Simon and Garfunkle were American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkle. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits, including The Sound of Silence, Mrs. Robinson, and Bridge Over Troubled Water, reached number one on singles charts worldwide. Their harmonies were awesome! Simon and Garfunkel had a troubled relationship, leading to artistic disagreements and their breakup in 1970. By the late 1960s, they had become the folk establishment, a gateway act to the weirder, harsher, more complex folkies of the 60s counterculture. Simon and Garfunkel had a troubled relationship, leading to artistic disagreements and their breakup in 1970. Simon & Garfunkel won 7 Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
And I had to add this one, which maybe a whole lotta people don’t recognize: Runaway by Del Shannon. It was definitely a song of my youth! Charles Weedon Westover, better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his number-one Billboard hit Runaway.
The brilliant opening chords, the haunting keyboard motif, the tortured vocal with its unforgettable falsetto, and the striking lyrics combined to make “Runaway” a pop classic of any period. It was written by Shannon himself with Max Crook, an important technical pioneer. He invented the Musitron, an electronic keyboard that gave space-age sound effects to popular music decades before the synthesizer.
Boosted by Shannon’s appearance on American Bandstand, the song charged up the Billboard charts, selling as many as 80,000 copies a day. It hit No. 1 in late April and stayed there for a month. Billboard later named it the Song of the Year.
In 1999, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You can tell how old this song is from the video, specifically the dancers! But this was a song that we used to play while we cruised the road between Plymouth and Kingston, stopping for something to eat at a drive-in restaurant! Ok, so I’m old.
I love Simon and Garfunkel, and I remember Runaway as well and enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing some more gems with us, Noelle.
Thanks, Olga. I am taking a break next week for a beach trip, but my grandson (age 3) is into rock and roll and has some suggestions for the next post!
I like many Simon and Garfunkel songs such as Bridge over Trouble Water but if I had to choose one it would be The Boxer. I love the way their lyrics have such a strong storyline, thanks Noelle for sharing.
It was a hard choice of which song of theirs to choose but I wanted something a little faster.
A great collection of music, Noelle.
There wasn’t much to choose from in music or television when/where I grew up. The “powers that be” were really into censorship. So I really enjoyed it when they did “oldies” programs on the radio. I liked the music to Runaway, and I was infatuated with the story it told. Hugs.
Thanks, Teagan. I was lucky to be able to watch Bandstand on the afternoons when I was home (not many since I was a three-season athlete). My folks didn’t mind because I always got my homework done!