Scott Wynn
WYNN - Wynn At The Movies And Info!
Wynn's Weekend Watch - 20 years ago today, this was the number one movie (How time flies) Meet The Parents
One Year Ago - This was the Number One Movie!
Cinema Safe – Great site for movie theater procedures (Site)
Box Office - Let Him Go! November 5
Hallmark – Christmas movies started over the weekend! (Story)
There Is A Hallmark – Christmas Movie Drinking Game (Story)
Christmas Movies - That are really terrible! (Story)
WOW – New article says it was ALMOST George Clooney that starred in the Notebook and Paul Newman would have been in it too! (Story)
Tim Burton - May possibly develop the live-action Addams Family TV series. (Story)
This Weekend – Check out my Country Music Memory Lane (link)
WYNN - LOCAL BIZ - Sam's Emporium
This week Sam's Emporium, an Akron local business staple is our sponsor of our Polar Express Ticket Stops! I went down to their legendary location on Exchange Street and met Lee and his incredibly professional and veteran staff.
This is the kind of place you want to buy your jewelry from. You can feel the honesty and the family feeling there. It was my first trip there, and it wasn't my last, nor will it be my last. I went back the very next day to have two of my favorite watches worked on. They are now fixed and running like new for a fair price.
Watches Fixed!
I love finding gems like this! Places I really like to do biz with. Let's face it, most of us do not buy a lot of jewelry and we want to get it right! And thanks to places like Sam's we can!
Love this place! Good, good people!
And good luck on winning The Polar Express Tix!
WYNN - Country Music Memory Lane - Ronnie Milsap
Angella sent me a note asking about Ronnie Milsap as her "much older" sister was a big fan, but Angella was not into country then and was too young. I'm glad you asked because Ronnie Milsap was a gigantic star for many years. 40 #1 hits and 35 million albums sold. And the amount of CMA, ACM, Grammy, and other awards he won is simply staggering!
Pure Love - His First Number One!
Milsap's story is a cool one. He of course is blind, was abandoned by his mother, but he rose up to be a great star, showman, and piano player. He has some cool highlights too, like playing keyboards on Elvis' classic, Kentucky Rain - (a song Eddie Rabbitt wrote, both of them unknown at the time.) Also the legendary Charlie Pride gave him advice (in a chance conversation after seeing him sing at a club) in Nashville, that he should concentrate on COUNTRY music. - Milsap took that advice - A few years later Milsap scored his first #1 solo hit with Pure Love (another song Rabbitt wrote.) At that time no one could have imagined that would be the first of 40 #1's for him. Not a bad average considering he released only 69 singles. (58% went #1)
This Song Changed A Lot Of Things - Incredible Performance!
Country is very different today, as it evolves each year as much as any genre. Each trend and evolution brings us more fans. Understand that during his run, he was the one that set the pace in country. Also, when writing these, I always look for the intangibles they brought to us outside of the music. Milsap had many, but he really introduced country to literally millions who had never listened to us before. His image, story, likeability, and some darn good music was his calling card, and he enjoyed a whole lot of crossover success in addition to country. He also, from my seat, had the most powerful and best voice in Nashville for a long time. He may be the best pure singer we have ever had. His incredible range, and mainstream sounding voice was loved by virtually everyone. He is on the "Mt. Rushmore" of more recent classic country artists. He's in the same breath and Dolly, George Strait, Garth Brooks, and Alan Jackson, just a bit earlier for the most part.
Some Early Success Was Remaking Classics Like This One
After a good start on the charts that included some remakes of traditional country songs, in 1976 Milsap recorded a song that changed everything. It Was Almost Like A Song, is a big, powerful ballad that elevated Milsap to the next level, and he would stay there for the next 15 years or so. It's also one of my favorite Milsap songs. He then had 7 #1's in a row, and was on his way. The very best songwriters in Nashville were now writing for Ronnie Milsap. - All of them! And even though a lot of his run was during the Urban Cowboy craze, he was not. Milsap was - Milsap.
Smoky Mountain Rain - Huge Hit!
The 1980's were great to Milsap. Smoky Mountain Rain was a huge hit both country and adult contemporary as most of his singles did well on both charts. He then discovered a songwriter named Mike Reid, a former NFL player turned songwriter/singer. Reid had a few hits on his own, including a wonderful song, Walk On Faith, which went #1. But he wrote 7 number ones for Milsap including, Stranger In My House, In Love, and the absolute gem, Lost In The Fifties Tonight. The list of his hits is too long to list here, but a Google search will astound you!
An Absolute Masterpiece - HUGE Hit!
Milsap recorded with everyone, performed with everyone, and was loved by everyone. I emceed a couple of his shows during his run, and they were always incredible, plus his concert voice was as powerful as his recorded one. I saw him in Nashville just a few years ago perform in a show that involved many contemporary stars in a showcase. He was about 70 at the time and he was terrific, and it was fun to watch MOST of today's biggest country stars sit and watch him in awe perform. Sue Wilson and I interviewed him a number of years ago, and he still does a great interview! He is now 77.
Stranger In My House - Many People Discovered Us When They Heard This Song!
