Society & Culture

What Do Critics Know?

While some critics hated it, ‘Sugar Shack’ was a monster number one single

Published

2 years ago

June 26, 2021

Jeff Davidson

When I think of the song Sugar Shack (1963), I’m reminded of the Bloomfield High (CT) class of 1965, of which my late sister Judy was a member. The song had a very light touch, captivating lyrics, and conveyed instant nostagia that made you want to listen to it over and over again.

The Class of 1965 members were sophomores and juniors during the time that Sugar Shack aired on the radio most frequently. It was a special era, before President Kennedy was shot, and before we knew that political dissension could be so entrenched.

To This Day

Even now, 58 years later, the song replayed, gently burrows into the caverns of your mind where wonder and love and possibility reign supreme.

Online review remarked: “Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs had a monster number one single in late 1963 with ‘Sugar Shack,’ a light pop/rocker dominated by the vibrating sound of a primitive precursor to the synthesizer, the Solovox.”

The song was singled out for special venom by author and critic Greil Marcus in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. He who called it “the worst excuse … that rock and roll had yet produced.”

The public thoroughly disagreed, sending it to #1 and, surprisingly, Sugar Shack also topped the R&B charts.”

– – – – –

We'd love to hear your thoughts about this article. Please take a minute to share them in the comment section by clicking here. Or carry the conversation over on your favorite social network by clicking one of the share buttons below.

Related Topics:Breathing Space Featured Jeff Davidson

Jeff Davidson

Jeff Davidson is the world's only holder of the title "The Work-Life Balance Expert®" as awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He is the premier thought leader on work-life balance, integration, and harmony. Jeff speaks to organizations that seek to enhance their overall productivity by improving the effectiveness of their people. He is the author of Breathing Space, Simpler Living, Dial it Down, and Everyday Project Management. Visit www.BreathingSpace.com for more information on Jeff's keynote speeches and seminars, including: Managing the Pace with Grace® * Achieving Work-Life Balance™ * Managing Information and Communication Overload®

Join the conversation!

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Up Next

The Sinister Domino Effect that is coming next

Don't Miss

Brandeis University is training students to be Weaklings and Cowards

Family

Student Drinking and Drug Abuse on Campus is Over the Top

What kind of society, de facto, condones such reckless behavior?

Published

20 hours ago

November 30, 2023

Jeff Davidson

The senseless loss of five university students in a house fire has stung my community. These were top students, accomplished individuals, and potential leaders.

Someone has got to ask the tough questions right now, while the pain of their loss is intense. In what kind of society do presumably the best and brightest engage in highly questionable activities? An all-night party? Started at what hour? Preceded by what? To end when?

How much alcohol flows? How many drugs are dispensed? Obtained from and by whom? Ingested by whom? How many cigarettes are lit? How many butts wantonly burn down to nothing? What else is lit and smoked?

Foolish Behavior Condoned

The largest and toughest question of all behind these is what kind of society, de facto, condones such foolish and, in too many tragic instances, reckless behavior? Drunk students falling out of windows to their death, engaged in chugging contests until they vomit, on weeknights no less, walking the campus in a state of high lethargy? Being rushed to emergency wards?

Sure, install the proper sprinkler and alarm systems, but acknowledge the ruthless reality that confronts us. Colleges today are the stomping grounds for legions of students who drink and take drugs with abandon. They sit like zombies in morning classes if they can make it out of bed at all. Professors pretend that it is not happening. University administrators accept such behavior as ‘part of the times.’

Such phenomena are more wide sweeping than anyone cares to admit. They are testament to the abandonment of standards, the ‘everything is allowed’ overly permissive culture in which no student is safe.

Break the Silence

If the students who died were among the finest people that communities engender, what does their loss portend for others? And when will responsible adults break the silence about the utter absurdity with which too many students live their lives?

– – – – –

Faith

Here’s Why Satan – and Democrats – are Obsessed with Sex

This is what the bible says about sex…

Published

1 week ago

November 21, 2023

Chris Widener

Are you a conservative business person? Then check out the Red Referral Network and partner with Dinesh D’Souza by clicking the banner below:

PolitiCrossing Founder Chris Widener takes us through a scriptural understanding of exactly why Satan and Democrats are obsessed with sex and pushing the issue so hard on our country.