Oh I'm a fan of 'To Know Him, Is To Love Him', it's gorgeous <3 stalled at #2 here but topped the charts in the U.S.

 

I was listening to a compilation of Spector hits, as it appeared on Rolling Stone's Greatest Albums list and that was my biggest highlight until 'Be My Baby' came along

Yes those top 2 are fab, no question. I knew the Jerry Lee Lewis cover of Chantilly Lace first, but Big Bopper everytime.

 

Kiss Me Honey Honey was on one of dad's Shirley albums he brought back from a year unaccompanied in Aden so it's very much a record of my childhood, still fond of it though these days I'd opt for later tracks. Oddly I've never really known her number one here!

 

Cozy Cole best-known for me from hit drummer Cozy Powell nicking his name, but The Day That The Rains Came is one I know quite well and like - I think it was on an episode of The Young Ones in the early 80's :D Not a record you would associate with Comic Anarachy but there you go!

 

Phil Spector (topical) has the best version of Winter Wonderland on his Christmas Album, though Eurythmics did a nice version on a long-forgotten 80's charity album of big names covering xmas classics. I bought it, and not a single track ever gets played these days, not Madonna doing Santa Baby, Whitney doing Do You Hear What I Hear? not the hit Run DMC Christmas In Hollis, Springsteen's Merry Christmas Baby (better than his other xmas tracks), Pretenders, Stevie Nicks both do fab versions of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and Silent Night, U2 do Xmas (Baby Please Come Home), and Pointer Sisters, Sting, John Mellencamp, Bob Seger, Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi and Alison Moyet tackle other standards :o

 

Greensleeves has the benefit of not having to pay out songwriting royalties :D

Been playing catch-up again. The arrival of Buddy Holly is definitely one of the highlights. As others have said, he packed a lot into a very short career. As Paul McCartney has always been a big fan of his, the Beatles-esque flavour to some of his songs is not surprising.

Rockin' Robin is fun, though for me it was MJ's version I knew first and best. That also goes for Conway twitty's It's Only Make Believe, it was the Glen campbell cover I loved to bits and still do, nobody builds a record like Glen could do, unless they had the initials R.O. or G.P. The originals, though, had to be good to inspire the covers!

 

Summertime Blues is a rocknroll cornerstone, much-covered but never bettered. I'm not that familiar with Cliff's follow-up (and he didn't do it when I saw him 2 years ago, unlike Move It) but as jade quoted, Cliff kick-started the British invasion by showing home-grown songs could compete.

 

Come On Let's Go I assume is the Ritchie Valens song, soon to be tragically killed in the Buddy Holly crash, and just a teenager. Los Lobos did a good cover from the movie biopic, but I'd stick with Ritchie's overall esp since he wrote it at such a young age. I did love Tommy back as a kiddie though (looking forward to Little White Bull popping up :) )

 

The other major song I know is Tom Dooley - no getting away from that one back in the day. As will become very apparent, death songs all the rage throughout the 60's, but never been much of a fan of this one.

The glut of death songs (including the first new number one after I was born) was truly weird.

 

I'm not sure I'd heard the Bobby Day version of Rockin' Robin before but I'd rate it ahead of the Jackson version. Summertime Blues is indeed an absolute classic.

Oh I'm a fan of 'To Know Him, Is To Love Him', it's gorgeous

 

I was listening to a compilation of Spector hits, as it appeared on Rolling Stone's Greatest Albums list and that was my biggest highlight until 'Be My Baby' came along

To Know Him Is To Love Him is rather soppy but still lovely. Be My Baby is terrific. The contrast between Phil Spector the musician and Phil Spector the person could hardly be greater :(

Thanks for all the comments guys!

