Petula Clark 1964 – Downtown
There’s a moment before the chorus of “Downtown” when everything tilts upward, like an elevator gliding past the mezzanine into…
Oldies Songs
Los Bravos – Black Is Black
The tape starts cold in my mind: a quick count-off swallowed by a bassline that hits like a swinging pendulum,…
Sly & The Family Stone 1969 – Everyday People
I first met “Everyday People” in the soft blue of a car’s dashboard, a late-night drive when the roads were…
Brenda Lee – Is It True
Brenda Lee’s “Is It True” begins for me with the sound of a room—tight, luminous, almost lacquered. You can imagine…
The Crystals – He’s a Rebel
I first hear it as if through fogged glass and neon steam—drums leaping forward like a car darting through a…
Tommy James & The Shondells – Hanky Panky
I first hear it the way most people remember it: on a car radio that sounds like it’s been lived…
Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich 1967 – Zabadak
It begins with a thrum that feels both festive and faintly ominous—hand percussion coming in layers, a crowd of voices…
Whistling Jack Smith – I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman
The tape hiss is soft as dust, and then the whistle cuts through—pure, steady, almost cheeky in its confidence. Before…
Raymond Froggatt – Callow La Vita
The tape hiss comes first—imagined, really—and then that slow, buoyant lift that made so many late-60s pop productions feel like…
Herman’s Hermits – There’s A Kind Of Hush
The tape hiss is the first thing I imagine when I press play in my mind: a soft veil, then…