Category: Monthly

As the spring sun seems to be persisting in September, 1958 we find ourselves turning our ears back to October, 1958 to hear what it sounded like…

Songs of the month

“Are You Really Mine” – Jimmie Rodgers
“Bird Dog” – Everly Brothers
“Born Too Late” – Poni-Tails
“Call Me” – Johnny Mathis*
“Carol” – Chuck Berry
“Chantilly Lace” – Big Bopper
“Devoted To You” – Everly Brothers
“Firefly” – Tony Bennett
“For My Good Fortune” – Pat Boone*
“Forget Me Not” – Kalin Twins*
“How The Time Flies” – Jerry Wallace
“I Got A Feeling” – Ricky Nelson*
“It’s All In The Game” – Tommy Edwards
“It’s Only Make Believe” – Conway Twitty*
“Itchy Twitchy Feeling” – Bobby Hendricks*
“Just A Dream” – Jimmy Clanton And His Rockets
“Little Star” – Elegants
“Lonesome Town” – Ricky Nelson*
“Mexican Hat Rock” – Applejacks*
“My True Love” – Jack Scott
“Near You” – Roger Williams
“Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” – Domenico Modugno
“No One Knows” – Dion And The Belmonts
“Patricia” – Prez Prado
“Promise Me Love” – Andy Williams
“Pussy Cat” – Ames Brothers*
“Rockin’ Robin” – Bobby Day
“Somebody Touched Me” – Buddy Knox And The Rhythm Orchids
“Stupid Cupid” – Connie Francis
“Summertime Blues” – Eddie Cochran
“Susie Darlin’” – Robin Luke
“Tea For Two Cha Cha” – Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
“Tears On My Pillow” – Little Anthony And The Imperials
“Ten Commandments Of Love” – Harvey And The Moonglows*
“The Day The Rains Came” – Jane Morgan*
“The End” – Earl Grant
“The Secret” – Gordon Macrae*
“This Little Girl’s Gone Rockin’” – Ruth Brown*
“To Know Him Is To Love Him” – Teddy Bears*
“Tom Dooley” – Kingston Trio*
“Topsy I” – Cozy Cole*
“Treasure Of Your Love” – Eileen Rodgers*
“You Cheated” – Shields

* = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On October 16th, (a personal favourite) composer Benjamin Britten’s “Nocturne,” premieres. Watch a more recent live performance below.

On the 18th, “Tennis for Two”, a game invented by William Higinbotham and considered to be the first video computer game, visible on an oscilloscope was introduced at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, at Brookhaven, New York in the United States, at the annual Visitors’ Day Exhibit.

I tried to find some QEII relevant news to acknowledge that her majesty passed away this week here in 2022, but the closest I could find was that in October the 1st women were appointed to the British House of Lords. It actually looks like the first three life peers were appointed between August and October. Anyway RIP Queenie.

On October the 23rd The Smurfs first appear in the story “Johan and Pirlouit” by Belgium cartoonist Peyo.

In this story, Johan and Pirlouit meet our little blue buddies, The Smurfs, for the very first time. The Smurfs are three apples tall and live during the medieval era. Peyo has stated that the Smurfs were inspired by the trolls of Nordic fairy tales, and that the Smurfs’ blue pallor was selected because it was a color he thought children would like.

What’d Sadie think?

It’s the whole month at the top for “It’s All In The Game” by Tommy Edwards. Which I assume isn’t the inspiration for Electronic Art’s famous, “It’s in the Game!” slogan, but I do hear it every time I read the title.

Loved ’em

• “Call Me” – Johnny Mathis
• “It’s Only Make Believe” – Conway Twitty
• “Itchy Twitchy Feeling” – Bobby Hendricks
• “Lonesome Town” – Ricky Nelson
• “To Know Him Is To Love Him” – Teddy Bears
• “This Little Girl’s Gone Rockin’” – Ruth Brown
• “Topsy I” – Cozy Cole

Liked ’em

• “For My Good Fortune” – Pat Boone
• “Forget Me Not” – Kalin Twins
• “Ten Commandments Of Love” – Harvey And the Moonglows
• “The Day The Rains Came” – Jane Morgan
• “Tom Dooley” – Kingston Trio
• “Treasure Of Your Love” – Eileen Rodgers
• “I Got A Feeling” – Ricky Nelson
• “Pussy Cat” – Ames Brothers
• “The Secret” – Gordon Macrae

Leave ’em

• “Mexican Hat Rock” – Applejacks

It wasn’t a favourite of the week, but a live performance from the year of release is too rare not to share so here’s Ricky Nelson performing, “I got a feeling”.

