Hey Sean,
I just wanted to take a minute to respond to your scathing review of our new
DVD, Remembering the 70s. First, thank you for taking the time to check out
some of the greatest performances by some of the greatest and legendary
performers EVER in our business. I'm sure you're too young to remember or
probably have never even heard of some of these artists but I will do my best to
enlighten you.
You are absolutely right on one point, things have changed in the last 30
years. I think that if you look at any 30 year span in history, you will find
that things do change. It was pretty cool that a network (CBS) did devote prime
time programming to showcase the TOP, not medium-sized artists but major artists
that had the top ten chart busters of the day. If you would have taken the time
to do your homework, you would know that Rollin' On The River was the first
television show of it's kind. It opened the door to shows like Sonny & Cher and
other musical variety show. I guess you could call that a forerunner.
Kenny Rogers and The First Edition was much more than a rock band. In fact, we
never referred to ourselves as a band. We were a group of entertainers. We did
play and sing but we were performers that did it all. We were also the first of
our kind to play Las Vegas. In the years that we played The Rivera, The
International, (with Elvis) The Las Vegas Hilton or The Flamingo Hilton, I can't
remember not playing to a full house. In fact, at The Las Vegas Hilton, we
still, today, hold the record for the most people for one show, the most people
for an entire engagement and the most money made by the hotel for a single show
and a single engagement. Because things have changed, that record will never be
broken. So, to refer to us as a charmless rock band with a couple of medium
sized hits is largely inaccurate. Just so you will know, we had million sellers
with "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)", "Ruby, Don't
Take Your Love To Town", "But You Know I Love You", "Something's Burning", "Tell
It All Brother", "Heed The Call", "Ruben James" and others but there is not
enough space here to list them all.
You mention Jim Croce. Most artists I know still consider Jim to be one of the
legendary singer/songwriters to ever come along. His creepy sideman was truly
one of the great guitar players ever. You might want to check with Eric Clapton
on that one.
Bill Withers' "Lean on Me" just happened to be the number 1 record in the
country and had guested on every major variety show of the day.
The Grass Roots were friends of ours and had more top ten records that us. I
would say that justifies them.
You referred to the legendary B.B. King and Ike and Tina Turner as "legit
stars". I'm not sure I would characterize them as legit stars. I would have to
call the true superstars.
You did mention that Al Green was GREAT. You did get one thing right. Thanks
for that.
You might want to take another look at "Remembering The 70s" just to check the,
so called, lip sync. Most performances were played live. There were cases of
pre-recorded tracks but you will find that there were NO LIP SYNCS.
Thank you very much for your last line. "What in God's name are you waiting
for?" If you are old enough to remember these great artists, you will love
"Remembering The 70s".
Sean, I wish you only the best.
Mickey Jones
The drummer with Kenny Rogers and The First Edition.