My wife Monique was not a passionate music listener, and her musical tastes were a bit of an enigma. She clearly came out of the 50’s, but more than anything else she liked something she could dance to. She enjoyed the moment and had rhythm, her life was a mix of salsa and tango. I didn’t, and still don’t, have any rhythm, and my life with Monique was a mix of practicing, forgetting, and re-practicing a plodding waltz, but that does not mean I waltzed through life!
I think, in many ways, Monique tangoed through life with abandon, head held high, whilst I tried to waltz from day-to-day, flat footed, hoping to avoid colliding with others on the dance floor of life.
It’s odd that as much as I consider myself a child of the 70s, in the musical sense, I can remember many, many of these songs of the 50s. Not sure they are “earworms” but they were catchy tunes that have stuck in my mind for the last 50-60 years.
Monique passed away on the 23 December 2023, and I don’t think I could now listen to any of this music from the 1950s without feeling sad and alone.
Monique's favourites
Looking back in time
What have I added to Monique’s list of 1950s favourites?
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing by Nat King Cole
Mamwana Kufika Munda (My Love Is Upset) by Ilunga Patrice, Misomba Victor and Friends
Masanga (Katanga/Congo) by Mwenda Jean Bosco
Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare) by Domenico Modugno
Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend by Marilyn Monroe
Let the Good Times Roll by Shirley and Lee
I Put a Spell On You by Nina Simone
And my own personal “top of the list” favourite…
Here is my final playlist 1950-59
The dates post-1959 are remastered and republished versions of the original track.
