Controversial New Seekers erasure there, Julian :)

Sorry edited :D

We're saying a fond farewell to 3 of our regular 50s hitmakers today, with Frankie and Guy are both finishing their Top 40 careers on a high. It's Tommy Steele who steals the show with the wonderfully eccentric "Little White Bull" though.

 

9 Tommy Steele Little White Bull An incredibly ingenious, charming and playful piece of storytelling; love how the horn represents the bull - a unique hit

8 Guy Mitchell Heartaches By The Number Thanks for all the tunes Guy - his last Top 40 and it's an excellent catchy song, with the trademark whistling but it works well

7 Frankie Laine Rawhide Also Frankie's Top 40 swansong and one of his best; a cowboy style number but done very charismatically and it's really exciting

6 Adam Faith What Do You Want? 94th #1: feel like many of his hits are reworkings of Buddy's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", but a very good pop song anyway

6 The Beverley Sisters Little Donkey The song is what it is but a lovely version done very softly with relatively minimal instrumentation and nice harmonies

6 Sammy Turner Always Only hit here for this American singer; a lovely classy Irving Berlin 1920s number which he delivers with sophistication

5 Winifred Atwell Piano Party Last appearance for Winifred as well - it's another of her pop medleys expertly woven together and has more energy than Russ'

5 Bert Weedon Nashville Boogie A nice couple of minutes of guitar action with a bit of honky tonk piano thrown in, but can't see anything unique about it

5 Johnny Mathis The Best Of Everything Not his greatest melody but has lush orchestration and backing vocals and still a very nice listening experience overall

4 The Avons Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat How do you fit seven girls in the back of the car - one of those fun and quirky songs that becomes irritating after a few listens

4 Lonnie Donegan San Miguel "San Migwell" according to Lonnie - the original of this is coming up tomorrow and this skiffle version is alright

3 Paul Evans And The Curls Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat The other version had a slightly faster tempo which I think made it a bit smoother, and preferred the vocals a bit on that

3 Russ Conway More And More Party Pops The third in the party pops series and they all sound more or less the same - fair play to him for cashing in at Christmas of course

2 Anne Shelton The Village Of St Bernadette Dirge of the day: just a very stiff and unmemorable ballad - still really like her voice but think it goes better with the march style

 

 

Last group of the decade:

 

#1053 05/12/1959 Connie Francis Among My Souvenirs 11 20-12-13-12-12-{11}-24-21-29-30->10

#1054 05/12/1959 Wink Martindale Deck Of Cards 18 22-24-{18}-25-23-28R(2)-30-45R(10)-47R(159)->9

#1055 05/12/1959 Johnnie Ray I'll Never Fall In Love Again 26 {26}-28-29-27-26R(2)-28R(4)->6

#1056 05/12/1959 The Kingston Trio San Miguel 29 {29}->1

#1057 05/12/1959 Stevie Marsh If You Were The Only Boy In The World 24 30-29-{24}R(2)-27->4

#1058 12/12/1959 Marty Wilde Bad Boy 7 18-20-18-14-{7}-9-13-29->8

#1059 19/12/1959 Max Bygraves Jingle Bell Rock 7 14-11-{7}-25->4

#1060 19/12/1959 Duane Eddy And The Rebels Some Kind-A Earthquake 12 17-15-13-{12}-17->5

#1061 19/12/1959 Elmer Bernstein Staccato's Theme 4 19-6-8-5-{4}-7-9-10-14-17-40R(3)->11

#1062 19/12/1959 Fats Domino Be My Guest 11 22-17-25-13-{11}-14-14-17-25R(2)-19-22-44->12

#1063 19/12/1959 Nina And Frederik Mary's Boy Child 26 {26}->1

#1064 19/12/1959 Alma Cogan We Got Love 26 29-27-{26}-29->4

#1065 26/12/1959 Johnny And The Hurricanes Reveille Rock 14 23-19-17-{14}-15->5

#1066 26/12/1959 Ernie Fields And His Orchestra In The Mood 13 30-28-18-15-16-{13}-20-27->8

 

 

Ooh that's a nice surprise Little White Bull coming out on top! I love it cos of kiddie memories of the film and Juniors Choice plays, but didn't think it would appeal to those not having those links :D It's great fun. You're right about Buddy Holly/Adam Faith. Adam was my big pop star hero pre-school with Billy Floory and Helen Shapiro so I also rate What Do You Want a lot, short and sweet. Rawhide is the other fave, theme tune to a very popular Western TV show that we all watched, and Frankie on his OTT whip-cracking best - Mel Brook's parody Blazing Saddles roped in Frankie with great success in 1973, love that one even more.

 

Guy Mitchell's is OK, The Avons is indeed also OK in small doses, and the rest I don't know... :o

In the words of ABBA in 20 years, it's the end of the decade! No runaway winner from the last bunch but "Staccato's Theme" is more than worth a listen.

