  Hi Guys! Well, I FINALLY got to see The Shades do their thing Saturday in Charleston, SC after playing your music for a couple of years. You guys were fantastic! I was blown away to say the least. Hopefully we'll get The Shades up to the Sandbar Beach Club in the near future. Y'all take care. Butch Halpin Carolins Sounds Go to www.carolinasounds.com and check out the gigs review page for more on the story.  Hey Dana, By now you know, 'I wanna be at the beach' has become a regular visitor to THE SUNNY BEACH SHOW. In fact, we play it quite often because it's normally how we feel late Fridays, or Saturdays, or Sundays, or any other time of the week. Its a great song from a great group. Best wishes for continued success and keep the beach music playing. And stay tuned to The Sunny Beach Show! Sunny & Tom  Dana, I was writing the following when your 2nd email arrived; I have been listening to "Never Ending" over & over. Man, I have to tell you that is such a beautiful work of art! The music, the vocals, the entire production is incredible! I am seriously concerning it for airplay. That should be your next release! Let me know what I should do. BTW, "Sweet Home Chicago" is equally a well produced work. A great blues tune! "Just My Imagination" was a favorite of mine by the Temptations. Now, your version has me hooked on it! "Ain't No Big Thing" is another great production, from beginning to end! Actually, all the cuts are great. I just told you the ones that grab me. Give me a few days to listen to the entire CD in my car & out of the studio. Dana...as you see...I have been studying your music & find it very pleasing for airplay. I also am looking forward to meeting you & The Shades in the very near future. You can take that to the bank. Stay in touch & thanks, Bill Beason SuperCFL@earthlink.net http://home.earthlink.net/~supercfl  Just got the "Sounds of September" from beachmusic.45. (Never Ending) Good song, nice slow cha cha beat. It should do well on the beach circuit. Good luck. Paul Bailey www.islandtimeentertainment.com  Hi Dana, good hearing from you and I do love the Shades CD and am featuring it on the show. It's getting a great response and at least one cut, I Wanna Be At heBeach, has made it to our Top 50 @ #35, see attached. Regards, -- Willie C. See the Cafe at: http://www.BeachMusicCafe.com Listen to the Cafe at: http://www.live365.com/stations/williecs  I really enjoyed the CD. The title track, of course, is excellent, but I also have added "Neverending" as a regular part of our playlist. Thanks again for the disk, and keep us abreast of any more music from you guys. Tony Baughman WKSX Johnston/Augusta great song - i will be playing it on wed night at reds and let you know the audience response on thursday = thank you for sending me the copy have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks again Steve Lusk Got it and it has a great sound to it, cant wait for the full CD. I was at Andrews fri nite to see Catalinas and the house DJ played it there , people shagging to it. ,, Jerry Peeler  DJ---I really do think you did a wonderful job on "Sweet Home Chicago," a great, great shag tune. While it had been done by a couple of beach bands, it had not been done well, in my opinion. Your version is a perfect dance speed, with terrific horn solos, too. Mike Lewis Greetings. I did get the CD. Thanks. I have been looking forward to getting it. Sorry I haven't responded sooner. Been out of the country for the last 3 weeks. I do like "I Wanna Be At The Beach", That's not my only choice cut, though. I need to listen to it several more times throughout. Will be back in touch. Mike Little  Well, I rode around for several days and even took a trip with this CD in the car player. Not bad listening and Ms. Soul Dog liked it, that always says something! ‘‘Good beat, easy to dance to…’’ wasn’t that the standard rating on American Bandstand? So I took it inside, put it one the big box, you know, surround sound. Still pretty good! The Fabulous Shades from Greenville, South Carolina, a group formed in 1985, have just recently issued I Wanna Be At The Beach, which is being distributed by One20inc. It is a 10-song CD that includes new material as well as covers of several well known songs, including beach classics Myrtle Beach Days, Summertime’s Calling Me, Ain’t No Big Thing and Part Time Party Time Man. I really like the title track. It has that upbeat Carolina beach sound, strong horn riffs (they have three horn players) and good time feel to it. Also like their version of the Temptations classic Just My Imagination and the unique vocals on Never Ending, very reminiscent of Elvis with a little Roy Orbison to boot! This CD is about a bunch of guys who grew up listening to beach, rhythm and blues and are now really enjoying what they are doing. That’s a good thing. I look forward to seeing them perform in person in the near future. Be sure to check out Neal "Souldog" Furr at www.beachmusic45.com Feature Articles  Dana, We're adding the title track--it's fun and refreshing. John Hook  Hi guys, Ive got my low watter up and running in East Anderson, along Greenville st area, its 97.7 and I wanna be at the beach is in the mix jerry peeler  I got your package... I can't say thanks enough. This week as been rather busy, but I wanted to say thanks. If you get a chance Sunday or Monday, give me a call at the studio - I'll be on 1 - 6 Sunday and noon to 6 Monday... 