"The 1960s Pop-Rock Music and TV Shows Net" Roundup - March 2010

The old saying, "Where does the time go" is certainly appropriate for March, 2010. It seemed that the month had just started and the next thing I knew, it was over and April was already underway. Do you ever have months like this that come and go incredibly fast without the feeling of having spent any time in the month whatsoever?

March 2010 was a month in which we lost several well-known 1960s pop-rock recording artists. The musicians who left us with quite a few great songs include Alex Chilton of The Box Tops (The Letter & Cry Like A Baby), Johnny Maestro, lead singer for The Crests of 16 Candles (late 1959) fame, and later Brooklyn Bridge and their big 1969 hit, Worst That Could Happen. In addition, Ron Banks of the very early 1970s R&B group, The Dramatics (Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get), also passed in March.

The month of March and the first day of April were even more dramatic in the loss of five major television actors, all with lengthy filmographies and leaving us with many fond memories from the small screen. There was former Los Angeles Rams defensive star and later actor, Merlin Olsen, perhaps best known for his lead role in Father Murphy, Peter Graves who starred in the 1960s hit series,Mission Impossible, Fess Parker of Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone fame, Robert Culp from the sixties undercover agent hit show, I Spy, and John Forsythe who starred in Bachelor Father, The John Forsythe Show, To Rome With Love, all in the 1960s, and later starring as Blake Carrington on the 1980s super series, Dynasty. Whether its music, television, your personal life or family, we must value and treasure each and every day and appreciate all the wonderful memories we have accumulated over the years. Its really all we have!

As for The 1960s Nostalgia Net, overall participation was up some from the previous month, but still lower than a year ago. It was with great pleasure to welcome back to theNet,K7UNL (Bob in Scottsdale) after a nearly one year hiatus due to a radio equipment problem. Bob, a long-time '60s music radio DJ, has a broad, in-depth knowledge of the music of the sixties decade and always has some very interesting insights to share with the membership as we discuss various hit songs and the groups who performed them. Welcome back, Bob!!!

The Net was conducted four of the five Wednesdays of the month with moderate participation. A total of 12 stations checked in at least once or more during the month. There were two stations with Perfect Attendance during March - KE7GRV (Terry in Tempe) and K7UNL (Bob). Thank you, Terry and Bob for being on the Net each week! I would also like to mention K7DMF (Dave in Vail) and his wife Patty, who together, normally participate in the Net each and every week. During March, however, the "never absent duo" missed the March 10 Net which was a concern for this Net Host. As we would find out later, Dave and Patty were in Mesa the night of the missed Net celebrating the birth of their new Granddaughter. Congratulations to the Grandparents and Grandbaby!

As always, there were a lot of interesting and challenging trivia questions covering both 1960s pop-rock music and TV shows. The three featured segments of the Net, "This Week In 1960s Rock and Roll History", "#1 Hits For The Week Of.....", and "This Week In 1960s Television History", continued to be an integral part of the Net each week.

I would like to encourage all our '60s Net participants to actively recruit some new members as we move further into the new year. We have a terrific core group of Net members, but it is imperative that to sustain the Net over the long term, other hams, too be invited into the fold. To this point, I would like to thank KE7GRV (Terry) for inviting W4VYD (Nunz in Tucson) to join us for the March 31st Net. It was great having a new voice participate in the Net and to further champion our cause of retaining the 220 band for amateur use.

Until next month, I hope to hear you on the Net each week as we relive those incomparable days of the 1960s. I'll see you on Wednesday, and until then, "stay young and keep on rockin'!"

73',

John N7LQR

Maricopa, AZ