What is Swing?

Travel through the 20th century and learn about swing music.

words of wisdom

Thank you, Peter Fonda. I couldn't have said it better my friend.

Don Gibson

Oh Lonesome Me with June Carter Cash. With the Jordanaires.

The sound of scratchy vinyl

A 1967 Rock-Ola Princess Deluxe jukebox has come back to life.

Sunday morning dose of pop culture

I love when rock and roll trends make their way onto tv shows. Opie joins a garage band named The Sound Committee and learns the latest lingo since he now has an image to uphold. The Standells are the house band at the club in this Ben Casey episode, circa 1965. Here's Annette Funicello as a bad-girl go-go dancer, circa 1964. Hilarious.

Lesley Gore

What would 1963 be without It's My Party? Quincy Jones' protégé Lesley Gore had a slew of hits and appeared in some of cinema's finest, as well as tv's Batman. Here she is on Shindig!

Honey on drums

snowbound in Boston

I may as well clean my pad. I think Mr. Clean was a lifelong bachelor. Here's a creepy, real-life Mr. Clean from 1964.

What is a Scopitone?

Click here to find out. You'll be glad you did. You're welcome.

Super Bowl Sunday dose of pop culture

Here's a cool clip of teenagers in the 1950s and 60s.

My parents, above, were teenagers in the 1940s. They both graduated from high school in 1945. In the 1940s, most girls wore their hair parted on the side. My mom, however, preferred her hair parted in the middle like Hedy Lamarr. Underneath my mom's photo in her yearbook it reads Pretty as a picture and nice to know. She became a nurse. My dad was voted Most Athletic, Noisiest and Teacher's Pest.

In the photo above, he poses before a game sans face guard.

This is Hedy Lamarr. My mom copied her hairstyle as a teenager.
Check out THIS about Lamarr. Right on Hedy.

Typical teenagers during the 1940s. Swing was the thing. When my mom was a senior in high school, she was allowed to skip school to see a matinee performance by Frank Sinatra in Boston.

Above are common hairstyles from the 1940s. Va va va voom!

Blizzard of 2015 snow day

What to do when you're stuck inside due to a blizzard? Have the band over and go-go dance, damn it! Go baby, gooooooooooooooo!

time for a go-go lesson...

...from Denise Drysdale, Australia's premiere go-go dancer.

Sunday morning dose of The Beatles

This is a live tv broadcast from 1963, just months before The Beatles arrived in the United States. I love how they play the music for the closing credits. Lots of audience shots!

1963 threads

Here's a film about what Montgomery Ward was offering for 1963.

rock stars with their parents

Check out this 1971 Life Magazine exposé about rock stars at home with their parents. Rock those boots Elton John's mom!

Catch a revue tonight...

...and if you're under 12, you get to see James Brown for 99¢. 😃

Are you a modernist?

Cathy McGowan, known as the Queen of the Mods and host of Ready Steady Go!, appears on To Tell The Truth and answers questions about being a mod from a 1964 broadcast.

Play Your Hunch

Jerry Leiber and Burt Bacharach on the game show in 1958.

let's go-go

I've always been fascinated with rock and roll history, popular culture, and how people dressed, groomed themselves and danced during different eras. The fad dances of the 60s crack me up the most. Seems like people really needed to let go. Yeah baby, yeah!

Record shops had listening booths to preview the latest hits.

Head down to the discotheque and Watusi the night away.

Friday morning dose of 1965

Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames on Ready Steady Go!

haircuts

One man's story of his relationship with the barbershop.

Happy New Year!

Don't let your party get too out of control. Whooooooooaaaaahhh!

Santa's been naughty

Christmas music

My family had three Christmas albums (above) that were played incessantly for weeks until Christmas. The Grants Department Store Christmas album and the Andy Williams album are from 1965.

However, my favorite Christmas music is from the 1963 Phil Spector album featuring Darlene Love. Since 1986, she has performed on Letterman and this year's version was flawless. Hallelujah!

Sunday morning dose of go-go-ness

Where are you getting your go-go boots? Why Sears, of course.

From the 1965 Sears catalog. Comes with 5 records. I'm sold!

Friday night dose of Aretha

Aretha and her girls delight in Stockholm, Sweden from 1968.

Sweet Soul Music

Legendary artists from Stax Records in Memphis perform during a Stax Volt Revue in Norway from 1967. Whooooooooohooooooooooo!

she's naughty

Saturday morning dose of The Beatles

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let's not forget what Thanksgiving is all about. Pass the turkey!

Lou Rawls

I needed to get in the mood for a fun Friday night out. Mmmkay?

Muriel's Wedding

An ABBA song got me thinking about 1995's Muriel's Wedding starring the astounding Toni Collette. If you love ABBA and you've never seen this film, you are in for a real treat. Loves ya Muriel.

Wait Till Your Father Gets Home

Another show I remember from the cheesy 70s was this. It always confused me as to why daughter Alice came home from her date disheveled during the show's intro. Was she wasted? Date raped? WTF? The 70s were messed up. The show ran from 1972-1974.

Zoom tv show

A coworker recently mentioned that she's good friends with a former Zoomer. If you were a kid during its 1972-78 run, you watched Zoom every night at 6 on PBS. I haven't seen these show openings in 40 years yet I remember these kids so well. Send it to Zoom!

1967's Summer of Love

Far-out footage of San Francisco and Swinging London from 1967.

Saturday night dose of 1966

A crime-fighting rock group with matching boots. Groovy man.

exit, stage left

Who was Snagglepuss anyway? A big, pink, gay lion? Theme songs.

The Searchers

Beautiful color film of The Searchers circa 1963/64.

mods, rockers + beatniks

If I want to be a beatnik, does that mean I can't bathe anymore?