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Saturday, September 28, 2013

Wolfman Jack is Back on radio - from the Home of American Graffiti, Modesto, CA



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TWO GREAT RETRO DEALS - Two Historic Icons - 
Mel's Drive-in and Amoeba Music  
—Up to 52% Off All-American Diner Food  and VINYL


We remember meeting Wolfman at a Hop he was MCing years ago in Alameda Ca
- Hot Rod Cafe ? Read on....

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Wake Up The Kids, Tell the Neighbors and Get Out Those Blue Suedes for some Dancing...

Our favorite DJ Wolfman Jack is back on the air from the home of American Graffiti Modesto California . TUNE IN














The KMPH Graffiti Gold Request Line


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Have a request or dedication? A favorite memory of
growing up in Modesto? Give us a call right now on
the KMPH Rockin' Request Line and let us know!
Phone KMPH right now at 209-573-6040!
DIAL KRypton3-6040

 MORE WOLFMAN HERE

and while you're crusin' the Endless Summer
in Modesto or anywhere check out 

 
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Wolfman Jack is Back on radio -  from  the Home of American Graffiti, Modesto, CA

Friday, September 27, 2013

Rock and Roll Trivia - How Good Is Your Memory?


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TWO GREAT RETRO DEALS - Two Historic Icons - 
Mel's Drive-in and Amoeba Music  
—Up to 52% Off All-American Diner Food  and VINYL
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MEMORIES, MEMORIES, MEMORIES -  HOW GOOD IS YOURS????



Play fair ... Don't cheat, now ! (Answers are at the bottom.)
1. When did ''Little Suzie'' finally wake up?
(a) The movie's over, it's 2 o'clock
(b) The movie's over, it's 3 o'clock
(c) The movie's over, it's 4 o'clock

2. ''Rock Around The Clock'' was used in what movie?
(a) Rebel Without A Cause
(b) Blackboard Jungle
(c) The Wild Ones

3. What's missing from a Rock & Roll standpoint? Earth _____
(a) Angel
(b) Mother
(c) Worm

4. ''I found my thrill . . .'' where?
(a) Kansas City
(b) Heartbreak Hotel
(c) Blueberry Hill

5. ''Please turn on your magic beam, _____ _____ bring me a dream,'':
(a) Mr. Sandman
(b) Earth Angel
(c) Dream Lover

6. For which label did Elvis Presley first record?
(a) Atlantic
(b) RCA
(c) Sun

7. He asked, ''Why's everybody always pickin' on me?'' Who was he?
(a) Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
(b) Charlie Brown
(c) Buster Brown

8. In Bobby Darin's ''Mack The Knife,'' the one with the knife, was named:
(a) MacHeath
(b) MacCloud
(c) MacNamara

9. Name the song with ''A-wop bop a-loo bop a-lop bam boom.''
(a) Good Golly, Miss Molly
(b) Be-Bop-A-Lula
(c) Tutti Fruitti

10. Who is generally given credit for originating the term ''Rock And Roll''?
(a) Dic k Clark
(b) Wolfman Jack
(c) Alan Freed
11. In 1957, he left the music business to become a preacher:
(a) Little Richard
(b) Frankie Lymon
(c) Tony Orlando

12. Paul Anka's ''Puppy Love'' is written to what star?
(a) Brenda Lee
(b) Connie Francis
(c) Annette Funicello

13. The Everly Brothers were . . ...
(a) Pete and Dick
(b) Don and Phil
(c) Bob and Bill

14. The Big Bopper's real name was:
(a) Jiles P. Richardson
(b) Roy Harold Scherer Jr.
(c) Marion Michael Morrison

15. In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr, started a small record company called...
(a) Decca
(b) Cameo
(c) Motown

16. Edd Brynes had a hit with ''Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb''. What TV show was he on?
(a) 77 Sunset Strip




Thursday, September 26, 2013

Relive the Old Steam Train Days in Niles, Califorina, Visit Charlie Chaplin


Niles Canyon Steam Trains and Old Niles History
Labor Day Weekend , September 2013, Niles Canyon Railway and the Train Museum offered their bi-annual Steam Train Day, a rare opportunity to not only see a vintage steam engine and train in action but to ride it. We also visited the historic burg of Niles (near Fremont , CA ) , where Charlie Chaplain had his start in silent movies back in the 1920s. Ride the Rails once again with us and visit Charlie, an old firestation and more:
- See more at:http://bayareabackroads.blogspot.com/#sthash.8P45Biic.dpuf

https://www.youtube.com/user/TimeTraveler1962

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Field of Low-Mileage Dreams - Old Chevy Stockpile in Nebraska

Field of Low-Mileage Dreams - Old Chevy Stockpile in Nebraska

We reported this story recently, but a few more pictures and twists...


