“What’s that playing on the radio? Why do I start swaying to and fro?”
In the motion picture “Grease,” Sha Na Na sang a song about changes. It’s probably the least played tune on the soundtrack, but it’s my favorite, and it’s on my I-pod.
I was privileged to grow up in the 1950s and experience the revolution in music. Does music influence society, or does society dictate music style?
It was a much simpler time when the Good Humor Man wore a pristine white uniform and carried a change purse around his waist. I chased him many a time down a suburban street. It seemed that Dad made the decision to get four Toasted Almond Ice Creams when the truck was well-passed our house. By the time Mom dug quarters out of her purse, I had to run down the street at a full gallop. With my Red Ball Jet’s Sneakers, I could catch any old ice cream truck, especially when it stopped for the neighbors.
Occasionally, a car cruised by to the sounds of Buddy Holly. “Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue, pretty, pretty little Peggy Sue.” I liked Buddy Holly and remember crying when he died in a plane crash. It took me a while to like other artists. In the motion picture “American Graffiti,” the Beach Boys came on the radio, and the character John Milner said, “I don’t like that surfing stuff. I haven’t liked anything since Buddy Holly died.”
The much younger girl riding with him in the bright yellow ’32 Ford said the Beach Boys were really “boss.” It was a foreshadowing of things to come.
Jan and Dean and the Beach Boys made us dream about a carefree lifestyle: surfing and girls in bikinis. The sounds of muscle cars in songs like “Little Deuce Coupe,” “Dead Man’s Curve,” “409,” “The Little Old Lady From Pasadena,” “Little G.T.O.,” and a host of others. We had to have fast cars. You just weren’t cool in a Nash Rambler. No one sang about those.
The British Invasion followed, and we were consumed by The Beatles and Rolling Stones. I really wasn’t a big fan of either group, and I was already missing doo-wop. I evolved slowly and bought Strawberry Alarm Clock’s Incense and Peppermints record. I bought into the haircut and bell bottoms. I would have looked dated in a crew cut and rolled-up jeans.
Woodstock summarized a generation. The attitudes of one-half million people were on display for the entire world to see. The war in Viet Nam produced such hits as “American Woman” by Guess Who. Both sides of the political spectrum were covered. “Battle of the Green Berets” talked of the gallantry of our brave soldiers, and John Wayne starred in the movie. It was a drastic change from the simple upbeat sounds of my childhood.
Was music changing our society? Do heavy metal and rap promote violence? Through all the years, I’ve learned to accept different types of music. Rihanna and Eminem:
“I’m friends with the monster that’s under my bed. Get along with the voices inside of my head. You trying to save me, stop holding your breath. And you think I’m crazy, yeah, you think I’m crazy.”
