Remembrance of Things Past

Mostly about growing up the 1950s in Ilford, Essex.

Tag Archives: Teresa Brewer


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[234] ‘Everything I Do …’

First issued March 2015. Reissued October 2019.

My tour round the music which reminded me of the Fifties and Sixties started with [226] ‘All I want is Music, Music, Music, Music!’ And [232] ‘Dedicated to the One I Love’. This post completes the alphabet and completes the series of initial reminiscences.

[I have not checked all the video links from four years ago. If they fail just do a browser search on the title.]

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61. Puff, the Magic Dragon – Peter, Paul and Mary (1963)

Because: I like it and it was typical of several other folk singers and groups in the sixties – Joan Baez, Julie Felix, The Seekers, the New Seekers, … Sometimes they did children’s songs. I could have picked ‘Going to the Zoo.’

62. Reach Out (I’ll be There) – The Four Tops (1966)

Because: it was on one of my first LPs, bought for my first record-player. More Motown.

63. River Deep, Mountain High – Ike and Tina Turner (1966)

A Phil Spector production, with his ‘Wall of Sound’ method, using large numbers of backing instruments and vocalists. Re-released and covered several times. The voice of Ike Turner was not used in the recording.

64. Rock Around the Clock – Bill Hailey and the Comets (1954)

Because: It started Rock ‘n Roll in Britain. This has to go in.

65. Robin Hood (Theme Tune)

See: [217] ‘Feared by the BBC, Loved by the ITV’

66. Runaway – Del Shannon (1961)

Because: It represents many similar songs about young love. I could have picked Bobby Vee or Bobby Darin.

67. The Sound of Silence – Simon and Garfunkel (1964)

At the risk of repeating myself, I couldn’t possibly leave out … Simon and Garfunkel – a great pair of singer/songwriters, both of whom were just as great after they separated. Almost unaccompanied, with a little guitar. Of course, I could have picked: Bridge over Troubled Water, or many others.

68. Stranger in Paradise – from Kismet (1955)

Because: I think this was one of my mother’s favourites so it has to go in. The tune is copied from the Polovtsian Dances by Borodin, from the opera, Prince Igor.

69. Stranger on the Shore – Acker Bilk (1962)

Because: it’s a haunting melody, the kind of tune I like.

In 1961, the BBC ran a five part serial called Stranger on the Shore, about a French teenager visiting England as an au pair. Its signature tune, played on a clarinet by Acker Bilk, was renamed as Stranger on the Shore and issued as a single. It was the best selling record in Britain of 1962 and stayed in the weekly pop charts for over a year. It was also the first British single to top the US charts. For most of his career, Acker Bilk led and played with the Paramount Jazz Band.

70. A Summer Place (Theme Tune) – (1959)

Because: It’s a great tune – a timeless, slow orchestral classic – what we used to call ‘easy listening.’ I never saw the film but the tune was often played on its own.

71. Telstar – The Tornados (1962)

Because: I chose to buy it. My other first purchase, with Nut Rocker. Both were big hits. This one was very early electronic music.

It is important to know that Telstar, launched in 1962, was one of the first artificial satellites put into orbit round the Earth, giving us instantaneous transatlantic telephony and television (before the Internet). Now we call them just satellites. There are thousands of them. Part of the fame of this record came from its choice of name.

72. Thank You for the Music – ABBA (1977)

Because: I can’t leave out ABBA, even though they first appeared in 1973.

73. There’s a Hole in My Bucket! – Harry Belafonte and Odetta (1959)

A sort of children’s song, a bit like ‘I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.’

The attraction of this song is its cyclic nature. As a child, you need to know how it will end to appreciate the build-up. Taking out the repetitions:

There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza; There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, …

With what shall I mend it, dear Liza, dear Liza? …

With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, …

But the straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza, …

Cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, …

With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza? ….

With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, …

The axe is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza, …

Sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, …

On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza? ….

On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, …

But the stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza, …

Then wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, …

With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza? …

Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, …

In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, dear Liza? ….

In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, …

There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, …

74. Two Little Boys – Rolf Harris (1969)

Whatever else is true of Rolf Harris, he was a great painter and a great singer. Some of his songs were unusual – Tie me Kangaroo Down, Jake the Peg. As a lover of sad songs, I cannot forget this song and the wonderful story it tells.

