And here we are, a little belatedly, arriving in June 1954 in our musical journey as The Scovells find themselves back in 2021 in New Zealand after 8 years abroad in the UK. So a combination of timezones and jetlag means this week’s edition is a little behind schedule. But enough about today, here’s what yesteryear sounded like…
The songs of June, 1954
“A Girl A Girl” – Eddie Fisher
“Answer Me My Love” – Nat King Cole
“Crazy ‘Bout You Baby” – Crew Cuts
“Cross Over The Bridge” – Patti Page
“Here” – Tony Martin
“Hernando’s Hideaway” – Archie Bleyer
“I Get So Lonely” – Four Knights
“I Understand” – Four Tunes
“If You Love Me” – Kay Starr
“Isle Of Capri” – Gaylords
“Isle Of Capri” – Jackie Lee
“Jilted” – Teresa Brewer
“Little Things Mean A Lot” – Kitty Kallen
“Make Love To Me” – Jo Stafford
“My Friend” – Eddie Fisher
“Point Of Order” – Stan Freberg
“Steam Heat” – Patti Page
“The Happy Wanderer” – Frank Weir
“The Happy Wanderer” – Henri Rene
“The Man Upstairs” – Kay Starr
“The Man With The Banjo” – Ames Brothers
“Three Coins In The Fountain” – Four Aces
“Three Coins In The Fountain” – Frank Sinatra
“Wanted” – Perry Como
“Young At Heart” – Frank Sinatra
Just 4 new songs on the charts. So well supplement for a UK chart from this month:
“Secret Love” – Doris Day
“Such A Night” – Johnnie Ray
“Friends And Neighbours” – Billy Cotton And His Band
“The Happy Wanderer” – Obernkirchen Children’s Choir
“Someone Else’s Roses” – Joan Regan
“(Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely” – Four Knights
“The Kid’s Last Fight” – Frankie Laine
“The Gang That Sang Heart Of My Heart” – Max Bygraves
“Changing Partners” – Kay Starr
“Wanted” – Perry Como
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:
This month in history
The 4th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18 to 29 June 1954. Their were no Jury prizes but the audience awarded the “Golden Bear” award to “Hobson’s Choice” a 1954 British romantic comedy film – based on the 1916 play of the same name. You can view a trailer below:
Meanwhile on a darker note, and back (here) in New Zealand the murder of Honorah Parker by her 16-year-old daughter Pauline Parker and her best friend, Juliet Hulme, 15, drew attention both locally and overseas. One of New Zealand’s most infamous crimes, it later inspired the play, Daughters of heaven, by Michelanne Forster, and Peter Jackson’s Academy Award-nominated film Heavenly creatures. Which you can see the trailer for below:
In discovering the former, I also noted that the popular New Zealand quiz show “It’s in the bag” began in January 1954 in first incarnation as a long running (11-year) radio show.
Host Selwyn Toogood became famous for expressions like ‘By hokey!’ and ‘What should she do, New Zealand, the money or the bag?’ that became part of the Kiwi vernacular.
Each show was broadcast from a different town, giving it a local feel. Contestants selected from the audience were asked three relatively easy questions. If successful, they got to play for ‘the money or the bag’. Hidden in the prize bags were three ‘booby prizes’ of little value and a ‘Super Bag’
He was less famously, but completely, sexist as this amazing clip from 1959 shows:
Massive respect to the female computer programmer in that clip incidentally! And coincidentally, one of the first vaguely OK things I coded myself was a text version of the gameshow, complete with the host’s expressions.
You can see a great documentary on a making of an episode of the radio show below:
What’d Sadie think?
“Little Things Mean A Lot” by Kitty Kallen has made its way to the top of the charts and stays there for all of June of 1954.
As well as “A Girl, A Girl”, Eddie Fisher, is looking for a friend it appears with “My Friend” now also charting. It’s more chill than the former and didn’t really grab us, I hope he found some mates either way.
“Point Of Order” is another Stan Freberg comedy number. This time he’s having another shot at Senator Joseph McCarthy with the “suspect” being investigated the black sheep from the nursery rhyme, “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep”. “I would be suspicious of anyone who tried to rhyme dame with lane.” etc. Apparently this was a much watered-down version of the original which was too overt for the record company. It’s his usual schtick so kind of funny if you’re in the right mood.
“Steam Heat” by Patti Page is from the 1954 Broadway musical “The Pajama Game” and its a fun number, it’ll get you singing along in no time. “Sssssss-steam heat!”
“Three Coins In The Fountain” is the second version of a song we first heard from the Four Aces last month, this time by Frank Sinatra. It’s actually the version from the eponymous film and is rather nice.
Then there are 5 songs we’ve not encountered in previous UK or US charts in this week’s UK top-10 hit parade,
“Such A Night” by Johnnie Ray was apparently banned by some radio stations as too “racy”, but versions still charted on the pop and R&B charts. It’s an upbeat number but hardly racy by modern “WAP” standards.
It was a kiss mmmm what a kiss it was
“Such A Night” by Johnnie Ray
It really was, such a kiss
How she could kiss ooo what a kiss it was
It really was, such a kiss
Just part of her lips that sets me on fire
I reminisce and I feel desire
I’d give my heart to her in sweet surrender
“Friends And Neighbours” by Billy Cotton And His Band is like a bad TV show theme. Whereas “Someone Else’s Roses” by Joan Regan is melancholy but a sweet number.
“The Kid’s Last Fight” by Frankie Laine is a lyrical tune that tells the story of a young fighter, Kid McCoy, fighting against Tiger Wilson. He hopes to win enough prize money to buy a bungalow for him and his darling Bess. The Kid is fighting while battling a fever and although he knocks out Tiger Wilson, the song says “Twas the fever that won the fight”. It’s a suitably punchy number but nothing special.
“The Gang That Sang Heart Of My Heart” by Max Bygraves was apparently a particular favourite of U.S. President John F. Kennedy; the president often asked his younger brother Teddy to sing it at family gatherings. It’s got a nice barbershop quartet chorus and is definitely catchy but I’d not ask my younger brother to sing it…
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link folks!