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We’re writing this from July 2021 as England play Italy for Euros 2020… we’ll know by time we finish writing this entry what the outcome was if the game proves as sufficiently distracting as the first 13 minutes have been. Meanwhile let’s see what September, 1953 sounds like as go back to a time before England last bought football home.

The songs of September, 1953

Half a dozen new songs on the main pop charts this week, and yes, another version of “Crying in the Chapel” was in there:

“A Dear John Letter” – Jean Shepard / Ferlin Husky
“Allez-Vous-En” – Kay Starr
“C’est Si Bon” – Eartha Kitt
“Crying In The Chapel” – Darrell Glenn
“Crying In The Chapel” – Hilltoppers
“Crying In The Chapel” – June Valli
“Crying In The Chapel” – Orioles
“Crying In The Chapel” – Rex Allen
“Dragnet” – Ray Anthony
“Ebb Tide” – Frank Chacksfield
“Eh Cumpari” – Julius Larosa
“Gambler’s Guitar” – Rusty Draper
“Hey Joe” – Frankie Laine
“I See The Moon” – Mariners
“I’m Walking Behind You” – Eddie Fisher
“My Love My Love” – Joni James
“No Other Love” – Perry Como
“Oh!” – Pee Wee Hunt
“P.S. I Love You” – Hilltoppers
“Rags To Riches” – Tony Bennett
“Song From Moulin Rouge” – Percy Faith
“Vaya Con Dios” – Les Paul And Mary Ford
“With These Hands” – Eddie Fisher
“You You You” – Ames Brothers

Thinking it through, as the UK v Italy game plays on, this would have been an obvious week to include a UK top 10 but we make and listen to the chart on Saturdays normally so we’ve already missed the chance to do that. We have added a top 10 R&B chart from September instead:

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

This month in history

An end of summer ’53 wedding for (at the time) U.S. Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island. You can see some of it below:

Meanwhile, last year, at the University of Chicago, Eugene Aserinsky, Nathaniel Kleitman, and William C. Dement, discovered phases of rapid eye movement during sleep, and connected these to dreaming. Their article revealing this was was published on September 10, 1953. You can learn about the stages of sleep here:

What’d Sadie think?

It’s another whole month at the top for “Vaya Con Dios” – and repetition and crowd wisdom has done its trick and it’s now our favourite Les Paul track. I can’t help but thinking “Crying in the Chapel” is the real number one, as with all the versions adding up it must have sold out everything else by far.

The Hilltoppers version doesn’t do much to differentiate itself but we now love the tune so there we go.

“Ebb Tide” by Frank Chacksfield starts off with a recording of seagulls and goes on to be a nice instrumental ode to the ocean, which makes us look forward to Sadie’s first seaside holiday this month.

“Eh Cumpari” by Julius Larosa is a novelty song and Sadie’s favourite this month. We should probably worry about her allegiances to England there as the tune is based on a traditional Italian song.

“Hey Joe” is different sound from Frankie Laine, which seems to be because it was originally a country chart hit for Carl Smith – not our favourite of his.

“I See The Moon” by the Mariners is a nice tune with some spoken word interludes. Interestingly, the group were a rarity, having two white and two African American members. They formed during World War II, in 1942 and toured military bases til the end of the war.

The last track on the pop charts is a classic piece of crooning from Tony Bennett, “Rags To Riches” – very nice.

Meanwhile on the R&B charts we start with “Shake a Hand” by Faye Adams which is a beltin’ tune and was apparently much covered at the time (you can read more here).

Then we have the Orioles great version of “Crying in the chapel” – which has already crossed over onto the mainstream charts as we know.

A lot of loving in the R&B charts this month with “Good Lovin’” by the Clovers. But it seems that was too much for some ’50s sensibilities as we also have “Too much Lovin’” by the Five Royales. The former is our pick on both levels.

It was just a more polite time. As evidenced by the fact we have “Please Love Me” by B B King and “Please Don’t Leave me” by Fats Domino…. Don’t worry Fats we won’t leave you, this was our favourite pleading tune this month.

