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This is Easter, a holiday commemorating a miracle. That is good, because we are going to need one. On Good Friday, I chanced across a photograph of the lower Manhattan skyline at night from Good Friday in April 1956. Three skyscrapers, dominating the space, feature certain windows illuminated to form gigantic crosses to commemorate that most solemn of Christian holidays. The year 1956 was not that long ago. But how much has changed in those 60-odd years! Can you imagine such a public display of Christian affirmation in New York today? Nor can I. That was then. Now things are...

Proving that their DeSantis derangement syndrome is incurable, Sunday's "Powerhouse Roundtable" on ABC's This Week went after Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis for wanting to protect public school children from perverted groomers and racial arsonists. ABC contributor and former Democrat National Committee chairwoman Donna Brazile lashed out at DeSantis and proclaimed he is "running on a 1950s America, not a 2050 America." Moments later Politico associate editor Alex Burns said with a straight face that President Joe Biden was "always more of a centrist." Going from trashing DeSantis to praising Biden within moments is the kind of contrast that makes...

ROUND 7 OF THE '50S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS II COMMENCES!ROUND 7 – THE FINAL Votes due: Sunday, March 6 @ 12:00 pm Eastern. 2 songs, 1 pair, 1 winner! Vote for your favorite. Any ties will be broken via Billboard annual ranking, then back to Round 1 ranking (seed), then Round 1 point total, then Round 1 vote count. See the pair in my next reply post. Format in survey: Poll seed – year - song title – act The survey is at 1950s survey Final My YouTube playlist is at 1950s playlist Final

ROUND 5 OF THE '50S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS II COMMENCES!ROUND 5 – THE GREAT 8 Votes due: Sunday, Feb 20 @ 12:00 pm Eastern. 8 songs, 4 pairs, 4 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair listed. (You may abstain from any pairs, but please don't overdo it!) Any ties will be broken via Billboard annual ranking, then back to Round 1 ranking (seed), then Round 1 point total, then Round 1 vote count. Past Rounds: Rounds 1A and 1B: Rd 1A, Rd 1B Round 2: Rd 2 Round 3: Rd 3 Round 4: Rd 4

ROUND 4 OF THE '50S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS II COMMENCES! ROUND 4 – SWEET 16 Votes due: Sunday, Feb 13 @ 12:00 pm Eastern. 16 songs, 8 pairs, 8 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair listed. (You may abstain from any pairs, but please don't overdo it!) Any ties will be broken via Billboard annual ranking, then back to Round 1 ranking (seed), then Round 1 point total, then Round 1 vote count. Past Rounds: Rounds 1A and 1B: 1A, 1B Round 2: 2 Round 3: 3

ROUND 3 OF THE '50S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS II COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 6 @ 12:00 pm Eastern. 32 songs, 16 pairs, 16 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair listed. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs but please don't overdo it!) Any ties will be broken via Billboard annual ranking, then back to Round 1 ranking (seed), then Round 1 point total, then Round 1 vote count. Format in survey: Poll seed – year - song title - act Rounds 1A and 1B: ToCT Rd 1A, ToCT Rd 1B Round 2: ToCT Rd...

(VANITY) TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS II ('50S) - ROUND 2 ROUND 2 of the greatest hits of the '50s begins! DUE DATE: Sunday, Jan 30 @ 12:00 pm (Eastern) Round 2 is the start of the play-off tournament style. It starts with 32 pairs of the best 64 songs as chosen by YOU, from Rounds 1A and 1B. Round 1A and 1B: Round 1ARound 1B

TOURNAMENT FOR THE GREATEST SONG OF THE '50S! ROUND 1B – ‘50sThe baseline for the survey is the top 10 hits of each year of the '50s, as compiled by BILLBOARD. This is NOT based on personal preferences, biases, prejudices, or counter-culture fringe-element reactionism. Nor based on weekly charts.Round 1 involves ranking candidate songs in order of preference for each year. Part B, as before with A last week, will be 5 years’ worth of rankings, so hunker down again because that’s 50 songs to handle! (The remaining rounds are handled as play-offs, starting with 32 pairs of songs to...

