Week of February 15, 1956

France-’56 - Members of the French National

Assembly stage a free-for-all fist fight and hurled

footstools at each other when a deputy jumped in the

speaker’s rostrum and tried to run off with the ballot

box. The riot started when followers of anti-tax leader

Pierre Poujade tried to block a Communist from voting

on unseating a Poujadist Deputy.

The U.S. halts plans to ship Saudi Arabia 18 light tanks

after the State Department temporarily suspends all

export permits to the tinderbox Middle East.

President Eisenhower says the United States stands

ready to make surplus farm commodities available to

peoples of Western Europe suffering from one of the coldest winters in decades.

Leading Democrats call President Eisenhower’s health a prime campaign issue if

he decides to seek a second term. Later, doctors say that President Eisenhower

is fit to run for re-election and there is no medical reason why he cannot continue

an active life for another five to 10 years.

Goes hunting - President Eisenhower flies to South Georgia to ponder his

second-term decision. He and an associate hit the fields in search for quail.

A four-engine transport plane carrying 38 Marines slams into a rock ridge near

Alameda Naval Air Station on the east shore of San Francisco Bay. All perish.

In a poll - A majority of the American people believe that the day will come when

industries will have a 30-hour work week - a plan often advanced by union

leaders as a means of opening more jobs.

Entertainment/Television news -

Margaret Truman discloses that she decided “early

in the game” not to marry while she lived in the White

House and that since she had begun her career as a

singer, her mother had been fearful she would marry

an actor. She said any possibility of romance while

her father was President thoroughly cooled under the

glare of the White House spotlights and the ever-

watchful eye of a Secret Service man.

Week of February 15, 1956

Success of CBS-TV’s “Lassie” - NBC-TV says it will try to make Sunday night

family night. The network is trying to put together three half-hour packages aimed

at kids to run from 6:30p-8:00p. This would consist of “Roy Rogers,” “Lassie”

which it hopes to grab from CBS-TV and “Circus Boy.”

Actor Lloyd Bridges on a live NBC-TV drama, gets so

emotional that he ad-libbed some profanity and hundreds

of people called the network about it.

An Italian-born shoemaker, Michael Della Rocca becomes

the third contestant in the history of “The $64,000

Question” to win the top prize.

Ernie Kovacs is busy. He now does a daily morning show

for WABC radio, then heads right over to NBC-TV for his

10:30am show, with which he is joined by wife, Edith Adams. The NBC-TV show

is described as a zany variety show. He gets up at 4:30am to do the radio show,

while she sleeps-in and makes sure his daughters Kippie (7) and Betty (8) get off

to school. She arrives at NBC around 8am and runs through her songs and

routines. Ernie joins her at around 9:15 to prepare for the TV show.

“Forever Darling” song is rare? - Desi Arnaz gets angry

after he made a promotional appearance at a Wanamaker’s

in Philadelphia to plug his latest record “Forever Darling”

(which also the same title of he and Lucy’s latest movie). The

song was even featured in a recent “I Love Lucy.” Arnaz

arrived at the store and so did a total of 11,000 fans to

buy/sign records, but MGM Records had sent the store only

100 copies of the record. To make matters worse, a check

around town allegedly revealed that there were no other copies of the record

available in Philadelphia. “From here on” said Arnaz, “Ill make sure that there are

enough copies of the record when we get into a town. If there aren’t, I’ll start

plugging the Ames Brothers’ (version) and tell people to buy that instead of

mine.”

Change of call letters in Cleveland as Westinghouse changes WTAM (1100 on

your AM dial) to KYW and WNBK-TV (channel 3) to KYW-TV.

General Foods pulls its “Jell-O” sponsorship of Johnny Carson’s CBS-TV show. It

felt that for a half-hour show costing $25,000 weekly, the current 17 rating makes

the cost-per-thousand too high.

Week of February 15, 1956

NBC - John Cameron Swayze news, Milton Berle, Jane Wyman Theatre, Circle

Theatre, Big Town, Tonight Show

ABC - Cheyenne, Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Danny Thomas Show,

Cavalcade Theater, Tomorrow’s Careers, Boris Karloff Mystery

Wyatt Earp - A Texas bad man vows to kill our hero but a

pretty girl’s warning saves him. Stars Hugh O’Brian .

