Category: Monthly

It’s daylight savings down-under so with lighter evenings you can feel Summer approaching in October, 2024. But let’s slide back to October…1967 to hear what it sounded like…

Songs of the month

[new] “A Natural Woman” – Aretha Franklin
“Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie” – Jay And The Techniques
“Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison
“Come Back When You Grow Up” – Bobby Vee
“Dandelion” – Rolling Stones
“Expressway To Your Heart” – Soul Survivors
[new] “For Your Precious Love” – Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
“Funky Broadway” – Wilson Pickett
“Get On Up” – Esquires
“Gettin’ Together” – Tommy James And The Shondells
“Gimme Little Sign” – Brenton Wood
“Hey Baby” – Buckinghams
“Higher And Higher” – Jackie Wilson
[new] “Holiday” – Bee Gees
“How Can I Be Sure” – Young Rascals
“I Dig Rock And Roll Music” – “Peter Paul And Mary”
“I Make A Fool Of Myself” – Frankie Valli
[new] “I’m Wondering” – Stevie Wonder
[new] “Incense And Peppermints” – Strawberry Alarm Clock
[new] “It Must Be Him” – Vicki Carr
[new] “It’s You That I Need” – Temptations
[new] “Let It All Hang Out” – Hombres
[new] “Let Love Come Between Us” – Jimmy And Bobby Purify
[new] “Lightning’s Girl” – Nancy Sinatra
“Little Ole Man” – Bill Cosby
“Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone” – Martha And The Vandellas
[new] “Love Is Strange” – Peaches And Herb
“Never My Love” – Association
“Ode To Billy Joe” – Bobbie Gentry
[new] “Ode To Billy Joe” – Kingpins
[new] “People Are Strange” – Doors
[new] “Please Love Me Forever” – Bobby Vinton
“Reflections” – Diana Ross And The Supremes
[new] “Soul Man” – Sam And Dave
“The Cat In The Window” – Petula Clark
[new] “The Last Waltz” – Engelbert Humperdinck
“The Letter” – Box Tops
[new] “The Look Of Love” – Dusty Springfield
[new] “The Rain The Park And Other Things” – Cowsills
“To Sir With Love” – Lulu
[new] “What Now My Love” – Mitch Ryder
[new] “You Keep Running Away” – Four Tops
“You Know What I Mean” – Turtles
“You’re My Everything” – Temptations
[new] “Your Precious Love” – Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On the 9th, Che Guevara, who had been captured the day before, was executed following an interrogation at the schoolhouse in the village of La Higuera. In order to avoid the publicity of a trial, Bolivia’s President René Barrientos ordered that Guevara be put to death. Army Sergeant Mario Terán carried out the task, shooting Guevara nine times with a semiautomatic rifle, in order to support news that Guevara had been killed in battle. And thus cementing Guevara’s place on many-a-freshman t-shirt for decades to come.

And on the 18th the first “rock musical”, Hair, premiered at the theater inside the Astor Library in New York City’s East Village. Featuring a “multiracial cast of hippies”, and attracting attention with “the full-frontal nudity of the cast” to close one scene, the show combined the music of Galt MacDermot and the lyrics of James Rado and Gerome Ragni, and was sold out for each of its performances during its six-week trial run. It would also become “the first Off-Broadway musical to transfer successfully to Broadway”.

To end the month, on the 29th, World Expo 67 closed in Montreal, after having attracted more than 50,306,648 visitors in six months, a record attendance for any world’s fair. Canada’s Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson declared at the closing ceremonies that the exhibit had been “one of the most imaginative acts of faith in Canadian enterprise and ability ever attempted,” and added, “We have discovered that we do have a character and quality of our own, rich and diverse, but Canadian.”

What’d Sadie think?

Two weeks at the top for “The Letter” by the Box Tops before “To Sir With Love” by Lulu takes the spot for the rest of the month.