 

8 Elmer Bernstein Staccato's Theme From the detective series "Johnny Staccato" - it's a fabulous exciting instrumental with changes of pace and mood

8 The Kingston Trio San Miguel A very minor hit (Lonnie's unnecessary version was bigger) but it's fabulous with the deep vocals and shimmery accompaniment

7 Marty Wilde Bad Boy Marty's hit and miss for me but really like this; he plays the bad boy well with his laid back air and the twanging gives it a nice edge

7 Johnnie Ray I'll Never Fall In Love Again I'll never fall in love with Johnnie again as it's his last Top 40 hit; a classy number and he gives it the usual vulnerable performance

6 Fats Domino Be My Guest A charming soulful laid back number in the usual Fats style with a very nice tune and chirpy accompaniment

6 Duane Eddy And The Rebels Some Kind-A Earthquake At 1:17 this must be one of the shortest hits ever - a frenzy of twanging with sax and whooping and it's brief but enjoyable

6 Connie Francis Among My Souvenirs Not one of her classics but as with many of her ballads there's a slow wistful quality to this with gorgeous multi-tracked vocals

5 Johnny And The Hurricanes Reveille Rock The usual organ and saxophone combination which the former setting the scene and the latter taking over; not one of their best

5 Ernie Fields And His Orchestra In The Mood Definitive version by Glenn Miller of course but that won't chart until much later - this one is nice and lively but not essential

4 Stevie Marsh If You Were The Only Boy In The World An 1916 number from a musical usually done as a boy to a girl - only hit for this Manchester jazz singer and it's pleasant enough

3 Nina And Frederik Mary's Boy Child A fairly pointless cover that's really very similar in style to Harry's version but without the powerful storytelling

2 Max Bygraves Jingle Bell Rock The good version of this won't chart for 58 years so we have to make do with Max and a load of children's dulcet tones; not good

2 Alma Cogan We Got Love It's Alma's usual overly happy twee style but the backing chorus and counting chorus make it even worse than usual

1 Wink Martindale Deck Of Cards Only hit for this American DJ but charted 3 times - leaving aside the Christian element this is an utterly horrendous recitation song

 

And so I gave 7 9s in 1959. That’s slightly fewer than in some of the other late 50s years - I don’t feel like it was the very greatest year for music with quite a few teen stars emerging and rock ‘n’ roll perhaps struggling for new ideas slightly. My favourites all came at the beginning of the year:

 

Gold medal: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The Platters

 

Silver Medal: It Doesn’t Matter Anymore - Buddy Holly

 

Bronze Medal: Petite Fleur - Chris Barber’s Jazz Band

 

Also receiving 9s:

 

Little White Bull - Tommy Steele

Oh! Carol - Neil Sedaka

Sleep Walk - Santo & Johnny

What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For - Emile Ford And The Checkmates

 

Completing the Top 10 for the year:

 

Come Softly To Me - The Fleetwoods

Personality - Lloyd Price

C’Mon Everybody - Eddie Cochran

 

Worst hit of the year:

 

Deck Of Cards - Wink Martindale

 

Never heard that Johnny Staccato before today, but Elmer Bernstein always classy jazzy productions.

 

Oddly it's the songs at the lower end I know best, Among My Souvenirs is OK, In The Mood - Glenn Miller always, but Ray Stevens' chicken-chorus version is genius. That 1916 song certainly endured into the 70's before it fell out of fashion, not one I ever liked much though. Of its time charm though. Max doing any song was always a chore, his last charting crime was also Deck Of Cards in 1973 so I'd hold off on that 1 for now if I were you. If you think Wink Martindale is bad (mum & dad adored his version and bought it in 1973, I was always 'meh" about it) you've got a real treat coming! :lol:

1,066 hits covered and I only gave 4 10s, but 49 more songs received 9s.

At the other end of the scale I gave 22 1s.

 

My top 20 hits of the 50s:

 

1 Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford (#1, 1956)

2 Smile - Nat ‘King’ Cole (#2, 1954)

3 That’s Amore - Dean Martin (#2, 1954)

4 Reet Petite - Jackie Wilson (#6, 1957)

5 Little Red Monkey - Frank Chacksfield’s Tunesmiths (#10, 1953)

6 Under The Bridges Of Paris - Eartha Kitt (#7, 1955)

7 Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The Platters (#1, 1959)

8 The Great Pretender / Only You (And You Alone) (#5, 1956)

9 Long Tall Sally - Little Richard (#3, 1957)

10 Hoots Mon - Lord Rockingham’s XI (#1, 1958)

 

