Going Back to 1970-- Part 2: 'Ball of Confusion'

Only fifty-one years ago.  Seems like yesterday.

RIPPLE--  Grateful Dead   How can a band that makes such great studio albums be so bad in concert?  Oh, yes, something called jamming thirty minute songs.  YUCK!!

SPIRIT IN THE SKY--  Norman Greenbaum

PARANOID--  Black sabbath   Ozzie?  Ozzie who?

LET'S WORK TOGETHER--   Canned Heat

AND IT STONED ME--  Van Morrison

THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK--  Simon & Garfunkel

APE MAN--  Kinks

STAGE FRIGHT--  Band

IN THE SUMMERTIME--  Mungo Jerry

BORDER SONG--  Elton John

LET IT BE--  Beatles    Even more Beatles music.

BALL OF CONFUSION--  Temptations

LIAR--  Argent   Even before Three Dog Night did it.

PEACE FROG/BLUE SUNDAY--  Doors

I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE--  Creedence Clearwater Revival   My all-time favorite band.

A SONG FOR YOU--  Leon Russell

WHEN YOU DANCE I CAN REALLY LOVE--  Neil Young

FIRST I LOOK AT THE PURSE--  J. Geils Band 

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Now Deep In The Heart Of A Lonely Kid Who Suffered So Much For What He Did."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Stage Fright"

Going Back to 1970-- Part 1: 'What Is Life'

On May 8, 2021, Chicago's WXRT, 93.1 FM went back to 1970 on its Saturday Morning Flashback Show.  It took me right back to that great college/fraternity year at NIU.

Songs played:

TEACHER--  Jethro Tull  Remember, they were the recipients of the first Grammy for Heavy metal.

WOODSTOCK--  Joni Mitchell

GALLOWS POLE--  Led Zeppelin

I CAN'T GET NEXT TO YOU--  Temptations

WHAT IS LIFE--  George Harrison  What is better than one Beatles group?  Why, four different Beatles releasing songs at the same time. Lots more Beatles music.

REVIVAL--  Allman Brothers Band

WHY DOES LOVE GOT TO BE SO SAD--  Derek & the Dominos

THANK YOU--  Sly & the Family Stone

FEELIN' ALRIGHT (LIVE)--  Joe Cocker

COUNTRY GIRL--  Crosby, Stills & Nash

SHAKIN' ALL OVER (LIVE)--   Who

MAKE ME SMILE--  Chicago

ARE YOU READY--  Pacific Gas & Electric

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Lookin' At The devil, Grinnin' At His Gun, Fingers Start Shakin', I Begin To Run."  Answer below.  --  RoadDog

"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"

November 6th Is a Big Day for Radio: Hello FM

As I sit here listening to WDRV-FM's "A to Z", this is the day after a big day for the medium called FM, because on November 6, 1935, Edwin H. Armstrong announced to the world his development of FM broadcasting, after large-scale field tests of the new technology at RCA's facilities on the 85th floor of the Empire State Building from May 1934 to October 1935.  Eureka, it works!!

In 1937, Armstrong financed the construction of the first FM radio station W2XMN, a 40-kilowatt station in Alpine, New Jersey.

More often than not these days, I listen to FM stations and have liked them ever since I first became aware of them in the late 60s.  These so-called underground stations played that great variety of music and with fewer commercials, way more than the AM stations I listened to, primarily WLS and WCFL in Chicago.

Then, of course, FM became segmented and formatted and more like the old A< stations.

Even so, here in Chicago I'm a major WDRV and WXRT fan.  Plus, on the internet I listen to 94.9 WVCO the Surf in North Myrtle Beach (for my Beach Fix).


Also, on November 6th in 1947, Hank Williams recorded one of the all-time great country songs, "Honky Tonkin'."

Hey, When Do the Christmas Stations Start Up?  --Cooter --

Dead Page: That FM Progressive Rock

PETE FORNATALE (1945- APRIL 26, 2012)

Pioneer in the great 60s-70s FM progressive rock movement.  Ah, those early days of FM radio when anything went and new artists had a great place to launch their careers.  This was before formatting took hold on the FM side.

He had a show at WFUV, a college radion station at Fordham University and later was on WNEW and K-Rock.  He gave exposure to country rock groups like Buffalo Springfield and Poco.

I sure listened to as much of those great stations as I could.  This format was one of the things that got me into deejaying.  I liked to mix all sorts of songs into my sets, like follow "Born to Be Wild" with some Hank Williams.

What's in a Name? Must Be a Chicago-Suburb Thing

Yesterday, listening to Bob Stroud play the full three hours of his Rock and Roll Roots Show with just music playing on the radio (that would be WLS and WCFL, both AM stations) and in our record collections, he kept referring to the storm as "The Great Snowstorm of '67."

I always called it the "Blizzard of '67." Liz said that in Chicago, where she was living when it happened, they called it "The Great Snowstorm of '67." Since my brother Bob and I were living in Palatine, a suburb of Chicago, it might have been a suburb-Chicago thing.

Bob Stroud played fifty songs in the three hours of his show yesterday. You have to love those three-minute and under songs. I'll be posting some of the set list and Stroud's comments and mine on my Down Da Road I Go Blog today.

Liz and I had a nice conversation about the Blizzard or Snowstorm. I'm sure we got off school on the Friday, but think we might have been back at school as early as Monday or Tuesday the next week. Liz said her school, Madonna High School in Chicago, was closed the entire next week.

I Hate Snow for the Most Part. Makes You Wonder Why I Continue to Live Here in the Midwest. --RoadDog