1960 Grammy Award WinnersWinners Announced: November 29, 1959Held in: Los Angeles and New YorkHost: Meredith WilsonEligibility Year: January 1, 1959 – August 31, 1959Highlights and Achievements:Bobby Darin’s Triumph: Darin’s “Mack the Knife” didn’t just win Record of the Year and Best Vocal Performance, Male; it became an iconic song that transcended the Grammy stage.Henry Mancini’s […]
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Top 25 Songs of 1955–1959: Early Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, Doo-Wop, Pop Ballads, Novelty Hits, and the Birth of the Modern Teen Sound The Top 25 songs of 1955–1959 show the moment when American popular music changed direction. The early 1950s still belonged largely to crooners, vocal groups, orchestras, country-pop, and polished adult pop.
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Funny you never realize the generation gap until you mention something from your past to a teenager. At fifteen, I wanted to be a “beatnik”. My idol was a chacter named Maynard G. Krebs from the 1959 TV show “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”. Maynard was played by Bob Denver. Maynard was American television’s
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1959 Grammy Award WinnersWinners Announced: May 4, 1959Venues: Beverly Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles & New YorkHost/Emcee: Mort SahlEligibility Year: January 1, 1958 – December 31, 1958Major Wins:Henry Mancini picked up Album of the Year for “The Music from Peter Gunn.”Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)” won both Record of the Year and Song
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1959 Oscars 31st Academy AwardsWinners Announced: April 6, 1959Venue: Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, CaliforniaHosts: Jerry Lewis, Mort Sahl, Tony Randall, Bob Hope, David Niven, Laurence OlivierEligibility Year: 1958Major Wins:Gigi swept the board with 9 Oscars, including Best Picture.Susan Hayward took home Best Actress for I Want to Live!.David Niven claimed Best Actor for Separate Tables.Directing &
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Advice Songs from the 1890s to the 1950s: Life Lessons, Warnings, Wisdom, and Old-Fashioned Common SenseAdvice songs have been part of popular music for generations. Long before advice columns, podcasts, social media threads, and “let me tell you what you should do” relatives, singers were already giving listeners warnings, comfort, encouragement, romantic guidance, moral lessons,
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1958 Billboard Number One Hits: Pre-Hot 100 and First Hot 100 Chart-ToppersThe 1958 Billboard Number One Hits list is one of the most important bridge years in pop-chart history. The year began with Billboard’s pre-Hot 100 pop charts, then changed forever on August 4, 1958, when the Billboard Hot 100 officially debuted with Ricky Nelson’s
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1958 Trivia, Fun facts and Pop Culture HistoryIn 1958, NASA was created, the Space Race had its institutional American answer to Sputnik, and the Hula Hoop sold 25 million units in its first four months. The first credit card appeared in Fresno. Elvis went into the Army. The Greatest Game Ever Played was played at
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1958 Music Hits: Rock and Roll, Doo-Wop, Teen Pop, R&B, Instrumentals, and Sock Hop Chaos1958 music hits caught rock and roll in full swing, with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Little Richard’s influence, and a whole lot of teenage energy still shaking the walls. This was the year of
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Fred the HunterDuring my stay in juvenile, my social worker was impressed with my art work and pulled enough strings to get me into a foster home run by the Wilcox family. They had two sons of their own, one younger than me and one older. Staying at their home had it’s drawbacks and it’s
My One Minute Love Affair With Diana Ross When I was ready to enter high school, my mom got the idea in her head that I had to go to Cass Tech. Cass Technical High School was the best school in the city, but my grades were borderline. The school required an admissions exam and
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1958 Oscars 30th Academy AwardsWinners Announced: March 26, 1958Venue: RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, CaliforniaHosts: Bob Hope, Rosalind Russell, David Niven, James Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Donald Duck (voice of Clarence Nash, via animation)Eligibility Year: 1957Major Wins:Best Picture went to The Bridge on the River Kwai.Joanne Woodward won Best Actress for The Three Faces of Eve.Alec Guinness
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Love Songs of the 1940s and 1950s: Classic Romance, Doo-Wop Ballads, Standards, and OldiesLove songs of the 1940s and 1950s had a special kind of romance. They were built for slow dances, moonlit radio, supper clubs, jukeboxes, movie scenes, high school gyms, wartime longing, doo-wop harmonies, and the kind of old-school atmosphere that can make
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1957 Billboard Number One Hits: Pre-Hot 100 Chart-ToppersThe 1957 Billboard Number One Hits list captures American pop just before the Hot 100 era officially began. Elvis Presley was the dominant chart force, but the year also featured teen idols, country crossover, vocal pop, early rock and roll, doo-wop, movie songs, and the first major signs
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1957 Trivia, Fun facts and Pop Culture HistoryIn 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, and the world looked up. For the first time in human history, a man-made object was orbiting the Earth, visible to the naked eye on clear nights, beeping a radio signal that anyone with the right equipment could hear. America’s response
