Sunday, September 12, 2010

The Keymen - Dance with Dick Clark Volume One (1958)


Here's a little gem I picked up at my favorite resale store down the street from my house, and it was only 50 cents! Besides HPB, I find some real treasures at this little shop. They don't have very many records, but the ones they have are usually ones I don't see at HPB.

I have to say that the main reason I bought this was for the cover of a young Dick Clark. He's a legend for all of us baby-boomers! How many of us grew up watching "American Bandstand" every Saturday morning (that's when it showed in my hometown) and learning new dance steps? Then of course, we started ringing in the New Year with Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve (and left our parents to watch the Guy Lombardo New Year's show). This cover will definitely be hanging on my wall. The album itself is very nostalgic. I thought it was going to be a compilation album with the songs performed by the original artists, but when I got home I saw that it was actually the songs played as instrumentals by the Keymen. Lots of sax and twangy guitars - which I love. And they definitely "have a beat and you can dance to them"!


Track listing for The Keymen - Dance with Dick Clark Volume One:

Side 1:
1. Willie and the Hand Jive
2. Drifting and Dreaming
3. Gazackstahagen
4. Short Fat Fanny
5. Dawn
6. Love is Strange

Side 2:
1. Isle of Capri
2. Miss You
3. Goggles
4. Sentimental Journey
5. Like Help Man
6. Long Tall Sally

7 comments:

RadioWizard said...

Nice to see you're back, Esther. Thought you fell off the planet! I don't recall D.C. that young. Didn't start watching until around '64 or so.
Jack (A.K.A. RadioWizard)

Esther said...

Hi, Jack!

Thanks! Been super busy with work so just didn't have time to record/upload albums. All I was able to do was keep doing the podcasts (The Spin-O-Rama Hour). Hope to be posting more regularly here now!

Thanks for visiting!
Esther

ChildsPlay said...

Thanks, Esther.

I tried googling The Keymen, but I couldn't find anything. Had you ever heard of them before?

Esther said...

Hi, ChildsPlay!

No, I've never heard of The Keymen either. I'm thinking they were probably some studio musicians.

Thanks for stopping by!
Esther

in one era... and out the other said...

This is the first album I ever had. It was on this little "record player" I got from Santa around 1958. I still have that LP -- all beaten up and worn to death, but it was the beginning of it all for me. I know my parents rue that day because I spent every spare cent I could save on 45s and 33-1/3s from that moment forward. Now, thousands of albums, singles, CDs and MP3s later, this one still holds a very, very special place in my heart. I've seen it a couple of times on other blogs and always download it. I'll do so once again and I suspect yours will be the best yet since you always seem to give us such great sounding "gifts." This made me think... first 45 was Lloyd Price's "Stagger Lee." I've never looked back! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

KL from NYC said...

This must date back to when ABC-TV C-Paramount Records] added a Dick Clark evening show to the daily American Bandstand schedule.
The evening show used back-up musicians as well as an orchestra -- could be The Key Men.

Ted Hering said...

Supposedly, the Keymen's guitarist is an uncredited Duane Eddy! Indeed, Duane appeared frequently on Bandstand - and notice Duane is listed as the composer of several of the instrumental tracks.