On my mental soundtrack today, in honor of Tom Smothers, who left an indelible imprint on my sense of humor, not to mention my political awareness. His memory for a blessing.
Hi folks, please join me today at 7 PM UK time, 2 PM US Eastern for strictly sixties on Worlds Awakening Radio! To listen ask your smart speaker to open Worlds Awakening Radio using the Amazon Alexa skill or put this link into your media player, http://station.worldsawakening.com:8000/live#music#radio#radioshow#1960s
Vintage late 50’s/early 60’s festive pinny from the Mothership. Just dug out of its annual storage, ready to iron and use soon. #kitsch#retro#Christmas#kitchen#1960s
"We were trying to think of who could play Endora. And Elizabeth and I were in New York, at Bloomingdales, and there we ran into Agnes Moorehead. And I thought, ‘My God. There she is!’”
— #WilliamAsher, director/producer of #Bewitched
I'm a 54-year-old White guy in the USA and I have to infer that there must have been -- at one time not too long ago -- racist codes for "let the White person go first". I was never taught them, but I have to infer this from a few decades now of observing the following:
When I am standing in a small family-run store checkout line, and elderly Black people are in front of me, if I have a cough or need to clear my throat, something very strange happens. All eyes swivel backwards to look at me, and the elderly Black people in front of me all but fall over themselves to waive me to the FRONT OF THE LINE. Sometimes if I lock eyes with the shop keeper at the register, HE waives me forwards. At this point, there is NO POLITE GETTING OUT OF IT. I can try saying "I'm so sorry, I have a cold", or "you are clearly in front of me, please proceed", and none of it will work. Instead, I am given excuses to help ME feel better about myself. "Oh, no, I'm in no hurry", or "I have not quite decided if I have everything yet", or "the shopkeeper and I were just talking, we will be awhile, so please checkout first".
To be clear, I'm not the one being hurt (they are), but I AM mortified and embarrassed.
I've had to develop special procedures to combat this. I always stand a little further back in line, NEVER make eye contact with anyone, look intently at merchandise while waiting to checkout, and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ever clear my throat no matter how much I may need to.
I was reminded of this today when I (with plenty of room) passed an older Black woman in an aisle and merely nodded hello. She said "excuse me" and stepped backwards to give me more space. Huh.
Younger Black people don't do this (happily). Older Black people sometimes seem startled, like they have not encountered a White person coughing behind them in a long time -- but then their automatic training kicks in...
When I think about racism, I usually think about the more egregious examples (lynchings, denial of voting rights) but I have to wonder -- what was it like to just go on a mundane daily shopping trip in 1960?
QUESTION: Older folks reading this. Did/does this cough/throat-clear signal actually exist??
Today in "The Past is a Different Country"...From a document prepared for the US Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1963.
Just for fun I re-watched the first ever episode of The Champions, 1960s espionage series about three agents who acquire special powers following an air crash in the Himalayas, after they've been stealing bacteria from a secret Chinese laboratory (guarded by a young Bert Kwouk). Clunky in places but still oozes stylish retro glamour. I loved it as a child, and loved the fact that Alexandra Bastedo mixed it as an equal partner with the men (Stuart Damon and William Gaunt). #1960s#TV
Louie, Louie b/w Haunted Castle by The Kingsmen (1963)
Written by Richard Berry in 1955 and originally released in ‘57, this 1963 version by The Kingsmen popularized the song and made it a staple of American radio, especially during that decade, eventually becoming an early rock ‘n roll classic.
The song is based on the tune "El Loco Cha Cha" popularized by bandleader René Touzet and is an example of Afro-Cuban influence on American popular music. "Louie Louie" tells, in simple verse–chorus form, the first-person story of a Jamaican sailor returning to the island to see his lover. [Wikipedia]
The inclusion of ‘Haunted Castle’ (written by Lynn Easton) as the B side makes this record nicely appropriate for the quickly approaching Halloween festivities.
Please join me this evening at 7 UK time, 2 PM US Eastern for strictly sixties. To listen ask your smart speaker to open Worlds Awakening Radio using the Amazon Alexa skill or put this link into your media player, http://station.worldsawakening.com:8000/live#radio#radioshow#1960s