Frank found a private collector who had over 80% of the “Bubbled Under” tunes and MANY of the ones we play on TUNEDEX MEMORIES. If want the original 45’s – be sure to regularly check Frank’s EBay store. Have a “Bubbled” want list? Contact Frank at fortyfivesfrank@aol.com.
Author Archives: Chuck Benjamin
The ROOTS of TUNEDEX MEMORIES
I have produced “specialty” shows dedicated to the passion and innocence of the 50’s and 60’s since 1998. However, I’m not a radio veteran. I’m just a guy who has loved music as far back as I can remember, and enjoys sharing that music with others.
Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio I was never far from a radio, and stations like WHK, WERE, and KYW provided the musical backdrop to my formative years. When I want to go back to grade school, junior high or high school memories, there’s always hundreds of songs to take me there.
After I turned 21, and left the Air Force and the Vietnam conflict behind me, I chose a career in the Computer industry, and for the next 40 years or so, collecting music was used as the psychological release I needed from the tension of my job and raising four children. My qualifications as a “collector” include having EVERY song to hit the Billboard Hot 100 since 1955. In 1998 I developed and hosted my first radio show, “the Innocent Age” with the intention of sharing as many of those songs as possible. While I developed a good base of local listeners, I quickly discovered the power of the Internet and soon had listeners all over the country and world-wide.
Two years later, I expanded my show production to twice a week, as my show was added to a Cleveland AM oldies station. I also began to realize the tremendous sense of accomplishment I enjoyed from the producers chair. I developed a weekly Computer show and programmed a 24/7 Country Internet station. Then the music industry flexed it’s muscles, and intimidated many webcasters into abandoning their stations. My station dropped streaming and a few months later changed formats and before I knew what had happened, my show and creativity was darkened.
I stayed involved with production projects like “Dedications from Home” which was a website I developed that allowed U.S. Servicemen deployed around the world to hear messages and song requests from loved ones during the Holidays. I observed from the sidelines as Web radio began to explode once again. The music industry continues to cast shadows on everyone’s efforts, but I decided in 2005 it was time to try again. Cornelius Gould, a local streamer, generously offered a time slot, and I was back on the air, playing what I wanted to play and loving every minute.
I soon enlisted the help of two very good friends who just happened to also be extraordinary music collectors. With our mutual accomplishments, wealth of knowledge and accessibility to music, we offer a musical excursion like no other. The love and passion for the music we play is something Frank Kramer and Steve Petryszyn share with me. We then had the good fortune to meet Kenny Schreiber, who agreed to allow us to re-broadcast shows from his 12 year run of “Echoes of the Past” a marvelous Doo Wop show based in his home town of Baltimore. There are songs we play that are SO GOOD, you can almost hear us singing along. That’s our goal, to get you happy and carefree once again. If you give us a chance, we’ll take you back to a time when you didn’t have a care in the world.
Chuck Benjamin
Tom Burdyshaw (1947-2008) “Tom from Garfield Heights”
I regret to inform my listeners that “Tom from Garfield Heights” has lost his battle with cancer. Long time “loyal listeners” heard his name weekly for many years. I began “the Innocent Age” approximately 10 years ago, and Tom found out about the show in April, 1989 at Steve Petryszyn’s Parma Record Convention. He was excited about the show, but lived too far North of the station to be able to pick it up. Later that year, we started broadcasting on the Internet, but Tom didn’t have a computer. I sent him 2 cassettes every week for almost three years. He would listen to the show and call me with his comments, which included his favorites and most shows contained at least 10 or 12 tunes he had never heard before. That pattern continued week after week. He came over a few times, and we would spend the entire time sharing music, just as I usually did with Steve and Frank Kramer. Tom had the same passion for this music as the three of us did and it was a joy seeing the twinkle in his eye when he heard those “songs you should have heard” for the first time.
