Chordettes Mr Sandman for me, total Back To The Future 80's nostalgia for the 50's nostalgia, thats a 10/10.

 

The Mambo tracks have aged surprisingly well, mostly thanks to the late 80's and 90's mini revival I think (and beyond), and Bill Haley is a key track, albeit a bit late by 1954.

A new record of four tracks I know and really like in that batch- Mambo Italiano, Papa Loves Mambo, Mr Sandman (The Chordettes version of course) & Shake, Rattle And Roll.

 

All great stuff.

 

I've also wondered what the Italian theme was all about around this time. With Poppa Piccolino and That's Amore and then the two Mambo tracks all being hits around 1954.

And so I think 1954 has been pretty good despite only having 84 hits, the fewest of any year.

 

Gold medal: Smile by Nat King Cole

Silver medal: That's Amore by Dean Martin

Bronze medal: Sh-Boom by The Crew Cuts

 

Honourable mention to my favourite 3 chart toppers so far:

Such A Night - Johnnie Ray

Secret Love - Doris Day

Mambo Italiano - Rosemary Clooney

 

And there have been several other significant records as some of you have commented, such as "Sway" and "Mr Sandman", and Bill Haley & His Comets have arrived to change the face of music.

 

Worst song of the year:

Sh-Boom - Stan Freberg With The Toads (I’d sooner listen to “I See The Moon”)

 

Based on my pre-listening for 1955 I'm a bit concerned that the really good stuff might be thin on the ground but we'll see! Definitely not looking forward to having to review 6 different versions of "Stranger In Paradise" that all charted within about a month of each other. :arrr:

 

First group:

 

#188 08/01/1955 The Four Aces Mr Sandman 9 14-{9}-11-17-20->5

#189 08/01/1955 Bill Haley And His Comets Rock Around The Clock 1 17-18-13R(39)-8-7-4-2-3-{1}-1-1-2-2-2-1-1-6-8-14-17R(33)-13-12-8-9-8-5-8-14-13-15-24R(2)-25-25R(2)-26-27R(2)-22->36

#190 08/01/1955 Bing Crosby Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep 11 18-17R(2)-{11}->3

#191 22/01/1955 Suzi Miller And The Johnston Brothers Happy Days And Lonely Nights 14 {14}-18->2

#192 22/01/1955 Tennessee Ernie Ford Give Me Your Word 1 15-10-6-4-3-2-2-{1}-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-3-5-4-6-11-15-11-12-15->24

#193 22/01/1955 Max Bygraves Mr Sandman 16 {16}->1

#194 29/01/1955 Ruby Murray Softly Softly 1 9-3-2-{1}-1-1-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-5-6-6-9-12-14-17-16-20-20R(2)->23

#195 29/01/1955 Frankie Vaughan Happy Days And Lonely Nights 12 14-{12}-17->3

#196 29/01/1955 Dean Martin The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane 5 20-10-7-6-7-{5}-11-7-11-14->10

#197 05/02/1955 The Ames Brothers The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane 6 9-{6}-8-8-11-17->6

#198 05/02/1955 Mario Lanza Drinking Song 13 {13}->1

#199 05/02/1955 Dean Martin Mambo Italiano 14 {14}-18->2

#200 05/02/1955 Ruby Murray Happy Days And Lonely Nights 6 16-14-11-{6}-7-8-14-19->8

#201 12/02/1955 Teresa Brewer With The Lancers Let Me Go, Lover! 9 11-{9}-10-9-13-10-14-15-20-20->10

#202 12/02/1955 David Whitfield With Mantovani And His Orchestra Beyond The Stars 8 13-12-12-{8}-9-13-13-15-18->9

Edited March 1, 20232 yr by JulianT

So today we have one of the most transformative records of all time and the first UK million seller. Note that I’m doing this review based on when songs entered the chart. Amazingly “Rock Around The Clock” peaked at #17 in January 1955 and dropped out for 9 months before suddenly blowing up (not sure if someone posted a video online called “TikTok Around The Clock” or something). Hence it appears out of place here compared to when it topped the charts and it’s stealing the thunder of “Give Me Your Word” which was the huge #1 of the time and would otherwise be my highlight.

 

Now I’m really not one for passing moral judgements on old songs, but unfortunately I can’t listen to either version of “The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane” without wincing. I’d be interested to hear how others feel about this one. The whole song paints a picture of a flirtatious young lady who’s just arrived in the town and everyone’s talking about her, and it emerges in the last line that the subject is in fact a 9 day year old baby girl. Of course at the time it must have just been seen as an amusing little record with a twist, but I’m struggling with the idea that you’d even think to draw those parallels just because the baby is female. Luckily I don’t like the song very much anyway so can happily give it a low score and move on.

 

Oh and when I said Dickie Valentine’s was my least favourite of the 3 versions of “Mr Sandman” I should have said it was my least favourite of the 3 serious versions as there’s a 4th by Max Bygraves which is the worst by far.

 

9 Bill Haley And His Comets Rock Around The Clock Brilliant and hugely influential piece of music (not an absolute personal favourite so going with 9 rather than 10)

8 Tennessee Ernie Ford Give Me Your Word 30th #1: I think it's his deep voice on this that I particularly love but there's something majestic about the whole record

8 Mario Lanza Drinking Song A comic operatic song about drinking - I assumed I wouldn't like this but after a few listens I actually think it's brilliant!

7 The Four Aces Mr Sandman 2nd best charting version of this - really good but doesn't quite capture the spirit like The Chordettes

6 Dean Martin Mambo Italiano This version feels a bit unnecessary and lacks the drama of Rosemary's but it's still a fun listen

5 Frankie Vaughan Happy Days And Lonely Nights My favourite of the 3 renditions of this: like the tempo changes

5 Suzi Miller And The Johnston Brothers Happy Days And Lonely Nights Quite a nice swing vibe on this version and a bit of call and response

4 Ruby Murray Softly Softly 29th #1: it's quite nice but so gentle that it doesn't really do much for me

4 Ruby Murray Happy Days And Lonely Nights Still a nice but slightly pedestrian ballad

3 Teresa Brewer With The Lancers Let Me Go, Lover! First of four versions of this (oh joy); find it really plodding

3 Bing Crosby Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep You won't need to count anything to fall asleep listening to this

3 Max Bygraves Mr Sandman Seems he just can't resist with the silly ad lib comments over the record

2 The Ames Brothers The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane Detest the lyrics and can take or leave the song

2 Dean Martin The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane Slightly prefer the other version with the harmonies

2 David Whitfield With Mantovani And His Orchestra Beyond The Stars The usual from David; high on drama and low on melody and everything else, and a hold onto your seat wobbly final high note

 

 

#203 12/02/1955 Ray Burns Mobile 4 15-14-16-12-9-{4}-5-7-5-12-13-15-20->13

#204 12/02/1955 Mantovani Lonely Ballerina 16 {16}-20-19-18R(3)->4

#205 12/02/1955 The De Castro Sisters Teach Me Tonight 20 {20}->1

#206 19/02/1955 Dickie Valentine A Blossom Fell 9 15-18-17-17-11-{9}-18-16-16-18R(2)->10

#207 19/02/1955 Joan Weber Let Me Go, Lover! 16 {16}->1

#208 19/02/1955 Petula Clark Majorca 12 17-14-{12}-14-18R(2)->5

#209 19/02/1955 Mario Lanza I'll Walk With God 18 {18}-20R(11)->2

#210 26/02/1955 Dean Martin Let Me Go, Lover! 3 16-10-5-8-{3}-8-12-13-18->9

#211 26/02/1955 Nat 'King' Cole A Blossom Fell 3 13-15-7-{3}-4-4-7-11-14-17->10

#212 05/03/1955 Ruby Murray Let Me Go, Lover! 5 14-12-{5}-6-12-19-19->7

#213 05/03/1955 The Stargazers Somebody 20 {20}->1

#214 12/03/1955 Ronnie Hilton A Blossom Fell 10 16-20-15-19-{10}->5

#215 12/03/1955 Johnny Brandon With The Phantoms And The Norman Warren Music Tomorrow 8 19-12-{8}-10-17-17-16R(2)-18->8

#216 12/03/1955 Frankie Laine In The Beginning 20 {20}->1

#217 19/03/1955 Eddie Fisher (I'm Always Hearing) Wedding Bells 5 16-7-{5}-9-8-9-9-8-9-14-15->11

 

Was Dickie Sheeran a friend of Bill Haley? Maybe he decided to 'let him' get a big hit :D

 

'Rock Around The Clock' is great ofc. And lordy at that 'The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane' song - I think there's a way that song concept could have been done in a less creepy way but that's not it!

Yes, Rock Around The Clock is iconic, though I never loved it as much as everybody else seemed to - it was a hit all over again in 1974 and Bill Halley was on Top Of The Pops! It seemed much older than 20 years old in the middle of Glam Rock, but wouldnt seem quite so dated when Showaddywaddy started having hits a few months after that...

 

Dean Martin can do no wrong for me, his trademark slurred, alcoholic-induced vocals were always cool. And it was ciggies that did him in not the booze. Unless singing always had a fag or glass or booze in his hand on his TV shows. Great movie star and light comedian too.

I hate to admit it but sometimes the Americans do show better taste than us - my winner for today scraped into the very bottom of the chart at #20 for 1 week, but it made #2 on the Billboard Chart. I wasn't familiar with The De Castro Sisters but "Teach Me Tonight" has a really warm, cosy feeling about it.

 

8 The De Castro Sisters Teach Me Tonight The only UK hit for this trio and it's a gorgeous, soulful one

8 Johnny Brandon With The Phantoms And The Norman Warren Music Tomorrow A cheeky, chirpy number and a great tune

7 Mantovani Lonely Ballerina Another beautiful one from Mantovani: you can really see the ballerina

6 Ray Burns Mobile "Mobile", pronounced "Mo-beel", is a city in Alabama apparently - a fun song anyway

5 Frankie Laine In The Beginning Effectively a Bible story which is unusual for a pop song but it has a good build to it

5 Dickie Valentine A Blossom Fell Not keen on the superstitious theme in this but it's a decent song and a nicely sung version

5 Nat 'King' Cole A Blossom Fell Also nicely sung - another one where I don't love any of the versions

4 Joan Weber Let Me Go, Lover! The best of the four versions of this for me; she sings it in a really punchy way

4 Mario Lanza I'll Walk With God Not too keen on this song but he sings so impressively I have to give some credit

4 Ronnie Hilton A Blossom Fell Least favourite of the three versions but still fine

3 Eddie Fisher (I'm Always Hearing) Wedding Bells Odd chat up line to tell someone you hear wedding bells whenever they're around, but the song's not bad

3 Petula Clark Majorca A rather pedestrian one from Petula here

3 Ruby Murray Let Me Go, Lover! Not the best or worst version of this but it's quite a dull song

2 Dean Martin Let Me Go, Lover! Dean's laid back style makes this even duller - needs more angst

2 The Stargazers Somebody Would be an OK song but I don't understand why they seem to deliberately sing it badly

 

 

The "Stranger In Paradise" marathon starts tomorrow

 

#218 19/03/1955 Ruby Murray With Anne Warren If Anyone Finds This, I Love You 4 17-10-6-{4}-4-8-12-12-10-10-18->11

#219 26/03/1955 Perez 'Prez' Prado And His Orchestra Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White 1 12-3-3-3-2-{1}-1-2-3-3-2-6-5-9-9-11-16->17

#220 26/03/1955 Joan Regan Prize Of Gold 6 20-9-{6}-9-15-13-16-16->8

#221 02/04/1955 Eartha Kitt Under The Bridges Of Paris 7 11-14-15-{7}-8-11-12-15-19-20R(2)->10

#222 02/04/1955 Dean Martin Under The Bridges Of Paris 6 13-8-{6}-6-11-13-18-18->8

#223 02/04/1955 The McGuire Sisters No More 20 {20}->1

#224 09/04/1955 Eddie Calvert Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White 1 11-5-5-4-4-3-2-{1}-1-1-1-2-4-4-5-6-7-9-11-11-17->21

#225 09/04/1955 Doris Day Ready, Willing And Able 7 13-{7}-12-9-9-14-12-16-18->9

#226 09/04/1955 Johnnie Ray If You Believe 7 15-8R(5)-{7}-11-8-7-9-13-13-14-19->11

#227 16/04/1955 Tony Bennett Stranger In Paradise 1 10-3-3-2-{1}-1-2-3-4-4-8-8-9-12-14-17->16

#228 16/04/1955 Bill Haley And His Comets Mambo Rock 14 {14}-16->2

#229 16/04/1955 The Crew Cuts Earth Angel 4 18-10-7-5-{4}-6-5-4-4-7-5-5-5-8-9-13-15-14-18-20->20

#230 23/04/1955 Tony Martin Stranger In Paradise 6 11-{6}-7-7-8-8-9-10-10-7-10-12-17->13

#231 23/04/1955 Frankie Vaughan Tweedle Dee 17 {17}->1

#232 23/04/1955 Mario Lanza Serenade 15 19-{15}R(2)-20->3

 

 

I very much agree about the American charts and American music generally, British music was pretty crappy for the most part until The Beatles. Not surprising though, they had jazz, blues, big band music, country, folk, ragtime, ballads, crooners and rock n roll. We had, errr, hmmm, Gracie Fields & Vera Lynn. OK Noel Coward, classical composers and so on, but not so much in the popular music genres that were anywhere near as classy. I'm looking at you George Formby. I like that pick, very smooth, and Ive never heard of it.

