Saturday, December 19, 2009

Baby Boomer Music - Good Stuff

By Phil McMillan

I am a Baby Boomer who loves Baby Boomer music. I am a product of the 50's and the 60's. Honestly, I do like several genres of music recordings from all periods of time, but I love just about everything to do with the music I listened to while growing up. I'm in my 60's now and I will still pound out the drum roll on a table when "Wipe Out!" is played on the radio.

I vividly remember the major changes that occurred in new trends as they happened. The late 50's had the "do wop" sound of black singing groups and white groups and the message was always very simple. Boy meets girl, "puppy love" takes over, boy and girl break up, and sadness sinks in ... until he meets a new girl.
In the early 60's, boys got involved with cars as well as girls ("She's real fine, my 409!"). Soon, the boys were picking up girls in their cars and heading for the beach. If you lived in California you went surfing. If you lived on the east coast, you hung around the neighborhood and sang in harmony with your buds.

And then came the British Invasion in the early 60's. For a while, American singing groups took a backseat to the groups from Great Britain. The culture most definitely changed. We left the innocence of life and moved into a new eclectic state. It became down right bizarre. The culture coarsened life here in the USA.

The creativity of the music, however, was amazing. Groups and singers from both countries (England and the USA) were banging out hit after hit as music became more daring. Classic rock n' roll, country rock, folk, R&B, and beautiful ballads all took center stage. Creedence Clearwater Revival and James Taylor had the same fans.

Unfortunately, the Vietnam war split the country and became a big part of the music scene. The songs mocked the war and the United States at the same time. It went overboard and really attacked the military. The music, I think, actually helped to cause the hurt feelings that existed between the two camps. Woodstock became an anti-war party. It became the fashionable thing to do for many.

For me, the party was over. They were raining on my parade and it would never be the same again. The 70's produced a lot of terrific songs that continue to be enjoyed today. Same for the 80's. I haven't cared much for what came after that.

For us Boomers, our creative sound was gone by the end of the 60's but it was great fun while it lasted. As my Dad always said "those were the days." Hey, someone turn up the radio ... they're playing our song.

Phil McMillan is a writer who maintains a daily blog entitled "Baby Boomer Baloney" (http://www.babyboomerbaloney.com ). He provides daily humor videos for his readers as well as music videos from the 60's through the 80's along with his own personal comments.

Phil McMillan
http://www.babyboomerbaloney.com
ptmcmillan@gmail.com

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