favorite song on Xgau's 50's singles list?

I think I'd go with "Come Go with Me." Runners-up would include "Speedo," "Maybe," "At the Hop," "Do You Wanna Dance," "Love Is Strange," and (even though the ubiquity of the Los Lobos version in '87 started to wear me down) "La Bamba." A lot of doo-wop on there; my favorite doo-wop songs tend to be non-hits.

Sylvia...

Yes Mickey?

How do you call your loverboy?

Come 'ere loverboy!!

And if he doesnt answer?

Oh, loverboy!

And if he STILL doesnt answer?

I simply say, "Baby, oohh, baby.
My sweet baby, you're the one.

"Come Go With Me" vs "Let The Good Times Roll" Shirley, damn, difficult to believe it was legal on the radio way back when.

screamin jay motherfucking hawkins over 'la bamba', 'love is strange', 'little darlin', 'speedo'. all these songs are great.

Come Go With Me.

SUZIE Q

I mean GOD DAMN

what? you think it's way better than the other choices?

my incredulity was not meant to denigrate the other A++++++ songs on this list, I am just really drunk

That's alright. And Suzie Q is a great drinking song (it's also great in any other context).

Is it fair to say that every one of these songs is completely free of self-consciousness? (Beyond the self-consciousness of wanting to make the best record possible.) '50s rock and roll is just such a different world.

can you explain?

On my way to a 10:15 screening of Raging Bull, but I'll try for a quick one...'50s rock and roll is not my very favorite music--the '60s and '70s mean more to me on a personal level--but there's something elemental about '50s rock and roll that puts pretty much everything from the Beatles forward to shame. People were in the process of inventing something, so there was none of that anxiety-of-influence stuff that starts to creep in with the Beatles. That's a gross simplification, of course. You'll either see what I mean, and understand that it's not quite that simple, or you just won't agree at all.

in the still of the night vs i put a spell on you

in the still of the night. sh'doop, shoobie doop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q96ylFiQK_I

A little surprised "I Only Have Eyes For You" isn't on here, the dreamy production is probably too much for Xgau.

sorting through my iTunes it appears the Beach Boys covered a huge chunk of these...

gotta go with Suzie Q, what a slamming track.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2jnep_dale-hawkins-susie-q_creation

I love "Chantilly Lace" so much! There was this couple week period where it was the only song I was singing in the shower. "OH BABY THAT'S-A WHAT I LIKE!" I stopped doing that because I think it was driving my husband nuts.
It's so fun to pretend to say things like him, though. "Helllllooooo baaaaby." I love the Kids in the Hall skit where a domineering Buddy Holly gets a chimp to pilot their plane. The way the Big Bopper says, "What's this drunk monkey doing flying this plaa-a-a-a-a-a-annne?" just kills me.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:PtZyeUnW91_zJM:http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/nm_big_bopper_090202_ssv.jpg&t=1

"Helllooooo baaaaaaaby"

The only reason I didn't include "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" on my short list is that I think "The ABC's of Love" is even greater. I don't think I've ever heard the Gladiolas' "Little Darlin'," just the Diamonds' cover. I was also thinking tonight that my discovery of '50s rock and roll, and infatuation with it at different points in my life, is largely attributable to four people: Christgau would be one, Marcus even more so, Scorsese for Mean Streets, and, probably the most important trigger of all, George Lucas and American Graffiti. That had a tremendous impact on me when I saw it at 14 or 15.

A little surprised "I Only Have Eyes For You" isn't on here, the dreamy production is probably too much for Xgau.

― Mark, Wednesday, November 10, 2010 3:33 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

"And while these classics aren't as empyreal as anti-rock philistines claim, they're definitely worth getting to know."

It's what he says about Time After Time, Where Or When and I Only Have Eyes For You in his review of Rod Stewart's As Time Goes By (don't ask why I know this).

I love "Chantilly Lace" so much! There was this couple week period where it was the only song I was singing in the shower. "OH BABY THAT'S-A WHAT I LIKE!" I stopped doing that because I think it was driving my husband nuts.

― Flavors: Onions and other flavors (Abbbottt), Wednesday, November 10, 2010 4:45 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

Love this post so much

On my way to a 10:15 screening of Raging Bull, but I'll try for a quick one...'50s rock and roll is not my very favorite music--the '60s and '70s mean more to me on a personal level--but there's something elemental about '50s rock and roll that puts pretty much everything from the Beatles forward to shame. People were in the process of inventing something, so there was none of that anxiety-of-influence stuff that starts to creep in with the Beatles. That's a gross simplification, of course. You'll either see what I mean, and understand that it's not quite that simple, or you just won't agree at all.

