Rock Radio “ROCK”TOBER 1972 Spooky Nights & Witches

From Spooky Nights to Swingin' Witches it’s ROCKtober! 

Of course, when October rolls around, our minds float like a ghost to Halloween festivities. It's ROCKtober 1972 and we have everything from goblins to Wolfman Jack, in a month-long celebration, so let’s get on with it!

Classic/Oldies Rock & Roll concerts seem to flourish across the country this month, and somewhere along the way we dubbed October, “Rock”tober, and it stuck. But that isn’t the first time we messed with poor October’s moniker.

Oktoberfest for beer lovers, has been a tradition from latter September through early October since about 1811 ...  but with a couple of twists, October could become ...
      BACHtober for classical music celebrations of Johann Sebastian Bach! Oh! How about SOCKtober, as the time of year we celebrate our silly sockies for winter. Um, okay, we’ll stick to Rocktober ...

To make this month even more special, Rocktober became Wolfman Jack’s fave month too, fitting right into all its fun, spooky, party glory. Awwwwooooo! Let’s Rock On ... 50 Years Ago this Month! 

Then & Now Rockin’ News & Views ♪  

Last month was Classical Music Month, so let’s turn our attention this month to those ol’ honky tonks of the South for Country Music Month*! Country Music and Rock & Roll have gone hand-in-hand and guitar pickin’ together for decades, creating great crossover music and Rockabilly. *President Richard Nixon asked the American people to mark October as Country Music Month in October 1970. And then ...

> ROCKTOBER 1972 Rockin’ News Then …  

♪ On Your Tinny Transistor Radio 

Special guest commentary from BFYP DJ Extraordinaire, Bill Gardner:
      “Did a quick peek at the Billboard Hot 100 from October 1972, and again thought "What a strange year!" Of all the fabulous classic songs that Chuck Berry contributed to the rock and roll era, 'My Ding A Ling' was his ONLY #1. Really???? Yep. [It wasn’t just climbing the KOIL/Omaha* chart—it leaped 10 spots to #10 this month.]
      Further down and streaking up, what might be my all-time favorite song, ‘I'll Be Around’ by the Spinners led by wonderful Bobby Smith up front. Had the chance to interview Bobby on my morning show at KOOL 94.5 Phoenix. Before our interview, I played "I'll Be Around, and turned the studio speakers way up! 
       Bobby heard me singing along at the top of my lungs, and if you listen to the interview at BillGardnerOnTheRadio.com, you'll hear sweet and kind Bobby compliment me on my singing, saying they might want to bring me onstage to join them for their upcoming local (Phoenix) appearance. In reality, I know my singing is more like the sound a dog makes when you step on his tail :-) ! But what a great guy to say something so kind.
      Some other personal favorites that month include the O'Jays ‘Backstabbers,’ Johnny Nash's ‘I Can See Clearly Now,’ Curtis Mayfield's ‘Freddie's Dead,’ the forgotten one-hit-wonder ‘Good Time Charley's Got the Blues’ by Danny O'Keefe, and even Rick Nelson's chart finale, ‘Garden Party.’ Wow, what GREAT songs! And ‘My Ding A Ling’ hits number one????”
      Bill’s SO right. 1972 is winding down the year with just as many incredible, iconic songs as it began with ... but still, “My Ding A Ling”? LOL We didn’t say they were all masterpieces ...

And, we’re bringing you another Featured Radio Survey 2-FER this month, with *KOIL/Omaha, Nebraska’s week ending October 11^th, and WCFL/Chicago taking us through October 28^th. Famed Radio Rock Superjock, Larry Lujack, smiles invitingly from Chicago’s survey cover of “collector’s issue 86” and kept your afternoons humming along with ...   

Monthly Song of Note ♪ 

The Moody Blues’ “Nights in White Satin” is a dreamy doobie-smokin’, lava lamp watchin’, lovin’ your honey song for a full moon night (October 9^th), but the perfect Rocktober Halloween song and a personal fave, “Witchy Woman” by the Eagles, wins our vote for Song of Note ♪! Not only does it tell us about the ruby lips of a seductress, but it features venerated drummer, Don Henley, singing. **See below for why that’s a Rocktober big deal.
      KOIL/Omaha is ahead of the pack on this one, as “Witchy Woman” is already #25 up five notches at beginning of the month, hitting its New Music Survey’s top ten before the month is over. Meanwhile, at month’s end WCFL/Chicago lags behind with the eventual mega-hit, only #23. It took ‘til end of November to hit the top ten in Chicago. ♪ She’s a restless spirit on an endless flight ... ♪  

Quirky Band Names  
Oh my, this song / band nearly became my first song & band to place as both Quirky Band Name and Song of Note! “Popcorn,” by Hot Butter! LOL The band, popular for its synth-pop cover of composer Gershon Kingsley’s instrumental (1969), stuck themselves in a hot butter mess, following their first self-titled album, with  More Hot Butter, Popcorn with Hot Butter, Moog Hits (a nod to their synthesizer), and Popcorn. I love butter on nearly everything, but that was a bit much. Apparently, a lot of radio fans felt that way too, as Hot Butter disbanded by late 1970s.
      More Rocktober Quirky Band Names: Lobo! True, he’s not a “band,” but apparently, Roland Kent

