Cruisin' 1960 With Dick Biondi - The Wild I-tralian!

 QUESTION: 

 Where do people go in February 
 to escape old man winter? 

 ANSWER: Buffalo, NY! 

It's time once again to go Cruisin'.

The year is 1960 and we're

goin' north to Alaska

shuffling off to Buffalo

to join radio personality

 Dick Biondi at WKBW!

Listen to this 2 minute aircheck to get familiar with Dick's voice and style.

 BUSTER 

 BROWN 

The wailing blues harmonica intro
allows oldies fans to name that tune,
"Fannie Mae," in two seconds flat.
In his intro on the 1960 Cruisin'
album, top 40 DJ Dick Biondi,
the self-described Wild I-tralian
of Buffalo, shouts "Buster Brown!"

at the perfect moment, just before
the melody kicks in. "Fannie Mae"
was Buster Brown's biggest hit.

The blues rocker topped the
R&B chart and reached the
top 40 on the pop survey.

 "Fannie Mae" - Buster Brown 

 (Mar./Apr. 1960, highest chart pos. 

 #1 R&B/#34 Cash Box/#38 Hot 100) 

 THE ROLLING STONES 

I'm breaking the Cruisin' rules by jumping ahead to 1965. (You'll just

have to sue me.) I'm doing so because this is the perfect time to play

one of my favorite B sides, the fab flip of The Rolling Stones'

Jaggernaut "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."

Listen to "The Under Assistant

West Coast Promotion Man,"

a song the Stones based on

Buster Brown's "Fannie Mae,"

written as a poke in the ribs

aimed at their promo man at

London Records, the fellow

who accompanied Mick and

his mates on their first

American tour. Note the

familiar riff which sounds

a lot like "Fannie Mae."

 "The Under Assistant West Coast 

 Promotion Man" - The Rolling Stones 

 {July 1965, B side of "(I Can't Get 
 No) Satisfaction"} 

 LITTLE ANTHONY 

 AND THE IMPERIALS 

When lead singer "Little Anthony" Gourdine joined the New York doo-wop

group in 1957, they were called The Chesters. A label change and a new

name, The Imperials, led to the top 5 hit record "Tears On My Pillow"

in the fall of '58. In the early weeks of 1960 the group, now called

Little Anthony And The Imperials, were climbing the charts

with their latest hit "Shimmy, Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop."

 "Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop" 

 - Little Anthony & the Imperials 
 (Jan./Feb. 1960, highest chart pos. 

 #14 R&B/#21 Cash Box/#24 Hot 100) 

 CHUBBY CHECKER 

Written in 1949, the dance ditty "The Hucklebuck" was a top 5

hit for Tommy Dorsey and a top 10 hit for Frank Sinatra.

In the fall of 1960, Carolina born, Philadelphia raised

singer Ernest "Chubby Checker" Evans released

a rollicking version of the song as the follow-up

to his monster hit "The Twist." By year's end,

Chubby's "Hucklebuck" record was another

 crossover hit, reaching the top 15 on the

pop and R&B charts. 

 "The Hucklebuck" - Chubby Checker 

 (Nov./Dec. 1960, highest chart pos. 

 #13 Cash Box/#14 Hot 100/#15 R&B)  

 MARV 

 JOHNSON 

Detroit soul man Marv Johnson sang

on the first record released by the

company that became Motown.

Marv racked up million sellers

in the U.S. and was also quite

popular in Australia and the UK.

In 1960, Marv hit the top 10

Pop and came close to the #1

spot on the R&B chart with the
 infectious up tempo dance 45

"I Love the Way You Love."

 "I Love the Way You Love" - Marv Johnson 

 (Apr. 1960, highest chart pos. #2 R&B, 

 #8 Cash Box/#9 Hot 100) 

 THE EVERLY BROTHERS 

"Wake Up Little Susie," the smash

hit by The Everly Brothers, was

one of my favorite songs as a boy.

With a style that was a pleasing

blend of country, rockabilly and
rock 'n' roll, Phil & Don proved
that old school is cool. I'll never

forget that night in the late 60s

when I was listening to an

oldies radio show and was
blown away when, for the

first time, I heard the

Everlys' cool cover

of  Little Richard's

R&B hit "Lucille."  

 "Lucille" - The Everly Brothers  

 (Oct. 1960, highest chart pos. 

 #21 Hot 100/#41 Cash Box) 

 Don't miss the next 

 thrill packed episode 

 of Cruisin' coming soon! 

Have a Shady day!