― clemenza, Wednesday, November 10, 2010 1:39 AM (16 hours ago) Bookmark

I would call that anxiety-of-influence European cultural bagage.

Mr Lee

come go with me

In the Still of the Night

he is 100% wrong about "I Only Have Eyes For You", which may be the best song ever recorded

yeah, "i only have eyes for you" is an odd omission. def an all-time classic.

This is from the '70s book, right? If I'm remembering correctly, this list was meant as a supplement to the albums list in the same book. There's nothing from Chuck Berry, Elvis, Buddy Holly, etc. on the above list either, as they were covered by compilations on the albums list. That may (or may not) explain the omission of "I Only Have Eyes for You." (He might have even listed the American Graffiti soundtrack, which has the Flamingos song.)

Went with “Fever” just because for me Little Willie John towers miles above everyone else on that list.

he didn't include the American Graffiti soundtrack, he just doesn't think I Only Have Eyes For You is one of the 25 best singles of the 50's.

Thanks to my poor posting skills you might have missed the quote above:

"And while these classics aren't as empyreal as anti-rock philistines claim, they're definitely worth getting to know."

referring to Time After Time, Where Or When and I Only Have Eyes For You

for me it's hard to sort between "fever", "chantilly lace" and "i put a spell on you", which reveals nothing but my strong taste for novelty tunes. abbbottt OTM about the joys of pretending to be the big bopper while singing "chantilly lace", of saying almost anything in THAT VOICE. go with "fever", not without regret.

also: "speedo", "come and go with me", "in the still of the night". and "i only have eyes for you" at least deserves to be ranked with the stuff on this list. at least.

Going with Frankie Lymon. Runners-up: Del-Vikings, Mickey and Sylvia, Silhouettes, Big Bopper. (Actually got a pretty cool CD in the mail last year, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Day The Music Died, with some of the Big Bopper's other songs on it, and liked them a lot -- strangely, it had never occurred to me before that he might even have other songs!)

Also strangely, I've never really liked "I Put A Spell On You" much -- too, I dunno, theatrical or something? I appreciate the insane drunken banshee yelps in theory (though if there's "self-consciousness" on this list, they're what I'd point to) and I like the idea of Screamin' Jay Hawkins (wrote a prehistory of horror rock thing for Rhapsody around Halloween where he was the lead guy), just wish the beat was more rock'n'roll, or faster, or something. (Not that all great '50s rock'n'roll was fast, obviously! But maybe this song would be better if it was.)

splitting hairs, but i never considered "i put a spell on you" to be rock'n'roll. also, can't picture how the maniacal intensity of the vocal would work if it were sped up

nah, that slow & deep swampy blues sound is essential to the menace Hawkins was attempting to convey there. i mean, does any other '50s track capture that feeling of dread (and this in spite of its obvious hokeyness) so well? not in my experience.

xp

It's never actually hit me as intense or menacing, is the problem -- It hits me almost as method-acting. And right, if it was sped up, the song would have to be different -- and maybe it wouldn't be as unique. But yeah, I don't think it is rock'n'roll. I'd call it "show blues" or something like that. Somehow, at least as much behind the times as ahead of the times. Do people just think of it as r&b?

well, it's a waltz, right? hardly the ideal rock n roll time signature. beat would sound bizarre all sped up.

i voted for "In the Still of the Night," nonetheless.

xp Also totally get how it paved the way for Dr. John, Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Alice Cooper, etc. It's a real important record. I've just never liked listening to it much (and not because it makes me uncomfortable.)

Actually, I've never really liked Creedence's cover version very much, either. (And I usually like Creedence a lot.)

I Only Have Eyes For You is such a strange doo-wop song. It doesn't evoke the street at all. It's so polished and ethereal and mannered. Hardly rock and roll too.

Might be what Xgau was aiming at when he labeled the fans of the song "anti-rock philistines".

