YouTube Stars!

In the Spring of 1970, at Kent State in Ohio, there was a protest going on. Many young people had been drafted and died in the War in Vietnam. President Nixon was supposed to be drawing the war down, but an invasion of nearby Cambodia had recently been announced. Hundreds of students at Kent State were protesting this, and the Governor called in the National Guard to handle the disturbance. on May 4th, 29 guardsmen fired their weapons for 13 seconds, killing 4 unarmed students and injuring 9 others.

On September 15th 2014, it was reported that Urban Outfitters was selling a $129 sweatshirt with the Kent State University emblem that clearly had blood stains on it. https://twitter.com/ExploringBird/timelines/511556609110052864 #KentState was soon trending on Twitter.

For those interested in the flavor of the times, here is a video made for the song "Ohio" which was recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young just weeks after the Kent State Shootings. The video contains pictures of protests of the time. We support all members of the Military! Today, in addition to this Urban Outfitters Kent State incident, President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to 2 Vietnam War Vets.

Labels: #KentState, 1960s, 1970s, 60s, 70s, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Kent State, military, Ohio, protest, shooting, Urban Outfitters, Vietnam, War

posted by KennyCrane at 9/15/2014 05:10:00 PM 0 Comments

Could this be the big summer song of 2014? I can't think of another huge hit this summer, other than "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift which I wrote about recently. It's very late in the summer, but Meghan Trainor is hitting BIG right now with her catchy throwback pop tune, "All About That Bass". Take Amy Winehouse's hit "Rehab", add some Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines" and a dash of Betty Everett's "Shoop Shoop Song" and stir in a healthy helping of Ringo Starr's "No-No Song" and you have a musical brew that could produce That Bass if shaken And stirred.

Aside from the musical nod to 60s girl groups, "All About That Bass" has a slight edge in the vein of Nicki Minaj's Anaconda which itself references "Baby Got Back". It's been one year since Miley Cyrus twerked at the MTV Video Music Awards, but apparently people are still obsessed with butts. Meghan Trainor is seemingly within a normal healthy weight range but she is not a size two and is fine with that. While standing up for girls and women who some might consider plus sized, she describes the advantages of having a bigger booty. However, she does mention "Skinny bitches" and perhaps thin people are equally capable of realizing their advantages and being happy with that. Whatever body size you are genetically predisposed to, it might be good to strive to be happy with yourself.

Ultimately, perhaps it is wise to consider that maybe Perfection Does Not Exist and rather than compare oneself to a perceived societal norm, energy is better spent on becoming comfortable in one's own skin and trying to be the best one can be - physically, mentally and spiritually. One way to be happy with your body is to move it! Why not get up and dance along to this video! The beat is there and you can copy some of the moves as you watch. After all, this is a summer hit, and summer is all about having fun, so stay calm and keep on dancing!

Labels: 1960s, 1970s, 60s, 70s, bass, booty, Meghan Trainor, MeghanTrainorVEVO, music, pop, summer song

posted by KennyCrane at 9/01/2014 01:05:00 AM 0 Comments

Joe decides that the girls, plus their friend, should start a singing group to rival The Beatles. Kate thinks this is all an April Fools joke, come early. The show aired on March 24th 1964 and The Ladybugs had actually been on the real Ed Sullivan show the Sunday before this Tuesday night episode! Jeannine Riley, Pat Woodell and Linda Kaye Henning, daughter of creator Paul Henning, were joined by the sheriff's daughter, played by Sheila James who had played Zelda Gilroy on Dobie Gillis and was recently a California State Senator. The girls, who were playing teenagers but were all in their early 20s, were dressed in sweatshirt mini-dresses with Ladybug emblems on them. They wore tight semi-sheer black leggings or tights and black high heel shoes. They performed two songs. The first was an original called, I'll be your Ladybug if you'll be my Beatle. The second song is the one in the video below. The Ladybugs actually did a cover of the early Beatles hit song, I Saw Her Standing There! CBS must have had some pull and budget to be able to license a huge international hit to be covered on their show. Check out the fun, as the girls try to impress agent Col. Partridge and import a group of screaming boys for added excitement during their audition.

Additional Petticoat Junction trivia: Bea Benaderet, mother Kate Bradley in the series, also was the voice of Betty Rubble in the first 4 seasons of The Flintstones! Later in the series, the two older sisters were played by different actresses but creator Henning's daughter Linda played Betty Jo the entire time. She was cast in a romantic relationship with Mike Minor and later married him in real life and on the show. Mike was the son of My Three Sons producer, Don Fedderson! Paul Henning scored again with his third rural series, Green Acres. Shopkeeper Sam Drucker, played by Frank Cady, appeared in all three shows! Dennis Hopper and Adam West were both guest stars in season 1 of Petticoat Junction!

Labels: 1960s, 60s, Beatles, Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, The Beatles, The Ladybugs

posted by KennyCrane at 8/01/2014 05:23:00 AM 0 Comments

Guest blogger Lyn Price is back with her second YouTubeStars post! Lyn is a talented singer who is here to review a Garage Rock Music Video from the 1960s, a movie about the 60s and a TV show from the 50s! Read what Lyn says about the Garage Rock song Stop And Listen, the Dirty Dancing movie and the Honeymooners TV show.


