1954: Eisenhower is in the White House, the McCarthy hearings begin, an IBM computer translates sixty phrases from Russian into English, a de Havilland Comet succumbs to metal fatigue and disintegrates in mid-flight, Bill Haley and the Comets record ‘Rock Around the Clock,’ Dien Bien Phu falls to the Viet Minh, Lord of the Flies is published, initiating countless middle school essays, and Marilyn Monroe marries Joe DiMaggio, of whom people are still asking Where have you gone?

Sheree North was lumped into the Blonde Bombshell bin along with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Mansfield. Born Dawn Shirley Crang, Sheree appeared in USO shows when she was 10, had a daughter at 17, danced in clubs, and had a couple of bit parts in theatre and films before catching her Big Break at the age of 21: a two-minute dance routine in Hazel Flagg, a Broadway musical that ran for 190 performances in 1953. Sheree was described as a most uninhibited dancer and a sexation, and her performance was said to have stopped the show and aroused so much discussion.

Sheree next popped up in January 1954, on Bing Crosby’s first television special. The video below shows the entire episode, but I cued it up just before Sheree’s dance number. Feel free to keep watching after the dance, for a nice dose of the wholesomeness that rock-n-roll was about to blow out of the water.

Seems pretty tame, doesn’t it? But one newspaper described the dance as pulse-pounding, and Crosby reportedly received much criticism — especially from churches — for airing the segment. Maybe Sheree’s facial expressions got the ministers worked up. A movie contract with 20th Century-Fox soon followed, and here our story traverses an interesting kink in the road…

Immediately after signing with Fox, it was ‘discovered’ that Sheree’s dancing had been the subject of ten short 8mm films that had been distributed through the US Mail by something called The Movie of the Month Club. The United States Postal Service put its cordovan-clad foot down and declared that four of the films could not be sent through the Sacred Mail System because they were clearly lustfully stimulating and sexually provocative, obscene, lewd, and lascivious.

The resultant ‘scandal’ brought Sheree and Fox more free publicity than a roomful of hacks could have churned out in a month, which suggests that someone at the studio had a hand in bringing the films to the attention of the Post Office.

‘What do you mean lewd?’ Sheree responded. ‘It’s just modern dancing. It’s the same dance I did on the Bing Crosby television show. Why I never did a bump and grind in my life!’ Sheree explained that she made the films because she needed the money. She was paid $50 per film, though one earned her $100 because she was, in her words, extra zowie. ‘I didn’t mean to be lewd,’ she said. ‘But I can’t say I didn’t know what I was doing.’

Which brings us to our Song of the Day, ‘It’s Neat to be Alive​ (Live Life à la Mode)’ by Christopher James. ‘It’s just a simple song about valuing a life worth living, others as well as one’s own,’ Chris told us, ‘and a reminder to enjoy living that life (with ice cream on the side, of course!).’ The song provides the soundtrack to one of Sheree North’s 8mm films that were deemed so scandalous back in the day. About the clip, Chris said, ‘All I saw was someone living life and being their truest self.’

It’s neat to be alive
True love never dies
You are what you love
You are what you love
Wear it like a glove

It’s neat to strive
For the good things in life
And take good care
And take good care
And don’t go hugging wild bear

I know they’re cute
But maybe stand way over there

Now back to that discussion-arousing dance in Hazel Flagg… The musical became a movie in 1954: Living It Up, starring Jerry Lewis (Hazel was altered to Homer), Dean Martin, and Janet Leigh. The plot? A poor kid from New Mexico is thought to be dying from radiation poisoning and… oh never mind. You’re going all the way to New York because you’ve got radiation poisoning. How far can I go on a sinus condition? Sheree re-created her routine from the play, dancing with more exhuberence than people were allowed to display in those days.

Sheree North never became a superstar, but she worked steadily in films and in television for the next forty years. In 1995 she finally reconciled with the US Postal Service — or with one of its employees, anyway — when she appeared on Seinfeld as Kramer’s mother, Babs. And how neat is that?

‘It’s Neat to be Alive​ (Live Life à la Mode)’ appears on Christopher James’ most recent album, .​.​.​And That’s When The Magic Happens, thirty songs written and recorded last May as a song-a-day challenge. The collection is Christopher’s third song-a-day project. In May 2019 he recorded Here’s My Face, and in May 2018 he released In the Month of May. 

The music of Christopher James is available on Bandcamp.  Check out Christopher’s art on his website, and be sure to follow Christopher James on Facebook and Instagram.