The Damned, New Rose
Uh oh, I feel a new obsession coming on. It's garage rockabilly punk. How are the Sex Pistols the face of punk? This is fantastic. I remember hearing and seeing stuff by The Damned, but perhaps I was too young to appreciate it.
Danny & The Juniors, At the Hop
I grew up listening this stuff since it was my parents' music and in the 70s, there was a huge surge in 50s nostalgia - Grease, American Graffiti, Sha Na Na, etc. It's a micro caspule of everything - doo wop, bar blues, dance records, and of course, teenage culture.
Bobby Darin, Splish Splash
My first exposure to this was Potsie singing it on Happy Days. Generations to follow have been little kids in bathrobes skating to it in their earliest attempts at light entertainment showcase numbers.
Spencer Davis Group, Gimme Some Lovin'
I really don't like Steve Winwood, but I have to acknowledge he was some sort of blues wonderkid who hit it big when he was in his tender years. Also love the Blues Brothers version of this. And as I'm typing this, I don't know if it's a credit to this SNL skit turned major motion picture to expose me to this musical culture, or that I was so sadly lacking in musical culture that I learned so much from a movie based on a skit.
De La Soul, Me, Myself and I
"Mirror, mirror on the wall..." I feel like going to the Alibi and licking my hand and hoping the over 21 stamp transfers. Early hip hop.
Deep Purple, Smoke on the Water
Every time there's a nightclub tragedy, this song inevitably narrates the story. Also, Bender singing the riff to annoy the principal in The Breakfast Club.
The Del-Vikings, Come Go With Me
Beatle girl, Beatle story. This is the song John Lennon was playing at the church fete when Paul McCartney first laid eyes on him. IIRC, Paul says John knew half the song and half the chords, but made it up anyway. Lately, I think it's been in a car insurance commercial on basic cable stations.
The Dells, Oh What a Night
More early 50s doo wop. The Dells, or an incarnation of the original band, is a regular fixture on PBS fundraising drives on their nostalgia concert tours. Admittedly, I would love to have gone to one of them.
The Delmore Brothers, Hillbilly Boogie
First time listener. Early country/hillbilly music, which youtube posters say is the bridge to rockabilly. It's incredible to think what modern music has come from.
Derek and the Dominoes, Layla
Oh look, more Clapton. And he's whining about his best friend's wife. Turned out well for Pattie I guess. I think my sarcasm comes from AOR playlist fatigue.
We attended a panel discussion of rock and politics at the Gerald R. Ford museum a few years back, and the DJs on the panel were taken to task for this very subject. "Play deep cuts man, we are tired of the same 5 songs from the same dozen artists!"
The music director, with gritted teeth, explained they had to play the game for the gravy train. A while back, a few conglomerates starting buying up radio stations in medium to large markets. And then started dictating what the stations could play based on scientific data research, giving the people what they wanted. So instead of hearing Bell Bottom Blues for a change, You get to hear Layla, again.
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