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.)

Here are the lyrics to “Cindy’s Birthday” by Johnny Crawford:

“No time for the movie show, TV, or the radio
Gotta write a symphony, end it with some poetry
Tie them with a ribbon made of gold and give them to Cindy
Today is Cindy’s birthday

No time for geometry, ‘rithmetic, or history
Gotta write a song from my heart, then paint the greatest work of art
Tie them with a ribbon made of gold and give them to Cindy
Today is Cindy’s birthday

No time to do the Twist, don’t mind all the things I miss
Gotta write a melody, write it from the heart of me
Tie it with a ribbon made of gold and give it to Cindy
Today is Cindy’s birthday

Yes, Cindy’s happy birthday”

For More Golden Oldies Music

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop music, rock and roll hits, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

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