“Surfin’ Bird” could have been one of the most annoying and forgettable novelty tunes in the history of rock ‘n’ roll music. Instead, it became the No. 1 hit in Minnesota in early 1964, and made it to ...

For me and for a lot of people like me, popular music has a way of defining a particular decade or a particular year. For example, when many people think of the year 1964, they think of the British ...