As we age we become more prone to develop age-related macular degeneration, which can cause loss or impairment of vision. Some 20 million adults in the United States suffer from some form of the condition.

There is encouraging hope in a new “eye implant device” now in clinical trials. The implant, small as a grain of rice, is implanted in the sufferer’s eye underneath the eyelid, so it’s not visible. It releases regulated doses of an eye-saving drug. Early results are encouraging. Make sure you’re receiving regular eye examinations from your optometrist and discuss the full range of treatment options should you develop this condition.

Here are the songs we consider the 15 top love songs of the rock era. As love is the #1 topic of most rock (with cars maybe a distant second), there’s a lot to choose from. How many of our songs would make on you own personal list?

1. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling – Righteous Brothers

If you have to ask why, you’ve never heard this song. Although it’s ultimately a sad song, no other recording has ever crammed so much romantic anxiety into 4 minutes.

2. “Something” – The Beatles

Widely considered George Harrison’s best composition and having been covered by artists across many musical genres – including Frank Sinatra, who also said it was his favorite love song, this is one of 3 songs to make our list all inspired by the same muse – Ms. Pattie Boyd.

3. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” – Elvis Presley

How could any rock & roll list not include the King? Blessed with a tremendous voice, Elvis crooned his share of beautiful ballads during his career, but this is the one that never seems to be out of date.

4. “God Only Knows” – Beach Boys

From the legendary Pet Sounds album, this Brian Wilson composition is a particular favorite with our British cousins across the pond. No less a talent than Paul McCartney has named it his favorite pop tune.Hard to believe that in the U.S, it was the B-side of the single "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

5. “My Girl” – The Temptations

With so much songwriting talent in the Motown stable, it fell to the great Smokey Robinson to pen this simple, but heartfelt tribute to his woman.

6. “Wonderful Tonight” – Eric Clapton

Another song inspired by Pattie Boyd – this one written by her second husband, Eric Clapton. Inspired by the way she looked as they were just about to step out for a night on the town, any woman would love to hear these words from her significant other.

7. “Time in a Bottle” – Jim Croce

A love song tinged with more than a bit of sadness as it was released shortly after Croce’s untimely death.

8. “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” – Van Morrison

A simple, beautiful song that’s been covered by a number of artists. Listen closely to the lyrics. There are those who claim the song is not about a woman, but about Morrison’s relationship to God.

9. “Maybe I’m Amazed” – Paul McCartney

This is the song that launched Paul McCartney on what was to become, far and away, the most successful of all the Beatles’ solo careers. Inspired by his relationship to his first wife Linda.

10. “Layla” – Derek & the Dominoes

Our final song in the Pattie-Boyd-inspired category (she really was an exceptional beauty), this Clapton tune came as he was wracked with guilt because the object of his ardor was still married to his best friend. Rarely has unfulfilled passion been better expressed.

11. “Walk Away Renee” – Left Banke

Unless, of course, it’s the unrequited passion of this tune. Written by Michael Brown, who was totally infatuated with another band member’s girlfriend (yes, she was really named Renee), this song has gone on to become a classic, while Brown, sadly, never did get the girl

12. “Wild Horses” – Rolling Stones

The story goes that this song was inspired by Marianne Faithful’s unsuccessful suicide attempt while she was Mick Jagger’s girlfriend. Apparently, when she regained consciousness in the hospital, Jagger was at her side. When he expressed his fear of losing her, she replied that wild horses couldn’t drag her away. And the rest is rock history

13. “Waiting for a Girl Like You” – Foreigner

Haunting with just a touch of melancholy, this was one of several “power ballads” that briefly became all the rage in the early days of MTV with many of the “heavier” bands scoring hits with softer sounds. None surpassed this one.

14. “Time After Time” – Cyndi Lauper

When Lauper burst on the scene with her infectious “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” she wisely chose this as her follow-up. Co-written by Lauper and Hooters’ band member Robb Hyman, the song sprang from romantic difficulties both were having at the time they sat down to compose it.

15. “Wichita Lineman” – Glen Campbell

Not a conventional love song, in that composer Jimmy Webb fills many of the lyrics with references to the singer’s job as an employee of the telephone company. Yet, every line relates to the pain the singer feels being separated from the object of his affection. It possibly contains the greatest line in any love song: “I need you more than want you and I want you for all time.”

 A founding member of two supergroups of the 60s, David Crosby has passed away at the age of 81 following a long illness.

David broke onto the national music scene as a member of the Byrds, appearing on their first 5 studio albums. Crosby departed the band in 1967 following a disagreement with the rest of the band members. He achieved an even greater degree of fame when he hooked up with Steven Stills of Buffalo Springfield and Graham Nash of the Hollies, releasing the now-classic LP Crosby, Still and Nash in 1968. The enormous success of that album was followed by adding Neil Young, also late of Buffalo Springfield to form one of rock’s great groups: Crosby, Still, Nash & Young. Drug use and volatile personalities kept that aggregation breaking up and reforming in various combinations for decades thereafter.

