A 50-Year Memory: Video for April

There were two dominant songs in April 1967. First came the Turtles in the last week of March and the first two weeks of April. It was their biggest hit and became their signature tune. Not bad for a group that started out as a surfer band in California.

Then Nancy Sinatra and her well-known father, Frank, took over for four weeks. Can't resist hearing Frank's amazing voice.

A 50-Year Memory: News Review

What was happening in the world in March 1967? Let's get into our own "Way-back Machine" and see what strikes me as interesting fifty years later....

• U.S. President Lyndon Johnson announced that Soviet Union Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin had agreed to discussions between the two nations to limit the number of offensive and defensive nuclear missiles that each side would possess. The Americans and Soviets would sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on July 1, 1968.[A good start that took many years to complete.]
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• A U.S. presidential commission recommended a reform to the American selective service system, in what was described as a "youngest first by random selection procedure". While the existing method was for local draft boards to fill their quotas starting with 26-year old men, the new system would eliminate the 4,100 community draft boards and randomly select registered 19-year old men. "If a man is not drafted at 19," a reporter noted, "chances are good under the new proposal that he would never be drafted short of total war."[Never happened!]
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• CBS Reports aired the first television news documentary in U.S. history to report on gay and lesbian issues. Hosted by Mike Wallace, and viewed by 40 million people, "The Homosexuals" "reflected the bias of the American Psychological Association... labeling homosexuality a mental illness" but also showed gays and lesbians as individuals whose civil rights were deprived. TV critics reacted differently, with Chicago Tribune columnist Clay Gowran, who called the show "garbage" and said that "it was permitted.. not only to justify the aberration but, it seemed, to glorify it", while Tribune columnist Herb Lyon wrote that it "was one of the most intelligent, mature, incisive shows ever produced."[Fifty years can make a difference.]
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• U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Frank Prendergast became "the only American aviator to escape after being captured in North Vietnam", after bailing out of his plane and coming down off the coast of North Vietnam's Thanh Hoa Province.
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• The first demonstration of "slow motion instant replay" on television was shown to viewers of ABC Wide World of Sports who had tuned in to see the finals of the "World Series of Skiing" at Vail, Colorado. The repeating of the same scene at the same original speed had been shown as early as December 7, 1963, but the Ampex HS-100 made it possible to slow down, freeze, or reverse the action for analysis by television commentators. [The day it became more interesting to watch at home.]
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• The Soo Line Railroad, operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway in both Canada and the United States, permanently discontinued its passenger train operations as its last train, The Winnipegger departed St. Paul, Minnesota at 8:45 in the morning on the way back to Winnipeg, Manitoba. [Yes, Virginia, there were passenger trains before Amtrak.]
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• Battered by a gale, the 974-foot long Torrey Canyon broke into two pieces eight days after it had wrecked, sending almost all of its remaining cargo of crude oil (50,000 tonnes or more than 1.5 million gallons) into the sea off of the coast of Cornwall. [Long before the Exxon Valdez, one of the first really bad such events I remember.]
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• In what was described as "one of history's most stunning elections", the U.S. state of Florida became "the first two-party state in the south" as the Republican Party won 20 of the 48 seats in the state senate, and 40 of the 119 in the state house of representatives. [That's what happens when the Democratic President became a civil rights supporter.]
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• The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit voted, 8 to 4, to affirm a decision ordering the integration of any remaining racially segregated public schools in the six southern states in its jurisdiction, and to do so in time for the opening of the 1967-1968 school year.
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• In New York City, 10,000 gathered for the Central Park be-in. [A be-in? Must have been one of those hippie things, smoking dope and who knows what else! ;) ]
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• Kicking off a tour with The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdinck at The Astoria London, Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar on stage for the first time. He was taken to hospital suffering burns to his hands. The guitar-burning act would later become a trademark of Hendrix's performances. [A musical milestone!]
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• This picture was shot in England. 

THE picture.

The photo shoot.

A 50-Year Memory: Video for March

Four songs were #1 in March 1967, each for only one week.
First week- the Rolling Stones and Ruby Tuesday. Jagger is his normal self.
The next week the Supremes came in with Love is Here and Now You're Gone (not one of their top efforts in my book.
Week three- the other British supergroup (The Beatles) showed up with Penny Lane.

Sorry, but I gotta go with The Beatles in one of their typically quirky videos.

By the way, the fourth song also carried into April, so I'll wait until April 1st to post that one. No fooling. I really will.

