Category: Monthly

We totally jinxed it last week…as soon as I said it as feeling Spring like it started to rain and it hasn’t stopped since! So let’s escape 2022 and go back to April, 1958 to hear what it sounded like…

Songs of the month

“26 Miles” – Four Preps
“A Wonderful Time Up There” – Pat Boone
“All I Have To Do Is Dream” – Everly Brothers*
“Are You Sincere” – Andy Williams
“Ballad Of A Teenage Queen” – Johnny Cash
“Believe What You Say” – Ricky Nelson*
“Billy” – Kathy Linden*
“Book Of Love” – Monotones*
“Breathless” – Jerry Lee Lewis
“Catch A Falling Star” – Perry Como
“Chanson D’Amour” – Art And Dotty Todd*
“Dede Dinah” – Frankie Avalon
“Dinner With Drac” – John Zacherle
“Don’t You Just Know It” – Huey Piano Smith And The Clowns*
“Don’t” – Elvis Presley
“For Your Love” – Ed Townsend*
“Get A Job” – Silhouettes
“Good Golly Miss Molly” – Little Richard
“He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” – Laurie London*
“It’s Too Soon To Know” – Pat Boone
“Kewpie Doll” – Perry Como*
“Lazy Mary” – Lou Monte
“Little Blue Man” – Betty Johnson*
“Lollipop” – Chordettes
“Looking Back” – Nat King Cole*
“March From The River Kwai And Colonel Bogey” – Mitch Miller
“Maybe Baby” – Crickets
“Maybe” – Chantels
“My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It” – Ricky Nelson*
“Oh Julie” – Crescendos
“Oh Lonesome Me” – Don Gibson*
“Oh Oh I’m Falling In Love Again” – Jimmie Rodgers
“Return To Me” – Dean Martin*
“Rock & Roll Is Here To Stay” – Danny And The Juniors
“Sail Along Silvery Moon” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Short Shorts” – Royal Teens
“Sugartime” – Mcguire Sisters
“Sweet Little Sixteen” – Chuck Berry
“Tequila” – Champs
“The Stroll” – Diamonds
“The Walk” – Jimmie Mccracklin
“Too Soon To Know” – Pat Boone*
“Twilight Time” – Platters*
“Wear My Ring Around Your Neck” – Elvis Presley*
“Who’s Sorry Now” – Connie Francis
“Witch Doctor” – David Seville*

* = New to the chart this week.

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

This month in history

On April 2 the word “beatnik” used to describe what Jack Kerouac called “The Beat Generation”, was introduced by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen in his daily newspaper column. Caen’s coined word was a portmanteau of “Beat” and of “Sputnik”, the satellite which had been launched almost six months earlier by the Soviet Union. Caen’s column, under the heading “Words, Words, Words”, referred to a recent party hosted by Look magazine for a photo essay on the Beat Generation in a “beach house for 50 Beatniks”,

Look magazine, preparing a picture spread on S.F.’s Beat Generation (oh, no, not AGAIN!), hosted a party in a No. Beach house for 50 Beatniks, and by the time word got around the sour grapevine, over 250 bearded cats and kits were on hand, slopping up Mike Cowles’ free booze. They’re only Beat, y’know, when it comes to work . . .

Then on April 4th Cheryl Crane (14), daughter of actress Lana Turner, stabbed to death organised crime figure Johnny Stompanato, her mother’s boyfriend, in self-defense. The crime is later ruled a “justifiable homicide”.

It’s a fascinating story that involved even more stars of the day. Earlier in the year 27-year-old former Sean Connery, was making Another Time, Another Place in London with Lana Turner, ten years his senior.

There was a strong rumor that Sean and Lana were having an affair on the set. Word got back to Turner’s mobster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato who confronted her. ‘Its not true and don’t come to the studio while we are shooting.’ Stompanato ignored her plea and witnessed the filming of a scene where Connery and Turner were embracing on a couch. After several retakes the enraged thug walked into the frame with a handgun and pointed it at Connery, telling him to take his hands off her. But the Scotsman, who grew up getting into fights with gang members in Edinburgh, simply grabbed the gun out of Stompanato’s hand, twisted his wrist and sent him running off, yelping in pain. All the while the cameraman kept filming. ‘Should I cut yet?’ he asked the stunned director.

