22 years to the month before I was born was February, 1955 which is where we find ourselves listing to a pop-chart that looked something like this…
The songs of February, 1955
“Dim Dim The Lights” – Bill Haley & The Comets
“Earth Angel” – Crew-Cuts*
“Earth Angel” – Gloria Mann*
“Earth Angel” – Penguins
“Hearts Of Stone” – Charms
“Hearts Of Stone” – Fontane Sisters
“How Important Can It Be” – Joni James*
“How Important Can It Be” – Sarah Vaughan*
“I Need You Now” – Eddie Fisher
“Ko Ko Mo” – Crew-Cuts
“Ko Ko Mo” – Perry Como*
“Let Me Go Lover” – Joan Weber
“Let Me Go Lover” – Teresa Brewer
“Ling Ting Tong” – Charms
“Make Yourself Comfortable” – Sarah Vaughan
“Make Yourself Comfortable” – Peggy King*
“Melody Of Love” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Melody Of Love” – David Carroll Orchestra
“Melody Of Love” – Four Aces
“Melody Of Love” – Leo Diamond*
“Mr. Sandman” – Chordettes
“Mr. Sandman” – Four Aces
“No More” – Dejohn Sisters
“No More” – Mcguire Sisters
“Open Up You Heart” – Cowboy Church Sunday School
“Plantation Boogie” – Lenny Dee*
“Pledging My Love” – Johnny Ace*
“Rock Love” – Fontane Sisters*
“Shake Rattle And Roll” – Bill Haley & The Comets
“Sincerely” – Mcguire Sisters
“Smiles” – Crazy Otto*
“Song Of The Barefoot Contessa” – Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra
“Teach Me Tonight” – Decastro Sisters
“That’s All I Want From You” – Jaye P. Morgan
“The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Bill Hayes*
“The Crazy Otto” – Johnny Maddox & The Rhythmasters*
“The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane” – Ames Brothers
“This Ole House” – Rosemary Clooney
“Tweedlee Dee” – Georgia Gibbs
“Tweedlee Dee” – Lavern Baker
* = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:
This month in history
The relevant birthdays are starting to roll in thick-and-fast – this month in 1955 we have Steve Jobs born on the 24th.
On the same day were the 12th annual Oscars. Best Motion Picture – Drama went to “On the Waterfront” directed by Elia Kazan and staring Marlon Brando.
The film was suggested by “Crime on the Waterfront” by Malcolm Johnson, a series of articles published in November–December 1948 in the New York Sun which won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, detailing Union violence and corruption amongst longshoremen.
Meanwhile Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama went to Grace Kelly for “The Country Girl”. Also starting chart topper Bing Crosby and William Holden the film is about an alcoholic has-been actor/singer struggling with the one last chance he has been given to resurrect his career.
What’d Sadie think?
“Hearts Of Stone” by the Fontane Sisters has a week at number 1 before “Sincerely” by the Mcguire Sisters tops the charts for the rest of February.
We have two new versions of “Earth Angel” this month, by the Crew-Cuts and Gloria Mann. We’ve included the former and its a great version of a great tne.
Two versions of “How Important Can It Be” are charting, one by Joni James and the other by Sarah Vaughan. The former is the original and the version we include on the playlist this week. ’tis very nice but nothing exceptional.
A new version of “Ko Ko Mo” by chart fave Perry Como greets us this week and comes with an excellent sax part. As does “Rock Love” by the Fontane Sisters.
Possibly our favourite new tune of the month is “Make Yourself Comfortable” by Peggy King which has some nice layered vocals.
Meanwhile Leo Diamond’s “Melody Of Love” is a fairly dull instrumental.
As chill but a bit more interesting is “Plantation Boogie” by Lenny Dee. I’d not heard the name before, but by all accounts Dee was an, “American virtuoso organist who played many styles of music. His record albums were among the most popular of easy listening and space age pop organists of the 1950s through the early 1970s.” And indeed, for a 1955 tune this one is a little spacey it not psychedelic. Not bad.
Apparently “Pledging My Love” by Johnny Ace was the most popular version of the song. Sadly it was released by Duke Records in December 1954 soon after Ace’s death by an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound. It’s a great song.
Then we have “Smiles” by Crazy Otto, an alias for Johnny Maddox, an ragtime pianist. Confusingly he also charts with a track named “The Crazy Otto” under his real name. They’re both ragtime piano tunes which are fairly tame. Randomly, Ms. Pac-Man, the 1982 video game was called Crazy Otto during development.
Closing out the new songs of the month we have “The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” by Bill Hayes. This was the theme tune to the classic Disney television miniseries “Davy Crockett”, first telecast on December 15, 1954 and its too well known and catchy to call it good or bad. Sing along!