1960smusic.net

About Charlie

I'm Charlie, and I write 1960smusic.net. Home is Blackfalds, Alberta. Retirement has finally given me the hours to spend on something I've cared about all my life: music.

Why the 1960s

I was a kid through the 1960s. My own record-buying years came later: I finished high school in 1975, spent 1975 to 1977 in trade school, and was 22 by the time the 70s closed out.

That timing is exactly why this decade pulls at me. The music I claimed as my own in the 70s grew straight out of what happened in the 60s. Digging into the 1960s is a way of going back to the roots of the songs I grew up loving.

The range is what keeps me hooked. In ten short years the decade went from Brill Building pop and surf records to Motown, the British Invasion, folk rock, psychedelia and Nashville country. Plenty of the artists who shaped popular music for the next fifty years started out here.

Chart peaks and sales numbers have their place on this site, and you'll find them. What interests me more is the story around a record: how it came together, the people who made it, and why listeners still care about it. Whether the 60s were your years or you're hearing these songs for the first time, I hope you find something here worth playing loud.

Away from the music

Music is central to who I am, and it runs through our family as well. My wife Natalie and I share our home with our dog, Gracie. My favourite days are the ones spent with our grown kids, our grandkids, and the rest of our family and friends. When I'm not writing, I'm usually camping, fishing, or driving somewhere I haven't been yet.

Why I build websites

Building sites and writing for them has become something of a fixation for me. I like figuring out how search, SEO and AI tools actually work, then trying those lessons out for real. Learning something and then using it is a big part of who I am, and this site is one of the places I get to do that.

How pages here are researched and written

Articles on 1960smusic.net draw on chart archives, record credits, interviews and other published sources. I use AI tools to help with research and first drafts. Every page is then fact-checked, edited and approved by me before it goes live. Anything I can't confirm gets left out. The full editorial approach is on the About page.

My other music sites