Another Old Song Invades My Head--Will Not Leave

This one is Joyce's fault. The other night--fussing in the kitchen with supper prep--Joyce quoted part of a lyric to me: "she's got personality ...."

And my sad brain--full of life's clutter--promptly reeled off some more of it.

All I could remember, though, was that it had been popular when I was in high school (1958-62), but I no more could have come up with the name of the singer than I was able to produce some of those answers in Algebra II. (Don't ask me my grade. I do remember this, though: a D+ one six-week marking period!)

So ... trusty Google to the rescue!

The song--"Personality,” by Lloyd Price (1933-)--was released in April 1959, the spring of my freshman year at Hiram High. It perched at #2 on the Billboard 100 for three weeks--never managing to topple the #1 hit at the time, "The Battle of New Orleans," by Johnny Horton (a song I loved, by the way--link to Johnny Horton's song).

Link to "Personality."

Lloyd Price

Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, Price was born in Louisiana and has had many irons in the Fire of Music.

And, oh, those lyrics to "Personality":

Over and over

I tried to prove my love to you

Over and over

What more can I do

Over and over

My friends say I'm a fool

But over and over

I'll be a fool for you

'Cause you've got personality,

Walk, with personality

Talk, with personality

Smile, with personality

Charm, personality

Love, personality

And plus you've got

A great big heart

So over (over and over) and over

Oh, I'll be a fool for you

Now over (over and over) and over

What more can I do?

'Cause you've got personality,

Walk, with personality

Talk, with personality

Smile, with personality

Charm, with personality

Love, with personality

And of course you've got

A great big heart

So over (over and over) and over

Oh, I'll be a fool for you

Now over (over and over) and over

What more can I do?

Over and over

I said that I loved you

Over and over

Honey now it's the truth

Over and over

They still say I'm a fool

But over and over

I'll be a fool for you

'Cause you've got personality

Walk, with personality

Talk, with personality

Smile, with personality

Charm, with personality

Love, with personality

And of course you've got

A great big heart

So over (over and over) and over

Oh, I'll be a fool for you

Now over (over and over) and over

What more can I do?

Songwriters: Harold Logan / Lloyd Price

So, April 1959. I was finishing my first year in high school. I was doing better academically than I'd done in 8th grade (Algebra II lay ahead of me!). I'd taken Latin I, Algebra I, General Science,  I'd played JV basketball, varsity baseball (catcher--sometime pitcher). I'd had a role in our production of The Mikado (November 21 & 22). I had a girlfriend. I'd sung in the choir, played in the band. I had great friends. The future unrolled before me like a carpet at the Oscars. The end of high school seemed like forever away. And I knew--positively knew--that I would live forever. That the day could not possibly come when I could not remember the name of Lloyd Price ...