ROCK ROCK ROCK! - Alan Freed and his Rock 'n Roll Band - "Rock 'n Roll Boogie" (1956)

Dwrayger Dungeon was originally conceived as a showcase to salute the cool music in the horror and science fiction movies of the 50's and 60's! Well, we ran out of those a long time ago, but there's still some pretty cool rockin' features out there, and tonight's Saturday Special is just that!!

"ROCK ROCK ROCK!" You can't get much more definitive than that!

Leave it to Rock and Roll DJ extraordinaire Alan Freed to put together a show this varied and power packed! Alan Freed coined the phrase "Rock 'n Roll!" Yes, he was one of the coolest guys to ever walk the planet! Alan Freed liked to use the name Moondog until he was sued by wild man blind composer/musician Moondog, and he had to stop using the name! Out of all the outstanding and historical music in this movie, I chose a song that's not on any soundtrack, nor did it ever have any commercial potential, but it's one rockin' number featuring Alan Freed and his Rock 'n Roll Band, with Freddie Mitchell blowing the Hell out of the sax, and Alan Freed himself throwing in shouts, hollers, and vocals, if you want to call them that! Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present: "Rock 'n Roll Boogie!"

In the 50's and 60's, it might have been Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield that had all the men standing at attention, but it was Tuesday Weld who was driving all the teenage boys crazy! Who needs the other days of the week? Just like Dobie, I fell in love with Tuesday Weld on the "The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis" show as Thalia Menniger! Tuesday's still around today, and there's something that tells me she probably still looks fantastic! This was her first role ever, she was just 13!

The songs that Tuesday Weld performs are actually sung by Connie Francis!

Born as Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, Connie had some big hits, and later in life, had some major issues! In 1957, Connie had a # 4 hit with "Who's Sorry Now," in 1958, "Stupid Cupid" (Stupid Cupid, stop picking on me!) made it to number 14, also in 1958, she had a # 2 single called "My Happiness," that I can't even remember for some reason, "Lipstick On Your Collar" hit # 5 in 1959, in 1960 she had a # 1 single with "My Heart Has A Mind Of It's Own," in 1961, "Where The Boys Are" went to # 4, and in 1962, she had another # 1 hit with "Don't Break The Heart That Loves You!" In the next four years, she had 20 songs that cracked the top 100, and mostly in the top 50! You would think Connie Francis would have been on top of the world forever, but in 1974, she was raped and almost suffocated by a still unknown assailant, then in 1977, she had nasal surgery, and completely lost her voice and had to take vocal lessons, and in the 1980's she was diagnosed with manic depression, and shuffled around some 17 different hospitals over the course of four years! After all of that, Connie managed to pull her life back together, and has been performing off and on ever since! Here's the link to her official website and the whole story! What a gal!!

Much bigger than being in the "Three Chuckles," Teddy Randazzo wrote the everlasting classic song "Goin' Out Of My Head" recorded by Little Anthony and the Imperials! The talent in this film is literally off the charts, and the amazing thing is that ain't the half of it!

It's hard to find out whatever happened to Ivy Schulman, because this was her only film appearance, but I guess it's okay because her song here is a bit beyond novelty!

The Moonglows biggest hit was in 1955 called "Sincerely!" It made it to # 20, but it was also # 1 on the R&B charts!

Chess Records new star Chuck Berry performs the classic "You Can't Catch Me!"

A lot of people consider this compilation LP "Rock Rock Rock" to be Chuck Berry's first album!

The Flamingos hit "I Only Have Eyes For You" was # 11 on the charts in 1956, but the song has lived on much longer than that!!

Jimmy Cavallo and His House Rockers were the first all white band to play at The Apollo Theater in Harlem when they celebrated the release of "Rock Rock Rock!"

Johnny Burnette is one of my favourite musicians of all time! His biggest chart hit was in 1960 with "You're Sixteen," but he was so much more than that! Johnny's brother Dorsey had quit the Trio a week before this movie was made and was replaced by Elvis' bass player's brother, Johnny Black!

Lavern Baker's biggest hit was a # 6 smash in 1958 called "I Cried A Tear," but from the years of 1955 to 1965 she had 20 other songs that hit the top 100!

Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers hit the top with their # 6 chart busting hit "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" in 1956 before disintegrating!! In this movie they perform the killer 'I'm Not A Juvenile Delinquent!"

For some artists, "Rock Rock Rock" was probably the highlight of their career, like Cirino and the Bowties! They have one song that's on a couple of compilation albums called "My Baby's In Love With Me!"

The last two main cast members are Fran Manfred (not to get confused with Manfred Mann), and Jacqueline Kerr. Fran had a 7" single release that Alan Freed used to play on his radio show called ("Oh My Darling) Don't You Know), and this was about it for Jacqueline!

The kids at home are digging the crap out of the show on the TV, and after feigning agony and despair, the music is so contagious that even Pops is getting into it!

"We want Rock 'n Roll, we want Rock 'n Roll, we want Rock 'n Roll, all night long!"

And what's the best thing about "Rock Rock Rock?" You can download or stream it for free any time you want at the Internet Archive, and that's a genuine steal of a deal!