 

Podium for 1958:

 

Gold medal: Hoots Mon! - Lord Rockingham's XI

Silver medal: Fever - Peggy Lee

Bronze medal: Move It - Cliff Richard & The Drifters

 

Others that I gave a 9:

All I Have To Do Is Dream / Claudette - The Everly Brothers

When - The Kalin Twins

Tequila - The Champs

Rockin' Robin - Bobby Day

Who's Sorry Now - Connie Francis

Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley

Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare) - Domenico Modugno

It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty

 

Worst hit of the year: Splish Splash - Charlie Drake

 

First group of 1959 next:

 

#874 03/01/1959 Little Richard Baby Face 2 16-9-7-{2}-3-3-5-7-14-14-21-24-28-30-29->15

#875 03/01/1959 Max Bygraves (I Love To Play) My Ukelele 19 23-{19}-20-25->4

#876 03/01/1959 Duane Eddy, His Twangy Guitar And The Rebels Cannonball 22 25-23-{22}-22->4

#877 10/01/1959 Bobby Darin Queen Of The Hop 24 29-{24}->2

#878 10/01/1959 Ronnie Hilton With The Michael Sammes Singers The World Outside 18 30-29-21-20-{18}-22->6

#879 17/01/1959 The Platters Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 1 17-14-9-7-7-3-2-2-2-{1}-2-2-2-4-7-7-13-17-18-24->20

#880 17/01/1959 Al Saxon You're The Top Cha 17 24-{17}-22-30->4

#881 17/01/1959 Pat Boone I'll Remember Tonight 18 28-21R(3)-22R(2)-27-26-22-{18}-23-28->9

#882 17/01/1959 Buddy Holly Heartbeat 30 {30}->1

#883 24/01/1959 Elvis Presley One Night/I Got Stung 1 3-{1}-1-1-2-4-7-11-16-15-21-24->12

#884 24/01/1959 The Everly Brothers Problems 6 18-8-{6}-8-7-9-12-15-19-26-27-27->12

#885 24/01/1959 Jerry Lee Lewis High School Confidential 12 22-18-14-{12}-14-25->6

#886 24/01/1959 Russ Conway The World Outside 24 {24}-24R(6)-25-30->4

#887 24/01/1959 Rosemary June (I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time 14 28-26-16-{14}-17-23-25-30-28->9

#888 24/01/1959 The Four Aces The World Outside 18 29-27-23-{18}-29-24->6

Edited March 19, 20232 yr by JulianT

The glut of death songs (including the first new number one after I was born) was truly weird.

 

I'm not sure I'd heard the Bobby Day version of Rockin' Robin before but I'd rate it ahead of the Jackson version. Summertime Blues is indeed an absolute classic.

 

Yes, they even included a death song about a dog - Old Shep was SO popular! :o Oh that UK number one after your birth day must have been Billy Don't Be A Hero - I think my Maths is correct..... :D

Yes, they even included a death song about a dog - Old Shep was SO popular! :o Oh that UK number one after your birth day must have been Billy Don't Be A Hero - I think my Maths is correct..... :D

:lol:

Can't decide if I prefer this or "The Great Pretender" but it's a clear 2nd win for The Platters. Great to see Little Richard getting his biggest hit too.

 

9 The Platters Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 82nd #1: another brilliant performance from Tony Williams and a ballad that switch from joy to heartbroken agony; incredible

8 Little Richard Baby Face His only Top 2 hit and he definitely sounds maturer with less frantic energy to me on this; but a great song excellently done

7 Buddy Holly Heartbeat I'll pretend this was never covered or turned into a TV theme; lovely little ballad and already his last hit alive

7 Elvis Presley One Night/I Got Stung 81st #1: not as immediate as his last 2 #1s - "One Night" a sultry balad and "I Got Stung" a fun upbeat number, but both good

7 Jerry Lee Lewis High School Confidential Another of these great relentless rapid fire rock 'n' roll songs with a great piano interlude

6 The Everly Brothers Problems A good tune and has all the usual ingredients and nice guitar action, but I don't think it's one of their best

6 Rosemary June (I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time She seems relatively unknown and it's her only UK hit but it's a nice cheeky little song; enjoy the deep male "doobie doobie"

6 The Four Aces The World Outside Three versions of this song and they all sound quite of their time but a nice stately performance here and a really nice listen

