Probably one of the most influential singing groups of the 1930's and 1940's were The Charioteers, whose tight harmonies and luxurious ballads made them a household name to millions before their eventual demise in 1950.

But all was not lost when The Charioteers went their separate ways. Their lead singer Billy Williams formed a vocal quartet which proved to be as influential to the coming genre of Doo-Wop as they were influential in the realm of Jazz singing since their beginnings in 1930.

Williams as a soloist scored a massive hit in 1957 when he did I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter. The record sold well over a million copies and is still occasionally heard via the numerous reissues that track has appeared on over the years.

Tonight it's a track they recorded during their transitional period when they were signed to Mercury Records in 1952. I Don't Know Why (I just do) is a standard, but in the hands of Billy Williams and his cohorts, the song takes on a new meaning and lays the groundwork for what will become the Doo-Wop genre.

Sadly, this song didn't chart at all and, aside from it's nod to a style not yet set in stone, it gives an indication of just where things were headed.

Well Pop music was fickle back then - come to think of it, it's fickle now too.

You probably can't classify Burmese-born British Torch Singer Dinah Kaye as your typical Pop singer of the 1950's. She made her name throughout Europe as a Jazz vocalist who briefly settled in the U.S. from 1954 until the early 60's when she picked up her successful Jazz career and returned to the UK where she enjoyed great popularity for years after.

She only made a handful of records here, including tonight's track which was recorded for the RCA-Victor subsidiary label X. Strike A Match, a melancholy/dreamy ballad backdropped against a lush production that showcased her smokey voice and almost Johnny Ray style of emotion helped establish her as a popular artist on this side of the Atlantic.

Sadly, she passed away in October of 2011 and almost none of her records have been reissued - certainly not this one.

Another example of what Pop Music was doing in the early 1950's before Rock n' Roll came along and shook it all up.

It occurred to me as I was doing my homage to Pop-Music last week that I really only managed to stay in the 1960's and go nowhere else. The world of Pop-Music and hit-tunes goes back a very-very long ways to the dawn of recording.

So I thought I would give you a taste of what pre-rock n' roll Pop Music sounded like 60 years ago via Joni James.

Very much a cult figure these days (she's still singing and doing concerts at the tender age of 81), Joni James was that link between singers of the previous decade (the 1940's) and what was just around the corner in the early days of rock n' roll. A thin but sweet voice, James scored out of the starting gate with a two sided hit, of which tonight's track is the second side.

Purple Shades raced up the charts in 1952 and stuck around for a considerable period of time. Like most every Pop-music entry during this decade, it was wildly over-produced and over-arranged with seemingly hundreds of strings running up against a wall of horns. James runs the risk of being dwarfed by all the instrumental pyrotechnics but it's the simplicity of her voice that carries the tune in the end.

Needless to say, it got lots of radio and jukebox play. Yes, Jukeboxes were a major medium of musical exposure in the pre-transistor 50's and jukeboxes were just as responsible for making a hit record as the Disc Jockey was. And just to let you know we're being authentic in our excursion to the 1950's, we're playing an original 78 rpm disc of Purple Shades, not one of the many reissues available over the years.

Remember, we're talking 60 years ago. It's come a long way since.