We’ve just finished September, and started Spring, down under in 2021 as we listen back to September of 1954 to hear what it sounds like:
The songs of September, 1954
”Cara Mia” – David Whitfield
“Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight” – Mcguire Sisters
“Hernando’s Hideaway” – Archie Bleyer
“Hey There” – Sammy Davis Jr.
“Hey There” – Rosemary Clooney
“Hold My Hand” – Don Cornell
“I Need You Now” – Eddie Fisher
“I’m A Fool To Care” – Les Paul & Mary Ford
“If I Give My Heart To You” – Denise Lor
“If I Give My Heart To You” – Doris Day
“In The Chapel In The Moonlight” – Kitty Kallen
“Little Things Mean A Lot” – Kitty Kallen
“Sh-Boom” – Chords
“Sh-Boom” – Crew Cuts
“Shake Rattle And Roll” – Bill Haley And His Comets
“Skokiaan” – Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band
“Skokiaan” – Four Lads
“Skokiaan” – Ralph Marterie
“The High And The Mighty” – Eddie Fisher
“The High And The Mighty” – Leroy Holmes / Fred Lowery
“The High And The Mighty” – Les Baxter
“The High And The Mighty” – Victor Young
“The Little Shoemaker” – Gaylords
“The Little Shoemaker” – Hugo Winterhalter / Eddie Fisher
“They Were Doin’ The Mambo” – Vaughn Monroe
“This Ole House” – Rosemary Clooney
“Three Coins In The Fountain” – Four Aces
“What A Dream” – Patti Page
A brace of new songs this month but we’ll also add in the top 10 selling R&B records from a week of September, 1954:
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:
This month in history
September 1954 saw the first televised Miss America pageant; you can see some of this below:
Meanwhile, on the 17th of the month William Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies” was published for the first time in London.
And finally, of interest to those back in 2021 following the Australian snub of France, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the first nuclear-powered submarine in the world, is commissioned into the U.S. Navy this month in 1954.
What’d Sadie think?
The inferior version of “Sh-Boom” by the Crew Cuts hangs on to the number 1 spot for three weeks before “Hey There” by Rosemary Clooney closes out the month.
Two songs grew on us this month, “Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight” by the Mcguire Sisters and “Hernando’s Hideaway”. Sadie particularly loved a dance to the latter.
“Cara Mia” (“my beloved”) by David Whitfield is a tad on the melodramatic side but was a massive chart hit back in his home country of the UK, spending 10 weeks at number one, as well as being one of the biggest pre-Rock hits for a UK artist in the USA.
“Hold My Hand” by Don Cornell is a sweet number and was featured in the film Susan Slept Here which looks great from the trailer:
“I Need You Now” by Eddie Fisher is a swinging fun number. You can see Russell Arms singing a version from a 1954 episode of “Your Hit Parade” below:
“If I Give My Heart To You” by Doris Day is alrighty, having a nice horn piece in particular.
You can’t get a lot more classic early rock than “Shake Rattle And Roll” by Bill Haley And His Comets. And it’s by no coincidence we chose the R&B charts this month as Jesse Stone, wrote the song for Joe Turner whose version is charting there. Haley’s version was recorded the same week Turner’s version first topped the R&B charts.
“What A Dream” by Patti Page closes out our new songs in the mainstream charts and a nice tune it is, with a good horn piece. But it’s outclassed by the Ruth Brown version that is number one on the R&B charts this week with an even bette vocal and horn section.
We have three songs by Hank Ballard and The Midnighters in the R&B charts. Two of them about “Annie”…”Annie Had a Baby” and “Work with me Annie”. Both excellent, though its “Sexy Ways” with its great sax part that is the best of the three. A song that apparently “cemented the band’s reputation as one of the most risqué groups of the time” and which wasn’t going to get covered by a mainstream artist in 1954…
“Hurts me to my Heart” by Faye Adams is nice while “Honey Love” by Clyde McPhatter was a bit weak to our ears. As was the overly melodramatic “Ebb Tide” by Roy Hamilton.
Then we have that Joe Turner original version of “Shake, Rattle and Roll” which is slower and more soulful than the Bill Haley version, with (as seems to be the way with R&B versions) a better sax part.
“Tick, Tock” by Marvin & Johnny keeps the R&B charts rocking, while “I’ve got my Eyes on You” by the Clovers closes the charts with some great keys.
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.