Just Got Back From Indy 500-- Part 3: May 25: Legends, Legion and Crazies

Today was Legends Day at the IMS.  Cost $10 to get inside.  Lots of racers from the old days giving autographs (for free) but, really long lines.  I have never stood in a Legend Day line to get an autograph and can't imagine ever doing that.

Walked around Gasoline Alley which is where the race cars are and most are in the garages, but you can see them.  Then walked  over to the museum and after that went to the Chevrolet exhibit.

Back to the RV

Went to the Legion and enjoyed the band, then watched the "crazies" walking Georgetown Road at 10 p.m..

--RoadDog

A PLETHORA OF TIDBITS:  JOE CHARBONNEAU, a Belvidere, Illinois, native, who played outfield for the Cleveland Indians in the early 1980s,used to open beer bottles with his eye socket and drink beer through a straw in his nose.  Yuck!!

Just Got Back From the Indy 500-- Part 2: May 24, 2019: Carb Day

My 68th birthday.  A party just for me.

Piece of birthday cake from Sue, Paul and John and a card.

This was Carb Day, which we have just recently started going to because all of us are now retired.  Carb Day, even though Indy Cars no longer have carburetors, is the last time racers get to have their cars on the track before the big race on Sunday.  This is always on a Friday.

Carb Day costs $30, $25 if tickets purchased earlier, and includes the last practice, a 100-mile race, pit crew competition and a concert.

We like to sit in different places for the practice and race to get a different perspective.  We sat across from the famed Pagoda, right near the Yard of Bricks.

The Freedom 100 Race pits the Indy Light cars, which are a little smaller than the Indy cars and driven by racers wanting to become Indy Car racers.  They drive 40 laps around the track for the 100 miles (the track is 2 1/2 miles around).  This was a good race.

We go back to the RV for a bit as the pit crew competition is a bit boring.  Then we walk back across the street  to the racetrack for the concert.  This year we saw Kool & the Gang and Foreigner.  Last year it was Blues Traveler and Train.  The year before was Barenaked Ladies and Steve Miller Band and before that, Journey.

Back to the RV for cocktails and eating, then to the Legion for a band and more beer.

Great 68th.  --RoadOld

A PLETHORA OF TIDBITS:  TWEETY BIRD, the animated Looney Tunes character, was originally pink.  Bur censors complained that Tweety looked naked, so animators gave the bird yellow feathers.

Just Got Back From the Indy 500-- Part 1: On Arrival

Monday, May 27, I came back from the 103rd Running of the Indy 500.  I went in Sue and Paul's RV, leaving from their place in Round lake, Illinois, on Thursday, May 23.

This will be a shortened version of what we did while there.  I'll write a much more detailed one in my RoadDog's RoadLog blog later this year.

THURSDAY, MAY 23

Stopped at the White Castle in Gurnee, Illinois, for our slider fix and then the Tri-State through Illinois to I-65 in Indiana and to Indianapolis on it.  We have a spot at the American Legion Post 500 in Speedway, right across from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which makes coming and going very handy.

Lots of evidence of rain  the past few days and threat of rain for the whole time we were there.  Quite muddy.

After getting the site arranged and as mudproofed as possible, we had a welcome cocktail then walked over to Speedway's Main Street and did our flight of beer at the Daredevil Brewing Company and all chose Negra for our beer of choice and had another coupla drinks at the Irish bar.

Back to the RV for bbq, cocktails, then the American Legion post for drinks in their bar.

Indy, We Have Arrived.  --RoadDog

Remembering the Fallen, Memorial Day 2019

This blog entry started in my Cooter's History Thing blog and continued in my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog and finishes here in this blog.  All blogs are for this date.

That humorous story was the last one that Tom Dier had with Jerry Corp.  That's because Jerry Corp was killed the next day.  While his platoon was trying to flush out a sniper there was confusion, and in it, Jerry Corp tripped a boobytrap and he was killed.  The date was April 21, 1970, one week after his 20th birthday.

After he came home, one thing Tom Dier felt he had to do was visit Jerry Corp's family, and especially his mother, Irene, who lived in Ozark County, Missouri.  She said, "We never got used to Jerry not coming home."

But, Irene, now 92, said something else to him.  "Irene has mentioned that she lost her son, but at the same time, she gained many sons --- Corp's former comrades who call, write, visit, keep tabs."