But don’t think the manners got in the way of the hard drinking because then we also have Amos Milburn’s “One Scotch, Once Bourbon, One Beer” – which is nice, but feels like it should have been bawdier.

We round out the charts with “Honey Hush” by Big Joe Turner which is a fun tune with a great sax piece and also nice, “Get it” by The (not Five) Royals.

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

p.s. As for the result back in 2021…let’s stay here in 1953 shall we?

We’re whizzing through 1953 now so let’s see what’s on the charts while summer cracks on back in London, 2020.

August, 1953 Top 20 Hits

“A Dear John Letter” – Pat O’Day / Al Rawley
“Allez-Vous-En” – Kay Starr
“Anna” – Sylvano Mangano
“April In Portugal” – Les Baxter
“Butterflies” – Patti Page
“C’est Si Bon” – Eartha Kitt
“Crying In The Chapel” – Darrell Glenn
“Crying In The Chapel” – June Valli
“Crying In The Chapel” – Orioles
“Crying In The Chapel” – Rex Allen
“Dragnet” – Ray Anthony
“Gambler’s Guitar” – Rusty Draper
“Half A Photograph” – Kay Starr
“I’d Rather Die Young” – Hilltoppers
“I’m Walking Behind You” – Eddie Fisher
“My Love My Love” – Joni James
“No Other Love” – Perry Como
“Oh” – Pee Wee Hunt
“P.S. I Love You” – Hilltoppers
“Ruby” – Les Baxter
“Ruby” – Richard Hayman
“Song From Moulin Rouge” – Percy Faith
“Theme From Limelight” – Frank Chacksfield
“Vaya Con Dios” – Les Paul And Mary Ford
“With These Hands” – Eddie Fisher
“You You You” – Ames Brothers

Just 5 new songs so we’ll add in a country chart from the month:

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

This month in history

The first Soviet test of a hydrogen bomb took place this month on August 12, 1953. Using a layer-cake design of fission and fusion fuels (uranium 235 and lithium-6 deuteride) it produced a yield of 400 kilotons. This yield was apparently about ten times more powerful than any previous Soviet tests and further fuelled the growing cold war.

Because apparently we hadn’t learnt our lesson from World War II – which was the topic of the film “From Here to Eternity”, starring Frank Sinatra, that was released this month in ’53.

The film was based on a 1951 novel by James Jones. In 2009, the author’s daughter, Kaylie Jones, revealed that her father had been compelled to make a number of pre-publication cuts, “removing some expletives and some gay sex passages”. I’m not sure if that’s why the trailer proclaims it is from “the most controversial novel” of our time, but there you go.

Speaking of sexuality, which we didn’t in the 1950’s, August 1953 saw the publication of Alfred Kinsey’s second work, “Sexual Behavior in the Human Female”. As the NY Times wrote in an article about a 2004 movie on Kinsey, he “remains one of the most influential figures in American intellectual history. He’s certainly the only entomologist ever to be immortalized in a Cole Porter song.”.

The latter was news to me, here’s the lyrics:

According to the Kinsey Report, ev’ry average man you know
Much prefers his lovey-dovey to court
When the temperature is low
But when the thermometer goes ‘way up
And the weather is sizzling hot
Mister, pants for romance is not

Cole Porter, “Too Damn Hot”

The song was, coincidentally, used in a 1953 film. Kinsey’s name was dropped and replaced with, “the latest report”.

What’d Sadie think?

“Vaya Con Dios” by Les Paul And Mary Ford is number 1 for all of August. We’ve never really warmed to their style but given the number of hits they’ve had in our first 3 years a number 1 seems deserved.

“A Dear John Letter” by Pat O’Day tells you everything you need to know from the title. It did make me wonder about the origin of the expression. I associate it with letters to men serving overseas and indeed wikipedia confirms this,

“It is commonly believed to have been coined by Americans during World War II. “John” was the most popular and common baby name for boys in America every single year from 1880 through 1923, making it a reasonable ‘placeholder’ name when denoting those of age for military service.”

