PUT YOUR ARMS AROUND ME

The other day I received one of those emails that asks the recipient to add something and then pass it along. This one was about old TV shows that are no longer on the air. The person before me, my pal since birth Nancy Sue, had typed in “Lucky Strike’s Your Hit Parade,” and, boy, did that strike a gold mine in my memory.

“Lucky Strike’s Your Hit Parade,” for those of you not lucky enough to be around in the 1950s, was a Saturday night show that featured the Top 7 single songs of the week, plus some “Lucky Strike Extras.” Lucky Strike, a cigarette brand, was the sponsor; this was when tobacco products were cool and not known to be killing half the population, so they were advertised like mad on TV.

The songs were performed in cutesy little skits, sort of the precursor to MTV, by The Lucky Strike Singers and some special soloists. The ones I recall were classy brunette Gisele McKenzie, cutesy blonde Dorothy Collins, icky Snooky Lanson, who reminded me too much of one of my skuzzy uncles, and (sigh) the dapper Russell Arms. Russell was a dreamboat deluxe in my pre-teen book. I was always hoping he would get to showcase the #1 song of the week. It would be something romantic, of course, and I’d sing along with him.

Russell Arms was undoubtedly my first musical crush. Other little girls may have swooned over Elvis Presley or Pat Boone back in the 1950s, but not the Flaming Bore. I was all arms for Russell.

P.S. Who names their kid Snooky, anyway?