Apparently Connery’s performance was a little “wooden” in the next film he made as he was watching over his shoulder for LA mob boss Mickey Cohen who had threatened revenge for Stompanato’s murder…

On April 12th Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 was launched with space dog Laika aboard on.

What’d Sadie think?

It’s three weeks at number one for the Champs fun number, “Tequila” – Champs. Before a week at the top for the Platters with new chart entrant “Twilight Time”. But it’s our favourite new tunes of the month, David Seville’s “Witch Doctor” that ends the month on the top.

Love ’em

Sadie is a big big fan of the latest incarnation of Alvin and the Chipmunks. So it was no surprise that “Witch Doctor” by David Seville had her up, dancing and crying “again! again!”. This 1958 original has the sped-up vocals of the chipmunks but wasn’t officially a chipmunks song, that comes later in the year apparently – though they did later cover this tune. David Seville was the stage name of Ross S. Bagdasarian and did also become the name of the character of the “father” in Alvin and the Chipmunks.

There’s no denying the greatness that is “All I Have To Do Is Dream” by the Everly Brothers. Apparently it was the only single ever to be at No. 1 on all of the Billboard singles charts simultaneously, on June 2, 1958.

Huey “Piano” Smith And The Clowns is quite a name, and not one I knew. But we do like their charting tune, “Don’t You Just Know It” this month. And by the looks of his bio Huey had a significant contribution to rock ‘n’ roll history, though this was his most successful song.

“He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” by Laurie London is a great and well known song. Apparently it is a traditional African-American spiritual, which was first published in 1927, but this was the first time a recorded version charted.

Like ’em

A lot else to like this month…

• “Believe What You Say” – Ricky Nelson
• “Chanson D’Amour” – Art And Dotty Todd
• “For Your Love” – Ed Townsend
• “Kewpie Doll” – Perry Como
• “Looking Back” – Nat King Cole
• “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It” – Ricky Nelson
• “Return To Me” – Dean Martin
• “Too Soon To Know” – Pat Boone
• “Twilight Time” – Platters
• “Wear My Ring Around Your Neck” – Elvis Presley

Leave ’em

• “Billy” – Kathy Linden
• “Book Of Love” – Monotones
• “Little Blue Man” – Betty Johnson
• “Oh Lonesome Me” – Don Gibson

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

Did we say it was feeling wintery just a week ago? Well a month has passed in our 1958 timeline, so maybe that’s why its suddenly feeling quite Spring like here in 2022? Either way, let’s listen to the sounds of March, 1958…

Songs of the month

“26 Miles” – Four Preps
“A Wonderful Time Up There” – Pat Boone*
“April Love” – Pat Boone
“Are You Sincere” – Andy Williams
“At The Hop” – Danny And The Juniors
“Ballad Of A Teenage Queen” – Johnny Cash*
“Been So Long” – Pastels*
“Breathless” – Jerry Lee Lewis*
“Catch A Falling Star” – Perry Como
“Click Clack” – Dicky Doo And The Don’Ts
“Dede Dinah” – Frankie Avalon
“Dinner With Drac” – John Zacherle*
“Don’t Let Go” – Roy Hamilton
“Don’t” – Elvis Presley
“Get A Job” – Silhouettes
“Good Golly Miss Molly” – Little Richard*
“I Beg Of You” – Elvis Presley
“It’s Too Soon To Know” – Pat Boone
“Jo-Ann” – Playmates
“La Dee Dah” – Billy And Lillie
“Lazy Mary” – Lou Monte*
“Lollipop” – Chordettes*
“March From The River Kwai And Colonel Bogey” – Mitch Miller
“Maybe Baby” – Crickets*
“Maybe” – Chantels
“Oh Julie” – Crescendos
“Oh Oh I’m Falling In Love Again” – Jimmie Rodgers
“Rock & Roll Is Here To Stay” – Danny And The Juniors*
“Sail Along Silver Moon” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Short Shorts” – Royal Teens
“Stood Up” – Ricky Nelson
“Sugartime” – Mcguire Sisters
“Sweet Little Sixteen” – Chuck Berry
“Tequila” – Champs*
“The Stroll” – Diamonds
“The Walk” – Jimmie Mccracklin*
“Who’s Sorry Now” – Connie Francis*
“Witchcraft” – Frank Sinatra
“You Are My Destiny” – Paul Anka

* = New to the chart this week.

