Thursday, 10/19/17: Many BFYP friends are classic car lovers
too. Sadly, more than a few muscle cars and pure classic cars felt the intensity of recent Sonoma County, California wildfires.
Since they were likely garaged at or near homes, it stands to reason the owners
who poured life savings into their cars, also lost their homes.
Always News: BFYP Rock and Roll Radio DJs: Book 1 (1950s) and Book 2 (1960s) ready at Amazon to walk you down Memory Lane, to the Golden Age of Rock & Roll Radio! Enjoy the moment ... again.
And now, flip on the
mic for your October '67 trip down Memory Lane …
Bubbly
Brew of Love Songs & Inner Demons
While
this month’s Featured
Survey design fits right in with the spooky Halloween month, its list of
hit songs was less than ghostly or ghastly for October 1967.
KACY/Santa Barbara, California’s October 6, 1967
top ten gives us frothy love song, “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie,”
by Jay & the Techniques at #6, and somehow The Box Tops bounced “The Letter” all the way up
to #1. ♪ Well, she wrote me a letter
| Said she couldn't live without me no
more ♪ … Uh-huh.
So
were sappy (but sweet) love songs the only hits 50 Years Ago this Month? Nah. Bad-boy band, The Doors urged us to look
at the weirdos inside us, and our creepy neighbors, in “People Are Strange,” clawing
its way up the chart at lucky #13. It hit #4 the following week where it stayed
‘til the love songs kicked it down again, nearing Halloween. ♪ People are strange when you're a stranger
| Faces look ugly when you're alone ♪
… Just the right mood for Halloween.
With
1967 a pivotal year for innovative radio and the FM stations, on October 30th-31st
WNEW/New York raised the dead by
flipping to a progressive Rock format. Reportedly the first in the Metromedia
chain to listen to their listeners, that format held them at the top of the
ratings through the 1970s and beyond.
ROCK-tober is truly a unique month of the year, with Halloween as a most beloved “non” holiday. All the fun
without the stress! And like it or not, it signals the beginning of the Holiday
parties.
It’s
also the time each year when my vintage Rock & Roll mind rambles down
Memory Lane, to the Radio DJ who truly defines Halloween—the incomparable Wolfman Jack.
In October
1967, Wolfman Jack continued to nurture his werewolf within, growing an
enthusiastic audience who loved his salacious, hairy image. He blasted his
signature howl to “13 states and 2 Canadian provinces” at XERB/Hollywood (really coming from
Rosarito Beach, Mexico).
Though
billed as the “Soul Monster,” XERB’s
listeners jammed the pop-Top 40 hit “The Letter,” up to #1. But you can bet
Wolfie put his own spin on it. (Image: XERB
“Soul 30 in California” October 7, 1967. Thanks to Airheads Radio Survey Archive
and their collection of surveys for our viewing pleasure.)
Come
Halloween, think
ghosts, goblins, witches’ brew, seances, and weird, hairy creatures … like Wolfman Jack! We got a good thing goin’ on now! Aoooowwwooooo!
Have
fun … be safe. Yes, you can do both.
Featured Radio
Survey: KACY/Santa Barbara,
California “Psychic Seances” October 6, 1967, blended a Soul and Rock Pop witch’s
brew of hit songs. Do you have a special memory from this month, 50 Years Ago? Check out the full chart and
recall that awesome day when …
Celebrate OCTOBER 1967: 50 Years Ago and … Rock On!
♪
♪ ♪