Memorial Day.  What It's All About.  --RoadDog

Heading Out for Indianapolis for This Little Ol' Race This Weekend

In just a little while, I'll be heading over to Long Lake, Illinois, to meet Sue and Paul and leave in their RV for another trip to Indianapolis to see this little old race.

This is now probably my seventh or eighth time there and I am becoming a bit of a fan, though I never thought I'd be.  I'm not a racing car fan.

Thursday, we park the RV at the American Legion Post 500 in Speedway, Indiana, which is located right across the street from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  You can't get any closer than that.

Thursday, we walk over to Speedway's Main Street and party there.  Friday we go to Carb Day which will have the racers doing last laps before Sunday, then there is a 100 mile race by the Indy Lights cars, which are racers trying to make the 33-car field on Sunday.  Then there is a concert, this year featuring Foreigner and Kool & the Gang.

--RoadDog

The Ultimate List of Top 50 Songs, Ever-- Part 2: "Sweet Child O 'Mine"

Of course, these are songs they pick.  Definitely open to a further look.

40.  LONDON CALLING--  Clash

39.  HAPPY--  Rolling Stones

38.  MACARENA--  Los Del Rio

37.  EVERY BREATH  YOU TAKE--  Police

36.  BORN TO RUN--  Bruce Springsteen

35.  RIVERS OF BABYLON--  Boney M

34.  COMFORTABLY NUMB--  Pink Floyd

33.  SWEET CHILD O' MINE--  Guns N' Roses

32.  I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND--  Beatles

31.  RELAX--   Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Oh Yeah, I'll Tell You Something I Think You'll Understand."  Answer below.  --RoadDog



"I Want To Hold Your Hand"

After 33 Years, the Boat's Probably Gone-- Part 1

Kind of a sad, but happy day for us yesterday as I took our 19.5 foot Bayliner Capri open bow, i/o over to a local place who will attempt to sell it for us.

We bought out first boat in 1985, an 17-foot Imperial modified tri-hull.  In 1900, we bought a 19-ft Four Winns and in 2013 the present boat.

I had always thought having a boat was ridiculous growing up.  Our family never had one.  However, when I started deejaying at the Puppet Bar on Pistakee Lake and Neptune's Cove on Fox Lake in the early 1980s there were a lot of boaters and they were having really big fun, so I decided we'd have to get one for ourselves.

I didn't get one right away as I knew that with a boat, I'd have to learn how to tie at least one knot.  Knots are something I am not good at and a reason I never got past being a Tenderfoot in the Boy Scouts as I had to know my knots.  That just wasn't going to happen.  No problem, though, as the main reason I was in Scouts was for the camp outs.  Now those were a whole lot of fun.

Anyhow, the owner of the Puppet Bar (Eagle Point Park), Joe Gates, showed me a simple knot and after about a month I had "mastered" it.

So, I could now get a boat.

A Boating We Go.  --RoadDog

A PLETHORA OF TIDBITS:  Before Sir Thomas More was beheaded in 1535, he moved his lengthy beard aside, saying it "had never committed any treason."   A Man and His Beard.

Two Bands, Five Bars, Yard Work and a History Meeting

FRIDAY, MAY 17

We met Kevin and Kelly at a new place on the Chain of Lakes called Fam's.  It used to be Korpan's Landing for a long time and is at Kamikazee Alley where Nippersink and Fox lakes come together.  Liz and I split a fish fry for $9.99 which had more than enough for both of us.

We then went over to Whiskey Waters on State Park Road and had a good time listening to the band Aging Teen Idols playing our kind of music.

FRIDAY, MAY 18

I went to the Fox Lake Historical Society meeting in the morning, then worked in the yard.  That night, Liz and I went to Stucky's in Johnsburg and had a good time with Uncle Will playing the guitar.  We spent the early part of his show doing protest songs from the sixties.

FRIDAY, MAY 19

Went back to Stucky's for their breakfast buffet, $8.99 for seniors including coffee or tea and made-to-order omelets.  After yard work, we went to Sunnyside and had a great time with the juke box and watching the Cubs game.

Good Times In the Area.  --RoadDog

A PLETHORA OF TIDBITS:  Actress Marilyn Monroe colored her hair using a shade of blond called dirty pillow slip.

