From April 1965: Whipped Cream and Other Delights

I've always said that 1965 was the best year for music.

Certainly it brought to listeners one of the most iconic records of the decade, if not ever.  Not just for the music, mind you (but oh, that music was fabulous!)...but that sexy, salacious, audacious album cover.

You know the one, because chances are, your parents had this record in their collection, too.

Let's have a cocktail party.  

Put the kids to bed early, put this record on the hi-fi, and put the nibbles on the coffee table.  I hope I made enough rumaki for everyone...

I'll have a vodka gimlet, please, darling.  Will you zip up my new dress?

Now, sweetheart, remember...you promised not to get too tight and argue politics with Stan Facemeyer like you did the other night at the Howards'.  Linda Facemeyer is one of my very best friends, and we hate it when you boys argue.

*DING DONG* Get the door, will you, sweetie?  I can't go out there without my lipstick!

Prom 1965

Prepare yourselves for untold glamour!

If I could reach out and give every single one of these darlings a kiss on the cheek, I would.

Photos found on Google Images; search "Prom 1965."  Many of these shots will lead you to truly wonderful websites where you can lose yourself in all of the glorious memories.

From 1965: Carve Your Number On My Wall And Maybe You Will Get A Call From Me

Please, folks...I am not a snob as a general rule, but please, please listen to The Beatles in mono only.

The tunes were mixed for mono, so if you want to hear the songs the way that the lads themselves and Sir George Martin meant for the world to hear them, opt for the mono mixes.

p.s. This is another tune that was inspired by the greatest rock n' roll muse of all time, Pattie Boyd.

 July 1969

I Want To Be That Blonde Perched On The Couch, Blowing Kisses

This video clip incarnates everything "A Touch of Tuesday Weld."

Remembering times like these; that's what this blog is all about.

I wonder what songs they were dancing to!

Be sure to watch to the very end, where That Blonde sexily smooches toward the camera and lights up the entire room with her smile.

New Year's 1965, Manhattan Beach

Film by Richard Jones

From 1965: What In The Holy Hell?

I'm en route to getting ready for Date Night, but I was so appalled by this clip, I had an urge to blog about it immediately!

Karen J., you evil and tortuous soul, how can you claim to be "one of my biggest fans" and then release this piece of fresh Hades upon me, knowing full well that I would have to do a post about it here? Devil woman, you!

Words...fail me. I didn't think even The Sixties were capable of children's toys that could only be played successfully by feigning an epileptic fit. But here it is: Swing Wing.



(Thank you, Karen. XOXOXOXO)

From 1965: It's Clips Like These That Keep Me From Sticking My Head In The Gas Oven For Another Day

Oh, will you look at this GORGEOUS clip from NBC's "Hullabaloo" in 1965?

The peacock! The color peacock with the "color voiceover"! This is the most beautiful and clear copy I have ever seen.

Interesting that Jerry Lewis and his son, Gary, appeared as hosts; clearly Jerry Lewis was trying to curry favor with a younger audience that was far too hip and fresh for his asinine antics. He winds up looking like a grade-A asshole. Oh, and his teenaged son? We now know Jerry Lewis used to beat the holy hell out of him, his mother, and the rest of the family on a regular basis.

Gary Lewis fronted a group called Gary Lewis and The Playboys, who released a marvelous tune called "This Diamond Ring." They also had a modest hit in a ballad called 'Tina," written for Tina Sinatra.

Gary Lewis went on to serve in Vietnam. He returned as so many others did: a broken man, addicted to heroin.

Jerry Lewis responded to his plight by shunning him. As I said, grade-A asshole.

Enough about that.

Any time a TWA spot crosses my path, I literally squeal with joy.

The real gem in this clip, however, is the promotional bit for Gene Autry's Continental Hotel. One year after this program aired, the hotel was sold and renamed The Continental Hyatt House. That's right, ladies and germs: this hotel is the legendary Riot House.

