Aren't you just a bit tired of being wound tight as a drum and frazzled by the all the insane political infighting, screams of "You lie!", two wars, the swine flu, and the apparent total disconnect from reality of a large portion of our population right now? I know that I am.
So.......I spent Sunday evening putting together a bit of a lull in all the craziness. I did this for me as well as for you. And like my Sinatra Playlist, there is no socially responsible agenda here. There is nothing to think about in this post unless you know this music. If you are it might bring back some great memories of a time that will likely seem like both long ago and only yesterday.
I was 22 when I entered the 1960s. This is the music of that formative decade of my life. This music is called Popular Music, or "Pop." It is the music of the people; the music you got over the radio when you were riding in the car; it is Top Ten and Top 100 Billboard Magazine music; it is the music of American Bandstand and music sung on TV prime time variety shows. It is the music you found yourself memorizing and singing in the shower, humming on the way to work, or when you were working in the garden. It is simply the music most listened to by much of middle America in the 1960s. Little of it is "cutting edge," but some of it is; and all of it was influential and set the tone for the next generation of popular music.
I have not put into the Playlist one song by each artist or group so I could have 20 different artists. Rather I have included a representative group of songs by a few of the artists who rose above most others on the popular music airwaves.
We start with the only seminal work of the Beach Boys: "Good Vibrations." From there it is only some of the very best of The Mamas and the Papas, The Association, The Lovin' Spoonful, Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, and Bobby Darin. And while all those individuals and groups were "Pop" they each represent a very distinctive style within the genre. No one could confuse one with the other.
Are they the only singers and groups that were important in the 60s? Of course not. There were dozens of others in the Pop music genre alone. Not represented here are very important musical genres of the 60s: Rock, R&B, Soul, Jazz, Rockabilly, Standards and Country to name a few. But this Playlist does represent the Popular music that most of America listened to in the 60s.
So sit back, and allow yourself to be propelled into the magic of the songs of my young adulthood. Just slip on some headphones, or turn on some nice speakers, and listen. Open OS or any other site in another tab and go about reading, writing or whatever else you want to do. The list will keep playing until you want to stop it.
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