Popular Songs Of 1947, Vol. 1

Continuing with the retro music posts, here's what folks were listening to 70 years ago. Crooners, jazz, swing, as well as country and western music are all represented well here. If you remember these when they came out, well...I don't really have to say it. You already know. Popular Songs Of 1947 begins...NOW!  ~  JH

1)  Frankie Laine  ~  “Shine / We’ll Be Together Again”

2)  Bing Crosby, Dick Haymes, & The Andrews Sisters  ~  “Anything You Can Do”

3)  Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five  ~  “Jack, You’re Dead”

4)  Eddy Arnold  ~  “I’ll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms)”

5)  Merle Travis  ~  “Sixteen Tons”  (Tennessee Ernie Ford had greater success with this song a few years later, but Travis actually wrote the song and was its original performer.)

6)  Dinah Shore  ~  “The Anniversary Song”

7)  Dick Haymes  ~  “How Are Things In Glocca Morra”

8)  Bing Crosby  ~  “Galway Bay”

9)  Count Basie & His Orchestra  ~  “Open The Door, Richard!”

10)  Perry Como  ~  “Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go To Sleep)”

11)  Al Jolson  ~  “Let Me Sing And I’m Happy”  (This song was actually a hit some seventeen years earlier, but in 1946 the biopic The Jolson Story propelled some of Jolson’s old hits back onto the charts in ’47. This was one of those songs.)

12)  Frank Sinatra  ~  “Always”

13)  Jo Stafford ~  “Serenade Of The Bells”

14)  Lonzo and Oscar  ~  “I’m My Own Grandpa”

15)  Ernest Tubb  ~  “Filipino Baby”

16)  Eddy Arnold  ~  “What Is Life Without Love”

17)  Frankie Laine  ~  “Singing The Blues”

18)  Peggy Lee  ~  “Golden Earrings”

19)  Red Foley & The Cumberland Valley Boys  ~  “That’s How Much I Love You”

20)  The Harmonicats  ~  “Peg O’ My Heart”

21)  Doris Day & Buddy Clark  ~  “Love Somebody”

22)  Savannah Churchill & The Sentimentalists  ~  “I Want To Be Loved (But Only By You)”

23)  Hank Williams  ~  “Move It On Over”

24)  Vaughn Monroe  ~  “Ballerina”

25)  Julia Lee And Her Boy Friends  ~  “(Opportunity Knocks But Once) Snatch And Grab It”

Songs About Reindeer

It's still not Christmas yet, for all you can't-wait-till-it-gets-here-ers. While you wait, why not enjoy a few Songs About Reindeer? Why not, indeed! Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Jonathan Groff  ~  “Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People”

2)  Gene Autry  ~  “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”

3)  The Knife  ~  “Reindeer”

4)  Elmo & Patsy  ~  “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”

5)  Benny Grunch And His Bunch  ~  “Santa And His Reindeer Got Their Modular Home”

6)  Conway Twitty  ~  “Nine Little Reindeer”

7)  Joe Diffie  ~  “Leroy The Redneck Reindeer”

8)  Froggy Fresh  ~  “Reindeer Games”

9)  Trisha Yearwood  ~  “Reindeer Boogie”

10)  Amy Grant  ~  “Santa’s Reindeer Ride”

11)  Dr. Dog  ~  “The Rabbit, The Bat, & The Reindeer”

12)  MC Lars  ~  “Gary The Green-Nosed Reindeer”

13)  The Moody Blues  ~  “Don’t Need A Reindeer”

14)  Imagination Movers  ~  “Reindeer Party”

15)  Peggy Lee  ~  “Don’t Forget To Feed The Reindeer”

16)  John Linnell  ~  “Olive, The Other Reindeer”

17)  Maut  ~  “Reindeer In My Garden”

18)  Stephen Bishop  ~  “Rock, Little Reindeer”

19)  The BellRays  ~  “Reindeer Express”

20)  Prints Jackson  ~  “Reindeer Reindeer”

BONUS TRACK:  The Beach Boys  ~  "Little Saint Nick"  (No, the word "Reindeer" doesn't appear anywhere in the title, but whenever I think of this song, I think of the "run, run, reindeer" line that's repeated frequently throughout. So there ya go!)