11 The Glow Worm - The Mills Brothers (#10, 1953)

12 Sh-Boom - The Crew Cuts (#12, 1954)

13 Cumberland Gap - Lonnie Donegan (#1, 1957)

14 It Doesn’t Matter Anymore - Buddy Holly (#1, 1959)

15 Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley (#2, 1956)

16 Fever - Peggy Lee (#5, 1958)

17 Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino (#6, 1956)

18 Petite Fleur - Chris Barber’s Jazz Band (#3, 1959)

19 Move It - Cliff Richard And The Drifters (#2, 1958)

20 Love Me Or Leave Me - Sammy Davis Jr (#8, 1955)

 

Worst hit of the 50s:

 

My Son John - David Whitfield (#22, 1956) - I think it’s the fact that he and the song are so blissfully unaware of how ridiculous they are

 

Average scores I gave by year:

1952/3: 5.3

1954 5.2

1955 5.1

1956 5.3

1957 5.4

1958 5.4

1959 5.3

Well done on completing the 1950s in just three months. I think Smoke Gets In Your Eyes is my favourite number 1 single from that decade.

ooh Rawhide is a real barnstomper, I'd known that for a while, but couldn't put a name to it until recently. I wish that would've been of his number 1s asides from the many bland ones that got there x

 

First of seven (almost) full decades done, not bad going!

Some more stats on the 1950s:

 

I make it 63 acts who had 5 hits or more. Amazing how many Elvis had given that he only arrived on the scene in 1956.

 

29 Elvis Presley

24 Frankie Laine

20 Nat “King” Cole

20 Lonnie Donegan

20 Pat Boone

18 Johnnie Ray

18 Perry Como

18 Frankie Vaughan

18 Alma Cogan

18 David Whitfield

 

16 Ronnie Hilton

15 Winifred Atwel

15 Guy Mitchell

14 Doris Day

14 Tommy Steele

14 Dean Martin

14 Dickie Valentine

14 Frank Sinatra

13 Little Richard

13 Bill Haley And His Comets

 

12 Fats Domino

12 Max Bygraves

10 Connie Francis

10 Ruby Murray

10 Jimmy Young

9 Eddie Fisher

9 Paul Anka

9 Russ Conway

9 Malcolm Vaughan

9 Bing Crosby

 

9 Vera Lynne

9 The Stargazers

8 Buddy Holly

8 Cliff Richard

8 The Everly Brothers

8 Michael Holliday

8 Johnston Brothers

8 Tony Brent

8 Ricky Nelson

8 Mantovani

 

8 Ted Heath And His Music

7 The Platters

7 The Four Aces

7 Eddie Calvert

7 Joan Regan

7 Rosemary Clooney

7 Slim Whitman

7 Al Martino

6 The Drifters

6 Frank Chacksfield

 

6 Duane Eddy

6 Sammy Davis Jr

6 Petula Clark

6 Harry Belafonte

5 The Crickets

5 Jerry Lee Lewis

5 Cyril Stapleton

5 The McGuire Sisters

5 Kay Starr

5 Marty Wilde

5 The Beverley Sisters

5 Shirley Bassey

5 Gary Miller

 

As for daily wins, Little Richard had the most with 5, and Elvis and Johnnie Ray both had 4. But who had the highest average score /10? Here are the averages for all the acts listed above:

 

Little Richard 7.7

Buddy Holly 7.5

The Crickets 7.2

The Drifters 7.0

Cliff Richard 6.9

The Platters 6.9

The Everly Brothers 6.8

Frank Chacksfield 6.8

Duane Eddy 6.8

Jerry Lee Lewis 6.8

 

Elvis Presley 6.6

Johnnie Ray 6.6

Bill Haley And His Comets 6.5

Connie Francis 6.4

Cyril Stapleton 6.4

Eddie Fisher 6.3

Nat “King” Cole 6.2

Sammy Davis Jr 6.2

The McGuire Sisters 6.2

Winifred Atwell 6.1

 

Paul Anka 6.0

Petula Clark 6.0

Lonnie Donegan 5.9

Fats Domino 5.8

Kay Starr 5.8

Marty Wilde 5.8

The Four Aces 5.7

Eddie Calvert 5.7

Doris Day 5.6

Tommy Steele 5.5

 

Michael Holliday 5.5

Johnston Brothers 5.4

Joan Regan 5.4

Frankie Laine 5.3

Guy Mitchell 5.3

Russ Conway 5.1

Perry Como 5.0

Tony Brent 5.0

Ricky Nelson 5.0

Harry Belafonte 5.0

 

The Beverley Sisters 5.0

Shirley Bassey 5.0

Dean Martin 4.9

Rosemary Clooney 4.9

Malcolm Vaughan 4.7

Slim Whitman 4.7

Dickie Valentine 4.6

Ruby Murray 4.6

Frankie Vaughan 4.5

Frank Sinatra 4.5

 

