that was a definite trip down the lane for us. There was a lot going on that year (those years) that changed our world. This piece fills in some details for me that I must have been too young to have known.
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Wow, NBC ran a piece on 1968
- Thread starter billanole
- Start date
Those were the days, my friend,
We thought they'd never end.
We'd sing and dance, forever and a day.
We thought they'd never end.
We'd sing and dance, forever and a day.
I wasn't born until 2 years later, but 1968 was arguably the greatest year in rock music history:
The Beatles (the "White Album")
Let it Bleed (the Stones)
Electric Ladyland (Hendrix)
White Light/White Heat (The Velvet Underground)
Wheels of Fire (Cream)
...Just off the top of my head.
EDIT: Upon further research, replace Let it Bleed (actually '69) with Beggar's Banquet.
The Beatles (the "White Album")
Let it Bleed (the Stones)
Electric Ladyland (Hendrix)
White Light/White Heat (The Velvet Underground)
Wheels of Fire (Cream)
...Just off the top of my head.
EDIT: Upon further research, replace Let it Bleed (actually '69) with Beggar's Banquet.
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Odyssey and Oracle
Lady Soul
Big Pink
Bookends
Cheap Thrills
God, the list could go on and on.
Lady Soul
Big Pink
Bookends
Cheap Thrills
God, the list could go on and on.
I graduated from Florida State in 1968, and I think it was an awful year for our country...the Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy assassinations, the war in Viet Nam heating up, the violent Democratic National Convention in Chicago, street riots in numerous cities resulting from racial unrest and a growing anti-war sentiment.
To add to the misery, 1968 also had what may well be the worst song of all time...Bobby Goldsboro's infamous "Honey".
To add to the misery, 1968 also had what may well be the worst song of all time...Bobby Goldsboro's infamous "Honey".
Not sure if it was the same documentary History showed many years back but HC had a video hosted by Tom Brokaw on the year. I show that particular video to my senior classes and let them see what turmoil was like. The Chicago Democratic Convention was unreal with the violence that was happening there.
There is a lot of really great music coming out these days. Don’t listen to the radio expecting to hear it, but it’s not hard to find if you take a few minutes to look.
In 1968 I was already partying like it was 1999.
Those were the days, my friend. I remember that spring when both MLK and RFK were killed.
Those were the days, my friend. I remember that spring when both MLK and RFK were killed.
Although the partying never stopped, most of the people I knew who were graduating in 1968 felt like our country had become a scarier place while we were in college.
And even though the good old USA has had many problems of one sort or another since the late 60s, I don't think we've had another series of events that were quite as bad as 1968.
And even though the good old USA has had many problems of one sort or another since the late 60s, I don't think we've had another series of events that were quite as bad as 1968.
Man, take The Association out of that. Nothing wrong with that group...they've got some great songs.
I know some people would cape up for Fifth Dimension...but they're not my thing. Not a fan of the Carpenters or Sonny and Cher at all either.
I'm actually listening to a Carpenter's tune on soft rock classics right now. Not really my thing but you can't say it's not good music. I mean the girl had some pipes and the music was good for what it was...
Everyone has their own tastes in music, but I would consider it absolute torture if I had to listen to "Cherish" and "Wendy" back to back for an hour. If you added "Honey" to the mix, I'd rather have hot bamboo shoots shoved under my fingernails.
And it isn't that Karen Carpenter had a bad voice, but she was part of an era that had a lot of syrupy songs that still make my teeth hurt..."Grazing In The Grass", "Yummy Yummy Yummy (I've got love in my tummy)", "Elusive Butterfly", most everything from Burt Bacharach.
And it isn't that Karen Carpenter had a bad voice, but she was part of an era that had a lot of syrupy songs that still make my teeth hurt..."Grazing In The Grass", "Yummy Yummy Yummy (I've got love in my tummy)", "Elusive Butterfly", most everything from Burt Bacharach.
1968 rocked. I was in NY and enjoying music and life. Woodstock was set to unfold in my Step-Dad's backyard the next year as the Aquarius Festival - until they moved it 40-50 milers North. I headed to Tallahassee in the end of August 1969. Things were rocking in Tally but not to the same degree as where I left.
Since I was Negative 8yo at this point, I’ll let you old men yell at clouds together without providing anymore keen interpretation. 
The old Chinese curse, 'may you live in interesting times applies'.
I tell people that, but it's just embarrassing to see what's popular. Even if you go back just ten years, Radiohead and Coldplay were performing on the Grammys for instance. Compare that to the trash featured on awards shows now.
Man, you don't have to like everything...doesn't mean it's crap. And while Windy (not Wendy LOL..and was also written by a pre-teen fan in the fan club who mailed them the lyrics...WTF?) are of a certain kind (although at least Windy is catchy), they also did Along Comes Mary which is an all time great and gets the job done. Also love Enter the Young.
My father is the world's biggest Association fan. I'm not...I had more than enough of them for a lifetime growing up, but I don't think they're crap.
You ever think about the most semi odd obscure group, and think about the fact that for someone, that's their favorite band? Like somewhere, there's someone for whom Dexy's Midnight Runners is their favorite band. That's my father, who has about 10,000 CDs so it's not like he's got a limited interest in music, with The Association. Hell, it's me with Spanky and Our Gang (which you probably also hate LOL).
