July 8th

At the urging of Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork, who caught his act at The Monterey Pop Festival, The Jimi Hendrix Experience opens for The Monkees for the very first time in Jacksonville, Florida … he will quit the tour nine days later after making a total of seven appearances with The Pre-Fab Four.  (I love the way they spell "Monkee's" on the poster ... I'm guessing the band had nothing to do with signing off on this one!)

The Five Americans appear on "American Bandstand". 



TV Guide's cover story this week profiles the popular new television series "The F.B.I." starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.   One of the biggest fans of the program is none other than J. Edgar Hoover, who heads up the REAL F.B.I..  (Everything old is new again … one of today's popular hit television series is "Quantico", showing a far more glamorous group of agents working for the F.B.I. … apparently in 2016, you had to have been either a super model or a Miss World candidate in order to earn a spot fighting the bad guys … in fact, I'll bet I hear "Quantico" mentioned at least three or four times a week now during OTHER television programs as well … this seems to have become the key way of referring to The F.B.I. these days.)  

Testifying before a House subcommittee, Hoover says that "I have received hundreds of letters from people saying that the inspector on the FBI series portrayed what they thought an FBI agent should portray."  He added, "I want our agents to live up to that image."  (Hoover and Zimbalist are pictured on the front cover and, before you ask, no, Hoover is NOT wearing a dress.)

 

July 7th

Not much in the way of impression premiers on this week's chart … but a few will have a lasting impact.  

The highest debut of the week belongs to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, whose instrumental working of "The Happening" premiers at #72.  The Young Rascals have a new record on the chart this week as "A Girl Like You" (my personal favorite by them) debuts at #79.  Other notable tracks in the Forgotten Hits world include "Blue's Them" by Davie Allan and the Arrows (#92), "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Vanilla Fudge (#96), "My Mammy" by The Happenings (#97) and "To Love Somebody" by The Bee Gees (#100).  

After being performed live on the "Our World" television special on June 25th, beamed around the world via satellite, "All You Need Is Love" is released as the new Beatles single in The UK.  It will premier at #2 the following week , where it will stay for the next three weeks.

Speaking of The Beatles, Drummer Ringo Starr turns 27 years old today.
 

Here in Chicago, local acts hold six Top 40 positions, with The Buckinghams leading the pack at #8 with their latest, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy".

They are followed by The American Breed at #10, The Mauds at #15, The New Colony Six at #17, and, brand new at #20, The Cryan' Shames, followed by our friends from just north of the border, Michael and the Messengers, at #21 with their brand new remake of the old Reflections song, "(Just Like) Romeo And Juliet".

"Little Bit O'Soul" knocks "Windy" out of the top spot on the WLS chart after a five week run while hometown rival WCFL is reporting that "Windy" is still the "top dog" here in Chi-Town this week, placing The Music Explosion hit at #3.

Zal Yanofsky and Steve Boone of The Lovin' Spoonful are arrested for drug use.  They will later implicate several of San Francisco's biggest and best-connected drug dealers as part of their plea bargain.  

Actress Vivien Leigh (Scarlett from "Gone With The Wind") passes away at the age of 53.  

The Monkees' summer tour was scheduled to kick off today at Braves Stadium in Atlanta but the show was cancelled as the group had just returned home from England, were still in New York City and were completely exhausted.  It will begin tomorrow instead in Jacksonville, Florida … with The Jimi Hendrix Experience now onboard as their opening act!  (The Atlanta show was never rescheduled)

