EPISODE 921 : PRT 2 BEST YEAR IN MY LIFE 1958 – 1959
alan skeoch
DEC 1, 2023
nov. 27,023
ROMANCE
I Have always liked girls. They looked better, smelled better, behaved better, worked harder,
. The 1950’s were dancing years. Some of it quite frantic such as Bill Haley and the Comets version of
Rock Around the Clock which
Norm Semra and his band on stage to promote the school yearbook which was in trouble. .
There was no HCI yearbook for 1958=59. So this is a fragment of events that year.
NOTE: CUT A LOT OUT HERE
LIPS THAT TOUCH LIQUOR WILL NVER TOUCH MINE
MR. HAISTE, our science teacher,
“Class. pay close attention, what I am about to demonstrate is worth remembering.” And he held a small empty plastic dish.
“Now I will break this egg into the egg into the dish…
“Next I will pour this alcohol over the dish contents…
“You will note the egg immediately coagulated…turned gelatinous…rubbery….””
“That is what happens to your brain when you drink alcohol…your brain is
coagulated…
“the effect is non reversible.’
WOW! Did that ever scare me. Convinced me to never drink alcohol.
And for a year or two I tried to scare my friends… I became insufferable…a zealot.
MR,WISNER AND FOSSILS I FOUND NEAR COCHRANE
I gave Mr Wisner a pile o fossilize corals that the excavatora scooped up in swamp.
Proof of plate tectonics. Millionsof yearsago /Cochrane must have been on
the equator. Cochrane now is nearer to the Arcitic Circle. Mr. Wisner seems impressed and added my fossils to
his collection. I should have kept a couple.
Most of Ontario’s fossil record is found in the Paleozoic rocks that cover much of southern Ontario and the James Bay Lowlands. These rocks were deposited during the Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian periods (450-350 million years ago) when Ontario was repeatedly covered by warm, shallow inland seas. The seas were fed by rivers draining from the bordering highlands of the Canadian Shield and acted as settling basins for thousands of meters of sand, mud, and clay. Eastern and northern boundaries of Paleozoic outcrop run roughly through the southern borders of Muskoka and Haliburton just east of Kingston (where Ordovician rocks lap onto Precambrian rocks). Ordovician rocks here abound with fossil snails, clams, squid-like nautiloids, trilobites, starfish, and sea lilies.
DANCING THE SCHOOL YEAR 1958 – 1959
Second only to football was dancing.. The 1950’s were great dining years as Rok snd roll eclipsed the big band music of the 1940’s
The lyics were something to behold
“Skinny Minnie’s not skinny
she’s tall that’s all…”
and
“Long tall Sally’s got a lot on the ball
Nobody cres if she’s long and tall.”
I do not remember who wrote those memorable lyrics. would he or she rank with Woodsworth or T.S, Eliot? Perhaps.
We danced our school years away. For $25 we hired Gord Sta[ple sand the Swing Kings Big
band sounds of Glen Miller. And then got Norm Semra and his rock and Roll buddies .
NoTE: Major edit here. Cut out all the dating and broken hearts…that part seemed important but was silly.
Lots of relationships that fizzled.
BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO
To do do, down dooby doo down down
Comma comma, down dooby doo down down
Comma comma, down dooby doo down down
Breaking up is hard to do
[Verse 1]
Don’t take your love away from me!
Don’t you leave my heart in misery?
If you go, then I’ll be blue!
‘Cuz breaking up is hard to do
[Verse 2]
Remember when you held me tight
And you kissed me all through the night
Think of all that we’ve been through
And breaking up is hard to do
Comma comma, down dooby doo down down
Comma comma, down dooby doo down down
Breaking up is hard to do
[Verse 1]
Don’t take your love away from me!
Don’t you leave my heart in misery?
If you go, then I’ll be blue!
‘Cuz breaking up is hard to do
[Verse 2]
Remember when you held me tight
And you kissed me all through the night
Think of all that we’ve been through
And breaking up is hard to do
(Neal Sadaka)
I noticed Marjorie nosing though her old photo album and pulling out pics of her many boyfriends.
