"Sh-Boom" (sometimes referred to as "Life Could Be a Dream") is an early doo-wop song. It was written by James Keyes, Claude Feaster & Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae, and James Edwards, members of the R&B; vocal group The Chords and published in 1954. It was a U.S. top ten hit that year for both The Chords (who first recorded the song) and The Crew-Cuts.
History
The song was first recorded on
Atlantic Records' subsidiary label
Cat Records by The Chords on
March 15, 1954, and would be their only hit song. "Sh-Boom" reached number 2 on the
Billboard R&B; charts, and peaked at number 5 on the pop charts. It is sometimes considered to be the first doo-wop or
rock 'n' roll record to reach the top ten on the pop charts (as opposed to the R&B; charts). This version was ranked #215 on
Rolling Stone's list of the
500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and is the group's only song on the list.
A more traditional version was made by The Crew-Cuts for Mercury Records, and was number one on the Billboard charts in for nine weeks during August and September 1954. The Crew-Cuts performed the song on Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town on December 12, 1954.
On the Cash Box magazine best-selling record charts, where both versions were combined, the song reached #1.
Other recordings
A recording by
Ken Mackintosh and His Orchestra (Vocalists: The Mackpies) was made in London on April 7, 1954. It was released by
EMI on the
His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10698.
British Doo-Wop revivalists Darts recorded "Sh-Boom" in the late 1970s, this time at a slower tempo. It was released as the B-side of the band's last charting single, reaching number 48 in the UK charts in 1980.
The record for most recordings of "Sh-Boom" by a single group probably belongs to the Harvard Din & Tonics, an a cappella men's singing group that has featured the song on eleven of their twelve albums (most recently A Hint of Lime in 2008 ). Their 1979 Crew-Cuts-style arrangement was so popular that the group began performing "Sh-Boom" as their signature song at all their concerts, bringing all their alumni onstage to perform it across the United States and through ten world tours.
Children's entertainers Sharon, Lois & Bram covered the song on their 1995 album release titled Let's Dance!.
References in popular culture
The song has appeared in the movie
Clue (alternate recording only),
Happy Days (alternate recording only),
Liberty Heights (1999),
Cry-Baby featuring
Johnny Depp (1990),
Two of Us (represented as a favorite of John Lennon and Paul McCartney),
Road House starring
Patrick Swayze (1989) and the mini-series
Lipstick on Your Collar (1993), the last of writer
Dennis Potter's works to be produced in his lifetime. It was briefly featured in the HBO mini-series
From the Earth To The Moon (1998) and the movie
Hearts in Atlantis (2001). More recently, The
Trevor Horn Orchestra covered the song for the
Mona Lisa Smile (2003) soundtrack,
Pixar's
Cars used a long recording of the song (2006). Even more recently the song has appeared in the Sandbox game
Mafia 2 (2010).
A remixed version is featured in the video game Destroy All Humans!.
New York television personality Clay Cole wrote about the early years of rock 'n' roll and live television in his memoirs, Sh-Boom! The Explosion of Rock 'n' Roll (1953-1968) published by Morgan James Books.
"Sh-Boom" was parodied by Stan Freberg. Another parody, as a singing Lucky Strike cigarette commercial by the Sportsmen Quartet, appeared on the October 31, 1954, Jack Benny radio show. More recently, comic Ronnie Golden wrote a parody, "Shoe Bomb", on the subject of the British terrorist Richard Reid.
Category:1954 singles
Category:The Crew-Cuts songs
Category:Number-one singles in the United States
Category:Doo-wop songs