July 6th

Tracks earning bullets on the lower half of the chart include "For Your Love" by Peaches and Herb (which climbs from #49 to #41), "Silence Is Golden" by The Tremeloes (#62 to #43), "There Goes My Everything" by Engelbert Humperdinck (which premiered at #100 two weeks ago, moving from #61 to #47), "Hypnotized" by Linda Jones (#66 to #49), "Love Me Tender" by Percy Sledge (#58 to #50), "Somebody Help Me" by The Spencer Davis Group (#60 to #51), "I Like The Way" by Tommy James and the Shondells (#86 to #57, a leap of nearly 30 places), "In The Chapel In The Moonlight" by Dean Martin (which jumps from #97 to #58!), "Show Business" by Lou Rawls (#80 to #61), "Joy" by Mitch Ryder (#84 to #63), "You Only Live Twice" by Nancy Sinatra (#73 to #64), a medley of "Let The Good Times Roll" and "Feel So Good" by Bunny Sigler (#82 to #65), "I Wanna Testify" by The Parliaments (#78 to #66), "Your Unchanging Love" by Marvin Gaye (#98 to #69) and "Groovy Summertime" by The Love Generation" (#96 to #86).  

Here at Columbia Studios in Chicago, four moonlighting members of Motown's infamous session group, The Funk Brothers (along with The Andantes on background vocals) record the backing track for "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher".  Jackie Wilson will overdub his lead vocal in New York City a few days later … in just one take I may add … creating his last Top Ten Hit, which will hit the charts a month later.  

The Monkees return from their brief tour of England.  They are due to kick off the US leg of this tour tomorrow in Atlanta, Georgia, but this show will be cancelled due to the complete exhaustion of the Pre-Fab Four.

Civil War erupted between Nigeria and Biafra, after Biafra seceded from Nigeria to form The Republic of Biafra several weeks earlier.  Over the next two and a half years, it is believed that more than three million civilians died of fighting and starvation only to see Biafra reintegrated into Nigeria in 1970.

July 5th

Big movers throughout the rest of The Top 40 include "Mercy Mercy Mercy" by The Buckinghams (up from #32 to #24), "Soul Finger" by The Bar-Kays (#30 to #25), "Jackson" by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood (#42 to #29), "I Take It Back" by Sandy Posey (#41 to #30), "Don't Go Out Into The Rain" by Herman's Hermits (#46 to #34), "Carrie Anne" by The Hollies (#47 to #35) and "Step Out Of Your Mind" by The American Breed (#43 to #38).

Remembering The 4th of July - 1967

Brothers Phil and Joe Niekro face each other for the first time in a major league game in the first game of a double header in Atlanta against The Chicago Cubs.  Atlanta takes both games, with Phil beating Joe 8-3 in the opener and The Cubs losing 4-2 in the nightcap.  

The Freedom Of Information Act became official.  

Meanwhile, across the pond, The British Parliament decriminalizes homosexuality.

Tom Jones is the musical guest on the first episode of the brand new CBS Television Series "Spotlight".

July 3rd

"Windy" by The Association holds for a second week at #1, followed by "Little Bit O'Soul" by The Music Explosion (up from #4 to #2), "Can't Take My Eyes Off You " by Frankie Valli (up from #7 to #3), "San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie (up from #6 to #4), "Let's Live For Today" by The Grass Roots (up from #8 to #5) and "Don't Sleep In The Subway" by Petula Clark (up from #10 to #6).  Rounding out The Top Ten are "Groovin'" by The Young Rascals (down from #3 to #7), "Come On Down To My Boat" by Every Mother's Son (up a notch from #9 to #8), "She'd Rather Be With Me" by The Turtles (The Top Ten's biggest falling track, down from #2 to #9) and "Up, Up And Away" by The Fifth Dimension, the only NEW Top Ten Hit this week, climbing from #15 to #10.  (You'd be hard pressed to find a more solid Top Ten than this one!)

On the upswing in the rest of The Top Twenty we find "The Tracks Of My Tears" by Johnny Rivers (climbing from #13 to #11), "C'mon Marianne" by The Four Seasons (jumping #19 to #13), "Light My Fire" by The Doors (up from #22 to #15), "I Was Made To Love Her" by Stevie Wonder (which moves from #25 to #17), "Society's Child" by Janis Ian (up five places from #23 to #18), "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Procol Harum (up 18 places from #37 to #19) and "Here We Go Again" by Ray Charles (which climbs from #24 to #20).  Right behind it we find "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, which ALSO climbs 18 spots from #39 to #21.  