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75. Unchained melody – Righteous Brothers (1965)

The 1955 Prison film, Unchained, is almost unknown, but its theme tune was a great success for the Righteous Brothers and others (including Jimmy Young, the well-known DJ). The only song to have sold over a million copies from three separate acts – this version, Robson and Jerome (1995), and Gareth Gates (2002).

Its powerful words talk of love and separation without hope of meeting again;

Oh, my love, my darling; I’ve hungered for your touch; A long, lonely time.

Time goes by so slowly; And time can do so much; Are you still mine?

I need your love; I need your love; God speed your love to me.

I know I have said this before, but I couldn’t possibly leave this one out. (I may say it again later.)

76. Walkin’ Back to Happiness – Helen Shapiro (1961)

I could have chosen Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers or Millie as examples of very young, solo artists. She was fourteen when this was recorded.

77. We’ll Meet Again – Vera Lynn (1943)

Because: We grew up not long after the War, near enough to hear and see references to it. Vera Lynn was still a fond memory to many people. I could have picked ‘The White Cliffs of Dover.’

78. When I fall in Love – Nat King Cole (1956)

Because it’s a fantastic love song, and because I couldn’t possibly leave out Nat King Cole.

79. When I Leave the World Behind – Teresa Brewer (1957)

Because: It reminds me of my grandmother. I don’t know where it came from but she had a record of this when she lived with us. And it’s a fantastic song. Super words:

I know a millionaire; Who’s burdened down with care; A load is on his mind.

He’s thinking of the day; When he must pass away; And leave his wealth behind.

I haven’t any gold; To leave when I grow old; Somehow it passed me by.

I’m very poor, but still; I’ll leave a precious will; When I must say goodbye.

I’ll leave the sunshine to the flowers; I’ll leave the springtime to the trees;

And to the old folks I’ll leave the mem’ries; Of a baby upon their knees.

I’ll leave the nighttime to the dreamers; I’ll leave the songbirds to the blind;

I’ll leave the moon above; To those in love

When I leave the world behind; When I leave the world behind.

To be honest, the need to blog about music arises from the need to include this one. You can play it at my funeral.

80. Whiter Shade of Pale – Procul Harum (1967)

Because: It was a classic from the sixties, massively popular. One of the few records that emerged with meaningless words – but they sound poetic enough to almost mean something. Everyone had their own theories.

81. Who Would True Valour See – John Bunyan

See: [215] “Who would true Valour See …”

82. Who’s Sorry Now? – Connie Francis (1958)

Because: I used to love Connie Francis, who was popular through the Fifties and Sixties. Representing many female singers from earlier days – Doris Day, Alma Cogan and others. Che Sera Sera was another possibility.

83. William Tell Overture – Rossini

Because: It was the signature tune to The Lone Ranger. From 1957, televised pop music was the Six Five Special every Saturday evening at … 6:05 pm, just after the Lone Ranger.

84. With a Song in My Heart

This is a late addition. I have so many references to Two-Way Family Favourites, so I looked up its signature tune. An essential part of Sunday lunchtime on The Light Programme, later BBC Radio Two – not forgetting the Billy Cotton Band Show. (Maybe in another post …)

85. Ying Tong Song – The Goons (1956)

See: [25] ‘I know a Dark, Secluded Place.’

On the ‘B’ side: ‘I’m Walking Backwards to Christmas.’

86. You don’t have to Say You Love Me – Dusty Springfield (1965)

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien came from a folk group who called themselves The Springfields. She went solo in the late Sixties and had several hits. Famous for her long, blonde hair and make-up, featuring heavy eye-shadow.

87. You were made for Me – Freddie and the Dreamers (1963)

Because: it is typical of its era. Also representing Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas and others. Not quite boy bands!

88. Young Love – Tab Hunter (1957)

Because: it was one of about six that came with the record-player by brother was given. Typical very early pop, not Rock ‘n Roll. The first pop music to be heard regularly in our house.

I have to end with two, which are too late for the Fifties and Sixties. You will have seen already tunes that remind me of my mother, my father and my grandmother. Here is another one that reminds me of someone in my life.

89. Bright Eyes – Art Garfunkel

From the film ‘Watership Down’ in 1978. A sort of requiem.

And finally:

90. Everything I do, (I do it for you) – Bryan Adams

From the film, ‘Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves’, (1991) over the closing credits.

Just Because … Because everything I do …

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This blog (all three parts,) has involved a lot of work. I could have put in hundreds more. Please let me know if any of the links are wrong!

