Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms yearning to breathe free.
“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 “Ricky” in the popular 1950s TV … Read more
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. Mr. Tim, born Herbert Khaury on April … Read more
The year is 1967 and you’re just out of high school. You’re burning your draft card, experimenting with various herbs, and licking acid from blotter papers while listening to “Eight Miles High” and “Light My Fire.” And psychedelia-loving hipster that you are, you’re ready to pull your long hair out every time the opening organ … Read more
Picture this: Good-girl Betty meets motorcycle bad-boy Jimmy at a candy store, where he’s obviously buying candy cigarettes. He turns around and smiles at her. You get the picture? (Who knew that candy stores were such popular pick-up joints in 1964?) But is she really going out with him? Yep, the next thing you know, … Read more
“Hang on, Snoopy, Snoopy hang on.” At least that’s what I thought the band was singing until I bought that seminal 1965 single by The McCoys, and realized that Snoopy was actually Sloopy. But who the heck was THAT? Obviously not a beagle who sat on a doghouse wearing a WWI flying helmet. Legend has … Read more