Beans & Franks Songs

This may seem like a fairly straightforward, albeit odd, subject for a blog post, but it's actually a bit more nuanced than at first it seems. Herein lies a collection of songs with the word "Bean" (or "Beans") and/or "Frank" (or "Frankie") somewhere in the name of the artists OR the titles of the songs. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Bean  ~  “Cops And Robbers”

2)  Frank Sinatra  ~  “For Once In My Life”

3)  Sunflower Bean  ~  “Easier Said”

4)  Frank Ocean  ~  “Swim Good”

5)  Weezer  ~  “Pork And Beans”

6)  Frankie Valli  ~  “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”

7)  Shoshana Bean  ~  “Cold Turkey”

8)  Cake  ~  “Frank Sinatra”

9)  Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band  ~  “Big-Eyed Beans From Venus”

10)  Frank Turner  ~  “Recovery”

11)  Joanna Newsom  ~  “Sprout And The Bean”

12)  Frank Black  ~  “Headache”

13)  Sashi and the Wild Beans  ~  “True To Yourself”

14)  Frankie Avalon  ~  “Venus”

15)  Khalil Fong  ~  “Red Bean”  (I don’t know what he’s singing about, but it sure sounds nice.)

16)  Frank Zappa  ~  “Muffin Man”

17)  Carla Bean  ~  “Magic Box”

18)  Frank Stallone  ~  “Far From Over”

19)  Johnny Cash  ~  “Look At Them Beans”

20)  Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush  ~  “I’m A King Bee”

21)  Celtic Woman  ~  “Bean Phaidin”

22)  Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers  ~  “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?”  (Shall we call this “research,” then?)

23)  Peggy Lee  ~  “Day In, Day Out / Boston Beans”

24)  To Be Frank  ~  “Somebody Like You”

25)  Beanie Sigel ft. Melissa Jay  ~  “Feel It In The Air”

“Peculiar” Songs

These are peculiar times we're living in. So why not emphasize that fact by listening to some "Peculiar" songs? Well, I can't think of a reason why not. So we might as well...enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Simon & Garfunkel  ~  “A Most Peculiar Man”

2)  O’Hooley & Tidow  ~  “Peculiar Brood”

3)   Mutemath  ~  “Peculiar People”

4)  Chef’Special  ~  “Peculiar”

5)  The Hollies  ~  “Peculiar Situation”

6)  Inlet Sound  ~  “The Peculiar Disappearance Of Marion Bojangles”

7)  Willie Nelson ft. Emmylou Harris  ~  “My Own Peculiar Way”

8)  Gesu no Kiwami Otome  ~  “Ryōkiteki na Kiss o Watashi ni Shite (Give Me Peculiar Kisses)”

9)  Greg Tre Harris  ~  “Peculiar Praise”

10)  Bing Crosby & Peggy Lee  ~  “Life Is So Peculiar”

11)  Harts  ~  “Peculiar”

12)  Kilsy  ~  “Peculiar Star”

13)  Marvin Gaye  ~  “Ain’t That Peculiar”

14)  Richard Page  ~  “Peculiar Life”

15)  ATC  ~  “Peculiar Minds”

16)  Ernest Tubb  ~  “In Her Own Peculiar Way”

17)  Debby Holiday  ~  “Peculiar”

18)  The Easybeats  ~  “Peculiar Hole In The Sky”

19)  The Divine Comedy  ~  “Funny Peculiar”

20)  The Abyssinians  ~  “Peculiar Number”

BONUS TRACK:  4 Non Blondes  ~  “What’s Up”  (No, “peculiar” doesn’t appear anywhere in its title, but the word is featured prominently in the pre-chorus and it’s a great song, so here it is.)

Popular Songs Of 1956, Vol. 2

Here's the latest and last (for this year, at least) entry in the "Popular Songs Of..." series, this one being Part 2 (of 2) featuring songs from the year 1956. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Tennessee Ernie Ford  ~  “Sixteen Tons”

2)  Pat Boone  ~  “Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)”

3)  Fats Domino  ~  “My Blue Heaven”

4)  Elvis Presley  ~  “Hound Dog”

5)  The Lennon Sisters  ~  “Tonight You Belong To Me”

6)  Bill Doggett  ~  “Honky Tonk”

7)  Gogi Grant  ~  “The Wayward Wind”

8)  Bill Haley & His Comets  ~  “See You Later, Alligator”

9)  Perry Como  ~  “Juke Box Baby”

10)  Vic Damone  ~  “On The Street Where You Live / Let’s Take An Old-Fashioned Walk”

11)  Johnny Cash  ~  “I Walk The Line”

12)  The Platters  ~  “You’ll Never Know”

13)  Eddie Heywood  ~  “Canadian Sunset”

14)  Peggy Lee  ~  “Mr. Wonderful”

15)  Gale Storm  ~  “Ivory Tower”

16)  The Four Lads  ~  “No, Not Much”

17)  Elvis Presley  ~  “Love Me Tender”

18)  Little Richard  ~  “Long, Tall Sally”