By Cindy Annis – Feb. 2017 Welcome back to our next installment! Eugene Drake Dixon is one, of only a handful of artists to chart in Doo-Wop, Rhythm & Blues, Soul, & Disco eras of music! There seems to be very little on his childhood, but let’s see what we can find. Come on!! Gene […]
By: Cindy Annis – Feb. 2017 The Big Bopper was born on October 24, 1930 in Sabine Pass, Texas. His birth name was Jiles Perry Richardson Jr. Being the son of an oil- field worker, singing was considered to be a girlly thing and was frowned upon. When Richardson got into high school, he played […]
THE RONETTES PART II By: Cindy Annis – Jan. 2017 “The Phil Spector Years.” OK? Let’s get right into 1963, when Estelle called Phil Spector. Estelle simply told him about the group and what they did in the entertainment world. Spector agreed to let them audition for him. The audition went well, so the girls […]
By: Cindy Annis – Dec. 2016 Back in the 1960’s, there were plenty of “Girl Groups,” singing about the boy they were going to marry or the boy next door. Then out of Washington Heights, New York comes this innocently forward group that was singing TO the boy next door! The Ronettes were a couple […]
By: Cindy Annis – Nov. 2016 You know, in the Rock & Roll lives of the stars, there are performers that started out as very young stars and didn’t stop till the end, some that were put in front of the microphone and told they will be stars, and there were and are those that […]
By: Cindy Annis – Oct. 2016 Often called the godfather of Halloween, Bobby Boris Pickett was born on February 11, 1938 in Somerville Massachusetts. His real name is Robert George Pickett In 1961, Pickett was discharged from the army. From there he moved to Los Angeles to get into show business. He wanted to be […]
THE CARPENTERS A beautiful woman with an angelic voice lost her life at the young age of thirty-two when her life had only just begun. The Carpenters were a brother, sister group from Connecticut. Richard Lynn Carpenter is the big brother of the duo. He was born on October 15, 1946. By age twelve, he […]
By: Cindy Annis – April, 2016 The next artist in the groove comes from Chicago, Illinois. In 1967, students of DePaul University, Walter Parazaider, Terry Kath, Danny Seraphine, James Pankow, and Lee Longnane got together to start a group with Robert Lamm from Roosevelt University called The Big Thing. The famous Peter Cetera joined the […]
By: Cindy Annis – November, 2015 One of the most successful couples of the 60s and 70s were Sonny and Cher. Cher was born on May 20, 1946 in El Centro, California. Her real name is Cherilyn Sarkisian. Her parents divorced when Cher was ten months old. Being of a poor, broken home was tough […]
THE BEE GEES By: Cindy Annis Three brothers who were almost as successful as the Beatles and who defined disco music are the Bee Gees. The Bee Gees are Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, and Robin Gibb. Barry was born on September 1, 1945 in Manchester England. On December 22, 1949 twins Maurice and Robin were […]
By: Cindy Annis – Sept. 2015 In 1961, three brothers, with a cousin and a friend from Hawthorne, California formed a group that would forever define summer. The original members of the Beach Boys were brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine. Brian, was the oldest of […]
By: Cindy Annis – July, 2015 For those of you who listen to 980WCAP in the evening, you may have noticed a new music show on three nights a week. The show is called Cindy’s Vinyl Vault. On the show, we play the best songs from the late 40’s, the 50’s, 60’s, and mid 70’s. […]
PODCAST INTERVIEW HERE Nov. 2023 Last month, Lawrence Mayor Brian DePena appointed former law enforcement officer William Castro to be the acting police chief. Castro was DePena’s chief of staff and immediately came under fire from city councilors and city council candidates for being a “political appointment”. One candidate even posted on Facebook that […]
This is the premier column from our new foodie columnist, Methuen City Councilor Joel Faretra. Each month Joel will visit restaurants in Methuen and rate their best dishes. By: Joel Faretra – December, 2019 Since I was born and raised in Everett, I grew up on roast beef sandwiches. The two places we would go […]
The Valley Patriot BASH Committee has announced the nominees for the 2018 Valley Patriot Editor’s Choice Awards. Winners will be announced on March 23rd at the Firefighters Relief’s In at 7pm. 2018 NoGet your tickets or make a donation HERE:minees: Forest Rain, From Israel to The Valley Patriot Robin Desmet, Robin’s Kitty Corner Freddie! Peter […]