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As spring starts to make itself known down here in New Zealand, we find ourselves in July of 1954 in our musical journey through time.

The songs of July, 1954

In order to “get ahead of the game” I spent most of Sunday compiling the charts for the next 6 years of 4xLife time (or 1.5 years of real time). As a result we’ve seen enough charts this week so we’ll stick to the US pop charts:

“Answer Me My Love” – Nat King Cole
“Crazy ‘Bout You Baby” – Crew Cuts
“Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight” – Mcguire Sisters
“Green Years” – Eddie Fisher
“Here” – Tony Martin
“Hernando’s Hideaway” – Archie Bleyer
“Hey There” – Rosemary Clooney
“I Understand” – Four Tunes
“I Understand” – June Valli
“I’m A Fool To Care” – Les Paul & Mary Ford
“If You Love Me” – Kay Starr
“In The Chapel In The Moonlight” – Kitty Kallen
“Isle Of Capri” – Jackie Lee
“Little Things Mean A Lot” – Kitty Kallen
“My Friend” – Eddie Fisher
“Point Of Order” – Stan Freberg
“Sh-Boom” – Chords
“Sh-Boom” – Crew Cuts
“Some Day” – Frankie Laine
“Steam Heat” – Patti Page
“Sway” – Dean Martin
“Thank You For Calling” – Jo Stafford
“The Happy Wanderer” – Frank Weir
“The Happy Wanderer” – Henri Rene
“The Little Shoemaker” – Gaylords
“The Little Shoemaker” – Hugo Winterhalter / Eddie Fisher
“The Man Upstairs” – Kay Starr
“Three Coins In The Fountain” – Four Aces
“Three Coins In The Fountain” – Frank Sinatra
“Wanted” – Perry Como
“Young At Heart” – Frank Sinatra

You can listen to all of the songs, include the 13 (big week!) new songs on Youtube via this link or embedded below:

This month in history

It was time to chow down in the UK on July 4, 1954 when food rationing finally came to an end with the lifting of restrictions on sale and purchase of meat, 14 years after it began early in World War II and nearly a decade after the war’s end. I can see some parallel irony in this having just moved from lockdown free UK to NZ which has just entered into its first solid lockdown in a year…

I assume the end of rationing was one of the main stories when the BBC broadcast the UK’s first television news bulletin the next day on July 5, 1954.

In another parallel irony we see that “Fellowship of the Ring” the 1st volume of “Lord of the Rings” by J. R. R. Tolkien was published on July 29, 1954. New Zealand was once considered “middle earth”, despite the authorship of the books being in the UK, because the film series were made here. It has just shifted back to the UK for the making of the TV series as we move down under… (luckily The Scovells are not fans).

In prepping the playlists for the rest of the ’50s I got a bit of a sneak peek of what is coming up. So its only a little spoiler to note that on July 19, 1954 Elvis Presley’s first single, “That’s All Right” was released…but when will he be charting? We’ll see.

What’d Sadie think?

Kitty Kallen’s “Little Things Mean A Lot” rules the charts and takes the number 1 spot for every week this month. She’s also got a new song in the charts, “In The Chapel In The Moonlight” which is a cover of a 1936 tune and it’s not bad. It does make me ask, beyond the ’50s did anyone sing about chapels anymore? I guess we’ll eventually find out.

“Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight” is a lovely tune by the Mcguire Sisters which was apparently originally released on the R&B charts by doo-wop group The Spaniels.

“Green Years” by Eddie Fisher is a bit melodramatic, so it’ll depend on your mood – didn’t do it for us today.

“Hey There” by Rosemary Clooney is another hit charting from “The Pajama Game” musical. Last month we had “Steam Heat” by Patti Page from the show, which is still charting. It sounds like a show tune, but in a good way. You can see Clooney singing it below:

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

“I Understand” by June Valli is another version of the song that we first heard the Four Tunes charts last month. It’s a catchy sing-a-long.

