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 Saturday as we play all the great music that came from "The Brill Building Era of Rock & Roll!"
Now that we're in the 21st Century, I'm sure we all recognize how true the view from 1952 was!
We all love the Stones. Here are a few things you might know about them:
- Mick Jagger was quite the athlete. He set his grade school’s record for the half-mile.
- Early in their career they actually recorded the soundtrack for a Rice Krispies commercial in the UK (You can watch it here,here,)
- The Stones’ founder, Brian Jones was once part of a blues duo called Lewis and Ponds. Jones was calling himself Elmo Lewis. He asked his partner, Paul Pond, to become the front man of the new rock band he was forming, but Pond turned him down. That’s when Mick Jagger got the job.
- It was Stones’ bassist, Bill Wyman, who coined the term “groupie” back in 1965.
- Brian Jones played the oboe on the Beatles’ song “Baby, You’re a Rich Man,” while Mick Jagger sang some of the backup vocals. In return, John and Paul sang back-up on the Stones’ song, “We Love You.”
Contemporary research shows that an active sex life for men and women above 50 is very good for the brain!
Those adults who remain sexually active score higher on cognitive tests than those who are not. Researchers believe that sex boost hormones that improve singaling connectivity between brain regions.
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).