<BGSOUND SRC="http://www.terriau.org/bluedevils58/music/wav/Connie Francis - Lipstick On Your Collar.wav">


Imagine life without music... impossible! Without music, how could we remember what we were doing and when... who were we dating, the dances, the parties, the year, the season. Music serves as sign posts in our life. But, while we know that music is important to all generations, it is especially so with our generation. So, this section is dedicated to our music... the music of:
  • 1954-55 when we entered our high school years, 
  • 1955-56 when we thought we knew it all, 
  • 1956-57 when we were 'hitting on all cylinders'... we were so cool! 
  • and finally, 1957-58, we were at the top. We owned the school! We were invincible!
    • Our 'Jukebox' lists the songs for each of our high school years and the artists... Do you remember the melody for each song?  Hmm... you know the joke about "What's the second thing that goes when you get old?" I hope you know because I've forgotten. 

    Well, not all is lost, we're in the process of adding just a few bars of the melody for each song (in deference to our copyright laws) to help those of us who have already forgotten. In the meantime, don't hold your breath because producing these 'snipets' for each of several hundred songs is going to take time. You can watch our progress as you see more song titles receive their 'snipets'... they are shown with blue shaded backgrounds. 

    So, click on one of our years in high school and then punch those Jukebox buttons to listen to 45 seconds of 1954-1958 rock 'n roll and... enjoy.
      Background music: "LIPSTICK ON YOUR COLLAR", CONNIE FRANCIS
    Our Cradle Music...
    Listening to my favorite radio music program a few days ago, I heard a wild recording by 'Big' Maceo Merriweather called 'Chicago Breakdown'. It was a piece of Boogie Woogie history coming from November 1945. We were into our kindergarten year at that time. The tempo and back beat reminded me of much of our very familiar rock 'n roll from the early '50's by Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and others.

    The origins of the Boogie Woogie piano style in blues jazz is traced back to about 1910 in the  Barrelhouses of Texas where blacks hung out, drank and entertained themselves. The blues music was brought to the forefront in 1939 by the Will Bradley Trio with Freddie Slack at the piano in their 'Down the Road a Piece' . At about that same time, Carnegie Hall focused on Boogie-Woogie by featuring three piano players which included Pete Johnson and singer Joe Turner doing "Roll 'em Pete", Meade Lux Lewis doing "Honky Tonk Train Blues", and Albert Ammons doing his "Swanee River Boogie". One of the first Swing bands to incorporate the Boogie Woogie beat into their music was the Will Bradley Trio. Later, Tommy Dorsey("Boogie Woogie") and Glen Miller ("In the Mood") picked it up.  

    As our class of 100 arrived upon the world scene around 1940, the Swing bands had already developed a repertoire of Boogie Woogie music which later inspired budding rock 'n roll artists like Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Clyde McPhatter, Bill Haley, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. 

    Keep on rockin' and stay connected.  JRT Dec 2008

     

    SPECIAL FEATURE:

    THEME OF OUR SENIOR BALL IN 1958

     

    This music is by the CROUCH END FESTIVAL CHORUS in their "Music from the films of Marlon Brando" album. The chorus is a symphon-ic choir based in London. Listen to their wonderful inter-pretations of the music from Sayonara. Please checkout some of their other music at: http://www.cefc.org.uk/

    Here's the trailer for the 1957 movie, "Sayonara".  After you start the video, right click to zoom to full screen.

    After you have listened to our Senior Ball theme music, please close your media player before you do anything else within this website...

     

     

    OUR MUSIC:  STREAMED

     


    If you ever want to just sit back and enjoy a little music as you do your work on your computer, just click on one of the above Juke Box buttons, minimize the browser window for the Class website and 'rock away' the rest of your work! 

    The Rock 'n Roll buttons are 1-hour random collections of our most memorable rock 'n roll music from the late 50's and early 60's taken from my Music Library.

    The Swing button is a 3-hour session from Chuck Cecil's syndicated program "Swingin' Years (1935-1955) a program on KKJZ 88.1 FM Cal State Univ-Long Beach. Chuck con-tinues his program that he has produced for many years from the San Fernando valley. You may tune him in by visiting www.jazzandblues.org on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 9AM to noon EST. Try to support him so that he may continue his great program for many years yet.

     I will  swap in new music from time to time.

    OUR JUKE BOX

    Push that Juke Box button... and we'll transport you to that Rock 'n Roll year!
    1954: 
    Fall of Freshman Year
    1955: 
    Spring of Freshman Year
    Fall of Sophomore Year
    1956: 
    Spring of Sophomore Year
    Fall of Junior Year
    1957: 
    Spring of Junior Year
    Fall of Senior Year
    1958: 
    Spring of Senior Year


    MUSICAL TOUR
    OF OUR SITE

    As you visit each section of our web site, you will hear each song listed below.

    To listen to a song, LEFT CLICK on the title...            To repeat the song, RIGHT CLICK on the selected page, then REFRESH / RELOAD

    "Long may you run" Crosby, Stills & Nash
    "Cajun Honey", Clarence "Frogman" Henry
    "Corrina, Corrina", Joe Turner
    "Come go with me", Dell Vikings
    "I'm going to sit right down", Billy Williams
    "Honky Tonk Part II"", Bill Doggett
    "Lipstick on your collar", Connie Francis
    "Over and over",  Bobby Day
    "My special angel", Bobby Helms
    "Long lonely nights", Buddy Knox
    "Crazy Arms", Chuch Berry
    "Butterfly",  Charlie Gracie

    Rock 'n Roll History...
    In 1958, like many of us, Elvis Presley joined the Army and was eventually assigned to Stuttgart, Germany. During some of his personal leaves of absence in Germany he visited several locations in southern Germany including the little city of Ulm on the beautiful Danube river. Rosemary and I were in Ulm on one of our trips and were told by German's of our age, of Elvis' visit to their town in a concert that he put on. Of course, it was a spectacular hit. In 1958, like many of us, Elvis Presley joined the Army and was eventually assigned to Stuttgart, Germany. During some of his personal leaves of absence in Germany he visited several locations in southern Germany including the little city of Ulm on the beautiful Danube river. Rosemary and I were in Ulm on one of our trips and were told by German's of our age, of Elvis' visit to their town in a concert that he put on. Of course, it was a spectacular hit. 

    More notable however is that Ulm is the location of a most beautiful münster (cathedral) built beginning in the 14th century and completed in the 17th century. Aside from its beauty, it boasts Europe's tallest steeple. I was told by a German friend that all good German men have climbed that tall steeple, which I interpreted as a challenge (that there probably are no American men who could climb that steeple). Well, I climbed that steeple and took a photo as proof.

    While in Germany, Elvis learned a little bit of German which he shows off in one of his songs called "Wooden Heart". The song is a popular Bavarian folk song often heard in the local haufbrauhaus' of southern Germany. You will notice that Elvis replaces his usual backup group, the Jordonaires with the traditional German folk band for this song. You may not remember the song, so please click on this Blue Devillto go back to the banks of the Danube in Ulm to listen to Elvis.  
     
    TO RETURN TO THE FRONT PAGE, RIGHT CLICK "BACK"