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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 explore the fascinating stories behind some of Rock's greatest "One-Hit Wonders!"

One of the biggest, most popular TV shows from the Baby Boomers' childhood was The Mickey Mouse Club. Airing after school Monday through Friday on ABC, it was “must-see TV” for our generation.

While the Mouseketeers were the main attraction, no one was prepared for the popularity of the first serial to air on that program: “The Adventures of Spin and Marty.” Debuting on Friday, November 4, 1955, the rather mild adventures of Marty Markham and Spin Evans, proved to be an instant smash, spawning two sequels, a comic book series, and plenty of other merchandise.

The serial was shot during the summer of 1955 before The Mickey Mouse Club debuted on ABC. They did this so the cast of mostly school-age boys could work during their summer school vacation. The location was the Golden Oak Ranch in southern California. Today that ranch is owned by the Disney Studios and has been used frequently for exterior shooting, including scenes for their long-running Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise. “Spin & Marty’s” budget was set at $600,000 ($7.1 million in 2025 dollars) – quite pricey for something that was just one part of the hour-long Mouse Club episodes. But Walt always insisted on quality no matter the cost.

Based on the 1942 novel Martin Markham by Lawrence Edward Watkin, “The Adventures of Spin & Marty” was adapted by veteran TV writer Jackson Gillis and directed by William Beaudine.

Playing Spin and Marty, respectively, were Tim Considine, who appeared in lots of Disney’s stuff as a kid before becoming one of the original siblings on My Three Sons, and David Stollery. For whatever reason, Stollery gave up acting soon after “Spin & Marty” for a career as an auto designer for Toyota. Considine passed away in 2022. Stollery is still with us.

“The Adventures of Spin & Marty” comprised 25 episodes. The plot involved spoiled snob Marty Markham being forced to spend the summer at the Triple-R Boys’ Camp. He’s accompanied to the camp by his valet, Perkins, played by veteran British character actor J. Pat O’Malley. Of course, the main story arc has Marty slowly coming out of his shell and becoming best buds with Spin, easily the most popular kid at the Trile-R. The serial’s climax involved a rodeo with their rival, Northfork Boys’ Camp.

Perkins provides most of the laughs in the serial, occasionally joined by the camp’s Asian cook, Sam, portrayed by Sammee Tong, who’s most famous for playing a similar role on the long-running sitcom, Bachelor Father. Of course, there's also a crusty ranch hand named Ollie, who supplied the serials' catch phrase, “Well, I’ll be a blue-nosed gopher.”

The Triple-R is owned by Colonel Jim Logan (Roy Barcroft), with Harry Carey, Jr. featured as the boys’ counselor, Bill Burnett. Carey grew up on a California cattle ranch and had a long career in movies, mostly in Westerns. See if you can spot him in the saloon scenes in Back to the Future III.

What made "Spin & Marty" successful wasn't the plot. That moves slowly and, even at our young age, we could tell where the plot was going. The appeal of Gillis’ script lay in correctly capturing the summer camp experience many Baby Boomers were starting to live through themselves. Plus, the kids didn’t seem like actors. They were relatable to us, like friends.

As said, the serial proved enormously popular so additional adventures showed up in each of the Mouse Club's subsequent seasons. With the second installment in 1956, “The Further Adventures of Spin and Marty,” something new was added – girls!

Annette Funicello was rapidly becoming the most popular of all the Mouseketeers, so Disney put her in this sequel, playing a young lady named – wait for it- Annette! (She wasn’t the first Mouseketeer to star in a serial – Darlene Gillespie had starred as Corky in “Corky & White Shadow” a year earlier. But "Corky" didn’t generate anything like the fan response to “Spin & Marty”).

The plot of this return to the Triple-R finds the lads hosting a dance for the girls’ camp across the lake, the Circle-H. Both Spin & Marty develop crushes on Annette, who looks very fetching in her bathing cap. And this year, instead of a rodeo, we have a climatic swim meet against the Northfork boys.

All the regulars from the first summer are back, plus we get a new kid at camp, one who would go on to become a Disney legend. Seven-year-old Kevin Cocoran appears as Moochie, a nickname that would stick with the young actor no matter what other parts he played. He probably had the second most successful career of any of the Mouse Club gang outside of Annette.

“The Further Adventures” ran 23 episodes. It was followed a year later by “The New Adventures of Spin & Marty.” This time the girls have an even bigger part with Darlene joining the cast. The third summer revolves around capturing and taming a wild stallion and then morphs into a “let’s put on a show” plot, like those old Mickey Rooney – Judy Garland films of the 1930s. Knowing what a hit “Spin & Marty” was, Disney had this final serial stretch out over 30 episodes.

The continuing popularity of Spin & Marty led to lots of merchandise: cowboy hats, t-shirts, coloring books, records, and a comic book series that actually lasted until 1962.

The first serial was released on DVD in 2005. You can find it on eBay still at an affordable price. All 3 serials have also been shown on Disney’s original cable channel, but only the first has shown up on its streaming service.

No matter how old we get, there’s something to be said for spending a few weeks of the summer at the good ol’ Triple-R, where the horses are the best by far. Yippie-yay, yippie-yo!

Here's our summer reading list:

While we all marvel at the astounding success the Beatles had when Beatlemania broke big throughout the world – landing multiple songs of theirs in the charts simultaneously, what makes their success even more remarkable was the number of hit songs they wrote and gave away to other artists.

At one point in early 1964, the Fab Four had 14 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 (a record never beaten during the era of physical media). John & Paul were absolutely on fire creatively, penning a virtually inexhaustible stream of catchy ditties.

