Up-to-dates

In July in New Zealand there’s a curious phenomenon called “mid-winter Xmas” – where some people have a faux Xmas celebration to recognise the fact that its Winter, given that the real one falls during mid-summer down under. Of course it’s still not snowing or anything so it’s additionally odd. But there you go! All of this is to point out that it’s nearly Xmas in 2021 but in 1955 we’e just hitting July. So no Xmas tunes on this week’s playlist…

The songs of July, 1955

“A Blossom Fell” – Nat King Cole & The Four Knights
“A Story Untold” – Crew-Cuts
“Ain’t That A Shame” – Fats Domino*
“Ain’t That A Shame” – Pat Boone*
“Alabama Jubilee” – Ferko String Band
“Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” – Perez Prado
“Dance With Me Henry” – Georgia Gibbs
“Domani” – Julius Larosa*
“Hard To Get” – Gisele Mackenzie
“Heart” – Eddie Fisher
“Hey Mr. Banjo” – Sunnysiders
“Honey-Babe” – Art Mooney Orchestra
“Hummingbird” – Les Paul & Mary Ford*
“I’ll Never Stop Loving You” – Doris Day*
“It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie” – Somethin’ Smith & The Redheads
“Learnin’ The Blues” – Frank Sinatra
“Love Me Or Leave Me / Something’S Gotta Give” – Sammy Davis Jr.
“My One Sin” – Nat King Cole*
“Razzle Dazzle / Two Hound Dogs” – Bill Haley & The Comets*
“Rock Around The Clock” – Bill Haley
“Seventeen” – Boyd Bennett*
“Something’s Gotta Give / Love Me Or Leave Me” – Sammy Davis Jr.*
“Something’S Gotta Give” – Mcguire Sisters
“Sweet And Gentle” – Alan Dale*
“That Old Black Magic” – Sammy Davis Jr.*
“The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Bill Hayes
“The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Fess Parker
“The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Tennessee Ernie Ford
“The Breeze And I” – Caterina Valente
“The House Of Blue Lights” – Chuck Miller
“The Kentuckian Song” – Hilltoppers*
“The Man In The Raincoat” – Priscilla Wright
“Unchained Melody” – Al Hibbler
“Unchained Melody” – Les Baxter
“Unchained Melody” – Roy Hamilton
“Whatever Lola Wants” – Sarah Vaughan

* = New to the chart this week.

We’ll pad out the playlist with a top 10 from the UK charts of the same month:

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:

This month in history

Happy days (see what i did there?) in 1955 as the original Disneyland launches on July 17. You can see a video about this below:

Not to be outdone, on July 26th Ted Allen threw a record 72 consecutive horseshoe ringers:

Different times eh.

What’d Sadie think?

It’s one more week at the top for “Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” by Perez Prado before Bill Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock” storms the charts and changes pop for good. Maybe? We’ll see…

Love ’em

“Ain’t That A Shame” – Fats Domino

“My One Sin” – Nat King Cole

“Something’s Gotta Give / Love Me Or Leave Me” – Sammy Davis Jr.

“That Old Black Magic” – Sammy Davis Jr.

Where Will The Dimple Be? – Rosemary Clooney And The Mellomen

Stranger In Paradise – Tony Bennett

Like ’em

“I’ll Never Stop Loving You” – Doris Day

“Razzle Dazzle / Two Hound Dogs” – Bill Haley & The Comets

“Seventeen” – Boyd Bennett

“Sweet And Gentle” – Alan Dale

Dreamboat – Alma Cogan

I Wonder. – Dickie Valentine

Evermore – Ruby Murray

Cool Water – Frankie Laine With The Mellomen

Lose ’em

“Domani” – Julius Larosa

“Hummingbird” – Les Paul & Mary Ford

“The Kentuckian Song” – Hilltoppers

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

We’re mid-way through 1955 as we hit the end of the year back here in 2021. Let’s see what the middle of the middle of the 50’s sounds like:

