I was pretty young when I figured out that music was
something that would be a constant in my life. I remember learning how to do “The
Twist” as a very young girl, and moving to the music of the 1960’s. I was too
young to faint for Elvis or scream for The Beatles, but they still drove the
evolution in music that I became immersed in.
The music of the 60’s went from the chorale sounding groups
like Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons (Can’t
Take My Eyes Off Of You, My Eyes Adore You), the Shangr-Las (Leader of the Pack), into a blues-driven
sound of the Isley Brothers (Who’s That
Lady, It’s Your Thing) and Wilson Pickett (Mustang Sally). Some of my favorites from that era:
Incense And Peppermints---Strawberry
Alarm Clock
Venus---Shocking
Blue
Time of the Season---The Zombies
Lightenin’ Strikes---Lou Christie
Sounds of Silence---Simon
and Garfunkel
To Sir, With Love---Lulu
Dizzy---Tommy Roe
We Gotta Get Out of This Place---The
Animals
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In---5th Dimension
Crimson and Clover---Tommy James and the
Shondells
The socially conscious era of the Vietnam War and changes here at home had begun to surface in music. Many groups addressed the political and social unrest of that
decade through music, creating some of the most powerful songs to date:
War---Edwin
Starr
Ohio---Crosby,
Stills, Nash and Young
Paint It Black---The
Rolling Stones
The 1970’s moved us into even more of a rock mode. The heavy
hitters of the early 70’s were still influenced by the evolving technology of
recording. The 60’s were dominated by vinyl records, but there was a new chick
in town—the multi-track tape recording.
The 60’s had moved us from 4-track to 8 track recording. Our first car
audio system was a 4-track, installed by my brother. It was not long until it
progressed to 8-track, and I lugged those cases of tapes all over the
country. I was one of the few who had a quadraphonic
stereo at home that simulated surround sound, after purchasing that specific
type of 8-track tape.
A few of my 70’s favorite singles:
Holdin’ On to Yesterday---Ambrosia
A Horse With No Name---America
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida---Iron Butterfly
Mama Told Me Not To Come---Three Dog NIght
Dream Weaver---Gary
Wright
Never Been Any Reason---Head East
The Rapper---Jaggerz
My Sharona---The
Knack
Bad Motor Scooter---Montrose
Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo---Rick Derringer
Reelin’ In the Years---Steely Dan
Lady---Styx
Roundabout---Yes
Ride Captain Ride---Blues Image
Come and Get It---Badfinger
Hooked on a Feeling---Blue Suede
Also, I want to thank pretty much all the biggies: Creedence
Clearwater Revival, Kiss, Bad Company, Led Zepplin, The Who, Bachman-Turner
Overdrive, Boston, The Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, Elton John, The Guess Who,
Heart, Jethro Tull, Queen, Seals and Crofts, Rush, Steve Miller Band, and ZZ
Top, just to name a few. I knew the words to every song on every album , and you made it heaven on
earth for me. Disco made a short visit, and while I loved me some BeeGees and
Donna Summer, it was not altogether my favorite. I went to bed listening to KIXZ,
Amarillo TX, or KOMA, Oklahoma City, OK. I woke up to the same thing. In
Hartley, TX , those two radio stations were the only musical influence I had.
But the world was about to change again. Those big bulky
8-tracks were about to be replaced with slim little cassettes. I actually still
have my first cassette tape—“American Pie”
by Don McLean. This meant those huge tape carriers could be replaced by a much
smaller version, and might even fit under the seat. And, I had a little
portable player I could cart around!
As we slid out of the 70’s into the 80’s, things really
began to change. August 1, 1981 the way we look at music as well as TV was altered
forever. A little channel called MTV (Music Television) debuted with a video of
the song, “Video Killed the Radio Star”
by the Buggles, and the era of the music video was born. Oh my goodness, this time period was the heyday
for magnificently hokey videos. The special effects were not special, the themes were ridiculous, and I loved every second
of it. The hair was big, the pants were tight, the sets were crappy, but the
music was awesome! For the first time
you had a visual to go with the music. I still remember so many of the videos—they
did not really have to have anything to do with the song, but they always made
you remember it! I can still hear my girls, at four or five years old singing "The Warrior" by Scandal, and "Sara" by Jefferson Starship.
Some favs:
Take On Me---A-HA
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun---Cindy Lauper
Karma Chamelion---Culture
Club
How Will I Know---Whitney
Houston
Cradle of Love---Billy
Idol
Pour Some Sugar On Me---Def Leppard
Sweet Dreams---Eurythmics
I Want A New Drug---Huey Lewis
and the News
Like a Virgin---Madonna
Beat It---Michael
Jackson
She Drives Me Crazy---Fine Young
Cannibals
We Got the Beat---The
Go-Go’s
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go---Wham
Who can forget Tawny Kitean writhing around on the hood of
that car in the video for “Is This Love?”
by Whitesnake? Or what ridiculously good dancers Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson
were? Or any of Madonna’s or Michael Jackson’s outfits? How about those gorgeous models in black dresses in
Robert Palmer’s video “Addicted to Love”? Or the chicken dancing in “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel? How
about the Thompson Twins’ goofy haircuts?
Was it only me, or were all of Duran Duran and The Car’s videos really odd?
And then there was Rick Springfield. Oh. My. Goodness.
I still love to watch those old videos. Somewhere things went awry with the video
channels- they started adding regular shows and movies, then reality TV, and
then it was no longer about music. I can’t quite figure it out, we have more
artists out there now than ever before, but they lost a great platform when MTV
and VH1 stopped music video programming 24/7. Youtube is great, but you have to
be looking for that particular artist. And let’s face it, the videos today are
just not the same. There is not a sequined glove or mullet in sight. No weird costumes,
fake space ships, or over-stretched spandex. No Walking on Sunshine, Dancing in the Dark, Bette Davis Eyes or
Sunglasses At Night.
I have found a couple of Youtube channels that have some
good videos. Here is the link for the 70’s one- since videos were not that
popular yet, a lot of them are from TV shows, which are just as good-some are just
still photos. Either way, it will stir a memory.
If you are lonesome for the 80’s, go check out this video on
Youtube. It is 5 hours of 80’s videos in one link. Take a look and enjoy!
If you don't recall these songs I listed above, check them out. They are the building blocks of pop culture for the last 30 years! And, in case you don't remember the song I pulled the title of this post from, listen to it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15wq1Yg_Ac4
Please comment about the cool bands that were your favorites! I love remembering good music!
Peace friends! Rock on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15wq1Yg_Ac4
Please comment about the cool bands that were your favorites! I love remembering good music!
Peace friends! Rock on!
