Monday, August 7

1960

NOTE: Next week, I'll be publishing my 2005 mix.

Well, we've come to the end of the road. A few people have asked why I picked 1960 as the year to go back to. I though about 1964, and 1950 seemed like a nice round number (which I might still get to if I ever have the time), but 1960 seemed right for a few reasons. First of all, anything earlier would have been very difficult, as it is the nature of references and the internet to be much more current, and considering the fact that I am young, anything before 1960 would have been a lot more work, work that I just didn't have time to do.

But as I look at 1960, I can't imagine a better year to end on. Just the first ten songs here alone are so legendary, so archetypal, so set in the memories of pop fans everywhere, that it's easy to see where this was the beginning of something big. There was pop before 1960, there was a booming music industry, powerful radio stations, even some TV performances, but this was when the local became the national, and the collective consciousness really took hold. That's what is exciting about pop, and it's what I found exciting about these mixes, looking over the great songs of each year, charting national taste and artistic growth. America, in all its flawed glory, has produced fantastic music over the past half decade. I hope everyone enjoys the mix, and come back next week to make a forty-five year jump to last year and the last mix I've finished.

Download here.

1. Money (That's What I Want) - Barrett Strong - 2:37
2. The Twist - Chubby Checker - 2:36
3. Save The Last Dance For Me - The Drifters - 2:30
4. Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers - 2:25
5. Only The Lonely - Roy Orbison - 2:27
6. Georgia On My Mind - Ray Charles - 3:39
7. A Fool in Love - Ike and Tina Turner - 2:53
8. All I Could Do Was Cry - Etta James - 2:57
9. Shop Around [national version] - The Miracles - 2:48
10. Chain Gang - Sam Cooke - 2:33
11. Walking to New Orleans - Fats Domino - 2:11
12. Stay (Just a Little Bit Longer) - Maurice Williams - 1:36
13. You're Sixteen - Johnny Burnette - 1:54
14. You Talk Too Much - Joe Jones - 2:39
15. Walk Don't Run - Ventures - 2:07
16. Shakin' All Over - Johnny Kidd And The Pirates - 2:21
17. Back Door Man - Howlin' Wolf - 2:51
18. Alley Oop - Hollywood Argyles - 2:42
19. Harbour lights - The Platters - 3:09
20. Apache - The Shadows - 2:52
21. Will You Love Me Tomorrow - The Shirelles - 2:44
22. Its Now Or Never - Elvis Presley - 3:12
23. Everybody's Somebody's Fool - Connie Francis - 2:40
24. Baby (You've Got What It Takes) - Brook Benton & Dinah Washington - 2:47
25. Airegin - Wes Montgomery - 4:29
26. Rank Strangers to Me - Stanley Bros. - 3:06
27. In My Little Corner Of The World - Anita Bryant - 2:40
28. Theme From A Summer Place - Percy Faith - 2:31
29. Beyond The Sea - Bobby Darin - 2:53

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry to have the mix project end, bza! Thanks for all the great mixes.
By the way, that typo in the second paragraph is hilarious.

Mon Aug 07, 03:03:00 PM  
Blogger bza said...

ahahahaha. I mean it, there really was poop before 1960.

Mon Aug 07, 03:07:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am downloading the mix and am so bummed that this is ending. Prior to this, my music knowledge before 1990 or so was sketchy at best. I had references points here and there, mostly bigger names, the beatles, bowie, kinks, beach boys, etc. and knew the sound of the decades in general but I had no knowledge or understanding of the sweeping changes in sound and soundwriting that had taken place in music over the past half decade. Hearing the backward evolving sounds on these mixes week after week has taught me so much and left a huge impression on me and I can not truly thank you enough. Looking foward to 2005 next week.
-Todd

Mon Aug 07, 05:14:00 PM  
Blogger bza said...

That is probably the best thing I could have heard about this project.

Thank you so much for the kind words and support.

Mon Aug 07, 05:25:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

if i was the first anonymous i would have said the same. ditto for me. thank you so much. does anyone have years they would be willing to share? i have missed a few, and im sure some other people have. hit me up. trularoy@gmail.com with the year you need, and ill get back with you on the ones im missing.

Tue Aug 08, 06:53:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank You for all of this...So much great music, & a great history lesson. Thanks!

Fri Aug 11, 08:39:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the links are all dead, man!

Wed Feb 21, 08:15:00 AM  

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