Archive for the Forgotten 50s category
Frank Cathey “Witchapoo” (ooooold 45)
by teabog on March 21st, 2007
Frank Cathey
“Witchapoo”
I’ve past four years in an exceedingly liberal environment, pursuing an exceedingly liberal profession in which I am considered a conservative in spite of numerous threatening e-mails calling me a “liebral” and a “demoncrat” that I would hope would prove the contrary. During this time, I’ve learned that although we leftists might get a lot of flak for having ruined American culture with our Political Correctness, it’s really not our fault. Political correctness—like racism—is something that idiots on both sides of the political spectrum are to blame for.
Sometimes, offensive things can be quite brilliant, so brilliant that their offensiveness—which is usually more a product of their time, not due so much to any particular ill will—can be ignored. It’s true. Seriously. Liking a book that has the word “nigger” in it doesn’t make you a racist, especially if the book’s really good. It’s also okay to still like the movie Dumbo, even though it contains caricatures of negroes, and it’s okay to like Fantasia, even if some of the dancing mushrooms have squinty Chinaman eyes.
And I bring this all up because “Witchapoo” is the kind of “hoo-wa hey-aw, hoo-wa hey-aw” rock and roll treat that belongs to the genre that was once popularly called “injun music.” It even starts out with the band saying “Rock and Roll, Injun Style!”
“Witchapoo” is one of the very best standalone 45s to come out the 1950s, and if you listen to it I’m sure you’ll agree with me. And even if you’re the type who gets offended by popular stereotypes of Native Americans (which I’m not), I hope that the bounty of its rockingness is enough to make you forgive its subject matter.
Eddie and the Cyclones and a warm Welcome
by teabog on January 23rd, 2007
Welcome to my MP3 blog. Here, I’m going to be posting a wide and varied selection of rare, out of print, up & coming, foreign, or otherwise exceptional music. Some of the songs presented here will be culled from other blogs, but most of them will be things that you won’t be able to find anywhere, including a large amount of Found Sound that I am in the process of ripping from vinyl to MP3.
I’m going to be going through the code over the next few weeks and tweaking the appearance of this blog (or at least finding a better-looking template), so look for changes. Until then, here’s a couple of songs to tide you over:
Eddie & The Cyclones
Fact: In the 1950’s, 78.4% of all problems faced by teenagers were somehow hop-related. The music of the era reflected this problem, as early rock and roll is filled with literally thousands of forgotten songs about finding one’s way to the hop, meeting one’s baby at the hop, wanting to exit the hop, getting banned from the hop, having too much of a good time at the hop, and having one’s parents preventing one from attending a hop. This song, by a more-than-forgotten group called Eddie & The Cyclones, is a rare exception to the rock standard, as it is from the point of view of the parent of a hop-crazed youngster, not from the youngster herself.
The song has got more everything I look for in a 50s tune: it’s fast paced, the lyrics are wonderfully corny, and it’s got one hell of a good hook (a young girl repeatedly squeaks the song’s title to her father, who jumps and jives about why exactly she is in no way deserving of the pleasantries of the hop).
“Forgotten 50s”
No links available.
Sounds like: The Big Bopper, kinda.
A similar disclaimer will soon appear permanently at the bottom of this page, but this should work for now: All songs posted on mynieblog are posted for promotional use only and whenever possible come with links to official artist websites and sites where the music can be purchased. A large amount of the music on mynieblog is in the public domain, and the majority of that which isn’t is taken from official artist sites and so is otherwise freely available for promotional download. Nonetheless, all songs on mynieblog are posted for a limited time only Any persons wishing to see songs removed should contact the webmaster immediately.