portable record player

I love everything about this, especially the song by Manfred Mann.

Other groups dug it too:
• The Shapes on Beat-Club, 1966
• The Everly Brothers, 1966
• Rod Stewart, 1976
• Elvis Costello and friends, late 80s

Paul McCartney at Fenway Park

My friend Glenn was in the 5th grade when The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Like many kids then, his world changed after that broadcast. He bought a cheap organ, then eventually bought a Hammond organ, then started singing in a band at 16 in 1969. The name of it was "The Sidewalk Society." How 1969 was that? 😆 We finally saw Sir Paul in person. Click on pic to make it big.

Glenn still has his Beatles scrapbook and Beatles bubble-gum cards.

Here are school pictures of Glenn in the 1960s during Beatlemania.



Above, Glenn and the crowd sing along with Paul and his band.

They performed my favorite Wings tunes from my grade-school years:


Jet, Wings, 1973


Listen To What the Man Said, Wings, 1975


Let 'Em In, Wings, 1976

hey, hey, hey – what's happening?

Someone recently told me that her first concert was The Doobie Brothers on Cape Cod in 1978. I immediately thought of this:



What's Happening?! (1976-79) was one of my favorite shows as a kid. Rerun (Fred Berry) was well-known for his locking. Check him out.

Here are some kids locking on American Bandstand circa 1975.

The First Cut is the Deepest

What's better than discovering a "new" old song? Finding a video to go along with it. P.P. Arnold recorded the Cat Stevens song in 1967. I knew the 1976 Rod Stewart version first. With the multitude of fine hairdos that Rod has sported, I couldn't choose just one photograph.




The First Cut is the Deepest, Cat Stevens, 1967

Janis Ian's Society's Child

Society's Child is a hauntingly beautiful and poignant song about the taboo subject of interracial relationships. Janis Ian hit the charts with this song as a 16-year-old in 1967. Many radio stations banned it. Ugh.

Janis won a Grammy for At Seventeen in 1976 for her tearjerker of a song about teenage pain. Wasn't high school a blast?

Give up the funk

Here's a great live version of Give Up the Funk by Parliament Funkadelic from 1976. Below is their 1967 hit (I Wanna) Testify from when they were The Parliaments. I may as well throw in Flash Light.


(I Wanna) Testify, The Parliaments, 1967

Happy Mother's Day

The Runaways perform their 1976 tune in honor of their moms.

Fly Like an Eagle

I was saddened by the recent passing of musician/artist Ric Ocasek of the band The Cars. Shortly after turning 13 during the summer of 1978, I bought The Cars' debut album – my second 33 rpm record. The album sat in the back seat of the car while shopping with my mom and warped from the hot sun. When I played it, the needle would bop over the bumps but it never skipped. The first 33 rpm record I bought was Book of Dreams by The Steve Miller Band. It didn't contain the tune Fly Like an Eagle, but that song was one of my favorites at that time. Sometimes in life, we think bad things are happening to us, but in reality, the Universe/God/Source is nudging us in another direction towards our true purpose and path, which will bring us more joy, fulfillment, and happiness. When we have the courage to look inward, dive deep, heal past wounds, follow our dreams and move on with gratitude, we are rewarded. We are then truly able to fly like an eagle and soar.


Fly Like an Eagle, The Steve Miller Band, 1976

Here are some Cars videos that will forever make my heart smile:

• Just What I Needed
• My Best Friend's Girl
• Danerous Type 
• Let's Go
• Candy-O
• Cruiser 
• All Mixed Up
• Bye Bye Love 
• Drive 
• Since You're Gone
• Touch and Go

Above are the first two albums I bought as a 7th grader.

Run!

I cannot stop playing this song this morning. I guess the message for the day is: young hearts run free. Run hearts, run! Thanks, Candi. 💛


Young Hearts Run Free, Candi Staton, 1976