CHARTS 1968
KTKT continued to publish charts on a weekly basis during 1968. At the start of 1968 the charts were the same style that debuted with the January 29 1965 edition. This design was a single page of paper about four inches wide and six inches long. Different colors of paper were used each week alternating between blue, green, yellow and a pale tan color. One side of the chart displayed the weekly top 40 tunes and a short list of the best selling albums. The other side of the published chart – as first seen during 1966 - showed a variety of different subjects ranging from paid ads to messages and pictures featuring KTKT contests and promotions. One ad depicts Apple Beer- whatever happened to Apple Beer? – while another shows the old acne fighter Tackle. DJ photos show up a few times the first half of the year but not often. During July KTKT jock Mike “Boy” Nardone wrote some real quirky humor on the rear covers. The KTKT charts underwent a big design and size change August 1968. The charts continued to be a single printed sheets but the size changed. The new chart size was now about 3 ¾ inches wide and about 8 ½ inches long. A new KTKT logo also made a debut in August. It can be found at the top of the chart. And as first seen during 1967 some 1968 KTKT charts would be printed on one side only showing a blank rear cover. This really became the norm starting during August. I have noted most of these editions in the 1968 chart album display. I have also added a caption to the December 14 1968 chart that the date printed on the chart is not correct. During 1968 the KTKT weekly charts continued to debut on each Saturday and to run until midnight the following Friday.
Music wise during 1968 the Beatles and Stones continues to churn out the hits. “Hey Jude” by The Beatles dominated the airwaves and charts during the last few months of the year. The angst and hard beat heard in the garage music of 1966 and the excesses heard during the psychedelic music era of 1967 seemed to diminish during 1968. A return to simpler times was evident with the release of The Beatles White Album. Another new music trend for 1968 was “bubblegum music” aimed at the younger teens. The 1910 Fruitgum Company and Ohio Express were at the forefront here. At the same time a new harder edged music popularized by acts such as Jimi Hendrix and Cream during 1967 continue to grow. KTKT charts show this trend still growing during 1968 with songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Vanilla Fudge and The Iron Butterfly appearing on the charts. KTKT even devoted an entire new program every weekday evening to this new harder edged music – much of it found only on LP’s – not 45 RPM singles. “Threshold “ - a ground breaking program - produced and hosted by KTKT DJ Frank Casanova focused entirely on this style of music
Most of the 1968 charts are scans of the original charts I have obtained over the years. Like 1967 some of the fonts used during 1968 make the songs and artists very hard to read. The magnify feature really helps with this problem
If anyone has KTKT charts to scan or loan for use on this web site (with full credit) please contact us at: colorchannel99@yahoo.com
KTKT Charts 1968
To view a slide show of the charts from 1968, click on the button below. As it appears, you can stop, start, fast forward, or go back by using the controls at the bottom of the page.