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

It’s September in 2022 and also in our journey through time in 1958. Which means we have been at this for two whole years! We kicked it off on 29 August, 2020 and now here we are at issue 105!

We failed to post last week as we were travelling to see family, so here is a link to the August, 1958 playlist which you can listen to before you hear what September sounds like…

Songs of the month

“Are You Really Mine” – Jimmie Rodgers
“Bird Dog” – Everly Brothers
“Born To Late” – Poni-Tail
“Carol” – Chuck Berry*
“Chantilly Lace” – Big Bopper
“Devoted To You” – Everly Brothers
“Down The Aisle Of Love” – Quin-Tones*
“Everybody Loves A Lover” – Doris Day
“Fever” – Peggy Lee
“Firefly” – Tony Bennett*
“Ginger Bread” – Frankie Avalon
“Hard Headed Woman” – Elvis Presley
“How The Time Flies” – Jerry Wallace*
“If Dreams Came True” – Pat Boone
“It’s All In The Game” – Tommy Edwards*
“Just A Dream” – Jimmy Clanton And His Rockets
“La Paloma” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra*
“Lazy Summer Night” – Four Preps*
“Left Right Out Of Your Heart” – Patti Page
“Little Star” – Elegants
“Moon Talk” – Perry Como*
“My True Love” – Jack Scott
“Near You” – Roger Williams*
“Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” – Domenico Modugno
“No One Knows” – Dion And The Belmonts*
“Patricia” – Prez Prado
“Poor Little Fool” – Ricky Nelson
“Promise Me Love” – Andy Williams*
“Ramrod” – Duane Eddy*
“Rebel Rouser” – Duane Eddy
“Rockin’ Robin” – Bobby Day
“She Was Only Seventeen” – Marty Robbins*
“Somebody Touched Me” – Buddy Knox With The Rhythm Orchids
“Splish Splash” – Bobby Darin
“Stupid Cupid” – Connie Francis
“Summertime Blues” – Eddie Cochran
“Summertime Summertime” – Jamies*
“Susi Darlin’” – Robin Luke
“Tea For Two Cha Cha” – Tommy Dorsey Orchestra*
“Tears On My Pillow” – Little Anthony And The Imperials
“The End” – Earl Grant*
“The Ways Of A Woman In Love” – Johnny Cash*
“Volare” – Dean Martin
“Western Movies” – Olympics
“When” – Kalin Twins
“Willie And The Hand Jive” – Johnny Otis Show
“You Cheated” – Shields*

* = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On September 5 “The Huckleberry Hound Show” by Hanna-Barbera featuring Yogi Bear premiered on US TV. The first episode is below boo-boo!

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

Meanwhile, we wouldn’t be here writing this if it wasn’t for Jack Kilby who, on September 12th, demonstrated his first integrated circuit (IC) to his supervisor.

And lastly, something I thought was a typo… September saw the beginning of the first “Cod War” between the United Kingdom and Iceland as Iceland’s new 12-mile fishing limits went into effect. Eleven British fishing trawlers ignored the ban, carrying out their operations within six miles of Iceland, the former limit, and four Royal Navy frigates entered the area to prevent the seizure of the British fishing boats by the Gæslan, Iceland’s Coast Guard.

What’d Sadie think?

Number one for the whole month was “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” by Domenico Modugno. Interesting as the Dean Martin version is also on the charts and I had assumed it would have been the more successful as he was a more well known artist.

