40s Music

I went to high school from 1946 to 1950 at Sacred Heart, a converted elementary Catholic school located on Wolcott Street in Waterbury, Connecticut. Dances were held on Friday nights in the all purpose room and the music was provided in most cases by a DJ playing the favorite songs of the time. It was a time of innocence for most with the dances coming to a close by eleven so we could get the last bus home. Nobody had cars back then-at least not for dances. We did have radios and I remember listening to some of my favorite disc jockeys playing Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. The Andrews Sisters were still popular. "Star Dust", "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "Sentimental Journey", "Riders in the Sky", "Stormy Weather", "Cool Water", "Mule Train" came out of that radio sung by stars like Peggy Lee, the Ink Spots, Vaughn Monroe, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Shore, Frankie Laine, Spike Jones and many more .There was one who was my favorite - Nat 'King' Cole - especially his hit, "Nature Boy". That song made quite an impression on me. I have always been struck by the final two lines: "The only thing you have to learn
Is just to love and be loved in return" Which, I think, simply is what life is all about.