Jerry Lee Lewis ~ Great Balls of Fire

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Fifty-nine years ago, on Tuesday, October 8, 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis recorded Great Balls of Fire. What a great thing to happen!     

 

 

 

Fire is a 1957 song that was recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee and featured in the 1957 movie Jamboree a 1957 American rock and roll film directed by Roy Lockwood.   

 

Jamboree - movie poster 
 

 

Jamboree also featured Fats" Domino, Jimmy Bowen, Buddy Knox, Carl Perkins, Count Basie, Connie Francis and many others.        

 

Great Balls of Fire was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer (gotta just LOVE that name! Earl Solomon Burroughs), in AABA form.      

 

 

Jack Hammer 

(Earl Solomon Burroughs) 
date & photographer unknown 

 

 

The backing personnel was Sidney Stokes on bass, session drummer, Larry Linn and Roland Janes playing guitar).                 

 

The Lewis 1957 recording was ranked as the 96th-greatest song ever by Rolling Stone. It sold one million copies in its first 10 days of release in the United States, making it one of the best-selling singles at that time.        

     
     
     
     
     
     
      

     
     

    

 

      

     

     

      

     

     

     

Viewfinder links:       

         

Otis Blackwell         

Jimmy Bowen                  

Count Basie          

Jimmy Van Eaton        

Connie Francis     

Jack Hammer      

Buddy Knox           

Jerry Lee Lewis        

Roland Janes         

Carl Perkins        

        

        

        

        
        

        

        

        

        

        

        
        
     
Net links:       

        

        

        

Larry Linn        

        

        
        

        

        

        

        

        

        
        
     
YouTube links:       

        

Great Balls of Fire         

        

        

        

        
        

        

        

        

        

        

        
        

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, October 7, 2026         
        

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Disco Daze 

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Roland Janes articles/mentions

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Roland Janes     

date & photographer unknown     

     

mentions:     

  

Jerry Lee Lewis ~ Great Balls of Fire           

     

     

     

     

 

 

 

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Music People

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Jimmy Van Eaton articles/mentions

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Jimmy Van Eaton 

date & photographer unknown 

     

     

mentions:     

  

Jerry Lee Lewis ~ Great Balls of Fire           

     

     

     

     

 

 

 

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Music People

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Jack Hammer (Earl Solomon Burroughs) articles/mentions

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Jack Hammer (Earl Solomon Burroughs)     

date & photographer unknown      

     

     

      

I was searching the Net for an image of Jack Hammer and came across this image and thought it was too good a pun to pass up.     

 

This is a real shot off him . . . 

 

Jack Hammer (Earl Solomon Burroughs) 

date & photographer unknown 

      

mentions:     

  

Jerry Lee Lewis ~ Great Balls of Fire      

     

     

     

     

 

 

 

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Music People

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Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots ~ Disco Duck

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I recently wrote a blog about Rock Me Amadeus, a wacky song and how much I love them; it got my mind going about how many of those songs I could recall and realized there are MILLIONS!       
     
This got me thinking about a new Viewfinder music section;  well, I'll think about that, hum . . .    
     
So, any way, the memory of one of those tunes was brought back when today I realized Disco Duck by Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots received a gold record on Wednesday, October 6, 1976, EXACTLY fifty years ago today! The song became only the fourth single to be certified platinum in December of 1976.    

 

 

 

 

Disco Duckita settles nicely in the wacky category, if ever a song could! The song is from an album of the same name. The songs are pretty much the same and if you're looking for mindless, no content but wonderful feeling DISCO. Then, you're in heaven!          

 

There are two songs on the album that stand out: Disc-Orilla and He Ate Too Many Jelly Donuts. The latter parodies "Pelvis" and "Waistland"!     
            

            

     

      

     

      

     

     

     

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YouTube links:       

         

Rick Dees ~       

      Disc - Orilla       

      He Ate Too Many Jelly Donuts         

Disco Duck songs                

                  

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, October 6, 2026         
        

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Music Notes

Songs On the Viewfinder 

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Wacky Songs On the Viewfinder

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I recently wrote a blog about Rock Me Amadeus, a totally wacky song and how much I love them; it got my mind going about how many of those songs I could recall and realized there are MILLIONS!     

         
Well, this got me thinking about creating a new Viewfinder music section;  so, here it is . . .    

