DECEMBER 1969 … Enjoy the Moment ... Again!
Rockin’ into the New Year ~ New Decade!
December 6th: With
a lead singer still of middle school age, The Jackson 5 released their
debut album on this date, bolstered by the incomparable Diana Ross. From Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, “I Want You Back” shot up
the December 30th chart at *KGB/San
Diego to #9, forging up to #2 before starting a downward slide.
December 1969,
Blast from Your Past Rockin’ DJs were scattered across the country. Mitch
Michael, aka Ron Terrell / Terrell Metheny, spent
the mid-Sixties at WOKY/Milwaukee, then grabbed his buddy, Lee Gray,
and skipped over to WMCA/New York
in 1968, to become a popular program director.
November 1st: Without
any recent records from Elvis, by 1969 everyone wondered if we would ever hear his
sexy sounds on the radio again. Oh ye of little faith. After a seven-year
hiatus, he hit Billboard’s #1 in ratings again on this date, following the
popularity of “Suspicious
Minds” during the Halloween season. Thank you ... thank you very much.
November 7th: Where
were you this date in 1969? If you called Fort Collins, Colorado, home, or Colorado
State University your alma mater, it’s likely you favored stones over boulders,
to attend The Rolling Stones’ concert on this date. Rock critics dubbed it a
Rock and Roll legend. What made this American warm-up show of their long-awaited
tour so memorable?
It appears about two years was the average length of time for
conservative owners NSN to tolerate KPPC’s Rockin’ rebellious staff. Case in
point—William dubbed it, the “PP”. Williams left late in 1972.
♪ Whole Lotta Love ♪ & an Outhouse!
Rockin’ into the New Year ~ New Decade!
50 Years
Ago this Month we
faced a not-so-different New Year and New Decade. Our country struggled with
the beginning of the first military
draft “peacetime” lottery since 1942, and today, the wars still wage. Hardly
a Holiday traditional for the countdown to
Christmas. All the while, the music plays on.
No different
than other industries, radio stations revel in change before the New Year, with
format flips and staff severances. December can be a lot of fun or a lot of
heartache. That choice is up to you. Every change is opportunity! My choice? Let’s
keep Rockin’ …
Your
Tinny Transistor Radio News ~ DECEMBER 1969
December 6th: With
a lead singer still of middle school age, The Jackson 5 released their
debut album on this date, bolstered by the incomparable Diana Ross. From Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, “I Want You Back” shot up
the December 30th chart at *KGB/San
Diego to #9, forging up to #2 before starting a downward slide.
December 17th
– In the early 1960s, falsetto
singing could be heard from beach to shining beach; although now waning, one
musical anomaly showed it wasn’t dead yet. After a dainty “Tiptoe Through The Tulips”
in 1968, on this date in 1969, peculiarly falsetto, Tiny Tim (Herbert
Butros Khaury), was flanked by yellow tulips for for his marriage to “Miss
Vicki” (twenty years his junior) on Johnny
Carson’s The Tonight Show.
December 30th: While
it didn’t make a huge chart splash, The Archies’ “Jingle Jangle” made it
to *KGB/San
Diego’s “Boss 30” (barely, at #27). Filmation Associates produced
The Archie Show animated television series on which the title-named
fictional band’s antics delighted fans. BFYP DJ, Norm
Prescott, a Filmation co-founder, had transitioned away from
the DJ mic and into animated TV in the early 1960s, but his heart was never far
away from popular music’s tinny transistor radios.
Rockin’ Retro Radio
December 1969,
Blast from Your Past Rockin’ DJs were scattered across the country. Mitch
Michael, aka Ron Terrell / Terrell Metheny, spent
the mid-Sixties at WOKY/Milwaukee, then grabbed his buddy, Lee Gray,
and skipped over to WMCA/New York
in 1968, to become a popular program director.
In
BFYP’s The
Swinging Sixties, by December ‘69 “Mitch” finally switched to
his real name, Terrell, and had this to say about WMCA: We switched from DJs
playing Rock & Roll to half Rock & Roll and half talk. Some sort of
nightmare that the owner had … it was such a horrible nightmare.
Of course, switching formats
willy-nilly and literally overnight, was/is common for stations, but often a
career disappointment at best, for DJs and staff, and job loss, at worst. The
only constant is change.
*Featured Radio
Survey: KGB/San Diego, California, Boss Jocks were all the rage in ’69
and at KGB, they were giving away up to $15,000 per day! “The good ol’ days.” Poke
your memory as you reminisce over their “Boss 30” Issue No. 166, December 30,
1969, heading into the 1970s … ♪ Well, I’m your Venus ♪ … 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when
…
Celebrate DECEMBER 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle
is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has
published two books (of three) 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. However, as with everything cyber-security, use at your own
discretion.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
November 1969 ~ Thank
You … Thank You Very Much …
November and December are months devoted to food, don’t you
think? What’s for Thanksgiving … who’s bringing the eggnog for Christmas … and
where’s the next potluck Holiday party? Sound familiar?
