Anita O'Day - I'm Going Mad For A Pad

Radio stations began to program their music to fit the demographics of a new audience. The audience, which until the early 1950's was a pretty homogeneous audience, now was divided into segments with different interests and people listened to music in a number of places, including their cars. This all meant that some radio stations played music for adults and some stations played music for the teens.

The white record companies started looking... white kids wouldn't buy records by black performers, that played something resembling R&B. Groups like Bill Haley and His Comets, originally a country band called the Saddlemen.

These influences combined in a simple, blues based song structure that was fast, sexy, catchy and could be danced to easily and with excitement. These qualities, along with the fact that it horrified adults in general and parents in particular, caused Rock and Roll to become immensely popular with teenagers, who then, for the first time had their own music.

Source: Introduction: 1950s Rock and Roll by Dr. Robert Arnold

Anita O'Day - I'm Going Mad For A Pad

• Released in: 1944
• Arranged by: Joe Rizzo
• Genre: Jazz, Swing

"Anita O'Day's first appearances in a big band shattered the traditional image of a demure female vocalist. Her performance at 1958's Newport Jazz Festival made her fame worldwide after being released on a film titled Jazz on a Summer's."

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