Loved ’em

• “A Natural Woman” – Aretha Franklin

• “For Your Precious Love” – Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
• “Holiday” – Bee Gees
• “Let It All Hang Out” – Hombres
• “People Are Strange” – Doors
• “Soul Man” – Sam And Dave
• “The Look Of Love” – Dusty Springfield
• “Your Precious Love” – Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell

Sadie gave a special shout out to Brenton Wood’s “Give me a little love” this week – when asked if she liked it as she sung along, it got an enthusiastic, “yeah! it’s really rock and roll!”.

Liked ’em

• “I’m Wondering” – Stevie Wonder
• “Incense And Peppermints” – Strawberry Alarm Clock
• “It Must Be Him” – Vicki Carr
• “It’s You That I Need” – Temptations
• “Let Love Come Between Us” – Jimmy And Bobby Purify
• “Lightning’s Girl” – Nancy Sinatra
• “Love Is Strange” – Peaches And Herb
• “Ode To Billy Joe” – Kingpins
• “The Last Waltz” – Engelbert Humperdinck
• “The Rain The Park And Other Things” – Cowsills
• “You Keep Running Away” – Four Tops

Leave ’em

• “Please Love Me Forever” – Bobby Vinton
• “What Now My Love” – Mitch Ryder

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

Sadie’s doing settling-in days at her new Kindergarten this week, which is very exciting for the whole family. Here’s the tunes soundtracking this week for us, from September, 1967…

Songs of the month

“A Girl Like You” – Young Rascals
“A Whiter Shade Of Pale” – Procol Harum
“All You Need Is Love” – Beatles
“Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie” – Jay And The Techniques
“Baby I Love You” – Aretha Franklin
“Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison
“Carrie Anne” – Hollies
“Cold Sweat” – James Brown
“Come Back When You Grow Up” – Bobby Vee
[new] “Dandelion” – Rolling Stones
[new] “Expressway To Your Heart” – Soul Survivors
“Fakin’ It” – Simon And Garfunkel
“Funky Broadway” – Wilson Pickett
[new] “Get On Up” – Esquires
[new] “Gettin’ Together” – Tommy James And The Shondells
[new] “Gimme Little Sign” – Brenton Wood
[new] “Groovin’” – Booker T. And The Mgs
“Heroes And Villains” – Beach Boys
[new] “Hey Baby” – Buckinghams
[new] “Higher And Higher” – Jackie Wilson
[new] “How Can I Be Sure” – Young Rascals
[new] “I Dig Rock & Roll Music” – “Peter Paul And Mary”
[new] “I Had A Dream” – Paul Revere And The Raiders
[new] “I Make A Fool Of Myself” – Frankie Valli
“I Thank The Lord For The Night Time” – Neil Diamond
[new] “I Thank The Lords For The Night Time” – Neil Diamond
“I Wanna Testify” – Parliaments
“I Was Made To Love Her” – Stevie Wonder
[new] “Knock On Wood” – Otis And Carla
“Light My Fire” – Doors
[new] “Litle Ole Man” – Bill Cosby
[new] “Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone” – Martha And The Vandellas
[new] “Never My Love” – Association
“Ode To Billy Joe” – Bobbie Gentry
“Pleasant Valley Sunday” – Monkees
“Reflections” – Diana Ross And The Supremes
“San Franciscan Nights” – Eric Burdon And The Animals
“Silence Is Golden” – Tremeloes
[new] “The Cat In The Window” – Petula Clark
“The Letter” – Box Tops
[new] “The World We Knew” – Frank Sinatra
[new] “There Is A Mountain” – Donovan
[new] “Things I Should Have Said” – Grass Roots
“To Love Somebody” – Bee Gees
[new] “To Sir With Love” – Lulu
[new] “Twelve Thirty” – Mamas And Papas
[new] “Words” – Bee Gees
“Words” – Monkees
[new] “You Know What I Mean” – Turtles
“You’re My Everything” – Temptations

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On the 10th the CBS television network censored “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour”, in advance of the evening broadcast, by editing out the performance of Pete Seeger’s antiwar song “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”. Seeger, who had been blacklisted from commercial television for 17 years, had been allowed to perform the song before the studio audience, but the tape shown on television only showed Seeger performing the song “Wimoweh” and Tommy Smothers asking Seeger if he was going to sing “that song”. The tape then showed a closeup of Seeger’s face, and skipped to the next portion of the program. The CBS objection had been Seeger’s closing verse, “Now every time I read the papers/That old feelin’ comes on/We’re waist deep in the Big Muddy/And the big fool says to push on.”

