№ 642. The Day the Music Died

To deal with its length, McLean’s record company had a clever idea. The first half of the song appeared on the A-side of the single, while the second was consigned to side B. The result turned the A-side into a cliffhanger the listener had to see through to the end. The subsequent demand forced AM radio stations to play both sides. At the same time, FM radio – whose mandate was to go deeper and play longer – was reaching its commercial apex at the time. Issued at the end of 1971, American Pie hit No 1 by January of 72, where it stayed for a full month. For 49 years, it held the record for the longest song to hit No 1 – until Taylor Swift’s 10-minute cut, All Too Well, broke it.

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№ 33. The Day the Music Died

I remember those lazy Sundays--- no cable TV, no iPhones, no internet and DVDs. Kids, you can say that the world then wasn't wifi-ed and interconnected.

And it was, no doubt, analog!

Our noises, rants and angsts were heard in rich sepia tones. Stereophonics, of course, came with the ambient hisses and pops. 


But no matter. The songs that lulled the afternoon hours away were classics. I think that's how my music ed germinated and took flight. My ears's early steps began with neither Chopin Etudes nor Beethoven sonatas. Nah. I started with the oldies, the pop songs of the 50s, 60s and the 70s. 


RJ Radio filled our tiny apartment with music from the post war, G.I. Joe era; the British Invasion; the flower power and Woodstock. The Platters, Nat King Cole, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles, Timi Yuro, Peter, Paul and Mary, Mamas and Papas, Connie Francis, Doris Day crooned the rounds of our radio playlists.

Here's one of them. 


I didn't realize this was Buddy Holly's version. I thought this was sung by Cliff Richard, also a favorite, when I heard it in the movie, "Have You Heard About the Morgans".