Fun Radio and Music notes that take you back to our tuneful golden memories of 1967.
Dog Days of Summer Distraction
Well ... August seem stubborn in more ways than one. Can't get this page to update. Will keep trying; hope you'll come back again soon. Sorry! In the meantime, the August 1967 article is here ...
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Emulated, but Never Duplicated
July—every year since 1776 we’ve begun the month
with a bang! In radio, the big bang also pays tribute to the death of Wolfman Jack, July 1,
1995. He was the self-proclaimed “Original Rock & Roll Animal.”
I prefer celebrating births rather than deaths, and
while Wolfman is an integral part of my book series, July 1967 deserves to be
celebrated for other reasons in this era.
Certainly we honor the Wolfman,
who to this day is oft-imitated but remains one-of-a-kind.
And July is of course, a celebration of the US Declaration
of Independence’s final approval. Let’s light the fireworks for a couple
other reasons.
In music and radio, July ’67 was the middle month
in the Summer
of Love. The radio charts, scattered love songs amongst grooves of
Psychedelic Rock, which gained ground in part, through popularity with
returning Vietnam soldiers. Music
was essential to many soldiers, and Psychedelic Rock
embodied their extreme mix of swirling emotions.
Still in the clutches of the war, 50 years ago we
endured the most devastating single-day loss this month, by the Marines, in Operation
Buffalo.
And The
Beatles’ song, “All We
Need is Love,” became even more poignant at the top of the radio charts. A “love
song” for sure, but considered one of their most political tunes. (The boys even wore
flowers in their hair for the Our World
global premiere of the song, June 25, 1967.)
Listeners at KACY/Santa
Barbara applauded their local DJ, Steve Sands (Sandoval) on the cover of the July 28th
survey, as he soon enlisted in the US Army. At the same time, KACY fans
boosted “All You Need is Love” to #10 (up from #14 previous week), stabilizing
it at #3 in the next couple of weeks.
Where did the iconic Beatles song land on the
charts in your neck of the woods? Don’t recall? Bop on over to The Airheads Radio Survey Archive,
enter a radio station or city, and enjoy a leisurely stroll down Memory Lane!
Would you rather listen to than view memories of
the ‘60s? Strap on your headphones and head over to YouTube to download my audio interview
with DJ David
“Ghosty” Wills, reminiscing about pioneering DJs, and Book 2 in the Blast from Your Past! series – Rock
& Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties.
Wolfman Jack and The Beatles … emulated, imitated, but
never duplicated.
Featured
Radio Survey: DJ Steve Sands at KACY/Santa
Barbara was one of (I’m sure) many jocks who entered service 50 Years Ago this
Month. Check out KACY’s music survey for July 28, 1967. The top fifteen gave us love with “Can’t Take My
Eyes Off You” to following your fantasy in “White Rabbit,” at #1.
Celebrate JULY 1967: 50 Years Ago and … Rock On!
# # #
It’s
Officially the “Golden Summer of Love”
Unreal.
Groovy. Surrealistic. Here we are … we have arrived in the future, my fellow
Rockin’ Boomers! How did we get here?!
Fifty Years Ago this Month, we were part of an
authentic “happening” … an epiphany … a true phenomenon … the “Summer of Love.”
I
attended the KFRC/San Francisco Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival
the weekend of June 10-11. It transformed the serene top of Mount Tamalpais
into a swirling haze of musical mayhem and dancing Mary Janes. Breathe deep …
It
was not pure mountain air, m’dears!
But it was a celebration of young and old, hippies and button-downs, and a
whole lotta Rock & Roll. This was the weekend that slid us into the Summer
of Love.
KFRC may have been mostly
Top 40 fare the Summer of ‘67, but their innovative support broke the ceiling
for progressive Rock that weekend. The brainchild of Program Director, Tom
Rounds, its lineup included an eclectic spectrum of performers from Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, and The 5th
Dimension, to Country Joe and the
Fish, The Steve Miller Band, and
fast-chart-climbers, The Doors.
The
Fantasy Fair, while grudgingly acknowledged as the first large scale outdoor Rock / Pop concert, was outstripped by a
bigger event a few weeks later. But the Monterey Pop Festival with nearly double
attendance, certainly didn’t dampen the Fair’s status for avid Rock fans. In
fact, MPF benefitted from the Fair’s success. More importantly, the Fair
operated as an altruistic charity benefit, without the MPF’s commercial
business vibe.
Sadly,
very few images and only a couple of truncated film clips
survived the decades. But as long as memory survives, the weekend that kicked
off the 1967 Summer of Love will
live again.
As
for today … look around you … young and old still love mind-altering drugs, we
still protest for love, not war, and this year has seen more society and
political upheaval than there has been since the Sixties. Put a flower in your
hair, “White Rabbit”* in your headphones,
and welcome the “2017 ‘Golden’ Summer of Love”!
Featured Radio Survey: While KFRC’s listeners
discovered new music and a new way to party at the Fantasy Fair, in Lexington,
Kentucky, WVLK fans stuck with the
Top 40. What the “Mighty 590” lacked in radio station polish they made up for
in advertising ingenuity. Check out the music
survey
that doubled as an ad agent’s promo, week of June 10-16, 1967 …
Celebrate JUNE 1967: 50 Years Ago
and … Rock On!
