Down Memory Lane with silly hit songs from the 50s and 60s in Daydreaming on the Porch

This is one of those entries where I take myself back in a time machine to the years 1958-1963. That was a momentous time in my young life, as it was during this period in 1961 that my family moved into our new house in the suburbs of New Orleans. Everything about my world seemed to change in a flash after that day in early October of that year: new surroundings, new school, new friends and, of course, the unforgettable music of the 1950s and 1960s.

It was such an innocent time to be growing up in suburbia for us kids who were part of the rapidly growing post-war middle class. One might say 1960 marked a rather pivotal year in pop music. The raucous, raw and brilliant early rock and roll music was giving way to more subdued, but still great songs by talented artists and groups who were inevitably right for the early to mid-Sixties: Bobby Vinton, Dion ,The Shirelles, Johnny Tillotson, Brenda Lee, Jay and The Americans, Ricky Nelson, Sam Cooke and The Everly Brothers. Also, such folk artists as Peter, Paul and Mary and The Kingston Trio. All these names come from an online list of hits from 1962.

It’s strange to me how I can remember certain songs from that period in the late 50s and early 60s. I was only in 3rd through 6th grades then. One reason was because, as with most things we remember, events and emotional connotations surrounding the songs stand out. I recall several songs with particular clarity, and this just might have coincided with my first transistor radio, sales of which took off after 1957. The songs were also novelty hits with silly but creative and fun lyrics and music.

The songs I refer to included these:

• “Sad Movies Always Make Me Cry” sung by Sue Thompson in 1961. This was a rather poignant song. It’s a sad little ballad, and you can’t help listening to the words. I remember this because I associate it with a red-haired girl in my neighborhood who I used to hear singing it. She was slightly older than me. I was 9. I think she intrigued me.

Lyrics: https://genius.com/Sue-thompson-sad-movies-make-me-cry-lyrics

• “The Battle of New Orleans” sung by Johnny Horton. This was one if the most catchy songs I’ve ever heard, and back in 1959 it was No. 1 in the charts for six weeks. It seems like everyone was humming or singing that song. Growing up in New Orleans, it was especially popular. Turns out, however, that “Old Hickory,” Andrew Jackson, far from being heroic, was instead an awful man and an equally awful president, responsible for the forced re-location to Oklahoma of the Cherokee tribe of Native Americans along the shameful “Trail of Tears.” He was the cruel owner of as many as 160 enslaved Africans who created his wealth. But what does a 9-year-old back in 1959 know about history?

• Battle of New Orleans,” sung by Johnny Horton

• “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” Brian Hyland (1960)

Now you definitely have to have been around in 1960 to remember this crazy, silly, fun song which was a mega hit for Brian Hyland when he was still a teenager. Rather dumb, but oh so catchy.

Oh, no….Tumbling tumbleweeds, who could forget this, No. 1 in 1958, Sheb Wooley’s “Purple People Eater.” This clip is from Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.

And to wrap up this little trip down Memory Lane, one of my all-time favorite songs from 1963:

• “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah” by Allan Sherman. This was a comedy hit back in the day. Although I never went to summer camp, I loved this song.

Thsnks for coming along for the ride.