And in another case of, attempted, TV censorship – on the 17thth Jim Morrison of The Doors defied CBS in a live telecast of The Ed Sullivan Show, after initially agreeing to a producer’s request to alter the lyrics to their #1 hit, “Light My Fire”. Morrison had been asked to change the lyric “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher” to “Girl, we couldn’t get much better”, out of the production staff’s fear concern about the word “high” being associated with drug abuse. Given that the word “better” did not rhyme with “You know that I would be a liar”, Morrison sang the word anyway.

And closer to, my, home – on the 23rd voters in New Zealand overwhelmingly favored a measure to end the limits that had engendered the “Six o’clock swill”, where bar patrons drank heavily after getting off of work because alcoholic beverages could not be legally sold after 6:00 in the evening. Given a choice of two closing hours for hotel bars, voters favored extending the time to 10:00 at night by a margin of 582,234 to 328,748.

What’d Sadie think?

Three weeks at the top for “Ode To Billy Joe” by Bobbie Gentry before two for “The Letter” by the Box Tops.

Loved ’em

• “Expressway To Your Heart” – Soul Survivors
• “Gimme Little Sign” – Brenton Wood
• “Higher And Higher” – Jackie Wilson
• “Knock On Wood” – Otis And Carla
• “Words” – Bee Gees

Liked ’em

• “Dandelion” – Rolling Stones
• “Get On Up” – Esquires
• “Gettin’ Together” – Tommy James And The Shondells
• “Groovin’” – Booker T. And The Mgs
• “How Can I Be Sure” – Young Rascals
• “I Dig Rock And Roll Music” – “Peter Paul And Mary”
• “I Had A Dream” – Paul Revere And The Raiders
• “I Make A Fool Of Myself” – Frankie Valli
• “Hey Baby” – Buckinghams
• “Little Ole Man” – Bill Cosby
• “Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone” – Martha And The Vandellas
• “Never My Love” – Association
• “The Cat In The Window” – Petula Clark
• “The World We Knew” – Frank Sinatra
• “Things I Should Have Said” – Grass Roots
• “To Sir With Love” – Lulu
• “Twelve Thirty” – Mamas And Papas
• “You Know What I Mean” – Turtles
  

Leave ’em

• “There Is A Mountain” – Donovan

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

It’s exactly 53 years before Sadie is born in our journey through musical history, let’s see what more than half a century ago sounded like…

Songs of the month

“A Girl Like You” – Young Rascals
“A Whiter Shade Of Pale” – Procol Harum
“All You Need Is Love” – Beatles
[new] “Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie” – Jay And The Techniques
[new] “Baby I Love You” – Aretha Franklin
[new] “Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison
“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” – Frankie Valli
“Carrie Anne” – Hollies
[new] “Cold Sweat” – James Brown
[new] “Come Back When You Grow Up” – Bobby Vee
“Come On Down To My Boat” – Every Mother’s Son
[new] “Fakin’ It” – Simon And Garfunkel
“For Your Love” – Peaches And Herb
[new] “Funky Broadway” – Wilson Pickett
[new] “Heroes And Villains” – Beach Boys
“Hypnotized” – Linda Jones
“I Like The Way” – Tommy James And The Shondells
“I Take It Back” – Sandy Posey
[new] “I Thank The Lord For The Night Time” – Neil Diamond
[new] “I Wanna Testify” – Parliaments
“I Was Made To Love Her” – Stevie Wonder
[new] “In The Chapel In The Moonight” – Dean Martin
“Jackson” – Nancy Sinatra And Lee Hazelwood
[new] “Let The Good Times Roll” – Bunny Sigler
“Light My Fire” – Doors
“Little Bit O’ Soul” – Music Explosion
“Make Me Yours” – Bettye Swann
“Mercy Mercy Mercy” – Buckinghams
“More Love” – Smokey Robinson And The Miracles
“My Mammy” – Happenings
[new] “Ode To Billy Joe” – Bobbie Gentry
“Pleasant Valley Sunday” – Monkees
[new] “Reflections” – Diana Ross And The Supremes
[new] “San Franciscan Nights” – Eric Burdon And The Animals
“San Francisco” – Scott Mckenzie
“Silence Is Golden” – Tremeloes
“Soul Finger” – Bar-Kays
[new] “The Letter” – Box Tops
[new] “To Love Somebody” – Bee Gees
“Up Up And Away” – 5Th Dimension
“White Rabbit” – Jefferson Airplane
“Windy” – Association
[new] “Words” – Monkees
[new] “You’re My Everything” – Temptations

