When I listen to rock, it is normally ACDC. They are by far my favorite rock band of the time period; however, a close second is Poison. Poison is an American band from Pennsylvania. In the early 1980s the grouping of Bret Michaels, Matt Smith, Bobby Dall, and Rikki Rocket started a band named Paris. They would play in local nightclubs and bars. After they realized they started to have a large local following, they decided to move out to Las Angeles, and change their name to Poison. It wasn't until roughly 1986 when they would catch their big break. However, once the band caught that break, there was no stopping them.
Poison would go on to perform for ten very successful years. They would sell over 45 million records world wide, and have 10 top forty songs, 6 of them being in the top ten. Ten years does not seem like a long time. However, the band was to stay in the starlight into the early 2000s when the band had a reunion tour.
I would consider Poison to be a hard rock band, but sometime they were able to take things down a few notches for more of a slow song. For example, their number one hit, "Every Rose Has its Thorn."
However, my favorite Poison song is, "Nothin' but a Good Time."
The Bangles are one of the most iconic pop rock girl bands that were formed in the 1980s (aside from The Go-Go's). The band originally consisted of Michael Steele, Susanna Hoffs, Debbi Peterson, and Vicki Peterson; the band is currently made up of Susanna Hoffs, Debbi Peterson, Vicki Peterson, and Annette Zilinskas. Their most known song is "Walk Like an Egyption," although they produced other songs such as, "Manic Monday," "Hazy Shade of Winter" and "Eternal Flame," which is the band's biggest single ever recorded by an all-female band. By 1989, the band broke up, but they got back together in 1998, and are still together today! I picked this band because they're an iconic girl group from the 1980s, and they're still together performing and producing more music! I also knew the song "Walk Like an Egyptian," but I wanted to know more about the band that wrote the song, and I wanted to hear more music by them!
This is The Bangles singing "Walk Like an Egyptian"
An act I chose is Bob Marley and the Wailers, a Jamaican reggae band led by the infamous Bob Marley. This band is widely known throughout the world through their reggae music, which is still very popular today. Bob Marley and the Wailers was created in Jamaica in the 1960s and was active until the 1980s. There were numerous band members throughout their time; however, the original members were Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer. The Wailers were known for their reggae music, a genre of music originating in Jamaica in the late 1960s. Reggae incorporates many types of music including the blues, jazz, folk, and African music, which you can hear immensely throughout each song. Reggae music used many types of instruments such as guitars, keyboards, horns, drums, as well as a wide range of vocals. A song I chose to share is "I Shot the Sheriff", which was released in 1973; however, the video I attached was filmed on November 30th, 1979 at the Oakland Auditorium. In my opinion, this song was a perfect example of what reggae music is all about.
“I Shot the Sheriff” on November 30th, 1979 at Oakland Auditorium.
Earth, Wind & Fire got their name from lead singer and song-writer Maurice White's astrological sign, Sagittarius. With earth, wind, and fire being three key elements to his sign, he decided to change his band, originally called the Salty Peppers, to Earth, Wind & Fire. The band got off to a quick start with moderate success in the college aged crowd, but soon enough, rising tensions between members caused the band to break up after only six months of playing together. With only front man Maurice White and his younger brother Verdine remaining, the band decided to reform with a new cast of members. The band started out slowly, but became pretty successful in a relatively short period of time. They continued to release album after album, with one or more song from each topping the charts throughout the 70's and 80's. After the release of their thirteenth studio album in 1983, Maurice White decided the band could benefit from a break after twelve years of constant writing and recording.
After a short hiatus, the band reunited and got back to work recording! With a shifting group of members and many different sounds throughout the years, fans never grew tired of waiting to hear whatever Earth, Wind and Fire would produce next. To date, they have twenty one studio albums, with their most recent having been released in 2014. The band has received many great honors over the years, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, founding member Maurice White passed away in early February, 2015 but his brother Verdine, the only other original member who is still active in the band, is still carrying on the family legacy.
