A Hippie van with an FM stereo radio...
Why are you reporting this puzzle?
Never heard of "It’s A Beautiful Day" and the song "White Bird"? Well, here's why...
It was timing. It was because "It's A Beautiful Day" came out right when so many "underground" bands were making songs that lasted longer than 10 minutes. The FCC had regulations on AM radio that required all stations to give their call sign and frequency every 10 minutes whereas amateur radio operators were only required to give their call signs hourly.
So the popular AM stations started opening FM "sister stations" and those 'underground-type' songs started moving to FM where the FCC didn't have the same restrictions in place. That meant that the new longer songs could be played in their entirety without interruptions. And they could be broadcasted and received in stereo. The AM stations still operated but mostly for pop music and popular talk shows.
Now, back then most car radios built before '67 and most transistor radios only had access to the AM band and some of the cars had 4-track tape players (mono), but the home stereos and some transistor and expensive car radios could receive FM and play 8-track tapes in stereo.
So when "It's A Beautiful Day" came out in '69 on FM, if you didn't have a newer car, you probably didn't have a stereo radio yet and therefore, you simply missed them. However, within a very few years FM became the home for rock and pop music while AM became filled with talk shows. And the new cars came equipped with AM-FM radios and cassette players.
Plus, at that time there was just so much competition and so many great stations from which to choose. This created what turned out to be a great (but short-lived) time in the history of American radio. They played pop and rock music on the majority of both AM and FM stations at the same time. As if that wasn't enough, there were also the legendary talents of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jimmy Morrison, and the underground music of Iron Butterfly, Rare Earth, Steppenwolf, The Chambers Brothers, Donovan and many more.
And what do these hit groups have in common? Groups and singers including The Rolling Stones (Honky Tonk Woman), The Beatles (Something/Come Together/Get Back), Sly and The Family Stone (Hot Fun In the Summertime/Everyday People), Tommy James and The Shondells (Crimson and Clover/Crystal Blue Persuasion), Three Dog Night (One/Easy to be Hard), The Cowsills, Elvis, Credence, The Youngbloods, Marvin Gaye, Neil Diamond, Blood Sweet and Tears, Friends of Distinction, The Isley Brothers, The Guess Who, Jackie DeShannon, The Grass Roots, Spiral Staircase, Bob Dylan, Edwin Starr, The Turtles, Gary Puckett, Paul Revere, The Box Tops, and so many others. Even Bobby Sherman and The Archies all had #1 Hits in 1969!
So when I said it was just a case of poor timing for a new group like “It’s a Beautiful Day” to debut, you can see why. And they weren’t the only band to get passed by, and for the same reasons. Blodwyn Pig (Mick Abrahams formally of Jethro Tull), Blue Cheer and others were, too.
I hope you enjoyed this. And that is one "Boss" looking van, huh?
It was timing. It was because "It's A Beautiful Day" came out right when so many "underground" bands were making songs that lasted longer than 10 minutes. The FCC had regulations on AM radio that required all stations to give their call sign and frequency every 10 minutes whereas amateur radio operators were only required to give their call signs hourly.
So the popular AM stations started opening FM "sister stations" and those 'underground-type' songs started moving to FM where the FCC didn't have the same restrictions in place. That meant that the new longer songs could be played in their entirety without interruptions. And they could be broadcasted and received in stereo. The AM stations still operated but mostly for pop music and popular talk shows.
Now, back then most car radios built before '67 and most transistor radios only had access to the AM band and some of the cars had 4-track tape players (mono), but the home stereos and some transistor and expensive car radios could receive FM and play 8-track tapes in stereo.
So when "It's A Beautiful Day" came out in '69 on FM, if you didn't have a newer car, you probably didn't have a stereo radio yet and therefore, you simply missed them. However, within a very few years FM became the home for rock and pop music while AM became filled with talk shows. And the new cars came equipped with AM-FM radios and cassette players.
Plus, at that time there was just so much competition and so many great stations from which to choose. This created what turned out to be a great (but short-lived) time in the history of American radio. They played pop and rock music on the majority of both AM and FM stations at the same time. As if that wasn't enough, there were also the legendary talents of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jimmy Morrison, and the underground music of Iron Butterfly, Rare Earth, Steppenwolf, The Chambers Brothers, Donovan and many more.
And what do these hit groups have in common? Groups and singers including The Rolling Stones (Honky Tonk Woman), The Beatles (Something/Come Together/Get Back), Sly and The Family Stone (Hot Fun In the Summertime/Everyday People), Tommy James and The Shondells (Crimson and Clover/Crystal Blue Persuasion), Three Dog Night (One/Easy to be Hard), The Cowsills, Elvis, Credence, The Youngbloods, Marvin Gaye, Neil Diamond, Blood Sweet and Tears, Friends of Distinction, The Isley Brothers, The Guess Who, Jackie DeShannon, The Grass Roots, Spiral Staircase, Bob Dylan, Edwin Starr, The Turtles, Gary Puckett, Paul Revere, The Box Tops, and so many others. Even Bobby Sherman and The Archies all had #1 Hits in 1969!
So when I said it was just a case of poor timing for a new group like “It’s a Beautiful Day” to debut, you can see why. And they weren’t the only band to get passed by, and for the same reasons. Blodwyn Pig (Mick Abrahams formally of Jethro Tull), Blue Cheer and others were, too.
I hope you enjoyed this. And that is one "Boss" looking van, huh?
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