Summer of 2020 Songs-- Part 1: "Saturday In the Park"

June 21 Bob Stroud had his annual Summer Songs Rock and Roll Roots show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive.

Like I said a couple posts ago, 2020 has been particularly rough on me between the virus and the Confederate statues.

But these songs sure got me away from all that for three hours.

SCHOOL'S OUT--  Alice Cooper   This was the name of our boat.  When you saw us in it, that meant that "School Was Out!!"
SUMMER MEANS FUN--  Bruce and Terry
IN THE SUMMERTIME--  Mungo Jerry    My all-time favorite summer song.

SUMMERTIME--  Big Brother & the Holding Company  (and guess who their lead singer was?)
SUNNY AFTERNOON--  Kinks
DO IT AGAIN--  Beach Boys

SATURDAY IN THE PARK--  Chicago
SUNNY DAYS--  Lighthouse
RIDE THE WILD SURF--  Jan and Dean

MR. BLUE SKY--  ELO
SUMMER RAIN--  Johnny Rivers
COME ON DOWN TO MY BOAT--  Every Mother's Son

Name That Tune (from the above songs)L  "Well We Got No Choice All The Girls And Boys."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"School's Out"

WLS Top Ten for Week of June 29, 1970: "Ball of Confusion"

Where were you fifty years ago?

1.  THE LOVE YOU SAVE--  Jackson Five
2.  LONG AND WINDING ROAD--  Beatles
3.  RIDE CAPTAIN RIDE--  Blues Image

4.  MAMA TOLD ME--  Three Dog Night
5.  LAY DOWN (CANDLES IN THE RAIN)--  Melanie
6.  MY BABY LOVES LOVIN'--  White Plains
7.  BALL OF CONFUSION--  Temptations

8.  GIMME DAT THING--  Pipkins
9.  GET READY--  Rare Earth
10.  THE WONDER OF YOU--  Elvis Presley

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DEBUTS

35.  CLOSE TO YOU--  Carpenters
39.  SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED, I'M YOURS--  Stevie Wonder
40.  MAKE IT WITH YOU--  Bread

And, don't forget, Bob Stroud will be taking us back to July 5, 1970, on his Rock and Roll Roots Salute to the Summer of 1970 on WDRV, 97.1 FM, Chicago from 9 am to noon CDST.  It streams so give it a listen.  This is part 2 of his four parts on that summer. Parts 3 and 4 will be on the first Sundays of August and September.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "I Was Lonely Once In This Great Big World."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"My Baby Loves Lovin' "

Welcome Summer 2020, One Long and Strange Trip We'll Have, It Won't Be Normal to Say the Least. Flashback to 1968 on WXRT Today

Summer officially arrived here last Saturday, and, believe me, has been long anticipated.  Between this virus thing and the Blacks wanting to tear down every Confederate statue and memorial, these have been some rough times with me.  And, I'm not sure which is worse in those departments.

Last night, Liz and I met Kevin and Kelly at Sunnyside Tavern in Johnsburg, Illinois, and WENT INSIDE!!!  This is the first time we've been inside for cocktails since March 16, when we were inside Sunnyside the last day it was open before virus closure.

We then started going to Sunnyside when they reopened for outside service on May 29.  And, we've been going back most every weekend when they're open from Friday to Sunday.   Good to see old friends whom we hadn't seen since March.

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This past Sunday, Bob Stroud had a heaping helping of Summer Songs on his Rock and Roll Roots show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive.  I felt obliged to listen to it, because it ain't summer till that Bob plays that music.

Gets you into the  mood, you know.  I'll be listing those sand and water and concert songs in the next post.

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But, in the meantime, reminding everyone that in an hour, Chicago's WXRT, 93.1 FM, will be going back to 1968 on their Saturday Morning Flashback show from 9 am to noon, CDST.  It streams at www.wxrt.com.

So, if 1968 songs are your bag, this is where you want to be.  This was a high school year for me, junior-senior year.  Some great songs on the Senior Lounge jukebox at Palatine High School in Palatine, Illinois.  (Class of '69 and NOW, I am 69.)

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WXRT is now playing a great Grateful Dead, well, Jerry Garcia, song  "The Wheel."  I don't know how a group that had such great studio albums could be so bad in concert.  The worst concert I ever went to was a Grateful Dead concert back in the 80s with a buddy who is a Deadhead.  But, then again, I really hate jamming, especially excessive jamming.  (I'm more of a Parrothead.)

But their studio albums were works of art.

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Loving That Music--  RoadSong

THAT CRA-ZEE COUNTRY MUSIC:  "She Got the Ring, I Got the Finger."