I think most of those songs you mentioned are pretty decent. I like "pop" music of that era. Grazing in the Grass is a perfectly good pop song. I do like Elusive Butterfly decent enough, I think it's at least somewhat interesting. Agree Yummy Yummy Yummy is pretty craptacular, but it's almost respectable for it's manufactured pop perfection.
I think Honey, and most Sonny and Cher are another level of pretty near crap..those are almost like novelty songs to me. I don't think Cher's solo work is without some merit, even if it's not my thing, but something like "The Beat Goes On" is just utter garbage.
I'm not arguing with you at all...loving the chance to discuss music that nobody my age is into, and I'm DEEP into. I could bounce songs from that era back and forth all day. That's the great thing about the 60s music...so many KINDS of music on the charts, doesn't matter if you don't like vast swaths of it.
I will say this...I just looked at the Top 100 billboard songs, and while there are some great songs in that year, I think 67 and 69 were much better.
Windy...you are correct.
The songs I mentioned were very popular, so a whole lot of people obviously liked them. I wasn't part of that crowd.
The songs I mentioned were very popular, so a whole lot of people obviously liked them. I wasn't part of that crowd.
The late 60s and early 70s were truly a magical time. Color tv, interstate highways, manned space flight, the NFL not to mention all of the good music of that era. Everything from Led Zepplin to The Jackson Five and The Beatles to Chicago with everything in between. I remember the fights being huge back then. The Daytona and Indy 500s too. It was really the dawn of modern civilization and if you were alive then you really felt like you were a part of something big...
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This. The word I would use to describe that time was 'intense.' ALWAYS something big going on, either politically, musically, culturally, etc etc. If you think the country is divided now, you should've seen it then. I'm glad I experienced it, but I would not choose to go thru it again. However, things have cycled around again and IMO we are about to go through similar massive changes in society. Hopefully the music will improve. :~}
I'm glad I was in college then. And the profound cultural changes were unprecedented in such a narrow time frame.
Things went from dresses being mandatory on campus to hip hugger bell bottoms in two years. It was just one example of the changes.
Things went from dresses being mandatory on campus to hip hugger bell bottoms in two years. It was just one example of the changes.
It was on NBC, but I failed to record it. Sorry, can’t tell you who produced the show.
Yep! My freshman year women were allowed in your dorm room ONLY on a weekend afternoon (for just a few hours). Two years later it was 24/7. Some of the stuff that went on in my dorm made "Animal House" look tame.
Whoever invented hip huggers should have gotten a medal of some kind.
Different Drummer is a great song, one of my favorite "one hit wonders" of the era. Although one hit wonder is a bit of a technicality, since the lead singer was none other than Linda Ronstadt, who had a few hits of her own, LOL.
One more thing about Different Drummer. You know who wrote that song, which is undeniably great? Mike Nesmith.
You know, Mike Nesmith of the fraudulent, no talent, not real musicians Monkees?
What happened to the Monkees is a huge injustice, although it was probably offset by the odd 1980s Monkees revival, which got them a deserved renewal of exposure, if not respect.
The Monkees as a band, and their music, was no less legitimate than what nearly every other band of the era was doing. The "don't play their instruments" charge was especially galling, considering that the same musicians that played on the Monkees' tracks also played on everything from Beach Boys and Tijuana Brass records to the Byrds and Simon and Garfunkel tracks. You know...plenty of bands that never had the charge thrown at them of being "fake bands."
Obviously, their origin was particularly high profile, but unique only really in exposure, as bands had been assembled by puppet masters for years (and boy bands still are). And their origin as a TV band was perfectly well known long before the "fake musician" thing came up.
The idea that they got hammered for something like that, when it was 100% not in any way secret, nor different from most things on the radio, is really galling. That music, like much of the era, had the best players in the world laying down the work of some of the greatest songwriters. The music totally stands up today. The band themselves was roughly as talented as probably 100 other bands of the time...in other words...moderately. But you can't deny the vocals of Dolenz or Jones just because they didn't play drums (or tambourine, LOL) on the recording. Nesmith was a pretty talented musician and writer (see above), and Tork could play.
But there is nothing "fake" about that music of the Monkees, and the songs hold up today as well as nearly any of the era.
The fact that they got singled out and publicly tarred and feathered is a travesty. Before he died, I heard a town hall on Sirius with Tom Petty. They were talking about which covers he chooses for any given tour, and he mentioned that he likes to look for the really great songs he grew up with and were influential to him, and mentioned the Monkees. The interviewer, and the audience, burst out laughing at the mention of the Monkees like it was some joke, and he had to defend himself that he was serious, that those really are great songs. I think people still assumed he was joking...that's ridiculous. Incidentally, his station on Sirius occasionally plays his live cover of "Not My Stepping Stone" which is an excellent rendition of a truly great song, and a great example of how well many of those Monkees songs hold up.
(This is probably the third or fourth time over the years I've gotten on this particular soapbox on this board. It's one of a handful of things that means nothing to anybody, but burns my ass enough for me to put on my Don Quixote helmet when I see the opportunity to charge).
Different Drummer was written by Michael Nesmith, formerly of the Monkees. He was an outstanding singer,songwriter who’s talents were tainted by his association with the Monkees.
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