Loved ’em

• “It’s All In The Game” – Tommy Edwards
• “No One Knows” – Dion And The Belmonts
• “Near You” – Roger Williams
• “Ramrod” – Duane Eddy
• “She Was Only Seventeen” – Marty Robbins
• “Tea For Two Cha Cha” – Tommy Dorsey Orchestra

Liked ’em

• “Carol” – Chuck Berry
• “Down The Aisle Of Love” – Quin-Tones
• “Firefly” – Tony Bennett
• “How The Time Flies” – Jerry Wallace
• “Lazy Summer Night” – Four Preps
• “Moon Talk” – Perry Como
• “La Paloma” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
• “Promise Me Love” – Andy Williams
• “The Ways Of A Woman In Love” – Johnny Cash
• “The End” – Earl Grant

Leave ’em

• “Summertime Summertime” – Jamies
• “You Cheated” – Shields

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

A quick post this time as we actually got a week behind due to travelling to visit family. let’s jump straight into hear what August, 1958 sounds like…

Songs of the month

“A Certain Smile” – Johnny Mathis
“Angel Baby” – Dean Martin*
“Are You Really Mine” – Jimmie Rodgers*
“Bird Dog” – Everly Brothers*
“Born To Late” – Poni-Tails*
“Chantilly Lace” – Big Bopper*
“Devoted To You” – Everly Brothers*
“Do You Want To Dance” – Bobby Freeman
“Early In The Morning” – Rinky-Dinks*
“Enchanted Island” – Four Lads*
“Endless Sleep” – Jody Reynolds
“Everybody Loves A Lover” – Doris Day*
“Fever” – Peggy Lee
“For Your Precious Love” – Jerry Butler And The Impressions
“Ginger Bread” – Frankie Avalon
“Guess Things Happen That Way” – Johnny Cash
“Hard Headed Woman” – Elvis Presley
“If Dreams Came True” – Pat Boone
“Just A Dream” – Jimmy Clanton
“Left Right Out Of Your Heart” – Patti Page
“Little Star” – Elegants
“My True Love” – Jack Scott
“Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” – Domenico Modugno*
“One Summer Night” – Danleers
“Patricia” – Prez Prado
“Poor Little Fool” – Ricky Nelson
“Rebel Rouser” – Duane Eddy
“Rockin Robin” – Bobby Day*
“Secretly” – Jimmie Rodgers
“Somebody Touched Me” – Buddy Knox & Rhythm Orchids*
“Splish Splash” – Bobby Darin
“Stupid Cupid” – Connie Francis*
“Summertime Blues” – Eddie Cochran*
“Susie Darlin’” – Robin Luke*
“Tears On My Pillow” – Little Anthony And The Imperials*
“The Purple People Eater” – Sheb Wooley
“Think It Over” – Crickets*
“Volare” – Dean Martin*
“Western Movies” – Olympics*
“What Am I Living For” – Chuck Willis
“When” – Kalin Twins
“Willie And The Hand Jive” – Johnny Otis Show
“Yakety Yak” – Coasters

* = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On August 25 Momofuku Ando markets the first package of precooked instant noodles. You can watch the history below.

And on August 29 George Harrison joins The Quarrymen, who later become The Beatles. A fictionalised clip of that, from a film, below.

What’d Sadie think?

“Poor Little Fool” by Ricky Nelson spends two weeks at number 1 before new song “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” by Domenico Modugno then “Little Star” by the Elegants have their time in the sun.

Loved ’em

Some classics this month!

• “Bird Dog” – Everly Brothers
• “Chantilly Lace” – Big Bopper
• “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” – Domenico Modugno
• “Volare” – Dean Martin
• “Rockin Robin” – Bobby Day
• “Somebody Touched Me” – Buddy Knox & Rhythm Orchids
• “Stupid Cupid” – Connie Francis
• “Summertime Blues” – Eddie Cochran
• “Tears On My Pillow” – Little Anthony And The Imperials

Liked ’em

• “Angel Baby” – Dean Martin
• “Are You Really Mine” – Jimmie Rodgers
• “Devoted To You” – Everly Brothers
• “Early In The Morning” – Rinky-Dink
• “Everybody Loves A Lover” – Doris Day
• “Think It Over” – Crickets
• “Western Movies” – Olympics