It's time for this week's if you only discover one track from this thread make it this one moment! Eartha Kitt was American but spoke fluent French and she sounds totally French on her version of "Under The Bridges Of Paris", which is utterly enchanting. Unfortunately listening to Dean Martin's version straight afterwards is like when the batteries are running out on your electric toothbrush.

 

This is the first time there's nothing I don't like at all, and as a result the first time the average score has crept above 6.

 

9 Eartha Kitt Under The Bridges Of Paris This is sublime - it gently transports you to the Seine in Paris in its wistful and romantic way

8 Perez 'Prez' Prado And His Orchestra Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White 31st #1: one of the very best chart topping instrumentals, the highlight being the sliding trumpet, and it still sounds fresh

8 The McGuire Sisters No More Like these girls a lot; a cute and bouncy number excellently sung

7 Ruby Murray With Anne Warren If Anyone Finds This, I Love You Not my usual style but this is a very sweet theme about an orphan looking for a guardian; a unique track

7 Eddie Calvert Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White 33rd #1: it's still great but somehow the instruments sound more present on Prez's version for me

7 Johnnie Ray If You Believe Starts off as an unremarkable Christian themed track but then has a masterful switch up, brilliantly delivered by Johnnie

6 Joan Regan Prize Of Gold A nice stripped down ballad and she really delivers it well

6 Mario Lanza Serenade I guess I admire rather than love Mario's operatic style but he puts so much emotion into this it's hard not to feel something

6 Frankie Vaughan Tweedle Dee On first listen I thought what on Earth is this nonsense but it's far catchier than it has any right to be and Frankie performs it well

5 Bill Haley And His Comets Mambo Rock Not one of their best and the honking is a bit much, but still a good number

5 The Crew Cuts Earth Angel Not a patch on "Sh-Boom"; nice but a bit too gentle and doesn't really grab me

5 Tony Bennett Stranger In Paradise 32nd #1: the melody is taken from the opera "Prince Igor" and it's a good melody but otherwise quite an unremarkable song

4 Dean Martin Under The Bridges Of Paris I might rate this more highly if I hadn't heard Eartha's fabulous version but the tempo's all wrong and it needs the French parts

4 Tony Martin Stranger In Paradise I think this song benefits from a smoother vocal, hence I prefer Tony Bennett's

4 Doris Day Ready, Willing And Able Nothing wrong with this; fits with the style of the day but it's just quite bland for me

 

 

Tomorrow's:

#233 23/04/1955 Don Cornell Stranger In Paradise 19 20-{19}->2

#234 23/04/1955 Georgia Gibbs Tweedle Dee 20 {20}->1

#235 30/04/1955 The Ink Spots Melody Of Love 10 14-{10}-15-20->4

#236 30/04/1955 Bing Crosby Stranger In Paradise 17 20-{17}->2

#237 07/05/1955 Jimmy Young Unchained Melody 1 14-13-13-7-7-3-3-{1}-1-1-2-2-5-5-9-9-12-14-20->19

#238 07/05/1955 Joan And Rusty Regan Open Up Your Heart 19 {19}->1

#239 14/05/1955 Al Hibbler Unchained Melody 2 11-5-4-5-{2}-2-3-2-2-3-7-9-11-12-13-14-20->17

#240 14/05/1955 Les Baxter, His Chorus And Orchestra Unchained Melody 10 17-11-{10}-13-12-17-10-12-16->9

#241 14/05/1955 Eddie Calvert Stranger In Paradise 14 19-17-{14}-17->4

#242 21/05/1955 The Four Aces Stranger In Paradise 6 16-9-{6}-9-12-15->6

#243 21/05/1955 Rosemary Clooney And The Mellomen Where Will The Dimple Be? 6 19-13-12-11-8-{6}-7-7-9-10-14-14-16->13

#244 21/05/1955 Johnnie Ray Paths Of Paradise 20 {20}->1

#245 28/05/1955 Alma Cogan Dreamboat 1 17-10-8-6-4-3-3-{1}-1-2-3-3-5-9-12-17->16

#246 28/05/1955 David Whitfield Mama 12 20-20R(4)-19-15R(4)-13-13-{12}-15-13-16-19->11

 

'Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White' is such a standout instrumental :wub: I agree that Perez 'Prez' Prado's interpretation is stronger, also a fan of his OG 'Mambo No 5' and 'Guaglione'.

 

I also like Tony's 'Stranger In Paradise' but had no idea that the melody was borrowed :o need to check out the original (and 'The Bridges Of Paris')

Agree with you about this batch of tracks, quality has def gone up, and with jade about Prez Prado stuff - sounds timeless.

