opinion ~ expression ~
6 - Southpoint Sun
Remember those Detroit pitchmen? The name Ollie Fretter came up in conversation the other day and it got me thinking about some of the old classic names we used to hear on the radio and TV in these parts. If I need to jog your memory, just think of his famous phrase, “The competition knows me, you should too!” and it should automatically conjure up images of Ollie in front of his Telegraph Road electronics and appliance store. He often promised that he’d give you five pounds of coffee if he can’t beat your best deal. I guess I’d be amiss if I were to talk about famous TV pitchmen and not mention Mr. Belvedere. No, not the fictional TV sitcom character. This guy was the epitome of serious TV pitchmen and his name actually was not Mr. Belvedere, it was Maurice Lezell. His
serious, non-smiling face was his trademark along with saying, “We do good work!” He always seemed to be sitting at a desk as president of his home improvement company. To this day, I don’t know if he was actually the president or not. Visions of former Detroit Lion Mel Farr then crept into my head. Remember him flying through Detroit with a red cape? He used his football money to buy an old defunct Ford dealership in the city and reinvented himself as ‘Mel Farr, Superstar’. A little unknown tidbit is that Mel was so popular during his football career, he was asked to provide backup vocals on Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’. He always promised a ‘Farr better deal.”
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
and other musings
RIB’S RAMBLINGS
The lovely Marilyn Turner, known better for her days on Kelly and Company, was also a pitchperson for Carpet Center, flying through the Mark Ribble warehouse on a Persian rug. She did we’re Father and Son. Give us a call.” all of this while she was the weather “Remember when you were a kid, girl at WJBK. One radio personality that jumps out well part of you still is. That’s why we is Gene Merollis, the owner of Merollis make Faygo.” “You’ve got an uncle in the furniture Chevrolet in Detroit. All you have to do business. Joshua Doore.” is hear that jingle and you’ll be sing“Let’s twist again like we did last ing, “Gene Merollis, what a great, great summer. Let’s twist again, Bob-Lo time guy”, all day long. You’re welcome. Walt Lazar Chevrolet came along lat- is here.” “C-K-L-W. The motor city.” er and offered a super, super deal. So many other commercials come to All of these people had something in common: either a catchy phrase or a mind. Hopefully, you have favourites of catchy jingle. your own. Speaking of jingles, let’s put a few more into your head for today. “No job’s too big, no job’s too small,
Another look at Phil Collins’ rise to stardom Part Two Last week we took a look at Phil Collins’ early years in the music business, including the time during his mid-twenties when he joined Genesis in 1975. By 1980, they hit the top 14 spot on Billboard with ‘Misunderstanding’. After releasing six more singles that went no higher than the 26 position, between then and 1983, ‘That’s All’ peaked in the Top 10 at #6 in February of 1984. As a solo vocalist, Phil released two singles, ‘I Missed Again’ and ‘In the Air Tonight’ in the spring of 1981 that both peaked at #19 on Billboard’s Hot 100. In 1983, he finally had a top 10 hit with ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’, which stayed in that spot during the first three weeks of February. But it was in the spring of 1984 that Collins finally struck gold when his sin-
gle ‘Against All Odds’ (Take a Look at Me Now) from the movie of the same title, starring Jeff Bridges, hit the top of the charts in the last week of February and remained #1 for three weeks. The song stayed in the top 10 for 10 weeks. It also went on to win him a Grammy Award for Pop Male Vocalist. The next year was a phenomenal one for Collins as he had four #1 hits, including ‘Easy Lover’ with Philip Bailey, ‘One More Night’, ‘Sussudio’, ‘Separate Lives’ with Marilyn Martin, and a top 4 song with ‘Don’t Lose My Number’. In 1986, Phil had another top 10 tune with ‘Take Me Home’, while in 1988 and 1989 he had three more #1 hits with ‘Groovy Kind of Love’, ‘Two Hearts’ and ‘Another Day in Paradise’ which also won him a Grammy Award for Record of the Jim Heyens PUBLISHER
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Year. Then he had a final burst of hits in 1990 with ‘I Wish It Would Rain’, ‘Do You Remember?’ and ‘Something Happened on the Way to Heaven’ all reaching the top three or four positions on the Hot 100. Not to be outdone, his group Genesis, with Collins on lead vocals, scored a number one hit with ‘Invisible Touch’ in 1986 while their next four singles, ‘Throwing it All Away’, ‘Land of Confusion’, ‘Tonight, Tonight, Tonight’ and ‘In Too Deep’ all reached #3 or #4 on the Top 100 charts. While things slowed down considerably after that, it should be noted that ‘I Can’t Dance’ reached the top 7 spot in 1992. While Phil is often thought of as being an excellent vocalist, there have been many musicians and drummers from the music industry who revere and idolize his drumming skills. Even Rolling Stone Magazine picked him as #43 in the greatest 100 drummers of all time. They said that in 1979, he established his signature gated snare drum sound and his style became a key part of countless
FLASHBACK RADIO with Chuck Reynolds
‘80s records. With all this tremendous success, Phil has also had his share of disappointments with three failed marriages, health issues and alcoholism, which he has finally gotten under control by being sober for the past five years. Unfortunately, 11 years ago, while performing on stage, Collins slipped and injured his vertebrae in his upper neck which led to an operation that eventually meant he could no longer play drums or piano. However, if everything goes as planned, as Genesis is booked to appear at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on November 29, Collins will be using a cane to help get around and mostly be sitting in a chair with members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford up front. Also on stage will be their back-up drummer, Phil’s 20-year-old son Nic Collins, and the band’s long-time bass player and lead guitarist Daryl Steurmer. It should be a great show.
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