick around because I'll be back someday, hopefully sooner rather than later,
with more top shelf party sounds to rock you around the clock. To play us off,
here again are my featured artists S & Z, covering glam rocker Billy Idol's

hit "Rebel Yell." Now this is Chloe, the B in 23, reminding all my party

peeps to keep on rockin', and when you do, be sure to rock hard!

"Rebel Yell" - Billy Idol cover by Sershen & Zaritskaya

feat. Kim and Shturmak (Mar. 2020)

BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA

(OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT)

STARRING CHLOE, THE B----- IN 23

COMING SOON TO SHADY'S PLACE!

Together we stand.

“Are you ok?” are more than just 3 words today. It’s “I care for you”,

“I’m here for you”, “I love you”. So I just wanted to let you guys know

that me and the guys are safe, we are in Kyiv and we’re not gonna run.

Thank you for showing that you care - as I’ve said million times before.

“Together We Stand” - like this picture says. - Daria Zaritskaya

Singer Victory Vizhanska is another Ukrainian

artist that I have featured in Shady's Place posts.

Please take a couple of minutes to read Victory's

words and watch her two latest videos. They tell

the heartrending story of her plight as the war

drove her and her mother and their cats from

their home and turned them into refugees. 

VICTORY

VIZHANSKA

FEBRUARY 27, 2022 

I am a simple Ukrainian girl, I am 17 years old, I live in Kyiv. I had many

goals and dreams! But there was a war. Russia attacked my country. 4 days

we sit in fear. Outside the window, explosions, automatic bursts, it's very

scary. I planned to move to America in the future. Or to Europe to become

a world star. But this is in the future, these were plans, get a visa, get on a

plane and start a new life. But now I'm crying, out of fear, my mother reads

a prayer all the time. In the early days, we were unable to leave on the

evacuation train to the border, now we have a curfew, if in the coming

days I manage to survive, I'm afraid every night, maybe my mom and

my cats, we can get on at least some train, and we can survive. I pray

for it. This cover, I recorded it in my favorite room, which I dreamed

of since childhood, and which I will have to leave so quickly, fleeing

the bombs of Russia. If I stay alive, I will continue to sing, and I will

try to achieve my goal! Thank you all for your support! I don't say

goodbye! I believe and pray🙏 And I love you all❤❤❤ 

- Victory Vizhanska 

"Hallelujah" - Cover by Victory Vizhanska (Feb. 22, 2022) 

MARCH 13, 2022 

Putin's troops attacked Ukraine. The war began on February 24, 2022, at 5 o'clock

in the morning. Until that time, we lived, practiced beauty, sang, loved! But at once

it all ended and it was necessary to choose the risk of life under the sound of siren

explosions, or escape and look for ways to survive, but go through the evacuation.

Mom and I decided to take one suitcase in which we put only two favorite dresses

and sneakers. Tears tears tears. We left everything we had. My brother stayed

in Kyiv with his family.  In this video that I want to show, not even half of what I

had to go through. What will happen next, I don't know. We are with my mother

and cats in Poland, have not yet moved away from all this terrible. Thank you

for staying with me! Thanks for being so kind! I wish you all never go

through what I went through! I wish you all peace!

- Victory Vizhanska 

"Memories. Sweet Home" - Victory Vizhanska (March 13, 2022)