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Hey, folks. Happy Independence Day!😜
The following selection, recently amended with the addition of a couple of live performances, was originally published in June 2012 as the page doc’s 60s and 70s summer picks #1. The page features primarily songs that I associate with summer, regardless of song title and content. Most of the songs are from the 1970s, particularly 1970 -1976, a period which includes my age 12 to 18 years, and I believe most were released as singles in a summer month. Many of these take me back to summer vacations at the beach, where they became intimately woven into those wonderful days and nights. These songs, and many others like them, combined to form the soundtracks of my summers. I’m still working on the sequel.😊
Open up your heart
And let the lovin’ start
Pipeline (Brian Carman and Bob Spickard) — The Chantays, 1962 (#4)
The tune, originally called “Liberty’s Whip,” was renamed after the band members saw a surfing movie showing scenes of the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii.[1] The tune, fitting in with the popular surfing craze of the time, swiftly rose up the Billboard Pop charts, reaching #4, and becoming a classic hit of its time. The tune is notable for using Alberti bass chords.
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Don’t Worry Baby (Brian Wilson, Roger Christian)
Beach Boys — from the 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2. It was also released on 11 May 1964 as the B-side of “I Get Around,” which became the first #1 single by the Beach Boys. “Don’t Worry Baby” reached #24.
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Surfer Girl (Brian Wilson)
Beach Boys — b/w “Little Deuce Coupe” (Capitol 5009), released 22 July 1963, #7 Hot 100 — from the 1963 LP Surfer Girl
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Ball of Fire (Tommy James, Mike Vale, Bruce Sudano, Woody Wilson*) – Tommy James & the Shondells, Roulette single R-7060, b/w “Makin’ Good Time,” released September 1969
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Tighter, Tighter (Tommy James)
Alive N Kickin’ — Released in May 1970, the single peaked at #7 on the Hot 100 and remained on the chart for 16 weeks (throughout the summer). It sold more than a million copies, and was certified gold by the R.I.A.A.
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O-o-h Child (Stan Vincent)
The Five Stairsteps — “O-o-h Child” was originally released in February 1970 on the single Buddah BDA 165, as the B-side of “Dear Prudence.” In May 1970 it was reissued under the same catalog number, b/w “Who Do You Belong To”
“O-o-h Child” was by far the most successful single on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart by the Five Stairsteps, reaching #8. It also peaked at #14 on the R&B singles chart, and became the 11th (chronologically) of 15 top forty R&B hits by the Stairsteps from 1966 to 1980.
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(below) live TV studio performance for The Barbara McNair Show, Season 2, Episode 27; airdate: 4 April 1971
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