Way Back 2025

May 20, 2025 - Connie Francis Has Taken Over TikTok

One the hottest viral hits right now is "Pretty Little Baby" by Connie Francis! Millions of videos have been uploaded by users of TikTok, setting the song (which originally appeared on the 1962 album Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love) to images of babies, pets and lots of flowers. More than ten billion views have resulted. It's been pulling in as many as three million (or more) streams per day on Spotify and other platforms, video shorts of the song are all over YouTube and the track has debuted on the Billboard pop chart. Congrats to Connie...you never know where the latest music trend will come from!

The TV series Poker Face starring Natasha Lyonne, now in its second season, prominently featured Santo and Johnny's 1959 chart topper "Sleep Walk" in its second episode, then slipped in Ray Price's version of the Willie Nelson classic "Night Life" over the closing credits. Meanwhile, "Sunshine Superman" by Donovan is reaching our ears in a commercial for Target.


May 8, 2025 - Brief Topics: Jones' "Help," Elliot's "Dream," Brewer's "Hoop"

Two pleasant 1960s pop standards offset the action and violence in current box office hit The Accountant 2: "Help Yourself" by Tom Jones and "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by Mama Cass Elliot (with The Mamas and the Papas billed as the backing group). And did I actually hear "The Hula Hoop Song" by hip-swirling late '50s pop culture diva Teresa Brewer on American Idol? On an audition segment where the contestant was more interested in hooping than advancing in the singing competition?


April 20, 2025 - Soulful Classics by Wendy Rene and Etta James Occupy Pop Culture's Fringe

One song going back a half-century had a three-minute moment at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival these last two weekends: before singer Clairo started her set, Wendy Rene's classic 1964 Stax recording of the often-sampled "After Laughter" (with Booker T. Jones on organ) played in full. Meanwhile, beware of deadly inanimate objects: Etta James' energetic "Something's Got a Hold on Me" takes on a harsher context in the trailer for Final Destination Bloodlines, already getting a strong push through TV promos. Will we hear other vintage hits when the movie is released?




Second Hand Love Sleep Walk Sunshine Superman Something's Got a Hold on Me

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