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:: Miss Matches USA (Louise Lewis) - The Stranger And The Atom Bomb ::

Ah, the good old days. When the world was going to end any minute, courtesy of a Pinko nuclear strike. But hey, if you were a God-fearing Christian, that just meant the end times were nearer and you'd get to heaven that much faster, right? I guess that's the gist of this polite yet scary little song.

The writer and performer is Louise Lewis, who had made a splash with the bizarre Astro Mice single around 1959. Basically a Chipmunks ripoff, but with a space angle -- I'd love to hear that! On that same record she did a fire safety song called "Miss Matches USA," which evidently led her to believe she should start calling herself that on future records. Here she's backed by Rene Hall's Orchestra. Rene was quite the session guitarist in Los Angeles, appearing all over what little recorded Ritchie Valens material exists, and according to some, he played the famous riff from La Bamba on a Danelectro six string bass. He also worked with Sam Cooke, The Marketts and Marvin Gaye, arranging as well as playing. His talents are pretty much wasted on this stroll down the middle of the road. According to the label, this one clocks in at 2:22, which is one third of 6:66.

This is one of those songs where I wish I could have watched the singer as she cut her vocal tracks. The way Louise enunciates and inflects emotion into some of her words, I am sure she made some faces like a nun seeing her first erection.


Tony

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