Pray For Surf
One-on-One:
Phil Miglioratti Interviewed Kent Kotal,
Curator of the "Forgotten Hits" Mega-Site
One-on-One:
Phil Miglioratti Interviewed Kent Kotal, Curator of the
"Forgotten Hits" Mega-Site
PHIL ... Introduce us to Kent Kotal. Tell us your story and how you arrived at the realization you had to create Forgotten Hits.
KENT >>> Going back to the late 1990’s, oldies radio nationwide had really stagnated … while it’s true you could still find a variety of oldies radio stations on the traditional radio dial … we had three right here in Chicago at the time … they were all playing the same 200-300 songs again and again and again. You could literally drive from one end of the country to the other and hear the exact same tunes no matter what state you were in. It was just frustrating to me that something like 10,000 legitimate oldies were being ignored so that every station could play the same 2-300. SO many good songs were being ignored. Worse yet, some of the biggest names in rock music history were being reduced to one hit wonders … the only Elvis song you heard was “Suspicious Minds” … his entire rock and roll revolution was being ignored. And The Rolling Stones were represented by “Miss You,” making them the World’s Greatest Disco Band instead of the World’s Greatest Rock And Roll Band. It was a disaster!
PHIL >>> What inspired you to launch Forgotten Hits, and what early challenges did you face?
KENT >>> I had just recently signed on to the internet in 1999. I remember there was a major snowstorm and we were housebound for a couple of days – you couldn’t go out – the snow in my backyard had drifted into a peak that reached the roof of my garage – so I finally said, “Oh, what the heck – let me find out what this whole internet thing is all about.” And this was back in the day of dial-up and very slow and unreliable connections.
But skimming around searching for my musical interests, I came across the AOL Oldies Music Chat Room and found a bunch of kindred spirits who loved the oldies as much as I did … and had an appreciation for the great music that was being ignored. We talked at length about this music … and even shared sound waves with each other. We held special get-togethers just to discuss the oldies that were NOT being played.
So one I day I finally asked the group, “If I put together a little newsletter spotlighting some of these songs and artists that radio was ignoring … and gave the background story on some of this music in order to give it some attention again … would you read it?”
I got a good response and The Forgottten Hits Newsletter was born. The initial list was 35 people, some of whom are still reading it today some 26 years later.
PHIL >>> How did you build and expand your network of contributors, tipsters, and archival sources — and how do you decide what makes the cut?
KENT >>> Great word of mouth … these oldies fans told other oldies fans … and then I said “Why don’t I contact some of the oldies radio stations across the country and share these posts and ideas with them” … challenge them to push the envelope a little bit, even if it just meant playing one Forgotten Hit a day … at least it would be showcased. I believed people would tune in to hear it … “appointment radio” … and start to suggest oldies of their own.
I got nearly complete rejection from all of the stations. They were paying consultants who told them that THESE are the only 200-300 songs that listeners want to hear … they supposedly had research to bear this out … and listeners couldn’t digest more than these 2-300 songs … these are the songs they knew and loved and wanted to sing along with … and besides, according to them, nobody listens to the radio long enough to digest any more than that. I said, “Why not give them a REASON to listen longer?” Still, I got nothing but pushback … “You’re wrong … these MUST be the songs people want to hear … because everybody is playing them!” (Great logic!)
One of the jocks I began writing to was Scott Shannon … he LOVED the idea and was just about to launch The True Oldies Channel. We did any number of special promotions over the years … not only The Forgotten Hits Of The Day but also our very popular “First 45” series … and any number of special countdowns and themed-programming. He was VERY instrumental in getting the word out there about Forgotten Hits … so much so that it became impossible to just do an emailed newsletter anymore … this list was too big and “bulk mailing” was throwing a lot of my emails into spam folders (or rejecting them completely) That’s when Scott said, “It’s time to do a website” … and in 2008, The Forgotten Hits Websites were born.
PHIL >>> How many years, how many posts?
KENT >>> When I first started sending the emails, I figured I’d do one or two a month … pace myself and pick the best Forgotten Hits possible … but that quickly snowballed due to the demand for more … and beginning on Thanksgiving Weekend, 1999, thru February, 2008, it went out as nearly a daily email.
