Little Richard must be the most iconic musician never to have had a #1 in the UK (along with Bob Dylan perhaps).

Ooh getting some gems now!

 

Lucille is Little Richard at his manic best, Last Train To San Fernando was one my brother went mad on in his early 80's rockabilly phase, still a great record, Bye Bye Love is an Everly treat, Pat Boone at his least bad ballading, Teddy bear is singalonga Elvis fun, and I dont know that Sal Mineo record, but he was one of the 3 young stars in Rebel Without A Cause to die far too young.

Didn’t he have an affair with James Dean?

Didn’t he have an affair with James Dean?

Sounds like only a rumour albeit a highly plausible one.

 

Sorry no post today but still on course to finish the 50s by the end of March which is the aim. :)

Didn’t he have an affair with James Dean?

 

Not sure either if that's true, but Sal Mineo was def gay and James Dean has had rumours.

Little Richard must be the most iconic musician never to have had a #1 in the UK (along with Bob Dylan perhaps).

 

Tina Turner as well.

I'm learning with this that having a couple of really strong days is no guarantee that the next will be, and indeed it's a rather meh selection today. I'm going to give the win to one of the most successful popstars of the decade who I've criticised at times for catchy songs lacking in substance, but he's really matured over the years I feel. Funnily after 12 consecutive hits reaching at least #11 this was a bit of a flop for Guy, only reaching #25, which I don't understand as I think it's a lovely double A side.

 

7 Guy Mitchell In The Middle Of A Dark, Dark Night/Sweet Stuff Really like both sides of this - "Sweet Stuff" has an Elvis-like charm and the other has a really nice guitar rhythm

6 Debbie Reynolds Tammy From the film "Tammy And The Bachelor"; her only UK hit and a #2 at that - a great little ballad

6 Paul Anka Diana 63rd #1: the early part reminds me a lot of "Little Darlin'" - it's not as wacky and fun as that but another very decent chart topper

6 Elvis Presley Paralysed The usual bassline and a backing chorus nicely bopping away: it's a good one and he brings some of his cheeky touches

5 Tommy Steele And The Steelmen Shiralee A film song with some slightly haunting backing vocals and a nice atmosphere to it; some of the lyrics are a bit soppy though

5 Petula Clark With All My Heart She has such a clear, warm tone and it's a nice slightly dreamy ballad but nothing really special

5 Charlie Gracie I Love You So Much It Hurts/Wanderin' Eyes A game of two halves here as the first side is a bit of a dirge but "Wanderin' Eyes" is a good song with a lovely piano backing

4 Johnnie Ray Build Your Love (On A Strong Foundation) Not sure this has a strong foundation - great performance, backing vocals and instruments but the song itself lets it down

4 Shirley Bassey Fire Down Below Loved Jeri Southern's version of this and this falls quite flat in comparison - the vocals don't have the same atmosphere somehow

4 Ronnie Hilton Wonderful, Wonderful Similar comments to the Gary Miller version; there's a good basis for a song but it just ends up being a bit turgid

3 Tommy Steele And The Steelmen Water, Water/A Handful Of Songs It's the "not a drop to drink" song again; not a big fan of that and the other is a slightly drippy ballad

3 Harry Belafonte And Millard Thomas Scarlet Ribbons He always sounds lovely but this is a dull ballad - have another go at Christmas Harry

2 The King Brothers In The Middle Of An Island In the middle indeed - it's offensively inoffensive; cheerfully plods along and lacks any real substance I feel

2 Billy Williams I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter I'm sure many of us have been tempted to do this at some point but it really is quite drab and tuneless

1 Peter Sellers Any Old Iron A comedy version of an old music hall song - I don't want to be a miserable git who dismisses all non serious hits, but nah to this

 

 

 

Next group:

 

#635 07/09/1957 Shirley Bassey You, You Romeo 29 {29}-30->2

#636 14/09/1957 Little Richard Jenny, Jenny 11 17-16-{11}-13-20->5

#637 14/09/1957 Billy Ward And His Dominoes Star Dust 13 19-15-{13}-14-21-23-18-19-26-30-25-26R(6)->12

#638 21/09/1957 Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers Goody Goody 24 {24}-26-30->3

#639 21/09/1957 Larry Williams Short Fat Fannie 21 25-{21}-21-22-25-22-23-27->8

#640 28/09/1957 The Crickets That'll Be The Day 1 12-10-9-2-3-{1}-1-1-3-5-9-14-22-22-29R(2)->15

