While their first album, Fresh Cream, delighted critics and the select few who were in rock’s then-vanguard, it was Cream’s second album, Disraeli Gears, that really propelled them to worldwide fame. Backed by the powerhouse single, “Sunshine of Your Love,” the album reached the Top 10 in the band’s native UK, the US, Australia, Finland and other countries. It sold so well that Cashbox magazine named it the top-selling LP of 1968.

It didn’t hurt that the psychedelic artwork and hot day-glo pink cover caught record-buyers’ eyes rather easily in those days.

The album was recorded in the US After the band had wrapped up their first American tour. They used Felix Pappalardi, who also contributed two songs he had written with his wife: “Strange Brew” and “World of Pain.” Atlantic Records president, Ahmet Ertegun was also in attendance for the sessions which took a mere three days! There’s a reason the band laid down those tracks so quickly. Their U.S. visas expired the same day they wrapped up production.

Besides the hit single, “Strange Brew,” “Tales of Brave Ulysses,” “SWLABR” (which co-composer & band member Jack Bruce says stands for “She Was Like a Bearded Rainbow”) and most of the other tracks got significant airplay on the then-emerging FM ‘underground’ rock stations that were springing up in America’s major radio markets.

If you’ve always wondered what the title meant, drummer Ginger Baker says it came from one of their roadies who was talking about buying a racing bike and totally mangled the phrase for a part of the bike: derailleur gears in front of Baker and fellow band member Eric Clapton. The two thought it was hilarious and that’s how it became the name of one of rock’s greatest albums. In 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Here are some tips to help protect you from losing your hard-earned savings to Ponzi-like investment schemes:

1.) Research your broker and the investment - Studies show fewer than 20% of people ever check up on their broker or where he or she may be placing their money. Two good places to start are the SEC's investor.gov & the Financial Industry's Regulatory Authority's brokercheck.finra.org.

2.) If it seems too good to be true, it's probably not true. When you hear phrases like "no risk" and guaranteed returns," run the other way.

3.) If you don't understand the investment, be wary.

4.) Don't be startruck - Celebrity endorsements don't really mean anything. The endorser is usually being paid or has a financial interest in you making an investment. 

Above all, take your time! Don't let a broker try to hurry with warnings that the quicker you invest, thequicker your money will grow. It can also be the quicker you lose everything!

Any boppin' barbarians out there?

The True Stories Behind Rock’s “1-and-Done” Classics

“Angel of the Morning” (1968)

As is often the case with 1-Hit Wonders, the composer and producers of “Angel of the Morning” actually had long, successful careers, even if the Turnabouts did not.

The song was written by Chip Taylor, the same many who gave us “Wild Thing,” “I Can’t Let Go” and others. He has said the line “There be no strings to bind your hands, not if my love can’t bind your heart” came to him out of the blue one morning. Within ten minutes, he had written the entire song.

He hoped the song would be the breakout single for a young lady named Evie Sands. But Evie would have a career filled with near misses. The small label that produced her version of “Angel of the Morning” went belly-up shortly after they released it. With no push from the label, the song died a swift death.

At this point, Paul Revere of “and the Raiders” fame enters the story. Revere had been pushing a Seattle band he believed in, Merilee Rush and the Turnabouts.  Revere secured them a recording deal with hitmakers Tommy Cogbill and Chips Moman. They gave “Angel of the Morning” to Merilee and her band and that version quickly became a million-selling hit.

Sadly, Merilee never cracked the Top 40 again although she continued to perform for many years.

One other interesting note, the Turnabouts guitarist Carl Wilson (no, not the Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys) eventually hooked up with two sisters named Anne & Nancy Wilson and helped them form a band called Heart.

Maybe it was just slightly ahead of its time, but Occasional Wife deserved more than the single season on NBC that it got.

Michael Callen starred as skirt-chasing junior executive Peter Christopher. He loved his job at a baby food company, but the big boss Max Brahms (Jack Collins) believed in only married executives, preferably married execs that planned on having plenty of babies. Unwilling to give up the bachelor life or his career goals, Christopher hired cocktail waitress Gretta Patterson (Patricia Harty) to pretend to be his wife… occasionally. (You see where the title comes from).

What Gretta got out of it was a free apartment (two floors directly above Peter’s) and a generous allowance that allowed her to leave cocktail waitressing behind.