Then, on February 9th, 2008 (the 44th anniversary of The Beatles’ first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show”), my first website post went up. (It’s still there>>>)
In fact, EVERY post from February 9th, 2008, thru today, is still up on the site and available for viewing. We’ve been posting special features almost daily ever since … 26 years and counting. There’s a search engine in the top, upper left-hand corner of the site – if there’s something specific you’re looking for, you can type it in there and chances are dozens of pages will pop up … it feels like we’ve covered just about everything over the past 26 years!
PHIL >>> What has been the response or engagement have you seen —
KENT >>> Once oldies radio started to talk about Forgotten Hits (there were about 200 disc jockeys on the list at the time … and some would frequently quote from Forgotten Hits on the air), I decided to approach some of the artists themselves … and as a general rule, if I could reach them they were generally willing to participate and answer questions from readers or talk about specific stages of their careers. This is when we really went over the top … as we were providing a forum where oldies music fans, the disc jockeys playing this music and the artists that RECORDED this music were all sharing their memories together in one place.
To this day, I am still amazed at some of the connections we’ve made. I will ALWAYS be a fan first … so this is like a dream come true for me. Even now, a reader may ask a question and I can contact the artist direct and sometimes have an answer within the next ten minutes!!! It’s frickin’ AMAZING!!!
We become regarded as a highly respected source for oldies information. Several music authorities have written books and cited our site as a source of information. I’m amazed sometimes when I see us credited in Wikipedia … and find some of our posts translated into different languages so they can be shared across the globe. It really is overwhelming sometimes.
PHIL >>> Have you received responses from any of the artists (or their families/estates) you’ve featured? If so, how did that interaction change your perspective or future coverage?”
KENT >>> It varies. Most artists are very receptive and appreciative of what we do … but I remember contacting Johnny Tillotson many, many years ago and him writing back “Take me off this God-forsaken list!!!” When I interviewed Bobby Rydell several years ago, he was hesitant at first to talk for more than fifteen minutes … that was sort of his standard interview time. Over the course of a week, we ended up talking for HOURS until he finally hit a point where he said “That’s enough … we’re through.”
But in Bobby’s case, he had a new book coming out and every other publication you read from coast-to-coast took the approach of “Bobby was the Justin Bieber of his day.” I gave him full coverage for a week straight … more than ANY other publication or journalist or disc jockey could … and once he saw it, he started mentioning my interview with him during other interviews he was doing!!! It was GREAT! (√here>>>)
PHIL >>> Highlight a few stand-out posts or exclusive news pieces - and explain why they were so impactful...
KENT >>> The first one that really put us on the map was “Who Played The First Beatles Record In America.” Several disc jockeys were laying claim to this feat and I wanted to prove once and for all who really did. We debunked a lot of myths along the way … the timelines documented as history were way out of whack. Our moto has always been to present The Most Accurate Truth possible … and that’s a lot harder than it sounds. SO many myths have been circulated over the years … memories fade … artists repeat “legends” rather than factual events … and it becomes a convoluted mess. But once we were done and sorted out all the facts, we were able to determine that the very first disc jockey to play a Beatles record in America was Dick Biondi, right here in Chicago, in February of 1963.
The record tanked … it charted on WLS for two weeks and peaked at #35 … and then disappeared for a year until Beatlemania finally hit America in January of 1964. (America was VERY late to the party when it came to The British Invasion … but then once we caught on, it exploded like nothing we’d ever seen before!)
Next we took on The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame … this series got picked up by radio stations all over the country … and all of a sudden I was being interviewed on the air everywhere imaginable. It was crazy … I actually had to take days off from work to be able to appear as often as they wanted to talk to me … sometimes doing three or four interviews a day!!!
Unfortunately, that series isn’t posted anywhere anymore … this dates back to the emailed newsletter days so it’s sort of lost to the ages. I had an interview scheduled with The President of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Museum … but he cancelled it when I ran the story about The Dave Clark Five being snubbed in favor of a rap act even though they had more votes from the Hall of Fame committee. They eventually got in the following year but by then lead singer Mike Smith had passed away … so it was a very painful resolution to the story.
We’ve done some great interviews with artists like Burton Cummings, Peter Noone, Tommy Roe, Bobby Hart … they’re all still available for viewing via special links at the bottom of the main web page.