#641 28/09/1957 Sarah Vaughan And Billy Eckstine Passing Strangers 22 {22}-26->2

#642 28/09/1957 Pat Boone Remember You're Mine/There's A Goldmine In The Sky 5 23-17-15-10-8-{5}-5-5-5-7-10-12-11-18-23-22-27-27->18

#643 28/09/1957 Russ Hamilton Wedding Ring 20 27-28-25-{20}-23-25->6

#644 28/09/1957 Jerry Lee Lewis Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On 8 29-18-16-16-10-{8}-9-15-21-29-26R(4)->11

#645 28/09/1957 The Coasters Searchin' 30 {30}->1

#646 05/10/1957 Elvis Presley Party 2 15-11-5-{2}-4-2-2-2-3-6-10-14-16-12-24->15

#647 05/10/1957 Frankie Vaughan Man On Fire/Wanderin' Eyes 6 18-14-12-13-{6}-6-10-12-12-13-19-27->12

#648 05/10/1957 Frankie Laine And Johnnie Ray Good Evening Friends/Up Above My Head I Hear Music In The Air 25 28-29-27-{25}->4

#649 12/10/1957 Lonnie Donegan My Dixie Darling 10 19-14-14-15-{10}-12-14-17-24-22-29-25-29-28-28->15

 

And it’s a 5th win for Little Richard, though it was close between the top 3.

 

8 Little Richard Jenny, Jenny "Jenny" appears 74 times and "spinning" 36 times in the lyrics, but another marvellous explosive number from him

8 Jerry Lee Lewis Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On A whole lotta shakin' goin' on here but not too many lyrics - nonetheless a stonking rock 'n' roll anthem underpinned by pulsating piano

8 The Crickets That'll Be The Day 64th #1: first appearance for Buddy Holly and it's very much an enduring classic and the guitar interlude could almost be early Beatles

7 Billy Ward And His Dominoes Star Dust Much busier production than the Nat 'King' Cole version to come but lovely, and it's a great song with beautiful lyrics

7 Frankie Laine And Johnnie Ray Good Evening Friends/Up Above My Head I Hear Music In The Air Their voices actually go really well together on this double A - particularly like the call and response in "Up Above My Head…"

7 Lonnie Donegan My Dixie Darling Quite laid back for Lonnie but a jolly, bouncy and catchy skiffle song with some charming banjo moments

6 Shirley Bassey You, You Romeo Really enjoyable big band style number - the theme and style remind me a bit of "Hey Big Spender"

6 Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers Goody Goody A sarcastic swipe at an ex - already this group's last hit but pretty catchy and I think it's their second best after their chart topper

6 Russ Hamilton Wedding Ring Sounds a bit more dated than some of the other hits around now but has quite a charming classic feel and I really like his voice

5 The Coasters Searchin' The lead singer has a brilliant raspy voice and really sells this, but the song itself is nothing exceptional

4 Elvis Presley Party A #2 hit but seems quite forgotten and no wonder: very pedestrian by Elvis' standards

3 Sarah Vaughan And Billy Eckstine Passing Strangers Will be re-released and have a longer chart run in 1969; find it quite a beige duet

3 Frankie Vaughan Man On Fire/Wanderin' Eyes Frankie's much better with cheekier numbers like "Wanderin' Eyes" - "Man On Fire" is quite a dull old fashioned crooner ballad

2 Pat Boone Remember You're Mine/There's A Goldmine In The Sky Four consecutive weeks at #5 is the most interesting thing - both sides dreary ballads with a few token Elvis style vocal touches

2 Larry Williams Short Fat Fannie Musically it's typical rock 'n' roll style but a novelty song whose lyrics are cobbled together from snippets of hits - not a fan

 

 

Next group includes 4 from Elvis :o . He was really churning them out - good thing there wasn’t a 3 track rule.