Sorry, missed the Christgau quote you supplied. He seems to be talking about those three songs in general--they'd all been recorded numerous times before doo-wop groups got their hands on them--so I'm not sure that he means for his words to be specifically applied to the Flamingos' version of "I Only Have Eyes for You." It depends; primarily it depends on what empyreal means, something I plan to find out as soon as I look it up.

yeah, but he dug the Platters, who could be described as being similarly "ethereal and mannered."

xp

empyreal is a fancy word for "heavenly," which 'i only have eyes' most certainly is. not sure why thinking that would make me an anti-rock philistine per xgau. i love rock! i also love doo-wop, and lots of other things.

i mean, does any other '50s track capture that feeling of dread (and this in spite of its obvious hokeyness) so well?

The three '50s songs that most convey dread to me would be Bo's "Who Do You Love," Jody Reynolds' "Endless Sleep," and--just because of the way it sounds, not the subject matter--the Diamonds' "The Stroll."

Apollo & Dionysus FITE!

xp

Bo's badass swagger limits its potential for tr00 dread, tho, imo. and "Endless Sleep" instrumental, no? didn't want to go the jazz route with that, personally. "The Stroll"? really?

Dionysus all the way

"Endless Sleep" isn't an instrumental. "The Stroll" sounds almost gothic to me--all those druid-like backing vocals. With "Who Do You Love," part of it would be the lyrics: "Tombstone hand and a graveyard mind/Just 22 and I don't mind dyin'"--I hear dread there, and also in the sound of the record.

I should say, I don't think you need words to convey dread; that an instrumental would conjure up dread doesn't seem out of the ordinary to me. (Can't think of any examples offhand, but I know I've gotten dread out of instrumentals before.)

When I think of "dread" in '50s rock'n'roll, the first thing that comes to mind is "(He's) The Great Imposter" by the Fleetwoods. Then I remember that it didn't come out until 1961. (I probably first heard it in American Graffiti, set in 1962, or on the soundtrack, which makes it seem "50s" to me, I guess. Though the Fleetwoods did actually start scoring hits in 1959.)

I think Marcus might agree with you--I'd have to check the Stranded discography, but I think he says (there, or somewhere else) that he heard a quiet kind of dread in the Fleetwoods. Maybe it was desperation...I can't remember.

I love "Chantilly Lace" so much! There was this couple week period where it was the only song I was singing in the shower. "OH BABY THAT'S-A WHAT I LIKE!" I stopped doing that because I think it was driving my husband nuts.
It's so fun to pretend to say things like him, though. "Helllllooooo baaaaby." I love the Kids in the Hall skit where a domineering Buddy Holly gets a chimp to pilot their plane. The way the Big Bopper says, "What's this drunk monkey doing flying this plaa-a-a-a-a-a-annne?" just kills me.

― Flavors: Onions and other flavors (Abbbottt), Tuesday, November 9, 2010 11:45 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha i love that this post is so in character that i knew who this was before i even scrolled down to the display name. i've long considered that one of the worst sketches KITH ever put on the air though.

The Fleetwoods: "I stood and watched her fall. Couldn't help her at all."

Marcus on the Fleetwoods: "Close harmony from two girls and a boy, and the flipside to teen rebellion: the sound of awful yearnings, quiet defeats, and a love always just out of reach."

shit. I was just typing that Marcus quote

"Quiet defeats," quiet dread--well, I got the initials right! (I sometimes hear quiet demagoguery in the Fleetwoods, but that's another story for another thread.)

Well, now you gotta let it out

and then there's always Orbison--also early-'60s (i think)--with "Running Scared," "In Dreams," etc., if you like a dollop (or a billion) of paranoia with yer dread.

always confuse "Endless Sleep" with "Sleep Walk."

xp heh...

Screamin' Jay no contest

It's not especially important, but to pick up with something I mentioned upthread--I wanted to check my copy at home first--these should not be intepreted as Christgau's picks for the 25 best singles of the '50s. The list comes from the '80s book (not the '70s book, as I said), and it's a supplement to his list of 25 albums from the '50s. There's no overlap between the two lists; these are "twenty-five forty-fives by artists whose LPs--if they exist at all--didn't make the grade." (The dead giveaway that the list is a supplement is that there's no Chuck Berry; it's inconceivable Berry wouldn't be on a list of Christgau's favorite '50s singles.) Also, he does mention the American Graffiti soundtrack in his intro to the two lists: he says the singles list is in lieu of a few multi-artist compilations, one of which is American Graffiti (which, again, has "I Only Have Eyes for You.")

