About Music

As a baby boomer I was lucky enough to be raised in one of the best times to be a kid, and one of the best times to be a rock and roll fan.

I remember as a kid, and then a young man, I would “Cruise the town” with my buddies looking for girls/parties and listening to all of the top ten hits on Super CFL and WLS.

Blasting out of that big city to the East, Chicago (Remember gas prices were around $.40/gallon in the late 60’s and early 70’s. We’d cruise all night and then pitch in a buck for gas, if we had it.). I believe there was another station that played rock and roll, then country and then became one of the first stations with a talk radio format, but I digress. Those stations played “All of the hits from the 50’s 60’s and now back in the 70’s.”

Looking back I remember my favorites, “Wake up Little Suzie” by Ricky Nelson, the kid we met as one of the sons on ‘The Ozzie and Harriet Show'”, “Surfin’ Safari” by the Beach Boys or “Dead Man’s Curve” by Jan & Dean, or just about any Beatles song. There were so many great songs and then this upstart, FM Radio, came along and gave us more stations and many more options.

Wow! Was that heaven?

Looking back I recall some of the lyrics and think those songs probably would not even get on the radio today. I refer to the current lack of tolerance for things that can be construed as demeaning women. Do you remember, “Louie, Louie” By the Kingsmen- I was at an 8th grade party (Catholic Grade School) the first time I heard it and it was scandalous. We all heard what he did with his girl “Every night at 10…” I do believe that the party ended early and the parents present destroyed the offending 45rpm record. “I’m a Girl Watcher” by Okaysions is another song that I could see being protested. The whole song tells of the singer putting away his toys in favor of watching girls he sings, “I wonder if you know, that you’re putting on a show, could you please walk a little slower?” I, somehow, doubt this would get a thumbs up from NOW. How about Paul Anka’s “Having My Baby?” Maybe I’m stretching the point with that one, what do you think? Does anyone remember when The Beatles sang, “I’d rather see you dead little girl than to see you with another man..,” in “Run for Your Life” on the Rubber Soul Album?

I think some of our songs might confuse a new generation of listeners, listeners who have never seen a juke box or a pay phone? Would Joan Jett and the Blackheart’s “I Love Rock and Roll” be confusing when she sings, “I love rock and roll, put another dime in the jukebox baby” make sense to people born after 1985? What do you think about “Operator” by Jim Croce when he says, “You can keep the dime..” or Dr Hook pleading with “Sylvia’s Mother” on the phone while the operator keeps asking for more money?

I loved my early boomer years and I enjoy looking back at them now, unlike Bruce Springstein who sings that he hopes he doesn’t sit around thinking about the past in “Glory Days”

What do you think?

What songs have I forgotten to mention? I know there are plenty more.