Pop Music
There were a number of songs during this era from people who were on popular TV shows, including Ricky Nelson, Shelley Fabares, Paul Petersen, Annette Funicello, Connie Stevens, and Edd “Kookie” Byrnes, among others. Johnny Crawford rose to fame at the age of twelve by playing Mark McCain, the son of Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors), in the popular TV western series The Rifleman (1958 to 1963). Many people knew him first as one of Walt Disney’s Mouseketeers. Teenagers liked him, and he recorded five songs that were Top 40 hits, including the single “Cindy’s Birthday.” This song went to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962. His other hits included “Rumors,” “Your Nose is Gonna Grow,” and “Proud.” Crawford also enlisted in the U.S. Army. For the last twenty years, he has been the bandleader of The Johnny Crawford Dance Orchestra. (His older brother Robert L. Crawford, Jr., was an actor as well and appeared in many shows, including Laramie, Combat!, Rawhide, Cheyenne, and Gunsmoke.)
5 Comments
I JUST LAY AND LISTEN TO IT OVER AND OVER.
He was such a cutie! I make a friend of mine listen to his Song “Today is Cindy’s Birthday”, because her name is Cindy, she had never heard of it! Now on her birthday, she can’t wait to listen to it❤️🎂
Nice
Was Cindy a real person? … perhaps in Johnny’s life or whoever wrote the song?
Excellent question. Don’t know.