Blast from Your Past

Saturday, November 3, 2018

50 Years Ago November 1968 Hey Jude Love Child

BFYP BULLETIN 11/26/18: BFYP EBOOKS ON #AmazonGIVEAWAYS! Roll your fuzzy dice and click the links here! You might WIN Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959 OR Book 2 – … The Swinging Sixties! Giveaway ends Friday Nov. 30^th, so hurry on over!
Now, on with the show ... November 1968 ...

Baby Jude: Hey Jude’s Love Child!

Believe it or not, here we go head-long into the final two months of 2018. How did we get here?!

As we turn our thoughts to the season of thankfulness—at least through Thanksgiving—many of us will also begin a mental review of the year, noting achievements, carryovers for 2019, and perhaps a duel or two to resolve before year’s end.

Speaking of duels, a battle of boy-band vs. girl-band played out on music surveys across the nation Fifty Years Ago this Month …

Roy Clark & Buck Trent, Hee Haw

November 4^th: We’ve heard of dueling banjos and dueling pianos, but in November 1968 we radio listeners played a crucial part in a duel for the top of the charts between two talented and charismatic music powerhouses.

Diana Ross and the Supremes and brash boy band, The Beatles, hit

the national charts about the same time in 1964. From that point on, we fueled their duel on the airwaves and up ‘n’ down the surveys’ top hits for the rest of the decade.

WRIT/Milwaukee’s Silver Dollar Music Survey November 4, 1968 is a perfect example of their musical rivalry. Click on our Featured Survey* to see The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”/”Revolution” combo at #2, nipping at the heels of Mary Hopkin’s “Those Were the Days.” Diana Ross & the Supremes’ “Love Child” started its climb as a distant contender in the #28 spot.

The Beatles’ songs stayed at #2 for the November 11^th chart, but “Love Child” quickly jumped several rungs up the ladder to #12.

By November 25th, however, Diana had led her girls up to #3, while The Beatles slipped to #4 & #5 (“Revolution” & “Hey Jude,” respectively). And yep, “Those Were the Days” still kept a glass ceiling on their rise.

November 22^nd: The Beatles weren’t crying too hard, though. The White Album (aka The Beatles) was released on this date—and we all know how that turned out. *In anticipation, KFRC/San Francisco even devoted their entire November 20^th Big 30 survey No. 128, solely to songs of The White Album. Cool.

Featured Radio Survey: WRIT/Milwaukee November 4, 1968 … for all their popularity across the country, neither The Beatles or Diana Ross and The Supremes could knock Mary Hopkin out of the #1 spot at WRIT … 50 Years Ago This Month. Rev up your memories and recall that awesome day when …

Celebrate NOVEMBER 1968 and … Rock On!

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LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an 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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Tuesday, October 2, 2018

50 Years Ago October 1968 ~ ROCKtober & Wolfman

IT’S ROCKtober TIME!!

We’re finally in the month when summer heat turns to cool fall days (hopefully), and golden leaves float wistfully over the breeze on their way to a colorful, communal pile on the ground.

The seasons exchange pleasantries on their way by each other, while our pace quickens with renewed energy. Today, as in 1968, we welcome the change. Ahhhh, it’s Fall.

Today, or 50 Years Ago this Month, is that the only reason we step a little quicker? I think not. October is also the month of wafting spicy scents and furtive glances over our shoulders when daylight dims, peering uneasily into darkened corners. We swear an ethereal flash teasing our senses was a bona fide ghost. Yep, it’s pumpkin-baking spooky October!

However you celebrate or revere October and/or Halloween—Samhain (Irish; pronounced saw-win), Autumn traditions, or simple Fall treasures—mostly, it’s just plain fun. And the Rockin’ Radio DJ who howled into his beer-foam of Oktoberfests, helped turn it into ROCKtober!

We’re celebrating October, Halloween, and Wolfman Jack! In my neck of the woods, ROCKtober and Halloween would not be complete without a hefty helping of the Wolfman’s aaooowwww! From "Monster Mash” (August 1962, Bobby “Boris” Pickett) to “Clap for The Wolfman” (June 1974, The Guess Who), October knows no year or decade … it’s simply fun every year.

So, here’s a question for you … is it only in the Christmas season that seasonal songs are actually on the radio charts of yesteryear? “Way back when,” October 1968 charts flaunted some great songs—none of which had anything to do with spooks and Halloween.

Although we had plenty of ghoulish tunes from previous years to play, like 1967’s “Ding, Dong the Witch is Dead” by The Fifth Estate … yes, the Wizard of Oz’s witch. And by the way, it spooked WCFL/Chicago’s Sound 10 Survey in June, not October. I guess I’m looking for order in an unorderly world …

Getting back to October 1968, at KAFY/Santa Barbara, California, O.C. Smith’s “Little Green Apples” and Al Wilson’s “The Snake,” crowned the top two spots (respectively). Of course, if you’re afraid of snakes, Wilson’s hit song is a little creepy. Take me in, oh pretty woman | Sssssighed the snake …

Now television … that’s where there is some semblance of order …

October 1: Horror films have always been popular. But it wasn’t until the release of Night of the Living Dead that we began to see the horror of it all. Literally. Originally panned for its prolific gore, the cult classic film, preserved in the National Film Registry, is a neophyte in today’s “let it all hang out” blood-and-guts films.

October 25: Led Zeppelin begins their long journey to music immortality, with their first official live performance at Surrey University, England. After reorganization and new determination, strategic members of The Yardbirds morphed into history-making Led Zeppelin. When I give you all my love | please, please be true … (“How Many More Times” 1969).

BFYP Collection: Aug 1967

Wolfman Jack and all things ghoulie.

As my vintage Rock & Roll mind rambles down Memory Lane, it turns to the Radio DJ who truly defines Halloween—the incomparable Wolfman Jack.

Robert Weston Smith nurtured his inner werewolf, pandering to an audience who loved his salacious, hairy image.

As Wolfman Jack, he blasted his signature howl to “13 states and 2 Canadian provinces” at XERB/Hollywood (by way of Rosarito Beach, Mexico).

Come Halloween, think ghosts, goblins, witches’ brew, seances, and weird, hairy creatures … like Wolfman Jack! We're gonna boog-a-loo, baby! Aoooowwwooooo!

Featured Radio Survey: KAFY/Santa Barbara … celebrate Fall, Oktoberfests, and Wolfman Jack! 50 Years Ago This Month. Rev up your memories and recall that awesome day when …

Celebrate ROCK-TOBER 1968 and … Rock On!