I Didn't Start the Fire Pt 1

I could call this: "Who Can my Wife Blame For All of These Records, CD etc"

As I mentioned in the beginning of this thing, when I was a kid I listened to the radio more than anything else. The radio has been a mighty good friend of mine all my life. When Rock & Roll was still in the growing stage in the late 50’s, the radio stations played hits from Rock, Pop, Country, Folk, Early R&B, and Novelty records. So I got to hear it all. This type of formatting continued into the early 60’s when, at least in St. Louis, stations began to go in separate directions such asTop 40, Country, R&B, and Easy Listening. Then in 1964, things really changed with the British Invasion, the rise of Motown, the Folk music era, and other musical trends.

The funny thing for me was that by listening to The Beatles, The Beach Boys and other big artists of the mid 60’s, my desire to go back to the beginning of Rock & Roll and pick up on the sounds that I missed when this music was new, became more important. For instance, hearing The Beatles singing those Carl Perkins’ songs that I’d not heard back in the day of “Blue Suede Shoes,” would cause me to want to hear those songs performed by Perkins himself. The same was true with The Beatles covers of Larry Williams’ “Slow Down,” “Dizzy Miss Lizzy,” and “Bad Boy,” along with Buddy Holly’s “Words of Love.” These songs and others, made me hungry for more of the lesser known early songs from the legends of Rock & Roll, and those artists and groups who were not as well known.

In the beginning of the decade of the 70’s, several events would change the way I looked at the Rock & Roll era for ever. KADI, An FM radio station here in St. Louis, hired a guy from New York City whose name was Larry Miller. Miller began to play those old 45’s from the 50’s and early 60’s during his program. After a few weeks, this show evolved into what would become the Sunday Night Oldies Show. Larry Miller played the songs I was longing to hear for years. He played those Carl Perkins songs I’d not heard along with Buddy Holly, Larry Williams, Little Richard, Elvis, and Dion & the Belmonts, to name a few. Miller also introduced the local audience to some vocal group music that had not hit the airwaves here in St. Louis back in the 50’s.

These lesser known songs really wet my whistle and I started to have a desire to acquire them. So began the great hunt for the old music. I’d rummage through the “cut outs” section in any store that had one. I would buy up LPs that had one or two songs I knew, and a bunch of others I did not recognize by their titles. I’d take these records home and play them. To my surprise and delight, I’d find that Larry Miller was playing a lot of these songs on his Sunday Night Oldies Show.

The desire to search the bargain bins in stores such as E.J. Korvette, Arlands, Viscount Records, and later Camelot Music and Peaches would stay with me to this day. If there was a rack of LPs for $2.00 or less, I’d thumb through them, hoping to strike gold.

So I guess Larry Miller is partially to blame for the state of “musical” mind that I am in today.

There are other people, both living and deceased, who I hold personally responsible for fueling the flames of my continuing hunger for great old Rock & Roll records. I will mention these people as I proceed with these pages. So stay tuned to this blog and see if your name shows up on list. You never know.

Well, here we go!

When I was a kid back in the late 1950’s here in St. Louis, I listened to a lot of radio; we had three stations playing Rock & Roll music back then on AM; KXOK, WIL, and KWK. That’s what I listened to.all the guys were playing Cowboys and Indians while I was diggin’ the tunes on the radio. The music was in my blood. From Carl Perkins to Fats Domino to Dion and the Belmonts to The Platters to Buddy Holly to The Everly Brothers to Elvis to Little Richard to The Chantels to The Shirelles and every other vocalist, group, or band that the radio played.

Like other kids back then, I collected Baseball cards, from ’58 to ’63 and then some. And like other kids I loved to play with those Lionel Trains we’d put up over the Christmas Holidays. As time went by, people who thought they were helping me grow up, told me to stop listening to that music, stop collecting those Baseball cards, and definitely stop playing with those Lionel Trains. Like so many others, I listened to them. Only later to learn I should have never given those things up.

It’s been over 50 years and while I don’t have those old Baseball cards, I still have some of our family Lionel Trains and I’ve managed to once again acquire that great music I listened to back then on the radio.

And that brings me to today; after 11 years surfing the net, I’ve found a way to let it all out; to tell everyone about those great songs from that great musical era that was the 50’s and 60’s. I’ve managed to compile a lot of information inside this old head of mine and it’s time to share it with the world.

Oh yes, on the way I’ll mention those great Baseball cards and let’s not forget those Lionel Trains too.
That’s what all of this is about; the music, the memories, the feeling of those wonderful care-free years.