Australia Holidays 2013 - Music: The Beginning of Rock and Roll For Me - (1955)

We were kids and television was new to all of us) (Hey, How they could get all those little figures in such a little box, we wondered! And there were few television sets anywhere in the country, we were 10-12 years old, hey! We were afraid of it, and when us kids first saw a television set for the first time, my uncle had a television at his house! And so we listened to radio, so my family could not afford one, television sets were only affordable for the privileged, in the 1950's.

Dick Clark was probably in his mid-twenties, at that time. When it was broadcast (live) out of Philadelphia EVERYDAY, hosted the show for many years, dick Clark, the oldest American teen-ager! That show was American Bandstand, and! . . That was a MUST on our to-do list, there was one television show, but. Television was new to everyone all across the country. Etc, gun Smoke, ed Sullivan; the Millionaire, flash Gordon; life of Riley; 77 Sunset Strip; ozzie and Harriet; leave It To Beaver; my Little Margie; the Honeymooners; and we watched shows like Lucy; my father bought a television set, in the late 1950's.

(2006)
What a great time to grow up! Still thrive today, the hits they wrote back then, and! They wrote themselves! . . Many of the hits they sang. And many others; neal Sedaka; paul Anka; buddy Holly; carol King; leslie Gore; such as Smokey Robinson. . . That many of these stars were only teen-agers or in their early twenties at the time, is the fact, what was amazing. We watched all the singers and groups that came out on American Bandstand to showcase their talents, as kids. To spread the music of rock and roll throughout the country, it was television and rock and roll that teamed up. . . Because of American Bandstand.

So we learned from watching the dancers on the show, everyone on American Bandstand did it! " which was similar to jitter-bugging, "Band-standing! . . There was only one "type" of dance that was popular going on at the time. Nadine and we would all "splish-splash the night away, peggy Sue; including Long Tall Sally; everyone showed up! We attended dances (sock-hops) every week, from where we lived, at the community center down the street!

Songwriters and performers were the main ingredients of the beginning of the rock and roll era, songs, as these singers! . . No oldies at that time, of course, there were. The list was endless, and! . . Somebody named Elvis-somebody-or-another; fats Domino; the Coasters; chuck Berry; the Drifters; the Platters; connie Francis; buddy Holly; jerry Lee Lewis; little Richard. All the biggies of rock and roll came on the show! . . One after another. So we could see all the new stars on American Bandstand! . . Race home. . . It was exciting to get off from school about three in the afternoon.

Than to get into the hazards of drugs! . . Parents thought it was best for their kids to be having fun with music, " After all. When rock and roll was more accepted by the establishment! . . And it was then, when the drug culture came onto the scene, it was later in the mid-1960's. And the "establishment frowned on rock and roll, certain songs were banned from the church. Was the cry! . ". "Rock and roll was corrupting our kids. " frowned on rock and roll right from the beginning; and the "establishment, churches; the government; school officials; parents! It was down-right hated, as a matter of fact! Rock and roll was not liked by everyone at the time, but!

" "OLD PEOPLE, what Bill Cosby calls! . . " You were. And you were part of the "establishment! . . Not trusted. . . You were OLD, if you were over 30 years old at that time.

Including Elvis and the Beatles, where many newcomers got their start, the Ed Sullivan Show! . . Was the long time running, spreading the word about rock and roll as well. The television shows "Shin Dig" and Solid Gold added to the popularity of rock and roll. How could so much talent exist throughout the 1960's? And they were so young, singer/songwriters had block-busters at that time! 2), singing Fingertips (1& when he was only ten years old, i remember Little Stevie Wonder. The Queen of Soul and the Everybody of Soul, the King of Soul; the Supremes; marvin Gaye; which included greats like Smokey Robinson; mo-Town came onto the scene, in the early 1960's. Rock and roll was and IS here to stay, but!

Were one of the few groups that rivaled the Beatles in the late 1960's in popularity, the Monkees, and! It was the Beatles and the Rolling Stones who topped the charts. . . And along with Elvis, it was more accepted, but now, rock and roll continued to dominate the airwaves. I was a freshman at the University of New Mexico. . . And the British Invasion. . . It was 1964.

It's just called by a different name, the "slop" is still around, " and in 2006, the dance was called the "slop, at that time! And danced on their own, dance partners split apart, in the early 1960's! I learned to take wax off the dance floor at a young age! And we went over there all the time to boogie to the latest hits, whose parents bought their daughter records, but we had a friend down the street, we couldn't afford (45 rpm records), as kids!

