What was played in the 50's and 60's?

[tonybiker]

As one of the younger ones on here ;D I have no memory of what songs/tunes that were played in the 50's and 60's. Did disco's even exist then? if not, what were they called? Tea dances?

What was the format? Did a guy put on records or was it a Jukebox?

And what was played? The hits etc etc.

I have a good reason for asking this question and your input would be appreciated and very helpful. Give me Glam Rock and I have no problems, I even confess to wearing black trousers with no less than 10 buttons on the waist and a green shirt with red stars all over it

I look forward to reading your memories.

Tony

[joeboy]

Hi Tony

I'm with you on this, it wasn't until the 70's that I ventured out to Dance's & Disco's, before that it was recording from the radio & buying 45's from the record shop

My Parents were big music fans & had many of the records that were released in the 50's/60's so I would play their collection to death when I was young

I don't recall my parents going out to disco's, all their friends would come round our house with their record collections & have a party

[noelford]

One of the first TV pop record shows was Kent Walton's Cool for Cats on the BBC, a 15 minute programme that ran from 1956 to 1961 (I think). I will always remember it for its intro, a classic example of adults trying to show they were 'with it' and getting it completely wrong. It was always announced as, "Cool for cats - the disc programme for squares."

Those were also the days of listening to all the pops on Radio Luxembourg with its variable reception that unintentionally added phaser effects to the records!

There followed TV shows like Six-Five-Special and Jukebox Jury.

And yes, we had discos in the sixties. They actually originated in Paris during the war!

PS. Joe, those b****y cars are driving me nuts!

[kipper]

hi tony no disco, juke boxes where the thing 1960`s. disc jockeys were just taking of n a big way. we all took our own records to party`s or get togethers, thats why you see names written on lots of old records you buy today. in some work places at about this time girls were taking records in and being played over a tanoy. 1959 cliff richard top of the charts. 1960 shadows with apache, thats when i started to take an intrest. elvis, everly brothers, 1962 the young ones came outwonderfull land by the shadows. then 1963 appox the mersey sound hit us all big time it was like a wave. beatles gerry and the pacemakers, billy j kramer, searchers. 1964 cilla black dave clark five,roy orbision,anomals house of the rising sun brilliant stuff you really had to be there my old dad was going nuts at me long hair wknickle pickers cuban heels, sideburns. it was a revolotion i think, youth clubs came into there peek at this time as well and were great places to go music coffy dancing girls did i mention the girls.. ready steady go started top of the pops six five special was before them. then came the festivals isle of wieght ect it just went on getting better. girl had loads more freedom, we had money in our pockets loads of work about. and best of all the really great thing. i was young and right in the middle of it. happy happy days. peter

[tonybiker]

Hi guys.

Thanks for the input.

My idea is connected to the 'Get Togather', and if all goes well what we do with the Saturday night social evening. And I have had a thought. I have a fair few hundred, if not more 50's and 60's 45". Something I have collected for years. My son has two very expensive Vestax turn tables which he has used through my PA before. So, for those coming to the get together, what about a night of records or some at least? This would make for a great night, and you could always bring some of your own and use some of your old chat up lines ;D

Keep the information coming, this is all good stuff.

Tony

[nighthawk]

Hi Tony,
As Peter says Jukeboxes were the things and the places were coffee bars. You would go round to the coffee bar meet your mates listen to all sorts of music on the jukebox Elvis, Sinatra, Shadows, Cliff, Adam Faith etc. and play the pin ball machine.

At the weekend you would go to a dance were there would be a live band, there were dozens of them. Most played simplified versions of current hit songs with gear cobbled together from old radios etc.

In the area where I lived "Barn Dances" were very popular. The local young farmers association would deck out a barn hire in a few groups and roast some meat to put in a bun.

Good days.

Regards

Les

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Tony,
Another place to hear records was, of all places, the record shops! Listening booths were typically similar to the open style telephone kiosks that are seen now. Some were also enclosed booths with seats, so you could sit and listen to a whole album side if you wanted to.
Regards,
Charlie

[twang46]

Hi Tony

For me late 50's it was Coffee bars during the day/early evening with the juke boxes.

Nights were at the "Youth Clubs", Church Halls/Community & "Welfare" halls with a mix of ..... records played by serious looking people (who handled their records very carefully unlike us lot ) & the amateur bands who played whatever they could learn during the week with everything from "bought" amps to (in my case) an old factory PA ;D

At the end of the 50's the Pop concerts were getting to be a regular part of the music scene & I was lucky to live close to the Newcastle City Hall where just about everybody except Elvis has played


The early years of the 60's were dominated by Cliff & the Shads with the US visitors (including Duane Eddy as a highlight for me ;D).

Then came 1963 & the Beatles & the Stones & "Mersey beat" that changed music hugely & led to the introduction of Tamla Motown & popular R&B to the UK. But thats another story.....