5 Duane Eddy, His Twangy Guitar And The Rebels Cannonball His second hit and find this one a bit pedestrian; has a good beat but it's all quite jolly and gentle

5 Ronnie Hilton With The Michael Sammes Singers The World Outside Another version of this but prefer the harmonies on the Four Aces version and can't see this really adds anything

4 Russ Conway The World Outside He's brought the piano to the fore and put in a classical style chorus - not bad but think it makes the song even more austere

3 Al Saxon You're The Top Cha Primarily a comedian, which explains the vocals being pretty rough, and the lyrics are quite silly though quite a nice jazzy beat

3 Bobby Darin Queen Of The Hop This seems a generic late 50s song to me and does that thing of borrowing lyrical phrases from others; but he has better coming

2 Pat Boone I'll Remember Tonight Not sure if I'll remember tonight but I very much doubt I'll remember this; Pat going back to the dirges

2 Max Bygraves (I Love To Play) My Ukelele Apparently all the ladies swoon when he plays his ukulele; a very wet ballad but also the ukulele isn't even that prominent

 

 

Next:

 

#889 24/01/1959 Alma Cogan Last Night On The Back Porch 27 30-{27}->2

#890 31/01/1959 Paul Anka (All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings 10 20-12-{10}-12-11-11-10-13-13-18-20-19-25->13

#891 31/01/1959 Joni James There Must Be A Way 24 {24}->1

#892 31/01/1959 Cliff Richard And The Drifters Livin' Lovin' Doll 20 25-25-{20}-23-30-28->6

#893 31/01/1959 Slim Dusty A Pub With No Beer 3 29-20-11-9-6-{3}-3-4-6-8-9-14-13-16-22->15

#894 31/01/1959 Frankie Vaughan That's My Doll 28 30-{28}->2

#895 07/02/1959 Lonnie Donegan Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On The Bedpost Overnight) 3 9-6-4-{3}-4-8-11-11-14-19-20-28->12

#896 07/02/1959 Lord Rockingham's XI Wee Tom 16 21-{16}-19->3

#897 14/02/1959 The Beverley Sisters Little Drummer Boy 6 16-15-9-9-{6}-8-10-11-11-11-15-23-29->13

#898 14/02/1959 Connie Francis My Happiness 4 19-16-12-10-9-5-{4}-5-4-10-9-15-19-29-30R(2)->15

#899 14/02/1959 Billy Eckstine Gigi 8 20-18-16-19-14-{8}-8-9-8-9-12-18-21-26->14

#900 14/02/1959 Harry Simeone Chorale The Little Drummer Boy 13 22-{13}-13-16-18-21-24->7

#901 14/02/1959 Chris Barber's Jazz Band Petite Fleur 3 27-11-8-6-5-6-5-6-5-{3}-3-3-6-5-8-8-8-14-17-23-23-25-28R(3)-22->24

#902 14/02/1959 Lloyd Price Stagger Lee 7 29-29-15-15-12-{7}-7-7-7-7-10-14-16-25->14

#903 14/02/1959 Robert Earl The Wonderful Secret Of Love 17 29-28-18-21-{17}-17-17-23-30-29->10

 

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes still sounds fantastic. A pretty good selection this time.

Chris Barber's band previously worked with Lonnie Donegan on "Rock Island Line" and now get their own big instrumental hit. I'm biased as a lapsed clarinettist myself but I think this is the most gorgeous thing ever.

 

9 Chris Barber's Jazz Band Petite Fleur Amazing that this jazz band instrumental reached #3 and spent 15 weeks in the Top 10, but it is stunningly beautiful

8 Connie Francis My Happiness A slightly sleepy ballad but love the multi-tracking and the richness of the sound from the backing chorus and brass instruments

7 Paul Anka (All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings Another very dramatic ballad from him but very well done and it builds up to an exciting climax with the violin and backing vocals

7 Billy Eckstine Gigi Great to hear this gorgeous voice again; his third and final hit - this is a cover but the original from the film "Gigi" won an Oscar

6 Cliff Richard And The Drifters Livin' Lovin' Doll Slightly more generic than his first couple of hits but still a very servicable high energy non-stop rock 'n' roll song

