But Elvis's music wasn't all that got to me, and not all that my family owned. We also had the songs Little Darling and The Stroll, by The Diamonds, and another personal favorite, 16 Tons, by Tennessee Ernie Ford. I also have to mention Lloyd Price’s Stagger Lee, Sea of Love, by Phil Phillips, and Run Samson Run, by Neil Sedaka as songs I played repeatedly.
Aside from the music we owned, one of my aunts often listened to the radio, especially while sunbathing with her friends in summer, and I was never far away from that. Also, the various styles of music on television, from theme songs to the music performed on movies, specials, and variety shows, left their marks as well. My memory is ignorant of most titles and genres, but I do remember being fond of The Perry Como Show, and of course the myriad cartoons and kid shows I consumed like a hungry-eared madman.
Then an incredible thing happened—I got a record player for Christmas. Damned if that didn’t make me happy. And, in addition to the player was a stack of records. Now I’d already owned a few records, like The Chipmunks’ The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) (I always liked the flip side, That’s Almost Good, by David Seville), and The Washington and Lee Swing, by Tom & Dan, but this new stack was a mother-lode. The strange thing here, however, is that my memory has lost most of those titles. The only ones that come to mind are Buffalo Gals and Little White Duck, though there were many more. Some of the records were cast in a pale blue vinyl, and nearly all of them had the 33 and a 1/3 type holes in the middle, but I think they were all 45’s. Whatever they were, their rotation in my playlist certainly wore the grooves thin, and the player went through two needles and a repair or two before the arm finally detached and the player could no longer be used. I’m not sure if it lasted even a year.
And so ends the early phase of the history.
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