Week of August 15, 1955

President Eisenhower gets a rousing “Ike Ike” welcome on

arrival in Denver, for an extended work-and-play vacation.

The Argentine government announces it has crushed a

“catholic-nationalist plot” to assassinate President Peron. 50

are arrested, but sources say that could reach as high as

200.

The United States welcomes Soviet Russia’s announced

intention of reducing its armed forces by 640,000 men by December 15.

President Eisenhower proclaims a new code of conduct for America military men

captured in future wars. It warns them to tell the enemy nothing but gives

assurance of justice to those who break under torture. The code is an outgrowth

of cruel Communist treatment of American prisoners in Korea.

Flooding in the Northeast leaves some 143 dead. Hard hit was an area north of

New York City (Putnam and Orange Counties), NE Pennsylvania plus

Connecticut.

Hollywood news - Bing Crosby visits his injured son - Pvt.

Phillip Crosby (21) in Raymond, Washington. Crosby Jr.

has three fractured vertebrae, but his condition is reported

as good. The young soldier from Ft. Lewis was injured when

his car plunged over a 20-foot embankment into the Willapa

River bed.

Television news -

Jack Benny will be devoting all his time to television when

the 1955-1956 season begins. It’s the first time Benny will

not be heard on radio regularly.

KTLA (Los Angeles) takes Lawrence Welk off its air.

KTLA aired the ABC-fed “Lawrence Welk Show” even

though it’s not an ABC station. But the show began

locally on KTLA several years ago, before it went

national and they have the rights to air it in Los

Angeles. Seems that KTLA doesn’t want to air the

“Dodge” sponsorship commercials and instead, has

been inserting other spots.

Week of August 15, 1955

“ Our Miss Brooks ” - the CBS situation comedy, is

undergoing a change for the new TV season. For one -

the “Madison High School” location will be changed to

“Mrs. Nestor’s Private School.” Eve Arden, who plays

the title role, will become a dramatics instructor. A new

feature of the show will be a strong romantic interest.

DuMont - The fourth network, who has curtailed its

schedule drastically over the last few months - drops

two more shows, which only leaves it one on the

regular schedule. Say goodbye to “All About Baby” - a

daytime program for moms and “Studio 57.” All that’s left is a weekly boxing

program from the St Nicholas Arena. DuMont says that it will feed New York

Giants football to about 16 stations

Monday night television -

CBS - Walter Cronkite news, Julius La Rosa,

Burns and Allen, Arthur Godfrey Talent

Scouts, Those Whiting Girls, Ethel and

Albert , Studio One Summer Theatre

NBC - Matt Dennis Show, News Caravan,

Caesar Presents, Medic, Robert Montgomery

Presents, Big Town, Tonight Show With Steve

Allen

ABC - John Daly with the news, Cisco Kid, TV

Reader’s Digest, Summer Concert, Eddie

Cantor.

Sid Caesar Show - With Phil Foster, Bill

Hayes, Cliff Norton, Sandra Deel, Judy Tyler,

Sid Gould, Bobby Sherwood.

Medic - “Dr Impossible” - True story of Dr. William Halstead, who contracted a

drug habit and beat it.

Tonight Show - From Hollywood - Steve Allen welcomes Ricky Vera, Gonzales

Gonzales (child singer), Lalo Guerrero (the man who made the Mexican version

of Davy Crockett).

Radio news - WINS, New York says it has a new policy - it will not air “cover”

records and “copy’ records - defining the latter as those records which copy -

Week of August 15, 1955

ften note-for-note - the arrangement and stylistic phrasing of the singer. The new

policy is announced by program director Bob Smith. Smith has distributed copies

of the policy to WINS deejays Jack Lacy, Alan Freed, Bob And ray, Brad Phillips,

Stan Shaw and Peter Roberts. The station also prepared a list of original

records issued within the past several months which have been followed by copy

records:

Story Untold - Nutmegs

Tweedle Dee - Lavern Baker

Melody of Love - Billy Vaughan

Ko Ko Mo - Gene and Eunice

Earth Angel - Penguins

Hearts of Stone - The Charms

Crazy Otto

Ain’t It A Shame? - Fats Domino

Maybelene - Chuck Berry

Gum drops - Otis Williams

Man In a Raincoat - Pricilla Wright

Autumn Leaves - Roger Williams

I Want You To Be My Baby - Lillian

Briggs

Oh, What A Dream - Ruth Brown

Music news - Atlantic Records launches

a new subsidiary label - Atco Records It

was supposed to be Atlas Records, but

that’s tied-up by another label. ( See ad ).

