I’d expect anyone who knows me – as a person, or as a musician, or as a social poster – knows I have this deep and broad affection for pop music of the 1960s. The songwriting approaches, the production values and arrangements, the stylistic variety across record labels, the sheer fun of being able to pin a single’s sound to a particular year and even location of origin – there’s so much I enjoy about the whole listening experience that I’ve never felt like I’ve had enough.

Shouldn’t be shocking. When I was a kid, “oldies radio” meant pop music from the late ‘50s through the very early ‘70s. The big hit records of that era were low-hanging fruit. When I got into my late teens, I started moving up the branches, exploring the interesting misses, the oddities, the true freak fare. But when it comes down to the ‘60s music I gravitate toward on a regular day, to the records I consciously emulate in my own work, I keep coming back to “the canon.” Call me basic, but the classics are often classic for a reason. 

So, I felt inspired to share a list of some of my own favorite classic ‘60s albums that have informed my own music over the years, and probably always will. If you see a title you know and love, pull it off the shelf right now and spin it with me:

Davey Dash & the Blues Hegemony – Grokkin’ the Blues from Elite Private Schools
The Grumpettes – Mashed Potato Your Own Self, I’m Tired
The Concessions – I Yield My Love to Form a Viable Coalition
The Traumsurfers – Enchiladas of the Godz
Carmela Stella – The Only One Who Gets Anything Done in
This Domestic Partnership
The Overloads (WA) – Blowin’ Up the Console
The Birmingham Speed Reference – Extremely Live!! And Awake
Since Last Week!!
The Hyghe Wyres – Hyghe ys Hyll Ryght Nyw
Gray Flannel Flanagan – Forgot Which Side of the Civil War I Fought On and
Other True Modern Folk Songs
Ruby & the Red Flags – Our Love’s Gotta Stop, My Dad’s a Cop
Donnie & the Domineers – Gaslightin’ the Night Away

Now that I’m in this headspace, I feel like I’m just getting warmed up. I might need to add to this list at a later date. Or maybe the next move is to list some of my favorite off-the-beaten-path records of the ‘60s, some of the real crate digger fare. In the meantime, see you in the bins. And if you come across any of the singles that Little Sherri Salmoncakes did after she became just Sherri Salmoncakes – she got into some really interesting conscious civil rights stuff near the end of the decade; you might be surprised – or any of those Roy Blodgeton Quintet records where they overdubbed the vocals for a German audience but the lyrics were just in French with a really bad German accent – hit me up. I’ve been looking for those for like 20 years.

A segment of this post originally appeared on my personal Facebook page.

Disclaimer: Please, please tell me you understand this is parody. It’s not real. Please tell me you don’t need me to tell you that. You’re not missing anything. None of these records exist. I can’t believe I’m in a position where it’s actually important for me to write this disclosure, which kneecaps the joke itself, and arrrrrrrrgghhhhhhhh