Danny Thomas - Danny gets his nose into his daughter’s

affairs and discovers a papa’s place is no place.

Circle Theatre - “Terror at My Heels” - the real-life drama of

an American flyer captured by Korean Communists. Stars

Darren McGavin.

Tonight Show with Steve Allen - Jonah Jones Quartet, George Hopkins.

ABC Friday Night

Week of February 15, 1956

More television news - Jackie Gleason movies “The Honeymooners” up a half-

hour (see ad) on Saturday nights in order to create a stronger lead against NBC-

TV’s “Perry Como Show.” It seems that his “Stage Show” is getting clobbered

and that’s effecting the rest of the hour.

Music news -

The big buzz is tape cartridges. Although not practical yet, RCA Victor is giving it

high priority. A number of knotty problems are still being wrestled by company

engineers. Marketing of a cartridge player has been held up.

Week of February 15, 1956

More r&b as Mercury Records announces that subsidiary label “Wing” will only

offer r&b and rock ‘n’ roll. Moving over to Wing from Mercury are Ella Johnson,

Rollee McGill, Red Prysock and Buddy Johnson.

Rock and roll shows are rapidly becoming the hottest attractions at movie theater

box offices across the country.

More Rhythm and Blues -

The music is still bought on more 78 records than 45’s. LP’s have yet to make

the slightest dent in r&b.

Week of February 15, 1956

About 50% more tape recorders were sold in 1955

than in the previous year, according to a report issued

by the magnetic Recording Industry Association. Total

1955 production was given as 360,000 recorders.

Radio news -

In a movie to solidify the position of the rhythm and

blues deejay while the r&b craze is still at its peak a

group of r&b deejays from 15 key cities will meet in

New York next week to set up the National R&B disk

Jockey Association of America. Among the jocks that

will meet will be:

Jack Gibson - WERD - Atlanta

George (Hound Dog) Lorenz - WKBW Buffalo

Larry McKinley - WMRY - New Orleans

John Harding - KSIN - San Francisco

Spider Burke - KXLW - St. Louis

Louis Bristoe Bryant - WJLB - Detroit

Ed Cook - WLOU - Louisville

Larry Dean - WCIN - Cincinnati

Ken Night - WHRC - Jacksonville

Tommy Smalls - WWRL - New York

DJ Art Brown of WWDC Washington says, “After 20

years, I still maintain that rock and roll does not belong in the 6am to 10am time

period. The kids like it but the sale of records doesn’t interest me as much as the

sale of my sponsor’s products. I may be wrong, but my show is consistently sold

out.”

Top Country & Western -

Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford

I Forgot To Remember To Forget - Elvis

Presley

Love, Love, Love - Webb Pierce

Why Baby Why? - Red Sovine and

Webb Pierce

Eat, Drink and Be Merry - Porter

Wagoner

I Don’t Believe You’ve Me My Baby -

Louvin Brothers

I Feel Like Cryin’

- Cal Smith

You and Me - Red Foley & Kitty Wells

Week of February 15, 1956

These Hands - Hank Snow

Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash

Beautiful Lies - Jean Shepard

Just Call Me Lonesome - Eddy Arnold

So Doggone Lonesome - Johnny Cash

Top Rhythm and Blues -

Great Pretender - The Platters

Tutti Frutti - Little Richard

Speedo - Cadillacs

Devil or Angel - Clovers

Seven Days - Clyde McPhatter

Bo Weevil - Fats Domino

Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby? - Jimmy Reed

Why Do Fools Fall In Love? - Teenagers

Jivin’ Around (parts I & II) - Ernie Freeman

Need Your Love So Bad - Little Willie John

Only You - Platters

Hey Doll Baby - Clovers

Yes Sir, That’s My Baby - Sensations

Eddie My Love - Teen Queens

See You Later Alligator - Bill Haley

At the movies -

Carousel - Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones,

Cameron Mitchell

The Court Jester - Danny Kaye

Picnic - William Holden, Kim Novak,

The Indian Fighter - Kirk Douglas

The Lieutenant Wore Skirts - Tom Ewell, Sheree North, Rita Moreno

Man With The Gun - Robert Mitchum

Guys and Do lls - Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons

The Benny Goodman Story - Steve Allen

Umberto D