House Party Retro Review; the Voices of Rock!

As Wendy's Old Fashion Rock n' Roll House Party begins its eleventh year, I began to reflect on some of the past acts that began our series way back in 2000. So far at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts, we have been privy to some of the most authenticated acts and some of the greatest names in rock n' roll history. Just the record sale count alone is staggering. If you figure in the hit single factor of Mark Lindsay, Gary Lewis, The Shangri-Las, Mitch Ryder, Johnny Rivers, Three Dog Night, Tommy James, Lou Gramm, The Temptations, Mickey Dolenz, Herman's Hermits, Styx, The Grass Roots, Wilson Picket, and all the rest, you total well over 127 million hit singles sold! I'm here to tell you that's a lot of vintage vinyl if you take into consideration that most top ten songs sold at least a million copies each. That was the ultimate prize of any recording artist to be in the status zone of seven figures. While most of the acts that have appeared at the venue have been more "hit single" oriented. 2003 was a FM radio head's dream as the era of the album was in the spotlight as we presented "The Voices of Rock."

Back in the early 70's when FM radio began to grab the ears of younger listeners; AM top forty radio was still the king. FM program directors were trying to do everything they could to attract listeners away from the highly successful AM stations. Expanding their play lists to feature selected "album cuts" from the most popular artists that weren't being played on AM was a mighty weapon. Both the mega super groups Steppenwolf and Grand Funk Railroad had an opportunity to ride the bi-frequency crest to stardom. On your favorite AM station for instance, Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" was a burning up the air-waves, while the FM Rock stations were playing songs like " Don't Step on the Grass, Sam", " Monster," and in some rare and extremely liberal areas, " The Pusher." As this transition phase in radio was happening, it gave all of the artists who were being played on FM a bit of a renegade status, not to mention the exposure.

Mark Farner and Grand Funk Railroad was actually an FM radio product from the very beginning. The highly successful "On time" album released in 1969 got minimal airplay on the popular Top Forty AM stations, but the more cult orientated FM dial ate them up like a starving Italian at a spaghetti dinner. The song "Closer to Home (I'm Your Captain)" was the perfect and quintessential anthem song to get the attention that the art-form needed. That particular song and its mammoth popularity actually forced AM's hand to start adding it to their play lists. It was this watershed moment that helped bring mass appeal and credibility to a group that helped pioneer the fledgling FM renaissance. Both FM and AM radio was most certainly a better place for it.

While John Kay with Steppenwolf and Mark Farner and GFR took us back on April 12th, 2003 to an unforgettable era in Rock n' Roll, It's strange how many similarities still exist today. For instance "The Pusher" was a hallmark song for drug abuse and addiction of the time. In case you haven't noticed, that time still exists. While famous for some dicey verbiage, the song reeks of truth concerning the condemnation to a higher source of what drugs can do to the mortal soul. Another little known Steppenwolf anti-drug song is "Snow Blind Friend." It's a soft acoustic ballad that chronicles the decent and ultimate demise of a cocaine addict. Again, songs that still have a strong message almost 40 years later. As I watch CNN's war coverage and listen to the words of Steppenwolf's "Monster," it's almost chilling. The anti-war sentiment that was so much a part of the early late 60's and 70's music is almost a mirror image of what's going on today. Steppenwolf's album sales totaled almost 10 million reflecting song messages laden with blue collared social grit that still rides the Harley of modern consciousness.

Mark Farner and GFR are responsible for 12 Platinum albums that sold in excess of a million copies each. While they were considered major stars on the FM underground circuit, it really wasn't until 1973 and the remake of "The Locomotion" that Mark Farner and GFR jettisoned themselves onto the Top-Forty Gravy train. With a strong core of fans and now the support of both sides of the dial, Grand Funk Railroad enjoyed a run that few acts can top. From the fun and playful soul busting nugget "Some Kind of Wonderful," to the seductive and Blues laden FM classic "Mean Mistreater," their marketing versatility was astounding. Their live CD titled "Caught in the Act" is the second biggest selling live performance album behind Peter Frampton's "Frampton Comes Alive."

Portsmouth's own "Mighty Fine!" warmed up the capacity crowd that evening to non-stop classic rock n' roll energy that turned on the juice to become one of the pure power shows in the history of our ongoing series. So… for those of you who got your motor's runnin' with all the girls in the world in a state of "beware", the 4th installment of Wendy's Old Fashion Rock and Roll House Party went into the books as a rowdy rager!

During the next couple of months we will review some of the other past shows as we head into our second decade of bringing you the stars that made the hits. Tickets for Wendy's Old Fashion House Part 11 with Eric Burdon and the Animals and Felix Cavaliere and the Rascals are going fast and can be purchased at the McKinley Box office or all Ticketmaster locations. Next week, "Welcome my friend to the show that never ends!"

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Steve Hayes is a morning radio host and a syndicated columnist for Heartland Publishing.  E-mail Steve your comments... Steve@SteveHayesMedia.com 

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