Week 6: Sh-Boom

   


    This week I listened to "Sh-Boom" by The Chords. The Chords formed in the South of Bronx In 1951. They were discovered performing in a subway station and later signed with Atlantic Records. In 1953, they wrote the song "Sh-Boom" in the back of a Buick and it would go on to become a huge success. This song was the first black R&B song to explode on white radio and break into the top ten on the pop charts. It is no surprise to me that  "Sh-Boom" became so popular because of its fun upbeat feel, great musicality, and catchiness. This song will be stuck in my head hours after listening to it.

    The entire song has the barber shop quartet sounding voices in the background that really make the song what it is. They are always singing great chords and each of their voices blend together nicely. "Sh-Boom" also has a nice driving beat that is constant throughout the piece. The lyrics help to reinforce the upbeat, happy feel of the music as it talks about paradise and how "life could be a dream" with this girl that he loves. There is also a lot of scat singing, which I thought was interesting because I feel like that is not as commonly seen in really popular songs. "Sh-Boom" also has a great saxophone solo that provides some nice variety to the song to the somewhat repetitive lines and lyrics. The song ends on a very nice jazz chord which I thought was a really fun and interesting choice. I enjoyed listening to this song a lot would gladly do so again.

Comments

  1. Raye19 October 2020 at 16:36

    Aw man I love this song so much! It never fails to get stuck in my head! I always get the lyrics and their voices stuck in my head and honestly I never paid attention to the sax solo but after you pointed out I realized how big of a part it actually had in the song. Thank you for the background of the artist and the song because I never knew about it.

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  2. Meg19 October 2020 at 21:45

    bro, I love this song. It's in Elf when he's walking around the city on the date with the girl. I love the harmony, and their energy stays unmatched! I love that you added some historical facts about the artists. I love learning how people write their songs, especially when the song hits high charts, and they're just like, "Yeah, we wrote it in the back of a car."

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