Classic Sights and Sounds!

THE SHAG - Stop And Listen - 60s Garage Rock song!



This is a powerhouse of a garage track written and performed by a band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin called at first Shags, then Shag.

The band consisted of 4 musicians. They began performing folk and blues music. However, they became eager to move on when they heard the music of the Rolling Stones and other rock bands of that era. Shag performed their own material and were known for wearing outlandish costumes. They also used special effects After playing parties, schools and small clubs, they moved on and in 1967 they were signed by Capitol Records. They recorded "Stop and Listen" on Capitol.

This track is one of the fist anti-drug rock songs to be recorded. In 1969 they appeared at the Midwest Rock Festival in Milwaukee which featured a number of known musicians.

Shag split up in 1971. But in the 1990's and later, "Stop and Listen" was included on several CD compilations of 60's Garage Band Recordings. On "Boulders" they are featured in Volume I and "Highs in the Mid-Sixties volume 10.

Becoming more current, in 2005, the bands 1969 recordings were released on Gear Fab Records. It's no surprise that the track called "Stop and Listen" has made many rock music lovers do just that.


1960's inspired movie DIRTY DANCING achieves spectacular success



The soundtrack to this film gave a 1960's flair since it is supposed to take place in the Summer of 1963, where the summer wind, the carefree days of ice pops and rock n roll bring people to the hotel for family and friends and activities. One such activity offered is dancing lessons (like Mambo). One of the guests (Jennifer Grey) falls for the dancing instructor (Patrick Swayze) and they begin a relationship.

The film was made in 1987 with a limited 5 million dollar budget. So here was this low budget film with no major stars except Broadway legend/TV star Jerry Orbach in a supportive role. It's the Summer of 1963 and the scene is a Catskill Mountain hotel. Actually it was filmed in Lake Lure, North Carolina and Mountain Lake. The weather turned out to be very hot and sticky and a portion of the cast passed out after 20 minutes of filming. Then the weather became very cold. Conditions were not that great and to complicate matters, the film was on a tight schedule - two weeks for rehearsals and 44 days for filming.

Dirty Dancing was based on the childhood/teen years of one of the screenwriters. The next step was finding backing, financial and promotion. They did their rounds and after hearing "no" finally found the company that liked the idea.

The soundtrack really moves this film - "Be My BAby" by the Ronettes, "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, "Do You Love Me" by the Contours, "In the Still of the Night" by the Five Satins, "Hey Baby by Bruce Channel, "Hungry Eyes" by Eric Carmen and more. In the "final dance" scene, the song (I've had) The Time of My Life, a great dance number that became very popular and won both the Golden Globe and an Academy Award for best original song. Also, a Grammy was won for best duet. The "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack generated two multi platinum albums and multiple singles. This was the first film to sell more than a million copies on home video.

On YouTube, "Dirty Dancing" has well over 250 million hits. The music carries the story with the drama that takes place at the mountain hotel. The two stars of the movie, Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swazye, had worked together on other films and had trouble relating to each other. The screenwriter had a brilliant idea. She suggested "parties" that go on after the daily filming, this way the actors began to "feel their roles". Everything fell into place. After the movie was released, a stage version was popular in Australia, Europe and North America.

I think the dancing AND the music brought this film it's great everlasting success. Many who watch the film once, will watch it again and again.


Mama Loves Mambo - The Honeymooners



The show that has a lot of nostalgia is called "The Honeymooners". It can be watched on YouTube, and it's worry free as far as paying for the viewing of the "Classic 39", well - it can be bought in a video store. There is a lot of fascinating merchandise - cookie jars, salt & pepper shakers, posters, calendars and more. The 39 episodes are on YouTube and the average YouTube rating is according to episode. A total of all episodes shows how appreciated the American sitcom is. The Honeymooners was built on The Jackie Gleason Show. Jackie Gleason was a well known comedian and creator of the show and it's sketches from start to finish.The first show aired October 31, 1955. The story is one of the first U.S. TV shows to portray working class married couples living in a rundown Brooklyn apartment house. The final episode was on September 22, 1956. The show was very popular, in it's first season it became the #2 show in the USA. With the Perry Como show, there was competition that pushed The Honeymooners to the 19th spot. Production ended after only 39 episodes. The Honeymooners were filmed before a live audience in New York City, in the Park Sheraton Hotel.

I always loved this show. It opens with a theme song and a beautiful picture of Brooklyn nights, complete with nostalgic brownstones, stars and a full moon. The show is meant to be funny - Jackie Gleason plays a NYC bus driver. He & his wife Alice Kramden live in a run down Brooklyn apartment house but have many friends, a few live in the same building. Alice occasionally works but basically is a stay at home wife. Despite the financially squeezed characters, there is glamour and artistic beauty in the basic story, the episodes and the background. There is jazz music, a new tenant gives the neighbors Mombo lessons in the Kramden apartment, and there is mention of the "Hong Kong Gardens" where Alice likes to go dancing and have Chinese food. The Kramden's apartment faces the back of a Chinese restaurant. The comedy was and still is loved by many. People who weren't born when the show was airing have found it to be interesting in a lot of different ways.