Leave ’em

• “Enchanted Island” – Four Lads
• “Susie Darlin’” – Robin Luke

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

A day late this week because Sadie was away for the weekend. But most importantly… happy birthday darling Sadie! Yes, our little girl is two today. We started this a couple of weeks after she was born, which means we’ve nearly been at this for 24 months! Time really flies with a child, but even more so when you’re listening to music history at 4x speed. So after 2 years at it, it’s the middle of summer in the USA in July, 1958 on our charts. Let’s see what they were listening to by the pool…

Songs of the month

“A Certain Smile” – Johnny Mathis*
“All I Have To Do Is Dream” – Everly Brothers
“Big Man” – Four Preps
“Do You Want To Dance” – Bobby Freeman
“Don’t Ask Me Why” – Elvis Presley*
“Endless Sleep” – Jody Reynolds
“Fever” – Peggy Lee*
“For Your Precious Love” – Jerry Butler And The Impressions*
“Ginger Bread” – Frankie Avalon*
“Guess Things Happen That Way” – Johnny Cash
“Hard Headed Woman” – Elvis Presley
“High School Confidential” – Jerry Lee Lewis
“I Wonder Why” – Dion And The Belmonts
“If Dreams Came True” – Pat Boone*
“Jeannie Lee” – Jan And Arnie
“Johnny B. Goode” – Chuck Berry
“Just A Dream” – Jimmy Clanton*
“Left Right Out Of Your Heart” – Patti Page*
“Leroy” – Jack Scott
“Little Star” – Elegants*
“Looking Back” – Nat King Cole
“My True Love” – Jack Scott*
“No Chemise Please” – Gerry Granahan
“Oh Lonesome Me” – Don Gibson
“One Summer Night” – Danleers*
“Padre” – Toni Arden
“Patricia” – Prez Prado
“Poor Little Fool” – Ricky Nelson*
“Rebel Rouser” – Duane Eddy*
“Return To Me” – Dean Martin
“Secretly” – Jimmie Rodgers
“Splish Splash” – Bobby Darin
“Sugar Moon” – Pat Boone
“The Purple People Eater” – Sheb Wooley
“Twilight Time” – Platters
“Wear My Ring Around Your Neck” – Elvis Presley
“What Am I Living For” – Chuck Willis
“When” – Kalin Twins
“Willie And The Hand Jive” – Johnny Otis*
“Witch Doctor” – David Seville
“Yakety Yak” – Coasters

* = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On the 2nd of July, the world’s largest hotel at the time, the 1,065-room Stardust Resort and Casino, opened in the United States in Las Vegas – home to many a crooner who will be in the charts over the coming years.

And on the 12th “The Quarrymen”, a group of Liverpool musicians (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, with drummer Colin Hanton and keyboardist John Lowe) paid 17 shillings and 6 pence to make their first professional recording, a 78 rpm disc of their performance of “In Spite of All the Danger” (an original song by McCartney and Harrison) and a cover version of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day”. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison (without Hanton and Lowe) would later rename the group “The Beatles”…

Then on the 14th over in Japan the first anime and first color television show, Mogura no Abanchūru (“Mole’s Adventure”), was telecast on Nippon TV (NTV).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF09NF3ywts

What’d Sadie think?

“The Purple People Eater” was number 1 for 2 weeks then “Yakety Yak” got a week at the top before “Patricia” by Prez Prado rounded out the month.

After I said just last week how infrequently we can’t find songs I was going to say we were missing 2 this week… but on further investigation it turns out there is an error in the charts I have where a song was misattributed to the wrong artist. Something I need to keep an eye on.

Loved ’em

“A Certain Smile” by Johnny Mathis is a lovely tune written for the 1958 film of the same name, based on the novel, also titled the same, by Françoise Sagan.

“Fever” was an R&B Chart hit in 1956, but this great cover by Peggy Lee became the most widely known version of and the singer’s signature song.

“Left Right Out Of Your Heart” is a typically fun Patti Page number.

