“Slow” & “Steady” Songs, Vol. 1

First post of the New Year. "Slow" & "Steady" Songs. And....GO!  ~  JH

1)  MØ  ~  “Slow Love”

2)  Shooter Jennings  ~  “Steady At The Wheel”

3)  Sarah Jaffe  ~  “Slow Pour”

4)  Billy Idol  ~  “Ready, Steady, Go”

5)  My Morning Jacket  ~  “Slow, Slow Tune”

6)  Kari Jobe  ~  “Steady My Heart”

7)  Boz Scaggs  ~  “Slow Dancer”

8)  Kacey Johansing  ~  “Hold Steady”

9)  Goo Goo Dolls  ~  “Slow It Down”

10)  The Staves  ~  “Steady”

11)  Fiona Apple  ~  “Slow Like Honey”

12)  Hey Ocean!  ~  “Steady”

13)  Of Monsters And Men  ~  “Slow Life”

14)  Sting  ~  “Rock Steady”

15)  Nightwish  ~  “Slow Love”

16)  Point Of Grace  ~  “Steady On”

17)  The All-American Rejects  ~  “Fast & Slow”

18)  Aretha Franklin  ~  “Rock Steady”

19)  Joe Bonamassa  ~  “Slow Train”

20)  Patti Page  ~  “Too Young To Go Steady”

21)  Tori Kelly  ~  “Falling Slow”

22)  George Thorogood  ~  “Steady Rollin’ Man”

23)  Andy Grammer  ~  “Kiss You Slow”

24)  Bonnie Raitt & Bryan Adams  ~  “Rock Steady”

25)  Us The Duo  ~  “Slow Down Time”

Popular Songs Of 1957, Vol. 1

And now we begin another trip back in time. The year is 1957. Rock and roll is in its infancy. Traditional pop music still holds many of the top slots on the charts. Artists of color are enjoying more mainstream success. And all of the music is top-notch. Here's part 1 of 3 in the Popular Songs Of 1957. Ready, set, enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Elvis Presley  ~  “Jailhouse Rock”

2)  Harry Belafonte  ~  “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)”

3)  Pat Boone  ~  “Love Letters In The Sand”

4)  Mickey & Sylvia  ~  “Love Is Strange”

5)  Little Richard  ~  “Jenny Jenny”

6)  Marty Robbins  ~  “A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)”

7)  Patti Page  ~  “Old Cape Cod”

8)  Bobby Helms  ~  “My Special Angel”

9)  Johnnie & Joe  ~  “Over The Mountain, Across The Sea”

10)  Jerry Lewis  ~  “Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody”

11)  Debbie Reynolds  ~  “Tammy”

12)  Paul Anka  ~  “Diana”

13)  The Tune Weavers  ~  “Happy Happy Birthday, Baby”

14)  Andy Williams  ~  “Butterfly”

15)  The Del-Vikings  ~  “Come Go With Me”

16)  Sonny James  ~  “Young Love”

17)  Jane Morgan  ~  “Fascination”

18)  Johnny Mathis  ~  “Wonderful! Wonderful!”

19)  Marvin Rainwater  ~  “Gonna Find Me A Bluebird”

20)  Elvis Presley  ~  “All Shook Up”

21)  Don Rondo  ~  “White Silver Sands”

22)  Gale Storm  ~  “Dark Moon”

23)  Thurston Harris  ~  “Little Bitty Pretty One”

24)  Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps  ~  “Lotta Lovin’”

25)  Jerry Lee Lewis  ~  “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”

Popular Songs Of 1956, Vol. 1

I'll bet you thought I was done with these "Popular Songs Of..." posts for the year, didn't you? Well, I am...after this two-parter. But I couldn't neglect one of the biggest years in the early days of rock 'n' roll (as well as a solid year for traditional pop), could I? You don't have to answer that. You just have to listen (if you want to)...and enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Elvis Presley  ~  “Heartbreak Hotel”

2)  The Platters  ~  “The Great Pretender”

3)  Doris Day  ~  “Que Sera Sera”

4)  Dean Martin  ~  “Memories Are Made Of This”

5)  Morris Stoloff  ~  “Moonglow and Theme From Picnic”

6)  Pat Boone  ~  “I Almost Lost My Mind”

7)  Kay Starr  ~  “Rock And Roll Waltz”

8)  Carl Perkins  ~  “Blue Suede Shoes”  (Why would I not include Elvis’ version of this song? For one, I already have 5 Elvis songs lined up for these posts. And for another, Perkins released his version eight months earlier and became one of the biggest hits of Perkins’ long and distinguished career. So there!)