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On the 6th of August KPMX of San Francisco became the first radio station in the United States to take advantage of new FCC regulations, and to go to a progressive rock format. The programming on the 106.9 FM frequency apparently began a trend toward FM radio stations making the transition from “easy-listening” music to “album rock” music.

And in more radio news, but less progressive, on the 14th all but one of the United Kingdom’s pirate radio stations played music for their final day, then signed off before the new Marine Broadcasting Offences Act 1967 went into effect at midnight. The new law was an extension of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 and although it could not prohibit boats from broadcasting from outside Britain’s territorial waters, it did prohibit those stations from selling advertising within the British Isles. Only one station, Radio Caroline, would continue to broadcast the next day. With the shutdown of the pirate stations, BBC Radio 1 would go on the air on September 30 with a popular music format.

There’s still far too many airplane accidents in the month’s history in 1967 – air travel sure seemed like a risky business back then! In a particularly bizarre incident, on the 27th of the month, sixteen experienced skydivers were drowned after jumping from an airplane that was 16 km away from its intended target. The group had taken off from Wakeman, Ohio, in a B-25 airplane, and had jumped without realizing that they were parachuting into Lake Erie rather than a field in Huron, Ohio.

What’d Sadie think?

Two weeks at the top for “Light My Fire” by the Doors then a week apiece for “All You Need Is Love” the Beatles and newcomer “Ode To Billy Joe” by Bobbie Gentry.

Loved ’em

• “Baby I Love You” – Aretha Franklin
• “Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison
• “Cold Sweat” – James Brown
• “Funky Broadway” – Wilson Pickett
• “Heroes And Villains” – Beach Boys
• “Ode To Billy Joe” – Bobbie Gentry
• “Reflections” – Diana Ross And The Supremes
• “The Letter” – Box Tops
• “To Love Somebody” – Bee Gees

Liked ’em

• “Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie” – Jay And The Techniques
• “Come Back When You Grow Up” – Bobby Vee
• “Fakin’ It” – Simon And Garfunkel
• “I Thank The Lord For The Night Time” – Neil Diamond
• “I Wanna Testify” – Parliaments
• “In The Chapel In The Moonight” – Dean Martin
• “Let The Good Times Roll” – Bunny Sigler
• “San Franciscan Nights” – Eric Burdon And The Animals
• “Words” – Monkees
• “You’re My Everything” – Temptations

Leave ’em

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

We find ourselves midway through the Summer of Love, 1967…let’s go back and listen to July!

