Daily Prompt: Papa Loves Mambo

What sort of music was played in your house when you were growing up? What effect, (if any) did it have on your musical tastes?

Oh, my stars! When I opened up my email and saw this Daily Prompt, I actually laughed out loud.  The words to that song, Papa Loves Mambo, popped right into my head along with several others from the mid-1950s. At that time, most of the music I listened to belonged to my older brother (11 years my senior). I, of course, had songs such as “How Much is That Doggy in the Window” and other popular tunes from singers/actors such as Burl Ives, Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy. But the ones I remember most and thought of first when I saw this prompt were my teenage (then) brother’s records. I assume they were pretty much the hits of the day. Sometimes when I want to be silly around people now, I’ll start singing or saying the words to such tunes such as these:

Green Door

Me Make Um Pow Wow

Istanbul (not Constantinople)

Okay, if you’re through laughing, you can pick yourself up off the floor. Sheesh, I was only about six years old. Obviously, they were my formative years because the words and music stayed with me! Of course, it wasn’t long after that (probably somewhere around 1957-1958) my best friend and I taught ourselves how to jitterbug to some of these 1950s hits by watching American Bandstand!

Yes, I really do like a lot of the 50s music. But the truth of the matter is that I have always liked and will always prefer the sounds of the 1960s and 1970s. And that’s just the way it is — I mean the way I am! I’m not about to start listing all my favorites from my teen years. We’d be here all week!