Thread: I want a Girl Just like the girl my daddy used to have

She was a Pearl..... Ahh for the good old songs and the days that produced them Anything was possible before the World turned sour. When did it change? Somewhere between Nat King Cole and the Beatles? When the Beatles went to Amsterdam, Yep, when for the sake of money and fame they sacked their first drummer. ...too young to be in Love..and yet loves words..were words... when you were sweet sixteen... Red sails in the Sunset... shining far out to sea... oh carry my loved one...home safely to me. River of no return by the light of the silvery moon...there'll be blue skies over..the white cliffs of Dover...tomorrow you just wait and see... Some Sunday morning... Ahh well, its all a matter of choice afterall, but I can't help feeling that the world had a different outlook back then, things were a little steadier and progress was in its place. Optimism just around the corner. And she was called "" The Yellow Rose of Texas "" I lie, her name was........... westwind. This will always be a special Thread for me, and not because we have reached 500.

It seems, that the popular songs of our youths will always have a special place in our hearts and ears. i suspect that this is true for all generations.
And, each generation wonders at the "awful tastes" of the next generation, but things have a way of spiraling back, and what was old becomes new again.

The Beatles didn't go to Amserdam, they went to Hamburg. And as for sacking their drummer it was the best thing they could have done, else they might have petered out.

I was watching "Wonders of the solar system" the other day and they ended the program with what I thought was a really good song, "calling all occupants of interplanetary craft" and I'd never heard of it before. Apparantely it came out in the 70's. Anyway what I'm trying to is that whilst there is some good modern music about, if you hear good songs, from well it doesn't matter how long ago, they will still be good. I think it's about quality not age.

Another example of this is, in 50 years David Bowie songs will still be cool.

I totally agree about the old songs, and I'm with you on The Yellow Rose of Texas, and many others. My folks were into barbershopping and taught us: By the Beautiful Sea, Sweet Adeline, Shine On Harvest Moon, Down by the Old Mill Stream, etc.

"I want a girl just like the girl that married dear old dad" — penned by that little known songwriter named Oedipus.

Let's not forget ...

Unchained Melody — The Righteous Brothers (1955)

Twilight Time -- The Platters (1958)

Are you lonesome tonight — Elvis Presley (1960)

Does the folk music revival count? Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, The Kingston Trio, The Brothers Four, The Rooftop Singers, The New Christy Minstrels, etc.

Well, there's not much we can do about the fact that each generation has different ideas about what's singable or whistlable.

But there is one change in popular music that I'm not sure about. I think the novelty or comedy song had a bit of a holiday - during the Vietnam War period? - and never came back afterwards. Or do I just not know enough about more recent music?

There was K-k-k-katy and similar songs from WW1. Run Rabbit Run and countless others in WW2. Plenty of silly songs in the 50s, doggies, hippopotamuses, front teef for Christmas.

Then came My Old Man's a Dustman, Polka Dot Bikini and the like ..... with my all time silly song favourite being "Right, said Fred." Right Said Fred (Cup of Tea) - YouTube

And since?

Hi adelady. Is it wrong to be a Sentimentalist? To wallow in tear producing nostalgia? To yearn for that opportunity that was mussed ? mussed will do. Surely this is not just for the old? The warm snuggling feeling with a glow somewhere between your heart and your collar bone? Is this indulgence and self gratification? How can one explain to a generation the daily expectation of things are going to be alright mate, I heard Goodnight Irene last night at the Town Hall, played for the last Waltze. Not really, just looking back to 1952/3, the really golden years. The Barn Dances, the swirling taffeta under flares of the girls, skirts that swept dust for miles, boys in their winkle pickers. While I have these memories I 'm alive adelady, so the 2/9 pence entry admission to the Masonic Halls and the Town Halls was more then well spent, its turned out to be Life saving. To all those lovely girls from those days, who knew no more about life than the boys did, but had the good sense to know they were Goddeses in the eyes of the boys, sorry for stepping on your toes, snagging your nylons, and sometimes being drunk. SORRY. Wot about yellow submarine adelady? westwind.

Yeah, might be misty-eyed for you. I'm from the Beatles and Beach Boys generation. .....Except ..... I was a girl.

The music might have been OK, but a lot of other things were very distinctly, certainly, horribly not OK.

Originally Posted by adelady

I think the novelty or comedy song had a bit of a holiday - during the Vietnam War period? - and never came back afterwards.

What about ...

The Dr Demento Show?

Weird Al Yankovic?

Steve Martin's King Tut?

Funny parody of Mariah Carey's Xmas song

Did any of those make it to the top 100 of any general popular music list? I see them as niche or at least non-mainstream music.

Originally Posted by adelady

Did any of those make it to the top 100 of any general popular music list?