The songs of June, 1955

“A Blossom Fell” – Nat King Cole & The Four Knights
“A Story Untold” – Crew-Cuts*
“Alabama Jubilee” – Ferko String Band*
“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Bill Hayes
“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Fess Parker
“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Tennessee Ernie Ford
“Blue Star” – Felicia Sanders
“Chee-Chee-Oo-Chee” – Perry Como And Jaye P. Morgan*
“Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” – Alan Dale
“Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” – Prez Prado
“Dance With Me Henry” – Georgia Gibbs
“Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup / The Sand And The Sea” – Nat King Cole
“Don’t Be Angry” – Crew-Cuts
“Hard To Get” – Gisele Mackenzie*
“Heart” – Eddie Fisher
“Heart” – Four Aces
“Hey Mr. Banjo” – Sunnysiders
“Honey-Babe” – Art Mooney Orchestra
“It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie” – Somethin’ Smith & The Redheads
“Learnin’ The Blues” – Frank Sinatra
“Love Me Or Leave Me” – Sammy Davis Jr.
“Melody Of Love” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Most Of All / The Door Is Still Open To My Heart” – Don Cornell
“Plantation Boogie” – Lenny Dee
“Rock Around The Clock” – Bill Haley & The Comets
“Something’s Gotta Give” – Mcguire Sisters*
“The Breeze And I” – Caterina Valente
“The Crazy Otto” – Johnny Maddox
“The House Of Blue Lights” – Chuck Miller*
“The Man In The Raincoat” – Priscilla Wright*
“Tweedlee Dee” – Georgia Gibbs
“Two Hearts” – Pat Boone
“Unchained Melody” – Al Hibbler
“Unchained Melody” – Les Baxter
“Unchained Melody” – Roy Hamilton
“Whatever Lola Wants” – Dinah Shore*
“Whatever Lola Wants” – Sarah Vaughan

* = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:

This month in history

Did the 50’s peak in the middle of the decade? Hard to tell but there’s some iconic moments coming up. On June 1 Marilyn Monroe (on her 29th birthday) and her husband Joe DiMaggio attend the première of “The Seven Year Itch”, featuring the iconic scene in which Monroe stands on a New York City Subway grating as her white dress is blown above her knees. Of course you can watch it on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUjege2gYEU

And then on June 7th, the television quiz “The $64,000 Question” premieres on CBS-TV in the United States. An oh so ’50s episode below:

And then on the 8th of June, Tim “inventor of the Internet” Berners-Lee, English computer scientist and inventor is born, in London. Here’s 5 facts…

What’d Sadie think?

A new number one for the month, “Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” by Prez Prado and it stays there for all four weeks.

New on the charts we have the OK with “A Story Untold” by Crew-Cuts; the awful with “Alabama Jubilee” by Ferko String Band; and the fun with “Chee-Chee-Oo-Chee” by Perry Como And Jaye P. Morgan. We do love a good nonsense chorus.

“Hard To Get” by Gisele Mackenzie was her biggest selling song and not a bad one at that. Apparently she was also an accomplished classical violinist, who studied at The Royal Conservatory of Music and performed many comedic musical duets with mentor Jack Benny. Below is a classic clip of her and Benny performing a violin duet of “Getting to Know You”, in which she breaks their synchronisation several times to add some extra musical flourishes, to his mock irritation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3cc0HlO7so

“Something’s Gotta Give” by the Mcguire Sisters was the biggest selling version of the song and a fun swinging one it is. It was written for and first performed by Fred Astaire in the 1955 musical film Daddy Long Legs. You can see that sung here:

Chuck Miller’s “The House Of Blue Lights” is a version of a song originally from 1946 which was probably worth a second go around.

“The Man In The Raincoat” by Priscilla Wright is a belting tune. Wright was 14 at the time the song was released, and was the daughter of Don Wright, who was the arranger on the recording.

Lastly we have a nice new version of “Whatever Lola Wants” by Dinah Shore. Apparently the title is from a saying inspired by Lola Montez, an Irish-born “Spanish dancer” and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. So there you go.