Mantovani 4.5

Ted Heath And His Music 4.4

Al Martino 4.4

Gary Miller 4.4

Ronnie Hilton 4.3

Jimmy Young 4.3

Alma Cogan 4.2

Bing Crosby 4.1

Vera Lynne 3.9

Pat Boone 3.0

David Whitfield 3.0

Max Bygraves 2.9

The Stargazers 2.7

 

 

Well done Julian on achieving all of the 50's in those few months span. The 60's are where things will pick up I'd imagine ;)

Kicking off the 1960s tomorrow! Of course progress is going to slow as the chart becomes a Top 50 from March. I was horrified to see there were more than 300 hits in 1960, but actually taking out any that peaked in positions 41 to 50 reduces it to 241. That's still the first year where there are more than 200, so I'll aiming for 3 weeks per year whereas it's been around 2 weeks up to this point.

 

1960 group 1:

 

#1067 02/01/1960 Freddy Cannon Way Down Yonder In New Orleans 3 24-20-10-5-5-4-{3}-4-3-6-12-12-23-23-34-33-37->17

#1068 02/01/1960 Michael Holliday Starry Eyed 1 28-14-5-3-{1}-3-5-7-9-14-14-28-50->13

#1069 09/01/1960 The Drifters Dance With Me 17 24-23-{17}-22-35R(6)->5

#1070 09/01/1960 Jerry Lordan I'll Stay Single 26 {26}-26-41R(8)->3

#1071 09/01/1960 Gene Vincent Wild Cat 21 28-{21}-24-39R(7)-48-45->6

#1072 16/01/1960 Anthony Newley Why 1 12-2-2-{1}-1-1-1-2-4-2-10-8-16-38-18-28-29-33->18

#1073 16/01/1960 Little Tony And His Brothers Too Good 19 {19}-21-23->3

#1074 16/01/1960 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Expresso Bongo EP 14 25-18-15-{14}-23-30-29->7

#1075 16/01/1960 The Crickets When You Ask About Love 27 {27}->1

#1076 16/01/1960 Bill Forbes Too Young 29 {29}->1

#1077 16/01/1960 Ricky Nelson I Wanna Be Loved 30 {30}->1

#1078 23/01/1960 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Voice In The Wilderness 2 10-4-{2}-2-2-4-4-10-6-25-21-22-31-27-39R(2)-36->16

#1079 23/01/1960 Frankie Avalon Why 20 {20}-20-27-27->4

#1080 23/01/1960 Mr Acker Bilk And His Paramount Jazz Band Summer Set 5 23-15-17-11-12-10-9-{5}-9-13-15-19-40-30-34-41-34-40-43-45->20

#1081 23/01/1960 Maureen Evans The Big Hurt 26 {26}-27->2

Edited April 7, 20232 yr by JulianT

The new decade starts as the old one ended with an instrumental winner. Acker Bilk himself was German but lived in London and the Paramount Orchestra came from Bristol. This is a great one to listen to as the weather gets warmer and the evenings lighter.

 

9 Mr Acker Bilk And His Paramount Jazz Band Summer Set First hit for the clarinettist and his group and the title's a pun on their home county: just a glorious summery instrumental

8 The Drifters Dance With Me The first hit for the doo wop group featuring Ben E King and it's a gorgeous smooth and catchy number

8 Freddy Cannon Way Down Yonder In New Orleans The big orchestral feel to this, particularly the brass, together with his raspy vocals really make this great - by far his biggest hit

8 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Voice In The Wilderness Ballad Cliff has well and truly arrived but I love this one so he's forgiven - great tune sensitively delivered and expert accompaniment

7 The Crickets When You Ask About Love Second post Holly single and a small hit but it's a lovely heartfelt ballad accompanied by shimmery twanging and a guitar solo

7 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Expresso Bongo EP A really good mostly rocky EP - "Love" is a really nice skiffle style track and "Bongo Blues" a fun drum led instrumental

7 Gene Vincent Wild Cat His first hit for a few years and it has a real charm and intimacy about it; love the backing chorus ahhs and the honky tonk piano

6 Michael Holliday Starry Eyed 95th #1: like the backing "bom bom" representing the stars and all in all it's a nice gentle song that doesn't quite hit you in the guts

6 Ricky Nelson I Wanna Be Loved Quite similar in style to "Fever" in the opening section but then builds up - overall a very enjoyable blues style number

5 Jerry Lordan I'll Stay Single Poor Jerry is vowing to be celibate forever just because one girl has rejected him; he has a nice voice though and it's a good tune

5 Little Tony And His Brothers Too Good Only hit for this Sammarinese act and Tony's accent is interesting - quite a nice almost whispered vocal style and it's a sweet song