6 Lonnie Donegan Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On The Bedpost Overnight) The longest hit title yet and Lonnie moving on to sillier subject matter, but it's really fun and he delivers it very well as ever

5 Lord Rockingham's XI Wee Tom This is very much "Hoots Mon" part II but still charming and entertaining; not too surprising there weren't any more hits after this

5 The Beverley Sisters Little Drummer Boy Charted with the original but I actually prefer this poppier version - the vocals are more present and like the backing "pom pom"

5 Joni James There Must Be A Way Her 2nd and final hit - she has a very pretty voice and this an enjoyable angst ridden ballad with backing male "badoombedoo"s

4 Slim Dusty A Pub With No Beer This is very funny for a couple of listens and then gets slightly irritating - a unique country hit though

4 Robert Earl The Wonderful Secret Of Love Over-dramatic like most of Robert Earl's ballads; but it's actually a fairly nice one and as ever I do admire his voice

3 Harry Simeone Chorale The Little Drummer Boy The original of this, released in the States back in December but arrived here now; not so keen on the choral arrangement here

3 Lloyd Price Stagger Lee Best thing about this is the chart run - 5 straight weeks at #7; great voice but a song about a murder and it's really not my thing

2 Frankie Vaughan That's My Doll Frankie's so hit and miss and when he gets it wrong you end up with incredibly naff and tuneless jazz numbers like this

1 Alma Cogan Last Night On The Back Porch "Last night on the back porch I loved him best of all" - irritating song anyway and the lewdness makes me wince

 

 

Next up:

 

#904 21/02/1959 Russ Conway Side Saddle 1 23-22-8-4-3-{1}-1-1-1-2-4-3-3-4-5-6-7-8-6-9-12-13-15-12-19-22-21-18-19-23->30

#905 28/02/1959 Perry Como Tomboy 10 19-20-18-14-14-{10}-12-13-11-17-27-28->12

#906 08/02/1959 Buddy Holly It Doesn't Matter Anymore 1 20-16-13-10-9-3-3-2-{1}-1-1-2-2-2-2-3-6-8-13-18-21->21

#907 28/02/1959 Michael Flanders With The Michael Sammes Singers Little Drummer Boy 20 {20}-27-24R(6)->3

#908 28/02/1959 Billy Fury Maybe Tomorrow 18 26-22-26-19R(2)-22-{18}-18-21-29->9

#909 28/02/1959 Malcolm Vaughan Wait For Me/Willingly 13 28-27R(2)-27-18-{13}-16-15-17-24-18-27-20-19-24-25->15

#910 28/02/1959 Reg Owen And His Orchestra Manhattan Spiritual 20 29-23-23-{20}-24-29-28-30->8

#911 28/02/1959 The Mudlarks The Love Game 30 {30}->1

#912 07/03/1959 Ritchie Valens Donna 29 {29}->1

#913 07/03/1959 Marty Wilde Donna 3 30-29-29-21-15-10-5-5-5-4-{3}-5-7-9-12-23-25R(2)-27->18

#914 14/03/1959 Eddie Cochran C'mon Everybody 6 20-15-12-17-14-{6}-8-8-11-15-21-26-30->13

#915 14/03/1959 Dickie Valentine Venus 20 28-25R(3)-26R(2)-22-{20}-26-25R(2)-28R(4)->8

#916 21/03/1959 Pearl Carr And Teddy Johnson Sing Little Birdie 12 22-20-{12}-15-16-19-26-23->8

#917 21/03/1959 Marino Marini And His Quartet Ciao Ciao Bambina 24 25-{24}R(2)->2

#918 28/03/1959 The Coasters Charlie Brown 6 22-16-13-8-{6}-6-8-9-12-14-14-27->12

Edited March 21, 20232 yr by JulianT

Two strong favourite picks over the last couple of days. 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes' is a vocal masterclass. 'Petite Fleur' sounds very Mr. Acker Bilk with the heavy clarinet.

