Some songs have become the backtrack to certain elements in our culture.
Take Whitney Houston’s “Star-Spangled Banner”, for example.
You can’t even type in the words “star-spangled” into Google without the third result being her incredible Superbowl performance.
Now, almost every artist emulates her version when they perform it.
Cultural songs are tied to certain events or moments and we all feel a sense of familiarity when we engage with them!
Here’s another example: “Mr. Sandman.”
It’s absolutely astounding just how prevalent this song from 1954 really is.
Almost ANY reference to sleep in a movie is accompanied on the soundtrack with this song.
It’s a verified classic and we still know the lyrics over 60 years later.
The original song was released by the Chordettes and incredibly, there is a video of it!
Who can forget these lovely ladies?
“The Chordettes were a female popular singing quartet from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. They usually sung a cappella, and specialized in traditional popular music. The Chordettes were one of the longest lived vocal groups with beginnings in the mainstream pop and vocal harmonies of the 1940s and early 1950s. – Discogs“
It’s not often that we get to see video clips from things that far back in the day.
The Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show actually filmed a live performance of The Chordettes singing “Lollipop” and “Mr. Sandman” together and released it a few years ago.
The video is a great way to engage with something that happened generations ago.
After a quick introduction by the host, the video opens with the famous quartet clapping their hands in succession.
They had apparently just released their album two weeks before and this was one of their first live performances!
The female quartet walked around the stage, putting on a show that we can still enjoy today.
During their first song, Lollipop, they even got baskets of candy to throw out to the waiting crowd!
Our concerts may look a little different nowadays, but the sentiment is clearly the same – people want to have fun and sing along with their favorite songs.
After they finished singing Lollipop, they moved to Mr. Sandman.
In-between songs, the host came to the stage and asked the ladies a few questions while they got the stage reset for the next song.
With a lollipop in his mouth (his “dinner” as he called it), he asked them if they thought they might have a hit on their hands.
If only they knew how ubiquitous BOTH of the songs would be for years to come!
The song starts and listening to the four of them sing acapella is still pretty cool, even by today’s standards.
The group is clearly skilled and their little “bum-bum-bum’s” toss your mind back into an era that few of us were a part of anymore.
When they recorded the video, Mr. Sandman had just sold over 1 million records!
The YouTube video that we are watching this on? Sitting at over 27 million views. Content sure has changed over the years.
Check out the incredible black and white video below!
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