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

Busy times in 2021 so we’re a couple of days late in this week’s email. The point of this project has always been to listen and enjoy the music from the month in history with Sadie – which we do every weekend. But now back to May, 1955…

The songs of May, 1955

“A Blossom Fell” – Nat King Cole & The Four Knights
“Ballad Of Davy Crocket” – Fess Parker
“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Bill Hayes
“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Tennessee Ernie Ford
“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Voices Of Walter Schumann
“Blue Star” – Felicia Sanders
“Boom Boom Boomerang” – Decastro Singers
“Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” – Alan Dale
“Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” – Prez Prado
“Dance With Me Henry” – Georgia Gibbs
“Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup / The Sand And The Sea” – Nat King Cole
“Don’t Be Angry” – Crew-Cuts
“Don’t Be Angry” – Nappy Brown
“Heart” – Eddie Fisher
“Heart” – Four Aces
“Hey Mr. Banjo” – Sunnysiders
“Honey-Babe” – Art Mooney Orchestra
“How Important Can It Be” – Joni James
“It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie” – Somethin’ Smith & The Redheads
“Ko Ko Mo” – Perry Como
“Learnin’ The Blues” – Frank Sinatra
“Love Me Or Leave Me” – Sammy Davis Jr.
“Melody Of Love” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Melody Of Love” – Four Aces
“Most Of All / The Door Is Still Open To My Heart” – Don Cornell
“Open Up Your Heart” – Cowboy Church Sunday School
“Plantation Boogie” – Lenny Dee
“Play Me Hearts And Flowers” – Johnny Desmond
“Pledging My Love / How Important Can It Be” – Teresa Brewer
“Rock Around The Clock” – Bill Haley & The Comets
“Sincerely” – Mcguire Sisters
“The Breeze And I” – Caterina Valente
“The Crazy Otto” – Johnny Maddox
“Tweedlee Dee” – Georgia Gibbs
“Two Hearts” – Pat Boone
“Unchained Melody” – Al Hibbler
“Unchained Melody” – June Valli
“Unchained Melody” – Les Baxter
“Unchained Melody” – Roy Hamilton
“Whatever Lola Wants” – Sarah Vaughan

* = New to the chart this week.

And we’ll supplement this with a top 10 R&B chart from the month:

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:

This month in history

West Germany becomes a sovereign country recognized by Western foreign countries, such as France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States on May the 5th. Probably not to celebrate, but that month in Berlin police put on a fascinating display:

Speaking of shows, on May the 9th Jim Henson introduces the earliest version of Kermit the Frog in the premiere of his puppet show Sam and Friends on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. Here’s a clip from one episode of that show:

What’d Sadie think?

It’s catchy but we don’t need 4 versions of “Ballad Of Davy Crockett”, but Bill Hayes is still ruling the roost in May, 1955 with 4 weeks at the top.

Love ’em

We’ll do short form wrap-up of the songs but we can’t let the appearance of “Rock Around The Clock” by Bill Haley & The Comets go without remarking that it was the first rock and roll record to reach #1 on the US charts. Whatever you think of it, its notable and influential in bringing both the sounnd of rock, and it’s nomenclature, to the mainstream.

And of course it was the theme for Happy Days for the first two seasons:

Which was a favourite show of mine in the ’80s. Admittedly I think I thought it was a show _made_ in the ’50s not made _about_ the ’50s in the ’70s. It’s all very different looking back!

“A Blossom Fell” – Nat King Cole & The Four Knights

“Boom Boom Boomerang” – Decastro Singers

“Learnin’ The Blues” – Frank Sinatra

“Love Me Or Leave Me” – Sammy Davis Jr.

“Unchained Melody” – June Valli

“Unchained Melody” – Ray Hamilton

“Whatcha Gonna Do” – The Drifters

“I’m a Man” – Bo Diddly

“I gotta a woman” – Ray Charles

Like ’em

“Blue Star” – Felicia Sanders

“Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” – Alan Dale

“Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup / The Sand And The Sea” – Nat King Cole

“Heart” – Eddie Fisher

“Most Of All / The Door Is Still Open To My Heart” – Don Cornell

“Don’t be Angry” – Nappy Brown

“Flip Flop and Fly” – Joe Turner

“My Babe” – Little Walter

“That’s all i need” – Lavern Baker

“The Wall Flower” – Etta James

Lose ’em

“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Voices Of Walter Schumann
“Hey Mr. Banjo” – Sunnysiders

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below.

