@HannahHowe while I knew the original song I didn’t appreciate it as much as I do now until my fave band at the time (1982) The Jam released one of their final singles, a two song medley of the original "Pity Poor Alfie" that segues perfectly into “Fever”. After that I really took to the Peggy Lee standard, its just wonderful.
@HannahHowe earliest was listening to my bro or sis’ Beatles records, the first two US LPs from 64, though it was probably 1967 or 68 when I was playing them**. First record I bought with my own money was the Magical Mystery Tour LP (US, I know it came out as an EP in the UK). That was probably 1975 or 76.
**I had a dream in 1967 that the Fabs were in my bedroom closet. Not the psychedelic look that year but how I knew them, in their matching suits. 😂
A generalisation - at the moment, songs from the second half of the 1960s are doing better than songs from the early 1960s and 1950s. Is there a reason for this - do you have a theory?
This week, I started writing The Ninety-Three, a murder-mystery set in 1918, during the closing months of the Great War. The narrator is Dr Anna Richards, a sociologist, suffragette and socialite. The story opens in Downing Street with someone hurling a brick through the prime minister’s window…
Two items brought to my attention today, in relation to Eve’s Peace, my Heroines of SOE sequel. One, the proof copy of the paperback version. Two, this wonderful review. “Love, distrust, trust, & secrets galore. Woven superbly by the author makes for wonderous reading, hard to put down book. Rating the book a 9 1/2 only because now I must look for sequels & prequels for this wonderful series...”
When the qualifying process is complete, on Mastodon we will start voting on our top twenty favourite records of the 1950s/1960s, placing them in order. Through 190 match-ups, we will create a unique chart, every song a classic.
Here is some background on one of the qualifiers, I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles.
I Want to Hold Your Hand was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The song was recorded on 17 October 1963 and released on 29 November 1963. It was the first Beatles record made using four-track recording equipment.
With advance orders exceeding one million copies in Britain, I Want to Hold Your Hand should have gone straight to number one, only there was a problem: The Beatles’ She Loves You occupied that position. After two weeks, I Want to Hold Your Hand dislodged She Loves You and remained at number one for five weeks.
When the qualifying process is complete, in about a month, on Mastodon we will start voting on our top twenty favourite records of the 1950s/1960s, placing them in order. Through 190 match-ups, we will create a unique chart, every song a classic.
Here is some background on one of the qualifiers, Then He Kissed Me by The Crystals
Introduction update. I’m interested in social history, including the history of popular music and movies. I post a lot of polls. If you don’t like music, movies or polls, you won’t like my posts. However, if these subjects interest you, please feel free to connect.
When the qualifying process is complete, in about a month, on Mastodon we will start voting on our top twenty favourite records of the 1950s/1960s, placing them in order. Through 190 match-ups, we will create a unique chart, every song a classic.
Here is some background on one of the qualifiers, Respect by Aretha Franklin.
Respect was originally recorded by Otis Redding and released in 1965. In 1967 Aretha Franklin rearranged the song, which resulted in a bigger hit. The music in the two versions is significantly different, while the lyrics, centred on dignity, also display changes.
Initially a ballad, Respect is shrouded in mystery in that no one is certain who wrote the song. Bandleader Percy Welch said it was written by a guitarist at Bobby Smith's recording studio in Macon. The record label credits Otis Redding, but it seems he adapted a song brought to him by Earl "Speedo" Sims, who obtained it from the mystery guitarist.
In 1919, my 2 x great grandfather William Howe was unwell, so the villagers railed round and arranged a prize draw for his benefit, raising the equivalent of £2,500. The success of the draw illustrated the high esteem in which William was held within the community.
“The Loves of Carmen starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford is the first film to use plastic food throughout. In accordance with the austerity trend, Columbia no longer uses real food in its pictures, except where it has to be eaten. In one scene, plastic sausage and cheese, and plaster replicas of roast fowl are used. Only a single turkey drumstick, which Miss Hayworth eats, is real.”
The energy density of gasoline is great, but the ratio of joules to kinetic energy in anything but a tiny car is piss poor compared with modern battery electric vehicles. I’ve read that you get something like 13% of the gasoline’s potential energy transformed into force on the tires. This varies according to the quality of the vehicle, of course.