The #1 album again this week is "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles.  

Brian Epstein organized a party at The Speakeasy Club to welcome The Monkees, who were doing their first UK Tour.  Present that night were John and Cynthia Lennon, George and Patti Harrison, Paul McCartney with then-girlfriend Jane Asher, as well as Eric Clapton, Mama Cass Elliott, The Who, Dusty Springfield, members of Procol Harum, Lulu, Manfred Mann and Micky's future wife, Samantha Juste.   

In what clearly appears to be a conflicted timeline, it is reported that earlier that same  day,  Micky Dolenz had caught part of a British soap opera called "Till Death Do Us Part", which used the phrase "Randy Scouse Git" (loose translation:  horny Liverpudlian Lad), which inspired the title of his song.  The lyrics of the song reportedly recap several of the events of that evening's party.  ("She's a wonderful lady and she's mine all mine" [Samantha Juste]; "the four kings of EMI" [The Beatles] and the "girl in yellow dress" [Mama Cass].) 

NONE of this information times out properly as "Randy Scouse Git", a track on The Monkees' latest "Headquarters" LP, had already been out for a month and had recently topped Billboard's Album Chart ... Micky not having written it yet on July 3rd is simply an impossibility ... yet we found this date reported in a number of sources ...  so we just had to share it!  (Micky has always maintained that the title came from the television series "Till Death Do Us Part" ... but in that this was The Monkees' first trip to England, one cannot help but wonder how he saw it in time to record his track some four months earlier!!!  The Monkees recorded this track in sessions held on March 4th, March 5th and March 8th!!!)  In researched hindsight, a far more likely scenario would be that the inspiration came months earlier when Micky and Mike visited the UK to do some press for their just announced tour.  It so happens that Mama Cass was also there at that time, so our best guess is that this inspiration happened the night of February 8th at The Bag O'Nails club ... which would have given Micky plenty of time to write the song and record it in early March.

When released as a single in Great Britain, it went all the way to #2 under the name "Alternate Title" (as the record company felt the British slang a bit too much to garner airplay ... they didn't want to risk The Monkees' audience finding anything offensive about their new release.)  This single was never released here in America … but remains one of The Monkees' most popular tracks. 

Three years later "Till Death Do Us Part" would be "Americanized" into the controversial comedy "All In The Family" by Norman Lear.   

By evening's end George Harrison had broken out a ukulele for a jam session that included Peter Tork on banjo and Keith Moon drumming on the table.  (Man, if somebody had only had a camera there that night to film all of this!)

Meanwhile, across the globe, The Doors and Iron Butterfly performed at The Santa Monica Civic Center in Santa Monia, California.

July 2nd

The Monkees perform two MORE shows at Empire Pool in Wembley, North London today.  (For those of you keeping score, that makes FIVE sold out shows in all.)  Michael Nesmith collapses from exhaustion after the first show but recovers to do the second show later that evening.  

Michael and Micky both wear black armbands during this performance to show their solidarity and sympathy for Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, both recently convicted of drug offenses and sentenced to jail time.  

The National League race is tightening up as The Chicago Cubs move into a tie for first place with The St. Louis Cardinals.  Much of the 40,000+ crowd on hand at Wrigley Field wait till after the game to see the pennants rearranged on the scoreboard, moving The Cubs to the top position.  It is the first time The Chicago Cubs have been in First Place since 1945!!!  

#1 at the box office again this weekend was "The Dirty Dozen".  

July 1st, 1967

Hot time, Summer in the City … you'll find many of our July posts filled with race riot reports from around the country.  This was  NOT a good time in America … and in the heat of the summer, tempers flared and escalated … rioting, arson, and looting ran rampant … destroying and devastating many of our cities … not a very pretty picture of The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.  