My Idea of a Great Morning

This morning was what I consider to be a perfect morning.  After getting up, I went outside and sat on my front porch.  I first sat in the rocking chair and then moved over to the wicker chair.

I had a McDonald's sausage McMuffin (I bought it yesterday) in the rocking chair and then coffee and read the Chicago Tribune in the wicker chair.

But, that's not all.

When I'm sitting out there, I enjoy looking at the clouds (and this morning we had a magnificent sunrise) and, surprisingly I don't even bring music out with me.  Why bring music when you have all those birds a'chirping away.  And we have plenty of birdies in the neighborhood.

I get to watch them and yell at the robins for eating my worms.  Birds can be quite funny when an argument begins and chasing starts.  But, perhaps that is a mating ritual.  Who knows?

Then, I have the wascally wabbit, several chippers and several squirrels to bother.  I watch folks walking their dogs and the neighbors.  I guess for awhile many morning I am the neighborhood watch or perhaps just some old snoopy codger.

Then, coffee and a newspaper.  Man, I am going to miss holding a newspaper in my hands.  Digital just doesn't do it for me.

And, I sure enjoy looking at the yard.  I put a lot of work into it and it's right pretty even if I do say so.  Flowers every where you look.

Oh, yes.  This morning I had the added enjoyment of hearing thunder off to the west and then we had a steady falling rain.  Love the sound of the raindrops and especially that smell that a rainfall brings.  That and new-mown grass are two of my favorite summer smells.

Today was a mighty fine FP as I call it.  That means Front Porch.

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By the way, all you sixties music fans, WXRT's Saturday Morning Flashback is going back to 1968 for three hours tomorrow morning, Saturday, from 9 am to noon.  It streams at www.wxrt.com.

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A Good Morning.  A Mighty Good Morning.  --RoadDog

THOSE CRA-ZEE COUNTRY SONGS:  Get Your Tongue Out of My Mouth, I'm Kissing You Goodbye.

Back to the Summer of 1970, (June 7, 1970)-- Part 4: "Run Through the Jungle"

Summertime fifty years ago.  Where were you and what were you doing?  These are the songs on the radio and in your record collection on June 8, 1970.

A SONG FOR YOU--  Leon Russell
INTO THE MYSTIC--  Van Morrison
MAYBE I'M AMAZED--  Paul McCartney

AMERICAN WOMAN--  Guess Who
FOR YOU BLUE--  Beatles
LITTLE GREEN BAG--   George Baker Selection      You've got to watch the video of them drinking wine to this song.

BABY DRIVER--  Simon & Garfunkel
RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE--  Creedence Clearwater Revival    My favorite 60s, well also early 70s, band.
THEME FROM AN IMAGINARY WESTERN--  Mountain

FIRE AND RAIN--  James Taylor
HITCHING A RIDE--  Vanity Fare    Always though this group was named Vanity Fair.
MISSISSIPPI--  John Phillips  (One of the Papas.)

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD--  Beatles
I'VE GOT A FEELING--  Beatles

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Lookin' For Some Happiness But There Is Only Loneliness To Find."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Little Green Bag"

Back to Summer 1970, Fifty Years Ago-- Part 3: "Woodstock"

These were songs on your radio and in your record collection fifty years ago.

COMING INTO LOS ANGELES--  Arlo Guthrie
WOODSTOCK--  Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
GET READY--  Rare Earth    Blue-Eyed Soul with an old Tempts song.

WHISKEY TRAIN--  Procul Harum
MAMA TOLD ME NOT TO COME--  Three Dog Night
LIAR--  Argent     One of my two songs in the Marine Corps summer 1971, but by Three Dog Night.  The other one was "Take Me Home (Country Roads) by John Denver.  Our platoon song was "Fixin'-To-Die-Rag" but on the sly.  Man, if those sergeants heard us, it wasn't pretty.

RIDE CAPTAIN RIDE--  Blues Image
TEACHER--  Jethro Tull
UP AROUND THE BEND--  Creedence Clearwater Revival   My favorite 60s band here in the 70s.

MAKE ME SMILE--  Chicago
LOVE LAND--  Watts 103rd Street Band
THE LETTER--  Joe Cocker

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Want Some Whiskey In Your Water, Sugar In Your Tea?"    Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Mama Told Me"

WLS Top Ten for Week of June 22, 1970: "Gimme Dat Thing"

Fifty years ago, these were the Top ten songs in Chicago on WLS AM 890.