Songs of the month

[new] “A Girl Like You” – Young Rascals
[new] “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” – Procol Harum
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” – Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
“Alfie” – Dionne Warwick
[new] “All You Need Is Love” – Beatles
“C’mon Marianne” – Four Seasons
“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” – Frankie Valli
[new] “Carrie Anne” – Hollies
“Come On Down To My Boat” – Every Mother’s Son
“Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead” – Fifth Estate
“Do It Again A Little Bit Slower” – Jon And Robin And The On Crowd
[new] “Don’t Go Out Into The Rain” – Herman’s Hermits
“Don’t Sleep In The Subway” – Petula Clark
[new] “For Your Love” – Peaches And Herb
[new] “For Your Precious Love” – Oscar Toney Jr.
“Groovin’” – Young Rascals
“Here We Go Again” – Ray Charles
[new] “Hypnotized” – Linda Jones
[new] “I Like The Way” – Tommy James And The Shondells
[new] “I Take It Back” – Sandy Posey
[new] “I Was Made To Love Her” – Stevie Wonder
[new] “Jackson” – Nancy Sinatra And Lee Hazelwood
“Let’s Live For Today” – Grass Roots
“Light My Fire” – Doors
“Little Bit O’ Soul” – Music Explosion
[new] “Make Me Yours” – Bettye Swann
[new] “Mary In The Morning” – Al Martino
[new] “Mercy Mercy Mercy” – Buckinghams
[new] “More Love” – Smokey Robinson And The Miracles
[new] “My Mammy” – Happenings
“New York Mining Disaster 1941” – Bee Gees
[new] “Pay You Back With Interest” – Hollies
[new] “Pleasant Valley Sunday” – Monkees
“Release Me” – Engelbert Humperdinck
“Respect” – Aretha Franklin
“San Francisco” – Scott Mckenzie
“Seven Rooms Of Gloom” – Four Tops
“She’d Rather Be With Me” – Turtles
[new] “Silence Is Golden” – Tremeloes
“Society’s Child” – Janis Ian
“Somebody To Love” – Jefferson Airplane
[new] “Soul Finger” – Bar-Kays
[new] “Step Out Of Your Mind” – American Breed
“Sunday Will Never Be The Same” – Spanky And Our Gang
[new] “There Goes My Everything” – Engelbert Humperdinck
“Tracks Of My Tears” – Johnny Rivers
“Up Up And Away” – 5Th Dimension
[new] “White Rabbit” – Jefferson Airplane
“Windy” – Association

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

The first colour television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began at 2:00 in the afternoon as BBC Two telecast a match from Centre Court of Wimbledon between Cliff Drysdale and Roger Taylor. “It was a Wimbledon no one has ever seen on television before”, a reporter noted the next day. “The clothes of the players were whiter than white, the Centre Court an inimitable green.”. Brilliant!

One of those videos that won’t embed, but you can see it here.

On 10 July 1967 New Zealand abandoned pounds, shillings and pence and adopted decimal currency. This ad was used to promote the new currency…

On the 14th The Bee Gees released “Bee Gees’ 1st,” which went on sale in the United Kingdom. Although it was their third album, it was the first to be distributed in the UK and the United States (where it would be released on August 9). The first two albums had been released only in Australia and New Zealand – a thing I had totally no idea about. Apparently they’d resided in Australia for some years and found moderate success.

I normally try and pick “historic” events, and ones where there is a video to be found as it gives colour to the time. But this story is too good not to share… On the 21st the town of Winneconne, Wisconsin, announced secession from the state of Wisconsin (though not from the United States) because it had not been included in the official maps in an omission from the map “blamed on an artist’s oversight”, and issued a mock declaration of war. The events, which included the raising of a “state flag”, took place while tourists were in town to watch the “midwest regional outboard motor boat races”. Town Mayor James Coughlin was named “president” of the new American state, and town chamber of commerce leader Vera Kitchen was proclaimed “prime minister”. The secession, which “proved a financial success for the community”, ended on July 23 at noon. On August 15, the Wisconsin Highway Commission would announce that it would print a new map in 1968 that would include Winneconne.

What’d Sadie think?

A solid four weeks at the top by “Windy” by Association before household favourite “Light My Fire” by the Doors takes it.

Loved ’em

Song of the week has to be Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”. The drug-laden surrealist nature of it feels unlike almost anything else we’ve had in the past 17 years. This intro from Dick Clark on American Bandstand, which talks about “the scene” in San Francisco is classic.