There may be more music in another post …


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[226] Music [1]

[226] ‘All I want is Music, Music, Music!’

A mixture of historical and sentimental music.

First issued February 2015. Reissued almost unchanged September 2019.

My original plan was to do a sort of ‘Desert Island Discs’ and pick my six most memorable tunes. The list grew very rapidly. Here are some memories in the form of tunes and songs that remind me of the Fifties and Sixties. I tried hard to keep the list short but there are so many that just have to go in. Often one song represents many others by the same singer, sometimes several similar singers or groups. After a lot of thought, I let it expand to about just under 100, so it will take three posts.

In an ambitious attempt to confuse you, they are in (approximately) alphabetical order – with links to appropriate videos!

1. Abide With Me – Emeli Sandé

Because: I think this hymn is still always sung by the massed voices of the crowd watching the FA Cup Final as it has been for decades. Television nowadays concentrates on the pundits. (For US readers, it’s just a soccer match, but to us it’s as important as the Superbowl.) Even to the non-religious, it has a moving effect. This version, by Emeli Sandé, is from the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

2. All in an April Evening – By Hugh S Robertson

Because: It’s one of my all-time favourite pieces of choral music. I sang it several times in the choir of St Andrews (about which, more later) We could only sing it in Lent and in the month of April, so it didn’t come every year. I don’t think I have seen it performed since then. (This version by the Glasgow Phoenix Choir.)

I have missed out many of my favourite pieces of choral and piano music, which became familiar in later life, so I am glad I could get this one in.

3. At the Hop – Danny and the Juniors. (1957)

Because: It’s one of the earliest and best – fast moving Rock ‘n Roll.

4. Autumn Leaves – Temperance Seven with Whispering Paul McDowell (1961)

Like many of these. Because: I like it. From the early sixties – a sad, haunting jazz ballad, partly sung in French. One of several tracks I remember from one of their LPs.

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5. Baby Love – The Supremes (1964)

Because: the Supremes [Before they were Diana Ross and The Supremes] and other Motown groups were part of growing up in the sixties.

6. Barwick Green, a maypole dance from the suite: My Native Heath, written in 1924 by Arthur Wood.

Because: It’s the signature tune of the long running radio series, The Archers. [I don’t have space here to explain all the signature tunes. Maybe later.]

7. Blue Moon of Kentucky – Elvis Presley

Because: I have strange memories of this tune. Before electronic music, heavy use of echo chamber vocal modification made this a sort of eerie tune, which I associated with the Science Fiction stories I was reading at the time. Released in 1954 as a single but I heard it on an LP.

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8. Blueberry Hill – Fats Domino (1956)

Because: It was part of my early introduction to jazz music. Covered by many others but best remembered for this version.

9. By the Sleepy Lagoon – Eric Coates

Because: It’s the signature tune of Desert Island Discs.

10. Calling All Workers – Eric Coates

Because: It’s a very early memory of my mother.

Music While You Work was a twice daily radio programme running from 1940 to 1967, with uninterrupted light music (aimed originally at providing an even tempo to assist factory workers.) I can’t say that we ever listened to it but Mum always turned the wireless (radio) on as it ended so we heard this, its signature tune. She stopped work to listen to the next programme, ‘Mrs Dale’s Diary’, with a cup of tea. [I may do a post about Mrs Dale!]

11. The Carnival is Over – The Seekers (1965)

A popular hit from the Australian folk group, featuring Judith Durham. Most of my choices seem to be sad songs!

12. Catch a Falling Star – Perry Como (1958)

Perry Como appeared singing on many television programmes. Representing other ‘crooners’ – like Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crossby. I can’t pick them all.

13. Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White – Eddie Calvert (1955)

Because: I just remember it, particularly the glissando introduction. The Man with the GoldenTrumpet.

14. Come Outside – Mike Sarne and Wendy Richard (1962)

Because: It was the sort of silly little song we don’t get anymore. A cheeky song described by Wikipedia as: a ‘UK novelty chart topper.’ If you don’t know the song, listen to it.

15. Concrete and Clay – Unit 4 + 2 (1965)

Because: I like it – an unusual pop song, both words and music.

16. Danny Boy – Eva Cassidy.

A sad, Irish song to an old Irish tune (Londonderry Air, or now sometimes Derry Air.)

Because: It’s a great song sung by a great singer but also because it’s one of the few tunes I remember playing when I had piano lessons at the age of six. This version is modern – not sure of the date but it’s after 1990. I can do that. It’s my blog.