WLS Top Ten for May 19, 1969: "Pinball Wizard"

Just a half century ago.

1.  GET BACK--  Beatles
2.  LOVE--  Mercy
3.  THESE EYES--  Guess Who

4.  THE BOXER--  Simon & Garfunkel
5.  PINBALL WIZARD--  Who
6.  MORNING GIRL--  Neon Philharmonic
7.  OH HAPPY DAY--  Edwin Hawkins Singers

8.  GITARZAN--  Ray Stevens
9.  I'VE BEEN HURT--  Bill Deal / Rhondells
10.  HAIR--  Cowsills


DEBUTS
********

33.  LOVE THEME FROM ROMEO AND JULIET--  Henry Mancini
36.  I WANNA TESTIFY--  Johnnie Taylor

37.  LOVE ME TONIGHT--  Tom Jones
38.  SEE--  Rascals

39.  ONE--  Three Dog Night
40.  ISRAELITES--  Desmond Decker

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "The Hurtin's On Me, Yeah, Nut I Will Never Be Free, No, No, No."  Answer below.  --RoadDog



"These Eyes"

The Ultimate List of the Top 50 Songs Ever-- Part 1

From History By Day.  Data used from Rolling Stone. Billboard, Top Tens and Top 40s charts.

50.  A CHANGE IS GONNA COME--  Sam Cooke

49.  WATERLOO SUNSET--  Kinks

48.  MY GENERATION--  Who

47.  WHAT'D I SAY, PARTS 1 & 2--  Ray Charles

46.  EYE OF THE TIGER--  Survivor

45.  BE MY BABY--  Ronettes

44.  LIGHT MY FIRE--  Doors

43.  PURPLE HAZE--  Jimi Hendrix

42.  I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU--  Whitney Houston

41.  LAYLA--  Derek & the Dominos

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "People Try To Put Us D-Down."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"My Generation"

Every Blooming THing-- Mid May: A Burning Weekend

I spent both days last weekend working on the burn pile.  I mean I had a whole lot of branches and limbs, both from the white pines which had a lot of branches broken from a late winter heavy snow (along with some trimming of the lower ones).  Many of those branches/limbs were as much as three to four inches wide.

Plus, I had the branches from the double apple tree which I had cut down and the Bradford pear tree was severely cut back as well.  To say the least, I had a whole lot of burning to do.  It helped when I finally hot the knack of how to get the fire burning hot enough to burn those limbs.  I also had trimmed the smaller branches off the limbs and, the pine needles were drying out so made an excellent accelerant when the fire would get low.

I was able to get the burning in before it rained, which it did both Saturday and Sunday.

Right now, the hyacinths and jonquills are finished, but the tulips are blooming.  Plus, I have probably a hundred creeping phlox plants blooming as well as a yellow perennial.  The crabapple trees are blooming as well, so I have plenty of color.

Oh yes, and the dandelions are plentiful as usual.

Color All Spring, Summer and Fall.  --RoadDog

A PLETHORA OF TIDBITS:  Genuphobia is the fear of knees.

Past Movie Scratches: Non-Stop-- Range-- Harry-- Godfather-- Unforgiven-- Buck

Past Movie Scratches:  Movies I saw on TV in 2018.

55.  NON-STOP--  8-23--  Liam saves the plane.  Such a hero.  The strong, silent type.

56.  OPEN RANGE--  8-23--  Ranchers versus open rangers.  They killed the dog!!

57.  DIRTY HARRY--  8-24--  "Do you feel lucky, Punk!!"  Such a classic line.  Only Clint could say it.

58.  THE GODFATHER--  8-26--  Making him an offer he can't refuse.  Horse, anyone?

59.  THE UNFORGIVEN--  8-27--  All sorts of folks including Eastwood and Freeman going for it.  $1,000.

60.  UNCLE BUCK--  8-29--  That Uncle Buck.  All gruff and loyal.  It was Buck vs. the teenage daughter.

Ultimate Payback in "The Godfather."  --RoadDog

A PLETHORA OF TIDBITS:  When someone uses chitchat, noises, or mannerisms to distract or mislead an opponent during  poker  or another game, it's called "coffeehousing."

