Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.
I had this as a kid and would play it at family gatherings at our house. I bought an original one from 1969 from eBay a couple of years ago and still once in a while will play it. It plays like a carnival game. My son didn’t think much of it at first but when he started to play it…he liked it.
The game came out in 1969 by the Ideal Toy Company. The game was designed by Marvin Glass and Associates and created by Hank Kramer, Larry Reiner, and Walter Moe.
They still sell a version of it today.
It’s tic tac toe with bean bags…that about sums it up. Go Go Go for 3 in a row!
Now… please tell me what the little girl says after the dog drops the bag…please
I remember having Stretch and stretch him I did. He lasted a few months before it happened. Mr. Armstrong sprung a leak and out came this gooey liquid everywhere.
Jesse Horowitz designed Stretch… he tried a sumo wrestler but it was too big and he dropped the idea. He thought about a stretch woman to rival Barbie but smartly dropped that idea.
In 1976 Stretch Armstrong was sold to the masses, and the $11 toy that made Kenner over $50 million in revenue had a secret: He was basically just a big sack of corn syrup… but to a kid…a fun $11 big sack of corn syrup.
The fad wore out after a while other companies started to do their own Stretch dolls. The Mega company started their own line with Batman, Spider-Man, and Superman stretchable figures. Kenner sued but by the time anything was done Stretch’s time in the sun was over and his popularity faded.
Maybe I shouldn’t have stretched Stretch so much…
Armstrong dolls in a box that aren’t leaking profusely from ’70s wounds can fetch over $1000 on auction sites, with especially rare versions or prototypes worth more.
Always been one of my favorites of the Small Faces. It came off the great album Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake. The Small Faces didn’t intend to release this song. Marriott was against his manager Andrew Loog Oldham’s decision to release this as a single and that was one reason why he left the group shortly afterward. The band didn’t take the song seriously and made it into a joke. Steve sang some of the voices with a cockney accent.
They were touring Germany and they picked up a music paper and saw it was not only released but a hit. Steve wanted a tougher image for the band and this was more of a pop song.
This Steve Marriott penned song has a traditional East End of London Music Hall sound. Keyboardist Ian McLagan recalled to Uncut magazine: “When Steve came in with this it was slower. We started taking the piss out of it while he was out of the room. The ‘Root-ti-doo-ti-di-day’ thing stop and he laughed when he came back in and heard us. So we cut it like that. It was a piss take!”
Marriott sang much of the song in a greatly exaggerated cockney accent. Drummer Kenney Jones told Uncut : “Steve had been a child actor, he was the first Artful Dodger in Lionel Bart’s Oliver in the West End. He brought back that theatricality to this.”
Lazy Sunday
A-wouldn’t it be nice to get on with me neighbours? But they make it very clear, yhey’ve got no room for ravers They stop me from groovin’, they bang on me wall They doing me crust in, it’s no good at all, ah Lazy Sunday afternoon I’ve got no mind to worry I close my eyes and drift away-a Here we all are sittin’ in a rainbow Gor blimey, hello Mrs. Jones, how’s old Bert’s lumbago? (he mustn’t grumble) (Tweedle-dee) I’ll sing you a song with no words and no tune (twiddly-dee) To sing in your party while you souse at the moon (oh yeah) Lazy Sunday afternoon, I’ve got no mind to worry Close my eyes and drift away-a
Root-de-doo-de-doo, a-root-de-doot-de-doy-di A-root-de-doot-de-dum, a-ree-de-dee-de-doo-dee (doo-doo, doo-doo) There’s no one to hear me, there’s nothing to say And no one can stop me from feeling this way, yeah Lazy Sunday afternoon I’ve got no mind to worry Close my eyes and drift away Lazy Sunday afternoon I’ve got no mind to worry Close my eyes and drift a- Close my mind and drift away, close my eyes and drift away
Good song and singer in Patty Smyth. This song made it to #65 in the Billboard 100 in 1982. I would have sworn it made it higher than that. It was played heavily by MTV at the time. Scandal would have a top ten hit in 1984 with The Warrior.
This was written by Scandal guitarist Zack Smith. It’s a breakup song where Patty Smyth sings about moving on from a relationship. Smith wrote most of Scandal’s songs, while Smyth fronted the group, moving on to success as a solo artist and eventually marrying tennis star John McEnroe.
Patty Smyth credits MTV for this song’s success. The song didn’t get much radio airplay, but the video got a lot of spins on MTV. The clip was a typical, low budget, performance video, but Smyth was easy on the eyes and MTV was hankering for American Rock acts, especially females (note Pat Benatar’s early acceptance on the network).
