The L.A. radio stations were still A.M with music ranging all across the spectrum- the eclectic mix, pop, British Invasion, Surf music, some country tunes, and the novelty songs, with folk rock and protest songs beginning to be more popular. It was a thorough musical mix and all the songs below could usually be heard playing on the same pop stations without having to tune the dial to a particular type of music like you have to today.
Who would have known that a few more months, as summer school was coming to an end in August, the famous Watts Riots would break out and last for days? The Lincoln Heights Jail was re-opened to handle all the arrested people and it was quite an unwelcome scene as we bicycled by on Avenue 19- it was the first time that I can really say my friends and I were ever called "white boys" as the inmates yelled out the windows. I recall the rest of the phrase was, "If I had a brick I would throw it at your ass." Well, he didn't have a brick and he was all locked up, but we still didn't like being called names, even if they missed on the color chart. But we couldn't say anything back- as terrible as that might sound that we thought it- since the street had lots of people coming to try to bail these folks out, so we just rode on as we did have some common sense, even as teens.
In those days, "Mexican" was considered by many, including African-Americans, to be a derogatory term. Instead we would be referred to as "Spanish." Sometimes that's still the preferred term by people, both on the speaking side and the listening side.
The National Guard moved in to block off access to the area in the following days. I could see the soldiers stationed at one emplacement on Pasadena Avenue and Avenue 18 (where City Ford was located at that time) whenever I went out in front of my house. That close-up view through my 50x telescope of them with a jeep with a mounted machine gun made it pretty hard to ignore that this was a serious time.
This list below is from a time very different from now, but what isn't. I think that every one of the songs below was played on the Eastside by the countless bands that sprung up in that era, and I remember how the Lincoln Park Gym would be the scene of some pretty good dances, six hours of live bands was what we had for the big dances. And there were the local music stars and radio DJ's hosting these events. And then you may remember the dances in El Sereno, too, and occasionally scheduled to be competing events.
From L.A. RADIO.COM today:
Top Five Flashback, February 26, 1965: This Diamond Ring by Gary Lewis & the Playboys, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling by the Righteous Brothers, My Girl by the Temptations, Downtown by Petula Clark, The Jolly Green Giant by the Kingsmen.
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Checking this list again, maybe "Downtown" was not quite on the playlist for bands- you need a female vocalist to do it really well, and it was nearly an all-guy environment then, but it's still one of the iconic hits of the day.
And let's not forget that the Kingsmen was the band that took another song, "Louie, Louie." to pop prominence. Did you know that there's a Kingsmen website? http://www.louielouie.org/ And did you know that they STILL perform WITH some "original" members? http://www.louielouie.org/modules.php?name=Kingsmen_Lineup
Well, today's vinyl and cd DJ's just don't quite match up to live music that we all took for granted in high school when bands were plentiful. Somehow, some things were not improved by changes brought by technology, and replacing live music by small boxes of electronics loses a bit in the translation when it comes to live bands at dances and the energy they radiated. "Cheaper" and "more convenient" does not always mean "better" in these things.
Granted that the upside is all of the new things we can do through technology- but those live bands, often called "garage bands," have simply dwindled over the years and become another of the icons of the time.
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