Joyce Martin's a Gold Digger!

Hi again! I'm Joyce Martin.

I'm sure you

remember me

from last year's

post here at

Shady's Place.

As you recall, I'm a good girl breaking bad...

falling under the influence of the

mean girl gang known as the

I'm just trying

to fit in, but

ever since I

got mixed-

up with the

Hellcats, my

grades have

been slipping

and my folks

have been in

my face and

on my case.

Not knowing which way to turn for help, I found a friend
in Professor Shady Del Knight who offered to be my private
tutor and help me bring up my grades. To earn extra credit,
I am doing a special research project for Professor Knight

and hosting this new blog series at Shady's Place called

Joyce Martin's  a  Gold Digger!

In each volume I will display vintage top tunes surveys,

the hit parades distributed by radio stations in the 50s

and 60s. Next I'll go digging for gold - picking a

favorite song from each list and playing it for

your listening and dancing pleasure.

I'm lucky to have this

chance to make good,

so... if you're ready...

let's dig some gold!

WAEB - ALLENTOWN, PA

This edition of my series features radio station

play lists from across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Let's begin with the survey

in green above, issued by WAEB 790 in

Allentown. It's the week of May 23, 1960,

and I'm poring over the station's list of the

"Top Tunes in the Lehigh Valley." I think

I'll play #23, "Young Emotions," a song

by Ricky Nelson, a cool guy I dated!

"Young Emotions" - Ricky Nelson

(May/June 1960, highest chart pos.

#11 Cash Box/#12 Hot 100, scene from

The Adventures of Ozzie And Harriet)

WFBG - ALTOONA, PA

Courtesy of PopBopRocktilUDrop

Our next stop is Altoona, PA, and radio station

WFBG 1290 - "The Voice of the Alleghenies."

It's the week of June 8, 1963, and I'm picking

#17 on the survey, Connie Francis, one of the

most popular female singers of the late 50s

and early 1960s, beginning to struggle a bit

on the chart by mid 1963 when this rock 'n'

roll style record, "If My Pillow Could Talk."

missed the top 20 on the Billboard chart.

"If My Pillow Could Talk"

Connie Francis (June 1963, highest

chart pos. #16 Cash Box/#23 Hot 100)

WLAN - LANCASTER, PA

Courtesy of PopBopRocktilUDrop

We now head southeast to Professor Shady's

old stomping ground and a visit to Lancaster,

home of AM station WLAN 1390. My choice

from the LAN Tunivac Top 60 for the week

of November 25, 1961, is #6, "Heartaches"

by The Marcels, a group from Pittsburgh.

"Heartaches" was recorded in 1933 by

bandleader Ted Weems, but his version

didn't catch on and become a hit until

a DJ revived it in 1947. It has since 

been waxed by many artists. This

version, by The Marcels, made

a run at the top 5 on Billboard.

"Heartaches" - The Marcels

(Nov./Dec. 1961, highest chart pos.

#7 Hot 100/#16 Cash Box/#19 R&B)

          WJET - ERIE, PA

I'm digging this gold and I hope you are,

too. We now travel all the way back up

to the far corner of the state, Erie, and

another station with a top 60 instead

of a top 40 format. It's "The Jet" -

WJET 1400. We're revisiting the

week of May 22, 1961, and the

tune I've selected from Erie’s

Original Top 60 Music Survey -

The Jet Sixty is #14, the neato

girl pop song "Triangle" by

one-hit wonder Janie Grant,

real name Rose Marie Cosili

of Paterson, New Jersey.

"Triangle" - Janie Grant

(May/June 1961, highest chart pos.

#23 Cash Box/#29 Hot 100)

           WSBA - YORK, PA

Next we travel all the way back across
the state to Shady's hometown, York,
and a top tunes list issued by WSBA
"The Nifty 910"... later known as
 "The Mighty 910." It's the week

of July 29, 1961, and I'm gonna
play #5 on the survey "I Like It
Like That," a major crossover

hit for New Orleans R&B
great Chris Kenner!

"I Like It Like That, Part 1"

Chris Kenner (July/Aug. 1961,

highest chart pos. #2 Hot 100

#2 Cash Box/#2 R&B)

KDKA - PITTSBURGH, PA

From station KDKA Pittsburgh, here above is a survey listing the top hits

of 1964. I'm spinning the #22 song that year, a Four Seasons record that
would have topped the chart if not for The Beatles and their two smash
hits "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" which held the
#1 and #2 spots and for three weeks in a row prevented the Seasons'
record from rising higher. Here now are The Four Seasons doing
their best to fend off Beatlemania with-- "Dawn (Go Away)."

"Dawn (Go Away)" - The 4 Seasons

(Feb./Mar. 1964, highest chart pos. #3 Hot 100 & Cash Box)

I hope you

dug this gold.

Please join me

for volume 2 of

Joyce Martin's
 a  Gold Digger.

coming soon!

Orange You Glad This Lime is Not a Lemon?

PLEASE WATCH THIS TRAILER.

THEN WE'LL TALK.

Hi, I'm Joyce Martin....

I'm the good girl breaking bad in the

Academy Award winning motion picture

High School Hellcats!

It's not easy being the new girl in school.

At first I felt all alone and insecure.

But then I was approached by Connie, leader of

The Hellcats, the mean girl gang that rules

the school and controls the social scene.