Much of the physical comedy involved the couple having to perpetually scramble up and down the fire escape between their apartments to either appear to be married (if the boss was around) or unmarried (if one of Peter’s many girlfriends happened to drop by). The series had a running gag involving the neighbor (Bryan O’Byrne) who lived between their two floors observing their comings and goings without ever uttering a line.

The show also gave early work to Stuart Margolin (who gained fame as Angel on The Rockford Files) and Jack Riley (who became Mr. Carlin on The Bob Newhart Show).

There was real chemistry between Callan and Harty. So much so that the two eventually became a real husband and wife two years after the show left the air.

The show debuted to solid ratings, but as the season wore on and ABC’s The Invaders gained viewers, Occasional Wife slowly sank in the ratings and was cancelled after its first season.

As there were only 30 episodes, it never really went into syndication and has not had an official release on home video. It’s a shame because it was a comedy that was funny – more than occasionally!

Okay. You’ve retired and now you’re thinking of moving to your dream state. When you arrive, do you buy a new home/condo or rent?

Here’s what the experts say…

Buying a home is good financial decision if you’re planning on owning for 10 years or more. Often times your dream state turns out be less than you hoped. So those in the know say you should rent first, for a year or two, to see if like the area before actually buying. Now you know.

Oh, and wishing you a long and happy retirement!

Yes! Here's a health tip we just know you're going to want to follow! And on a day that Halloween chocolate is available at 50% off!!!

Doctors say that eating two squares of dark chocolate (60-70% pure cocoa) can actually help prevent diabetes.

Before you break open the Hershey's, make sure you consult with your personal doctor.

We all love the Stones. Here are a few things you might know about them:

1. Mick Jagger was quite the athlete. He set his grade school’s record for the half-mile.
2. Early in their career they actually recorded the soundtrack for a Rice Krispies commercial in the UK (You can watch it here,here,)
3. The Stones’ founder, Brian Jones was once part of a blues duo called Lewis and Ponds. Jones was calling himself Elmo Lewis. He asked his partner, Paul Pond, to become the front man of the new rock band he was forming, but Pond turned him down. That’s when Mick Jagger got the job.
4. It was Stones’ bassist, Bill Wyman, who coined the term “groupie” back in 1965.
5. Brian Jones played the oboe on the Beatles’ song “Baby, You’re a Rich Man,” while Mick Jagger sang some of the backup vocals. In return, John and Paul sang back-up on the Stones’ song, “We Love You.”

When the waitress at your favorite breakfast stop asks you, “Bacon or sausage,” take the bacon. On average, bacon has 35 calories a slice while a side of sausage contains 277 calories. Surprisingly, bacon also contains less sodium.

If she asks, “Hash browns or home fries,” take the home fries. They’re less greasy than the hash browns and contain 15% fewer calories in comparable servings.

While everybody regards “Respect” as Aretha Franklin’s signature song, it didn’t start out that way.

The song was written and first recorded by Otis Redding in 1965. A solid tune, it hit the top 10 on the R&B charts and the Top 40 on the pop charts, but it was a typical anthem of male posturing – I’ll buy you anything you want if your respect me when I come home.

Just two years after Otis’ version, Aretha was looking to follow-up her first hit single. After over 10 years of trying, she had finally scored a top 10 success with “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” in early 1967. She heard “Respect” and thought, with a little work, it might be perfect for her.

So, she and her sister Carolyn began reworking some of the lyrics to bring the song around to a female point of view. The first line: “What you want, honey, you got it” became “What you want, baby, I got it!” Now it wasn’t about buying your sweetheart something material, but about the things a woman would give to her man IF he showed her some respect.” They also added the gimmick of spelling out the word: “R-E-S-P-E-C-T,” which proved to be the thing most people remembered about the song.
During the recording session headed by master producer Jerry Wexler, Aretha also threw in the “sock it to me” and “TCB” ad libs that added to the song’s energy.

Behind the scenes, Ms. Franklin was in the midst of a troubled marriage that would eventually dissolve in 1969. Most rock historians think that added fuel to Aretha’s no-holds-barred performance.

The song, of course, became a monster hit, Aretha’s first #1 and firmly established her preeminence among female R&B singers. It also was adopted as an anthem in the feminist movement that was just getting underway as the 1960s drew to a close.

In music circles, Aretha has had nothing by r-e-s-p-e-c-t ever since.