They came one-after-another in the early sixties: hit songs based on new dance fads: “The Twist”, “Pony Time”, “The Peppermint Twist”, “Mashed Potato Time”, “The Wah-Watusi”, The “Loco-Motion” just to name a few.

(And wouldn’t you know it?) The number 1 song on the Hot 100 on Halloween, 1962, was—what else—a dance fad?

For dog days music memories, I present some classic dog songs: Hound Dog, Puppy Love, and Old Shep from Elvis Presley and Paul Anka

Some early Rock and Roll music consisted of R&B songs that were “repackaged” to make them “suitable” for white America. Here’s a story about some of that music.

In 1981, two songs with the same title (written by different people and recorded by two different women: one a well known American Country Music artist, and one a relatively unknown Scot) topped the Billboard™ Hot 100.

To avoid confusion, the name of one of the songs was changed. Here’s the story.

It can be a battle for parents to send their reluctant young campers off to their first summer camp. (Just as it was in this #2 hit by Allan Sherman in August, 1963.) But as you will observe, in the end, this boy had a positive experience at Camp Granada.

What makes a song a summer song? Maybe it’s just the word “summer” in the song’s title. Or perhaps the tune evokes thoughts of islands, beaches, bikinis, and barbeques.

Sometimes music memories seem quite unlikely. Listen to four unrelated songs that became associated in a child’s mind because of his father’s fatal illness.

“The Yellow Rose of Texas” by Mitch Miller is considered by many to be the second #1 hit single of the Rock era. Johnny Lee charted with it too. Hear the music.

Teen Angel · Mark Dinning · 1960
  Play the song.  

I have lived most of my life in the southwestern part of Dallas County, Texas.
There is a road that runs east/west for many miles through the area. Camp Wisdom Road—named for an nearby Boy Scouts camp—runs through south Dallas and westward into [...]

Some musicians work their whole lives for a hit song, but it never happens. Some musicians have that magic hit only once.