Music Deaths: Linda Jansen, Sang With the Angels

LINDA JANSEN, 74

Died February 19, 2019

Joined the Angels as lead singer after Lynda Malzone left the group.  She left the group in 1962, before their big hit "My Boyfriend's Back." (#1-1963).

But she did sing on "'Till" ((#14-1961).  Also "Cry Baby Cry"  (#38-1962) and "A Moment Ago."  Check them out on You Tube.

Music Deaths: Michael Wycoff, Soul Singer

MICHAEL WYCOFF, 63

Died March 3, 2019

American R&B singer.  Best known as backing up Stevie Wonder on his album "Songs in the Key of Life."

Never had a Top 100 on Billboard, but was mighty good.  Check out his "Looking Up To You" and "Tell me Love" on You Tube.

Music Deaths: Dick Dale, King of the Surf Guitar

DICK DALE, 81

Died March 16, 2019.

Real name Richard Anthony Monsour.    Pioneer of Surf Music.  Known as "The King of the Surf Guitar."

His band was the Del-ones and biggest hit on Billboard was 1962s "Let's Go Trippin' " which went to #60. He had one other Top 100 with #98  "The Scavenger" in 1963.  But his best known song was "Misirlou"  in 1962.

Worth a listen to his songs on You Tube.

WLS Top 40 for May 12, 1969-- Part 7: "These Eyes"

I do not write about the songs in the Top Ten as I more than likely have written about them in earlier posts to the Top 40.  I just show how high it got on the Billboard Hot 100.

10.  THE CHOKIN' KIND--  Joe Simon    #13
9.  SWEET CHERRY WINE--  Tommy James / Shondells      #7
8.  GIMME GIMME GOOD LOVIN'--  Crazy Elephant    #12

7.  THESE EYES--  Guess Who     #6
6.  LOVE--  Mercy      #2     "(Can Make You Happy)"
5.  PINBALL WIZARD--  Who     #19
4.  HAIR--  Cowsills       #2

3.  GITARZAN--  Ray Stevens      #8
2.  THE BOXER--  Simon & Garfunkel     #7
1.  GET BACK--   Beatles      #1

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "JoJo Was A Man Who Thought He Was A Loner."   Answer below.  --RoadDog   (And, I always thought it was JoJo was a man who thought he was a woman.")


"Get Back"

WLS Top 40 for May 12, 1969-- Part 6: "Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In"

These are taken from WLS YEAR--  Oldies Loon.

15.  MORNING GIRL--  Neon Philharmonic      #17    Was that a moog at the beginning?  Another way-too-short song at just 2:17.   This was a chamber-sized orchestra of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.  Their only other Top 100 song was "Heighdy-Ho Princess  (#94-1970)

14.  TIME IS TIGHT--  Booker T & MGs      #9     Just as hood as their "Green Onions."  Title song from the movie starring Clint Eastwood.

13.  OH, HAPPY DAY--  Edwin Hawkins Singers      #4      Listen to them sing this and you have been to church today.  Their only Top 100 songs by themselves, though they got credit for being on Melanie's "Lay Down (Candles in the Wind)"  (#6-1970)

12.  I'VE BEEN HURT--  Bill Deal / Rhondells        #35     Hey!!  Beach Music!!!  Anytime.  Great horns, but also way-too-short at just 2:09.

11.  AQUARIUS / LET THE SUNSHINE IN--  Fifth Dimension--      #1      Be sure to watch the You Tube video of this by MrHaagsesjonny1.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Cause You Cheated (Cheated), Cheated (Cheated), Cheated (Cheated)."    Answer below.  --RoadDog



"I've Been Hurt"

About Last Weekend: It's a Burnin' Thing, Third Band in Three Days, the Chain and Four Bars Today

SUNDAY, MAY 6

After several failed efforts, I finally got a fire hot enough and managed top burn a lot of the accumulated limbs in the burn pile.

We then went to Cabana's to meet with several of our Usual Suspects group and enjoy the New Odyssey Guy.  He is the former drummer of New Odyssey who is out on his own now that the band retired.  We knew he would be good and he was.  Enjoyed sitting out in the grass, in the sun and with temperatures in the upper 70s.  A great way to kick off another summer on the Chain of Lakes here in Illinois.

With him, that makes three bands that we saw in the last three days.

