The further we get away from the formative days of Rock n’ Roll the more that period when Rock was trying to break into the mainstream gets fuzzier and more dim and distant every day.
The misconception that Rock had appeared, was quickly followed by The Youthquake and suddenly the world becoming Top 40 are far-fetched at best.
It was a tough sell – there was a lot of resistance. The strange stories of this new music being regarded as something akin to Devil worship and the single-handed destroyer of morals were rampant. More predominant in the South than other parts of the country, but still no less subjected to horror and revulsion by the Media.
Still at the forefront of mainstream popularity were the singers, accompanied by lush strings and dewey-eyed vocals. But only slightly bowing to pressure were the arrangers of these songs – adopting a modified rock beat; barely perceptible, but hoping to grab some sympathetic teenage ears. Whatever Rock songs that did manage to make it to mainstream radio were relegated to “novelty” status; songs with gimmicks that would stand up well to Disc jockey mockery.
The list of popular singers of the period – the non-rock singers, was large. In time they would fade from view, picking up careers on TV and in fashionable supper clubs – eventually they would be dropped from their respective labels as sales took their toll – finally joining the roster of names routinely appearing in arguments when the phrase “when we had real music” was bandied about.
One of those singers, who enjoyed a long career both on radio and TV, as well as a string of hits during the pre-rock days was Toni Arden; a name that is most likely not familiar to anyone under the age of 60, but who was everywhere in 1957 when this interview with Howard Miller took place on his daily CBS Network music program.
Not tossing out judgements, rather than illustrating a period of time that has often gone unnoticed and misunderstood where the history of Rock n’ Roll is concerned. It’s ironic that CBS Radio, which was considerably more forward-thinking at the time than the other networks of The Big Three, also ran Alan Freed’s Rock n’ Roll Dance Party featuring some of the most popular R&B artists of the day. The show didn’t last long, mostly because all the Southern CBS Radio affiliates refused to air it and the sponsors; Camel Cigarettes knew which side their bread was buttered on, eventually pulled out. But Howard Miller ran for years.
Here is that program, as it was broadcast on April 30, 1957 – sponsored by Wrigley’s Gum.
History gets fuzzy from time to time.
