Your Hit Parade

From Free net encyclopedia

Your Hit Parade was a popular United States music radio and television program. It was broadcast from 1935 through 1955 on radio, and from 1950 through 1959 on TV. The most popular songs of the then-current week were sung or performed.

The show debuted on radio as The Lucky Strike Hit Parade, after the first sponsor, Lucky Strike cigarettes.

The cast of the 1950s TV version included Snooky Lanson, Russell Arms, Dorothy Collins, Gisele Mackenzie, Eileen Wilson, Sue Bennett, June Valli, and Johnny Desmond. All were performers of standards, show tunes, or big band numbers. Bob Fosse was an occasional guest dancer during the first year or two of the TV show. From 1950 until 1957, the show's orchestra was led by well-known bandleader and musician Raymond Scott.

The show faded out with the rise of rock and roll when the performance became more important than the song. It is said that big band singer Snooky Lanson's weekly attempts to perform Elvis Presley's long-running hit, "Hound Dog", brought the program to an end.