         

         

         

         

Bill Buchanan & Dickie Goodman ~ The Flying Saucer         

Red Buttons ~ Strange Things Are Happening         

The Coasters ~ Yakety Yak              

Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots ~ 

         Disco Duck           

         He Ate Too Many Jelly Donuts            

Devo ~ (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction          

Falco ~ Rock Me Amadeus    

Stan Freberg ~ Presents the United States of America Volume One    

Günther, Louis and Zach ~ Ding Dong Song: Disco Daze 7         

Bill Haley and the Comets ~ See You Later Alligator        

Clarence "Frogman" Henry ~ Ain't Got No Home          

Herman's Hermits – I'm Henry VIII, I Am                 

Florence Foster Jenkins ~ The Glory (????) of the Human Voice 

John Marks ~ Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer                

Klaus Nomi          

Bobby (Boris) Pickett ~ Monster Mash          

The Residents ~ (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction         

Shorty Rogers ~ The Swingin' Nutcracker       

Sex Pistols ~ God Save the Queen              

         

         

        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, October 6, 2026         
        

         

         

         

         

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Music Notes

Songs On the Viewfinder 

Wacky Songs On the Viewfinder 

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Billy Fury ~ Push Push

 

 

 

 

 

Thinking about Tom again lately, I've remembered another one of my favorite songs by Billy Fury (link below) Push Push, not to be confused with the 1999 song by Falco.      

 

Push Push is a fun and filled with sexual innuendos, obviously, song fit for Mae West, with a calypso-feeling beat accompanied by a slow tympani and a really nice piano break.   

 

It was written by Bert Russell and Phil Medley sometime in the early seventies; together they also wrote Twist and Shout first performed by The Top Notes in 1961 and later by the the Beatles.        

      

     

     

Viewfinder links:       

         

the Beatles 

Falco      

Billy Fury         

Mae West         

Tom White         

      
Net links:       

        

        

        

        

        

        

        
        
     
YouTube links:       

         

the Beatles ~ Twist and Shout          

the Beatles ~ Twist and Shout (live) (October 30, 1963)        

Falco ~ Push Push             

Billy Fury ~           

     I'm lost Without You         

     Push Push

     That's Love                             

The Top Notes ~ Twist and Shout original version     

         

        
Styrous® ~ Monday, October 5, 2026         
        

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Music Notes

Songs On the Viewfinder   

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Camille O'Grady @ the Ambush

 

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Camille O'Grady

photo by Glenda Hydler 

 

On October 1, 2026, I had the pleasure of attending a book signing/record release event held at the Et AI Gallery on mission Street in San Francisco.      

 

I was proud to have been an integral part of a project to transfer from reel-to-reel tape to vinyl LP a performance by Camille O'Grady I had recorded at the Ambush Bar at 1351 Harrison Street on March 3rd, 1979, in San Francisco.       

 

Phillip Zimmerman and Aaron Harbour were there early and were busy setting up for the big event. Master of Ceremonies was record producer Josh Cheon.   

 

 

Phillip Zimmerman - Saturday, October 1, 2026 
Et AI Gallery, San Francisco 

photo by Styrous® 

 

 

 

Aaron Harbour - Saturday, October 1, 2026

Et AI Gallery, San Francisco 

photo by Styrous® 

 

 

 

Master of Ceremonies - Josh Cheon 
Et AI Gallery, San Francisco 

Saturday, October 1, 2026 

 photo by Styrous® 

 

 

A short ride on BART from the West Oakland station . . .        

 

 

 

 

 

 . . .  to the 24th Street station . . . 

 

 

. . . got me to the gallery just across the street . . .  

 

 

 

 

 

Tom, of course, was in virtual attendance as well.       

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

  

Behind the store is the performance space where the event was held. 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

There are many items of/by and relating to O'Grady on display; jewelry she wore, art work she created, videos of performances and music she sang, etc.        

 

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Event was attended by Leather Men & Women who lived in O'Grady's time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Speakers and Readers

 

 

Will Roscoe of VORTEX zine 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Cornelius O 

 

 

 

 

 

Brendan McHugh 

 

 . . . and of course, items for sale . . .  

 

 

. . . The Book . . .  

 

 

. . . and last but not least, The album . . . 

 

 

 

Terminal Fascination 

. . . which can be obtained 

through Bandcamp (link below). 

 

        

Et AI Gallery, a San Francisco–based exhibition space founded in 2013 with a commitment to collaboration, experimentation, and cross-disciplinary dialogue. 

 

Directed by Jackie Im and Aaron Harbour, the gallery emerged from a curatorial practice rooted in close engagement with artists, writers, performers, photographers and publishers. Et al established itself as a thoughtful and rigorous platform for contemporary art, favoring intimacy, critical exchange, and material curiosity over spectacle. Its evolution reflects a belief in art as an ongoing conversation rather than a fixed product.         

        
        

        
        
        
        

Viewfinder links:                   

 

Josh Cheon       

Camille O'Grady         

Tom White         

 

 

 

Net links:                    

         

All About Photo ~ Et AI Gallery      

Bandcamp: Camille O'Grady ~ Terminal Fascination        

Bluf ~ The Ambush        
brankobrand ~ Ambush (SF Gay Leather Bar/1973-1986)       

Josh Cheon           
Found San Francisco ~.     

           Folsom St Gulch 1970s    

           Folsom Street: The Miracle Mile        

           Leather Renaissance Ends         

Jackie Im          

VORTEX zine            

Tom White         

YouTube links:                   

        
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Friday, October 3, 2026         
        

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Theater/performance
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