First win for Satch today. After the instrumental versions of "Mack The Knife" it's nice to hear the actual song but there's some great trumpet action too - just very classy all in all.

 

8 Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars A Theme From 'The Threepenny Opera' (Mack The Knife) Love this version - it's partly on the trumpet and partly sung so really showcases Louis

8 Johnston Brothers No Other Love Prefer this version to the chart topping one - has the signature slightly spooky Johnston Brothers touch

7 Ronnie Hilton No Other Love 46th #1: also a really good version with some cinematic sounding instrumentation

7 Bing Crosby In A Little Spanish Town A cool jazzy one from Bing with maracas and a good tune

7 Johnnie Ray Ain't Misbehavin' Once again Johnnie reallly makes this with a quirky and passionate performance

6 Lonnie Donegan Lost John/Stewball A fun double A side with "Stewball" the more energetic track but neither quite as exciting as "Rock Island Line"

6 Anne Shelton Seven Days As ever I really like her voice and this one swings along really nicely

6 Dave King With The Keynotes You Can't Be True To Two A fun ballad with a catchy rhythm gently espousing monogamy

5 Sammy Davis Jr In A Persian Market Not his best song but has the Eastern flavour and he gives it a great frantic performance

4 Billy May And His Orchestra Main Title From 'The Man With The Golden Arm' A slightly menacing number with lots of brass - reminds me a bit of "Dragnet"; nice enough

3 Dean Martin Innamorata Another of Dean's duller ones - inanimorata would be a better name

2 The Beverley Sisters Willie Can Slightly prefer this to Alma's but still an irritating record

2 Tony Bennett Come Next Spring A terribly slow and lifeless ballad without much of a tune

2 Pat Boone I'll Be Home 47th #1: another utterly lifeless ballad that gets even worse when he starts talking

 

 

Next group:

 

#389 28/04/1956 Mel Torme Mountain Greenery 4 29-24-22-15-17-18-22-17-17-23-25-20R(3)-9-{4}-5-5-5-7-8-10-12-13-18-24->24

#390 28/04/1956 Perry Como Juke Box Baby 22 30-{22}-25-30-29-25->6

#391 05/05/1956 Frankie Laine Hell Hath No Fury 28 {28}->1

#392 12/05/1956 Elvis Presley Heartbreak Hotel 2 15-14-8-5-4-3-{2}-2-3-3-4-4-6-6-7-7-7-9-20-24-22-23R(4)->22

#393 12/05/1956 Don Robertson The Happy Whistler 8 23-{8}-9-9-12-11-14-15-22->9

#394 12/05/1956 Edmund Hockridge No Other Love 24 27-{24}-29R(2)-30R(2)->4

#395 12/05/1956 Nat 'King' Cole Too Young To Go Steady 8 28-17-19-14-12-14-11-{8}-14-17-21-23-16-26->14

#396 19/05/1956 Carl Perkins Blue Suede Shoes 10 18-14-16-16-{10}-12-17-24->8

#397 19/05/1956 Winifred Atwell And Frank Chacksfield Port Au Prince 18 19-20-20-{18}-20-20->6

#398 26/05/1956 Perry Como Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom) 4 15-13-6-5-{4}-5-7-6-6-7-10-15-22->13

#399 26/05/1956 Elvis Presley Blue Suede Shoes 9 16-19-10-{9}-10-10-17-19-27R(5)-26->10

#400 26/05/1956 Bill Haley And His Comets The Saints Rock 'N' Roll 5 23-10-7-6-6-6-{5}-13-17-13-12-11-10-12-10-10-13-11-11-16-11-17-16-24->24

#401 26/05/1956 Max Bygraves Out Of Town 18 27-27-28-{18}-18-30-29->7

#402 26/05/1956 Three Kayes Ivory Tower 20 28-30-{20}-24-30->5

 

I indeed approve of Winifred coming out on top yesterday B-)

Well the King of Rock & Roll has arrived, but generally this is overall my favourite group since I started, getting an average score of 6.4. It has to be "Heartbreak Hotel" for the win. "Blue Suede Shoes" is a great song too but not a big favourite - interesting though to have the original alongside the Elvis version. Some other great discoveries in the group as well as more good stuff from some familiar faces, and even Max Bygraves stepped up this time.

