Rock 'n' roll songs of the 1950s have special meaning for North Iowans who came of age in the era of poodle skirts and sock hops.

Linda Muth of Clear Lake said one of her favorite songs  is "That'll Be the Day" by Buddy Holly.

Muth heard Holly sing it live because she was in the audience at the Surf Ballroom for what would turn out to be his final concert 46 years ago today.

"It was a night we will always remember," she said. "Nothing can take away those memories."

Wayne Christgau, maintenance supervisor and tour guide at the Surf, was on his first date when he heard the song "Dream Lover."

It was the spring of 1959 and Christgau's mother drove  him and his date to Austin, Minn., to see a movie to celebrate his 13th birthday.

"I remember my mother turning on the AM Delco push-button radio in the car, and Bobby Darin was singing this song called "Dream Lover," he said. "To this day, whenever I hear that song, I can't help but think of me and Darlene sitting in the back seat of my parents' '56 Chevy."

Sherry Pippert's favorite '50s song — "Little Darlin" by The Diamonds — also brings back memories of a special date.

The 1959 Mason City High School graduate went to a concert by The Diamonds at the Surf with her first steady boyfriend.

"After the concert, he stood in line to get their autograph for me," she said. "The song, of course, reminds me of my first and forever love and a happy time in my life that's nice to pull forth in my memory bank from time to time. Back then I wore my first strapless and could dance every dance and then some!"

Ken Beznoska of Rudd grew up in Nebraska, where his father worked for a jukebox and pinball machine distributor. He was allowed to look through the hundreds of used rock 'n' roll records that were being retired from jukeboxes.

In the summer of 1957, when he was 14, Beznoska heard a song by Guy Mitchell called "Rock-a-billy" and "couldn't wait to get my hands on a used copy of it," he said. "And when I did, I played that black vinyl 45 until it was threadbare and white."

Beznoska admits the lyrics of "Rock-a-billy" didn't make a lot of sense, but "it had a good beat and I went wild over that record."

John Cunningham of Mason City said one of his favorite '50s songs is "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets.

"It has a pleasing combination of rhythm and blues that vibrated a person into wanting to get up and shake a leg and do some dancing," he said.

Cunningham, whose other favorite '50s artists include Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley, said he doesn't understand much of the music young people listen to today. However, he appreciates most of it because he remembers how many parents and religious leaders tried to ban the music he and his friends liked because they thought the content was objectionable.

"In the 1950s, rock 'n' roll had a tradition of driving old folks up the wall," he said.

Linda Muth's record collection includes her favorite, Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day. (Globe Gazette photo by SARAH SCHUTT).