Voice recording #253, Jan. 7.
Bill Haley and His Comets, "Dim Dim the Lights (I Want Some Atmosphere)", probably early '50s. This was not so much rock as jazz. He used horns instead of guitars. It wasn't very good. 4,900.
Big Dee Irwin, "Swingin' on a Star", year? This song goes back at least to the '40s, when it was a No. 1 hit for Frank Sinatra. I'm pretty sure there was another incarnation during the '50s and probably some since. It's a bit of a novelty song. Above all, it's a happy song. 4,600.
Bobby Vee, "Take Good Care of My Baby", late '50s. Instead of being a song about unrequited love, this one is post-requited. He's asking the guy who snaked away his girlfriend to send her back because the snake doesn't really love her the way Bobby does. There was a time when I thought Bobby Vee was the same guy as Bobby Vinton. 4,350.
Accents, "Wiggle Wiggle", year? A weird song. 4,950.
The Coasters, "Poison Ivy", late '50s. It was probably about the time when I had a case of poison ivy practically from head to toe after crawling around a cliff bank on Seneca Lake. I remember my eyes were swollen almost shut and I missed sixth-grade classes for more than a week. Another story at the time was about a school bus ride when the guys were poking fun at a girl with two syllables in her first and last name with lewd (for the '50s) lyrics about her to the tune of "Poison Ivy". Movies also have featured a Poison Ivy character, in the Poison Ivy (Drew Barrymore/Alyssa Milano/Jaime Pressly/Miriam McDonald) and Batman (Uma Thurman) franchises. Another joke/parody song by The Coasters was "Charlie Brown". They were an early rock band with guitars and drums. Not a lot of imagination, but they kept a good beat. 4,550.
Phil Phillips, "Sea of Love", year? I don't believe Phillips is related to Phillip Phillips, who had some post-"American Idol" success two generations later. This one is kind of doo-wop underneath the melody. Not a bad song. 4,500.
Jimmie Rodgers, "Bimbombay", year? He also had hits in the late '50s and early '60s. This was not his best. But it does have lyrics that are similar to the song about the woman who swallowed a fly, and I don't know why she swallowed that fly. "There's a girl in the house on the hill on the way to Bimbombay." It also has nonsense syllables: "Jing-a-ling-a-lie-ay." It is a bit of a toe-tapper. I said 4,800 at the time, but I hadn't turned off the recorder at the time, and I did get into the toe-tapping mode when I heard it again. So, 4,700.
Roy Orbison, "Crying", year? The thing about Crying" is that there's great power both in his singing and the background orchestra. It builds to a crescendo. 3,500 or higher.
Buddy Holly, "Think It Over", year? I appreciate what Buddy meant to at least a generation of music makers who followed him with some great songs. This one must have been from his early years. It doesn't have much rock inspiration. I don't remember hearing it from anyone else. It has a boogie-woogie piano in the background. 4,800.
The Times, "Somewhere", sometime in the mid-'50s. This has a simple melody and rhythm laid out on piano and drums with what sounds like finger snapping. 4,850.
Elvis Presley, "(Now and Then) There's a Fool Such As I", year? Elvis shows some vocal range, there are deep bass voices in the background, some of the time is kept by hand clapping and foot tapping rather than the finger snapping of the previous song. Elvis is pretty dramatic with it. 3,900.
James Darren, "Goodbye Cruel World", year? Not Bobby Darin, but James Darren. This can go on the listing of songs about clowns or the circus because the singer is going to go off and join the circus because he's having trouble with his girlfriend. The song was fairly popular at the time. It includes some circus-type calliope music. 4,400.
Brenda Lee, "All Alone Am I", 1962? It's a power ballad. She has some keyboard that sounds like a harpsichord, a lot of power in her voice, changing tempos, pretty dramatic. I just bought gas for $1.719, and filled the tank for $17.52. That was nice. 4,500.
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