Perhaps a little more care should have been exercised in selecting a name for this LP....

Every get those call s from groups that claim to help your local police or fire fighters? Beware!

Many times, these are groups that have incorprate with names like "Police Benevolent Organization," but they have no connection to your local first responders. Even if they are legit, they may also be professional fund raisers that can take as much as 90% of your money, leaving only 10% to help your local firefighters and police.

If you want to help, experts suggest you call your local police, fire or EMT departments and ask te best way for you to donate.. 

Did you get your invitation, daddy-o?

“Runaround Sue,” the rock classic that topped the charts in 1961, was Dion’s only #1 song (despite having 32 other records hit the charts) and has since gone on to become an enduring classic of the genre. Yet, it had its birth as a song Dion improvised at a friend’s birthday party.

The friend was named Ellen and at her birthday party in late 1960, the partygoers had turned off the record player and begun to make up songs on their own. When it came time for Dion, he basically invented the doo-wop stuff you hear as back-up on the record – the “hey-hey-wom-de-heydy-hedy” part. He made up some lyrics about Ellen that he later confesses were pretty forgettable. But after leaving the party, he couldn’t get that catchy little doo-wop riff.

The next morning, he went down to the offices of his record label, Laurie Records in midtown Manhattan, and grabbed a rehearsal room. He called his friend Ernie Maresca to join him and see if they could pound Dion’s germ of a song into a full-fledged hit. By the time Maresca arrived, Dion had already decided to make the song about a girl who dated all kinds of boys and broke their hearts. He says he based it on an actual girl he knew, but to protect himself from unfavorable repercussions, he and Maresca didn’t use her real name. Instead, they picked the name Sue after a gorgeous girl they knew, but had been afraid to approach.

Dion actually found his backing group on the street, literally. He heard a group of guys harmonizing, liked what he heard and invited them to join the recording session. (Dion had already split from the Belmonts at this point).

Of course, the song became an immediate sensation and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002,

The original partygoers? When Dion played the recording for them, they were underwhelmed. They thought it had all sounded much better when he was just making it up at the party!

If you’re taking medicine for high blood pressure, a new study showed that patients who took their medicine before bedtime cut their risk of heart problems in half compared with those who took them in the morning.

Just pick your favorite star! (That James Arness is sooooo dreamy!)

For two and half years, the Rascals were one of the biggest acts in rock. Then, towards the end of 1968, the hits just stopped coming. Why? Nobody knows.

The nucleus of the band started as members of The Starlighters, the house band that backed up Joey Dee at New York’s Starlight Lounge, where the elite came to pretend they were as hip as the kids, giving themselves side-aches dancing to the twist.

As the twist craze passed, Eddie Brigati, Felix Cavaliere and Gene Cornish decided to form their own band. Practicing at Brigati’s and Cavaliere’s homes, they added Dino Danelli on drums. They wanted to call themselves the Rascals from the start, but another group, the Harmonica Rascals, threatened a lawsuit (like record buyers couldn’t tell the difference between “Dixie Shortnin’ Bread” and “Good Lovin’”). So, they added the “Young” to their name and started dressing up in schoolboy uniforms.

Their first single, “I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore,” went nowhere in the U.S., but became a minor hit in Canada. Their next release, “Good Lovin’” took off like a rocket in both countries.

The band then released 8 more songs that all reached the Top 20, 5 hitting the Top 10 and 2 (“Groovin’” and “People Got to Be Free”) going all the way top #1.

By then, it was the summer of 1968 and music was definitely traveling away from singles, towards albums. And here is where the Rascals (finally able to ditch “Young” from their name) foundered. Their attempts at concept albums like the Beatles, Moody Blues and other contemporaries, failed to find an audience. Brigati left the group in 1970. Cornish followed a year later. Cavaliere tried to take the group with new members in a more jazz and gospel-influenced directions; but by the mid-1970s, the Rascals called it quits.

In 1997, the original members performed together for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2010, they reunited again to perform at a benefit in New York City.
Two years after that, E Street Band member Steve Van Zandt and his wife Maureen convinced the group to perform again at a combination concert/theatrical event, Once Upon a Dream, that showcased the band with  film scenes re-enacting key moments in the group’s history, interviews with the band members and finally, a full concert of the band performing the songs that made them famous.

That original set of 6 performances was so well received at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester that it was transferred to Broadway in early 2013, where it quickly became the hottest ticket in town. Following 15 shows on Broadway, the Rascal took the show on the road from May to December of 2013.

All four members are still with us, so if we’re lucky we may get to see the not-so-young Rascals take to the concert stage once again.

Dave and Ricky say if you haven't any place else to go, you're welcome to drop by Boomtown America today!