1.  LONG AND WINDING ROAD--  Beatles
2.  MY BABY LOVES LOVING--  White Plains
3.  RIDE CAPTAIN RIDE--  Blues Image

4.  GET READY--  Rare Earth
5.  LAY DOWN (CANDLES IN THE RAIN)--  Melanie
6.  THE LOVE YOU SAVE--  Jackson Five
7.  MAKE ME SMILE--  Chicago

8.  GIMME DAT THING--  Pipkins
9.  HITCHING A RIDE--  Vanity Fare
10.  BALL OF CONFUSION--  Temptations

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DEBUTS

29.  SAVE THE COUNTRY--   Fifth Dimension
34.  CHECK OUT YOUR MIND--  Impressions

35.  LAY A LITTLE LOVIN' ON ME--  Robin McNamara
36.  TIGHTER & TIGHTER--  Alive & Kicking

40.  ARE YOU READY--  Pacific Gas & Electric

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "The Wild And Windy Night That The Rain Washed Away."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Long and Wimding Road"

Back to Summer 1970, Fifty Years Ago-- Part 2: "Take Me to the Pilot"

These were the songs on the radio and in your record collection on June 8, 1970.

QUESTION--  Moody Blues
TAKE ME TO THE PILOT--  Elton John
REFLECTIONS OF MY LIFE--  Marmalade

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN--  Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
NO SUGAR TONIGHT--  Guess Who
PEACE FROG--  Doors

BLUE SUNDAY-- Doors
BALL OF CONFUSION--  Temptations
MOVING IN--  Chicago

VEHICLE--  Ides of March
LAY DOWN (CANDLES IN THE RAIN)--  Melanie   This song always reminds me of the Kent State riots at NIU.
SHAKIN' ALL OVER--  Who

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Segregation, Determination, Demonstration, Integration, Aggravation, Humiliation, Obligation To Our Nation."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Ball of Confusion"

Back to Summer 1970, Fifty Years Ago-- Part 1: Setting the Stage

Bob Stroud has been doing four three-hour shows Root Saluting Summers from 40 Years Ago, starting with 1967 on his Rock and Roll Roots show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive.  .  Last year it was the Summer of 1979.  At that point there was a problem, as his show covers music from the 60s and 70s.  And, this summer from forty years ago would be 1980.  I was wondering what Bob would do.

I was definitely hoping he wouldn't drop the summer shows.  I kind of build my summer's around being home so I can listen to the shows (and record them on my cassette tapes).

I was happy to find out that he was going back to fifty years ago, 1970.

He will be doing a new show about the Summer of 1970 the first Sunday of each month June, July, August and September.  The show first airs from 9 to noon CDST and then a repeat from 9 to midnight.  www.wdrv.com

Anyway, here are the songs he played on June 7.  These are songs on the radio and in your record collection (no downloads) for June 7, 1970.

I was home from college, Northern Illinois University, after completing my freshman year.  However, I had to take a summer school course at Harper College because I wasn't sure if I had passed a geography final and that might have made me short hours needed to stay in college.  And, with a draft lottery number 22, that meant I might end up overseas, if you know what I mean.

I went back to my high school job working at the Burger King in Palatine.

Going Back 50 Years.  --RoadOldie

THOSE CRAZY COUNTRY SONGS:  Flushed From the Bathroom of Your Heart"

Now That the Summer Solstice Is Here, Songs for It ""Summer In the City"

Bob Stroud played these ten songs to officially welcome Summer 2020 on his Ten at Ten show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM. (The Drive)   And, we sure need summer after this virus and the Blacks these last several months.  It has been a hard time.

Tomorrow, Sunday, June 21, his Rock and Roll Roots show from 9 to noon CDST will feature three hours of tunes about our favorite season.  It will also repeat again from 9 to midnight Sunday, so you will have two chances to hear it.   www.wdrv.com 

GOOD DAY SUNSHINE--  Beatles
SUMMER OF '69--  Bryan Adams
SUMMER IN THE CITY--  Lovin' Spoonful

HOT BLOODED--  Foreigner
SUMMERTIME BLUES--  Who (Live at Monterrey Festival)
HOT GIRLS IN LOVE--  Lover Boy
IN THE SUMMERTIME--  Mungo Jerry     My all-time favorite summer song.

BOYS OF SUMMER--  Don Henley
MR. BLUE SKY--  ELO
HEAT OF THE MOMENT--  Asia

Remember, three hours of Summer tunes Sunday on WDRV.

Thanks Bob.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "You Can Stretch Right Up And Touch The Sky."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"In the Summertime"

Is a Flu Pandemic Imminent?-- Part 6: "How Bad Flu Can Be"

This newspaper article is from 2018.

