World War II Laid Bare published by Taschen, £44. A cover by The England Sisters got to number 33, while Showaddywaddy took it all the way to number 7 in 1975. It wasnt a massive hit, only reaching 82 in the US and 30 in the UK. With an introduction by Scotty Bowers, an 89-year-old ex-Marine who has previously written on how war forever changed his attitudes towards the terms ‘gay’ and ‘straight’, My Buddy offers a fascinating and touching insight into a human side of war never seen before. Written by producer Norman Petty and Hollys old Buddy and Bob bandmate Bob Montgomery, Heartbeat was a catchy bit of shuffling, twanging rockabilly. Building up an archive of over 500 photographs, some hidden away until after the soldiers’ deaths, Stokes collection includes soldiers from England, the USA, Russia, France and Australia everywhere from the sands of the South Pacific to the snows of Eastern Europe. And it is this everyday behaviour that is the subject of photographer Michael Stokes’ new book, My Buddy: Wold War II Laid Bare, a tome that specifically focuses on male bonding and close friendship in this time.ĭuring war time many young soldiers were actively encouraged to form close emotional ‘buddy’ relationships with their peers, and it is this relaxed atmosphere that Los Angeles-based Stokes, through years of research, has captured in My Buddy. I fainted when my parents told me my sister “is in Heaven.” Music not only helped me grieve, it supported me and gave me what any good friend would: understanding, no judgment, and always there.Rutality and harrowing imagery is well documented from World War II times, but what is less commonly reported on is the everyday life of young soldiers living in barracks thousands of miles from home, living out each day that could potentially be their last. And alone in the converted attic, the one song that always froze me was “Pilot of the Airwaves” by Charlie Dore. The entire catalogue of Led Zeppelin opened ways for me to grieve. As a musician the laments and stories of musicians (“Sultans of Swing,” “Turn the Page”) took me away to a world I might inherit. Music held emotional space for me as I apprehended a fraction of the content of adult-subject songs. The power took me out of myself and into the guitar and bass and drums pouring exuberance through the airwaves. The punk movement spoke to the kids a bit older than me so what I got was the edgy vitality. On the flip side, my friend music held a key to banishing all negativity in frantic energy. Today marks 'The Day the Music Died' to which the song was inspired (when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and 'Big Bopper' J. Taking off and landing with no radar or anything in the dead of night. He wouldn’t talk about it, but he was a night fighter. Sitting in a semi-dark room and listening to music I feel a lump in my throat as memories sit and demand attention. My grandfather landing on an aircraft carrier during WW2. Lost in the lyrics and music, I learned to bottom out - embracing the sadness of the song and losing mine in it. Anything sad, be it The Commodores or Barry Manilow or the endless laments of loneliness that “graced” the Disco era. Looking back, I quickly learned to tape off the radio when the DJ introduced a song that reached me. At the age of 12 music became my best friend. In my room in the attic, above the room that was my sister’s, I found myself with some well-read novels and a boombox. J BURT: This was always something for me that I could do for him and his bandmates from the war and to really give my grandpa that professional musicianship spotlight that he never had.
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