Saturday, December 7, 2024

The 1950’s

Remembering the legendary self-proclaimed “Queen Of Rock N’ Roll” Little Richard on his birthday

“Elvis may be the King of Rock and Roll, but I am the Queen. ” Said Little Richard once. One of the founding fathers of Rock and an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades, with his dynamic music and charismatic showmanship, he laid the foundation for Rock N’ Roll, his music played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres. We couldn’t imagine Rock music without Little Richard. Born 92 years ago today, we look back at his life and career

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Remembering Hollywood legend Rock Hudson

He’s still considered to this day one of Hollywood’s biggest sex symbols ever, and one of its first heartthrobs, Rock Hudson, the legendary actor whose career accidentally became a shining example of Hollywood’s classical “star system”-style career promotion and ended in tragedy

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Quincy Jones turns 1933-2024

Record producer, actor, conductor, arranger, composer, musician, television producer, film producer, instrumentalist, magazine founder, entertainment company executive, and humanitarian, Quincy Jones was one of the most powerful and acclaimed figures of music and showbiz. He passed away on November 3rd at age 91

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Remembering the Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster

Throughout the late 1940s and 1950s, Lancaster solidified his place in Hollywood with a series of iconic roles including the one in the 1953 classic “From Here to Eternity” where his passionate beachside scene with Deborah Kerr became one of the most memorable moments in film history

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Ben Cooper Halloween Costumes from Yesteryear

During the 1940’s and 1950’s, Halloween costumes weren’t as advanced as ours today. Ben Cooper Inc. primarily manufactured Halloween costumes from the late 1930’s to the late 1980’s, remaining one of the three largest Halloween costume manufacturers ever in the U.S, take a moment and admire these iconic vintage Halloween costumes

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10 Of the Best Horror Movies of the 1930’s to 1950’s

These movies are truly the product of the first creative minds on the Horror genre, most of us are familiar to these titles as some were remade several times but if you haven’t seen these originals, you might want to create your movie playlist to Halloween now with our Top 10 Best Horror Movies of the 1930’s to 1950’s

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Vampira: The First Glamour Ghoul of Horror

The story of the legendary Vampira Show is a tough one to tell. Only two minutes of the early 1950’s series survive on YouTube, although an episode of the show was reconstructed and released in October 2007. The woman behind the campy, late-night horror hostess Vampira was Maila Nurmi

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The British singer Cliff Richard turns 84

With more than 250 million records sold worldwide since the beginning of his career in the 1950’s, the singer was never able to successfully break into the American music market, despite dominating the British music scene pre-Beatles

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Remembering TV Pioneer Ed Sullivan

“The Ed Sullivan Show” remains the mother of all varieties shows. More than 50 years after its end, the show remains a favorite among Pop Culture fans and culturally relevant. The man behind and in front of the show, Ed Sullivan, one of modern TV pioneers, he passed away on this day in 1974

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Remembering Frankie Lymon on his 82nd Birthday

The 1950’s band Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers were the mold for similar bands to come such as The Jackson 5, their 1956 hit “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” is still remembered to this day, Frankie Lymon the group’s most memorable member died prematurely at only 25 years old in 1968

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James Dean: A Timeless Style

During his short life of only 24 years old, James Dean was photographed hundreds of times. His influence on fashion, attitude, beauty and style is timeless. We put up together these 72 stunning photos of James Dean on this gallery

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Remembering “The Killer” Jerry Lee Lewis on his birthday

He was the prototypical Rock Star. Long before the late 60’s and 70’s era of rock stardom excess, Jerry Lee Lewis already was living the wild Rock Star life in the 1950’s. His bad wild boy reputation as well as his non-conventional stage antics that included wild and energetic performances and instrument smash before Rockers did it, earned him the nickname “The Killer”

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Remembering the Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni

Throughout his career, Mastroianni appeared in over 150 films and became closely associated with director Federico Fellini, appearing in several of his most iconic films. In 1960, he gained international fame with his performance in Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita”

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Remembering the actor and entertainer Mickey Rooney

One of Hollywood’s most enduring stars, Mickey Rooney made his stage debut at just 17 months old, performing alongside his parents who were vaudeville performers, and his big break came in the 1930s with the role of Andy Hardy in the hugely popular Andy Hardy film series