“I’m A Fool To Care” is this month’s new Les Paul & Mary Ford tune – they’re always more miss than hit with us but this one has something nice about it.

“Sh-Boom” enters the charts with versions by the Crew Cuts and the Chords. We went with the version from the latter as it is an original of the R&B doo-wop group andis sometimes considered to be the first doo-wop or rock ‘n’ roll record to reach the top ten on the pop charts. And what a tune it is! Song of the week for sure.

“Some Day” is a revival of a 1925 song by Frankie Laine. It’s strange to think of these revivals – that’d be the equivalent of a ’90s song being covered now, which is pretty prevalent. I wonder if it made some folks feel as old as the latter makes me feel… I’m not sure if this one needed reviving to be honest.

“Sway” by Dean Martin was originally “¿Quién será?”, a bolero-mambo written by Mexican composer Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. Norman Gimbel took the song, removed the somewhat melancholy Spanish lyrics about a man wondering if he shall ever love again, and wrote brand-new English lyrics about a man praising his dancing partner’s ability to affect his heart with how she “sways” when they dance. It’s a lovely song and we literally found Sadie in front of the laptop swaying to it so it gets her endorsement.

“Thank You For Calling” by Jo Stafford is a pop version of a country hit and is a sweet tune but nothing notable from one of our chart faves.

“The Little Shoemaker” hits the charts in version by both the Gaylords and Eddie Fisher. It’s another translated song, this time based on the French song, “Le petit cordonnier,” by Rudi Revil. It’s as silly as it sounds which is fun if you’re in the mood. It’s a clap-a-long which Sadie always like anyway.

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

And here we are, a little belatedly, arriving in June 1954 in our musical journey as The Scovells find themselves back in 2021 in New Zealand after 8 years abroad in the UK. So a combination of timezones and jetlag means this week’s edition is a little behind schedule. But enough about today, here’s what yesteryear sounded like…

The songs of June, 1954

“A Girl A Girl” – Eddie Fisher
“Answer Me My Love” – Nat King Cole
“Crazy ‘Bout You Baby” – Crew Cuts
“Cross Over The Bridge” – Patti Page
“Here” – Tony Martin
“Hernando’s Hideaway” – Archie Bleyer
“I Get So Lonely” – Four Knights
“I Understand” – Four Tunes
“If You Love Me” – Kay Starr
“Isle Of Capri” – Gaylords
“Isle Of Capri” – Jackie Lee
“Jilted” – Teresa Brewer
“Little Things Mean A Lot” – Kitty Kallen
“Make Love To Me” – Jo Stafford
“My Friend” – Eddie Fisher
“Point Of Order” – Stan Freberg
“Steam Heat” – Patti Page
“The Happy Wanderer” – Frank Weir
“The Happy Wanderer” – Henri Rene
“The Man Upstairs” – Kay Starr
“The Man With The Banjo” – Ames Brothers
“Three Coins In The Fountain” – Four Aces
“Three Coins In The Fountain” – Frank Sinatra
“Wanted” – Perry Como
“Young At Heart” – Frank Sinatra

Just 4 new songs on the charts. So well supplement for a UK chart from this month:

“Secret Love” – Doris Day

“Such A Night” – Johnnie Ray

“Friends And Neighbours” – Billy Cotton And His Band

“The Happy Wanderer” – Obernkirchen Children’s Choir

“Someone Else’s Roses” – Joan Regan

“(Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely” – Four Knights

“The Kid’s Last Fight” – Frankie Laine

“The Gang That Sang Heart Of My Heart” – Max Bygraves

“Changing Partners” – Kay Starr

“Wanted” – Perry Como

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

This month in history

The 4th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18 to 29 June 1954. Their were no Jury prizes but the audience awarded the “Golden Bear” award to “Hobson’s Choice” a 1954 British romantic comedy film – based on the 1916 play of the same name. You can view a trailer below:

Meanwhile on a darker note, and back (here) in New Zealand the murder of Honorah Parker by her 16-year-old daughter Pauline Parker and her best friend, Juliet Hulme, 15, drew attention both locally and overseas. One of New Zealand’s most infamous crimes, it later inspired the play, Daughters of heaven, by Michelanne Forster, and Peter Jackson’s Academy Award-nominated film Heavenly creatures. Which you can see the trailer for below:

In discovering the former, I also noted that the popular New Zealand quiz show “It’s in the bag” began in January 1954 in first incarnation as a long running (11-year) radio show.

