Two of the Sixties greatest-ever singles, plus props for a true punk legend...

The Godfather
The Godfather of Soul, March 1971. (Evening Standard/Getty Images)
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7/17/1965 (55 years ago today) - The based-in-Cincinnati, Ohio, independent King record label released the mother of all funk bombs, and at just 1-minute-55-seconds(!!!) its ability to blow yer mind remains powerfully intact: "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" by James Brown is unleashed and proceeds to sell over two million copies -- It's one of the tightest records ever made as well as being the de-facto definition of "wicked"...

7/17/1967 (53 years ago today) - Keep in mind here that just four years earlier, no one in America had any idea who they were: On this date The Beatles released "All You Need Is Love", which very quickly became their 14th consecutive No. 1 single in the U.S.! -- The B-side, "Baby, You're A Rich Man", was pretty friggin' cool as well, a definitely-kinda-strange-sounding track originally titled "One Of The Beautiful People" which proved that the boys' boundary pushing prowess would not be bested by their peers...

7/17/1948 - Born on this date, Ron Asheton, guitarist for the Iggy Pop-fronted punk rock pioneers The Stooges -- At the time of their release, albums like "Funhouse" (1970) and "Raw Power" (1971) were really hard get your head around, they just came across as very...frustrating. Which was the point. Today they sound like freshly recorded dynamite, really invigorating stuff and totally jaw-dropping when you realize they were recorded 50 years ago!!! Hey, no Stooges, no "Appetite For Destruction" (it's a fact; look it up). Ron was ranked at No. 60 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time; he passed away from a heart attack at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on January 9, 2009, at age 60.

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"Now that you've found another key/What are you going to play?...", xoxo!

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