And, I guess we finally really broke that long list of weekends destroyed weatherwise by the infamous Round Lake Spring Carnival.

We then went to Oak Park Lounge, a holdout from the original Chain, dating back to 1890s and it hasn't changed much.  It is a bona fide Dive Bar.  We love it, but don't go as often as we should.  Plus, they have one of the most spoiled bar dogs who has ever lived, Bomber.  He has every one trained well.

We ran into a couple who we found out had a lot in common with us.  He graduated from Fremd High School in 1974.  They have a house near where we were seriously looking at a lot on the Chain back in 1991.  They met each other in Panama City Beach.

We then went to Sunnyside for a pizza and $1.50 drafts and finished up with a lot of juke box playing at Sunnyside.

That's four bars today.

Too Much Fun.  --RoadFun

About Last Weekend: Who's Weather?, No Burn and a Band

SATURDAY, MAY 4

Somehow, someway, we ended up with an actual spring day, instead of this winter mix.  I took advantage, well, tried to take advantage of it, and work on my burn pile, which has never been higher with the trees, trimming trees and limbs that came down in winter storms.  But, no luck.  I couldn't get a fire going hot enough.

This was to be a great day at the Fox Lake American Legion as we were having a band, a Drinko de Mayo and Kentucky Derby party with all sorts of food and drink specials.  But, because of some problems, we just had the band, but they were a really good one called Joey Sunset Project.

Due to all the rain this last week the whole Chain of Lakes is No Wake.

--RoadDog

WLS Top 40 for May 12, 1969-- Part 5: "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby"

That's right, fifty years ago.   Geezers.  The number after the artist is how high the song got on the Billboard Hot 100.

20.  GRAZING IN THE GRASS--  Friends of Distinction      #3    So, that's how Hugo's song went.    Fifth Dimension II.  Their biggest hit.

19.  TOO BUSY THINKING ABOUT MY BABY--  Marvin Gaye     #4     How do you beat that classic Motown sound?  Easy to dance to, good beat.  I'd give it a 9.   Follow up to his biggest hit, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine."

18.  ATLANTIS--  Donovan     #7  OK, class.  Today's history lesson will be....   Builds and builds to the climax.   His last Top Ten.

17.  IT'S YOUR THING--  Isley Brothers     #2    Still can't listen to it and not start moving to it.  Their biggest Pop hit, but they had a real lot of songs on the R&B charts.

16.  MERCY--   Ohio Express     #30    Some more of that great, under-rated Bubblegum Music.   At 2:15 not nearly long enough.  Not a better-known song, though.  Really catchy words and music, but, B.M. is that way in all its songs.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Those Beautiful Sailors Journeyed To The South And North Americas With Ease."    Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Atlantis"

WLS Top 40 for May 12, 1969-- Part 4: "Hawaii Five-O"

25.  YOU'VE MADE ME SO VERY HAPPY--  Blood, Sweat & Tears     #2    Love those horns.  Horns just make any song better.  The first of three straight #2 songs.  They were like CCR who had five #2s and never a #1.

24.  I COULD NEVER LIE TO YOU--  New Colony Six     #50      This is WLS supporting local Chicago groups.

23.  DON'T GIVE IN TO HIM--  Gary Puckett /Union Gap      #15    More of this group's sex songs.   The Union Gap formed in San Diego in 1967.

22.  HAWAII FIVE-0--  Ventures     #4     One really cool instrumental.  That riff makes me see that huge wave.  From the TV series of the same name, starring Jack Lord.

21.  NOTHING BUT A HEARTACHE--  Flirtations       #34    When I saw this song, I didn't think I'd heard of it before, but I had.  What voices this trio had.  They should have been more than a one-hit wonder.  Not to be confused with the Supreme's "Nothing But Heartaches" which is a different song.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "I Lost At Love Before, Got Mad And Closed The Door."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"You've Made Me So Very Happy"

About Last Weekend: No Hardee's, Sammie's, The Curse of the Round Lake Spring Carnival, Magee Teachers and Legion Name That Tune

THURSDAY, MAY 2

Four straight days of rain and that grass is mocking me.  Lots of flooding and the lower Fox River is no wake.  I saw a real creepy movie in Fox Lake called "The Curse of La Llorana."  Then went to Round Lake Beach and found that the Hardee's was closed.  I'm disappointed, but not surprised as there were hardly any customers when I went.  I ended up at Sammie's on Rollins for one of their great gyro meals.