 

9 Elvis Presley Heartbreak Hotel Remains one of his best - quite a simple track really but I think it's the sulky bluesy delivery that makes it

8 Mel Torme Mountain Greenery Originally for a R&H musical, this is qutie a subtle but beaeutifully song and this version has an effortless elegance to it

8 Three Kayes Ivory Tower Another lovely discovery from a group of sisters; really sweet song and lush harmonies

8 Winifred Atwell And Frank Chacksfield Port Au Prince Not a big hit but also one of Winifred's best for me; love the interaction between the piano and orchestra and the shimmering lines

7 Elvis Presley Blue Suede Shoes A classic of course but I prefer the quirkier "Heartbreak Hotel"

7 Don Robertson The Happy Whistler Delightfully simple - just a drum beat and a whistled melody but it really works

7 Carl Perkins Blue Suede Shoes The original and it's really good too - just think Elvis's is a little more dynamic and punchy

6 Perry Como Juke Box Baby Quite similar to "Tina Marie" and even mentions her but another fun foot tapper from Perry

6 Nat 'King' Cole Too Young To Go Steady Captivating and tender from Nat as usual

6 Bill Haley And His Comets The Saints Rock 'N' Roll Was a fun idea to turn the traditional song into a Bill Haley style number, and it does work though I prefer many of their others

5 Edmund Hockridge No Other Love A perfectly good version of this but doesn't really add anything compared to the others

5 Max Bygraves Out Of Town This is actually quite sweet from Max - a decent original song and no telling bad jokes over the record

4 Perry Como Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom) A catchy number but cloys a bit after a few listens - feels like going round and round on a fairground ride

4 Frankie Laine Hell Hath No Fury Not bad at all but he's done the wind effect via backing singers several times now and the tune isn't that memorable

 

 

We have our first EPs coming up but also a bit of an oddity. The album chart started around now and it seems for a few months albums were also eligible for the singles chart. I'm not going to review the albums that come up in detail obviously as that isn't the purpose but I'll listen through and give an overall impression, almost as though they were one track.

 

#403 02/06/1956 The McGuire Sisters Delilah Jones 24 {24}-29->2

#404 02/06/1956 Morris Stoloff Moonglow And Theme From 'Picnic' 7 26-14-13-{7}-12-11-18-14-16-22-21->11

#405 02/06/1956 Cyril Stapleton Orchestra Featuring Desmond Lane The Happy Whistler 22 28-26-{22}-23->4

#406 09/06/1956 Jimmy Young The Wayward Wind 27 {27}->1

#407 09/06/1956 Vera Lynn Who Are We? 30 {30}->1

#408 16/06/1956 Michael Holliday The Gal With The Yaller Shoes 13 19-{13}-19->3

#409 16/06/1956 Frank Sinatra Songs For Swingin' Lovers (LP) 12 26-16-13-{12}-16-15-22-26->8

#410 16/06/1956 Various Artists Carousel - Original Soundtrack (LP) 26 27-{26}R(3)->2

#411 16/06/1956 Ray Martin And His Concert Orchestra The Carousel Waltz 24 28-{24}R(7)-28->3

#412 16/06/1956 Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars Take It Satch EP 29 {29}->1

#413 23/06/1956 Michael Holliday Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)/The Gal With The Yaller Shoes 14 15-{14}-19-24-29-25R(2)-17-25->8

#414 23/06/1956 Slim Whitman Serenade 8 24-25-27-29R(3)-18-30-18-10-{8}-11-12-14-18-27-25->15

#415 23/06/1956 Jimmy Young Rich Man, Poor Man 25 {25}->1

#416 23/06/1956 The Stargazers Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom) 28 {28}->1

 

Obligatory “Mel Torme was Thora Hird’s son in law” comment.

oops Im falling behind!

 

Winifred Atwell and Bill Haley for me on Tuesdays batch, esp Alligator - that was a greeting catchphrase well into the 80's.

 

Wednesday's Louis Armstrong singing Mac The Knife has got to be a winner, though Bobby Darin is no slouch. Dont know any of the rest but I played The man With The Golden Arm just in case it was one of those instrumentals I know but dont know I know. It isn't, but it's full on horn section jazz fun. Good jazz, the sort with a tune.

 

Thursdays : Heartbreak Hotel all the way, total classic, still menacing. Dont know the Mel Torme song but I like R&H songs and I like Mel Torme. But Elvis Blue Suede Shoes is a song I dont recall ever not knowing - yet not a fave for me either, 7 is about right. I should be precious and say Carl Perkins original is the best, but never actually been a fan of his stuff, though I know The Beatles were big on him.

Bit of an odd line-up today with several show-tunes and some albums and EPs creeping in, and mostly fairly minor hits. That means after a few days of more well known winners it's time for something obscure again. The McGuire Sisters seem to be one of those acts who were popular Stateside but not here, which is a shame as they were great and seem a breath of fresh air. Also Vera Lynn has redeemed herself for songs like "My Son My Son" as this one's lovely.

