The Mamas and the Props getting their “sunshine groove” on
Vicki Baker
What better way to revisit incense, beads, black-light posters, trend-setting changes in the music world and the summer of love? The Mamas and the Props took to the stage at Karaoke Night on March 18 with their rendition of the pop folk ballad We’ll Sing in the Sunshine. Dressed in bright sunshine-yellow T-shirts, flowered headbands and tie-died bandanas, they sang the bluesy song originally recorded by Gale Garnett in 1964. Her hit song resonated a recurring theme of popular music of the period: a hope for a time when happiness and peace would abound and the message was to enjoy the here and now.
No doubt we all remember the 60s with the allure of James Bond, the Beatles, hot Chevys and probably the best music ever. Those were turbulent and confusing times mixed with innocent fun. We were clinging desperately to a vanishing era, yet inexplicably drawn to the new decade.
Our daily lives can easily spiral out of control, and the further we zoom in on the future the less control we have over our lives. But just this one night, with just this one song, the Mamas and the Props locked a slice of time into our current lifestyle—one of the most colorful and exciting decades in history.