It Was 55 Years Ago Today...
A brief flashback to the US pop musicscape of February 10, 1968
Greetings, loyal JTL readers —
I had something else cooking for today, but the sad passing of the stupendous Mr. Burt Bacharach kind of shuffled my deadlines.
But as I promised back when I launched this thing, sometimes these Jagged Time Lapse newsletters will focus on cool old photos and ads I’ve turned up in the process of researching other pieces. And while doing some research on a forthcoming Bacharach piece, I stumbled across an issue of Billboard magazine from February 10, 1968 — which was 55 years ago today. I’ve culled a few choice bits from it for you here…
A great ad for Bobby Patterson’s answer record to Joe Tex’s “Skinny Legs and All”.
Cadet Concept was the Chess/Checker/Cadet family’s “far out” sibling, best known today for its Rotary Connection LPs and for being the American home of Status Quo’s international psychedelic pop hit “Pictures of Matchstick Men”.
The 3 3/4-inch “Hip-Pocket” flexi-single (“almost indestructible,” my ass) is but a dimly-remembered format today. I can’t even remember the last time I came across one of these in a record or thrift store…
The top R&B singles from 55 years ago today. Every single record in the Top 10 is a certified stone-cold classic. There were some pretty amazing selections in the pop Hot 100 that week, as well…
The Top 20 albums of that week were (mostly) not too shabby, either. I especially love seeing Wes Montgomery at #15.
“NEELY O’HARA!!!”
And finally, an ad for what may well be the worst rock record ever made (1960s division). I remember paying a dollar for a copy of The Beat Goes On back in the summer of 1988, and I still feel like I was totally ripped off.
That’s all for now folks. Until next time, here’s a little bit of swinging Bacharach action to send you on your merry way…
My father never was much into guitar, but he did for some reason have a handful of Wes Montgomery albums
The question is whether Black Francis was inspired to write "Where Is My Mind" by the Fudge song, the "new hit single" that wasn't on "the new hit album."
From Carmine Appice's autobiography, as quoted in Wikipedia: "Even listening to it now -- which, let me tell you, I rarely fucking do-- The Beat Goes On sounds like an album that Spinal Tap would be wary of making."