Oops! I flubbed yesterday when I forgot that the 17th, not the 18th was the 50th anniversary of the Supremes very first number one song, Where Did Our Love Go. Though not the best song of theirs by any means, it was the trio's tenth single and very first smash of what would be many, many more. In fact the Supremes are one of the most successful groups of all time and they're still the standard when it comes to the iconic girl groups of the sixties and beyond. So check out a rare early performance of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard performing Where Did Our Love Go... Classic!
It's hard to believe it, but it's been 50 years since the Supremes first hit it big with their very first of many #1 tunes, Where Did Our Love Go. Since that one first hit the #1 spot on June 17th, 1964, I figured I'd save that one for the actual anniversary, but since it is Flashback Friday I wanted to share two of my favorite Supremes tunes that hit the top spot in that same year. Click play and enjoy...
Come See About Me
I've been cryin'
Boo hoo
Cause I'm lonely
For you
Smiles have all turned
To tears
But tears won't wash away
The fears
Back in My Arms Again
How can Mary tell me what to do When she lost her love so true And Flo, ,she don't know Cause the boy she loves is a Romeo
Talk about a flashback! Between Friday, Saturday and today, my Songs of the Day have all gotten older with each day, and all have been unplanned, except maybe Don't Tell Me from Friday. Today's song was spur of the moment, and all because of the weather. Today is a beautiful day, sunny and in the high 40's, low 50's, which is so nice considering what we've had such frigid and miserable weather for the past month.
I used to play this song as a deejay whenever there had been rain at an outdoor event and the sun suddenly came out. It always made people smile! Enjoy your Sunday!
Most of you probably know about Hairspray from the 2007 film starring John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Michelle Pfeiffer, and others, or previously from the Tony Award-winning hit Broadway musical of the same name that ran from 2002 to 2009. Well, the scene above is not from either of those two productions, but from the original 1988 John Waters' camp classic, and it's one of my favorite movies of all time!
For those of you completely in the dark, the story takes place in Baltimore, Maryland in 1962 and it centers around a 'pleasantly plump' teenager named Tracy Turnblatt and her unlikely struggle towards integration after she earns a spot on a local American Bandstand-type dance show.
The original features a veritable who's who of B-List stars, including Ricky Lake as Tracy, Jerry Stiller and Divine as her parents, Sonny Bono and Deborah Harry as the Von Tussles, parents of Tracy's arch-rival on 'The Corny Collins Show,' Amber Von Tussle, Ruth Brown as radio hostess Motormouth Maybelle, and a host of other cameos and cool extras.
John Waters' Hairspray makes me smile straight through from the opening to the closing credits. The music and the dancing is authentically vintage 60's, and it's so much fun to watch (the music's very toe-tapping, too!). Just check out this cool clip of one of my favorite dance sequences, where our Ms. Tracy first gets noticed by Corny Collins. It's one of a few such sequences in the film, and they all just add to its charm.
Music and dancing aren't the only things great about the original Hairspray. John Waters is the king of camp and if you like that type of movie, then you'll love this one. There are so many one liners and little things going on, you have to watch it a few times to catch them all. From the names of the characters to comical interactions and happenstances among them, this film adds comedic, surreal genius to a great setting. Here are some of my favorite one-liners from Hairspray:
Penny Pingleton, you know you are punished. From now on you're wearing a giant P on your blouse EVERY DAY to school so that the whole world knows that Penny Pingleton is permanently, positively, punished.
Prudence Pingleton, mother of Penny Pingleton, Tracy's best friend
Oh, there are so many things about this movie I love, and from writing this post I think I may just have to watch it real soon. Yeah, the musical and the 2007 movie were entertaining, no doubt, but the original is still the best!
The video below is a clip from the Jackson 5's first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in December of 1969, and you can see just how special Michael was even back then. When I heard him belt out that first line...wow! Enjoy!
Here's a song I Shazamed a couple of weeks ago and loved it. The song's been featured in the films But Mom I'm a Cheerleader and Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof. Ultra cool 60's mod! Yeah baby, yeah!
I noticed Jimi Hendrix's name as one of the top searches on one of the search engines yesterday and decided to check it out. As it turns out, Jimi tragically passed away September 18th, 1970, 32 years ago yesterday. He was 27 years old.