Their manager, Brian Epstein acquired other acts to promote. Invariably, he would ask the boys if they could contribute a tune or two to get these new artists launched properly. During this time, Lennon & McCartney weren’t writing with anybody but the Beatles in mind. So, they simply selected any of a number of songs they had written, intending to record themselves. Some of these include:

“I’ll Be on My Way” – Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas

The first of the Epstein acts to get the Lennon/McCartney treatment. This song was actually the B-side of Kramer’s first single. A cover of the Beatles’ “Do You Want to Know a Secret” was released as the A-side.

“Bad to Me” – Billy J. Kramer

For his follow-up, Kramer got an original Lennon/McCartney tune.

“Tip of My Tongue” – Tommy Quickly

Epstein really thought Tommy would become a major recording star, but it wasn’t in the cards. This Lennon/McCartney composition is all he’s remembered for today.

“Hello Little Girl” – The Fourmost

Another Epstein act that had minor success in the UK, but failed to crossover to the States.

“Love of the Loved” – Cilla Black

By far, the most successful of Epstein’s stable of talent after the Beatles. A fellow Liverpudlian, the former Priscilla White went on to a long career as a cabaret singer in the UK, remaining active and recording well into this century.

“Like Dreamers Do” – The Applejacks

Clearly, a song the Beatles thought about releasing themselves as their own version of this song finally saw the light of day on the Beatles’ Anthology CDs.

“I’ll Keep You Satisfied” – Billy J. Kramer

Kramer was the Epstein act that had the most success stateside after the Beatles. But his career stalled after the initial British Invasion lost steam.

“I’m in Love” – The Fourmost

A very pretty little pop song, but truth be told, this sounds more like a Beatles album cut than a hit single.

As John & Paul became accustomed to hearing their tunes performed by others, they did begin to write with other artists in mind. These tunes included:

“A World Without Love” – Peter & Gordon

The first non-Epstein act to be graced with a Lennon/McCartney composition, this duo had an inside track. Paul was dating Peter’s sister, actress Jane Asher. And, in fact, most rock historians believe Paul did most of the actual writing for the Lennon/McCartney material this duo recorded.

“One and One Is Two” – The Strangers with Mike Shannon

A minor bit of pop fluff the lads were probably wise to give away.

“It’s for You” – Cilla Black

A big hit in Britain, this Lennon/McCartney song remained virtually unknown in America until Three Dog Night recoded a rather inventive cover of it for their debut album.

“Nobody I Know” & “I Don’t Want to See You Again” – Peter & Gordon

The hits kept coming as long as John & Paul were supplying fresh material. Rumor has it the second tune was written by Paul as a message to Peter’s sister after a particularly nasty fight. (Although the couple would remain together until Jane allegedly caught Paul in bed with another woman in the Asher family home.)

“From a Window” – Billy J. Kramer

A hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Woman” – Peter & Gordon

Paul wanted to see if he could write a hit record without people knowing he was the composer, so this single was released crediting a “Bernard Webb” as the composer. The song was, indeed, another hit and McCartney was unmasked as the actual composer. This was notable at the time because it was the first tune where credit was not shared by John & Paul no matter who had really done the writing.

“Step Inside Love” – Cilla Black

A lovely ballad and one of her biggest hits in the UK, definitely written especially for her by John & Paul.

“That Means a Lot” – P.J. Proby

Proby had a few hits in the UK, but never managed to really get a foothold in America. It wasn’t for lack of effort. Proby was a frequent guest in the early days of Shindig.

“Cat Call” – The Chris Barber Band

This is a real obscure little gem. Written by McCartney in 1967 and given to a group known for mushy, middle-of-the-road instrumentals. It sounds vaguely like some strip club music from the early 1950’s (note the title) and does feature McCartney providing a few cat calls of his own.

As the band finally fractured, John & Paul went their separate ways as songwriters, but continued to provide material for other artists. A few of the more notable tunes include:

“Come & Get It” – Badfinger

A tune written for the movie The Magic Christian, which co-starred Ringo, Paul called a band known as the Iveys (signed to Apple Records) into the studio and produced the session himself. The band renamed themselves Badfinger and went on to a nice little string of hit records in the early 1970’s.

Pernina – Carlos Medes

A McCartney love song you’ve probably never heard. Written by Paul and given to singer Carlos Mendes while Paul was on holiday in Portugal in 1969.

“I Am the Greatest” – Ringo Starr

John wrote this specifically for Ringo. The recording session featured 3 of the 4 former Beatles, John, George & Ringo as well as Billy Preston & Klaus Voorman.

“Goodbye” – Mary Hopkins

While today, Hopkins is regarded as a “one hit wonder” for her recording of “Those Were the Days,” she actually had a second hit with this song, written for her by Paul McCartney, who also produced it (as he had produced “Those Were the Days”).

“On the Wings of a Nightingale” – The Everly Brothers

When Don & Phil Everly ended their long feud and began recording together again in 1984, Paul McCartney was one of the composers who repaid the musical debt he felt he owed the duo by writing this song especially for them. Produced by Jeff Lynne (ELO, Traveling Wilburys), in another, better world, this should have become a huge hit.

This list is by no means complete. Half the fun is discovering some of the songs Lennon & McCartney gave away for yourself. But any dyed-in-the-wool Beatles fans should certainly have all of these in the personal record collection.

As we age, many people start skipping their regular trips to the dentist. Don’t!

As we grow, there is an increased risk of gum disease, decay, and tooth loss. With those, there may come a restriction on the types of food we can enjoy. In addition, poor dental health has been linked to heart disease, stroke, complications from diabetes, respiratory infections, worsening arthritis, and more.

Experts recommend keeping up with twice-a-year trips to the dentist as well as regular, daily brushing and flossing.