[78-L] MOR in the '50s

[David Lennick]

No..the top 40 stations in Toronto played Elvis and Paul Anka and Nelson Riddle 
in the 50s. They also played the R&B hits but only the covers by Pat Boone and 
The Fontane Sisters..if you wanted "the real stuff" you turned to Buffalo 
stations (you went there to buy the discs, too). The "easy listening" charts 
didn't come along till much later. By the late sixties I was working for a 
couple of stations that would follow those lists while Top 40 followed the 
current trends..the MOR stations would play the softer hits and the Johnny Mann 
Singers (not much Mantovani by that time).

Something I meant to comment on earlier but forgot, from Mike Biel's note below 
about the tunes in "The Flying Saucer"..check it again, Mike! It's all rock and 
R&B originals. The only easy listening song in the whole thing is Don Cherry's 
"Band of Gold". Flying Saucer The 2nd was more pop-flavored (Belafonte, Elvis, 
Ferlin Husky, Marty Robbins, The Diamonds, The Del-Vikings, Jimmy Dorsey, The 
Coasters, The Everly Brothers).

dl

Matthew Duncan wrote:
> MOR/Easy Listening and crooners were 'safe' for all radio stations to play and that is why I think so many stations played those styles all the time or most of the time rather than Rock n Roll...no radio station would get into trouble for playing Mantovani, Perry Como or Frank Sinatra I wouldn't of thought....
> 
> The reason why some rock n roll got played (like Elvis' version of Blue Suede Shoes and Haley's version of Rock around the Clock) and so much did not is that Rock Around the Clock/At the Hop type songs were the acceptable side of Rock n Roll so mainstream stations could usually get no hassle for playing them...
> 
> Rock n Roll records (and I mean REAL rock n roll) or Rockabilly records were never going to be #1 hits or be played on loads of radio stations all over the USA ...
> 
> Imagine the outrage of parents when Elvis came along ...or Bill Haley and Jerry Lee....then the outrage at these:   !!!!!!
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH42rggUuoQ
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbxv971JK4M
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNaqkEfPrQc
> 
> Just a thought....
> 
> Matthew Duncan
> UK
> 
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [78-L] MOR in the '50s
> From: Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com>
> Date: Mon, January 11, 2010 11:49 am
> To: <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> 
> 
> 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