Teresa Brewer

[at40petebattistini]

A question about professional athletes on Top 40 records was answered during the June 16, 1979 program. As part of the response, Casey played part of a song by Teresa Brewer, "I Love Mickey." Brewer had a number of chart records during the 50s, including the Mantle record. However, she was rarely acknowledged on AT40.

Sadly, she died Wednesday, October 17. To read more about her, here's a wikipedia link:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Brewer

[RNH]

Thank you for the information on Teresa Brewer.

Sadly, I think, like Frankie Laine earlier this year, this will be another one the fifties greats to pass away and go completely unnoticed by most of the media.

As many of you may recall, a very talented Frankie Laine left us at about the same as the untalented Anna Nicole Smith.

We know who got the attention!

[Rob Durkee]

Teresa Brewer, who had four #1 CashBox pop hits in the 1950's, died Wednesday at her New Rochelle, New York, home. She was 76 and her four daughters were at her side at the time of her passing. Bill Munroe, a spokesman for Brewer's family, reported that her death was the result of a neuromuscular disease.

Brewer sang with jazz greats Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Wynton Marsalis, plus performed with other greats like Mel Torme and Tony Bennett. She also guest-hosted "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Born on May 7, 1931 in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer got into music at an early age. While still a two-year-old, her mom took her to her first audio for a radio show entitled, "Uncle August's Kiddie Show." She sang "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" and the show's sponsors paid her in cookies and cupcakes.

Three years later at age five, she debuted on "The Major Bowes Amateur Hour" and performed on that show until age 12. Brewer continued recording for radio shows throughout most of her teens. She moved to New York in her late teens and, after a string of talent shows, started recording with London Records in 1949. The next year, 1950, she reached #1 the first of four times on the CashBox pop chart with "Music Music Music."

In 1953, she switched to Coral Records, where she had another 14 Top 40 hits and three #1's: "Til I Waltz Again With You" (1953), "Ricochet" (1953) and "You Send Me" (1957). "Waltz" sold over 1.4 million copies. Also in 1953, Brewer was named the USA's most popular singer via a poll conducted by Paramount Pictures. First prize was a role in the 3-D technicolor movie, "Those Redheads From Seattle." Eventually, Paramount offered her a seven-year acting contract, but she turned it down. She instead wanted to stay in New Rochelle to raise a family.

As, Munroe pointed out, "Her career was always a hobby with her. Her family always came first. She always considered her legacy not to be the gold records and the TV appearances, but her loving family. She was just a wonderful, lovely lady."

Ironically, "You Send Me" was also a #1 CashBox hit for Sam Cooke. This writer can still vividly remember the "You Send Me" battle. In Cleveland, one radio station's countdown had at #1 "You Send Me"...by Teresa Brewer. At the same time, another Cleveland station had at #1 "You Send Me"...by Sam Cooke.

Brewer was every bit as famous and successful with one of her non top 40 hits. In 1956, she reached #50 with "I Love Mickey," a record you can still hear on radio stations at the start of baseball seasons. The novelty hit included the voice of New York Yankee slugging great Mickey Mantle.

Brewer's last top 40 pop was the #24-peaking "Anymore" in the fall of 1960. Her popularity waned by the 1970's, when she was reunited with jazz producer Bob Thiele to perform with jazz greats. After divorcing her first husband, Brewer and Thiele married. Thiele died in 1996. Brewer is survived by four daughters, four grandsons and five great-grandchildren.