stevecutway's blog

This week, the “Juke In The Back” explores the rhythm and blues phenomenon of the “Annie” song.  This is the giant wave of sequel songs and answer records that emerged after the enormous success of The Midnighters’ “Work With Me Annie.”  Most of the hit “Annie” follow-ups were done by The Midnighters themselves, like “Annie Had A Baby” and “Annie’s Aunt Fannie,” but there were some notable “Annie” songs by The El Dorados, Linda Hayes, Danny Taylor and of course the “Henry” songs by a very young Etta James.  It may sound odd now, but from 1954-56, the R&B juke boxes were jumpin’ to songs

This week, The “Juke In The Back” features the songs of one of R&B’s greatest songwriters: Rudy Toombs.  This underrated cat wrote some of the most fabulous drinking songs of all-time for Amos Milburn, The Clovers, The Five Keys and a young Johnny “Guitar” Watson.  Beyond drinking songs, Toombs wrote some mega-hits for Ruth Brown, Varetta Dillard and Little Willie John, just to name a few.  Matt The Cat gives you the story behind the story of one of early rock n’ roll’s greatest cleffers.  It’s Rudy Toombs’ best songs, this week on the “Juke In The Back”, Saturday afternoon at 03:00 PM

This week’s “Juke In The Back” digs deep into a group that is usually only remembered for one, incredibly influential tune, “Sh-Boom.”  The Chords cut that tune in 1954, right at the height of America’s fear of the Atomic Bomb and this song did more for helping to launch rock n’ roll than almost any other.

When you hear the dying strains of Van Halen's Happy Trails signalling the end of The Mosen Explosion for another week, don't touch that PC, that device or that internet radio and join me in The Early Years on Mushroom FM.
Hello, I'm Steve Cutway and my musical horizon is the 50s and 60s. You can contact me any time by e-mail at steve@mushroomfm.com. Requests from the 50s and 60s are welcome but because the show is prepared ahead of time and pre-recorded, I'll play your requests on a future show.

This week, the “Juke In The Back” looks at how one of R&B’s greatest voices, LaVern Baker, got her start. It’s part two of a two part feature on the early career of LaVern Baker. In part two, we’ll dig on Baker’s prime recording years of 1954-56. She had 4 charting records in ’55, beginning with the crossover smash, “Tweedlee Dee,” which stayed popular for over a year, hitting #4 R&B and crossing over to #14 Pop.

When you hear the dying strains of Van Halen's Happy Trails signalling the end of The Mosen Explosion, don't touch that PC, that device or that internet radio and join me in The Early Years on Mushroom FM.
Hello, I'm Steve Cutway and I'm no longer Lost in the 50s. I've expanded my musical horizon to include the 60s as well. But I'm the antithesis of Jonathan as I don't tweet and I don't facebook. But you can contact me by e-mail at steve@mushroomfm.com.

This week, the “Juke In The Back” looks at how one of R&B’s greatest voices, LaVern Baker, got her start. It’s part one of a two part feature on the early career of LaVern Baker. In part one, we’ll dig on Baker’s first recordings from 1949-1954. She began her recording career with Eddie “Sugarman” Penigar Orch in 1949, then recorded a few sides as Little Miss Sharecropper on National Records. She then started singing with Maurice King and His Wolverines and finally with Todd Rhodes on King Records.

Hi, I'm Steve Cutway. Join me today at 5 PM Eastern for the final eddition of Lost in the 50s.
But fear not, when one good thing ends, another begins.
Join me for my new show, The Early Years, Sunday at 6 PM Eastern, following the Mosen Explosion. You'll hear music from the 50s just like you did on Lost in the 50s but you'll also hear music from the 60s along with the friendly conversation you've come to know and on which I've been complimented by listeners.

The “Juke In The Back” is loaded with records by the 1950s R&B vocal group, The Crickets.  They hailed from The Bronx and only recorded from late 1952
to 1954, but man did they lay down some sweet harmonies.  Buddy Holly would take the name to the top of the charts, but these guys had it first.  Grover
“Dean” Barlow led the group vocally, but it was record label owner Joe Davis that would ultimately control their fate.  Matt The Cat tells the story of
the original Crickets and their 3 group incarnations on this week’s “Juke In The Back.”