 

8 The McGuire Sisters Delilah Jones Have really liked all these girls' hits and this is my favourite - effortlessly cool and sharp jazzy number

7 Vera Lynn Who Are We? Love this song and the lyrics are beautiful, and Vera does it really nicely

7 Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars Take It Satch EP A really enjoyable EP - the highlight is the frantic instrumental "Tiger Rag"

6 Cyril Stapleton Orchestra Featuring Desmond Lane The Happy Whistler From "The King And I" - very obviously a showtune but it's a very sweet one

5 Michael Holliday The Gal With The Yaller Shoes A bit of a silly one with clip clopping horsey effects but fun all the same

5 Frank Sinatra Songs For Swingin' Lovers (LP) Some really nice songs on this album - think "You Make Me Feel So Young" is my favourite, but it all seems a bit similar and safe

5 Jimmy Young The Wayward Wind Will be a chart topper in a few years for a certain yodeler - the versions appearing now are decent but quite middle of the road

4 Morris Stoloff Moonglow And Theme From 'Picnic' Another one that's very pleasant jazz bar background music but don't really find it memorable

4 Various Artists Carousel - Original Soundtrack (LP) This album did have some highlights - think "Stonecutters Cut It On Stone" is my favourite, but largely it rather passed me by

4 Michael Holliday Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)/The Gal With The Yaller Shoes Not sure why the second side appears again here but as with the Perry version "Hot Diggity" does become irritating

3 Ray Martin And His Concert Orchestra The Carousel Waltz I'm sure it works in the film but as a stand alone song it just makes you feel like you're at the circus

3 Slim Whitman Serenade His style doesn't really work on this - it's all quite whiny

2 The Stargazers Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom) Last ever hit for this rabble (so sad) and it's an annoying version of an already slightly annoying song

2 Jimmy Young Rich Man, Poor Man Find this one really cacophonous and shouty - not sure what he was thinking

 

 

Next bunch:

 

#417 23/06/1956 Johnny Dankworth Experiments With Mice 7 29-10-10-{7}-7-11-15-12-16-25-30-29->12

#418 23/06/1956 Tex Ritter The Wayward Wind 8 30-18-15-11-12-10-{8}-10-8-9-11-19-26-23->14

#419 30/06/1956 Various Artists All Star Hit Parade EP 2 16-4-{2}-3-6-13-8-11-21->9

#420 30/06/1956 Doris Day Whatever Will Be Will Be (Que Sera Sera) 1 20-23-28-12-3-2-{1}-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-4-5-6-9-15-20-22->22

#421 30/06/1956 Gogi Grant The Wayward Wind 9 20-16-{9}-9-12-14-19-13-15-23-30->11

#422 30/06/1956 The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon Why Do Fools Fall In Love 1 22-13-5-{1}-1-1-3-2-2-2-2-6-6-14-17-23->16

#423 30/06/1956 Joe 'Fingers' Carr Portuguese Washerwoman 20 25-{20}-26-24-30->5

#424 30/06/1956 Ronnie Hilton Who Are We? 6 29-30-12-10-9-{6}-9-14-11-16-22-26->12

#425 30/06/1956 The Goons I'm Walking Backwards For Christmas/Bluebottle Blues 4 30-6-{4}-5-8-10-13-12-20-25->10

#426 07/07/1956 Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Session EP 20 {20}-27->2

#427 07/07/1956 Ted Heath And His Music The Faithful Hussar 18 28-23-26-26-20-{18}-18-22-28->9

#428 14/07/1956 Teresa Brewer Sweet Old-Fashioned Girl 3 20-21-15-5-5-{3}-3-4-3-4-6-10-15-13-22->15

#429 14/07/1956 Tony Martin Walk Hand In Hand 2 21-7-5-3-{2}-4-4-3-6-3-6-9-10-16-23->15

#430 14/07/1956 Humphrey Lyttelton Band Bad Penny Blues 19 21-{19}-20-28-27-28->6

 

 

 

I must say I dont know The Mcguire Sisters but Americans were always a cut above British acts in the 50's, seems decent enough.

 

The King And I is a great soundtrack (from the film, though Yul Brynner did Broadway as well) esp March Of The Siamese Children, and Shall We Dance. Pity they aren't featured! Carousel I'm less of a fan of...but You'll Never Walk Alone! Why was nobody covering it!?

