The Crescendos were an early American rock and roll group from Nashville, Tennessee.  Formed in 1957 by five men who attended Cumberland High School in Nashville. the Crescendos succeeded with the song "Oh, Julie" the following year, which rose to #4 on the U.S. Black Singles chart and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] George Lanius, who was lead singer for the quintet, told Wayne Jancik in The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders that a Nashville DJ named Noel Ball discovered the group playing talent shows. "He took us to Nasco [Records]. And he gave us 'Oh, Julie' to record. 

[2] The record sold over one million copies, earning a gold disc. They recorded two more singles for Nasco which flopped, then disbanded by 1959. Reportedly all members of the Crescendos lived within 15 miles of each other at least 30 years after "Oh Julie" was a hit, but they avoided performing together in favor of working on individual careers outside of the music industry.[2]

Formed in a suburb of Cleveland, the Poni-Tails — Toni Cistone, Karen Topinka and Patti McCabe — started singing at Brush High School, which they all attended.

The group signed to ABC-Paramount and released "Just My Luck to Be Fifteen", a flop. Following this was "Come on Joey, Dance with Me"  . The B-side "Born Too Late" caught on and became the group's biggest hit, reaching #11 on the U.S. R&B singles chart and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958.[2] Follow-ups "Seven Minutes In Heaven" (#85 Pop) and "I'll Be Seeing You" (#87 Pop) fared less well, and their last single, 1960's "Who, When And Why", did not chart.[1]

We are now exactly 9 weeks away from our 55th HS Class reunion. Starting today and until the Monday before the reunion we will 
re-live the music of our HS years exclusively.  Starting with the year 1958 - Most all the songs in this series are "One Hit Wonders".  I'm certain you will recognize all of them.  I'm going to bet that you've not heard most of them since high school.  

The Silhouettes were formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1956, at first using the name The Thunderbirds. Their classic hit"Get A Job" reached number 1 on both the R&B and pop charts inU.S. and the group performed it on television's American Bandstand.[2] The song sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a gold record.[3]  The Silhouettes toured with Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Clyde McPhatter and others but the group never reached the top of the charts again.  wiki

Domenico Modugno (Italian pronunciation: [doˈmeniko moˈduɲɲo]; 9 January 1928 – 6 August 1994) was an Italian singer, songwriter, actor, and later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)".  wiki

"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone, "To Know Him Was To Love Him."[3] It was first recorded by the only vocal group of which he was a member,[2] the Teddy Bears. Their recording went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1958.  wiki

The duo's full names were Robert Carr and Johnny Mitchell; they released about a dozen singles for Old Town Records in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Two of them charted; "We Belong Together", which hit #12 on the U.S. Black Singles chart and #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958, and "I Believe In You", which hit #93 on the Hot 100 later that year.[1] They wrote most of their own songs, and were distinguished by their vocal style, which Richie Unterberger has described as "one smoky, one nasal".[2] wiki

Remember back in the 50's and 60's when Rock and Roll was just coming on the scene?  Remember when Television Stations were instructed . . . "Do not show Elvis "below the waistline" while performing on Television" ??  

Pretty restrictive don't you think?  Rock and Roll was "Our Music" expressing our feelings back in our HS days!  Guess what, today we've become the same restrictive adults that our parents were back then.  RAP?  are you kidding me???  All Rap music is just Crap!!!   This stuff should be banned!!!

Following is the #1 hit in our Grandkids lives.  I picked the Lyrics version so you can see exactly what this Rapper is saying.  I love this song! 

"See You Again" is a song recorded by American rapper Wiz Khalifa featuring American singer Charlie Puth for the soundtrack of the action film, Furious 7(2015). It is a hip hop song.[1] The track was written by DJ Frank E, Puth, Khalifa and Andrew Cedar. It was produced by Puth, Cedar, DJ Frank E, Kevin Weaver, and Mike Caren, with Neal H. Moritz as its executive producer. The song was written as a tribute to the late Paul Walker. "See You Again" was released as the soundtrack's lead single on March 17, 2015 in the United States.  wiki

As of June 15, 2015     #1 Song

"Honey, I'm Good." is the second single from American musician Andy Grammer's sophomore album Magazines or Novels. The song has peaked at number 9 on theBillboard Hot 100, making it Grammer's highest ranking single to date. The single was produced by Steve Greenberg, Brian West, and Nolan Sipe. Sipe co-wrote the song with Andy Grammer. wiki

As of June 15,     2015   #12 Song

"Sugar" is a song recorded by American pop rock band Maroon 5 for their fifth studio album, V (2014). It was written by Adam Levine, Lukasz Gottwald, Jacob Kasher Hindlin and Mike Posner together with its producers Ammo and Cirkut. It was sent to contemporary hit radio in the United States, as the third single from the album on January 13, 2015. A remix of the song, featuring rapper Nicki Minaj wasdigitally released on March 10 via the iTunes Store. "Sugar" is a disco, funk-popand blue-eyed soul song that features a wide range of instruments including percussion, keyboards and guitars. wiki


As of June 15, 2015     #13 Song

Somebody to You is the debut extended play (EP) by British pop rock band The Vamps. It was released on 4 August 2014 for promotion in the United States after their success internationally in two formats with slightly destined for the American market with the title song "Somebody to You" featuring Demi Lovato to be their debut single in the States.[2] wiki

As of June 15, 2015 - (In and out of top 20 world wide!)
(note:  this selection has restricted access so you must click)
                                  Watch on YouTube

Today's picks are all good, clean, fun songs that I would be happy to play in any venue.  There are, however, some songs in our "Grandkids purview" today that are in really bad taste.  I trust Our Grandkids will know the difference.  

