Monday, April 28, 2014

My Music Monday

Once again, it's Sunday evening as I try to figure out today's song selection.

I'd say I'm struggling with it, but for the last few days I keep playing one song over and over in my head:  the Cowsills' "Hair".

The song was released in 1968, but they'd been performing for years prior.

Oh, it should be noted that the Cowsills are all family members - brothers, sister and mom. If that sounds familiar it should - the Partridge Family was based on the Cowsills.

While "Hair", the musical was playing on Broadway in '68, the Cowsills made the title song a huge hit. Personally, I've always liked it.  Now mind you, I wasn't aware of then, as I was just a youngster.

I'll be honest, except for one other song, I don't know anything they've done. That other song?  The theme song from Love, American Style.  Most of you, I'm sure are too young to even know the reference or show.  {sigh}

If you YouTube the group, in later years, the Cowsills, are down to a trio, but their harmonies are tight. They are fairly impressive.

A few other notes - two of which I knew, one I didn't:

Their first television appearance was in Cleveland - on the Gene Carroll Show (which oddly doesn't have a wiki entrance, but was a Sunday morning staple - right before Polka Varieties).

Susan Cowgill was in a band called the Continental Drifters (oh yes, I have two of their disks) with Vicki Peterson of the Bangles, who would then go on to marry John Cowsill (who plays and sings on Tommy Tutone's hit "Jenny (867-5039)"). It all seems very incestuous.

It was that last tidbit that was news to me.

There are lots of YouTube versions of "Hair" but TV clips from 45 years ago aren't really quality, so you're just getting an embedded player with the song.


anne marie in philly said...

the COWSILLS? (shudder)

their other song was "indian lake".

fuck me for knowing this crappy trivia. 1968 - a bad year, I was 14.

didn't know that about "jenny". creepy.

Anonymous said...

I love this song and was just listening to it this weekend. Dare I admit to you that years ago my mom gave me (as a requested xmas gift) one of those Time Warner music collections, AM GOLD? I love it and love watching there infomercials - it's like a trip back in time. I especially love seeing what the groups looked like. Are there ever fashion that we don't look back at and say, WTF?

Bob said...

Um .... I remember Love American Style.