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!"

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.)

Imagine a TV series where Miss Hathaway from Beverly Hillbillies, Alice from The Brady Bunch and Dobie Gillis all hung out together. There was such a series in the 1950’s, originally called The Bob Cummings Show, but better remembered due to the name it adopted for its far longer tenure in syndication, Love That Bob!

Bob Cummings starred as Bob Collins (continuing the long-standing but frankly puzzling sit-com tradition where the lead actor uses their real first name but a fictitious last name).

Cummings played a glamour photographer who was always surrounded by stunningly gorgeous models, many of whom he loved and left. Back then, he was a rakish playboy. Today, we’d call him commitment-phobic. Bob’s character was also interested in aviation.

In real life, photography and flying private planes were two of Cummings’ major interests. We suspect dating beautiful women was also an interest as he was married five times.

On Love That Bob, Cummings lived with his widowed sister, played by Rosemary DeCamp and her son, Chuck (played by Dwayne Hickman). Chuck idolized Bob to the constant worry of his sister.

The real breakout character on the show was Bob’s lovelorn secretary, Schultzy, played by the immortal Ann B. Davis. Schultzy made no secret of her love for Bob, but she was hopelessly outclassed by the drop-dead gorgeous models who filled Bob’s studio. Ann B. Davis fared somewhat better. She received two Emmys for her work as Schultzy and eventually gained TV immortality when she was cast as the housekeeper on The Brady Bunch.

(Davis actually returned to the Schultzy character in The Brady Bunch Movie made in 1995!)

Also occasionally dropping around the office to moon over Bob was Nancy Kulp as Pamela Livingstone, an avid bird watcher. And on several episodes, Cummings played dual roles, appearing as his own grandfather, Josh Collins.

The creator, producer and head writer for the show was a guy named Paul Henning. He would go on to greater fame and much greater fortune as the creator of The Beverly Hillbillies (where he cast Kulp as Miss Hathaway), Petticoat Junction (where CBS actually let him name a town Hooterville) and Green Acres (still one of the most surrealistic shows ever on network television).

Love That Bob started out on NBC in 1955, then moved to CBS for two years and then back to NBC for another two years.

Stan Lee said he initially based the Pepper Potts character in Iron Man on Davis’ Schultzy, although he quickly moved the character in another direction.

Many of the show's episodes have lapsed into public domain and can be found on a variety of budget DVDs.

BTW – the show was bankrolled by none other than George Burns, who knew a thing or two about good comedy.

And it's 16-bit!