Here are two of Earth, Wind, and Fire's most well known songs! The first is September, which is one of my all time favorite songs! The second is Boogie Wonderland, which is infamous for its fun dance beat!
September - Earth, Wind, and Fire
MTV was influential in the success of many girl bands. The Go-Go's are an example of an all-female band that gained popularity on MTV. The original band was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 and consisted of the following four members: Belinda Carlisle (vocals), Jane Wiedlin (Guitar, vocals), Margot Olavarria (Bass) and Elissa Bello (drums). The group originally started out as a punk band but after some changes with band members, they quickly moved to pop rock. Shortly after the band formed, by the end of 1978, Charlotte Caffey was added to the band as lead guitarist and keyboardist. She wrote one of the Go-Go's' earliest songs that despite an initial lack of popularity went on to become one of the Go-Go's most popular songs - "We Got the Beat." There were other changes in the band in late 1978 and early 1979 - Elissa Bello left the group and was replaced by Gina Schock, and bass player Olavarria, frustrated by the band's move away from punk and to pop, left the band. She was replaced by Kathy Valentine. The Go Go's' first album, Beauty and the Beat, was released in 1981 and reflects the pop genre. The band broke up in 1985 but has reunited several times over the years for special performances. This summer there is a musical on Broadway featuring many Go-Go's songs. The musical is called "Head Over Heals" which is another hit by the Go-Go's. I linked their MTV music video "Our Lips Are Sealed" from their Beauty and the Beat album and their "Vacation" video from their second album, Vacation.
The Midnighters, and then renamed Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, were formed in 1952 Detroit. The group transitioned several talents before gaining success with comebacks like, "The Twist." The group is often recognized for their contributions to R&B, but they fit into the Garage rock era with the emphasis their music places on the beat and low-fi, relaxed sound. Listening to "The Twist" which is about a dance, it suits the fun-loving feel of Garage rock throughout the 50s and 60s. The band is so influential that in 2012, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll hall of fame.
The reason I found this group to be so interesting was because of their great comeback story. They had to find a new lead singer and go a couple of years before finding success, but they were determined to not be "one hit wonders" and made music so special that they have been recognized with one of music's highest honors. Twist!
Before this class, I had heard of garage rock, but knew little to nothing about it. This band in particular was made up of five different members, and are also categorized as folk rock. In there most known song, "The Little Black Egg", the influence of folk can definitely be heard, even with their lyrics. One band member would even play a 12 string guitar, found in the song "You Say". I found it really interesting that the band was formed in Daytona Beach, Florida, when I first heard "The Little Black Egg" I was not expecting that. They also once opened for the Beach Boys, which is actually why they wrote the song "The Little Black Egg", it was for that particular concert. They even once played at the same concert as the Allman Joys (The Allman Brothers). After listening to a few of their songs, I could see why "The Little Black Egg" became mildly popular, and actually really enjoyed the few songs I listened to.
I have never heard of the Kingsmen up until the assignment when I researched them. I chose them as their name is the same name of a recent movie that I enjoyed watching. When I did more research on them I found that they were actually a pretty interesting band for just being a garage band. Their band formed in the year 1959 on the west coast of America in Oregon. The band's style of music was surf music which during the 60's was very popular on the west coast, especially in California. However their most popular song wasn't actually their song to begin with, it was actually a cover of the rhythm and blues song "Louie, Louie" sung by Richard Berry. Their version, however, became an instant hit, and actually more recognizable when you think of the song "Louie, Louie". It became so popular that it was no. 2 on Billboards Top 100 for that year and earned a gold disc when it sold over one million copies. There was also bad times for this band as they also got into trouble with the state of Illinois and even the FBI because of the song, as at this time parents and the government didn't like obscene or bad lyrics in songs meant for the public ear. This was a mistake however as the lead singer of the band, Ely, just had trouble enunciating some of the lyrics, which made them sound like something they weren't and ended up causing trouble for the band. In conclusion, they are an example of what an amateur band can do, even sometimes heightening the fame of a song that they only meant to cover. Below is the cover song and then the original by Richard Berry.