 

The Wayward Wind, Frank Ifield anyday! Songs For Swinging Lovers was a huge hit for Frank, and is critically rated, but I've never heard it as an album! Looking at the track listing the only ones that leap out at me are Pennies From Heaven, Cole Porters Ive Got You Under My Skin (but I'll take The Four Seasons version) and Porters Anything Goes, just marvellous in the version by Harpers Bazarre circa 1967. Never really been a Frank fan, Nancy Sinatra for me every day of the week.

It's going to have to be a double feature today but for very different reasons. "Whatever Will Be Will Be" is a great song and had such cultural impact that it feels only fair to give it the win, but the on that I keep returning to again and again is "Portuguese Washerwoman". It's just a 2 minute piano instrumental with a small backing band and some vocal bop bop bopping but it's one of the most feel-good tracks I've reviewed here.

 

9 Doris Day Whatever Will Be Will Be (Que Sera Sera) 49th #1: you know a song is a classic when it coined its own phrase in the language

9 Joe 'Fingers' Carr Portuguese Washerwoman Joe "Fingers" Carr is in fact Lou Busch who did "Zambesi", and this is an even more joyous instrumental than that

8 The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon Why Do Fools Fall In Love 48th #1: teenage stars aren't usually my thing but this is an excellent track and the arrangement really works

7 Ronnie Hilton Who Are We? Another really nice version of this quite profound ballad

6 Johnny Dankworth Experiments With Mice A novelty track in which he mimics various other musicians - very odd but I like it

5 Humphrey Lyttelton Band Bad Penny Blues A bluesy instrumental track with some nice piano and trumpet action but not especially memorable

5 Tex Ritter The Wayward Wind Another quite unexceptional version of this though quite like Tex's deep country style voice

5 Gogi Grant The Wayward Wind Another unexciting veresion - both Gogi and Tex are UK one hit wonders interestingly

4 Tony Martin Walk Hand In Hand Can see why this was a big hit and it's fine and it's fine but quite an unexciting ballad and slightly turgid

4 Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Session EP Feels slightly experimental this EP and some of the tracks are quite morbid; think the final track "Ol' Riley" is my favourite

4 Ted Heath And His Music The Faithful Hussar Louis Armstrong's version of this is great and this feels quite safe in comparison

3 Teresa Brewer Sweet Old-Fashioned Girl Old fashioned is definitely the phrase for this; seems quite a silly track to me

2 Various Artists All Star Hit Parade EP It's just clips of covers of popular songs, finishing with David Whitfield doing "It's Almost Tomorrow" rather unpleasantly

1 The Goons I'm Walking Backwards For Christmas/Bluebottle Blues I'm sure the humour all makes sense if you've seen the show but for me it's a real chore to sit through one side let alone two

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow's:

 

14/07/1956 Georgia Gibbs Kiss Me Another 24 {24}->1

14/07/1956 Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars The Faithful Hussar 27 29-{27}->2

14/07/1956 Alma Cogan The Birds And The Bees 25 30-28-{25}-29->4

14/07/1956 Elvis Presley I Want You, I Need You, I Love You 14 30-25-23R(2)-23-20-17-18-{14}-14-16-21->11

14/07/1956 Gene Vincent Be Bop A Lula 16 30-30-{16}R(5)-19-23-24R(3)-23->7

21/07/1956 Winifred Atwell Left Bank 14 20-18-17-{14}-20-23-27->7

28/07/1956 Ronnie Carroll Walk Hand In Hand 13 19-19-16-15-{13}-17-20-22->8

28/07/1956 Stan Freberg And His Sniffle Group Rock Island Line/Heartbreak Hotel 24 {24}-29R(2)->2

28/07/1956 Pat Boone Long Tall Sally 18 27-30-30-{18}R(2)-21-18-23->7

28/07/1956 Fats Domino I'm In Love Again 12 28-24R(3)-19-{12}-12-19-22-29-24-22-30-20-23-24->14

11/08/1956 Alma Cogan Why Do Fools Fall In Love 22 {22}-23-23->3

18/08/1956 Bill Haley And His Comets Rockin' Through The Rye 3 9-6-5-4-5-{3}-4-5-9-6-7-6-5-7-11-17-17-21-19R(3)-24-29-20-28->23

18/08/1956 Pat Boone I Almost Lost My Mind 14 17-{14}-15-15-16-19-30->7

18/08/1956 Jimmy Parkinson Walk Hand In Hand 26 30-{26}R(7)->2

 

Oh I love 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love' as well :wub: really tragic that Frankie Lymon died so young, only 25 :( 'Whatever Will Be Will Be (Que Sera Sera)' is of course a classic, indeed <3

Much as I love Doris I'd opt for Frankie Lymon in this batch, but it's close. Poor Frankie!

