Gold Hits WKVA 920 AM & 100.3 FM

06/19/2026

The Lezzer Lumber football game kicks off at 7:00 pm at Donald M. Chapman III Stadium. Tickets are $6.00 (cash only) at the gate.

06/19/2026

Our past comes back to haunt us! ;-)

06/19/2026

On this day in 1978, the Gerry Rafferty single “Baker Street” went to #1 on the Australian charts (June 19)

Rafferty was in Stealer’s Wheel (of “Stuck in the Middle” fame), but issues after the break-up meant that for three years, Rafferty was unable to release any material.

After the disputes were resolved in 1978, he recorded his second solo album, “City to City”, which included the epic worldwide smash hit “Baker Street", with the iconic sax riff (played by Raphael Ravenscroft), and cracking guitar solo (played by Hugh Burns).

The distinctive wailing, bluesy sound of the sax riff was a result of the alto saxophone Ravenscroft was using being slightly flat, and in a radio interview in 2011, he said that listening to his performance on the song annoyed him:
“I’m irritated because it's out of tune.
It's flat, by enough of a degree that it irritates me at best."

Songfacts reports that Ravenscroft was reportedly paid only £27 for his sax contribution, and that the cheque he was given bounced, with the saxophonist framing the useless payment and hanging it on his solicitor's wall.

But in 2010 Ravenscroft told the BBC's The One Show that he was indeed paid only £27.50 for the "Baker Street" session, the Musicians' Union freelance rate at the time, but that it was incorrect that the cheque bounced, and that it was hung on the wall of his solicitors.

And yeah, for those not familiar with the UK, Baker Street is a real place.

Rafferty explained to Martin Chilton at the Daily Telegraph:
“Everybody was suing each other, so I spent a lot of time on the overnight train from Glasgow to London for meetings with lawyers.
I knew a guy who lived in a little flat off Baker Street.
We'd sit and chat or play guitar there through the night."

Ultimately, “Baker Street” was one of the songs that defined the late 70s era, peaking at #1 in Australia, Canada, and South Africa, #2 in the US and Switzerland, #3 in the UK, Ireland and Germany, #4 in New Zealand and Austria, and #9 in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Rafferty commented on how profitable his biggest song had been, stating: "Baker Street still makes me about £80,000 a year. It's been a huge earner for me. I must admit, I could live off that song alone".

For “Baker Street”, Rafferty received the 1978 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

Click on the link below to watch:

https://youtu.be/dU6w56epBdc

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06/19/2026

😍

On this day in 1978, the Johnny Cougar single “I Need a Lover” debuted on the Australian charts at #76 (June 19)

This is actually the story of how Australia launched the career of one of American heartland rock’s quintessential performers.

The song “I Need a Lover” was written by Mellencamp, and appeared on his 1978 album “A Biography”, which was released by Riva Records only in the UK, Germany and Australia.

His first album, “Chestnut Street Incident”, had been released two years earlier in 1976, didn’t chart, and only sold 12,000 copies, which lead to his then label MCA's refusal to release his next album and drop Mellencamp..

These records were released under John Mellencamp’s stage name at the time, “Johnny Cougar”.
It would take Mellencamp 15 years to have his full real name on an album, “Whenever We Wanted”, in 1991.

After its release, “I Need a Lover” became a surprise hit in Australia, peaking at #5.

Mellencamp remembered going to Australia to promote the record:
“When I landed, there were kids - a bunch of screaming girls, and some guys with a haircut just like mine - waiting for me," he said in his Plain Spoken DVD.
“I couldn't even get picked up in Bloomington, where I lived, if I was hitchhiking, but in Australia I had the #1 album and the #1 single in the country.
I couldn't even take it seriously - it was a joke. I thought it was an isolated incident."

“I Need a Lover” did so well there that Riva Records included it on his next self-titled LP released in the US, and the song climbed to #28 on the US Billboard Hot 100, raising his profile in the States, and the rest is rock history…

On his inspiration for writing "I Need a Lover", Mellencamp said: "The song's about a friend of mine who goes to Concordia College. When that song was written, he was pretty sad. He was . . . livin’ in his bedroom. I told him, ‘You got to get the hell out of the house!’ He’d say, ‘Man, if I only had a girl, she’d make me forget my problems.’ I just said, ‘Well . . . ’"

Click on the link below to listen to the best 2 minute 30 second intro in rock:

https://youtu.be/uyy94qXXi0w

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06/19/2026

06/19/2026

Love, love, love!!!

On this day in 1978, the Sweet single “Love Is Like Oxygen” peaked on the Australian charts at #9 (June 19)

The song with the exquisite high harmonies from the LP “Level Headed”, was also their last Top 10 hit, reaching #4 in New Zealand; #6 in Switzerland; #8 in Belgium, Canada, and the United States; #9 in the UK and Australia, and #10 in Germany.

It was co-written by the band’s guitarist Andy Scott, and Trevor Griffin, and was honoured with a Song of the Year nomination at the Ivor Novello Awards, but was beaten by Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street”.

Click on the link below to watch:

https://youtu.be/zRgWvvkSvfk

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06/19/2026

We feel blessed to be with you, Dear Listeners; have a happy Friday!

06/19/2026

🎈🎁🎊🎉🥂🎂🥳🤩Have an amazing birthday, Ann!!! 🤩🥳🎂🥂🎉🎊🎁🎈