The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #83635   Message #1538860
Posted By: DannyC
09-Aug-05 - 06:53 PM
Thread Name: No regional songs of the northern US ??
Subject: RE: No regional songs of the northern US ??
One of the favorites from growing up in Philly was:

"You Can't get to Heaven on the Frankford El"

Then there was:

"One the Way to Cape May (I fell in love wid you)"

The City of my birth has a very strong mumming tradition. There is an enormous amount of love and energy that people from my caste pour into the society of the mummers clubs with its big parades, its music (banjoes and saxaphones), and the costumes. The scene's signature song is "Golden Slippers" inducing insiders to step out into a distinctive flapping prance known as "The Mummers Strut".

Music pioneer Bill Haley was a Philly guy, along with a host of other early formulators of rock. Long before SF's Summer of Love, Philly people were singing - "Where do all the hippies meet?   South Street.. South Street"

An additional aspect was street Doo Wop that spawned plenty of 50s phenoms. Little Anthony and the Imperials are a recorded example. The Platters were likely the top of the heap. A slicker version were The Delphonics. Many street teenagers (myself included) had the ability to find a harmonic place within a trio or quartet and collectively emulate a nice version of some broadly known Doo Wop hit. I suppose the genre's anthems were "Up on the Roof" and "On Broadway".

And then there's MoTown...