Ken and I stayed at Riot House when we visited L.A. in summer 2000. It was really kind of a dump. A faded beauty with secrets to share. In other words, I loved every single minute I was there. It's also very handy to all of the seediness on the Sunset Strip.

Finally, there's a beautiful "snake" NBC logo with the three tones at the end.

Somebody get me a cigarette.

Massive thanks to Anonymous, who sent this to me. I can understand not wanting to be associated by name with me and the rabble who read this blog, but couldn't you have come up with a pseudonym? I want to thank you for reals!

From 1965: The Kinks Forever

Everyone likes The Beatles. It's so easy to do. They're just so...likeable.

You can love or hate The Rolling Stones. It really doesn't matter, because they're The Stones, with a capital T and S, if you please.

However, if you really love to rock and you need a band to show you how it's done, you need look no further than The Kinks. The bloody marvelous Kinks.

I love them so, I have a black Siamese cat that we named Lola.

2010: Piss off, you lousy year!

We'd all rather ring in the New Year the way they did back in 1965.



Have a safe and lovely New Year's Eve, everyone. I'll see you in 2011.

From 1965: The Braniff Airstrip

This world-famous ad touted the designs of Emilio Pucci for Braniff stewardesses. The airline debuted his outfits on cabin crews starting in 1965. Very fashion forward for its time!

Sexy? Sure. Suggestive? You better believe it. Effective? Incredibly. "The Braniff Airstrip" was one of the most effective campaigns ever, and remains a landmark in American advertising.

Braniff planes became more colorful in 1965, too. Declaring "the end of the plain plane," Braniff began to decorate its planes in bright, often fluorescent colors. Braniff ticket counters, gates, and lounges looked space-age and were painted with cheerful splashes of color. Largely the work of renowned designer Alexander Girard, Braniff facilities were spots of sunshine in the staid grey hallways of 1960s airports.

Braniff also had an odd looking monorail of sorts in place at Love Field in Dallas. Instead of a conventional train car, the "Jet-Rail" had its wheels and cables attached at the top, so the car was hanging down from the track. Passengers had the sensation, then, that they were already flying...or at the very least, hanging!

A wonderful page about Braniff Airlines

A fantastic page full of Braniff Airlines memories from former stewardesses

From 1965: The Beatles, The Way They Were Meant To Be Heard

Notice that this is a Capitol Records pressing, Beatles '65, which took elements of the British A Hard Day's Night and Beatles For Sale. By slicing and dicing the English records, Capitol realized that they could make even more albums for the American market, and therefore make more money.

This record was a staple in the Weiss house growing up. Dad used to listen to it all the time when he would do the nightly dinner dishes for Mom.

This is my all-time favorite Beatles song, if I had to choose. It is everything that makes the Beatles magical: a Lennon and McCartney harmony, great acoustic work from George, and wonderfully subtle drumming from Ringo that perfectly fits the mood of the song. "I'll Be Back" is a Lennon composition that is once again deceptively simple in its lyrics and construction. I especially love the bridge and the final lyric: "You. If you break my heart, I'll go, but I'll be back again."

From 1965: Setting Your Curls Using Space-Age Technology!

Just for The Gals Of The Space Era: a portable hair dryer from Schick that is portable enough to bring along on the next rocket headed to the moon! Lunar landings are no excuse for a girl to have less-than-perfect curls, and we hear that astronauts prefer girls who wear their hair in a flip!

And hey, you double-clickers: be sure to catch the comment about The Beverly Hillbillies.

It's The Absolute Ultimate!

Just the other night, I watched the very charming Sandra Dee/James Darren film Gidget, from 1959. I really like it. It's rather gooey, with a manic performance from Dee, but I like it in the way I like cotton candy: a confection of next to no substance, but sweet, nonetheless. (A word of quick trivia: Tuesday Weld was an early casting choice for the title role, but she turned it down.)

However, I love the television series, based on the film, which aired on ABC from September 15, 1965 through April 21, 1966. It was one of the network's first color programs. An adorable young lady named Sally Field took the role of the surfer schoolgirl around whom shenanigans seem to flock. Field beat 75 girls out for the role, including actress Cindy Carol, who had already played Gidget in 1963's Gidget Goes To Rome!