9)  Johnnie Ray  ~  “Just Walkin’ In The Rain / If I Had You”

10)  Elvis Presley  ~  “Don’t Be Cruel”

11)  Perry Como  ~  “Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)”

12)  Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps  ~  “Be-Bop-A-Lula”

13)  Fats Domino  ~  “Blueberry Hill”

14)  Guy Mitchell  ~  “Singing The Blues”

15)  Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly  ~  “True Love”

16)  Patti Page  ~  “Allegheny Moon”

17)  Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers  ~  “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?”

18)  Elvis Presley  ~  “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You”

Popular Songs Of 1955, Vol. 2

Here's part 2 of 2 in a sonically, if not altogether visually impressive collection of hit songs from 1955. It was hard to find live performances or movie clips for the majority of the songs from this era, but I included them whenever possible. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Elvis Presley  ~  "Baby, Let's Play House"

2)  Don Cherry  ~  "Band Of Gold"

3)  Julie London  ~  "Cry Me A River"

4)  Chuck Berry  ~  "Maybellene"

5)  Joni James  ~  "How Important Can It Be?"

6)  Smiley Lewis  ~  "I Hear You Knockin'"

7)  Doris Day  ~  "Everybody Loves My Baby" / "Mean To Me"

8)  Gogi Grant  ~  "Suddenly There's A Valley"

9)  Patti Page  ~  "Croce Di Oro (Cross Of Gold)"

10)  LaVern Baker & The Gliders  ~  "Tweedle Dee"

11)  The El Dorados  ~  "At My Front Door"

12)  Little Richard  ~  "Tutti Frutti"

13)  Big Joe Turner  ~  "Flip, Flop, And Fly"

14)  Eddie Fisher  ~  "I Need You Now"

15)  Al Hibbler  ~  "Unchained Melody"

16)  Dean Martin  ~  "Innamorata"

17)  Peggy Lee  ~  "He's A Tramp"

18)  Danny Kaye  ~  "Life Could Not Better Be"

19)  Fred Astaire  ~  "Something's Gotta Give"

20)  Gwen Verdon  ~  "Whatever Lola Wants"

Popular Songs Of 1954

To further prove that my recent streak of nostalgic music posts has not been a fluke, here's a wonderful collection of popular songs from 60 years ago. Rock-n-roll enthusiasts will recognize some notable early examples of the genre which were first released that year. But for the most part, rock hadn't caught on yet, and highly-orchestrated pop songs by solo artists and vocal groups were still all the rage. Maybe you're old enough to remember these first-hand, or maybe you just prefer oldies to today's music. Either way, how many of these are you familiar with?  ~  JH

1)  Bill Haley and His Comets  ~  "Rock Around The Clock"

2)  The Chordettes  ~  "Mr. Sandman"

3)  Elvis Presley  ~  "That's All Right (Mama)"

4)  Patti Page  ~  "Steam Heat"

Video wouldn't load properly – click link to view:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1YHL2E2sR4

5)  The Crew-Cuts  ~  "Sh-Boom"

6)  Dinah Washington  ~  "Love Is Here To Stay"

Video wouldn't load properly – click link to view:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnACYdBoN28

7)  Eddie Fisher  ~  "I Need You Now"

8)  Rosemary Clooney  ~  "Hey There"

9)  Frank Sinatra  ~  "Someone To Watch Over Me"

10)  Jo Stafford  ~  "Make Love To Me"

11)  Perry Como  ~  "Papa Loves Mambo"

12)  Doris Day  ~  "Secret Love"

13)  The Penguins  ~  "Earth Angel"

14)  The Fontane Sisters  ~  "Happy Days And Lonely Nights"

15)  Muddy Waters  ~  "Hoochie Coochie Man"

16)  Kitty Kallen  ~  "Little Things Mean A Lot"

17)  Hank Snow  ~  "I Don't Hurt Anymore"

18)  June Christy  ~  "It Could Happen To You"

19)  Ray Charles  ~  "I Got A Woman"

20)  The McGuire Sisters  ~  "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight"