Oldies: Pass the Fritos VII – Part 1

Oldies- the origin of rock- follows a straight line up to the Beatles before splitting into oldies and classic rock- and then dies in the ‘70s right around the time of my birth. Are you with me so far? When I was a kid in the ‘70s and ’80s, oldies music was for moms and kids who had no use for Rush, Led Zeppelin, or Bad Company- let alone ‘70s sleaze peddlers like Aerosmith or the Stones. Oldies provides a safe, groovy place to let your spirit and imagination soar free while still being able to feel hip and rock out. While oldies music by definition sounds dated, for me the best of it remains imaginative, fun, thrilling, and satisfying. Classic rock, on the other hand, adheres to safe, lucrative formulas that enabled it to enjoy a much longer run than oldies music but classic rock, too, now finds itself at the end of the line.

Yet oldies may have the last laugh. Alternative music artists- most from my generation and mostly nerds and record geeks- were less impressed with generic classic rock and more influenced and inspired by the oldies music of their childhoods and later oldies discoveries at record stores and on mix tapes that somehow seemed cooler and more exciting than anything happening on classic rock radio stations (or even in the so called punk and hardcore music scenes). By the end of the century, alternative music- perhaps the true and rightful successor to oldies music- had at last closed the decades long gap with classic rock- and may outlast it. Here are more of my favorite oldies songs including psychedelic, garage rock, British Invasion, and girl groups. Enjoy the “alternative” sounds of oldies music!

01. The Byrds – “Wild Mountain Thyme” (1966)
02. The Turtles – Happy Together” (1967)
03. The Troggs – “Give It to Me” (1967)
04. The Neon Philharmonic – “Morning Girl” (1969)
05. The Monkees – “Can You Dig It? (Demo)” (1968)
06. The Zombies – “I’ll Call You Mine” (1968)
07. Richard Harris – “Paper Chase” (1968)
08. Dusty Springfield – “Stay Awhile” (1964)
09. The Neon Philharmonic – “Morning Girl, Later” (1969)
10. The Music Machine – “Talk Talk” (1966)
11. The Searchers – “Needles and Pins” (1964)
12. The Turtles – “You Baby” (1966)
13. The Rolling Stones – “Back Street Girl” (1967)
14. The Outsiders – “Time Won’t Let Me” (1966)
15. Manfred Mann – “Sha-La-La” (1964)
16. Oliver – “Jean” (1969)
17. The Who – “So Sad About Us” (1966)
18. The Cookies – “I Never Dreamed” (1964)
19. The Who – “Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand” (1967)
20. The Shangri-Las – “Past, Present, and Future” (1966)

Listen to the playlist on Spotify...