17. Danse Macabre – Saint-Saëns

Because: – we had a great Music teacher at our senior school. For the first year we sang together in the school hall. In the second year, when voices were breaking, we listened to music. He introduced several well-known of pieces of classical music, explaining them first and then playing them (on a very limited gramophone, before the days of record-players.) I will never forget this music or the story that goes with it.

Also Because: it’s the best piece of music ever written. (Yes, it is.) I still try to play it on the piano. (But, for sentimental reasons, it’s not my Desert Islands rescue choice.)

18. Doctor Who Theme (original) – Ron Grainger and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Because: I like it and liked the original series – both much better than the revival series (apart from Rose Tyler and Amy Pond!)

In 1963 the Radiophonic Workshop produced electronic music before electronic music had been invented. This music had a futuristic effect, which has been severely diluted for the modern, revival series. I was a fan of the early Doctor Who but can’t understand the plot (if there is one) with the revival series.

19. Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavour (on the Bedpost Overnight)? – Lonnie Donegan (1959)

A comical song, similar in genre to My Old Man’s a Dustman.

20. Ellen Vannin – The Spinners

We saw The Spinners performing several times at Cheltenham Town Hall. They always included this song about the tragedy of the loss of the ship, Ellen Vannin, at sea. The ship was named after the Manx name for the Isle of Man. The group of folk singers were active from 1958 to 1989.

[For Non-UK readers: The status of the Isle of Man is complex. It is approximately equidistant from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland but does not form part of any of them, or of Great Britain, or the UK, or the EU. It’s a dependent territory and its occupants are British!]

21. Ging Gang Goolie – Robert Baden-Powell

Because: It reminds me of Scouts. It was written by the Chief Scout for Scouts to sing round campfires and I joined in once or twice as a Scout. So that it could used internationally, the words were not English. They were not any other language either! Feel free to sing along:

Ging gang goolie goolie goolie goolie watcha; Ging gang goo, ging gang goo;

Ging gang goolie goolie goolie goolie watcha; Ging gang goo, ging gang goo;

Hayla, hayla shayla, hayla shayla, shayla, oh-ho; Hayla, hayla shayla, hayla shayla, shayla, oh;

Shally wally, shally wally, shally wally, shally wally; Oompah, oompah, oompah, oompah.

[I hope to talk about Scouts in a later post, but I promise nothing.]

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22. Good Golly, Miss Mollie – Little Richard (1958)

Classic Rock. His style was loud, almost shouting and he would play the piano, fast and loudly, while standing up.

His career oscillated between rock and evangelist gospel music.

23. Good News Week – Hedgehopper Anonymous (1965)

An unusual pop song, with strange words for a pop song. I always associate it with Concrete and Clay. I think they came out in the same week.

‘It’s good news week; Someone’s dropped a bomb somewhere; Contaminating atmosphere; And blackening the sky.

It’s good news week; Someone’s found a way to give; The rotting dead a will to live; Go on and never die …’

24. Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys (1966)

The Beach Boys, California and surfing were part of the pop culture of the time. This tune marked the start of a new sound, which featured intricate, multi-layered recording with key shifts and choral fugues. ‘Wouldn’t it be Nice?’ was similar.

25. Goodness Gracious Me! – Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren

Because: It was funny and they don’t make pop songs like it anymore. I can’t explain it, you just have to listen to if you don’t know it. It features a well-known highly acclaimed actress, Sophia Loren, probably the only song she recorded, with the main lyrics: ‘It goes boom boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom; Boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom-boom-boom!’

26. Hernando’s Hideaway – the Johnston Brothers (1955)

See: [25] ‘I know a Dark, Secluded Place.’

27. Hit and Miss – John Barry Seven Plus Four

The signature tune to Juke Box Jury

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To end Part One of musical reminisces, messing up the subsequent alphabetical order:

28. Music! Music! Music! (Put Another Nickel In) – Teresa Brewer (1950)

‘So, put another nickel in; In the nickelodeon; All I want is loving you; And music, music, music’

Because: Teresa Brewer was such a fantastic singer, from before my time. I don’t know how I heard this song. I may not have heard it until much later, when I searched for her other entry, in the next part …

[Thanks to YouTube for all the links. I can’t guarantee that they will always work. You will appreciate that early recordings were heard and not seen. Any video associated with these links has been added later.]