ROCK AND ROLL BRANCHES OUT – DECEMBER 1968

DECEMBER 1968
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It has often been said (by me) that pop music turned darker after 1967’s Summer of Love, but today’s show does a fairly good job of proving me wrong on this point. While it is true that both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones incorporated experimentation and darker themes into their music post-1967, and drugs fueled many other bands to take off the rose-colored glasses, you would not discern the change from today’s show.
The singles featured in this show all maintain their pop sheen, making a liar out of me by leaving the impression that Summer of Love never ended. Only the album tracks betray the encroaching darkness. The album tracks also point the way to the future, and the future was headed in a direction far away from the pop pleasantries of these singles. So, I maintain that I am not wrong in my assessment, but I also will concede that to get the full story, you must look at the subject from all angles.
With that in mind, we start today’s show with a few typically “Great Hits” from the month of December ’68, touch on one silly ‘Great Miss,” then extract a few great album tracks from that very same month.

Here’s a list of songs that we cover in today’s show;
1) Crimson and Clover – Tommy James & the Shondells
2) I’m Gonna Make You Love Me – The Supremes and the Temptations
3A) Am I the Same Girl - Barbara Acklin
3B) Soulful Strut – Young-Holt Unlimited
4) Hooked on a Feeling – B.J. Thomas
5) Son of a Preacher Man – Dusty Springfield
6) Stand By Your Man – Tammy Wynette
7) Chewy Chewy – The Ohio Express (as a ‘Great Miss’)
8-…) Album Tracks from The Monkees’ “Head”