The music LIVES, it never died.
I couldn't agree more. This is what I said about it on "my" other board:
It's interesting how different people view that period lasting from after the Rock'n'Roll contingent got drafted, found God, married their 13-year-old-cousin or bought it in an air crash up to the time the "blessed" British Invasion hit the States big time. For some the years 1959-1963 were a Doldrums of sorts, an interval between acts with a couple of players holding the stage. For others (including yours truly) it was a time of pop democracy which ended when a certain group collared all five top spots on the American charts.
To the BBs, Roy Orbison and the Four Seasons you can add a string of Motown hits and the best of Phil Spector, not to mention the New York Girl Groups and a whole raft of great one-hit wonders during those years. Dave Marsh in his book
Louie Louie mentions only a few solid Top 10 tunes from that time to prove his point, never mind the less bouncy stuff: "Stagger Lee", "Kansas City", "Only the Lonely", "Quarter to Three", "Heat Wave", "What'd I Say", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "The Wanderer", "Shout", "Party Lights", "He's So Fine", "Duke of Earl", "Stay", "Surfin' USA", "Blue Moon", "Hit the Road, Jack", "Do You Love Me", "Green Onions", "Wipe Out", "The Loco-Motion"...
Another reason for my enthusiasm for those years of American music is that we in the UK had already had a year of British Beat by then (the end of '63) and for UK fans of US music it was beginning to get up our noses, especially at school where Beatlemania held sway and you professed your liking for the Routers or the Chantays at your peril...