Songoftheday 6/24/12 - Who's the lovin' daddy with the beautiful eyes...

Larry Elgart and His Manhattan Swing Orchestra - "Hooked On Swing" 

from the album Hooked On Swing (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (two weeks)

Weeks in the top-40: 5

Today's Song of the Day is the auto-clap medley record that signaled the end of that genre on the top-40, Larry Elgart's "Hooked On Swing". Elgart was born in 1922 in Connecticut, and along with his brother Les, plodded along the swing band circuit, and in the mid-fifties, were best-known for recording the theme to Dick Clark's American Bandstand, "Bandstand Boogie". Larry also did some experimental jazz, like in "Beyond Gravity" from 1953.

But it took until 1982, on Elgart's 60th birthday, to score a top-40 hit, with a medley of swing tunes set to a metronome-like electronic drumbeat. It includes these songs:

1) "In The Mood" (Glenn Miller)
2) "Cherokee" (Max Roach)
3) "American Patrol" (Glenn Miller)
4) "Sing, Sing, Sing" (Benny Goodman)
5) "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" (Les Brown)
6) "Johnson Rag" (Jimmy Dorsey)
7) "Don't Be That Way" (Benny Goodman)
8) "Little Brown Jug" (Glenn Miller)
9) "Opus No. 1" (Tommy Dorsey)
10) "Zing Went The Strings To My Heart" (Judy Garland)
11) "Take The 'A' Train" (Duke Ellington)
12) "String Of Pearls" (Glenn Miller)
13) "In The Mood" reprise

Taking its cue from the success of Stars On 45, who just had a top-40 hit with their medley of Stevie Wonder songs, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who made the top-10 in 1981 with "Hooked On Classics", Elgart made the US pop top-40 for more than a month, and reached the top-20 on the adult-contemporary (soft-rock) chart. His corresponding album also made the top-40, proving their still briefly was a market for this, though purists were pulling their hair out. But you know what? At least kids were getting some exposure to this music, as it sure isn't now. In fact, Elgart's was one of two swing medley at the same time, Frank Barber's "Hooked On Big Bands" hit #61 that same summer (confusing, as a medley with the same name was on Elgart's album as well).

 Elgart is still kickin' at 90 years old. God bless him. (The title of the post comes from the lyrics to "In The Mood").

Up Tomorrow: the "Centerfold" gets an cerulean halo.