4 Maureen Evans The Big Hurt The best known version of this is coming up - this one isn't bad but lacks the atmosphere of that and feels a little pedestrian

3 Frankie Avalon Why Frankie takes this at an even slightly drearier tempo than Anthony but I quite enjoy the interplay with the female vocalist

3 Anthony Newley Why 96th #1: why indeed - not one of the worst ever chart toppers but just quite a drippy inconsequential ballad really

2 Bill Forbes Too Young Has to be dirge of the day - like the plucked strings but the song itself is quite plodding and sleepy; feels anything but young

 

 

1960 Group 2:

 

#1082 23/01/1960 Adam Faith Poor Me 1 27-18-7-4-3-2-{1}-1-5-4-5-15-17-19-22-21-22-30->18

#1083 23/01/1960 Eddie Cochran Hallelujah I Love Her So 22 28-{22}R(2)-24-27->4

#1084 23/01/1960 Craig Douglas Pretty Blue Eyes 4 28-25-12-6-6-{4}-7-6-8-14-19-27-29-36-38->15

#1085 30/01/1960 The Platters Harbour Lights 11 17-17-16-16-{11}-14-18-19-38-37-37-34->12

#1086 30/01/1960 Johnny Mathis Misty 12 19-15-{12}-13-15-20-25-22-33-36-46R(2)-48->12

#1087 30/01/1960 Bobby Darin La Mer (Beyond The Sea) 8 24-15-{8}-9-8-10-9-21-31-27-30-44R(2)-43->13

#1088 30/01/1960 Frankie Vaughan What More Do You Want 25 {25}-25->2

#1089 30/01/1960 Marty Robbins El Paso 19 28-24-{19}-22-26-28-29-38-44R(3)->9

#1090 06/02/1960 Emile Ford And The Checkmates On A Slow Boat To China 3 21-6-5-6-4-{3}-11-16-10-18-23-21-29-36-38->15

#1091 06/02/1960 Joan Regan Happy Anniversary 29 {29}-29R(2)->2

#1092 13/02/1960 Johnny Preston Running Bear 1 13-8-7-3-2-{1}-1-2-4-9-6-16-19-25-32-41R(2)->16

#1093 13/02/1960 Marv Johnson You Got What It Takes 7 21-15-12-12-{7}-10-11-9-8-10-11-27-25-26-33-30-42->17

#1094 13/02/1960 The Everly Brothers Let It Be Me 13 22-20-18-19-19-{13}-26R(2)-47-30-40->10

#1095 13/02/1960 Johnny Kidd And The Pirates You Got What It Takes 25 {25}-28-30->3

#1096 13/02/1960 Elvis Presley Strictly Elvis EP 25 {25}->1

I've never heard Summer Set, though it should really be called Zummer Zet if Acker Bilk was being accurately local, but it's rather nice. The Drifters, can't go wrong, never bad. Freddie Cannon a great single, I also like Voice In The Wilderness from Cliff, and When You Ask About Love is a good song - a big hit in 1980 for rockabilly band Matchbox, who did a great version not unlike the original. The rest I don't know, except both Why and Too Young (assuming its the Nat King Cole song) were covered by Donny Osmond in 1972 - I liked Why Donny-style, and Im pretty sure I'd opt for Frankie Avalon over Anthony "Bowie-copied-his-vocal-style" Newley who I never liked much - though he was a much better songwriter than singer (he wrote Why and it wasnt even his best song). Too Young was pretty poor by anyone not called "Nat"....

Two fabulous songs at the top today but Johnny Mathis edges it with the stunning "Misty". The whole song is incredible but the best bit is after the instrumental interlude when he starts the note for "on" about 5 seconds early and gradually blends in. "Beyond The Sea" is also a classic and could have won most days.

 

9 Johnny Mathis Misty An incredibly sensual song performed with vulnerability and tenderness, and the smoothness of his tone is utterly captivating

9 Bobby Darin La Mer (Beyond The Sea) The definitive version of a jazz standard and I prefer this to both his chart topppers; just marvellous

8 Johnny Preston Running Bear 98th #1: I'm not generally keen on death songs but I love the whackiness of the chanting on this and it's a geat tune

7 Emile Ford And The Checkmates On A Slow Boat To China A classy and heartwarming follow up to their chart topper with lovely majestic vocals over the "doo doo" chorus

7 Eddie Cochran Hallelujah I Love Her So He is so effortlessly cool and I love the contrast between his throwaway vocals and the punchiness of the violins

6 Adam Faith Poor Me 97th #1: even shorter and sweeter than "What Do You Want" - again a really good Holly style tune but not the most original

6 Frankie Vaughan What More Do You Want A charming big band number - impressive that this 50s crooner is still having hits but this style really suits him

5 Craig Douglas Pretty Blue Eyes As ever from Craig it's a cover - lovely tune but I prefer the original by Steve Lawrence which was a hit in America but not here