“One Summer Night” was the debut, and biggest hit, for the Danleers – a lovely piece of doo-wop.

“Poor Little Fool” is a finger-snapping tune by Ricky Nelson with a fascinating origin. Written by 16 year old Sharon Sheeley. Working as a model she had apparently met Elvis Presley, and he encouraged her to write.

It was based on her disappointment following a short-lived relationship with Don Everly of The Everly Brothers. Sheeley sought Ricky Nelson to record the tune. She drove to his house, and claimed her car had broken down. He came to her aid, and she sprang the song on him. Her version was at a much faster tempo than his recording.

The awesomely named “Rebel Rouser” was Duane Eddy’s first gold disc and if it doesn’t have you stomping, clapping or clicking you’re not listening hard enough.

“Willie And The Hand Jive” is a great number by singer songwriter Johnny Otis. Apparently the tune was partly inspired by the music sung by a chain gang Otis heard while he was touring. The lyrics are about a man who became famous for doing a dance with his hands, but evidently the song has been accused of glorifying masturbation… How ’50s.

Liked ’em

And then there’s the best of the rest…

• “Don’t Ask Me Why” – Elvis Presley
• “For Your Precious Love” – Jerry Butler And The Impressions
• “If Dreams Came True” – Pat Boone
• “Just A Dream” – Jimmy Clanton
• “Little Star” – Elegants
• “My True Love” – Jack Scott
• “No Chemise Please” – Gerry Granahan

Leave ’em

• “Ginger Bread” – Frankie Avalon

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

We’re already six months through our 1958 journey, let’s see what is charting this month:

Songs of the month

“All I Have To Do Is Dream” – Everly Brothers
“Big Man” – Four Preps
“Book Of Love” – Monotones*
“Chanson D’Amour” – Art And Dotty Todd
“Do You Want To Dance” – Bobby Freeman
“Do You Want To Dance” – Laurie London*
“El Rancho Rock” – Champs*
“Endless Sleep” – Jody Reynolds*
“For Your Love” – Ed Townsend
“Guess Things Happen That Way” – Johnny Cash*
“Hard Headed Woman” – Elvis Presley*
“He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” – Laurie London
“High School Confidential” – Jerry Lee Lewis*
“I Wonder Why” – Dion And The Belmonts*
“Jeannie Lee” – Jan And Arnie
“Johnny B. Goode” – Chuck Berry
“Kewpie Doll” – Perry Como
“Leroy” – Jack Scott*
“Let The Bells Keep Ringing” – Paul Anka*
“Looking Back” – Nat King Cole
“No Chemise Please” – Gerry Granahan*
“Oh Lonesome Me” – Don Gibson
“Padre” – Toni Arden*
“Patricia” – Prez Prado*
“Return To Me” – Dean Martin
“Rumble” – Link Wray
“Secretly” – Jimmie Rodgers
“Splish Splash” – Bobby Darin*
“Sugar Moon” – Pat Boone
“Talk To Me Talk To Me” – Little Willie John
“Tequila” – Champs
“The Purple People Eater” – Sheb Wooley*
“To Be Loved” – Jackie Wilson
“Torero” – Renato Carosone
“Twilight Time” – Platters
“Wear My Ring Around Your Neck” – Elvis Presley
“What Am I Living For” – Chuck Willis
“When” – Kalin Twins*
“Witch Doctor” – David Seville
“Yakety Yak” – Coasters*
“You” – Aquatones
“Zorro” – Chordettes*

* = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On June 9 Queen Elizabeth officially opened London Gatwick Airport, (LGW) – my 3rd favourite airport in London (to be avoided if possible.) Great news reel from the time below:

We don’t talk much about album releases. – it’d complicate an already difficult task, but sometimes they come up in history notes. On June 24 Nina Simone released her debut jazz album “Little Girl Blue”. No footage from that year, but a few later we can see her on TV in 1961:

On June 17th the Wooden Roller Coaster at Playland, which is in the Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver, Canada opened, and is still open to this day. A construction video from 1958 below doesn’t make it look any safer than “wooden roller coaster” sounds…

What’d Sadie think?