Food
was certainly on Dave Thomas’s mind when he opened his first Wendy's Hamburgers in
Columbus, Ohio, November 15, 1969. Yep – 50 Years Ago this Month!
So
while we were munching on the new American fast food delicacy, Thanksgiving was
just around the corner. Although certainly worthy and debatably the most
celebrated meal, it isn’t the only event in November. After we give thanks for the food and family memories, let’s take a walk and
work off our big-T-dinner with more fun. Rockin’ on down Memory Lane …
Your Tinny Transistor Radio
News ~ NOVEMBER 1969
November 1st: Without
any recent records from Elvis, by 1969 everyone wondered if we would ever hear his
sexy sounds on the radio again. Oh ye of little faith. After a seven-year
hiatus, he hit Billboard’s #1 in ratings again on this date, following the
popularity of “Suspicious
Minds” during the Halloween season. Thank you ... thank you very much.
KHJ/Los
Angeles fans bounced it to the top as early as October 8th, and by
November 3rd, it still rallied at #5 on *WLS/Chicago.
California wearied of it finally, kicking it off KHJ’s
chart by November 5th, to replace it with The Beatles’ dynamic duo, **“Something” and “Come Together.” ♪
Got to be a joke he just do what he please ♪ …
November 7th: Where
were you this date in 1969? If you called Fort Collins, Colorado, home, or Colorado
State University your alma mater, it’s likely you favored stones over boulders,
to attend The Rolling Stones’ concert on this date. Rock critics dubbed it a
Rock and Roll legend. What made this American warm-up show of their long-awaited
tour so memorable?
It
was the first major outing for “Little
Mick” Taylor having recently replaced guitarist Brian Jones. From “Honky Tonk Women” to "All Down the Line"
and “It’s Only Rock ‘n
Roll,” Taylor contributed to many of the Stones’ early best works, 1969-1974.
♪ But I like it … ♪
**November
29th: Was it fair that “Something” and “Come Together” kicked
other songs off the top of charts 50 Years Ago this Month? I’m sure The Beatles
thought so. Revising charting policies for A and B songs on this date, Billboard
gave the two songs a push by combining each song’s accrued points to create “one”
#1 hit. It wasn’t long before other artists cashed in as well, like Creedence
Clearwater Revival with “Fortunate
Son” and “Down On The
Corner.” Cool. ♪ Willie and the Poor Boys were playin’ …
♪
Rockin’ Retro Radio
Buy, sell,
trade. The mechanics of business plays out in radio ownership, and 1969 saw
significant changes, like the National Science Network’s acquisition of KMPX-FM/San
Francisco, along with KPPC-AM & FM stations/Pasadena.
BFYP DJs Tom and Raechel
Donahue had already reprogrammed KMPX to a successful album-oriented
Rock format before exiting in 1968. As 1969 came to a close, KPPC was about to
follow suit headed by PD Doug Cox, who begged (BFYP) DJ, William F. Williams,
to join him.
Says Raechel of the long-play
format growing ever more popular in that era, “… it was really fun to be able
to create the show when you could weave a musical topic and tell the
story.” (BFYP, Book
2.)
It appears about two years was the average length of time for
conservative owners NSN to tolerate KPPC’s Rockin’ rebellious staff. Case in
point—William dubbed it, the “PP”. Williams left late in 1972.
WLS/Chicago captures this month’s Featured Survey
honors, as their “Radio 89 Hit Parade” holds former #1 comeback hit for Elvis’ “Suspicious
Minds” at #5 on the November 3, 1969 chart. ♪ And
we can’t build our dreams | on Suspicious Minds ♪ … 50
Years Ago this Month in Rock &
Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when
…
Celebrate NOVEMBER 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle
is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has
published two books (of three) 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. However, as with everything cyber-security, use at your own
discretion.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
♪ Whole Lotta Love ♪ & an Outhouse!
1969
began its metamorphosis into a new decade with Richard Nixon president.
In my writings I have often compared the ‘60s politics, lifestyles, and
societal ills, to the present decade.
The primary difference between this
decade and the 1960s is high-tech “progress.” In its infancy then, it now rules
our lives. On October 29, 1969 we witnessed the first message sent through ARPANET. The baby Internet was born. Eventually hailed
as a lifestyle savior, it has eroded our lives in its child-like self-serving demands
for attention.
Is it coincidence or providence that we ended the ‘60s like
we’re ending the twenty-teens … unable to establish peace in the country or
within our neighborhoods, and with a president who emphatically declares, “I am
not a crook!”
At least we had … and have … our
Rock & Roll for comfort. And with that … we Rock On to the forerunner of
fake news … 50 Years Ago this Month.
Your Tinny Transistor Radio
News ~ OCTOBER 1969
Throughout the month we
experienced fake news long before it became a maliciously insidious
Internet disease. It ambled down the “Long and Winding Road”
of rumors about Paul
McCartney.
