From old as assumed bad to old as assumed good

Actually, I was still backward. Although I was of
course aware of them, I still didn't feel at all
compelled to listen to them, until sometime in
the fall of 1964.

I don't remember what brought about the change,
but sometimes about September or October 1964 I
started listening to KXOK too. For me, that was
the real beginning.

They played all kinds of teenaged music, white
and black. In 1964, a few of the older American
artists were hanging around, but they were fading
away. Most of the hits were either British
Invasion or Motown.

The most successful male group of all time -- The
Beatles. And the most successful female group of
all time -- The Supremes.

Both groups cranking out hit after hit in those
years.

I don't know the numbers. I suppose it's possible
The Spice Girls had more hits than The Supremes,
but I can't think of any other female group that
could even come close to them.

Actually, the first song that I really liked
back then, I'm embarrassed to admit now, was
"Last Kiss" by J. Frank Wilson and The Playboys,
a tragic love/death song that seems silly now.

I got a transistor radio and kept it glued to
my ear. So I heard the great songs of that
era as they were issued. I heard the songs from
the past played -- yes, even back then, as
Oldies but Goodies.

It strikes me that back then, non-current songs
were regarded as less valuable than modern
songs. That's why they were apologized for --
in other words, yes, they're old, but they're
still good.

Now, nobody says that. They're Golden Oldies
and assumed to be better than modern music,
which is unfortunately all too often true.


travel to Germany