Bill Hailey’s wife gives birth to Bill Jr., the fourth Haley youngster. Meanwhile his

“Rock Around the Clock” is topping all the bestseller lists.

Chet Atkins tries a new gimmick on his latest RCA recording session. Chet took a

12-string guitar and detuned it slightly

to come up with somewhat “screwy”

sound. You can catch this new sound

on two songs - “Shine on Harvest

Moon” and “Somebody Stole My

Gal.”

Pop music this week in 1955 -

Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley

& The Comets

Ain’t That A Shame - Pat Boone

Yellow Rose of Texas - Mitch Miller

Week of August 15, 1955

Learnin’ the Blues - Frank Sinatra

A Blossom Fell - Nat King Cole

Seventeen - Boyd Bennett

Hart To Get - Gisele MacKensie

It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie - Something Smith & The Redheads

Hummingbird - Les Paul & Mary Ford

House of the Blue Lights - Chuck Miller

Unchained Melody - Les Baxter

Maybellene - Chuck Berry

Yellow Rose of Texas - Johnny Desmond

Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado

I’ll Never Stop Loving You - Doris Day

Wake The Town And Tel The People - Les Baxter

Domani - Julius La Rosa

Week of August 15, 1955

There She Goes - Carl Smith

Yellow Roses - Hank Snow

More music news - Pat Boone makes a record store

appearance. About 1,000 saw him at the Music Mart in

Orange. Paul Brenner of WAAT radio Newark plugged the

event on his show. The owner said of Boone - “He is

unassuming, generous and should go far.”

Atco, Atlantic’s new label, signs the Cavaliers, a new group

from Philadelphia.

Did you miss the Anniversary Jamboree in Memphis a few weeks ago? It

featured Webb Pierce, Elvis Presley, Red Sovine, Wanda Jackson, Sonny James

and Jim Wilson.

Vice-President Nixon opens Hollywood Bowl’s “Festival of the America’s” -

serving as honorary president of the festival. Appearing - conductor Leonard

Bernstein.

Negro baritone Paul Robeson fails to get a court order

requiring the state department to issue him a passport. His

passport was revoked in 1950 on the grounds that his

travels abroad would not be in the interests of the United

States.

Top books this week in 1955 -

Something of Value - Robert Ruark

Bonjour Tristesse - Francoise Sagan

The Flower Girls - Clemence Dane

Auntie Mame - Patrick Dennis

Excelsior! - Paul Hyde Bonner

No Time For Sergeants - Mac Hyman

Gift From The Sea - Ann Morrow Lindbergh

The Power of Positive Thinking - Norman Vincent Peale

A Man Called Peter - Catherine Marshall

Why Johnny Can’t Read - Rudolf Flesch

The Family Of Man - Edward Steichen

Onions in the Stew - Betty MacDonald

Week of August 15, 1955

Trend - Two bathrooms in every home is becoming the standard for middle

class America - so says a study. More parents are deciding they want a private

bath. The trend jibes with the trend toward two cars and two TV sets a family.

A Gallup Poll says the typical American reports that there has never been a time

in the past when his family income was higher than it is today.

At the movies -

Female On The Beach - Joan Crawford, Jeff Chandler

The Cobweb - Richard Widmark, Lauren Bacall

Love Me Or Leave Me - Doris Day, James Cagney

To Catch A Thief - Cary Grant, Grace Kelly

The Private War of Major

Benson - Charlton

Heston , Julie Adams

Love Is A Many Splendored

Thing - William Holden,

Jennifer Jones

Mister Roberts - Henry

Fonda, James Cagney, William

Powell, Jack Lemmon