Good morning star shine! For some reason songs from Hair are stuck in my head… hmmm, wonder why? Particularly one mentioned by our Fitzg. So, Fitg, this is *your* fault. Let’s see what the venerable Wiki has to say:
“Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Radoand Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement. The musical’s profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy. The musical broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of “rock musical”, using a racially integrated cast, and inviting the audience onstage for a “Be-In” finale. Hair tells the story of the “tribe”, a group of politically active, long-haired hippies of the “Age of Aquarius” living a bohemian life in New York City and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War.
After an Off-Broadway debut in October 1967 at Joseph Papp’s Public Theater and a subsequent run in a midtown discothèque space, the show opened on Broadway in April 1968 and ran for 1,750 performances. Simultaneous productions in cities across the United States and Europe followed shortly thereafter, including a successful London production that ran for 1,997 performances. Since then, numerous productions have been staged around the world, spawning dozens of recordings of the musical, including the 3 million-selling original Broadway cast recording. Some of the songs from its score became Top 10 hits, and a feature film adaptation was released in 1979. A Broadway revival opened on March 31, 2009, earning strong reviews and winning the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for best revival of a musical. In 2008, Time magazine wrote, “Today Hair seems, if anything, more daring than ever.”
Bet you didn’t know all that. Here I was confusing it with Oh! Calcutta!, another musical infamous for full frontal nudity. I recall wanting to see Hair as a child but my parents heard about the naked cast climbing over the seats, so that was vetoed.
A popular group in the 1960’s, the 5th Dimension recorded two songs together from the musical, Aquarius and Let in the Sunshine. Released in 1969, the single held the number one position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and was certified Platinum. Wow, I feel old.
Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EegRh8Z4H-o