Some were semi-serious business like John who asked her to marry him and Larry Keiler from Ohio who
she liked when his family spent summers fishing in Northern OntARIO lakes, He was a real contender. Distance
kept them apartt thankfully,
So the topic is DANCING RATHER THAN ROMANCING
BILL HALEY AND ELVIS PRESSLEY…AND LYRICS THAT NWD MUSIC TO BE UNDERSTOOD
Top 25 Songs 1955 – 1959 |
| 1. Don’t Be Cruel/ Hound Dog – Elvis Presley |
| 2. Singing The Blues – Guy Mitchell |
| 3. Mack The Knife – Bobby Darin |
| 4. All Shock Up – Elvis Presley |
| 5. Rock Around The Clock – Bill Haley & His Comets |
| 6. The Wayward Wind – Gogi Grant |
| 7. Sixteen Tons – “Tennesse” Ernie Ford |
| 8. Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley |
| 9. Love Letters In The Sand – Pat Boone |
| 10. Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley |
| 11. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear – Elvis Presley |
| 12. At The Hop – Danny & The Juniors |
| 13. Love Is A Many – Splendored Thing – Four Aces |
| 14. Rock And Roll Waltz – Kay Starr |
| 15. The Poor People of Paris- Les Baxter |
| 16. The Yellow Rose Of Texas – Mitch Miller |
| 17. Memories Are Made Of This – Dean Martin |
| 18. April Love – Pat Boone |
| 19. The Battle of New Orleans – Johnny Horton |
| 20. Young Love – Tab Hunter |
| 21. It’s All In The Game – Tommy Edwards |
| 22. The Purple People Eater – Sheb Wooley |
| 23. Tammy – Debbie Reynolds |
| 24. Love Me Tender – Elvis Presley |
| #25. My Prayer- The Platters |
that is the top 25 pop hits 1955 to 1959. Know them all . I am other surprised that “Skinny Minnie”
and “Long Tell Sally” are not here. But I’m glad see Elvis Pressley’s many top hits… the best of which was Hound dog.
HEARTBREAK HOTEL
Down at the end on lonely street at heartbreak hotel I get so lonely baby I get so lonely baby I get so lonely I could die Although it's always crowded you can still find some room For broken hearted lovers to cry away the gloom I get so lonely baby I get so lonely baby I get so lonely I could die Well the bellhop's tears keep flowing the desk clerk's dressed in black They've been so long on lonely street they'll never never never get back I get so lonely baby I get so lonely baby I get so lonely I could die So if your baby leaves you, you got a tale to tell Just take a walk down lonely street to heartbreak hotel I get so lonely baby I get so lonely baby I get so lonely I could die Oh since my baby left me I've found new place to dwell Down at the end on lonely street at heartbreak hotel I get so lonely baby I get so lonely baby I get so lonely I could die I get so lonely I could die
JAILHOUSE ROCK
The warden threw a party in the county jail
The prison band was there and they began to wail
The band was jumpin’ and the joint began to swing
You should’ve heard them knocked out jailbirds sing
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock
Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone
Little Joe was blowin’ on the slide trombone
The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang
The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock
Number forty-seven said to number three
“You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see”
“I sure would be delighted with your company”
“Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me”
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.
The prison band was there and they began to wail
The band was jumpin’ and the joint began to swing
You should’ve heard them knocked out jailbirds sing
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock
Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone
Little Joe was blowin’ on the slide trombone
The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang
The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock
Number forty-seven said to number three
“You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see”
“I sure would be delighted with your company”
“Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me”
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.
HOUND DIG
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine
[Verse]
When they said you was high classed
Well, that was just a lie
Yeah, they said you was high classed
Well, that was just a lie
Yeah, you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine
Cryin’ all the time
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine
[Verse]
When they said you was high classed
Well, that was just a lie
Yeah, they said you was high classed
Well, that was just a lie
Yeah, you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine
Not all music was so frantic. There was always room for a few cheek to cheek dances.
real romantic stuff like “My Prayer” by the Platters.
