Rock-tober 22, 2014

In 1969, man landed on the moon, Hurricane Camille stormed the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and ARPANET, precursor to the modern Internet, first started carrying data. Also, nearly half a million people braved the rain and mud of Woodstock, the touchstone event for the counterculture revolution.

This influence spread to the big screen where Easy Rider told the tale of two bikers headed east from LA to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. The film touched on drug use, commune living, and the backlash against the hippie movement. The seminal characters were very young versions of Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson. However, uncredited stars include the vintage 50's era Harley Davidson choppers. The star spangled hardtail ridden by Fonda was iconic, and scenes of Hopper and Fonda cruising the southwest highways with "Born to Be Wild" playing in the background were classic Americana.

Steppenwolf formed in LA in 1967 and was in its heyday through 1972. They're credited with eight albums that went gold and twelve Billboard Hot 100 singles. Six of these hit the Top 40, and three broke into the Top 10, including "Born to Be Wild".

"Born to Be Wild" was the band's best single, topping out at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's been ranked at #129 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and comes in at #29 on AFI's listing of the top 100 songs in the movies. Steppenwolf frontman, John Kay, said on the enduring nature of the song, 

"Every generation thinks they're born to be wild and they can identify with that song as their anthem."

Incidentally, the star spangled chopper ridden by Captain America (Fonda) just sold for $1.4 million. Even with a swirl of controversy over its provenance, the price tag makes it the most expensive bike ever sold at auction.