The song itself isn’t bad, the spoken word interlude being the most notable. We’ll come back to this song in the country chart portion of today.

“Butterflies” isn’t my favourite Patti Page song, but the onomatopoeia of the flute part is nice.

I’m not sure if it is this version, or if it is just repetition, but the third version of “Crying In The Chapel” (by the Orioles) to make our playlists sounds pretty good to us. Again though, we’ll come back to this in a bit.

“Dragnet” is a version of the TV show’s theme by Ray Anthony and was probably great for fans of the ’50s cop show but isn’t much to someone unfamiliar.

Two generic love songs, “My Love My Love” by Joni James and “No Other Love” by Perry Como round out the new songs on the charts. Perry Como’s is the better of the two… cos Perry Como.

And then we’re back to “A Dear John Letter”, but the country version by Jean Shepard – it was originally a country song and her version is great and takes the pop version to the next level.

“Hey Joe” by Carl Smith is a fun, foot stomping, honky tonk song. Yee haw!

“I forget more than you’ll ever know” by The Davis (not actually) Sisters isn’t a bad song at all. Sadly they were in a car accident just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio this very month of August, 1953, in which Betty was instantly killed and Skeeter seriously injured.

Ok, so “Crying in the Chapel” doesn’t just get better by repetition, but as a country song. There’s two version (making six across pop and country charts!) and the Darrell Glenn is our favourite of them all.

“Rub-a-dub-dub” by Hank Thompson is so nonsense that it works. Whereas “Is Zat you Myrtle?” is so nonsense that my head hurts. Though lines like “i guess you better send that scallywag home” are definite ear worms.

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

p.s. Football’s coming home. 😉

We’re halfway through 1953 in our sped-up musical journey through time, let’s see what it sounds like…

The songs of July, 1953

7 new tunes hit the the mainstream top 20 pop charts this month:

July, 1953 Top 20 Hits

“Allez-Vous-En” – Kay Starr
“Anna” – Sylvano Mangano
“April In Portugal” – Les Baxter
“April In Portugal” – Richard Hayman
“C’est Si Bon” – Eartha Kitt
“Crazy Man Crazy” – Bill Haley And His Comets
“Crying In The Chapel” – Darrell Glenn
“Crying In The Chapel” – June Valli
“Gambler’s Guitar” – Rusty Draper
“Half A Photograph” – Kay Starr
“I Believe” – Frankie Laine
“I’d Rather Die Young” – Hilltoppers
“I’m Walking Behind You” – Eddie Fisher
“No Other Love” – Perry Como
“Oh” – Pee Wee Hunt
“P.S. I Love You” – Hilltoppers
“Ruby” – Les Baxter
“Ruby” – Richard Hayman
“Say You’re Mine Again” – Perry Como
“Song From Moulin Rouge” – Percy Faith / Felicia Sanders
“Theme From Limelight” – Frank Chacksfield
“Vaya Con Dios” – Les Paul And Mary Ford
“With These Hands” – Eddie Fisher
“You You You” – Ames Brothers

We’ll supplement the US pop chart with a Top 10 R&B chart:

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

This month in history

As the Covid vaccine rollout continues in 2021 we can look back to 1953 and see successful trials of the Polio vaccine were announced this month.

And the same month, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, a musical comedy film based on the 1949 stage musical of the same name, is released. I’m sure it needs no introduction so here’s Marilyn singing the title song in the film:

And in more global good news the Korean Armistice Agreement is signed on 27 July, 1953 bringing to an end the first big post WWII conflict.

What’d Sadie think?

“Song From Moulin Rouge” by Percy Faith continues its run with 3 weeks at number 1, with Eddie Fisher’s “I’m Walking Behind You” taking the top spot for the last two weeks.

A duo of french language songs hit the charts. “Allez-Vous-En” by Kay Starr is a great Cole Porter song from the musical “Can-Can”. And “C’est Si Bon” by Eartha Kitt is likewise a stellar tune, which would feature in the 1954 film “New Faces”. (Spoiler alert for next year!)

