Onwards and Backwards! (Part 2)

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Now that we've taken care of 1986 and 1976, it's time to forge behind even further! Tomorrow starts a new month and a new pair of birthday countdowns. As I mentioned yesterday, one will go back to 1966...and the other goes back seventy years. Why so far back? Heck, I wasn't even born yet! But rock and roll was born by then, and so you get to see the strange cacophony of things that were going on at the time. It's fascinating, and -- sadly for a lot of you -- loaded with country music. Like our teaser. George Hamilton IV (not, as I always tell you when I use one of his songs, related to the "king of suntan" actor George Hamilton) was a very popular country music singer in the 60s and 70s. In fact, he was known as "the international ambassador of country music" because of his overseas popularity and numerous tours. But this song, his first hit, is hardly country. It's more of a doo-wop/pop mix. And a fun fact: this song was written by "Indian Reservation (Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)" writer John D. Loudermilk. His cousins will appear on the list for 1956. Enjoy the calorie-free "A Rose and a Baby Ruth."