It’s been another successful year here at Vintage Leisure. Yet again I can report that I don’t really know who it is that is hanging out at my site or how they are finding it but I do know that more people than ever came to the site in 2023 and read more articles than have ever been consumed in a year here at SoulRide. This obviously pleases me particularly the days during which scores of different pieces were visited in the span of 24 hours. Readership this year is up over 60% so thank you all. Only 52 articles written, down from 61 last year. Am I running out of things to say? Not a chance.

I’ve had readers visit from 145 countries – up from last year but still not all of the countries of the globe – there are still worlds to conquer with my content! I see visitors from Congo-Kinshasa, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Réunion and one Sneaky Peter from “Unknown Region”. The Top Ten countries are still the same; US, the UK vaults my home and native land this year, Australia and Germany, Brazil tops Finland this year, France, Spain and Ireland. Daddy’s worldwide.

It’s boring to report that my Top Ten Most Read Articles have not changed. Of course, they are from past years so they have accumulated exposure. Many of the usual suspects – Marty Robbins, little Edie Sedgwick, Carole Landis, Gardner McKay, the Osmonds and others – were the most read with one from this year coming in at Number Ten. I say it’s boring to report but I must say I am pleased that SoulRide seems to have become the place to go to learn about at least a half-dozen figures in particular of mid-century entertainment.

Vintage Leisure‘s Number One article this year went right through the roof, quickly becoming the single most-read article in the history of my site. SoulRide is your main source on the internet for the story of Memphis lawyer Blanchard E. Tual. Still alive as of this writing, Mr. Tual was the court-appointed judge who extricated Colonel Tom Parker from the estate of Elvis Presley in the wake of the singers death. This fascinating story caught the fancy of many this year and readership shattered all records. Many thanks to author Alanna Nash for much of the info I compiled and shared in this piece.

Golden: The Story of Andy Williams was published at the outset of 2023. Andy had long been a topic I wanted to tackle and so I managed a trilogy near the end of 2022 and into ’23. I’m so pleased to have honoured Howard Andrew’s Christmas Music, looked at his memoir and issued the story of his career. Now, I love the man, but I gotta tell ya, I am proud that I was able to share so much about Williams, an artist who has very little “story” to him. Even coming up with a title for the article was tough. I found a cool picture of him online that included a golden microphone. And, considering that he was always “golden-throated”…

The second most-read article published this year was the sad story of the Presley family, a tale issued in the wake of Lisa’s tragic death. I was pleased that my new Once Upon a Time series was well-received and quite surprised that this year’s piece on unheralded Dan Vadis is at the top of the heap. And speaking of satisfaction and pleasure, it was very rewarding to see my Scene-By-Scene dissection of Diner go over so well. Such a deep dive and a long article but people seemed to want to hear my thoughts on just about every moment of the movie. And the most-viewed image of the year was from this piece. Seems many are interested in the legendary Carol Heathrow, played by Colette Blonigan.

The movie Breezy almost ended my life. The three articles I wrote on the film got lots of views and I will have much more to say about this story in the new year. In other movie news, while very few will likely be interested, I was happy to write articles on the careers of film directors Harvey Hart and William A. Graham – again I can say that the only full explorations of these two careers are found right here. I finally wrote about Where the Boys Are and La Bamba with the latter having maybe the greatest Featured Image I’ve ever created. My looks at The Irishman and Elvis (2023) go deeper than being just movie reviews and more for me than for anybody else are pieces on summer faves Under the Boardwalk and Back to the Beach.

Highlights for me include reporting on my discoveries in a beat up old Rubbermaid container full of old LPs, discussing the stunning Elvis book Baby, Let’s Play House and shining a well-deserved light on the soundtrack to the Burt Reynolds film Sharky’s Machine.

I am proud to maintain my alliance with some pretty cool cats in the Vintage Leisureverse. 2023 was my fifth year as a featured contributor to Koop Kooper’s Cocktail Nation radio show podcast. On my monthly Words With Wellsy segment, I talked about some of the twelve books I reviewed this year. My man, Kooper, is always sure to place my articles in his Lounge Life Magazine at Flipboard.com and that sure helps. I’m also looking forward to going into another year teaming with my fair brother George Fairbrother and his DEC4 Podcast. George always comes up with the best subjects for he and I to tackle and he seems to have no problem with just letting me ramble and share my multitudinous thoughts. When we’re recording, I think he may often get up and go for a cuppa after handing it off to me. Watch for many more deep dives – on Presley, the Beach Boys and others – in the new year. Thank you, Koop and George.

Once more this year, I find I have to mention my old friend Paddy Lee. Paddy was a fellow Canadian and classic film fan who was a fine Vintage Leisure patron. Years ago, she had graciously set up her website to include a link to my latest article automatically when it published. Well, Paddy Lee passed away during the first half of 2022 but her website is still active – and it is still referring people to my site. In fact, no other site referred more people to mine than Paddy’s did in 2023 even though she long ago left this mortal coil. I’ll always be grateful. BAMFStyle came in second, by the way – much thanks to my man at that fine site.

So, onward into the new year. I hope you’ll follow the website to not miss an article and I have to thank you all for your participation. I have tried to stick to the notion that I would do this whether or not anyone read these pieces – and I would – but it sure is nice to know that my work is resonating with so many of you. Check me out across the socials and follow our page on Facebook at Vintage Leisure. Come on and join me in partying like it’s 1974. May God bless you and yours in 2024.

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The Top Ten

• Elvis Week: Blanchard E. Tual – Hero
• The Reputations of Marty Robbins
• The Ping Girl: The Story of Carole Landis
• Check This Out: Edie Sedgwick
• A Leisurely Look @ Shelley Fabares
• The Top Ten Elvis Presley Songs You’ve Never Heard
• A Leisurely Look @ Jack Lord
• A Taste of White Mormon R&B: In Defence of the Osmonds
• Check This Out: Gardner McKay
• Golden: The Story of Andy Williams

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