We all know about all the xmas number ones, the classics, the novelty and the x factor, but what about the easter number ones? We're currently getting ready to rumble with this year's easter chart, but I thought it would be interesting to take at look at easter charttoppers gone by. I have found out the date of Easter Sunday for every year since 1953 and done my best to understand chart dates and publication dates to identify the correct chart in each case. From 1988 onwards it's easier in that a new chart was announced on the day, but before that date I've chosen the last chart announced or published prior to the day.

 

1953: Easter Sunday 5th April: Chart published 3rd April

The Stargazers - Broken Wings had made a strong climb from 8 to 2, but it wasn't enough to knock Guy Mitchell's She Wears Red Feathers off the top spot. To modern ears at least a bit of a novelty to start us off.

Edited March 26, 201312 yr by DanChartFan

1954: Easter Sunday 18th April: Chart published 16th April

The Stargazers once again miss out, as having been number one the week before with I See The Moon, and returning to the top spot the following week, they drop inexplicably to number three, behind the fairly long running number two The Happy Wanderer, by the Obernkirchen Children's Choir. At the same time Doris Day sends her Secret Love climbing from 5 to easter number one, only to drop to number two for two weeks before returning to the top and spending 8 more weeks there.

 

Edited March 26, 201312 yr by DanChartFan

1955: Easter Sunday 10th April: Chart published 8th April

In 1955 the top 3 were unchanged from the week before, Perez Prado's Cherry Pink at 3 (whilst Eddie Calvert's version was debuting at 11), Ruby Murray singing Softly, Softly at 2 and Tennessee Ernie Ford retaining the top spot with Give Me Your Word.

 

Edited March 26, 201312 yr by DanChartFan

1956: Easter Sunday 1st April: Chart Published 30th March

Winifred Atwell's Poor People Of Paris was climbing 5 to 3, whilst the previous week's number one It's Almost Tomorrow was deplaced to number 2 for one week only, by Kay Starr's Rock And Roll Waltz, the first mention of Rock and Roll at the top of the charts, though the track was far from rock and roll itself.

 

Edited March 26, 201312 yr by DanChartFan

1957: Easter Sunday 21st April: Chart published 19th April

The week before Harry Belafonte's Banana Boat Song and Tab Hunter's Young Love had shared number two, but now Tab pulled slightly ahead relegating Harry to number 3. It wasn't enough, however, to edge out the king of skiffle Lonnie Donegan from the top spot.

 

 

Can I add at this point my thanks to Mart!n for bringing me up to speed with inserting youtube videos into my messages. Also I'd like to say please feel free to discuss the easter charttoppers already revealed here so far, and of course let me know if I have made any errors.

Edited March 26, 201312 yr by DanChartFan

1958: Easter Sunday 6th April: Chart Published 4th April

Tommy Steele climbed a place into the top 3 with Nairobi, and Marvin Rainwater climbed from 5 to 2 with Whole Lotta Woman, but nothing could stop Perry Como from claiming a 6th week at number one. Marvin did eventually oust him after two additional weeks.

 

1959: Easter Sunday 29th March: Chart Published 27th March

The previous weeks top 2, Shirley Bassey's As I love You and The Platters Smoke Gets In your Eyes, each drop a place to allow one Trevor Stanford to climb from 3 to the top spot with an instrumental hit.

 

1960: Easter Sunday 17th April: Chart Published 14th April

Jimmy Jones' Handy Man leaps from 12 to 3, and Cliff Richard and the Shadows climb one place to 2 with Fall In Love With You, but neither had what it took to dethrone the number one from the previous two weeks, My Old Man's A Dustman, which makes Lonnie Donegan the first artist to have two easter number ones later (somebody later has three, see if you can guess who).

1961: Easter Sunday 2nd April: Chart Published 30th March

Cliff Richard and the Shadows climbed one place into the top 3 with Theme For A Dream, and this years UK entry for the Eurovsion Song Contest, the Everly sound-alikes The Allisons climb from 3 to 2, also finishing 2nd on the night of the contest. So once again the existing number one could not be dethroned, the bilingual Wooden Heart.

1962: Easter Sunday 22nd April: Chart Published 19th April

Del Shannon climbs from 9 to 3 with Hey! Little Girl, but cannot get past Roy Orbison's Dream Baby which stays at 2. The previous weeks number one also stays put, the second instrumental to be easter number one, The Shadows Wonderful Land.

1963: Easter Sunday 14th April: Chart Published 11th April

The Shadows climb a place into the top 3 with Foot Tapper, and Ned Miller climbs 3 to 2 with From A Jack To King, in which a serviceman caught with a pack of cards and accused of gambling endeavours to explain away why they are in his possession by assigning some religious significance to each card in the pack. But despite the appropriately Christian overtones it was prevented from getting the easter number one by Gerry and the Pacemakers moving from 2 to 1, with How Do You Do It?, arguably the first merseybeat chartopper (unless you followed any of the other 5 charts of the time of course).