 

I dont know any of the others (but played the Portuguese Washerwoman to confirm) except The Goons. My dad bought Ying Tong Song when he was young on a shellac 78, and grandad was so annoyed by it he smashed it to pieces. Dad got to enjoy it again in 1973 when it was a hit again.

 

This one is less well-known, and it's just not funny. I never really got The Goons, they seemed old fashioned by the time they were getting nostalgic kudos in the 70's, Peter Sellers a huge star beloved by everybody, Harry a hit singer (and loveable) and Spike Milligan as bizarre and troubled as ever. I saw Spike in a live tour date in Lincoln. Now there's a man who could put me in stitches by pointing to the upstairs theatre where we were sitting, pause, and exclaim "Finger!". I love the unexpected punchline. :lol:

Bill Haley becomes the first triple winner today. I think "Rockin' Through The Rye" might even be my favourite of his full stop, though maybe just because it's fresher for me than "Rock Around The Clock". There's going to be plenty from Elvis that I don't care for but his #14 hit in this group is actually lovely.

 

9 Bill Haley And His Comets Rockin' Through The Rye One of their very best - a stonking tune and the instruments and backing singers are used perfectly

8 Elvis Presley I Want You, I Need You, I Love You Think this is an underrated little gem from Elvis - a very tender ballad

8 Georgia Gibbs Kiss Me Another Lovely Latin flavours on this and a great feisty performance

7 Gene Vincent Be Bop A Lula An early rockabilly classic and it's great but not sure it does anything that Elvis doesn't

7 Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars The Faithful Hussar This was already on the "Take It Satch" EP but it’s a really good trumpeet piece and works on its own

7 Fats Domino I'm In Love Again First hit for Fats - I just love his voice and it's a good song

6 Winifred Atwell Left Bank Another one with a Parisian feel and a well put together record

6 Stan Freberg And His Sniffle Group Rock Island Line/Heartbreak Hotel I gave him a 1 last time but I actually find both these parorodies really funny

5 Alma Cogan The Birds And The Bees All these other creatures are shagging so we might as well too is the message - think this goes on the so bad it's good pile

4 Alma Cogan Why Do Fools Fall In Love Not sure this song entirely suits Alma and all in all this version is fine but feels a bit unnecessary

4 Jimmy Parkinson Walk Hand In Hand Similar comments about this song as for the version in the last batch

3 Ronnie Carroll Walk Hand In Hand Find Jimmy's singing on this slightly more interesting but not a lot in it

3 Pat Boone I Almost Lost My Mind Well at least it's an original record but a very dreary one

2 Pat Boone Long Tall Sally Thankfully we're getting the original of this in a few months - this just sounds all wrong

 

 

We've got what appears to be a re-release of Mario Lanza's "Serenade" coming up in the next lot so I'll skip over that.

 

#445 25/08/1956 Clyde McPhatter Treasure Of Love 27 {27}->1

#446 25/08/1956 Anne Shelton Lay Down Your Arms 1 28-14-5-2-{1}-1-1-1-2-3-4-6-10-19->14

#447 25/08/1956 Frank Cordell And His Orchestra Sadie's Shawl 29 {29}-30->2

#448 25/08/1956 David Whitfield My Son John 22 30-{22}-24-28->4

#449 01/09/1956 The Chordettes Born To Be With You 8 13-{8}-15-15-15-11-12-18-29->9

#450 01/09/1956 Ruby Murray You Are My First Love 16 19-{16}-21-25-21R(2)->5

#451 01/09/1956 Edmund Hockridge By The Fountains Of Rome 17 24-20-{17}-17-19->5

#452 01/09/1956 Frank Chacksfield Donkey Cart 26 {26}-26->2

#453 01/09/1956 David Whitfield My Unfinished Symphony 29 {29}->1

#454 08/09/1956 The Platters The Great Pretender/Only You (And You Alone) 5 13-7-{5}-6-8-5-8-10-17-18-23-21-21R(2)-18R(16)-26-30->16

#455 08/09/1956 Frankie Laine A Woman In Love 1 27-11-12-8-3-2-{1}-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-8-10-12-10-14-20-25->21

#456 08/09/1956 Lonnie Donegan Bring A Little Water Sylvie/Dead Or Alive 7 28-10-9-{7}-9-10-7-9-15-23-27-25-30R(7)->13

#457 15/09/1956 The Goons The Ying Tong Song/Bloodnok's Rock 'N' Roll Call 3 9-4-{3}-7-6-10-12-14-22-30->10

#458 15/09/1956 Nat 'King' Cole Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow 11 24-26-25R(2)-26-26-16-15-12-{11}-17-19-16-22-22-30->15

15/09/1956 Mario Lanza Serenade {1956} 25 {25}-29R(4)->2

 

 

 

The first double A side winner today and it's an absolute stunner. I could listen to these guys all day, especially Tony Williams the lead.

