Top 40 AM radio and foreshadowings of future

Of course, at that time KXOK was pure AM radio, exactly
what it soon became cool and hip to look down on.

Ads for Clearasil acne medicine, roaring commercials for
the local drag racing track.

Who can forget that thunderous and reverberating,
"Be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be !!!!!!!!!!!
There !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" ?

And of course it played only short songs. Who knew
that songs could go longer than 3 minutes?

Well, as the creative explosion began, we found
out. Probably the earliest example was the
first album by The Mothers of Invention,
FREAK OUT, which was actually recorded back in
1965, though it was long before its time.

Nobody knew about it when it came out. Frank
Zappa and the Mothers became popular and well
known with the release of ABSOLUTELY FREE a
little later.

But, actually, the harbingers of change were
being played even in 1965: "Positively 4th
Street," "Rainy Day Women" and "Like a
Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan, who had created
his own foundation in folk music.

The Byrds with "Turn Turn Turn" and "Eight
Miles High."

Jefferson Airplane with "Somebody to Love" and
"White Rabbit."

Even the AM hits that were attempting to cash
in on the new trends validate the importance
of the new trends: "Crimson and Clover" by
Tommy James and the Shondells and "Incense
and Peppermint" by The Strawberry Alarm Clock.

And of course, the 45 single from The Beatles
that had "Penny Lane" on one side and
"Strawberry Fields" on the other.

We didn't know yet that those songs, so
far removed from The Beatles songs of 1964,
were but a warm up to . . .

SARGENT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND.

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