July 1st, the day after her 24th birthday, Florence Ballard showed up inebriated during The Supremes' third performance at the Flamingo and stuck her stomach out from her suit. Angered, Berry Gordy immediately  ordered her to return to Detroit, and at this point, Cindy Birdsong officially replaced her.  (It had been decided months earlier that Birdsong would be Ballard's replacement, as soon as her contract with The Bluebelles could be bought out.)  Prior to this evening, Cindy Birdsong had filled in on a number of occasions … and Florence Ballard's failure to appear at certain Supremes events was explained away as a "temporary leave of absence" … which Ballard maintained for some time to come was also her understanding of her current position in the trio.  

Elvis Presley, his father Vernon and members of his "Memphis Mafia" attend Ann-Margret's show in Las Vegas.  

The Monkees perform two more sold out shows at Empire Pool in Wembley, North London.  

The Ventures and Tina Turner appear on "American Bandstand".  

"Funny Girl" closes at The Winter Garden Theater in New York City after 1348 performances.  

Canada celebrates its first 100 years of confederation.  

The first UK colour television program is broadcast (coverage of the Tennis Championship from Wimbledon).

If you're lucky enough to have tickets, you can catch Jefferson Airplane at Chicago's Civic Opera House tonight.  (Now THAT seems like a match made in heaven ... not!!!)  Their brand new single "White Rabbit" debuts on both Chicagoland Top 40 Charts this week, too.

June 30th

Songs working their way toward The Top 40 this week include "I Take It Back" by Sandy Posey (#41, up from #46),"Jackson" by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood (#42, up from #68), "Step Out Of Your Mind" by The American Breed (#43, up from #49), "Don't Go Out Into The Rain" by Herman's Hermits (#46 from #70), "Carrie Anne" by The Hollies (#47 from #53), "For Your Love" by Peaches and Herb (#49 from #71), "Somebody Help Me" by The Spencer Davis Group (#60 from #72), "There Goes My Everything" by Engelbert Humperdinck (#61 from #100, a leap of 39 points!) and "Silence Is Golden" by The Tremeloes (#62 from #81).  

The Monkees perform their first live show on British soil tonight at Empire Pool in Wembley, North London, England.  During their performance of "I Wanna Be Free", images of Mick Jagger are projected on a screen behind the band.  (Jagger had just been convicted of drug offenses and sentenced to three months in jail.)  Their young audience of 9597 fans (a sell-out crowd) proceeded to boo.  Mike Nesmith later told Keith Altham of New Musical Express "I can't tell you how miserable that made me.  I can only hope they were booing authority and not The Stones."

June 29th

As strong as this week's Top 40 seems to be, it's a pretty mediocre week for hot shot debuts.  There are a few diamonds in the rough however ...

Tommy James and the Shondells have a new record on the charts as "I Like The Way" premiers at #86.  Another all-time personal favorite of mine debuts at #90:  "My World Fell Down" by Sagittarius.  And The Forum premier at #99 with "The River Is Wide". 



"Joy" by Mitch Ryder debuts at #84, "Give Me Time" by Dusty Springfield at #85, "You Were On My Mind" by Crispian St. Peters at #87, "Mr. Pleasant" by The Kinks at #92, "Pictures of Lily" by The Who at #94, "Washed Ashore" by The Platters at #95, "In The Chapel In The Moonlight" by Dean Martin at #97 and "Your Unchanging Love" by Marvin Gaye at #98 … but despite the star-power attached to them, NONE of these records will leave any kind of a lasting impression on the folks buying (and playing) music in 1967. 

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones are found guilty of drug possession in a British courtroom.  Jagger was sentenced to three months in jail for possession of amphetamines and Richards was sentenced to one year for allowing his home to be used for cannabis use.  After a public outcry (including an essay published in The London Times defending the two), The Rolling Stones appealed the decision and a month later (on July 31st) Keith's conviction will be overturned but Mick's is upheld … and then reduced to a "conditional discharge" (aka probation). 

