the needle seemed to be stuck somewhere around 1957 ("Diana", "Kiss me honey honey")

Wonderful! Though I would sincerely disagree that "Unforgettable" and "Da Doo Ron Ron" are relatively indistinguishable... :-)

I'm glad you had a Pauline conversion moment, Phil - but, of course, it needn't have been a pearl of a folk tune among the Gadarene swine of late '50s juke box stuff. It could equally have been a pearl of a 1950s rockabilly bash in the midst of a Gadarene hoard of folk songs.

Both forms have merit - it's just what gets your own personal booties tapping.