We’re mid-way through 1955 as we hit the end of the year back here in 2021. Let’s see what the middle of the middle of the 50’s sounds like:
The songs of June, 1955
“A Blossom Fell” – Nat King Cole & The Four Knights
“A Story Untold” – Crew-Cuts*
“Alabama Jubilee” – Ferko String Band*
“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Bill Hayes
“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Fess Parker
“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Tennessee Ernie Ford
“Blue Star” – Felicia Sanders
“Chee-Chee-Oo-Chee” – Perry Como And Jaye P. Morgan*
“Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” – Alan Dale
“Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” – Prez Prado
“Dance With Me Henry” – Georgia Gibbs
“Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup / The Sand And The Sea” – Nat King Cole
“Don’t Be Angry” – Crew-Cuts
“Hard To Get” – Gisele Mackenzie*
“Heart” – Eddie Fisher
“Heart” – Four Aces
“Hey Mr. Banjo” – Sunnysiders
“Honey-Babe” – Art Mooney Orchestra
“It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie” – Somethin’ Smith & The Redheads
“Learnin’ The Blues” – Frank Sinatra
“Love Me Or Leave Me” – Sammy Davis Jr.
“Melody Of Love” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Most Of All / The Door Is Still Open To My Heart” – Don Cornell
“Plantation Boogie” – Lenny Dee
“Rock Around The Clock” – Bill Haley & The Comets
“Something’s Gotta Give” – Mcguire Sisters*
“The Breeze And I” – Caterina Valente
“The Crazy Otto” – Johnny Maddox
“The House Of Blue Lights” – Chuck Miller*
“The Man In The Raincoat” – Priscilla Wright*
“Tweedlee Dee” – Georgia Gibbs
“Two Hearts” – Pat Boone
“Unchained Melody” – Al Hibbler
“Unchained Melody” – Les Baxter
“Unchained Melody” – Roy Hamilton
“Whatever Lola Wants” – Dinah Shore*
“Whatever Lola Wants” – Sarah Vaughan
* = 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
Did the 50’s peak in the middle of the decade? Hard to tell but there’s some iconic moments coming up. On June 1 Marilyn Monroe (on her 29th birthday) and her husband Joe DiMaggio attend the première of “The Seven Year Itch”, featuring the iconic scene in which Monroe stands on a New York City Subway grating as her white dress is blown above her knees. Of course you can watch it on Youtube:
And then on June 7th, the television quiz “The $64,000 Question” premieres on CBS-TV in the United States. An oh so ’50s episode below:
And then on the 8th of June, Tim “inventor of the Internet” Berners-Lee, English computer scientist and inventor is born, in London. Here’s 5 facts…
What’d Sadie think?
A new number one for the month, “Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” by Prez Prado and it stays there for all four weeks.
New on the charts we have the OK with “A Story Untold” by Crew-Cuts; the awful with “Alabama Jubilee” by Ferko String Band; and the fun with “Chee-Chee-Oo-Chee” by Perry Como And Jaye P. Morgan. We do love a good nonsense chorus.
“Hard To Get” by Gisele Mackenzie was her biggest selling song and not a bad one at that. Apparently she was also an accomplished classical violinist, who studied at The Royal Conservatory of Music and performed many comedic musical duets with mentor Jack Benny. Below is a classic clip of her and Benny performing a violin duet of “Getting to Know You”, in which she breaks their synchronisation several times to add some extra musical flourishes, to his mock irritation:
“Something’s Gotta Give” by the Mcguire Sisters was the biggest selling version of the song and a fun swinging one it is. It was written for and first performed by Fred Astaire in the 1955 musical film Daddy Long Legs. You can see that sung here:
Chuck Miller’s “The House Of Blue Lights” is a version of a song originally from 1946 which was probably worth a second go around.
“The Man In The Raincoat” by Priscilla Wright is a belting tune. Wright was 14 at the time the song was released, and was the daughter of Don Wright, who was the arranger on the recording.
Lastly we have a nice new version of “Whatever Lola Wants” by Dinah Shore. Apparently the title is from a saying inspired by Lola Montez, an Irish-born “Spanish dancer” and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. So there you go.
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.