Listen No. 8 - On the Campus by The Crew Cuts

Genre:  Pop (traditional) Doo-wop, Big band

Context:  Released in 1954 by the Canadian vocal quartet who named themselves after a haircut. The Crew Cuts had huge success with cover versions of R & B songs often written by black artists.  Sh-Boom is the most notable example - it was originally written and performed by The Chords, but it was the Crew Cuts who took the song to number 1 in the charts. The general opinion seems to be that America wasn’t ready for real R & B, with disc jockeys giving air time to watered-down versions. But the covers paved the way for the real thing, and Sh-Boom is judged to be the first rock and roll song to reach the Top 10 in the regular pop charts.

I listened to both versions, and I much prefer The Chords’ rendition (more energy behind it).

 Notable facts:  The Crew Cuts played the Liverpool Empire in 1955. George Harrison saw the show, and Paul McCartney got an autograph (it’s not clear whether the two future Beatles went together, or separately.

‘My favourite track: Not sure. Perhaps Mr Touchdown U.S.A

What critics made of it:  Unclear, but the group are best known for their highly successful covers (38 hits in the Billboard Top 40 charts).

Listening to this inspired me to:  check out The Chords. The Crew Cuts seem a little twee.