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

This month in history

This month the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) introduced the concept of the “gold record” as recognition for any U.S. music recording that had achieved at least $1,000,000 in retail sales and certified the 45 rpm recording by Perry Como of “Catch a Falling Star” as the first RIAA-measured gold record. While record labels had previously presented gold or silver record awards to their own artists as far back as 1937, the RIAA applied the award to all U.S.-based recording companies independently. You can see Como being presented the first gold record in this clip (sorry Youtube won’t let me embed it.).

I weightier news, on the 14th of March the United States imposed an embargo on sales of weapons to the government of Cuba’s dictator Fulgencio Batista, contributing significantly to the deterioration of the Cuban resistance to the rebellion being led by Fidel Castro.

Meanwhile on the 19th Cuba became the second nation (after the U.S.) to make color television widely available. Both stories make the video below of life in Havana in 1958 particularly timely and interesting.

Then towards the end of the month, on the 30th, Ukrainian-born French ballet master Serge Lifar fought a duel with swords against Chilean-born French ballet producer George de Cuevas over changes made in by Cuevas to Lifar’s ballet, Suite en blanc. 50 members of the press were told of the time and place for the duel, which ended with Lifar receiving a cut to his forearm in what W. Granger Blair of The New York Times described as “what may well have been the most delicate encounter in the history of French dueling”. It is astounding to hear duels were still going on in ’58, and even more to know they were being filmed for posterity. Watch below!

What’d Sadie think?

It’s a week at number one for “Get A Job” by the Silhouettes before just a week for Elvis Presley with “Don’t”. Surely his shortest run with a hit? New-to-the-charts “Tequila”, by the Champs, took the top spot for the second half of the month.

Love

Tequila was apparently just a jam made up in the studio when the Champs were there to record another song, but it’s a quality tune thats lasted throughout the decades. A video of them performing it in May, 1958 below.

Next up is a relatively youthful (26) Johnny Cash singing the excellent “Ballad Of A Teenage Queen”.

Then we have “Dinner With Drac” by John Zacherle. I normally don’t go for the comedy songs but this tale of dinner with Drac(ula) got me this time.

Unlike that tune, “Good Golly Miss Molly” by Little Richard has definitely lasted the test of time. Although it was first recorded by Little Richard, the producer released another version by the Valiants, who imitated the fast first version recorded by Little Richard, not released at that time. Although the Valiants’ version was released first (in 1957), Little Richard had the hit with it this month.

“Lollipop” by the Chordettes is likewise a fun classic. One with a nice story behind it that i’ll just quote,

The song originated when Julius Dixson was late for a songwriting session with Beverly Ross. He explained that his daughter had gotten a lollipop stuck in her hair, and that had caused him to be late. Ross was so inspired by the word “lollipop” that she sat down at the piano and produced a version of the song on the spot. Beverly Ross recorded a demo with Ronald Gumm (or Gumps), a 13-year-old neighbor of Dixson, under the name Ronald & Ruby. Ross’s mother insisted that she use a pseudonym for safety reasons, because they were an interracial duo.

To round out the best of the new songs this month we have “Who’s Sorry Now” by Connie Francis. Her version may be the most well known, and it was her biggest hit, but the original is actually from 1923 and it had a number of versions, often featured in films, between then and ’58.

Like

It’s only an OK song but “Rock & Roll Is Here To Stay” by Danny And The Juniors is definitely singing the right sentiment this month. Then we have the best of the rest…

“A Wonderful Time Up There” – Pat Boone

“Been So Long” – Pastels

“Breathless” – Jerry Lee Lewis

“Maybe Baby” – Crickets

“The Walk” – Jimmie Mccracklin

Leave

Only one song didn’t tickle our fancy at all this month, “Lazy Mary” by Lou Monte.

So plenty of great stuff for you to listen to on the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

It’s a mild midwinter here in July, 2022 and we’re feeling reflective. It might be the weather or it might be that Sadie has just decided she’s ready for a big girl bed and is out of her cot.

It was just under 2 years ago we started on this journey through musical history. In that time we’ve moved from London to Auckland in the midst of a global pandemic, bought a house, started new jobs and managed to grow a nearly 2-year-old the size of a 3-year-old.