Tom had a fairly extensive collection of 45’s that he kept buying into the late 80’s. Ironically, our mutual taste seemed to match as we talked about 70’s and 80’s music we liked as well. Work schedules and family demands kept us from getting together very often, but we talked on the phone often. If I found a really good CD, I’d let him know and he would go to the same store and buy it on my suggestion. He was a good and genuine man. I was devastated when I heard he had been diagnosed with cancer. Not because I didn’t think he could beat this horrible disease, but because he simply didn’t deserve the pain and fear it takes to deal with it. My wife has been cancer free for five years, but Steve Petryszyn lost his wife Sher after a five year battle.
I didn’t have much contact with Tom’s wife Liz other than to speak with her on the phone, but she knew how much music meant to Tom. Tom’s entire family was with him the day he died. While I never got a chance to say goodbye, his daughter Kimberly told me one of my shows was playing in the background when he passed.
I will miss Tom’s passion. When I told him I wanted to some “nostalgia” on the station which included some vintage commercials if I could find them. He called me back a few days later and read off over a hundred he thought would work. I was able to find about 70 of those and the comprise the backbone of my “nostalgic” cuts.
Last year about this time, I brought him a tray of candy bars to keep his strength up. Tom and I both shared a fondness for “Sky Bars” – a candy bar from our youth. I found a place locally where I could buy a box of 24 took them over to him for Halloween. I told his wife Liz that if she visits Tom at the cemetery and finds a Sky Bar, she’ll know I stopped by to say hello to him.
I am dedicating the Innocent Age running from November 10th through the 16th to Tom’s memory. All the songs I’ll play on that show will be Tom’s favorites over the 9 years he listened to the show. I’m hoping when people hear these songs in the future they’ll think of “Tom from Garfield Heights”…..
Play List adds 9/08
Cascades – Cinderella • Following the success of “Rhythm of the Rain”, John Gummoe and the Cascades left the Valiant label for RCA-Victor. As this song you should have heard proves, the RCA material was great, but as we got closer to the British Invasion, this was the kind of sound that was forced into the background.
Blood Sweat & Tears – Sometimes In Winter • This is the fabulous flipside of the 1969 Columbia single, “And When I Die”. I like it because while the horn arrangement is toned down, they’re still there, and yet David Clayton-Thomas did NOT sing lead on this cut.
Mary Wells & Marvin Gaye – Once Upon A Time • This great duet peaked at number 19 on the Hot 100 in 1964. Whether he sang with Mary, Tammi, Diana or Kim – he was the master.
Susan Christie – I Love Onions • This tongue in cheek novelty tune peaked at number 63 on the Hot 100 back in 1966 – sung by the great Lou Christie’s sister, Susan.
Eddie Lawrence – The Old Philosopher • I was pretty young back in 1956, but I’ll never forget the line… “is that’s what’s troublin’ you?” A great novelty tune that climbed all the way to #34 on the Hot 100.
Turtles – Outside Chance • The Turtles had a great sound and should have been much bigger stars than they were. With all their big hits, believe it or not, this song you should have heard by them from 1966 is my favorite cut from the group.
Richard & the Young Lions – Open Up Your Door • This garage sound was a big smash in the Great Lakes area. It got lot’s of airplay in Cleveland and Detroit/Windsor, but for everyone else, it’s a song you should have heard.
Johnny Dankworth – African Waltz – Songs that bubbled under at #101 were typically pretty big in some region of the country. I certainly remember hearing this on the radio back in 1961.
Mojo Men – Sit Down I Think I Love You • Written by Steven Stills and recorded by CSY, this was the only version to hit the Hot 100, peaking at #36 back in 1967.
Fidelitys – Wishing Star • If you’re a fan of the vocal group sound, you’ll want to catch this song you should have heard from the Sir label back in 1960.
Please sign our GUEST BOOK…
Please sign our Guest Book
Whether you read our blog, or if you’re a current or past listener of Tunedex Memories, we would very much like to know WHO you are and WHERE you’re from.
Please sign our Guest Book. If you have feedback, comments or questions, here’s a great way to let us know and share with others.
Just post a reply below and always, always – tell your friends about our station!
Chuck Benjamin
What you’re missing….by not listening….
If you weren’t listening today…. you missed hearing “May I Have This Dance” by the Four Graduates from 1964. Bob Miranda sang lead vocals with this group, which would evolve into “The Happenings” and go on to hit the Hot 100 nine times. Stay tuned to TUNEDEX MEMORIES and listen for another Four Graduates cut, “Candy Queen”.
