50s | Musicosity

50s

Harold Arlen

Harold Arlen (February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986)
Was an American composer of popular music. Having written over 400 songs, a number of which have become known the world over, Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. His 1938 song "Over the Rainbow” was voted the twentieth century's No. 1 song by the Recording Industry Association of America Biography Arlen was born Hyman Arluck, in Buffalo, New York, the child of a Jewish cantor.

Read more about Harold Arlen on Last.fm.

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Bill Haley

Early life and career Haley was born William John Clifton Haley (some sources append "Junior" to his name, but his eldest son states that this is erroneous) in Highland Park, Michigan and raised in Pennsylvania. Many sources (almost universally predating his death in 1981) state that Haley was born in 1927, which is due to Haley knocking two years off his age for publicity purposes in the 1950s. A few recent sources erroneously give a birth year of 1924.

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Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons (since 1967, known off and on as Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons - although not shown that way on any of their hit records), is an American and group from Newark, NJ. They also had a sound somewhat reminiscent of , although they were not thought of as a quartet. By the mid 1960s, The Four Seasons had become an internationally famous group. In 1960, the group known as The Four Lovers evolved into The Four Seasons...

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Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds (born April 1, 1932) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress, dancer and singer. Reynolds regularly appeared in movie musicals during the 1950s and chalked up several hit records despite an only intermittent career as a recording artist. Her song "Aba Daba Honeymoon" was a top 3 hit in 1951. She is also remembered for her smash recording of the theme song "Tammy" which earned her a gold record and was the best-selling single by a female vocalist in 1957 and was number one for 5 weeks on the Billboard pop charts.

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Franz Waxman

Franz Waxman (December 24, 1906 – February 24, 1967) was a Jewish German American composer, known for his bravura Carmen Fantasie for violin and orchestra, based on musical themes from the Bizet opera Carmen, and for his musical scores for films. Waxman was born Franz Wachsmann in Königshütte (Chorzów) in the German Empire's Prussian Province of Silesia. He orchestrated Frederick Hollander's score for the 1930 film Blue Angel (1930) and wrote original scores for several German films in the early 1930s.

Read more about Franz Waxman on Last.fm.

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Hayden Thompson

Thompson made his recording debut with "I Feel the Blues Coming On" on the Von label in 1954. He signed with Sun in 1956 and recorded the Junior Parker song "Love My Baby" with support from Billy Riley's band and Jerry Lee Lewis. Held back for several months, the single failed to become a hit when it was finally released in 1957; none of his other Sun recordings yielded a hit either. Disappointed by his lack of success, Thompson moved to Chicago in 1958 and recorded for several labels, including B.

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Gene Summers

Gene Summers (born 1939 in Dallas, Texas) is a rock/rockabilly singer and entertainer. Some of his classic recordings include "School of Rock 'n Roll", "Straight Skirt", "Nervous", "Gotta Lotta That", and "Twixteen". Summers was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 1997 and The Southern Legends Entertainment & Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 2005. He still performs worldwide and celebrated his 50th anniversary as a recording artist in 2008 with the release of Reminisce Cafe.

Read more about Gene Summers on Last.fm.

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Lee Morgan

Lee Morgan (10 July 1938 - 19 February 1972) was an American hard-bop jazz trumpeter. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Morgan was a jazz prodigy, joining the Dizzy Gillespie big band at 18, remaining a member for two years. In 1956 he began recording as a leader, mainly for the Blue Note label; eventually he recorded twenty-five albums for the company. Morgan's principal influence as a player was Clifford Brown, having had direct contact with him before Brown's premature death.

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Chris Connor

Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 - August 29, 2009) was an American jazz singer known for her distinctive style and expression. Born in Kansas City, her father was an eminent musician and Chris soon studied and became proficient in the clarinet.
Chris joined the "Snowflakes", a vocal group of Claude Thornhill's band, and moved on to become Stan Kenton's lead singer. She recorded for Bethlehem records originally and then began a long association with Atlantic records.

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