LISTEN TO BOOMTOWN RADIO! “ALL the Music That Matters for the Generation That Created Rock 'n' Roll”

Tuesday, 12 August 2025 04:20

This Day in Rock History - August 12th

1968: In a record store in the Westminster district of London, the New Yardbirds with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant begin their first rehearsal.

The Who’s drummer Keith Moon attends another rehearsal and suggests the band will “go over like a lead zeppelin.”

The band likes the idea and immediately changes its name.

Monday, 11 August 2025 04:20

This Day in Rock History - August 11th

1962: After 8 previous attempts, Neil Sedaka finally has his first #1 record when “Breakin’ Up Is Hard to Do” reaches the top of the Billboard charts.

Sunday, 10 August 2025 04:20

This Day in Rock History - August 10th

1959: The four male members of the Platters are arrested in Cincinnati. They are found in a hotel room with four 19-year old girls. Three of the girls were white and so the men were charged with “lewdness” among other charges.

The band is acquitted on all charges the following December, nonetheless the publicity damages the Platters’ career.

 

Saturday, 09 August 2025 04:20

This Day in Rock History - August 9th

1965: On this day, a British quartet records a cover version of a song from the Beatles’ “Help!” soundtrack. The Silkie’s version of “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” becomes the first cover of a Beatles song to reach the Top 10 in America.

What you might not know is that John Lennon was the producer for the session, Paul McCartney played guitar and George Harrison played the tambourine!

 

Are You Experienced (1967)

This is the album that changed everything. Music was never the same after Jimi Hendrix’s debut album, Are You Experienced, hit record stores like a proverbial bombshell.

Nobody had sounded like this before. The first time you heard, it sounded loud, ugly, and discordant.  By the third or fourth listening, you were hooked.

If your parents thought the Beatles and Rolling Stones were “noise,” here was an album that would really piss them off! What a great reason to buy it and play it loud.

The band’s line-up was unique, too. Two Brits and one American. Two white guys and one black guy.

But the album you were listening to was not the same album listeners in other countries were hearing.

Two versions of Are You Experienced were released. One for the U.S. And another version for the U.K. and international markets. The two versions shared 8 of 11 tracks, but even those were placed in different order.

Here’s the American version of Are You Experienced:

SIDE ONE

  1. Purple Haze
  2. Manic Depression
  3. Hey Joe
  4. Love or Confusion
  5. May This Be Love
  6. I Don’t Live Today

SIDE TWO

  1. The Wind Cries Mary
  2. Fire
  3. Third Stone from the Sun
  4. Foxy Lady
  5. Are You Experienced?

Here’s the version the rest of the world heard:

SIDE ONE

  1. Foxy Lady
  2. Manic Depression
  3. Red House
  4. Can You See Me
  5. Love or Confusion
  6. I Don’t Live Today

SIDE TWO

  1. May This Be Love
  2. Fire
  3. Third Stone from the Sun
  4. Remember
  5. Are You Experienced?

The reason for the difference is that “Purple Haze,” “Hey Joe,” and “The Wind Cries Mary” had already been released in the U.K. as singles (and had done very well). At that time, singles were often omitted from albums in consideration for fans who had already purchased he 45’s.

Hard to believe but in 1966, Jimi Hendrix was struggling to find work as an R&B guitarist. Chas Chandler had just left the Animals and was looking to manage rock stars. He convinced Hendrix to come to London with the promise of assembling a group that would showcase Jimi’s unique blend of blues, R&B and hard rock. Once Hendrix arrived, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell were quickly recruited to play bass and drums respectively. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was born!

The band failed their audition with Decca Records (the label infamous for also passing on the Beatles). But the group was picked up by a new label, Track Records, that was being launched by the Who’s management team, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp.

Are You Experienced was recorded over a five month period at three different studios in London.