Groovy Gidget is all over the Internet, should you wish to learn more about her. The Wikipedia entry for the television series is a good jumping point.

The theme song is one of the most memorable of all time, I think. Be forewarned: you'll be humming this to yourself all day after listening to it. Enjoy.

From 1965: Too Much Glamour For One Little Shampoo Commercial

The model in this commercial knows that glamour must be achieved no matter what is on her head. Simulated shampoo that looks like the froth atop nuclear waste? Why, make yourself a sudsy hairdo so glamourous, Kenneth himself might have coiffed you! (Having your husband's brains splashed all over your pink suit is NOT an excuse to have raggedy hair, after all.) And you must always remember your faux jewel hair accessory. It makes any hairstyle, even that made of Chemical Froth, extra glamourous.

The Toxic Waste Look is so fabby, the model's "natural" hairstyle ("natural" meaning "23 pounds of hair spray and six hours with a ratting comb") almost disappoints. She did remember to wear her lovely jewel again. Well, after all, Mr. Bigshot Producer is taking her to dinner at The Palm tonight, and then they have tickets to Drat! The Cat! afterward. And maybe if she's very, very good, they'll stop at Sardi's for a drink. That's where all the Theatre People mingle, you know. She's sure that, with her snazzy soft freshly shampooed hair, her jewel glistening just right in the nightlight, she'll get discovered. Maybe a reading for Something Shakespeare. She's always fancied herself a Serious Actress.

Or at the very least, Mr. Bigshot Producer will pay her rent, so that her awful mean married landlord won't remind her, with a sneer and a laugh that betrays no real humor, that "you'll pay, one way or another, either in cash, or I'll...take it out in trade," every time she sees him.

From 1965: Scent Your Letters With Shalimar By Guerlain

I don't personally care for Shalimar, but I do find this ad intriguing and beautiful.

A Song So Perfect, It Actually Makes Me Cry

Sit back, spark one up, and blow your mind. The Byrds from 1965...it doesn't get much better than this.

This song was the flip side to the massive hit "Turn! Turn! Turn!" It is also rumored to have been inspired by songwriter Gene Clark's intense infatuation with Michelle Phillips, with whom he would later have a passionate, albeit short lived, love affair. The story is that Clark saw Michelle across a smoky room at the Whisky A Go Go. A lifelong victim of anxiety and shyness, Clark was much too timid to approach her. So, instead, he went home and wrote this song about the woman he just saw.

Now being recognized as the pop masterpiece that it is, truly worthy of being a single in its own right, "She Don't Care About Time" is now included in all pressings of the "Turn! Turn! Turn!" CD as a bonus track.

Rare Theater Poster For The Stage Version Of "Alfie," With Terence Stamp In The Starring Role

Opening at the Morosco Theatre on Broadway on December 16, 1964, Alfie was a bona fide flop onstage.  It ran for only 21 performances, closing in mid-January 1965.

The experience left a terrible taste in Terence Stamp's mouth.  Having originated the role of the cockney ladies' man on the London stage to great acclaim by both critics and audiences alike, he was eager to go "across the pond" to recreate on The Great White Way what he hoped would become his signature role .  

It was not to be.  New York audiences never warmed to the play, perhaps put off by its cockney dialogue that had not been modified for American ears, the way that it had for My Fair Lady ten years earlier.  Catholic theatergoers were also disgusted by the depiction of a back-alley abortion in the story, and denounced the play to national news outlets.

When it was decided that a film version of Alfie would be shot in London and the surrounding towns in the spring of 1965, director Lewis Gilbert approached Stamp about reprising his role in the film.  Stamp was so disenchanted with his New York experience, he decided he wanted nothing more to do with "Alfie Elkins."

However, Stamp said, his best friend and flatmate was a terrific actor, loved the Alfie script, and, frankly, needed the work.  His name: Michael Caine.