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 Saturday as we start our countdown on "The Top 10 Debut Albums of All Time!"

And it's 16-bit!

Think you have all of Paul McCartney’s solo albums? You don’t if you don’t have this one, the oddest of all Beatles oddities – Thrillington.

During the recording of McCartney’s second solo effort, Ram, he decided to record a second version of the LP as lounge music instrumentals!

Paul and Linda also decided to form a new rock band, which became known as Wings. That proved to take up most of Paul’s time, so the instrumental album sat on the shelf for 6 years.

When he finally decided to release it in April of 1977, he created a totally fictious persona, British socialite Percy Thrillington as the album’s creator. He then took out ads in various British music papers chronicling the comings and goings of Thrillington.

The album came out and was virtually ignored by all but a small handful of fans who saw through the deception.

McCartney finally confessed to the hoax during an interview in 1989. By that time, the album was already out of print.

A few years later, McCartney also confessed to being Clint Harrigan, who had written the liner notes for both Thrillington and the Wings’ album Wild Life.

Thrillington came back into print with CD releases on 1995, 2004 and as a special 2^nd disc with a deluxe re-release of Ram in 2012.

The album was also re-issued on CD, vinyl, and limited edition colored vinyl in May, 2018.

So if you ever wondered what the Ram album would sound like if it had been recorded by Les Brown and His Band of Renown, wonder no longer!

As we age, most people know that our sight and our hearing deteriorate. What most don’t know is that our other 3 senses (smell, taste and touch) can also diminish.

Here’s some practical tips for keeping your senses sharp.

Sight: Exercise (helps blood flow to your eyes) and a good amount of sleep

Hearing: Wear ear plugs around loud noises (lawnmower, power tools, etc.), watch your weight (lower blood pressure helps keep the cells in your ears healthy)

Smell: Exercise, avoid strong aromas, and even spending time smelling familiar aromas can help maintain your sense of smell

Taste: Maintain good dietary health (blood sugar, etc.) and experience more complex and intense flavors when eating

Touch: Exercise and practice touching and being touched (hugs, pet the dog or cat, schedule a massage, etc.)

One of the great movies of our adolescent years was Bye Bye Birdie, the film version of the successful Broadway musical.

It’s one of the rare instances when the changes Hollywood inevitably brings to Broadway adaptations actually improved the story.

The story was inspired by Elvis Presley’s 1957 induction into the army. The title character’s name was a play on then current rock singer (and future country star) Conway Twitty.

Dick Van Dyke and Paul Lynde were brought in from the stage show to play essentially the same parts.

There were two big changes.

The first was in the character played by Dick Van Dyke, Albert Peterson.

On the stage, Albert was Birdie’s manager who really wanted to be an English teacher. As anyone today knows, the manager of a rock star like Elvis would have been rolling in dough and his money-maker toddling off to serve Uncle Sam would not have slowed the gravy train all that much. But in the Broadway show, somehow Albert is broke and going to be broker once Birdie is in the army.

Irving Brecher, who adapted the musical for the screen, gave Albert a much more plausible situation. In the film, he is a wannabe songwriter who discovered Birdie but foolishly let his best friend become Birdie’s manager with the promise that Conrad would someday sing some of Albert’s songs.

This makes Dick Van Dyke’s poverty much more believable. It also adds some urgency to the movie’s main plot point – Conrad singing Albert’s song “One Last Kiss,” his last hope for success as a songwriter.

The second change was to focus the movie on Ann-Margaret’s character and not Janet Leigh’s. Columbia was (correctly) convinced that Ann-Margaret would become a major star and that the movie would find a wider audience with teenagers than adults. In fact, this change inspired Paul Lynde to quip that the movie ought to be re-titled “Hello, Ann-Margaret!”

Some things to watch:

• The town square and courthouse where Conrad Birdie lays the town of Sweet Apple to waste with his rendition of “Honestly Sincere” is the same one that figures so prominently in Back to the Future. The only thing different is the big clock on the courthouse added for the Michael J. Fox film.
• The multi-image screen images used for “The Telephone Hour” musical number were quite innovative for the time.
• While Bobby Rydell never acted in any more movies, he did wind up getting a high school named after him in Grease.
• In addition, Oona White’s choreography is this film heavily influenced the staging of musical numbers in 1978’s film version of Grease.
• The film did not fare as well in the UK. By the time it opened, British teens thought the film was making fun of their obsession with the Beatles. (Elvis who?)
• Regardless of what the Brits thought, the film’s “We Love You Conrad” song was re-tooled for Beatlemania by the Carefrees in 1964.
• Ann-Margaret’s torrid opening number, “Bye Bye Birdie” was written especially for the film
• That opening number also became a major plot point in the television series Mad Men.

While Van Dyke, Leigh and Lynde were understandably upset with the way Hollywood changed Bye Bye Birdie, the studio knew best. The film was a huge hit and has gone on to become one of the best remembered, best loved, and most influential films from that era.