Even the most popular radio
stations perpetuated the possibility of McCartney’s
untimely demise nearly three years prior, to entertain their
listeners and up those all-mighty ratings. There is always an angle …
money, politics, or publicity …
Per Wiki: Lennon
was interviewed in London by New York's WMCA,
and he ridiculed the rumour but conceded that it was invaluable publicity for
the album.
It took a November (1969) Life
magazine interview with Paul McCartney to set the world straight again. ♪ You
left me standing here a long, long time ago ♪
Now, they call the story a
“legend.” And yet, how does it differ from today’s “fake news”? Just askin’ …
October
14th: “Someday
We’ll Be Together,” Diana
Ross & The Supremes’ final single together, is released. But the story goes,
that song did not include Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong in the
recording. It was Diana’s first solo song in anticipation of her January 1970
departure from the group. Ironic song in view of their split. The Supremes’
consolation prize was the B-Side, “He’s My Sunny Boy.”
October 22nd: One of my all-time favorite
bands—Led Zeppelin—released
their iconic second album on this date. Led Zeppelin II
is considered by many, the most prominent and powerful
While most everyone knows and
loves their “Stairway to
Heaven” (1971) my all-time favorite song came from this album. “Whole Lotta Love” is the
first tune I ever heard through headphones. Oh … my. I was never the same.
Not only the lyrics rattled this
impressionable teen psyche, but headphones carried its palpable reverberation
through my brain as it wrapped itself around and through my mind. ♪ Way down
inside honey, you need it … ♪ The only way to listen to Zeppelin is
through headphones.
Rockin’ Retro Radio
*Featured Radio Stations for this month
are a double-whammy pair of San Diego heavy hitters—KCBQ/San Diego
(10/03/69), with artful cover sketch of BFYP DJ Neil
Ross, and KGB
(10/15/69) with BFYP DJ Rich Bro Robbin starting off the football season with
a fun original caricature.
 |
| Yep, this IS a transistor radio in the BFYP Collection. |
The ‘60s were famous for over-the-top radio station contests and
outlandish antics. KQWB takes the cake this month with an outhouse
contest and boasting an “exclusive story ‘The Mystery of Paul McCartney’.”
Anyone know if the outhouse prize was a transistor radio? Cute!
>>>>>>>>>>>>
*“Double” Featured Radio
Survey(s): KCBQ and KGB,
both popular San Diego radio stations ignored the McCartney mystery—at least on
their surveys—and even differed with each other on fans’ favored #1 songs.
KCBQ fans kept the Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar” at the top
of their “Heavy 30 Hits” a little longer than some pockets of the country (10/03/69);
but “Sugar, Sugar” already slipped to #13 on KGB’s “Boss 30” with The
Beatles’ “Something” and ”Come Together” boosted up to tie at the top of their chart
(10/15/69) … 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where
were you that groovy
day when …
Celebrate OCTOBER 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle
is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has
published two books (of three) 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. However, as with everything cyber-security, use at your own
discretion.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
September 1969 ~ Get Together … ♪ ☮ for September 1969
Come on people now | smile on your brother | everybody get together
| try to love one another right now. Is it too late? The Youngbloods (and songwriter Chet Powers) had the right idea 50 Years Ago
this Month when “Get Together” hit radio’s top ten … we just didn’t listen to the words.
Bell bottom Jeans and tie-dye shirts flooded campuses and punctuated protests as schools opened across the
country. A carefree flair that is still fringe fashion today, it belied our
angst, as the style persisted throughout most of the 1970s. Musically speaking …
50
Years Ago this Month in Rockin’ News
September 11th: Janis Joplin (1943-1970) had a life … albeit short one … after leaving her
trademark group, Big Brother and the Holding Company
(1968) to strike out on her own. I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!
released on this day in 1969.
Janis
performed the album at Woodstock
and though never considered a knockout set, Kozmic Blues
which she wrote, became a fan favorite from the album. ♪ I keep trying to
make it right | Through another lonely day …♪ A melancholy apology
to someone special?
Pete Townshend of the Who reportedly reminisced about Janis’ Woodstock
performance in his memoir (Who I Am, 2012), “… even Janis on an
off-night was incredible.” Absolutely.
September 19th: You
Midwest Rockin’ fans, put on your Memory caps and stroll down the lane to the
“new” Jim Tarbell’s Ludlow Garage in Clifton/Cincinnati, Ohio, for a jolly 50th Anniversary show! Do you recall the short-lived Rock venue’s first
show on this date in 1969? Revel in memories of the Grand Funk Railroad,
Lonnie Mack and Balderdash! Though a jive-Rockin’ with top of the line artists,
its first run lasted only until 1970.
This
year’s anniversary tribute to the renovated and re-established music venue is
sure to be just as invigorating as the first one, with headliner, Dweezil Zappa. (However, if you didn’t
score tickets already to the sold-out event, you may need to stick with
memories … or find a seat on the street? Details.)
September 20th: The
date on which On This Day pronounces “Sugar, Sugar,” virtual band the
Archies’ popular pop-single, #1 on radio charts. It didn’t take some stations
that long, however, to boost the sexy pseudo-sweet song to the top.
KFRC/San Francisco “Big 30 Hits” for August 30th hoisted it
to their top spot a full month earlier. And WCFL/Cleveland
followed shortly with “Sugar, Sugar” sitting comfortably at the top of their
“Big 10” by September 3rd.
The
Archies starred in a Saturday morning TV show based on the Archie comic book series, with a
significant attachment to Pop radio. Former Boston DJ, Norm
Prescott (and
a BFYP pioneering Rock jock, 1950s
& ‘60s), was one of three founding owners
of Filmation Associates
which produced the show for CBS.
Rockin’ Retro Radio
Our featured
survey station this week is from WIFE in Indianapolis, Indiana. They did
something at the time that would have been cool if they all did—tell us the
most requested song of the week!
September
1969 began with Indianapolis fans head-over-heels in love with Bobby Sherman’s
“Little Women.*” It took a phenomenal leap from #46
to shake up their September 3rd survey at #6! ♪ You've got to
come into my world | Leave your world behind … ♪ Male-dominated
society or drugs? Either/or.
By the following week it hit #3 and would take another week to push
Three Dog Night’s “Easy to Be Hard” out of the #1 slot. (*Another radio chart misprint
in “Little Woman.”)
Featured Radio
Survey: WIFE/Indianapolis, Indiana’s “Good Guy Survey for the
Midwest” week of September 10-17, 1969, takes us into early Fall … 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when
…
Celebrate SEPTEMBER 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle
is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has
published two books (of three) 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. However, as with everything cyber-security, use at your own
discretion.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
August 1969 ~ Peace & Love in a Field of Mud
After studying
moon Rock and watching Apollo 11 Roll back through the heavens to Earth in
July, how can we possibly top that for August?
Slip-sliding
through the month at WOODSTOCK of course!
50
Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio
August
5th: We were still feeling a little spacey, as NASA’s Mariner probe 7 completed
the first dual mission flyby to Mars, following Mariner 6’s close encounter a
week after the Moon Landing, July 31. Their observations inspired a heightened
interest in Mars knowledge and further exploration.
AUGUST 15-18th: Woodstock! This was a spacey event with
a whole new meaning of the term. The grandfather of legendary “happenings” celebrates
its 50th anniversary this month,
to little fanfare except as a legend in our own minds.
The muddy, wet, and joyous “Woodstock Music and Art Fair” phenomenon
in Bethel / White Lake, New York, is part of our lives today, whether we
attended or not. “… you got high on just being there with your friends and all
the beautiful people who came to sit in peace and listen to the music.” (Woodstock 69 Summer Pop Festivals; Joseph J. Sia, February 1970; BFYP Collection.)
As an icon of the ‘60s era, Woodstock climaxed the decade in what
became classic Rock & Roll style … with a crash of guitar rifts, a bang of rainy
lightening (today’s fireworks), and a glassy, lopsided smile on 400-500,000
people who can’t all be crazy … right?!
August 17th: Baby Boomer Recognition Day just happens to coincide with what was
originally to be the last day of Woodstock
… coincidence? I think not. Great day to see if your tie-dyed Levi’s
still fit or how bent up your wire, rose-colored glasses are; if all else fails,
tie a bandana around your head and Rock Out to Jimi Hendrix’s best vintage
tunes … Peace and Love, Baby!
 |
| Peace & Love transistor radios 1970 BFYP collection |
August 30th: Although not the blockbuster of
upstate New York’s legendary event, a copycat Texas International Pop Festival was no slouch, drawing an estimated
120,000 to 150,000 to its open field near Lewisville.
The Labor Day weekend
hippie and happy music happening in the south contained all the same Peace and
Love elements of Woodstock, without the enduring prominence. With some grand
names like Grand Funk Railroad, Janis Joplin,
B.B. King, Led Zeppelin,
and a bunch more, I’m sure it still made for happy memories 50 Years later.
Featured Radio
Survey: BFYP featured DJ, Bill Bailey watched The Rolling Stones’
“Honky Tonk Woman” Rock the top of WLS/Chicago’s “Radio 89 Hit Parade”
August 11, 1969, although they weren’t partying at Woodstock the following
weekend. However, Featured Survey,
KFXM/San Bernardino, California, cheered for Credence Clearwater Revival
and Tim Hardin appearing at Woodstock, and both in their top five of the August
15th “Tiger Thirty.” Were you there … 50 Years Ago this Month in
Rock & Roll Radio? That groovy day when
…
Celebrate AUGUST 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle
is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has
published two books (of three) 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. However, as with everything cyber-security, use at your own
discretion.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
July 1969 ~ Anything was Possible … In Mind, Music & the Moon
There’s no denying we were a spacey lot in the late 1960s.
No month confirms that description more than JULY 1969. Let’s ROCKet into
space …
50
Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio
July 11th: ♪ Take your protein pills
and put your helmet on … ♪ we’re in for a bumpy ride! David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” was odd,
indeed. Though the 7-inch single did well in his native UK after its July release,
it caused nary a ripple on US charts, even with the country’s space travel hype
in a frenzy.
Its
re-release in 1973 however, shot it up to spacey heights for Bowie’s
first big hit in the US. Speculation is the ’69 melancholy tune’s rise was
stunted in the US until after Apollo 11 touched down safely on the moon …
July 20th: The United States created
worldwide news when Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle landed two men, Neil Armstrong
and Buzz Aldrin, on the silvery
moon. Well, that’s what it looks like to us. The dusty sphere might have popped
some eons-old romanticized bubbles, but it promoted global unity that summer,
like we (sadly) haven’t known since.
Let’s add a couple more memories to our out-of-this-world
month!
“In The Year 2525” is an ethereally
depressing tune not directly related to space travel but perhaps its
eventual rise to the top twenty was a runoff from spacey thinking, to
futuristic fears …
♪ In the Year 2525 | If man is
still alive ♪ The one-hit-wonder by Zager & Evans
released in May, but took a while to work its way up the musical ladder to July
1969 radio charts. It hung ominously at the top for six weeks.
On W’R-IT/Milwaukee, Wisconsin “Pop Power” top 40 for
July 7, 1969, while Zager & Evans held the top star, #5 was no
slouch for Oliver’s
“Good Morning Starshine.”
♪ The
Earth says hello … ♪ which is about the most intelligent line in the song. And
there’s gloomy Earth talk with Credence hit, “Bad Moon Rising,” at #15.
But
my lunar loony favorite is a silly, knee-slapping spoof on the moon landing
craze that must have caught the fancy of many, to land on the W’R-IT chart
at a lofty #8. ♪ How about the astronaut on the ceiling | what’s your
name? ♪ “Moonflight”
by Vik Venus, “Alias: Your Main Moon Man,” is a must-listen memory! Even more
fascinating is popular WMCA/New York City DJ, Jack Spector (1928-1994),
was Vik Venus. (“Moonflight” debuted at #28 on WMCA.)
Mixing faux-media news interview
questions with answers from real lines in previous song hits …♪ Let’s
talk to the astronaut who just finished eating | How’s the food?
…[reply] Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got love in my tummy. ♪ Heehee.
Featured Radio
Survey: W’R-IT/Milwaukee’s
Pop Power chart of top 40 tunes ran the gamut from moody to moonbeams …
and we tagged along for the ride. 50
Years Ago this Month in Rock &
Roll Radio. That awesome day
when …
Celebrate JULY 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle is a writer
and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published
two books (of three) 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. However, as with everything cyber-security, use at your own
discretion.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
JUNE 1969 ~ Vintage
Rock Radio Gauntlet Hits & Misses
From down-home iconic music to a haunting tune of ancient world
apocalypse, June 1969 moved our souls and our imaginations as artists moved up
and down the radio survey ladders.
Jun 11th: "The Ballad of John & Yoko" by The Beatles hits #1
in UK. In the US, the controversial song found us oddly restricted in
our rebellion of the era; "The Ballad of John and Yoko" never
appeared on WABC/New York or WLS/Chicago radio music charts. After
a diligent search (of large market stations), I found it languishing at #26, in
WCFL/Chicago’s “Big 10 Count Down” for June 11, 1969. It peaked at #8 before
losing power and slipping down the musical ladder.
Featured Radio
Survey: In 1969 were you listening to legendary DJ Cousin Brucie on WABC/New
York? The June 28, 1969 survey featured Bruce
“Cousin Brucie” Morrow as “All American of the Week.” He is an honored BFYP
Rock & Roll DJ and one of few in all three
books, spanning 1950s, ‘60s & ‘70s! … 50 Years Ago This Month in
Rock & Roll Radio. That awesome day
when …
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
MAY 1969 ~ Behind-the-Mic Scenes of Music & Mayhem
On the radio in 1969, we heard the DJs rave about a new
song, as they slapped it on the turntable and talked over the first few seconds
of its spinning, slick vinyl grooves.
New Yorkers may even have been a fan of
Warren Garling (aka Chris Warren), better known in ‘69 as DJ “Jesse James” on WSNY/Albany, NY. Want to boogie down
Memory Lane with him? You’re in luck! Laugh, reminisce, and hum the Oldies tunes
with Warren in his recently
published memoirs celebrating 50 Years
of Rock & Roll Radio! Remember when we used to say, I’ll Have to ask My Mom”?
