A's, B's, CD's & ......

Vinyl records or “singles“ marked the ‘50‘s.
Record labels randomly picked which song was pressed on the A-side and B-side then encouraged radio stations to play the “A’s” to boost charts and sales.

Not till 1968 did the total production of albums bypass 45’s and double-sided hits were almost gone by the ’70’s.

As album sales soared, the B-side became the non-album, non-radio-friendly, instrumental versions or simply inferior recordings.
.
A’s and B’s vanished once cassette sales boomed in the '80's. (Later the CD's (compact disc) would steel the market.)

Cassette singles tried recording one "A" song on each side of the cassette, duplicating the 45’s A/B‘s. One flaw, the fast forward button and the song of your choice.
Enter CD’s and the A/B side took on new meaning; Its "B-side" was the "bonus" tracks or "coupling" tracks on a CD single.

Sometimes the B-side won out because of listeners, air time and DJ choice.

Gloria Gaynor‘s "I Will Survive was originally the B-side of "Substitute".

Doobie Brother‘s "Black Water" was originally the B-side of "Another Park, Another Sunday".
Rod Stewart’s "Maggie May “ was originally the B-side of "Reason To Believe"),
and
The Champs‘ "Tequila" was originally the B-side of "Train to Nowhere".

Even more rare when both side of the single Queen's "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You" became hits. Released as a double A-side in 1977 and then "Fat Bottomed Girls/Bicycle Race" in 1978.

The Beatles one-two punch --- the double “A’s” in 1965 with two hits on one single, " Day Tripper"/We Can Work It Out,"
"Yellow Submarine" ,"Eleanor Rigby", "Strawberry Fields Forever" ,"Penny Lane", and "Come Together" , "Something" and
The Beatles' Rarities , a collection of B-Sides, non-album EP tracks and foreign-released recordings. The album was originally included in a 1978 boxed set of studio Beatles albums. Then released as a stand-alone album the following year.


Prince's three disc set The Hits/The B-Sides of which one of the three discs was devoted entirely to B-sides (released 1993)


Elvis Presley's 1956 "Don't Be Cruel" on the same single with "Hound Dog"; the side B, was done in retrospect because both sides became chart hits independently of one another.



Occasionally double-A-sided singles target different audiences. In the late ‘70’s, Dolly Parton released several double A-sided singles, the A-side to pop radio, and the B side to country, including "Two Doors Down"/"It's All Wrong but It's All Right" and "Baby I'm Burning"/"I Really Got the Feeling".


But if you are a true OGR-er, your collection includes these and more and maybe a few 8-Tracks and 78's.

Ciao for Now! "see ya on the radio."

BIRTHDAY

In honor of OGR's DJ Glee's birthday, I thought I would look at some of the world-wide customs and traditions. So Mr. DJ, Happy Birthday, and let us know your celebration choice(s).

Thousands of years ago birthdays were considered a time when the bad spirits as opposed to the good spirits were able to harm you as this day changed a person's life. The only way to keep the bad spirits at bay was to have your friends and family around you so that their good wishes and present giving would keep them at bay.

And noisemakers were used at parties as a way of scaring away the evil spirits.

The custom of lighting candles originated with people believing that the gods lived in the sky and by lighting candles and torches they were sending a signal or prayer to the gods so they could be answered. When you blow out the candles and make a wish this is another way of sending a signal and a message.

Birthday Cakes
One theory originated with the Greeks, who baked round cakes representing the full moon for their moon goddess, Artemis; placed candles on the cake to make it glow, like the moon.

The Germans are also credited with the first cakes and candles. They used a sweet, layered cake and they put a large candle in the center of the cake to represent "the light of life." Some people believe the smoke from extinguished candles carries their birthday wishes up to heaven.

How the World Celebrates:
Argentinians pull on the earlobes of the birthday boy or girl for each year of their birthday.

If you live in Bulgaria and have a historical or Biblical name, you get a second, much bigger celebration on your name day in addition to a celebration on your birthday.

In China everyone celebrates their birthday on New Year even if it is not the official date of their birthday. They turn another year older on this day.
They believe that the baby is born one year old.

In Denmark a flag is flown outside a window to designate that someone who lives in this house is having a birthday.

In England there are cakes known as Fortune Telling Cakes which are made for the birthday.
Certain symbolic objects are mixed into the birthday cake as it is being prepared.
If your piece of cake has a coin in it, then you will be rich.

In some parts of Europe they have a birthday tree planted when the new child is born. This was done as they believed that if the tree grew to be healthy and strong, the child would also.

In Germany the children are never given homework or chores on their birthday. This celebration of a birthday started hundreds of years ago in Germany and has spread throughout the world.
On a child's birthday the house is decorated, the dining table or kitchen has a special wooden birthday wreath placed in it. The wreath contains small holes for candles and a holder in the denter for the lifecandle. This a taller candle and is beautifully decorated. This candle is lit each year of a child's birthday until they reach the age of twelve.

Hindu children only celebrate their birthdays once they have reached the age 16 years. Until then, however, they do not go to school on their birthdays. Instead, a birthday is observed with a religious ceremony where a priest blesses the child. On a Hindu child's first birthday, his or her head is shaved while being held by a special fire. Removal of the hair cleanses the child of any evil in past lives, symbolizing a renewal of the soul.

In Hong Kong communities, special noodles are served for lunch in honor of the birthday child. The noodles are extra-long to symbolize a long life.

In Ireland the birthday child is lifted upside down and "bumped" on the floor for good luck.
The number of bumps given is the age of the child plus one for extra good luck.

Being given the key to the house is still considered an important sign of coming of age in Wales. This takes place when someone turns the age of twenty-one. The young man who was given the key to the house is said to be given permission to come and go as he pleases and to stay out as late as he liked.

In Norway most birthday parties consist of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and dishes of red gelatin covered with vanilla sauce. The house is decorated in long, thin colored streamers and candy decorating the table.
At the birthday parties guests may go fishing, but not for fish. They play a game known as Fishing for Ice Cream, where everyone pulls up a frozen treat attached to a piece of string.

Ciao for now! "See ya on the radio."

Long ago and Far Away

Special Thanks to DJ Glee for this contribution.

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,

Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.

There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,








For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,

Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We learned to gut a muffler, we washed our hair at dawn,

We spread our crinolines to dry in circles on the lawn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,











And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

















We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'






And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.















Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,

And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney..
















And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,

And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.













We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.


For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson , and Zeppelins were not Led
































And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,

And babies might be bottle-fed, but they weren't grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,

And dorms were never co-ed in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions
in the Land That Made Me, Me.

As Winnie




says live in the present but never forget the past. Ciao for now!!!!