In 1963, 50 years ago, the TV remote control and touchtone phones were invented.
The last TV episode of "Leave It To Beaver" was broadcast as was the first episode of "General Hospital." And to be unseen by American viewers for many years, in England the BBC presented the first episode of "Dr. Who."
In game 1 of the World Series, LA Dodger’s left-hander Sandy Koufax fanned 15 Yankees and set a record. Sam Cook and his band got arrested in Louisiana for trying to register into a “whites only” hotel.
On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. voiced the American ideals of equality and justice by proclaiming, "I have a dream." On the portico of the Alabama State Capitol, newly elected Governor George Wallace was proclaiming "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!"
In Dallas, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated and Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States.
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America was in turmoil and transition. The changing cultural landscape was reflected in music as well. At the 1963 Grammy Awards, Henry Mancini won Record of the Year and Barbara Streisand won Album of the Year. The Best Rock and Roll Recording statue went to that dynamic duo Nino Tempo and April Stevens for that rockin’ little number Deep Purple!
But Bobby Bare snagged Best Country and Western Recording for Detroit City.” Peter, Paul, and Mary won two awards, Best Folk and Best Vocal Performance, for the Dylan protest song Blowin’ in the Wind.
At the 1964 Grammy’s, both the Record and Album of the Year awards went to jazz legend Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto for The Girl from Ipanema. Henry Mancini was again a winner with the iconic The Pink Panther Theme. The Best Rock and Roll Recording was Petula Clark’s Downtown
Not radical departures from the middle-of-the-road Grammy culture.
But with the album "Dang Me/Chug-a-lug," Erick, Okla., native Roger Miller swept the country and western category and pointed Nashville in a new direction. Bill Cosby helped define and refine stand-up comedy on the Best Comedy Performance winning "I Started Out as a Child."
And the spectacular leap from the '50s into the '60s was best signaled by the arrival of Best Performance By a Vocal Group and Best New Artist of 1964 winners, The Beatles.
"There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'. "
— Bob Dylan
