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1960s Music & Lifestyles

WALLS is written in a format I’d discovered worked well in distilling complicated political eras when I wrote Suspect Red. The novel spans a momentous year of increasing friction between the United States and Soviet Russia that leads up to the communists’ cunning scheme for the Berlin Wall.  Each chapter covers a month’s time and opens with news headlines, photos, and quotes from those real-life four weeks. Adding a factual photo essay created a powerful backdrop of historical context, that punctuates without interrupting a fast-paced plot and the harrowing conundrums facing my teenage characters.

Those chapter-opening primary documents are potent, quick-hit revelations of what life was like in the divided city of Berlin (and the United States) in 1960-61. The images are so striking and the information eye-opening. So, I don’t want to dilute their impact here! But here are a playlist of songs and a few links by category to drop you into the era:

Top song hits of 1960 and 1961 (when I could, I’ve found American Bandstand videos so you can see dancing too)

Let’s Do the Twist:  youtu.be/pHGXwQeUk7M

Teen Angel   youtu.be/22oY2CuNCO4

Are You Lonesome Tonight?  youtu.be/LF5u7b8pAYQ

Stay youtu.be/o1Z_hskvz1M

Will You Love Me Tomorrow youtu.be/PAxb1vnb520

Stand By Me  youtu.be/TYDkQgKgghc

O Dio Mio  youtu.be/2f01-Oy0C6E

Runaway   youtu.be/wSWMJxbxj7c

Cathy’s Clown  youtu.be/z3-E9JebDtU

Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool youtu.be/8a5imvoRZ7E

All I Could Do is Cry youtu.be/8sMb7QP78Vw

Breakin’ Up is Hard to Do youtu.be/tbad22CKlB4

Crazy youtu.be/MbnrdCS57d0

Please Mr. Postman youtu.be/425GpjTSlS4

Hello Mary-Lou youtu.be/zLkCWT2neuI

Take Good Care of My Baby youtu.be/Ptuj7JzNz94

Who Put the Bomp youtu.be/lXmsLe8t_gg

It’s Gonna Work out Fine youtu.be/Rj9Um8T88KM

Blue Moon youtu.be/qoi3TH59ZEs

(Here’s the East German answer to American “wiggle hip” (see my section East Berlin for more about life in the GDR)—the Lipsi: youtu.be/0Qbc9VUBy_8

 

Events & News

historic-newspapers.com/blog/1960-timeline/

thepeoplehistory.com/1960.html

thepeoplehistory.com/1961.html

thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1960-1964-45443

mrpopculture.com/pop-culture-in-review-for-the-year-1960/

mrpopculture.com/pop-culture-in-review-for-the-year-1961/

pbs.org/opb/thesixties/timeline/timeline_text.html

People:

biographyonline.net/people/people-of-the-1960s.html

Top TV shows:

thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/1960-61-top-30-ratings.html

Fashion:

mcny.org/exhibition/mod-new-york

medium.com/@kalyanii8927/fashion-history-the-look-of-the-1960s-292958b78951

Ads:

saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/12/vintage-ads-popular-presents-from-the-1960s/

Commercials from 1961: youtu.be/rDiEr31QMFU

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