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| LIKE if you like! |
Groovin’ with
Respect, May 1967
Most
radio stations across the country charted “Groovin’” by The Young
Rascals in the top five, 50 Years Ago this Month. With a lot
of “Respect” from
Aretha Franklin, they leap-frogged each other up the charts to vie for the #1
and #2 golden spots for much of latter May. 
KXOA/Sacramento and WABC/New York were “Groovin’” at the
top of their surveys for the week of May 17th and 19th
(respectively). KFRC/San Francisco
gave their listeners “Respect” at the top, with Ed Mitchell spinning the tunes
for you from 9 a.m. ‘til noon, on the Big 610.
What
else happened in May 1967? Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll, baby!
-
The
“secret’s” out of the bag! Spunky head Beatle, Paul, admitted they’d all dropped acid at one time
or another.
-
Women
everywhere swooned with envy as Priscilla Beaulieu married hunky Elvis Presley at the Aladdin in Las Vegas. Viva Las Vegas!
-
Not
wanting The Beatles to hog all the limelight, Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger,
Keith Richards and Brian Jones did them one better (or worse)—and found
themselves in lock-up on drug charges.
-
Repercussions?
The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” suffered in the UK charts as BBC took their
drug admissions seriously, and banned it.
-
May 25:
-
Defiance?
Never let others dictate your personality, was John Lennon’s motto as he drove
off in his newly renovated Psychedelic Rolls Royce.
-
Does
it seem The Beatles dominated the late Sixties? Well, yes. But that doesn’t
mean other great music wasn’t happening.
Featured Radio Survey: KFRC/San
Francisco’s Big 30 for May 17, 1967,
gave Aretha and their listeners the “Respect” we deserved. Capturing the moment
in music, we heard Lou
Rawls lament a “Dead End Street” at #5, and a peek into the upcoming Summer of Love, with “The Flower Children” (Marcia Strassman) hugging the #9 spot. Here’s the full top ten …
Celebrate MAY 1967: 50 Years Ago
and … Rock On!
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An Over-the-Shoulder Peek at April 1967
50 Years
Ago this Month
saw Psychedelic Rock
force its swirling climb up the charts, gaining heat as we moved closer to the
torrid Summer of Love.
We
began the month on a high note, at the top of WABC/NY’s All American Survey April 8, 1967, “Happy Together” with The Turtles.
Not
all DJs were happy together however, with radio broadcasting formats. FM
stations began playing follow-the-leader, finding their footing outside the
Jazz genre, in AOR and other diverse areas. Especially after DJ Tom Donahue
signed on at KMPX/San Francisco, Friday,
April 7, 1967. Always a rebel, Tom
began his push for Freeform Rock, combined with an all-female engineering
staff. It worked.
Need
more to celebrate April 1967? Party
on, for “Louie
Louie” Day, April 11th;
and have you hugged your vinyl record store owner lately? The tenth annual Record Store Day, spins off April 22nd. (Though you can
start as early as the 15th for some.)
By
month’s end in the Top 40, frustrated and disillusioned, we lamented toiling at
our jobs with The Easybeat’s
The
mood of the moment is capsulized in a nice long
excerpt from the newly released BFYP
(e)Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties! Like many of his listeners, DJ Neale Blase, objected to the Vietnam War.
Doing
so on the radio though, generally didn’t sit well with station management. One
night, as Neale broadcast live in a special airing with Armed Forces Radio on KOMA/Oklahoma City …
“Here’s a song for
Private Bob Smith from his wife in Montana … she’s hoping that you’ll be home
soon, safe and sound … and by the way, Bob, we all want you guys home soon, because you shouldn’t even be there. So
for all of you guys over there … listen very
closely to the lyrics of this song.” KOMA listeners heard Buffalo Springfield warn,
“There’s a man with a gun over there …” *
Aware of his
opportunity as a DJ to comment on news of the day, Neale said, “I can’t tell
you how many times we would talk over the intro of a song and express our views
in a very compatible tone of voice, with the tempo of the song. Never underestimate
the power of subtlety.” Read the rest of Neale’s Swinging Sixties story, here.
Featured Radio Survey: In
view of this lengthy post, and the lamentable fact I don’t have an April ’67 vintage
radio survey in the BFYP Collection, we’ll continue to enjoy the March KFRC/San Francisco survey, and bounce
back with more than enough May ’67 surveys next month. Top 30 station, KFRC, tipped the iceberg of our music
revolution. But the depth of its love came from the base of FM underground
music that would soon emanate from KMPX
and DJ Tom Donahue. Check out the
eclectic mix in the March 1, 1967 KFRC Big 30 chart.
Celebrate APRIL 1967: 50 Years Ago
… Rock On!
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Happy Together Marching through 1967
March ’67 caught some of us watching
the boob tube as THRUSH in Man from U.N.C.L.E. rushed to convert sea water to gold.
Or were you day-trippin’ on the Electric
Prunes’ tune “I Had Too Much to Dream”? The Psychedelic song struggled for an audience from November
1966 until it finally broke through to the top ten of our handy-dandy
transistor radio stations this month, 50 years ago.
The Electric Prunes hit slipped a
notch to #6 on KFRC/San Francisco’s
March 1st Big 30 chart. But love cured the hangover with the
Turtles’ “Happy Together”
at #1.
