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Gary Brooker, the lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum, whose 1967 hit A Whiter Shade of Pale mesmerised baby boomer fans with its psychedelic melancholy, has died at the age of 76. The pianist, composer and lyricist as well as frontman for the band had been treated for cancer. He died peacefully at home at the weekend. A statement on Procol Harum’s website described Brooker as “a brightly shining, irreplaceable light in the music industry”. It added: “Gary exhibited and developed a highly individual talent. His first single with Procol Harum, 1967’s A Whiter Shade of Pale, is...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday reversed the state parole board's decision to grant parole to Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of killing Robert F. Kennedy more than 50 years ago, saying he remains a threat to society. Sirhan was convicted and originally sentenced to death but was commuted to life in prison for fatally shooting Sen. Robert Kennedy, the former attorney general under his brother, President John F. Kennedy, on June 5, 1968, at the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel. Five bystanders were also shot, all of whom survived. The presidential hopeful was slain in front of his family, friends...

After finding evidence that the "man of God" and "moral conscience of our nation," the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., participated in the rape of a parishioner, engaged in numerous sex orgies, received cash payments from known communists, and admitted that he was a Marxist, King biographer and Pulitzer Prize–winning author David Garrow wrote of King, "There is no question that a profoundly painful reckoning and reconsideration inescapably awaits." *snip* To have been a Christian minister, it is illuminating that King's ideology is anathema to Christianity, manliness, and American freedom. Consider this: after attempting to integrate an all-White hotel...

The woman who accused Bob Dylan of sexually abusing her in New York City on multiple occasions decades ago when she was just 12, has expanded the timeframe for when the abuse allegedly occurred — following prior reports that the songwriter was away on tour during the time of her claims, new court papers show. The 68-year-old woman — who filed suit anonymously in August under the initials J.C. — claimed that the “Blowin’ in the Wind” singer groomed her and plied her with drugs and alcohol before allegedly sexually abusing her as a pre-teen multiple times at his Chelsea...

Wanda Young, one of the original Marvelettes on Motown’s Tamla label in the 1960s and later the group’s lead singer, has died. She was 78 and passed on Dec. 15 in Garden City, Michigan from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to her daughter. Young joined the Marvelettes as they signed their first record deal with Motown. The group scored Motown’s first song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1961. The song also was No. 1 on the R&B chart. “Please Mr. Postman” became the Marvelettes signature, and has since been covered by...

Monkees singer and guitarist Michael Nesmith, a pop visionary who penned many of the group’s most enduring songs before laying the groundwork for country-rock with the First National Band in the early Seventies, died Friday from natural causes. He was 78.

If you’ve ever heard anything on the Stax Records label, then you’ve probably heard Steve Cropper's masterful guitar playing. He might well have written and produced it too The guitarist with Booker T. & The M.G.’s, Stax Records’ house band, Steve Cropper backed scores of soul greats during the 60s as well as being a go-to producer. He’s also a songwriter whose compositions include classics such as Wilson Pickett’s In The Midnight Hour, Eddie Floyd’s Knock On Wood and Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay. He has also done studio work with John Lennon, Rod Stewart, Roy...

For anyone who has never heard him before, nothing can prepare you for the opening scene of “Tiny Tim: King for a Day,” where the long-haired singer applies his freaky falsetto to Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe.” No more unlikely entertainer has ever captured the pop zeitgeist than the one-of-a-kind Tiny Tim, born Herbert Khaury in New York City in 1932m, who managed to squeeze his 1968 debut album in the top 10 charts between Cream and Jimi Hendrix, and whose marriage to his first wife, Miss Vicki, on “The Tonight Show” was the highest-rated episode in Johnny...

The 1960s, according to Carl Oglesby, a former president of Students for a Democratic Society, “will never level out.” “It’s a corkscrew, it’s a tailspin, it’s a joyride on a roller coaster, it’s a never-ending mystery,” he continues. “Who won? Who lost? What were the terms of victory and defeat? We’ll always be discussing that.” I recently edited a book of interviews with leading scholars that investigated the consequences of that decade. As a scholar, I avoided taking a partisan stance on the legacy of the ‘60s for contemporary America. But that stance doesn’t mean that I think there is...