Medical science  has continued to   improve its response to influenza.

Most developed nations are sitting on stockpiles of antivirals that work against flu, and new antiviral drugs are in the research pipeline according to Dr. Nicole Bouvier.  "If the pandemic doesn't happen for another five years, we'll have a whole other set of drugs that work in a different way against flu."

Other research has focused on new technologies that can cut vaccine development time down from six months to two months,  she added.  "We'll be able to churn out vaccine much more quickly than we were in the last pandemic in 2009."

Overall, Bouvier believes health officials are better prepared today because the 1918 influenza occurred.

"Having gone through it once, having seen how bad it could be, has made people in the public health and governmental sphere aware of how bad flu can be," she said.  "That may be the biggest lesson we have learned, to not underestimate how bad flu can be."

Well, I Guess a Flu Epidemic Was Imminent Two Years Ago.   --RoadDog

Is a Flu Pandemic Imminent?-- Part 5: Get Those Flu Shots

This is taken from a newspaper article written two years ago.

The history of the 1918 pandemic shows that humans do have one very big advantage in responding to a dangerous new flu strain, Dr. Greg Poland said.  And, that is the modern rite of annual flu vaccination.

In 1918, the flu was particularly deadly to people in their 20s and 30s, and epidemiologists theorize that's because they hadn't previously come into contact with similar influenza viruses.

"Those who have received immunizations in the past do, on average, better than those who haven't," Poland said.  "They build up some immunologic imprinting and memory that serves to help insure they survive."

In other words, the flu shots you've gotten in the past will increase your chances of survival, even if you come down with a nastier strain of flu.

--RoadDog

Trip On Route 66 June 4-10: To Springfield

I'm not sure when this was from as it was just in my draft section.  But it sure brings back better memories of a better time.  Sure looking forward to doing this soon.

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Earlier in June, which was why I did not post much that month, we took a ride along Route 66 in Illinois and Missouri.

JUNE 4, MONDAY--Took Il-47 to Dwight and then I-55 to Shirley, Illinois, where we got on Route 66.  Stopped at Dixie Truckers' Home and went to Atlanta, where we found a bridge on 66 south of town under construction.  Took I-55 to Springfield and got off.  Still sad to see Bill Shea's sitting there forlorn and abandoned.  Sadly, Norb Andy's is no more.

Enjoyed a couple at George Ranks' and then had our Cozy Dog fix.  Checked into the Route 66 Hotel and then went to the Curve Inn and finished the evening at the hotel bar.

--RoadDog

WLS Top Ten for Week of June 15, 1970: "Gimme Dat Thing"

Hard to believe, but these were fifty years ago!!

1.  GET READY--  Rare Earth

2.  LONG AND WINDING ROAD--  Beatles

3.  MY BABY LOVES LOVIN'--  White Plains

4.  HITCHING A RIDE--  Vanity Fare

5.  LOVE ON A TWO WAY STREET--  Moments

6.  DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS--  Tom Jones

7.  RIDE CAPTAIN RIDE--  Blues Image

8.  THE LETTER--  Joe Cocker

9.  MAKE ME SMILE--  Chicago

10.  GIMME DAT THING--  Pipkins

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DEBUTS

38.  MISSISSIPPI QUEEN--  Mountain

40.  O-O-H CHILD--  5 Stairsteps

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "I Never Met A Girl Could Make Me Feel The Way That You Do."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Get Ready"

JSS: U.S. Flag Day-- Paul's Birthday on WXRT'S Breakfast With the Beatles-- Piano and Violin Dirges for the "C-- The Sunday Chicago Tribune These Days

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  U.S. FLAG DAY TODAY--  Today is the birthday of the United States Flag.  On June 14, 1777, by resolution of the Second Continental Congress  passed on that date, the new nation's flag was put thusly:  "Resolved:  That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

Hope you put your flags out.  I have my usual U.S. flag at the garage, the smaller one at the mailbox out by the street and a 76 Bennington flag hanging up on the porch.

2.  PAUL'S BIRTHDAY ON WXRT'S BREAKFAST WITH THE BEATLES--  It has now started, so tune in at www.wxrt.com for Terri Hemmert's annual salute to Paul McCartney on his 78th birthday, which is June 18, 1942.  Nothing but Paul songs, with and without the Beatles for two hours.  It runs from 8 am to 10 am, CDST.  Listening to it right now.

3.  PIANO AND VIOLIN DIRGES FOR THE "C"--  Sure getting tired of all those coronavirus commercials on TV with the "dirge" piano and violin soundtracks.  I may never be able to listen to this sort of music again.