Goodbye to You
Those times I waited for you seem so long ago I wanted you far too much to ever let you go You know I never got by, “I feel it too” And I guess I never could stand to lose It’s such a pity to say
Goodbye to you Goodbye to you
Could I have loved someone like the one I see in you I remember the good times baby now, and the bad times too These last few weeks of holdin’ on The days are dull, the nights are long Guess it’s better to say
Goodbye to you Goodbye to you Goodbye to you Goodbye to you
‘Cause baby it’s over now No need to talk about it It’s not the same My love for you’s just not the same And my heart, and my heart And my heart can’t stand the strain And my love, and my love And my love won’t stand the pain And my heart, and my heart And my heart can’t stand the strain And my love, and my love And my love
Goodbye to you Goodbye to you Goodbye to you Goodbye to you
Now, could I have loved someone like the one I see in you Yeah, I remember the good times baby now, and the bad times too These last few weeks of holdin’ on The days are dull, the nights are long Guess it’s better to say
Goodbye to you Goodbye to you Goodbye to you Goodbye to you
The title alone made me want to listen to this song. This song went to #2 in the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and #1 in the Canadian Country Charts in 1968. Rod Stewart also made a great cover of this song. The Stewart version is the one I listen to the most, but I like both versions.
Jerry Lee Lewis took the song to #94 in the Billboard 100 in 1968, but that’s the only version of the song to chart in that country. Rod Stewart’s 1972 rendition was a much bigger hit in the UK, even though the song is very American in its subject matter.
This was written by Glen Sutton, who was the first husband of country singer Lynn Anderson. They married in 1968 and divorced in 1977. Anderson recorded a version on her 1971 album How Can I Unlove You.
It’s late and she is waiting, and I know I must go home, But every time I start to leave, they play another song, Then someone buys another round and whatever drinks are free, What made Milwaukee famous has made a loser out of me.
Baby’s begged me not to go, so many times before, She said love and happiness can’t live behind those swingin’ doors, Now she’s gone and I’m to blame, too late I finally see, What made Milwaukee famous has made a loser out of me.
Baby’s begged me not to go, so many times before, She said love and happiness can’t live behind those swingin’ doors, Now she’s gone and I’m to blame, too late I finally see, What made Milwaukee famous has made a loser out of me.
What made Milwaukee famous has made a loser out of me, What made Milwaukee famous has made a loser out of me. What made Milwaukee famous has made a loser out of me.
I had a stereo that had a record-able 8-track system built in. I would record straight off the radio to the 8-track and from records. I will add that it could be a miserable format to listen to music. If you had a favorite song that you wanted to hear a couple times in a row…get ready to wait till it came back around and then for the infamous “click” and you would switch tracks…and either wait some more or miss the beginning.
But there is more… you may be listening to a song and suddenly the song fades out for a while because it’s too long for the track and then finally the “click” and it finishes out on the next track.
William Powell Lear, the man behind LearJet, was also the inventor of the 8-track cartridge tape system. In 1964 William Lear convinced Ford to install the 8-track in their cars.
In September 1965, Ford Motor Company offered 8-track players as an option in their 1966 model cars. A Ford spokesperson reported that 65,000 players were installed in the first year. As a result of the popularity, the 8-track player soon became standard in all Ford cars.
In 1966 home units and portable units were offered. Now people could share their tapes with each other. The peak years of the eight-track were 1967 through 1975. Then, improvements in the tape quality of smaller cassettes and decreasing quality in eight-tracks led consumers away from the eight-track tape.
The last official release on 8-track was Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits in 1988. By then though Compact Disc had taken over the market.
I did have quite a collection of official 8-tracks and self-made 8-tracks. I also have an old 8-track system in my closet…hey you never know.
This video is a must. It shows an Eight Track Museum. It is interesting.
Before chat rooms, My Space, Facebook, cell phones, WordPress, or messenger we had CB Radio. In the 1970’s this fad took off.
When Al Gross invented the CB radio in 1945, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) quickly opened up radio services for personal users of the radio. in the 1960s businesses and hobbyist used the radio frequently.
In the early 1970s, the oil crisis caused gas to go up in price and the speed limit dropped to 55 mph. It was then people realized that CB’s could be used to spread the word about what gas stations had gas and what speed traps were set up ahead. Not only truckers were using the CB but it had caught on as a fad.
Movies such as Smokey and the Bandit helped popularize it more and also songs such as Convoy.
