Ok this time it’s here to stay…maybe? It’s a lovely spring day here in Auckland in 2022, as we jump back to what looks like a warm summer of June, 1959 in the US of A to listen to the charts of the day.
Songs of the month
“A Boy Without A Girl” – Frankie Avalon*
“A Fool Such As I” – Elvis Presley
“A Teenager In Love” – Dion And The Belmonts
“Along Came Jones” – Coasters*
“Bobby Sox To Stockings” – Frankie Avalon*
“Bongo Rock” – Preston Epps*
“Crossfire” – Johnny And The Hurricanes*
“Dream Lover” – Bobby Darin
“Enchanted” – Platters
“Endlessly” – Brook Benton
“Frankie” – Connie Francis*
“Goodbye Jimmy Goodbye” – Kathy Linden
“Guitar Boogie Shuffle” – Virtues
“Hushabye” – Mystics*
“I Need Your Love Tonight” – Elvis Presley
“I Only Have Eyes For You” – Flamingos*
“I’m Ready” – Fats Domino
“I’ve Come Of Age” – Billy Storm*
“Just Keep It Up” – Dee Clark*
“Kansas City” – Wilbert Harrison
“Kookie Kookie” – Edward Byrnes And Connie Stevens
“Lipstick On Your Collar” – Connie Francis*
“Lonely Boy” – Paul Anka*
“Lonely For You” – Gary Stites
“M.T.A.” – Kingston Trio*
“My Heart Is An Open Book” – Carl Dobkins Jr.*
“My Melancholy Baby” – Tommy Edwards*
“Only You” – Frank Pourcel’S French Fiddles*
“Personality” – Lloyd Price
“Pink Shoelaces” – Dodie Stevens
“Quiet Village” – Martin Denny
“So Fine” – Fiestas*
“Sorry” – Impalas
“Take A Message To Mary” – Everly Brothers
“Tallahassee Lassie” – Freddy Cannon
“Tell Him No” – Travis And Bob
“That’s Why” – Jackie Wilson
“The Battle Of New Orleans” – Johnny Horton
“The Happy Organ” – Dave Baby Cortez
“The Wonder Of You” – Ray Peterson*
“This I Swear” – Skyliners*
“Three Stars” – Tommy Dee
“Tiger” – Fabian*
“Turn Me Loose” – Fabian
“Waterloo” – Stonewall Jackson*
“What A Diff’rence A Day Makes” – Dinah Washington*
“You’re So Fine” – Falcons*
* = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
On June 6, 1959 the first satellite communication was made when a radio message from U.S. President Eisenhower was bounced off of the Moon to Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, who was dedicating the new Prince Albert Radio Laboratory .
Then on June 8th an experiment with “missile mail” proved successful, if not practical. At 10:10 am. the USS Barbero launched a Regulus I rocket, containing 3,000 letters, from a point 100 miles offshore from Norfolk, Virginia. The “wheeled missile” was guided to the naval air station at Mayport, Florida, a parachute deployed, and it landed 22 minutes after firing.
On June 9, in Italy, the broadcast of a TV movie, “I figli di Medea” (The Sons of Medea), caused a mass hysteria, similar to the 1938 panic caused by Orson Welles’s The War of the Worlds. Vladimiro Cajoli’s script was in the form of a fictitious news program that started with a bulletin that a sick child of an actress was being held hostage by his father, portrayed by actor Enrico Maria Salerno. The mother, “Medea”, was portrayed by well-known actress Alida Valli, whose plea to viewers was so realistic that thousands of people thought that the celebrity was the victim of a real crime. To make matters worse, the fictional news program gave out a phone number that belonged to a major hospital, whose switchboard was jammed by callers offering tips for finding the “missing child”.
Then in, “it was still the ’50s clearly” news, on June 11 “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”, by D.H. Lawrence, was barred from distribution in the United States by order of the Postmaster General who barred it under section 1461 of Title 18 of the United States Code as “obscene and un-mailable”.
What’d Sadie think?
It’s number 1 all month for “The Battle Of New Orleans” by Johnny Horton, but plenty of variety to like across the rest of the chart.
Loved ’em
A lot to love this week. Special shout out to “Kookie Kookie” by Edward Byrnes And Connie Stevens, which has been on the charts for a couple of weeks already but has turned into a Sadie favourite as she sings “cookie cookie!” along to it.
- “Bobby Sox To Stockings” – Frankie Avalon
- “Frankie” – Connie Francis
- “I Only Have Eyes For You” – Flamingos
- “Just Keep It Up” – Dee Clark
- “Lipstick On Your Collar” – Connie Francis
- “My Heart Is An Open Book” – Carl Dobkins Jr.
- “Only You” – Frank Pourcel’S French Fiddles
- “Waterloo” – Stonewall Jackson
- “What A Diff’rence A Day Makes” – Dinah Washington
Liked ’em
- “A Boy Without A Girl” – Frankie Avalon
- “Along Came Jones” – Coasters
- “Crossfire” – Johnny And The Hurricanes
- “Hushabye” – Mystics
- “M.T.A.” – Kingston Trio
- “My Melancholy Baby” – Tommy Edwards
- “So Fine” – Fiestas
- “The Wonder Of You” – Ray Peterson
- “This I Swear” – Skyliners
- “Tiger” – Fabian
- “You’re So Fine” – Falcons
Leave ’em
A first! Sadie really hated a song. “Bongo Rock” by Preston Epps got the “too loud!”, “go away!” treatment.
- “Bongo Rock” – Preston Epps
- “I’ve Come Of Age” – Billy Storm
- “Lonely Boy” – Paul Anka
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.