Though he was gone before my time, I did have a little spurt of Jimi for a bit sometime in the 80's.
I first remember the song "Fire" from a roller coaster special hosted by then teen heartthrob Matt Dylan as it played backdrop to one of the featured rides. The music fit perfectly to the coaster and I liked the song immediately, and soon ran out to buy one of his greatest hits albums. It is fast paced and infectious rock and roll like no other! Check it out:
Listening to Jimi's greatest hits I got to learn some other of his great stuff, classics like Purple Haze, The Wind Cries Mary, and Foxy Lady, featured in this next hilarious clip from the hit film Wayne's World:
Anyway, I can't help, like many others, what more Jimi would've come up with if he hadn't died so young. Rest in Peace Jimi Hendrix. You're still missed! Check out his greatest hits collection below...
Today's Song of the Day is of course in tribute to the late Davy Jones, who passed away suddenly yesterday at the age of 66. Davy was a member of the faux boy band/TV show The Monkees, which was an indelible part of many young lives in the late sixties/early seventies and beyond. The Monkees consisted of Davy, Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork and they had several hits including "Last Train to Clarksville," "Daydream Believer," and of course this happy one! Enjoy!
By this time I'm sure most of you have heard about the sudden death of Davy Jones, one of the original teen heartthrobs of all time. Jones passed away earlier today of a heart attack at the young age of 66 years, and fans all over are paying tribute to the late British singer and actor. As one who grew up on reruns of "The Monkees," I, too, am saddened by Davy's passing and I couldn't let his death go without mention here on John's World.
Herein is one of my favorite Monkees tunes, one that still resonates today. Enjoy the song and Rest in Peace Davy!
It’s Thursday night and we’re finally towards the end of what has turned out to be a long week for me, especially at work. Though I promised myself I would stay away from the pc long enough to find other things to occupy my time, like sleep for instance, I find myself once again at the pc, typing away…
A Tale of Two Generations
Yesterday, another friend of mine posted a short little essay on Facebook. It concerned something I’ve had in my head for awhile now. Being a teacher and a constant in the lives of young folks, I plainly see a lot of things that worry me about the next generation. With the advent of technology has come a change in the way kids grow up, and to me it paints a troubling scenario of the way the world may eventually become when they’re the ones running it. Read on…
Anyone who was born in the 50's - 60's - 70's... We are the last generation who played in the street. We are the first who played video games & the last to record songs off the radio on a cassette tape. We walked over a mile with no worries about being taken...learned how to program the VCR before anyone else…played from Atari to Nintendo...We are the generation of Tom and Jerry/Looney Toons & Captain Kangaroo…We traveled in cars without seat belts or air-bags & lived without cell phones. We did not have flat screens, surround sound, iPods, Facebook, Twitter, computers & the Internet...But nevertheless we had a GREAT time!
Having been born in the 60’s, I can definitely relate to this. I did have a great childhood, even without all of those technological thingys that are everywhere today. I was just reminiscing recently with my brother about how we used to play sports with all the kids on our block. Every day it was a different game or activity: wiffleball, hockey, building forts, swimming… you name it. I grew up on a block of about ten to fifteen boys all around the same age and we all spent our afternoons together, face to face, enjoying the simple things kids were meant to enjoy. You don’t see that anymore.
I was telling a friend just a couple of weeks ago about an impromptu football game we had all played on a snowy December night when I was around 15. There had to have been thirty of us, even kids from neighboring blocks came out on this bright, moonlit night to play a simple game and it was special. As I told the story, my friend made an observation:
“You know, I never see that anymore. I mean, I never have to stop or go around kids playing together on the street like I used to while I’m driving around. Nowadays they’re all inside chatting online, playing video games, or toiling with their phones.”
She was right! It’s been a long, long time since I came across kids playing a game of pick-up basketball on the street or even riding their bikes. Too often, I fear, these youngins are isolated to the world, connected only through a little device they hold in their hand, and missing out on many of the social aspects of growing up that are so important.
One of the most difficult things about being an educator is getting kids to focus on learning. It’s extremely arduous these days considering the distractions they now have at their disposal. Technology is a great thing, but it’s also a terrible thing!
