We're all about the history of rock & roll at BoomtownAmerica.com!
Every week, we present “ROCK REMEMBERED,” a deep dive into the hidden history of rock & roll, the stories behind the artists and songs that changed the world. Join host, “Boomtown Bill” Cross each Wednesday at 7 pm (Eastern) with an encore broadcast on Saturday at noon (Eastern).
Join us this Wednesday as we play all the great music that came from "The Brill Building Era of Rock & Roll!"
The Rat Pack (started by Humphrey Bogart and inherited by Frank Sinatra after Bogey’s death) made two movies in the sixties. Neither were great shakes as movies go, but the first one, Ocean’s 11, is a wonderful time machine back to a place and time that no longer exist.
Released in 1960, Ocean’s 11 can be seen as the 1950’s last hurrah. In just a few short years, the British invasion in music and fashion would change everything. Film historians think the film was conceived as way to give Frank, Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, and the rest something to do with their days while they were headlining at the Sands resort at night.
Thanks to George Clooney’s remake, most know the plot centers around Sinatra and his old army buddies attempting to rob 5 Vegas casinos simultaneously (in the Clooney remake, it's only 3).
It doesn’t really matter. The plot takes a back seat to the easy-going repartee of the ensemble cast. Frank and especially Dean Martin get to croon. Sammy Davis, Jr. is still relegated to the role of a garbage man who riffs on old Amos & Andy impressions and the Rat Pack’s one female member, Shirley MacLaine shows up for a totally pointless scene with Dino near the film’s climax.
No worries. The fun comes from digging on the late 1950’s fashions (a time when men still wore hats) and a fascinating look at a Las Vegas that seems downright quaint by today’s standards.
In 1960, most American had still not made the trip to Sin City. The daytime casino action was centered around Fremont Street with just a handful of resorts on a patch of barren desert road known as “The Strip” pulling in the evening crowd with their shows.
Compared to today’s palaces like the Venetian, Bellagio and others, the Sahara, Riviera, Sands, Desert Inn and the Flamingo depicted in Ocean’s 11 have all the glitz and glitter of a redecorated rumpus room in a suburban basement somewhere in the Midwest.
But it was a time when this small band of entertainers ruled the town like royalty.
So give yourself a treat and take a trip to 1960 with the Rat Pack. And hang on through the credits. The film’s best joke happens at the very end as Ocean’s 11, now 10, make their way along the Strip on foot.
BTW – The other Rat Pack film was Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964).
Wham-O was the unquestioned king of kid fads during the 1960s. They started hot with the Hula Hoop and finished even hotter with the Frisbee (a fad that never, ever went away). In between, they gave us the SuperBall!
The SuperBall was a compact little piece of toy dynamite. When dropped, it rebounded to nearly 100% of the original height. When thrown with a little (or a lot) of force, it could sail over houses and even reach high enough to shatter lights in school gymnasium ceilings. The ball will also bounce in crazy ways if you put spin on it.
The ball was invented by chemist Norman Stingley in 1964. He created a complex batch of synthetic rubber he named Zectron. He offered his invention to his employer, the Bettis Rubber Company. They couldn’t see much use for it and told Stingley he was free to shop it elsewhere.
He found a buyer at the Wham-O toy company, who instantly saw its potential. They worked with Stingley to improve his formula and created compact bouncing balls about 2” in diameter under 3,500 pounds per square inch of pressure. When Wham-O first released their SuperBall in 1965, it was an instant hit. By December of that year, the company was cranking out 170,000 of the little devils a day!
Wham-O quickly expanded their line of SuperBalls to include different colors – and especially – different sizes.
Believe it or not, the little ball also gave our biggest sporting event its name. Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs noticed his kids playing with a SuperBall and wrote a letter to the committee supervising the newly created championship game between the NFL and the AFL suggesting they use the name "Super Bowl." They turned him down. But reporters loved the name and began using it in their stories. The name caught on with the public and by the 3rd year, pro football officially adopted "Super Bowl" as the name of their big game!
Meanwhile back at the fad, SuperBalls had two drawbacks – irate parents tired of seeing household item smashed (and kids with bruises and black eyes) from getting in the way of a SuperBall and the fact that SuperBalls had a tendency to suddenly shatter after only a few days of play.
Other competitors jumped in with their own versions, although Wham-O has a patent on the exact formula for their ball, and the company claims the ones they manufacture today last longer than the 1965 model. But like most fads, sales of SuperBalls fell off as quickly in 1966 as they rose the year before.
That’s just the way the SuperBall bounces!
John Fred formed his first Playboy Band in 1956. They made their first recording three years later. But John would have to wait another nine years before he finally recorded a hit record. It was a monster hit, but alas, it would be his only hit.
John Fred grew up in the Baton Rouge area of Louisiana listening to the local music scene, especially Fats Domino. At 15, he started playing at weekend dances. His group attracted enough attention that he was offered a record contract with the small Montel label. His first session in New Orleans actually saw him recording in the same studio as his idol, Fats Domino. Unfortunately, the early recordings of John Fred and His Playboy Band never got any airplay outside of his home state.
So, John put his musical career on hold and attended Southern Louisiana College on a basketball scholarship. He graduated in 1964, formed a new Playboy Band and hit the road.
1968 found the group playing Florida. At one gig, one of the guys in the band was trying to hustle a young girl in the crowd who was sporting those large sunglasses that were popular that year. Unfortunately for him, when she removed the glasses, well, let’s just say the lad was very disappointed. John thought the situation was hilarious. So, he started writing a song about it with his fellow bandmate Andrew Bernard. They quickly veered into grabbing pop culture references at random, including bits from TV commercials and more. The took their inspiration for the title from the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” And that’s how “Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)” was born. The song was a sensation, rocketing all the way to a 2-week stay at #1! It turned out to be a mixed blessing as John Fred and his band never managed to record another hit record, despite multiple attempts.
We’re not sure what happened to the rest of the band, but John himself went on to a long career behind the scenes in the music business as well as playing occasional live gigs.
No, exercise snacking does not mean doing arm curls to get the Doritos to your mouth. It means approaching exercise like you approach snacking. It means exchanging one prolonged period of intense exercise for several shorter, less strenuous sessions throughout the day.
A 10-minute walk or light jog at one point of the day, followed by 10 minutes of stretching, followed by 10 minutes of aerobic exercise can help improve joint movement as well as reduce your risk of injury. It can also help regulate your blood sugar if you’re diabetic or afraid that you may become diabetic.