 

Oddly I don't know the Eartha Kitt track but hey it's Eartha, bound to be classy. I was buying her cool camp disco hits like Where Is My Man in the 80's :)

 

Cherry Pink was an 80's hit for Modern Romance, that was a decent cover, Tweedle Dee a hit cover by Jimmy Osmond in 1973 which ups the novelty factor and is the best version - I still like it. It should be annoying but it isn't, it's good-natured fun, and the "bop bop bop" hook was almost borrowed by Rita Ora on Anywhere :lol:

 

Mambo Rock is fine, and Earth Angel is a 50's doo wop classic - by The Penguins. The practice of white acts covering black act originals was quite the thing in the 50's (though to be fair it was an avalanche of cover versions on every decent song), reaching it's nadir with Pat Boone sucking the life out of every black hit he could cover. Not bad news necessarily where black songwriters got the revenue cash additional to the originals, but not usually artistically anything to write home about.

 

Stranger In Paradise is Tony Bennett's signature song along with I Left My Heart In San Francisco, but still doing the biz with Gaga into the 2010's (legend), and Amy Winehouse before that! Doris, not one I know well, but she gets a free pass every time from me, love her.

 

 

Well today's crop is really not so good, and for the first time I'm topping out at a 7. I think I'm slightly falling in love with Johnnie Ray - it's not his best song by any means but the way he sells it is something else. Reading about his troubled personal life I find the emotion he puts into his records quite moving. It does mean he's the first artist to win 2 days.

 

7 Johnnie Ray Paths Of Paradise Very dramatic - another captivating performance from Johnnie and I like the "hmm haa" backing

6 The Four Aces Stranger In Paradise I don't love any of them but this is my favourite of the six versions - like the swung rhythm and the harmonies

6 Alma Cogan Dreamboat 35th #1: it's a really good tune and she does it well; there's just something a bit one dimensional about it and she's too darn happy!

6 Al Hibbler Unchained Melody It's probably unfair that I'm comparing all these vesrions to the Righteous Brothers and finding them wanting, but this is decent

5 Georgia Gibbs Tweedle Dee Think the Frankie Vaughan version captured the fun spirit sligthly better but this is still quite good

5 Les Baxter, His Chorus And Orchestra Unchained Melody Another pretty good version but it doesn't really tug at the heart strings

5 Joan And Rusty Regan Open Up Your Heart She has her son singing on this and it's oddly sweet and endearing; not the assault on the ears you sometimes get from a child vocal

4 Bing Crosby Stranger In Paradise Don't mind this version from Bing; quite cool and laid back

4 The Ink Spots Melody Of Love A very unusual track - mostly talking which gets quite dull but there are some interesting instrumental parts which redeem it

3 Don Cornell Stranger In Paradise Too much vibrato and grandeur - one of the less enjoyable versions

3 David Whitfield Mama More tolerable than many of his recent ones and it's a decent song but still feels quite turgid

3 Jimmy Young Unchained Melody 34th #1: not as bad as a version that will top the charts in 40 years but it's too fast and feels really lightweight and throwaway

2 Eddie Calvert Stranger In Paradise Goodness me the last thing we needed was an instrumental version of this - seems pretty pointless

2 Rosemary Clooney And The Mellomen Where Will The Dimple Be? It's not the first question I'd ask about a baby who's about to be born; all in all a very irritating tune and lyrics

 

 

Next up:

#247 28/05/1955 Cyril Stapleton Elephant Tango 19 20-20-20R(4)-{19}R(3)->4

#248 04/06/1955 Joe 'Mr Piano' Henderson Sing It With Joe 14 15-{14}-14-18->4

#249 04/06/1955 Dickie Valentine I Wonder 4 16-16-13-11-6-6-{4}-5-6-7-8-10-13-15-19->15

#250 04/06/1955 The Stargazers The Crazy Otto Rag 18 19-{18}-20->3

#251 11/06/1955 Frank Sinatra You, My Love 13 {13}-15-17-17R(4)-19-17R(2)-17->7

#252 11/06/1955 Judy Garland The Man That Got Away 18 19-{18}->2

#253 18/06/1955 Jane Froman I Wonder 14 19-18-{14}-17->4

#254 18/06/1955 Liberace Unchained Melody 20 {20}->1

#255 25/06/1955 Frankie Laine With The Mellomen Cool Water 2 14-11-10-7-8-4-{2}-2-2-3-3-3-3-4-2-3-2-6-6-11-12-16->22

#256 25/06/1955 Barbara Lyon Stowaway 12 16-18-14-18-{12}-12-16-18->8

#257 02/07/1955 Ruby Murray Evermore 3 16-8-6-{3}-3-4-4-3-5-9-10-8-5-8-14-18-16->17

#258 02/07/1955 Malcolm Vaughan Every Day Of My Life 5 17-13-11-13-8-6-7-8-6-{5}-8-9-13-13-12-15->16

#259 02/07/1955 Johnny Brandon With The Phantoms Don't Worry 18 20-19-20-{18}->4

#260 09/07/1955 David Whitfield Ev'rywhere 3 18-13-11-10-10-5-4-4-4-4-4-{3}-4-5-6-4-9-7-8-12->20

Edited January 23, 20232 yr by JulianT

Unchained melody, so many versions and none of them compare to The Righteous brothers definitive. That will remain so to the end of time....

