My Votes For The Love Song Survey

Retro Dee writes about music, fashion and other trends of the 1950s on this site.  Check out her blog, Retro Dee’s Guide to the Best Era Ever here, and her column here every week.

Hi everyone and Welcome to another Retro Dee Reveals!

Saturday, February 12th, 2022 was The Grooveyard’s Love Song Survey Countdown hosted by D.J. Alan Seltzer on WCWP 88.1 FM. Fifty Favorite Love Songs from yesteryear were counted down in the order in which listeners voted for them.

There were two surveys to vote on: the 1950’s and 1960’s. Listeners could vote up to 10 songs per category.

Each year I have trouble choosing what I’m going to vote for, on this survey, in particular. I can never decide whether I should vote for my favorites, or for what the most romantic songs are. I feel somewhat at war with myself. I’m not really into “Love” in general. I’m kind of a loner. But truth to tell, I’m also a bit of a sucker for romance, especially in songs. So ultimately, I mostly go for the romantic ones, but I also pick a few of my perennial favorites. So, let’s see what we have this year!

My Picks for this year’s Love Song Survey: 2022

#45 “Sincerely” – The Moonglows (1955): This is such a classic, mid-1950’s romantic song. I feel it’s perfect for a Love Song Survey.

#43 “Treasure of Love” – Clyde McPhatter (1956): I learned this song from Direct TV’s Malt Shop Favorites. Which we don’t get anymore. I’ll just have to listen to it on The Grooveyard. Clyde McPhatter had one of the greatest voices ever.

#41 “Destination Love” – Bobby Curtola (1963): Whose destination isn’t love? Mine. I don’t give a damn. But isn’t this song perfect for a Love Song Countdown?! I wrote it in last year, so there we go.

#39 “Who Put The Bomp” – Barry Mann (1961): This song is silly. That’s why I like it. And it pays homage to doo wop. So whomever put the bomp in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp, I give some major props.

#38 “Hey Baby” – Bruce Chanel (1962): Why did I pick this one? Oh yeah, I think it’s fun and upbeat and not too obviously romantic. Just the right amount of obvious. And it’s on The Dirty Dancing soundtrack.

#37 “Whispering Bells” – The Del Vikings (1957): To me this song is one of the most romantic, and also one of my very favorites, so it will always get my vote.

#35 “There’s A Moon Out Tonight” – The Capris (1961): What is another song that famously sings about a moon? “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Now, I ask you, which song is more romantic? Exactly. That’s why I prefer music before the year 1964.

#32 “Devoted To You” – The Everly Brothers (1958): The music in this song is kind of uh, odd I guess you could say. I don’t know what makes it different, because I didn’t study music, but it’s different that’s for sure. And, of course romantic, sung by the two hottest fellas who ever walked the Earth.

#30 “Dream Lover” – Bobby Darin (1959): Did you know Dion and The Belmonts did this song too? I don’t necessarily agree with that, but then again I have issues with covers. Bobby Darin’s was by far the most popular and it comes in at number 30 on the countdown.

#27 “Poetry In Motion” – Johnny Tillotson (1962): I love this song even though it gets stuck in my head for a day or two after I hear it. I like the way it starts off slow, then picks up and keeps going at a steady tempo for the duration. (No, I did NOT mean to make that sound dirty.)

#26 “Til I Kissed You” – The Everly Brothers (1959): This song is rather cute, in a teenie-bopper kind of way. I love the arrangement, harmonization of the brothers and of course, the trademark drums. It always makes my day when I hear it.

#25 “All I Have To Do Is Dream” – The Everly Brothers (1958): I call this my “180 song” because I used to hate it when I was really young, and now I love it. This is arguably Don & Phil’s biggest hit, and I’d argue that too, only I wouldn’t know which side to take.

#21 “Everyday” – Buddy Holly (1957): I’ve said so much about this song, there’s really nothing more to say. But why did I pick it for the Love Song Survey, well, because it’s so simple and romantic, the way love ought to be and the way love was back in the 1950’s… Or maybe I should just say it’s because it’s on The Stand By Me Soundtrack. Yeah, okay then, that’s why.

#18 “You Belong To Me” – The Duprees (1962): This song is so beautiful, it belongs on all oldies countdowns. And lucky you, I have a story. Last summer, my Mom and 2 of my aunts had a reunion lunch in Easton and I found out where I got my love for music from! Or more specifically, my love for singing. When any of us hears a word, we start singing a song that correlates with it. For example, while we were at lunch, My Aunt J was talking about how she visited the pyramids in Egypt. Then we all started singing “See the pyramids along the Nile…” Fortunately no one in the restaurant seemed to notice.

#17 “Let It Be Me” – The Everly Brothers (1960): Never mind what I thought the lyrics were, and the fact that it does not sound like what I thought they were. At all. That’s still what I hear.

#15 “True Love Ways” – Buddy Holly (released in 1960): I know, I know. On the last reveal, I committed a Cardinal Sin by saying that this isn’t my favorite Buddy Holly song. But there’s no fighting it. So this time, I voted for it. It’s probably the best love song of all time, or at least the most romantic one… Sure, rub it in.

#13 “Earth Angel” – The Penguins (1955): Talk about perennial favorites! Well this is the heart of the romance of the 1950’s era, at least as far as I’m concerned. This was one of the very first songs from the era that I remember hearing.

#9 “My Special Angel” – Bobby Helms (1957): Normally, I only like Bobby Helms for “Jingle Bell Rock”, but why discriminate against him for the rest of the year? So I thought this would be a really romantic song and I just decided right then and there to vote for it… It’s down 2 from last year.

#6 “A Wonderful Dream” – The Majors (1962) : I really like this song, it’s happy and upbeat and talks about having a good dream. And you can read about my dreams in the Dream Blog section of Retro Dee’s Guide To The Best Era Ever! But I wouldn’t recommend it. Now this song made it all the way to #6 this year, up from #31 last year. That’s quite the leap! And a wonderful dream come true.

#5 “Tell Him” – The Exciters (1963): Well, I started liking this song about two years ago, and ladies and gentlemen, I will tell you, it gives me the chills. It’s just so good. I usually don’t go for anything in the “girl group” genre. But this song is an exception. I was pleasantly shocked when it made it all the way to the Top 5, up from 25 from last year’s survey.

Well, that’s it! I hope you like my picks and explanations, and even if you don’t, thanks a bunch for reading!

Check out the full countdown (including what made it to NUMBER ONE!) on The Grooveyard by clicking HERE and remember to listen to Alan Seltzer every Saturday Night at 7 on The Grooveyard… where Oldies Come Alive!

Listen to “The Grooveyard” following “Rick’s Redneck Ranch” each Saturday night at 7 PM on 88.1 FM on Long Island or by clicking the 88.1 FM link on wcwp.org, via the TuneIn app. or the  WCWP app on your iPhone or Android device.  You can also follow us on Twitter.

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