New York Times
PIERCE, NEB. — For decades, a 10-acre tangle of trees in the corner of a corn and soybean field did its best to hide the legends of Pierce County.
Multimedia
But word got out. You could see a few of the cars from County Road 854 and a few more from the second green and third tee of the neighboring golf course. The sheriff lost count of how many times he was called to the farm to roust radiator thieves or chrome scavengers, and to chase away tire-kickers.
“They were parked in the trees, door handle to door handle, bumper to bumper,” Deb Bruegman said as she served beers in the clubhouse of the nine-hole course. “The trees grew up in and amongst and around them.”
Still, few people were prepared for what emerged from the woods in late July, when a construction crew uprooted the cottonwoods, maples and ash trees and carried their mostly hidden treasures into the sunlight. Rearranged nearby in nine neat rows, each longer than a football field, were nearly 500 cars and trucks including American classics from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s: Bel Airs and Corvairs, Apaches and Impalas, even a Corvette Pace Car model.
All were the legacy of Ray Lambrecht, the local Chevrolet dealer for 50 years until he retired in 1996. Now 95, he and his wife, Mildred, 92, still live across the street  MORE













Field of Low-Mileage Dreams - Old Chevy Stockpile in Nebraska

Personable Huell Howser - From Celebrity (e.g. Tammy Wynette) to Everyman Interviews During Rich 30 Year Career



Howser in his favorite Desert home near Palm Springs, CA
Huell Howser was much more than his last and most well-known 'backroads' TV series, 'California's Gold.'  The modest Tennesseean started out by interviewing the local Country singers and celebrities in his home state. Then it was off to New York for the big time. And, then 3,000 miles west to the bright lights of Hollywood and California. But, perhaps those lights began to dim in Howser's own '
everymans' outlook and he wound up his career the last ten years talking to and showcasing the real people of California and some of their more  unique  and often historical efforts.


Even though he was a private man who didn't crave the attention for himself but for those he interviewed, Howser acquired a large following as much or more for his own humble and enthusiastic persona as the unusual 'backroads' stories he featured on his last and most known series, '
California's Gold.'  Whether it was learning about the reclusive life of a lighthouse watchman near
Crescent City, California or talking to the caretakers of Frank Sinatra's Palm Springs estate, there was always something to take away from both Howser, the man, and his unique programs. Howser's enthusiasm is infectious in these mostly half hour shows and one becomes wrapped up in even some of the more seeming mundane episodes which are still available.  Sadly, Howser passed unexpectedly, last December, but his shows live on.  Check some of them out for yourselves @ http://BayAreaBackroads.blogspot.com as well as some other of our own adventures


But first, let's go back to Howser's early career in Tenessee and his interview with Country music legend Tammy Wynette, talking about her career and men in her life.





Monday, September 16, 2013

Interesting facts and figures of the 1950s

Courtesy KCEE  radio, Tucson, Arizona



What were the 1950's like? Now that we are in a new century and millennium, 1950 sounds so very long ago. Well, put that pie in the oven, hang up your apron and get set to go back as we take a peek in our retro time machine and drop in on the likes of Lucy and Ethel, Alice and Trixie, and maybe even some real people too.

Fab 50's Facts
  • The average house in 1950 sold for $14,000
  • The average annual income in the ‘50s was just under $3,000
  • Kitchen debuts – Tupperware at home party sales, electric frying pans, nonstick cookware
  • In 1950 fewer than 1 in 10 American homes owned a TV set. By the end of the decade, 9 out of 10 American homes were tuned in
  • The popular sitcom Leave It to Beaver premiered on October 4, 1957, the same day the Russian satellite Sputnik was launched
  • Gunsmoke first aired on television in 1955. The series lasted a full 20 years
  • 1956 was a big year for Elvis! He scored his first number-one hit ("Heartbreak Hotel"), and he released "Hound Dog," the top-selling single of the decade
  • TV lamps that sold for around $10 in the 1950s go for about $125 in today’s collector market

Presidents
Harry S. Truman
33rd President
1945 - 1953
Wife: Bess


Dwight D. Eisenhower
34th President
1953 - 1961
Wife: Mamie

Things Invented In the '50s
  • McDonald’s
  • Barbie Doll
  • Kleenex
  • Geiger Counter
  • Life Savers Candy
  • The Cold War
  • Credit Card
  • Corvette
  • TV Dinners
  • Super Glue
  • Liquid Paper
  • The Hovercraft
  • Mr. Potato Head
  • Radial Tires
  • Aluminum Can
  • Birth Control Pills
  • Black Box Recorder on Airplanes
  • Microchip
  • More TV Dinners
  • My Mothers Recipe for Boiling Water
  • The Cold War (at home)
  • Color TV
  • M&M's Peanut Candies
  • Aluminum Can
  • McDonald's
The Beehive

How to style your hair into a beehive: Backcomb your hair, (hold your hair with one hand and brush from your hand towards your scalp), then hairspray the heck out of it, and shape your hair into a high mound on the top of your head.