“Crying In The Chapel” appears in two guises. The first is by Darrell Glenn and was written for him to sing by his father Artie. Of course I only find out these factoids after I make the list up, so it was the belting June Valli cover version I included.

Rusty Draper’s “Gambler’s Guitar” is a cross-over country hit, and proves the point that its rarely the best songs that cross over from other charts… not great.

Also weak is “Oh” by Pee Wee Hunt, a American jazz trombonist.

“With These Hands” by Eddie Fisher isn’t bad. And it was only this week that I discovered he divorced his first wife, actress Debbie .Reynolds, to marry Reynolds’ best friend, Elizabeth Taylor… A storied life indeed.

On the R&B charts we have “Clock” by Johnny Ace which is like watching the clock waiting for home time… slow and dull.

“Please Love Me” is a solid B.B. King tune and “Help Me Somebody” by the 5 Royales is good.

Two songs by Harlem doo-wop group, The Du Droppers are on the charts, “I Found Out” and “I Wanna Know”. The latter is grand. While “Wild Wild Young Man” by Ruth Brown is an upbeat number with a great sax part.

“Mercy Mr. Percy” is a great number by Varetta Dillard and was apparently her biggest hit. She spent much of her early childhood in hospital due to a congenital bone condition. But by her mid-teens, her condition had stabilised, though she remained unable to walk without crutches or other assistance. Certainly didn’t effect those vocal cords!

Eddie Boyd’s “Third Degree” is that kind of blues number you need to be in a mood for, and we weren’t.

“Going to the River” by Fats Domino is alright. He crossed-over big time later in the decade, between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 US pop hits – but this isn’t up there. (Sorry, second spoiler of the post…)

I went down a rabbit hole trying to find out the meaning behind “Dominos” in the name of ‘Billy Ward and his Dominoes’ whose track “These Foolish Things” is a good closer to the charts. I was thinking it might be the same reason Fats was named that, but Domino is his actual last name and nothing else was forthcoming. Answers on a post card please.

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

It’s one of those weeks when the current month matches the month from the past we’re exploring musically, in this case June of 1953.

The songs of June, 1953

We’ve got a few new tracks this week in the mainstream USA charts:

June, 1953 Top 20 Hits

“Anna” – Sylvano Mangano
“April In Portugal” – Les Baxter
“April In Portugal” – Richard Hayman
“April In Portugal” – Vic Damone
“Crazy Man Crazy” – Bill Haley & Comets
“Half A Photograph” – Kay Starr
“How Much Is That Doggie In The Window” – Patti Page
“I Believe” – Frankie Laine
“I Believe” – Jane Froman
“I’d Rather Die Young” – Hilltoppers
“I’m Walking Behind You” – Eddie Fisher
“Moulin Rouge” – Mantovani
“No Other Love” – Perry Como
“Pretend” – Nat King Cole
“Ps I Love You” – Hilltoppers
“Ruby” – Les Baxter
“Ruby” – Richard Hayman
“Ruby” – Victor Young
“Say You’re Mine Again” – Perry Como
“Seven Lonely Days” – Georgia Gibbs
“Song From Moulin Rouge” – Percy Faith / Felicia Sanders
“The Ho Ho Song” – Red Buttons
“Theme From Limelight” – Frank Chacksfield
“Vaya Con Dios” – Les Paul And Mary Ford
“You You You” – Ames Brothers

And we’ll supplement that with a UK top ten from a week in June:

“I Believe” – Frankie Laine
“Terry’s Theme From ‘limelight’” – Frank Chacksfield
“Downhearted” – Eddie Fisher
“In A Golden Coach (There’s A Heart Of Gold)” – Billy Cotton And His Band
“Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me” – Muriel Smith
“Pretend” – Nat ‘king’ Cole
“Coronation Rag” – Winifred Atwell
“I’m Walking Behind You” – Eddie Fisher With Sally Sweetland
“In A Golden Coach (There’s A Heart Of Gold)” – Dickie Valentine
“The Song From The Moulin Rouge” – Mantovani
“Pretty Little Black Eyed Susie” – Guy Mitchell
“Terry’s Theme From ‘limelight”’ – Ron Goodwin

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

This month in history

One big event this month in history, on June 2nd Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey. Which is very familiar to everyone who sat glued to The Crown during Covid-times, so we’ll just leave it to this footage from the event:

And a shorter clip in colour:

What’d Sadie think?

