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/#2R&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)."
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