We’ve done polls on your All-Time Favorite Psychedelic Songs, your Favorite Instrumentals, the Most Essential Classic Rock Songs, your Favorite Songs Of Summer, your All-Time Favorite B-Sides, TV Themes … ALL kinds of cool stuff has come up over the years. Our First 45’s series was HUGE … we received THOUSANDS of responses to that one … because if you’re a music person, this was a significant event in your lifetime …
And all of these pages live on thru the links at the bottom of the site.
PHIL >>> Create for us your personal "Top 10 Forgotten Hits" ... why do they rate this distinction?
KENT >>> Wow … I couldn’t even begin to make a list like that ‘cause it’ll change depending on which day you ask me!
Now with the popularity of internet radio and stations like Rewound Radio and Me-TV-FM, most of what were previously classified as Forgotten Hits are getting airplay again … which I take as a small victory. (It only took me twenty years to get the point across!!!)
And guess what … people are hearing these songs again and loving it!!! As far as I know, nobody’s head has exploded from musical overload.
Sadly, terrestrial oldies radio has all but disappeared … and that’s a shame … because this music has proven to be timeless. But new people are discovering it every day. The fact that so much of this music is still being used in movies and television ad campaigns is very encouraging. Out of the blue, a 63 year old Connie Francis album track became a Tik-Tok sensation last year … Connie didn’t even remember recording it!!! Brenda Lee’s 1958 recording of “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” topped Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart the year before that … some 66 years after she first recorded it! New Beatles releases and Rolling Stones releases are outselling many of the hottest artists of today. We’ve proven our point … and I don’t believe this music will ever die. It will outlive us all.
SO many of these artists have left us now so seeing and hearing this music performed live has become more and more challenging. But as long as radio doesn’t give up, I think it’ll last forever. You can’t say that about any other era of music that came before it. The rock and roll fad that was supposed to be over in fifteen minutes is now in its 70th year!!!
PHIL >>> Kent, how did your interest in The Beach Boys begin, and how have they figured in Forgotten Hits’ narrative?
KENT >>> I first discovered The Beach Boys in 1964 thru their release “I Get Around.” I was new to Top 40 radio at the time, drawn in by the sounds of The British Invasion, my first true love in regards to music. (It probably still is!)
When I heard their voices in sync with the pulsating rhythm of “I Get Around,” I was hooked … and fell in love with virtually everything else they did before and since. (Who would have ever thought that less than a year later Brian Wilson would be writing his first symphony … because what else can you call the opening melody that takes you into “California Girls” if not truly symphonic?)
The Beach Boys don’t have a lot of “forgotten hits” in the usual sense … but they fell out of favor with radio for a while there in the early ‘70’s and as such, some GREAT music of theirs was ignored at the time. (I remember writing a series surrounding The Beach Boys’ best overlooked tracks … start here>>> ... And then click the “Newer Posts” tab at the bottom of the page and it will take you thru the music of The Beach Boys, 1970’s and 1980’s)
Can you believe that masterpieces like “Break Away,” “Add Some Music To Your Day,” “Surf’s Up” and “Sail On Sailor” ALL failed to make Billboard’s Top 40 when they were first released?
While “Pet Sounds” has long been considered The Beach Boys’ holy grail, my favorite album of theirs has always been “Sunflower.” It just showed how much they had advanced under the radar because it just wasn’t cool to play surf music on the radio anymore during the psychedelic and hard rock late ‘60’s.
PHIL >>> What is their most significant "forgotten" song?
KENT >>> Wow, that’s a tough one … because so many of those songs have come into view in the years since. Even something as obscure as “Feel Flows” garnered some new respect when it was featured in the film “Almost Famous.” “Til I Die” is another GREAT tune that shows the pure genius of Brian Wilson. While highly revered today, it was all but ignored when first released.
PHIL >>> Who is on your Mt. Rushmore of Rock (4 greatest acts/artists) and where do The Beach Boys place?
KENT >>> Well, you have to start with Elvis and The Beatles, of course (who take up four spots on their own!) As far as significant artists that have changed the face of rock music it’s hard to ignore the phenomena of Michael Jackson and The Bee Gees, who both had significant careers already in place before they literally EXPLODED on the scene again thanks to the “Thriller” and Disco Eras. I mean, who does that … racks up nearly a dozen hits and then comes back at a force of ten times that of their original impact.