It feels like summer is all but here in Auckland of 2021, while I hear it is positively wintery up north. But wherever you are today, its April in 1955 as we listen to a lovely selection of tunes…

The songs of April, 1955

“Ballad Of Davy Crocket” – Bill Hayes
“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Fess Parker
“Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Tennessee Ernie Ford*
“Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” – Prez Prado
“Dance With Me Henry” – Georgia Gibbs
“Danger Heartbreak Ahead” – Jaye P. Morgan
“Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup” – Nat King Cole
“Dixie Danny” – Laurie Sisters*
“Don’t Be Angry” – Crew-Cuts*
“Don’t Be Angry” – Nappy Brown*
“Earth Angel” – Crew-Cuts
“Earth Angel” – Penguins
“Hearts Of Stone” – Fontane Sisters
“Honey-Babe” – Art Mooney Orchestra*
“How Important Can It Be” – Joni James
“It May Sound Silly” – Mcguire Sisters
“It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie” – Somethin’ Smith & The Redheads*
“Ko Ko Mo” – Crew-Cuts
“Ko Ko Mo” – Perry Como
“Make Yourself Comfortable” – Andy Griffith*
“Mambo Rock” – Bill Haley & The Comets
“Melody Of Love” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Melody Of Love” – David Carroll Orchestra
“Melody Of Love” – Four Aces
“Open Up Your Heart” – Cowboy Church Sunday School
“Plantation Boogie” – Lenny Dee
“Play Me Hearts And Flowers” – Johnny Desmond
“Pledging My Love” – Johnny Ace
“Sincerely” – Mcguire Sisters
“Smiles” – Crazy Otto
“That’s All I Want From You” – Jaye P. Morgan
“The Breeze And I” – Caterina Valente*
“The Crazy Otto” – Johnny Maddox
“The Sand And The Sea” – Nat King Cole
“Tweedlee Dee” – Georgia Gibbs
“Two Hearts” – Pat Boone*
“Unchained Melody” – Al Hibbler*
“Unchained Melody” – Les Baxter Orchestra & Chorus*
“Unchained Melody” – Roy Hamilton*
“Whatever Lola Wants” – Sarah Vaughan*

* = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:

This month in history

On April 15th the man who made McDonald’s what it is today, but not the founder, Ray Kroc opens his first McDonald’s franchise restaurant, in Des Plaines, Illinois. Here’s a recreation of him visiting a McDonald’s for the first time from a film:

The very next day on the 16th – Sir Laurence Olivier’s film version of Shakespeare’s Richard III, is released in the UK. Here’s a classic monologue from that film:

And… the Internet is such an unreliable source of information at times, as we know, which extends to ’50s history. According to a few sources on April 3rd, “The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg’s book “Howl” against obscenity charges”. Except it wasn’t even released till 1956. But because I love it so, and it was written in 1955 and is a great snapshot of the subculture of the time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM9BMVFpk80

What’d Sadie think?

The whole nation must have been humming it, because the very catchy “Ballad Of Davy Crocket” by Bill Hayes was number 1 for the whole month.

But there was also a new version of the song this month by country singer Tennessee Ernie Ford which is now our favourite version of the tune, check it out!

Our new songs of the month continue with “Dixie Danny” by the Laurie Sisters. Just no. It’s dreadful. Meanwhile “Don’t Be Angry” is a nice cover of a R&B chart hit by the Crew-Cuts. Oh, yes.

“Honey-Babe” – Art Mooney Orchestra is not great. Though the lyrics like, “Got a girl in every port, they’re pursuing me for no support” feel like they could be from a ’90s Hip Hop song if they rhymed.

“It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie” is a nice tune by the interestingly named, “Somethin’ Smith & The Redheads” . I wish I could find more out about the band, but what there is on Wikipedia is oddly amusing in its way.

“The group consisted of Smith (Robert H. (Red) Robinson) (vocals, banjo, and guitar), Saul Striks (December 8, 1924 – c. December 1979) (piano) and Major C. Short (Double Bass). Striks died from a heart attack in December 1979 at either 54 or 55 years old. Robinson is also dead. Short lived in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, until he died on March 30, 2018, at the age of 93.”

Short outlived them all.

“Make Yourself Comfortable” is a comedy cum song by comedian and actor Andy Griffith. You’d have to be in the mood for it.

“Smiles” is another by Crazy Otto or Johnny Maddox or whatever he wants to call himself and is as passable as his previous instrumentals.

“The Breeze And I” is a cover of a ’40s tune by Caterina Valente and is quite sweet. Caterina Valente is “an Italian-French multilingual singer, guitarist, dancer, and actress. Valente is a polyglot; she speaks six languages, and sings in eleven.”. Quite the over achiever.

