Flashback! Stagger Lee

Imagine you had a little radio that you use everyday (Maybe you actually do!) and then suddenly, it began tuning in frequencies from 55 years ago. Perhaps these frequencies bounced back from outer space after reaching 61 Virginis, (you know! that distant solar system that scientists say is just like ours). Come to think of it, this sounds like a good starter for that Sci-fi novel I've been meaning to write...Anyhow, these frequencies have taken you back to March 28 1959. You scroll through the stations.

 WCBS Newsradio 880, You're Listening to your host Jack Sterling and this is the Jack Sterling Show! Today in the news: China dissolves Tibet! and will Hawaii actually become the 50th state? It's a Maybe so far, more on this coming in the next hour...

While kids these day would probably have a hard time distinguishing this broadcast from a regular 2014 News report if they came across it, the natural response should be: Whoa, Am I tripping...Tibet? Hawaii? Wh't in the world!?

You then Scroll to the upper bandwidth and what do you hear? 1959's #1 hit billboard, and a personal favorite, Stagger Lee by Lloyd Price.

Oh and what a treat you've caught! Stagger Lee is a song that talks about the fate of Billy Lyons who was murdered in a ballroom over a gambling debt by his acquaintance [you guessed it] Stagger Lee. The song's narration is based on a true story and its up-beat is irreverent at best. This tune was deemed too brutal and over the top in 1959. It quickly got censored and an alternative 'less violent version' began appearing on the radio. However censored it was, The Original Stagger Lee still managed to become a #1 hit making it the first censored single to reach the top of the charts.

Modern Rappers and underground musicians owe Mr. Price's Stagger Lee a huge debt for daring to push the limits of conventionality. Anybody can be a rebel nowadays, but back in the 50's it was some dangerous ground to be standing on, to put it mildly. Now, turn off your little radios, cats and chicks and tune in for my next post!