Get Down, Get Funky with Biff
There’s something I have not shared with my readers until now and there’s no way to hide it any longer. You see, well...it’s because…gee, do I really have to do this? Oh, all right, I guess there’s no way to avoid it. Here goes. “Hi…my name is Biff…and I was…a disc jockey. Yep, yes, yeah…a disc jockey. I played Rock ‘n Roll on the radio.To borrow a phrase from my youth, I was one of the ‘boss jocks playing the boss hits that the boss told me to play!’ Get down…get funky!”There…I’ve admitted it. I spent  ten years as a disc jockey. I played the great and the not-so-great. I played those who ended up with careers that never ended, and the one-hit wonders who were heard…and then heard no more! From Elvis to Motown, from the Beatles to Nashville, from Neil Diamond to the Righteous Brothers, from the Beach Boys to the Drifters, and on and on, I was privileged to play the hits. They were new when I played them, and now they’re called oldies. I have a host of favorites and listing them would take a long time, so, I won’t do that. However, I will tell a story...or two. One night, my girlfriend (now wife) and I went out for an evening of dancing at a roadside club. There was a group on the bandstand that night that I had never heard before. They were absolutely fantastic. Turned out to be a yet-to-be-known group called the Temptations! (My Girl, Get Ready, You’re my Everything, I Wish it Would Rain, etc., etc.)
A few years later, another disc jockey and I spent an evening with Davy, Peter, Micky and Michael, enjoying the debut of their new movie at a private theater in Philadelphia. You might have known them as The Monkees. Their TV show was a hit from 1965 to 1971.
The turbulent times of that era gave birth to many things, good and bad. I’ll leave other stories for other times. However, as the decade ended, I moved on to do other things in the broadcasting industry. While one’s preferences are always subjective, I believe the “best” Rock ‘n Roll song came out in 1971. The lyrics of the song tell a story, and I like stories. Perhaps that is why I am a writer. Don McLean did the song titled American Pie. This iconic hit sums up the hopes, dreams, and despair of an America that was going through many changes, not the least of which were the divisions caused by the Vietnam War, and the clash of generations between Woodstock and mainstream America. “The times were a changing”with a “Thank You” to Bob Dylan.
It is my personal belief that music was the single most powerful force that helped to heal the separation between the races in America. After all, it was impossible to love the songs and hate the singers. As the hits of Motown swept over America, kids danced, and understanding and acceptance followed. It is appropriate to end this with part of a lyric from one of the great hits by the late Marvin Gaye, “Right on!” As to where music has led us today, well, I’ll leave that judgment up to you.