The Retro Blog

The Hep Stars were a Swedish pop group formed in 1963. Like a lot of bands they figured out that you have to sing in English to get international attention. Here they are performing “Sunny Girl”. The song sounds perfectly pleasant and pop chart friendly, but if you pay attention to the lyrics you realize that most [...]

These 50’s and 60’s “B” movies might make better MST3K fodder than they do actual entertainment, but their posters are art unto themselves. 
1. Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman

2. Attack of the Crab Monsters

3. Creature from the Black Lagoon

Carousels, giant animatronic robots, and elephants have about as much to do with “Green Tambourine” by The Lemon Pipers as they do with one another and yet all three elements appear in this video.

The band didn’t much care for the song, but after its success their record label demanded more like it. The result was “Rice [...]

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you one of the best songs of the 60’s, “Tighten Up” by Archie Bell & The Drells.
 
Just as the song gained the band some popularity, Bell was drafted to fight in Vietnam. The line “we dance just as good as we talk” became a bit ironic when Bell suffered a [...]

In the 60’s, Cambodia saw a rise in singers performing a new genre of music that mixed the traditional Khmer sound with Western style blues, pop, and rock and roll.
The undisputed king of the Phnom Penh rock and roll scene was Sinn Sisamouth. Incredibly prolific, it’s claimed that Sisamouth wrote nearly a song a day [...]

“MTV Cribs” has gotten really tiresome. At first it was a nice little guilty pleasure to go through some one hit wonder rapper’s McMansion and see how much money he’s already blown on a white grand piano he’ll never play and can’t actually afford because his record company is sucking up 99% of the profits [...]

Ok, so you’re a tv producer. Some soul singer is about to come on your show and sing a slow, inspirational tune. What do you do to keep the audience’s attention? You get a couple of go-go dancers to gyrate behind him at a tempo three times as fast at the actual song. That’s not [...]

Keith Moon is famous for a lot of things: his innovative drumming style, his penchant for blowing up toilets with cherry bombs, driving cars into swimming pools, and taking horse tranquilizers. Notice that singing is nowhere to be found in this list. Moon was also well-known for trying to sneak his voice onto Who tracks, [...]

I occasionally have a hard time determining what was cool in the eras I write about. If I wasn’t there it’s hard to know whether or not a certain song or tv show was only liked by losers. I’m going to take a wild guess here, though, and say that the cool kids probably did [...]

Look out everybody! There is some wild teenage dancing in this clip! Actually, this clip from the 1957 Chinese film Man Bon U Lang (aka Mambo Girl) features some cha cha cha–ing with the least amount of hip movement that could be allowed while still calling it a dance. In fact, the scene consists mostly [...]

Here’s a little 60’s go-go styled soul music video by The Mighty Hannibal for a song called Jerkin’ the Dog.

With headwear like that is it any wonder he’s an Obama supporter?????

I kid.

Here are two excellent galleries of classical album covers from the 1940’s and 1950’s. Who knew classical music could be so hip?
The World of Light Classical Music Record Group
Vinyl Gallery: Vintage classical album cover graphics

In 1965 country singer Roger Miller released his signature hit, “King of the Road.” For a song about a dirty hobo, it sure was popular. Here’s a video of Miller singing his song in front of an insanely colored cartoon train.

In the days before rap artists started shooting each other, rivalries between musicians were cute, [...]

I reside in San Francisco, and should thus thoroughly enjoy Otis Redding’s biggest hit, “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay,” but this is not so. I’ve always been more of a “Try a Little Tenderness Girl.” It’s the classic slow buildup song. Watch this performance. It’s like a religious celebration.

Today temperatures soared in the Bay Area. It was not fun. It’s much more fun to hear people sing about extreme heat. Here’s two performances of “(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave.” The first is the most famous version, performed by Martha and the Vandellas. Love that coordinated arm swinging!

The second is a cover by [...]

This clip features some of the most awesome retro songs of 1960’s Indian film. This is when Bollywood got obsessed with American culture. Think of them as Frankie and Annette movies in Hindi. All the fun with the added bonus of incomprehensibility. Also, Indian actors in blackface for some reason. This is merely the first [...]

Looking to score your next 50’s B horror inspired movie? Better get yourself a Theremin for the soundtrack. Invented by a Russian in the 20’s, the Theremin became the go to instrument for creating creepy alien sounds in the 50’s. Made famous by such films as The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Thing, [...]

When you think space age, Mexico City probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind, but Mexico City produced Juan Garcia Esquivel, inventor of quintessential bachelor pad music. Have a listen and hear what I mean.
It’s best to listen to Esquivel in stereo while sipping a cocktail, snapping your fingers, and impressing a lady-friend. [...]