[78-L] MOR in the '50s

Mon Jan 11 13:39:30 PST 2010

Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com> wrote: but the initial stages of rock 'n'
roll were really just a blip on the screen compared to what the Beatles did

Oh Boy what ignorance!

Erwin

On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 5:49 PM, Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com> wrote:

>
> It is interesting, indeed, to note that as far as most radio stations are
> concerned, the MOR era lasted until the Beatles broke down all the barriers
> in 1964. Rockabilly and R&B were still niche programming, despite Elvis,
> "Blue Suede Shoes," and even "Rock Around the Clock." Mainstream pop music
> was still Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Sing Along with Mitch, Percy Faith, and
> Frank Sinatra. I think the folk revival became more mainstream than rock in
> the late 1950s, with songs like "Tom Dooley" and "Banana Boat (Day-O)"
> climbing the charts. How many true rock 'n' roll records WERE hits until the
> Beatles? Look at 1958, for example. Here are the top 10 charting songs,
> according to Whitburn:
>
>
>
> At the Hop - Danny & the Juniors (rock 'n' roll)
>
> It's All in the Game - Tommy Edwards (ballad)
>
> The Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley (novelty)
>
> All I Have to Do Is Dream - Everly Brothers (ballad)
>
> Tequila - The Champs (instrumental novelty)
>
> Don't - Elvis Presley (ballad)
>
> Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare) - Domenico Modungo (Italian ballad)
>
> Sugartime - McGuire Sisters (pop vocals)
>
> He's Got the Whole World in His Hands - Laurie London (British boy
> singer/spiritual)
>
> The Chipmunk Song - David Seville (Xmas novelty)
>
>
>
> 1959 is no better:
>
>
>
> Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin (hopped-up showtune)
>
> The Battle of New Orleans - Johnny Horton (country)
>
> Venus - Frankie Avalon (smarmy teen pop)
>
> Stagger Lee - Lloyd Price (R&B)
>
> The Three Bells - The Browns (Nashville country pop)
>
> Lonely Boy - Paul Anka (smarmy teen pop)
>
> Come Softly to Me - Fleetwoods (soft MOR pop)
>
> Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - Platters (Doo-wop pop)
>
> Heartaches By the Number - Guy Mitchell (pop cover of country song)
>
> Sleep Walk - Santo & Johnny (instrumental)
>
>
>
> That makes one bonafide rock 'n' roll song to make #1 in two years. I think
> that the strides rock made in 1956-57 were defused due to the absolutely
> unbelieavble run of bad luck its leaders had in the next two years: Elvis
> (drafted), Jerry Lee Lewis (ostracized due to marrying his 13-year old
> cousin), Carl Perkins (debilitated by a near-fatal auto accident that killed
> his brother), Chuck Berry (guilty of violating the Mann Act), and Buddy
> Holly (dead in Iowa).
>
>
>
> The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will have you believe there was a tidal wave
> of rock hitting the world in the late 1950s, but as far as radio and record
> sales went, music went sleepily on its way. The influence was churning
> beneath the surface - Elvis and Chuck Berry had marked effect on the Beatles
> as they were growing up - but the initial stages of rock 'n' roll were
> really just a blip on the screen compared to what the Beatles did.
>
>
>
> Cary Ginell
>
> > From: mbiel at mbiel.com
> > To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> > Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:18:03 -0700
> > Subject: Re: [78-L] Frosty the Snowman
> >
> > As I was growing up in the mid-50s I listened to classical and MOR
> > (middle of the road) but my older sister listened to rock on WMGM and
> > WINS. I secretly listened in also. A few years ago I got some
> > recordings of those stations from that era and was flabbergasted that
> > half of the records played were Perry Como, Rosemary Clooney, Sammy
> > Davis Jr, Joan Weber, Nat King Cole, Hugo Winterhalter, Mitch Miller,
> > and lots of things that we would call "slow dances" at parties. These
> > were the top rock radio stations in the country. Listen to the records
> > on Buchanan and Goodman's Flying Saucer from 1956. It is the same mix.
> > The teens WERE buying these records too, not just their folks. We all
> > watched Perry Como's TV show -- Dream Along With Me, Letters We get
> > letters we get stacks and stacks of letters . . . I think you will find
> > a similar mix on Dick Clark's American Bandstand of that era. Even
> > Elvis wasn't all rock!
> >
> >
> >
> > Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com
> >
> >
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject: Re: [78-L] Frosty the Snowman
> > From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