Ronnie Milsap came from very little and rose to the top of the ENTIRE MUSIC WORLD, not just the country music world. He was an international star, one of our first. If you are unfamiliar, or too young, I strongly suggest you discover him. We owe him a thank you for expanding our horizons, and helping us discover where we could eventually go.
Any Day Now - #1 Country and Pop (Written by Burt Bacharach)
Milsap was as good as they got. A giant of his era, with timeless music, that sounded good then, now, and in 50 more years.
WYNN - Thanksgiving - You're Off The Hook!
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and clearly this year it is going to be very different for many and obvious reasons. And maybe since you've been cooking so many meals at home over the past few months, you are not as thrilled about cooking a huge Thanksgiving feed if you don't have to. Especially if your gathering is going to be much smaller.
Here is a website that can help you! Maybe consider this, and support some local biz in your town at the same time!
If you want someone else to make your Thanksgiving meal for you, click this!
Always here to help!
WYNN - (ICYMI) - Country Music Memory Lane
Every Thursday I write a Country Music Memory Lane article. Here are the last six if you missed them the first time! I'll post a new one next week!
WYNN - (ICYMI) - Wynn Quotes!
About once a month, I write a Wynn Quotes article for WQMX.com. In case you missesn these the first time, here are a few from a couple months back or so.
Thanks for reading!
WYNN - (ICYMI) - Fun Places To Visit!
These are all GREAT LOCAL places to visit. Windy and I have been to these places and had a ball. In case your looking for something different to do this week, here you go!
WYNN - Wynn At The Movies And Info!
Wynn's Weekend Watch - Unstoppable (2010 GREAT Movie) Worth a re-watch! Some of it filmed in Massilon and Brewster
Cinema Safe – Great site for movie theater procedures (Site)
Box Office - The War With Grandpa - 3.6 million – losest since 1988 (Gorillas In The Mist)
Netflix - Has 17 new Christmas movies this holiday season. (Story)
Tyra Banks - Says a Coyote Ugly sequel or TV series is in the works. (Story)
Gal Gadot - Will play Cleopatra in an upcoming film. (Story)
Coming To America 2 - Will skip theaters and go straight to Amazon!
The 2001 Nicole Kidman - Horror movie The Others is getting a remake (Story)
This Weekend – Check out my Country Music Memory Lane (link)
WYNN - Country Music Memory Lane - Olivia Newton-John
Christine sent me a note this week asking if one of her favs, Olivia Newton-John was "country" before she knew her from the movie, Grease. She heard from a family member she was. Well, yes - she was at first, and was very successful. Christine, a whole lot of people like you didn't meet ONJ until Grease.
Let It Shine - Let There Be No Mistake - She Was Country!
ONJ has a long and involved story, but this article will deal with her country days. When she was a young singer, she charted a ton of songs on the country chart, and those songs also charted "pop." That's kind of how it was in those days for some. ONJ was hard to define, so all kinds of stations played her music. She was a CMA and ACM nominee and winner in the mid 1970's. Her music then, would be considered "very" country today.
Big Breakthrough Country Hit!
She recorded for many years before she finally hit it with Let Me Be There in 1973, a song I love. It was a very big song on many charts including top 5 country. ONJ was a real favorite of many genres then. She of course from Australia, but she somehow became America's Sweetheart. Everyone loved her.
Big Song And A Big Year For Her!
If You Love Me, Let Me Know was a big, big song and other country singles came too. Please, Mister Please, Sam, I Honestly Love You, Let It Shine and Come On Over, (I LOVE THAT SONG) all charted very well country all in the top five. Have You Never Been Mellow was a big hit, and her duet with John Denver, Fly Away was was too. But things like this happen, ONJ would leave country in time, and become a big pop and movie star after a few years. She then racked up 10 #1 pop songs, including 7 in a row.
Great Country Song!
Grease, and a few other movies, and TV appearances made her a gigantic star, then the whole Physical phase in the early 1980's with a complete reinvention, attempting to shed the goody two-shoes image. And depending on who you ask, it worked.
This Song Went To #5 - Written by the Bee Gees! The End Of The Country Run Pretty Much....
So yes, before you may have known her, Olivia Newton-John had a whole other career before millions of new fans met her in a very different way. I loved her music in the early days, and played it on many country stations around the country for years.
Even This Grease Classic - Has A Hint Of Country In It!
She was in your favorite movie and that's great, but let's remember we had her first.
Olivia Newton-John is now 72 years old - She is currently battling cancer for the the third time, and we wish her the best.
Other Recent Arists
WYNN - A Trip To Amish Country!
Windy and I had an early birthday celebration (mine) in Amish Country this weekend and we had a ball. Really fun to step back in time a bit, and see things you don't see every day in Akron.
Parking is a bit different there!
We stayed in a real nice cabin, ate some terrific food, shopped and explored. We basically were in Berlin, but as Saturday closed, we ended up at the Breitenbach Winery in Dover and had a blast there too. Plus, as you can see, we bought a whole lot of cheese at a market with a rubber cow head. Perfect!
Berlins are everywhere!
So close and so fun. Take a weekend and visit Amish Country, not everyone is lucky enough to have it so close.
Great cabin! #WeekendswithWindy
Winery - GREAT PLACE!