 

To Know Him Is To Love Him is rather soppy but still lovely. Be My Baby is terrific. The contrast between Phil Spector the musician and Phil Spector the person could hardly be greater :(

Quite :( shame he was an awful person as 'Be My Baby' is one of my favourite songs of the 60s :wub: I remember reading that Brian Wilson considers it his all-time favourite.

Looking forward to seeing what will be the #1000th top 40 hit soon!

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes is magnificent, and The Platters make quite a show of it. My fave version is the forgotten 1972 upbeat version by Blue Haze, and my least fave is Bryan Ferry's 1974 attempt to do a pseudo Noel Coward styled mellow version. Love Bryan but that was a miss-fire.

 

Baby face is a good version of an old standard, but my heart is with the 1976 disco version - and remember this name cos it's NEVER cropped up in any pop quiz and it's bound to one day - Wing & A Prayer Fife & Drum Corporation hit number 12 in 1976 and then disappeared forever, never getting a single radio play ever again (that I've heard).

 

Heart beat is one of Buddy's great songs, done very well by Showaddywaddy in 1975 and murdered by a former soap actor a decade later.

 

Never been keen on One Night, not even the Mud cover, I Got Stung is the much better side. Problems is decent, but I agree not one of their best. Of the rest I like Duane Eddy best.

 

 

*********

 

Petite Fleur I needed to remind myself of and yes it's a fab record, another one of those familiar tunes from when I woz a kid that I knew but didn't know I knew till recently.

 

Dont know that Connie Francis song but bound to quite like it, ditto paul Anka, and Billy Eckstein's gigi cover. The Gigi song I know and love is Thank Heaven For Little Girls, sung by Maurice Chevalier - that's the famous one!

 

I love the song Little Drummer Boy, but I'll go with the 1972 bagpipes version or 1977's Bing & Bowie mash-up as the best versions.

 

 

 

 

 

On 3 February 1959 Buddy Holly (22), The Big Bopper (28) and Richie Valens (17) were all killed in a plane crash while on tour. "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" was therefore the first posthumous UK #1. I'm not sure it's regarded as one of his absolute greatest songs but I think it's great. It's a sad song but the strings give it a lightness, almost like putting a brave face on the breakup. Valens' only Top 40 hit also arrives here but sadly it's not one I can give a high score.

 

9 Buddy Holly It Doesn't Matter Anymore 84th #1: I absolutely love this - the plucked strings are a template for many early 60s songs by the likes of Adam Faith

8 Eddie Cochran C'mon Everybody Another great rock 'n' roll number from Eddie - a party song but again covering adolescent themes

7 Billy Fury Maybe Tomorrow Debut hit for Billy and it's a very lovely heartbreak ballad convincingly delivered where the emotion builds up to a climax

7 The Mudlarks The Love Game 3rd and final hit for them and it has a really nice energy to it; especially enjoy the "I ne-ed you a-and I wa-ant you" part

6 The Coasters Charlie Brown A good tune here - for some reason it grates with me much less than "Yakety Yak" and there's some excellent saxophone work

6 Reg Owen And His Orchestra Manhattan Spiritual Only top 40 hit for this band leader; a very cool, highly rhythmic and slightly hypnotic jazzy instrumental

6 Russ Conway Side Saddle 83rd #1: after a few mid table hits Russ has struck gold with a very pleasant, bright and breezy piano piece but nothing incredible

5 Malcolm Vaughan Wait For Me/Willingly A nice double A side here; both the usual big romantic ballads with Malcolm's powerful operatic vocals

5 Michael Flanders With The Michael Sammes Singers Little Drummer Boy Another decent version of this - I like Michael's deep voice with the female backing chorus being used as an echo

4 Marino Marini And His Quartet Ciao Ciao Bambina Again he is covering a Domenico Modugno song and the original is coming tomorrow; it's quite nice but certainly no "Volare"

3 Marty Wilde Donna A big hit for Marty but I find it a slightly drippy, plodding and saccharine ballad that doesn't really develop

3 Ritchie Valens Donna Sadly the only top 40 hit for ever Ritchie and it's not a great one; slightly prefer the vocals on Marty's version