5 Elvis Presley Strictly Elvis EP "Anyplace Is Paradise" and "Is it So Strange" are nicely done slow ballads, but this EP also has the dreadful "Old Shep" on it

4 The Everly Brothers Let It Be Me Really well performed as ever by the Everlys but I find this song so syrupy I can't fully get on board with any version of it

4 The Platters Harbour Lights I know Vera Lynn's version best and as usual with the Platters this is beautifully sung, but I can't help seeing it as a wartime song

3 Joan Regan Happy Anniversary "Here's to you, here's to me and here's to a happy anniversary" - a very twee song but at least nothing horrid like the songs below

3 Johnny Kidd And The Pirates You Got What It Takes You're not that pretty and you don't dress properly but you're decent in bed - odious subject but this version is nicely performed

2 Marv Johnson You Got What It Takes Slightly prefer the other vocals - Marv sounds more like he believes the horrid things he's singing; not a fan either way

2 Marty Robbins El Paso So he shoots a man just for having a drink with the girl he likes and then he gets shot himself - pretty grim but the tune's OK

 

 

 

1960 Group 3:

 

#1097 13/02/1960 Nat 'King' Cole Time And The River 23 29-{23}R(2)-29-27-47R(3)->5

#1098 13/02/1960 Miss Toni Fisher The Big Hurt 30 {30}->1

#1099 20/02/1960 Duane Eddy And The Rebels Bonnie Came Back 12 20-17-{12}-13-27-30-32-26-25-34-37->11

#1100 20/02/1960 Lance Fortune Be Mine 4 22-13-11-11-{4}-12-16-24-21-24-32-35-44->13

#1101 20/02/1960 Frank Ifield Lucky Devil 22 26-{22}-23-32-43-24-33R(2)-42->8

#1102 27/02/1960 Jerry Lordan Who Could Be Bluer? 16 24-{16}-17-18-22-20-28-26-32-31-45R(3)->11

#1103 27/02/1960 Perry Como Delaware 3 24-8-8-{3}-3-4-5-13-16-19-24-23-31-42->14

#1104 27/02/1960 Paul Anka It's Time To Cry 28 {28}-47R(7)->2

#1105 05/03/1960 Russ Conway Royal Event 15 17-{15}-15-28-35-23-39-46-45->9

#1106 05/03/1960 Percy Faith Theme From 'A Summer Place' 2 18-16-7-{2}-3-6-7-9-10-11-15-16-16-30-25-29-33-41-34-41-40-31-31-32-31-28-37-28-32-31-35->31

#1107 05/03/1960 John Barry Seven Hit And Miss 10 24-26-20-21-25-13-12-{10}-20-22-18-25-44-45R(2)->14

#1108 05/03/1960 Freddy Cannon California Here I Come 24 {24}-33-46R(2)->3

#1109 12/03/1960 Jack Scott What In The World's Come Over You 11 20-17-19-14-{11}-15-13-18-23-21-23-23-32-37-43->15

#1110 12/03/1960 Billy Fury Colette 9 22-14-{9}-17-20-28-41-44-48-47->10

#1111 12/03/1960 Max Bygraves Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be 5 31-23-8-7-7-{5}-5-9-14-17-21-21-31-41-50->15

 

I haven't given a 10 since 1957 so it's not before time. This was written for the 1959 film "A Summer Place" and was a very long running Number 2 hit, spending 30 weeks in the Top 40. I just think it's an utterly perfect orchestral piece - one listen to this and all is right with the world.

 

10 Percy Faith Theme From 'A Summer Place' One of my favourite instrumentals ever - the lead violin melody is exquisite and all the orchestration is stunningly beautiful

8 Lance Fortune Be Mine Another one in the Buddy Holly boy idol style with a plucked string accompaniment - excellently done though and I love the tune

8 Miss Toni Fisher The Big Hurt Love this really classic feeling ballad - the strumming in the background represents the stabbing pain and she perfoms it brilliantly

7 Freddy Cannon California Here I Come A much smaller hit than his "New Orleans" themed one but it's still great and the orchestration gives it a vintage feel

7 John Barry Seven Hit And Miss The theme from the TV show "Juke Box Jury" - a really charming instrumental with guitars and plucked strings

6 Jack Scott What In The World's Come Over You A deliberately plodding ballad but quite effective and his wretchedness really comes across with his deep voice and country twang

6 Billy Fury Colette Really nice song and harmonies but to me it's very much recreating the Everly Brothers formula from a couple of years before

6 Nat 'King' Cole Time And The River Such a smooth laid back ballad that it gives the feeling of having all the time in the world, which is exactly what the ballad's about

5 Duane Eddy And The Rebels Bonnie Came Back Based on the Scottish folk song "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean" with the usual guitar and sax setup; nice but not one of his best

