1968 festival line-up is like a time-capsule dream... -- Nudity rules the chart! -- John Hughes movie soundtrack classic: cool, but frustrating too....

(Courtesy of A&M Records/Universal Pictures)
(Courtesy of A&M Records/Universal Pictures)
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5/18/1968 (52 years ago today) - "Mommy, what were the 1960's like?" "They were...exactly like this": Approximately 100,000 music fans attend the first ever Miami Pop Festival, and the artists that got to perform are a near-perfect example of what the 1968 rock scene was all about -- The Jimi Hendrix Experience were Saturday's headliners; over the course of the day, there were sets by The Mothers Of Invention, Blue Cheer, Chuck Berry, Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, The Blues Image, Pacific Gas & Electric and The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown -- One of the organizers of he event was Michael Lang, who would become famous as the main-man/promoter of the legendary Woodstock Festival the following year -- "Miami Pop" was originally scheduled as a two-day weekend event, but the Sunday show was rained out, inspiring Jimi Hendrix to write the classic "Rainy Day, Dream Away"...

5/18/1974 (46 years ago today) - "Hopping on the bandwagon" couldn't get much drearier than this: Ray Stevens kicks off three weeks in a row at No. 1 with the novelty tune "The Streak", capitalizing on the then-current fad of streaking, defined as "running in a public place without wearing any clothes" -- Actually, the practice had been around for decades, but 1974 was such a mess (and culturally, so friggin' boring) that it became a big deal for a little while...

5/18/1985 (35 years ago today) - Simple Minds went to No. 1 on the singles chart with "Don't You (Forget About Me)" from the years big teen drama "The Breakfast Club" -- It was not a Simple Minds original piece, though; it happens a lot, you work hard, you pay your dues, you get critically acclaimed and then when you finally score a chart-topping single, it turns out to be a cover version -- "Don't You..." was written by Steve Schiff, guitarist and songwriter from Nina Hagen's band, and by Keith Forsey who would go on to win an Oscar for writing "Flashdance...What a Feeling!". What can you do, at least this one doesn't suck...

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"Slow change may pull us apart/When the light gets into your heart...", xoxo!

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