My first "proper" concert was the Buddy Holly show at the City Hall.
12 year old & left feeling a bit disappointed as Buddy was only on stage for about 20/25 mins after sitting through an hour or so that seemed like a lifetime of acts we had never heard of ( & Des O'Conner). We were at the first show (of 2 that night) & there were plenty of empty seats around us at the back in the balcony I remember. It cost 3 weeks pocket money & I had to go with one of the apprentices that worked with my dad as I was so young.

Happier times ;D

Cheers

Dick

[tonybiker]

It all sounds like a fantastic time. You lucky lot

I do remember the booths now Charlie mentions it. They were around in the 70's. They still exist in the vinyl record shops in Manchester, but you would not want to listen to the hip hop stuff my son listens too

I really envy that some of you have seen the likes of Buddy Holly. I have in my collection a first release 45" of Heartbeat.

The problem now is the so called artists of today are not accessible to anyone and hide behind minders and carers.

Really interesting reading your experiences, radio did play an important part. I do remember the new number one was only broadcast on a Sunday night. Anyone remember what the programme was called? Was it Pick of the Pops?

Does anyone remember their first record they bought? I went to buy John Kongos Tokoloshe Man with my paper round money after hearing it on one of the pirate staions, but it was not in stock, the guy in the shop suggested I buy the best selling single, so I did. Problem was I had never heard it until i got home, Sweet Talking Guy by The Chiffons, and I hated it

Tony

[didier]

May 16, 2011 17:45:11 GMT @tonybiker said:

As one of the younger ones on here ;D I have no memory of what songs/tunes that were played in the 50's and 60's. Did disco's even exist then? if not, what were they called? Tea dances?

What was the format? Did a guy put on records or was it a Jukebox?

Jukeboxes were commonplace at this time, we also used to listen to radio-Luxemburg 208 MW.
And in the fifties, 78rpm records were still available...
Records were selling much more than nowadays. Record players were very popular, with Dansette models in UK, and Teppaz in France.

Didier

[les]

Yes,Thats just how it was alright,Fantastic times we lived through,I just wish id had todays head .......... with more hair, back then.I dont think most of us at the time realised what a great period we were going through. .......... And we mostly knew what was in the charts at the time, ........... and with radio luxembourg POWER PLAY fading in & out. Best wishes, Les.

[garystrat]

Hi Tony

Late 50's early 60's was very much the time of coffee bars and juke boxes, teenagers were starting to get more recognition and possibly more freedoms than earlier generations.

Life was generally pretty carefree, you could walk out one job in the morning and have another by the afternoon, parties were often taking place on Friday/Saturdays nights and there were many venues in the London/Brighton area that had live bands with well known artists performing on a regular basis most weekends. Many teenagers now had their own transport, either motorbikes or cars, which in quite a few cases was something their parents didn't have, this opened up many opportunities.

Whilst there were dances and youth clubs, the cinema was probably still one of the most popular centres of entertainment at the time, not only showing films, but had groups like The Shadows performing at them. Television was still B/W with little channel choice, the popular music industry very quickly cottoned on to cinema as being a great way to promote their artists, with many people like Cliff Richard/The Shadows, Elvis, The Beatles, Billy Fury and many more now being able to reach a far wider audience via the big screen. It was also quite a colourful time of advertising with the emergence of highly attractive and sought after album covers/posters, most things were still quite basic for many of the post war years.

The music was quite varied with everything from tea dance style bands who played for the previous generation, to jazz, blues and big bands becoming very popular as they got more exposure. Starting to emerge was a whole new generation of pop music/Rock n' Roll, it was all very raw and exciting with new groups experimenting with instruments, equipment and sounds. There were new ways of listening and playing music at home, radiograms were giving way to record players, tape decks and Hi-Fi.

Technology developments meant far greater access and choice, to get records to you had to go to the local store and if you wanted to hear them first you went into little perforated hardboard booths to hear them on headphones. Transistor radios were all the rage, with many stations not catering for the younger generation, offshore pirate radio sprung up, which really did hack off the typical establishment view of trying to suppress everything. Small portable reel to reel tape decks were popular for recording and I think music featured more and more in peoples lives as the quality of recorded music in a domestic environment made huge progress.

Even the clothes reflected the social changes, Rockers in tight jeans, leather jackets, Teddy Boys in suites and suede shoes or winkle pickers. A little later Motor Scooters saw the rise of the Mods, it was all evolving into a time of the young having the disposable income to drive trends and become more individualistic.

Whilst like many, I probably took much of it for granted back then, it really was a terrific time to be young, the music had truly captured the feeling and mood of the younger generation. The whole period was about social change and mobility, we had freedoms of choice and life style like no generation before.

Gary

[keithinalps]

Hi ,I'm 62 now and still have the record player my mum bought me for my 12'th birthday in 1961, its a Elizabethan Duo-phonic with det speakers and fold down deck with a 10 disc Garrard deck, i could have had a Dansette but went for the more expensive option !.ps still have the EP that was with it 'Shadows to the Fore'. if i knew how to put photos on i would any help ?

