SIXTIES NOSTALGIA

Is it possible to have sixties nostalgia in case you were born one and a half decade later? Not really. I´d gladly take you on a time travel trip but that is not yet possible. However, in many stories I wrote we virtually jump back and forth in time.

About 14 and a half years ago, the Dutch radio 2 created their Top 2000 event. Starting on December 26th at 00:00 until January 1st at 00:00. It was meant to be a one time event, but it became so overwhelmingly popular that it is repeating itself every year.

Probably you think that this hasn´t anything to do with the sixties. This list of 2000 songs does have several pearls of that decade. Nevertheless, the top 10 almost always consists of seventies anthems, such as Led Zep´s Stairway to Heaven, Pink Floyd´s Shine on you Crazy Diamond, the Hotel California from the Eagles and on number 1 in 13 of the 15 editions, Queen´s Bohemian Rhapsody.

In the Netherlands there are various radio channels and if you are still young, you will probably listen 3FM or whichever commercial radio channel. There is also a classic channel which used to be Radio 5. But those who like good old pop music will listen Radio 2 as it is nowadays a good blend of new releases with 60s, 70s and 80s songs.

When kids are born in the seventies, then their parents are born 2 or 3 decades earlier. My dad had a record of sixties classics (which, years later, eventually ended up in my LP box) which he recorded on one of those classic BASF chromdioxid tapes.On many little voyages in the eighties that particular tape was in the radio. That´s how I first got to listen it.

Although I am a fan of rock music, something you´ll probably figured out if you saw my previous post, through the years I have picked up some other styles like blues and jazz. Eventually rock is a very big umbrella under which many subgenres can be placed; seventies punk, eighties glam and nineties grunge, they all fit in there.

But there is something special about the music from the sixties. The music is mostly poppy, the songs are short compared to other decades. There are a lot of songs that do not reach 3 minutes. They are just different, and songs from more recent decades do not have that same sound anymore. Of course there are dozens of sixties songs that I do not like at all, mostly because of the fact that they have a too high sugar level.

Here are some examples of my favourites:

Lazy Sunday Afternoon : The Small Faces at their best in exaggerated British English. Neighbours who bang on "me" wall

The Israelites :
Desmond Dekker with his Aces. When I was a little kid the ooh oooh sounded to me like the mooing cow

Spinning Wheel : By Blood, Sweat and Tears. This song has such a marvellous trumpet section

Ha Ha Said the Clown : Manfred Mann. A different song, I mean by Dave Davies, Death of a Clown is pretty sad. But This song has only a slight disappointment for the bloke who goes to see the clown perform, tries to flirt with a pretty girl... well, you all know how the story ends...

Summer in the City : The Lovin´ Spoonful. Eventually they have other good songs, such as Daydream, Nashville Cats, etc. but the fact that Joe Cocker covered this implies that it´s a very nice tune.

Summertime : By Billy Stewart. The famous version of almost 6 minutes in which he scat sings. Very famous and recognizable song opening. The song itself is pretty much older and has been covered by many more groups, among them Dutch group Brainbox, they had a more psychedelic version at the end of the sixties.

San Francisco : Scott McKenzie singing about Frisco

Eve of Destruction : A Vietnam war protest song by Barry McGuire. The lyrics are sad but o so true. The harmonica is quite catchy though.

The ballad of Bonny & Clyde : About three decades earlier, this couple was caught in a deadly ambush. Georgie Fame sings about their criminal career.

Colours : Donovan sings about green, blue and yellow.

Magic Carpet Ride : John Kay and Steppenwolf sing an "arab tale" in their own style, the lamp was taken away by someone and they only found a lousy candle.

It must have been a great decade, with great artists such as the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, the Gratefuld Dead and many others starting their career, a decade that ended with the landing on the moon and Woodstock. Also, it was the decade of James Bond, the 1962 World Cup in Chile won by Brazil, the 1966 World Cup in England, won also by England (the notorious goal that bounced on the line). People started buying their own "telly" just for those events. In fact, every World Cup there is an increase of sold TV´s even half a century later.

For those of you who have enjoyed reading this post, please write a comment with your favourite sixties / seventies or eighties song.