What song brings back your early model rocketry memories?

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milehigh

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OK, you old fart BARs...

When most of us got started in rocketry during the 60s-70s era, there was a lot of cool music being played on the radio and on our (or our parents’) old phonograph record players.

What song brings you back to your early rocket-building days?

For me it is the Hollies “The Air That I Breathe”. That song was playing constantly on my old AM radio while I was in my basement bedroom cutting, sanding, and gluing rocket parts.

Today, if I hear that song, it definitely whisks me right back to 1974.

Now where did I put the nose cone to that pre-Damon Starblazer?.....
 
I'm not quite that old, but in high school in the 80's I was in AFJROTC and our Rocketry club.

We had a payload rocket and a mouse.

So, the mousetronaut became Major Tom, and every time I hear Peter Schilling I remember that mouse, his 7 successful flights before retirement, and building and launching rockets with my friends.

4...3...2...1...Earth below us, drifting, falling...
 
Well I don't think it's gonna be a long long time before someone mentions 1972's "Rocket Man" by Elton John.

[video=youtube;-LX7WrHCaUA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LX7WrHCaUA[/video]
 
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Ok, you guys made me do some searching to figure out what that song is in my head when I start building rockets.

Finally figured it out: With Your Love, by Jefferson Starship (appropriately enough, right?) It seemed to be on my parents' stereo a lot when I was a kid building model airplanes, rockets, and generally hacking things together out of balsa.
 
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I go back to the very beginning of it all. I witnessed Sputnik traveling across the skies back in 1957. From the time model rockets were introduced via Popular Science [you could order from add] I Was hooked....still am.

The adventure most desired by myself & friends at the time was to fly to the moon.

This one says it all for us old-guys from back in the day. What a great way to "go out" in style!

From the movies Space Cowboys....... "Fly me to the moon"

[video=youtube;T_lVI9CjsaE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_lVI9CjsaE&list=RDT_lVI9CjsaE[/video]
 
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Hoy Cow, Jim- I thot I was a geezer! I remember a cold crisp night and was just jazzed to see Sputnik! One of my Dad's squadron mates named his kid Sputnik after he was born the same night we saw it. Poor guy! Can't pick just one good old song from the 60's-I built to all of them! Obviously the best songs came on the AM transistor radio!
 
I can. Sink the Bismarck, Spring Time In Alaska. Whispering Pines and some thing to do with New Orleans...:smile: Yea, I'm old!
 
When I was in my early teens we took a vacation to Colorado. It was a driving trip from Illinois. I convinced my parents to stop by Estes. Anyway, Copacaban by Barry Manilow must have been a popular song at the time because I remember it be played often on our car radio. It's not a song that I like, but whenever I hear it I think of going to Penrose, CO.
 
From my first foray into mid-power sometime in 1995, the tune I most remember humming and singing while building/flying was AC/DC's 'Shook Me All Night Long'.

"She was a fast machine,
She kept her motor clean..."
 
None that make me think of rocketry, but plenty of GenX music I still really like.
 
I don't remember listening to music while building, but this was timely in '62.

Telstar

The Tornados:
[video=youtube;ryrEPzsx1gQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrEPzsx1gQ[/video]

The Ventures (I loved surf music and then came this band called the Beatles. The rest is history):
[video=youtube;D6DmtPQv7V8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6DmtPQv7V8[/video]
 
My first intro to Estes kits came from a kid in intermediate school around 1966, he had them all.
Don't recall any music other than top forty AM radio at that point, but a little later, there was a lot of great music in the sixties.... and during my first serious summer in the hobby building
kits:this album was on my playlist, and still brings back memories of working on scale Estes Honest John, Apollo Little Joe, Nike X and V-2.
Nothing to do with space or rockets, was just the background music to some long summer night building sessions, waiting for Elmers glue to dry.

Not too long after that, the post Woodstock era arrived and driving around in a '67 mustang during high school kinda took me on a different path from rockets.
For awhile.
Until the mighty D motor arrived.
BAR 1
Ahh, the Maxi Brute V-2.


[video=youtube;lteb--nvuyo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lteb--nvuyo[/video]

[video=youtube;J2CCfxiQ5QY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2CCfxiQ5QY[/video]
 
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That brings back memories.
In '68 my dad bought a '66 Imperial convertible for my mother (and me by default).
440 c.i. with positraction. At 5600 pounds it still could leave twin tire burns.
I guess with that mass something had to give.
The best thing was the passenger seat would lay back flat with the flip of a switch. Imagine the dating possibilities.
The first thing I did was install a 4-track tape player under dash and 2 4 x 10 speakers under the rear seat.

That's right - 4 track. The same format as 8-track which came within a year or so.

Anyway, to get to the point, I had a copy of Disraeli Gears and would drive around playing it at full 'eleven'. I'm sure I came across as an a-hole teen to adults.
 
That brings back memories.
In '68 my dad bought a '66 Imperial convertible for my mother (and me by default).
440 c.i. with positraction. At 5600 pounds it still could leave twin tire burns.
I guess with that mass something had to give.
The best thing was the passenger seat would lay back flat with the flip of a switch. Imagine the dating possibilities.
The first thing I did was install a 4-track tape player under dash and 2 4 x 10 speakers under the rear seat.
That's right - 4 track. The same format as 8-track which came within a year or so.

Anyway, to get to the point, I had a copy of Disraeli Gears and would drive around playing it at full 'eleven'. I'm sure I came across as an a-hole teen to adults.

Yes, dem was the days!

Telstar is still one of my favorite space tunes.
In case you have not seen it, the Joe Meeks story was making the rounds years ago among the Mellotron/Prog Rock - blog folks.
One of them posts here on TRF....we were sending a copy around to each other for viewing - fortunately - I think it is available for purchasing now.
Quite a story, one that ended tragically I'm sorry to say.

[video=youtube;AkZH9OeGkUA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkZH9OeGkUA[/video]
 
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..and if you like the sound of a surf guitar, I recommend these guys:
This is what I listen to during my long build session now...LOL.

[video=youtube;Z3OVNgWcGTk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3OVNgWcGTk[/video]

[video=youtube;bHRrQTCmru8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHRrQTCmru8[/video]

[video=youtube;22J7TjQID6Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22J7TjQID6Q[/video]

[video=youtube;_qdX-zLqWeE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qdX-zLqWeE[/video]
 
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Not long ago model rockets but........
We drove to a New York LDRS from Phoenix and the whole way we listened to XM radio Margaritaville. It seemed like they played "Grapefruit, Juicy Fruit" every hour. When I hear it I think of the trip.

M
 
[video=youtube;ve4kcWuQYsU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve4kcWuQYsU[/video]
 
I can. Sink the Bismarck, Spring Time In Alaska. Whispering Pines and some thing to do with New Orleans...:smile: Yea, I'm old!

Would that be The Battle of New Orleans?
I remember that one.....when I was about 5 yo.
Johnny Horton...he also did North to Alaska.


[video=youtube;9CnPv_1SVh0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CnPv_1SVh0[/video]

Circa 1958?

Did they have model rockets then?
 
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[video=youtube_share;1hKSYgOGtos]https://youtu.be/1hKSYgOGtos[/video]

lol I launched my first rocket in 1999. A Generic E2X I made in elementary science class.
 
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