Breaking News 12/04/17: Going to be in Hugo, Oklahoma, anytime soon? The Five Americans’ exhibit is a must-see! Get yourself down to the Frisco Depot Museum! And Rock On!
Always News: BFYP Rock and Roll Radio DJs: Book 1 (1950s) and Book 2 (1960s) ready at Amazon to give the Boomers on your gift list a romp down Memory Lane, to the Golden Age of Rock & Roll Radio! Enjoy the moment ... again.
And now, flip on the
mic, let’s Rock On back to 1967 …
Somber
& Silly December ‘67!
Normally
a happy time on the radio, we begin December 50 Years Ago this Month with the worst music news since the 1959
airplane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper. Think “That’ll Be the Day,” “La Bamba,” and “Chantilly Lace.” Iconic songs of
early Rock & Roll.
On
December 10th, Otis Redding and four of his six backup artists (Bar-Kays) perished in yet another devastating R&R airplane
accident. This time, in Lake Monona (Madison, Wisconsin), after a performance
in Cleveland.
Redding
just had had two Top Ten tunes in July, “Tramp” & “Shake” (XERB 07/16/67 chart). But they were
dwarfed by one of his iconic songs that captured our hearts, as described by History.com.
“‛Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay’ would be released in its ‛unfinished’ form several weeks later, with Redding’s whistled verse a seemingly indispensable part of the now-classic record. It would soon become history’s first posthumous #1 hit and the biggest pop hit of Redding’s career.”
Later
in the month, as The Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye” begins its farewell tour down
the chart in many cities, McCartney is upset about the showing of Magical Mystery Tour, by BBC1 on December 26th.
Here
we are in the early stages of psychedelia, with a movie personifying its vivid,
swirling colors, and BBC1 chooses to show it in black-and-white. Hello 1930s!
Mr. McCartney was less than pleased. BBC2 picked it up and ran it in all its
glorious color, to welcome the new year, January 5, 1968.
Featured Radio Survey: The Beatles’ “Hello,
Goodbye” is still at the top of KHJ/Los
Angeles’s Boss 30 Records—50 Years Ago
for December 13, 1967. Two weeks later, it had managed to hang in at #2, but
Itchycoo Park (Small Faces) muscled in and claimed the top spot into the New
Year, on KHJ’s December 27th chart. Recall that awesome day when …
Celebrate DECEMBER 1967: 50 Years Ago and … Rock On!
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