Sleep Walk

I really like this song that was released in 1959, the year I was born. They say Alan Freed wore this record out on his radio show.



Musically, the 1950's was more than just shake, rattle and roll. There was calm and there was controversy. There was a new rage, and there was an outrage. The decade started off a lot more innocent than it ended.

It was no coincidence this tune by Santo & Johnny came at the end of the decade. There were a lot of other great instrumental tracks recorded and released during the 1950's, but Sleep Walk was something special. It was magical.

Why was Sleep Walk so popular? I think the song's dreamy melody gave folks good reason to stop and reflect on the decade -- of what had been to what now was. It reflected a calm after the storm, a new beginning, and for some...a lost cause.

I would love to know why Alan Freed played the song so much. He introduced a new music that caused a pretty big uproar. Then, at the close of the decade he's found playing Sleep Walk over and over and over. Was he perhaps reflecting on what he had endured? Probably. Then again, maybe he was just spinning a great record he had fallen in love with.