The awesome “All I Have To Do Is Dream” by the Everly Brothers hangs on to the number 1 spot for another week in June before new entrant, “The Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley, takes it for 4 weeks.

It very rarely happens, actually perhaps just one before, but I wasn’t able to find a version of one of the songs in the chart. “Do You Want To Dance” by Laurie London. It looks like this might be the b-side of “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands”. Clearly didn’t last as long as the latter!

Loved ’em

“Book Of Love” by the Monotones is a great piece of doo-wop. Written by three members of the group it was apparently inspired by a toothpaste commercial…

Lead singer Charles Patrick heard a Pepsodent toothpaste commercial with the line “you’ll wonder where the yellow went”/ “when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent”, which inspired him to come up with, “I wonder, wonder, wonder who, who wrote the book of love”.

“Endless Sleep” by Jody Reynolds is apparently a “teenage tragedy” pop song. Which is a genre I was not aware of,

that peaked in popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Examples of the style are also known as “tear jerkers”, “death discs” or “splatter platters”,[1] among other colorful sobriquets coined by DJs that then passed into vernacular as the songs became popular. Often lamenting teenage death scenarios in melodramatic fashion, these songs were usually sung from the viewpoint of the dead person’s sweetheart

Apparently Reynolds wrote the song in 1956, after listening to Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel”, it was initially rejected by record companies as “too depressing”.

Speaking of depressing, but great, “Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash is also about a dead lover.

In a 1958 interview Elvis Presley said that “Padre” by Toni Arden was his favorite song. It’s not bad.

On the lighter side of life we have “Splish Splash” which was Bobby Darin’s first hit. if you’re wondering where it came from well,

It was written with DJ Murray the K (Murray Kaufman), who bet that Darin could not write a song that began with the words, “Splish splash, I was takin’ a bath”, as suggested by Murray’s mother, Jean Kaufman.

Then on the even lighter side we have the classic “The Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley which tells how a strange creature (described as a “one-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple people eater”) descends to Earth because it wants to be in a rock ‘n’ roll band. And until now I did not realise the alien itself was not purple, but that it ate “purple people”. Go figure.

And then, because apparently it was a novelty song kind of month, we have “Yakety Yak” by the Coasters. Which I’ve heard a million times but didn’t realise it was about a parent telling their kid what chores to do. Great tune either way!

Now onto the rest of them…

Liked ’em

“El Rancho Rock” – Champs

“Hard Headed Woman” – Elvis Presley

“I Wonder Why” – Dion And The Belmonts

“Leroy” – Jack Scott

“Patricia” – Prez Prado

“When” – Kalin Twins

“Zorro” – Chordettes

“High School Confidential” – Jerry Lee Lewis

Leave ’em

“Let The Bells Keep Ringing” – Paul Anka

“No Chemise Please” – Gerry Granahan

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

This week we find ourselves in May, 1958 where 16 new tunes make their way onto the Billboard charts for us to listen to…

Songs of the month

“A Wonderful Time Up There” – Pat Boone
“All I Have To Do Is Dream” – Everly Brothers
“Are You Sincere” – Andy Williams
“Believe What You Say” – Ricky Nelson
“Big Man” – Four Preps*
“Billy” – Kathy Linden
“Book Of Love” – Monotones
“Breathless” – Jerry Lee Lewis
“Catch A Falling Star” – Perry Como
“Chanson D’Amour” – Art And Dotty Todd
“Crazy Love” – Paul Anka*
“Do You Want To Dance” – Bobby Freeman*
“Don’t You Just Know It” – Huey Piano Smith And The Clowns
“Don’tcha Think It’S Time” – Elvis Presley*
“For Your Love” – Ed Townsend
“Hang Up My Rock & Roll Shoes” – Chuck Willis*
“He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” – Laurie London
“Jeannie Lee” – Jan And Arnie*
“Johnny B. Goode” – Chuck Berry*
“Kewpie Doll” – Perry Como
“Lazy Mary” – Lou Monte
“Lollipop” – Chordettes
“Looking Back” – Nat King Cole
“My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It” – Ricky Nelson
“Oh Lonesome Me” – Don Gibson
“Return To Me” – Dean Martin
“Rumble” – Link Wray*
“Sail Along Silvery Moon” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Secretly” – Jimmie Rodgers*
“Skinny Minnie” – Bill Haley And His Comets*
“Sugar Moon” – Pat Boone*
“Sugartime” – Mcguire Sisters
“Talk To Me Talk To Me” – Little Willie John*
“Tequila” – Champs
“To Be Loved” – Jackie Wilson*
“Torero” – Renato Carosone*
“Twilight Time” – Platters
“Wear My Ring Around Your Neck” – Elvis Presley
“What Am I Living For” – Chuck Willis*
“Who’s Sorry Now” – Connie Francis
“Witch Doctor” – David Seville
“You” – Aquatones*

* = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

A month for movies it seems, or at least that’s what I took away from the pages of history in my very arbitrary and selective way. There’s always some fascinating geopolitical stuff going on – and for the past year or so of history, lots of nuclear bomb tests on either sides of the cold war walls – but the pop-cultural stuff is easier to share… so here we are with 3 movies that came out this month.

On May 8th the classic horror “Dracula” film starring Christopher Lee as the eponymous vampire alongside Peter Cushing is released.

Then, a personal favourite, on May 9th “Vertigo”, the American film noir psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak, is released.

Lastly, on May 15th “Gigi” based on the story by Colette, directed by Vincent Minnelli and starring Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier premiered in New York.

What’d Sadie think?

Two more weeks at the top for household fave, “Witch Doctor” by the Chipmunk’s David Seville before the Everly Brothers awesome “All I Have To Do Is Dream” takes it.

Loved ’em

First off we have the classic “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry. Or as wikipedia notes “the first rock & roll hit about rock & roll stardom”. I would have been aware of it first from the cover version in the film Back to the Future, which the lead character Marty McFly plays it at a high school dance.

The actual story behind it is particularly interesting though,

The song is about a semi-literate “country boy” from the New Orleans area, who plays a guitar “just like ringing a bell”, and who might one day have his “name in lights”. Berry acknowledged that the song is partly autobiographical and that the original lyrics referred to Johnny as a “colored boy”, but he changed it to “country boy” to ensure radio play

It’s always great to be able to see a performance of a song from the time, and in this case we can watch “Crazy Love” by Paul Anka.

The “rock and roll is just a fad” meme must have been quite strong in the late ’50s as, “Hang Up My Rock & Roll Shoes” by Chuck Willis isn’t the first song we’ve had to deny this,

They say that rock and roll will soon fade away
No matter what they say, rock and roll is here to stay
I don’t want(shoop-bop, shoop-bop) hang up my rock and roll shoes

Then we have the song that Bob Dylan once referred to as “the best instrumental ever” “Rumble” by Link Wray. It was apparently banned in several US radio markets, because the term ‘rumble’ was a slang term for a gang fight, and it was feared that the piece’s harsh sound glorified juvenile delinquency. Making it the only instrumental single ever banned from radio in the United States

Not a lot of information on the excellent “To Be Loved” by a chart favourite, Jackie Wilson online.

Finally in our favourite song for the month we have “You” by the Aquatones. The group’s lead singer was 17-year-old Lynne Nixon, a soprano with formal operatic training. The group had actually began in 1956 as three males and was called the Rhythm Kings till adding Lynne to the roster.

Liked ’em

Then there’s the best of the rest…

• “Don’tcha Think It’s Time” – Elvis Presley
• “Big Man” – Four Preps
• “Do You Want To Dance” – Bobby Freeman
• “Talk To Me Talk To Me” – Little Willie John
• “Secretly” – Jimmie Rodgers
• “What Am I Living For” – Chuck Willis
• “Sugar Moon” – Pat Boone

Leave ’em

• “Jeannie Lee” – Jan And Arnie
• “Skinny Minnie” – Bill Haley And His Comets
• “Torero” – Renato Carosone

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