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Fijihill

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  1. "She's a Woman" by the Beatles contains the lyric, "she don't give boys the eye." For more than three decades, I thought they were singing "she don't hit RBI's (runs batted in, to baseball fans)," which I took to mean that she didn't score with other boys. The Marvellettes' hit "Playboy" (1962) concludes with the line, "Watch out for the playboy, he's bringing false joy." For years, I heard the lyric as "watch out for the playboy, he's drinking vodka."
  2. During the 1960's, Ben Colder (aka Sheb Wooley) sang parodies of several hit songs. Perhaps his best spoofs were of Bobby Bare's Other humorous tunes that I like are Stan Freberg's version of Sh-Boom (1954) and Homer & Jethro's version of Sink the Bismarck: "We didn't sink the Bismarck, no matter what they say, For when we saw the German ship, we sailed the other way."
  3. I enjoyed watching Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps perform Be Bop A Lula in the movie The Girl Can't Help It. It's hard to pick a favorite rockabilly tune, because there are so many good ones, but I'll list a few from my collection. Sputnik by Jerry Engler and Friction Heat by Bonnie Lou, which are both from 1958, are about space travel, as is Rocket To the Moon by Moon Mullican (1953). I've never heard a Moon Mullican song that I didn't like. Turning to politics, Estes is the Best by Larry Dean & His Virginia Playboys, perhaps the first rock and roll tune with a political message, was a campaign song for Senator Estes Kefauver (D-Tenn.), who ran for president in 1952.
  4. "Monotonous endings on otherwise good songs." The monotonous and repititious coda that eventually fades out at the conclusion of "Hey, Jude" by the Beatles ruined what would have been a great song. Shortening the coda and finishing up with a rallentando tempo for a measure or two followed by a final chord would have vastly improved the recording.
  5. Back in the late 1950's, I once saw an animated version of this tune in a movie theater.
  6. In my opinion, there was no first rock and roll record, just as there was no first modern novel. However, if I had to choose a first rock and roll record, it would be "My Daddy Rocks Me (with a Steady Roll)" By Trixie Smith (1923). The melody of this tune later showed up in "Around the Clock Blues," a hit for several artists, including Johnny Otis, in 1945, "Reelin' and Rockin'" By Chuck Berry (1958), and "Mother Goose Twist" by Teddy Randazzo (1962). In their 1982 book What Was the First Rock 'N' Roll Record?, Jim Dawson and Steve Propes analyze 50 candidates, arranged in chronological order, from Blues, Part 2 by Blues at the Philharmonic (1944) to Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel (1956).
  7. It's hard to pick a favorite instrument. Other than the Wurlitzer theater organ, I would probably choose the piano. One of my favorite records, "The Song of the Wanderer" by Billy Rose (1927), consists simply of Rose singing the song while playing the piano. I've heard more sophisticated arrangements of this tune performed by bands, but they don't measure up to Rose's performance.
  8. I believe my favorite year for popular music was 1930. Here are some of the reasons: [*]Happy Days Are Here Again--Jack Hylton & His Orchestra [*]Cheer Up! Good Times Are Coming!--Phil Spitalny & His Orchestra [*]A Cottage For Sale--Ruth Etting [*]Mysterious Mose--Harry Reser [*]Fight On!--Harold Grayson & His Trojans [*]The Alabama Song--Lotte Lenya & The Three Admirals [*]Montana Call--George Olsen's Music [*]Three Little Words--Duke Ellington [*]Homemade Sunshine--Ted Lewis & His Orchestra [*]Liebling, Mein Herz, Lasst Dich Grussen--Lillian Harvey & Willi Fritsch
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