What a great bunch of gals, those Hellcats!
Their hobbies include sassing the teacher...

smoking cigarettes in school...

and I mean anywhere and everywhere - 

not just in the little girls' room...

and of course, everybody's favorite pastime - 
knife-throwing.

I wanted to fit in, so I considered joining
The Hellcats, but there were two problems.

First, Hellcats do not allow their members
to get good grades. My folks would kill me
if I let my GPA slip. Secondly, I can't date
any guy that isn't approved by Connie
and her posse. That made me hesitate
because I am used to playing the field.

For example, before I arrived at Hellcat High, I was involved
with rock 'n' roll star Eddie Cochran who appeared with me in
the juvie delinquent movie Untamed Youth. Eddie also played
guitar on a record I made called "Ting-A-Ling Telephone."

"Ting-A-Ling Telephone" - Yvonne Lime
feat. Eddie Cochran (1957, unreleased)

My next fella

was "Little Joe"

Cartwright...

(Michael Landon)
of Bonanza fame.
 Everything was

fine at first...

Unfortunately...

Little Joe
turned out

to be a wolf.

I even met, worked with and dated Elvis Presley.

As you can see,

I've got the pics

to prove it.

Elvis and I had

chemistry, but it

didn't work out.

His heart belonged to another woman...

...his mom!

Then there was Tim Considine who played Spin Evans on
Spin and Marty, Frank Hardy on The Hardy Boys and
Mike on My Three Sons. We were "just friends."

After that I went to a dance
with teenage idol Ricky Nelson
on his family's television series
Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet.

In the following film clip you can

see shots of me smiling in the

audience as I watch Ricky

perform his top 10 hit

"I Got A Feeling."

"I Got A Feeling" - Ricky Nelson

(Oct./Nov. 1958, highest chart pos.

#10 Hot 100/#15 Cash Box, scene from

Oct. 29, 1958 ep. of The Adventures

of Ozzie And Harriet)

It was ditto with Rick. We parted "just friends." So, as you

can see, I haven't exactly been lucky in love - far from it!

Even so I value my freedom
and I was wary of making a
commitment to The Hellcats.

That's when Connie and the
Cats lured me to a dark,
creepy old abandoned
movie theater on the
poor side of town
and started to apply
big time peer pressure.

Listen up, cupcake.
Me and the other girls
talked it over and we
think you might have

the right stuff to be a
Hellcat. Make up your
mind. Are you in or out?

Just remember one thing,
If you don't belong, you
are nothing and nobody, and you'll find life at

school pretty rough.

I'm sorry I kept you and the other
girls waiting, Connie. I want to
be a Hellcat, I really do. In fact
I've already started honing my
mean girl skills. Why, you'll be
very happy to know that...
just this morning at school,
when no one was looking...
I threw caution to the wind
and sniffed copier ink. Then
I snuck behind the gym
and chewed bubblegum -
the proven gateway to
reefer madness.

Determined to have a social life, I gave up dating famous
actors and rock stars and settled for local soda jerk
Mike Landers, but that was a real disaster.

Mike said The Hellcats are bad news and warned me
to stay away from them. I didn't like him telling me
what to do and we argued about it all the time.

When Connie found out I was dating Mike without her
permission, she sent her goon squad to beat him up.

I felt really bad about what happened to Mike...

but there was a silver lining. It brought us closer.

Oh... hi, Connie! No, I'm not having second thoughts.

What's that? I'm invited to an all night gang initiation 

slumber party at the dark, creepy abandoned theater?

Sounds neato, and thanks for the invite, but I'm

afraid I can't make it. My folks caught me

reading the Kinsey Reports and I'm

grounded until my wedding day.

Yeah, I know - bummer! Hey Connie, I don't mean to be rude,

but I gotta hang up now. My great grandmother in Siberia
is real sick...yeah, that's the ticket...and my folks will kill
me if I don't keep the line free in case we get "the call."
I'll catch you Monday morning at school, okay? Bye-bye.

If you eavesdropped on

my convo with Connie

just now, you might have

sensed that I was fibbing.

You see, I didn't want her to

know about a school project

I am secretly working on

to earn extra credit and

bring up my grade.

My music history teacher, Shady Del Knight, has agreed to be
my private tutor. He gave me a special assignment that will
enable me to pass his course. Starting next year, Professor
Shady will be giving me the chance to host a new series

at Shady's Place. I asked him what Shady's Place is and
where it's located. He told me it's the name of his blog
and that I can use a computer to find it on the internet.
Shady wrote down the address: tctgyb.blogspot.com.

That's all I can tell you right now because Shady
wants to keep details under wraps until next year.

Imagine me, Joyce Martin, having my very own series!

I was so excited, I wanted to run home, tell my

parents and make them proud.

But then it dawned on me that this is 1958, and I have

no clue what a blog is, or a computer or the internet

for that matter, and our little town has a Main Street

and a other avenues and boulevards, but no

address like tctgyb.blogspot.com.

I went back to the classroom and asked Professor Shady
to explain. He told me to get on my lap top and search the
web. First of all, the web sounds icky, buggy and spidery.
Secondly, for me to "get on my lap top" I'd need to be a
contortionist. I suppose I'll catch on as time goes by.

So please join me next year for the
premiere of my series at Shady's Place

(whatever and wherever that may be).

Happy birthday to one of my favorite actresses...

Y V O N N E   L I M E

85 years young today!