Today (March 15) in Classic Rock – in Limey-land, atleast

Before we talk about the music, lets take a brief look at some of our favourite people – The Limeys. By that, we mean the British. An island-based people of an enviably rich cultural heritage, an enviably rich royalty (well, its a different matter that they’re practically living off taxpayers’ money) as well as enviably rich dentists. Or atleast, the latter ought to be, given the sheer number of incidents we have seen in some of their… wait, MANY of their people.

A seafaring people since quite some time, they have been known to have one of the most disciplined naval forces of all time. Aren’t all navies supposed to be disciplined, you might ask? Yes, is the simple answer, but these people went that extra mile to ensure that all their seamen were issued a regular ration of limes, grapefruits and other fruits rich in Vitamin C, as a proactive means of keeping scurvy at bay. This wise idea, one which became celebrated in folklore as well as in actual history, has therefore led the British to be fondly refered to as ‘limeys’, based on their obscene addiction for all things citrusy.

Despite taking such measures, we continue to see numerous dental cases, some which ought to be featured in things like ‘Ripley’s believe it or not.‘ This makes us wonder, just how effective was their ‘proactive’ strategy in the first place? Oh wait, light bulbs suddenly start flashing, as you realize… it might just be genetic! Prevention may be better than the cure – but hey, no amount of orange marmalade is going to change the obtuse angles of their front teeth… well, so much the better for the dentists in Britain. But it still makes one think about how much lemonade and other goodies we could have enjoyed elsewhere…

ANYWAY… there is one consolation. Britain, after many centuries of systematic land grabbing (maybe they thought they should plant their lemony seeds in exotic climes?) and other things, DID actually reward the world with something very, VERY positive. MUSIC. GOOD MUSIC! And all this almost makes all their crimes, dental or otherwise, mildly tolerable, just like their accents (what came first, the stiff upper lip, or the overbite? Its like the chicken and the egg, all over again…).

So finally, onto music. March 15th is a very memorable day in music history. Worldwide. But right now, lets just show some love to the Limeys alone:

1964

The Rolling Stones kicked off a 58-date UK tour at the Invicta Ballroom in Chatham, Kent. Half the dates saw the Stones playing two shows in one evening.

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TWO SHOWS on the same night? Why don’t people do that anymore? Maybe because there are fewer dentists per capita, and appointment cancellations may actually cost you a pretty penny.

1967

The first session recording George Harrison‘s new song ‘Within You Without You’ took place at Abbey Road studios, London. George was the only Beatle to perform on this song, which was still called ‘Untitled‘. Harrison played the swordmandel and tamboura, Natver Soni played tabla, Amrat Gajjar played dilruba, PD Joshi played swordmandel.

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Any guesses on where the other Beatles were at the time? They could have been getting high… on lidocaine (a local anesthetic used by dentists).

1969

Cream started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their album ‘Goodbye‘.

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Sadly, this was their last album as a band.

1975

Led Zeppelin went to No.1 on the UK chart with the double album ‘Physical Graffiti.’ This album featured such timeless classics as “The Rover”, “In My Time Of Dying”… wait a minute, is there ANY song by them which isn’t a classic?

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Legend has it that the Kashmiris make really good dant-manjan. For those completely out of sync with their cultural roots, that roughtly means ‘tooth powder’ – this is the stuff that allows 90 year old peasants to retain their teeth and snap open sugarcane sticks with a simple bite.

1977

Pink Floyd played the first of six sold-out nights at Empire Pool, Wembley, London.

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Does this surprise us? No. The song ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond‘ is rumored to be a tribute to Syd Barrett. Since the late 60s, Barrett’s behaviour became increasingly erratic and unpredictable, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs. Sadly, nitrous oxide (laughing gas, often used by dentists) was not one of them.

1989

The Rolling Stones signed a $70 million (£40 million) contract to play 50 North American dates. It was the largest contract in rock history. For then atleast.

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Hmmm… considering that rehab is expensive, this kind of money doesn’t last very long. But wait, there’s something else that the Stones were probably thinking. North America had been long been experiencing an increasing influx of trained professionals from India. Specially in the life sciences field. And those who had settled there earlier, had spawned smart offspring who would excel in academics. Indians being Indians, it was either med-school or nothing. If you find yourself at a fancy dental clinic in L.A., chances are pretty slim for finding a proprietor that isn’t Indian or Jewish. And we digress…again.

*DISCLAIMER* – We mean no offense to anyone: the artists, the readers (even Britishers or those with Limey sympathies) and everyone else in between. This article was written purely in jest. They say there is no smoke without a fire. Well, we say, lets extinguish this fire with some good ol’ lemonade, and let the good times roll.