“Song From Moulin Rouge” holds the number 1 spot for the entire month in the USA. And then we have 7 new tracks for the month. Starting with a new one by Kay Starr, “Half A Photograph” – not loving it as much as some of her previous tunes but it feels like a grower.

“I’d Rather Die Young” by the Hilltoppers sounds a little more dramatic than it is when the parenthetical “(than be without you)” is added. It’s catchy if a melancholy song can be catchy.

Perry Como’s “No Other Love” is kind of forgettable to be honest. Sorry Perry, but you get enough swings at bat to have hits and misses galore.

“Ps I Love You”, their second song on the charts, shows the Hilltoppers know the art of a good song title and the song itself isn’t bad enough.

Victor Young’s version of “Ruby” is the 3rd version of the tune to hit the charts and the harmonica part is well worth tuning in for.

“Vaya Con Dios” means “May God Be With You” and is one of Les Paul And Mary Ford’s better tunes so far this decade!

Last new tune on the US chart is “You You You” by the Ames Brothers which is alright but had us hoping there was something more upbeat on the UK charts.

Half of the tracks in the UK top 12 (it’s the “top 10” but the UK charts have equal positions on their charts) are unique to that side of the Atlantic.

“Downhearted” by Eddie Fisher is a better tune than his track on the US charts, “I’m Walking Behind You” but the chap really needs to cheer up. “Pretty Little Black Eyed Susie” by Guy Mitchell is cheesy but the perfect cheery antidote.

“Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me” is Muriel Smith’s version of the song that Karen Chandler previously charted with in the USA and we rather like this version.

“Coronation Rag” by Winifred Atwell appears to be a very timely way of cashing in on QEII’s coronation but at the same time is also very anachronistic as its a very retro tune for one released in England of the 1950s’

For if there’s one thing Winifred’s remembered for it’s for starting the strange craze for honky tonk piano which took place in the ‘50s in Britain. Coming to these shores from Trinidad she’d learned to play in a ragtime style for American servicemen stationed at a base in Piarco.

Apparently, Winifred was hugely successful by the time ‘Coronation Rag’ hit #5 in the charts. She’d been the first black woman to have a number one in the UK and the first black person to sell a million records – at the height of her success she sold over 30,000 records a week.

But this wasn’t the only tune to cash in on coronation fever, “In A Golden Coach (There’s A Heart Of Gold)” by Dickie Valentine, and a version by Billy Cotton And His Band, did too.

In a golden coach, there’s a heart of gold
Driving through old London town
With the sweetest Queen the world’s ever seen
Wearing her golden crown.
As she drives in state through the palace gate
Her beauty the whole world will see
In a golden coach there’s a heart of gold
That belongs to you and me.

“In A Golden Coach (There’s A Heart Of Gold)” by Dickie Valentine

It’s unclear who wrote the original version of the song, but you can’t go past the sound effects of the golden coach going by… inspired!

In the UK the number one spot goes to Frankie Laine’s “I Believe”. Apparently in 1954 he did a Royal Command Performance for the new Queen, which came up as album art for that track this week:

So we’ll leave you with that image and a link to the full playlist.

It’s a glorious sunny weekend here in London, 2021 – but alas the Scovells are all three laid low with a nursery cold, so we’ve mostly enjoyed it from a distance. This also means we’ll keep the writeup of our musical trip back to May, 1953 short this week – so enjoy the songs!

