Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream) by The Chords

Sh-Boom is an early doo-wop song by the R&B vocal group The Chords and published in 1954. Doo-wop is a genre of rhythm and blues music originating in African-America communities on the East-Coast of the US. It was a US top-10 hit that year and reached No. 2 on the ‘Billboard’ R&B charts and peaked at No. 9 on the pop charts. It is sometimes considered to be the first doo-wop or rock ‘n’ roll record to reach the top ten in the pop charts. The saxophone solo in the middle of the song is played by Sam “The Man” Taylor. Another famous version of Sh-Boom was also made by a Canadian group, The Crew-Cuts (with David Carroll Orchestra), and was No. 1 on the Billboard charts for nine weeks in 1954. In recent years, the song has been used in the Pixar film, Cars.

The song is light-hearted and innocent; The Crew-Cuts’ version, especially, contains some musical humour with the use of a timpani glissando marking the end of several phrases. As we go deeper into winter and daylight wanes away, it is important to keep our spirits up and remind ourselves of the simpler things in life. I hope this little song brings a smile to your otherwise busy day and reminds you to take time to do the things in life that make you smile.

Miss Murata – Composer-in-Residence