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. (Which probably pissed off some "real" bands!)
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. Not bad for an animated band!
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 …
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.
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