The Recession of 1958. Okay, it was fifty years ago. Hardly anyone remembers it - I don't remember it all that well because I was only 7 at the time. But I do know it caused my family to pick up stakes in Detroit and move to the balmier climes of Southern California, where opportunity was rumored to be falling from trees like navel oranges.

A lot of parallels have been drawn between the 1958 economic downturn and the one we're sweating out now. It was sharp, fast and scary - much like the one now. It came at a time when all indicators pointed to the economy being sound. Well . . . .maybe not the same. The big difference between the Recession of 1958 and one now is the world in which it took place. In 1958 there was no such thing as corporate mergers, leveraged buyouts, predator lending - credit cards only existed in the realm of The Diners Club. Our entire financial system was different - there were also a lot less people on the planet.

I do remember that it was possible to reinvent yourself and start a new life, as my father and millions of other blue collar workers had done. Trading in the auto industry for the new frontiers of aerospace and 78 degree days in January was a no-brainer.

The interesting parallel is how, even in 1958 the Auto industry was blamed for a lot of our economic ills. How a group of high school kids could grill an economic pundit from the Eisenhower Administration, wondering why Detroit couldn't make something America wanted is interesting from todays perspective. Even kids knew there was something wrong at the time.

Here is an extended excerpt from a radio program called "Youth Wants To Know" - a sort of Meet The Press where High School kids were calling the shots. The kids ask tough questions and the guest, Gabriel Hauge dodges and skirts pretty well. Makes for a refreshing break from the softball games we get on Sundays these days.

"Doctor Hauge, do you think that President Eisenhower was referring to Detroit cars when he recently said the products which consumers don't want were being jammed down their throats?"

Ouch!

("It seemed like such a good idea at the time.")

The Republican Revolution of 1994 didn't last long. It quickly went south when reports of in-fighting, tantrums and hypocrisy started coming to light. By the end of 1995 a full-on war of ideologies had erupted with President Clinton and Republicans in a standoff over the budget. Republicans blamed Clinton for grandstanding and not yielding to pressure. Clinton refused to sign a budget laced with Republican earmarks that cut Medicare, education and environmental funding. Both sides weren't ready to budge. The first of two shutdowns occurred on November 14, lasting a few days before an extension was signed. The second shutdown lasted longer, starting in December and going into January. By the time the crisis passed, there was enough animosity to keep people busy for years.

As a perplexing bonus, I've included a clip of the Singing Senators, who were recorded at a function the weekend just before the shutdown. Trent Lott, Larry Craig, John Ashcroft and James Jeffords proved once again that you really can fiddle while Rome is in the process of burning.

NPR - All Things Considered from November 11, 1995

With the endless drone of hate and vitriol spilling out of last weeks CPAC cabal, it's comforting (somewhat) to realize the amped-up hysteria and whining is just what history does, and does over and over. It's never civilized, it's never constructive and it is always based on fear and paranoia.

So it's mild comfort to know another President faced pretty much the same barrage. President Roosevelt faced familiar taunts and similar paranoid rants during his re-election campaign in 1936.

Here is an excerpt from the now-famous Madison Square Garden address of October 31, 1936.

"“We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace — business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. ... Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today.  They are unanimous in their hate for me. And I welcome their hatred!"

Words, words - pretty words. Somehow when the shift of power occurs all the pledges of goodwill fly out the window. When the Republicans took over the majority of the House and Senate in the 1994 mid-term election, the ironic sentiments were "come, let us reason together" and "pledges of bi-partisan support". References to FDR and The New Deal were bandied around like party favors. It was okay for the Republicans to be "big spirited" and "loving to the opposition" because it was okay to say those things - they were in power now and it was good to pretend there was unity everywhere.

The lofty ideals of the 104th Congress didn't last very long. By the end of 1995 the Government had ground to a halt. Newt Gingrich had quietly abandoned his pursuit of the 1996 Presidential race and government spending increased. The deregulation sped quickly - the fruits of those labors are haunting us today. Some legacies are just like the gift that keeps on giving.

And all those pretty words just ring forever . . .

"The greatest Democratic President of the 20th century, and in my judgement the greatest President of the 20th Century, said it right on March 4, 1933 when he stood in the braces at a time when a man who had polio . . .

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(Tom Waits - "Drunk On The Moon" - Live at the Troubadour, August 16, 1975)

Since putting up my Buffalo Springfield Hollywood Bowl clip last week, I've been making a lot of discoveries in the live performance department from my archive. Here's another one. This time via a night at the Troubadour, during one of my brief stints as a nightclub soundmixer. It's from August 16, 1975 - the quintessential Hot August Night. The second set - Waits is in great form - so is the audience.

Drunk On The Moon kind of sez it all . . . . .

("It is far easier to make war than to make peace" - Georges Clemenceau - French Statesman, 1919)

2009 is the year for a lot of milestone anniversaries. The Moon landing in 1969, Tiananmen Square, the reunification of Germany, the first open elections in Glasnost-era Soviet Union and Solidarity's sweep to power in Poland - all in 1989. Pretty impressive year.

Post World War 2 has always been a fascination with me. Certainly the Cold War, the dissolving of former colonies and the emergence of Nuclear Superpowers were major factors in shaping Foreign Policy as we know it today. The role of Secretary of State became much more prominent during this time, probably more than any other in our history. George C. Marshall is mostly remembered as the author of The Marshall Plan and the system of Foreign Aid in helping rehabilitate countries devastated by the war.

