As spring starts to make itself known down here in New Zealand, we find ourselves in July of 1954 in our musical journey through time.
The songs of July, 1954
In order to “get ahead of the game” I spent most of Sunday compiling the charts for the next 6 years of 4xLife time (or 1.5 years of real time). As a result we’ve seen enough charts this week so we’ll stick to the US pop charts:
“Answer Me My Love” – Nat King Cole
“Crazy ‘Bout You Baby” – Crew Cuts
“Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight” – Mcguire Sisters
“Green Years” – Eddie Fisher
“Here” – Tony Martin
“Hernando’s Hideaway” – Archie Bleyer
“Hey There” – Rosemary Clooney
“I Understand” – Four Tunes
“I Understand” – June Valli
“I’m A Fool To Care” – Les Paul & Mary Ford
“If You Love Me” – Kay Starr
“In The Chapel In The Moonlight” – Kitty Kallen
“Isle Of Capri” – Jackie Lee
“Little Things Mean A Lot” – Kitty Kallen
“My Friend” – Eddie Fisher
“Point Of Order” – Stan Freberg
“Sh-Boom” – Chords
“Sh-Boom” – Crew Cuts
“Some Day” – Frankie Laine
“Steam Heat” – Patti Page
“Sway” – Dean Martin
“Thank You For Calling” – Jo Stafford
“The Happy Wanderer” – Frank Weir
“The Happy Wanderer” – Henri Rene
“The Little Shoemaker” – Gaylords
“The Little Shoemaker” – Hugo Winterhalter / Eddie Fisher
“The Man Upstairs” – Kay Starr
“Three Coins In The Fountain” – Four Aces
“Three Coins In The Fountain” – Frank Sinatra
“Wanted” – Perry Como
“Young At Heart” – Frank Sinatra
You can listen to all of the songs, include the 13 (big week!) new songs on Youtube via this link or embedded below:
This month in history
It was time to chow down in the UK on July 4, 1954 when food rationing finally came to an end with the lifting of restrictions on sale and purchase of meat, 14 years after it began early in World War II and nearly a decade after the war’s end. I can see some parallel irony in this having just moved from lockdown free UK to NZ which has just entered into its first solid lockdown in a year…
I assume the end of rationing was one of the main stories when the BBC broadcast the UK’s first television news bulletin the next day on July 5, 1954.
In another parallel irony we see that “Fellowship of the Ring” the 1st volume of “Lord of the Rings” by J. R. R. Tolkien was published on July 29, 1954. New Zealand was once considered “middle earth”, despite the authorship of the books being in the UK, because the film series were made here. It has just shifted back to the UK for the making of the TV series as we move down under… (luckily The Scovells are not fans).
In prepping the playlists for the rest of the ’50s I got a bit of a sneak peek of what is coming up. So its only a little spoiler to note that on July 19, 1954 Elvis Presley’s first single, “That’s All Right” was released…but when will he be charting? We’ll see.
What’d Sadie think?
Kitty Kallen’s “Little Things Mean A Lot” rules the charts and takes the number 1 spot for every week this month. She’s also got a new song in the charts, “In The Chapel In The Moonlight” which is a cover of a 1936 tune and it’s not bad. It does make me ask, beyond the ’50s did anyone sing about chapels anymore? I guess we’ll eventually find out.
“Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight” is a lovely tune by the Mcguire Sisters which was apparently originally released on the R&B charts by doo-wop group The Spaniels.
“Green Years” by Eddie Fisher is a bit melodramatic, so it’ll depend on your mood – didn’t do it for us today.
“Hey There” by Rosemary Clooney is another hit charting from “The Pajama Game” musical. Last month we had “Steam Heat” by Patti Page from the show, which is still charting. It sounds like a show tune, but in a good way. You can see Clooney singing it below:
“I Understand” by June Valli is another version of the song that we first heard the Four Tunes charts last month. It’s a catchy sing-a-long.
“I’m A Fool To Care” is this month’s new Les Paul & Mary Ford tune – they’re always more miss than hit with us but this one has something nice about it.
“Sh-Boom” enters the charts with versions by the Crew Cuts and the Chords. We went with the version from the latter as it is an original of the R&B doo-wop group andis sometimes considered to be the first doo-wop or rock ‘n’ roll record to reach the top ten on the pop charts. And what a tune it is! Song of the week for sure.
“Some Day” is a revival of a 1925 song by Frankie Laine. It’s strange to think of these revivals – that’d be the equivalent of a ’90s song being covered now, which is pretty prevalent. I wonder if it made some folks feel as old as the latter makes me feel… I’m not sure if this one needed reviving to be honest.
“Sway” by Dean Martin was originally “¿Quién será?”, a bolero-mambo written by Mexican composer Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. Norman Gimbel took the song, removed the somewhat melancholy Spanish lyrics about a man wondering if he shall ever love again, and wrote brand-new English lyrics about a man praising his dancing partner’s ability to affect his heart with how she “sways” when they dance. It’s a lovely song and we literally found Sadie in front of the laptop swaying to it so it gets her endorsement.
“Thank You For Calling” by Jo Stafford is a pop version of a country hit and is a sweet tune but nothing notable from one of our chart faves.
“The Little Shoemaker” hits the charts in version by both the Gaylords and Eddie Fisher. It’s another translated song, this time based on the French song, “Le petit cordonnier,” by Rudi Revil. It’s as silly as it sounds which is fun if you’re in the mood. It’s a clap-a-long which Sadie always like anyway.
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.