50 YEARS AGO - MARCH 1957

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With today’s show, we go back exactly fifty years, to March of 1957. In many of these songs, you can literally hear the effect that politics had on music back then. Besides the anti-rock and roll backlash that led to the payola scandals, there is also a ‘conservative’ vibe surrounding the folk-style pop songs of the day. Television stars were solicited to sing pop songs that were hits for Country-Western artists, and people bought it in droves. In the heart of the cold war, artists did not want to attract any attention from the McCarthy era anti-communist hounds who were sniffing around for anything that appeared to be “Un-American.” Some folk artists like the Weavers would sing about civil rights and unfair labor practices, only to be ostracized, and eventually labeled as communists. This “Blacklisting” caused them to be unemployable, so the newer breed of folk singers thought it would be much safer if they stuck to simpler fare. The results are bland re-workings of traditional material. The more you familiarize yourself with music from this era, the more you will recognize the bravery of the early ‘60s folk artists who decided to challenge this country’s conservative echelon. Here’s a snapshot of what the music scene looked like in March 1957;
Top 10 Count-Up -
1) Young Love – Tab Hunter
2) Too Much – Elvis Presley
3) Don’t Forbid Me – Pat Boone
4) Young Love – Sonny James (edited – played for comparison)
5) Banana Boat Song (Day-O) – Harry Belafonte
6) Marianne – Terry Gilkyson (edited – played for comparison)
7) Teen-Age Crush – Tommy Sands
8) Marianne – The Hilltoppers
9) Moonlight Gambler – Frankie Laine
10) Blue Monday – Fats Domino

Best Debut Tracks of March 1957
11) I’m Walkin’ – Fats Domino
12) Walkin’ After Midnight – Patsy Cline

Album Tracks
13) Paralyzed – Elvis Presley
14) To Keep My Love Alive – Ella Fitzgerald
15) Don’t Like Goodbyes – Frank Sinatra