Gary and the Moondogs

The Year was 1968, and the world was changing

The Summer of Love was over, and it was now becoming the Winter of our
Discontent. There was much turbulence everywhere, both in and out of the
Beatle camp.

In January of 1968, the Beatles released Magical Mystery Tour, which was
accompanied by a made for TV movie. It was not well received. The album itself
was panned as a "lesser Sgt. Pepper," while the television show was basically
labeled as pure crap. The years would prove otherewise (at least for the album).

Meanwhile, the Viet Nam war raged on, and Richard Nixon was announcing his
bid for President.

In February, the Beatles made their much publicized trip to India, and Sgt Pepper
was crowned album of the year (1967) at the Grammy awards.

Minimum wage was $1.60 per hour.

In March, President LBJ announced that he would not seek re-election, and
Robert Kennedy threw his hat into the Presidential ring. Riots were occuring on
college campuses in protest over the war.

In April, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The musical HAIR opened on
Broadway.

May saw the Beatles announcement of the formation of APPLE CORP. The Stones
released Jumping Jack Flash

In June, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated.

July marked the release of the Beatles animated film YELLOW SUBMARINE

August brought us the Chicago riots and the Beatles 1st release on APPLE
Records. It was HeyJude/Revolution - a pretty good first effort! Hey Jude would
stay #1 for a record 9 weeks, and was to date the longest song ever played on pop
radio.

September saw the creation of the Big Mac, in Pittsburgh, PA.

In October, The Beatles (White Album) was completed.

November brought the election of Richard M (stands for Mo) Nixon, and the
release of the White Album.

December saw the premier of Sesame Street.

Wow. What a year. It is clear that much of who we are today was planted in 1968.
The tumult, the war, the civil unrest and the struggles of 1968 will go down in our
history as pivotal events. And through it all was the music of the Beatles. Not
often mentioned as one of the band's watershed years, we believe that this
timeline shows that to be false. Who else, in the history of music, put out two
albums of the quality of Magical Mystery Tour and the White Album, a movie
soundtrack, started a record label, and had the #1 song of the year in a 12 month
period. We think it is safe to say that we will never see the likes of it again in our
lifetime.

This year, Gary and the Moondogs salutes the Beatle songs of 1968 and all that
they have given us, and will continue to give us for the rest of our lives.

We sincerely hope you will enjoy the show!

Gary, Stan, Scott and Groovy