252-475-9797 Again, thanks for everything Jay PS - I love the CD... I can't wait to hear you guys turn loose on your new project... let me know if you are still looking for any songs. I have thousands of great shag songs that are... well, lets just say a little lesser known than the "regulars" Jay Jay Jenkins P.O. Box 486 Woodland, NC 27897 Shaggin' On The Beach The Best in Beach & Shag Music Sunday 1 - 6 p.m. 98.3 WDLZ * 97.9 WTRG From Rocky Mount, NC To Petersburg, VA From Emporia, VA to Elizabeth City, NC shagginonthebeach@direcway.com Beach Memories The Best Beach Music of All Time Sunday 1 - 4 p.m. 97.1 WYND From Elizabeth City, NC to the Atlantic Ocean Covering the Entire Outer Banks beachmemories@direcway.com  Greenville, South Carolina-based The Fabulous Shades have released their debut album, I Wanna Be At The Beach. Of course, the title track is already making noise across the beach music world. Not only was I impressed with this original song, this group does a fabulous job with Sweet Home Chicago. Move over Blue Brothers, here come The Shades. There are lots of classics on the 10-track release, including some swell rendition of The Temps’ Just My Imagination and The Radiants’ Ain’t No Big Thing. For belly-rubbers, you can’t go wrong with The Dells’ classic, Oh What A Night. It is sweet. Cammy Award winner Bobby Simmons, producer for The Rickey Godfrey Band’s mega-hit, Cant’ Change My Heart, joins in with some keyboard magic on a couple of songs, as does Bruce Caldwell with some of his sax talent. The Flashbacks’ Larry Pope engineered the release, being recorded at his Mountain Rock Music studio. This release is being distributed by One20inc. out of Bishopville, South Carolina. The Fabulous Shades has been around for around ten years now and from the sounds of this release, this group of guys is going to be around for quite some time. Mike Little Thanks Dana I do have a copy of ( I wanna be at the Beach ) and I will be sure to promote it at every chance I can, it is like all our music , Happy music Please send me a promo copy of everything that you can, I will surely play the music of choice---Beach Music Danny Kimrey Got lots of compliments last night when we played I Wanna Be at the Beach. We will also feature it Saturday at the picnic. See you in a few weeks. P.S. Tell me again where the band is from?( So we can announce it Saturday and tell people to look you up at S.O.S.) Dennis and Nancy Gehley Dana, Just wanted you to know that we enjoyed I Wanna Be at the Beach so much that it is #16 on our current play list for the Northern Virginia Shag Club and the D.C. Hand Dance Club. We have included the song on our play lists that we sent to Craig Fleming at www.beachmusic45.com and to David Sessoms, newsletter editor for the Association of Beach and Shag Club DJs (ABSCDJs). The Association's newsletter will be out in a few weeks. If you do not already receive the Association newsletter, just go to www.abscdj.com. I believe you can access Association newsletters there. Best wishes. Dennis & Nancy Gehley Springfield, VA  Hey Dana, Just a note to let you know "Never Ending" has suddenly started getting more and more request. I don't know, it's like the world suddenly thinks Elvis is at Super CFL. Actually, a former girlfriend of mine heard it and emailed me to find out who sings it. I told her some wino that sleeps on the beach and takes the garbage out at Fat Harold's for food & beer. So, she wanted to see your picture. I told her to go to any post office. Actually, I told her to go to the link on my website and check your sissy boy pose out. She did & now she is hooked on your voice and whatever. She is a full blown Elvis fan. I mean this woman cries on Elvis's birthday and all of August. Now she bugs me to death to play "Never Ending" everyday all day. May I suggest you record something else in that Elvis voice like Rodney Crowell's "It's Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night That Chew My Ass Out All Day Long". Then maybe I'll have two songs for her to request! Repectfully yours, Bill Beason Super CFL Kingsport, TN P.S. Rodney Crowell would be happy. dana i got shaggin man and really enjoy it and i am playing it. . i also play cuts from the "i wanna be at the beach" cd. include me in your mailings as i will play what the other beach stations won't. my station is live 365.com the o.d.road show. thanks bill mciver |
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 Bill Beason article from Super CFL Newport, TN  Born for Radio & Beach Music! At the young age of five my dad pointed down the road and explained that a radio tower was under construction. What I hear coming out of that station several months later got me wondering what the life of a Dee Jay was like. I mean, those guys were playing music I had never hear before. Billy Ward & The Dominos, The Drifters, Jerry Butler, The Coasters, Jerry Lee Lewis and other groups that were not played on many small stations in the rural south. Of course, this was a new radio station and rock n' roll was new to my ears. Within a few years, several other radio stations began playing rock n' roll. One that got my attention was WNOX in Knoxville. It was the first station I heard that didn't have all those talk shows like Swap & Shop, a preacher screaming his head off or some local wanna-be stumbling over the vocals of a song. WNOX was nothing but music and disc jockeys that sounded like they enjoyed what they were doing. That was the same year that