Hey folks, it’s been a while! 2 whole weeks, or 2 months depending on what time scale you’re using. Quite forgot to send out the email from December, 1955 – alas these things don’t send themselves it turns out. (Apparently the hard bit is copying from the blog to substack to email you all…)
Anyway, Xmas was a big month for new music – so you can click here to go see that post and listen to the playlist. Before finding your way to January of 1956…
The songs of January, 1956
“A Woman In Love” – Four Aces
“All At Once You Love Her” – Perry Como
“Angels In The Sky” – Crew-Cuts
“Are You Satisfied” – Rusty Draper
“Autumn Leaves” – Roger Williams
“Band Of Gold” – Don Cherry
“Band Of Gold” – Kit Carson
“Burn That Candle” – Bill Haley & The Comets
“Cry Me A River” – Julie London
“Daddy O” – Fontane Sisters
“Dungaree Doll” – Eddie Fisher
“He” – Al Hibbler
“He” – Mcguire Sisters
“I Hear You Knocking” – Gale Storm
“It’s Almost Tomorrow” – Dream Weavers
“It’s Almost Tomorrow” – Jo Stafford
“Lisbon Antigua” – Nelson Riddle*
“Love And Marriage” – Frank Sinatra
“Love Is A Many Splendored Thing” – Four Aces
“Memories Are Made Of This” – Dean Martin
“Memories Are Made Of This” – Gale Storm
“Moments To Remember” – Four Lads
“Nuttin’ For Christmas” – Art Mooney Orchestra
“Nuttin’ For Christmas” – Joe Ward
“Only You” – Hilltoppers
“Only You” – Platters
“Rock & Roll Waltz” – Kay Starr*
“Sixteen Tons” – Tennessee Ernie Ford
“Teenage Prayer” – Gale Storm
“Teenage Prayer” – Gloria Mann*
“The Great Pretender” – Platters
“The Shifting Whispering Sands” – Randy Draper
“The Tender Trap” – Frank Sinatra*
“White Christmas” – Bing Crosby
* = New to the chart this week.
A quiet month for new releases after a massive Xmas, so we’ll add an R&B chart from the month to our mix:
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:
This month in history
A quiet month until… on January 28 Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on US national television on The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show. Watch it below:
And then on January 31st we see English children’s writer A. A. Milne pass away aged 74 and John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon, English singer born on the same day. Probably not a case of reincarnation? It’ll be a couple of decades before we hear from Lydon in the form of the Sex Pistols.
What’d Sadie think?
Still a huge hit in our house, “Sixteen Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford stays at number 1 for another week before “Memories Are Made Of This” by Dean Martin rules the roost for the rest of the month.
“Lisbon Antigua” by Nelson Riddle is based on a Portuguese popular song that was originally written in 1937. It’s chill.
“Rock & Roll Waltz” by Kay Starr is yet more evidence that the expression was popular before the musical style because this ain’t rock. It’s kinda fun though.
“Teenage Prayer” is another version of the song, this time by Gloria Mann and we like her style
“The Tender Trap” by Frank Sinatra -was written for the 1955 film The Tender Trap, where it was introduced by Debbie Reynolds and Sinatra, who each sing the song separately. It’s sometimes hard to have an opinion on songs that are so part of the fabric of music history – there’s reasons why they are. And this belter is no different.
“Tutti Frutti” was Little Richard’s first major hit record and a major influence on the upcoming rock ‘n’ roll onslaught. And yeah, it’s great.
“Combining elements of boogie, gospel and blues, the song introduced several of rock music’s most characteristic musical features, including its loud volume and vocal style emphasizing power, and its distinctive beat and rhythm. The beat has its roots in boogie-woogie, but Richard departed from its shuffle rhythm and introduced a new distinctive rock beat. He reinforced the new rock rhythm with a two-handed approach, playing patterns with his right hand, with the rhythm typically popping out in the piano’s high register. The song’s new rhythm became the basis for the standard rock beat, which was later consolidated by Chuck Berry.”
“Poor Me” by Fats Domino isn’t a song about how his hit “ain’t that a shame” got covered and made famous by Pat Boone…but it could be. Good tune but not as great as the latter.
“Hands Off” by Jay McShann is notable as the last single to hit number one on the R&B chart without making the Billboard pop charts until 1976. It’s OK but not great, so maybe that’s why!
“Seven Days” by Clyde McPhatter and Steamboat by the The Drifters are both great songs. As is the way with R&B hits of the time, unless they crossed over, there’s not much more info on them online alas.
“Speedo” by The Cadillacs tells the story of a man who acquired the nickname “Speedo” because, when it comes to his pursuit of pretty girls, “he don’t believe in wastin’ time” and “he don’t never take it slow”. Oh boy…
To round it out, “Witchcraft” by the Spiders and “Feel So Good” by Shirley & Lee both have great sax parts and you know how much we love that. A great way to end this week’s chart.
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link