Music Night, April 27 2012: A Bit of History

I remember rock music being more provincial in the late 60s. Yes, there were national acts like the Byrds and international acts (obviously) but they were mainstream and promoted on AM radio. What was emerging was an alternative: quiet spoken dj’s playing long cuts from people you’d never heard of, on FM radio. Not much advertising because no one bought ads on FM and much more regional music. West Coast and New York did not co-exist, while a ton of great British music went largely unheard in the States.

Somehow, I got keyed in to New York’s music (and would wait decades to hear the Pink Fairies, Atomic Rooster and Stone the Crows, but that’s another story). At this time it may be hard to imagine the Velvet Underground as obscure, or knowing only the vaguest bit about Iggy & the Stooges (they had music in the Midwest?), but for me, stuck in California, this was strange and exotic stuff. Oh, and the Fuggs. And Pearls Before Swine… But I digress.

This video is a fascinating look at a brief slice of the time.