| Length | 29:54 |
| Licensor | Peter Bochan |
| Producer(s) | Peter Bochan |
| Formats | Archival, Documentary, Special |
| Topics | Historical Anniversaries, Music, News |
| Produced | April, 1993 |
| Added to PRX | February 15, 2008 |
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1968-The 40th Anniversary Mix
April: 40th Anniversary -assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, Election Year Turmoil
Emotional, Sound Rich, Unusual
English
An unpopular war was raging overseas, as the equally upopular President chose not to seek re-election, while his party fought for a change toward "new policies" and the crew of Apollo 8 embarked on a journey to the moon.
1968 was an election year that brought the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. The Vietnam War took a record number of casualties. Many cities burned as people took to the streets against the war and against racism.
The Presidential election process gave way to unprecedented turmoil, with deep divisions in the political parties, including protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention, and riots in the streets of Chicago (leading to the political trials of the "Chicago 8" and the Catonsville 9 for burning draft files in Maryland). It was also a time of intense resistance on college campuses across the country, with battles between hawks & doves, rich and poor, young and old, black and white.
Using only the sounds, music and voices of one of the most explosive and memorable years in history, this 40th Anniversary mix captures a time when America came to a crossroads that almost destroyed the dream and any bridge for that famous "generation gap".
Featuring "Yippies" Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and underground and counter-culture heroes like The Fugs, Cat Mother & The All-Night Newsboys, David Peel & The Lower East Side, the Amboy Dukes, Jimi Hendrix, Sly and The Family Stone, the Rolling Stones, the Band, Mary Hopkins, Marvin Gaye, the Moody Blues, Ennio Morricone, 2001: A Space Odssey, Aretha Franklin, the Beatles, the Monkees, the cast of "Hair", Simon and Garfunkel, Cream, The Firesign Theater, with Dustin Hoffman, Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, Huey P. Newton, Charlton Heston, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, H.Rap Brown, Stokley Carmichael, Sammy Davis Jr, Eldridge Cleaver, Joe Cocker, Marshall Efron, "Rosko", Spiro T. Agnew, General Westmoreland, Sen. Ted Kennedy, LBJ and many more.
Recorded and mixed in analogue on a Tascam vintage 4-track, "A Shortcut through 1968" features no narration, it's message evolves from the careful juxtaposition of the various elements, including airchecks from the archives of WBAI in 1968 (with the voices of free-form radio founders Bob Fass, Steve Post and Larry Josephson) mixed with interviews on "what do you remember about 1968?"
"The Whole World's Watching!"- Protesters (outside Democratic Convention center in Chicago 1968)
The additional mix is a music medley from 1968--what a year!
