Barry Silverstein

1 week ago | medium.com | Barry Silverstein

The Animals and The Zombies followed The Beatles with U.S. hitsI’ve written a number of articles for Rock On about the “British Invasion,” started by The Beatles in 1964, that took over American pop airwaves on both radio and television. Oddly enough, it was America’s most popular TV variety program at that time, The Ed Sullivan Show, that helped fuel the excitement over British rock music.

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Barry Silverstein

His second album goes beyond “American Pie”Say the name of the musical artist Don McLean and the first song that always comes to mind is his iconic classic, “American Pie.” An anthem to early rock ’n’ roll and the Boomer generation, “American Pie” catapulted McLean to stardom and to this day has global reach. The song skyrocketed to #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1972, also reaching #1 in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and charting at #2 in the UK.

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Barry Silverstein

DAY IN HISTORY-MAY 20, 1927, 1932Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart both crossed the Atlantic exactly five years apartMay 20 is a key date in aviation history. On that date in 1927, Charles Lindbergh began a 33–1/2 hour solo flight in an attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean. He left from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York on Friday morning, May 20, arriving at Le Bourget Airport, just outside of Paris, France, on the evening of May 21.

1 month ago | medium.com | Barry Silverstein

It’s still the best album by Jefferson AirplaneAs I wrote about for Rock On in October 2024, the San Francisco band Jefferson Airplane was emblematic of the hippie counterculture sixty years ago. Regarded as one of the first acid rock bands, Jefferson Airplane’s music was hard to categorize, blending folk, rock, jazz, blues and psychedelia. I guess you could say their style was, well, surrealistic. The band’s versatility is plainly evident on Surrealistic Pillow, released in 1967.

1 month ago | medium.com | Barry Silverstein

DAY IN HISTORY-MAY 4, 1970National Guardsmen open fire on anti-war protestorsI remember the day four college students were shot and killed for protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University in Ohio. I was about to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree from New York University. Because of the tragedy at Kent State, my graduation ceremony, which was supposed to be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, was cancelled. Instead, I received my diploma later by mail.