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1957 Music Hits: Elvis, Rock and Roll, Doo-Wop, R&B, Country-Pop, Calypso, and Teenage Radio Fever1957 music hits were loud, lively, romantic, and wonderfully overstuffed with early rock and roll energy. Elvis Presley was everywhere with Jailhouse Rock, All Shook Up, (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear, Treat Me Nice, Too Much, and Loving You, while
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My Days at Courville Elementary School My mom was always on a fanatical crusade to see that I got the very best education, long before she enrolled me into Cass Tech High School. My first memory of my elementary school days was when she enrolled me into Courville Elementary while we still lived on Minnesota
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1957 Oscars 29th Academy AwardsWinners Announced: March 27, 1957Venues: RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, California & NBC Century Theatre, New York City, New YorkHosts: Jerry Lewis and Celeste HolmEligibility Year: 1956Major Wins:Around the World in 80 Days scored the Best Picture win.Ingrid Bergman won Best Actress for her role in Anastasia.Yul Brynner took home Best Actor
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The European Economic Community (EEC)The formation of the European Economic Community (EEC) was a significant step towards European integration, aiming to promote economic cooperation and free trade among its member countries, which the Treaty of Rome established on March 25, 1957.The EEC, also known as the Common Market, was founded by six European countries: Belgium,
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1956 Billboard Number One Hits: Pre-Hot 100 Chart-ToppersThe 1956 Billboard Number One Hits list captures the year Elvis Presley became a national pop-culture force. The year began with Tennessee Ernie Ford’s Sixteen Tons, moved through traditional pop, instrumentals, vocal ballads, and novelty-leaning records, then exploded with Elvis’ Heartbreak Hotel, Don’t Be Cruel, Hound Dog, and
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1956 Trivia, Fun Facts, and Pop Culture HistoryQuick Facts from 1956World Changing Event: Elvis Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 9, 1956. Over 60 million Americans watched — roughly 82% of the TV-viewing audience. Ed Sullivan himself was so nervous about Elvis’s hip movements that he ordered cameras to film him only
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1956 Music Hits: Top Songs, Radio Favorites, and Pop Classics Top 10 Songs of 1956 Love Me Tender – Elvis Presley Hound Dog – Elvis Presley My Prayer – The Platters Long Tall Sally – Little Richard Why Do Fools Fall in Love – Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers Mack the Knife – Louis Armstrong
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Moving on to Junior High in Detroit There wasn’t a graduation ceremony, but by the time I had grown old enough to start junior high school, my mom had moved us from the projects to a nicer second floor apartment in a two family home on Lemay street. This was a big change both in
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1956 Oscars 28th Academy AwardsWinners Announced: March 21, 1956Venues: RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, California & NBC Century Theatre, New York City, New YorkHosts: Jerry Lewis (Los Angeles), Claudette Colbert & Joseph L. Mankiewicz (New York)Eligibility Year: 1955Major Wins:Marty swept the major awards, clinching Best Picture.Ernest Borgnine claimed Best Actor for Marty.Anna Magnani won Best Actress
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1955 Billboard Number One Hits: Pre-Hot 100 Chart-ToppersThe 1955 Billboard Number One Hits list captures one of the biggest turning-point years in American pop history. Traditional vocal pop, orchestral instrumentals, television-driven songs, movie themes, and harmony groups still had major chart power, but Bill Haley & His Comets pushed rock and roll into the mainstream
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1955 Trivia, History, and Fun FactsQuick Facts from 1955World-Changing Event: Dr. Jonas Salk began inoculating children against polio, one of the most feared diseases in American history. When journalist Edward R. Murrow asked Salk who owned the patent, he replied: “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”Other
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1955 Music Hits: The First Big Rock Era Year, Doo-Wop, R&B, Crooners, Standards, and Jukebox Culture 1955 music hits marked the first big year of the rock era, at least as most pop culture fans remember it. Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets helped bring rock and roll into the mainstream,
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My First Trip To Mississippi Still recalling my very first visit back to our family home in Gore Springs, Mississippi. At least the first trip that I was old enough to remember. It was way, way back in 1955, shortly after the lynching of Emmett Till in the little town of Money, Mississippi. Money is
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The Butcher Shop Back in the 1950s Detroit, before Walmart Super Stores, big chain supermarkets and packaged meat, you got your meat from a butcher shop. The butcher would actually cut the meat exactly how you wanted and weigh it right in front of you. If you wanted your porkchops thin, that’s how you got
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1955 Oscars 27th Academy AwardsWinners Announced: March 30, 1955Venues: RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, California and NBC Century Theatre, New York City, New YorkHosts: Bob Hope (Hollywood) and Thelma Ritter (New York City)Eligibility Year: 1954Major Wins:On the Waterfront clinched the Best Picture Award.Marlon Brando won Best Actor for his unforgettable role in On the Waterfront.Grace Kelly
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