As a kid, I remember cars having the CB antennas and people at home. Everyone was getting into the game. People used CB slang and nicknames. Even The First Lady, Betty Ford, was on as “First Mama”…yea some cringe-worthy moments.
CB radio is still used today but the popularity is not like it was through the 70s and 80s… 10-4 (I just had to add that)
I first saw the video of this song on television in the seventies. I might have seen it on the SNL broadcast…probably a repeat. A good catchy song by George off of his Thirty Three & 1/3 album. The song peaked at #19 in the Billboard 100 and #19 in Canada.
The album peaked at #11 in the Billboard 200 and #10 in Canada.
In the music video, future Rutle Neil Innes played the nurse pushing George in a pram. George’s future wife Olivia Arias played one of the scantily dressed women standing next to his bed.
This song was inspired by Friar Park, a 120 room neo-Gothic mansion that Harrison lived in from 1970, until his death in 2001. The song’s title was Harrison’s nickname for his home.
Harrison’s line “It’s twoo, it’s twoo” was lifted from the movie Blazing Saddles. It was a line spoken by Madeline Kahn about what she had heard about black men. George loved offbeat comedies like that.
Crackerbox Palace
I was so young when I was born My eyes could not yet see And by the time of my first dawn Somebody holding me . . . they said
I welcome you to Crackerbox Palace We’ve been expecting you You bring such joy in Crackerbox Palace No matter where you roam know our love is true
While growing up or trying to Not knowing where to start I looked around for someone who May help reveal my heart – someone said
While you’re a part of Cracerbox Palace Do what the rest all do Or face the fact that Crackerbox Palace May have no other choice than to deport you
I welcome you to Crackerbox Palace We’ve been expecting you You bring us joy in Crackerbox Palace No matter where you roam know our love is true
Sometimes are good . . . sometimes are bad That’s all a part of life And standing in between them all I met a Mr. Grief – and he said
I welcome you to Crackerbox Palace Was not expecting you Let’s rap and tap at Crackerbox Palace Know that the Lord is well and inside of you
Chi Coltrane can sing rock, blues, and anything in between. I remember this son,g but I’m stunned that she didn’t have more hits. She was signed by Clive Davis and had this hit single and a couple of critically acclaimed albums. This song was her only hit back in 1972. It peaked at #17 in the Billboard 100, #4 in Germany, and #18 in Canada. She moved to Europe in 1977 and started a career there. She gained a large following with many hits and still performs to this day.
She is an excellent musician, producer, singer, and songwriter. She wrote Thunder and Lightning. Unlike some other singer-songwriters of the time…Chi was said to have been equal to a session musician in her piano playing.
Thunder and Lightning
Oooh, what a good thing I’ve got Oh, it’s such a good thing I’ve got I don’t think I can stand it
Thunder and lightning, oh yeah! I tell you it’s frightening, oooh! It’s thunder and lightning And you’re in control
I thought my life was complete But look what you’re doin’ to me Oh, you’re makin’ me crazy
Thunder and lightning, oh yeah! I tell you it’s frightening, ooohooo! It’s thunder and lightning And you’re in control
I don’t know how to handle it It’s more than I would dare I wouldn’t try to run from it It reaches everywhere
I’m feelin’ dizzy and weak You make me forget how to speak I can feel it happening
It’s thunder and lightning, oh yeah! I tell you it’s frightening, ooohooo! Thunder and lightning And you’re in control
Oh, thunder and lightning, ooohooo! I tell you it’s frightening, oh yeah! I tell it’s thunder and lightning, ooohooo! I tell you it’s frightening, oh yeah!
I tell you thunder and lightning, oh yeah! Don’t you know that it’s frightening, oh yeah! I know it’s thunder and lightning
I own a couple of lava lamps and I run them quite a bit. I didn’t get my first one until the 80s and I still have it. They do nothing but do their thing…and they create a mood. I have one in my office at work…it helps at times.
The lava lamp was invented in 1963 by Edward Craven Walker. He was passing the time in a pub when he noticed a homemade egg timer crafted from a cocktail shaker filled with alien-looking liquids bubbling on a stove top. Craven Walker’s company was manufacturing millions of “Astro Lamps,” as he called them, per year. In 1965, he sold the U.S. manufacturing rights to a company called Lava Lite.
Lava lamps caught on in the sixties and continued to be big to the late seventies. The sales cooled off until the Austin Power movies and the sales started to pick up again in the hundreds of thousands a year. Now Lava Lite supplies millions of lava lamps to retailers.
At one time this novelty song was true…you wanted to be on the cover of Rolling Stone when it was a good magazine…but that is a different discussion. This song was released in 1972 and peaked at #6 in the Billboard 100 and #2 in Canada. Dr. Hook was very successful with 6 top ten hits in their career. They were also known as Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.
This is a parody of the rock and roll lifestyle. It pokes fun at all the things that rock stars indulge in when they’re successful: groupies, shady characters hanging around, limo rides, etc.
The group had a funny side and a serious side, but it was the funny side that came out on stage and framed their image. The pirate theme added to the novelty of the group: originally known as the Chocolate Papers, they took the name Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show after the character in Peter Pan, which also played up the eye patch worn by their singer Ray Sawyer, who many people assumed was “Dr. Hook.” Sawyer wore the eye patch as a result of a car accident.
Cover of the Rolling Stone
Well, we’re big rock singers We got golden fingers And we’re loved everywhere we go (that sounds like us) We sing about beauty and we sing about truth At ten-thousand dollars a show (right) We take all kinds of pills that give us all kind of thrills But the thrill we’ve never known Is the thrill that’ll gitcha when you get your picture On the cover of the Rollin’ Stone
(Rollin stone) want to see my picture on the cover (Stone)Wanna buy five copies for my mother (yes) (Stone)Wanna see my smilin’ face On the cover of the Rollin’ Stone (that’s a very very good idea)
I got a freaky ole lady name a cocaine Katy Who embroideries on my jeans I got my poor ole grey haired daddy Drivin’ my limousine Now it’s all designed to blow our minds But our minds won’t really be blown Like the blow that’ll gitcha when you get your picture On the cover of the Rollin’ Stone
(Rollin Stone) want to see our pictures on the cover (Stone) want to buy five copies for our mothers (yeah) (Stone) want to see my smilin’ face On the cover of the Rollin’ Stone (talking) Hey, I know how Rock and roll
Ah, that’s beautiful We got a lot of little teenage blue eyed groupies Who do anything we say We got a genuine Indian Guru Who’s teaching us a better way We got all the friends that money can buy So we never have to be alone And we keep getting richer but we can’t get our picture On the cover of the Rollin’ Stone
(Rollin stone)Gonna see my picture on the cover (Stone) Gonna buy five copies for my mother (wa wa) (Stone) Gonna see my smilin’ face On the cover of the Rollin’ Stone On the cover of the Rollin’ Stone) Gonna see my picture on the cover (talking) I don’t know why we ain’t on the cover, baby (Stone) Gonna buy five copies for my mother (talking) We’re beautiful subjects (Stone) Want to see my smilin’ face (talking) I ain’t kiddin’, we would make a beautiful cover On the cover of the Rollin’ Stone (talking) Fresh shot, right up front, man I can see it now, we’ll be up in the front Smilin, man Ah, beautiful.
Oh, how this toy teased me as a kid. I would start drawing something halfway decent and then I would hit a wall because I would get so close to what I wanted and then make a wrong move…then came the shake part and start all over again. The definition of insanity would be this toy in my hands…but yet I still tried. Some people can do interesting things with it…I’m not one of those people.
In the late 50s French electrical technician André Cassagnes applied his experience with the clinging properties of an electrostatic charge to invent a drawing toy with no spare parts.
The Ohio Art Company took a look at the toy and invested $25,000. It has sold more than 175 million units worldwide since it hit stores on July 12, 1960.
They have new versions of it now with more options.
I’m not a big power ballad lover but this one I liked. I owned this single back in 1981. I also had the album “Nature of the Beast” which it came off of. The song peaked at #21 in the Billboard 100 and #22 in Canada. April Wine was the first Candian band played on MTV.
Through nine lineup changes, April Wine has been going continuously since 1969 up until the present day. The Nature of the Beast represents their commercial peak, selling over one million copies in the US. “Just Between You and Me” was also their greatest-selling single in the US, becoming the band’s defining power ballad. However, their career has spawned 32 hits on the Canadian charts, 21 of those in the top 40. Although they’ve been nominated eleven times for a Juno award, April Wine hasn’t won one yet. They have, however, been inducted into the Canadian Music IndustryHall of Fame, the East Coast Music Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, along with being presented with a CMW Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.
Just Between You and Me
Time and time again I see A love that seemed strong Was not meant to be Broken hearts don’t always mend Left too unsure to try love again
But just between you and me Baby I know our love will be Just between you and me Always I know our love will be Just between you and me
Lovers often seem to say Hearts can be blind to love gone astray Always it’s the same old song Someone’s been hurt by love that’s gone wrong
Just between you and me Baby I know our love will be Just between you and me Always I know our love will be Just between you Just between you and me
Words are sometimes hard to find The silence can be so unkind You always help me find my way The love that we share Grows stronger each day
Just between you and me Baby I know our love will be Just between you and me Always I know our love will be Seulement entre toi et moi Means that our love will always be Just between you and me Baby I know our love will be Just between you Just between you and me
I remember this song from when I was growing up. The Climax Blues Band had been playing since the late 60s, more of a blues-rock outfit at first (the name sort of gives that away). But by 1976, when they cut Gold Plated, the band shifted gears. Paul Carrack-style keyboards, funky guitars, and a dance-floor beat crept in. The result was this song, and it was a perfect slice of transatlantic pop.
This wasn’t supposed to be the single. The label wanted a hit, the band knocked this one together, and boom: lightning in a bottle. Climax Blues Band never really matched the success of Couldn’t Get It Right again, but that hardly matters. One song like this that still plays on classic rock radio and quietly fills dance floors decades later.
They scored with this song in 1976, which peaked at #3 on the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, and #10 in the UK. Their other big hit was “I Love You,” released in 1979. A version of this band is still playing today.
This song is a great example of the dual vocal technique The Climax Blues Band was known for. Holt explains: “Colin Cooper used to sing the lead – the low vocal, and I used to sing an octave higher. And then, because 4 of us sang in the band, we used to harmonize. The fact that we had the dual singing the same line but with an octave split made the sound very unique, and it’s still very unique today. Whenever people use it I think it’s great. That was one of our trademarks, we just used to sing together in unison.”
Couldn’t Get It Right
Time was drifting This rocker got to roll So I hit the road and made my getaway Restless feeling, really got a hold I started searching for a better way
But I kept on looking for a sign In the middle of the night But I couldn’t see the light No, I couldn’t see the light I kept on looking for a way To take me through the night I couldn’t get it right I couldn’t get it right
LA fever made me feel alright But I must admit it got the best of me Getting down, so deep I could have drowned Now, I can’t get back the way I used to be
But I kept on looking for a sign In the middle of the night But I couldn’t see the light No, I couldn’t see the light I kept on looking for a way To take me through the night I couldn’t get it right I couldn’t get it right
New York City took me with the tide And I nearly died from hospitality Left me stranded, took away my pride Just another no account fatality
I kept on looking for a sign In the middle of the night But I couldn’t see the light No, I couldn’t see the light I kept on looking for a way To take me through the night I couldn’t get it right I couldn’t get it right
I kept on looking for a sign In the middle of the night But I couldn’t see the light No, I couldn’t see the light I kept on looking for a way To take me through the night I couldn’t get it right I couldn’t get it right
I kept on looking for a sign In the middle of the night But I couldn’t see the light No, I couldn’t see the light I kept on looking for a way To take me through the night I couldn’t get it right I couldn’t get it right
Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher wrote this song as well as “Nothing from Nothing” and You Are So Beautiful. Will It Go Around In Circles peaked at #1 in the Billboard and #1 in Canada. Billy Preston played with the biggest names including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. When he was a teenager he played keyboards in Little Richard’s band and met The Beatles while they were still playing in Hamburg.
During the difficult recording of Let It Be George Harrison invited Billy to play with The Beatles and it eased the tensions with the group somewhat and Billy contributed to the album and movie.
This was borne out of a joke Preston made to his songwriting partner, Bruce Fisher, about having a song but no melody. The comment inspired the opening refrain, “I got a song that ain’t got no melody, I’m gonna sing it to my friends,” and set up similar proclamations, such as having a story with no moral and having a dance with no steps.
The song’s success allowed Fisher to finally quit his job in the mailroom at NBC in Burbank, California. He went on to collaborate with Preston on his next #1, “Nothing From Nothing,” and the Joe Cocker hit “You Are So Beautiful.”
Will It Go Round In Circles
I’ve got a song, I ain’t got no melody I’ma gonna sing it to my friends I’ve got a song, I ain’t got no melody I’ma gonna sing it to my friends
Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky? Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?
I’ve got a story, ain’t got no moral Let the bad guy win every once in a while I’ve got a story, ain’t got no moral Let the bad guy win every once in a while
Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky? Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?
I’ve got a dance, I ain’t got no steps, no I’m gonna let the music move me around I’ve got a dance, I ain’t got no steps I’m gonna let the music move me around
Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky? Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?
Well Well Well Well
Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky? Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?
I’ve got a song, I ain’t got no melody I’ma gonna sing it to my friends I’ve got a song, I ain’t got no melody I’ma gonna sing it to my friends
Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky? Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?
Go round in circles Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky? Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 