1964: Easter Sunday 29th March: Chart Published 26th March

Trying to Not Fade Away are the Rolling Stones who climb from 4 to 3, and The Hollies were having Just One Look at the number two spot having climbed there from number 5 and dropping back down the week after. But the Easter Number One is Billy J Kramer's tale of the perils of dating a young woman who has younger siblings who won't leave you alone, Little Children.

1965: Easter Sunday 18th April: Chart Published 15th April

The Yardbirds stick at 3 with For Your Love, and Unit Four Plus Two drop from from 1 to 2 with Concrete and Clay. As for the easter number one, well it had to happen at some stage, the second biggest Christian festival and the second most famous Christian in the world coming together, Cliff Richard The Minute You're Gone.

A couple of points Dan.

 

Had you switched on Pick Of The Pops in 1964 & 1965 (on theses Easter Sundays) you'd of noticed that "Can't Buy Me Love" went straight in at #1 & Billy J. Kramer fell to #2.

 

And in 1965, "The Minute You're Gone" never made the BBC #1, as "Ticket To Ride" went straight in at #1.

 

I know you are using Record Retailer (in this otherwise jolly good thread) but millions of real chart fans, would agree with me, that Record Retailer counts for nothing. It was based on an average of charts from just 30 shops (most of which were in an Easy Listening enviroment). Never in it's history was Record Retailer ever taken seriously. Mainly, as it was a week behind everyone one else & on a Saturday to Friday poll. In other words, it was crap. Even more so, when you consider that most weeks, there were multipli ties, that were separated by looking at the previous week's positions. Total nonsene.The Big Top 40 of it's day.

That's a good point Dave, I had picked up on the fact that in the two of the years in question the Beatles had rocketed to number one the week after, and was aware that they often went straight to number one on the other charts but had to wait a week to get to the summit in Record Retailer (I think I've heard it said there was some difference in rules or compilation that kept the new entries at number one very rare in Record Retailer), so I did think that maybe they had released them specifically for easter or the easter chart.

I'm going to stick with RR for now on this thread, mainly as I'm now on holiday and only brought those charts with me, but it would be interesting to see where other charts differed, and also whether my choice of which week's chart to use is correct throughout being as I'm no expert on the publication dates of charts in the fifties and sixties.

 

1966:Easter Sunday 10th April: 7th April

The Hollies I Can't Let Go dropped from 2 to 3, and The Spencer Davis Group flew up from number ten, but couldn't quite get past the existing number one, The Walker Brothers The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore (maybe it was a very wet easter that year?).

That's a good point Dave, I had picked up on the fact that in the two of the years in question the Beatles had rocketed to number one the week after, and was aware that they often went straight to number one on the other charts but had to wait a week to get to the summit in Record Retailer (I think I've heard it said there was some difference in rules or compilation that kept the new entries at number one very rare in Record Retailer), so I did think that maybe they had released them specifically for easter or the easter chart.

I'm going to stick with RR for now on this thread, mainly as I'm now on holiday and only brought those charts with me, but it would be interesting to see where other charts differed, and also whether my choice of which week's chart to use is correct throughout being as I'm no expert on the publication dates of charts in the fifties and sixties.

Every record released in the 60s was released on a Friday. No matter who it was. The big reason RR missed new entries at #1, was because it was on a Saturday - Friday poll. So, they always missed the big Saturday sales. All the other papers (NME, Melody Maker, Disc) were on Monday - Saturday (as should be) & would be the equivalent to today's charts. RR was so crap at compiling a chart, they junked their own chart to use BMRB's in 1969 & for that reason alone. The chart didn't mean a thing. Like I said, you could compare it to today's "The Big Top 40" or more likely a minor poll of small shops, where your mum & dad would go to buy Des O'Connor, Frank Ifield, Cliff Richard & Nancy Sinatra. Instead of The Beatles, Stones, The Who, or Small Faces.

Edited March 30, 201312 yr by davetaylor

This next one sort of proves your point about RR sampling 'mum and dad' record shops Dave :-)

1967: Easter Sunday 26th March: Chart Published 23rd March

The Seekers climb 6 to 3 with Georgy Girl and Vince Hill moves 5 to 2 with Edelweiss, but neither can get past one of the years biggest sellers, Engelbert Humperdinck Release Me, which keeps the topspot.

1968: Easter Sunday 14th April: Chart Published 10th April

Louis Armstrong moves 5 to 3 with the double A side What A Wonderful World/Cabaret, and Tom Jones stays at two with Delilah, but following that years Eurovision Song Contest in London on 10th April, our entry Cliff Richard Congratulations climbs from 3 to the topspot, having missed the topspot in the contest itself by a single point, the winner being the Spanish entry, imaginatively entitled La La La.

And now we move to less shaky ground, with the arrival of an official chart.

1969: Easter Sunday 6th April: Chart announced 1st April

The Hollies climbed one to 3 with Sorry Suzanne, and Dean Martin climbs from 5 to 2 with Gentle On My Mind. Staying at number 1 that week was Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine.