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The Time Was... May 1957:

episode date - May 15, 2007

Normally, base commercialism is beneath us… but today’s show was practically screaming for a “Two for Tuesday” format, so I relented. It is rare when the same artist debuts on the singles chart twice in the same month. This was even more rare of an occurrence in the ‘50s, but in May 1957, it happened twice.

The Coasters had a rare ‘double-sided’ hit, and at the same time, a Johnny Mathis craze swept the nation, causing two of his singles to rise to prominence simultaneously. That more or less set the mold, so I continue the format by playing an oft-neglected Everly Brothers track to accompany their own debut hit single. We then follow this with two selections from an Elvis EP of Gospel songs that debuted in May 1957. We could have played two tracks from Sinatra’s May 1957 album, “A Swingin’ Affair,” but instead we opt to play three separate versions of a Cole Porter classic, all sung by Sinatra. One early version on Columbia Records dates from the forties, the middle version (on Capitol Records) dates from this May 1957 release, and the third is taken from his latter day recordings with Reprise. This makes for a unique method of comparing the phases of Sinatra’s career, and it ends our “Two for Tuesday” program by throwing in one extra version, just for good measure!

1) Searchin’ – The Coasters

2) Young Blood – The Coasters

3) Wonderful Wonderful – Johnny Mathis

4) It’s Not for Me to Say – Johnny Mathis

5) Bye Bye Love – The Everly Brothers

6) I Wonder if I Care as Much – The Everly Brothers

7) Peace in the Valley – Elvis Presley

8) Take My Hand, Precious Lord – Elvis Presley

9) Night and Day – Frank Sinatra (Columbia Records)

10) Night and Day – Frank Sinatra (“A Swingin’ Affair" - Capitol Records)

11) Night and Day – Frank Sinatra (“Sinatra and Strings,” Reprise Records) 12) You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To - Frank Sinatra