Delores LaVern Baker was an American rhythm and blues singer who had several hit records on the pop charts in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedle Dee" (1955), "Jim Dandy" (1956), and "I Cried a Tear" (1958).
Geraldine Estelle Halliwell-Horner is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, author, and actress. She was a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Ginger Spice. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the Spice Girls are the best-selling female group of all time. Their slogan "girl power" was most closely associated with Halliwell and her Union Jack dress from the 1997 Brit Awards also became an enduring symbol. Halliwell left the Spice Girls in 1998, citing exhaustion and creative differences, but rejoined when they reunited in 2007.
Doris Troy was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her fans as "Mama Soul". Her biggest hit was "Just One Look", a top 10 hit in 1963.
Pauline Matthews better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English pop singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records.
The Fontane Sisters were a trio from New Milford, New Jersey.
John Richard Duncan was an American country music singer-songwriter, best known for a string of hits in the mid- to late 1970s. In his career, he released 14 studio albums, including thirteen on Columbia Records. These albums produced more than 30 chart singles, with three of those reaching number one: "Thinkin' of a Rendezvous", "It Couldn't Have Been Any Better", and "She Can Put Her Shoes Under my Bed (Anytime)" from 1976, 1977, and 1978, respectively. Seven more of his singles were top-10 hits.
Jane Morgan is an American former singer and recording artist of traditional pop. Morgan initially found success in France and the UK before achieving recognition in the US, receiving six gold records. She was a frequent nightclub and Broadway performer, and also appeared numerous times on American television, both as a singer and as a dramatic performer.
Madeline Bell is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s with pop group Blue Mink, having arrived from the United States in the gospel show Black Nativity in 1962, with the vocal group Bradford Singers.
"Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" is a song written by Mel Tillis about a paralyzed veteran who lies helplessly as his wife "paints up" to go out for the evening without him; he believes that she is going in search of a lover. As he hears the door slam behind her, he claims that he would murder her if he could move to get his gun, and pleads for her to reconsider. A line in the song about a "crazy Asian war" and the time of the song's release led to the assumption that the song was about a veteran of the Vietnam War, though this was never stated in the lyrics. However, Tillis stated that the song was about a veteran of World War II.
"The Poor People of Paris" is a US pop song that became a number-one instrumental hit in 1956. It is based on the French language song "La goualante du pauvre Jean", with music by Marguerite Monnot and words by René Rouzaud. Edith Piaf had one of her biggest hits with the original French version.
"Singing the Blues" is a popular song composed by Melvin Endsley and published in 1956. The highest-charting version was by Guy Mitchell and the first recording of the song was by Marty Robbins. It is not related to the 1920 jazz song "Singin' the Blues" recorded by Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke in 1927.
"I Can't Stop Loving You" is a popular song written and composed by country singer, songwriter, and musician Don Gibson, who first recorded it on December 3, 1957, for RCA Victor Records. It was released in 1958 as the B-side of "Oh, Lonesome Me", becoming a double-sided country hit single. At the time of Gibson's death in 2003, the song had been recorded by more than 700 artists, most notably by Ray Charles, whose recording reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart.
“Mairzy Doats” is a novelty song written and composed in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston. It contains lyrics that make no sense as written, but are near homophones of meaningful phrases. The song's title, for example, is a homophone of "Mares eat oats".
"The First Cut Is the Deepest" is a 1967 song written by British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, originally released by P. P. Arnold in April 1967. Stevens's own version originally appeared on his album New Masters in December 1967.
"Theme from A Summer Place" is a song with lyrics by Mack Discant and music by Max Steiner, written for the 1959 film A Summer Place, which starred Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue. It was recorded for the film as an instrumental by Hugo Winterhalter. Originally known as the "Molly and Johnny Theme", this lush extended cue, as orchestrated by Murray Cutter, is not the main title theme of the film, but an oft-heard secondary love theme for the characters played by Dee and Donahue. The theme has become a canonical representation of the easy listening genre, and is considered by some to be the definitive easy listening track of all time.
"Why" is a hit song recorded by Frankie Avalon in 1959. It reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart published on the week of December 28, 1959. It was Avalon's second and final No. 1 hit.
The Blossoms were an American girl group that originated from California. During their height of success in the 1960s, the group's lineup most famously consisted of Darlene Love, Fanita James, and Jean King.
James Clarence Wakely was an American actor, songwriter, country music vocalist, and one of the last singing cowboys. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, he released records, appeared in several B-Western movies with most of the major studios, appeared on radio and television and even had his own series of comic books. His duet singles with Margaret Whiting from 1949 until 1951, produced a string of top seven hits, including 1949's number one hit on the US country chart and pop music chart, "Slippin' Around". Wakely owned two music publishing companies in later years, and performed at the Grand Ole Opry until shortly before his death.
"Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" is a 1957 song written by Margo Sylvia & Gilbert Lopez. "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" was originally performed by The Tune Weavers, who had their only hit with this song. Both Margo Sylvia and Gilbert Lopez were members of The Tune Weavers. The single went to number four on the R&B chart and went to number five on the Hot 100. The B-side of "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby, was The Tune Weavers version of "Ol' Man River".
"Pink Shoe Laces" is a song composed by Mickie Grant that was recorded by Dodie Stevens, accompanied by Bobby Hammack and his Orchestra, and released as a single in 1959 on Crystalette Records, a record label distributed by Dot Records. Although the verses are delivered with a musical quality, they are not sung in the style of the chorus. Some commentators have observed that the verses are spoken rather than sung.