But antagonisms between the Soviet Union and the former Allies began pretty much from the get-go, when the question of what to do about Germany came up.

Germany was unified in 1989 - it didn't happen overnight. Beginning in 1947, as this clip from Marshall's return from a failed London Conference points out, The Soviet Union was dead against any idea of unification. A stand which would eventually lead to the construction of the infamous Berlin Wall

The issue was simple - it was whether or not Germany was to continue divided, or whether the Allies could agree to recreate a unified Germany. Unless this could be achieved, all other questions relating to Germany would remain academic.

(Bob Packwood R-Oregon Alias: Mondo Johnson)

With all the current goings on with the Burris scandal, I was reminded that D.C. is just the place where scandal is the sort of "velcro suit" for odd behavior, odd ideas and perceived impunity.

I didn't single out the Bob Packwood sex scandal for any special focus. He sort of popped off the shelf as a reminder that scandals are a dime a dozen in the wonderful world of politics - DC is just rife with them, the heady atmosphere of power is an aphrodisiac for some, a "gentlemen, start your engines" for others. Bob and his wandering hands is just one of thousands.

And we are there.

"I am accused of kissing women . . .on occasion of perhaps over eagerly kissing women, and that is the crime. Not drugging, not robbing . . .kissing"

Um . . yeah, well, 10,000 pages of "just kissing" he forgets to mention the groping, fondling, stalking, "not-taking-no-for-an-answer" situations that kept popping over a period of twenty or so years.

When I first heard then-Senator Barack Obama speak at the 2004 Democratic convention, I was instantly reminded of another Presidential Candidate, Adlai Stevenson - a poised, articulate former Governor of Illinois who ran two unsuccessful bids for the Presidency. How, in our soundbite culture would a man like that have a chance today? Where flash and a certain low common denominator would win out over substance and inspiration. But the 1950's were filled with fear and paranoia; change was only beginning to creep out in pockets by way of the burgeoning Civil Rights movement and the looming Baby-Boom generation. Stevenson comes to mind as the Right Man at the Wrong Time. The difference today is our fear and paranoia comes as the result of 8 years of a failed Bush Administration based on deceit and destruction, masking itself as flash and "gee-whiz" charm.

So I guess it comes as no surprise that what most people remember Stevenson now for is the famous "shoe photograph", and that perhaps the coincidence between the Obama shoe and the Stevenson shoe is more than meets the eye.

Here is an excerpt from February 4, 1956. When Stevenson began his 1956 campaign in Fresno California as a reminder that it's perfectly okay to have a brain.

There are two ways, it seems to me, of looking at America and its future and that the role of government in meeting it. Yes, and in shaping that future. One is to look at today with frequent side glances at yesterday. To think in terms of hanging on to what we have and of staying where we are.

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(The bread was okay, but the ads were priceless and were on every bus, subway, construction site and billboard in New York in 1964)

One of the perqs of having a sound archive is the effortless ability to pull things at random, on a whim, and just listen. As someone pointed out to me, there's history all over the place, and no matter how inconsequential any particular day seems to be, something is always happening.

Case in point - I decided to randomly grab a news broadcast from February 20, and the first one to fall into my hands was from 1964. Not an earth shattering day in the big scheme of things, but a day where events happened.

This newscast, an hourly from ABC Radio starts off with the Civil War in Cyrpus, the ongoing dispute between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots with the British Army stuck somewhere in the middle. This particular day also sees a ceasefire, which is declared as the broadcast is happening. The next item deals with the border dispute between Algeria and Morocco.. It had been a hotbed of violence and unrest since the late 1950's and a key element in the continuing Independence movement on the African continent. Then things turn domestic with the New Hampshire Republican Primaries between Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller. The broadcast winds up with a piece on the newly installed monarch, King Constantine of Greece.

Just a typical day - like all typical days. And all typical days are loaded with history.

The broadcast is run complete and in its entirety as it was broadcast with no edits. I say that because in 1964 Cigarette advertising was still going strong and the jingles are catchy. This one is for Camels. If you find it offensive, it's only the first 45 seconds of the newscast, so you can forward through it.

Digging in the vault - you just never know what you're going to find!

I ran across this tape the other day and had almost completely forgotten about it. April 29, 1967 - KHJ Appreciation Night at The Hollywood Bowl. Buffalo Springfield was the opening act with Brenda Holloway and The Seeds filling out the bill. Buffalo Springfield were just at the point of breaking into the charts. On this particular night, they premiered their latest single "Mr. Soul", a song that would later become something of an anthem for a lot of people, myself included. I remember seeing Buffalo Springfield play at my high school dance when I was a sophomore. A lot of bands did that at the time - it was good exposure and the audience was a sure bet. One of the bright sides of being a teenager in Los Angeles at the time.

One note - there is a good reason why this recording hasn't been reissued in any of the Springfield packages. The sound, although from the board, just isn't all that good. The vocals distort and there is a high-pitched electronic squeal throughout (which I spent hours getting rid of, thanks to ProTools!) But there's no way around distortion aside from trying to minimize it. Ultimately though, this is a historic, never-before-heard recording. An important document of a defining time in music. It's also a tribute to the work of Dewey Martin, whose drumming is a powerhouse standout on this track.