LaVoie, felt like a lone wolf and took the distinctive solo name, which translates to “wolf” in Spanish. Still on his way up to legend status this year, his “I Want You to Love Me,” is a heartfelt tune for fans.
      And one more, particularly fitting for ROCKtober ... rattle dem Bones on your ol’ phonograph and play their “Roberta,” #34 and on its way up at WCFL. The short-lived band had fun with the quirky cover of an old pre-Rock & Roll tune ... ♪ I ain’t mad at you | Don’t be mad at me ... ♪ 

> ROCKTOBER 2022 Rockin’ News Now … 

While we’re playing those Country crossover tunes and reminiscing about the good ol’ days, think about the music and what you like best in it. Are you a guitar fan? Piano or organ? How about the horns? All terrific instruments in their own right. But this month we honor the percussion family for keeping the beat ...

**October 10^th: Get your arms ready for a big ol’ Hug A Drummer Day! Unfortunately, the official link is several years old, but that won’t stop us from celebrating drummers all month long. We’re starting with the version of “Witchy Woman” (Eagles) linked above, and its more than four minutes of a guitar-lovers’ instrumental intro. Then Don Henley takes over, pounding his drums and belting out their iconic soulful song in a 1976 Houston concert ... awesome.
      And surely you know a few other incredible, thrumming and drumming experts, like Deep Purple’s Ian Paice, the lefty known for his heavy metal bangin’; The Rolling Stones’ laid back and groovy Charlie Watts, and The Who’s wild-‘n’-crazy Keith Moon ... who’s your fave?

October 26^th: Ready to celebrate Halloween any day of the year? Start now with the master party bar entertainment, Howl at The Moon Night. “Come have a ghoulish time at Howl at the Moon this Halloween! Our annual party is happening in late October with drink specials, games and – everyone’s favorite – a costume contest!” They boast fourteen locations in the East and Midwest, plus cruises with Norwegian. Reading this in December or January? No worries. They party all year long ...

Rocktober 31^st: Not close to a Howl location? That’s okay! We’ll just celebrate Halloween and Wolfman Jack as we give our old Rock & Roll platters another spin on the turntable and munch on our chocolate witches. Though Halloween didn’t begin as a party-animal play-night, leave it to Americans to turn it into one, complete with a howling radio playlist! Listen with me as we recall Wolfman Jack’s growling voice, goblin antics and ... give a chilling howl at the moon ... awwwooooo! ♪ We gonna bop ‘til ya drop, and we gonna push in your tush! ♪ 

♪ BFYP Featured Radio Survey 
Another FRS 2-FER for Rocktober 1972 ~ KOIL/Omaha, Nebraska, October 4^th -11^th and   WCFL/Chicago, October 28^th ... how did your fave songs fare from top to bottom of the month? KOIL claimed to be the “Rock of the Midwest.” Though their stylized rock on the cover was interesting, what catches your eye is the Ford Model A car they were giving away … 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when your radio played … 

Let’s Celebrate “ROCK”TOBER 1972 and … Rock On!  ♪  

BFYP Book 1 (1954-1959) on Amazon
BFYP Book 2 (Swinging ‘60s) on Amazon 
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LR / BFYP NOTE ♪ 10/04/22 ~ Phew! It’s all I could do to get the “bare bones” of October up, still needing to update Featured Radio Survey, but it’s a full skeleton, for the most part.

Original LR / BFYP NOTE ♪ 10/01/22: It’s my fave Rockin’ month to write about, but "important" is relative when it comes to family versus writing. So, likely this article won’t complete until Sunday, ROCKtober 2^nd. Music played right into Halloween this month with another vintage radio survey 2-fer!
       Come on back in a couple of days to pull the ghostly gossamer screen back and reveal our Monthly Song of Note ♪. As a sinewy, terrifically doobie-smokin’, lava lamp-watchin’, lovin’ your honey song for Halloween night, the Moody Blues’ “Nights in White Satin” nearly made the cut. But not quite ... what song is even more “wicked”? ♪ ... She can rock you in the nighttime ... ♪
       In the meantime, have you bopped down to September’s Talkin’ to the Sky? Rock On ... 

LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. Two books (of three) are published in her Blast from Your Past series, available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!

Note: FYI – All links in the BFYP site are personally visited, verified, and vetted. Most are linked to commonly accessed sites of reputable note. Occasionally, since I often feature real people and/or singular sources there may be an unsecured link. As with everything cyber-security, use at your own discretion and risk. No compensation is received for any mentions of businesses, products, or other commercial interests. *All holiday and special event days are found at Brownielocks.com’s calendar site. Enjoy! 

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