APRIL
11th: Although
there truly is an *International "Louie Louie"
Day on the official
Brownielocks April calendar of events, it celebrates a 1963 happening. So
obviously more than 50 Years Ago this Month. But at BFYP we have a vested interest in joining
drunk partiers every year on this day. After all, BFYP DJ “Ken Chase”* aka
Mike Korgan, produced The Kingsmen’s
decades-enduring and endearing version of the iconic party song. A sketchy
conflict of interest while working at KISN/Portland, Oregon.
APRIL 13th:
What goes with “Louie Louie” and Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll*?
Record Store Day of course! Known for new releases and vintage vinyls
spanning the decades, record stores across the country revel in the day with
all sorts of entertainment, goodies, specials and discounts. Enter your zip code here
to find your local participating stores! (*Spanning 1979-2019, nobody does this
song better than Bob Seger.)
March 1969 ~ Radio Loves Vintage and Timeless Tunes
From down-home iconic music to a haunting tune of ancient world
apocalypse, June 1969 moved our souls and our imaginations as artists moved up
and down the radio survey ladders.
Without
iPods and online streaming songs, what did you listen to, “back in the day”? What
energetic DJs blared your favorite music through the airwaves? Cousin Brucie
on the East Coast? The Real Don Steele in the West? Or Wolfman Jack, who could be heard practically everywhere, even before his American
Graffiti fame?
In
this middle month of the final year in a turbulent decade, Elvis reminded us of
hardships, taking us across the tracks, “In the Ghetto”; Henry
Mancini and his Orchestra kept the big band era alive with “Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet”; and Tom Jones swiveled his hips to rival Elvis, as he pleaded, “Love Me Tonight.”
50 Years Ago
this Month in Rock & Roll Radio
June
7th:
Johnny Cash moved from radio to TV when his self-titled show debuted on ABC. It was a big day for Johnny; teamed with Bob Dylan, their Grand Ole Opry
Special aired on the same day. Yeehaw!
Jun
21st:
Zager & Evans release "In the Year 2525." Best song to ever come out of a cow pasture. Though
it moved up quickly, it hadn’t quite made the top ten on WABC/New York’s
“Music Power Survey” by June 28th (Featured Survey). Their “Big Bonus” section listed
it with other “bubbling under”* tunes. The one-hit wonder hit it big in July,
grabbing the top spot by the July 19th survey—c’mon by again next
month for an expanded look at this errant humanity song, in 50 Years Ago this Month!
*A music survey term for those tunes
that are scaling the chart ladder, but not quite made it into the ranks—yet, or—maybe
never.
Celebrate JUNE 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle is a writer
and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published
two books (of three) 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!
MAY 1969 ~ Behind-the-Mic Scenes of Music & Mayhem
On the radio in 1969, we heard the DJs rave about a new
song, as they slapped it on the turntable and talked over the first few seconds
of its spinning, slick vinyl grooves.
“Flamethrower”
stations (the big guys) may have transitioned to reel-to-reel tapes, but either
way, musicians’ studio recordings personified the best of the bands’ musical
prowess … then we began to hear rumors of what went on behind studio mics, or
we scored tickets to see them in concert … LIVE … a whole different experience.
50 Years Ago
this Month in Rock & Roll Radio
May
10th:
By 1969, we were used to hearing about the bad-boy antics of boy bands, and
learned of the many real or imagined concert mishaps. But none so prestigious
as this one …
Reported by 95.9 The River’s “Today’s Rock History,” “The Turtles and The Temptations
performed at the White House for a ball given by President Richard Nixon’s daughter,
Tricia. Mark Volman of The Turtles was reported to have fallen off
the stage several times.”
Most reports set it as FIVE times. That musta hurt. Or not …
until the next day.
May 24th: We were told to “Get Back,” and we didn’t mind a bit! On
nationwide average, The Beatles' single clawed its way to #1 on Rock Radio charts, where it stayed
for most of another month.
DJ Don Bombard at WOLF/Syracuse, New York, is featured on the
cover of their “Hot 30 in the Salt City” survey for May 14, 1969. At that point, “Get Back” cruised to #2;
but a week later, peaked in the #1 spot.
Meantime, WABC/New York fans
& most Rock stations of the nation, also boosted The Beatles’ “Get Back” to
#1 in mid-May, where it stayed on WABC until late June when knocked off the top
by the Henry Mancini Orchestra and “Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet.” Talk about night and day. From lyrical admonishment to silent
amour.
Fun fact or fiction? Per Wiki on “Get Back”: “Lennon
also said that ‘there's some underlying thing about Yoko in there,’ saying that
McCartney looked at Yoko Ono in the studio every time he sang ‘Get back to
where you once belonged.’” Oh my.
Featured Radio
Survey: Just before “Get Back” stepped forward on the
music scene, WOLF/Syracuse, New York,
listed a mighty mixed bag of songs in their top 30 tunes. Who remembers dreamy “Atlantis” at #10 (Donovan – who by the way, celebrates
his 73rd birthday May 10th);
and at #20, hilariously skewed lyrics of “Bad Moon Rising” (Creedence)
… ♪There’s a bathroom on the right! ♪
Check out all the charted hits on WOLF … 50 Years Ago This Month in
Rock & Roll Radio. That awesome day
when …
Celebrate MAY 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle is a writer
and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published
two books (of three) 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!