Lead singer Grace Slick, who actually brought the song over from her previous band, said the song was “supposed to be a wake-up call to parents who read their children novels such as [Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland] and then would wonder why their children used drugs”. She also said that all fairytales read to little girls have a Prince Charming who comes and saves them. But Alice did not, she was “on her own… in a very strange place, but she kept on going and she followed her curiosity – that’s the White Rabbit. A lot of women could have taken a message from that story about how you can push your own agenda”.

• “A Girl Like You” – Young Rascals
• “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” – Procol Harum
• “All You Need Is Love” – Beatles
• “I Was Made To Love Her” – Stevie Wonder
• “Jackson” – Nancy Sinatra And Lee Hazelwood
• “Make Me Yours” – Bettye Swann
• “Mercy Mercy Mercy” – Buckinghams
• “More Love” – Smokey Robinson And The Miracles
• “Pleasant Valley Sunday” – Monkees
• “Silence Is Golden” – Tremeloes
• “White Rabbit” – Jefferson Airplane

Liked ’em

• “Carrie-Anne” – Hollies
• “Don’t Go Out Into The Rain” – Herman’s Hermits
• “For Your Precious Love” – Oscar Toney Jr.
• “Hypnotized” – Linda Jones
• “I Take It Back” – Sandy Posey
• “Mary In The Morning” – Al Martino
• “Pay You Back With Interest” – Hollies
• “Soul Finger” – Bar-Kays
• “Step Out Of Your Mind” – American Breed
• “There Goes My Everything” – Engelbert Humperdinck

Leave ’em

• “For Your Love” – Peaches And Herb
• “I Like The Way” – Tommy James And The Shondells
• “My Mammy” – Happenings

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

It’s 53 years and 2 months before Sadie is born and 9 years and 8 months before Thomas is…so let’s go back to June, 1967!

Songs of the month

[new] “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” – Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
[new] “Alfie” – Dionne Warwick
“All I Need” – Temptations
[new] “C’mon Marianne” – Four Seasons
[new] “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” – Frankie Valli
“Close Your Eyes” – Peaches And Herb
[new] “Come On Down To My Boat” – Every Mother’s Son
“Creeque Alley” – Mamas And Papas
[new] “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead” – Fifth Estate
[new] “Do It Again A Little Bit Slower” – Jon And Robin And The On Crowd
[new] “Don’t Sleep In The Subway” – Petula Clark
“Don’t You Care” – Buckinghams
“Friday On My Mind” – Easybeats
“Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon” – Neil Diamond
“Groovin’” – Young Rascals
“Happy Jack” – Who
“Here Comes My Baby” – Tremeloes
[new] “Here We Go Again” – Ray Charles
“Him Or Me What’s It Gonna Be” – Paul Revere And The Raiders
“I Got Rhythm” – Happenings
“I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman” – Whistling Jack Smith
[new] “Let’s Live For Today” – Grass Roots
[new] “Light My Fire” – Doors
[new] “Little Bit O’ Soul” – Music Explosion
“Mirage” – Tommy James And The Shondells
[new] “New York Mining Disaster 1941” – Bee Gees
“On A Carousel” – Hollies
“Release Me” – Engelbert Humperdinck
“Respect” – Aretha Franklin
[new] “San Francisco” – Scott Mckenzie
[new] “Seven Rooms Of Gloom” – Four Tops
“Shake A Tail Feather” – James And Bobby Purify
[new] “She’d Rather Be With Me” – Turtles
[new] “Six O’clock” – Lovin’ Spoonful
[new] “Society’s Child” – Janis Ian
“Somebody To Love” – Jefferson Airplane
“Somethin’ Stupid” – Frank & Nancy Sinatra
[new] “Sunday Will Never Be The Same” – Spanky And Our Gang
“Sweet Soul Music” – Arthur Conley
“The Happening” – Supremes
[new] “Tracks Of My Tears” – Johnny Rivers
[new] “Tramp” – Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
[new] “Up Up And Away” – 5Th Dimension
“When You’re Young And In Love” – Marvelettes
[new] “Windy” – Association

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

Not at all drawing parallels to today but on June 10, 1967: The Six-Day War ended with Israel doubling its area within a week by capturing territory from Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.