Honestly, I had never heard of Garage Rock before this assignment. When I was doing research though, it was also referred to as Punk Rock in the 60's. I had heard of that. It's like amateur rock music that started off as bands in a garage, and it supposed to sound unsophisticated and with lots of electric guitar, but most of the musicians are professional. I picked the Premiers because I liked their name. As I researched them more they became cooler. They are a Mexican-American boy band and became famous for their hit "Farmer John". They were just 2 brothers from California and their 2 friends. It's so interesting because at the time the famous musicians were white or black. Singers covered songs written for other people, if a white covered a song it would be more popular of course. But this was different, they covered an old song and made it their own. They paved the way for Chicano music. They played rock and roll in English, surprising people that it wasn't Spanish. And were successful from many other single hits.
I had never heard of the sub-genre of garage rock before so I find it exciting to go through all of this music that has such a foreign sound. This genre seems to have more freedom to it and a "raw" feel that other music lacks. I like this song because it have a very free feel and it almost seems lazy. It is apparent how this feeling influences that which we can find in indie music today as well as how the electric guitar and slightly aggressive sound led the genre to morph into what is now known to be punk rock. Notice how the voice slope down at the end of the line, as if not much effort is being given, it is interesting that the artists make this conscious choice and it adds the style of the song making it more casual.
The Electric Prunes were a psychedelic rock band that was formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California. The established a unique sound that incorporated aspects of both psychedelic and electric rock, two very popular genres in the 60's. When looking into different garage rock bands, the Electric Prunes stood out to me for a couple of reasons. The first was their well known past member, Kenny Loggins. I grew up listening to a lot of Kenny Loggins' music, starting with his early children's music and his songs from the Footloose soundtrack. I found it really intriguing that an artist that I knew pretty well had a garage rock band back in the mid-sixties. While they had a slow start, with a less than successful first single, the band gained some momentum after their single "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" was released. With an ever changing cast of band members, the Electric Prunes had a new and vibrant sound that made an impact on the world of garage rock. Although the band broke up in 1970, they regained momentum at the turn of the century and are still active to this day, although they haven't toured since 2013.
Here is their breakthrough single, I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night), which was released in 1972.
I chose to write about and introduce The Standells for my blog post. I am more familiar with the UK “garage rock” sound, so I wanted to spice it up and listen to the sounds coming from America. I was unfamiliar with “The Standells” before hearing my brother's band perform the upbeat classic song “Dirty Water”, along with attending many Boston sporting events and hearing their music being played. I was surprised to read that The Standells are not from Boston despite the references in the song “Dirty Water”. A lot of their songs have similar cheerful beats that make their music fun and unique to them. The Standells were also seen by many as the “punk band of the 60’s”. From doing some research, I found out that the Standells band members were always changing. I find this interesting because they had this unique sound to them which they had to maintain.
I chose the band The Count Five. They were an American garage rock band that formed in San Jose California (1964) They got rejected from many record companies until they came out with their most popular single, "Psychotic Reaction," which then Los Angeles based double shot records signed them. Psychotic Reaction was peaking at number 5 in the US charts in 1966. Their success was very limited and by 1969 they had broken up as a band.
Before taking this course, I had never really heard of the genre "garage rock". But after looking up a few of the bands on the list, I learned that I did know a few songs that fell under this genre. I chose the band "The Strangeloves", who are known for singing the song "I Want Candy", a song which I was familiar with, though I am a little embarrassed to confess that I thought it was sang by Aaaron Carter, the early 2000s pop-star who covered this song. The Strangeloves, founded in the mid-60s after originally being a duo named "Bob & Jerry", included the members Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Gottehrer. When the trio group was formed, they decided that pretending to be foreign would help them keep up with market trends, and would also give them an interesting backstory that would pull people in. So, they pretended to be an Australian beat band, with the fictional story being that the three members were brothers: Giles, Niles, and Miles, who were raised on an Australian sheep farm, and had struck rich when they came up with the "invention of a new form of sheep crossbreeding", which allowed them the financial freedom to become a famous band. Though this story really never caught on, they still fared well, having a few hits, such as "I Want Candy". After the end of their band, when the trio split up, Richard Gottehrer found a new place in music - as he became a famous record producer, involved with bands such as Blondie, The Go-Gos, and other new wave music that was on the rise and very famous.