But there are so many others. The Beach Boys, of course, would factor into this … so would The Eagles, Chuck Berry (who gave The Beach Boys their first Top Five Hit in ages with their retched remake of “Rock And Roll Music,” which I think is one of the worst records they ever made … again, look at all the great, timeless and revolutionary music they made between 1969 and 1975 that failed … and THIS is the record that brought them back?!?!)
How do you leave out The Rolling Stones? The Supremes? My Mt. Rushmore is going to have DOZENS of heads on it!
PHIL >>> Which Beach Boys song, album, concert, post is your favorite/holds special meaning for you, and is there a post or story behind why it resonates?
KENT >>> If you search The Beach Boys on Forgotten Hits, hundreds and hundreds of posts will come up. I have seen The Beach Boys more times than I can possibly count … as well as solo shows by Brian Wilson and Al Jardine. I even saw Carl Wilson’s solo show when he left the band for a short while and opened for The Doobie Brothers up at Alpine Valley!
My biggest regret is that I never saw The Beach Boys WITH Brian Wilson. Brian’s band (still touring as The Pet Sounds Band, with Al Jardine at the helm) was probably more gifted than The Beach Boys themselves on stage … I always felt it was a shame that Mike Love wouldn’t allow the group to continue as a unit and instead split it into two touring entities. (I think Bruce would have gone along with it.) The idea that The Beach Boys toured for decades without a single Wilson Brother in it is sacrilege to me … THAT’S the name that founded and led this band. Taking nothing away from Mike’s contributions … lord knows he’s been screwed over countless times over the years … and it is HIS vocals that will most closely be associated with the “sound” of The Beach Boys … but these guys should have been able to set their differences aside and tour together as one unit, if only for the sake of the fans.
All of that being said, the one concert that will ALWAYS stand out for me will be the time I took my then four year old daughter to see The Beach Boys at Poplar Creek.
As I’ve said countless times over the years, the music of The Beach Boys is timeless … it has crossed over thru at least four generations since they first started making hit records back in 1962 … and my family was no exception. I passed my love of The Beach Boys down to my daughter Nicki, who by the age of four could sing all of their hit songs. (She even had a Beach Boys bumper sticker on the back of her tricycle!!!)
So when The Beach Boys and Chicago came to Poplar Creek, we just had to go. I grabbed a blanket, figuring that it was likely a sold out show. (This was a very last minute decision to go … but I figured we’d just camp out on the lawn and at least there’d be a blanket there for her to fall asleep on when that time ultimately came.)
Boy, was I wrong!
We ended up with SECOND ROW SEATS, front and center, and this kid was up all night singing and dancing along for the whole show! The band catered to her immediately (as did Chicago!), waving and throwing her beach balls, pointing her out on the big screen … it was amazing … COMPLETELY unexpected and the concert and memory of a lifetime. (When they came back to town about six months later I had to pay ridiculous scalper ticket prices to see them again … because how could I possibly let her sit anywhere but the second row from this point onward?!?!)
Strangely enough, many years later, SHE was able to see their 50th Anniversary Tour while I was not … another concert event regret. (Same thing happened when The White Sox won The World Series!!!) lol
Favorite Beach Boys Song >>> Couldn’t pick one … or even twenty … and even if I did, the list would probably change a day or two later … there are just too many … but Nicki and I DID dance to “God Only Knows” at her wedding
Album >>> “Sunflower,” followed by “Pet Sounds.” For me, their albums weren’t always their strongest suit. Too much throw-away stuff and clowning around on the early albums … and then once Brian stepped back (and often out of the picture) after “Pet Sounds,” we later learned that all too often they were scraping together tracks from all kinds of sources and assembling them on to one LP just to meet contract release commitments. Every once in a while, I’ll put an entire album on … but if I do, it will usually be one of those two.
Concert >>> See above … it just doesn’t get any better than that!!!
Post >>> Do the search and you guys pick!!! I love ANY excuse to feature The Beach Boys on our site … concert review, a review of a new release, pointing out some of the overlooked tracks … we’ve done it all over the years.
PHIL >>> If you had the chance to interview any one artist or figure featured on Forgotten Hits, who would it be and what would your opening question be?
KENT >>> Wow, another tough question. I would have loved the opportunity to do a really in-depth interview with Brian Wilson … meaning enough time to have him actually get comfortable with me and the idea of talking to me … and then just seeing where it would all have gone from there. Paul McCartney would be another one … I have always been fascinated by him, although I probably think less of him today than I did prior to the past twenty years or so. Still, it would be a fascinating opportunity if enough time could be spent to really dig deep.