Mega-Hot Actress Jayne Mansfield (age 34 … her bust size was considerably larger) is killed (along with two others) in an automobile accident in Louisiana.  Contrary to long-published reports that have circulated for the past fifty years, she was NOT decapitated.  

Photos of what appeared to be a blond woman's head were leaked ... but her death notice clearly states that she died of a crushed skull with avulsion of the cranium and brain (see below) ... it is believed that what was photographed was most likely one of Jayne's blonde wigs, perhaps part of head "wig stand" mannequin.  Her three daughters were in the back street, sound asleep, and escaped unharmed.  One of those daughters, Mariska Hargitay, would go on to have her own successful television career, most notably for her role on "Law And Order: SVU", which was just renewed for its 19th season. 

[Probably one of the most famous photographs of Jayne Mansfield ever taken was this "side-eye" shot of Sophia Loren checking out Jayne's best known assets] ...

While touring with The Hollies, Graham Nash writes "Marrakesh Express", a song his own band will later refuse to record.  It is often cited as the deciding factor in Graham leaving the group, moving to The United States and ultimately forming Crosby, Stills and Nash with former Buffalo Springfield member Stephen Stills and former Byrd David Crosby.  "Marrakesh Express" becomes the super group's first hit single two years later. 



Frank Sinatra records "The World We Knew" in New York City.

June 28th

Many more great songs fill out The Top 40 this week.  Moving UP the list are "Light My Fire" by The Doors (#22 from #30), "Society's Child" by Janis Ian (#23 from #26), "Here We Go Again" by Ray Charles (#24 from #28), "I Was Made To Love Her" by Stevie Wonder (#25 from #34), "For Your Precious Love" by Oscar Toney, Jr. (#26 from #32), "Mary In The Morning" by Al Martino (#28 from #33), "Pay You Back With Interest" by The Hollies (#29 from #36), "Soul Finger" by The Bar-Kays (#30 from #38), "Mercy Mercy Mercy" by The Buckinghams (#32 from #47), "Shake Rattle And Roll" by Arthur Conley (#34 from #41), "Make Me Yours" by Bettye Swann (#36 from #43), "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Procol Harum (#37 from #69, a jump of 32 points!), "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby" by The Dave Clark Five (#38 from #42), "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane (#39 from #56) and "More Love" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (#40 from #44).  

Holding their position or making their descent down the chart, this week's Top 40 also gives us "Do It Again A Little Bit Slower" by Jon and Robin (#21), "Release Me" by Engelbert Humperdinck (#27), "Sound Of Love" by The Five Americans (#31), "All I Need" by The Temptations (#33) and "I Got Rhythm" by The Happenings (#35).  

Spanky And Our Gang record "Lazy Day" at Bell Sound Studio in New York City.

June 27th

Rounding out The Top 20, we've got great hits like "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" by Spanky and Our Gang at #11, "Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead" by The Fifth Estate at #12, "The Tracks Of My Tears" by Johnny Rivers at #13, "New York Mining Disaster, 1941" by The Bee Gees at #14, "Up, Up And Away" by The Fifth Dimension at #15, "Alfie" by Dionne Warwick at #16, "Somebody To Love" by Jefferson Airplane at #17, "Seven Rooms of Gloom" by The Four Tops at #18, "C'mon Marianne" by The Four Seasons at #19 and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell at #20.  

The first automated cash machine is installed at The Barclays Bank of Enfield in England.  

Mick Jagger's possession trial began today.  He was held in jail overnight and requested books on Tibet and modern art and two packs of Benson and Hedges cigarettes for his stay.  Two days later he and his Rolling Stones partner Keith Richards would be found guilty and sentenced to jail time.  The Stones later had this decision overturned on appeal.