The 1950s' Most Wanted

by Rodriguez, Robert

• ISBN13: 9781574887150
• ISBN10: 1574887157
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-04-30
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc

Summary

Journey back fifty years to explore the decade of baby boomers, the Red scare, and the birth of rock and roll with Robert Rodriguez's The 1950s' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Rock & Roll Rebels, Cold War Crises, and All-American Oddities. America was revving its engines when the fifties came along, and its citizens more than ready for everything the historic decade had to offer. Rodriguez takes you on a spin down memory lane with dozens of top-ten lists filled with amazing, amusing, and even astonishing trivia from the 1950s. Television exploded into the mainstream in the 1950s, and in this book you'll find kids' television, shows that were immensely popular then but forgotten now, and potential series that never got off the ground. Film and music history are also well represented, with lists highlighting the fathers of rock and roll and some unlikely recording artists, plus catchphrases from contemporary films and first roles of future stars. Relive the most notorious crimes of the decade, such as the one that inspired the TV show and film The Fugitive, and its big scandals, such as the quiz show debacle and the deportation of Charlie Chaplin. You'll read about politicians, celebrities, fashion, toys, fads, and disasters. Relearn the hip slang of the time while finding out which tales from the fifties were really tall tales or urban legends that are now debunked. Rodriguez gives you a whole decade's worth of fun, facts, and all-important memories. It may have been half a century ago, but with The 1950s' Most Wanted'„¢, it'll seem like just yesterday.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Preface	xv
This Could Be the Start of Something Big	1	(12)
Everyday things that started in the fifties
Take Me to Your Leader	13	(13)
The powers that were
Done Got Hip to Your Jive	26	(2)
Some fifties' vernacular
Put Your Glad Rags On	28	(7)
10 fifties fashions
Better Led than Red	35	(10)
10 fifties fads
Oh, Baby, That's What I Like!	45	(6)
10 things we ate
Who Wrote the Book?	51	(13)
10 publishing milestones
Let's Go for a Ride	64	(11)
10 cars that made the fifties roll
Elvis Has Entered the Building	75	(13)
10 milestones in the life of Tupelo's finest
Music! Music! Music!	88	(9)
Stories behind the fifties hits
Serendipity Doo-Wop	97	(5)
The rules of the game
B-sides, This	102	(9)
Some notable flip sides
Rock & Roll Is Here to Stay—Not!	111	(13)
10 indicators of the first wave's demise
Somewhere There's Music	124	(9)
10 unlikely recording artists
I'm Ready for My Close-Up	133	(10)
10 fifties film debuts
The Next Film You See	143	(13)
10 cinematic oddities
YOU!!! Are a Blabbermouth!!!!	156	(6)
10 Hollywood rats
Hello, Norma Jeane	162	(11)
A decade in the life of Marilyn Monroe
You Can Say That Again	173	(2)
Fifties movie quotes for our time
And Now, a Word from Our Sponsors	175	(8)
10 celebrity shills
I Don't Remember Mama	183	(1)
10 once popular, now forgotten hit TV shows
I Coulda Been a Contender	184	(13)
10 proposed fifties television shows
Because We Like You	197	(10)
Kids' television in the fifties
Fun for a Girl and a Boy	207	(10)
A fifties toy box
Now Here's Something We Hope You Really Like	217	(8)
10 fifties cartoons
Ain't That a Shame	225	(7)
Discredited urban legends of the fifties
You Can't Catch Me	232	(15)
10 crimes and criminals of the decade
Fasten Your Seatbelts—It's Going to Be a Bumpy Night	247	(13)
10 fifties disasters
The Whole Town's Talking	260	(14)
Scandalous behavior in the fifties
Once I Had a Secret Love	274	(10)
10 bi- or gay fifties celebrities
Vaya con Dios	284	(8)
Some final words from the dear departed
See You Later, Alligator	292	(14)
Celebrity deaths
The Signpost up Ahead	306	(8)
What 10 future celebrities were up to in the fifties
It Doesn't Matter Anymore	314	(19)
10 familiar things that came to an end
Selected Bibliography	333	(4)
Index	337	(12)
About the Author	349