 

Johnnie Ray was very modern in his "heart on my sleeve" vocal willingness to go for emotion rather than by-the-numbers singing-class cleanliness and diction.

 

The Inkspots were beloved in our house, mum and dad both fans, they had some good hits, this one I don't know though.

I'm discovering some lovely not so big hits and lesser known artists through this which is nice - today's winner stalled at #12 and was the biggest hit here for Barbara Lyon who has a beautiful voice.

 

9 Barbara Lyon Stowaway Beautiful gentle ballad with great lyrics sung with a gorgeous pure tone and a shimmery instrumental background

8 Cyril Stapleton Elephant Tango Incredibly effective instrumental - very much a tango and very much elephantine

7 Dickie Valentine I Wonder This really suits his smooth voice and it's a lovely cosy feeling ballad

7 Frankie Laine With The Mellomen Cool Water Quite an intense one from Frankie - can't work out what it's really about but it's very good

7 Johnny Brandon With The Phantoms Don't Worry Another really sweet happy and catchy tune from Johnny

6 Malcolm Vaughan Every Day Of My Life A passionate ballad: a lot of vibrato for my taste but suits it I guess

6 Jane Froman I Wonder Prefer Dickie's single voice to the call and response style for this particular song, but this is still nice

6 Liberace Unchained Melody An instrumental of this sounds a terrible idea but in fact it's better than some of the sung versions with some great piano playing

5 Ruby Murray Evermore Another slow love ballad: very pleasant but doesn't stand out

4 David Whitfield Ev'rywhere A decent tune and done in a relatively restrained way by David - still don't particularly enjoy the vocals but it's not bad this time

3 The Stargazers The Crazy Otto Rag One of their more tolerable ones; not too much terrible singing and a fairly good tune although still grates after a few listens

3 Frank Sinatra You, My Love I'm discovering that Frank actually has quite a lot of dull songs of which this is unfornuately one

2 Judy Garland The Man That Got Away Judy's only hit amazingly and I'm really sorry but I find it a bit of a stinker without much of a tune

2 Joe 'Mr Piano' Henderson Sing It With Joe Just sounds like a group of tipsy friends gathered round a piano singing random songs

 

 

Coming next:

 

#261 06/07/1955 Slim Whitman Rose Marie 1 10-4-{1}-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-4-5-5-9-14-18->19

#262 16/07/1955 The McGuire Sisters Sincerely 14 {14}-15-16-20->4

#263 16/07/1955 Frankie Laine Strange Lady In Town 6 15-16-11-7-{6}-7-10-10-7-6-9-10-15->13

#264 23/07/1955 The Five Smith Brothers I'm In Favour Of Friendship 20 {20}->1

#265 30/07/1955 Eddie Calvert John And Julie 6 18-18-15-14-11-{6}-6-7-11-12-16->11

#266 30/07/1955 Slim Whitman Indian Love Call 7 20-17-19-15-{7}-8-9-12-12-11-10-14->12

#267 30/07/1955 Sammy Davis Jr Something's Gotta Give 11 20-19-19R(2)-15-{11}-11-16->7

#268 06/08/1955 Frank Sinatra Learnin' The Blues 2 12-10-6-{2}-2-2-2-2-3-4-7-13-15->13

#269 13/08/1955 Ferko String Band Alabama Jubilee 20 {20}-20->2

#270 20/08/1955 Caterina Valente The Breeze And I 5 16-8-7-{5}-5-7-7-7-8-7-12-13-20-14->14

#271 27/08/1955 Nat 'King' Cole My One Sin 17 18-{17}R(3)->2

#272 27/08/1955 Ronnie Hilton Stars Shine In Your Eyes 13 18-16-{13}-13-14-15-20->7

#273 27/08/1955 Ray Burns With The Coronets That's How A Love Song Was Born 14 20-17-15-{14}-18-19->6

#274 03/09/1955 Frank Sinatra Not As A Stranger 18 {18}->1

 

 

 

 

 

Wow - just wow at this thread! Probably start following sometime in the late 60s

Never heard of Barbara Lyon or Stowaway, seems mildly pleasant. The Judy garland song is from her smash movie A Star Is Born - it's not quite up to Barbra Streisand Evergreen A Star Is Born standard, but I'll take the jazz slowy over the Gaga A Star Is Born songs that I've heard (oops, sorry, Fame Monster Gaga for me everytime) :lol: The best Garland songs were pre-chart, and Over The Rainbow has charted many times (for others).

