Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Drop The F-Bomb Dept.


The three-letter word that's more taboo than the four-letter one. What pop music was all about. What's lost and gone.

Spell it out. F, U, N.

Way before the pandemic, the Millennials were already wiping it out. It was problematic, see. Indicative of a shallow view of life. How can you have fun when there are so many serious issues to address? Gender issues. Ethnicity issues. Sustainability issues. Respect issues. Entitlement issues. The music reflected this. Artists featured their pain like no other generation. Songs addressed failed relationships, meditations on loss, and death. The sickness of the human condition. Suffering became the qualification and the driving motive for making music. Confessionals. If the music got a little sprightly, it was with a suffocating respect for traditional musics. Glum collectives scraping away at the Mennonite Songbook, less fun than an Amish rake fight.

Today's collection is a reminder of what pop used to be about, without anyone even thinking about it. Cruisin', '65-'69. We just did it. Because it was fun. It still is.

20 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you for this delectable bag of goodies, Farquhar. I nearly passed it by thinking it was the same as the Cruisin' in the 60s collection but that one I believe covers the years 60-65. Given that it makes a neat pairing with 65-69 and is itself absolutely chock full of delight and fun I thought, with your kind permission, that I'd append it here so that any of the Four or Five Guys so inclined could grab this one too.

      https://workupload.com/archive/Hx7PkLZj

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  2. These are a fun, and are a swell listen. Groovy covers too. Thank you Mr. Throckmorton!

    Growing up in Manhattan, driving around with friends listening to AM radio wasn't part of the equation.

    Rooftops a.k.a. "Tar Beach" and Washington Square Park, was where my friends and I listened to these songs. WMCA and WABC were the two main players. WMCA called themselves "The Good Guys" and had call in contests to win a Good Guys tee shirt. If you google "wmca good guys tee shirt" you can find Mick Jagger wearing one.

    In '67 the cool kids switched to FM radio with it's less commercial sounds, and more emphasis on albums as opposed to '45s.

    One minor quibble, this collection is Americentrc, it's almost as if the so called "British Invasion" didn't happen.

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    1. I imagine that's more to do with what they could cheaply get the rights to

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  3. Your choice:

    Was I miserable because I listened to pop music
    or
    Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable?

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  4. Been looking for this (again) since the last century. Cheers mate!

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  5. And er.. any chance of having the ones BEFORE these? With Alan 'woo woo' Ginsberg and others PULEEZE?!?

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  6. Well said, Farq! That was worth stopping by for, itself. 'Bwahaha'...and this coming from a member of that 'once-hyped overrated group', The Class of 2000...ain't got no flyin' shoes!

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  7. I am gonna grab alla these in hopes that they are the original, unexpurgated airchecks. A slippery slope there. But, I digress (who moi?!). There have been a coupla-few re-releases of these LPs. Even CD iterations. Unfortunately (pesky licensing roadblocks, I am sure), there were songs and snippets that had to hit the cutting room floor. And editing on later issues can be messy.

    In short, if you were perusing the LP bins in the "Oldies" section in the '70s and '80s, and "bypassed" these "Archie"-looking things as been "like, totally squaresville, man," then did an about face (much like you did when you first came home from somewhere with an "Oldies But Goodies" compilation LP - - - another minefield if your a purist who can't deal with "ping pong" stereo "remixes," et al), then get yerself to the party, Marty. You'll be glad you came. And cracked open a FAYGO old-fashioned root beer. Rock on down to my pal Mal's on your way.

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  8. ..."bypassed" these "Archie"-looking things as being..."

    NOT:

    ..."bypassed" these "Archie"-looking things as been..."

    What a has-been I am... Excuse me while I go alphabetize my Art Laboe LPs...

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  9. Thanks a lot. All I need still is 1964. (Because I'm greedy)

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  10. We din 'ave radio in the Valleys growin' up. Din 'ave cars neither. Nor girls. We 'ad sheep 'an the sound of the river flowin'...

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  11. Greetings Farquahr. Bored and tired of isolation I ventured into my local record shop today and found this wonderful cover of the classic track by The Jam, complete with picture sleeve. Seems that I recall you used to enjoy and feature vanity presses of this nature.

    https://www88.zippyshare.com/v/MDYATiqq/file.html

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    Replies
    1. That made me want to sing along ("La La La La") while inspecting.

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    2. This is just swell, Sir Real. I have absolutely no objection to Bonespurs Bunkerboy going underground, as long as it's in a body bag.

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