As a composer, Crosby wrote or co-wrote such songs as “Eight Miles High,” “Wooden Ships,” Déjà Vu,” “Almost Cut My Hair” and "Guinevere." He released 6 solo albums, 5 of which charted. He has also been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice – once as a member of the Byrds and again as a member of CSNY.

He remained active in music throughout his entire life, releasing his final solo album, Sky Trails, in the summer of 2021.

As summer vacation season gets underway, we got the family together for an updated family portrait!

From the Boomtown Library of classic 1960s classics!

Most of us know that virtually all of Simon & Garfunkel’s hits of the late 60s and early 70s were written by Paul Simon, but did you know one of their very biggest not only wasn’t a Paul Simon composition, but actually counts Art Garfunkel as one of the song’s creators?

As a matter of fact, the tune lent its lyrical refrain to the duo’s iconic 3^rd album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme. Yep, the tune is one of the pair’s signature songs, “Scarborough Fair/Canticle.”

The origins of the tune go all the way back to the 50s – the 1250s, that is. That’s when King Henry VIII signed a charter that began the tradition of an annual 45-day fair in the seaside town of Scarborough – running from mid-August through the end of September. In those days, a fair was not at all like the fairs we attend today. Back then, a fair was an enormous open air trading market. It attracted merchants from far and wide who displayed their wares for sale or trade.

The tune that bears the name of the fair arrived sometime around 1300. Obviously, the original author is now unknown. And as was also the tradition of the time, balladeers who sang it often changed the words, added verses or altered the tune as it passed from singer to singer.

The song tells of a jilted lover who is angry. He or she is telling their former lover that if they desire a reconciliation, there are some things they’ll have to do. Of course, the most obvious is that they must travel to the Scarborough Fair. While there, the singer asks them to perform tasks that are totally impossible – make a shirt with no seams or needlework, find an acre of dry land between the ocean and the shore, reap that land with leather (totally unsuited for such a task) and gather it with heather (a flower small & delicate and not up to being used to bind anything).

Basically, it’s tune telling a past love to get lost. The herbs mentioned – the famous parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme, in that bygone era, were all thought to have properties that could heal a broken heart.

Okay, so where does Art Garfunkel come in? When we listen to the tune, there are actually two melodies that entwine during the verses. The first is the English folk ballad, “Scarborough Fair,” the other carries lyrics that are distinctly about war, not love. That second anti-war tune was written by Art Garfunkel in 1963 – first as a song called “The Side of the Hill” and then reworked as “Canticle” to provide the counterpoint to “Scarborough Fair.”

Paul did have an important part to play. After the pair’s initial album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. tanked, Paul relocated to England to see if he could establish a solo career over there. While there in 1965, he was introduced to the folk song “Scarborough Fair” by British singer, Martin Cathy. Cathy also came up with the idea to include “Canticle” as part of the song.

Shortly thereafter, a version of Simon’s “Sounds of Silence” with rock instruments added became a huge hit back in the States. Paul quickly returned to reunite with Artie, now as a rock act. While the song was well-received as an album track, it wasn’t until it was used as one of the main themes to Dustin Hoffman’s breakout film, The Graduate that it really became the monster hit that we all know today.

From George, the appropriately named Noel and all of us at Boomtown America!

Don't let the holiday rush get you down.

One of the key members of Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie has died at the age of 79.

Born with the "perfect" name of Christine Perfect (her actual name - not a stage name), she established herself in British music scene in 1967 as a member of a band called Chicken Shack, winning best female vocalist honors from Melody Maker in 1969 and again in 1970. She also was the group's main songwriter. During those years she also became a fan of the British blues band, Fleetwood Mac, which recorded for the same label in the UK.

Christine was asked to play sessions for Mac's second album. She and the group's bassist, John McVie quickly became an item. The pair married and Christine joined the group in 1970, remaining with them for the rest of her career. In the mid-70s, the band relocated to America, added California musicians Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham and quickly morphed into one of the most successful rock acts of all time with Christine writing and singing lead on many of the groups hits ("Over My Head," "You Make Loving Fun" and many more).

Along the way, Christine recorded and released several solo albums and one album with Mac bandmate, Buckingham (allegedly because the duo were tired of waiting for the other band members to contribute to a Fleetwood Mac album).

While she and McVie divorced in 1976, they remained amiable and she retained his surname for the rest of her life.

Her contributions to rock are significant and she will be missed.

At this late date with anthologies, amped-up John Lennon demos, and Anniversary editions, you wouldn’t think there were any Beatle “rarities” left in the vault, but there are!

Between the years 1963 and 1969, the Fab Four released special Christmas records only to members of their fan clubs in the UK and US. A segment of 1967’s record appeared on the Anthology set in 1995 and there was a limited-edition release of all 7 records as a vinyl box set in 2017.

These records were put together quickly and mainly featured the boys fooling around, occasionally breaking into song. They were sent to the fans on cheap, one-sided flexi-discs. The running time for these special recordings ran between 3 and 7 minutes, but they were a nice perk for those who had forked over membership dues.

Never produced in great numbers to begin with, many of these discs have been lost over time. But for any die-hard fan, they are a “must-have” item. Thanks to the internet and digital recording, you can find mp3 versions of all these records at various sites around the web.