IF I SAID the words "music, music, music," many people would immediately think of the late Teresa Brewer, who recorded a pop song by that name that became a No. 1 hit in 1950.

Brewer was born Theresa Breuer on May 7, 1931, and in January 1948 won a local competition and went on to appear on a talent show called "Stairway to the Stars" in New York City.

That talent show brought us many of our favorite singers during the '50s.

In New York, she won a number of talent shows and sang in nightclubs as well. She decided to change the spelling of her last name to Brewer, so that her name was spelled like it sounded.

Richie Lisella, a talent agent, heard her sing and took her under his wing. Soon, she signed a contract with London Records, and in 1949 recorded a record called "Copenhagen."

That recording never went over too well, but the B side was "Music! Music! Music!," the song that made her famous. In fact, it became her signature song for the rest of her career.

If I said "If your sweetheart sends a letter of goodbye. It's no secret "..." you would remember the singer with the hearing aids, Johnnie Ray. He was born Jan. 10, 1927 in Dallas, Ore. By 1951, he had recorded a song he had written called "Whiskey and Gin," but that was only a small hit.

Later that same year, he recorded "Cry" and "The Little White Cloud That Cried," both of which became smash hits for him. "Cry" was written

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by Churchill Kohlman, and "The Little White Cloud That Cried" was written by Johnnie Ray himself.

Although he went on to record many other hits, those two songs are the ones attributed to him the most. He had a very emotional delivery for a singer at that time, and ended up being the brunt of many jokes by comedians. His last hit was "I'll Never Fall In Love Again," recorded in 1958 — another of his songs that I really liked.

While on the subject of old songs and old singers, one of my readers, Pat, alerted me that the Web site YouTube not only plays the songs but has videos of the singers as well. I spent the better part of one day just clicking on the songs and reliving those wonderful moments of my youth when those artists and their songs were so popular.

I started off with a video of the original Righteous Brothers, as they looked a few years ago singing "Unchained Melody." I don't know about you, but the years flew off my body, and I was ready to dance again.

It must have been from one of those PBS shows, as everyone in the audience looked so old with their gray hair and double chins. Of course, the Righteous Brothers had gray hair too, but it only made them look more handsome.

The second song of theirs that I selected was "You've Lost That Loving Feeling," and that video showed them as they were when it was a hit. I was then on a roll and decided to try a video of the Four Tops singing "Baby I Need Your Lovin'"‰" when they were young and performing.

Time to switch to a group of ladies, and I clicked on The Supremes and watched them sing their famous "Baby Love," which was also filmed when they were young.

YouTube has plenty of our old favorites, and the best part is you get to watch them sing the songs you have selected to hear. Want to go back to your good ol' days and feel younger while listening to music with words you can understand and make sense? Check it out.

A native of Minnesota, Carol Olson grew up in South Dakota and Walnut Creek and now lives in Pittsburg. Reach her at carolleeolson@aol.com.