The songs of May, 1953

Because of the way we aggregate weekly charts in a single monthly chart, sometimes there are four weeks and sometimes five worth of songs. This is a five week month and we’ve got plenty of new songs (11) to tune in to:

May, 1953 Top 20 Hits

“Almost Always” – Joni James
“Anna” – Sylvano Mangano
“April In Portugal” – Freddy Martin
“April In Portugal” – Les Baxter
“April In Portugal” – Richard Hayman
“Can’t I” – Nat King Cole
“Caravan” – Ralph Marterie
“Crazy Man Crazy” – Bill Haley And His Comets
“How Much Is That Doggie In The Window” – Patti Page
“I Believe” – Frankie Laine
“I Believe” – Jane Froman
“I’m Walking Behond You” – Eddie Fisher
“Is It Any Wonder” – Joni James
“Moulin Rouge” – Mantovani
“Pretend” – Nat King Cole
“Ruby” – Les Baxter
“Ruby” – Richard Hayman
“Say You’re Mine Again” – Perry Como
“Seven Lonely Days” – Georgia Gibbs
“Somebody Stole My Gal” – Johnnie Ray
“Song From Moulin Rouge” – Percy Faith / Felicia Sanders
“Strange Things Are Happening” – Red Buttons
“Tell Me A Story” – Frankie Laine / Jimmy Boyd
“Tell Me You’re Mine” – Gaylords
“Terry’s Theme” – Frank Chacksfield
“The Ho Ho Song” – Red Buttons
“Till I Waltz Again With You” – Teresa Brewer
“Wild Horses” – Perry Como
“Your Cheating Heart” – Joni James

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

This month in history

At 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, at 29,035 feet above sea level. This is a thing you are told many times growing up in New Zealand. If you’re less familiar with this and/or want to see some footage from back in ’53 then the video below might be just what you need:

What’d Sadie think?

“How Much Is That Doggie In The Window” holds onto the number one spot for two weeks of May before “Song From Moulin Rouge” takes it for the following three.

The charts open with a new tune – “Almost Always” by Joni James which is only notable because it has what sounds like a Glockenspiel in it, which is the first instrument that Sadie has played. (thanks Auntie JoJo).

Two new versions of “April In Portugal” hit the charts and we went with the Freddy Martin instrumental which isn’t bad at all.

And then we have “Crazy Man Crazy” by Bill Haley And His Comets, sometimes referred to as the “first rock’n’roll record” or at least “the first rock and roll song to be a hit on the [mainstream] pop charts”. Compared with some of the proto-Rock we’ve heard on the R&B charts the past couple of years its a little bit basic but is obviously notable and signs that the tempo is stepping up in our charts from here on in.

And rather awesomely you can see them perform it on TV from 1953:

The tempo is still a little reserved on the new Eddie Fisher, “I’m Walking Behind You” which dragged a little for us. As did the other Joni James song charting this month, “Is It Any Wonder”.

“Moulin Rouge” by Mantovani was apparently the most popular cover of “Where Is Your Heart” / ” It’s April Again” In the United Kingdom, which first charted last month in a version by Percy Faith. It’s alright.

Cover on cover…”Ruby” by Les Baxter is a cover of the film theme that Richard Hayman brought to the charts last month as well. Again, it’s alright.

“Strange Things Are Happening” by Red Buttons is a comedy song but is quite catchy if not laugh-out-loud funny.

“Terry’s Theme” by Frank Chacksfield is the best instrumental on the charts this week, and its from a 1952 Charlie Chaplin movie that you can watch the trailer for below:

Now go enjoy the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

We’re well into 1953 in our journey through music history as those of us in London are on tenterhooks waiting to here if we’re relieved of lockdown life in June, 2021.

The songs of April, 1953

9 new tunes hit the top 20 of the USA pop charts this month:

April, 1953 Top 20 Hits

“Anywhere I Wander” – Julius Larosa
“Anna” – Sylvano Mangano
“April In Portugal” – Les Baxter
“Can’t I” – Nat King Cole
“Caravan” – Ralph Marterie
“Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes” – Perry Como
“Have You Heard” – Joni James
“Hot Toddy” – Ralph Flanagan
“How Much Is That Doggie In The Window” – Patti Page
“I Believe” – Frankie Laine
“I Believe” – Jane Froman
“I’m Sitting On Top Of The World” – Les Paul & Mary Ford
“No Help Wanted” – Rusty Draper
“Pretend” – Nat King Cole
“Ruby” – Richard Hayman
“Say You’re Mine Again” – Perry Como
“Seven Lonely Days” – Georgia Gibbs
“Side By Side” – Kay Starr
“Somebody Stole My Gal” – Johnnie Ray
“Song From Moulin Rouge” – Percy Faith / Felicia Sanders
“Spinning A Web” – Gaylords
“Tell Me A Story” – Frankie Laine / Jimmy Boyd
“Tell Me You’re Mine” – Gaylords
“Till I Waltz Again With You” – Teresa Brewer
“Wild Horses” – Perry Como
“Your Cheating Heart” – Joni James

And we add in a top 10 from the Country & Western charts to round it out:

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

This month in history

A big month for the 3rd dimension back in 1953 but also for pulp fiction with Ian Fleming publishing his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, on April 13th.

A few days earlier on the 10th, “House of Wax” the world’s first colour 3-D movie, premiered in New York. You can see the trailer, albeit in 2-D below:

Only a few weeks later on April 29 the first experimental 3D-TV broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV. While you can see that show in B&W on youtube, there’s no sign of that episode – which apparently just looked like a blurry mess to most people who didn’t have the blue&red lens glasses needed to watch it.

On the same day the 6th Cannes Film Festival awarded “The Wages of Fear” directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot the Grand Prix.

What’d Sadie think?

Peggy Lee’s “How Much Is That Doggie In The Window” has disappeared off the charts entirely after trying to challenge Patti Page’s original last month. She probably became a cat person after Page did a victory lap by occupying the top spot with her version for all of April.

There’s a reason why its a children’s classic and Sadie really gets into it. I’ve also seen the song “blamed” for the rise of Rock ‘n’ Roll later in the ’50s as the epitomy of all that was saccharine about bubblegum pop. Which seems a little harsh…

“Anna” by Sylvano Mangano is from a 1951 Italian film. It’s rare we have footage of someone singing their hit from this time so here’s a chance not to be missed:

Jane Froman has a new version of “I believe” that was debuted by Frankie Laine last month and is a decent tune.

“No Help Wanted” by Rusty Draper wins the award for “grown on us the most” of the month, with Sadie clapping along to it this week.

“Can’t I” is a new Nat King Cole but not really up to the standards of “Pretend” which is still charting.

Richard Hayman’s “Ruby” is obviously a film theme within the first bars. Apparently its considered a Jazz standard now but wasn’t familiar. There’s also a non-instrumental version later down the track but this version is pretty sweet and makes me think the film could be worth a watch.

“Say You’re Mine Again” is classic Perry Como and a good sing-a-long as is “Somebody Stole My Gal” by Johnnie Ray.

It’s a month for songs from films as another newbie is “Song From Moulin Rouge” (also known as “It’s April Again” and “Where Is Your Heart”) by Percy Faith & Felicia Sanders. Which is not the bawdy number I suspect but is quite sweet.

“Spinning A Web” by The Gaylords would be a great song to fall asleep to. I’ll leave you to decide whether that’s good or bad.

It’s lucky we said we liked “No Help Wanted” as the C&W chart has no less than 3 versions on it! The Carlisles version we included isn’t as good as Rusty Draper’s version. But then we also included Red Foley’s “version” as it’s called “No Help Wanted no. 2” and appears to be a…sequel, about a different situation. And it’s a foot-tapping good time.

The Carlisles don’t really redeem themselves with their other song on the C&W chart, “Knothole”.

Hank William’s “Your cheatin’ Heart” is much preferable to the Joni James version in the pop charts, being the original and much loved.

The other Hank (Snow) also delivers with “Fool Such as I” but its Texas Taylor’s, “Bumming Around” that feels just right for this lazy sunday afternoon in summer-ish London.

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