"! With "The LIttle Old Man, even Bill Cosby had a hit song in the late 60's! And on and on and on; the Dave Clark Five; herman's Hermits; cCR; neil Diamond; the Bee-Gees; fleetwood Mac; the Moody Blues; three Dog Night; the Carpenter's; bobby Darin; the Jackson Five; paul and Mary; peter, barbara Strisand; john Denver; linda Ronstadt; gladys Knight! Because there were all the "biggies" who lead the way in rock and roll, i loved to see the American Music Awards, american Music Awards: Throughout the 1960's and 70's.

I remember the 60's because I WAS there! . . To this dope head I say. . . " Well. You wern't there! . . "If you remember the 60's, there was one famous band member who said. . . Everybody gets stoned. . . Like the song says. Dope and alcohol; it was a time of free-love. 000 people in New York, over 500! . . A huge slumber party of love and drugs. If you like orgies! . . A big orgy. Woodstock?

WHERE IT WILL REMAIN FOREVER! . . OWNERSHIP OF AMERICA WAS RETURNED TO THE PEOPLE. . . And now. . . The DOPE HEADS in the Congress FINALLY got the MESSAGE, in the early 1970's, after Watergate. CITIES BURNED EVERY YEAR UNTIL CONGRESS GOT THE MESSAGE! . . AND CITIES BURNED TO GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS TO THE DOPE HEADS IN CONGRESS. . . It's the government of the PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. . . Or the government of the Democrats. . . Or a government of the Republicans. . . The United States of America was and is NOT a government of the Congress. . . The Congress didn't get it. "the long hot summers, what was called at the time, during? . . Cities burned; rebellion; civil disobedience. Equal rights for all; women's lib; the civil rights movement. But because the 60's were a time of CHANGE in America, not only because of Viet Nam! . . The 1960's were violent and turbulent times, and.

Fires were set at the University of New Mexico in protest of Viet Nam and the Kent State killings! After the three students at Kent State were killed by the National Guard, new Mexico the National Guard was called out in 1971, in Albuquerque, here. Where the National Guard was not called out because of rebellion, i don't think there was a major city in America, at that time!

The music continued, " But! Free and clear from the "establishment! . . " independent thinking, "do your own thing, (2006) It was a time of. And many of those songs are still popular today, hundreds of protest songs were written and recorded. The music of the time reflected the mood of the country, and!

But the music was great! . . The movie itself was a dork. And we loved the music, "Grease" in the 1970's, is that me and my wife saw the movie, the only thing I can say about disco! I have no idea what "disco" means, and to this day in 2006, people put labels on music, " Over the years! "disco, going in a different direction was something called, and! " which I did not listen to, was "heavy metal sound, on the one side! Rock and roll began to change, i would say that around 1970.

All died so young! . . The "KING". . . Roger Miller and of course; janice Joplin; van Morrison; jimi Hendrix; roy Orbison: Mama Cass Eliot; buddy Holly; john Denver; eddy Rabbit; bobby Darin; rick Nelson. . . Sadly.

Where the Stones were to perform, the community college was located near the football stadium. And the Stones were in town, and I was taking a computer course at a local community college, it was 1995. Parents and the "establishment' hated the music, back when rock and roll first began, (where I live) You remember! N.M, one of the most ironic things that happened to me in the mid-1990's when the Rolling Stones appeared in Albuquerque.

UNBELIEVABLE! . . And now those KIDS are taking their KIDS to a rock and roll concert, back in the 1950's/60's parents hated rock and roll. What a difference a generation makes! Can you imagine that? I noticed 40 and 50 years old PARENTS taking their CHILDREN to a Stones concert, as I waited for a traffic light to change, and, before the Stones show, i got out of class about 6:30 in the evening, that night!

Whether the songs be the oldies or the new songs coming along! . . Rock and roll is here to stay. . . As the song says. . . Well. . . Oh. I never hear too much about new music much anymore! They will never die! . . Because the music and lyrics are so great, the music will continue to dominate, and. At least where I live, the oldies dominate the music airwaves, in the year 2006.

I don't even do that well at all, and! . . IS THE RADIO. . . The only instrument I can play. . . As for me. And those who can play a musical instrument! . . Write a song. . . Those who can sing a song. . . I've always admired musicians.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! A---A---A---A-----L---L---L---L-------V---V---V---V------I---I---I---I-------N---N---N---N---! . . . . . . . . A-L-V-I-N. . . . . . . . And Alvin. . . Simon, theodore. . . The Chipmunks. . . I cannot forget one of my favorite all-time groups, during the many years of this musical explosion for me.