By the time I got into a music the Beatles had broken up, the Stones were constantly stoned, Hendrix/Morrison/Joplin had over dosed…It was Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, then I discovered Classical and became a snob. |
I had the great fortune to experience live The Beatles during their last US tour in '66. I was hooked on music in general from my earliest youth though.
We had two garage bands during my HS days, of which I played bass and keyboard in the invasion cover group while the other band focused more on US beach music, Beach Boys, Ventures, etc. Neither group were high quality (as most of us self taught were) but we all enjoyed ourselves immensely! On the other hand, our front man, Dave Gordon, did turn professional and was highly regarded in the folk genre until his death from cancer in his early 30's.
So, yeah, I guess those were our "cliques", even-though we did think of it much that way back then. No clique now though, just this group. Oops!
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OH...you kids and your Rock and Roll...
Now, TURN THAT DOWN....
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Oh, oh, Zappa in Joe's garage practicing!
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When I was a kid, I listened to the two AM stations that were popular in the Tulsa area during the early to late 60s: KAKC and KELI. (This was long before KMOD took over the FM airwaves.) Those stations were played all the time at our house, because my older sisters (a pre-teen and a teenager) listened to them constantly. (Several transistor radios with the single earpiece provided service over the years in our household.) That's where my tastes in music were primarily developed.
I didn't appreciate it until much later in my life, but those two AM stations played at least a small variety of popular music every day: British Invasion, garage bands (i.e. the kinds of bands you'll find on Nuggets compilations), Motown, some Stax r&b, doo wop, surf music, teen idols, girl groups, the occasional blues record, and even country folks like Merle Haggard and Freddie Hart. I can also remember when they played "Israelites" by Desmond Dekker and "Double Barrel" by Dave & Ansel Collins all the time. Those stations are probably why I like almost all kinds of music (except for bad music).
As for the British Invasion, most of my classmates fell into that Beatles vs Rolling Stones thing. I love the music of both bands (and I managed to catch the Stones live a few times), but I primarily ran with the Beatles crowd. Still do. |
To name a few, Blues Magoos, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Eric Burton, Janis Joplin, Santana, Temptations, Carol King, James Taylor, Moody Blues, Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, CCR. |
"...I've got children sleeping in here! Don't you know any good songs?!"
Yeah, but we prefer this....;) |
I saw the mention of the group War. One wonderful day of my life was driving with the top down and my best friend to Road America for The Historic Races and "All Day Music" by War came on. The song simply added to one of the best times of my life.
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Every time I hear "All Day Music" I have visual memory of a picnic we had by river, beautiful spring day. Always brings me back to that summer of 1971.
War never sounds dated to me, and sound quality is great.
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then I discovered Classical and became a snob.
A happy snob, listening to beautiful music no doubt!?!?! Live orchestra, worthy of utter snobbery, livin' the dream |
In the UK there were definitely cliques in the 60's that determined what music was acceptable - Mods, Rockers, Skinheads, Hippies, Folkies and others. There were all these little countercultures that dressed, wore their hair and used slang differently. In the US you saw that as the British Invasion of lots of Beat and rock n' roll acts. Of course what you listened to at home and with your 'mates' could be very different.
BTW my farts are new! |
Beatles vs. Rolling Stones. All others were on the sidelines. I was (am) a Beatles fan. They put out some of the most inventive, groundbreaking music and continually evolved. Each of their albums was a step in a new direction that you could listen to over and over and find something new with each listen. |
Two music cliques growing up;
Grateful Dead - pot smoking, mellow hippies (me)
VS.
Lead Zeppelin - alcohol drinking, tough guys
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All of those were great groups, but especially The Beatles. My 16 year old son (yes, I’m an old codger with young children) still listens to them all the time and loves their music.