PHIL >>> If readers or collectors have rare material, photos, or stories to contribute, how should they reach you — and how do you decide what to feature or credit?”
KENT >>> Forgotten Hits has always been an inter-active exchange between readers and artists … I’m just the glue that holds it all together. There is nothing more that we love than sharing special memories of our music experiences. We’ve touched on some of them … your First 45 … your favorite psychedelic song or instrumental … we once did a series where we awarded prizes to the best definition of psychedelic as described to a nine year old! And then we let our nine year old pick the winners!!!
We did a series on “goosebump songs” … which songs gave you goosebumps the first time you heard them … and do some of these songs still have that same effect on you today, some 50-60 years later.
PHIL >>> What’s next for Forgotten Hits? Are there new formats, partnerships, or archives you hope to develop?
KENT >>> If Forgotten Hits is new to you, I think you’ll be amazed at all you’ll find here. You could spend the next decade or so just trying to catch up! (Lol) Like I said, it’s all still there … just follow the links at the bottom of the page. I’m very proud of our 1967 series that ran for an entire year back in 2017 … a fifty year salute to my favorite year in music.
We’ve done many partnerships over the years, tying into to radio station promotions or special programming … we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to give away prizes and free concert tickets over the years … but most of these areas have really slowed down at this point … there just aren’t as many opportunities as there once were (although we recently were able to offer half-price tickets to see Chubby Checker inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at The Arcada Theatre in St. Charles) … we also got Ron Onesti to book John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band for a show there on November 2nd … their first Chicagoland appearance in over thirty years … thanks to the interview we did with John and the release of a brand new album, also his first in over thirty years … and it’s a good one, too!
I used to do a lot more radio show appearances … and interviews like this one … but this, too, has slowed down over the past several years.
I’d love to spend more time on the archives … maybe now that I’ve officially retired, I’ll finally find the time to do so. But there’s just SO much there to go thru … and still try to keep new postings going up every day. It can be a very challenging labor of love to say the least … but I’m always trying to make it better and keep things interesting. We’ve had almost 7.5 million visitors to the site since we rolled it out in 2008 … so I’d have to say that word of mouth is still pretty good!
PHIL >>> Over the years, have you ever wanted to quit or slow down — and what keeps you going when the work gets heavy?
KENT >>> I keep saying I’m going to slow down … maybe cut things back to just once or twice a week (which is all this was ever supposed to be in the first place) … but now we’ve done something like 8500 posts and emails over the past 26 years, so who’s to say? (People are always telling me that I should write a book … and I say, “I did … it’s just taken me 26 years to finish it!”)
Yeah, there are times when I feel like slowing down … but now that I’m retired, I have more time than ever before to work on it … and I find myself doing MORE research than ever. And there’s always new stuff happening. I think I feel like as long as there’s still an interest or a demand for Forgotten His, I’ll keep doing this. (I never expected it to last more than five years … and yet here we are!)
We still get compliments for what we do all the time … thank you’s for keeping the music alive … some of our readers have been with us for decades … our focus has certainly evolved over the years … we don’t really do “daily forgotten hits” anymore because, like I said earlier, oldies radio (especially internet oldies radio) has greatly expanded their playlists. Now instead of 200-300 songs, a station like Rewound Radio might have 7000 songs available to feature … Me-TV-FM probably has 3000-3500 … so I feel like we’ve done our job and accomplished what we set out to do. (Both these stations are well worth a listen if you’re not already enjoying them!)
PHIL >>> One more thing you'd like to share with us...?
KENT >>> Nah, I’ve rambled on here for hours now … everybody’s probably sick of me by now …
But I do want to thank you for the opportunity to do this interview … and the chance to let your audience discover what we do. Thanks, Phil, I appreciate it.
Parting Words: Make Forgotten Hits part of your daily routine …
You’ll find brand new postings damn near every single day.
You never know what you’re going to find here …
But if you love oldies music … or simply sharing memories of the ‘50’s, ‘60’s, ‘70’s and ‘80’s … I think you’re gonna like it here! (kk)
PFS NOTE ~
My Forgotten Hits post as The Beach Boys 50th Reunion Tour was shaping up>>>
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