4.  THE SUNDAY CHICAGO TRIBUNE THESE DAYS--  Just went out and picked up my Sunday Chicago tribune out in the driveway.  That's right, I still get the old hardcopy newspaper.  I sure am going to miss this treat when it's gone.

Sadly, today's Sunday Tribune is about the same size as the old daily Tribunes.  The old Sunday Tribune had a whole lot of heft to it.

CRAZY COUNTRY SONGS:  "If I Had Shot You When I Wanted To, I'd be Out By Now."

Every Blooming THing Again

Okay, yesterday. Thursday, June 12, I took a walk around the yard looking more closely at what was blooming and about to bloom and found I had seriously miscounted what was a'bloomin'.

Like I said, I have a couple hundred daisy and a couple hundred wild tall phlox blooming (though the tall phlox is near its end).   Right now, the yard is a blaze of white and purple.

But, I an sad to say that I don't know the names of a whole lot of my flowers.  If I ever get one of those new cell phones with a camera in it, I'll need to go around and photograph these "unknowns" and go to a garden nursery and find out what's what.These flowers, however, are nowhere near as numerous as the daisies and wild tall phlox.  I will try to describe the "unknowns."

Most all of my flowers are perennials.

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GETTING READY TO BLOOM

Missouri primrose

yellow creeping sedum

coral bells

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BLOOMING

yellow flowers on a stalk

peonies

purple salvia?

low spreading with pink flowers

lavender

wild daisies (tall with small white flowers)

honeysuckle

blue flowers on a stalk

tickweed

Japanese lilac trees

small yellow flowers from a bulb

Like I said, I always try to go for color from April to October.

Every Blooming THing, You Know.  --RoadBloom

CRAZY COUNTRY SONGS:  "The Only Time I'm Sober's When You're Gone"

Is a Flu Pandemic Imminent?-- Part 4: We Had a Dry-Run of Coronavirus in 2018

If such a deadly strain rises, the response to this year's severe flu season (2018) has revealed that health care professionals may be ill-equipped to respond to it, Dr. Greg Poland  argued.

He pointed to recent reports of overrun hospitals setting up makeshift facilities, spot shortages of antiviral medications and a nationwide shortage of IV bags caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.  

On top of that, there are other concerns that would only arise in the event of a 1918-like influenza, Poland added.  He doubted that there would be enough ventilators to respond to such a scenario and pointed to evidence that shows many health care workers would not go to work in the face of a virus that lethal.

"Much of the antibiotic manufacturer, virtually all the chemicals required for that come outside the U.S., and it's all done in a just-in-time inventory method," Poland said.  "Make the people who run the ships and airplanes sick -- now what?"

This Guy Sure Knew What he Was Talking About.  Maybe We Could get Him to Do the Weather Now.

Is a Flu Pandemic Imminent?-- Part 3: Certainly Possible and Likely

Continued from June 3.  This is from an article written in the February 28, 2018, Chicago Tribune "Is a flu pandemic imminent?" by Dennis Thompson.

"Many medical advances since 1918 have improved people's ability to survive a flu infection, including antivirals and antibiotics, ventilators (I'd never heard this term before, but now sure have) and vaccinations to protect against both the flu and pneumonia, said Dr. Nicole Bouvier.

"We have good supportive care to nurse people through an acute and horrible case of flu," she said.  "We're better able to get people through a critical illness than we were in 1918."

Additionally, the 1918 influenza virus -- an H1N1 strain -- seems to have been more virulent than any flu that's since gone on to cause a pandemic.  In fact, the 1918 flu was so bad that it has echoed through history.  Epidemiologists believe almost all animal-derived influenza that have occurred since then have been caused by strains descended from the 1918 virus.

"It certainly is possible that a flu virus could again arise in the animal reservoir that us more pathogenic than the typical flue,"  Bouvier said.

And, remember this was written just over two years ago.  I set the article aside to write about it at some point and just recently came across it and figured it would be a good time to print it.

WLS Top 40 for Week of June 8, 1970-- Part 7, The Top Ten Songs in Chicago: "Cecilia"

The number after the artist is how high the song got on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

10.  CECILIA--   Simon & Garfunkel    #4

9.  MY BABY LOVES LOVING--  White Plains    #13

8.  EVERYTHING'S BEAUTIFUL--  Ray Stevens   #1

7.  UP AROUND THE BEND--  Creedence Clearwater Revival     #4

6.  LOVE ON A TWO WAY STREET--  Moments    #3

5.  THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD--  Beatles     #1

4.  THE LETTER--  Joe Cocker      #7

3.  GET READY--  Rare Earth    #4

2.  DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS--  Tom Jones    #13

1.  HITCHING A RIDE--  Vanity Fare    #5

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "There's A Place Up Ahead and I'm Goin'."  Answer below.  RoadDog

"Up Around the Bend"

Music Deaths: Allan Merrill, Wrote "I Love Rock and Roll"

ALLAN MERRILL, 69

Died 29 March 2020

Lead singer of the Arrows.  Wrote Joan Jett's breakthrough hit "I Love Rock and Roll."  His band recorded it in 1975.  Go to YouTube and watch his video of it.