 

9 The Platters The Great Pretender/Only You (And You Alone) Love this group and this is a beautiful and emotive double A side - both tracks excellent but especially "The Great Pretender"

8 The Chordettes Born To Be With You A classic song done beautifully - the harmonies are like a big warm hug

8 Frank Cordell And His Orchestra Sadie's Shawl This composer's only Top 40 hit and it's a lovely instrumental featuring our favourite instrument the clavioline

7 Edmund Hockridge By The Fountains Of Rome He has a majestic beguiling voice and this really whisks you away to Rome; very atmospheric

7 Frank Chacksfield Donkey Cart Sorry that this is your last hit Frank as you've been great - this is a mesmerising waltz style piece

6 Lonnie Donegan Bring A Little Water Sylvie/Dead Or Alive Both good songs - the first has that "Rock Island Line" urgency and the second is more folky

5 Anne Shelton Lay Down Your Arms 50th #1: the war is over Anne - the march style of this sounds dated even in 1956, but charming in a way and I like her voice

5 Nat 'King' Cole Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow Beautiful vocals and dreamy orchestration but an unremarkable song

4 Clyde McPhatter Treasure Of Love Quite a sweet voice and a pleasant enough ballad but it doesn't really go anywhere

3 Frankie Laine A Woman In Love 51st #1: Frankie has some great songs but his 4 chart toppers are all fairly average and this is possibly the dullest of all

3 David Whitfield My Unfinished Symphony There's some lovely instrumentation here and that's what the points are for because the song itself is standard David fare

2 Ruby Murray You Are My First Love I still feel like Ruby's chart topper "Softly softly" summed her up - her songs just never really hit you and this one is particularly limp

2 The Goons The Ying Tong Song/Bloodnok's Rock 'N' Roll Call Well this double A side doesn't give me a headache like the other one and remarkably has avoided bottom place because…

1 David Whitfield My Son John David has surpassed himself; not only is this an excessively vibrato laden, turgid and tuneless ballad but the lyrics are so mawkish

 

 

 

Next group:

 

#459 15/09/1956 Bill Haley And His Comets Razzle Dazzle 13 29-28-17-{13}-17-15-24-24->8

#460 15/09/1956 The Hilltoppers Tryin' 30 {30}->1

#461 22/09/1956 Elvis Presley Hound Dog 2 13-5-4-3-3-{2}-2-2-3-3-6-5-9-11-16-8-8-10-10-11-10-16-22->23

#462 22/09/1956 David Hughes By The Fountains Of Rome 27 {27}->1

#463 22/09/1956 Perry Como More 10 29-26-18-15-14-13-11-{10}-18-16-25-29R(2)->12

#464 22/09/1956 Ronnie Hilton A Woman In Love 30 {30}->1

#465 29/09/1956 Freddie Bell And The Bellboys Giddy-Up-A-Ding-Dong 4 16-6-7-{4}-4-6-8-15-28-29->10

#466 29/09/1956 Mitchell Torok When Mexico Gave Up The Rhumba 6 23-19-14-11-14-11-13-15-{6}-10-12-14-13-15-12-20-27-30R(2)->18

#467 29/09/1956 Perry Como Glendora 18 25-29-27-20-{18}-29->6

#468 29/09/1956 Jimmy Young More 4 26-22-20-16-11-10-6-{4}-4-7-8-15-14-13-15-18-28->17

#469 29/09/1956 Glen Mason Glendora 28 {28}-30->2

#470 06/10/1956 Michael Holliday Ten Thousand Miles 24 28-{24}-29->3

#471 13/10/1956 Johnnie Ray Just Walking In The Rain 1 19-13-5-3-2-{1}-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-5-7-8-12-17-23->19

#472 13/10/1956 Gene Vincent Race With The Devil 28 {28}->1

 

Be Bop A Lula for me in the first batch, and not a lot else, never been a fan of that Elvis ballad, oops!

 

Born To Be With You is a big fave song of mine via the fab Dave Edmunds cover in 1973, and The Chordettes are always lovely. Oh and The Ying Tong Song, as already mentioned, is another 1973 hit that I enjoyed at the time. It doesn't bear too many repeat plays before it drives you mad, though. Once a decade is enough!

 

The Platters with 2 massive songs there, as covered by Freddie Mercury and Ringo Starr in later decades. I rather prefer the Ringo version actually, though he almost speaks it more than sings it.