To keep the show going, Jackie Gleason sometimes did hour long specials or sketches until 1978. At one point, CBS network worked with the Honeymooners & Jackie Gleason. Though there were some changes, the show remains strong in the USA. Viewers find it refreshingly humorous and nostalgic.

Labels: "Lyn Price", 1950s, 1960s, 50s, 60s, classic rock, dance, dirty dancing, Garage Rock, honeymooners, Lyn, oldies, sexy, shag

posted by KennyCrane at 5/20/2014 02:20:00 AM 0 Comments

Today we welcome a NEW guest blogger, Lyn Price. Lyn is a talented singer who is joining us to review Music Videos from the 1960s! Read what Lyn says about two Garage Rock videos and a huge Psychedelic Pop hit by rock stars Tommy James and the Shondells.


Groovy Sixties Tunes!

The Monocles
"I Can't Win"



In Los Angeles, 1967, a songwriter named Jim Newby wrote a classic garage hit - "I Can't Win"

This track stood out among others because it contained all the makings of a great Garage song. In a record shop, in the front row, you could see the song "I Can't Win". Once you hear this song, you want to hear it again and again.

"I Can't Win" is still a winner. One reason may be that elements of Garage Rock are flying high at high speed. This track delivers - Garage at it's best with Surf, Rockabilly, Psychedelic and Exotica. The music flows - makes the listener want to dance.


The Illusion
"Did You See Her Eyes"



In 1969, a band from Hempstead, Long Island, New York got hold of a smoking hot Garage song entitled "Did You See Her Eyes". The song, filled with exquisite drum rolls, earth shaking harmonies and psychedelic heaven, made it to 32 on the Top Forty.

The video, put together by Music Mike, has not lost anything, even a moment of the excitement that this track generates. Illusion are a fantastically good Garage band and this video, with music and pictures, put Illusion on the map.

The video is psychedelic, with colors flowing and images dancing. This song did put Illusion on the map. And it's still there, ready to pick up and move forward.

Do not miss out on listening to this track. It moves.


TOMMY JAMES AND THE SHONDELLS
"Crimson & Clover"



“Hanky Panky,” “Mony Mony,” “I Think We’re Alone Now,” “Crimson and Clover,” “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” “Draggin’ The Line”... The music of Tommy James is heard continuously, everyday, in every country in the world: on radio, television or a film soundtrack. To date, he's sold over 100 million records and has been awarded 23 gold singles plus nine gold and platinum albums.

Born in Dayton, Ohio and raised in Michigan, Tommy James was modelling at age 4. He formed his first band early on - and recorded "Hanky Panky". Although it achieved success on a local level, it didn't move the way it should have but, several years later, the song was found in a record bin by a D.J. Then the crowds began to request the song again and again.

This song, "Crimson and Clover" is sung with a lot of feeling and was immensely popular. The same goes for all his songs, and "Hanky Panky" is such a good dance record that it's not surprising the crowd responded well to the D.J.'s decision to push it. The response to "Crimson and Clover" was something close to magic. Tommy James, born Tommy Jackson, has been putting music out there for a very long time. Let's give him and the Shondells a large round of applause !

Labels: "Lyn Price", "Tommy James and the Shondells", "Tommy James", 1960s, 60s, Garage, Garage Rock, Lyn, music, Rock

posted by KennyCrane at 2/20/2014 07:01:00 AM 0 Comments

As you may know, I LOVE 1960s Rock n Roll! I especially love the genre called Garage Rock. This is a raw kind of 1960s punk pop featuring fuzzy guitars, pounding drums, pulsating organs, pumping basslines and snearing vocals with background harmonies.

This website - Garage Rock Radio - has MP3s and podcasts of 60s Garage Rock tunes and I Love them all!

Now they have a Record Label - Garage Rock Radio Records - that distribute bands from today that have that 60s Garage Rock sound. Free MP3s here.

Please enjoy a very short video of the Garage Rock Radio Theme Song which is used at the beginning of their podcasts, sung by Lyndsey Price. Groovy, man!



Description:
This is the Theme Song for our 1960s Garage Rock podcasts, sung by Lyndsey Price. Visit our website at

http://www.GarageRockRadio.com

and buy Garage Rock music from our Record Label at

http://www.GarageRockRadioRecords.com


Pictures in this video are from Johnny B. Fuzz
http://www.myspace.com/saico66

Children of the Mushroom
New Colony Six
Ohio Express
The Action
The Banshees
The Esquires
The Es Shades
The Henchmen
The Kingsmen
The Moving Sidewalks
The Pleasure Seekers
The Standells

Check out free MP3s and our 14 song Sampler Album at

http://www.garagerockradiorecords.com...

Rock on, Garage Rockers!

Labels: 1960s, 60s, Garage, music, Rock

posted by KennyCrane at 11/19/2009 01:06:00 AM 1 Comments