Like Joe Diffie and John Prine, he died from complications of COVID-19.

WLS Top 40 for Week of June 8, 1970-- Part 6: "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)"

That's right.  Fifty years ago.

15.  LAY DOWN (CANDLES IN THE RAIN)--  Melanie      #6      Her voice can pierce your heart.  The perfect voice for a generation.  Whenever I hear this song it takes me back to the disturbances at Northern Illinois University in the wake of the Kent State tragedy.   Her biggest hit.

14.  COME SATURDAY MORNING--  Sandpipers     #17    From the movie "The Sterile Cuckoo."  Male vocal group.   So sweet.  Their biggest hit was "Guantanamera"  (#9-1966).  

13.  GIMME DAT THING--  Pipkins      #9   Tony Burrows' group.  He is doing the Wolfman Jack voice on this song.   He sure had a hot streak going back.  He was lead singer of Edison Lighthouse  "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)", White Plains  "My Baby Loves Loving" which is at #9 on this week's survey and Brotherhood of Man "United We Stand."

12.  MAKE ME SMILE--  Chicago.    #9   Give me those horns.  Their first big hit.

11.  RIDE CAPTAIN RIDE--  Blues Image    #4     Is it a nautical song?   Their only Top 40.   From Tampa, Florida.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "That's Right, That's Right, I'm Sad And Blue."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Gimme Dat Thing"

WLS Top 40 for Week of June 8, 1970-- Part 5: Which Way You Going Billy"

Fifty years ago.  Where does the time go when you're having rhum?

20.  QUESTION--  Moody Blues    Love the guitar at the beginning.  The guy had to have sore fingers after that.

19.  REFLECTIONS OF MY LIFE--  Marmalade    

18.  REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEBODY'S HAND--  Diana Ross   A song we can kind use these days and not use these days.

17,.  WHICH WAY YOU GOING BILLY--  Poppy Family    Canadian band.  This was written by member Terry Jacks who also had a hit with "Seasons in the Sun."

16.  LITTLE GREEN BAG--   George Baker Selection    Make sure you watch the video by Zatopecaro.  And, a guy rolling a what? and lots of wine.  Love those sideburns.  Drinking wine spo-de-doh.  One person commented that this is close to a scene in the movie "Reservoir Dogs."

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Got To Find Just The Kind Or I'm Losing My Mind."  Answer below.  RoadDog

"Little Green Bag"

Every Blooming THing, Mid June

My daisies are all in bloom right now as are my wild tall phlox.  I have several hundred of both so the yard is a mass of white and purple.  The dianthus are blooming nicely in all sorts of colors.  They're nice because you get several years out of them.  My wild daisies are also blooming.

I also have several other perennial blooming, but don't know their names.  One is yellow, and two are a pinkish color.

Weeds are growing fast, of course, and that is a never ending job.  Plus,I have been doing a lot of trimming on my creeping phlox plants (where I also have about a hundred.  All these plants except the dianthus come back year after year and are very easy to transplant.

I've been cutting the yard about every 4-5 days and I usually do that once a week.  It is growing fast.

Two big jobs I have this summer are cutting down three dead trees and power washing and staining the deck and gazebo.  I talked with a friend of a friend last weekend and he will cut down the trees and stack the wood.

Always Something to Do In the Yard.  --RoadDog

THEM FUNNY COUNTRY SONGS:  "You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly"

WLS Top 40 for Week of June 8, 1970-- Part 4: "Love Or Let Me Be Lonely"

25.  THE LOVE YOU SAVE--  Jackson Five     #1    Those fantastic first songs they did.  I was hooked.  They are still some of my most favorite songs.

24.  LOVE OR LET ME BE LONELY--  Friends of Distinction      #6   This song really takes me back to NIU.

23.  HEY MR. SUN--  Bobby Sherman    #24    I didn't remember it, but it sure grows on you.  Bobby could sure sing a great pop song.

