1-7-68 WGH Newport News, Virginia
Sandwiched between the James and York Rivers along the Atlantic Ocean lies Newport News, a city of nearly 200,000 today. A 2016 inductee into the Soul Music Hall of Fame, Barbara Mason found early success with her "Yes I'm Ready." Mason was one of the few female soul hitmakers writing her own tunes back then. In the early days of 1968, her nice original "Oh How it Hurts" was attempting to make its mark nationally by breaking out here.
-- Clark Besch
Aretha Franklin takes over the top spot on this week's Saturday survey, as we feature Virginia in our state-by-state journey through 1968. (Why not ... last week West Virginia kicked off our brand new series ... and next week you'll see that we've gone in a completely different direction!)
Today's survey comes from Clark's own incredible collection of charts. Back in 1968, you could hear Dean Martin played back-to-back with The Doors' brand new single. (#28 and #27 on this week's countdown.) You won't find ANYTHING near that kind of variety on the dial today!
THIS WEEK IN '68:
1/7/68: Dionne Warwick appears on The Ed Sullivan Show and sings "I Say A Little Prayer" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". (kk)
1/8/68: Elvis Presley turns 33 ... he will end the year with an amazing NBC television special that will spur a tremendous comeback for The King. (kk)
1/12/68: The Supremes appear as nuns on an episode of Tarzan (Ron Smith)
1/13/68: Johnny and June Carter Cash record a live album at Folsom State Prison in California. (Harvey Kubernik)
1/8/68: Elvis Presley turns 33 ... he will end the year with an amazing NBC television special that will spur a tremendous comeback for The King. (kk)
1/12/68: The Supremes appear as nuns on an episode of Tarzan (Ron Smith)
1/13/68: Johnny and June Carter Cash record a live album at Folsom State Prison in California. (Harvey Kubernik)