“Two Hearts” by Pat Boone has a nice groove but its not a patch on song of the week, “Unchained Melody” by Al Hibbler. It’s not the most famous cover, that wouldn’t come until the Righteous Brothers in 1965, but it is still a great tune. Apparently the song is from a little known 1955 film, “Unchained”.

“Whatever Lola Wants” by Sarah Vaughan is a swinging number from the broadway musical Damn Yankees and ends the new songs on the charts this month.

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

A busy month and week in 2021 and 1955 – as The Scovells move into their new home in Auckland and we have 12 new tracks on the charts:

The songs of March, 1955

“A Man Chases A Girl” – Eddie Fisher*
“Birth Of The Boogie” – Bill Haley & The Comets*
“Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” – Prez Prado*
“Dance With Me Henry” – Georgia Gibbs*
“Danger Heartbreak Ahead” – Jaye P. Morgan*
“Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup” – Nat King Cole*
“Earth Angel” – Crew-Cuts
“Earth Angel” – Penguins
“Glad Rag Doll” – Crazy Otto*
“Hearts Of Stone” – Charms
“Hearts Of Stone” – Fontane Sisters
“How Important Can It Be” – Joni James
“How Important Can It Be” – Sarah Vaughan
“It May Sound Silly” – Mcguire Sisters*
“Ko Ko Mo” – Crew-Cuts
“Ko Ko Mo” – Perry Como
“Let Me Go Lover” – Joan Weber
“Make Yourself Comfortable” – Sarah Vaughan
“Mambo Rock” – Bill Haley & The Comets
“Melody Of Love” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Melody Of Love” – David Carroll Orchestra
“Melody Of Love” – Four Aces
“Mr. Sandman” – Chordettes
“No More” – Mcguire Sisters
“Open Up Your Heart” – Cowboy Church Sunday School
“Plantation Boogie” – Lenny Dee
“Play Me Hearts And Flowers” – Johnny Desmond*
“Pledging My Love” – Johnny Ace
“Pledging My Love” – Teresa Brewer*
“Rock Love” – Fontane Sisters
“Sincerely” – Mcguire Sisters
“The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Tennessee Ernie Ford
“That’s All I Want From You” – Jaye P. Morgan
“The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Bill Hayes
“The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Fess Parker*
“The Crazy Otto” – Johnny Maddox
“The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane” – Ames Brothers
“The Sand And The Sea” – Nat King Cole*
“Tweedlee Dee” – Georgia Gibbs
“Tweedlee Dee” – Lavern Baker

* = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:

This month in history

On March 5th Elvis Presley makes his television debut on “Louisiana Hayride” carried by KSLA-TV Shreveport. You can watch it… oh no – although audio recordings exists, there is no known video footage of this appearance.

Sadly on March 12th Charlie Parker, 34, US saxophonist and a personal fave died. Here he is performing a couple of years earlier:

And at the 7th annual Emmy awards held on the 7th, Lassie wins Best Children’s show. Here’s the theme tune:

What’d Sadie think?

Three weeks at number 1 for “Sincerely” by the Mcguire Sisters before its overtaken in the last week of March by “The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” by Bill Hayes.

As mentioned its a busy weekend back in 2021 so we’ll just group the songs by “love ’em”, “like ’em” and “lose ’em”.

Love ’em:

“Birth Of The Boogie” – Bill Haley & The Comets

“Danger Heartbreak Ahead” – Jaye P. Morgan

“It May Sound Silly” – Mcguire Sisters

“The Sand And The Sea” – Nat King Cole

Like ’em:

“Pledging My Love” – Teresa Brewer

“Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” – Prez Prado

“Dance With Me Henry” – Georgia Gibbs

“Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup” – Nat King Cole

“The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Fess Parker

Lose ’em

“Glad Rag Doll” – Crazy Otto

“A Man Chases A Girl” – Eddie Fisher (Until She Catches Him)

“Play Me Hearts And Flowers” – Johnny Desmond

Now go make up your mind and listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

22 years to the month before I was born was February, 1955 which is where we find ourselves listing to a pop-chart that looked something like this…

