http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/60s-Hits_Summary.html The swinging sixties had become a real myth among those who were part of that decade and those who have only heard about a time when feelings of independence and freedom arose in the youth. Regarding music, big changes took place in the musical scenery. Black Rhythm and Blues appeared with female groups as well as male performers. Folk music also experienced a revival thanks to some of the most important performers of that decade. But, rock had also a significant place in this context, specially with The Beatles and their innovative sound. Marvin Gaye, The 5th Dimension, The Beach Boys, The Monkees, The Rolling Stones, The Turtles are some of the most representative artists of this era. en-us http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8751.html Fri, 21 Apr 2006 04:13:44 CST During the decade of 60s, there was a great deal of racial confrontations and discriminations as part of social transformations in America. However, this issue did not impede that an African-American group introduced a highly pop/soul sound to captivate the ears of the people, with the purpose of putting negative thoughts and ideas about race aside.

The band in charge of fulfilling this was the 5th Dimension, whose members are St.Louis, Billy Davis Jr, Ron Townsend, LaMonte McLemore—were respectively opera, gospel and jazz enthusiasts—, and Florence LaRue and Marilyn McCoo. After having some minor hits, with “Up Up and Away,” they finally entered into the Pop and Soul Top 10, winning Grammy Awards for the song and the group. Besides producing wonderful hits, the 5th Dimension had the opportunity to appear frequently on television programs, catching the audience’s attention, thanks to their physical attractiveness, style, and mood.  What is really interesting about this group, it is their decision to create a medley of two songs from the musical “Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In” and “Hair,” which indeed became the longest best-selling song of 1969 and definitely made the 5th Dimension the top soul group in the world.

As time passed by, their music was focusing more on pop-oriented sound than harmonies, thus putting aside their soul music. Some of the most popular pop songs include “One Less Bell to Answer,” “Save the Country,” and “Never My Love.” In spite of having numerous hits, they also failed some songs. The 5th Dimension had to cope with the leaving of two members, which meant adding new artists to it. By 90s, there was a recompilation of the group to release the final album, “In The House", on Dick Clark’s label. Nowadays, such version continues performing. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8719.html Fri, 21 Apr 2006 01:01:48 CST These days, some people do not like to listen to music performed by black artists because of stereotyping ideas about them and their culture; however, the success of their music has nothing to do with the color of the skin or the type of habits and traditions that they follow. As models of significant accomplishments into the music industry, The Supremes are the best example of a very successful Motown black female group from 1959 till 1977. The main music genres explored include soul, Broadway show tunes, doo-wop, disco, and psychedelic.

One of the most significant features about this group is the fact that they recorded twelve #1 hits between 1964 and 1969. Thanks to those hits, they were able to try in other genres such as black soul and Randamp;B in order to reach more public in the United States and in other countries. In spite of the fact that the girls released eight singles, none of them were good enough or interesting enough to please the audience and to enter into the Top 40. In view of this situation, they included singing backing for Motown artists like The Temptations and Marvin Gaye as well as performing hand claps, as a way to recover what they did not get from their releases. It was 1963 that the Supremes topped their first hit, “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes,” which is one of the number of songs written by the Motown songwriting and production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. The main goal of the group was to cross over the whole audience.

Another surprise for this band was to reach #1 on the US pop charts with, “Where Did Our Love Go,” being also #3 in the UK pop charts. Indeed, some of their subsequent releases were nominated to important awards such as the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm andamp; Blues Recording for “Baby Love,” the 1966 Grammy for Best Contemporary Rock andamp; Roll Group Vocal Performance for “Stop! In the Name of Love.” The best of all their efforts is that they were well-known worldwide, allowing them to tour the globe, record songs for soundtracks, appear in the film Beach Ball, and had their own brand of bread. The Supremes’ greatest challenge was to reach white and black audiences, but, of course, they delighted with their music thousands of people no matter their race. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8658.html Fri, 21 Apr 2006 12:50:35 CST
It is really fascinating to discover the artistic world of The McCoys, an Indiana group, which was pursued by the Strangeloves production team to cooperate with their material. Initially, the group was formed by Rick Zehringer, Randy, Dennis Kelly, and later Ronnie Brandon. As a matter of great luck, the release of “Hang on Sloopy,” as The McCoys’ first hit, was greatly accepted in the public, thus topping the US chart and reaching the UK Top 5. Indeed, this song was #1 in America and is the state rock song of Ohio.