So: he may well not consider "I Only Have Eyes for You" one of the 25 best of the decade--chances are he doesn't--but you can't assume that from the fact it's not on this list, which is basically a 25-other-great-singles-that-aren't-on-my-albums-list (and-aren't-on-the-compilations-I-omitted) list.

I feel embarrassed now. My apologies to all for not making these things clear.

Not sure if you're being ironic or not...I really wasn't trying to embarrass you or anybody else, just trying to clarify something I was pretty sure of from memory. It's still an excellent poll regardless of how the songs were assembled.

La Bamba. But no Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly nor Neil Sedaka, no credibility!

No reading comprehension, no credibility!

Not sure if you're being ironic or not...I really wasn't trying to embarrass you or anybody else, just trying to clarify something I was pretty sure of from memory. It's still an excellent poll regardless of how the songs were assembled.

― clemenza, Wednesday, November 10, 2010 11:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

I wasn't being ironic. Thanks

Went for "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" over "Chantilly Lace", but I love em both.

...or Neil Sedaka, no credibility.

The Everlys and Buddy Holly are of course on the albums list. But Neil Sedaka?!

It's funny, just the other day I was saying to someone at the bus stop that "I Only Have Eyes For You" is every bit as empyreal as the anti-rock philistines claim, I didn't know that Xgau had said otherwise.

You're a bad consumer!

A bunch of these were on the american grafifti OST fwiw

Good point--which pretty much rules out "I Only Have Eyes for You" as one of his favorites. (Also, while correcting myself, I managed to make a mistake in the correction--singles and albums lists are from the '70s book, like I originally said.)

"Earth Angel" and the Frankie Lymon song amongst the doo wop tunes. (Actually, I don't know the Channels and Johnnie and Joe songs.) And then probably "La Bamba" and "Fever" - I think those are my favorites here.

The Everlys and Buddy Holly are of course on the albums list. But Neil Sedaka?!

Few 50s songs are better than "Oh Carol".

Sometimes they give me a hard time over on ILB. So...I'm not going to give you a hard time.

I don't know if this clears anything up, but Christgau's introduction to his Basic Record Library:
The Fifties and Sixties is posted at his web site (the whole of Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies is actually posted in full there). This is the second paragraph to the introduction:

As suits what was basically a singles music, all but three of the '50s selections are greatest-hits albums, most of them put together in the '70s. I've omitted such classic multiple-artist compilations as 18 King Size Rhythm & Blues Hits (Columbia), You Must Remember These (Bell), History of Rhythm & Blues Vol. 3 (Atlantic), Echoes of a Rock Era and Golden Goodies (Roulette), and American Graffiti (MCA) in favor of twenty-five forty-fives by artists whose LPs--if they exist at all--didn't make the grade. A lot of best-ofs show up in the '60s as well because outside of the fab five--Beatles-Dylan-Stones-Who-Redding--great albums-as-albums were rare before 1967. The good old days? We'll ever know.

Here's a rough Top 10 for me (i.e., I'm at work right now and can't see what I've saved on my hard drive, which is always a good way to check these things). The Cellos are #1, the rest are random:

"Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am the Japanese Sandman)," Cellos (1957)
"Shombalor," Sheriff & the Ravels (1958)
"Rubber Biscuit," Chips (1956)
"The ABC's of Love," Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (1956)
"The Girl Can't Help It," Little Richard (1956)
"('Til) I Kissed You," Everly Brothers (1959)
"Almost Grown," Chuck Berry (1959)
"Who Do You Love," Bo Diddley (1957)
"La-Do-Dada," Dale Hawkins (1958)
"When I Call on You," Dee & the Kool Gents (1958)

I'm sure I've missed at least a couple of obvious ones.

Rang Tang Ding Dong is indeed a monster

The Bluethings, a great mid-'60s garage band from Kansas, did a really rocking, kind of Merseybeat-ish cover of "La-Do-Dada."

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I thought this would be impossible til I got to the 2nd-to-last. Frankie 4ever.

Silhouettes might be my favorite doo-wop ballad

Voted Del Vikings over Screamin' Jay

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Interesting. I think I'm with xhuxk on this one--I don't dislike "I Put a Spell on You," but if there's such a thing as '50s art-rock, that might be it. No votes for "Speedo," "At the Hop," or "Book of Love"--ouch.

closer you are, a thousand miles away and over the mountain, across the sea are also amazing.

Speedo might be my favorite uptempo doo-wop. Shame about zero votes

i agree with you about I Put a Spell on You (read this sentence out loud)