|
Some
thoughts about the sensational Sixties through the eyes of a young music fan from the UK who wasn't even born until the following
decade! Wayne Adderley, creator of the Blast From the Past and Beatles Day petitions, fills us in on how he became such a huge fan of the '60s sound, and what
he's doing now to help promote the oldies artists who are continuing to tour and make music into the new millenium.
The '60s
music scene, the media would have people think, ended in 1970; but as many of us know, this isn't the case.
New
music scenes have come and gone, but the '60s story carries on.
After the Rock n Roll years of the 1950s and
early '60s, the market was mainly USA led, that is until four lads from Liverpool, England called The Beatles came along.
Thoughout
the 60s they went from a rock n roll band to beat, and the Sgt Pepper days, and so on, and with that The Beatles changed music
forever.
Other English acts followed such as The Searchers, Swinging Blue Jeans, Merseybeats, Troggs, Yardbirds,
Stones ... the list goes on.
Many of these acts are still touring today: The Rolling Stones (from time to time),
The Searchers (now with lead singer Spencer James), Mike Pender's Searchers (former lead singer with the Searchers) The Swinging
Blues Jeans (still led by lead singer Ray Ennis), The Merseybeats (fronted by the two main founding members Billy and Tony,
and the Fortunes (fronted still by the orginal lead singer).
There are also many others but it would take a while
to write all of them out.
Each year more '60s related tours sell out across the UK, performing not only for the
orginal fans but also fans of all ages, showing how popular the '60s recordings remain. At these shows you will find
people from ten and up coming to support the performers and enjoy a great concert.
I recently
heard Marty Wilde saying that he tours more today than he did back in the '60s.
Sixties recordings
are also used around the world in advertising.
I first
got into '60s music by watching The Monkees reruns in the '80s (not, at the time, thinking of it as from the
'60s).
Then one day I came across The Monkees' album Pool It and that was it. Since then
I've collected all things Monkees and have seen them in concert three times.
Also what helped open the flood
gates to other music acts in the '60s was when one day I was going though my Mum's records and I came across The Beatles'
Greatest Hits.
Their music hit me and I haven't looked back.
The Beatles
led to The Beach Boys and in turn other acts from both the UK and USA.
I get to as many tours and solo concerts
as I can and because of this, in 2002, I put together my website, The Swinging 60's Zone, which was at first just a small
fan page. The media give acts from the 60's a hard time and so the site has since evolved into a base to promote the
ongoing acts from the Sixties along with other friends from around the world.
Many of the acts from the UK have
recorded new songs, but without the media behind them only fans at concerts or with other connections get to hear them.
As
Sonny Bono sang, "The Beat Goes On." And many fans of many ages agree with me: "Music has nothing to do with age."
LINKS:
|