The Five Americans (a BFYP Book 2
band) were ready to ride the airwaves to the top in KFRC’s Big Hit Bounds list, with “Western Union,” as we take
a Spring break before the now infamous Summer of Love. We’ll
bring you whatever 50th anniversary news we can rustle up starting
in June!
A year of magic and mayhem in radio
and life, we tried desperately to maintain our innocence while the Vietnam War
colored our vision as profoundly as John Lennon’s rose-colored spectacles.
In spite of, or maybe because of,
the country’s turmoil and turbulence, by June the radio charts' top tune was on its way to top record and top song in the 10th
Grammy Awards (1968). We were obviously looking for bright optimism in the 5th
Dimension’s “Up, Up and Away.” “… the world’s a nicer place
in my beautiful balloon …” ♪
Featured Radio Survey: In
1967 San Francisco channeled all the love it could muster into its music. Top
30 station, KFRC, tipped the iceberg
of our music revolution. But the depth of its love came from the base of FM
underground music that would soon emanate from KMPX and DJ Tom Donahue.
Check out the eclectic mix in the March 1, 1967 KFRC/San Francisco Big 30 chart.
Celebrate MARCH 1967: 50 Years Ago
… Rock On!
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No
doubt, St. Valentine’s Day had something to do with “Dedicated to the One I Love”
scaling WABC/New York’s survey ladder in one GIANT leap, from an obscure #57 on February 25, 1967 to #15 the following week.
The Mamas & Papas’ favorite nearly wore out the station’s turntables as we
lingered in its lovelights for another month, propelling it all the way to #3
by April 8th.
Elsewhere
in the February 1967 Rock & Roll
Radio landscape, we have some fun listening to entertaining pioneering DJs’ airchecks
at ReelRadio.com! Join us as Jan Gabriel hams
it up at WJOB/Hammond,
Indiana;
The Real Don Steele keeps KHJ/Los Angeles
listeners on their toes; and our “fuddy duddy buddy,” Dr.Don Rose,* razzes his radio audience at WQXI/Atlanta, Georgia, in February 1967. (Far left, Feb 1968 survey,
but still … 😉 )
HUGE
aircheck announcement for you Radioheads! Uncle Ricky, who owns the ReelRadio.com non-profit vintage
airchecks site, is reconverting it to FREE access (like when it began in 1996)
toward the end of March.
But PLEASE support his herculean efforts any time with
a donation,* to thank him
and ensure ReelRadio remains an enduring and endearing go-to site. As he says, “a
‘free’ site will kill us, or make us grow.” Let’s help him grow! (*This is not
an ad, and Uncle Ricky didn’t ask me to post it. I just LOVE his site. It has
been invaluable to me for writing the
BFYP books.)
Featured Radio Survey: Since
I don’t have a February 1967 radio
survey in the BFYP Collection, I’ve
posted a KCBQ/San Diego tribute survey
featuring BFYP DJ Jack Vincent, for December 10, 1961. He began spinning vinyls in
Rock & Roll Radio Heaven on January 29th, escorted by East Coast
fave DJ, Herb Oscar Anderson, best known at WABC/New York. R.I.P. gentlemen.
Celebrate FEBRUARY 1967: 50 Years Ago
… Rock On!
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1967 spun Rock & Roll music on its ear, as the new FM radio stations spun us on our ears. Far out, man.
Sonny and Cher assured us “The Beat Goes On” (up to #13 on the KFRC/San Francisco survey, January 18,
1967), but this year spearheaded the second phase of 1960’s Rock music battle
between love and war, with epic, intricate beats.
Not
just a little influenced by psychedelia, Rock music rose to new
heights—literally and figuratively.
By
the end of the month, West Coast counterculture bands had donated their time
and music to the first San Francisco Hare Krishna fundraising concert. Historic, not only
because of its mind-expanding highs but the incredible, mind-blowing music.
Headlining
the Avalon Ballroom for the Mantra-Rock Dance (January 29th)
were Psychedelic Rock innovators, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, and Big
Brother and the Holding Company. The event also featured LSD advocate, Timothy Leary. Go figure.
Live
music and AM radio’s tunes weren’t much in sync, though, as January radio
surveys still reflected soft love songs, albeit tinged with an edgier
electronic guitar. The Airplane’s “My Best Friend” hit #10 on KFRC’s Big 30 (January 28, 1967), but
it was just a hint of their more surrealistic sounds coming up.
Climbing
the chart to truly kick off the Psychedelic Rock year, we find The Electric Prunes at #26, admitting, “I Had too much to Dream Last Night.” Yeah, baby.
Thanks
to upstart FM stations like KMPX/San
Francisco and KPPX/Los Angeles
(think Tom and Raechel Donahue) along with live
performances, the month, ended turning guitar solos and love ballads into
mind-twisting musical experiences.
*And
into the night you'll fade, knowing you lost the game | And just how she got her name of | The Snow Queen … ♪
Welcome
to January 1967! Happy New Year 50 Years Ago this Month!
Featured Radio Survey: This
month I have to go outside the BFYP
vintage survey collection. Darn. Can’t believe I don’t have any January 1967 radio charts. However, one
of my fave research sites is the Airheads
Radio Survey Archives ... what I don’t have, they do …
and then some! Enjoy the KFRC/San
Francisco Big 30 chart list for January
28, 1967 here; but if you love retro Rock & Roll, you must visit
their searchable site. It’s awesome!
