The show, first on radio and then on television that was broadcast from 1935 to 1955, is just a faint memory for many in Whispering Pines. To others, it is simply an unknown.
But the show featured the top songs of the week and talented artists sang the ditties while the nation hummed along.
Music was, and still is, a major aspect of life, and a few decades ago Top 10 charts were high on every teen’s priority list. We wanted to find out if Perry Como’s latest record topped the billboard list or if Peggy Lee’s new offering had broken into the top ten.
As a Whispering Pines neighbor pointed out, everyone in high school at the time knew all the top vocalists and could sing the hit songs because the words were understandable and the rhythm was smooth. Most of us could even dance to the melody.
Even those artists our parents considered outside the mainstream — Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and maybe Janis Joplin — sang songs that made sense. True, mothers and fathers might have yearned for the days of their favorites like Guy Lombardo and Don Cornell but they understood that the talent their children idolized was still not that far out.
Not so today!
It is hard to find a radio station anywhere (except here in the Sandhills where we have AM 550 and FM 103.1) that doesn’t limit its offerings to pop, hard rock, hip-hop, heavy metal or some other such category of noise. Looking at a Top 10 listing in a recent newspaper brought home the fact that, except for the 14-20 age group, the songs and the musicians who perform them are unknown to the vast majority of the U.S. population.
A very unofficial survey I conducted in Whispering Pines shows that 99.44/100 percent of the village population has no idea what song was number one on the day in question. I also discovered that at least that percentage never heard of the singer who sang the chart topper.
The tune, by the way, that led the national radio airplay chart in late September was “Baby Boy” sung by Beyonce Knowles. (You find out on your own whether Beyonce is male or female and whether he/she can spell.)
Right behind was that favorite tune someone somewhere must be trying to hum, “Shake Ya Tailfeather” by Nelly, P.Diddy & Murphy Lee. (I assume that is a singing group and not a law firm.)
Others who have reached the height of hootenanny are Chingy, Pharrell with Jay-Z, Youngbloodz, 50 Cent, and Fabolous. (That sounds like a good lineup for next year’s Kentucky Derby field.)
One Whispering Pines resident, comparing the village’s Piney Pipers singing group with today’s pop artists insisted that was like comparing fine wine with Ripple.
“Whatever happened,” she asked, “with listening to songs done by singers with normal names. Frank Sinatra didn’t spell his name Franke C. Natra nor did Rosemary Clooney have to gimmick her handle with something like Roase Mair-E Cloon Eee to reach the top of the charts.”
But today’s musical performers apparently feel that a weird name will translate into a weird popularity.
Most village residents aren’t buying into the pop music world of 2003. My neighbor to the right sits in a lawn chair listening to music on FM 103.1 and the neighborhood enjoys the sounds. He can sing along if he wishes and actually know the words that are being sung. To the left, a talented lady plays her piano, gathers friends to sing familiar favorites, and listens to the music of the masters.
No need for gimmickry. No need for loud shouting. No need for lyrics only a Navy deck hand (I can say that because I was one once) would enjoy.
So play on, you pop, metal, salsa, reggae, hip-hop, disc spinners. But your missing the boat because the big listeners and spenders are not tuning in. In fact, they are consciously tuning out!
Don Winslow lives in Whispering Pines.
