We were away in Fiji for a family holiday this week back in 2023, so it’s straight into the music of April, 1961…
Songs of the month
[new] “A Hundred Pounds Of Clay” – Gene Mcdaniels
“Apache” – Jorgen Ingmann
“Asia Minor” – Kokomo
“Baby Blue” – Echoes
“Blue Moon” – Marcels
[new] “Breakin’ In A Brand New Broken Heart” – Connie Francis
[new] “But I Do” – Clarence (Frogman) Henry
“But I Do” – Clarence Frogman Henry
[new] “Daddy’s Home” – Shep & The Limelites
“Dedicated To The One I Love” – Shirelles
“Don’t Worry” – Marty Robbins
“Ebony Eyes” – Everly Brothers
[new] “Find Another Girl” – Jerry Butler
[new] “Funny” – Maxine Brown
“Gee Whiz” – Carla Thomas
[new] “Hide Away” – Freddy King
[new] “I’ve Told Every Little Star” – Linda Scott
[new] “Just For Old Time’s Sake” – Mcguire Sisters
“Lazy River” – Bobby Darin
“Model Girl” – Johnny Maestro
[new] “Mother-In-Law” – Ernie K-Doe
“On The Rebound” – Floyd Cramer
[new] “Once Upon A Time” – Rochell & The Candles
[new] “One Mint Julep” – Ray Charles
“Please Love Me Forever” – Cathy Jean & The Roommates
[new] “Please Tell Me Why” – Jackie Wilson
“Pony Time” – Chubby Checker
[new] “Portrait Of My Love” – Steve Lawrence
“Runaway” – Del Shannon
“Spanish Harlem” – Ben E. King
“Surrender” – Elvis Presley
“Take Good Care Of Her” – Adam Wade
“Think Twice” – Brook Benton
[new] “Tonight I Fell In Love” – Tokens
[new] “Tonight My Love Tonight” – Paul Anka
[new] “Trust In Me” – Etta James
“Walk Right Back” – Everly Brothers
“Wheels” – String-A-Longs
“Where The Boys Are” – Connie Francis
[new] “You Can Depend On Me” – Brenda Lee
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
On the 1st of April television commercials were introduced to New Zealand, which had one station (AKTV2) in Auckland, and on which TV was allowed for 28 hours per week, spread over five days… No film of the first ads but naturally there’s archive of a Rugby game in NZ from 1961 so here that is…
Meanwhile on more varied TV in the USA, singer Barbra Streisand made her national television debut, as a guest on Tonight Starring Jack Paar which you can see below.
On the 12th at 2:07 p.m. local time (9:07 a.m. Moscow, 0607 UTC and 1:07 a.m. in New York), Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was launched from Baikonur, in the Kazakh SSR, on the Vostok 1 (East 1) rocket and became the first human being to go into outer space. Gagarin made one orbit of the Earth before re-entering, and landed at 10:55 a.m., 15 miles (24 km) southwest of the city of Engels in Russia’s Saratov Oblast
Then, in further proof of the Soviet’s might… The preliminary stage of the Bay of Pigs Invasion commenced as eight Douglas B-26B Invader bombers attacked Cuban airfields at San Antonio de Los Baños, Ciudad Libertad, and Santiago de Cuba airport. As the video below says, “nothing epitomizes the disastrous Cuba policy of the United States better than the abortive, three-day, failed Bay of Pigs invasion conducted by anti-Castro Cuban exiles in April 1962. In the annals of half-assed CIA operations, this debacle ranks close to the top of the list of Agency disasters.”
What’d Sadie think?
Three weeks at number 1 for “Blue Moon” by Marcels before “Runaway” by Del Shannon
takes it for the final week of April.
Loved ’em
- “Daddy’s Home” – Shep & The Limelites
- “I’ve Told Every Little Star” – Linda Scott
- “Mother-In-Law” – Ernie K-Doe
- “Tonight My Love Tonight” – Paul Anka
- “Trust In Me” – Etta James
- “You Can Depend On Me” – Brenda Lee
Liked ’em
- “A Hundred Pounds Of Clay” – Gene Mcdaniels
- “Breakin’ In A Brand New Broken Heart” – Connie Francis
- “But I Do” – Clarence (Frogman) Henry
- “Find Another Girl” – Jerry Butler
- “Funny” – Maxine Brown
- “Hide Away” – Freddy King
- “Just For Old Time’s Sake” – Mcguire Sisters
- “Once Upon A Time” – Rochell & The Candles
- “Please Tell Me Why” – Jackie Wilson
- “Portrait Of My Love” – Steve Lawrence
- “Tonight I Fell In Love” – Tokens
Leave ’em
- “One Mint Julep” – Ray Charles
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.