An early contemporary of Elvis, Gene Vincent recorded the quintessential standard in rockabilly with his hit single, "Be-Bop-A-Lula" in 1956. He's not remembered for too much else, unfortunately, but this song was a major influence for Beatles founder John Lennon. Some of you may even have heard it and thought it was an Elvis number. The flip side of my oldies vinyl 45 single of "Be-Bop-A-Lula" has another good song by Gene Vincent on the flip side entitled "Lotta Lovin'" which reached #17 as an A-side single the following year (1957), sounding a lot like a Buddy Holly tune. Used to get a lot of requests for both songs. "Be-Bop-A-Lula" charted well in America after its release in June 1956, reaching #7 at Billboard and #5 at Cash Box on July 28, 1956, and peaking at #16 in the UK in August 1956. So here's another romp through Retro-land with a high priority on various types of choreography and a brief stop at a passion pit at your local drive-in. Retro never dies.

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