Some other best-known singles include a top 40 cover of “Come On Let’s Go” and a top 10 cover of “Fever”. In addition, with Sorrow, a cover of the early stage of their career, they did not record much of original material, instead they were provided with productions from Feldman-Goldstein-Gottenhrer, which indeed resulted in variations from their first hit.

In the late 60s, they broke from their Bang producers to record progressive rock for Mercury. In the 70s, most of the group joined Johnny Winters backup band. Some of their best-known compilations are Psychedelic Years (One Way 1994) Hang On Sloopy: The Best Of The McCoys (Legacy 1995). In general, the McCoys has become a highly popular group across America because of its hits.
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8518.html Fri, 21 Apr 2006 08:24:14 CST
Martha and the Vandellas, an American Motown successful girl group in the 1960s, were well-known for a churchier and more southern-styled soul than the Supremes. The members of this band are Martha Reeves, Gloria Williamson, Annette Beard, and Rosalind Ashford. Before becoming Martha and The Vandellas, they were known as The Del-Phis and The Vells. The first single of this group was “I’ll Have to Let Him Go” followed by the great success “(Love is Like a) Heat Wave” and “Quicksand.”

All these hits are just a part of what these girls could perform because their biggest hit, “Dancing in the Street,” caused some polemic due to the fact that their lyrics apparently represented the riots of many cities. After replacing two girls who left the group, “Honey Chile” was recorded, which became their last original Top 40 hit; however, the subsequent releases did not get the expected results from the public. Besides this, another former member was fired from the group.

Matters were even worse since Martha was hospitalized because of her addiction to many prescription drugs. In addition, she also suffered a nervous breakdown that undoubtedly would affect the image and success of the group. In 1972, the group disbanded through a farewell concert. After that, Martha started a solo career; but neither any member nor the band could recover the success again. Sometimes, Martha makes tours with some of Vandellas.
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8490.html Fri, 21 Apr 2006 08:13:54 CST
The adventure of getting involved into the music industry means forming a group and then working hard to reach fame and success. Thus, three boys, a cousin, and a friend decided to join their voices to form the band, “The Beach Boys,” in 1961. Although it seems easy to have a group, it requires a lot of aspects such as having a work team in charge of technical arrangements, writing and productions. This is exactly what these boys did not have; nevertheless, they started playing different instruments to record hits such as, “Surfin’ USA,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” “I Get Around,” and “Fun, Fun, Fun.” With the release of “Pet Sounds,” this album would be a real hit in the United States and across the ocean in Europe.

While gaining popularity in England, in the United States, people did not admire their talent, whose effort was reflected in several singles and wonderful albums, and some hits. Unfortunately, problems arrived when they were under a lot of strain and when a member of the group detached from it. They also lost the drummer of the band, but they continued being the Beach Boys during their adulthood. Among disagreements and some misunderstandings, they are still capable of giving spectacular concerts with thousands of people acclaiming their tunes. Not so long ago, a member died and another decided to start a solo career. Even though only two members from the beginning of the group remain, they have left a significant legacy in the music history that not many bands will ever have.
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8464.html Thu, 20 Apr 2006 10:40:48 CST
One of the most successful and famous band of the sixties is The Association. It is well known that they sold more than thirty million records, which allowed them to earn six gold discs and one platinum. Indeed, “The Association, Greatest Hits,” still remains as one of the longest best-selling albums in the history of Warner Brothers. The following number one hits, “Windy,” “Never My Love" and “Cherish,” have reached recognition and gained lots of airplay. 

This group also wrote and performed the soundtrack, “Goodbye Columbus,” with which they won the Golden Globe and Foreign Press Awards. Besides this, other songs such as “Time For Living,” “Along Comes Mary,” “Everything That Touches You,” “Requiem For the Masses,” and “Six Man Band,” reveal their talented voices, versatility, and exclusive instrumentation.

In relation to the origin of this group, it is important to know that they started rehearsing for a couple of months and then began performing at high schools, nightclubs, folk clubs, coffeehouses, college, proms and parties along California. Since their first album topped the charts, they soon collected huge amounts of money.

The Association is the first electric group that has broken the anti-rock biases in most of the places around the country, for example, performances at The Copacabana, Hollywood’s Greek Theatre, Tanglewood Music festival, Blossom Music Festival and some more. In addition, for this group, the main honor has been to open the first international pop festival in America, The Monterey Pop Festival. It is also interesting to notice that the list of television shows, at which they appeared, is countless. In spite of having constant appearances on TV and concerts, the members of the group inevitably decided to pursue individual careers.  http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8358.html Thu, 20 Apr 2006 10:16:09 CST Since youth, Peggy Davison and Jiggs Sirico started performing and recording together in “The Angels,” where they were able to demonstrate not only their artistic abilities on stage but also their personalities in every performance.