Celebrate JANUARY 1967: 50 Years Ago
… Rock On!
* “The Snow Queen” by Roger Nichols
& The Small Circle of Friends, #14, January 28, 1967, KFRC/San Francisco Big 30.
# # #
50 Plus 10 = 1956
Wow—how
did we get here?! Not only another year gone, but … 50 Years Ago this Month!!
Searching
for December 1966 radio and music news and views, turned up a rather placid time
in Rock Radio.
The top
five songs on KFRC/San Francisco’s “Big 30” (12/14/66) for
example, glorified and vilified love—nothing new there.
Hearts
on a string, we were singing along with the top three pop tunes: 1) “I’m a Believer”
(Monkees); 2) “Winchester Cathedral” (New Vaudeville
Band); and 3) “Tell It Like It Is” (Aaron Neville). A-vo-dee-oh-doe!!
But
every December, here at Blast
from Your Past, we choose to celebrate the birthing day of Alan Freed
(December 15, 1921)—the “father of Rock & Roll Radio DJs.”
This month, we add ten years to our 50
Years Ago this Month writings to venerate Mr. Freed. We owe our fifty
years-plus-ten mantra to the man who first thundered, “Let’s Rock & Roll!!”?
1955’s Blackboard Jungle film, which featured Bill Haley &
His Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock, inspired tons of teens to dance in the
theater aisles.
Hot
off its success, Mr. Freed appeared
in two iconic Rock & Roll films the following year, Rock Around the Clock
(March), and Rock, Rock, Rock (December).
As
it’s said on Wiki, “In the 1956 film Rock, Rock, Rock,
Freed tells the audience that ‘Rock and Roll is a river of music that has
absorbed many streams: rhythm and blues, jazz, rag time, cowboy songs, country
songs, folk songs. All have contributed to the big beat.’"
Featured Radio Survey: The
closest KFRC’s December 1966 chart came to offering a 1956 Rockin’ song
sound-alike was at #5, Mitch Ryder’s “Devil with the Blue Dress On.” The rest of
the chart lineup went like this …
Celebrate DECEMBER 50 Years Ago
… and Rock On!
* Sonny and Cher hit the January 1967
charts with “The Beat Goes On.” See ya 50
Years Ago 2017!
 |
| Old "Time" Rock & Roll! Buy at CafePress |
♪ ♪ ♪ NOVEMBER 1966 ♪ ♪ ♪
Coming of Age with the Age of
Aquarius
Raise your hand—how many of you
Boomers came of voting age in November
1966? 50 Years Ago this Month we
found it tough to apply politics to the late 1960s’ New Age philosophies and ethereal
Age of Aquarius.
So we turned to music …
In November 1966 we voted The Beach Boys to the top of
the charts with “Good Vibrations,” and spent our evenings exploring
pop psychology rather than politics, to Donovan’s
“Mellow Yellow.” Radio charts reflected our chaotic minds.
Logging a short stint at KBLA/Los Angeles, pioneering Rock DJ, “Humble Harve” Miller, waxed our ears with
vinyl tunes that ran the gamut from “Winchester Cathedral” (at
#3, New Vaudeville Band) to the anything-but-weepy “96 Tears” (at #7, ?
& the Mysterians).
So, what was your fave November ’66 song?
“Don’t Keep Me Hangin’ On” (at #2, The Supremes)—take a hike down Memory Lane and
let me know the path you took! Post ‘em at Blast From Your Past – Let’s Rock!
Beneath the surface in 1966,
however, the vibrations were anything but mellow. In two short years we would vote in another contentious election. “The presidential election of 1968 was one of the
most chaotic in American history, reflecting a time that was in many ways
equally chaotic,” says John Gardner of PBS.org.
Two assassinations (Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy) and the Vietnam war, colored the field and left us with few
palatable choices. Sigh—is “change” a myth?
Featured Radio Survey: KBLA was a vibrant force for the Los
Angeles Rock scene, November 1966.
Apparently rich and successful, they were even giving away a Rolls Royce! At
least, that’s what their November 14, 1966 “Super 30”
survey said ...
Celebrate NOVEMBER 50 Years Ago
… and Rock On!
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♪ ♪ ♪ OCTOBER 1966 ♪ ♪ ♪
Owwwwoooo! October’s a Scream!
Were you like me, eagerly
anticipating … and dreading … October’s arrival? (Hence the late post.)
Halloween – YEAH! But Holidays
… bah humbug! I’m just not ready to go there. So, let’s Rock instead!
ROCK-tober is truly my favorite month of the year, with Halloween as my beloved “non” holiday.
All the fun without the stress!
What songs did we howl along with 50 Years Ago this Month? Cherish* your Sunshine Superman …
KFRC / San
Francisco’s top ten for Halloween
week 1966 had us crying “96 Tears” at #1 by ? & the Mysterians (yes, they used a question mark for their name). Only “Psychotic Reaction” (Count Five) at #9, came close to getting us in an eerie mood.
