Visit With Liz, Donovan's, Trivia, Saylor Mick's, Kent State, Star Wars and a Movie

WEDNESDAY, MAY 3

Visited Liz at Cole Cemetery and then went to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes,Wisconsin, as we so often did.  Played live trivia with Uncle Jeffie.  Stopped at Saylor Mick's in Spring Grove for the wing special and those great retro $1 Hamm's pints.

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THURSDAY, MAY 4

Today was the 53rd anniversary of the killings at Kent State in Ohio.  That set off rioting and troubles in college campuses across the United States, including at NIU where I was a freshman.  I thought I was seeing the end of the United States.

On a lighter note, today, being May the 4th, has a play on words "May the Force Be With You" so it is an "Star Wars" day.  All of Bob Stroud's Ten at Ten had to do with space.  I wrote them down earlier in this blog.

Went to the Fox Lake Theatre and saw "Renfield."  That Nicholas Cage makes a fine Dracula.

--RoadDrac

Songs of 1970-- Part 2: Breaking Up and Arriving on Stage

"Given so much unrest, everyone was exhausted," says author David Browne.  "It is no coincidence that the top songs of then year were as much hymns as pop songs."

But, if such anthems brought people together, the bands that created them were, at the time, falling apart.  Both Simon & Garfunkel and the Beatles broke up in 1970, as did Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Meanwhile, great new musicians and groups rose to take their place, including Elton John, the Jackson Five, the Carpenters and James Taylor, all of whom released breakthrough songs that same year.

Whole new genres emerged as well, making 1970 a unique year that will live forever in musical history and in our memories.

Of course, 1970, was a college year for me, so these songs really strike up the old memories.  I pledge Delta Sigma Phi at NIU and moved out to the frat house in the fall after living freshman year at Lincoln Hall dormitory freshman year.  That spring was also the Kent State Riots when I really thought I was seeing the end of the United States.  Those were some scary times, I tell you.

I was looking out my dorm window when the rioting came to DeKalb and NIU as a confrontation between students and police took place right below me.  With all the police lights flashing, the campus radio station, WNIU played "Lay Down (Candles in the Wind)" by Melanie and any time I hear that song anymore it takes me right back.

1970 Was Quite a Time.  --RoadMusic

WLS Top 30 for Week of August 10, 1970-- Part 2: "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)"

*  Song is dropping down charts.

25.  MORNING MUCH BETTER--  Ten Wheel Drive     #74   (D)  A horn band that surprisingly didn't chart better.  They even had a banjo in it.  Ten member jazz-rock ensemble led by Genya Ravan.

24.  PATCHES--  Clarence Carter     #4    A soulful "Honey."  Now Dr. CC's father was a real father.

23.  *LAY DOWN (CANDLES IN THE WIND)--  Melanie     #6   This song will always remind me of the Kent State Riots at Northern Illinois University.  I distinctly remember looking out the window of my dorm room in Lincoln Hall and watching protesters form a line on the west side of Annie Glidden Road and their being attacked by police.  This song was playing on the school radio station, WNIU.

22.  *ARE YOU READY--  Pacific Gas & Electric   #14    West Coast blues-rock quintet.

21.  *BALL OF CONFUSION--  Temptations     #3    Funny how some songs just transcends the ages.  And, we're talking half a century, 50 years on this tune.  Full title:  "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)."

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "An Eye For An Eye, A Tooth For A Tooth.  Vote For Me And I'll Set You Free.  Rap On, Brother, Rap On."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Ball of Confusion"

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"

May 2020, Coronavirus, May 1970 Kent State Riots Fifty Years Later

Fifty years ago, college campuses across the country went up for grabs when the news got out about the four students killed at an anti-Vietnam War rally at Kent State University in Ohio.  Some of the protests were violent, others somewhat peaceful.

I was a freshman at Northern Illinois University living in the Lincoln Hall dormitory at the time.  Things were peaceful at NIU at first, but several days later, violence erupted and arrests were made.  I personally thought I was watching the end of the United States back then, especially when we had a confrontation between the police and students right outside the dorm which moved to the other side of Lincoln and then we heard explosions and the fire alarm went off.

Believe me, it was scary.  To read more about it, click on my Cooter's History Thing blog to the left of this, then click on the NIU Kent State Riots label.

