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Friday, 8 August 2025

oh by jingo(12. 642)

Released on this day in 1964, the novelty single by The Young World Singers amid the race between the LBJ-Barry Goldwater-George Wallace (previously) urged people to vote for Ringo Starr for US president. Charting on Billboard’s Top 100 during the Republican convention with a concerted write-in campaign for the potential fourth spoiler candidate (Starr ineligible by dent of his being a British subject), it is unclear if their well-organised contingent had any political impact, most fans and supporters of the Beatles’ drummer “who didn’t talk about war” being under the age of twenty-one and not yet able to vote. Perhaps however it did in a small part influence the decision to lower the voting age to that of conscription and Johnson’s later decision not to seek the Democrat nomination for the 1968 election and a second term.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Laverne and Shirley billing (with synchronopticæ)

thirteen years ago: the search for past life on Mars plus budgetary woes