 

12/10/1957 Jim Dale Be My Girl 2 23-23-19-7-7-7-6-{2}-2-6-6-11-20-17-26-23->16

12/10/1957 Guy Mitchell Call Rosie On The Phone 17 26-{17}-17-18-24-25->6

19/10/1957 Elvis Presley Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do 17 19-20-21-{17}->4

19/10/1957 Nat 'King' Cole And The Four Knights My Personal Possession 21 {21}-28->2

26/10/1957 Nat 'King' Cole Stardust 24 {24}-27->2

26/10/1957 Johnny Duncan And The Blue Grass Boys Blue Blue Heartaches 27 {27}->1

02/11/1957 Elvis Presley Trying To Get To You 16 20-23-{16}-17->4

02/11/1957 Frankie Vaughan And The Kaye Sisters Gotta Have Something In The Bank, Frank 8 22-{8}-8-8-9-13-15-18-27-21-20->11

02/11/1957 Elvis Presley Loving You 24 {24}-30->2

02/11/1957 Harry Belafonte Mary's Boy Child 1 29-21-3-{1}-1-1-1-1-1-1-12-24-25R(45)-20-17-10-12-15-30R(49)->19

02/11/1957 Jimmie Rodgers Honeycomb 30 {30}->1

09/11/1957 Paul Anka I Love You, Baby 3 16-9-4-4-4-{3}-4-8-7-6-10-13-15-24-30->15

09/11/1957 Elvis Presley Lawdy Miss Clawdy 15 20-18-{15}-28-25->5

09/11/1957 The Everly Brothers Wake Up Little Susie 2 21-11-9-5-3-{2}-3-7-2-3-11-14-18->13

 

Didn't know of that Little Richard song, but the Jerry Lee Lewis and Crickets ones are rock'n'roll classics and I think Elvis one is decent. One of the songs in the next batch will probably be my favourite so far.

Paula Anka's Diana for me in that batch, 17 years old when he wrote it and released it.

 

Jerry Lee's Shakin, Cricket's That'll Be Tha Day, Coasters Searching are all good but for me Passing Strangers is the pick - I was there for the 1969 reissue and thought it was very good, then enjoyed it all over again on a multi-artist compilation album around 1976 I bought.

I am very fond of “Mary’s Boy Child” and I think it’s a great piece of storytelling, but “Wake Up Little Susie” feels like a template for much of what was to come.

 

9 The Everly Brothers Wake Up Little Susie All about two young sweethearts worried about being caught, it's a great record and perhaps a template for 60s close harmony

8 Harry Belafonte Mary's Boy Child 65th #1: one of the best ever style Christmas Carols - Harry gives it a lovely uncomplicated but clear performance

8 Nat 'King' Cole Stardust Took me a few listens to get this but it's very enchanting and poetic, with all the heavy lifting done by Nat and the violins

7 Frankie Vaughan And The Kaye Sisters Gotta Have Something In The Bank, Frank This is great fun - Frankie pays the slightly hapless eligible male perfectly while the Kaye Sisters tactfully tell him he's too poor

7 Johnny Duncan And The Blue Grass Boys Blue Blue Heartaches Proper Southern American country feel to this with violins and banjos and disturbing lyrics but it's fab all the same

7 Elvis Presley Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do All 4 Elvis songs in this group are smaller hits but think this is the best remembered and it's a really good tune

6 Jimmie Rodgers Honeycomb An American #1 but very minor hit here - a very fun bouncy number

6 Elvis Presley Trying To Get To You Really good vocals on this - the performance definitely livens up what is otherwise a nice but fairly unremarkable song

6 Jim Dale Be My Girl Only big hit for this actor-singer and it's a very serviceable and catchy standard late 50s pop song

5 Elvis Presley Lawdy Miss Clawdy Second of three named ladies in this group - an angst-ridden but lazy mid tempo bluesy piano number; nice enough

5 Paul Anka I Love You, Baby Follow up Top 3 to "Diana" - nice folky accompaniment to a pleasant fairly generic song

4 Guy Mitchell Call Rosie On The Phone He's paranoid she's cheating on him; Susie has been immortalised in this group of songs and Rosie not so much, though this isn't bad

4 Elvis Presley Loving You I feel like Elvis' performing talent really shines through in more upbeat songs but slow ones like this can sound more ordinary

3 Nat 'King' Cole And The Four Knights My Personal Possession Argh sorry Nat but I'm not keen on the whole "personal possession" concept plus the song's a bit of a dirge, albeit very nicely sung

 

 

 

Next up:

 

#664 09/11/1957 Paul Anka Tell Me That You Love Me 25 28-{25}->2

#665 09/11/1957 Laurie London He's Got The Whole World (In His Hands) 12 29-27-23-16-{12}-16-14-19-19-17-17-29->12

#666 16/11/1957 Elvis Presley Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me 7 19-11-13-8-{7}-17-20-25->8

