1967: The Year I Became Me

Wikipedia won't tell you what was important to me about 1967. To be sure, like the rest of the country, I was waking up to a world saturated by the Vietnam war, racial conflict and cultural foment.  The landscape of my actual life may have been Enfield Junior High School -- where I was an eighth grader -- but was really happening to me was this music.   It shaped my values, aspirations, politics and taste for the next 45 years.

As a 20 year old, I was baffled by why Big Band songs from three decades earlier still cast a spell for my Dad.  Now I know: the songs that usher you into adolescence stay with you forever.

The Rascals, Groovin' - Perfectly captured the feeling of the world that I so wanted to grow up and become a part of.

The Temptations, I'm Losing You - No more the sweet soul music of "My Girl," this was the Temps on the road to psychedelic soul. The intro is mad.

Donovan, Sunshine Superman - What was going on here?  At 13, I was just beginning to get it.

James & Bobby Purify, I'm Your Puppet - A gem from Muscle Shoals, this one was for the sensitive soul man.

The Hollies, Bus Stop - I sang made-up lyrics to this song for years.

The Left Bank, Walk Away Renee - The musical essence of eighth grade melancholy.

The Supremes, Love Is Like an Itchin' in My Heart  - The ladies, the Funk Brothers and Holland Dozier Holland never sounded so good.

Buffalo Springfield, For What It's Worth - The sound of things falling apart, worrying and enticing at the same time.

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, More Love - Played rarely on the radio, but I wore it out on a boardwalk jukebox in Avalon.

The Standells, Dirty Water - A regional rock hit with a dangerous, bad boy hook as memorable as "Satisfaction."