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Post by mikef6 on Aug 12, 2018 0:55:06 GMT
Your Hit Parade began on radio in 1935 and came to television (NBC) in 1950. A quartet of singers – two women, two men – would take turns singing down the Top songs of that week, ending with #1. There were some cast changes in the first couple of years but 1953 saw the cast that I always watched as a young boy: Dorothy Collins, Snooky Lanson, Russell Arms, and Gisele MacKenzie. The end came when rock ‘n roll became mainstream in the mid-1950s. The legendary moment (which I unfortunately missed) had Big Band crooner Snooky Lanson attempting Elvis’ “Hound Dog.” Talk about Jumping the Shark. The shark practically ate the whole show that night. That must have been 1956 because Presley’s cover of Big Mama Thornton’s greatest hit landed on the Billboard Top 40 in August of that year. NBC cancelled YHP soon after, in 1957. YHP moved to CBS with a new cast and limped along there for two more years. The show was sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes. Clockwise from top left: Snooky Lanson, Russell Arms, Gisele MacKenzie, Dorothy Collins
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Post by them1ghtyhumph on Aug 12, 2018 5:48:44 GMT
I know I saw a few minutes of it on TV, but it wasn't anything in my family watched. Probably every family member had a different reason.
Plus, only one TV in the apartment at that time, so dad ruled.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Aug 20, 2018 20:13:39 GMT
mikef6I remember there being speculation (among our moms... who loyally watched the show) that Dorothy Collins had something wrong with her neck … a scar or something.. because she always seemed to wear clothes with high collars or scarves that covered her neck.
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Post by mikef6 on Aug 20, 2018 20:42:16 GMT
mikef6 I remember there being speculation (among our moms... who loyally watched the show) that Dorothy Collins had something wrong with her neck … a scar or something.. because she always seemed to wear clothes with high collars or scarves that covered her neck. Now that you mention it I seem to remember something like that, too. I did a quick and dirty Google search plus her Wikipedia page. The closest I can find is one site that said: "With her girl-next-door charm and signature high-necked blouses, Collins quickly emerged as Your Hit Parade's breakout star." No cleavage for her! Maybe she was just the Marie Osmond of her day. Her co-star Gisele MacKenzie had no such reservations.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Aug 20, 2018 22:12:04 GMT
Dorothy : and Gizelle with the little Mamie bangs and the feathers growing out of her head ! ! I seem to remember them having to come up with a new way to present "Shrimp Boats are A Comin' " week after week ~ Man, the things you can dredge up ..distant memory-wise ! mikef6
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Post by divtal on Aug 20, 2018 22:14:04 GMT
I loved "Your Hit Parade." Because it aired on Saturday (or, was it Friday?), I was allowed to stay up for it ... but, bed right after!! I don't recall Snooky Lanson attempting to do Elvis. If there is a god, that will be on YouTube. I was pretty little, at the time, but I vaguely recall that The Lawrence Welk Show did a better job of presenting popular songs that fell into the "rock" genre. Of course, they had a wider array of musicians and singers, from various age groups. My recollection of Dorothy Collins' blouses, was that she always wore a little ribbon at the neckline. That's reflected in the photo, above, but I thought that they were always black, or navy blue. I believe that her husband was the band leader, or the producer of the program ... maybe both. It was educational. That's where I learned that LSMFT meant "Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco."
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