#667 16/11/1957 Petula Clark Alone 8 23-13-11-11-{8}-10-9-9-13-13-21-27->12

#668 16/11/1957 Jackie Wilson Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl In Town) 6 24-26-18-17-9-8-10-{6}-7-9-8-11-18-25->14

#669 16/11/1957 Shepherd Sisters Alone (Why Must I Be Alone) 14 27-19-{14}-20-30-22R(3)->6

#670 23/11/1957 Johnny Otis And His Orchestra With Marie Adams Ma He's Making Eyes At Me 2 16-10-5-4-{2}-2-4-2-2-2-5-10-13-17-19->15

#671 23/11/1957 The Southlanders Alone 17 22-19-18-20-27-30-{17}-19-20-28->10

#672 23/11/1957 Tommy Steele And The Steelmen Hey You! 28 {28}->1

#673 23/11/1957 Frank Sinatra All The Way/Chicago 3 29-25-21-17-7-5-8-5-{3}-3-4-4-6-6-6-10-14-13-15-26->20

#674 30/11/1957 Malcolm Vaughan My Special Angel 3 20-7-5-5-{3}-3-4-5-6-7-11-14-18-17->14

#675 30/11/1957 Bobby Helms My Special Angel 22 {22}-23-27->3

#676 30/11/1957 Little Richard Keep A Knockin' 21 23-22-{21}-21-29-30-23->7

#677 30/11/1957 Russ Conway Party Pops 24 26-28-26-{24}-24->5

 

Number One on my Birth Day, it has to be Mary's Boy Child for me, Harry at his best.

 

Wake Up Little Susie is catchy enough but it's never been a fave of mine, and Stardust was the most-famous and most-covered song of the first half of the 20th century (over 1,500 versions). It seems incredible, because by 1974 it was unknown to the younger generation (me), was never played on the radio or TV. Stardust lost it's crown to a little ditty called Yesterday. I still find it bizarre that this Hoagy Carmichael 1927 standard has never been revived beyond the 50's despite appearing in hit movies.

 

The Elvis songs Loving You and Got A Lot Of Living To Do were part of my childhood and I still like them (mum and dad bought a lot of Elvis singles) as was Lawdy Miss Clawdy, which is another I've never been bovvered about.

Wake Up Little Susie is the one that's probably my favourite so far, the combination of the song, harmonies and upbeat guitar is fantastic.

 

By the way, a live version of Yes Tonight Josephine appeared on my Release Radar this week, so I guess I'm officially a stan :lol: no yip yipping on this version though sadly.

Little Richard is beaten for the first time despite being fab again.

 

I was planning to give “Rrrrrrreet Petite” a 9 but on reflection I think it perfectly encapsulates the best of the late 50s. I can’t even decide what type of song it is - R&B? Soul? Jazz? Pop? Rock ‘n’ roll? It’s a bit of everything, and every element is brilliant. The video is of course from the 1986 re-release.

 

10 Jackie Wilson Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl In Town) Will eventually be the 582nd #1 but for now a #6: what a barnstorming song this is; a perfect example of what the late '50s could offer

8 Little Richard Keep A Knockin' You know the deal by now: a frenzied whirlwind of of throaty singing as Little Richard briefly lets us into his exciting world

7 Elvis Presley Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me I think Elvis' style really suits Christmas songs and this is a very good one with nice backing vocals - deserved to be better remembered

6 Petula Clark Alone A few versions of this coming - a song that treads the line between catchy and annoying but Petula sings it very nicely

6 Paul Anka Tell Me That You Love Me For some reason this flopped for Paul but it's clever and catchy - prefer it to his previous #3 hit

5 Tommy Steele And The Steelmen Hey You! Really like the backing track on this - not the greatest lyrics but overall quite a nice quirky song

5 Johnny Otis And His Orchestra With Marie Adams Ma He's Making Eyes At Me 5 weeks at #2 thanks to the Johnny Otis show - not on streaming and the Youtube version has audience noise, but a nice jazzy song

5 Malcolm Vaughan My Special Angel The usual stuff from Malcolm - a romantic ballad with really big dramatic vocals; works quite well on this one though

4 Bobby Helms My Special Angel Inevitably a more laid back version of this here and I actually think in this case it loses something without the overblown vocals

4 Russ Conway Party Pops A pleasant listen but clearly a Winifred rip-off with hit excerpts joined into a piano medley, and think some of the charisma is missing