FREEPERS, LET'S START THIS CONTEST FOR THE GREATEST SONG OF THE '50S! ROUND 1A – ‘50s The baseline for the survey is the top 10 hits of each year of the '50s, as compiled by BILLBOARD. This is NOT based on personal preferences, biases, prejudices, or counter-culture fringe-element reactionism. Nor based on weekly charts. Round 1 involves ranking candidate songs in order of preference for each year. Part A (as well as B next week) will be 5 years’ worth of rankings, so hunker down because that’s 50 songs to handle! (The remaining rounds are handled as play-offs, starting with...

Who would like to start up another tournament of chart-toppers from the '50s? I have a whole new format planned. As always, you can be on a ping list if you are not already!

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot, before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot. There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me. For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born, where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn. We longed for love and romance, and waited for our prince. Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since. We danced to 'Little Darlin', and sang to 'Stagger Lee' and cried for Buddy Holly In the Land That Made Me, Me....

Long, but wonderful

ROUND 6 OF THE '50S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! The FINAL 4! Votes due: Sunday, June 7 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. (My birthday, FYI; don't disappoint me!) 4 songs, 2 pairs, 2 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair listed. No reply, no vote. (NO abstentions this time! Must vote both contests - you can handle 2, cantcha?) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Billboard rank/seed - year - song title - act

ROUND 5 OF THE '50S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! The GREAT 8! Votes due: Sunday, May 31 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. 8 songs, 4 pairs, 4 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair listed. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from some pairs but please don't overdo it! No onesies, please, or anything less than half!) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Billboard rank/seed - year - song title - act

ROUND 4 OF THE '50S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, May 24 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. 16 songs, 8 pairs, 8 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair listed. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from some pairs but please don't overdo it! No onesies, please, or anything less than half!) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Billboard rank/seed - year - song title - act

ROUND 3 OF THE '50S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, May 17 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. 32 songs, 16 pairs, 16 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair listed. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs but please don't overdo it! No onesies, please.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Billboard rank/seed - year - song title - act

ROUND 2 of the greatest hits of the '50s begins! Due date: Sunday, May 10 @6:00 pm (Eastern) This Round takes the top 6 songs of each year of the '50s per BILLBOARD, along with the best 4 #7s as voted in Round 1, and pairs them in play-off brackets. Round 1: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3838848/posts

OK, FREEPERS, LET'S START THIS CONTEST FOR THE GREATEST SONG OF THE '50S! The baseline for the contest is the top 7 hits of each year of the '50s, as compiled by BILLBOARD. This is NOT based on personal preferences, biases, prejudices, or counter-culture fringe-element reactionaries. Round 1 involves listing all 10 #7 candidate songs in order of preference. (The remaining rounds are handled as play-off brackets, starting with 32 pairs of songs to compare.) ROUND 1 We begin by using the #7 songs of each year, which we'll pare from 10 songs to 4 (to set up play-off brackets...

Anyone want to participate in a music play-off bracket-type poll for best songs of the '50s? At the start of this year, as well as 2 and 5 years ago, I ran "tournaments" to pick the best songs of the '60s, '70s and '80s, based on Billboard rankings, so only the best of the best were included! Normally it'd probably be next year before I'd even attempt. But given this stay-home COVID nonsense, I thought maybe everyone would like another something to do. You can view how the earlier versions played out here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3818895/posts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3635562/posts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3249477/posts I can do this...

We've all had the experience of getting a song stuck in our head for an extended period of time. If you're really unfortunate, that song may be one by Christopher Cross or Air Supply. But sometimes, these "earworms," as they are dubbed, can lead to good things. That recently happened to one of us right here at BreakPoint. While reading a biography of the early 20th century evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, my colleague and friend Roberto Rivera found himself humming and singing the gospel song "It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)." He's not sure why the song popped...