A Personal History: Buddy Holly

Going back to my early childhood, I would have to cite Buddy Holly as the reason I probably got into classic pop/rock. Before I knew who The Monkees were or listened to any Beatles, I was listening to Buddy Holly. How so? A tiny, one-shot cartoon called Dixie's Diner.

Dixie's Diner was a series of toys and what I assume was supposed to be a TV show pilot that were highly collectible in the early 90s. I got to play with the diner and characters once in a while if I was really good, but the cartoon was available to watch any time.

Dixie's Diner was set in an idealized 1950s, with pool sharks, street racing, and rock-and-roll music played on the Jukebox. The characters had to solve their financial problems by winning a "dance-off" - to the music of Buddy Holly.

In a sense, I think the plot was almost based around Buddy Holly's songs. One of the characters was even named "Peggy Sue." But I fell in love with the music. As I got older, I think I wanted to watch the cartoon more so that I could hear the Buddy Holly songs than for the cartoon itself (although to be fair, it wasn't a bad cartoon). My parents had a cassette of Buddy Holly songs that they played for me too, possibly to give the cartoon a rest.

There were years in which I didn't listen to Buddy Holly. I listened to The Sound of Music soundtrack and oldies stations. But eventually, I began to add Buddy Holly back into my listening diet. He was such a talented individual (along with The Crickets, I suppose). You can hear the influences of his music on the early Beatles all the way up to Vampire Weekend.

At this point in my life, I am amazed every time I realize that Holly was a fifties performer. Not only was the music a few years ahead of its time, it has a great deal of timelessness. I'm sure Buddy Holly's music will always be a part of my life.

 

Other Recommended Tracks:

Not Fade Away
Oh, Boy!
Heartbeat
That'll Be The Day
It's So Easy