1969: plenty of rock & roll, soul, folk, and history. The challenge is fitting as much as possible into four hours! Next week: 1992View This Weekend’s Playlist

In 1971, minimum wage was $1.60 an hour and a new stereo LP cost around $3.50 (8 tracks and cassettes were a dollar more). It was a fertile year for music, with unforgettable recordings from the Stones, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, Carole King, Marvin Gaye, The Doors, and, well, 4 hours worth of great songs!

Here’s today’s playlist:View This Weekend’s Playlist

1980 was a presidential election year, an Olympic year, and the year that we lost John Lennon. There were a lot of great songs and a few goofy ones. We hope you heard a few of your personal favorites on Flashback!

Here’s the playlist:View This Weekend’s Playlist

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1989. The Berlin Wall went down. Prodemocracy demonstrators were executed at Tiananmen Square. The Energizer bunny and Nintendo’s first Gameboy debuted. The Cubs almost made it to the World Series, again. And XRT was playing great music!
Join us next week for 1980.
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1969: a potpourri of music! We fit as much as we could into 4 hours – rock, blues, soul, singer-songwriters, and an instrumental piece from Frank Zappa. An X-rated film won the Oscar for Best Picture (Midnight Cowboy), and John Wayne won the award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in the original True Grit. It was the year of Woodstock, a new TV show called “Sesame Street”, the first men on the moon, and a February evening at the Kinetic Playground featured Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin and Vanilla Fudge. Tickets were $5, and it wasn’t even a budget show!
Next week, it’ll be 1989.
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1986. Ronald Reagan was in the White House, and Harold Washington was Chicago’s mayor. XRT introduced debut albums from The Bodeans, Steve Earle, Bruce Hornsby, The Smithereens, Timbuk 3, and Crowded House. Yet another year for great music!
Next week: 1969

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1973. Pink Floyd released Dark Side of the Moon. Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions won the Grammy for “Album of the Year.” Further proof that the 60s were really over: “Laugh In” and “The Mod Squad” went off the air. Topping out at 110 stories, the new Sears Tower became the tallest building in the world. President Nixon assured us he was not “a crook.”
It’s always fun to host Flashback, but 1973 is one of those years that offers a lot of musical gems.
Next week: 1986

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1993: Bill Clinton became the 42nd U.S. President, Michael Jackson starred in the Superbowl halftime show, and Smashing Pumpkins‘ Siamese Dream topped the 20th annual XRT Listener Poll. Stephen Spielberg had a decent year, with the release of both Jurassic Park and Shindler’s List. Perhaps the music of Saturday Morning Flashback took you back 18 years and made you smile…
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1978: toga parties, Mayor Bilandic’s “Chicagofest”, the demise of the Chicago Daily News, the birth of the first “test tube” baby, and a lot of great music. From “Sex and Drugs and Rock & Roll” to “Sultans of Swing”, I hope you heard some of your favorites!
Next week: 1993
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1988 was a Presidential election year, an Olympic year, and the year that U2 topped the XRT Listener Poll for the second time in a row with “Rattle and Hum”. (#1 in 1987: “The Joshua Tree”) Notable newcomers to the music scene included Melissa Etheridge, Tracy Chapman, Cowboy Junkies, and a group of very talented buddies that called themselves the Traveling Wilburys. It was the year the lights went on at Wrigley Field, and Michael Jordan won his first NBA Most Valuable Player award.
I hope some of the songs on Flashback brought a smile to your face!

Next week, it will be 1978.
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1967 is the show that keeps me on my toes (ouch!), what with all the short (under 3 minutes) songs and all the fun facts like albums cost $4.79, a January blizzard paralyzed Chicago, and John Lennon supposedly called the Monkees “the Marx Brothers of rock & roll”! It was the year Otis Redding died and Kurt Cobain was born. ’67 is a unique year that’s a lot of fun to feature on Flashback.
Next week, it’ll be 1988!
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Wendy Rice and I were enjoying cocktails at a gathering over the weekend when a song we both love came on the radio.  “Drive Somewhere” by The Vulgar Boatmen began its meandering journey on the airwaves of XRT and Wendy and I discussed the band’s byzantine history.  How the two chief songwriters exchanged cassettes to collaborate on creating songs.  How the band had a Florida line-up and a somewhat different Indiana line-up.  And how any list of rock’s greatest driving tunes must include “Drive Somewhere.”  So I come into work this morning and slap my forehead in an ‘omg’ manner because I realize that Schubas Tavern is hosting the very same Vulgar Boatmen this Saturday.  Continue Reading & Watch Video