Throughout this course and shuffling through youtube, I've found the Isley Brothers. I didn't know them at all but they're actually really cool. They are a group of brothers and brother in law from Cincinnati, Ohio. The Isley Brothers started in the late 1950s, with their fourth single, "SHOUT," being a prominent addition to their list. I really like how they are so full of energy and how they just seem to love singing and playing, particularly in the video below of SHOUT. They are still together today (although the band now only consists of two members, due mainly to deaths) and have been inducted into halls of fame (Hollywood's Rockwall in 1997 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003).
Lead singer and leader of this 1960’s garage band powerhouse was singer Domingo “Sam” Samudio. After a collapse the first go around with the band, they came back in 1963 with new members in the band; Dave Martin, Ray Stinnet, Jerry Patterson, and Butch Gibson. They wrote hit songs like “Ju Ju Hand” and ‘Ring Dang Do’ but their greatest song and my personal favorite was “Wolly Bully” (1965 selling over three million copies). When I first listened to this song I recognized the tune but had no idea that they were saying “Wolly Bully” I always thought it was “Bully Bully” or something along those lines. This song was very high tempo and one of those songs that you just tap along to the beat and I love that. A little different because there wasn’t a lot of diverse lyrics but still a rock and roll classic, especially for the garage
This week, for the garage rock act, I decided to look at an international band, Q65 from the Netherlands. They were a R&B based psychedelic and garage rock band group that came together in the mid-1960s. Q 65, or just Q, consisted of Joop Roelofs and Frank Nuyens (both on guitar), Willem Bieler (singer), Jay Baar (drummer), and Peter Vink (on bass). The inspiration came from the rhythms and sounds of existing songs by artists and bands such as Willie Dixon, the Kinks, and even The Rolling Stones. Their golden years are said to be between 1966 and 1968 during which they released their single “You’re the Victor,” which ended up at number 11 on the Dutch Top 40. Within the next two years, at least 4 singles hit the charts ranging from number 5 to number 19. Unfortunately, they disbanded in 1968 because of singer Wim Bieler’s military duties and drug problems. After several years break, the band got back together with its original members (having played with other people in other bands) in 1980. In 1990, Jay Baar passed and the bands continued to play with different members until into the 1990s.
Here is a link to “You’re the Victor,” number 11 on Dutch Top 40 in 1966:
For this weeks post, I have decided to look into the garage band, The Sonics. The earliest formation of the band started when Larry and Andy Parypas bought guitars and an unidentifiable bass. With a little help and support from their mother, who was also a musician that occasionally fooled around with new sounds, they began practicing. In 1963, the two brothers added Bob Bennett on drums and piano player Jerry Roslie. From their on, their career would continue on.
In 1964, the band would meet Buck Ormsby of Etiquette records. With his help, they were able to find a unique sound that have never been heard before. They would be the first band to be known for punk rock. Their first song, The Witch, would not be taken well by most radio stations and a good amount of work had to be put in to try to get it aired. However, their next few songs would become much more popular and not have any trouble trying to gain fame.
To get a good an idea of what The Sonics sounded like, here is their original song, The Witch.
Bobby Fuller was already an established recording artist in Texas when The Bobby Fuller Four was assembled in 1962. Fuller and his brother, Randy, decided to create a band with some of Fuller’s friends and old band mates from school. While the band had regional success with their songs, “Your In Love” and “Gently My Love”, what they really wanted was to be signed to a major Hollywood label. Not many recording companies took interest in the band except for Del-Fi Records. The company, however, wouldn't sign them till they were more established. After hearing this, the band performed a cover of “I Fought the Law” and became a popular name in the blended folk, pop and rock styles with the cover of this song. Del-Fi took notice and ended up signing the band to their label in 1965. From there, the band wrote and released songs under Del-Fi’s sister label, Mustang. Finally, the band was reaching the success Fuller and his bandmates had wanted when they released their most popular chart topping hit, “Let Her Dance”.
However, in 1966, amidst rumors of the band’s dismantle after member Jim Reese was drafted, tragedy struck. In a still unsolved case, Bobby Fuller was found dead in the front seat of his car outside his apartment on July 18,1966 at just 23 years old. While some suspect the singer and guitarist took his own life, others argue that Fuller was murdered. After Fuller’s death, the band broke up and despite trying to get back together the following year, never again found the success in the industry as when Bobby Fuller was at the helm.
It is argued that, much like with famous folk/pop singer Buddy Holly, had Fuller not died so young and so early in his career, the face of pop rock music would not be the same. The British invasion was in full swing by the time the Bobby Fuller Four hit the scene but it was possible that if Fuller had not died that summer, the Bobby Fuller Four could have impacted and changed the 1960s sound with his unique musical styling. The band’s sound had a folk rock tone to it and Randy Fuller is quoted saying the Beatles could “never be able to do Buddy Holly-like Buddy Holly because they are not from Texas”, further cementing the parallels between the two careers and musical sounds and genres.
One reason I really enjoyed learning about this band is that there are a lot of curiosity and conspiracy theories around Fuller's death. Including one that argued that Bobby had dirt on the head of his record company and was using this information against Del-Fi records when a producer had him murdered. In 2015, author and known musical conspiracy lover, Miriam Linna, even wrote a book that discusses the life and death of Fuller entitled “I Fought The Law: The Life and Strange Death of Bobby Fuller”, which you can buy on Amazon if you’re super curious. https://www.amazon.com/Fought-Law-Strange-Death-Fuller/dp/1940157110
Below, I've included a video of a song I think a lot of people might know, “I Fought The Law”. I was surprised to find out this song originally came from the songwriter Stony Curtis from the band The Crickets but reached popularity when covered by the Bobby Fuller Four. I had heard many, many covers over the years from bands like Green Day and The Dead Kennedys but enjoyed the Bobby Fuller Four version just as much.
I chose Strawberry Alarm Clock as my psychedelic band to introduce to the class. This band was formed in 1967 and, although it has gone through numerous changes in band members over the years, it is still rocking today! This acid rock band was formed in 1967. Although San Francisco is considered the birthplace of psychedelic rock, Strawberry Alarm Clock was born in Los Angeles. This group charted five songs and had two top ten 40 hits; however, they are best known for their 1967 hit, "Incense and Peppermints." I included a performance of this song below. Strawberry Alarm Clock has been credited with being "Synonymous with SoCal 60's psychedelia." The band has gone through numerous changes in members over the years; there are over 16 former band members! Currently the band consists of the following 6 members (all were original members of the 1967 band): Gene Gunnels (drums); Randy Soel (drums); Mark Weitz (keyboard), George Brunel (bass and rhythm guitar); Steve Brunnell (bass and rhythm guitar), and Howie Anderson (lead guitar and vocals). When interviewed about their upcoming performances out West in August 2018, Howie Anderson said: "We just love the way the music makes us feel. We feel like we are teenagers again." A key characteristic of acid rock was "feeling" and "experiencing" (often through the use of drugs) the music, which is why I loved this quote!
Garage bands have always appealed to youth I think because of the simplicity of organization. I know in my youth my group of friends at one point attempted to create a garage band like many other kids in my middle school. Of course the famous movie 'School of Rock' was also fresh and a influence on us as well. But many of us had the feeling that all great rock and roll bands started off as a garage band or in our case a basement band.
The garage band which I chose to look at was "The Barbarians. This band was formed on "the cape" in Massachusetts in the mid-1960s when many of these garage bands were becoming popular. The Barbarians were even compared to the Rolling Stones for some of their style and were noted as one of the more popular garage bands. Even though their existence was pretty short-lived their impact was fairly large. They ultimately disbanded by 1970.
Perhaps one of the more popular songs created by the Barbarians was "Moulty". After listening to several of their works I picked this as my favorite. You can see a little bit of the Rolling Stones influence in this song.
The Monks were a garage band created in Gelnhausen, West Germany in the year 1964. The band members were GI’s located for service in Germany at the time. Band members included: Gary Burger (lead guitar/lead vocalist), Larry Clark (keyboards), Eddie Shaw (bass guitar), and Dave Day (rhythm guitar), along with a West German civilian identified simply as Hans (drums) The band'sappearance was rather strange as well. They mimicked the look of Catholic monks by wearing the brown habit with a cincture. They also had partially shaved tonsures. Some people found their appearance to be rather blasphemous while others thought it comical.
They were not a fan of the traditional rock tunes of the time and wanted to make use of musical sounds and manipulation of the senses. They started out by performing at local military hangouts and slowly gained popularity. One of their first most popular songs was “There She Walks” which sold more than 500 copies. Their most recent single in May of 2009 was "Pretty Suzanne". I have attached some photos and videos. (They also have a website: (https://www.the-monks.com/.)
The Human Beinz is a band formed in 1964, originally named the Premiers. This band from Struthers Ohio changed their name to the Human Beingz because they thought it would be more fitting for the 60's. The group started out just recording covers of other bands songs and then started composing their own. When they signed with their record label Capital Records the label spelt their band name wrong leaving out the "g" in Beingz now making them the Human Beinz. They were told by the record company that it would be changed for their next album but some of their songs became popular and they could not change their name now. The Human Beinz most famous song is "nobody but me". The next single the Human Beinz put out "Turn On Your Love Light"flopped in America but was at the top of the charts in Japan. The band broke up in 1969 but due to prior contracts they had to finish the tour they were on. One of their songs "Dance On Through" is able to be heard in the television show the Addams Family.
The Chocolate Watchband was a band formed in 1965 in Lost Altos, California. The band was formed by Ned Torney and Mark Loomis and then were originally joined by Rick Young, Pete Curry, Jo Kemling, and Danny Phay. However, this was only the first version of the band because they broke up after Ned Torney, Danny Phay, and Jo Kemling all left the band to pursue other thigs. The version of this band never recorded or performed anything commercial, but the other versions of the band became very successful, commonly being compared to the Rolling Stones. The second version of the band, consisting of Mark Loomis, Bill Flores, Gary Andrijasevich, Dave Tolby, and David Aguilar, produced their first single "Sweet Young Thing" and their most popular song, "I'm Not Like Everybody Else." This version of the band broke up in 1970. Finally, after almost 20 years apart, the Chocolate Watchband reunited with the revival of garage rock in pop culture in the 90s. The 1999 reunion included Dave Aguilar, Tim Abbott, Bill Flores, Gary Andrijasevich, and Michael Reese. What makes this band really cool is that this version of the Chocolate Watchband is still together and producing music! The bottom link that I included is the band singing "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" at a concert in 2016, but their most recent album came out in 2017. What originally drew me to the band was their name and the album covers of some of their older albums. One album cover looks like a chocolate bar wrapper which I thought was funny in conjunction with their name. I find it really interesting and unique that after all of the versions of the band and after more than 20 years, the band is still together.
I was introduced to Elvis at a very young age, since my grandmother was a huge fan of his. However, I did not know much about Chuck Berry until reading about him in this class. "Downbound train" really stuck out to me, especially in its sound, where you can really hear the influences of different genres coming together in the song. In some ways, it feels similar to some things that Johnny Cash would perform years later. It is a really haunting song.
