Yeah, all that stuff was on the radio. And you know what? It affected people: it created more music. Consider some of the bands that got their start in 1965. You may have heard of them:

The Grateful Dead

Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan and Bob Weir got in the studio at Autumn Records and recorded Can't Come Down and Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks). It wasn't yet Dark Star, but it was a start.

The Jefferson Airplane

The band formed in San Francisco in 1965, and recorded the tracks released the following year as "Jefferson Airplane Takes Off", including the memorable It's no Secret. (Grace Slick wasn't yet in the band.)

David Bowie

Long before the "A Team", David Jones and "The Manish Boys" cut a single with I Pity The Fool and Take My Tip. Jimmy Page played guitar. They were supposed to play it on the BBC pop show, "Gadzooks, It's All Happening" but the producer objected to David's hair. Jones said "I wouldn't have my hair cut for the prime minister, let alone the BBC." In November 1965, Jones changed his name to Bowie.

Captain Beefheart

Beefheart didn't release any albums until 1967's Safe as Milk, but Beefheart and his Magic Band got started in 1965 and released two singles: Diddy Wah Diddy and Moonchild / Frying Pan.

The Velvet Underground

The Velvets' first show using that name and with Mo Tucker on drums was on December 11, 1965, at the Summit High School Auditorium in Summit, New Jersey. They played There She Goes Again, Venus In Furs and Heroin.

Iggy Pop

Before James Newell Osterberg joined the Stooges, he was in a band called "The Iguanas" (as in "Iggy and the Iguanas"). The Iguanas released a single in 1965, a cover of Bo Diddley's Mona.


Those are my favorites. I'm sure there's more.


(r) kthejoker says re 1965: The Association, The Doors, Love, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pink Floyd, The Monkees, The Small Faces, Thirteenth Floor Elevators, and The Lovin' Spoonful all got their start in 1965. You throw in Iron Butterfly, who was doing gigs in 65, and The Residents, the weirdest band of all time, and that was a year for Rock.