 

Cool Water is one I've known all my life, and it fits into his Cowboy song motif - dying for a drink of water in the desert, and dreaming of an oasis.

 

 

Funnily enough, in the last #1 albums session we suggested that the 3 best known versions of Over The Rainbow didn't reach the Top 40 - Judy Garland, Eva Casdidy and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. I hadn't realised Judy had any charting songs at all.

Really like this bunch - so nice to be done with all those "Stranger In Paradise" and "Unchained Melody" versions and have some great original songs.

"Rose Marie" spent 11 weeks at #1 and it's one of the few extremely long running number ones I'd go out of my way to hear. Slim Whitman had a very unusual style with a very strident falsetto which I'm sure wasn't to everyone's taste as it creates a bit of yodeling effect. But on "Rose Marie" it somehow works perfectly and the song just sounds really smooth.

But just pipping "Rose Marie" for the win is "The Breeze And I" by Caterina Valente, who is still alive aged 92. It's a lovely number and I find it particularly moving the way her voice floats up towards the end as the breeze carries her love away.

 

9 Caterina Valente The Breeze And I Find this absolutely stunning - the big brassy intro, the beautiful mourning ballad and the soaring vocals towards the end

9 Slim Whitman Rose Marie 36th #1: the perfect combination of singer and song for me; he brings so much out of this and the falsetto helps the emotion

8 Nat 'King' Cole My One Sin Beautifully sold and heart-rending ballad again from Nat

8 Frank Sinatra Learnin' The Blues Finally a great one from Frank - 5 weeks at #2 and a bit of a classic; first heard the song via Katie Melua haha

7 Ray Burns With The Coronets That's How A Love Song Was Born Another really cool jazzy number well delivered by Ray and the band

7 Frank Sinatra Not As A Stranger From a film of the same name and has that dramatic feel to it but still a sensitively done ballad

6 Ronnie Hilton Stars Shine In Your Eyes A sweet romantic one here backed up by some lovely instrumentation

6 The McGuire Sisters Sincerely Very nice but lacks some of the quirky energy of "No More"

6 Sammy Davis Jr Something's Gotta Give Sammy's a fantastic performer; this is a very good rendition but he has even better to come

5 Slim Whitman Indian Love Call I think this is closer to Slim's usual style than "Rose Marie" meaning more acquired taste vocals but it's still a nice one

5 Eddie Calvert John And Julie A nice trumpet tune from Eddie but not too clear where John and Julie actually come into it

4 Frankie Laine Strange Lady In Town The title phrase appears 17 times in the lyrics: it's fine but doesn't really go anywhere

3 Ferko String Band Alabama Jubilee An American popular standard apparently but just sounds like a sing song at a village fair to me

2 The Five Smith Brothers I'm In Favour Of Friendship Not surprised this isn't on Spotify but the lyrics are so bad they're worth checking out for a laugh

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow's:

 

#275 03/09/1955 Joe 'Mr Piano' Henderson Sing It Again With Joe 18 19-{18}-20->3

#276 10/09/1955 The Stargazers Close The Door 6 12-10-10-{6}-8-9-14-14-17->9

#277 10/09/1955 Sammy Davis Jr Love Me Or Leave Me 8 14-11-{8}-14-13-17-19R(3)-18->8

#278 10/09/1955 Doris Day Love Me Or Leave Me 20 {20}->1

#279 17/09/1955 Jimmy Young The Man From Laramie 1 15-6-5-2-{1}-1-1-1-3-2-5-10->12

#280 17/09/1955 Tony Bennett Close Your Eyes 18 {18}->1

#281 24/09/1955 Slim Whitman China Doll 15 {15}-18->2

#282 24/09/1955 Cyril Stapleton Orchestra With Julie Dawn Blue Star (The 'Medic' Theme) 2 16-9-6-3-{2}-2-3-4-7-13-13-15->12

#283 24/09/1955 Alma Cogan The Banjo's Back In Town 17 {17}->1

#284 24/09/1955 Al Martino The Man From Laramie 19 {19}-20-20R(4)->3

#285 24/09/1955 Charlie Applewhite Blue Star (The 'Medic' Theme) 20 {20}->1

#286 01/10/1955 Sammy Davis Jr That Old Black Magic 16 {16}->1

#287 01/10/1955 Rosemary Clooney Hey There 4 17-18-10-10-8-8-7-{4}-6-11-16->11

#288 08/10/1955 Mitch Miller And His Orchestra And Chorus The Yellow Rose Of Texas 2 9-5-3-{2}-5-9-6-7-6-8-9-8-11->13

Edited January 23, 20232 yr by JulianT

I like the Catarina Valente track, never heard it before but I remember her being on TV in the 60's and 70's with flamboyant geust spots on variety shows, amazed she's still around, good for her!

