Daddy Cool and oldies playlist for a friday. (Or any day.)

 I recently played the sultry tune , Fever by Peggy Lee a hit from 1958 on my Radio Cobequid show.  Here is the original by Little Willie John's and his RnB hit from 1956. To me it sounds somewhat sexier.

Another hit from that year is Church Bells May Ring by The Willows. A group from Harlem that had a hit with this song on the RnB charts and then in 1957 the song was chosen by Canada's Diamonds  singing group as the follow up to their big hit Little Darlin' and their version made the Top 20 in Billboard. Of course, this was very common in the fifties where a black group's hit (still called Race Music by many stations,) was covered by a "white" group who by virtue of wider radio exposure, became the bigger hit. I am sure many will remember the hilarious scene in the  Dreamgirls movie where this was played for laughs.  Listen for the bell ringing in the song. The bells are played by a young Neil Sedaka who happened to be in the studio. This is another fairly rare song which I had difficulty getting any details about in Wikipedia and my source books. Then through the wonders of  the internet sales pages,  I found 18 copies for sale at the absurd price of $1.32 !

After them is Rosie and the Originals with Angel Baby. Rosie Hamlin was the lead singer. She is quoted by John Lennon in a Seventies interview as one of his favourite singers. High praise for a singer with not many hits to her credit. It reminds me of my exam time in London. I should have been revising for my O levels but was tuned to the Radio Luxembourg listening for the new releases in early 1961 -- this was one I loved back then.

 

SONGS

Fever 3:22 Peggy Lee

Church Bells May Ring 2:26 - The Willows

Angel Baby 2:47 - Rosie and the Originals.