| Subject: Re: Why? |
Author:
Mark R. Deaver
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Date Posted: Fri April 18, 2008 00:40:26
In reply to:
Chase
's message, "Why?" on Sat April 12, 2008 18:16:20
I could go the Jimmie Rodgers Snow route and amuse myself by saying "the beat! the beat! the beat! the beat!", but really it's a little more complicated than that. As alluded to previously, in the 50s the sharp break from musical tradition caused literally hundreds if not thousands of small labels to be spread across the U.S., each with about 6 acts recording. There was a wide variety to choose from to entertain onesself. In addition for those of us old enough to remember Top 40 radio in the 50s, the playlist was much broader than today, sometimes going up to over 100 records at any given time. Contrast that with today where contemporary hit stations focus so often on playing to death recurrents from up to often 25 years ago (Madonna Ciccone, for example) and Oldies stations dwell on the same 50 or so Top 5 hits from the past. Even the heavy rotation artists of the 50s, i.e. Elvis, Johnny Mathis, the Everly Brothers, etc. had to share airtime with many others who were lesser known or less popular.
I was reminded of this early this week coming back with my friend from Viva Las Vegas. Another strong factor is our memories if we are old enough. I recalled for my friend riding with my parents down to a church social event in Newport Beach in early August of 1958. My father turned on the car radio in the '57 Chevy and I remember hearing in order "Western Movies" by the Olympics, "Willie And The Hand Jive" by the Johnny Otis Show, and then a lesser charting item "Big Brown Eyes" by the Redjacks on Apt (a group who only released one single). Well at that point, my mother had enough and turned it off. When my 9th birthday came up 2 weeks later, those 3 45's were at the top of my list of 9 records my father bought me.
I believe it is also those special memories that endear many of us to 50s music, recollections about relatives and friends who are no longer with us.
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