The Friday 5×2: KLCN (910 AM Blytheville, Arkansas), 5/21/56

The Friday Five 2 Minutes

KLCN was at one time Arkansas’s oldest radio station. Located in the far northeast corner of the state, it reached cities in Missouri and Tennessee as well. It’s been off the air since 2017, and its owner surrendered their license to operate in 2018. Anyway, let’s see what was on their Top 10 64 years ago.

  1. Little Richard, “Long Tall Sally” This video includes “Tutti Frutti,” played for the benefit of the dance contest winners. For a big man, he sure cuts a rug. “Sally” was on the R&B chart for 19 weeks, including six at #1, and reached #6 on the Hot 100.
  2. The Four Lads, “My Lttle Angel” This was the B side to “Standing On The Corner,” and while it didn’t do as well as that song, it reached a very respectable #22 nationwide.

  3. The Platters, “The Magic Touch” This song was released in February 1956, and gradually made its way to #4 on the R&B chart and the Hot 100.

  4. Elvis Presley, “Heartbreak Hotel” Released in January, it made its way to #1 on the Pop and Country charts in the US and Canada and #5 on the R&B chart. It also reached #2 in the UK and #3 in Australia. It was Presley’s first record for RCA, and he was joined by Chet Atkins on guitar and Floyd Cramer on piano.

  5. Otis Williams & His Charms, “Ivory Tower” This Otis Williams is not the one from The Temptations, nor is he a relative, but The Charms were a popular doo-wop group in the ’50’s. “Ivory Tower” reached #11 on the Pop chart and #5 on the R&B chart.

  6. Roy Orbison, “Ooby Dooby” This was Roy’s first record to chart anywhere, reaching #59 nationwide. It would be another four years before reaaching the Top 10 with “Only The Lonely.”

  7. Warren Smith, “Rock n’ Roll Ruby” Just because it didn’t chart nationally doesn’t mean it didn’t so well in certain places, as we see here.

  8. Joe Turner, “Corrine Corrina” Blues singer Big Joe Turner had some chart success, mostly in Southern markets, like this song here.

  9. Morris Stoloff, “Moonglow and Theme From Picnic“ Iy’s all “Moonglow” to me, because I don’t know where one ends and the other begins. I didn’t use it here, but for my money, the scene in the movie Picnic where William Holden and Kim Novak dance to this is one of the hottest in movies.

  10. Fats Domino, “I’m In Love Again” Released in March, this was on of Fats’ many Top 10 hits, reaching #5 on the Pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart. The flip side, “My Blue Heaven,” also reached the Top 40, peaking #22.

And that’s the Friday 5×2 for May 22, 2020.

Published by John Holton

I'm a writer and blogger who writes and blogs about things that interest me.

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18 thoughts on “The Friday 5×2: KLCN (910 AM Blytheville, Arkansas), 5/21/56”

  2. Pingback: The Memorial Day 2020 Week That Was – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  3. Love your lost,my 5 on Friday had a theme kinda different artists doing the same tune.Kinda like a battle of the bands,you decide for yourself! love the tunes you got this week.

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  4. I was surprised not to recognize many of these by name until I went back and saw the timeframe. There were a couple of familiar tunes that must have been played in our household, though.

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    1. My folks were generally not rock ‘n’ roll types; Mom said that this was “her era,” and I could definitely see them listening to The Four Lads and Morris Stoloff, but practically none of the others. I was almost two months old when this survey was taken, so I can’t be sure….

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  6. Seems pretty progressive for an Arkansas station from that time. My parents used to have an LP with the song “Ivory Tower” by some female singer–I preferred her version. Always liked that song, but haven’t heard it or thought of it for years–many years.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. I see what you mean: half the songs would be considered “race” records at the time. They were pretty close to Memphis, so they probably had listeners all over the racial divide. And more power to them…

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      1. So cool!
        And in a day and age where music is so
        Electronic and vicald are assisted – it was nice to hear some sweet lyrical delivery.
        Side note – watched this show about autopsies and the final hours before certain celeb as died – and the last one i watched was Karen Carpenter – and her anorexia – well seeing that photo of Diana Ross tied into how they noted that being super skinny was “in” – yuck!

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          1. I agree – and one thing they noted in the show was that health care services (physical and mental) were not that developed for that disorder at that time – so makes me appreciate how far some of the services have come –

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