A week in fiji for Sadie’s Nana’s birthday so we have skipped a newsletter. You can go back to listen to April, 1961 before delving into May, 1961 below.
Songs of the month
“A Hundred Pounds Of Clay” – Gene Mcdaniels
“Apache” – Jorgen Ingmann
“Asia Minor” – Kokomo
“Baby Blue” – Echoes
[new] “Barbara Ann” – Regents
“Blue Moon” – Marcels
[new] “Bonanza” – Al Caiola
“Breakin’ In A Brand New Broken Heart” – Connie Francis
[new] “Bumble Boogie” – B. Bumble & The Stingers
“But I Do” – Clarence Frogman Henry
“Daddy’s Home” – Shep & The Limelites
“Dedicated To The One I Love” – Shirelles
“Don’t Worry” – Marty Robbins
[new] “Flaming Star” – Elvis Presley
“Funny” – Maxine Brown
[new] “Girl Of My Best Friend” – Ral Donner
[new] “Hello Mary Lou” – Ricky Nelson
[new] “Hello Walls” – Faron Young
[new] “I Feel So Bad” – Elvis Presley
“I’ve Told Every Little Star” – Linda Scott
“Just For Old Time’s Sake” – Mcguire Sisters
[new] “Little Devil” – Neil Sedaka
[new] “Lullaby Of Love” – Frank Gari
[new] “Mama Said” – Shirelles
[new] “Mess Around” – Chubby Checker
[new] “Moody River” – Pat Boone
“Mother-In-Law” – Ernie K-Doe
“On The Rebound” – Floyd Cramer
“One Mint Julep” – Ray Charles
[new] “Peanut Butter” – Marathons
“Please Love Me Forever” – Cathy Jean & The Roommates
“Pony Time” – Chubby Checker
“Portrait Of My Love” – Steve Lawrence
[new] “Raindrops” – Dee Clark
“Runaway” – Del Shannon
[new] “Running Scared” – Roy Orbison
[new] “Stand By Me” – Ben E. King
“Surrender” – Elvis Presley
“Take Good Care Of Her” – Adam Wade
[new] “That Old Black Magic” – Bobby Rydell
“Tonight I Fell In Love” – Tokens
“Tonight My Love Tonight” – Paul Anka
[new] “Tragedy” – Fleetwoods
[new] “Travellin’ Man” – Ricky Nelson
[new] “Triangle” – Janie Grant
[new] “What’d I Say” – Jerry Lee Lewis
[new] “You Always Hurt The One You Love” – Clarence Frogman Henry
“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 the month betting shops became legal in the United Kingdom, permitting UK residents to place bets, through a bookie, on horse races without going to the track. Classic news archive of the transition from illegal to sanctioned betting below…
Then on the 5th the USA come in second in the space race when at 9:34 am, Alan Shepard became the first American in space as Freedom 7 lifted off from Cape Canaveral. Shepard’s spacecraft, first of the Mercury program, reached an altitude of 115 miles (185 km) without achieving orbit, and was recovered 19 minutes later by the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain.
On the 9th, describing American television as “a vast wasteland”, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Newton N. Minow addressed the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, and implied that the FCC might not renew licenses of those entities that failed to upgrade their product,
I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland,” said Minow. “You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly, commercials — many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you’ll see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, I only ask you to try it.
So… TV hasn’t changed much then?
What’d Sadie think?
3 weeks at the top for “Runaway” by Del Shannon before “Mother-In-Law” by Ernie K-Doe and new track, “Travellin’ Man”, by Ricky Nelson have a week each.
Loved ’em
Some real classics new to the charts this week!
- “Barbara Ann” – Regents
- “Bonanza” – Al Caiola
- “Hello Mary Lou” – Ricky Nelson
- “Little Devil” – Neil Sedaka
- “Stand By Me” – Ben E. King
- “Travellin’ Man” – Ricky Nelson
Liked ’em
- “Bumble Boogie” – B. Bumble & The Stingers
- “Flaming Star” – Elvis Presley
- “Girl Of My Best Friend” – Ral Donner
- “I Feel So Bad” – Elvis Presley
- “Lullaby Of Love” – Frank Gari
- “Mama Said” – Shirelles
- “Mess Around” – Chubby Checker
- “Moody River” – Pat Boone
- “Raindrops” – Dee Clark
- “Running Scared” – Roy Orbison
- “That Old Black Magic” – Bobby Rydell
- “Triangle” – Janie Grant
- “What’d I Say” – Jerry Lee Lewis
- “You Always Hurt The One You Love” – Clarence Frogman Henry
Leave ’em
- “Peanut Butter” – Marathons
- “Tragedy” – Fleetwoods
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.