Sounds of The Day :: Start the day with a Blue Moon! THE MARCELS : BLUE MOON

 I attended the First Reading Festival way back [On 25th-27th June 1971, National Jazz and Blues Festival the first one at Little John’s Farm on the banks of the River Thames and stayed there ever after - with thanks to the Hells Angels who looked after me for a while] and one of the first bands we caught was the ever amazing Sha Na Na and they burst right in to The Marcels 'Blue Moon' a la fifties style doo wop and then some!

“We gots just one thing to say to you F**ckin’ Hippies! And that is that Rock ’n’ Roll is here to STAY!"

Here’s the original!

The Marcels - Blue Moon

Youtuber MANNY MORA writes:

The Marcels were an American doo-wop group known for turning popular music songs into rock and roll. The group formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and signed to Colpix Records, with lead Cornelius Harp, bass Fred Johnson, Gene Bricker, Ron Mundy, and Richard Knauss. The group was named after a popular hair style of the day, the marcel wave, by Fred Johnson's younger sister Priscilla. In 1961 many were surprised to hear a new version of the ballad "Blue Moon", that began with the bass singer saying, "bomp-baba-bomp" and "dip-da-dip." The record sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It is featured in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The disc went to number one in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and UK Singles Chart.[5] In the U.S., additional revivals in the same vein as "Blue Moon" -- "Heartaches" and "Melancholy Baby" -- were less successful, although "Heartaches" peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually sold over one million copies worldwide. In August 1961, due to problems encountered in the Deep South while touring because of the group being bi-racial, the white members, Knauss and Bricker left and were replaced by Allen Johnson (brother of Fred) and Walt Maddox. Mundy left soon after, leaving the group a quartet. In 1962, Harp and Allen Johnson left, and were replaced by Richard Harris and William Herndon. There was a brief reunion of the original members in 1973. The group made several recordings in 1975 with Harp back on lead. Original member Gene Bricker died in 1983. Allen Johnson died in 1995. By the early 1990s the group included Johnson, Maddox, Harris, Jules Hopson, and Richard Merritt. The group split around 1995. Fred Johnson formed his own group with new members, while the other four members recruited new bassist Ted Smith. Maddox won a lawsuit against Sunny James Svetnic, the manager of Johnson's group, for trademark infringement in 1996. Johnson reunited with Harp, Mundy, and Knauss in 1999 for the PBS special Doo Wop 50. The Marcels were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002. Their original lead singer, Cornelius Harp, died in 2013.

Footnote: 

Reading Friday	Reading Saturday	Reading Sunday
Arthur Brown Daddy Longlegs Warm Dust Bell & Arc Ricotti/Albuquerque Armada Accrington Stanley Anno Domini	East of Eden Sha Na Na Lindisfarne Ralph McTell Hardin & York Wishbone Ash Terry Reid Stud Renaissance Audience Genesis Gillian McPherson Universe	Colosseum Rory Gallagher Al Kooper Iain Matthews Medicine Head Van Der Graaf Generator Osibisa Stray Demick & Armstrong Clark Hutchinson Storyteller Country Jug Colonel Bagshot Steel Mill

I love this song . . . . . I THINK I first heard from Sha Na Na live at the first Reading festival lying tin the mud!
The original is deserved of being in everyone's top twenty at least!



Classic bop songs of all time category . . . . . . .if you're feeling down put this on and I defy you not to smile?!


Behind the Grooves said way back in April (yes I do break the rules! (Shock Horror! - ED)

On this day in music history: April 3, 1961 - “Blue Moon” by The Marcels hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks, also topping the R&B singles chart for 2 weeks on the same date. Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, it is the biggest hit for the Pittsburgh, PA doo wop vocal group. Originally written in 1934 by songwriting legends Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (“The Lady Is A Tramp”, “My Funny Valentine”, “Mountain Greenery”), the song makes its debut in the MGM film “Manhattan Melodrama”. “Blue Moon” goes on to become a pop vocal standard covered by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, and Elvis Presley. Signed to Columbia Pictures’ Colpix Records, The Marcels are paired with producer Stu Phillips for their first recording sessions for the label. “Moon” is recorded as an afterthought during the last eight minutes of studio time. A promotion man for Colpix receives a tape copy of The Marcels version from Phillips who immediately passes it on to prominent DJ Murray The K at WINS in New York City. Murray The K loves the track so much that he plays it twenty six times in one show! Public reaction is instantaneous, and Colpix rush releases it as a single. Entering the Hot 100 at #87 on March 6, 1961, it leaps to the top of the chart three weeks later. The Marcels version “Blue Moon” has a long life after its original run on the charts. The song is featured in the John Landis directed horror film “An American Werewolf In London” in 1981. “Blue Moon” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

BLUE MOON!

On this day in music history: April 3, 1961 - “Blue Moon” by The Marcels hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks, also topping the R&B singles chart for 2 weeks on the same date. Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, it is the biggest hit for the Pittsburgh, PA doo wop vocal group. Originally written in 1934 by songwriting legends Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (“The Lady Is A Tramp”, “My Funny Valentine”, “Mountain Greenery”), the song makes its debut in the MGM film “Manhattan Melodrama”. “Blue Moon” go on to be a pop vocal standard covered by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, and Elvis Presley. Signed to Columbia Pictures’ Colpix Records, The Marcels are paired with producer Stu Phillips for their first recording sessions for the label. “Moon” is recorded as an afterthought during the last eight minutes of studio time. A promotion man for Colpix receives a tape copy of The Marcels version from Phillips who immediately passes it on to prominent DJ Murray The K at WINS in New York City. Murray The K loves the track so much that he plays it twenty six times in one show! Public reaction is instantaneous, and Colpix rush releases it as a single. Entering the Hot 100 at #87 on March 6, 1961, it leaps to the top of the chart three weeks later. The Marcels version “Blue Moon” has a long life after its original run on the charts. The song is featured in the John Landis directed horror film “An American Werewolf In London” in 1981. “Blue Moon” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

another from Jeff Harris' wonderful music blog

I first heard this classic doo-wop number live by Sha Na Na at Reading Festival way back when . . .the first one? 1971 I think! And they came on stage dressed in skin tight sliver lame (some of the guys really shouldn't have!?) and said 
" We got just one thing to say to all you fuckin' hippies! That is that Rock 'n'Roll is here to stay!" 

I was hoooked! Hilarious but note perfect and practiced as any band then and more than many. Here's  an original that they made their own as a cover . . . . . . .Wunnerful stuff!