Beauty

Avon 1950
"Avon brings you 13 shades in Color-last Lipstick and matching Nail Polish"

Cosmetic companies certainly did not shy away from using good, old fashion fear as a motivator to purchase their products. Should you not buy Dorothy Gray Salon face cream, your husband will leave you for another woman and you will die alone. This tragedy is compounded by the fact that nothing they had back then actually worked! (Strivectin hadn't been invented yet.)
The only thing that prevented millions of wrinkly women from being abandoned in favor of their smooth-skinned counterparts was the fact that divorce was more than frowned upon and not quite so easy as it is today.

Cooking

What's Cookin' in the '50s, or Where's a Good Place to Get a Steak?

The cover of the popular 1955 edition of the Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cook Book says it is for the Hostess & Host of tomorrow. A deliciously exact reprint of the red plaid 1955 cookbook for kids. Original vintage illustrations, full-color '50s-style images, and pages that appear gently aged. The book has a practical side too! Easy-to-use tabbed chapters including beverages, breads and sandwiches, candy and cookies, desserts, main dishes, and vegetables and Sides. This fun heirloom gift is perfect to give to children who are just beginning to cook.
The first place I turned to find out what folks were eating in the 50s was to my mother. Seemed reasonable, she was in her early 20s at the time, so I figured she would be full of great recipes for 1950s home cooking. I was a bit surprised by her recollection, as it seems steak was on the menu in the 1950s.
According to her, when friends came over or people went out to eat, they ordered steak. No chicken, no fish ("oh god no, if you were going to go out, you were going to have a steak" was how she put it), no fancy gourmet pasta, dinner was meat, steak if you could choose, along with a salad and some French bread (maybe a vegetable too).
Appetizers consisted of booze; beer, wine or martinis, but according to her, no one got drunk. I told her to ask some of her friends about what they ate and she said:
"Why should I do that?  I just told you what we ate, Steak!"
Then I said I needed three independent sources to run the story which somehow made sense to her, so she said she'd ask. Stay tuned, we just may break the story:
"Extra Extra, People Ate Steak in the 50's" 
50's Fast Food Still With Us Today!
Burger King - 1954
Dunkin' Donuts - 1950
International House of Pancakes - 1958
McDonald's - 1955
Pizza Hut (Wichita, KS) - 1958

50's Fads
In case you were wondering just what it took back in the 1950s to qualify for "Good Wife" Status, Housekeeping Monthly was kind enough to print a set of guidelines in their 1955 May Issue.

NoteworthyThe pictured children do not appear to be screaming, the wife is wearing 3 inch heals and the husband looks like a cross between Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. Of minor interest may be the fact that my sister inherited a stove just like the one in the picture from our Grandma, and I can tell you right off that one does not appear so calm when trying to cook dinner on a 1950s match lit gas stove.
A Fad that Stayed: At the start of the 50's, only about 3 million American families had a TV set (black & white, of course), and by 1954 more than half of all U.S. households had purchased the funny buzz box.

50's Stars/TV Shows and Movies
Click on links below to purchase Movies and TV Shows!!
50's Movies
Click Here for more Movies from the 1950s.
50's TV Shows
50's Stars

Fashion

We know what Lucy wore, and there are plenty of pictures of Grace Kelly, but what did the average American housewife wear in the 1950s? Was it all gloves, skirts and sweaters? Find out here as we research the fab 50s fashion.
Fashion successes were Bill Blass and his blue jeans, poodle skirts made of felt and decorated with sequins and poodle appliques, pony tails for girls, and flat tops and crew cuts for guys. Saddle shoes and blue suede loafers were popular. Teenagers were defined as a separate generation and were represented by James Dean who wore blue jeans in Rebel Without a Cause and created a fashion and attitude sensation. Activities we liked were flying saucer watching , and watching and dancing to Dick Clark's American Bandstand.

50's Fashion Sense

  • Full Skirts that accented the slime waistline
  • Pencil Silhouette that accented the slim waistline
  • Slim Waistlines
  • Aprons

Home Decor

In the 1950s, young families furnishing their new homes wanted new styles. Working with top designers like Nelson and Eames, companies like Herman Miller and Heywood Wakefield sprang to the forefront of modern design with their combination of clean lines and a futuristic look.
Typical 1950's Style Living Room...So typical in fact, it is in a museum...
The classic 1950s style of furniture design is still popular, and usually is called "retro" (although retro can just as easily be the 60s, 70s ...). 50s style furniture appears solid and sturdy, with simple, clean lines.

Formica. There was a time when every surface in the house was made of Formica. Kitchen counter tops, tables, even the bathroom countertops were made out of Formica. Turns out that Formica is a BRAND of Laminate. So technically, everything is still made out of Formica. We just call it Laminate now, and it has changed so much in appearance that we wouldn't recognize it as the same product.

For More Oldies travel back in time to OldiesCountry.com where the movies, music, memories, etc.   live again!