And along the way we’ve listened to 96 monthly charts, all the way from January 1950 to February, 1958 this week. We’re currently listening to music from 62 years before Sadie was born. But in another 2 years time, we’ll be listening to music from the late ’60s as we catch up at 4 times speed. She’ll be listening to music from when I was born (the late ’70s) when she’s 6. And then enjoying the sounds of my teenage years when she’s 10.

At which point we will have been doing this for a decade. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves… 2 years in! There’s not an easy way of working out how many unique songs we’ve listened to – I’m kicking myself for not cutting the data that way – but it’ll be over a thousand at this point! Let’s hear the 19 new ones we have this week…

Songs of the month

“26 Miles” – Four Preps*
“April Love” – Pat Boone
“Are You Sincere” – Andy Williams*
“At The Hop” – Danny & The Juniors
“Bony Maronie” – Larry Williams
“Buzz Buzz Buzz” – Hollywood Flames
“Catch A Falling Star” – Perry Como*
“Click-Clack” – Dicky Doo And The Don’ts*
“Dede Dinah” – Frankie Avalon*
“Don’t Let Go” – Roy Hamilton
“Don’t” – Elvis Presley*
“Get A Job” – Silhouettes
“Great Balls Of Fire” – Jerry Lee Lewis
“I Beg Of You” – Elvis Presley*
“I’ll Come Running Back To You” – Sam Cooke*
“It’s Too Soon To Know” – Pat Boone*
“Jailhouse Rock” – Elvis Presley
“Jo-Ann” – Playmates*
“Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” – Jimmie Rodgers
“La Dee Dah” – Billy And Lillie
“Liechensteiner Polka” – Will Glahe Orchestra
“Magic Moments” – Perry Como*
“March From The River Kwai And Colonel Bogey” – Mitch Miller Orchestra*
“Maybe” – Chantels*
“Oh Boy” – Crickets
“Oh Julie” – Crescendos
“Oh-Oh I’M Falling In Love Again” – Jimmie Rodgers*
“Peggy Sue” – Buddy Holly
“Raunchy” – Bill Justis
“Raunchy” – Ernie Freeman
“Sail Along Silvery Moon” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Short Shorts” – Royal Teens*
“Silhouettes” – Rays
“Stood Up” – Ricky Nelson
“Sugartime” – Mcguire Sisters
“Sweet Little Sixteen” – Chuck Berry*
“The Stroll” – Diamonds
“This Little Girl Of Mine” – Everly Brothers*
“Waitin’ In School” – Ricky Nelson
“Wake Up Little Susie” – Everly Brothers
“Why Don’t They Understand” – George Hamilton Iv
“Witchcraft” – Frank Sinatra*
“You Are My Destiny” – Paul Anka*
“You Send Me” – Sam Cooke

* = New to the chart this week.

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

This month in history

On February the 4th, 1957, an antitrust lawsuit against United Fruit Company (UFC) by the U.S. Department of Justice ended after four years, as the company, which controlled the majority of “the world’s marketable supply of bananas” agreed that it would create a competing company.

Which makes for the end of a, very interesting, story I was totally unaware of it seems. For instance, the term “banana republic” was coined in 1901 by American author O. Henry in his book “Cabbages and Kings” to describe Honduras while its economy, people, and government were being exploited by the UFC. They were so dominant at one point they essentially blackmailed the government of Guatemala for $19 Million to buy their own country back… Enjoy that rabbit hole if you go down it!

Then on the 25th of the month philosopher Bertrand Russell (a personal hero, being a philosophy student myself) launched the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament at their first public meeting. Only 3 days later, quite the turnaround for a design brief, Gerald Holtom unveiled the, now ubiquitous, “peace symbol” to be used by the organisation at a march from Trafalgar Square in London to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment facility at Aldermaston, Berkshire.

The vertical line in the center represents the flag semaphore signal for the letter D, and the downward lines on either side represent the semaphore signal for the letter N. “N” and “D”, for nuclear disarmament, enclosed in a circle. Holtom also described the symbol as representing despair, with the central lines forming a human with its hands questioning at its sides against the backdrop of a white Earth

And then in movie news we see that the classic, “The Bridge on the River Kwai” won best film at the 15th Golden Globe Awards. Trailer below and the “Colonel Bogey March” from the film is in our charts this week.

What’d Sadie think?

