My how time flies! Especially at 4 times speed – here we are listening to tunes from April, 1954 this week. Exactly a year after the project started. So happy birthday 4xLifers!
The songs of April, 1954
We’re sticking to the main pop charts as its a 5 week month and there’s a bunch of new tunes charting:
“A Girl A Girl” – Eddie Fisher
“Anema E Core” – Eddie Fisher
“Answer Me My Love” – Nat King Cole
“Changing Partners” – Patti Page
“Cross Over The Bridge” – Patti Page
“Cuddle Me” – Ronnie Gaylord
“From The Vine Came The Grape” – Gaylords
“From The Vine Came The Grape” – Hilltoppers
“Gee” – Crows
“Here” – Tony Martin
“I Don’t Really Want To Know” – Les Paul And Mary Ford
“I Get So Lonely” – Four Knights
“If You Love Me” – Kay Starr
“Jilted” – Teresa Brewer
“Little Things Mean A Lot” – Kitty Kallen
“Make Love To Me” – Jo Stafford
“Oh Mein Papa” – Eddie Fisher
“Poor Butterfly” – Hilltoppers
“Secret Love” – Doris Day
“Stranger In Paradise” – Tony Bennett
“That’S Amore” – Dean Martin
“The Happy Wanderer” – Frank Weir
“The Man Upstairs” – Kay Starr
“The Man With The Banjo” – Ames Brothers
“There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight” – Tony Bennett
“Till Then” – Hilltoppers
“Till We Two Are One” – Georgie Shaw
“Wanted” – Perry Como
“Young At Heart” – Frank Sinatra
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:
This month in history
According to a story that came out in 2010, April 11, 1954, has been determined by a Cambridge computer scientist to be “the most boring day in history.”
Actually nothing that exciting happened all month. It was the 7th annual Cannes Film Festival though where Gate of Hell, the first japanese colour film to be released outside Japan, won the Grand Prix. Watch the trailer below:
What’d Sadie think?
Jo Stafford’s “Make Love To Me” held on for one more week before being usurped for the number one spot by “Wanted” by Perry Como for the next four.
Eddie Fisher’s “Anema E Core” (“With All My Heart and Soul”) is great if you’re in the mood for love, it sounds like a romantic comedy soundtrack. As does “Little Things Mean A Lot” by Kitty Kallen which ain’t bad either.
“Gee” by the Crows is a proper slide of doo-wop R&B on the main hit parade and a good ‘un at that. Apparently it was the first 1950s doo-wop record to sell over one million records, being a cross-over hit as we can see, and considered by some as one of the first rock’n’roll songs.
Les Paul And Mary Ford keep dropping hits with “I Don’t Really Want To Know” which is ther- classic noodley guitar sound. I can still take it or leave it with the off exception.
Kay Starr’s hits we always have time for though and “If You Love Me” is great. The tremolo in her voice is lovely. While her other song on the charts, “The Man Upstairs” is finger-snapping good.
“Jilted” is classic Teresa Brewer with her irressitable energy, though it sounds slighty like a Xmas tune.
The Hilltoppers are so ’50s it hurts sometimes, but “Poor Butterfly” redeems itself by going next level with some whistling in the mix. Plus bonus high-culture points for being inspired by Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly and containing a brief musical quote from the Act two duet ‘Tutti i fior’ in the verse.
Ames Brothers deliver a song that is, as per the lyrics, “happy and gay” with “The Man With The Banjo”. A good sing-a-long.
And our last new song of the chart is “There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight” by Tony Bennett which is a real belter of a tune, turn it up!
Go listen to the full playlist You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.