And in more peace and love news, on the 16th the three day “Monterey Pop Festival” began in Monterey, California, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. One historian opined that it “ushered in the era of the major music festival and helped launch the careers of several major rock artists.” The musicians who performed on the first evening were The Association, Lou Rawls, Johnny Rivers, Eric Burdon & The Animals and Simon & Garfunkel. The non-profit Festival attracted 50,000 paid admissions and a crowd of … 125,000 unpaid spectators.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MX2VEYpTfw

Then on the 27th the first automated teller machine (ATM) began service, at a branch of Barclays Bank in Enfield Town in North London. The system used printed “Barclaycash” vouchers that were “issued, free of charge, to pre-approved customers who were also entrusted with a personal code number”. The procedure was for a customer to put the voucher in the automatic drawer; when a green light came on, the customer then entered the personal code, the machine checked the account balance, and another drawer would open, containing a £10 note for each voucher.

Inventor John Shepherd-Barron of the De La Rue banknote printing company perfected the machine and British television star Reg Varney appeared in the advertising campaign. Shepherd-Brown had originally planned to have the machine respond to a six-digit PIN but “discovered that his wife could not remember more than four digits, thus the worldwide standard for PINs is four digits… A video that won’t embed annoyingly, about the ATM is here.

What’d Sadie think?

Two weeks at the top for classic “Respect” by Aretha Franklin before the Young Rascals take “Groovin’” to the top.

Loved ’em

A packed bag of hits this month for sure – everyone trying to cash-in on that upcoming “summer of love”! Song of the month for me is “Light My Fire” by the Doors as a long time favourite. Normally at this point I drop in an interesting fact about the song but… for such an iconic tune it has zero factoids on Wikipedia! Ah well, we’ll let the songs speak for themselves as they should!

• “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” – Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
• “Alfie” – Dionne Warwick
• “C’mon Marianne” – Four Seasons
• “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” – Frankie Valli
• “Here We Go Again” – Ray Charles
• “Let’s Live For Today” – Grass Roots
• “Light My Fire” – Doors
• “New York Mining Disaster 1941” – Bee Gees
• “San Francisco” – Scott Mckenzie
• “Seven Rooms Of Gloom” – Four Tops
• “Up Up And Away” – 5Th Dimension
  

Liked ’em

• “Come On Down To My Boat” – Every Mother’s Son
• “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead” – Fifth Estate
• “Do It Again A Little Bit Slower” – Jon And Robin And The On Crowd
• “Don’t Sleep In The Subway” – Petula Clark
• “Little Bit O’soul” – Music Explosion
• “Six O’clock” – Lovin’ Spoonful
• “Sunday Will Never Be The Same” – Spanky And Our Gang
• “Tracks Of My Tears” – Johnny Rivers
• “Tramp” – Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
• “Windy” – Association

Leave ’em

• “She’d Rather Be With Me” – Turtles
• “Society’s Child” – Janis Ian

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

We’re in Wellington with family celebrating Sadie’s birthday and we’re listening to music from 53 years and 3 months before she’s born, so let’s tune back to May, 1967.