Catching up with this rather belatedly :ph34r:

 

I love Al Hibbler's version of Unchained Melody. If Bobby Hatfield hadn't recorded a version that blew all the others out of the water, this would be the definitive version. We would probably also have been spared the criminally awful Robson &B Jerome version.

 

Stranger In Paradise is a decent enough song but listening to half-a-dozen versions six times each shows real devotion to duty :lol:

 

Harry Secombe was a serious singer as well as being one of The Goons. My Dad also bought The Ying Tong Song which I always thought was great fun. Did I miss I'm Walking Backwards For Christmas?

 

Frankie Lymon's Why Do Fools Fall In Love is definitely one of the best songs by such a young performer. Sadly he didn't even live long enough to be one of the 27 club :(

 

Not the biggest Doris Day Fan but Que Sera Sera is great. The film it featured in - Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much - is well worth a watch.

 

The Platters' versions of The Great Pretender and Only You are both great. We have a long wait before Freddie Mercury's version of the former which was also very good.

 

I recently completed a biography about Joe Meek (producer of 'Telstar', 'Johnny Remember Me', 'Have I The Right' etc) and found out that he was involved with the production of 'Lay Down Your Arms' too, apparently shaking a box filled with gravel to achieve the marching atmosphere :lol:

Did I miss I'm Walking Backwards For Christmas?

In the group from three days ago. I gave it a 1 sorry! :D

Johnnie Ray gets his 3rd win today - I respect "Hound Dog" for the significant record it is but what can I say I just love Johnnie :D .

 

8 Johnnie Ray Just Walking In The Rain 52nd #1: not quite as wonderful as "Such A Night" for me but Johnnie back to his quirky and emotional best

8 Elvis Presley Hound Dog Another classic from Elvis; certainly didn't deserve to be held off the top by Frankie Laine

8 Michael Holliday Ten Thousand Miles This was a really nice discovery: lovely song with some great instrumentation

7 Mitchell Torok When Mexico Gave Up The Rhumba A catchy number with amusing lyrics about the rock 'n' roll craze

7 Glen Mason Glendora Really good song this and appreciate the added bit of scatting on this version

7 Perry Como Glendora Another good rendition - not sure why they were both quite minor hits

6 The Hilltoppers Tryin' They aren't as awesome as The Platters but I love a good heartbreak ballad done with close harmony

6 Bill Haley And His Comets Razzle Dazzle This is fairly mid for Bill but the usual elemnts are there along with a catchy call and response theme

5 David Hughes By The Fountains Of Rome Still enchanting but I prefer the way Edmund Hockridge delivers this

5 Gene Vincent Race With The Devil I know this is critically acclaimed and love the guitar solo but beyond that can't even make out what he's saying

4 Freddie Bell And The Bellboys Giddy-Up-A-Ding-Dong Quite a fun but very silly early rock 'n' roll style number

3 Ronnie Hilton A Woman In Love Not much keener on this than Frankie Laine's version - still a dull song

2 Jimmy Young More Such a plodding song with a grimly memorable tune but zero subtlety

2 Perry Como More Think Jimmy's perofrmance is this is very slightly more interesting but they're pretty similar

 

 

 

Next:

 

#473 13/10/1956 George Melachrino Orchestra Autumn Concerto 18 30-19-21-19-{18}-22-22-18-25->9

#474 20/10/1956 The Four Aces A Woman In Love 19 21-{19}-27->3

#475 20/10/1956 Tony Crombie And His Rockets Teach You To Rock/Short'nin' Bread 25 {25}-30->2

#476 20/10/1956 Gene Vincent Blue Jean Bop 16 27-28-21-{16}-21->5

#477 20/10/1956 Liberace I Don't Care 28 {28}->1

#478 27/10/1956 Winifred Atwell Make It A Party 7 22-20-11-13-11-13-13-11-9-{7}-14-28->12

#479 27/10/1956 Vera Lynn A House With Love In It 17 25-28-27-25-26-20-{17}-19-20-18-19-22-26->13

#480 27/10/1956 Tommy Steele And The Steelmen Rock With The Caveman 13 26-{13}-17-18-23R(2)->5

#481 27/10/1956 Malcolm Vaughan St Therese Of The Roses 3 27-12R(3)-10-8-6-{3}-3-3-4-3-8-6-4-7-10-11-15-17-18-26->20

#482 27/10/1956 Jim Lowe And The High Fives The Green Door 8 30-21-14-{8}-14-16-27-20-29->9

#483 03/11/1956 The Platters My Prayer 4 8-{4}-4-6-4-7-6-8-10-16-30R(2)-28-22R(9)->13

