Thanks for all the responses to the earliest musical memories meme. I figured most of us probably get a bit self-righteous about the wonderful music we have in our record collections, viewing all the Pop Idol-style plastic pap with a superior air of distaste. However, we all have to start somewhere, and as the various comments show, most of us started in the bargain basement ;-)
But anyway, I realised I was missing a huge chunk of my musical memories. Shortly after I got my little plastic record player, I was also given a small pile of old 45rpm singles, which had belonged to my Auntie Marion when she was young. Ah… to be 5 or 6 years old again, with no concept of what constitutes the “latest sounds”. These are the highlights I remember…
Jerry Lee Lewis, ‘Great Balls of Fire’
I can’t remember whether I played “air piano” to this, but I hope I did.
Stan Freberg, ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’
Old songs with hilarious comedy moments. I’m sure there was one called ‘Rock Around Stephen Foster’ and another called ‘Rock Around the Island’, too. I can safely say I didn’t understand any of the 50s US musical comedy references, but I still liked listening to these.
Rosemary Clooney, ‘This Ole House’ and ‘Mambo Italiano’
Yep, George’s aunt. When Shakin’ Stevens covered the former back in the 80s, I already knew the song. I was so retro. These songs were on a four-track EP, and the only other one I can remember from it is ‘Where Will the Baby’s Dimple Be?’, which doesn’t seem to be on the P2P network I use, so I’m saved from having to download that. I’m sure Rosemary would prefer it that way…
Winifred Atwell, ‘Poor John’ and ‘Piano Tuner’s Boogie’
Winifred Atwell was a Trinidad-born pianist (and trained pharmacist, trivia buffs!) who came to England in the late 40s, playing in clubs to fund her studies at the Royal Academy of Music. Her huge success in the 50s was based on popular songs and rags for the easy listening market, although she later concentrated more on classical music. The two songs listed above are the ones I remember best, although there was also a version of ‘Stardust’ which was just sooooo schmalzy, I couldn’t bear to listen to it.
And there you go. I think I’ve now remembered all of the tunes which filled my simple musical world during my first five or six years. I feel purged.
EDIT…
I don’t believe it. There’s more… thanks to Scoop‘s careless talk on #ukmg, I’ve just remembered how much time I spent singing…
Middle of the Road, ‘Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep’
That’s it. We’ve reached rock bottom. My work is done.