I graduated from high school in 1967, so you can figure out how old I am and if you were around then, you’ll likely
remember some of the cultural touch-points of that era.

From my mother, I got a love of Frank Sinatra and his music. So, when his daughter, Nancy, started her career as a singer and “actress”, I liked her music as well but wasn’t a rabid fan.

(About 1975, my then-wife and I, and some friends drove from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas for a weekend. We saw Liberace in concert for about $10.00 per ticket, but I couldn’t talk my wife and the other couple into spending about $18.00 IIRC to see Frank Sinatra at Caesars. A regret to this day.)

In 1966, the bishop of my ward in Sandy, UT who was a true Mormon asshole and who shall remain nameless (PLUS, the same guy was my seminary teacher, so I got a double dose of his assholery. He wasn’t very good at either of those callings, but that’s another story. The summer of 1966, he was on a rant in more than one meeting about the “smut” that was Nancy Sinatra’s song, These Boots Are Made for Walking.

It came out in February 1966, and it was a huge radio hit. Bishop Asshole told us that under no circumstances were we to watch or listen to this smutty song. (I think he even suggested that we turn the radio dial if it came on in the car). And he kept it up in seminary classes regularly. The seminary teacher I had the year before did the same thing with “I Can’t Get no Satisfaction". He was a bishopric counselor to Bishop asshole.)

Keep in mind, you couldn’t go to YouTube to watch these songs on demand nor could you hear it on your phone or connect in your car radio by Bluetooth to listen to it. (Yes, I did that).

On Facebook, I belong to a “group” called Vintage LA. I’ve never lived in LA nor never wanted to, but like some of the history of the city. The woman who runs the group is Alison Martino, the daughter of Al Martino (The Godfather, anyone?) and she posts lots of interesting things. She’s not as old as Nancy Sinatra (she’s 47, I think) but she has a true love of LA history and she had a post about Nancy and that song recently.

Not that I had forgotten, but it reminded me what an awful Mormon Bishop Asshole must have been to spend so much of his time (and ours) worrying and praying about how that pretty lame song was affecting good Mormon boys and girls of that time.

For those of you who don’t remember the song:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbyAZQ45uww



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2016 09:20AM by memikeyounot.

I remember how popular "puff the magic dragon" became. It had the same treatment in my area. All of a sudden it was about drugs and not a dragon.

It also was a nickname for a certain type of aircraft.

If there are any Puff flyers out there....thanks for saving my skin.

I remember "puff the magic dragon" and first hearing it. On Friday night at the reception I've written about in a prior thread, one of the songs played was that one. I remarked how I could not only remember first hearing it but where I was and what I ate, etc.

Dragon, indeed--best "fireworks" show I ever saw, and I saw the 1976 BiCentennial display in Boston!

I was born 8 days into the 60's, but I remember the song you're talking about. My TBM mom (we were living in SLC at the time), 22 when I was born, was a huge Beatles fan. I remember how excited she was when my dad got her the "Meet the Beatles" album for her birthday in late 1964, even though there was a lot of talk in mormondumb about the "bad influence" the Beatles were.

So I grew up listening to the Fab Four, and am still a fan. Liking the Beatles is one of the few things mom and I still have in common, her still being TBM and all. It's something :)

p.s. I had to put on the "White Album" after writing that...Beatles with my morning coffee. Ahh. :)

I was (and am) a Beatles fan, and have told my kids more than once that if they deign to have a funeral service for me, be sure to play "Here Comes the Sun". I know it's not a funeral song but I love it.

I lived in Las Vegas until last year and had the opportunity to see The Beatles Love at the Mirage a couple of times. It made me realize that was as close as I'd ever get to hearing them in concert and the sound was probably better. It's also just been redesigned with better Cirque de Soleil parts and better audio.