2 Dickie Valentine Venus "Venus if you will please send a little girl for me to thrill" - I still enjoy his smooth voice but this is certainly not a great ballad

2 Pearl Carr And Teddy Johnson Sing Little Birdie This really could not be a more twee duet if it tried - "There's a branch on a tree… Where you said you loved me"

1 Perry Como Tomboy It's about reigniting a childhood crush but the tune is intensely irritating and the backing singers sound like playground teases

 

 

Coming up:

 

#919 28/03/1959 Domenico Modugno Piove (Ciao, Ciao Bambina) 29 {29}->1

#920 28/03/1959 Conway Twitty The Story Of My Love 30 {30}->1

#921 04/04/1959 Little Richard By The Light Of The Silvery Moon 17 20-{17}-17-23-30->5

#922 11/04/1959 Pat Boone With The Wind And The Rain In Your Hair 21 {21}-25-30->3

#923 11/04/1959 Bill Parsons The All American Boy 22 {22}-28->2

#924 11/04/1959 Frank Sinatra French Foreign Legion 18 25-21-{18}-22-28->5

#925 11/04/1959 The Poni-Tails Early To Bed 26 {26}-27-29->3

#926 18/04/1959 Ricky Nelson It's Late 3 22-16-9-5-8-{3}-3-4-4-7-9-11-11-14-12-10-10-16-16-22->20

#927 25/04/1959 Elvis Presley A Fool Such As I/I Need Your Love Tonight 1 4-2-2-{1}-1-1-1-1-2-4-5-5-9-13-23->15

#928 25/04/1959 The Fleetwoods Come Softly To Me 6 20-10-7-{6}-7-10-7-18->8

#929 25/04/1959 Neil Sedaka I Go Ape 9 24-13-12-11-11-10-12-{9}-12-20-17-21-23->13

#930 25/04/1959 The Crickets Love's Made A Fool Of You 26 {26}-30R(2)->2

#931 25/04/1959 Frankie Avalon Venus 16 27-21-20-{16}-19-21->6

#932 02/05/1959 Frankie Vaughan And The Kaye Sisters Come Softly To Me 9 11-10-10-{9}-9-13-10-19-25->9

#933 02/05/1959 Anthony Newley I've Waited So Long 3 12-9-7-6-4-{3}-6-5-5-7-8-10-14-25-29->15

Funnily enough my auntie and her partner had Heartbeat the show on the other day :lol: I do like the Buddy one for sure though. 'Livin Doll' is great as well.

Funnily enough my auntie and her partner had Heartbeat the show on the other day :lol: I do like the Buddy one for sure though. 'Livin Doll' is great as well.

Oh “Livin’ Doll” is coming up - Cliff had a rockier hit called “Livin’ Lovin’ Doll” before that just to confuse everyone. :)

I also adore It Doesnt Matter Anymore, it's just wonderful, tinged with sadness but those strings and the melody are still as fresh as a daisy. C'Mon Everybody is just fab too, the Sex Pistols did a fun version. The B side of Donna is more highly thought of these days and more famous, so that's very much worth a mention - the fab La Bamba is much better than Donna.

 

Billy Fury was my first pop star fave along with Elvis, Adam faith and Helen Shapiro in my pre-school days, and this is a good one. Charlie Brown is a total romp, always liked it - and I loved the Peanuts strip anyway. Side saddle is still tuneful, Sing Little Birdie best not mention, and I had no idea Dickie Valentine was out to murder one of the great American 50's teenage upbeat pop hits: Venus is an absolute fave of mine - by Frankie Avalon! Even better than his turn in Grease with Beauty School Dropout. Venus on a par with Buddy Holly here for me.

Russ Conway another 50s piano fave in addition to Winifred *.* :lol: 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore' is a great top pick though!

A #6 hit winning today that I don't think I'd have come across without doing this.