For mystique, the state of
California tried to alter our state of minds, as it declared LSD
officially illegal on October 6, 1966—which sent many into a Zombie rage, raising the dead and smashing pumpkins—making
it nearly impossible to distinguish our politicians from All Hallow’s Eve ghouls. Fifty years later, nothing
has changed. (Please know I’m being facetious - sorta.)
From ghosts to witches, hallowed ceremonies to pumpkin parties, eerie screams
to Wolfman Jack’s howls, Halloween celebrants love to let loose.
There is always a witch’s cauldron-full
of frightening community events, and a fun round-up of spooky music on your
local Radio station.
If scary isn’t your thing, a pretend
solution is to gather the family for classic TV special “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” and celebrate its 50th anniversary! (Airs
October 19th on ABC—record and replay!)
Whatever your festivities, or if opting
for a homebound night of creepy news … I mean, movies … enjoy your last shred
of sanity before the scary-mad dash for New Year’s Eve!
Featured Radio Survey: Were
you in Chicago for Halloween in 1966?
You’ll likely remember devilish DJ Jim
Stagg chatting with the beastly Beatles. While the survey isn’t very scary,
the 10-06-66
date might spook you! (*Cherish and Sunshine Superman both
hit the top ten in Stagg’s Hit Line Sound Survey.)
Celebrate OCTOBER 50 Years Ago … Rock On!
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♪ ♪ ♪ SEPTEMBER 1966 ♪ ♪ ♪
Hurry! Don’t Miss the Last Train to
School!
Before September 1966 our favorite primate was Kala – Tarzan’s Great Ape mother – or Ham the Astrochimp. Then
we heard, “Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees!”
September 12th 50 Years Ago this Month The Monkees
debuted on NBC. But their first hit single wasn’t their theme song. By the
show’s opening night, “Last Train to Clarksville” was already climbing the charts, at #28 on WOKY/Milwaukee’s “Lucky Number” survey
for September 9th.
Shortly after, WFIL 560 AM in Philly, pulled a switcheroo so they could have fun
too. So long, MOR (middle of the road stuff) and hello Top 40: “The Pop Explosion
– Famous 56”!
What were you doing in September 1966?
Listening to the radio? Where? Who was your fave DJ? Tell me!
Might end up in a book …
Featured Radio Survey: Take
a look at the WOKY/Milwaukee, week
ending September 9, 1966 with a survey that watched The Monkees climb –
bringing back memories yet? A little help: “Sunshine Superman” by
Donovan shined its way to the #1 spot.
Celebrate SEPTEMBER 50 Years Ago
… Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
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♪ ♪ ♪ AUGUST 1966 ♪ ♪ ♪
Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer 1966!
You haven’t lived until you’ve cruised the drag in a classic convertible, the
hot summer sun baking your brain, while you bellow, “They’re Coming to Take Me Away”* (ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-ha!).
Well, they probably should have … 50
Years Ago this Month!
The KRLA/Los
Angeles radio chart, week of Aug 13, 1966,
pushed this lazy, hazy, crazy days-of-summer song to #1, leading the way for other
novelty songs to scramble up the Top 40 ladder. Was it the heat? The campy song
sounds like a love lament on steroids – it was – for his dog.
Napoleon (producer/songwriter/engineer,
Jerry Samuels) flipped again on the flip-side, with “They’re Coming to Take Me
Away” written – and recorded – backwards.
"!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT" Hmmm, definitely the heat.
*Napoleon XIV was followed closely on
the KRLA chart, by Sam the Sham
& the Pharaohs with “Li’l’ Red Riding Hood” at #5, and The Troggs filled our minds with “Wild Thing” (#18).
From silly to somber, it seemed
someone was in a hurry to end the summer – or at least the weird songs – as “See You in September”
(the Happenings) made the KHJ/Los
Angeles survey’s “Hit Bound” list early in the month, crooned its way up to #9
by the end of August.
Since I
don’t have an August 1966 survey in the
BFYP collection to feature, I’d like
to take this opportunity to wish Jack
Vincent, longtime R&R Radio DJ for San
Diego’s KCBQ
(retired) a speedy recovery from recent illness.
The nonagenarian was an Errol
Flynn twin-looker “back in the day,” and one of KCBQ’s Good Guys in the 1960s. He was and is a role model for
legendary DJs like Shotgun Tom Kelly, Neil Ross,
Bill Gardner and so many
awesome broadcasters over the years. Get well quick, Jack!
Featured Radio
Survey: For your fun and enjoyment – a KCBQ/San
Diego “Hit Parade” from the week of August 28, 1966 – accessed at ARSA Survey Search. The most comprehensive list (and many images) of radio
charts/surveys, I’ve found on the ‘Net! KCBQ
listeners still had “See You in September” as high as #6. Slap it on the turntable, Jack!
Celebrate AUGUST 50 years ago
and … Rock On!
# # #
♪ ♪ ♪ JULY 1966 ♪ ♪ ♪
Fed Up with War – On Radio Charts We Were Makin’ Love!
July starts out with a bang every
year in grand celebration of our illustrious country. Sustaining the American patriotic enthusiasm is the challenge.
Especially when 50 Years Ago This Month our music of the
moment emphasized our desire to make love, not war.
Though WMEX/Boston in July 1966 patriotically
declared DJ Larry Justice's “Music and Justice for All” on their “15 and Ten
Survey,” the hits were enough to make you swoon.
