Radio … and Me -15

Here are more “Doo-Wop” songs, presented on music radio, then and now. These contain a curious twist.
(Remember, dear reader, these are actual, copyrighted, lyrics.) (No kidding. You're allowed, AND EVEN ENCOURAGED, to sing along, if the spirit moves you.)
-- In the mid-1950s, the million-seller, 'Shh Boom (Life Could be a Dream),' launched the career of a quartet called the Crew Cuts, who hailed from Toronto.
It started like this,
Hey nonny ding dong, alang alang alang
Boom ba-doh, ba-doo ba-doodle-ay
Oh, life could be a dream (sh-boom) ...

Radio ... and Me - 14

One of the earlier styles of rock ‘n’ roll music on the radio was known as ‘Doo-Wop.’
I see you have your hand up (old teacher phrase! ) , so I’ll define the term as, insert nonsense words here.
It was usually heard in groups’ songs, with the major words doing the background support for the lead singer, most often by the ‘Bass Man.’ Due homage was later paid in 1963, in the song, ‘Mr. Bass Man,’ by Johnny Cymbal.
‘Doo-Wop’ was not new. Oh, no.
The style comes from a great tradition of silly songs, and we can have fun with a few offering, from the pre-1940s:

We’ve Switched to the Mac!

Our family has just crossed the Great Divide and moved from a PC computer to a new iMac , following a long period of wishing, hoping and saving our pennies.
Both my wife and I, retired teachers, had used -- and taught our respective students with -- the early Macintosh, back in the late 1980s, and had been impressed with the ease of use and all-in-one experience.
The iMac is so easy to set up: I plugged in the power cord and the keyboard’s USB, and hit the Power switch.

Absolutely Awesome! You Rock, Halifax!

Those were just some of the reviews by the young athletes attending the Closing Ceremonies of the 2011 Halifax Jeux du Canada Games.
And, what a two-week celebration of the spirt of sport. A total of 2,700 athletes from ‘every part of this land of ours’ -- according to ‘Look Out, World!’ the first official Canada Games fight-song -- flocked to Halifax and the ski hills of Nova Scotia to perform in winter sports.
An estimated 50-thousand people attended free concerts

Look Out, World!

Here we are, at mid-point in the two-week celebration of winter sports , the 2011 Halifax Canada Winter Games.
The first week has been a big success ... plenty of great performances by young athletes from all over Canada, with good weather and well-attended events.
For up-to-date results and summaries, you can check out the 2011 Canada Winter Games website.

A big hit at the Games has been the H-R-M Speed Skating Oval on the Halifax Commons,

Radio ... and Me - 13

Last week, radio stations marked the anniversary of, ‘The Day the Music Died,’ an event which was immortalized by Don McLean, in his song, American Pie.
Here is how the tragedy’s story had unfolded:
On February 4, 1959, radio stations across the musical spectrum reported the following bulletin,

(Last night,) a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, killed three American rock and roll musicians: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson.

Radio ... and Me - 12

Folk music has always been an integral part of every culture and every society in history. From early days, “traveling troubadours” related the peoples’ stories in song, accompanied by a lute, a harp, a drum or a guitar.
Sometimes, the songs told of heroes, or of love and courtship, with many a “hey, nonny, nonny;”