Show 78, “Sounds of the ‘40s,” features 18 recordings that folks in the 1940s were listening to on the radio and their phonographs. Performers include Dinah Shore, Bing Crosby, Les and Larry Elgart, Martha Tilton, Gene Autry, Judy Garland, The Andrews Sisters, Guy Lombardo, Ozzie Nelson, and Liberace.

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Show 77, “April Babies,” features recordings by 16 musicians who had one thing in common: Birthdays in the month of April. Performers include Helen Forrest, Bea Wain, Bobby Rydell, Billy Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds, and Tony Williams.

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 Show 76, “Top Hits 1954,” features 17 popular songs and some little-known bits of news from 1954. Performers include Rosemary Clooney, Dean Martin, The Four Lads, Patti Page, Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Tony Bennett, Eddie Fisher, and Kitty Kallen.

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Show 75, “Songs about cars,” uses 18 recordings to explore the complex relationship between humans and automobiles. Topics include breakdowns, speeding, hot dates that wound up going nowhere, muddy roads, a fantasy Cadillac, parking problems, and a honeymoon in a Buick. Performers include Patti Page, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, and Chuck Berry.  

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Show 74, “Guitar Channing,” explores the music and careers of country singer Bonnie Guitar and Broadway star Carol Channing. The show features 19 songs, including “Dark Moon,” “I Get So Lonely,” and “Mister Fire Eyes” performed by Bonnie Guitar and “Hello Dolly,” “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,” and “The Show Must Go On” by Carol Channing.

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Show 73, “Saddest Songs,” uses music to explore variations of grief, loss, heartbreak, and loneliness, and ends with a song suggesting that breaking up isn’t always what it seems. Performers include George Hamilton IV, Elvis Presley, Skeeter Davis, Brenda Lee, Nancy Sinatra, and Pat Boone.

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Show 72, “Top Hits of 1950,” presents 10 Billboard best-selling songs and a half-dozen other notable recordings from 1950. Performers include Guy Lombardo, Nat King Cole, The Andrews Sisters, The Ames Brothers, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, and Teresa Brewer.

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Show 71, “Gospel Music,” explores mid-20th-century gospel music with 13 inspirational recordings by renowned performers including Mahalia Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Sister Rosetta Tharp, Skeeter Davis, Johnny Cash, Roberta Martin, and The Clara Ward Singers.

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Show 70, “The birth of Rock and Roll,” takes listeners on a 15-year musical journey through the eyes (and ears) of a boy who became a teenager when rock and roll was new. Performers include Eddie Fisher, Patti Page, The Crew Cuts, Bill Haley and His Comets, Fats Domino, Carl Perkins, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley.

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Show 69, “Connie Francis Bobby Darin,” focuses on two energetic entertainers and includes a few songs you’ve probably never heard. Connie Francis sings “Stupid Cupid,” “Who’s Sorry Now,” “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” (in two languages), and “Freddy.” Bobby Darin sings “Dream Lover,” Mack the Knife,” “Splish Splash,” and “Judy, Don’t Be Moody.”

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