Who Bought the First Ford Mustang?-- Part 4: What Was It Like in the Spring 1964?

The world was far different, and seemingly more quaint, in the spring of 1964.

As Gail Brown drove away from Johnson Ford, she could press the button on the car's AM-only radio to WLS 890 to hear the Beatles snare the top two songs with "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Twist and Shout.  The Fab Four also had "Do You Want to Know a Secret" at No. 5  and "She Loves You" at No. 8. 

Remember, we were in the depths of Beatlemania at the time.

If she switched to 720 she could hear WGN-Radio's Cubs broadcast with Jack Quinlan and Lou Boudreau.  She could hear the play-by-play of right fielder Lou Brock who was starting his third season for the Cubs (and before that disastrous trade to the Cardinals).

Tooling around Chicago she would pass many corner newstands selling  four daily newspapers (for ten cents each).  

Do you remember the four newspapers?

Morning:  Tribune and Sun-Times.  Evening: American and Daily News.

--Cooter

A Short History of Sears & Roebuck-- Part 3: WLS and Spanish Peanuts

In 1911, a Scientific Laboratory was added so Sears cold test the products it sold.  The lab was known as "the watchdog of the catalog" and promoted as a means to "give out customers the service they have a right to expect."

The centerpiece of the complex on Homan Avenue was a 250-foot tower.  Then the tallest building outside the Loop, and Sears' corporate signature, it appeared on the catalog's cover.

Beginning in 1924,it housed a radio station on its 11th floor.  Its call letters, WLS,stood for "World's Largest Store.  Reflecting Sears' customer base, its motto was:  "Bringing the World to the Farm.  It signed on and off the air with a train whistle.

For my family, and especially Dad, no trip to a Sears was complete until we had gone by the candy/nut counter and bought a small bag of fresh hot fried Spanish peanuts.  That and a Coke was just way too good.

And, of course, that radio station changed to a pop music format in 1960 and with its huge 50,000 watt signal, it (and competitor WCFL) was what all of us kids listened to growing up in the 1960s.  Teenagers across most of the nation could pick up the signal at night.

Art Roberts' Top 3 At Ten On WLS.    --Cooter

WLS Top 40 Survey for December 24, 1965-- Part 5: "We Can Work It Out"

To see #40 to #11, go to my Down Da Road I Go Blog for the last several days.

10.  SHE'S A MUST TO AVOID--  Herman's Hermits
9.  JUST LIKE ME--  Paul Revere
8.  IL SILENZIO-- Nini Rosso   Italian jazz trumpeter and composer. (1926-1994)  Song went to #1 in Italy, Gerany, Austria and Switzerland and sold over 5 million copies.  Didn't chart in U.S., but at least made it to top ten in Chicago.

7.  IT'S GOOD NEWS WEEK--  Hedgehoppers Anonymous
6.  SOUNDS OF SILENCE--  Simon & Garfunkel
5.  TASTE OF HONEY--  Tiquana Brass
4.  OVER AND OVER--  Dave Clark Five

3.  5 O'CLOCK WORLD--  Vogues
2.  LET'S HANG ON--  Four Seasons
1.  WE CAN WORK IT OUT/ DAY TRIPPER--  Beatles

Name That Tune:  "Well I Went to a Dance Just the Other Night."  --RoadDog

MEMORY LANE:  "Coast-to-Coast"  Used to be an exciting term, now mostly replaced with world-wide or world-class.


"Over and Over"