IT: The History of Pop

XM Radio is (as we speak) playing every top 40 hit ever on their various "decade" stations.  They've been doing it for a couple of weeks already, but They're currently in the fall of '68 so the good music is just about to start.

Interspersed between the music are newsclips and other pop culture tidbits.  They just played a campaign jingle for Nixon while I was writing the above.  It's a boon for guys like me, who have an interest in modern history and like to get a feel for the zeitgeist of a given era.  For instance, when you think of November '68, the height of the civil rights movement and the unrest over Vietnam, protest songs automatically spring to mind—but Andy Williams also had a hit with the Battle Hymn of the Republic.  That was also the dawn of disco and glam rock, two forms that most people equate with the late '70s. 

I tend to equate my geek status with the music I like.  Namely for me, Progressive Rock and New Wave.  All the stuff they don't play on the "classic rock" stations anymore.  So I eagerly await the next two weeks, The '70s and '80s.

If you don't have and XM subscription, you can still listen online at AOL.  It's FREE!  How about that, AOL is still good for something...