Frankie Sardo – She Taught Me How To Cry
New Seekers – The Greatest Song I Ever Heard
Poppy Family – I Was Wondering
Catching up with The Buckinghams
Do you remember The Buckinghams? They were a band from Chicago and when you weren’t listening to
The Buckinghams 1966
those great 45’s like “Kind Of A Drag”, “Don’t You Care”, and “Susan” you might have caught them on TV or if you were very lucky, you saw them in concert. They are back! They have released a new CD on the FUEL label called “Reaching Back” and it is GREAT! First rate performances, writing and arranging await you on this disc. I liked one cut so much, “The Autumn Of My Life”, I’ve added it to our play list. Check out their website at http://www.thebuckinghams.com/home.html for tour information, bio’s, great photos (old and new) and best of all – you can buy this new CD from them. I encourage you to support the artists we play, especially if they are still performing. You WON’T be disappointed, the Buckinghams sound better than ever!
The Buckinghams 2008
The Perils of Technology….
As the saga of Tunedex Memories unfolds before my eyes, my little station project almost takes on a life of
Vista sucks!
it’s own. I’ve tried to convey in little snippets on the website some of the frustrations that have stunted my excitement. From the perspective of the listener, it’s pretty simple…. you tune in, the sounds are either there or they’re not. If you’re listening and the sounds stop… you move on. You can’t imagine the panic attacks generated by a software “freeze”. This means the computer has to be brought “down” and restarted. This is not a unique process, because software does tend to “freeze” at times. However… I am hostage to the Operating System that is Vista, which makes these occurrences that more frequent. Oh by the way, multiply that anxiety by a hundred fold if lose my connection to the Internet.
What you’ve never known, is that whenever I have had to restart our server, for many assorted reasons of incompatibility, it took up to an hour to get the program restarted. This past weekend, I updated to the latest version of software and it wouldn’t reload at all. When I finally reached the almighty human voice, I was told I would have to change database handlers to get back up and running. I spent a very stressful 10 hours bouncing between tech support groups just so my Monday evening plans could happen.
The good news? I can now restart and reload relatively quickly. The bad news? The ability to “talk” to my website halted and “froze” the screen for a few days. Monday night when I tried to premiere “The Innocent Age”. The software froze on segment 5 of 8 of the show. I was down for just a few minutes and when we resumed the show, I lost about 12 minutes. The show was supposed to then repeat for the West Coast, but that didn’t work either.
I’ve tried to find pictures to display when songs are playing. “Surfing the web” allowed me to find a lot of them… all it took was TIME… and lots of it. Now I am told I’ll have to re-enter ALL of them because the new database handler doesn’t recognize them. If you ever wonder why “hackers” of the world seem to hate Bill Gates so much, this is but a tiny fragment of explanation why. Whether you’re talking to an outsourced phone helper or local, it gets a bit old when they say things like “Dude, Vista sucks – go back to XP”. First, easier said than done, second – not an option when we bought our server.
So, it’s now Wednesday… I’ve postponed the show until next week and I’m still waiting for that “call back” from technical support. I was up until 4am this morning, but I (without assistance) finally re-established communication to my website, although the pictures are no longer there, and won’t be until I get that “call back”.
I wanted the play list to be at a certain point before I brought back the specialty shows. That took OVER A YEAR, obviously, longer than I expected. After getting the specialty shows back up and running, the next step in my plan was to establish a link for PayPal and ask for contributions. I’m not there yet, but when I get there, I hope you remember reading this before you ignore my request for financial assistance to offset the time and costs of bringing these tunes to you and keeping the blog updated.
Despite the perils of technology and the constant threat of the music industry to kill Internet radio, I push on. Who’s going to rekindle the feelings of our youth? Who’s going to recognize the artists and writers that provided us countless hours of hopes, dreams and emotions? Who’s going to keep alive the memory of this time in our history? It’s a sometimes thankless and dirty job… but somebody’s got to do it.
TUNEDEX MEMORIES @ songsyoushouldhaveheard.com 