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
APRIL 1969 ~ Horns Blaring
in Chicago!
Do you
remember what you were doing 50 Years
Ago this Month? Whether you were dancing to what are now the “Oldies” or
protesting on a local college campus, chances are you owned a transistor radio.
New Yorkers may even have been a fan of
Warren Garling (aka Chris Warren), better known in ‘69 as DJ “Jesse James” on WSNY/Albany, NY. Want to boogie down
Memory Lane with him? You’re in luck! Laugh, reminisce, and hum the Oldies tunes
with Warren in his recently
published memoirs celebrating 50 Years
of Rock & Roll Radio! Remember when we used to say, I’ll Have to ask My Mom”?
Now a BFYP Book 2 jock, eleven-year-old
Warren visited WBNR/Beacon, New York
studios, came home and declared, “Mom, Dad, I don’t want to be Roy Rogers
anymore. I want to be a Radio DJ!” Go now & remember …
50 Years Ago this Month in
Rock & Roll Radio
APRIL
11th: Although
there truly is an *International "Louie Louie"
Day on the official
Brownielocks April calendar of events, it celebrates a 1963 happening. So
obviously more than 50 Years Ago this Month. But at BFYP we have a vested interest in joining
drunk partiers every year on this day. After all, BFYP DJ “Ken Chase”* aka
Mike Korgan, produced The Kingsmen’s
decades-enduring and endearing version of the iconic party song. A sketchy
conflict of interest while working at KISN/Portland, Oregon.
Apparently in a hurry, Mike and the band recorded in it one crazy
session, sans any super-professional equipment. Want to learn more? Excerpt from BFYP Book 2 – Ken Chase. And get the whole book on Amazon! Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Louie
Louie, oh no / We gotta go … ♪
APRIL 13th:
What goes with “Louie Louie” and Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll*?
Record Store Day of course! Known for new releases and vintage vinyls
spanning the decades, record stores across the country revel in the day with
all sorts of entertainment, goodies, specials and discounts. Enter your zip code here
to find your local participating stores! (*Spanning 1979-2019, nobody does this
song better than Bob Seger.)
April 28th: 50 Years Ago this Month Chicago
Transit Authority
burst on the Rockin’ scene with a trumpeting blare of horns in their self-titled
debut album, garnering a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist of the Year.
Their first three top singles, “Questions 67 & 68,” “Beginnings,” and “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” solidified the beginning of
their powerful jazzy-Rock sound.
Featured Radio
Survey: *Although by 1969 Mike/Ken
Chase was long gone from KISN/Portland,
we found an April 1969 “Good Guy Survey for the Northwest” at ARSA to tease
your memory … 50 Years Ago This Month in Rock & Roll Radio.
That awesome
day when …
Celebrate APRIL 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle is a writer
and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published
two books (of three) 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!
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
March 1969 ~ Radio Loves Vintage and Timeless Tunes
Some songs, new and old, can be played backward and forward in time. Others will see future generations scratch their heads and wonder, what were they talking about? It’s the one that does both which becomes immortal.
Tunes that transcend time and play
solely to our emotions will always endure. Those with a vintage vibe, if
allowed, will offer a nostalgic lesson in history, and entertain us. Radio is the conduit—then and now—for a song’s impact
on our souls.
50 Years Ago this Month in
Rock & Roll Radio
March 7th: Hint - ♪ He plays by intuition | The
digit counters fall ♪… The Who
released their Rock opera album tribute to Tommy,
the king of everyone’s favorite arcade game, “Pinball Wizard.” It hit
the bottom of KHJ/L.A.’s Boss 30
chart on April 2nd and peaked at #13 on April 16th.
Meanwhile,
in the East, it was a no-show on WABC/New
York’s March/April/May charts,
“Pinball Wizard” was a catchy,
marketable tune with a rather odd, transcendental message that puts it in both
the song categories: vintage—what’s a pinball?—and timeless—empathy for the boy’s
isolation.
This positioned it perfectly for the Psychedelic Seventies when “Pinball
Wizard” enjoyed an energetic resurrection in the film that visualized the band’s
album. Elton John
gave Tommy renewed vigor in Ken Russell's 1975 big
screen adaptation.
March 8th: What did hit the top of the radio charts this month? Speaking for the East
is WQAM 560 ~ “South Florida’s FIRST
and Only OFFICIAL Music Survey” where “Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
hugged the #1 spot.
Jay
& The Americans, a BFYP featured
band, struggled to reach #9 with an old favorite, “This Magic Moment.” At the same time, WABC/NY
fans gave them a little more love, pushing it up to #5.
