"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film Unchained (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack. It has since become a standard and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, most notably by the Righteous Brothers in 1965. According to the song's publishing administrator, over 1,500 recordings of "Unchained Melody" have been made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages.
"Eve of Destruction" is a protest song written by P. F. Sloan in mid-1965. Several artists have recorded it, but the best-known recording was by Barry McGuire.
The McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. The group was composed of three sisters:
"Misty" is a jazz standard written in 1954 by pianist Erroll Garner. He composed it as an instrumental in the traditional 32-bar format, and recorded it for the album Contrasts. Lyrics were added later by Johnny Burke. It appeared on Johnny Mathis' 1959 album Heavenly, and this recording reached number 12 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart later that year. It has since become the signature song of Mathis.
"He" is a song about God, written in 1954. The song made the popular music charts the following year.
"Honeycomb" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1954. The best-selling version was recorded by Jimmie Rodgers and charted at number one on the Billboard Top 100 in 1957. "Honeycomb" also reached number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart and number seven on the Country & Western Best Sellers in Stores chart. It became a gold record. The song is referenced in the McGuire Sisters hit song "Sugartime", in which the soloist sings the line "Just be my honeycomb" and the word "honeycomb" is echoed by the other sisters and the male chorus.
"Day-O " is a traditional Jamaican folk song. The song has mento influences, but it is commonly classified as an example of the better known calypso music.
"Vaya con Dios " is a popular song written by Larry Russell, Inez James, and Buddy Pepper, and first recorded by Anita O'Day in December 1952. Les Paul and Mary Ford had a No. 1 recording of the song in 1953. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.
"Ramblin' Rose" is a 1962 popular torch song written by brothers Noel Sherman (words) and Joe Sherman (music) and popularized by Nat King Cole. The recording by Nat King Cole reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1962.
"Ring of Fire" is a song made popular by Johnny Cash when it appeared on his 1963 album Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash. Written by Cash's eventual second wife June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore, it was originally recorded as "(Love's) Ring of Fire" by June's sister Anita Carter on her 1963 album Folk Songs Old and New.
"Red Roses for a Blue Lady" is a 1948 popular song by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. It has been recorded by a number of performers. Actor-singer John Laurenz (1909–1958) was the first to record the song for Mercury Records. It rose to #2 on the weekly “Your Hit Parade” radio survey in the spring of 1949. The original 78rpm single was issued on Mercury 5201 - Red Roses For A Blue Lady by John Laurenz.
"Melody of Love" is a popular song. The music was originally written by Hans Engelmann in 1903. The lyrics were added by Tom Glazer in 1954.
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical Roberta. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. Its first recorded performance was by Gertrude Niesen, who recorded the song with orchestral direction from Ray Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's second cousin, on October 13, 1933. Niesen's recording of the song was released by Victor, with the B-side, "Jealousy", featuring Isham Jones and his Orchestra.
"Sunny" is a soul jazz standard written by Bobby Hebb in 1963. It is one of the most performed and recorded popular songs, with hundreds of versions released. BMI rates "Sunny" No. 25 in its "Top 100 songs of the century".
George Louis Motola was an American record producer, songwriter and sound engineer from the 1950s until his death.
"Walk, Don't Run" is an instrumental composition written and originally recorded by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith in 1954.
"Release Me", is a popular song written by Eddie "Piano" Miller and Robert Yount in 1949. Four years later it was recorded by Jimmy Heap & the Melody Masters, and with even better success by Patti Page (1954), Ray Price (1954), and Kitty Wells (1954). Jivin' Gene [Bourgeois] & the Jokers recorded the tune in 1960, and that version served as an inspiration for Little Esther Phillips, who reached number one on the R&B chart and number eight on the pop chart with her big-selling cover. The Everly Brothers followed in 1963, along with Lucille Starr including a translation in French (1964), Jerry Wallace (1966), Dean Martin (1967), Engelbert Humperdinck (1967) who was number one on the UK Singles Chart and many others in the years after such as Jewels Renauld (2022).
"Boa Constrictor" is a song written by Shel Silverstein and originally featured on his 1962 album Inside Folk Songs.
"Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" is a song written by American folk singer-songwriter Ed McCurdy in 1950. Due to McCurdy's connection with fellow musicians, it was common in repertoires within the folk music community. The song had its first album release when Pete Seeger recorded it as "Strangest Dream" for his 1956 album Love Songs For Friends & Foes. Seeger would later re-visit the song for his 1967 album Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and other Love Songs. The strong anti-war theme of the song led it to be recorded by multiple other artists, including The Weavers (1960), Joan Baez (1962), The Kingston Trio (1963), Simon & Garfunkel (1964), and Johnny Cash who released two versions of the song during the 2000s.
Bell Sound Studios was an independent recording studio in New York City from 1950 to 1976. At its height, the studio was the largest independent recording studio in the United States, and the site of recording sessions that produced seminal hits by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, the McGuire Sisters, The Flamingos, Dion and the Belmonts, Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, the Drifters and Ben E. King, The Four Seasons, Lesley Gore, the Dixie Cups, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Kiss.