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Remembering the Hollywood legend Gene Kelly

Gene Kelly is ranked by the American Film Institute as the 15th greatest male screen legend of Classic Hollywood and remembered as one of the earliest multi-faceted stars, remaining popular to this day due to memorable roles such as the one he played in “Singin’ in the Rain.” He was born on this day in 1912

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Alain Delon 1935-2024

The iconic French actor was throughout his career often regarded as one of the most beautiful men in the world. He rose to fame during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s and 1970s starred in numerous and timeless classics of European cinema that made him a revered figure in the film industry, with a career that spanned over six decades and more than 80 films

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Looking back at the influential and iconic Louis Armstrong and five of his best songs

To talk about Pop Culture, Jazz and overall music in the 20th century and not mentioning Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, would be ignoring history. Born on this day in 1901, Armstrong crossed over race and classes in a highly segregated period of the United States due to his talent as a trumpeter, composer, vocalist, occasional actor and also his charisma and achieved worldwide fame, performing as a household name in legendary stages all over the world throughout his influential career

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Remembering Tony Bennett

Born 98 years ago today, he was one of the last surviving living legends of the golden crooning and jazz era and never thought of retiring, He continued as prolific as ever and also outspoken until the day he died.

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John Mayall 1933-2024

Often referred to as the “Godfather of British Blues,” his contributions to the genre are immeasurable. Through his work with the Bluesbreakers, he helped bring blues music to a wider audience and played a crucial role in the careers of some of rock and blues’ greatest musicians

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Remembering the Hollywood icon Natalie Wood

She remains one of the most memorable Hollywood actresses of all time, a symbol from one of the most appreciated movie history eras with several timeless classics, and her untimely death, a mystery. Remember this timeless Hollywood icon born 86 years ago today

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Remembering the actor James Cagney

Cagney quickly rose to fame during the 1930’s with his portrayal of tough, street-smart characters, his dynamic performances, particularly in gangster films, set a standard for the genre and his versatility, showcased in films like “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” demonstrated his wide-ranging talent

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Remembering the Swedish titan of cinematic art Ingmar Bergman

Ingmar Bergman’s ability to probe the human psyche and his innovative narrative techniques have influenced countless filmmakers and offered profound insights into the human experience and his films “The Seventh Seal” and “Wild Strawberries” are considered masterpieces, exploring complex themes of death, faith, and memory

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Remembering the actress Janet Leigh

One of her most iconic roles came in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” where she played Marion Crane. Her performance in the infamous shower scene became one of the most memorable moments in film history and earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and an Academy Award nomination

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Remembering the legendary actor Martin Landau

Landau’s career took off in the 1960s when he starred in the television series “Mission: Impossible” and throughout his 7 decades’career span he also appeared in movies such as Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” and “Ed Wood” where his portrayal of Bela Lugosi won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

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Remembering the Soul legend Jackie Wilson

From his early days with The Dominoes to his solo success with memorable hits such as “Lonely Teardrops” and “Reet Petite,” Wilson’s powerful voice and dynamic performances made him a legendary figure in R&B and soul music

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Remembering Horror Icon Vincent Price

Vincent Price was born on May 27, 1911, in St. Louis, Missouri. Although Price initially began his film career as a character actor, he transitioned easily into the over the top roles he would become illustrious for in pop culture

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Remembering Peggy Lee on her birthday

Lee’s versatility extended beyond singing and she made significant contributions to the film industry, most notably by providing the voice for several characters and co-writing songs for Disney’s “Lady and the Tramp” (1955)

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Five of the Best Dennis Hopper movies

One of the most influential actors of all time, Dennis Hopper left a valuable and timeless film legacy as an actor, writer and director. We look back at five of his best movies on the 88th anniversary of his birth

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The singer Frankie Valli turns 90 today

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Valli and The Four Seasons dominated the airwaves with songs such as “Big Girls Don’t Cry” earning widespread acclaim and establishing themselves as one of the most successful vocal groups of all time

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Remembering actor Anthony Perkins

Anthony Perkins was born in New York City, on April 4, 1932, most well-known part as innkeeper Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ (1960). Perkins died on September 12, 1992, in Hollywood, California due to AIDS-related pneumonia.