3 The Southlanders Alone Another of these American sister groups; actually find this version slightly shouty - Petula's is much better

3 Frank Sinatra All The Way/Chicago A fairly dull double A side from Frankie - at least "Chicago" has some life to it but "All The Way" is rather a dirge

2 Laurie London He's Got The Whole World (In His Hands) A Sunday School classic - for a child singer it sounds perfectly pleasant but overall I can't say I like it

2 The Southlanders Alone Most of this version is fine but the "la la las" are done very strangely - they either sound like chipmunks or like they're underwater

 

 

Last group of 1957:

 

#678 30/11/1957 Johnny Duncan And The Blue Grass Boys Footprints In The Snow 27 {27}-28R(5)->2

#679 30/11/1957 Billy Ward And His Dominoes Deep Purple 30 {30}->1

#680 07/12/1957 Winifred Atwell Let's Have A Ball 4 15-11-8-{4}-17-21->6

#681 07/12/1957 Pat Boone April Love 7 26-25-16-13-15-15-12-12-8-9-{7}-9-9-9-8-14-14-19-21-16-16-24-23->23

#682 07/12/1957 The King Brothers Wake Up Little Susie 22 26-{22}-26->3

#683 07/12/1957 Vic Damone An Affair To Remember 29 {29}-30R(8)->2

#684 07/12/1957 Buddy Holly Peggy Sue 6 30-22-23-21-12-9-{6}-6-9-8-7-10-10-16-19-16-25->17

#685 14/12/1957 Pat Boone White Christmas 29 {29}->1

#686 21/12/1957 Jerry Lee Lewis Great Balls Of Fire 1 12-6-5-{1}-1-5-6-6-11-12-15-21->12

#687 21/12/1957 Lonnie Donegan Jack O'Diamonds 14 19-{14}-14-16-14-19-25->7

#688 21/12/1957 Jimmie Rodgers Kisses Sweeter Than Wine 7 20-17-16-8-{7}-10-10-12-16-16-24->11

#689 21/12/1957 Frankie Vaughan Kisses Sweeter Than Wine 8 24-15-11-10-{8}-11-13-13-19-25-22->11

#690 28/12/1957 The Crickets Oh, Boy! 3 23-24-11-4-4-{3}-3-5-5-7-8-9-10-20-30->15

#691 28/12/1957 Dickie Valentine Snowbound For Christmas 28 {28}->1

 

 

 

 

A good point to mention that I won't be taking into account any artists' personal lives in this. :D

 

A clear win today for "Great Balls Of Fire", though Buddy Holly is doing very well both with his own singles and those credited to the Crickets.

 

9 Jerry Lee Lewis Great Balls Of Fire 66th #1 in the New Year: not quite as big as in the States wheree it sold a million copies in its first 10 days, but a huge classic

8 Buddy Holly Peggy Sue His first solo hit and a great one: he really shows his own style on this and it's quirkier than "That'll Be The Day"

8 Jimmie Rodgers Kisses Sweeter Than Wine Apparently Jimmie is known as the father of country music - this is a really lovely song and he performs it brilliantly

7 The Crickets Oh, Boy! Great again from Buddy and his band; a big hit and a very catchy tune for sure, but not quite as intriguing as "Peggy Sue" for me

7 Johnny Duncan And The Blue Grass Boys Footprints In The Snow Third and final hit from Johnny and his band and I've really enjoyed them all; this is very fun and love the footprint sound effects

6 Lonnie Donegan Jack O'Diamonds A pre war gambling folksong from Texas, but Lonnie pulls it off really well from the wailing intro to the frantic accelerating chorus

6 Frankie Vaughan Kisses Sweeter Than Wine It's another good performance of this and it suits Frankie, but it doesn't have the flair of Jimmie's version

5 Winifred Atwell Let's Have A Ball Good to see her still notching up the hits and this medley powers along nicely assisted by some light drumming

4 Billy Ward And His Dominoes Deep Purple This is arranged in a similar way to their version of "Stardust" and there's a classy feel to it but the song's melody is unconvincing

4 The King Brothers Wake Up Little Susie A pleasant cover but struggling to see the point of it; does nothing unique that I can detect and not much feeling coming across

3 Pat Boone April Love His more inoffensive hit here but it's still a rather drippy ballad, and he's not one for injecting life where the song doesn't provide it

