This week we find ourselves in May, 1958 where 16 new tunes make their way onto the Billboard charts for us to listen to…
Songs of the month
“A Wonderful Time Up There” – Pat Boone
“All I Have To Do Is Dream” – Everly Brothers
“Are You Sincere” – Andy Williams
“Believe What You Say” – Ricky Nelson
“Big Man” – Four Preps*
“Billy” – Kathy Linden
“Book Of Love” – Monotones
“Breathless” – Jerry Lee Lewis
“Catch A Falling Star” – Perry Como
“Chanson D’Amour” – Art And Dotty Todd
“Crazy Love” – Paul Anka*
“Do You Want To Dance” – Bobby Freeman*
“Don’t You Just Know It” – Huey Piano Smith And The Clowns
“Don’tcha Think It’S Time” – Elvis Presley*
“For Your Love” – Ed Townsend
“Hang Up My Rock & Roll Shoes” – Chuck Willis*
“He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” – Laurie London
“Jeannie Lee” – Jan And Arnie*
“Johnny B. Goode” – Chuck Berry*
“Kewpie Doll” – Perry Como
“Lazy Mary” – Lou Monte
“Lollipop” – Chordettes
“Looking Back” – Nat King Cole
“My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It” – Ricky Nelson
“Oh Lonesome Me” – Don Gibson
“Return To Me” – Dean Martin
“Rumble” – Link Wray*
“Sail Along Silvery Moon” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Secretly” – Jimmie Rodgers*
“Skinny Minnie” – Bill Haley And His Comets*
“Sugar Moon” – Pat Boone*
“Sugartime” – Mcguire Sisters
“Talk To Me Talk To Me” – Little Willie John*
“Tequila” – Champs
“To Be Loved” – Jackie Wilson*
“Torero” – Renato Carosone*
“Twilight Time” – Platters
“Wear My Ring Around Your Neck” – Elvis Presley
“What Am I Living For” – Chuck Willis*
“Who’s Sorry Now” – Connie Francis
“Witch Doctor” – David Seville
“You” – Aquatones*
* = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
A month for movies it seems, or at least that’s what I took away from the pages of history in my very arbitrary and selective way. There’s always some fascinating geopolitical stuff going on – and for the past year or so of history, lots of nuclear bomb tests on either sides of the cold war walls – but the pop-cultural stuff is easier to share… so here we are with 3 movies that came out this month.
On May 8th the classic horror “Dracula” film starring Christopher Lee as the eponymous vampire alongside Peter Cushing is released.
Then, a personal favourite, on May 9th “Vertigo”, the American film noir psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak, is released.
Lastly, on May 15th “Gigi” based on the story by Colette, directed by Vincent Minnelli and starring Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier premiered in New York.
What’d Sadie think?
Two more weeks at the top for household fave, “Witch Doctor” by the Chipmunk’s David Seville before the Everly Brothers awesome “All I Have To Do Is Dream” takes it.
Loved ’em
First off we have the classic “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry. Or as wikipedia notes “the first rock & roll hit about rock & roll stardom”. I would have been aware of it first from the cover version in the film Back to the Future, which the lead character Marty McFly plays it at a high school dance.
The actual story behind it is particularly interesting though,
The song is about a semi-literate “country boy” from the New Orleans area, who plays a guitar “just like ringing a bell”, and who might one day have his “name in lights”. Berry acknowledged that the song is partly autobiographical and that the original lyrics referred to Johnny as a “colored boy”, but he changed it to “country boy” to ensure radio play
It’s always great to be able to see a performance of a song from the time, and in this case we can watch “Crazy Love” by Paul Anka.
The “rock and roll is just a fad” meme must have been quite strong in the late ’50s as, “Hang Up My Rock & Roll Shoes” by Chuck Willis isn’t the first song we’ve had to deny this,
They say that rock and roll will soon fade away
No matter what they say, rock and roll is here to stay
I don’t want(shoop-bop, shoop-bop) hang up my rock and roll shoes
Then we have the song that Bob Dylan once referred to as “the best instrumental ever” “Rumble” by Link Wray. It was apparently banned in several US radio markets, because the term ‘rumble’ was a slang term for a gang fight, and it was feared that the piece’s harsh sound glorified juvenile delinquency. Making it the only instrumental single ever banned from radio in the United States
Not a lot of information on the excellent “To Be Loved” by a chart favourite, Jackie Wilson online.
Finally in our favourite song for the month we have “You” by the Aquatones. The group’s lead singer was 17-year-old Lynne Nixon, a soprano with formal operatic training. The group had actually began in 1956 as three males and was called the Rhythm Kings till adding Lynne to the roster.
Liked ’em
Then there’s the best of the rest…
- “Don’tcha Think It’s Time” – Elvis Presley
- “Big Man” – Four Preps
- “Do You Want To Dance” – Bobby Freeman
- “Talk To Me Talk To Me” – Little Willie John
- “Secretly” – Jimmie Rodgers
- “What Am I Living For” – Chuck Willis
- “Sugar Moon” – Pat Boone
Leave ’em
- “Jeannie Lee” – Jan And Arnie
- “Skinny Minnie” – Bill Haley And His Comets
- “Torero” – Renato Carosone
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.