Also, I did come across another video, of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley performing together, even though it was said that neither were big fans of the other, but Frank Sinatra brought Elvis on his show because he knew it would help him. He understood that Elvis' music and style really spoke to the youth, so he made some attempts to embrace it, and it is, I think, a really great performance.
When I was doing research on the rock band known as “The Seeds,” they were formed in 1965 as a “garage punk rock band” the lead singer, Sky Saxon began this band by responding to an advertisement, then as a group they moved to Los Angles performing at small clubs and soon began to grew and become more popular. They were known to be energetic and create high energy in a room, they even happened to be the first band to a keyboard bass. In 1965 The Seeds released “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine” and it was very popular in the Southern California area, and even played on the radio stations. Till this day it is still considered a classic hit in the 60’s. The album “Future” released in 1967 created a major turn in the bands career. The album contained hallucinogenic style, which broadened their listening crowd in the most “experimental time in American Pop Culture.” The Seeds began to perform on national TV, and even appeared on “The Mothers-in-Law” sitcom. In 1968 when they released Raw & Alive: The Seeds in Concert at Merlin's Music Box, it showed their garage punk rock side, which did not turn out to be successful for them. I found it interesting that The Seeds even changed their name to Sky Saxon and The Seeds during their fall-out in the 1970’s.
? and the Mysterians was an American garage rock band originally from Bay City and Saginaw, Michigan. The band members consisted of Larry Borjas, Robert Martinez, Rudy Martinez (who went by the stage name ?), Frankie Rodriguez, and Frank Lugo. They were active between the years of 1962 and 1969 and were widely known by their one hit wonder“96 Tears”. Their music consisted of an electric organ that produced a distinct sound, as well as having strong lead vocals and interesting stage performances. ? and the Mysterians were one of the first bands that was described as being punk rock. I chose this band originally because their name stuck out to me and I had never heard of them before. However, I was happy to find out that ? and the Mysterians was a very interesting band with a catchy song “96 Tears”. My favorite thing I learned about this band is that their name was inspired by the science fiction film titled “The Mysterians”. This band seemed like a group of unique people who were not afraid to be themselves, and I think that is why their music is still around today. I would’ve loved to see them in concert.
Our family loves Weezer. We have all seen the band in concert and on long car rides it's one of the few bands that we play and everyone enjoys, which is why I wanted to look up the artist Buddy Holly for my rock artist of the 1950s. For those unfamiliar with Weezer, they have a hit song called Buddy Holly. I knew the reference in the song was to an early rock artist but had never bothered to listen to his music till thinking about it for this prompt. Upon listening to Holly’s music, I was taken back at how catchy and upbeat the music was. While it clearly wasn't modern rock, I wasn't surprised by the sound as much as I was by the songs in Rock! Rock! Rock. I would classify Holly as a rockabilly artist and a clear influence on later rock. I was curious why he only had seemingly one album on Spotify despite being well loved. After doing a little research, I found out Buddy Holly died in a plane crash in 1959 at 22 years old. While he accomplished a lot in his short time as a musician, it left me curious as to how big an impact he could have had on the industry. While Holly started out in country music, the songs I listened to clearly had a rock and roll sound to them and I can see why Holly would have been a very popular musician at the time. I will admit when I first started listening to his music, I had my doubts that I would enjoy it because it varied from my usual music tastes, but I found that I enjoyed a lot of the songs I listened to and would definitely play his album again. Below I've included a link to one of the songs I really enjoyed by Holly, You're So Square. While his album has a variety of sounds in each song, I thought this song reminded me of something Elvis would sing. I looked into that and sure enough Elvis did sing this song too!
My favorite song had to be Everyday because the opening was so unexpected with the chimes and clapping that it reminded me of what a modern indie artist like Billie Eilish or Dodie Clark might do.
