Victor Lundberg (September 2, 1923 – February 14, 1990) was an American radio personality, newscaster, and advertising executive from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He gained fleeting national fame in the late 1960s not as a singer or musician, but as the stern, spoken-word narrator of a provocative single that captured the generational tensions of the Vietnam War era. Lundberg was a familiar voice on local radio, known for his serious delivery and conservative leanings, but his brush with pop culture stardom was as unexpected as it was short-lived.
The Record: “An Open Letter to My Teenage Son”
In September 1967, while working as a newscaster at Grand Rapids’ WMAX radio station, Lundberg recorded “An Open Letter to My Teenage Son”, a 4-minute-28-second spoken-word track released as a 45 RPM single on Liberty Records. The piece was written by Robert R. Thompson (a songwriter who based it loosely on a real letter to his own 17-year-old son) and produced by Jack Tracy. Lundberg’s deep, authoritative voice overlays a dramatic instrumental rendition of the Civil War anthem “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” creating an almost sermon-like atmosphere.
The B-side, “My Buddy Carl” (3:46), shifts slightly to address racial prejudice through a soldier’s wartime letter, but it reinforces similar themes of duty and morality over the same instrumental.
The single exploded locally in Michigan before Liberty pushed it nationally. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #84 on November 11, 1967, then rocketed up: #58 (week of November 18), #18 (November 25), and #10 (December 2)—one of the fastest climbs in Hot 100 history at the time.
Lundberg performed it live on The Ed Sullivan Show on November 12, 1967, amplifying its visibility. Emboldened, Liberty released a full album, An Open Letter, in late 1967 with 10 tracks of similar musings—some softer —but it flopped commercially.
