We're all about the history of rock & roll at BoomtownAmerica.com!

Every week, we present “ROCK REMEMBERED,” where we take 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 explore "The Songs John Lennon & Paul McCartney Gave Away!"

As we age, many of us develop cataracts. However, many of us aren’t even aware it’s happening. Here are a few tips to keeping your eyes healthy:

1.) Cataracts most typically become a problem for people in the 60s and 70s, but doctors say they can develop much earlier, so be mindful of that once you get past 50.

2.) Because cataracts develop slowly, most people don’t realize how cloudy their vision has become. Make sure your see your optometrist regularly.

3.) One of the key symptoms that indicate you may have a problem with cataracts is if you see halos around lights. Again, always check with your optometrist.

Finally, cataract surgery has made tremendous strides in recent years. It is not painful. It may feel a bit uncomfortable because we’re hard-wired not to like anybody messing around near our eyes, but 4 out of people who’ve had the surgery say it was easier than they thought it would be.

Anyone who’s seen the movie La Bamba (1987), knows the story behind Ritchie Valens rock classic, “Donna.” Valens wrote the song for his girlfriend, Donna Ludwig at a time when his career was starting to take off, but their romantic relationship was experiencing some bumps.

The movie is accurate in its portrayal of the difficulties the young couple faced. Donna’s father did not approve of her dating a Hispanic man. And Ritchie’s career put him on the road constantly before he had even finished high school. And yes, she cried like a baby when Ritchie first played the song he composed for her.

Nevertheless, the two persisted as a couple up to his tragic death on “the Day the Music Died.” Sadly, Ms. Ludwig also endured the premature death of her mother shortly thereafter. She also became permanently estranged from her father when he pushed her to try a recording career herself, to cash in on her notoriety and exploit what, to her, was a very personal tragedy.

Donna lived a small-town life, marrying 3 times and giving birth to two daughters. She did attend the world premier of the movie La Bamba and at last report, was still living a quiet life with her third husband.

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE

I Walked with a Zombie may be the best movie with the dumbest title in motion picture history. Cranked out by the b-movie horror unit at RKO pictures in 1943, this low budget gem is far better than you might expect.

This was the second in a string of really good low-key horror movies produced under the supervision of Val Lewton, one of filmland’s most underappreciated artists.

RKO had two rules Lewton had to follow. One, he had to produce his films on a small budget. Two, he had to use titles the studio’s marketing department had already dreamed up and tested. The studio didn’t care about the actual plots, as long as Lewton used the titles.

So after they saddled Lewton with The Cat People and he turned that title into a really great horror movie, they gave him an even sillier title for his follow-up.

I Walked with a Zombie concerns a young nurse (Frances Dee) who arrives at a sugar plantation on the Caribbean island of Saint Sebastian. She is to care for the invalid wife of the plantation’s owner, played by Tom Conway. The wife appears near catatonic and is given to taking silent, dreamlike walks at night. The local legend is that the wife is not sick, but actually dead and returned to life as a zombie by the island’s voodoo practitioners.

This was a time well before George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, when zombies were not malevolent flesh-eaters, but merely soulless reanimated bodies who, according to legend, were employed as free labor on plantations throughout the Caribbean.

It soon becomes apparent to the young nurse that there is more to the story than she is being told, particularly as it relates to Conway, his somnambulant wife and his half-brother (James Ellison). She also finds herself falling for her employer, who is obviously still married – but is it to a sick woman or a zombie?

The film relies more on your imagination than trying to scare you with special effects. The climax of the picture takes the young nurse and the sleepwalking wife/zombie through the wilds of that island to a climactic voodoo ceremony. As with most of Lewton’s films, the viewer is left to decide for themselves whether the events are supernatural or can be explained away by more mundane coincidences.

The plot is actually cribbed from Jane Eyre, as Lewton was a fan of classical literature and longed to be making costume dramas instead of these low budget thrillers.

Lewton served as the producer and often the un-credited co-writer of his films. For directors, he gave a start to some young guns who would go on to much greater fame, including Robert Wise (West Side Story) and Mark Robson (Von Ryan’s Express). I Walked with a Zombie was directed by Jacques Tourneur (Out of the Past), who also went on to a long, successful career.

All of Lewton’s horror films did well at the box office, but genuine critical acclaim would have to wait until the 1970’s. Today’s Lewton’s movies are hailed as some of the best b-movies in Hollywood history, studied and praised by master filmmakers like Martin Scorcese, who narrated a televised tribute to Lewton a few years back.

If you want something this Halloween that’s more creepy than bloody and more cerebral than slashing, check out I Walked with a Zombie, readily available on either disc or from streaming outlets.

If you’ve been scammed, the odds of ever getting your money back are not great. But experts say there are some things you can do to improve your chances of recovering the money that was stolen. Here are the 3 biggest areas for phone & online scams operating today:

1.) Peer-to-Peer Apps – Touted as being a “safe” way to pay for things using your cell phone, peer-to-peer (P2P) cash apps like Zelle are now one of the major ways fraudsters extract money from their unsuspecting marks. Recently, Zelle has stepped up their investigating and recovery efforts for users. If the scammer was impersonating a government official like the IRS or Social Security Administration or pretending to be a service provider like a utility company, you may be able to reclaim the scammed money. The key is to report the scam to the bank or financial institute where you have your Zelle account as soon as possible. You have 120 days to make a report, but the longer you wait, the less your chance of ever recovering anything.

Unfortunately, other cash apps like Venmo and CashApp do not offer similar recovery services.

2.) Gift Cards – In the first place, any time someone you don’t know is asking you to purchase and send them gift cards, should be a huge warning sign. If you keep your receipt(s) and report the fraud quickly, you stand a chance of recovering some if not all of the money.

3.) Cryptocurrency – Typically, this activity usually involves scam artists getting their victims to “invest” in cryptocurrency. If you feel you have been ripped off in such a scheme, contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (at ic3.com). It’s also recommended that you contact your local police.

Experts also warn you, NEVER trust offers from so-called asset recovery organizations. More often than not, these are also scammers who purchased details about you from the people who ripped you off in the first place. Never pay anything in advance to any group that promises to get you a refund.