Music

We have the results of our music survey!  You have chosen your favorite artist, album, and song from the 1960s—which was arguably the greatest pop music decade ever.   Here is what you decided. 

The Morning was a Yale folk-rock band, birthed in the campus basements in the winter of ’67. Within six months it was playing the major coffeehouses in Greenwich Village and within 18 months it was sharing stages with Joni Mitchell, The Grateful Dead, Cream, Sly & the Family Stone, Jackson Browne, The Smothers Brothers, and Muddy Waters at the top nightclubs and concert venues on both coasts.

We’ve created a simple 3-question survey, asking you to choose your favorite musical artist, favorite album, and favorite song from the 1960s. 

So please take a moment to respond. (You don’t even need to be logged into Yale1969.org to use this link!)   Taking the survey is guaranteed to give you a dopamine rush of nostalgia.

I think many of us would agree that the 60s was the all-time best decade for popular music. In fact, during our three years and nine months at Yale a lot of history’s best rock and pop was blasting out of our hi-fi’s into the college courtyards seven days a week. So it’s time to ask that all-important question, “What is YOUR favorite music of the ‘60s?” We have a quick, 3-minute survey for you to take.

Derek Huntington (1947 – 2011) was a singer/songwriter/musician/producer—and cabinet-builder who launched a successful boutique carpentry business in Manhattan. In the 1970s he was Stormin’ Norman & Suzy’s first record producer and a first-rate recording artist himself, as you will hear.

The Lunatic Fringe was one of several Yale rock bands that played the songs we could drink and dance to at our Saturday night mixers. The women bussed in from what we called the “girls’ schools” were always the main event of course, but the Fringe did their part to get everyone on the dance floor, playing the hits at juiced up tempos.

Branford College’s Rick Drost has been a lifelong singer but in recent years has become a much-sought-after singer/songwriter/guitarist. With the release of his solo album, Turning the World, he has begun performing in national venues such as Passim in Cambridge, MA.

Editor’s Note: The Plastic Visitation (comprising some of our Classmates) has played at several of our reunions. They will play at our 50th Reunion as well. This history of the group will give you the backstory.

The Prehistory: At Yale in the fall of 1966, four upperclassmen put a band together. Tom Picton (Trumbull ’69) sang, Mike …

Norman Zamcheck has played piano professionally for most of his life—with Polydor, as part of recording artists “Stormin’ Norman & Suzy” and as “The Real Stormin’ Norman.” Check out one of his most requested ballads — and a couple of his music videos.

Maureen and Michael have been together since 1983, although Michael has been writing songs since 1965. And it may be more of a lucky coincidence that her voice perfectly matches his material. Listen to their CD.

Our Whiffs recorded a CD on the occasion of our 35th reunion (2004), and they played some of these songs for us on Saturday night. I kept the CD and thought you all would like to hear it.

John O’Leary has been a musical performer since his Yale days as the drummer for The Morning. He has appeared on national television three times, played top clubs and concert halls on both coasts, fronted numerous bands as a singer/pianist, and played in acoustic guitar groups. These days he mostly plays solo in coffeehouses and concert halls. READ MORE

If you have recorded any songs, albums, concerts or other musical performances, we would like to showcase your work on Yale1969.org.  Please send us your recordings in whatever format you have. You can use the form below, or email the Music Editor or snailmail physical media for digital conversion and sharing.