A glimpse of my favorite Weird Al's “Eat It” reveals that ...

“Eat It” is a hit single by parody artist “Weird Al” Yankovic. It is a parody of the song “Beat It” by pop star Michael Jackson. The single reached number 1 in Australia, and it was his highest-charting U.S. single on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 12 until “White & Nerdy” peaked at number 9 in October 2006. “Eat It” earned Yankovic a 1984 Grammy Award in the Best Comedy Recording category.

source

The Weird Al discography shows 19 of his singles made it to the Top 100 in three countries.

As for another of my favorites, "King Tut" by Steve Martin...

“King Tut” is a novelty song performed by Steve Martin and the Toot Uncommons (actually members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band). It was released as a single in 1978, sold over a million copies, and reached number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

source

King Tut

For jrmonroe. Thanks jrmonroe, confirms my beliefs that the old world changed about that time between Nat King Cole and the arrival of the Beatles. By the way jr, is your Post(e) in English? And another thing, Quote "" sold over a million copies """End Quote, but who to jrmonroe? anyone over the age of three? No, I'm sorry jrmonroe, young people were especially bread to buy noise and yelling sometime around 1957. I think the method was putting jungle juice in their morning cerials. Could have been to prepare them for for the new techno gadjets already on the drawing boards and also they needed a large base to consume their get happy pills. All marketing you see, who in their right mind would try to make money out of Quote "" red sails in the Sunset.... they tried to tell us we're too young... sweet sixteen "" End Quote. Anyway, people used to dance then, actually embrace on the dancefloor, while they danced thigh to thigh, ( he he he )> Oh what your Generations missed out on. Money then became the root of all evil. Still, if it made you happy...westwind.

Anyway, people used to dance then, actually embrace on the dancefloor

Well, that was in Oz and the UK. Not so much the USA. I was surprised when my mum told me that all those polite young US troops who were here during WW2 couldn't do any of the standard ballroom dancing that we were all taught from childhood.

Mum said she was literally frightened off dance floors by the jitterbugging - far too athletic/gymnastic, downright dangerous. But those same blokes who were apparently top-notch dancers couldn't manage a simple foxtrot, tango or military two-step, let alone a waltz.

When I was in Puckapunyal doing my National Service, 1953, I realised I was already too old for what was coming, music wise or otherwise. Elvis Presely had arrived at Pucka, The Twist and Big Boppa and Johnny O'Keefe not far behind. When I told the Platoon Sargeant I only showed once a week, he said Quote "" Your in the Army now sonny, and in the army you shower twice a day every day, wether you need it or not. In your case we will make an acception. You will have cold water showers under my supervision for the next fortnight. "" End Quote. No chance of him getting his rocks off watching me cold shower in the Winter Time at Pucka, I couldn't even find it. So that was another thing that convinced me that the World was Changing. Why, Quote '' Old Shep and Tumbling Tumbleweed was replaced by Quote "" Boots boots boots, and We're marching on to Hell with the Drums playing... End Quote. Men of Sussex in the hollow... Still Danny Boy was OK, where I am lying"" seem to fit in with Army perception. Note for History here. We had ex Korean NCO Veterans training us, having been Volunteered"" to the National Service Programme. Just returned from Korea n Winter where the Temperayure dropped to 30 degrees most nights. So when I returned to Civilian life my girl friends were in someone elses arms singing """HEY BIDDY DOO A LAA BOOMPS A PLONKA"" And there was only the comfort of Chloe and a bottle at Young and Jacksons for me. For Americans. Chloe was a favorite of your Fathers and Grandfathers. westwind.

World War II facilitated the spread of jitterbug across the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. British Samoans were doing a "Seabee version" of the jitterbug by January 1944.^[11] Across the Atlantic in preparation for D-Day, there were nearly 2 million American troops stationed throughout Britain in May 1944.^[12] Ballrooms that had been closed because of lack of business opened their doors. Working class girls who had never danced before made up a large part of the attendees, along with American soldiers and sailors. By November 1945 after the departure of the American troops following D-Day, English couples were being warned not to continue doing energetic "rude American dancing."^[13]Time Magazine reported that American troops stationed in France in 1945 jitterbugged [2], and by 1946, jitterbug had become a craze in England. [3] It was already a competition dance in Australia.

Funny about the difference between the UK and Oz. Here working class and rural men and women were routinely taught ballroom dancing. (Unless they were strict Methodists.)

HA HA adelady, you haveput the Stage Props up for me. My wife was a Methodist. And it was always said by the old Methodists here in Australia, that apart from listening to the radio, using warm water to bathe, and hanging your washing where it might fall under the gaze of a Church of England Gentleman, there was one thing a young Methodist Girl had to be really careful of.. Not to engage in intercourse---it could lead to Dancing. westwind.