1981: Connections & Breakups

In this inaugural episode of Season 3 of American 100, we get a slightly adjusted format for our slightly adjusted times. Grief is the theme. Aretha Franklin & Dolly Parton provide the lens through which we will be examining this process that we’ve all been dealing with maybe a little bit more than normal lately.

We’ll be right back! But there’s plenty for you to do till then. Micah explains. In the meantime, always keep a song in your heart!

We would see the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy; the Tet Offensive would begin in Vietnam; and comedian Will Smith would be born. It’s 1968, and both Percy Sledge and Cliff Nobles would show up on the American Billboard Hot 100. We might’ve been protesting the Vietnam War, but we aren’t protesting this week’s episode of American 100 with Micha McKee and trusty robot sidekick, Rando!

President Reagan dies, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban expires, and both LL Cool J and DIDO show up on the Billboard Hot 100! It’s 2004, friends, and Friends isn’t the only thing everybody’s talking about. 

Idi Amin takes control of Uganda, Charles Manson and three of his followers receive the death penalty, and Jim Morrison is found dead in a bathtub in Paris. Also Matthews Southern Comfort and The Grass Roots hold places on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s 1971, and it’s not just war in Vietnam that’s raging! Join Micah McKee and trusty robotic sidekick, Rando, for this installment of American 100!

The Black Panthers are founded, The Beatles are bigger than Jesus and Vietnam rages on in the tumultuous year of of our focus this week. Also, The Cyrkle and Ray Conniff would find themselves on the Billboard Hot 100. Join our host Micah McKee, his trusty robot sidekick, Rando, and special guest, Keith Mannina for a trip back to 1966 to talk about a couple of the less likely tunes to make the charts on this installment of American 100!

The DeLorean hits the markets; President Reagan appoints Sandra Day O’Conner, the first woman Supreme Court Justice; and the Columbia spacecraft is launched and safely returned. It’s 1981, of course, and both Barbara Streisand and Ronnie Milsap would hold places on the Billboard Hot 100. Join our host, Micah McKee, his trusty robot companion and special guest James Rose for this episode of American 100.

John Glenn would become the first American to orbit Earth; the Cuban Missile Crisis would threaten, once again, to plunge the planet into war; and Marylin Monroe would sing an especially concupiscent “Happy Birthday” to the leader of the free world, John F. Kennedy. Also, in 1962, The Shirelles and Sam Cooke would make the Billboard Year End Hot 100.

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper would be killed in an infamous plane crash; the Guggenheim would open; and both Alaska and Hawaii would become states. In 1959 the Hot 100 would feature The Fiestas and proto-surf rockers, Jan and Dean. Join Micah McKee and trusty robot sidekick, Rando, for yet another philosophical jaunt into the past to examine the most important and puzzling metric for what Americans want in their earholes! This is American 100.