I saw that the infamous Round Lake Spring Carnival was setting up, so that explains all the horrible weather this week.  Stopped at the Legion on the way home.

FRIDAY, MAY 3

A day without rain.  Wow!!  Went to the Bristol 45 Diner in Bristol, Wisconsin, and met with former Magee teachers.  Later went to the Legion in Fox Lake for 50-50 and enjoyed playing Name That Tune with the deejay.

--Roaddog

Final Boating?, Civil War, SNOW, Stucky's and Sunnyside

FRIDAY, APRIL 26

Had my favorite breakfast meal at McDonald's, the steak, egg and cheese bagel.  And, they use real steak.  And those caramelized onions!!    Drove to Hebron and picked up the boat where we kept it in a barn over the winter.  Since we are planning on selling it this spring, this could be the last time.  We have been boaters since 1985, but that time is ending. Met the Usual Suspects at the Legion for 50-50.

SATURDAY, APRIL 27

Drove to Crystal Lake for the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group, topic the Battle of Shiloh.  Then took the truck into the emission testing station where it passed.  All week the weather had predicted a snow storm.  The rain turned  to snow about 10:30, but didn't stick on the roads.  We ended up with three inches on the deck rails and a white covering on the grass.

SUNDAY, APRIL 28

Big meltdown of the snow.  None left by evening.  We went to Stucky's and watched NASCAR and the Chicago Cubs and White Sox games..  A couple we know came in with their two six-month-old huskie (NIU spelling) puppies so had to go out and play with them on the deck.  Also, a former student of mine came in and remembered "Demerit Points."  Something all my former students remember.

Snow At the End of April?  Don't Even Think About Calling It Warming!!  --RoadDog

A PLETHORA OF TIDBITS:  A cardigan worn by a man is sometimes called a mandigan.

WLS Top 40 for May 12, 1969-- Part 3: "Medicine Man"

Fifty Years Ago this week.

30.  PROUD MARY--  Solomon Burke    #45     Explaining the song and his ancestors to it.  Great Soul rendition of it.

29.  DAY IS DONE--  Peter, Paul and Mary     #21    Does get much more folky than this.    Facing your fears.   Their next-to-last hit.  Their last one was "Leaving On a Jet Plane"  which went to #1 at the end of the year.

28.  I CAN HEAR MUSIC--  Beach Boys       #24     Part of Bob Stroud's Rock and Roll Roots Show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM on Sundays.    Vocals by Carl Wilson, a very underrated guy in the group.  Watch the Fritz 5137 video.  Mike Love is way off on this one.

27.  MEDICINE MAN--  Buchanan Brothers     #22     Can't get too much of this song which I hadn't heard in years.   Group consisted of Terry Cashman, Gene Pistilli and Tommy West.  West and Cashman produced many Jim Croce songs.

26.  ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE--  Jerry Butler     #4   Ice Man cool here.  Listen to what Mother has to say.  She wouldn't lead her son wrong when it comes to women.   His biggest hit.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "This Is The Way I Always Dreamed It Would Be."   Answer below.  --RoadDog


"I Can Hear Music"

WLS Top 40 for May 12, 1969-- Part 2: "Seattle"

(D) refers to a debut.  The number after the artist is how high the song got on the Billboard Hot 100.

And, remember, fifty years ago.

35.  SEATTLE--  Perry Como     #38   Blue skies in Seattle?  When?   More like rain.  Is this a tourism ploy?  Five Bucks anyone?   From the TV series "Here Come the Brides" starring Bobby Sherman.  Did Julie love him?

34.  MORE TODAY THAN YESTERDAY--  Spiral Staircase     #12   One of life's little pleasures like "Everyday With You."  A real show band doing a really catchy song.  Their biggest hit of three Top 100s.

33.  WILL YOU BE STAYING AFTER SUNDAY--  Peppermint Rainbow      #32   How's the group's name for a psychedelic name.     Mama and Papa Wannabes?    Watch the video for some really strange collars on the guys in the band.   From Baltimore.

32.  SPECIAL DELIVERY--  1910 Fruitgum Company    #38   Written by Bobby Bloom.  I LOVE my Bubble Gum Music.  It's really hard to sit still when that Bubble Hum is playing.    From New Jersey.

