Episode Details

Our tale begins in the mid to late 40s... The 1940s Post War America The Great Cities of the East are full of electricity and light And music... Swing beat is DEAD daddio Bebop and Blues rule! Jump Swing Shout Blues   ...but this new thing, as yet, remains undefined   Founded in 1894 (solely sheet music back then kids!) Billboard Magazine didn't know what to do with it or what to call it either...   Although the area of Harlem, situated within the borough of New York City known as Manhattan, only takes up approximately 1.4 square miles (as reported by the New York City Department of City Planning in March of 2019) Billboard Magazine, began publishing a music chart directed towards the entire African American customer base of the United States in 1942.   They called this chart The Harlem Hit Parade.   Close to 50 years after the publication's inception, Billboard Magazine decided the African American music consuming demographic mattered, or rather, their money mattered (cue Randy Newman "It's Money That Matters").   Three short years later, Billboard changed the name of the chart to "The Most Played Juke Box Race Records" followed by "Best Selling Retail Race Records" in 1948. These unfortunate (and possibly even hateful) labels used to categorize a type of music are literally, the very definition of racist (look it up).   While some historians suggest the term "race" was a self referential term used by African Americans in the early part of the 20th Century, the word came to be considered offensive in the post-war world.   This prompted the editorial staff of Billboard Magazine to rename the chart "Rhythm & Blues Chart Listings" in June of 1949...   ...which is where our story begins   As this exciting new music slithered out of the primordial sludge of post War rhythm and blues, something MAGICAL happened...   Previously imposed barriers between people gradually, over time, began to shift and erode. And then...   The walls came tumblin' down!   IN TODAY'S EPISODE OF THE GXO MUSIC PODCAST:   Music Charts of 1954 & 1955 EXPOSED! Under the microscope   Come FEEL the NOISE and Celebrate with us 70 Years of Rock N Roll! (1956-2026)    *THE MUSIC  

1. 1947 She's The No Sleepin' Est Woman by T-Bone Walker
2. 1947 Good Rockin' Tonight by Roy Brown
3. 1955 I'm Just A Lonely Guy (All Alone) by Little Richard
4. 1954 Work With Me Annie by Hank Ballard & The Midnighters
5. 1954 Hey Senorita by The Penguins
6. 1954 Don't You Know by Johnny Ace
7. 1955 I Hear You Knockin' by Smiley Lewis
8. 1955 Ain't That A Shame by Fats Domino
9. 1955 Greenbacks by Ray Charles
10. 1954 Shake Rattle And Roll by Big Joe Turner
11. 1960 Ida Red (1938 original version) by Bill Wills & Tommy Duncan
12. 1955 Maybellene by Chuck Berry
13. 1955 Bo Diddley by Bo Diddley
14. 1955 Good Rockin' Daddy by Etta James
15. 1954 Tweedlee Dee by LaVern Baker
16. 1953 Gee by The Crows
17. 1954 I Wonder Why by The Cadillacs
18. 1954 Honey Love by The Drifters (Clyde McPhatter lead vocals)
19. 1955 Speedo by The Cadillacs
20. 1954 Sh-Boom by The Chords
21. 1955 Ling Ting Tong by Otis Williams & The Charms
22. 1954 Thirteen Women (And Only One Man In Town) by Bill Haley & His Comets
23. 1955 Only You (And You Alone) by The Platters (Tony Williams lead vocals)
24. 1949 Run On For A Long Time by Bill Landford & The Landfordaires
25. 1954 Any Day Now by The Soul Stirrers (Sam Cooke lead vocals)

   

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