The other day, I started and ended a post with a song; a post that was a requiem for a number of things that we’ve lost. Here are some more recent losses of interest… beginning with a very timely song:
The eastern world it is exploding
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill but not for votin’
You don’t believe in war but whats that gun you’re totin’?
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’
But you tell me
Over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction
Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away
There’ll be no one to save with the world in a grave
Take a look around you boy, it’s bound to scare you boy
And you tell me
Over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction
Yeah my blood’s so mad feels like coagulating
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth it knows no regulation
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’
And you tell me
Over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction
Many of you will remember the version of that song performed by the Turtle (a group from Westchester HS). The song was written by P.F. Sloan, who recently passed away. Sloan also wrote another song that encapsulated the era, especially if you watched “The Prisoner”: “Secret Agent Man”.
💀
The second death of note is Carol Doda. Next to Gypsy Rose Lee, Doda is one of the most famous strippers out there. Quoting the obituary: «“San Francisco history is made up of characters, and Carol certainly was one of those,” said Charlotte Shultz, chief of protocol for San Francisco. “She changed Broadway and made news around the world. People said, ‘Only in San Francisco,’ and we didn’t mind people saying that.”» Doda created the first topless dancing act of widespread note in America. So many customers packed her club that Doda spent $1,500 to boost her bust size from 34B to 44DD through silicone injection, which was then a new technique. It was painful, she said, but the results were very popular. Doda said she never suffered health complications. At the height of her fame, Doda’s breasts were dubbed “the New Twin Peaks of San Francisco.” At one point they were insured for $1.5 million with Lloyd’s of London.
💀
The last death of note is Gene Amdahl. You might not recognize the name now, but Amdahl was the architect of the IBM/360 and IBM/370 series of computers; he later went on to create his own company making IBM mainframe knockoffs. My encounter with Amdahl — the company, not the man — was when I was team leader for the Amdahl UTS/MLS B1 Unix effort back in the 1990s.