John, Paul, George and Ringo invaded America with a new sound. I liked it! But, I loved that sound coming out of Memphis, Muscle Shoals and Motor City better. While every other station was screaming, "Here's a new one by The Beatles", WNOX was playing Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Rufus Thomas, The Showmen and other black artists. Sure, "The Big 99" did play the Beatles and other British invasion stuff but they had a 50 percent mix of soul music, too! Artists like Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, Willie Tee, The Swingin' Medallions, The Tams and other southern groups were getting airplay on "The Big Knox Music Box". (The late Program Director Rex Miller is credited with that slogan). In the mid 60s, WNOX had become THE radio station not only in East Tennessee, but was the most listened to radio station on the South Carolina Grand Strand at night. I remember hearing Rob Galbreath and Eddie Beacon "The Swingin' Deacon", do commercials for the Beach Club and other night spots in Myrtle Beach. One night, Beacon came on and announced the next four hours were paid for by the Beach Club in Myrtle Beach. He then played 2 songs by Willie Tee, "Thank You, John" and "Walkin Up A One-Way Street". Not just once, but over and over again and again for four solid hours! Gosh, people were listening 350 to 400 miles away on the beach! It was then I made up my mind to become a radio disc jockey. (John Long wrote about WNOX and it's Myrtle Beach audience in charter 3 of his book 'Puttin' On The Hits' at www.oidar.com). I eventually worked at WNOX (a record four times)! In addition to stations in Johnson City, Kingsport and Nashville, I worked at the legendary "Tiger Radio" WTGR in Myrtle Beach in 1975 & '76. Other stops included North Carolina, Alabama & several small market stations in Tennessee. Also 5 years on the air with the now defunct Shop At Home TV Shopping Network. By the end of 2004, while working in my hometown of Newport, Tennessee reality struck...radio wasn't fun anymore. Power hungry managers were taking over with no knowledge of radio and a know-it-all attitude. To them, the word 'teamwork' was a term used in sports. Don't get me wrong, there are still some great management level people in radio, as well as, stations that show respect for those who have paid their dues in the industry. But as a well known Disc Jockey once told me, "Ask a Dee-Jay today who was their favorite jock growing up & they just give you a blank stare"! Without a doubt, Larry Lujack at WLS & WCFL was my favorite . During the 70s & 80s I worked with some of the best people in the business. That was before a former president did away with the need of an FCC license to work on the air. Before Wall Street found out radio made money. And, before large corporations completely destroyed local radio. Three elements that were not in the original 1939 federal communications act which has been destroyed by every president since. All for big business. Out with the good jocks....a total disregard for those who had paid their dues. In 2005 I started toying with the idea of an Internet radio station from a spare room in my home. While working on putting a classic top 40 format together I came across songs that took me back to high school dances and young girls of my teen years. Songs that made my mind go in reverse! Wow, I remembered things like my first trip to the beach, the jukebox at the old Newport swimming pool pavillion, the dances and concerts at the War Memorial building, cruisin' the drive-in burger joints with my car radio blaring out The Four Tops, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Major Lance, Jr. Walker and The All Stars. Not to mention concerts featuring Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, The Swingin' Medallions, The Rascals, The Tams and artists that actually sang, played & performed before loudness & expanding your mind were confused with rock n' roll. That year, 2005 I rediscovered my first love again...Beach Music. I started listening to Clifford Curry, along with; Chairmen Of The Board, Band Of Oz, The Fantastic Shakers, Coastline, The Embers and The Tams. The newer acts like Rickey Godfrey, Sea-Cruz, The Craig Woolard Band, The Entertainers, The Fabulous Shades, Paul Craver, Rick Strickland, Terri Gore and Shaggie Maggie are doing covers of all my favorite songs. What I found was the music that is as much a part of me as the blood that runs in my body. Oh, not all Beach Music comes out of the Carolinas. Mighty-Mike Schermer from California, Ray Edge from Toronto and Subway from West Virginia, just to name a few, have had songs on Beach Music radio. Thank goodness for the independent promoters, producers and record labels! (No rap, no degrading of women, no statements about doing harm to members of law enforcement. Major record labels don't have a clue. Maybe it will stay that way, cause the "the biggies" have destroyed not only radio but society with their musical influence). Beach Music is enjoyable, entertaining and as much a part of America as Top 40 Radio, Shaggin' and corndogs on the beach. Carolina style Beach Music is yesterday, today and tomorrow! So, how are DJs to be treated? Cecil Heftel former radio station owner once admonished a station manager for driving a Cadillac, saying “Cadillac’s are for disc jockeys, Fords are for you who make a good living due to their talent.” |
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