Revisit Patsy Cline’s 1957 National TV Debut

Patsy Cline‘s first national TV appearance was a foretelling of her future success. Cline made her grand debut on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts in 1957 on CBS. Godfrey’s long-running radio and TV variety show brought some of the brightest stars of their time to the forefront via talent scouts that would bring performers onto the show. The winner was determined by a meter that measured the audience’s applause. The singer with the loudest applause was deemed the winner. That’s what happened the night Cline took the stage on the January 21, 1957, broadcast where she performed what would become her first hit, “Walkin’ After Midnight.”

But Cline’s appearance was thanks in large part to her mother, Hilda Hensley, who pretended to be her manager to get her daughter on the show. Though the future superstar originally wanted to perform “A Poor Man’s Roses (Or a Rich Man’s Gold),” the producers requested Cline sing “Midnight” instead. During the 8:30 p.m. time slot, she launched into a soulful rendition of “Midnight,” backed by a piano player and bass guitarist. Leaning up against the piano, Cline was calm, cool and collected as she belted out the country classic. The audience’s reaction to her performance was so intense that their applause froze the meter for the first time in the show’s history.

[RELATED: Top 10 Songs by Patsy Cline]

Overcome with joy at the warm reception, Cline could barely catch her breath when Godfrey invited her to sit for a brief chat afterward where Cline revealed she’d never won a national talent contest before. When Cline replied that she’d yet to have a hit song, Godfrey made a surefire prediction. “You know I got a hunch this one is,” he said of “Midnight.” The crowd applauded when he asked, “This is commercial isn’t it?”

Cline had already released four singles prior – “A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye,” “Hidin’ Out,” “I Love You, Honey” and “Stop, Look and Listen” – all of which failed to chart. But her winning appearance on Talent Scouts prompted her label Decca Records to rush release “Walkin’” as a single in February 1957. Fulfilling Godfrey’s prophecy, “Walkin’” was a hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and No. 12 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.

Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns