Rant #1,735: An Important Day, One Day Later

I kind of missed the boat yesterday.

I wrote about "diarrhea of the mouth," and there really was so much more that I could have written about.

I honestly did not realize that two things happened in history yesterday, each of which I could have easily written single columns on, but I went the wrong way yesterday.

Maybe not the wrong way, but not the way I could have gone, let's say.

Let's look at those two topics I could have written about, and try to make up for lost time.

First off, yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the release of the very first Monkees single, introducing Monkeemania to the world.

"Last Train to Clarksville"/"Take a Giant Step" was not a revolutionary record in itself, even though its "A" side eventually rose to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. It is a pleasant pop concoction, very Beatle-ish of course, but it set in motion a movement that still reverberates to this day.

I mean, what other act had a Top 20 release in both 1966 and 2016? You guessed it, it is the Monkees.

My mom was and is a very "hip" lady, and she "got" the single when it started to get airplay on New York Top 40 radio. I don't think she bought this single the day it was released, but she got it some time this month way back when for both my sister and I.

I am proud to say that I still have the record, and its picture sleeve is displayed here--and yes, the record still plays.

Back to Peter, Micky, Mike and Davy ... as much as the music world put them down way back when, they were almost the "little engine that could" in a way, never letting the critics take away any of their gusto.

2016 is different than 1966, and in today's world, the music establishment has kind of gone the Monkees' way, heralding them as a groundbreaking act, certainly setting the pace for the music business and the way acts are handled and promoted.

To that, the Monkees must tip their caps to the Beatles and even further back, to Elvis Presley, because without these two acts, the Monkees would have never existed, and that leads to the second topic I would like to speak about today, another anniversary that happened yesterday.

I remember that 39 years ago, in 1977, I was working as a part-time security guard at a supermarket in the Green Acres Mall, Valley Stream, New York. I had just left work one afternoon, got into my car, and as still is the norm, the radio went on with the car for my trip back home.

I was listening to WNEW-FM, then the pre-eminent rock station in the country. They played everything from A (C/DC) to Z (Z Top), and everything in between.

I got in the car, turned on the ignition, and an Elvis Presley song came on the radio, which, although not a regular occurrence on WNEW-FM, did happen on occasion, in particular when it tied into something else.

I don't remember the song, but I thought nothing of it.

Then, another Elvis song came on, and I still didn't think much of it, but then another, and another.

Perhaps they played the song that is in the picture sleeve I am displaying here, I honestly don't remember.

I figured something was up, and then, Scott Muni, the station's top disk jockey, came on the air and announced just like this, "The King is gone."

Elvis died 39 years ago yesterday, and without his success, rock music probably would have been nothing more than a fad.

Sure, there were others before him--like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and the like--but Elvis, with his good looks, satiny voice and rock and roll swagger--brought this music to the masses in a way the others could not do for a variety of reasons.

Elvis Presley was the man, still is, and when he passed away, it was as if an old friend had left us, one that we didn't check in with often, but who was still a big part of our lives--whether we knew it or not.

Funny, I had just purchased his then new single, "Way Down," which I thought was the best thing he had released in ages, and it was slowly moving up the Hot 100 when he died. It became his last major hit.

So yes, yesterday was a historic day, and I could have held off the "diarrhea of the mouth" stuff until today.

But let me conclude this Rant by telling you about another "mouth" thing, but of a different color, let's say.

I had another root canal yesterday, my second in two weeks, and I still don't have the crown on my tooth. I was told it will take two more dentist visits to get this done.

I am in pain, my mouth is killing me, both on the left and right sides. I feel like my entire body is off kilter.

But I guess I will survive.

What else can I do? I go back next Monday, and then hopefully sometime quickly after that, and I just hope that this thing gets fixed.

I could say "woe is me," and I just did, and I really don't have the proper segueway to glide from the Monkees to Elvis to my teeth, but just let's say that I will quote Dr. Smith from the "Lost In Space" TV show about my situation:

"The pain, the pain."

Where else can you find talk about the Monkees, Elvis Presley, Dr. Smith and root canals in one column?

Yes, you are at the right place.

Maybe one day, I will look back at yesterday as not only the anniversaries of the Monkees and Elvis, but of the last time I had a root canal (although you can bet that it probably isn't the last time).

Speak to you tomorrow, if I can move my fingers to do so.