Till Next Week

Harv

Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1960s. She sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s, and is ranked fourth in that decade surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Ray Charles.[1] She is best known for her 1960 hit "I'm Sorry", and 1958's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", a United States holiday standard for more than 50 years. wiki

At 4 ft 9 inches tall (approximately 145 cm), she received the nickname Little Miss Dynamite in 1957 after recording the song "Dynamite"; and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following. wiki

The biggest-selling track of Lee's career was a Christmas song. In 1958, when she was 13, producer Owen Bradley asked her to record a new song by Johnny Marks, who had had success writing Christmas tunes for country singers, most notably "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Gene Autry) and "A Holly Jolly Christmas" (Burl Ives). Lee recorded the song, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", in July with a prominent twanging guitar part by Hank Garland and raucous sax soloing by Nashville icon Boots Randolph. Decca released it as a single that November, but it sold only 5,000 copies, and did not do much better when it was released again in 1959. However, it eventually sold more than five million copies. wiki

Brenda Lee, Little gal, big voice!


Till Next Week

Harv

Many thanks to Todd Westover for bringing this event to us.  I was unable to capture the same video as Todd referred to but this is a good substitute.  Thanks Todd!!

Hamilton's History 

Ever Since 1880."When people see wood type they often remember the classic 'Wanted' poster," says Historical Society board member Jim VanLanen. "If you discover the other printed items of our nation's graphic history, you'll find wood type in almost every historical society collection. You'll find printed documents and posters that help illustrate how people communicated with each other. Whether it was the sale of horses or land, political rallies, booklets, packaging or circus posters - wood type helped express the message of that day." (HH)

J. Edward Hamilton 
founded the original Hamilton factory, called J.E. Hamilton Holly Wood Type Company, in 1880, and within 20 years became the largest manufacturer of wood type in the United States. (HH)

Edward Hamilton was born in Two Rivers and lived there until he was in his teens. When his father died fighting in the Civil War, his mother took her family to Lockport, NY, to be closer to her brothers-in-law, and for two years Hamilton attended Lockport High School. In 1868, the family moved back to Two Rivers, and at the age of 16, Edward went to work as a tender of a clothespin lathe in a chair and pail factory. Tending a clothespin lathe was not enough to satisfy Hamilton - in addition to figuring out ways to improve his production and the quality of his work, he volunteered in the engine room to learn about steam power and the mechanics of the equipment; next he managed a brick factory for his uncle until the business folded; and then he sought his fortune in the 1876 gold rush in South Dakota. (HH)

In 1878, back in Two Rivers, at the pail factory once again and determined to make his way in the business world, the opportunity presented itself that would put Two Rivers on the map and make Hamilton a name known among newspapers and print shops (and eventually housewives, dentists, doctors, architects, scientists and more) nationwide. (HH)

Making Type
William Nash, Editor of the Two Rivers Chronicle, needed large decorative type to print posters for a Grand Ball at Turner Hall in Two Rivers. With no time to order new type from Chicago, he asked Edward Hamilton if he could make the type. Hamilton, who had run his own business making wall brackets and other ornamental furniture for a time, took a sketch of the type that Nash wished for, and cut the type on his foot-powered scroll saw on his mother's back porch, and mounted the letters on another block of wood. Then he sandpapered and polished the surface. (HH)

It printed so well that Hamilton made up a few samples and sent them to nearby printers. After receiving his second order he quit his job at the chair factory and he began the J. E. Hamilton Holly Wood Type Company. Initially, Hamilton produced a veneer wood type. Holly wood was used in preference to maple, because it was 50% less costly and it could be cut 1/16 thick and glued to cheap pine. Eventually, the Hamilton Company would switch over to end grain wood and use the rock maple that was abundant in the Wisconsin forests. (HH)

Explosive Growth
Newspapers and print shops were cropping up like corn, and purchasing their type from the east was too costly and time consuming. The almost-immediate availability of Hamilton wood type, available at half the price of its competitors, combined with Edward's initiative and business sense, allowed for the company to capitalize on the explosive growth of the Midwest in the late 19th century. (HH)

The company grew and expanded its product line to include type cabinets and other furniture useful in the press room, then to furniture for dental and medical offices and labs, drafting tables and furnishings, and the first gas-powered clothes dryer. Forging ahead with the technology of new materials, the company switched from using wood to using steel to manufacture furnishings in 1917. The company changed its name to Hamilton Wood Type Manufacturing, and today it is known as Hamilton Scientific a manufacturer of laboratory furniture and fume hoods. (HH)

Today, Hamilton Companies of Two Rivers, Wisconsin has faded into history.  

I remember when Hamilton Mfg. was flourishing. My Grandpa gave me a ride in the basket of his bicycle in the late 40's.  We went across the old river bridge and near the factory entrance.  I can still smell the fresh cut wood and the sawdust in the air. 

Time marches on.

See You on the Turntable

Harv

Ref;  (HH) Hamiltons History Page