Author Archives: Michael Shih

Those Were The Days 往日情懷

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This song was written by two russian authors in the 1920`s (Boris Fomin and Konstantin Podrevsky). At the 1924 the great russian singer Alexander Vertinsky performed the new version named “By the long road”. After that time the song was prohibited in Soviet Union untill the late 50`s. The song came to the Western world in the 50`s (adopted and translated to English by Gene Ruskin). Sir Paul McCartney heard this song once and ask Mary Hopkin to sing it (approx in 1968-1969). So this is the story Continue reading →

The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane

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“The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane” is a popular song written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. The lyrics suggest that this “naughty lady” driving the whole town crazy is an attractive young woman who “throws those come-hither glances at every Tom, Dick and Joe” and “when offered some liquid refreshment never says no”; but the last line reveals her to be an infant of nine days old.
Popular versions of the song were the 1954 recordings by The Ames Brothers and by Archie Bleyer. Continue reading →

There’s a Kind of Hush

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“There’s a Kind of Hush” is a popular song written by Les Reed and Geoff Stephens which was a hit in 1967 for Herman’s Hermits and again in 1976 for the Carpenters.  The first single version of “There’s a Kind of Hush” was recorded in 1966 by Gary and the Hornets, a teen/pre-teen male band from Franklin, Ohio whose version – entitled “A Kind of Hush” produced by Lou Reizner – became a regional success and showed signs of breaking nationally in January 1967; the single would reach #4 in Cincinnati and #3 in Erie PA. Continue reading →

The Wayward Wind

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“The Wayward Wind” is a country song written by Stanley Lebowsky and Herb Newman. In 1956 versions were recorded by Gogi Grant, Tex Ritter, and Jimmy Young, of which Grant’s was the biggest seller in the United States and Ritter’s in the United Kingdom. The song reached #1 on the Cash Box chart, which combined all recorded versions, but must have got most of that popularity from the Gogi Grant version, which reached #1 on the Billboard chart on its own. The song is one of only two songs that were major hits for Grant, the other being “Suddenly There’s a Valley”. Continue reading →