The first recollection I have of Alex Chilton - who passed away this week from a heart attack - was back in the 80's when Tom Rivers was doing his morning zoo show on CFTR. Rivers made up a parody song from Chilton's big hit, The Letter. Rivers' version was about Vanna White. The chorus asked Vanna to turn him a letter so he can win money and take her away. Forever. The song was funny and I remember it fondly. It wasn't till years later when I got older I heard the original track. The track Chilton sang. As legend would have it, the record company didn't really care about Chilton's groups and never promoted his material properly. This is why maybe Chilton wasn't as big as he could have been. The fans knew him. The music nerds did too. He had great talent. Too bad not everyone was able to hear it.
Friday, March 19, 2010
we remember: alex chilton
The first recollection I have of Alex Chilton - who passed away this week from a heart attack - was back in the 80's when Tom Rivers was doing his morning zoo show on CFTR. Rivers made up a parody song from Chilton's big hit, The Letter. Rivers' version was about Vanna White. The chorus asked Vanna to turn him a letter so he can win money and take her away. Forever. The song was funny and I remember it fondly. It wasn't till years later when I got older I heard the original track. The track Chilton sang. As legend would have it, the record company didn't really care about Chilton's groups and never promoted his material properly. This is why maybe Chilton wasn't as big as he could have been. The fans knew him. The music nerds did too. He had great talent. Too bad not everyone was able to hear it.
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I remember Tom Rivers playing that parody - but it wasn't hist. It was by Dr. Dave. I even owned the 45 of Dr. Dave's "Vanna, Pick Me A Letter".
ReplyDeleteObviously, the death didn't go unnoticed (ex. http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/showlink.aspx?bookmarkid=LJRFM2EXO445&preview=article&linkid=e5e73e31-55ee-459d-8d4c-b13fe1ec597f&pdaffid=ZVFwBG5jk4Kvl9OaBJc5%2bg%3d%3d), which makes my not knowing this until now that little bit more embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteEither way, thanks for bringing it up.
really? huh. and i always thought it was eric thomas who sang the track. thanks for the info, mike.
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