The popular Motown group recently celebrated its 60th anniversary.The Motown legend's death takes place just days after the legendary girl group, of whom she was...Read More The music industry is mourning the death of Mary Wilson, a Motown legend and co-founder of The Supremes. She was 76. The legendary girl group, of which she was the longest-running member, recently celebrated its 60th anniversary. Wilson's longtime friend and publicist, Jay Schwartz, confirmed her death early Tuesday. Berry Gordy, founder of Motown, openly grieved the late legend in a public statement, writing, "I was always proud of Mary. She was quite...

Tommy DeVito, one of the smooth harmonizing founding members of legendary doo-wop group The Four Seasons, has died from complications of the coronavirus. He was 92. Actor Alfred Nittoli (“Casino”) confirmed the baritone vocalist and lead guitarist’s passing Tuesday on Facebook. “My dear friend Tommy passed away in Las Vegas at 9:45 last night,” Nittoli wrote, spurring dozens of emotional condolences. “With deep regret I am writing this sitting in his living room. I was informed by his daughter Darcel there will be a service in New Jersey.”

If you could go back to 1950, would you do it? There would be no Internet, no cellphones and you would only be able to watch television in black and white. But even though they lacked many of our modern conveniences, people genuinely seemed to be much happier back then. Families actually ate dinner together, neighbors knew and cared about one another, and being an “American” truly meant something. Today, we like to think that we are so much more “advanced” than they were back then, but the truth is that our society is in the process of falling apart...

Radicals from the 1960s and 1970s now hold powerful positions in government and academia... This is what the revolution looks like. Weather Underground terrorists, who made no secret of being anti-AmeriKKKan “small-c” communists, are having more success than they could have dreamed of in the 1960s. They are dominating the language. You know that whole “white privilege” nostrum that we’re paying universities $60K per year to drum into our children’s brains? It is derived from their lamentation of “white skin privilege.” In their ideology, the revolution to overthrow the capitalist, racist, imperialist system summoned them — lily white radicals —...

MOORS murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were the subject of of tense discussions as Downing Street debated the merits of releasing them from prison, unearthed files reveal.The Home Office proposals were put to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1985 only for her to pour cold water on them. Hindley could have been out for her final seven years while Brady could have been free for 12 years. Previously classified files from Cabinet meetings – released in 2017 by the National Archives – show that Home Secretary Leon Brittan suggested Hindley could go free after 30 years while Brady could...

ROUND 7 - THE FINAL - OF THE '60S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, March 1 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The FINAL! Just 2 songs! Pick your favorite! No reply, no vote. Please be clear what your intentions are! Cuteness is fun, but often misunderstood. Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday.

ROUND 6 OF THE '60S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 23 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The FINAL 4! Even easier! Just 2 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite of each pair shown. No reply, no vote. No more refusals - there're only 2 pairs, after all. Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday.

ROUND 5 OF THE '60S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 16 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The Great 8! It's getting easier! Just 4 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite of each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs, but please be clear about that.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday.

ROUND 4 OF THE '60S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 9 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. SWEET 16! 16 songs, 8 pairs, 8 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs but please be clear - and please don't overdo it! No onesies.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Billboard rank/seed - year - title - act

ROUND 3 OF THE '60S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 2 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. (SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!) 32 songs, 16 pairs, 16 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs but please don't overdo it! No onesies, please.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Billboard rank/seed - year - song title - act

ROUND 2 of the greatest hits of the '60s begins! Due date: Sunday, Jan 26 @6:00 pm (Eastern) This Round takes the top 6 songs of each year of the '60s per BILLBOARD, and pairs them in play-off brackets, along with the best 4 #7s as voted in Round 1 (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3807574/posts)