[fenderbullits]

Hi All
An interesting thread,brings back many forgotten memories,we used to go to my gran's on a Saturday morning when I was young and I would put on vinyl records on the stereo gram (posh record player with a radio built in) 78s and 45s artists such as The Platters,Karl Denver Trio,Connie Francis ,Alma Cogan ,Helen Shapiro and many more from the late 50s and early 60s.My era though was the 60s and the invasion from Liverpool a great time musically to grow up in,I had a Dansette as well used to carry down on the train along with an armful of records to my then girlfriends house.Happy memories .


Martin

[bill]

May 17, 2011 10:19:11 GMT keithinalps said:

Hi ,<snip> if i knew how to put photos on i would any help ?

Hi Keith,
You need to upload photos to somewhere like photobucket -
photobucket.com/
(it's free) then put a link to them in your normal post.

PS If you need more detailed instructions let me know.

[noelford]

Orr simply upload direct using the ATTACHMENT option in the reply box. Don't forget to reduce the resolution to 72dpi and keep the actual dimensions down to a reasonable size.

[les]

And the little blue 9 volt batteries that we used in our little trannies with the orange band around them ! I think that they were called power packs, ........... one hot summers night while tucked up in bed with my trannie under the covers so my parents couldnt hear, They played Chuck Berry's No particular place to go ..... wow that solo almost made me go cold in all of that heat, What a solo ! I still put parts of it in on the some of the three chord trick stuff that we put in. Best wishes, Les.

[tonybiker]

Some great stories here and the posts have been really interesting to read and it appears everyone was having a great time. Am I right thinking a number of you were war babies?

I suppose you had to make a choice of being a teddy boy, mod or a rocker? But what were you if you dressed normally?

A few years ago I bought my 4 sisters and my older brother the single that was out on their birthday. My brothers was a 78 speed 'Side Saddle' but can't remember who it was. It looked very fragile compared to the 45's.

Tony

[keithinalps]

Hi Tony, it was Russ Conway an instrumental (piano)

[Amanda Hambidge]

Yes those blue ever ready batteries were called power packs, they consisted of 6 flat zinc chloride cells stacked to give 9v.

There was a PP1 which was 6v, the others, PP3, PP6 and PP9, were 9v, the PP3, PP6 and PP9 are still available!

Amanda

[keithinalps]

Hi Bill,I've stored them in photobucket, how do i attach them to my thread ? Cheers Keith

[keithinalps]

uploaded it in reply, hope it works

[keithinalps]

NO, I need your help Bill

[paulnic]

hi all

what a fantastic time the 60s must have been. it's a shame i missed it you lucky people

paul

[joeboy]

Hi Keith

Place the link to your image file between the following

[/img]

[keithinalps]

Hi joeboy, very sorry its going to have to be very basic, i don't know how to cut/paste or any of that stuff, when i go on p/b and click on image where do i send it please, also would i need to make it smaller ?

[strat197]

Hi Tony -

What a great post - Im also still a pup in my early 40's, got to be honest - From what I can remember, I was 12 years of age in the school group belting out Apache to myself, borrowing my dads copycat, whilst the rest of our school group were twiddling their instruments...drummer that couldnt play...the bravo look on teachers faces said it all, but the teasing I got from school mates because I loved the shads haunted me..

But you see that was the reality, because you were brought up listening to the shads because your ol fella loved em and played guitar...dam they were the days.....not now with all this Rap malarkey.....crikey - how do my children listen to that !!

Shads and Beatles were more than enough for me !!

Regards


Tony

[didier]

Here is how looked like the Teppaz record player, the most popular one in France in the early sixties (it was built in Lyon) :



As "Apache" by the Shadows sold 1 million copies in France, many of these records must have been played on such a record player at this time !

Didier

[mojolomjl]

Hi Tony,
Just noticed this thread and thought how lucky I was to be playing in a Liverpool group from 1960 to 1967. In those days most groups used to do mainly covers of the big names of the day such as Buddy Holly, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, The Everley Brothers Plus a few more I cant recall. We had the good fortune to play at the same gigs as quite a few of the top groups of the time including The Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Beatles, The Merseybeats, The Fourtunes, The Big Three and quite a few others. Although we didn't realise at the time we lived through a complete change in the music scene and I am glad I was part of it.
Regards,
Maurice.

[joeboy]

Hi Keith

Forget what I posted above, I see Photo Bucket do it for you. Just go to the album where you have your picture, hover the mouse cursor over the picture you want to post & a box will pop up, at the bottom of the box you should see 'IMG code' next to it will be a box with some code in it, just click in that box & it should then say copied. You now have all the necessary information stored in your clipboard, just paste that information into your message by right clicking & selecting 'Paste'

(Or left click in your message, then hold down the Ctrl key & then press the V key while still holding down Ctrl)

May 17, 2011 16:41:48 GMT keithinalps said:

Hi joeboy, very sorry its going to have to be very basic, i don't know how to cut/paste or any of that stuff, when i go on p/b and click on image where do i send it please, also would i need to make it smaller ?