1950 to 1955 - the "No Era" era Quiz

Answer: "When the stars make you drool like a baby of two"

"When the stars make you drool just like pasta fazool" is the correct lyric. The clever music and lyrics were composed by Harry Warren and Jack Brooks. Dean's song appeared in a couple of movies. It was introduced in the Martin and Lewis movie "The Caddy" in 1952. Several other actors besides Dean sing parts of the song and really it wasn't very well performed. Listening to the whine of Jerry Lewis singing might have been funny but for all the wrong reasons! It was used to much greater effect in "Moonstruck" with Cher and Nicholas Cage in 1987.

Answer: "Ride a rickshaw in old Hong Kong"

Jo Stafford's hit was #1 for twelve weeks despite stiff competition from Patti Page (#4) and Dean Martin (#12). It was also a #7 hit for the Duprees in 1962. The words and music were composed by Pee Wee King, Chilton Price, and Redd Stewart.

Answer: This Ole House

"This Ole House" was performed by Rosemary Clooney, George's aunt. Fisher's other #1 song was "Wish You Were Here". Fisher's career went into a tailspin when he ended his "made-in-heaven" marriage with Debbie Reynolds to take up with Liz Taylor in a sordid affair. That union didn't last long and his waning popularity was abetted by younger heart throbs like Tab Hunter and Fabian. Rock music also made crooners like Fisher seem passé.

Answer: Zither

Karas' version was #1 for eleven weeks on the "Bestseller" charts. A competing version by Guy Lombardo using traditional guitar instead of the zither was also #1 for eleven weeks on the "Juke Box" charts. Lombardo had 218 chart entries from 1927 until 1954. Karas had one!

Answer: The Mona Lisa

"Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art?"
Nat "King" Cole began his career as a jazz pianist side man in the 1930's and formed his own small combo in 1939. His first chart entry was in 1943 with "All For You" but his smooth voice and delivery soon catapulted him into stardom not only on vinyl but in movies and T.V. Now, I suppose he would be deemed the first great popular "black" entertainer. He died at the age of 47 in 1965 of cancer.

Answer: Johnnie Ray

Johnnie Ray's hit was #1 for eleven weeks. He was very emotive (overly so to his critics) and would frequently open up the tear ducts when he sang this song, perfect for a send up. It was his only #1 hit and he was long forgotten after the mid-fifties until he started performing again in nostalgia tours during the '70's and '80's.

He died in 1990 at the age of 63. Freberg, meanwhile, dabbled in music for many years but eventually started an advertising business in the 1960's and has won at least 21 Clio Awards for outstanding achievements in the radio and T.V. industry.

Answer: Glow Worm

This song was an adaptation of a 1908 song from the German operetta "Lysistrata" and the Broadway musical "The Girl Behind the Counter". The music was written by Paul Lincke and the modern lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and clever lyrics they were. This song was #1 for three weeks and one of five #1's the brothers would have in the forty years of their recording career.

Answer: Goodnight Irene

This song, a #1 for thirteen weeks, marked the first revival of folk music as a popular commercial entity. It was written by Hudie Leadbetter (Leadbelly) and John Lomax. The Weavers had the hit version in competition with many other artists such as Sinatra, Jo Stafford and Red Foley, all of whom had charting versions.

The Weavers, at that time, were Pete Seeger, Lee Hayes, Fred Hillerman and Ronnie Gilbert as the female voice. Woody Guthrie was a member in the 1940's. Political blacklisting curtailed their recording career during the era of "McCarthyism".

Answer: Georgia Gibbs

"Her Nibs, Miss Gibbs" as Garry Moore would later dub her, topped the charts for seven weeks with "Kiss Of Fire". Competing versions were recorded by Tony Martin (#6), Toni Arden (#14), Billy Eckstine (#16), Louis Armstrong (#20) and Guy Lombardo (#30). The music was based on a 1913 Argentinian tango "El Choclo" and English words were added by Lester Allen and Robert Hill. If you've ever watched the dance event in figure skating competitions, you've heard the music at least a thousand times!

Answer: baboon

The rhyming scheme and meter should have given you this answer! "Aba Daba Honeymoon" was a #3 hit for Carleton Carpenter and Debbie Reynolds although several other artists recorded the song at the same time. It was featured in the movie "Two Weeks With Love" starring Jane Powell and Ricardo Montalban.

Originally, it was a #1 hit in 1914 for Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan, a famous comedy singing team of the era.

Answer: Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes

Perry Como did it in 1953, just one of the five #1's he would have in the early 1950's. The others were "Hoop-Dee-Doo" (1950), "If" (1951), "No Other Love" (1953) and "Wanted" (1954).

Answer: Blue

It was #1 for five weeks in the spring of 1952 and was on the top 30 charts for an amazing 38 weeks! Leroy primarily was the arranger for the Boston Pops for many years although he did conduct his own orchestra for recording purposes.

Answer: Gene Autry

Gene, of course, owned the California Angels for many years prior to his death. In the pre-1955 era, this song sold over eight million copies, second only to "White Christmas" which sold an incredible thirty million plus!

Answer: Sh-Boom

Sh-Boom is considered by many to be the precurser to the rock era. It was a #1 hit for the Crew Cuts in 1954. The original version by the Chords reached #5.

Answer: Harbor Lights

This was, essentially, the last #1 for any holdover big band of the 1940's - Sammy Kaye and his Orchestra. "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye". His first #1 was "Rosalie" in 1938 and he had six more throughout the '30's and '40's, the biggest being "Daddy", a #1 for eight weeks in 1941. Don Cornell was the lead singer of "Harbor Lights". An era was over! Incidentally, The Platters had a #8 hit with the song in 1960.