KRLA – Dave Hull Show – May 5, 1968 – Ellis Feaster Collection –
May 1968- big things going on in the rest of the world this month, but for you it’s a month until graduation. Finally – after 12 years it’s over. All over but the shouting.
And of course, your big assignment in Homeroom is to write an essay on where you think you will be in five years and in ten years from May 1968. What do you think your life is going to look like – where do you think you will be. Will you still be in L.A.? Will you get drafted? Will you get married? Will you have kids? What will you be thinking about? What will be important to you in 1973 or 1978? Will you still know the same people? How much do you think your life will change, will it change at all? Will you still be living at home? What kind of a job do you think you’ll have? What will you do for a living?
You draw blanks – you don’t really know what you’ll be doing in five years, let alone ten – will you even be alive? Five years seems like lifetime – ten years; an eternity.
You scribble things down on paper and hand it in – you make up stuff and you think it’s kind of crazy; wondering what your life will be like in the future. How can anybody know that?
And your Homeroom teacher lines everybody up and snaps a picture of the class – saying we’ll look back on all this and either nod our heads or shake our heads when we do get together for our ten year reunion.
You lost your copy of the photo a few years after that – don’t know what happened to it. And yes, the ten year reunion did happen. And yes, someone did keep their copy of the photo.
And your Homeroom teacher was right – your life became completely different in ways you couldn’t imagine in May of 1968.
And you look at the faces and you remember the girls you had crushes on and you wonder. But then you notice something you don’t remember from that day. There you were, in the front row looking apprehensive and a little unsure – the girl you were in love with who wouldn’t give you the right time of day, second from the end in the front row. And you notice something you hadn’t noticed before. Your fly was open when they took the picture.
You sit horrified just as the dj turns on a tape – KRLA and Dave Hull from the day we wrote the essay and took the picture.
Sometimes the past can be so strange.
Editors Note: It’s ironic and very sad that, the day I posted this it was learned that Dave Hull, the legendary Hullabalooer, passed away at 86. Further evidence nothing is forever. Thank you for making life fun – you will be missed.
This aircheck of Dave Hull says it’s from May 5th,1968.I looked up a 1968 calendar,and it said that May 5th was on a SUNDAY!I don’t EVER recall hearing Dave Hull on KRLA doing a Sunday show!Could this have been Saturday,the 4th instead?I noticed he was on from what sounded like 6 to 10 a.m.,which sounded more like a weekend shift!I think he was on 6 to 9 a.m.during the week?
I think he did mention Sunday at one point. Someone sent this to me so I am taking their word for it.
Came back after seeing this post yesterday to mention that Dave had passed—I see you beat me to it, Gordon. What a career—32 years in Los Angeles (1964-1996), and then 16 years at the same station in Palm Springs (KWXY).
As for the date of this aircheck, he doesn’t mention a day. However, Dave worked Monday through Saturday, according to KRLA historian Bill Earl (makes sense, as early Sunday morning would have been mostly eaten up by religious programming and/or public affairs shows).
Gerry, when Rhett Walker left KRLA in early 1968, KRLA decided not to replace him, and instead went to four-hour shifts, so Dave was on from 6:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
So while this aircheck is not a Sunday, and that lets out May 5, we don’t know what day or date it was. The Monkees LP cut, “Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro and “The Happy Song” by Otis Redding make sense for early May.
I’m thinking it could be either the 15th or the 25th. I’m sure we’ll find out.
Thanks for keeping it all accurate.
G.
Gordon, unfortunately there are no KRLA charts available, either at Oldiesloon or at ARSA, for May of 1968, but the 15th strikes me as very late to still be playing an LP cut of the Monkees album. Both “Honey” and “The Happy Song” fell off the KHJ chart on May 15th. The 25th would be way too late.
This is probably May 4 or May 6, but there’s no way to tell from what’s on it, and I’ve never found a longer version of it that might contain more info.
I would probably lean towards May 6th since it’s possible a 6 could be confused for a 5, depending on if it’s written in pencil or scribbled ( as a lot of us are likely to do at the time).