Now, of course, fifty years later, colleges are canceled because of the virus.

--RoadDog

My Vietnam War Experience-- Part 5: The Cambodian "Incursion" and Kent State

Protests against the Vietnam War continued at Northern Illinois and across the country.  Some of the other schools had their protests turn quite violent, but not so much in DeKalb.

However, on April 30, 1970, President Nixon went on TV to say we had had an "incursion" into Cambodia to cut off supplies the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese were receiving in South Vietnam.  The Ho Chi Minh Trail.  Well this set off a powder keg of protests at colleges all across the country, including at Northern.

It all came to a head on May 4, when National Guardsmen opened fire on students protesting at Kent State University in Ohio and four were killed and several wounded.  Some of the students had been protesting, others watching and some walking by on the way to and from classes.

Things got violent at campuses all over the country, although NIU was tense, but there was no violence.

That is until Father Groppi, a noted civil rights activist from Milwaukee, was going to come to campus.  That is when we started hearing that the anti-war people were planning some really big things.

If you want to read all my previous posts on this, hit the My Vietnam War Experience label below.

Things Really Heating Up.  --RoadDog

40th Anniversary of Kent State-- Part 2: NIU Got Violent

I will be continuing this story on my Cooter's History Thing Blog http://cootershistorything.blogspot.com.

I had thought that the violence at Northern Illinois University had started within a few days after Kent State. There was unrest, but the real frightening times didn't erupt until almost two weeks later.

I definitely thought I was witnessing the end of the United States at the time. I'll never forget watching the students and police clash by Lincoln Hall, where I lived, and then the explosions that took place west of the dorm by the physical plant.

Quite a Scary Time to Live Through. --RoadDog

OXYMORONS: Is it good if a vacuum really sucks?

40th Anniversary of Kent State Today

On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guard troops at Kent State University opened fire on an Anti-Vietnam War rally and killed four and wounded eleven others. This ignited protests and violence at college campuses all across the United States.

I was a freshman at Northern Illinois University at the time. I didn't like the war, which I thought was never going to end. It started when I was in 7th grade and went on all through high school and showed no signs of letting up. Actually it was getting worse. A few days earlier, President Nixon had announced that the US was attacking Cambodia to cut off supply routes.

This set off a new wave of protest and marches.

The war was particularly looming for males my age because of the draft. There was a lottery where every year boys turning 18 had their birthdays placed in a drum and pulled to give a number. The lower your number, the more likely you were to be drafted.

I was too young for the first lottery and was #31. I was hoping that since this was very low, I'd get a high number for when it counted. Not with my luck. I was #22. That meant go to college or Vietnam. Since I wanted to be a teacher, college was definitely already in my plans. But a lot of boys were there to avoid the draft.

To Be Continued. --RoadDog



My wife said, "Whatcha doing today?"
I said, "Nothing."
She said, "You did that yesterday."
I said, "I wasn't finished."

Top Songs This Date- 1970

While looking at the True Oldies website, I saw that they had a Silver Dollar Survey from this week in 1970. This was the much anticipated (for me at least) WLS list of top songs in Chicago.

1970

1. The Long & Winding Road- Beatles- too long and too slow
2. My Baby Loves Loving- White Plains- great early 70s AM music by One-Hit Wonders
3. Ride Captain Ride- Blues Image- a favorite- loved the refrain

4. Get Ready- Rare Earth- Can White Guys sing Soul, the answer is Yes!!
5. Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)- Melanie- this song always brings me back to that night after Kent State when I thought Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, where I was a freshman, was going to burn down during the riots. I remember hearing the campus station playing this song as the police were approaching the student line outside my dorm. There was yelling and lots of flashing lights.

6. The Love You Save- Jackson 5- gag!
7. Make Me Smile- Chicago- great horn band- originally Chicago Transit Authority. I remember cousin Joe playing the double album the first time I ever heard it. Only, he lived in Mt. Olive, NC, and I was in the Chicago suburbs. You'd think I would have heard it first.
8. Gimme Dat Ding- the Pipkins- really stupid, but try not to sing along with it.

That's Right, That's Right, I'm Sad and Blue, Cause I Can't Do the Boogaloo, So Gimme Dat Ding. --RoadDog