2 Vic Damone An Affair To Remember Nope this definitely isn't one to remember - the dramatic orchestral intro is the best part and then the rest is lifeless crooning

2 Dickie Valentine Snowbound For Christmas Another Christmas effort from Dickie and thankfully the last; each one is drearier than the last

1 Pat Boone White Christmas "White Christmas" is a song that can be terribly dull if not done well and with Pat it's really insufferable

 

 

As the weeks go by getting noticeably more and more songs I know :)

 

Reet Petite is still joyous and fab. Keep A Knocking decent. Ma He's making Eyes At Me, my generation developed a dislike for thanks to 1974 TV contest star Lena Zavaroni who was 10 when it was a hit, and then tragically died young screwed up by success like Karen Carpenter.

 

All The Way and Chicago are fairly decent Sinatra, and He's Got The Whole World is a song that is neither bad nor especially good.

 

Great Balls Of Fire was the first new chart-topper after I was born, and is Lewis' best record. Peggy Sue shows Buddy Holly improving rapidly, but better was still to come musically, and Oh! Boy will always be a Mud number One for me. Kisses Sweeter Than Wine is a great song, sounds good in most versions.

 

Deep Purple was covered by Ray Stevens in uptempo country style in 1975, and then a decent hit cover by Donny & Marie, I love the song. I don't know this version but it wont be anywhere near as good as Ray Stevens'. Wake Up Little Susie pointless cover, April Love was one of boone's less-wet ballads, but still nothing to write home about. White Christmas, there is only one version that counts, all others are a waste of time. Heard many, liked none.

 

 

So another year over and 1957 has my highest average score so far of 5.4, all thanks to the arrival of rock ‘n’ roll.

 

Gold medal: Reet Petite - Jackie Wilson

 

Silver medal: Long Tall Sally - Little Richard

 

Bronze Medal: Cumberland Gap - Lonnie Donegan

 

Other 9s:

Travellin’ Home - Vera Lynn

Lucille - Little Richard

Great Balls Of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis

Cry Me A River - Julie London

Gamblin’ Man / Putting On The Style - Lonnie Donegan

Wake Up Little Susie - The Everly Brothers

 

And the Top 10 of the year would be completed by “Last Train To San Fernando” by Johnny Duncan And The Blue Grass Boys

 

Worst song of the year: The Wisdom Of A Fool - Ronnie Carroll

 

First group of 1958:

 

#692 04/01/1958 The Kaye Sisters Shake Me I Rattle/Alone 27 {27}->1

#693 11/01/1958 Bill Justis Raunchy 11 25-24-23R(2)-21-15-{11}-16-18->8

#694 11/01/1958 Charlie Gracie Cool Baby 26 {26}->1

#695 11/01/1958 Jim Dale Just Born (To Be Your Baby) 27 {27}->1

#696 11/01/1958 Johnny Otis Show Bye Bye Baby 20 30-22-21-21-{20}-22-28->7

#697 18/01/1958 Michael Holliday The Story Of My Life 1 15-8-2-2-{1}-1-2-2-2-2-3-6-8-15-24->15

#698 18/01/1958 Danny And The Juniors At The Hop 3 16-16-11-5-4-4-4-4-4-{3}-7-8-18-21->14

#699 18/01/1958 Gary Miller The Story Of My Life 14 18-16-{14}-17-17-24->6

#700 18/01/1958 Elvis Presley I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone 21 {21}-25-29R(2)->3

#701 18/01/1958 Larry Williams Bony Moronie 11 23-15-17-14-12-13-{11}-12-23-25->10

#702 18/01/1958 Sam Cooke You Send Me 29 {29}->1

#703 18/01/1958 Jim Dale Crazy Dream 24 30-{24}->2

#704 25/01/1958 Elvis Presley Jailhouse Rock 1 {1}-1-1-2-3-3-3-3-4-6-13-14-20-29->14

#705 25/01/1958 Marion Ryan Love Me Forever 5 18-16-7-7-7-{5}-7-6-12-16-27->11

Edited April 5, 20232 yr by JulianT

If you've been reading all the way through it will be evident that I'm not thee biggest Elvis fan ever - despite having already had 20 hits "Heartbreak Hotel" has been my only daily winner. Today he gets his second though, and "Jailhouse Rock" is truly one of his best. There was a good crop of other songs today too.

