Dear George,
Years ago
Katja, our young adult son J, and I were driving from Cincinnati to New York
City. Approaching Pittsburgh, we
happened upon a radio station that was playing hit songs from 1953. The singers included favorites like
Eddie Fisher, Kay Starr, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Jo Stafford, and a host
of others. Katja and I started
singing along with the tunes. We
knew the lyrics to every song that they played. J was astonished.
He’d hardly heard of the songs, and he couldn’t believe his parents’
memory powers. Though he listened
to lots of contemporary music himself, there were very few songs of his own era
that he knew all the words to.
Those fifties pop tunes were a lot more singable, often told a story,
and had more memorable lyrics than much of the music that came later.
I know more
songs by heart from 1953 than any other year. It’s because I was in tenth grade, and that’s when pop music
first became an important part of my and my peer group’s lives. We all turned 16 that year, and along
with that came driver’s licenses, increased freedom from family, and the start
of dating and teenage romance. The
girls in our crowd led the way with pop music. At first pop songs sounded sentimental and yucky to the
boys, but, as our interest in girls grew, so did our interest in music. We
listened to the DJs on our local radio station, WMAM, Marinette and
Menominee. It was the only daytime
radio station we could get in our Upper Peninsula/Northeastern Wisconsin area,
though at night we’d receive more distant broadcasts including WLW from
Cincinnati. My friend Bob A. had a
car radio in his Model A Ford, and a bunch of guys would cruise the Loop
through the twin cities, listening to the hits of the week. The top rated show
was “Your Hit Parade” which aired on NBC on Saturday nights. Frank Sinatra and Doris Day had been
co-hosts, and regulars included Dorothy Collins, Snooky Lanson, and Gisele
MacKenzie. We listened faithfully
and rehashed the Hit Parade results with friends on Sunday or Monday.
Pop music was
also important because of high school dances. The girls learned to dance first, mastering new steps from a
teen magazine. Sally H. had dance
parties at her house in which the girls taught the boys how to foxtrot and do
the jitterbug. At first the tenth
grade boys just stood around at dances in groups by themselves while the girls
danced with one another.
Eventually we got up our courage and started getting out on the floor.
Patti Page
was the top female singer of the day.
She had endless hits. I
loved “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window.” Also “The Tennessee Waltz,” “Cross Over the Bridge,”
“Mockin’ Bird Hill,” and “Let Me Go Lover.” Some of my other 1953 favorites were:
Don’t Let the
Stars Get in Your Eyes, Perry Como
Till I Waltz
Again With You, Teresa Brewer
Oh! My Pa-Pa,
Eddie Fisher
Your Cheatin'
Heart, Joni James
You, You,
You, the Ames Brothers
Three Coins
in the Fountain, Frank Sinatra
Vaya Con
Dios, Les Paul and Mary Ford
Elvis Presley
cut his first recording at Sun Records in August of 1953, and within a couple
of years rock and roll had taken over and traditional pop music was on its way
out. Patti Page and Frank Sinatra
never disappeared though.
Nowadays, when I work on the computer, I go to I-Tunes, click on the
Radio link, and then go to “Golden Oldies”. Some listeners think that “Golden Oldies” refers to the
sixties or the seventies. However,
I go straight to one of the 1950’s stations on I-Tunes. That’s where the real Golden Oldies
live on.
Love,
Dave
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