Someone mentioned Paul Revere and the Raiders holding up the American end. There was also the Lovin’ Spoonful, good music and good run in the mid 1960’s. |
Apple Music has a nice “British Invasion” playlist. I was also surprised occasionally to see that somebody I thought was American was British. The only clique I recall — in jr. hi, since I’m so old — was Beatles vs. Stones. Or maybe the folks who liked The Beach Boys as a genuine US group. Or Dylan if they were self-consciously hip. In college a friend introduced me to classical music and as a result I have a 10-year gap in my popular music experience, regardless or which side of the pond they came from. |
I've never understood the Beatles craze, personally. With a few exceptions, they fit my description of bubble gum pop drivel (yes, I know I'm in the minority - as my wife fondly reminds me). Grateful Dead? Well, now, no good coma would be complete without GD accompaniment.
Now, The Stones, Kinks, Humble Pie (...talkin 'bout black Lebanese..), Led Zep, Black Sabbath, Strawbs, Tull, Gentle Giant, Steeleye Span, Bloodwyn Pig...*That* was the British Invasion to me. Still listening to them 50-odd years later, still good tunes, although symphonic metal is my newest love.
As always, YMMV. Listen to what speaks to you.
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Rolling Stones at age 9 was my favorite, everyone else was into the Beatles. Replaced by Jefferson airplane at age 13. Liked the Doors also.
At age 16, I was a clique of one in my Catholic HS listening to “(It’s a Chill Wind That) Blows Against the Empire” by Paul Kantner (R.I.P.) and PERRO (Planet Earth Rock & Roll Orchestra. |
My crowd were Rolling Stones fans because we were rebellious and and close to being juvenile delinquents. The Beatles were all so well scrubbed and that didn't go over well. When they went psychedelic I really liked them. We had a sadistic music teacher in school, an ex Marine, who made a big show of ripping up any Beatles memorabilia he found on students. |
@rtorchia - LOL, you had one of those music teachers as well eh? We had one in middle school that said ALL music fell into three categories: Classical, Opera, and The Big Beat. He viewed everything outside of Classical and Opera as indistinguishable trash that was nothing more than primitives beating on something to make noise so they could jump around in synchronicity.
He was a thrill a minute, let me tell you. To be fair, we did learn about troglodytes at an earlier age than most...
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It wouldn't be right if one of us old farts didn't give a big thank you to television shows like The Ed Sullivan Show, Shindig, Hullabaloo and American Bandstand.
The Beatles, The Dave Clark 5, Rolling Stones, The Who, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, James Brown, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Roy Orbison, The Animals, etc.
Without music video or YouTube, these shows were our only opportunity to "see" our favourite musicians perform. All pre-lip syncing, so the performances were 100% real and were usually performed exactly like we heard on whatever AM station you listened to. Even Bob Dylan.
Great times and great memories from the golden age of pop music. |
Hilarious, I too had extremely miltaristic female chorus teacher in 9th grade. Got kicked out of class for year for failure to conform, had to sit in principle's office for the year, deprived of all books, anything to read or distract me. Staring at the wall for 45 minutes every day. Funny thing was, I loved singing in chorus and was told I had perfect pitch.
Have to admit, I was a young radical, garage rock and later bands like MC5, Stooges, and even later, hard core mosh pits attracted me.
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We always had the contentious Beethoven or Shubert arguments about the latest music when I was growing up... |
Ok I was a teenager then and the Beatles and the Dave Clark 5 were like in one category and then you had the Rolling Stones....who weren't.... |
The music was good and the words Beatles rock and roll,and love songs.The Rolling Stone more Blues Rock... |
The Dave Clark Five were good great Saxs. .good Rock and Roll......the Animals witb Eric Burtons voice great and the Kinks...Rock and Roll....Great time to be a teenager..... |
NOW with Rappper just....Female Black singers are excellent....but the Hard Rap....sorry its crap.... |
That's funny the Beatle's hadn't matured in 64-65.....they played German bars in 62...Rock and Roll for hard beer drinker....lol |
I grew up in Santa Monica Ca. ground zero for The Surf scene.
I was into The Beatles,my brother was into The Beach Boys. and my older brother was into The Rolling Stones.
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