[78-L] MOR in the '50s

Mon Jan 11 14:09:09 PST 2010

As far as commercial sales go and chart action, after the initial flurry in 1956 & 1957, rock and roll was all but dead when the Beatles came along. Just look at the charts. And hold the insults. This is a discussion group, not for name-calling.

Cary Ginell

> Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:39:30 +0100
> From: ekluwer at gmail.com
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Subject: Re: [78-L] MOR in the '50s
> 
> 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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