Sh-Boom
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"Sh-Boom" (sometimes referred to as "Life Could Be a Dream") is widely considered to be the first popular Doo-Wop song. It was written by James Keyes, Claude & Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae, and James Edwards, and published in 1954 (see 1954 in music).
It was first recorded on Atlantic Records by a rhythm and blues group, The Chords, and would be their only hit song. Placed on the B-Side of a cover of "Cross over the Bridge" a Patti Page hit, Sh-Boom reached number 5 on the R&B charts, and topped at number 2 on the Pop charts. This version was ranked #215 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and is the group's only song on the list.
A more traditional style version was made by The Crew-Cuts, and this version reached #1 on the Billboard charts in for seven weeks during August and September 1954.
On the Cash Box magazine best-selling record charts, where both versions were combined, the song reached #1.
The Crew Cuts appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and performed Sh-Boom.
British Doo-Wop revivalists Darts covered Sh-Boom in the late 1970s, this time at a slower tempo. It was released as the B-side of the band's last charting single, reaching number 48 in the UK charts in 1980.
Sh-Boom was parodied by Stan Freberg. Another parody, as a singing cigarette commercial by the Sportsmen Quartet, appeared on the October 31, 1954 Jack Benny television show. More recently, comic Ronnie Golden wrote a parody, "Shoe Bomb", on the subject of the British terrorist Richard Reid.
The song appeared in the movie Clue, Pixar's Cars, Liberty Heights (1999), and the mini-series "Lipstick on Your Collar" (1993), the last of writer Dennis Potter's works to be produced in his lifetime. It was briefly featured in the HBO mini-series "From the Earth To The Moon" (1998) and remixed to be featured in the game Destroy All Humans!. More recently, The Trevor Horn Orchestra covered the song for the Mona Lisa Smile (2003) soundtrack.
| Preceded by Little Things Mean a Lot |
Cash Box magazine best selling record chart #1 record August 7, 1954–September 18, 1954 |
Succeeded by Hey There |
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