As a July 4, 1966 KOWN survey attests
for then, rural San Diego County, we were heating up our summer with anything but war songs. “Hanky Panky” by
Tommy James and The Shondells held the #1 spot at KOWN/Escondido, California,
on the Independence Day weekend.
Following close behind at #2 was “Searching for My Love,” by Bobby Moore & the Rhythm Aces. Mmmm, that smooth
soulllllll sound. (See the rest of the survey’s love-song list on our Featured Radio Survey page.)
 |
| BFYP DJ, Neale was a "fishbowl" DJ! |
How could it not be popular? Its
prime location with fishbowl windows to watch the DJs in action, made it a fun
and provocative, hot summer night teen hangout.
Where did you celebrate this month of 1966?
Ahhh, go ahead – take a sparkly red, white & blue walk down Memory Lane.
Enjoy the moment … again!
Featured Radio
Survey: Of course, it’s the rare, KOWN/Escondido
official survey for July 4, 1966! “145-KOWNighttime” was on-air 7:00p to
midnight, with Mike Larsen spinning your fave vinyls …
Celebrate this month 50 years
ago and … Rock On!
# # #
♪ ♪ ♪ JUNE 1966 ♪ ♪ ♪
Fast Talkin’ Slow Walkin’ DJ Dude …
WXYZ/Detroit, June 1966 – was BFYP DJ Joey Reynolds ahead of his time? This
guy can TALK and that he did – fast –
while grabbing records for the turntable and slapping down The Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.”
WXYZ was too proud to
give up the music biz through the highs and lows of the charts, but finally opened
the conversation for a talk format in 1984.
Back in 1966 the top 40 station followed the Rock & Roll crowd, beat
for formatted beat. Think Joey looks bored in his jock picture on WXYZ’s music chart? He was. But why?
My 2008 interview with Joey
pinpointed when stringent station formatting became unbearable. “I quit [radio] — in 1967-68. I
didn’t want any more of it, I hated it. I wasn’t going to be playing something
that someone thought the audience
wanted.” And there you have it! [Joey’s story and more in BFYP-Book 2, The Swinging
Sixties, coming this fall.]
Of course, you who have reveled in
Joey’s fast patter over the decades since, know he became bored in “retirement”
too, and fortunately, rediscovered his love for radio. He was heard regularly
around the New York / East Coast into 2011, when his All Night with Joey
Reynolds airing on WNBC-DT2
ended.
You might recall the night in 1962,
though, while bopping to WPOP/Hartford,
Connecticut, that Joey locked himself in the studio for four hours and played
the Four Seasons’ “Sherry” until it HAD to be a hit … Sherry, Sherry baby … come, come
out tonight … ♪.
Or more recently, tried a few yummy
recipes from The Ultimate Cheesecake Cookbook which he
co-authored with longtime assistant, Myra Chanin.
Either way, it’s worth a small
donation to Reel Radio, a
great non-profit that archives DJ airchecks,
to walk down Memory Lane with Joey Reynolds, from
Buffalo to San Francisco.
Featured Radio Survey: Joey Reynolds is a BFYP
pioneering DJ, with ties to both
coasts and a commanding host of studio microphones in between. Recall the tunes
Joey played for you at WXYZ/Hartford,
June 6, 1966! Enjoy the Moment … Again.
Celebrate this month 50 years
ago and … Rock On!
# # #
♪ ♪ ♪ MAY 1966 ♪ ♪ ♪
Mamas (& Papas) and Mondays in May!
The Mamas & the Papas made radio news commiserating with the lovelorn, as their melancholy “Monday,
Monday” hit the top of the charts, throughout May 1966.
As early as the May 8th issue of “The Original Official Top Thirty,” WGH/Tidewater, Virginia, latched on to the song that is distinguished as the group’s only #1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Were you listening when Bob “Ol’ Boob” Calvert or Roger “The Lodger” Clark set “Monday, Monday” to spinning on the turntable?
Or were you in Chicago when WCFL listeners jammed the (Jim) Stagg Line requesting The Mamas and the Papas’ popular song,
keeping it at #1 as late as the May 26th
Sound 10 Survey?*
In late May, though no longer
charting at KFWB/98, L.A., The Mamas
and the Papas were front page news in the station’s Hitline newsrag. (Vol. 1, No. 52, May 31, 1966) Were Wink Martindale, Lord Tim and Gene Weed your
fave KFWB heartthrob DJs? Speaking of
love …
Troublesome relationships and the
darker effects of sex, drugs, Rock & Roll, plagued The Mamas and the Papas
throughout their short-lived chart-climbing years.
Though three of the four original
members now make music in Rock & Roll Heaven, The Mamas and the Papas left
a legacy of classic songs that radio stations still rotate on their playlists.
In addition to “Monday, Monday, ” a sampling
that we still sing along with:
“California Dreamin’” “I'd
be safe and warm … If I was in L.A. …”
Featured Radio
Survey: Jim Stagg is a celebrated WCFL/Chicago
pioneering DJ – and rightfully so! SO he’s included in the Blast from Your Past DJ series, Book 2 coming soon. Look for a teaser excerpt in the near future.
In the meantime, the *May 26, 1966 Sound 10 Survey is featured! Enjoy
the Moment … Again.
