If you love '50s and '60s Rock'n'Roll oldies but need to know if you can withstand torture, try a weekly show in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on CJMK-FM. It's the "Sunday Morning Sock Hop," hosted by Vic Dubois, from 9am to 1pm Central Canadian time (you can hear it on your computer at www.magic983.fm).
Wish I could recommend the program, but I cannot. It isn't simply that the host loves the music of Pat Boone, the Four Aces, the Chordettes--artists plowed over by the relevance of Elvis Presley, Little Richard and so many more. It's that there's no sense of history (beyond some background info on the artists), no fire in the presentation.
Nor is it accurate.
The Everly Brothers are often represented by re-recordings, not their original hits. Sam Cooke is referred to as having "a nice voice" rather than being the innovator he was, for the "Sunday Morning Sock Hop" rarely clues you in to the explosive aspect of the 1950s. This was an era where R&B and Rockabilly were crossing over to Pop and vice versa, and there was plenty of resistance. In spite of this, according to the Billboard charts, Carl Perkins had a #1 Country hit with "Blue Suede Shoes" that also reached
#2 R&B and #2 Pop, a remarkable achievement in those segregated times.
Yet we don't hear the "Sunday Morning Sock Hop" spin much Carl Perkins, or Little Willie John, or Wanda Jackson. I've visited Windsor, Toronto and Vancouver, but I couldn't tell you how what was once called "Hillbilly" and "Race" music affected Canada. I do know that the role both types played in transforming Pop music as a whole was immeasurable. The world was changing by leaps and bounds, but you'd never know it from this radio program. Instead, what you're hearing is empty nostalgia.
The "Sunday Morning Sock Hop," gets even less authentic as the 1960s loom. This week (1/3/10), the version of Bob Lind's "Elusive Butterfly" played was--how did you know?--a re-recording. While a corny song, the jangly guitar and orchestral mix of Lind's original is fantastic--great '60s Pop. Listeners got a lame version in its place.
I can name other records subjected to the same mistreatment. But the point is, somebody connected to the show should have said, "That's not how I remember that song; we should get the original."
So I'm terminating listening to it--can I try waterboarding instead?
Let me mention that I have emailed Mr. Dubois more than once, in a friendly way, in reference to these awful re-recordings. I've never received an answer.