Popular Music

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

This post is a little different than others I have written. One reason I stopped posting was I felt the posts were too formulaic. I like putting all of the information in the posts, but I think I’d like this blog to be more personal.I love music, especially pop, top 40 music from the 20th Century. So that’s what I want to talk about. I hope you like it.

Anyway, last night, we saw the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City. They are celebrating 100 years of recording music. Their first recording, which was recorded on a wax cylinder was recorded in 1910, just 100 years ago. They are the longest running recording performers in the world.

One song they did last night which is also my favorite by them was “Battle Hymn of the Republic”. This song did not reach number one (which is what this blog is all about and why I’m saying I may not stick strictly to that standard anymore). It peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. The significant thing about this song was it was the first song (and may be the last, I’m not sure) that is considered classical to hit the pop charts.

The other record it broke (and still holds), was that this is the largest group of people singing on a record to have hit the charts. At the time the choir was made up of 375 people. It was then conducted by Richard Condie. He died in 1985. The choir goes on today with the longest continuously running radio chow in history. They showed a film of some of the early days of the choir and showed a picture of an album they did in the last 40’s called “The Lord’s Prayer”. I leaned over to my wife and said “I have that album!”.

It was a great concert. We enjoyed it very much and hope the choir can go for many years to come. If you haven’t heard this lately, here is an opportunity thanks to YouTube:

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Bill Haley - The Start of Rock and Roll

Let’s begin this journey through the music of the 20th Century with a song that is looked on by most people as the first Rock and Roll record. I’m talking about “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets. The song hit number one on the Billboard charts on July 9, 1955. I was just about to enter 8th grade and basically didn’t have a clue what Rock and Roll was about. I grew up in Michigan which was not the center point for the music revolution. I might have felt differently if I had been raised in New York City or even in Chicago or L.A. The song was first released early in 1955, but didn’t do too much. It wasn’t until it was used in the movie “Blackboard Jungle” that it had a resurgence of popularity and rose to number one in July.

A headline in a Michigan paper for that day says “Congressman is indicted on $154,000 Conspiracy Charge”. It doesn’t look like some things have changed all that much. The paper cost 7 cents. A lumber yard is offering to build a complete 2-bedroom ranch style home (on your lot) for $3950.00. Coffee was 69 cents a pound. Popular comics in the paper were “Priscilla’s Pop” and “Freckles and His Friends”, not to mention “Alley Oop” and “Captain Easy”.

The term “Rock and Roll” is pretty much attributed to Allen Freed, a New York disk jockey who later made several cool Rock and Roll movies and was later indicted in the famous “payola” scandals that hit the late 50’s.

Bill Haley never wanted to be a rock singer. He started out as a country singer and had several groups in the late 40’s and early 50’s. The group that eventually became the Comets were called the Saddlemen up until 1952 when they officially became the Comets. His first hit under the new name was “Crazy, Man, Crazy” in 1953, but “Rock Around the Clock” in 1955 was his only number one.

If you haven’t heard the song lately, watch this video:

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Love Train - The O’Jays

In March of 1973, I was living in New Jersey and working a good job. I particularly remember The O’Jays and their infectious song “Love Train”. There were several stations on the radio that played Top 40 music (Most coming from New York City). I would stay on one station until I heard “Love Train”, then when I heard it, I would switch over to another station to wait for it again. As long as I was in the car, I would do this hoping to hear the song as many times as possible.

The O’Jays were a trio in 1973. They had been in business for over ten years by this time and had struggled to make it in the competitive world of pop music. Finally they released “Back Stabbers” which didn’t hit number one, but was a big hit for them. After a short time, they decided to release “Love Train” and it became their one and only number one hit.

The O’Jays went on to a great career, however, with songs like “Put Your Hands Together”, “For the Love of Money” and “I Love Music”. Their last hit was in 1980, but I just listened to “Love Train” and it sounds as good as it did 35 years ago. It’s still one of my favorites.

In 1973, Nixon was President. The Vietnam War was pretty much over, but Nixon had new problems: Watergate. He was still trying to talk his way out of that. We all know how that ended. The Viet Cong were still holding American prisoners and we were negotiating for their release. On TV, people were definitely into comedy. One one night you could watch “Bridget Loves Bernie”, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Bob Newhart Show”. For the country fans, “Hee Haw” was still going strong. Some of my favorite comic strips were still being published. “Steve Canyon”, “Rib Kirby” and “The Phantom” being three examples. I really love “story” comic strips. They are few and far between these days.

A quick check of the newspaper of 1973 find that your money still went a relatively long way. You could get a turkey dinner at a diner for $1.66 and a four piece dinette set at a furniture store for $49.95. A three bedroom “starter” home could be had in the low 20’s. Keep in mind this was only 35 years ago. How far we have fallen.

Here’s a chance to hear The O’Jays and “Love Train” one more time.

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