And even though it's not the same, I saw Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band probably 10 years ago in Las Vegas. He tours on a regular basis with lots of old rockers from the 70's and 80's. I see that he's going to be in Las Vegas again at the Smith Center, the new performing Arts Center, no casino attached and best of all, no smoking.

http://www.thesmithcenter.com/event/ringo-starr-his-all-starr-band/?utm_source=Fall%20Presale&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Ringo%20Starr

memikeyounot Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I lived in Las Vegas until last year and had the
> opportunity to see The Beatles Love at the Mirage
> a couple of times.

I'm jealous.
I have the CD from the show, and it gets lots of play. The re-mixing of several songs, combining parts of multiple songs into one track, etc. are all very well done. I think John would have approved. :)

I saw the Beatles when I was in 8th grade. I also saw Elvis and the Beach Boys that same year.

Janis Joplin in Portland about 1969? That was an amazing concert.I was still in HS when I went to see Crosby Stills, Nash and Young.

The most boring concert I've ever been to was Bob Dylan.

Governor McCall held a free rock concert in Estacada, kind of a miniature Woodstock. He wanted all the hippies out of town while some government people(?) were in town. I saw Jefferson Airplane there. That was great fun.

One of the best shows was Neil Sedaka. He put on a fabulous show. Suzanne Sommers was at our state fair. I had no clue she could sing and was a great dancer. She put on a very good show.

I loved seeing Hair. My mother would have lost it if she knew about that. All those naked people dancing around on stage.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2016 07:43PM by madalice.

The musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" was considered blasphemous. I guess it's because it wasn't written in King James English.

I loved "Boots were made for walking," by Nancy. I seen her on American Bandstand performing that with her platinum long blonde hair, mini dress, and knee high tall boots she wore. She was stunning.

She didn't have too many hits after that, but oh well. Her brother made quite a life for himself as a singer. He sang many of his dad's hits, until he passed away too not that long ago.

He went way younger than his father did.

Same HS graduation year as you, Michael, 1967. My Bishop was also one of my HS teachers. He stole something from me, but that's another story.

The Stake President owned the only radio station in our small town in eastern Nevada. we got serenaded by the Sons of the Pioneers as we were getting up in the morning to go to school. The SP made certain that the rest of the daily programming was completely sanitized of any implications of cultural excess (although he apparently thought nothing of selling air time to the Worldwide Church of God).

If you wanted to listen to that lurid Nancy Sinatra song, you had to go buy a "45" at the local record store (also an icon of bygone days), and listen to it on the phonograph in your bedroom. Although those new-fangled "transistor" radios were all the rage, they were very expensive and you had to be satisfied with the SP's programming choices because you couldn't pick up any stations outside the area.

And I still know and love that song. It's a karaoke fave and a feminist anthem. :)

It's funny how tame it compares to songs these days, like, um, "Anaconda" for example.

Having just googled the lyrics to 'These Boots...' I wonder why he saw such filth in it? He must have had a filthy mind himself to see that.

Of course, there is the BDSM aspect, but I doubt he'd have 'got' that.

And as for the Beatles being beyond the pail... there is an episode of the TV comedy Father Ted where, talking about an old priest, Ted & Dougal refer the Fab Four:

Ted: 'First priest to denounce The Beatles'.
Dougal: 'He could see what they were up to'.

Speaking of the Fab Four, anyone can do a lot worse than spend an evening with the Pre-Fab Four, The Rutles; Eric Idles brilliant (and note-perfect) spoof. The DVD is well worth watching, but the songs, written by the amazing Neil Innes, are amazing pastiches, spot-on.

Could it have been the STRONG WOMAN blasphemy?

Another '67 graduate here. 50th class reunion coming up next year!

Yes, I liked Nancy's song. It was one of the first woman anthems I remember and it was empowering. I had quite a collection of 45's.

