Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Category: 60s/70s rock +/- pop

"Dimension 5ive"
Zeroto180

“Dimension 5ive”: Sunshine Pop’s Progressive Peak?

There’s something special about the song, “Dimension 5ive” by The 5th Dimension.   Lush vocals from start to finish — and yet it’s technically not a “vocal” tune, as there are no lyrics.  Yet, neither is it an instrumental. This song is the closing track on the 5th Dimension’s 1970 album,

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"Fastest Guitar Alive"
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Roy Orbison (is) The Fastest Guitar Alive

For a modest sum, I picked up this Roy Orbison soundtrack for the 1967 motion picture – Fastest Guitar Alive – and was surprised by the quality of songs from start to finish. Cover art by Frank Frazetta All ten songs on the album are Roy Orbison originals – seven

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"Stones Jazz"
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Joe Pass: Unlikely Mid-60s Stones Fan

If you search the web for information about a 1967 album on the World Pacific label by jazz guitar great, Joe Pass – The Stones Jazz – you will generally see uniform agreement that this album was recorded on July 20, 1966.  I love that:  one day to record an

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"1432 Franklin Pike Circle Hero"
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The Other Ray Charles

I picked up this album primarily due to its cover art — which suggests a Peter Max/Yellow Submarine sensibility that really captivated me as a kid — but also due to this project being associated with the legendary singer, songwriter, and musician who famously signed with Atlantic Records in the

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"Mr. Sun Mr. Moon"
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Q: Who’s the Swingin’est Dolly?

Answer:  Swingy. I picked up a flexi-disc at the local thrift store, just like the ones kids used to cut out of the back of cereal boxes back when “Sugar Sugar” by The Archies was burning up the charts (click here for a discography of “cereal box records” by those

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"Tint Of Blue"
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Pioneering Pop: The Melodica on Record

July 2020 Update! Click here for the latest info Earliest Melodica Recording ’64 You may not know the melodica by name, but you might have seen one or, more likely, heard one at some point in your life.  Essentially, the melodica is a wind-powered keyboard that sounds much like a

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"He's So Fine"
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In Hindsight, the Lawsuit Was Inevitable

One of my favorite (and affordable) ways of discovering music is trawling for vinyl at local secondhand shops.  Of course, you have to wade through a lot of Andre Kostelanetz and Percy Faith to find something worthwhile, but that’s part of the fun – and adventure.  It’s not uncommon to

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