5 Frank Ifield Lucky Devil First hit for Frank and it's very sweet but slightly twee; enjoy the literal depiction of what a lucky devil would look like

5 Russ Conway Royal Event Exactly what we've come to expect from Russ and this bounces along nicely but doesn't really present anything new

4 Jerry Lordan Who Could Be Bluer? Again Jerry is moaning about how unfortunate he is - quite tiresome lyrically but is actually a good tune and I like his voice

4 Perry Como Delaware Puns on 15 US State names in the lyrics which is quite impressive, and overall it's really fun but doesn't bear too many listens

3 Paul Anka It's Time To Cry As usual with Paul the production is impressive and lavish but actually think it's quite a turgid ballad and his weakest hit yet

2 Max Bygraves Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be A Mockney song moaning that things aren't like in the good old days, complete with a rabble of a chorus joining in - not good

 

 

1960 Group 4:

 

#1112 12/03/1960 Bryan Johnson Looking High High High 20 34-25-26-22-21-{20}-23-24-28-31-37->11

#1113 12/03/1960 Marty Wilde Johnny Rocco 30 36-{30}-34-30->4

#1114 12/03/1960 Bert Weedon Big Beat Boogie 37 {37}-50-48-49R(2)->4

#1115 12/03/1960 Bobby Rydell Wild One 7 38-24-{7}-12-9-14-17-11-15-19-24-34-48-43-47R(2)->15

#1116 12/03/1960 Mark Dinning Teen Angel 37 48-40-{37}-42R(2)->4

#1117 12/03/1960 Gene Vincent My Heart 16 49-{16}-18-29-29-41-47R(2)-36R(3)->8

#1118 19/03/1960 Johnny And The Hurricanes Beatnik Fly 8 26-17-13-14-{8}-12-17-13-14-14-14-12-31-28-31-42-41-50-42->19

#1119 19/03/1960 Jimmy Jones Handy Man 3 29-20-18-12-{3}-4-6-6-4-3-3-7-5-3-3-9-9-12-17-23-30-38R(2)-32-47->24

#1120 19/03/1960 England Sisters Heart Beat 33 {33}->1

#1121 19/03/1960 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers The Dark Town Strutters' Ball 34 {34}-35-39-45-37-49->6

#1122 19/03/1960 Norrie Paramor And His Orchestra Theme From 'A Summer Place' 36 {36}-49->2

#1123 19/03/1960 Connie Francis Valentino 27 39-29-40-32-{27}-31-50-43->8

#1124 19/03/1960 Fats Domino Country Boy 19 41-41-28-25-{19}-25-25-31-29-46-41->11

#1125 19/03/1960 Brenda Lee Sweet Nothin's 4 45-39R(3)-18-28-8-7-5-5-9-{4}-15-9-8-25-17-16-21-28-27->19

 

As usual I find myself agreeing with your ratings :) Misty is Johnny at his smooth best, and it's not even the best version - Ray Stevens 1975 hit cover is an upbeat countrypop classic. My mum loved Beyond The Sea, and so do I, such a great record and yet one I never even really noticed until the 90's. Running Bear is great fun, and I also rate Poor Me (Adam can do wrong) and Pretty Blue Eyes (US version). Harbour Lights is a goodie - and Ive never heard Vera's version!

 

You Got What It takes is known to me in the pop Showaddywaddy big hit version and I must admit I've never given the lyrics a second thought - The Berry Gordy song never came across as just being about being good in bed, but yes listing your love's "bad" qualities is not a good look these days! Old Shep and El Paso were huge songs in our house, my brother can still sing El Paso all the way through but I would never choose to hear Old Shep, El Paso I don't mind in small doses.

Theme From A Summer Place :wub: :wub: 10 out of 10 from me too, total classic. Loved it all my life, never ever got bored with it. Be Mine oddly not one I know playing it now - ooh yes very Buddy Holly apart from the voice. Freddie Cannon I like, didn;t he just have a hit! Hit And Miss is iconic to Juke Box Jury fans (I was one from as soon as I could watch TV) and John Barry was generally fabulous throughout his career. Colette was a single dad bought, so I'm fond of that one, and hey it's Billy Floory! Time And The River isn't on my Nat Greatest Hits, but I'm sure I'll like it.

 

What In The World was a mid-70's attempted cover that was a minor hit, and that annoyed me so I doubt I'd warm more to the original, also not a fan of My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean, so ditto. Delaware is OK once in a row, but twice is pushing it too far! Once every 20 years is about right. Fings Aint Wot They Used Ta Be is very annoying. Always was always will be. Still not his worst record though (see recent comments :lol: )

 

 

Quite a few great discoveries here but the top pick has to be "Handy Man", which is fantastically quirky and catchy and heartfelt. Like "Theme From A Summer Place" this was a very long running hit that never quite reached the top; in this case it had multiple stays at #3.