> > Date: Sun, January 10, 2010 11:57 pm
> > To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> >
> > And I never thought of "So Rare" as a big band record. The posthumous
> > Tommy
> > Dorsey band's "Tea For Two Cha Cha" comes closer. Not much else
> > though..
> >
> > dl
> >
> > Cary Ginell wrote:
> > > Couldn't, because the CD was programmed for me and I was only to
> > write about what was on it.
> > >
> > > When I mention "The Big Band Era," I am referring to when big bands
> > were the most popular genre of music favored by the general public. By
> > the 1950s, that had gone bye-bye. Namby-pamby vocals by the Perry Comos
> > of the industry ruled in the early 1950s, giving way to rock 'n' roll by
> > the mid-50s. But big bands were long considered passe by the public by
> > then and bands didn't monopolize the best-selling charts in the 1950s. I
> > think the only big band hit of the 1950s was "So Rare" by Jimmy Dorsey.
> > Of course there were great big bands in the '50s - I loved the Basie
> > band that featured Neal Hefti compositions and arrangements. Terry
> > Gibbs' Dream Band was probably the most exciting kick-ass band of them
> > all, starting in 1959. And Quincy Jones continued with some great big
> > band charts in the 1960s. But big band music had become niche
> > programming by this time.
> > >
> > > Cary Ginell
> > >
> > >> Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:19:49 -0500
> > >> From: dlennick at sympatico.ca
> > >> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> > >> Subject: Re: [78-L] Frosty the Snowman
> > >>
> > >> No need to duck, Cary..I was just rereading your great liner notes
> > to the Naxos
> > >> "Birth of Rock and Roll" CD, although I don't think you credited
> > Haley with
> > >> bringing Rocket 88 over at that time.
> > >>
> > >> And many big bands were still playing good music well into the
> > fifties. Woody
> > >> Herman did some great stuff while his "Mars" label existed, the
> > Sauter-Finegan
> > >> Orchestra proved big bands could have fun, Ellington and Basie could
> > still draw
> > >> a crowd even though they were both treading water..
> > >>
> > >> dl
> > >>
> > >> Cary Ginell wrote:
> > >>> The Big Band era did not end in 1942. It was still the dominant
> > form of popular music until at least the late '40s. I would put the big
> > bands' last gasp at the 1948 Petrillo ban, but Chuck Cecil's Swingin'
> > Years takes it as far as "Rock Around the Clock," which really put the
> > final kabosh on it.
> > >>>
> > >>> As for "Sh-Boom," it's a common mistake to say that was a rock 'n'
> > roll record. It was not. It helped usher in doo-wop as a major sub-genre
> > since it was the first R&B song in that style that "crossed over" (i.e.
> > having a white group - the Crewcuts - cover the original black version
> > by the Chords). In my opinion, the first rock 'n' roll record had to be
> > a white cover of a black record in the jump/R&B style that was prevalent
> > then. I know that there are as many opinions on this as there are
> > records, but for my money, it was Bill Haley's 1951 cover (Holiday) of
> > Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88" (Chess). Brenston's record is given credit
> > as the first rock 'n' roll record by many pseudo-historians, but this
> > was an R&B boogie record. It took a white hillbilly artist covering it
> > that gave black music the credibility it needed to cross over. That's
> > what Elvis became famous for 3 years later, but Haley was the first to
> > do it. OK, I'll duck now while everyone chimes in.
> > >>>
> > >>> Cary Ginell
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>> Two fairly simple facts! First, after the c.1942 demise of the
> > "big band
> > >>>> era," the record industry had NO useful idea of what would be the
> > next
> > >>>> big thing! "Rock'n'roll" was just starting to emerge; beyond that,
> > we
> > >>>> were given innumerable attempts at "dialect" ("Oh, Mein Papa" et
> > al)
> > >>>> as well as meaningless attempts to create "standards" ("Tennessee
> > >>>> Waltz," "Shrimp Boats," usw.!)
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Second, "Rudolph..." suggested there was a HUGE untapped market
> > >>>> for Christmas/holiday tunes! The theoretical audience was the
> > "under
> > >>>> 6" group...or. more accurately, the parents thereof...?!
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Fortunately for almost ALL of us, 1954 and "Sh-Boom" suddenly
> > >>>> brought in a whole NEW musical style...!
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Steven C. Barr
> > >>>> __________________
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