31.  GOODBYE--  Mary Hopkin      #13     What a great song  Written by Lennon-McCartney, but sounds more like a Paul song.  Follow up to "Those Were the Days."

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  " I Don't Remember What Day It Was, I Didn't Remember What Time It Was."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"More Today Than Yesterday"

WLS Top 40 for May 12, 1969: "In the Ghetto"

These were the songs on the WLS top 40 fifty years ago.  The good old days of AM radio when they played a little bit of everything from country to pop back then.

(D)  means a debut song.  The number after the artist is how high the song got on the Billboard Hot 100.

40.  BAD MOON RISING--  Creedence Clearwater Revival     (D)      #2     My ringtone.  Enjoyed the video on You Tube by Driver Atomic.   Follow up to "Proud Mary" also #2.   One of five #2s.  No #1s.

39.  WHERE'S THE PLAYGROUND SUSIE--   Glen Campbell    (D)    #26   Not one of his better-known songs.  It was the first song on side two of his "Galveston" album.   Follow up to "Galveston."

38.  EVERY DAY WITH YOU--  Classics IV    (D)     #19   One of life's little joys.     He's s-o-o-o-o in love.   Follow up to "Traces."

37.  IN THE GHETTO--  Elvis Presley   (D)     #3    Elvis getting socially conscious about the Chicago ghetto.  Still very relevant today.

36.  LET ME--  Paul Revere & the Raiders   (D)      #20    Getting heavy.  Fuzz guitars.  Really like the false end and shout.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Don't Go Around Tonight.  Well, It's Bound To Take Your Life."

Answer below.    --RoadDog


"Bad Moon Rising"

Music of 1968: Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones

For these articles, I will only be writing a couple things mentioned in the articles about each artist.

JIMI HENDRIX:  UNBOUND BY THE RULES

"James Marshall Hendrix, the Stratocaster-burning, blues-bending left-hander who played a right-handed guitar upside down.  Hendrix came seemingly from nowhere, was discovered in New York, hustles off to London, where he became a star, and then returned to the U.S., where he introduced himself to Americans at the Monterrey Pop Festival."

THE ROLLING STONES:  GRITTY, RAW AND LOUD

"'Beggars Banquet' ...was released on Dec.6, 1968, the Rolling Stones were on fire.  Critics and fans who had skewered the band's previous album, 1967's psychedelic 'Their Satanic Majesties Request', forgave them everything.

"The band was entering its most creative period."

The next albums were "Let It Bleed",  "Sticky Fingers", "Exile On Main Street", and "Goats Head Soup."

Personally, though, I really liked "Their Satanic Majesties Request."

--RoadDog

Music of 1968-- Part 3: "Thank You For Letting Us Be Ourselves"

"Rock groups captured the feelings and thoughts of young and old around the globe.  The songs were defiant; they were joyous.  They were earsplitting and tenderly sweet.

"Some vented against Vietnam and injustice, but other rued love gone wrong and hoped for a better tomorrow.  When Sly Stone appeared on 'The Ed Sullivan Show,' he opened by telling the audience, 'Don't hate the black, don't hate the white.  If you get bitten, simply hate the bite,' and concluded with a simple 'Thank you for letting us be ourselves.'

"Rock 'n' roll helped change the  conversation in 1968.  It also changed the world."

--Road68

A PLETHORA OF TIDBITS:  (from "10 Things You Might Not Know About Nearly Everything" by Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkiofer)

**The folks who brought us Reddi-wip whipped cream had another brainstorm in the 1960s:  Reddi-Bacon.

WLS Top Ten for May 5, 1969: "Gitarzan"

These were the Top Ten songs in Chicago fifty years ago today according to WLS 890 AM.  That's HALF a CENTURY for those of you counting.

