I was a teenager in the 60′s, so there was lots of good stuff to listen to. I joined the Columbia Record Club, fulfilled my membership obligations and promptly cancelled. The music I picked was all over the map, because what I lacked in quantity I thought I could make up for in variety. (Yes, I am rolling my eyes here too.) I had a little portable record player (it was probably pink) and I wore it out listening to the same albums, over and over and over.
The ones I specifically remember are:
Johnny Rivers (Tracks of My Tears)
The Righteous Brothers (Unchained Melody)
The Best of Motown (Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, the Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Lionel Ritchie, Four Tops, Smoky Robinson….the list is long.)
Gene Pitney (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) (I’m serious – I thought it was an awesome song)
The Rolling Stones (Satisfaction)
The Beach Boys (Good Vibrations)
Donovan (Mellow Yellow)
The Animals (House of the Rising Sun)
The Troggs (Wild Thing)
You may have noticed that my list does not include the Beatles. I didn’t like them. I thought there were other British groups that were way better. Like Chad and Jeremy, Peter and Gordon, and Hermans Hermits.
Sigh. I was just a kid – what did I know? I also liked Roy Orbison and Neil Sedaka. And the Turtles. And those guys who sang Wooly Bully.
I never listen to this stuff now on purpose, but if any of it is ever playing on an oldies station, betcha I know all the words and can sing along.
