As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Friday, October 17, 2014

#16 Hello Stranger -- Barbara Lewis (1963)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-VDbbjIto4

I actually never heard this song until I got to Lebanon Valley College in 1971. The freshman class decided to have a dance marathon, and since I had been elected President of the class (a long story ...) I certainly wasn’t going to miss it. Most of the live entertainment was provided by a freshman-based “grease band”, which played 50s and early 60s rock songs (“Teen Angel”, etc.) along the lines of Sha Na Na. At one point, however, Jane Garlock (a junior) went to the piano and did a version of “Hello Stranger” – I fell in love with the song immediately. Yvonne Elliman and Queen Latifah have both done nice cover versions, but Lewis’s original (she also wrote the song) remains definitive.
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2 comments:

  1. JFOctober 23, 2014 at 9:16 PM

    Lots of names in that post that brings back memories. Jane Garlock!!

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    1. Mike RhoadsOctober 24, 2014 at 1:50 PM

      Just wish I could remember who WON the dance marathon -- Steve Aleshire maybe???

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