Moments to Remember (XM Satellite Radio show)

Moments to Remember was a weekly two-hour program carried on XM Satellite Radio that featured standard 'pop' recordings of the 1950-56 period, and related trivia.

Moments to Remember

Genre	Traditional pop
Running time	Two hours
Country of origin	United States
Hosted by	Bob Moke
Created by	Bob Moke
Produced by	Bob Moke
Original release	2006/07 – 2009/02
No. of episodes	52
Opening theme	Moments to Remember
Website	www.youtube.com/@MomentsToRememberXM--BobMoke

Origin

Moments to Remember was one of several specialty music shows heard on The '50s channel of the former XM Satellite Radio service prior to its merger with Sirius Satellite Radio in October 2008. M2R continued on the combined SiriusXM through February 2009. The two-hour weekly program focused on popular music from the early and mid-1950s, a period that host Bob Moke termed the "Pop '50s Years." This included recordings by such stars as Johnnie Ray, Nat King Cole, Doris Day, The Four Aces, Perry Como, Rosemary Clooney, Les Paul and Mary Ford, and Patti Page, with feature segments related to the artists and current events of the period.

Format

Moments to Remember used as its theme song the 1955 hit of the same name by The Four Lads. M2R began its 52-week series of original programming, with date-specific content, in July 2006. Each show was re-cycled to exactly one year later, and was broadcast several times during the week.

Weekly feature segments

What's Playing

Introduced by the familiar 20th Century Fox trumpet fanfare, Moke presented a look at what was playing in movie theatres, on television, or on Broadway in the week of the broadcast, during one of the 50s years. For example, for the week August 8–14, Moke highlighted the August 8, 1953, premiere of the Martin and Lewis film comedy "The Caddy," and played the Dean Martin hit record from the movie, "That's Amore". For the week October 3–9, he noted the October 3, 1955, premiere of The Mickey Mouse Club on the ABC Television Network, and played the show's opening and closing themes.

The XM Record Museum

Moke would invite the listener to accompany him on a virtual trip to the XM record museum, where he chose a vintage record that would relate in some way to a hit during the Pop '50s Years. For example, for the week of June 20–26, he sampled a 1920 recording of "Whispering" by Paul Whiteman and his Ambassador Orchestra, and compared it to the 1951 hit version of the song by Les Paul. For the week of August 29-September 4, he reached back to 1918 for Al Jolson's "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody", and brought it forward to 1956, with Jerry Lewis's version.

Then and Then

The M2R "Then and Then" segment flipped the calendar on the oldies routine. It compared a well-known later recording with an original version of the song introduced during the early 1950s. For example, during the week of February 7–13, Moke introduced the 1963 hit recording of "Blue Velvet" by Bobby Vinton, and compared it to the original of the song recorded in 1951 by Tony Bennett. For the week June 13–19, he called out the 1957 hit recording of "Kisses Sweeter than Wine" by Jimmie Rodgers, and compared it to the original of the song recorded in 1951 by The Weavers.

Hall of Fame

One of the most popular, best-selling artists of the period was featured each week in the M2R Hall of Fame. Moke presented a montage of the artist's hits, followed by two hits in their entirety. Doris Day was the honoree in the calendar year's first broadcast, for the week of January 3–9, accompanied by "(Why Did I Tell You I Was Going To) Shanghai" and "If I Give My Heart To You." Through the course of the year, others featured in the hall included Dean Martin, Eddie Fisher, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Georgia Gibbs, Jo Stafford, Teresa Brewer, and Kay Starr. Stan Freberg was honored in the year-end show, December 26-January 1, with "Try," his send-up of Johnnie Ray's "Cry", and Freberg's parody of The Platters' "The Great Pretender."

In The News

By way of introduction to the countdown of the five most popular hits in a given year of the early to mid-50s, Moke gave headlines of newsworthy events on the domestic and world stages, as well as in the entertainment realm, prompting the listener to guess the year to be featured. For example, for the May 30-June 5 show:

In the news, the United Nations has moved its temporary headquarters in Lake Success, New York, to its new, permanent home in Manhattan. Univac, the first computer built for commercial purposes, has been completed and will be demonstrated June 14 in Philadelphia. New on the racks at your men's clothing store: Dacron suits. New on the baseball diamond: New York Giant Willie Mays goes 0 for 5 in his first major league game. New on your TV set: the Ernie Kovacs NBC variety show called "Ernie in Kovacs-Land." Now playing at the movie theatres: "Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm". "I Was a Communist for the FBI". And the latest from Donald O'Connor and Francis The Talking Mule – "Francis Goes To The Races." Checking the popular music side of the entertainment world, we now play back the five hottest singles this week in the year [drum roll] . . . 1951.

High Five Countdown

During the last 25 minutes or so of each show, Moke counted down the top five records for the week of its broadcast in a given year of the early to mid-50s.

After playing the number two hit for the week, Moke "paused" the countdown to play an "extra," an uncharted recording that related to the music for that week in some way. For example, for the week of January 3–9, the extra was Georgie Shaw's "Let Me Go, Devil," the 1953 precursor to the number two hit that week in 1955, Joan Weber's "Let Me Go, Lover."

For the week of May 30-June 5, the extra was "Virgin of the Sun God," from the best-selling album of that week in 1951, Voice of the Xtabay, by Yma Sumac. The top five hits for that week:

5. Sound Off (The Duckworth Chant) – Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra

4. Jezebel – Frankie Laine

3. On Top Of Old Smokey – The Weavers

2. Too Young – Nat King Cole

1. How High The Moon – Les Paul and Mary Ford

Over the course of the 52-week series, M2R played chart-toppers from December 1949 (stretching into 1950) (Frankie Laine's "Mule Train"), to March 1956 (Nelson Riddle's "Lisbon Antigua").

Re-creations

After Moments to Remember concluded its run on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, producer and host Bob Moke prepared a reconstructed version, and uploaded the 52-week series in MP3 files to a Usenet newsgroup, to share with enthusiasts. Moke subsequently posted the series on YouTube, to a dedicated "Moments to Remember" channel.