22.  IT'S ALL IN THE GAME--  Four Tops     #24    Hey, what can I say.  MOTOWN!!

21.  UNITED WE STAND--  Brotherhood of Man     #13   Even though its a song about love, we could sure use some of it now.  I mean, between the virus and George Floyd.    Their biggest hit.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "When We Played Tag In Grade School, You Wanted To Be It."

"The Love You Save"

WLS Top 40 for Week of June 8, 1970-- Part 3: "American Woman"

30.  TEACH YOUR CHILDREN--  Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young     #16    One comment says it was Jerry Garcia doing the pedal guitar on this song.

29.  AMERICAN WOMAN  #1  /NO SUGAR TONIGHT  #13  --  Guess Who    A two-sided hit of classic rock.

28.  MAMA TOLD ME--  Three Dog Night    #1    Is this group in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?  If not, why not?   Written by Randy Newman.  Full title:  "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)."

27.  BALL OF CONFUSION--  Temptations     #3   Applies to today just as well as fifty years ago.  Full title:  "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)"

26.  THE WONDER OF YOU--  Elvis Presley     #9   Vegas all the way.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "People Moving Out, People Moving In.  Why, Because of the Color Of Their Skin."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Ball of Confusion"

Just A Short Time to Join the Stroud Crowd in a Trip back to June 7, 1970

Bob Stroud will start his Rock and Roll Roots show in Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM at 9 am and it will run to noon CDST.  It streams at www.wdrv.com.  

He will be playing the songs on the radio and in your record collection (remember those LPs and singles?) from fifty years ago.  That's right, a half century.  If you miss it, he will rebroadcast from 9 pm to midnight today.

I had just finished my freshman year at Northern Illinois University, so, these songs were really special to me.

And, in the next ten minutes, Terri Hemmert will be starting her Breakfast With the Beatles show on Chicago's WXRT, 93.1 FM.  It goes to 10 am and also streams at www.wxrt.com.

--RoadDog

WLS Top 40 for Week of June 8, 1970-- Part 2: "A Song of Joy"

Don't forget, Bob Stroud is going back fifty years on his Rock and Roll Roots show in Chicago's WDRV 97.1, 96.9 FM from 9 am to noon CDST and again from 9 pm to midnight.  It streams at www.wdrv.com.

For an even better trip back, go to YouTube and listen to the songs.  Every Top 40, there are a few songs that I had never heard of before and a few that I had forgotten.

The number after the artist is the highest the song got on the Billboard Hot 100.

35.  A SONG OF JOY--  Miguel Rios   Beethoven's "Ode to Joy.     #14     Get yer classikal stuff right hyer.  Born in Granada, Spain.

34.  SOOLAMOIN--  Neil Diamond       #30    That African sound.  Love the drums.  Full title:  "Soolaimon (African Trilogy II)".

33.  GOOD MORNING FREEDOM--  Daybreak      #94    Never heard it before.  Canadian group.  Sounds like a TV sitcom theme song.  A group called Blue Mink also did this song.  The song will grow on you.

32.  AIRPORT THEME--  Vincent Bell      #31     Again, that was one strange guitar sound.  Back when the airline companies loved us, not like now.  Full name:  "Airport Love Theme (Gwen and Vern)".

31.  FOR THE LOVE OF HIM--  Bobbi Martin     #13    One of the last great girl group songs.   Born in Brooklyn in 1943, raised in Baltimore.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Come See, Come Say, Ride On The Night."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Soolamoin"

WLS Top 40 for Week of June 8, 1970-- Part 1: "Vehicle"

That's Right, Fifty Years Ago.

I get the survey from WLS Surveys Oldies Loon and then listen to every song on YouTube.  (D) means Debut.  The number after the artist is how high the song got on the national Billboard charts.

40.  SUGAR, SUGAR--  Wilson Pickett      #25   (D)  Move over Archies.  The Wicked Picket just SOULIFIED!!! your song.

39.  VEHICLE--  Ides of March      #2   Horns!!  We need more HORNS!!  No Cowbell, Though.   Chicago's own.  Their biggest hit.

38.  LOVE LAND--  Watts 103rd Street Band    #16     (D)  Charles Wright's band.  Some more great soul coming in at 3:05.

37.  VIVA TIRADO--   El Chicano     #28  Jazzy, Soul Rock.  Instrumental.  One person commented that this song automatically caused his automobile to get an inch lower.

36.  BAND OF GOLD--  Freda Payne    #3    One of the best songs of 1970 in my mind.  One person commented on the live video that Freda looked a bit like the 80s Whitney Houston.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Now That You've Gone."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Band of Gold"

Go Back to June 7, 1970, With Bob Stroud This Sunday

I was wondering what was going to happen with Bob Stroud's very popular "Summer of" series on his Rock and Roll Roots shows on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 (96.9) FM, the Drive.  He started it with the "Summer of Love, 1967" and took a look back four times every summer to 40 years ago.  Last summer, he did the "Summer of 1979."