“At The Hop” by Danny & The Juniors stays number one for another three week this month before the Silhouettes, “Get A Job” takes it over. It’s not as great as the song it replaces in our view but it does have a brilliant sax solo which always pleases these ears as a some-time saxophonist.

Love ’em

A lot to love this month…

Perry Como’s classic “Catch A Falling Star” was apparently his last number 1 hit in the USA which feels like beginning of an end of a musical era right here. Apparently the song’s melody is based on a theme from Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture. So a classic in two ways.

The great “Magic Moments”, written by Burt Bacharach, was the b-side of this one and also charting this month.

Crooning definitely isn’t over though with Sinatra’s “Witchcraft” also new to the charts. The next year, at the inaugural Grammy Awards, Frank Sinatra was nominated for six Grammy awards, four of which were for this song. And we also have Paul Anka’s “You Are My Destiny” in a similar vibe charting.

“I’ll Come Running Back To You” is another great tune by Sam Cooke after his debut single “You Send Me” which we featured last month. His record label boss instructed arranger René Hall to duplicate the sound of “You Send Me”, which included overdubbing similar instrumentation and background singers and rushed this song out to capitalise on the debut’s success. The rush doesn’t show but the similarities do.

As mentioned in this week’s history we have movie theme, “March From The River Kwai And Colonel Bogey” by the Mitch Miller Orchestra in the charts and you have to love it for the classic whistling alone.

“Maybe” by the Chantels is a much covered song in more recent decades and it’s clear why, quite the tune!

“Short Shorts” by the Royal Teens is at once so ’50s but also exactly the kind of slightly risqué, but largely inoffensive, pop that teen idols have made for decades. According to the group, they coined the term in 1957, and hit on using it as a song theme and title that summer when they saw two girls in cutoffs leaving a local teen spot.

Speaking of teens, “Sweet Little Sixteen” is classic Chuck Berry and the first instance of a song about the phenomenon of fandom I have come across.

“This Little Girl Of Mine” by the Everly Brothers was originally released in ’55 by Ray Charles but didn’t appear to make it into our charts at the time – it’s a great version.

Like ’em

“26 Miles” – Four Preps

“Are You Sincere” – Andy Williams

“Don’t” – Elvis Presley

“I Beg Of You” – Elvis Presley

“It’s Too Soon To Know” – Pat Boone

“Jo-Ann” – Playmates

“Oh-Oh I’M Falling In Love Again” – Jimmie Rodgers

Leave ’em

“Click-Clack” – Dicky Doo And The Don’ts
“Dede Dinah” – Frankie Avalon

And thats it for another week, now go enjoy the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

A new year is upon us in our journey through musical history. What does 1958 hold for us? Let’s find out…

Songs of the month

“All The Way” – Frank Sinatra
“April Love” – Pat Boone
“At The Hop” – Danny And The Juniors
“Be-Bop Baby” – Ricky Nelson
“Bony Maronie” – Larry Williams
“Buzz Buzz Buzz” – Hollywood Flames
“Chances Are” – Johnny Mathis
“Don’t Let Go” – Roy Hamilton*
“Fascination” – Jane Morgan And The Troubadors
“Get A Job” – Silhouettes*
“Great Balls Of Fire” – Jerry Lee Lewis
“Honeycomb” – Jimmie Rodgers
“I’m Available” – Margie Rayburn
“Jailhouse Rock” – Elvis Presley
“Jingle Bell Rock” – Bobby Helms
“Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” – Jimmie Rodgers
“La Dee Dah” – Billy And Lillie*
“Liechensteiner Polka” – Will Glahe Orchestra
“Little Bitty Pretty One” – Thurston Harris
“Melodie D’Amour” – Ames Brothers
“My Special Angel” – Bobby Helms
“Oh Boy” – Crickets
“Oh Julie” – Crescendos*
“Peggy Sue” – Buddy Holly
“Raunchy” – Bill Justis
“Raunchy” – Ernie Freeman
“Rock & Roll Music” – Chuck Berry
“Sail Along Silvery Moon” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra*
“Silhouettes” – Rays
“Stood Up” – Ricky Nelson*
“Sugartime” – Mcguire Sisters*
“Tear Drops” – Lee Andrews And The Hearts
“The Stoll” – Diamonds
“The Story Of My Life” – Marty Robbins
“The Stroll” – Diamonds*
“Waitin’ In School” – Ricky Nelson*
“Wake Up Little Susie” – Everly Brothers
“Why Don’t They Understand” – George Hamilton Iv
“You Send Me” – Sam Cooke