Smart phones are everywhere these days, and distract us all, not only kids, from what we used to call living. At school, these things can be seen virtually every moment of the day, hidden in palms and under desks, or right out there in the open in school hallways. Does anybody really need to be that connected all the time? Oh, I could write a book on this topic, and perhaps someday I will, but for now I just wish that one child would read the above caption and realize that maybe, just maybe, they should put their cell phones away for just a little while and live.
Well Hello Again Nancy Lou!
Earlier this evening I had a reunion of sorts with an old friend, Nancy Lou. He and I have been getting together for coffee at his place on and off again now for a couple of years, but for the past couple of months we’d fallen out of touch. Though being out of touch with him has been bothering me, I’ve been too busy to do anything about it, but I knew that he kept up with me through this space.
Nance has been a faithful reader of this blog for some time now and I very much appreciate his readership and occasional input, and earlier this afternoon I got a surprise text from him. All it said was “coffee?” Of course I smiled at the sight of the text and even though I had some things to take care of after work, I knew I had to make room for a cup of java with an old friend, and guess what? We haven’t skipped a beat! Nice to see you again Nance!
Well tha-tha-tha-that's all folks! As always, thanks for checking out my space and I look forward to sharing with you again really soon!
Okay, we're back on track, a little, with the Z-A Blogger's Challenge. Today's letter is "S" and since this is one of my favorite times of year, I decided to dedicate this one to summer. In recent weeks I posted two articles on Y!CN: 10 Great Summer Albums and Awesome Summer Songs for All Sorts of Summertime Scenarios and both articles put some of those songs in my head, especially the ones that I haven't listened to in years. So, this post is dedicated to some of those great songs that many of us associate with summer. Take a look at the articles to check even more of them out, but in the meantime, enjoy these choice selections...
S is for Summer Songs
Summer Nights - John Travolta and Olivia Newton John
Anyone who was around in 1978 will remember that classic summer movie, Grease. The film was all about a summer romance between John Travolta's Danny Zuko and Olivia Newton John's Sandy Olsson and was full of memorable tunes such as this one. 'Summer nights' comes at the beginning of the movie and I can remember playing it over and over again during that summer of 78. Check it out:
Cruel Summer - Bananarama
The year was 1983 and these three harmonious British gals were just beginning to make waves with this summer hit...
Soak Up the Sun - Sheryl Crow
This one from folk/rock/pop singer Sheryl Crow is one of my all time favorite summer, feel good songs.
I'm gonna soak up the sun, gonna tell everyone to lighten up...
Rock the Boat - Hues Corporation
So I'd like to know where, you got the notion...
Oh man, I remember this one from when I was a wee one! So catchy and so timeless...
Rock the boat Don't rock the boat baby Rock the boat Don't tip the boat over
The Locomotion - Little Eva
Everybody's doin' a brand new dance now...
This one's not necessarily a summer song, per se, but it makes for a great old fashioned summer dance song. Kylie even remade this one once upon a time!
You've got to move your hips now...
Kokomo - The Beach Boys
What would summer music be without the Beach Boys? This one, from the 1988 film, 'Cocktail,' is one of the later songs from these California, surf music innovators, but it's just as loved as any of their big surfin' hits.
This one's perfect for a hot summer dance, with a little Latin flava! Love this song!!!
Well there you have it, some choice selections for pure summer music enjoyment. Though summer hasn't officially begun yet, the weather's already nice and the time is ripe for some great summer music. I hope you've enjoyed my picks for some of the best summer songs out there and remember to check out my articles above for more great, hot summer tunes. Until next time, peace! Tweet
Okay, okay, so none of the words in this post really start with the letter "X." It's been awhile since I've added to the Z-A Bloggers Challenge, for two reasons: busy-ness with other stuff and difficulty trying to find something musically to go with the next letter of the alphabet, "X." All I kept hearing in my head while I was trying to think of an "X" word was the line from this song:
"Extra, extra, read all about it. Wanted, young man single and free."
So since this is my blog and I can do anything I want, today's post is my post for the letter: X is for Extra, extra, read all about it, lol. This is a fun, funky song typical of the girl group sound of the 60's. I first learned it when LI native Taylor Dayne recorded it for her first CD and I've loved it ever since. So enjoy 'Want Ads,' by the Honey Cones:
