Seasonal Songs - "Summer Holiday" (1963)

We leave Independence Day and Baseball and American-ness for a bit to cross back over the pond to England with Cliff Richard and his hit "Summer Holiday" on British Columbia Records in 1963:

A fun, poppy sound!

That British number one hit was the title song from Cliff's movie "Summer Holiday," which was released at the peak of his pre-Beatles popularity!

Cliff's backing group, The Shadows, also had a song featured in the movie and said song, "Foot Tapper," was also a number one hit:

Can't argue with the title!

Bonus 78 - "Robbie-Doby Boogie" (1948)!

Speaking of Larry Doby and Jackie Robinson, here's a great tribute to them in the form of the song "Robbie-Doby Boogie" by singer/guitarist Brownie McGhee on the Savoy Records label in 1948:

Love it! The time had really come!

Now, "Robbie-Doby Boogie" is not well-known these days, but Brownie McGhee had actually recorded the even more obscure "Baseball Boogie" for the even smaller Alert label in 1947:

Also a fun tribute to Jackie Robinson!

Brownie was a fan!

Larry Doby!

A shoutout to Larry Doby, who on this day in 1947 became the second player (after Jackie Robinson) to break the color barrier and the first in the American League when he made his debut with the Cleveland Indians.

After his playing career, Larry became the second African-American manager in MLB in 1978 (following Frank Robinson in 1974).

A true trailblazer!

Larry was eventually elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998. Overdue, but he was still around to enjoy the honor.

This past weekend, the Cleveland Guardians unveiled a mural featuring Doby and Robinson along with pitching great Satchel Paige:

Pretty cool! Here's a link to more.

Happy Fourth of July!

 Happy Fourth of July!