ABSTRACT
Try to find some old Ranch Party videos. It was the syndicated version of Town Hall Party, the television barn dance that ran from around 1951 to 1960. There were interesting guys like Joe Maphis and Skeets McDonald mugging it up in the background, occasional guest spots by the fabulously out-of-tune Jenks “Tex” Carman, and regular appearances from the Collins Kids. At some point in 1957, Wanda Jackson was booked to sing “Cool Love.” As she went into the bridge, she began to move, and the fringe of her dress began to sway in counterpoint. It wasn’t a cheap burlesque move—in fact, it was almost beguilingly innocent—but there was nothing sexier in 1950s music.