And let’s see what the top 10 looked like across the Atlantic in the UK:

“Great Balls Of Fire” – Jerry Lee Lewis
“Ma He’s Making Eyes At Me” – Johnny Otis And His Orchestra With Marie Adams*
“Wake Up Little Susie” – The Everly Brothers
“My Special Angel” – Malcolm Vaughan
“All The Way” – Frank Sinatra
“I Love You Baby” – Paul Anka*
“Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl In Town)” – Jackie Wilson*
“Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” – Jimmie Rodgers
“Peggy Sue” – Buddy Holly
“Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” – Frankie Vaughan

* = New to the chart this week.

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

This month in history

On January the 1st the European Economic Community (EEC), the forerunner to the European Union, came into being as an economic and cooperative union between Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. Some footage from their first council below:

And then on the 4th a party led by Edmund Hillary became the first to reach the South Pole overland since Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated journey in 1912. Despite the success, Hillary was criticised for allegedly putting adventure ahead of the expedition’s scientific aims. Earlier, in October 1957, driving modified Ferguson farm tractors, the Kiwis headed south to establish food and fuel depots for the British crossing party. Then, against the instructions of the British Ross Sea Committee, they went ‘hell-bent for the Pole – God willing and crevasses permitting’.

On the 31st, having been beaten by the USSR’s Sputnik four months earlier, the United States launched a satellite into orbit for the first time, as Explorer 1 was sent up from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on a Jupiter-C rocket.

What’d Sadie think?

For the whole month of January, the Xmas number 1, “At The Hop” by Danny And The Juniors occupied the top spot.

Love ’em

The best song of the month is definitely “Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl In Town)” by Jackie Wilson and it comes to us from the UK charts. It was released a few months ago (…1957) in the USA but only made it as high as 62 so we didn’t hear it, whereas it made it to number in the UK. The song was enough of a success that one of the writers Berry Gordy was able to fund the launch of… Motown Records. I am familiar with the song because of its re-release in 1986, when UK TV show Arena used it to soundtrack a claymation animation which sent the song to number 1 for four weeks.

The other two great songs this month are Paul Anka’s “I Love You Baby” and the Diamonds with “The Stroll”.

Like ’em

“Don’t Let Go” – Roy Hamilton

“Get A Job” – Silhouettes

“La Dee Dah” – Billy And Lillie

“Stood Up” – Ricky Nelson

“Waitin’ In School” – Ricky Nelson

“Ma He’s Making Eyes At Me” – Johnny Otis And His Orchestra With Marie Adams

Lose ’em

“Oh Julie” – Crescendos

“Sail Along Silvery Moon” – Billy Vaughn Orchestra
“Sugartime” – Mcguire Sisters

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

It’s already the end of 1957 in our journey. That’s eight years of music in just under 2 years. Which means that Sadie’s 2nd birthday is coming up in a bit over a month. Before we get ahead of ourselves though let’s listen to the songs of December, 1957…

Songs of the month

“All The Way” – Frank Sinatra
“Alone” – Shepherd Sisters
“April Love” – Pat Boone
“At The Hop” – Danny And The Juniors*
“Be-Bop Baby” – Ricky Nelson
“Bonie Moronie” – Larry Williams*
“Buzz Buzz Buzz” – Hollywood Flames*
“Chances Are” – Johnny Mathis
“Could This Be Magic” – Dubs
“Diana” – Paul Anka
“Fascination” – Jane Morgan And The Troubadors
“Great Balls Of Fire” – Jerry Lee Lewis*
“Happy Happy Birthday Baby” – Tune Weavers
“Honeycomb” – Jimmie Rodgers
“Hula Love” – Buddy Knox & Rhythm Orchids
“I’m Available” – Margie Rayburn
“Jailhouse Rock” – Elvis Presley
“Jingle Bell Rock” – Bobby Helms*
“Just Born” – Perry Como
“Keep A Knockin’” – Little Richard
“Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” – Jimmie Rodgers*
“Liechenstein Polka” – Will Glahe Orchestra*
“Little Bitty Pretty One” – Thurston Harris
“Lotta Lovin’” – Gene Vincent
“Melodie D’Amour” – Ames Brothers
“My Special Angel” – Bobby Helms
“Oh Boy” – Crickets*
“Peggy Sue” – Buddy Holly
“Raunchy” – Bill Justis
“Raunchy” – Ernie Freeman
“Rock & Roll Music” – Chuck Berry
“Silhouettes” – Rays
“Tammy” – Debbie Reynolds
“Tear Drops” – Lee Andrews And The Hearts*
“The Joker” – Billy Myles*
“Till” – Roger Williams
“Wake Up Little Susie” – Everly Brothers
“Why Don’t They Understand” – George Hamilton Iv*
“You Send Me” – Sam Cooke

