what was the music like 50 years ago? remember, in america at least, this was post-rock-n-roll and pre-beatles music (at least in the us).

some of it was over-the-top wacky ("yackety sax," "poppa oom mow mow"), some was tastefully if not syrupy sweet ("our day will come," "blue velvet"), and some was a vision of the future ("watermelon man," "it's all right").

then there were the heavy hitters: bob & earl's "harlem shuffle," and johnny cash's "ring of fire."

all 24 songs are listed here.