Host Selwyn Toogood became famous for expressions like ‘By hokey!’ and ‘What should she do, New Zealand, the money or the bag?’ that became part of the Kiwi vernacular.

Each show was broadcast from a different town, giving it a local feel. Contestants selected from the audience were asked three relatively easy questions. If successful, they got to play for ‘the money or the bag’. Hidden in the prize bags were three ‘booby prizes’ of little value and a ‘Super Bag’

He was less famously, but completely, sexist as this amazing clip from 1959 shows:

Massive respect to the female computer programmer in that clip incidentally! And coincidentally, one of the first vaguely OK things I coded myself was a text version of the gameshow, complete with the host’s expressions.

You can see a great documentary on a making of an episode of the radio show below:

What’d Sadie think?

“Little Things Mean A Lot” by Kitty Kallen has made its way to the top of the charts and stays there for all of June of 1954.

As well as “A Girl, A Girl”, Eddie Fisher, is looking for a friend it appears with “My Friend” now also charting. It’s more chill than the former and didn’t really grab us, I hope he found some mates either way.

“Point Of Order” is another Stan Freberg comedy number. This time he’s having another shot at Senator Joseph McCarthy with the “suspect” being investigated the black sheep from the nursery rhyme, “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep”. “I would be suspicious of anyone who tried to rhyme dame with lane.” etc. Apparently this was a much watered-down version of the original which was too overt for the record company. It’s his usual schtick so kind of funny if you’re in the right mood.

“Steam Heat” by Patti Page is from the 1954 Broadway musical “The Pajama Game” and its a fun number, it’ll get you singing along in no time. “Sssssss-steam heat!”

“Three Coins In The Fountain” is the second version of a song we first heard from the Four Aces last month, this time by Frank Sinatra. It’s actually the version from the eponymous film and is rather nice.

Then there are 5 songs we’ve not encountered in previous UK or US charts in this week’s UK top-10 hit parade,

“Such A Night” by Johnnie Ray was apparently banned by some radio stations as too “racy”, but versions still charted on the pop and R&B charts. It’s an upbeat number but hardly racy by modern “WAP” standards.

It was a kiss mmmm what a kiss it was
It really was, such a kiss
How she could kiss ooo what a kiss it was
It really was, such a kiss
Just part of her lips that sets me on fire
I reminisce and I feel desire
I’d give my heart to her in sweet surrender

“Such A Night” by Johnnie Ray

“Friends And Neighbours” by Billy Cotton And His Band is like a bad TV show theme. Whereas “Someone Else’s Roses” by Joan Regan is melancholy but a sweet number.

“The Kid’s Last Fight” by Frankie Laine is a lyrical tune that tells the story of a young fighter, Kid McCoy, fighting against Tiger Wilson. He hopes to win enough prize money to buy a bungalow for him and his darling Bess. The Kid is fighting while battling a fever and although he knocks out Tiger Wilson, the song says “Twas the fever that won the fight”. It’s a suitably punchy number but nothing special.

