Who Wants To Go Back To The 60's? {a repost}

I'm guessing some of you reading this blog weren't ALIVE in the 60's and if you were, you certainly don't want to go back! Oh, but the music!

So humor me as we take a walk down my memory lane! If you think I'm not musically cool (my girls certainly don't - just because I don't know who The White T-Shirts are), allow me to prove you wrong. Some of these may roll over into the 70's because of their lasting musical impact.

Let's get this party started with my FAVORITE group when I was 12.

Herman's Hermits. What a great name for a group! Herman, unfortunately for him, was a contemporary of the next group I'll feature and as a result, was left in the shadows because he never had a goofy tv show. But I for one was a loyal, obsessed fan who made a scrapbook of Herman using all of my Tiger Beat, Teen Idol and 16 magazines. I pored over those articles to find out his favorite foods and pet peeves. (Why don't people refer to pet peeves anymore?) To this day, I can recite his real name, which is Peter Blair Dennis Bernard Noone. Fav song? Hard to pick one but I'll say
Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter.

The Monkees. Here's the group that overshadowed poor Herman so, at the time, I couldn't show any affection. Now I can admit that Davy played a mean tamborine and Daydream Believer (pre-Shrek) was a great song!

Now we enter the strange zone - Paul Revere and the Raiders were one of the first groups I remember that wore costumes. I didn't think it was the least bit strange but looking at them now? Really guys - the tights? This looks like a 60's version of The Nutcracker.
Most memorable song: Action (Oh baby come on, let me take you where the action is). I believe they also debuted Louie Louie. They appeared occasionally on American Bandstand and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. Teenagers everywhere would dance in front of their black and white tvs along with all the cool kids that somehow made it on the show. Think "Hairspray."

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs also had a costume but only one. Not sure why Sam is dressed up and the Pharaohs aren't. Sing along with me one of their biggest hits:  Wooly Bully.

Bread. This was a chick group for sure. And one of their signature songs, Baby I'm-A Want You, spoke deeply to my heart. But they were a source of a lot of material for my youth group messages in high school because I shared how you could take the lyrics to their songs and change words like "Baby" to "Jesus" and derive deep spiritual meaning. They deserve a mention because of their incredible influence in my musical and spiritual heritage.

The Dave Clark Five also came from 'across the pond' and you'll remember their hit Glad All Over. I feel sorry for all the groups that were in direct competition with The Beatles - that's why I'm not even going to mention them. The Beatles, I mean.

Ah, The Turtles.
Don't they look So Happy Together lying there in the road?

The Lovin' Spoonful - Do You Believe In Magic? This group had several big hits that play on the oldies stations. Even my girls know them (they were raised on the oldies). Think Summer In The City.

This group, on the other hand...

Come on. You remember them, don't you? The Cowsills? I'm pretty sure that was their real last name. A family group, much like the Partridge Family only, again, without the tv show. Their real mother sang with them - that's her in the white dress. For some reason you don't see a lot of mothers fronting bands any more. Hmmm.

They were more of a one-hit-wonder kind of group. Think Hair. (Give me a head with hair. Long beautiful hair...) I wished my family could form a singing group, except they weren't cool enough.

Gary Lewis and the Playboys. This Diamond Ring! Remember? This is really Jerry Lewis' son - that's him on drums - and he could sing. How about Everybody Loves a Clown? Killer lyrics.

I wore a hole in my Grass Roots album playing Midnight Confessions on my portable stereo with the swing-out speakers. I was 12 years old. What did I have to "cry a million tears" about?

Crosby, Stills & Nash (no Young yet) had that great folk sound that I loved - Teach Your Children and Our House - yet they were edgy enough (which is not a 60's term) to sound a little Woodstock-y: Suite: Judy Blue Eyes or Ohio. The term 'groovy' would fit here.




Before their disco days, the Bee Gees had some great music. My favorite? Lonely Days. Another angst-ridden song that I sang at the top of my pre-adolescent lungs.




And Blood Sweat & Tears - what can I say?
You Made Me So Very Happy!




Creedence Clearwater Revival. I still love those harmonies and easy-to-sing lyrics. Who'll Stop The Rain? or Down On The Corner. I believe they introduced Proud Mary and I Heard It Through The Grapevine.

Dear Sonny and Cher,
I watched your tv show.
I sang The Beat Goes On while swinging my hair.
I loved your go-go boots and your vests with the fur.
I wished I had bell-bottoms like yours.
Love,
Becky