#484 03/11/1956 Alma Cogan In The Middle Of The House 20 26-{20}R(3)-20-22->4

#485 03/11/1956 Patience And Prudence Tonight You Belong To Me 28 30-{28}-29->3

#486 10/11/1956 Frankie Vaughan The Green Door 2 20-9-4-3-{2}-2-2-3-3-4-6-9-7-13-20->15

 

In the group from three days ago. I gave it a 1 sorry! :D

Poor Goons :(

Hound Dog for sure, runner-up Johnnie Ray for me there.... :)

I had the misfortune of Shaky's version being my introduction to "Green Door", which isn't great but when done well it's a really effective and catchy song. Frankie Vaughan's is my favourite and I'm giving that the win for today. He really puts everything into this performance and I love the way he squeaks at the end of the lines.

 

8 Frankie Vaughan The Green Door My favourite version of this - really suits Frankie V's cheeky style

7 Gene Vincent Blue Jean Bop A bop indeed - really like this, especially the way it creeps in and then whacks you in the face

7 Tony Crombie And His Rockets Teach You To Rock/Short'nin' Bread First ever UK act rock 'n' roll hit by a UK act apparently; Tony's only hit and a double A with a folk classic

7 Tommy Steele And The Steelmen Rock With The Caveman Debut hit for one of the first British rock 'n' roll stars and it's quite silly lyrically but fun and he brings it off well

6 The Platters My Prayer It's quite a slow ballad and doesn't reach the heights of their stunning double A side, but still very good and beautifully sung

6 Jim Lowe And The High Fives The Green Door Also a good version but not quite as fun or dynamic as Frankie's

6 Patience And Prudence Tonight You Belong To Me There's always something a bit uncomfortable about child stars but I have to admit this is a very sweet song prettily sung

5 Alma Cogan In The Middle Of The House A few versions of this coming - it's a very fun and silly song that suits Alma's style well

5 Malcolm Vaughan St Therese Of The Roses He has quite a big slightly operatic voice and this is nice but feels more like an earlier 50s ballad

5 Winifred Atwell Make It A Party All the Winifred ingredients are there but it didn't click with me like some of the others - maybe the format is going a bit stale

4 George Melachrino Orchestra Autumn Concerto It's a classical piece really, like a mini piano concerto - very nice but as a piece of pop it rather passes you by

3 Liberace I Don't Care Nice piano interlude but all in all very twee and lacking excitement

3 The Four Aces A Woman In Love Think the different voices add a bit of interest to this compared to the solo versions, but still fundamentally a dull song

3 Vera Lynn A House With Love In It Not as bad as some of her early ones but a bit of a dirge unfortunately - her best song is coming next year though

 

 

#487 10/11/1956 Bill Haley And His Comets Rip It Up 4 21-6-8-5-{4}-4-6-9-9-10-11-15-18-14-18-30-24-30->18

#488 10/11/1956 Jimmy Parkinson In The Middle Of The House 20 26-27-22R(2)-{20}->4

#489 10/11/1956 Ronnie Hilton Two Different Worlds 13 29-24-18-{13}-14-13-18-21-18-21-19-21-25->13

#490 10/11/1956 Bill Haley And His Comets Rock 'N' Roll Stage Show (LP) 30 {30}->1

#491 17/11/1956 Elvis Presley Blue Moon 9 15-{9}-9-9-11-17-22-22-17-17-26->11

#492 17/11/1956 Glen Mason The Green Door 24 26-27-{24}-26-27->5

#493 24/11/1956 Eddie Fisher Cindy, Oh Cindy 5 15-12-11-7-{5}-6-5-7-9-7-8-9-11-21-26-23->16

#494 24/11/1956 Bing Crosby And Grace Kelly True Love 4 24-11-10-10-7-5-7-6-5-5-5-{4}-8-6-7-6-10-7-7-8-10-11-17-15-21-24-30->27

#495 24/11/1956 Elvis Presley I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine 23 29-{23}R(4)-26-30->4

#496 24/11/1956 Bill Haley And His Comets Rudy's Rock 26 30-28R(3)-{26}-30-27->5

#497 01/12/1956 Fats Domino Blueberry Hill 6 26-30R(3)-25-21-12-12-10-10-{6}-9-9-10-14-17-23->15

#498 01/12/1956 Johnston Brothers In The Middle Of The House 27 {27}->1

#499 01/12/1956 Tony Brent Cindy, Oh Cindy 16 28-28-18-{16}-20-23-30R(5)->7

#500 01/12/1956 Sonny James The Cat Came Back 30 {30}->1