Friday, October 08, 2010

"Hello Mary Lou" by Ricky Nelson



For all that it has been mocked as some bastion of 1950s morality, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - which debuted on radio on this day in 1944 - produced its share of innovations as well.

Chief amongst these was the decision made by Ozzie Nelson (himself a bandleader in the Twenties and Thirties) to include popular music in the show. The way the musical numbers on the show were shot renders them among the first music videos, as witnessed by the above clip.

Hello Mary Lou was written by Gene Pitney, and recorded by Ricky Nelson in 1961; the B-side of that record, Travelin' Man, was - if anything - an even bigger hit for Nelson.
*
at

2 comments:

  1. UnknownWednesday, October 8, 2008 at 5:56:00 AM PDT

    Good post. Gene Pitney wrote the lyrics to "Hello Mary Lou", but did not "popularize" it first. His recording came later and, as far as I know, was never released as a single.

    Dan Hollyfield

    ReplyDelete
  2. michael sean morrisWednesday, October 8, 2008 at 3:01:00 PM PDT

    Thanks for the input, and welcome; the necessary changes have been made and the fact checker has been flogged with a wet noodle.

    ReplyDelete