 

9 Elvis Presley Jailhouse Rock 67th #1 and the first to enter at the top: unlike "All Shook Up" which relied on the performance this is truly a brilliant track

8 Sam Cooke You Send Me A self penned USA #1 and a soul classic; this is a gorgeous track beautifully sung

8 Danny And The Juniors At The Hop The only hit here for this American doo wop group; such a vibrant and catchy track with great harmonies a sparkling piano part

7 Larry Williams Bony Moronie Another great rock 'n' roll song here: Larry's biggest hit here and frustratnigly spent 6 weeks just outside the Top 10

7 Bill Justis Raunchy A brilliant laid back instrumental with a whimsical saxophone melody which has been covered many times

7 Elvis Presley I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone A small hit but I really like it - there's a real sense of longing and regret from the performance and sympathetic guitars underneath

6 The Kaye Sisters Shake Me I Rattle/Alone Yet another version of "Alone" but it's well sung and "Shake Me I Rattle" is a very cute track about a toy speaking to a child

6 Michael Holliday The Story Of My Life 68th #1 and first big hit for the "British Bing Crosby"; he has a strong deep voice and it's a really well constructed ballad

5 Gary Miller The Story Of My Life Also a nice version of this song but think it has slightly more gravitas with Michael's voice

5 Charlie Gracie Cool Baby Last hit for Charlie who only died a few months ago - not as big a hit or as good as "Butterfly" or "Fabulous" but it's nice

4 Jim Dale Crazy Dream 2 hits for Jim here but neither anywhere near as good as his smash last year; this one bops along quite nicely though

3 Marion Ryan Love Me Forever A few versions of this coming up; a very grand and twee ballad that sounds more like an early 50s number to me

2 Johnny Otis Show Bye Bye Baby Another track that pieces together lines from popular hits of the time and I just find it quite daft

2 Jim Dale Just Born (To Be Your Baby) I don't like the tune or lyrics on this much and his chuckling really grates with me for some reason

 

 

Next group:

 

#706 25/01/1958 Dave King The Story Of My Life 20 {20}-22-25->3

#707 25/01/1958 Eydie Gorme Love Me Forever 21 26-24-{21}-26-29->5

#708 01/02/1958 Paul Anka You Are My Destiny 6 19-15-10-8-7-{6}-7-7-10-18-25-26-27->13

#709 01/02/1958 Elvis Presley Jailhouse Rock EP 18 20-19-{18}-21-27->5

#710 01/02/1958 Alma Cogan The Story Of My Life 25 {25}-26->2

#711 01/02/1958 The Four Esquires Love Me Forever 23 28-{23}->2

#712 01/02/1958 The King Brothers Put A Light In The Window 25 29-28R(2)-{25}R(2)-26->4

#713 08/02/1958 Perry Como Magic Moments 1 16-3-2-{1}-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-4-12-12-22-23->17

#714 08/02/1958 Ken Mackintosh Raunchy 19 26-20-{19}-21-27-30->6

#715 08/02/1958 Frank Sinatra Witchcraft 12 26-20-15-{12}-17-20-20-24->8

#716 08/02/1958 Eddie Calvert Mandy (The Pansy) 9 30-26-20-13-14-15-17-18-{9}-15-13-15-20-24->14

#717 15/02/1958 David Whitfield Cry My Heart 22 23-{22}-29->3

#718 15/02/1958 The McGuire Sisters Sugartime 14 24-{14}-18-19-21-26->6

#719 15/02/1958 Alma Cogan Sugartime 16 29-30-20-20-22-26-{16}-21-28-27-30R(2)->11

 

 

I haven't commented yet as I didn't recognise much if any but now I do haha.

 

From what's popped up. I like all of the Buddy Holly songs there. I remember studying his music in middle school and was interesting studying his music!

 

'Great Balls Of Fire' I hear on adverts or TV shows every now and then. Not one I've heard in full but a familiar one to me just from short clips lol.

 

'Reet Petite' & 'Jailhouse Rock' are both great and like you I'm not a fan of Elvis but that is probably his best tbh. 'Marys Boy Child' is alright in original form but doesn't hold a candle to the Boney M cover for me.

^ Thanks for making your maiden comment! :D

 

I like both Mary’s Boy Child versions - think they each bring different things.

 

Buddy Holly sounds an interesting subject to study. I can’t believe he made that much impact and died at 22. :(

 

Hopefully there’ll be more everyone knows as time goes by.