Don't Be Cruel

Before opening your big, fat mouth, is what you're about to say kind?
Is it helpful? Or is it cruel? If the latter is true, perhaps look into that.

Happy Easter

Heavenly souls, go in peace to love and serve the Lord. No, really.

yeah yeah

Check out this groovy rendition of The Monkey's Uncle originally recorded by The Beach Boys and Annette Funicello from 1965.

To Sit On a Sandwich

What do you mean you think the 1960s were weird? Hold the mayo.

burrrrr, I'm cold

The Doors perform their first #1 hit Light My Fire on a beach in Malibu from 1967 during Morrison's pre-smelly-leather-pants era.

One ticket to ride...

...to Nocovidtown, please. Live at Shea with actual audio from 1965.

Got My Mojo Working

Muddy Waters performs live on Canadian TV. At Newport in 1960.

Is this Heaven?

Chicago Transit Authority...

...before they shortened their name. Where's my cowbell damn it?

Smackwater Jack

Here is a terrific live performance. Tapestry was released in 1971.

I'm a model

I'm too sexy for Milan, New York and Japan. Show me Blue Steel.

sidewalk surfing

Skateboarding makes its way to the east coast and New York City.

• A California skateboard team, 1964
• Hanging out at the beach in California, 1966
• Skateboard Champion Patti McGee, 1965
• The Devil's Toy, 1966

Na?

Want to know what the German tv show Beat Beat Beat was like in 1966/67? You do? Well you're in luck. Yippppppppeeeeeeeee!

hmmmmm

the electric house

If you're a mid-century-modern freakazoid, you'll dig this 1950s promo film from Westinghouse. The heating bill is how much?!

I'll take one of those flip-up screen walls please. Fluffy! Nooooo!

The Ikettes

The after-holidays make me a little blue. Good thing for leftovers.

Happy Christmas

Here's a mix to help you make your season merry and bright.

donkeys or cats?

The cat version makes me want to scratch my own eyes out. Aaahh.


Lou Monte, 1960


The Christmas Cats

Where does she live?

She don't come from no city, she lives way down in Diddy Wah Diddy.

Diddy Wah Diddy, Barry and the Remains, 1966

U.N.I.T.Y.

How are things going on your part of the planet? I miss the 90s.

Seventeen tv show

As a pop culture/rock history goon, being able to see live tv performances from 40+ years ago is a gas for me. I always think about how old the people I know/knew were at that time. Whenever I see kids dancing to rock and roll in the late 50s, I think of Helen Kelly and Mrs. Swaine, two moms from my childhood neighborhood. How cool it must be to see yourself, your mother/father or your grandmother/father dancing in clips like THIS Iowa teen dance show from 1958.

Saturday morning dose of Soul Train

What ya doing in your bed on your back? You should be dancing.

The Human Beinz

Hey Stardust, should we go to the BE-IN or the LOVE-IN? Check out this footage of a LOVE-IN on Boston Common from the late 60s.

Happy Halloween!

Remember my little ghosts and goblins to always listen to Krinkles before eating your Krinkles – FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIVES.

desire

What is it you want? What do you truly and genuinely yearn for?

The Texas Push

My date to a 7th grade dance in 1977 told me to wear my beige LEVI corduroys so that we'd match. I "accidentally" forgot. Push push.

Go, Dino, Go!

If you're a Rascals fan, you will dig this performance from 1968.

Walk, Don't Run

Hi Barbara Ann. Put on your little outfit, come over to my house and twirl your baton while I work on my wheels. Sure, Johnny.

regrets, I've had a few

When my mom finished nursing school in 1948, flight attendants were required to be RNs (registered nurses). She was 21 and living with her parents outside Boston, so why not travel and see the world even though many cities were still in ruins from the war? Jet travel was an extreme luxury then and it would be part of her job. She applied, was hired, but eventually turned it down. She told me it was her only major regret in her life. Here's the schmaltz. Now go do something, damn it.

• 1940s stewardess training film
• Ozzie and Harriet, 1958
• A 1960s British Air Hostess
• Austrian stewardess training film, 1964
• American Airlines Stewardess College, 1968
• American Airlines commercial, 1968
• white go-go boots
• The Naughty Stewardesses, 1973

wish you didn't have to go

I get so bummed when summer ends. It's too short in New England.

Hullabaloo

Kids! It's time for The Kinks on Hullabaloo. Take my hand, honey!

I'm hungry

What's for lunch? What's for dinner? Are we there yet?

How's it going?

They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!,
Napoleon XIV, 1966

A skateboarding horse?

Yup. AND you learn The Frug. My life is complete and I'm so thankful.


I'm So Thankful, The Ikettes, 1965

Mary, Mary...

...why ya buggin'? – RUN-DMC   Where you goin' to? – The Monkees


Mary, Mary, The Butterfield Blues Band, 1966

Room 222

As a grade schooler in the mid-70s, school vacations meant I got to watch daytime reruns of Room 222. Hearing the older high school kids talk slang and watching Mr. Dixon have rap sessions with his students engrossed me. It premiered in 1969 and dealt with the many hot topics of a changing world – and there were many. Sound familiar?

I think I'll move to LA...

...and become a famous go-go dancer. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Saturday afternoon dose of 1973

She drove a Plymouth Satellite, faster than the speed of light.

swimming pools

I've always had a thing for pools. I knew where most of the in-ground pools existed in my town and surrounding towns we drove through when I was a kid. Even though you couldn't see them behind the wooden fences, they were there – sometimes with the handles of the slide poking up. Summertime for me means it's time to swim so dive in. Yippeee!

What's going on?

gorillas and knee socks

Whenever I hear a song from the past for the first time, I try to guess the year it was recorded based on the musical style. Instrumental and vocal trends changed every few years or so but 1965 is one of my favorite years in pop music. Here are some groovy tunes by The Ideals from Chicago singing about gorillas, wigs and knee socks:


You Lost and I Won, 1965


Go Get a Wig, 1965


The Gorilla, 1962 (Cortland Records version)
This song is playing in this clip. Whoooooaaaaahhhhhh!

Go-Go Gorilla, 1966 (Satelite Records version)
If you like to boogie, just try to sit still during this one.


Mo Gorilla, 1963


Knee Socks, 1959
Knee socks and Bermuda shorts caused quite a stir in the 1950s.