* From 'Piano' poem by D.H. Lawrence.
Yesterday I heard the song 'Sailor' sung by Petula Clark.
This immediately took me back to my childhood. Clark's version of this song was released in 1961 and was a massive hit. I was born in August 1952 so was about 8 or 9 when I first heard it. I guess my mother must have turned the radio up every time that it was played. She listened to 2ZB and dad listened to 2YA (the forerunner of the National Programme which I tune in to nowadays).
We never had any Elvis Presley or Rock and Roll music playing back then. When the 'radiogram' was used to play records (78 rpms) it was likely to be Louis Armstrong, The Mills Brothers, The Ink Spots, American Country and Western or light classical.
The radio songs that I remember and that still have resonance for me were ones like Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas' (1942), Harry Simeone Chorale's version of The Little Drummer Boy' (1959), Pete Seeger's version of 'Goodnight Irene' (1959) and Patti Page's version of 'The Tennessee Waltz' (1951).
It's pretty lame stuff compared to the music I later listened to but I still get a thrill hearing The Little Drummer Boy' (frowned on nowadays by the PC Brigade) and hearing 'Sailor' was a real treat.