♪ Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day … it
just turns out that way … ♪
Celebrate this month 50 years ago and … Rock On!
♪ ♪ ♪ APRIL 1966 ♪ ♪ ♪
Still looking for answers …
And so, we celebrate Earth Day April 22nd – which just
happens to be a “Full Pink Moon” as
well. Cool.
You know what else is cool? 50 Years Ago this Month … BFYP Rockin’ DJ, Ken Chase (aka Mike Korgan) produced the ultimate party song, “LouieLouie.” April 11th marks International
“Louie Louie” Day, and It hit #8 on the WILS/Lansing (MI) Top Twenty survey,
April 27, 1966!
You can likely still find a copy or
two of “Louie Louie” and other top tens of the day, at your neighborhood vinyl
record store. Hopefully, not too many scratches on the grooves for “Good
Lovin’” (Young Rascals) and the Mamas & Papas’ “Monday, Monday.”
Maybe you’ll even catch ‘em on sale
– ‘cause April 16th is Record Store Day. Remember how we used
to swing to the beat on the Radio, then hightail it down to our fave record
store on our Schwinns? Thank your local pioneering Rock Radio DJs for
their service …
Is that all there is? ♪ Heck no! Then … Let’s keep dancin’ ♪… April 23rd is National
Dance Day! So put your boogie on and let’s groove to the beat, baby.
Featured Radio Survey: Of course, I have an original WILS April 27, 1966, record chart! DJs Bob Carey and Gene Healy ruled the airwaves and spun the platters in Lansing. Enjoy the Moment … Again.
♪ Let's take this on outta here … Let's go!
♪
Celebrate this month 50 years ago and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
# # #
♪ ♪ ♪ MARCH 1966 ♪ ♪ ♪
Teen Power 50 Years
Ago this Month = Boomer Power Now!
If today’s power-mad teens think
they are the driving force of retail sales, let them be reminded – we
started it!
Week of March 12, 1966:
“Teen Power – America’s 24 million teenagers
spent $15 billion on leisure time activities last year, a boost of $3 billion
over the past two years. According to Billboard magazine, youngsters bought
around 68% of all single records and 34% of all albums sold across retail
counters.”
What did we buy? Miniskirts, Espresso, Ben Franklin glasses, music
by the Righteous Brothers, and
more Rockin’ vinyls by the Rolling Stones. 
As with today’s teens, our
music and the artists we loved often reflected our restless and rebellious
attitude, with reactions to it as diverse as the swirling colors in a tie-dye
shirt.
Example: the UK public took John Lennon’s off-hand
statement made in the London Evening
Standard in March 1966, with Lot’s grain of salt. But in the US, it rubbed salt in Christian wounds ...
It took five months
(August) before the article republished in the US teen newsmag, Datebook – and all hell broke loose –
heralding “politically correct” fanaticism and society’s inability to tolerate
a metaphor.
Yes, he indeed said, “Christianity will go. It will vanish and
shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I'll be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I
don't know which will go first—rock 'n' roll or Christianity.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins
it for me.”
What did your fave radio station DJ have to say about it? Did you understand that 1) things were
different in the UK – Christianity was
experiencing a slump; and 2) Lennon meant the comparison as a point of
reference, and since he was currently studying religion, it was to him, a
natural comparison?
Probably not – we Americans tend to blindly
grab whatever media-frenzied headline is waving over our heads today and beat
it to death until it succumbs to our way of thinking – as skewered as that
might be.
The controversy contributed to The Beatles’ decision that their August US tour would be their last – on
its conclusion, they became a studio band – but wrote some of their best work.
Still happy in our ignorance in
March, we protested the Vietnam War
and boot-stomped Barry Sadlers’ “Ballad of the Green Berets” to the top of the
charts. WABC/NY moved over to their
new Avenue of the Americas radio studio, and a NYC top jock, Murray the K, opened a Rock ‘n’ Roll
theater night spot.
Featured Radio Survey: “Ballad of the Green
Berets” hit the charts hard in March 1966. Heartland listeners at WHB/Kansas City (MO) already pushed it
up to #1, while it took ‘til the week of March 20th for WGH/Tidewater (VA) to take it to the #3
spot on the chart. Who were your fave
DJs? Did you listen to WGH’s high-steppin’ jocks, like “Ol’ Boob” Bob Calvert and “Lean Gene” Loving? There’s more …
Celebrate this month 50 years ago and … Enjoy the moment … again!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
# # #
♪ ♪ ♪ FEBRUARY 1966 ♪ ♪ ♪
50 Years Ago this Month – Batman Rocks Radio!
1966 was a heightened year of conflict and free speech. Those of us graduating high school in the late ‘60s teetered on the cusp of one extreme or the other. For many, our choices programmed the rest of our lives – into mainstream college and families, or experimenting with life and visionary innovations.
Fifty Years Ago
this Month, music played a crucial sanctuary
for our insecurities, much like today. No self-respecting car cruising the drag
was without a radio; and like televisions today, a radio commanded space in
every room of the house. 
Did your after-school job take a
month to earn up to $40 for that
Silvertone 4-speed automatic phonograph? Thumbing through the Sears (&
Roebuck) catalog though, you could score an AM clock radio for half that. We
were cool. ♪ California Dreamin’ … on such a
winter’s day … ♪ 
With our radios came those
smooth-talkin’, happy-hawkin’ DJs
who echoed our fears and soothed our tears … if only Batman could save the
world!