“The Gang That Sang Heart Of My Heart” by Max Bygraves was apparently a particular favourite of U.S. President John F. Kennedy; the president often asked his younger brother Teddy to sing it at family gatherings. It’s got a nice barbershop quartet chorus and is definitely catchy but I’d not ask my younger brother to sing it…

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

It’s a busy moving weekend here in 2021 for the Scovells so we’ll keep our trip back to May, 1954 bright and breezy. First up the top hits from the pop charts:

The songs of May, 1954

“A Girl A Girl” – Eddie Fisher
“Answer Me My Love” – Nat King Cole
“Crazy ‘Bout You Baby” – Crew Cuts
“Cross Over The Bridge” – Patti Page
“Cuddle Me” – Ronnie Gaylord
“Here” – Tony Martin
“Hernando’s Hideaway” – Archie Bleyer
“I Get So Lonely” – Four Knights
“I Really Don’t Want To Know” – Les Paul And Mary Ford
“I Understand” – Four Tunes
“If You Love Me” – Kay Starr
“Isle Of Capri” – Gaylords
“Isle Of Capri” – Jackie Lee
“Jilted” – Teresa Brewer
“Little Things Mean A Lot” – Kitty Kallen
“Make Love To Me” – Jo Stafford
“Poor Butterfly” – Hilltoppers
“Secret Love” – Doris Day
“The Happy Wanderer” – Frank Weir
“The Happy Wanderer” – Henri Rene
“The Man Upstairs” – Kay Starr
“The Man With The Banjo” – Ames Brothers
“There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight” – Tony Bennett
“Three Coins In The Fountain” – Four Aces
“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

As an amateur runner the story of Roger Bannister running the first sub-four minute mile, at the Iffley Road track in Oxford has always intrigued me. It happened on the 6th of May in 1954 and here’s the story direct from the man himself as he narrates footage of the race:

Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic on the 17th in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka the U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously that segregated schools are unconstitutional, which you can see more of in the film below:

What’d Sadie think?

Perry Como’s “Wanted” is at number 1 for the whole month of May in 1954. The man sure has dominated the charts in our first four years.

“Crazy ‘Bout You Baby” by the Crew Cuts sounds like it might be a song by an ’90s R&B group on paper. But actually the Crew Cuts were a Canadian vocal quartet named after the then popular crew cut haircut. Although this, their first hit, was written by the band themselves, they apparently quickly became specialists in cover recordings of originally-R&B songs so maybe the name makes sense on many levels. It’s a fun ditty for sure. We can’t go on without a photo of the band:

It’s all about quartets with the new songs this week. Next up is “I Understand” by the Four Tunes who were a black pop vocal quartet. This track was written by Pat Best in the band. We’re so used to covers and songs by songwriters at this point I’m surprised to get two songs in a row penned by the band. This one’s a little lethargic for us this week.

“Three Coins In The Fountain” by the Four Aces makes it three quartets. The song apparently received the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1955, written for the film of the same name it refers to the act of throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome while making a wish. Its got the stirring strings of a film tune but isn’t notable otherwise. You can see a trailer below:

“Hernando’s Hideaway” by Archie Bleyer meanwhile is from the musical “The Pajama Game”, The song itself is about a fictional invitation-only nightclub of the same name where lovers can meet for secret rendezvous. It’s absolutely ridiculous but consequently rather fun.

To round it out we have “Isle Of Capri” by Jackie Lee and his Orchestra, with some mean keys, and another version of “The Happy Wanderer”, this time by Henri Rene – which you can’t help singing along to. Let me hear it….”valderi, valdera….valderi, valdera-ha-ha-ha”

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

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.

Here in 2021 it’s Sadie’s first birthday. Happy birthday Sadie darling, you’re our delight! Which also means it’s nearly the first birthday of this project as we started shortly after she was born. Now let’s transport ourselves back to March, 1954 to hear what it sounds like…