Dec 1957 Fascination Jane Morgan 1st No. 1

* = New to the chart this week.

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

This month in history

On the 1st of the month Buddy Holly and the Crickets debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show”. Here he is performing, “Oh Boy” which is new to our charts this month.

Then on December 8 CBS broadcasts “The Sound of Jazz”, live from NYC: an all-star program featuring swing era and contemporary jazz artists, including Count Basie, Red Allen, Ben Webster;, Thelonious Monk, and Gerry Mulligan. A particularly highlight is the collaboration of Billie Holiday and Lester Young on “Fine and Mellow” which you can see here:

On December 18th the world’s 1st full scale nuclear power plant begins to generate electricity at the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania. A doco on this below:

And then, just as he’s topping the charts on the regular, on 20th December Elvis Presley is given his draft notice to join US Army for National Service.

What’d Sadie think?

A mix of number 1s this month. Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock” holds on for 1 more week before “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke occupies it for 3 weeks, then lastly Pat Boone gets a week with “April Love”.

And because it’s the end of the year we have to notice that new song for the month, “At The Hop” by Danny And The Juniors, was the Xmas number 1 on the first chart of the new year. And a rocking end to a year in which rock & roll seems to have truly come of age it is too.

With no sign of Bing Crosby’s “White Xmas”, are the 50’s really coming to a close? Or is it just everyone had a copy by this point?

“Bonie Moronie” by R&B singer and song writer, Larry Williams is a great tune with a brill horn section.

Likewise, “Buzz Buzz Buzz” by the Hollywood Flames is a fun song. Apparently the group were usually billed as The Hollywood Flames, but also recorded as The Turks, The Jets, and The Sounds…

“Great Balls Of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis is of course brilliant. It’s not number 1 yet but the song sold one million copies in its first 10 days of release in the United State, one of the fastest selling singles ever. It featured in the 1957 “rock and roll” film, Jamboree which sounds very meta:

Its story is about a boy and girl, Pete Porter and Honey Wynn, who become overnight sensations as a romantic singing duo who run into trouble when their squabbling managers, try to turn them into solo acts.

You can see Jerry Lee Lewis perform in it below:

“Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms is our only Xmas tune of the charts, but its a debut of a classic so we can’t complain. Apparently there’s quite some dispute over who authored the song, Bobby Helms isn’t credited with it but claims to have done most of it.

“Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” by Jimmie Rodgers is a great cover of a great song. It was originally released in 1950 by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays of The Weavers – we’ve had it in our charts from 1951 before in fact. I think this is the first instance of a song from a previous chart being covered – we really are moving through time!

“Liechenstein Polka” by Will Glahe Orchestra is an accordion tune so we’ll just be moving right along…

“Oh Boy” by (Billy Holly and) The Crickets is of course great. Something about contracts meant that it was just released under The Crickets name.

And then there’s three quite average new songs to round it out, “Tear Drops” by Lee Andrews And The Hearts, “The Joker” by Billy Myles and George Hamilton IV’s “Why Don’t They Understand”. But with so many other great tunes we can hardly complain.

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

It’s the last week of June here in 2022 and we’re passed the shortest day of the year. We’ve also managed to skip an email again. This time because, for the first time, we didn’t get to listen to the playlist on the weekend. Sadie had too much of an active social life last weekend, so we waited till the end of the week to listen to the tunes. As a result you can find October, 1957 on the blog and we’ll dive into November, 1957 now…