At WILS/Lansing Michigan, it was Batman to the rescue! Trading on the
hottest show on television, the station’s “Top Sounds of the Week” for February
1966, featured “The exciting adventures of Bat-Fink and Rubin, the
wonder-midget.” No, we were not particularly politically correct “in the day” …
But no one can deny that we had a
lot of innocent fun. It was an era we
can only wish our children of today were still experiencing. Not that there
wasn’t crime and violence, but it wasn’t the norm, and not our idea of “fun.” 
Fun was joining Ron Riley’s Batman Club at WLS/Chicago;
and tripping up our ankle-biting siblings as they raced around us with Remco’s
Batman Wrist Radios!
Ahhhh, that was then – this is now –
we Boomers only confess to 39 and Holding, so we can reminisce and remember … ♪ …
now I cherish so, When Liking Turns to Loving … ♪
Featured
Radio Survey:
WILS/Lansing, Radio 1320 “Music in
Michigan,” February 23, 1966 (issue #113) featured DJ Bob Carey’s future hit pick, “Good Lovin’” (Young
Rascals). See
all the DJs’ picks – is your fave among them?
Celebrate this month 50 years ago and … Enjoy the moment … again!
*Songs on WILS survey February 23, 1966:
“California Dreaming,” Mamas &
Papas – #14
“When Liking Turns to Love,” Ronnie
Dove – #11
# # #
♪ ♪ ♪ JANUARY 1966 ♪ ♪ ♪
“Trippy, man” … and that’s how we
began January, 1966 ~ 50 Years Ago this
Month!
Life is trippy even without LSD – better known
as “Acid” – the hallucinatory craze of the late ‘60s. Well, I didn’t need any
of the “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” to ride the whirlwind of life which
threw me into a new location on New Year’s Day.
And before I could even get my
bearings, the dreaded cold bug invaded my senses – ‘twas the season, ya know? All
better now though, and ready to tackle an exciting New Year of pioneering Rock & Roll Radio DJs. How about
you? Let’s get at it then – January,
1966 began …
With New York City at a standstill,
public transportation workers went on strike January 2nd and
remained off the grid until the 13th. Meanwhile, recent high school
grads were called up for a different kind of duty …
 |
| The Face of Battle (AP/Horst Faas) by Andrew H. Talkov |
How did we deal with it? We listened
to KYA/San Francisco’s now-legendary
DJs, Emperor Gene Nelson, Johnny Holliday and the others,
spinning “safe” sounds of James Brown, the Righteous Brothers, and Simon &
Garfunkel. But that was all about to shape-shift into wild, vibrant, swirling
colors.
A good many chose to escape into the
land of the Caterpillar and the Toadstool as one of the first large public “Acid Tests” took place over three hazy days,
January 21-23, at San Francisco’s Longshoreman’s Hall.
Ten thousand Hippies and Hipsters
gathered for the three-day Trips Festival
(with a thousand would-be trippers turned away each night). A weekend of tuning
out with LSD and tuning into
mind melds featured the psychedelic music of such soon-to-be greats (not even
on radio charts yet), Grateful Dead,
Big Brother and the Holding Company,
Jefferson Airplane, and The Loading Zone.
As a provocative vintage poster reads,
“The audience is invited to wear Ecstatic Dress. Bring your own toys.” ’Nuf said!
Featured Radio
Survey(s):
KYA/San Francisco’s January 1, 1966 chart appeared in its weekly BEAT newsrag. This month marked the
winners of their first International Pop Music Awards. Topping the chart and
the awards were the Fab Four who would discover their mind trips later in the
year. For now, Day Tripper – a relative misnomer – shared top billing with
their “We Can Work It Out.” (And in and around, and through … still trippin’!)
Celebrate this month 50 years ago and … Enjoy the moment … again!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
# # #
Stretching
the Soul
Leading a poignant revolution, The Beatles
released Rubber Soul
(December 3rd), their landmark album that marked a change in their tunes,
from purely moneymaking pop to introspective creativity. Peace and harmony? Not so much …
Though George worked the soothing
strains of a sitar
into “Norwegian Wood,”
all was not peaceful in their homeland as UK radio rebelled over government
restrictions.
A December 26th Paul McCartney interview gave credence to rogue Radio Caroline, a “pirate radio station” which defied UK laws, anchored in
international waters off the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England.
Rubber Soul’s
release however, also heralded The Beatles’ swan song, as their last live UK
tour ended on December 12th. A final US tour in August 1966 was
plagued with controversy over Lennon’s “Jesus” remark, and it took another four years for the Fab Four to irrevocably
splinter.
“I
sat on a rug | biding my time | drinking her wine …” Featured Radio Survey(s): Well darn, in all my BFYP collectible surveys, I don’t have a December 1965 chart. So, enjoy a few festive vintage images of era collectibles that might spark a Holiday gift idea for your fave Boomer.
Celebrate this month 50 years ago and … Enjoy the moment … again!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
# # #
If you missed the 1964 / 1965 monthly trivia posts, feel free to ask for a PDF of them! (They may or may not still be available on the site.)