A group made up mostly of Indians seized AlcatrazIsland, and held it for 19 months in protest against treatment of Native Americans. Anti-war marches staged a huge rally in WashingtonDC. Tiny Tim and Miss Vicky married on The Tonight Show. And on screen, William Holden and Ernest Borgnine starred in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch.
And on the charts at number 11, a future number one song that was never finished. It came from Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, and Paul Leka - who was also, gave us the song Green Tamborine as a member of The Lemon Pipers. Originally designed as a throw-away B-side, it was shortened from 8-minutes in length because 45's couldn't accommodate that many grooves in the vinyl and phonograph needles kept jumping off the record about four minutes into the tune. Even so, the tune was recorded with less than a full compliment of musicians because they actually wanted it to sound inferior, so that deejays everywhere would know that it wasn't the single and play the other side. Of course, no one remembers the other side now - a fate sealed when the Chicago White Sox began playing it when the team won its home games at old ComiskeyPark. The band's name? Well, that came from the end of the session when the band walked out of the studio and saw steam rising from Manhattan's manhole covers, and the "nah-nah-nah" lyrics weren't really lyrics at all - just placeholders, which the trio could replace with real words later on.
Today's Southwest Airlines Freedom Break on 98.7 KLUV, from this day in 1969. Steam, with Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.
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