But the problem is that his show features the music of the 1960s and 1970s.  Now, we're into the 1980s as far as forty years ago is concerned.  He can't really go there.  So, what was he to do.  I was wondering anyway.

Yesterday on his Ten at ten show, I found out.  He is going back FIFTY YEARS, that's right, HALF A CENTURY!!  to the songs on the radio and in your record collection back on June 7, 1970.

It steams at www.wdrv.com and runs from 9 to noon EDST on Sunday.  Then, it rebroadcasts from 9 to midnight that night.

Give It A Listen.  The Stroud Crowd  --RoadStroud

Music Deaths: Joe Diffie, One of My All-Time Favorite Country Stars

JOE DIFFIE,61

Died 29 March 2020 coronavirus

I wrote about him already on April 3rd.

Click on the Joe Diffie label below.

Prop Me Up, Joe.

Music Deaths: Jan Howard, Country Singer

JAN HOWARD, 91

Died March 28, 2020

Female country singer.  Between 1960 and 1978 had 30 Top 100 Country songs, including six with Bill Anderson.  Sixteen were Top 40, Two Top Tens solo and four ranked #4 or higher with Bill Anderson between 1966 and 1971.

Had a #5 solo with "Evil On Your Mind" in 1966 and a #1 with Bill Anderson in 1967 with "For Loving You."

Married to famous country songwriter Harlan Howard.

Is a Flu Epidemic Imminent?-- Part 2: (This Was From 2018)

Greg Poland of the Mayo Clinic is concerned with a new and deadly strain of flu that could emerge that would sweep across the planet, erasing every advantage that modern medicine has given doctors in treating the flu.

"(What) I've learned after thirty years of studying this virus is there's next to nothing predictable about it, and when you begin to feel comfortable, you're well on the road to bad things happening."

The 1918 influenza pandemic killed more people than any other disease outbreak in human history, according to "The Great Influenza" book by John Barry.

"Influenza killed more people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages killed in a century.  It killed more people in 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in 24 years," according to John Barry.

Reckon It Was Imminent Two Years Ago.

Is a Flu Pandemic Imminent? --Part 1

I came across this article in the February 28, 2018, Chicago Tribune that I had put aside back then for possible future coverage on one of my blogs.  "Is a flu pandemic imminent:  One like 1918 outbreak is possible, expert warns" by Dennis Thompson.

This was marking the 100th anniversary of the 1918 "Spanish Flu" outbreak.

"One hundred years ago, the deadliest influenza pandemic of a all time made a ravaging march across the globe.

"The 'Spanish' flu of 1918-1919 infected an estimated one-third of the world's population and killed between 50 million and 100 million people, modern epidemiologists estimate.

"This raises the inevitable question as the United States battles its way through another severe flu season -- could a pandemic as devastating in scope occur in the future?

" 'It's '100 percent' certain that another global flu crisis will happen, said Dr. Greg Poland, a virologist and vaccine researcher with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  "There's absolutely no controversy that we will have another pandemic," Poland said.  'What's unpredictable is the severity of it."

Well, Reckon He Was Exactly Right.  --RoadDog

LAUGHTER HELPS WITH THE 'V": I just want to let you know that if you start choking, I will not use the Heimlich maneuver, but will throw shoes at your back from six feet away."

WLS Top Ten for Week of June 1, 1970: "Daughter of Darkness"

Fifty Years Ago in Chicago.

1.  HITCHING A RIDE--  Vanity Fare
2.  THE LETTER--  Joe Cocker
3.  UP AROUND THE BEND--  Creedence Clearwater Revival

4.  DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS--  Tom Jones
5.  CECILIA--  Simon & Garfunkel
6.  EVERYTHING'S BEAUTIFUL--  Ray Stevens
7.  GET READY--  Rare Earth
9.  LITTLE GREEN BAG--  George Baker Selection
10.  LONG AND WINDING ROAD--  Beatles

*********************************

DEBUTS

35.  THE LOVE YOU SAVE--  Jackson Five
36.  MAMA TOLD ME--  Three Dog Night

37.  TEACH YOUR CHILDREN--  Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
39.  GOOD MORNING FREEDOM--  Daybreak

40.  BAND OF GOLD--  Freda Payne

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "There's A Place Up Ahead And I'm Goin'."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Up Around the Bend"