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”

“Have” & “Hold” Songs, Vol. 1

Here begins another 4-part series, this one featuring songs with "Have" & "Hold" in their titles. Inspired by the classic marriage vows, I suppose. As you can probably imagine, songs with these words in the titles are legion. So I limited myself to only those where "Have" or "Hold" was the first word in the title. And it's STILL a 4-parter! The good thing about having lots of songs to choose from is that the songs that make the cut are generally higher in quality than when I do a smaller post of songs with a rather obscure word in the title. In other words, there're probably going to be a lot of songs you'll like. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Creedence Clearwater Revival  ~  “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?”

2)  Thompson Twins  ~  “Hold Me Now”

3)  Eryn Allen Kane  ~  “Have Mercy”

4)  Fleetwood Mac  ~  “Hold Me”

5)  A Day To Remember  ~  “Have Faith In Me”

6)  Argent  ~  “Hold Your Head Up”

7)   Brandy  ~  “Have You Ever”

8)  James Bay  ~  “Hold Back The River”

9)  Benjamin Booker  ~  “Have You Seen My Son?”

10)  Paul Anka  ~  “Hold Me Till The Morning Comes”

11)  Leo Sayer  ~  “Have You Ever Been In Love?”

12)  Janine And The Mixtape  ~  “Hold Me”

13)  The Rolling Stones  ~  “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?”

14)  Red  ~  “Hold Me Now”

15)  Marit Larsen  ~  “Have You Ever”

16)  Duran Duran  ~  “Hold Back The Rain”

17)  Freddie Jackson  ~  “Have You Ever Loved Somebody?”

18)  Derek Ryan ft. Sharon Shannon  ~  “Hold On To Your Hat”

19)  Rod Stewart  ~  “Have I Told You Lately”

20)  Jess Glynne  ~  “Hold My Hand”

21)  The Honeycombs  ~  “Have I The Right?”

22)  Michael Jackson ft. Akon  ~  “Hold My Hand”

23)  Bethel Music ft. Brian Johnson  ~  “Have It All”

24)  Steam Powered Giraffe  ~  “Hold Me”

25)  The Chi-Lites  ~  “Have You Seen Her?”

Songs With Women's Names In The Titles – Pre-1980, Vol. 1

This is part one of what will be a six-part series, albeit in various categories for each set of entries. The first installment covers half of all the pre-1980 songs with women's names in the titles that I've gathered. You might call it the "Oldies Edition," although some of the '70s songs here feel a lot more recent than they actually are. If you see a song I left out, don't yell at me yet. There's a part 2 to this one. And there are 2 parts forthcoming for post-1980 songs with women's names in the titles. Then there are 2 posts forthcoming – not separated out by years – of songs with men's names in the titles. If all 6 parts have come out and you still feel I've missed a vital song, you may then feel free to yell at me. 

Thank you to Carol, David, Wanda, Martha, Don, Daniel, Martina, Kevin, Penny, Melanie, and Angela for all your contributions via Facebook in advance of these posts. At least one of your suggestions made the final cut of 90 songs! For those of you who suggested songs that didn't make the cut, I truly appreciate your input – I just had to limit myself somewhere, or else these posts could go on for weeks and weeks! Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Rod Stewart  ~  "Maggie May"

2)  Barry Manilow  ~  "Mandy"  (This might be the only Manilow song I ever post here – I'm not a huge fan – but this is a good song, so here it is.)

3)  Wilson Pickett  ~  "Mustang Sally"

4)  Ritchie Valens  ~  "Donna"

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSDz66k8tjM&index=32

5)  The Turtles  ~  "Elenore"

6)  Paul Anka  ~  "Diana"

7)  Ram Jam  ~  "Black Betty"

8)  The Knack  ~  "My Sharona"

9)  The Beach Boys  ~  "Help Me, Rhonda"

10)  Creedence Clearwater Revival  ~  "Proud Mary"

11)  Neil Diamond  ~  "Sweet Caroline"

12)  The Police  ~  "Roxanne"

13)  Eric Clapton  ~  "Layla"  (Music purists might be annoyed at me for including Clapton's "Unplugged" version of this song instead of the original Derek And The Dominos rock-n-roll version – but this is the one I prefer, so...yeah.)

14)  Neil Sedaka  ~  "Oh, Carol"

15)  Fleetwood Mac  ~  "Rhiannon"