We're all about the history of rock & roll at BoomtownAmerica.com!

Every week, we present “ROCK REMEMBERED,” a deep dive into the hidden history of rock & roll, the stories behind the artists and songs that changed the world. Join host, “Boomtown Bill” Cross each Wednesday at 7 pm (Eastern) with an encore broadcast on Saturday at noon (Eastern).

Join us this Wednesday as we play "The Songs Lennon & McCartney Gave Away!"

A stone-cold favorite of so many people, some have called it the greatest record ever. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” was a record that needed a lot of things to break right to make it out of the studio and onto a record– and they did.

Phil Spector was already a legendary producer in 1964. But nearly all of his hits had featured young black female singers (most notably Veronica Bennett and Darlene Love) singing behind his famous “Wall of Sound.” Spector wanted to try a production that featured male singers.

The Righteous Brothers had been performing around Southern California for a couple of years – first as part of a quartet called the Paramours and then as a duo – named by an audience member who shouted, “That’s righteous, brother!” at one of their shows.

Spector had his singers; now he needed a song. He called two of his favorite composers, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil. The husband & wife team had already written a number of hits for Spector and other production teams in the early ’60s.

Mann says he and Weil decided to create something that started slowly and built, like “Baby, I Need Your Loving.” Mann even came up with the opening line, “You never close your eyes when we kiss anymore,” He says he actually took a line from another song he wrote (“I Love How You Love Me” – the Paris Sisters) and tweaked it. Then he and Weil poured all the memories of various unhappy love affairs into crafting what became initially two verses and the chorus. But they were stuck coming up with a bridge.

They played the song over the phone to Spector (Mann & Weil were based in New York, Spector was in Hollywood). Spector loved what he heard and flew the couple out to L.A. to collaborate on completing the song. 

Spector started fooling around on the piano with a musical figure he took from “Hang On Sloopy.” Weil came up with the line, “Baby, I’d get down on my knees for you.” To finish the bridge, Spector just started singing a lot of whoas. Mann & Weil wanted to create lyrics where Spector put the “whoas,” but Spector said no.

So, they brought in Bill Medley & Bobby Hatfield and played the song for them with Mann singing the lead and Spector adding the harmony. When they were done, Medley replied, “Sounds good… for the Everly Brothers” and was ready to turn the entire thing down. Spector convinced the duo to wait until they heard the instrumental track he’d put together.

A few weeks later, Spector had most of his instrumental track put together. The Righteous Brothers listened and thought they might be able to do something with the song. But there was one more problem: Spector didn’t want Hatfield singing on the verses, only the chorus and bridge. So, Hatfield had to be calmed down and talked into agreeing to the session.

For inspiration, Medley says he focused on how he felt when his girlfriend (who eventually became his wife) had dumped him for a period that lasted six months.

The guys worked on the song for 4 hours a day for several weeks before Spector was satisfied. But now he had another problem. The record, as produced, ran 3:45. This was in a time when most pop records clocked in at 2:30, with some not even making it to 2:00. Spector’s solution was ingenious if a bit devious. He simply lied about the running time.

He had labels printed that claimed the song clocked in at 3:05. The trick worked. In no time, the song was racing up he charts, launching a string of hits for the Righteous Brothers and eventually becoming the song with the most radio airplays ever!

BTW – Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil remained married until Cynthia passed away in 2023. Talk about a Lovin’ Feelin’!

In television’s early days, the hands-down, most popular, can’t miss genre was Westerns. Especially when it came to kids’ programs.

One of the many lies that TV peddled so easily in those more innocent days was that the American West was somehow virtually unchanged from its post-Civil War heyday. Sure, there might be telephones and here and there a jeep to help with the ranching, but people still preferred to ride horses and settled their disputes with a good ol’ six-shooter.

One Western that bucked that trend was Sky King, who not only didn’t ride a horse; he didn’t even ride in a car. No sir. Sky King help keep law and order along that still untamed frontier in an airplane! Not just any airplane – but in the legendary Songbird!

Right off, how fortunate was it that his parents thought to name him Schuyler (a.k.a. “Sky”) and that his last name was King? I mean, talk about wacky coincidences!

And while he didn’t ride horses, he must have been raising them because, like any self-respecting Western hero of the 1950’s, he lived on a ranch, the Flying Crown.

Sky wasn’t actually a lawman. He was just a private citizen with a private plane (first a Cessna T-50 and then a Cessna 310-B). Lucky for him (and us), the local sheriff was always needing his help and he had a niece who frequently got herself into trouble.

Sky was played by Kirby Grant, a little long in the tooth (already in his 40’s when the show began) and just a wee bit beefy to make an ideal Western hero. But we hardly noticed. His niece, Penny was played by Gloria Winters. Every so often Penny’s brother, Clipper (played by Ron Hagerthy), would show up just to relieve the monotony of constantly rescuing Penny.

The show actually got started on radio in 1946 (with a totally different cast). It made the jump to TV in 1951 as a Sunday afternoon show on NBC. It moved to Saturday mornings on ABC in 1952 and then actually moved to a prime-time slot on Mondays during the 1953 TV season.

When ABC cancelled the show in 1954, it remained in production and began selling to local stations in syndication.

Production ceased in 1959, but the show continued on as CBS broadcast reruns as part of its Saturday morning line-up (sponsored by Nabisco) all the way until 1966. Most Boomers remember the show best from this CBS run.

For years, there were rumors that Kirby Grant had actually shacked up with his younger co-star Gloria Winters after the show ended. As titillating as that thought might be, these rumors were not true.

Gloria actually married a member of the Sky King production crew, Dean Vernon and settled in California.

Kirby Grant and his wife Carolyn moved to Florida, where he founded the Sky King Youth Ranches of America that provided homes for abandoned and orphaned children. He died in an automobile accident in 1985 on his way to Cape Canaveral to watch a space shot.

That was ironic as many of America’s astronauts have claimed they first got interested in flying by watching Sky King.

Many male American males have claimed they first got interested in girls because of Sky’s niece, Penny (see “Pencil Thin Mustache” by Jimmy Buffet).

We’d like to think that somewhere the Songbird is still out there, patrolling those “Western skies!”

Before Saturday morning cartoons, rock 'n' roll, video games and the internet, here was the real danger to America's "moral fiber;"

It's no big secret that as we age, our bones tend to grow a bit more brittle. Here's what the experts say you can do to keep your bones strong:

1. Cut out soda - The acid in those fizzy drinks can diminish bone mass

2. Work out every day - A daily walk can help keep bones strong

3. Get enough calcium - Baby Boomers need up tp 1,2000 miligrams a day