That Was Then THIS IS NOW Vol. 10: The End - Period, Full Stop. No More Jarring Juxtapositions of Female Vocalists Past and Present!

 You've come a long way, baby... 

 Is that Denny Crane 

 hosting a beauty pageant? 

Welcome to Vol. 10 of my series 

Jarring

Juxtapositions:

That Was Then -

This Is Now! 

Why did I strike through Jarring Juxtapositions and This is Now?

To be honest, I have run out of enjoyable modern songs

to serve as counterpoints to the oldies but goodies.

And so, I am bringing this long running series to an end

and presenting, in this 10th and final volume, ten great

"That Was Then" songs, with no "This Is Now" metal

and hip hop madness to remind us of how much times

have changed and how much innocence has been lost.

So join me in a celebration of the look,

sound and the attitude of female singers

then... and now!

THAT WAS THEN

THE LENNON SISTERS

It's a different world, my friend. When

I was a boy in the 1950s, girls looked

and acted like The Lennon Sisters, the

darlings of The Lawrence Welk Show.

The wholesome meter was pegged

when 'lil Chanet" and her singing

siblings appeared on a 1956 episode

of Welk's program and performed

"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be,

Will Be)," the song introduced by

Doris Day in the Alfred Hitchcock

film The Man Who Knew Too Much.

"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" - The Lennon Sisters

1956 perf. on The Lawrence Welk Show)

Que sera, sera

Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

In one of their early appearances on The Lawrence Welk Show

in the mid 50s, 'lil Chanet" and her siblings visited the

zoo and sang "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," a song from

the 1946 Disney movie Song of the South.

"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah"
The Lennon Sisters (1950s ep.
of The Lawrence Welk Show)

THAT WAS THEN

LULU

Now here's Lulu, the cute, bubbly and wholesome Scottish

pop singer and actress who stole our hearts in the movie

To Sir With Love and had a hit record singing the title song.

Sung by Lulu, "Boom Bang-A-Bang" is best known as the British

winning entry at the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest held in Madrid.

 The single made #1 in Ireland and Norway, #2 in the UK and was a

major hit throughout Europe as well as in Australia and New Zealand.

In the rare and brilliantly restored clip you are about to see,

Lulu performs the song on Pop Goes the Sixties, a TV special

co-produced by the UK's BBC and West Germany's ZDF.

The show, broadcast New Year's Eve 1969, reviewed

the top hits of the 60s decade.  Here's perky Lulu

singing her award winning "Boom Bang-A-Bang." 

"Boom Bang-A-Bang" - Lulu

(Mar. 1969, highest chart pos. #1 Ireland & Norway,

#2 UK/#3 Switzerland/#4 Belgium, co-winner of

1969 Eurovision Song Contest, Madrid, Spain,

Dec. 31, 1969, perf. on Pop Goes the Sixties) 

THAT WAS THEN

THE SHANGRI-LAS

Now here are the fabulous drama queens of pop, The Shangri-Las,

with a song that might be the biggest Underachiever of all time.

Amazingly, it never rose above #99 on the Billboard chart!

 In August, 1965, "Right Now And Not Later" was released as a

single from the edgy girl group's second album "Shangri-Las - 65!

The backing track sounds like it was inspired by Motown's highly

successful H-D-H composing team and, in particular, by Supremes

songs like "Stop! In the Name Of Love" and "Come See About Me."

The Shangri-Las scored substantial hits before and after this single

but, for some reason, the groovy song failed to catch on. 

Watch and listen as The Shangs appear on an October, 1965 episode

of the teen music TV series Shivaree and perform a song that's too cool

for school and should have been a hit-- "Right Now And Not Later!"

"Right Now And Not Later" - The Shangri-Las

Sept./Oct. 1965, highest chart pos. #99 Hot 100/#150 Cash Box,

#106 Record World, perf. on Oct. 2, 1965, ep. of Shivaree)

THAT WAS THEN

BONNIE AND

THE TREASURES

The times they were a changin' in the 1960s. No longer were

songs only about love found, love lost and having good times.

More and more compositions were calling attention to social

issues. The song you're about to hear, "Home Of The Brave,"

is one of them. Recorded by Bonnie And The Treasures, 

"Home Of The Brave" was released as a single a few

weeks before Barry McGuire's chart-topping hit

"Eve Of Destruction."  The girl trio's single

didn't do as well on the chart, but it's a

cool Shangri-Las style girl group sound.

 Watch this rare clip from an October, 1965, episode of Dick Clark's

Where The Action Is as Bonnie & The Treasures, the trio of Charlotte

(Charlott) O'Hara (Charlotte Matheny), Sherlie Matthews and Clydie

King, perform "Home Of The Brave." Jody Miller had the bigger hit

with this message song about nonconformity, but this is the definitive

version. Adding to the magic of this performance are The Action Kids

female dancers Roberta Tennes and Jill Gordon. Lead singer "Bonnie"

left this world in 1976. The lovely Roberta Tennes (close-up at :37)

danced in movie musicals and was one of The Gazzarri Dancers

on Hollywood A Go-Go before joining The Action Kids. Roberta

passed away in 2015. I wish I had a time machine!