One of the privileges of this group was that they provided the backing vocal on singles for different singers such as Anthony Newly, David Geddes, Steve Lawrence, Frank Sinatra, Jackie Wilson, among others, and for producers and arrangers including Alan Lorber, Dan Costa, Lee Holdridge and Quincy Jones. When the teenage girl group released the single, “My Boyfriend’s Back,” it reached No. 1 on the United States charts, thus becoming their best-known record of all time.

In order to promote their musical material, this girl group has had various successful tours around Europe, has made many appearances on TV, night clubs and concerts in Mexico, Canada and the United States. Without any doubt, captivating and making the audience feel fascinated and excited are the result of this group’s talent, charisma, and compromise. In this way, people are more likely to enjoy a fantastic show and wanting more.  http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8350.html Thu, 20 Apr 2006 09:55:43 CST
Marvin Gaye is one of the greatest talents who started the development of black music, making possible the subsequent evolution of this type of music around the world. Based on a extremely political and personal form of artistic self-expression, his work consisted on redefining soul music and on expanding its impact in order to get social change.

Throughout his childhood, Gaye was educated under certain restrictions as well as strict behavioral patterns; respecting the principles of Christianity. Indeed, this strong religious background influences Gaye’s life in a large extent because as soloist, his songs were heard in the choir of the Church. He also found in music a way to escape from the terrible reality of every single day at home when his father used to hit him.

After finishing high-school, he joined the Rainbows and then the Moon Glows, two street-corner doo wop groups. Starting a solo career was probably not the best choice because his early singles were not successful. Before this situation, he continued fighting for reaching the first positions in the charts; nevertheless, it was not easy due to the great demands in the music industry.

The result of his efforts was reflected in scoring various Top Ten hits. Some of his best-known songs include “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby,” “That’s the Way Love Is,” “Mercy, Mercy Me” and “Inner City Blues". Unfortunately, Gaye had to cope with his consuming addiction to cocaine, making him lose control over his life, and finally, having a tragic death after being assassinated.   
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8232.html Wed, 19 Apr 2006 07:59:04 CST
Born in New York, Dion DiMucci is an outstanding artist, who has explored different musical genres such as doo-wop, pop, rock and roll, Randamp;B, folk and Christian. During his early years, he used to do what most kids of his own age did like running in gangs. However, he started singing pop on local TV and radio since he was 12 years old.

The great success of his single, “I Wonder Why” meant the beginning of a series of classic hits along two years. Dion also started a solo career after the members of the group, the Belmonts, decided to go separate ways. In spite of their failure, Dion continued reaching hits such as “The Wanderer” and “Ruby Baby.”

This artist has contributed greatly to music in different ways. For instance, he has been considered by some people as the godfather of “blue-eyed soul.” He also bridged the gap between the pre-British Invasion Sixties and doo-wop. In the same way, he made possible to bring blues and doo-wop into the pop mainstream. In relation to his talent, he has one of most interpretive voices. In the mid 60’s, Dion released the ballad, “Abraham, Martin, and John,” which was a great hit, thus producing a large number of albums. Some of his awards include Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and Grammy Hall of Fame.  http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8216.html Tue, 18 Apr 2006 05:04:11 CST
Lesly Gore, an American songwriter and singer, is one of the most famous performers of the girl group era. When she was sixteen years old, her first single was the No. 1 hit “It’s My Party,” still her best known recording, which was also No. 9 in Britain. Other important songs include “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” “You Don’t Own Me,” “She’s a Fool,” and “Maybe I Know.” Quincy Jones who was her record producer, soon became one of the most famous producers in American music. Indeed, Jones earned popularity for his career because of subsequent success with Gore.

Although Gore had the opportunity to accept movie and television contracts, she decided to attend Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. This decision somehow affected her career due to the fact that she only could enjoy summer vacations and weekends. By the late 1960s, her main hit was “California Nights,” which is performed by her on an episode of the Batman TV series in which she guest-starred as one of the Cat woman’s minions.

Besides, her work in the music industry was continuous because she had concerts and shows in cabarets, thus achieving remarkable success as a professional songwriter. She, in particular, composed songs for the soundtrack of the 1980 movie, Fame. Also, she obtained an Academy Award nomination for “Out Here on My Own.” In 2005, she recorded a self-produced and acclaimed CD, “Ever Since.” Gore also has the ability to play a great variety of musical genres. In regards to her personal life, supposedly she is lesbian and lives with her partner and some pets.