Featured Radio
Survey: Another ARSA radio chart—WQAM/Florida 560—check out the songs
for that joined “Proud
Mary” and “This Magic Moment” in the top ten, and clambered through the ranks,
like “Games People Play”
(Joe South) shooting up the chart to debut at #19 … 50 Years Ago This Month in
Rock & Roll Radio. That awesome day
when …
March 8, 1969
Celebrate FEBRUARY 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle is a writer
and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published
two books (of three) 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!
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
February 1969 ~ Rockumentary History in the Making
With
The
Beatles fresh off their rooftop concert in their final live gig together
(January 30th), and The Shondells’ “Crimson & Clover”
still topping the radio charts—with Beatles’ songs nowhere in sight—we head
into February 1969 asking, what’s next?
What
came next is actually what came first—and who’s on 2nd, right?
If you listen to Rock and
Roll radio stations, you’ve likely heard some version of “The History of Rock
and Roll.” Did you know the original debuted at a time when Rock history was
still cranking out groundbreaking tunes? And purportedly, “Rockumentary”
originated for the occasion …
50 Years Ago this Month in
Rock & Roll Radio:
February 21-23rd:
KHJ/Los
Angeles aired what’s billed as the first history of Rock and Roll. Even
then, we realized the music we listened to was history in the making. Time to
begin the look back to is Blues and Jazz roots.
Robert W. Morgan was the lucky DJ who debuted
the energetic
Reportedly syndicated (but research not finding its
syndication home), the scope of the original History
of Rock and Roll begins in the early 1950s and sweeps through the
decades to 1981. A mini-“Timesweep” of the Rockumentary’s songs in medley, is
broadcast in three parts on YouTube, for the early years, 1954 – 1977 … memory
teasers …
January 1956 – January 1964
History of Rock & Roll Timesweep
February 1964 – December
1969 History of Rock & Roll Timesweep
Featured Radio
Survey: This month, we showcase an infrequent off-site vintage radio survey, to bring you the KHJ/Los
Angeles February 5, 1969 edition, hosted on ARSA (Airheads Radio Survey Archive). KHJ of course, advertised prior to the Rockumentary’s
debut. Their “Boss
30” chart featured the ad and told us “Mendocino” (Sir
Douglas Quintet) topped in at #1 … 50 Years Ago This Month in Rock & Roll Radio. That
awesome day
when …
Celebrate FEBRUARY 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle is a writer
and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published
two books (of three) 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!
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
January 1969 ~ Rise ‘n’ Shine and Rock
& Roll in 2019!
Whoohoo! We made it! If you’re reading
this, 2018 was a GOOD year. Perils are many in our convoluted world, so New
Year’s Eve is more significant every time its glittery night comes around, and
we awaken on New Year’s Day.
If you’re eagerly
seeking another clean slate, remember there is benefit in looking back—not just
over the past year, but reflecting on life as a whole. It helps us take
advantage of the road ahead … may it be a golden one for you! Happy New Year!
Looking back
at Blast from Your Past, we like to
romanticize the “good ol’ days,” and tout early Rock & Roll as the best
ever; but from payola to hijacking record labels, we know it wasn’t without its
crime and punishment.
Sadly, many labels treated their
artists badly and it’s no secret that royalties for some artists were
decades—if ever—in the making. Hopefully, the music industry is kinder these
days.
Some
performers have since written about their fun but frustrating experiences. One
such, is an icon
Tommy James of The Shondells first caught our attention with a little “Hanky Panky” (1966) and
followed up with the dreamy “Crimson and Clover”* (1969).
According to his book Me, The Mob, and The Music (2011), Tommy “… tells the incredible
story, revealing his complex and sometimes terrifying relationship with
Roulette Records and Morris Levy, the legendary Godfather of the music
business.”
But in 1969 we were oblivious to the shenanigans
behind the scenes. With barely fifty words to its name, we sent the wistful *“Crimson
and Clover” shooting to the top of the charts just before Christmas 1968, where
it stayed through most of January 1969. ♪ Now,
I don't hardly know her | But I think I could love her ♪
Reportedly, an
early song recorded on 16-track equipment, Crimson was hijacked by WLS/Chicago when Tommy played a rough
cut off-the-record (yep, that’s a pun!) and the station secretly recorded it,
releasing it as a “world exclusive.” Shame, shame.
All was
forgiven, however, as the WLS DJs
helped Crimson debut on the “Hit
Parade” chart at #22 on December 16, 1968. It didn’t stop ‘til reaching #1 on
January 13, 1969.
Featured Radio
Survey: WKNR/Detroit
fans loved “Crimson & Clover”
too. Their “Music Guide” floated it up to #1 for the January 2, 1969 chart,
keeping it there through the end of the month .… 50 Years Ago This Month.
That awesome day
when …
Celebrate JANUARY 1969 and … Rock On!
Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk
LinDee Rochelle is a writer
and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published
two books (of three) 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!
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
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