This being the 50th anniversary of the launch of both The Monkees and Star Trek on tv, I’ve been enjoying the shows again and revisiting the music that surrounded me as a kid. It was like life had a soundtrack. There were radios on (and thankfully, not the booming bass we get subjected to now. It was just music, not an assault on the people around you) in the car, in the house. We had portable transistor radios that gave us tinny versions of the popular songs, portable record players (a big deal with the record player in the living room was a substantial piece of furniture)… stores weren’t always full of Muzak warbling The Living Strings play Jimmy Hendricks Very Softly, but there was music almost everywhere you went.
Listening to The Beach Boys, Chad & Jeremy, The Hollies, The Grass Roots, The Monkees, etc. takes me back to a very happy time in my life. I can smell the redwood trees and hear the ocean. For a moment, I’m riding my horse through a forest vibrating with life, singing along with the radio, young, strong and joyful.
While I do get the need for people to express whatever they’re feeling, good or bad, love or anger, I realize now that whatever you listen to most often will be what brings back memories later. Had I listened to a lot of angry music back then, those would be the memories that would come back to me now. As it is, I just have to put on a certain song to be transported out of whatever is bothering me to a better moment, and I’m grateful for that.
I was creating fan art for a while, using the projects as practice to improve my skills, posting them to amuse friends. I’m not doing it much any more, but I did create this to celebrate the wonderful, infectious pop music of the 60s. This is how that bouncy, fun music makes me feel. I think it’s fitting that this print is available on, among other things, a miniskirt.