A 50-Year Memory: News from February

I decided that posting music videos on the first of the month from 50 years ago wasn't enough. I will continue that. But I will add a mid-month roundup of some of the news items that strike me as interesting from that month. So, with no further ado- the news headlines from February 1967:

• The federal minimum wage in the United States increased from $1.25 an hour to $1.40 an hour for 30,000,000 workers. An additional 8,000,000 additional workers in retail work, hotels, restaurants, construction, laundries and hospitals were guaranteed at least $1.00 an hour, to increase to $1.60 by 1971. [BTW, $1.40 in 1967 would be the equivalent of 10.06 in 2017.]
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• The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour made its debut on the CBS television network. [These guys deserve many thanks for a truly remarkable series. Videos to come!]
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• U.S. President Lyndon Johnson sent a letter to North Vietnam's President Ho Chi Minh, by way of Moscow, that began "Dear Mr. President: I am writing to you in the hope that the conflict in Viet Nam can be brought to an end," and outlining his proposal that "I am prepared to order a cessation of bombing against your country... as soon as I am assured that infiltration into South Viet Nam by land and by sea has stopped." [American public opinion had not yet turned against Johnson and the war, but it was quickly heading that direction. Needless to say this letter did no good.]
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• The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution, governing presidential succession and disability was ratified. [From what I can gather, this may have some interesting things to say about how some may try to remove our current president from office.]
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• New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison announced at a press conference that he believed that the assassination of John F. Kennedy had been a conspiracy, and that his office had been working on the seeking an indictment. Later in the month he claimed to have solved the crime. [I had the chance to interview an author who said Garrison was correct. Never did get any concrete information from anyone.]
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• The American space probe Lunar Orbiter 3 sent back the first detailed pictures of the far side of the Moon, not visible from the Earth. [Again, thinking of the amazing women from "Hidden Figures"!]
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• Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. began speaking out at length against American involvement in the Vietnam War, starting with a speech in Los Angeles. [As I said, the tide was turning and this was a huge step for Dr. King and the country.]
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• President Johnson sent a message to the U.S. Senate, asking for the introduction of what would become the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. "I am convinced," the President, said, "that a vital and self-sufficient noncommercial television system will not only instruct, but inspire and uplift our people." [An important part of our American culture for the past 50 years. Thank you, LBJ!]

A 50-Year Memory: Video for February

I'm a Believer by the Monkees still had two weeks of its six week run at #1 this month. In mid-month that would change to

Kind of a Drag by the Buckinghams for two weeks. Another teen love-lost lament song. That's what was kind of a drag, other than this being their only #1 song and, well, the song itself.

[Sidenote: According to Wikipedia, The Buckinghams were

an American Sunshine pop band from Chicago, Illinois, United States. They formed in 1966, and went on to become one of the top selling acts of 1967, charting their only five Top 40 hits in the U.S. that year.

In my book their best song was the cover of the jazz classic, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy for which they wrote lyrics. It topped out at #5 later in 1967. But that's me.]

A 50-year Memory: A Video for January

As 1967 began one group was set to dominate the Hot 100 for 7 weeks- with the same song! It was #1 on Dec. 30 and would remain there for another 6 weeks. An amazing feat in any year. It did help that they were TV heart-throbs. Even at that, it may be their best song. The Monkees- I'm a Believer.

A New Understanding

I think I understand my parents' generation's reactions a little better now.

New Year's Eve we watched the PBS Great Performances double-header on the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour which was first shown 45 years ago. The first hour was about the movie- interviews and such- trying to prove how avant-garde and forward thinking the movie really was. (They didn't succeed in my opinion. The Beatles were having lots of fun at the time and just loved to play with all kinds of weirdness.)

The second hour was the movie itself. I had never seen it before since it never did get released in the States in 1967-68; just the album of wonderful music. So we watched- and must admit- had a good time. We laughed at the Beatles' shenanigans as well as the stuff that came across well- namely the musical numbers and their invention of what would become music videos.

For those of us who lived then- and were in our teens to early adulthood (it was my sophomore year in college; my wife's senior year in college)- it made a lot of nostalgic sense. It was a nose-thumb at the establishment and just an attempt to make fun with the music. I don't know how Gen X'ers and Gen Y'ers or Millenials would look at it.

But I now realize in retrospect what our parent's generation was afraid of. It made absolutely no sense to them. None. Nada. Zilch. It probably looked downright silly, stupid, and even, pardon the words, dangerously drug-addled and even revolutionary. It will rot your brain, turn it into mush. It makes you look foolish.

But you know what? It was fun.

Then.

Now.

Did it change the world? Perhaps in subtle ways as we learned to look at the world differently. But probably not in any way that would make any difference in the long run.

But who cares?!

A 45-year Memory: Love- It's All You Need

June 25, 1967: The Beatles performed "All You Need is Love" on the first ever live, worldwide satellite TV program.

Here's the live feed:


(Yes, I remember this.)

On This Day in Music

Feb 1, 1967: At Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles started work on a new song 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. It wasn't until The Beatles had recorded the song that Paul McCartney had the idea to make the song the thematic pivot for their forthcoming album.
--Link

A 45-Year Memory: Ignoring Authorities

September 17- Jim Morrison and The Doors defy CBS censors on The Ed Sullivan Show, when Morrison sings the word "higher" from their #1 hit Light My Fire, despite having been asked not to.