I was also a huge Beatles fan, but living in rural Idaho, I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd ever get to see them in concert. By a strange set of circumstances, I was with my older sister and her husband spending the summer as a young teenager and we were at a relative's house in Oakland at the same time the Beatles were in concert at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. I BEGGED my sister to let me go see them, or at least go over there and maybe catch a glimpse of them. No way, she said...they were evil and had long hair!

Well, I did get to see my favorite Beatle, Paul, in concert at Rio Tinto stadium in 2009. It was awesome.

My daughter who was 27 in 2009, went to see Paul McCartney at Rio Tinto that year. I had trained her well to be a good Beatles fan.

Someone gave her tickets for her anniversary and she and her then-husband went. Said it was a great show, but her husband complained that he never really liked the Beatles.

I was not surprised when their marriage failed. :)

I didn't regard Boots as a feminist song. Rather, a love song that went awry because her man was a two-timin' ladies man. Walk on, boots. (I can see the appeal it had for the Women's Rights movement at the same time, lol. Nancy rocked!) :-)

"You keep saying you got something for me
Something you call love but confess
You've been a'messin' where you shouldn't 've been a'messin'
And now someone else is getting all your best
Well, these boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

You keep lyin' when you oughta be truthin'
You keep losing when you oughta not bet
You keep samin' when you oughta be a'changin'
What's right is right but you ain't been right yet
These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

You keep playing where you shouldn't be playing
And you keep thinking that you'll never get burnt (HAH)
Well, I've just found me a brand new box of matches (YEAH)
And what he knows you ain't had time to learn
These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you."

(written by Lee Hazelwood)

I was 8 in 1965 when we moved from NYC to Yorba Linda CA. Back when Orange County was more avocado, lemon & orange groves than concrete. We lived on a cul de sac. All of our neighbors were about the same age. No religion- lots of block parties, martini parties, fondue parties, etc. I think there was some swinging going on. Every one had "HiFi's" with stackable records (that was an innovation) 33, 45 & 78 speeds. My parents listened to Sinatra, Roger Miller, The Tijuana Brass, then got in to Cream, the Mama's & Papa's, Beatles, etc. My conservative parents were wearing bell bottoms & mini skirts. My best friends sister fainted at a Monkee's concert when Davy blew her a kiss. We took trips to San Fran to see the hippies in Haight Ashbury.
Schwinn Stingrays, Mustang convertibles & VW's all over the neighborhood. Nobody cared about church or religion. Great times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvKj8lTuVtk

Sinatra's song captured a lot of the adolescent angst back when, but this little British waif didn't need her old man's name to make the charts.

I wonder what your bishop thought when he heard this one:

"Take off your clothes and close the door."

Honest, folks, that was practically porn back then...

Petula Clark's "Downtown" was everything I aspired to as a young girl. :)

Nancy Sinatra was so pretty. I loved "These Boots Are Made for Walking." The song is totally about female empowerment.

And I thought the lyric said "Take off your COAT and close the door." Never occurred to me otherwise.

I never got to see the Beatles. My 3 best friends got to go on a bus tour from our home in San Diego, to the Hollywood Bowl, and back again, on the same day. We fought for WEEKS about that. It was absolute WAR in our house. I refused to do homework, would not study for tests, even brought home notes from my teachers asking what was wrong at home. Mother would not budge.

The day I woke up hearing on the radio that John Lennon had been murdered, I knew that I would NEVER forgive my mother for that missed concert.

It wasn't religion. It wasn't concerts (by then, I had seen a couple of Peter, Paul and Mary concerts.) I don't know why she had such a bee in her bonnet about the Beatles - especially when my best friends were going. She knew and liked all of them. I think it was just her contrariness. Once she had said "no," she would dig in her heels and refuse to listen to any kind of persuasion.

I still feel a pang sometimes, when I think that I missed out on seeing a legend in person.

SL Cabbie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Take off your clothes and close the door."
>
> Honest, folks, that was practically porn back
> then...


According to various online lyric sources, it's "Take off your coat..."

Word of the day: assholery

I LOVE IT!

I remember our Bishop announcing from the pulpit in 1967 that we were not to watch "Dr Zhivago". It is my favorite all-timer...

Mmmmm...Julie Christie...she was tasty in that movie.

Dr. Zhivago--condemned by both the Soviet Union and a Mormon bishop!

Wow, don't think I ever heard that about Dr Zhivago. It has been since 1967 since I saw that, so I really need to get a copy to watch soon.

Great movie!~

Oh my word. I wanted to BE Lara. For years as a teen I wore beautiful, printed Eastern European scarves tied behind the back of my head as hers was. Never had her pretty baby blues, though. :)

I can still write her name in Cyrillic.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2016 07:15PM by summer.

I had a Relief Society teacher give a lesson once on how to be more feminine. She used Lara as part of her lesson material. How feminine it is to have flowers on your table top no matter how poor you may be, consider Lara from Dr Zhivago, even during the harshest times of the war saga she endured, you could always count on her to have fresh cut flowers in her kitchen and living areas. And went so well with the theme song too.

The first time I watched Dr. Zhivago was 1980, on my little color television where I lived in Idaho Falls as a young working single woman, pre-college. Like the great novel that preceded it, it was a life altering event to have viewed it. I don't recall it being banned at church, but because of the adultery themes that wouldn't surprise me.

It is epic and classic. It's no worse than Gone with the Wind. And that wasn't banned to my knowledge. I went with a high school date to see Gone with the Wind, in Ogden before he went on his mission. I imagine were that banned we wouldn't have attended the movie.

Then there was Gigi, the movie, with Maurice Chevalier and Leslie Caron. That can't be any worse than Zhivago. Yet my whole Relief Society class went to see that when I was 20, with women ranging in ages from 18 to 85. :)

I don't listen to that filthy, disgusting rock and roll.

No! I only listen to uplifting classical music.

Like Opera.

I specially like the opening scene of Mozart's "Don Giovanni"
where the title character is in the process of
deflowering/raping a girl while his servant stands guard.
Then, Don Giovanni kills her father when he gets caught. Very
uplifting.

Or the third act of Puccini's "Tosca" where Cavaradossi sings
about the last time he was undressing his girlfriend.

Of course there's Richard Strauss's "Salome" which features a
soprano doing the "Dance of the Seven Veils" and ending up
totally naked on the stage. Also very uplifting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZHdHuJWflY

Then, of course, there's always Ballet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Uzu7f8sVo

Yes, keep away from that decadent Rock 'n' Roll and go to
uplifting classical music instead.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2016 08:27PM by baura.

I saw Flower Drum Song at the Thunderbird Hotel over 100 times in 1963 and 1964.

I can't imagine that any city had a better 'cruising' street than Fremont St., in Las Vegas.

Three guys sitting in the front seat of a Chevy El Camino... Just as you're about to slowly pass a carload of cheerleaders coming in the other direction, the guy next to the passenger door leans over and hides, so that it looks like the other two guys are sitting like boyfriend and boyfriend.

Kids...

A hundred million miracles are happening every day...

In homage to my 60s youth (and growing up by the beach) I wear cutoffs and a tank top every chance I get during the Summer. Long jeans and a tee-shirt are formal wear!

You keep saying you got something for me
Something you call love but confess
You've been a'messin' where you shouldn't 've been a'messin'
And now someone else is getting all your best
Well, these boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

You keep lyin' when you oughta be truthin'
You keep losing when you oughta not bet
You keep samin' when you oughta be a'changin'
What's right is right but you ain't been right yet
These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

You keep playing where you shouldn't be playing
And you keep thinking that you'll never get burnt (HAH)
Well, I've just found me a brand new box of matches (YEAH)
And what he knows you ain't had time to learn
These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you


Maybe the bishop/seminary teacher/asshole had sexual fantasies of being walked on by assertive women in high heeled boots.