 

Slim Whitman was very much a Country yodeller, but I was never a fan of Rose Marie when it cropped up as an oldie. Indian Love Call was oddly better known to younger folk in the 70's thanks to the Muppets and a fun cover by Ray Stevens, and I'm still fond of it.

 

I have CD collections of Nat and Frank but none of those ring a bell, but the Sammy track is one I know, Something's Gotta Give was a Crooner staple.

 

 

It's all about Sammy Davis Jr. today as his two are my favourites of the bunch - I just love his style.

 

9 Sammy Davis Jr Love Me Or Leave Me Such a dynamic rendition of this and I love a bit of scatting

8 Sammy Davis Jr That Old Black Magic Brilliant as well, so much character in his singing

7 Cyril Stapleton Orchestra With Julie Dawn Blue Star (The 'Medic' Theme) A lovely version of this TV theme with dreamy vocals and a great piano part

6 Jimmy Young The Man From Laramie 37th #1: theme song to a Western of the same name and it's good; a big improvement on his limp "Unchained Melody"

6 Alma Cogan The Banjo's Back In Town A catchy song with banjos; nothing not to like (other than her sounding unreasonably happy as usual)

6 Doris Day Love Me Or Leave Me A much more sedate version than Sammy's and it's still a really good song but lacks the impact

5 Slim Whitman China Doll Be prepared for a lot of yodeling on this and the instruments even seem to be sliding in sympathy - I quite like it though

5 Al Martino The Man From Laramie The version that was bigger in America apparently; prefer Jimmy's smoother delivery

5 Charlie Applewhite Blue Star (The 'Medic' Theme) Another good version of this but think the vocals are too big for what's meant to be a relaxing, dreamy number

4 Tony Bennett Close Your Eyes A nice jazzy number with a sax solo but the tune just isn't memorable

4 Rosemary Clooney Hey There Another where there are several versions coming and I don't like the song much in the first place, but a nice jazzy arrangement

3 Joe 'Mr Piano' Henderson Sing It Again With Joe Sounds a bit more polished than the original "Sing It With Joe" but still an inessential medley

3 Mitch Miller And His Orchestra And Chorus The Yellow Rose Of Texas A traditional American Western style folksong - not really my thing and not sure why all these versions popped up around this time

1 The Stargazers Close The Door "Ba da da duh, da duh" - it's like they're trying to see how hideous they can make it and still get a hit

 

 

Next group:

 

#289 08/10/1955 Johnston Brothers Hernando's Hideaway 1 11-11-10-4-2-{1}-1-3-5-10-8-11-15->13

#290 08/10/1955 Lita Roza Hey There 17 {17}-20->2

#291 08/10/1955 Sammy Davis Jr Hey There 19 {19}->1

#292 08/10/1955 Johnnie Ray Hernando's Hideaway 11 20-{11}-12-11-14->5

#293 15/10/1955 Johnnie Ray Hey There 5 16-9-10-6-{5}-5-7-11-14->9

#294 15/10/1955 Ruby Murray I'll Come When You Call 6 19-15-13-10-{6}-9-14->7

#295 15/10/1955 Alma Cogan Go On By 16 20-20-{16}-20->4

#296 22/10/1955 Doris Day I'll Never Stop Loving You 17 {17}-19-19R(4)->3

#297 22/10/1955 Central Band Of The Royal Air Force The Dambusters March 18 {18}->1

#298 22/10/1955 Gary Miller The Yellow Rose Of Texas 13 19-17-15-{13}-17->5

#299 29/10/1955 Johnnie Ray Song Of The Dreamer 10 18-12-11-{10}-15->5

#300 29/10/1955 Ron Goodwin Blue Star (The 'Medic' Theme) 20 {20}->1

#301 05/11/1955 Don Lang With The Mairants-Langhorn Big Six Cloudburst 16 {16}-18-18R(3)-20R(6)->4

#302 05/11/1955 Winifred Atwell Let's Have A Ding Dong 3 18-10-8-4-{3}-4-4-5-4-10->10

Edited January 23, 20232 yr by JulianT