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The 45 rpm Single turns 75

In 1949 RCA Victor introduced the first 45 rpm single. Nowadays, in music, the word single does not refer to vinyl only, but with the vinyl records resurgence in recent years, the original single format has made a comeback

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Looking back at 1931’s Dracula

There’s something very sexy and erotic about vampires. It’s probably the intimacy of their assaults and the fact that they traditionally choose to appear in your bedroom in the middle of the night, maybe. But back in 1931, director Tod Browning was pretty direct about bloodsucking as a euphemism for sex in his classic “Dracula”.

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James Dean – An Unfinished Book

Remembering James Dean on the 93rd anniversary of his birth. Like a lot of celebrities of his time, James Dean always carried around a certain aura of mystery that endures to this day. This might be also because of the fact he died young and as we all now know, that is a certain morbid formula to eternity that allows people like Dean to be remembered forever. Explore some facts of Dean’s short life on this article

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Mamie Van Doren Turns 93

Mamie Van Doren was born Joan Lucille Olander on February 6, 1931, in Rowena, South Dakota. She is an actress, known for “The Navy vs. the Night Monsters” (1966), “Teacher’s Pet” (1958) and “Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women” (1968)

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The influential Blues artist Lead Belly was born on this day

Lead Belly was the first American Blues artist to achieve success in Europe, he was born in 1888, wrote a large part of his repertoire while doing time in prison and became one of the most influential artists to musicians from all genres including the Alternative Rock and Grunge bands of the early 90’s.

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The extraordinary Bo Diddley was born on this day

Bo Diddley created a signature guitar playing style that keeps influencing Rock music to this day and influenced artists from Buddy Holly to the New York Dolls. We look back at the career of one of the most influential Rock guitarists of all time on his birthday

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Top 10 Best Rock and Pop Christmas Songs

The 1970’s and 1980’s were a strong and fertile ground for Pop and Rock artists to do Christmas songs and turning it into memorable No.1 hits, while not all of the songs on this list are from those decades and not all made it to No.1, they all are memorable and have resisted the test of time for decades

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Top 12 Out Of The Box Christmas Songs

Music it’s a big part of the Christmas everywhere and on this list, we celebrate the best 12 unexpected songs for the season. These are Pop Expresso’s picks for the best 12 Out Of The Box songs you weren’t expecting to listen to this Christmas 

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Remembering the Canadian actor Christopher Plummer 

He’ll be forever known as the famous Captain Georg von Trapp from the 1965 classic “The Sound of Music”, but Christopher Plummer, who was born on December 13, 1929 in Toronto, Canada, had a successful career that earned him numerous awards and nominations, a passion of acting that endured until the end of his life

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Quiz: Name the Horror icon!

These iconic horror characters have been haunting the big screens and popular culture for years, some, even may have been haunting your dreams. Can you accurately name all of them?

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Singer Brenda Lee turns 79 today

Brenda Lee is mostly remembered by her 1960 hit “I’m Sorry”, but prior to that song she already had scored nine consecutive Top 10 Hot 100 songs. The singer was one of the first Country Pop artists to successfully achieve international fame. She was born on this day in 1944

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Remembering Kirk Douglas

Five of the essential movies from the screen legend who in the 21st century was one of the last living actors and witnesses to Hollywood Golden era, born on this day in 1916

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Roy Orbison passed away 35 years ago today

The influential singer and songwriter Roy Orbison left a more than thirty years legacy of absolute music classics such as “Crying”, “In Dreams”, “Oh Pretty Woman” and “You Got It”. On December 6th, 1988 Orbison passed away suddenly at the age of 52. We recap his life and career

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Tony Bennett 1926-2023

He was one of the last surviving living legends of the golden crooning and jazz era and never thought of retiring, he continued as prolific as ever and also outspoken until the day he died, Tony Bennett dies at age 96 and leaves us with a golden and uncompromised legacy in music.

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Burt Bacharach, 1928-2023

Burt Bacharach and Hal David were perhaps the missing link, the tandem who rode the bridge from the old world to the new, bringing old-fashioned songcraft into the heart of the sixties pop revolution and crafting dozens of enduring classics along the way

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The Ed Sullivan Show Releases Previously Unreleased Louis Armstrong Video Clips

These clips were never shown since the original broadcasts and capture Satchmo at his effusive best, one of which shows the jazz maestro and opera star Robert Merrill performing a Medley (“Vesti la giubba” and “Honeysuckle Rose”) on the episode that aired on April 17, 1955. Another new clip that was originally broadcast on CBS Network on May 15, 1955, features Armstrong alongside Gary Crosby delivering a performance of “Struttin With Some Barbecue.”

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Remembering the legendary Gina Lollobrigida 1927-2023

During the 1950’s and early 1960’s Gina Lollobrigida was considered often one of the most beautiful women in the world. The Italian’s actress sex symbol status boosted her career, a successful run co-starring with some of the best and most legendary actors of all time. Gina Lollobrigida dies at age 95, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy and the memory as one of the most popular figures of modern history.

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An interview with author Gareth Jones

The book “French Pop” by Gareth Jones, is a thorough investigation and documentation of the history of French Pop music, which is also the story of the modern music industry. In this interview, Gareth Jones discusses the writing and research process as well as the origin of his passion for French music. This interview is also proof that the author is a man who can best described as a scholar in the history of all modern music, not just French one.

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Jerry Lee Lewis dies at age 87

He was the prototypical Rock Star. Long before the late 60’s and 70’s era of rock stardom excess, Jerry Lee Lewis already was living the wild Rock Star life in the 1950’s. His bad wild boy reputation as well as his non conventional stage antics that included wild and energetic performances and instrument smash before Rockers did it, earned him the nickname “The Killer”. He passed today at age 87 in his house in Memphis.

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Goodbye to Angela Lansbury

One of the most dearest actresses in the screen, that crossed through several generations of fans, Angela Lansbury died peacefully during her sleep at age 96, in her Los Angeles house on Tuesday

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Jerry Lee Lewis, The Killer Turns 87

He was the prototypical Rock Star. Long before the late 60’s and 70’s era of rock stardom excess, Jerry Lee Lewis already was living the wild Rock Star life in the 1950’s. His bad wild boy reputation as well as his non conventional stage antics that included wild and energetic performances and instrument smash before Rockers did it, earned him the nickname “The Killer”, today, he turns 87

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Friday The 13th Horror Special

Friday 13th, it’s always a special date when it comes to superstition.  On Popular culture has been the subject of movies, books, songs and much more. In case you want to play safe and don’t leave home on Friday 13th, we suggest you to browse through our special! We’ve compiled 6 creepy articles including quizzes and lists!

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The Hollywood’s Golden Age legend Olivia de Havilland says goodbye at age 104

Olivia de Havilland passed away at age 104 on July 26. The Hollywood legendary British actress, first came to prominence in 1935 as a screen couple with Errol Flynn in adventure films including “The Adventures of Robin Hood” and also starred on the 1939 cult classic “Gone with the Wind” and was among the last surviving movie stars of the “Hollywood’s Golden Age”

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Little Richard, the farewell to an absolute legend at age 87

An influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades, with his dynamic music and charismatic showmanship, Little Richard laid the foundation for Rock N’ Roll, his music played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk. Little Richard influenced numerous singers and musicians across musical genres and he was a pioneer on the Rock N’ Roll lifestyle, on the aesthetic of Rock concerts and wardrobe. We couldn’t imagine Rock music without Little Richard. Look back at the life and career of the self-proclaimed Queen of Rock N’Roll

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Kirk Douglas celebrates 103 years today

Turning 103 today, Kirk Douglas is one of the very few last living actors and witnesses to Hollywood Golden era. The actor who had a successful career that earned him several awards, starred in countless film classics that elevated him to the legend status he has today, check five of his very best movies

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The legendary self-proclaimed “Queen Of Rock N’ Roll” Little Richard turns 87 today

“Elvis may be the King of Rock and Roll, but I am the Queen. ” said Little Richard once. An influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades, with his dynamic music and charismatic showmanship, he laid the foundation for Rock N’ Roll, his music played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres. We couldn’t imagine Rock music without Little Richard. He celebrates 87 years old today, we look back at his life and career

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