MY PRAYER
When the twilight is gone
And no songbirds are singing
When the twilight is gone
You come into my heart
And here in my heart you will stay
While I pray
[Verse 1]
My prayer
Is to linger with you
At the end of the day
In a dream that’s divine
[Verse 2]
My prayer
Is a rapture in blue
With the world far away
And your lips close to mine
And no songbirds are singing
When the twilight is gone
You come into my heart
And here in my heart you will stay
While I pray
[Verse 1]
My prayer
Is to linger with you
At the end of the day
In a dream that’s divine
[Verse 2]
My prayer
Is a rapture in blue
With the world far away
And your lips close to mine
SOME ENCHANTED EVENING
Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger
You may see a stranger across a crowded room
An’ somehow you know, you know even then
That somewhere you’ll see her again and again!
Some enchanted evening, someone may be laughing
You may hear her laughing across a crowded room
An’ night after night as strange as it seems
The sound of her laughter will sing in your dreams!
Who can explain it, who can tell you why
Fools give you reasons, wise men never try!
Some enchanted evening, when you find your true love
When you hear her call you across a crowded room
Then fly to her side and make her your own
Or all thru your life you may dream all alone!
Once you have found her
Never let her go!
You may see a stranger across a crowded room
An’ somehow you know, you know even then
That somewhere you’ll see her again and again!
Some enchanted evening, someone may be laughing
You may hear her laughing across a crowded room
An’ night after night as strange as it seems
The sound of her laughter will sing in your dreams!
Who can explain it, who can tell you why
Fools give you reasons, wise men never try!
Some enchanted evening, when you find your true love
When you hear her call you across a crowded room
Then fly to her side and make her your own
Or all thru your life you may dream all alone!
Once you have found her
Never let her go!
BLUE SUEDE SHOES
Well, it’s one for the money, two for the show
Three to get ready, now go, cat, go
[Chorus]
But don’t you step on my blue suede shoes
Well, you can do anything, but stay off of my blue suede shoes
[Verse 1]
Well, you can knock me down, step in my face
Slander my name all over the place
Do anything that you wanna do
But uh-uh honey, lay off of them shoes
[Chorus]
And don’t you step on my blue suede shoes
Well, you can do anything, but stay off of my blue suede shoes
Let’s go, cat!
[Guitar Solo]
Ah, walk the dog
[Verse 2]
You can burn my house, steal my car
Drink my liquor from an old fruit jar
Do anything that you want to do
But uh-uh, honey, lay off of my shoes
I know the lyrics sound goofy. Most readers will never understand
these songs. Too bad. You had to be there. To skip school to
see and hear Billl Haley. Had to see Elvis wiggle his hips.
END PART TWO 1958-1959
PART 3 ALASKAN KODIAK BEARS AND MINING EXPLORATION
PART 4 MARJORIE HUGHES
POST SCRIPT
“Skinny Minnie” is a 1958 song co-written and recorded by Bill Haley and his Comets. The song was released as a Decca single which became a Top 40 chart hit in the U.S.
Background
“Skinny Minnie” was composed by Bill Haley with Milt Gabler, Rusty Keefer, and Catherine Cafra. The song was released as a Decca single, 9-30592, backed with “Sway With Me”, reaching no. 22 on the Billboard chart and no. 25 on the Cash Box chart.[1] The song was featured on the 1958 Decca album Bill Haley’s Chicks.[2] The song became a rock and roll standard which was covered by scores of bands and singers.
“Long Tall Sally“, also known as “Long Tall Sally (The Thing)“,[1][2] is a rock and roll song written by Robert “Bumps” Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, and Little Richard. Richard recorded it for Specialty Records, which released it as a single in March 1956, backed with “Slippin’ and Slidin’“.
The single reached number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart, staying at the top for six of 19 weeks,[3] while peaking at number six on the pop chart. It received the Cash Box Triple Crown Award in 1956. The song as sung by Little Richard is listed at number 55 on Rolling Stone‘s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[4] It also ranked at number 45 on Billboard‘s year-end singles of 1956.[5]
It became one of the singer’s best-known hits and has become a rock and roll standard covered by hundreds of artists,[6] including Elvis Presley, Fleetwood Mac, the Kinks and the Beatles.
In 1999, the 1956 Little Richard recording of “Long Tall Sally” on Specialty Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[7]