Rudolph, You Rock. Now Wise Up, Reindeer!

Rudolph, You Rock. Now Wise Up, Reindeer!

Okay, Rudolph, you've gone down in history with that song of yours. And for what? Selling out! So you were born with a shiny red schnoz and had the misfortune of living in a frozen polar ice cap with no access to a plastic surgeon or electrician. And all those big-antlered reindeer jocks and their patent-leather-hoofed cheerleader girlfriends called you names and shunned you because of it. I know, I know...it hurts to be the last one picked for the volleyball team. Bullying sucks. But, Rudolph, you copped out and allowed those conformist reindeer snobs to welcome you into their clique only after you bailed Santa's ass out of trouble. Man, you should have had more self-respect than that!

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Are Ya Ready, Boots? Start Talkin’!

Are Ya Ready, Boots? Start Talkin’!

White boot, black boot, thigh boot, jack boot. I'll endure the snow, slush, and sub-freezing temperatures of Pittsburgh for the rest of my life, as long as I can wear my pavement-pounding, cockroach-killing, arch-destroying boots. It's the thrill of fashion…and the Agony of De Feet. But I'm still standing. From whence do my sartorial obsessions spring? From rock-n-roll, where else! Forty-eight years ago this month Nancy Sinatra recorded her smash hit "These Boots are Made for Walkin." With it's slinky guitar strut and finger-pointing tough girl lyrics, it quickly became a favorite among my growing collection of 45s. What a way for a six-year-old to learn the fine art of insult and accusation!

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The First Family of Psychedelic Pop

The First Family of Psychedelic Pop

Who was the youngest person to perform on a U.S. top ten hit record? Thinking Michael Jackson or Jimmy Osmond? No, it was Susan Cowsill, 56 today, of The Cowsills – a family band that proved you could make psychedelic music even while promoting milk for the American Dairy Association. Susan had just turned 9 when she sang background vocals on the group’s “Indian Lake,” which reached #10 on the Billboard charts in 1968. The Cowsills featured siblings Bill, Bob, Barry, John, Paul and Susan, plus mom Barbara. The band was the inspiration behind the ’70 TV sitcom “The Partridge Family.”

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Rick Nelson: ‘You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself’

Rick Nelson: ‘You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself’

"But it's all right now, I've learned my lesson well. You see, you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself." Those are lyrics from "Garden Party, a 1972 Top Ten single released by the late singer/actor Rick Nelson. The one-time teen idol who came to fame as the son in the popular 1950s TV show "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" (featuring his real-life parents) would have turned 75 today. He wrote "Garden Party" in response to being booed by audience members at a 1971 oldies show in Madison Square Garden (a "Garden Party").

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Tiny Tim: Tiptoeing Through the Garden of Otherworldly Delights

Tiny Tim: Tiptoeing Through the Garden of Otherworldly Delights

The 1960s music scene had it all: folkies, mods, electric bluesmen, surf singers, soul scorchers, R&B belters, psychedelic hipsters…and one falsetto-voiced ukelele player who went by the name of Tiny Tim. No course on the decade's pop culture would be complete without a mention of this eccentric celebrity.

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