Songs of the month

“A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You” – Monkees
[new] “All I Need” – Temptations
“At The Zoo” – Simon And Garfunkel
“Bernadette” – Four Tops
[new] “Casino Royale” – Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass
“Close Your Eyes” – Peaches And Herb
[new] “Creeque Alley” – Mamas And Papas
[new] “Dead End Street” – Lou Rawls
“Don’t You Care” – Buckinghams
“Friday On My Mind” – Easybeats
“Get Me To The World On Time” – Electric Prunes
[new] “Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon” – Neil Diamond
[new] “Groovin’” – Young Rascals
[new] “Happy Jack” – Who
“Happy Together” – Turtles
[new] “Here Comes My Baby” – Tremeloes
[new] “Him Or Me What’s It Gonna Be” – Paul Revere And The Raiders
“I Got Rhythm” – Happenings
“I Never Loved A Man” – Aretha Franklin
“I Think We’re Alone Now” – Tommy James And The Shondells
[new] “I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman” – Whistling Jack Smith
“I’m A Man” – Spencer Davis Group
“Jimmy Mack” – Martha And The Vandellas
“Love Eyes” – Nancy Sinatra
[new] “Mirage” – Tommy James And The Shondells
[new] “My Girl Josephine” – Jerry Jaye
“On A Carousel” – Hollies
[new] “Release Me” – Engelbert Humperdinck
[new] “Respect” – Aretha Franklin
[new] “Shake A Tail Feather” – James And Bobby Purify
[new] “Somebody To Love” – Jefferson Airplane
“Somethin’ Stupid” – Frank & Nancy Sinatra
[new] “Sunshine Girl” – Parade
“Sweet Soul Music” – Arthur Conley
“The Happening” – Supremes
“This Is My Song” – Petula Clark
[new] “Too Many Fish In The Sea” – Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels
“Western Union” – Five Americans
“When I Was Young” – Eric Burdon And The Animals
[new] “When You’re Young And In Love” – Marvelettes
“With This Ring” – Platters
[new] “Yellow Balloon” – Yellow Balloon
“You Got What It Takes” – Dave Clark Five

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On the 18th General Electric announced the recall of 90,000 large screen colour television sets that had been manufactured between June 1966 and February 1967 because they emitted dangerously high levels of x-rays at a level well above U.S. government radiation limits. Which might explain why parents, for decades after, would tell their kids not to sit too close to the TV!

And on the same day, in “wow we’ve come so far, but actually have we?” news – the state of Tennessee repealed its law that made the teaching of evolution a criminal offence, as Governor Buford Ellington signed a bill that had rescinded the Butler Act. On May 16, the state senate had voted, 19–13, in favor of a bill that permitted school teachers to discuss Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in classrooms… yes, it was a close vote for science.

Then on the 26th The Beatles released their iconic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which appeared on the Parlophone label in the United Kingdom that day, and would be released on June 2 in the United States. It would be the number one best selling album in the United Kingdom for 27 weeks, and number one in the United States for 15 weeks

I love the quote from this interview, “we can’t get better [at performing live] if we can’t hear ourselves”.

What’d Sadie think?

A week at the top for “Somethin’ Stupid” for Frank & Nancy Sinatra, then one for “The Happening” by the Supremes before new-to-char “Groovin’” by the Young Rascals takes the last two weeks of the month.

Loved ’em

Plenty of great classics this week. The most enduring has to be Aretha Franklin’s “Respect”. Originally written and recorded by American soul singer Otis Redding it was released in 1965 as a single from his third album. In 1967, Aretha Franklin covered and rearranged “Respect” after playing it live for a couple of years prior, resulting in a bigger hit and her signature song. The music in the two versions is significantly different, while a few changes in the lyrics resulted in, “different narratives around the theme of human dignity that have been interpreted as commentaries on traditional gender roles.”

• “All I Need” – Temptations
• “Dead End Street” – Lou Rawls
• “Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon” – Neil Diamond
• “Groovin’” – Young Rascals
• “Here Comes My Baby” – Tremeloes
• “Respect” – Aretha Franklin
• “Somebody To Love” – Jefferson Airplane
  

Liked ’em

• “Creeque Alley” – Mamas And Papas
• “Happy Jack” – Who
• “Him Or Me What’s It Gonna Be” – Paul Revere And The Raiders
• “I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman” – Whistling Jack Smith
• “My Girl Josephine” – Jerry Jaye
• “Release Me” – Engelbert Humperdinck
• “Shake A Tail Feather” – James And Bobby Purify
• “Sunshine Girl” – Parade
• “Too Many Fish In The Sea” – Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels
• “When You’re Young And In Love” – Marvelettes
• “Yellow Balloon” – Yellow Balloon

Leave ’em

• “Casino Royale” – Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass
• “Mirage” – Tommy James And The Shondells

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.