 

9 Jimmy Jones Handy Man Brilliant song - manages to be both playful and heartwarming at the same time, and the falsetto "cama cama" riff is so catchy

8 Johnny And The Hurricanes Beatnik Fly Another great instrumental from them, from the slightly foreboding organ intro to the guitar riff to the melody to the squawky sax

8 Gene Vincent My Heart Love this one from Gene - it's an excellently produced rock number but there's a real heartbreaking tenderness in how he sings it

8 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers The Dark Town Strutters' Ball First hit for this Cockney rock star and it's a stonking energetic number with plenty of twanging and urgency and excellent vocals

7 Bert Weedon Big Beat Boogie A really well done guitar piece with a few different excellently played sections and some help from the sax

7 Bobby Rydell Wild One First and biggest hit for this American rock star and a great tune with very effective call and response with the backing vocals

7 Connie Francis Valentino Really enjoy the Latin feel on this and has Connie's very strong multi-tracked vocals and a nice plucked backing riff

6 Brenda Lee Sweet Nothin's It's the iconic "uh huh honey" sample used in several later songs - beyond that it's a good raspy rock 'n' roll number

6 Fats Domino Country Boy Another really sweet one from Fats that gets the carefree feeling across really well, with great sax playing

6 Bryan Johnson Looking High High High Our Eurovision entry - "Looking aye aye aye" as the French presenter says; actually a very nice and well sung but quite dated song

5 Norrie Paramor And His Orchestra Theme From 'A Summer Place' An interesting version of this with a female voice singing the main theme to "ah", but of course comes nowhere near Percy Faith's

4 Marty Wilde Johnny Rocco Johnny Rocco keeps fighting people to win Mary Brown's love until she says actually she'd rather he didn't; odd but a decent song

3 England Sisters Heart Beat A cover of the Buddy Holly song - the multi-line vocals lack impact and make it sound a bit throwaway; all in all it lacks impact

1 Mark Dinning Teen Angel A terribly moribund song about his 16 year old girlfriend being run over, with stop starting to add impact, but it's just dreadful

 

 

1960 Group 5:

 

#1126 26/03/1960 Lonnie Donegan My Old Man's A Dustman 1 5-{1}-1-1-1-2-9-10-10-26-24-30-39->13

#1127 26/03/1960 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Fall In Love With You 2 6-6-3-{2}-7-5-5-8-6-5-11-11-18-21-32->15

#1128 26/03/1960 Anthony Newley Do You Mind? 1 15-11-2-4-2-{1}-2-2-4-7-8-10-14-32-34->15

#1129 26/03/1960 Jim Reeves He'll Have To Go 12 36-31R(2)-16-22-14-17-16-18-18-14-17-22-{12}-12-20-22-22-27-25-26-30-30-36-36-30-30-36-41-39-35-35->31

#1130 26/03/1960 Johnny Mathis You Are Beautiful 38 39-42-50-44-{38}-48-38-46-46R(2)->9

#1131 26/03/1960 Shaye Cogan Mean To Me 40 {40}->1

#1132 02/04/1960 Bobby Darin Clementine 8 24-17-11-{8}-13-12-13-20-24-35-39-37->12

#1133 02/04/1960 Ronnie Carroll Footsteps 36 38-40-{36}->3

#1134 02/04/1960 Shirley Bassey With These Hands 38 46-{38}-43R(2)-42-50R(2)-41->6

#1135 02/04/1960 Paul Anka Puppy Love 33 48-43-43-{33}-47R(2)-37-49->7

#1136 09/04/1960 Elvis Presley Stuck On You 3 10-6-{3}-7-8-6-11-17-20-26-24-25-47-38->14

#1137 16/04/1960 The Everly Brothers Cathy's Clown 1 22-14-4-{1}-1-1-1-1-1-1-6-7-3-11-19-20-22-30->18

#1138 16/04/1960 Adam Faith Someone Else's Baby 2 24-15-3-3-3-{2}-6-5-13-15-19-43-43->13

#1139 16/04/1960 The King Brothers Standing On The Corner 4 32-26-12-{4}-12-13-13-16-22-32-35->11

 

handy Man is fab. Oops at me not knowing most of your other top picks! Joe Brown is still terrific in concert, usually with hit-making daughter Sam lending a hand, and still very engaging and down to earth. Bobby Rydell more famous for being the easter egg that is Rydell High in Grease these days, but I expect I'd enjoy all your picks - I rate Brenda lee's Sweet Nuthing's, always been a goodie that one. I hate our Eurovision entry, oopsie! Teen Angel I have vague memories of. They should have supplied hankies along with some records back in the day....