Blast from Your Past

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

50 Years Ago JANUARY 1969 Crimson & Clover

BFYP BULLETIN 01/21/19: Happy Birthday Wolfman Jack … wherever you are! “Wolfman Jack—Robert Weston Smith—summed up our generation and the dawn of unconventional Rock & Roll Radio, in Have Mercy! Confessions of the Original Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal. Alternately glorified, vilified and memorialized, Rock Radio DJs personified the turmoil and tremendous strides of three decades of society in the US.”* Wolfman Jack was an unparalleled leader of the pack. Aaaooooowww!

*From Blast from Your Past Book 2, Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties.

And now, flip on the mic, let’s Rock On back to 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 who waited until all the nefarious parties had headed to Hades before cluing us fans in on what he had to endure to bring his music to our wild-‘n’-crazy transistor radios …

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!

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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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Sunday, December 2, 2018

50 Years Ago December 1968 Twisted Top 40

Seven Top 40 song titles that make you go, “Huh?”

Aha! It took only a moment to discover something a little unique to offer you for the final month of 1968. Let’s go all-music this month—no, not Christmas/Holiday music; there are enough Silver Bells* floating in the air. Think instead, the standard vintage radio music chart 50 Years Ago this Month … with a twist.
(*Bob Hope & Marilyn Maxwell in The Lemon Drop Kid, 1951. Wonderful!)

Perusing this month’s Featured Radio Survey—WRIT/Milwaukee’s Top 40—I was struck by the number of unusual and ambiguous song titles that punctuated the list.

Most of the time, record labels prefer song titles to be immediately understood by the public and preferably strike an emotional chord. December 23, 1968 seemed to buck the norm with 7 song title oddities out of the top 40. Oh, there are a few others that if you saw them for the first time, make you wonder what they could possibly be about: “Crimson & Clover” by Tommy James and the Shondells, and “Till,” a sentimental tune by The Vogues, are such. But nothing like these (in order of chart position):

1) “Abraham, Martin & John” by Dion, hit WRIT’s #1 spot in December 1968 and stayed there for a couple of weeks. Think you don’t know anyone by those names? History proves you knew them—Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy (and Robert F. Kennedy not named in title, but in verse). The song’s tribute to four of history’s revered architects of social change became a career revival for Dion. ♪ But it seems the good they die young ♪

4) “Bang Shang a Lang,” a simple love song (♪ My heart went bang shang a lang ♪), somehow made it to the top ten, despite its animated (yes, fictional, as in not real) garage band. 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, was one of three founding owners of Filmation Associates which produced the show for CBS. While “Bang” was their debut single, you’ll likely recall a more popular “Sugar, Sugar” the following year.

9) “Chewy Chewy” (no, not from Star Wars!) is a seriously sugary pop tune wrapped up in pseudo sex. Ohio Express dedicated 1968-70 to light on lyrics and heavy on innuendo. ♪ Baby a living box of candy wrapped up so very fine ♪ is about the least sexual lyric I could quote from “Chewy.” It’s fun to read the lyrics from some of the ‘60s songs now, and wonder … did they really say that?! Heehee. Which of course, is nothing compared to today’s sexually, violently, explicit hip hop fare. (Sorry, can’t call it “music.”) Ohio Express’s swinging door of artists and session musicians fashioned a vague anomaly in an era of well-defined, iconic bands. By most accounts only Tim Corwin remained a constant. Wiki’s depiction attempts to untangle the confusion.

15) “Not Enough Indians” by … surprisingly … Dean Martin. Oh, how he’d be vilified on Twitter today! ♪ There's too many chiefs and not enough Indians around this house ♪ And before you go

politically correct wacko on me, I will say what I’ve said many times in recent years … Yes, recognize the insensitivity of it and learn from it. But the past cannot be changed or erased! We are dangerously close to mimicking the worst of Orwell’s 1984—attempting to eradicate the past needs to stop. In 1968, “too many chiefs, not enough Indians,” was viewed as a customary Native American proverb. Remember the past for all its inequities and look to the future. Besides, we can’t be angry at Dean Martin. He sang the words with such smooth finesse.

23) “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was certainly not a “new” song, considering its inception during the Civil War more than a hundred years prior. Andy Williams, famously known for his theme song, “Moon River,” gave this battle cry a popular lift. We were not in short supply of patriotism in 1968—however, given the national strife of the Vietnam War, it held our patriotism a bit closer. ♪ He has sounded from the trumpet that shall never call retreat ♪

25) “1432 Franklin Pike Circle Hero” is not the standard Top 10 fare of love found, love lost, or plain ol’ lust. Bobby Russell sings a catchy tune dedicated to the praise of the neighborhood nice guy. You would know Russell best as a country and pop songwriter, penning such hits for others as, “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” (1973, then-wife, Vicki Lawrence) and “Honey” (1968, Bobby Goldsboro). Like novels, lyrics are often based in truth. Was “Hero” a personal touch? ♪ Christmas time, he took | 'Em down to see the floats ♪ … just one reason he was a hit with the local kids.

… and last but not historically least …

33) “Vance” is another tribute tune that makes you think; especially if you remember the era. While Roger Miller performs the spoken/tuneful song with reverence in his deep, meaningful voice, the lyrics eventually lead you down a path that ends in vintage reality. It’s a perfect example of what was once thought a man had to do to be a man—a principle that we’d like to think, no longer applies. (Sadly again, see hip hop comment above.) ♪ And it did my heart so much good when Vance hit ole Smitty … But he had finally made a stand and he'd become a self made man ♪ “Vance” dropped off the chart at this point.

Hope you’ve enjoyed December 1968 50 Years Ago this Month’s reverie of eclectic Top 40 song titles, and BFYP’s whole year of retro memories. I do it for you … looking forward to what 2019 & 1969 will bring …

Featured Radio Survey: WRIT/Milwaukee “Merry Christmas from the Good Guys,” December 23, 1968. Take a gander at the relatively “normal” tunes on the chart and rev up your memories to recall … 50 Years Ago This Month. That awesome day when …

Celebrate DECEMBER 1968 and … Rock On!