Songs of the month

“All The Way” – Frank Sinatra*
“Alone” – Shepherd Sisters*
“April Love” – Pat Boone*
“Be-Bop Baby” – Ricky Nelson
“Black Slacks” – Joe Bennett And The Sparkletones
“Chances Are” – Johnny Mathis
“Could This Be Magic” – Dubs*
“Deep Purple” – Billy Ward
“Diana” – Paul Anka
“Fascination” – Jane Morgan
“Happy Happy Birthday Baby” – Tune Weavers
“Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” – Ricky Nelson*
“Honeycomb” – Jimmie Rodgers
“Hula Baby” – Buddy Knox & Rhythm Orchids

“I’m Available” – Margie Rayburn*
“In The Middle Of An Island” – Tony Bennett
“Jailhouse Rock” – Elvis Presley
“Just Between You And Me” – Chordettes
“Just Born” – Perry Como*
“Keep A Knockin’” – Little Richard
“Little Bitty Pretty One” – Thurston Harris*

“Lotta Lovin’” – Gene Vincent
“Melodie D’Amour” – Ames Brothers*
“Mr. Lee” – Bobbettes
“My One Sin” – Four Coins*
“My Special Angel” – Bobby Helms*
“Peanuts” – Little Joe And The Thrillers
“Peggy Sue” – Buddy Holly*
“Rainbow” – Russ Hamilton
“Raunchy” – Bill Justis*
“Raunchy” – Ernie Freeman*
“Remember You’Re Mine” – Pat Boone
“Rock & Roll Music” – Chuck Berry*
“Send For Me” – Nat King Cole
“Silhouettes” – Rays*
“Stardust” – Billy Ward
“Tammy” – Debbie Reynolds
“That’ll Be The Day” – Crickets
“Till” – Roger Williams*
“Treat Me Nice” – Elvis Presley*
“Wait And See” – Fats Domino*
“Wake Up Little Susie” – Everly Brothers
“White Silver Sands” – Don Rondo
“Whole Lot Of Shakin’ Going On” – Jerry Lee Lewis
“You Send Me” – Sam Cooke*

* = New to the chart this week.

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

This month in history

On November 3rd the Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2 with space dog Laika aboard, a mostly-Siberian husky, the 1st animal in space. His story in the video below:

On November 16th BBC’s 1st pop music show, the “Six-Five Special”, is broadcast from the tiny 2i’s Coffee Bar in London. Six-Five Special was the BBC’s first attempt at a rock-and-roll programme. The title was derived from its broadcast time, as it aired at 6:05 on Saturday evening. It began immediately after the abolition of the Toddlers’ Truce, which we covered a few weeks back, in which programming ceased between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. so that children could be put to bed.

The 2i’s Coffee Bar was a coffeehouse on Old Compton Street in Soho, London, that was open from 1956 to 1970. It played a formative role in the emergence of Britain’s skiffle and rock and roll music culture in the late 1950s, and several major stars including Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard were first discovered performing there. We’ve yet to discover them in our charts…

On November 22nd the Miles Davis Quintet debuts at Carnegie Hall in NYC. No recording of that but we have a colorised version of a performance on french TV in Paris the next month… that set though?!

What’d Sadie think?

The classic “Wake Up Little Susie” by the Everly Brothers manages a second week at the top of the charts after making it there the last week of October. But then its back to Elvis dominating, with Jailhouse Rock, released last month, nabbing the top spot for the rest of November.

Love ’em

“Peggy Sue” by Buddy Holly is the most classic of the new songs this month. Apparently the song was originally entitled “Cindy Lou”, after Holly’s niece. The title was later changed to “Peggy Sue” in reference to Peggy Sue Gerron, the girlfriend (and future wife) of Jerry Allison, the drummer for the Crickets, after the couple had temporarily broken up

A whole bunch of other new songs this month – pre-xmas releases perhaps? Either way a bunch of other great tunes:

“Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” – Ricky Nelson

“Little Bitty Pretty One” – Thurston Harris

“Rock & Roll Music” – Chuck Berry

“You Send Me” – Sam Cooke

Like ’em

“All The Way” – Frank Sinatra

“April Love” – Pat Boone

“Could This Be Magic” – Dubs

“Just Born” – Perry Como

“Melodie D’Amour” – Ames Brothers

“My Special Angel” – Bobby Helms

“Raunchy” – Bill Justis

“Silhouettes” – Rays

“Treat Me Nice” – Elvis Presley

“Wait And See” – Fats Domino

Lose ’em

“Alone” – Shepherd Sisters

“I’m Available” – Margie Rayburn

“Till” – Roger Williams

“My One Sin” – Four Coins

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