The songs of February, 1955

“Dim Dim The Lights” – Bill Haley & The Comets
“Earth Angel” – Crew-Cuts*
“Earth Angel” – Gloria Mann*
“Earth Angel” – Penguins
“Hearts Of Stone” – Charms
“Hearts Of Stone” – Fontane Sisters
“How Important Can It Be” – Joni James*
“How Important Can It Be” – Sarah Vaughan*
“I Need You Now” – Eddie Fisher
“Ko Ko Mo” – Crew-Cuts
“Ko Ko Mo” – Perry Como*
“Let Me Go Lover” – Joan Weber
“Let Me Go Lover” – Teresa Brewer
“Ling Ting Tong” – Charms
“Make Yourself Comfortable” – Sarah Vaughan
“Make Yourself Comfortable” – Peggy King*
“Melody Of Love” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Melody Of Love” – David Carroll Orchestra
“Melody Of Love” – Four Aces
“Melody Of Love” – Leo Diamond*
“Mr. Sandman” – Chordettes
“Mr. Sandman” – Four Aces
“No More” – Dejohn Sisters
“No More” – Mcguire Sisters
“Open Up You Heart” – Cowboy Church Sunday School
“Plantation Boogie” – Lenny Dee*
“Pledging My Love” – Johnny Ace*
“Rock Love” – Fontane Sisters*
“Shake Rattle And Roll” – Bill Haley & The Comets
“Sincerely” – Mcguire Sisters
“Smiles” – Crazy Otto*
“Song Of The Barefoot Contessa” – Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra
“Teach Me Tonight” – Decastro Sisters
“That’s All I Want From You” – Jaye P. Morgan
“The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” – Bill Hayes*
“The Crazy Otto” – Johnny Maddox & The Rhythmasters*
“The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane” – Ames Brothers
“This Ole House” – Rosemary Clooney
“Tweedlee Dee” – Georgia Gibbs
“Tweedlee Dee” – Lavern Baker

* = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:

This month in history

The relevant birthdays are starting to roll in thick-and-fast – this month in 1955 we have Steve Jobs born on the 24th.

On the same day were the 12th annual Oscars. Best Motion Picture – Drama went to “On the Waterfront” directed by Elia Kazan and staring Marlon Brando.

The film was suggested by “Crime on the Waterfront” by Malcolm Johnson, a series of articles published in November–December 1948 in the New York Sun which won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, detailing Union violence and corruption amongst longshoremen.

Meanwhile Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama went to Grace Kelly for “The Country Girl”. Also starting chart topper Bing Crosby and William Holden  the film is about an alcoholic has-been actor/singer struggling with the one last chance he has been given to resurrect his career.

What’d Sadie think?

“Hearts Of Stone” by the Fontane Sisters has a week at number 1 before “Sincerely” by the Mcguire Sisters tops the charts for the rest of February.

We have two new versions of “Earth Angel” this month, by the Crew-Cuts and Gloria Mann. We’ve included the former and its a great version of a great tne.

Two versions of “How Important Can It Be” are charting, one by Joni James and the other by Sarah Vaughan. The former is the original and the version we include on the playlist this week. ’tis very nice but nothing exceptional.

A new version of “Ko Ko Mo” by chart fave Perry Como greets us this week and comes with an excellent sax part. As does “Rock Love” by the Fontane Sisters.

Possibly our favourite new tune of the month is “Make Yourself Comfortable” by Peggy King which has some nice layered vocals.

Meanwhile Leo Diamond’s “Melody Of Love” is a fairly dull instrumental.

As chill but a bit more interesting is “Plantation Boogie” by Lenny Dee. I’d not heard the name before, but by all accounts Dee was an, “American virtuoso organist who played many styles of music. His record albums were among the most popular of easy listening and space age pop organists of the 1950s through the early 1970s.” And indeed, for a 1955 tune this one is a little spacey it not psychedelic. Not bad.

Apparently “Pledging My Love” by Johnny Ace was the most popular version of the song. Sadly it was released by Duke Records in December 1954 soon after Ace’s death by an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound. It’s a great song.

Then we have “Smiles” by Crazy Otto, an alias for Johnny Maddox, an ragtime pianist. Confusingly he also charts with a track named “The Crazy Otto” under his real name. They’re both ragtime piano tunes which are fairly tame. Randomly, Ms. Pac-Man, the 1982 video game was called Crazy Otto during development.

Closing out the new songs of the month we have “The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” by Bill Hayes. This was the theme tune to the classic Disney television miniseries “Davy Crockett”, first telecast on December 15, 1954 and its too well known and catchy to call it good or bad. Sing along!