1.  THE BOXER--  Simon & Garfunkel
2.  GITARZAN--  Ray Stevens
3.  HAIR--  Cowsills

4.  SWEET CHERRY WINE---  Tommy James / Shondells
5.  GIMME, GIMME GOOD LOVIN'--  Crazy Elephant
6.  AQUARIUS / LET THE SUNSHINE IN--  Fifth Dimension
7.  THESE EYES--  Guess Who

8.  PINBALL WIZARD--  Who
9.  MERCY--  Ohio Express
10.  TIME IS TIGHT--  Booker T. & the MG's


DEBUTS

36.  GOODBYE--  Mary Hopkin
37.  MORE TODAY THAN YESTERDAY--  Spiral Staircase

38.  DAY IS DONE--  Peter, Paul & Mary
39.  PROUD MARY--  Solomon Burke
40.  MEDICINE MAN--   Buchanan Brothers

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "To California I'm Gonna Spend My Life Both Night And Day."  Answer below.  --RoadDog



"Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' "

Music of 1968-- Part 2: Beatles, Jimi, Janis, CSNY

"The Beatles, in spite of personal resentments and professional differences, followed "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with an LP that since has been embraced as even more iconic:  "The Beatles, a.k.a. the White Album.

"While Jimi Hendrix was torching guitars and putting the polishing touches on "Electric Ladyland, Janis Joplin was shedding Big Brother and the Holding Company and starting a band of her own.

""Out in Los Angeles's Laurel Canyon, Joni Mitchell's boyfriend casually walked into an impromptu jam session.  There he found two other like-minded musicians -- an encounter that led to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, probably the most famous supergroup ever.

"The lyrics these bands and solo artists produced were much more than an echo of the nightly news.  They comprised a story unto itself."

--RoadDog

TRIVIA:  Which governor's bid for the presidency in 2016 was hampered by the George Washington Bridge scandal?


Chris Christie

Music of 1968-- Part 1: A Year To Remember

From the Time Life Magazine/book "Music of 1968: Rock and Roll's Greatest Year.

I really enjoy these little magazine/books and spend more than I should on them.  Lots of great pictures, concise text an plenty of information and a surprising number of them of particular interest to me.  Most are just 100 pages long so they don't take too long to read.

Of course, I am really interested in music and especially music from 1968, which was a good high school year for at good old Palatine High School in Illinois (my junior/senior year).

Now that I am a year late, I will go through the magazine and write a little of what they said about each artist.

"1968:  A Year To Remember.

"Mick Jagger summed it up best:  "But what can a poor boy do, except to sing for a rock 'n' roll band?"

"For rock 'n' roll lovers, 1968 hit the mother lode.  Psychedelia ruled, and so did protest,  Motown and Johnny Cash's twang. The Rolling Stones blasted back onto the airwaves with "Beggars Banquet."  Heavy metal was ascendant."

Buy Me An Album.  --RoadDog

TRIVIA:  In which scandalous novel is literature professor Humbert Humbert obsessed with pre-teen Dolores Hazel?


"Lolita"

Music Deaths: Hal Blaine, Drummer for Wrecking Crew

HAL BLAINE, 90

Died March 11, 2019

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer played on about 40 #1 songs and roughly 150 Top Ten.  Played on Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds" album as well as with Elvis Presley, Sonny & Cher, Mamas and Papas, Simon & Garfunkel and the Byrds.

His drumming was also a key part of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound.

Some of the songs he played drums on:

Mr. Tamborine Man--  Byrds
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In--  Fifth Dimension
Bridge Over Troubled Water--  Simon & Garfunkel
The Way We Were--  Barbra Streisand
Strangers In the Night--  Frank Sinatra
Good Vibrations and California Girls--  Beach Boys

Music Deaths: Doug Sandom, Original Who Drummer

DOUG SANDOM, 89

Died February 27, 2019

Was with the Detours, an early incarnation of the Who.  He was the drummer before Keith Moon joined the group.  The Detours were founded by Roger Daltry and also had Pete Townsend and John Entwhistle in it.  He was an excellent drummer, but considered to be too old as he was in his early 30s in the 1960s and the rest of the band were teens.

In February 1964, the Detours learned there was already a band named the Detours and on Valentine's Day, changed their name to the Who.

Music Deaths: Andy Anderson, Drummer with the Cure

ANDY ANDERSON, 68

Died February 26, 2019

Real name Clifford Leon Anderson

English drummer known for his work with the Cure.  The Cure were a British techno-rock group formed in 1977 by Robert Smith.  Known for their Gothic Rock.

Had three Top 40s:

Just Like Heaven (#40-88)
Love Song   (#2-89)
Friday I'm In Love  (#18-92)