Classic Rock Music Monday

The stuff that now passes as "music", particularly rock 'n roll, leaves me cold. So, to start off the week, here's a video of a classic rock artist.

To start off the week, we have "Walk Don't Run" an instrumental by The Ventures from 1960. The video is from American Bandstand.

From Wikipedia:

The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the 1960s. While their popularity in the United States waned in the 1970s, the group remains especially revered in Japan, where they have toured regularly. The classic lineup of the band consisted of Wilson (rhythm guitar), Bogle (initially lead guitar, later bass), Nokie Edwards (initially bass, later lead guitar), and Mel Taylor (drums).

Their first wide-release single, "Walk, Don't Run" (1960), brought international fame to the group, and is often cited as one of the top songs ever recorded for guitar. In the 1960s and early 1970s, 38 of the band's albums charted in the US, ranking them as the 6th best album chart performer during the 1960s, and the band had 14 singles in the Billboard Hot 100. With over 100 million records sold, the Ventures are the best-selling instrumental band of all time.

 

Classic Rock Music Monday

The stuff that now passes as "music", particularly rock 'n roll, leaves me cold. So, to start off the week, here's a video of a classic rock artist.

To begin the week, we have Dick & Dee Dee performing a couple of their hits on American Bandstand from November 1964, "The Mountain's High" and "Thou Shalt Not Steal". 

What I remember most about Dick & Dee Dee was not so much themselves, but a friend of my Dad's, Don Brennan, doing a funny imitation of them one night while we were driving somewhere.

From Wikipedia:

Dick and Dee Dee (or Dick and Deedee) are an American singer-songwriter duo who reached popularity in the early to mid-1960s. The group was founded by California classmates Richard Gosting and Mary Sperling. They eventually changed their names to Dick St. John and Dee Dee Sperling (currently Dee Dee Phelps). They had their first hit in 1961 when "The Mountain's High" reached No. 2 on the Billboard 100. They toured with the Beach Boys and opened for the Rolling Stones during the Stones's 1964 tour of California. Regulars on the show Shindig!, the duo had multiple hit songs before St. John and Sperling disbanded in 1969. In the 1980s, St. John toured with his wife, Sandy. Dick St. John died on December 27, 2003, after a fall at his home. Dee Dee Phelps began performing with actor/singer Michael Dunn as Dick and Dee Dee in 2008, appearing in large doo wop and rock and roll shows throughout the United States.

It's "Monster Mash" Time!

It seems like it has always been around, especially at Halloween time.

Every year at this time leading up to Halloween, Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash" is played on radio stations across the country. It is even being played several times a day on the local Navajo Country (KYAT) station originating from Gallup, New Mexico and Window Rock, Arizona.

Strange at it may seem, it only debuted in August 1962. It seems much longer than that.

In the song, Pickett does imitations of horror stars Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Peter Lorre.

From Wikipedia:

"Monster Mash" is a 1962 novelty song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. The song was released as a single on Gary S. Paxton's Garpax Records label in August 1962 along with a full-length LP called The Original Monster Mash, which contained several other monster-themed tunes. The "Monster Mash" single was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on October 20–27 of that year, just before Halloween. It has been a perennial Halloween favorite ever since. Nearly 60 years after its release, "Monster Mash" re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 37.

Did Boris Karloff like "Monster Mash"?  Yes, it turns out he did and even did his own version on Shindig.

According to American Songwriter:

“One of the London Records promotion men, a guy named George Sherlock, ran into Boris Karloff at Wallach’s Music City as he was buying a copy of the Monster Mash album,” Pickett said. “Karloff told him he loved the record. Karloff later did his version of the ‘Monster Mash’ on Shindig for their Halloween show of 1965.”

R.I.P. Dick Clark

The entertainment world just got a bit more poorer.

It was just reported by ABC News that "America's Oldest Teenager" Dick Clark died of a massive heart attack at age 82:

Dick Clark, the music industry maverick, longtime TV host and powerhouse producer who changed the way we listened to pop music with American Bandstand, and whose trademark Rockin' Eve became a fixture of New Year's celebrations, died today at the age of 82, ABC News has learned. 

Clark, who suffered a serious stroke in 2004 but returned to the airwaves, reportedly died from a heart attack. 

It was reported on KFI-AM 640 that Clark died at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Santa Monica.

For more, go here.