"Home Of The Brave" - Bonnie And The Treaaures

(Sept. 1965, highest chart pos. #77 Hot 100/#83 Cash Box,

scene from Oct. 8, 1965, ep. of Where The Action Is)

THAT WAS THEN

DONNA LOREN

When I was a boy in the 1950s, I never missed an episode of

The Mickey Mouse Club. On March 7, 1957, her 10th birthday,

budding pop singer and actress Donna Loren appeared on the

Disney series' Friday "Talent Round-Up Day."

  Behold how little girls looked, spoke, sang and conducted themselves

back then as you watch Donna's performance of "Pennies From Heaven!"

"Pennies From Heaven" - Donna Loren

Appearing on The Mickey Mouse Club
March 7, 1957

THAT WAS THEN

ANNETTE

Now let's flash back to 1962

and watch a nicely restored clip

of a song and dance number by

America's sweetheart, former

Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeer

Annette Funicello, a multitalented

idol of the boomer wonder years.

Shirley, every mother's son and,

more importantly, every son's

mother approved of showgirl

Annette as she performed

the song "Mr. Piano Man"

in The Golden Horseshoe

Revue on The Magical

World of Disney.

"Mr. Piano Man" - Annette

 (Sept. 23, 1962, perf. on

"The Magical World of Disney" 

 - The Golden Horseshoe Revue) 

 INTERMISSION 

1950s Drive-In Intermission Animated Short – "Buttercup Popcorn"

THAT WAS THEN

CONNIE FRANCIS

By 1958, Connie Francis had gained a reputation for crooning

easy listening romantic ballads. Her recordings were popular

with older folks but, with the era of rock & roll transforming

the pop music scene, many teenagers found them boring. 

Struggling on the chart and in desperate need of a hit, Connie waxed

"Stupid Cupid," an uptempo rock & roll novelty number written by

the Brill Building composing team of Howard Greenfield and

the late, great Neil Sedaka who died earlier this year.

The result was a top 15 U.S. hit for the songstress that summer.

Across the pond, Connie's platter was a smash in the UK where

it spent six weeks at #1.  Here now is Connie Francis with

a catchy sound that appealed to younger ears and got her

career as a recording artist back on track-- "Stupid Cupid!"

"Stupid Cupid" - Connie Francis

(July/Aug. 1958, highest chart pos. #14 Hot 100/#16 Cash Box)

THAT WAS THEN

THE SHIRELLES

Written by the Brill Building team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King,

"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" is one of the greatest pop songs of

the 60s and a chart-topping hit single for The Shirelles, one of

the greatest girl groups of all time. On the single's first pressing,

the title was simply "Tomorrow." After that it was lengthened

to "Will You Love Me Tomorrow." (The word "Still" is not

in the title.) The fab flip is the killer bee "Boys" which was

famously covered by The Beatles and Pete Best. 

Hard to believe, but this innocent sounding Shirelles record

was banned by some radio stations due to its "sexually charged"

lyrics. (Shady says: Gangsta rap was still light years away!)

Watch, listen and remember the way we were back then as

The Shirelles perform-- "Will You Love Me Tomorrow."

"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" - The Shirelles

(Dec. 1960/Jan. & Feb. 1961, highest chart pos.

#1 Hot 100 & Cash Box)

THAT WAS THEN

LESLEY GORE

The country ballad "Young Love" was co-written and first

recorded by Ric Cartey with backing by The Jiva-Tones.

Released in November, 1956, Ric's record failed to chart. 

Within weeks, covers of the song were released by three other artists:

Sonny James, Tab Hunter and The Crew-Cuts.  All three of those

versions went on to become hits in February and March, 1957,

with movie star Hunter's cover enjoying the greatest success. 

In late 1965, pop star Lesley Gore released the song on a single

and had a minor hit in the U.S. and a more substantial one in

Australia where the record approached the top 20. To conclude

my series That Was Then - This Is Now on a high note,

here's Lesley with her biggest commercial success

of 1966, an excellent cover of-- "Young Love!"

 

"Young Love" - Lesley Gore (Apr. 1966, highest chart pos.

#50 Hot 100/#57 Cash Box/#43 Canada/#24 Australia)

I hope you enjoyed my 10-part series

Jarring Juxtapositions:
That Was Then - This Is Now!

Musically speaking, if I had my druthers, I'd choose to return to 

 Then

MARCIA!  MARCIA!  MARCIA!

End of series - period, full stop.