The songs of March, 1954

“A Girl A Girl” – Eddie Fisher
“Answer Me My Love” – Nat King Cole
“Bell Bottom Blues” – Teresa Brewer
“Changing Partners” – Patti Page
“Cross Over The Bridge” – Patti Page
“Cuddle Me” – Ronnie Gaylord
“Darktown Strutters’ Ball” – Lou Monte
“From The Vine Came The Grape” – Gaylords
“From The Vine Came The Grape” – Hilltoppers
“Heart Of My Heart” – Four Aces
“Here” – Tony Martin
“I Get So Lonely” – Four Knights
“Make Love To Me” – Jo Stafford
“Oh My Papa” – Eddie Fisher
“Secret Love” – Doris Day
“Somebody Bad Stole De Wedding Bell” – Eartha Kitt
“Stranger In Paradise” – Four Aces
“Stranger In Paradise” – Tony Bennett
“That’s Amore” – Dean Martin
“Till Then” – Hilltoppers
“Till We Two Are One” – Georgie Shaw
“Wanted” – Perry Como
“Young At Heart” – Frank Sinatra

Just five new tunes on the mainstream charts so we’ll supplement with an 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

This month American journalists Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly produced a 30-minute documentary, entitled “A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy” investigating the leader of the USA’s notorious communist witch hunt of the ’50s.

The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn’t create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it – and rather successfully. Cassius was right. “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”

This quote, as seemingly relevant today, comes from the conclusion to the documentary that you can watch below:

Also this month the United States tested its first lithium deuteride-fueled thermonuclear weapon on Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands. The team of scientists behind the test expected an explosion with a yield of 6 megatons. Instead, the detonation was 15 megatons – 1000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima – inadvertently making it the fifth-largest nuclear explosion in history, and causing serious problems in the area where the test took place. In the years after the test several Marshall Islanders began to experience health issues, including birth defects and tumors, as a result of the test, and the US government eventually paid them compensation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge865CR9pN8

To lighten things up here’s Dean Martin singing the still charting “That’s Amore” from the Martin & Lewis film, The Caddy.

What’d Sadie think?

There’s quite a few steps between looking at the charts, listening to them and writing these posts. Which leaves plenty of room for error. Case in point last week when I wrote about the month’s number 1s. I mentioned Doris Day’s “Secret Love” and Jo Stafford’s “Make Love to Me” traded off for alternative weeks. Actually that was _this_ months top places. Last month “Oh My Papa” by Eddie Fisher was top spot for three weeks then Doris Day’s “Secret Love”.

“A Girl A Girl” by Eddie Fisher is absolutely goofy but very catchy so a great way to start this month’s charts.

“Answer Me My Love” takes the tempo down dramatically but is yet another lovely song by Nat King Cole.

Meanwhile “Here” by Tony Martin is forgettably generic however. Whereas “Wanted” by Perry Como is nothing new from him but is a great piece of crooning.

Eartha Kitt’s “Somebody Bad Stole De Wedding Bell” is just plain weird with questionable accents. “who’s got the ding dong?”… An uncomfortable listen!

The biggest grower this week was Teresa Brewer’s “Bell Bottom Blues” which really got Sadie dancing.

Some great songs on the R&B chart this month. “You’ll never walk alone” by Roy Hamilton is a showcase of really great voice. Wikipedia tells me he merged semi-classical technique with traditional black gospel feeling – which definitely works.

Guitar Slim’s “Things that I used to do” delivers on his first name with some nice riffs. Apparently He recorded it in New Orleans, where the young Ray Charles arranged and produced the session. And it’s credited as influential on both Rock n Roll and Soul.

From guitars to rocking pianos with “I didn’t want to do it” by The Spiders which is also excellent.

Two tunes by The Clovers in the charts – “Lovey Dovey” has great horns and groove and is the best of the two. “Little Mama” is also a good tune and bit more uptempo.

Also two from Clyde McPhatter. “Such a Night” has more great horns. “Lucille” is a bit too slow by comparison.

“I’m your Hoochie Koochie man” is a Blues classic by Muddy Waters and deservedly so. It’s braggadocio echos hip hop music from 40 years later.

The chart closes out on The Counts’ “Darling Dear” which has a brill sax part and is a great slice of.

