Music Keeps Us Young (part 2 of 2)

I left off last Friday in the mid-1960s. No one who was a teenager in Chicago at that time was unaffected by the plethora of Chicago area rock bands that were played on the two major radio rock stations, WLS (890) and WCFL (1000). Their 50,000 watt stations were heard across many states, and helped these bands achieve success. There was a distinct feature of most of these groups. They virtually all had horn sections. Why was that? The Chicago public high schools encouraged every incoming freshman to take band class. If you agreed, you were usually given a choice of trumpet, trombone, saxophone, or other brass instrument. You could take it home and practice. So horn sections were a natural addition to local Chicago rock bands. The special depth that gave to the music resulted in it being described as the 'Chicago Sound.' My favorite local Chicago bands included:

- The Buckinghams. KIND OF A DRAG, and MERCY MERCY MERCY.

- The New Colony Six. I WILL ALWAYS THINK ABOUT YOU, and what I consider the most beautiful love song ever written, about a girl who breaks up with her guy, and even though he's hurting badly, still loves her with all his heart and wants only the best for her, THINGS I'D LIKE TO SAY.

- The Chicago Transit Authority, later shortened due to a lawsuit threat to Chicago. Here are two seldom heard songs. The first has their greatest horn, bass, and wah-wah pedal guitar work. LISTEN, and the politically charged PROLOGUE, AUGUST 29, 1968 - SOMEDAY.

- The Shadows of Knight's cover of GLORIA, and OH YEAH.

- The American Breed. BEND ME SHAPE ME.

- The Cryan' Shames. IT COULD BE WE'RE IN LOVE, and SUGAR AND SPICE (sorry...no YouTube link to this song worthy of posting).

- The Ides of March. VEHICLE.

- Moving ahead now to my first car - a used, light blue 1964 Buick Skylark convertible, purchased in 1967. Of course I had to have an 8 track tape player installed. The first tape I purchased? The Beatles' MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. But the band I had the most tapes of was Buffalo Springfield. Their biggest hit was FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH. I also fondly recall driving west on 95th street towards Maple Lake with the top down, sun in my face, and wind in my (increasingly long) hair, listening to their MR. SOUL, and the wonderfully melodic ON THE WAY HOME.

- When I entered college in 1968 I supported the war in Vietnam. The Chicago public high school I had attended had done its brainwashing best. But fellow students at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle showed me the other side to U.S. involvement. My musical tastes changed accordingly. I reinterpreted the lyrics to The Jefferson Airplane's SOMEBODY TO LOVE. "When the truth is found to be liew, and all the joy within you dies" was exactly how I felt about my changed viewpoint on Vietnam. Their signature song for me, though, will always be VOLUNTEERS. Playing these songs just now brought back all the emotions of that time. But they pale in comparison to the next entry in my personal 'Hit Parade."

- After Nixon expanded the Vietnam war by invading Cambodia on April 30, 1970, my world changed. Anti-war protests, though peaceful, increased greatly in terms of participants. Then came the shootings of thirteen students at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio by Ohio National Guardsmen. Four students were murdered, and nine more seriously wounded. It is said that when Neil Young (formerly of Buffalo Springfield, and then with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young) heard the news, he went to the bathroom and wept. Ten minutes later, he had written both the lyrics and the music to OHIO.

This post has gone on longer than I had intended. Tempus fugit. But indulge me a moment longer while I mention other musical artists that have moved me (click their names to hear a song):

- SHIRLEY BASSEY

- TEN WHEEL DRIVE

- CELTIC WOMAN

- FRANK ZAPPA

- NIGHTWISH

- EVANESCENCE

- PINK MARTINI

- GUSTAV HOLST

- VAYA CON DIOS

- WITHIN TEMPTATION

Thanks again to the artists and YouTube. And thanks to you for reading and listening!


Next Friday: Back to politics