Lollipop • The Chordettes
I’m starting a new tradition this week - well, today. It is “Fab Fifties Friday Night.”
Every Friday we’ll pick a different 50s artist to spotlight. It was such a fun era of music, we must not allow it to become lost in time, like the hula hoop or the Edsel or roller rinks. We must fight to keep alive the memory of Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry and Connie Francis. Well I guess I’m getting a little carried away. But I hope you’ll look forward to it as I will (feel free to submit your requests for any favs).
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So tonight, let us begin the first Fab Fifties Friday Night, with the spotlight on a somewhat obscure group called The Chordettes (pronounced “Cord-ettes, like a music chord). And we’ll focus on 2 of their singles that are just delightful, typical 50’s sounding records.
But first, who are they? This quartet of young ladies, named Janet, Carol, Lynn and Margie began in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. They specialized in pop music, and sometimes sang a cappella, and they sold millions of records. They had a number of hits through the second half of the decade, several of them making it into the Top 20. But none so big as the 2 pretty big singles we look at tonight, “Mr. Sandman” and “Lollipop.”
My reference point in pop culture for these great songs has to do with the movies and with TV. First, “Mr. Sandman” was used in the soundtrack of many movies, the most prominent being Back to the Future. If you’ve seen the film, at one point Marty McFly has just time travelled back to 1955. As he’s walking around the 1955 town square of Hill Valley, almost in shock, this song is playing.
As for “Lollipop,” I have recently watched a Netflix series entitled “Call the Midwife,” based in London’s East End in the 1950s. This song was featured in one of the episodes, and is how I became acquainted with it.
“Mr. Sandman” and “Lollipop,” were big hits, the former going all the way to #1 on the pop charts in late 1954/ early 1955; and the latter making it to #2 in 1958. The Chordettes were extremely popular in the U.K., as was most American pop music; which is why they were included on the Call the Midwife soundtrack.
So, pretend you’re sitting in a booth at the corner malt shop, pumping coins into the table side juke box. You’re sporting your favorite saddle oxfords and Bobbi Sox, or maybe your Hush Puppies; of course your jeans with the cuffs turned up, or maybe even a poodle skirt. You’re eating any number of high cholesterol, life threatening snacks, and sipping anything containing a potentially coma-inducing quantity of sugar. But you’re cool with it, and life is good. Have a listen for yourself to these two big hits (below) starting with “Lollipop:”
Here is a live performance of Lollipop:
(Sorry, old video not fully in sync. Oh well 🤷♂️)
And now a live performance of Mr. Sandman:
And now just for fun, here’s the scene from Back to the Future, in which they play the song, Mr. Sandman: in the movie’s case, it is a cover version by The Four Aces:
Here is a “Chordettes” Playlist on Spotify:
• Please let me know your thoughts for a next spotlight artist - a familiar name: Elvis, Buddy Holly, Marilyn, Ricky Nelson, Chuck Berry? Or another lesser known artist like tonight? Offer any comments/input on Instagram. Thanks....