 

8 The Fleetwoods Come Softly To Me What a beautiful song but it's the vocals, harmonies and backing riff that really make it - only hit here for this American group

8 The Crickets Love's Made A Fool Of You First hit after Buddy's death for The Crickets and an excellent mid tempo number with some great harmonies and twangy guitars

8 Neil Sedaka I Go Ape This is brilliant fun: so many different types of monkey mentioned in the lyrics but a great rock 'n' roll song with honky tonk piano

7 Ricky Nelson It's Late Biggest hit so far for Ricky about young lovers who fear being caught - it romps along frantically and it's very effective

7 Little Richard By The Light Of The Silvery Moon A song all about spooning, but manages to be tender and rock 'n' roll at the same time; no more Top 10 hits for him though

6 Conway Twitty The Story Of My Love The follow up to his chart topper and quite a similar style record where the emotion builds up to a climax - very nice though

6 Frankie Vaughan And The Kaye Sisters Come Softly To Me Not as good as the original unsurprisingly but another really nice version of this and like the bit of cheekiness that Frankie injects

6 Elvis Presley A Fool Such As I/I Need Your Love Tonight 85th #1: not keen on the octave down vocals on the first side - sounds like he's messing around; second is a good catchy number

5 The Poni-Tails Early To Bed 2nd and final hit for these girls: a catchy little song with sweet harmonies and chirpy instrumentation

5 Frankie Avalon Venus The original - better than Dickie Valentine's and has a nice ethereal quality but I still find the song slightly syrupy sweet

4 Domenico Modugno Piove (Ciao, Ciao Bambina) The original of this; a nice little tune but it really is no "Volare", and in some ways I think the cover actually has a bit more life

4 Bill Parsons The All American Boy A very bizarre talking blues record apparently wrongly not credited to the "singer" - an interesting stream of consciousness though

3 Anthony Newley I've Waited So Long The first hit for this actor turned singer and it did very well for him - it's a slightly drippy ballad though with a slightly whiny style

3 Pat Boone With The Wind And The Rain In Your Hair Not his worst with some nice saxophone and distant backing vocals but he has a tendency to sound bored and it's not memorable

2 Frank Sinatra French Foreign Legion If you reject me I'll join the army and then all the girls will be swooning when they see my uniform - what a chat up line; dull song

 

 

Next up:

 

#934 02/05/1959 Joan Regan May You Always 9 25-25-24-23-20-21-17-{9}-12-12-12-15-18-15-20-25->16

#935 02/05/1959 The McGuire Sisters May You Always 15 27-24-18-17-{15}-18-15-24-24-26-28R(2)->11

#936 02/05/1959 Jerry Lee Lewis Lovin' Up A Storm 28 {28}->1

#937 09/05/1959 Cliff Richard And The Drifters Mean Streak 10 14-12-{10}-12-11-11-13-17-27->9

#938 09/05/1959 Lonnie Donegan Fort Worth Jail 14 15-{14}-14-16-23->5

#939 09/05/1959 Anthony Newley Idle On Parade EP 13 17-{13}-22-23->4

#940 16/05/1959 Ricky Nelson Never Be Anyone Else But You 14 19-20R(3)-21-{14}-18-22-19-17-23-30->10

#941 16/05/1959 Bert Weedon Guitar Boogie Shuffle 10 19-15-13-{10}-12-10-16-18-29->9

#942 16/05/1959 Cliff Richard And The Drifters Never Mind 21 {21}-26->2

#943 16/05/1959 Lloyd Price Where Were You (On Our Wedding Day)? 15 22-{15}-17-15-16-24->6

#944 16/05/1959 Russ Conway Roulette 1 23-13-6-5-2-{1}-1-2-4-4-6-7-7-8-9-9-14-18-20->19

#945 16/05/1959 Frank Sinatra Come Dance With Me (LP) 30 {30}->1

#946 23/05/1959 Fats Domino Margie 18 24-{18}-19-28-30->5

#947 23/05/1959 Jane Morgan If Only I Could Live My Life Again 27 {27}->1

#948 23/05/1959 Ruby Wright Three Stars 19 28-21-24-{19}-22-19-20-22-20-22->10

Edited March 22, 20232 yr by JulianT