While the Jimi Hendrix Experience had solid success on the British Top 40, their early single releases in the states went nowhere. Nevertheless, when their debut album was released in August of 1967, it shot into the top 10 on Billboard’s Album charts, forcefully demonstrating the emerging power of FM “underground” radio stations. For several months, many of the country’s FM stations, previously the home of small audience classical and “elevator” music, had begun taking a chance of album rocks in an effort to attract larger audiences. Hendrix was one of the first artists to get wide exposure in this new format.

The success of Hendrix’s debut album ended the idea that you had to have a hit single on Top 40 to sell records to American kids. His style forever changed to the sound of rock and influenced a legion of young guitar players.

When Hendrix said, “never to hear surf music again” on “Third Stone from the Sun,” the Beach Boys didn’t realize they were about to enter 5 years of very tough going in America.

Are You Experienced has been ranked #15 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and it has been selected by the Library of Congress to be included on its National Recording Registry as one of the most significant contributions to our cultural history.

BTW if you buy the CD now, you’ll get all the songs included in both the U.S. and the U.K. versions.

It’s never too late to get experienced!

Friday, 05 August 2016 12:00

Our Question of the Day

Friday, 21 March 2025 03:20

The TV That Time Forgot: Candid Camera

“Smile, you’re on Candid Camera!”

Every Baby Boomer can remember that catchphrase. You probably even said it once or twice yourself.

Here’s the true story behind America’s original reality TV show.

The premise of Candid Camera was simple: film ordinary people in unusual situations without their being aware that they are being filmed.

Alan Funt was the mastermind behind the show. He began the show during the waning days of network radio as Candid Microphone. What most of us don’t remember is that he made several attempts to bring the show to TV before it finally caught on.

The first television version aired on ABC in 1948. It moved to NBC for 1949. Then they tried to syndicate the show, with mixed results. In 1958, Candid Camera became a segment on The Jack Parr Show. In 1959, it was part of The Gary Moore Show.

Finally, in 1960 CBS tried it out as its own half-hour series again. This time it clicked and in a big way.

Candid Camera landed in the Top 10 TV shows in the U.S. in each of its first 4 seasons, peaking at # 2 in 1962-63. This version of the show lasted until 1967. It then went into syndication, but because most of the seasons had been shot in black & white, its commercial viability waned as color came to dominate TV Land.

During its 1960’s, Funt’s co-hosts included Arthur Godfrey, Durwood Kirby and Bess Myerson. A then-unknown Woody Allen was one of the show’s writers, who would also appear in some of the show's stunts.

Funt next brought his Candid Camera technique to the movies with a “naughty” version of his hidden camera stunts called What Do You Say to a Naked Lady (1970).

With the rise of cable there have been many attempts to revive the show, both in “naughty” and the more familiar family-friendly versions. The most recent revivals have been produced and hosted by Funt’s son, Peter.

Of course, Candid Camera is also the inspiration for many of the practical joke shows that pop up on television these days, especially Aston Kutcher’s Punked series.

Regardless of what the future holds, you would be wise to be on your guard. Someday, somewhere, someone may come up to you and say, “Smile! You’re on Candid Camera!”

Thursday, 15 February 2024 03:20

Early Retirement: A Health Risk?

A 18-year study from Oregon State University suggests that working a bit longer many actually help you live longer.

The study found that those who worked at least one year past the age of 65 had a 9 percent lower death risk.

Obviously, health is a factor in some retirement decisions, but in you’re healthy enough, you may want to think about working a bit longer to live longer!

Tuesday, 01 July 2025 03:20

Something to Help You “C” Better

A new study indicates that a diet rich in vitamin C can cut the risk of developing cataracts in people over 40 by 33%.

Researchers stress that the benefits does NOT come from popping vitamin C tablets, but from natural food sources, such as citrus fruit and dark green vegetables.

Bon appétit!

 

 

 

Friday, 08 August 2025 04:20

This Day in Rock History - August 8th

1964: Eric Burdon and the Animals enter a recording studio. Less than ten minutes later, after just one take, they leave.

The song they recorded so quickly will become their first hit, “House of the Rising Sun.” Although the band will place 14 more songs on the pop charts, “Rising Sun” remains their only U.S. #1.

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