The Kingsmen 1963- Louie Louie
The night was cold, slick with a fine Portland rain. It was April 6, 1963. Inside a converted movie theater…
Oldies Songs
Eddie Holman 1969 – Hey There Lonely Girl
The first time I really heard it—not just as background noise in a dim cafe, but truly heard it—I was…
Twinkle 1964 – Terry
The year is 1964. The British Invasion is in full swing, but across the Atlantic, the American airwaves are still…
Otis Redding 1966 – Respect
The needle drops. A cymbal crash, sharp and almost violently upfront, gives way to a quick, syncopated two-bar blast of…
Lulu 1964 – Shout
The air in the studio was thick with expectation, the low-frequency hum of the tape machine a silent promise of…
Andy Williams 1967 – Music To Watch Girls By
The needle drops, and the air thickens with a knowing, martini-dry cool. You can almost smell the cigarette smoke mingling…
Little Anthony & The Imperials 1965 – Hurt So Bad
The first time I really heard “Hurt So Bad,” it wasn’t on a crackling vinyl 45 or a classic radio…
The Beach Boys 1965 – Help Me Rhonda
The Southern California sun is a fickle thing in a pop song. It promises endless summer, but in 1965, The…
Johnny Mathis 1958 – A Certain Smile
The late hour had always belonged to Johnny Mathis. I remember those nights, the kind where the streetlights outside my…
Bobby Pickett 1962 – Monster Mash
I was eight years old, huddled by a giant cathode-ray tube television, the volume turned low so my parents wouldn’t…