Songs that I grew up with

Post 111 Pop Tunes in the 1950s and 60s

As a teenager in the 1950s and 60s, I grew up listening to Chinese and English pop songs. Those were the exciting years for post-war babies. Listening to radio broadcast was the main entertainment for us before the emergence of TV. The songs left lasting impressions on me and helped shape my taste for music and songs.

I love, among many,the songs by Pat Boone (Speedy Gonzales; April Love); Connie Francis (Lipstick on Your Collar; Everybody's Somebody's Fool); Elvis Presley (It's Now or Never; Amazing Grace) and Cliff Richard (A Voice in the Wilderness; The Minute You're Gone); and the music by The Billy Vaughn Orchestra. My friends and I would gladly wait for the programme “Top Tunes of the Week” to be on air. To many senior citizens, the songs and music in the 1950s and 60s are ever green. They bring back fond memory of our happy teenage years.

Once I was listening over the radio a song sung by Elvis Presley. Half way through the song, my late father commented, “Why is this singer having so much difficulty singing out the tune?” Elvis was then singing ‘Only You’ at the part where he had to express himself with ‘Ah…Ah…Ah..Ah Only you can make this change in me. For it’s true you are my destiny…”

Whenever this song is played, I thought of my late father.

27 September 2011