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

It’s February, 1954 in our journey through the pop music of the ages; 23 years to the month before I was born and 66 before Sadie was. Let’s see what it sounds like…

The songs of February, 1954

We’ll stick to the main pop charts this month where we have 8 new tracks:

“Bell Bottom Blues” – Teresa Brewer
“Changing Partners” – Bing Crosby
“Changing Partners” – Kay Starr
“Changing Partners” – Patti Page
“Cross Over The Bridge” – Patti Page
“Cuddle Me” – Ronnie Gaylord
“Darktown Strutters’ Ball” – Lou Monte
“Ebb Tide” – Frank Chacksfield
“From The Vine Came The Grape” – Gaylords
“From The Vine Came The Grape” – Hilltoppers
“Heart Of My Heart” – Don Cornell / Johnny Desmond / Alan Dale
“Heart Of My Heart” – Four Aces
“I Get So Lonely” – Four Knights
“Make Love To Me” – Jo Stafford
“Oh My Papa” – Eddie Fisher
“Rags To Riches” – Tony Bennett
“Ricochet” – Teresa Brewer
“Secret Love” – Doris Day
“Stranger In Paradise” – Four Aces
“Stranger In Paradise” – Tony Bennett
“Stranger In Paradise” – Tony Martin
“That’s Amore” – Dean Martin
“The Jones Boy” – Mills Brothers
“Till Then” – Hilltoppers
“Till We Two Are One” – Georgie Shaw
“What It Was Was Football” – Deacon Andy Griffith
“Woman” – Jose Ferrer
“Young At Heart” – Frank Sinatra

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

This month in history

Premiering this month was The Secret Storm, a sitcom that ran for twenty years. I always find old episodes of TV shows give some good context for year so below is one from 1955, the earliest I could find. The story follows the Ames family, a prominent clan in the fictional Northeastern United States town of Woodbridge (eventually identified as being located in New York). The Ames family consisted of Peter, his wife Ellen, and their three children: Susan, Jerry, and Amy. However, Ellen was killed in the first episode and subsequent stories focused on Peter raising his three children.

The first Church of Scientology also opened this month in 1954. You can hear the founder L. Ron Hubbard speaking below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMhsTGV4T_0

What’d Sadie think?

It was a battle of love for the top spot this month; between “Secret Love” by Doris Day and “Make Love To Me” by Jo Stafford. Each took a week at the top in turn and then switched it out.

A new track from Teresa Brewer, “Bell Bottom Blues” kicks off the charts. This really got Sadie dancing and the rest of us rather liked it to.

I got the bell bottom blues
‘Cause my sweetie is a sailor
And he’s sailin’ somewhere on the sea
I got the bell bottom blues
‘Cause I’m craxy ’bout a sailor
And I don’t know when he’s comin’ back to me

“Bell Bottom Blues” – Teresa Brewer

Then we had “Cross Over The Bridge” by Patti Page, who always has something in the charts these days. Published in 1945 the song didn’t become popular till Patti, and a spate of other versions came out in 1954. It was worth waiting for.

“Darktown Strutters’ Ball” by Lou Monte is another historied song, a popular jazz standard from 1917. It’s a bit of fun.

“Cuddle Me” by Ronnie Gaylord has Sadie dancing and clapping (in time no less! all this music is paying off…) Ronnie was Ronald L. Fredianelli, a member of The Gaylords who have another tune in the chart. He apparently began to perform as a solo singer after entering military service in the 1950s.

“From The Vine Came The Grape” is that song by The Gaylords, but we have a version by the Hilltoppers. It’s a nice song, notable for a verse sung in Italian.

“I Get So Lonely” by the Four Knights isn’t bad. The biggest version of a song that was covered lots in 1954 apparently. Bing Crosby did a version – so well done the Knights for outdoing the crooner.

“Make Love To Me” by Jo Stafford is one of those titles that exposes the shift in language since the 1950s. It’s a sweet love song anyway.

We close out on Frank Sinatra’s classic “Young At Heart”. The song was such a hit that a movie that Sinatra was filming at the same time with Doris Day, was renamed to match the song title, and the song was included in the opening and closing credits of the movie. The trailer for the film is below:

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