DanChartFan

I believe Terero (see episode 35) was the first fully non-English song (I'm excluding Tequilla, which was just the title called occasionally over an instrumental). There was also Volare (aka Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu) and Ciao Ciao Bambina (see episode 41 for those) and Come Prima before Morgen charted. In addition there were also a whole load of songs where just the title and main line of the chorus was in another language. Morgen was the first to be entirely in German though.

Let's have another double episode today... The One Week Wonders - Episodes 44 and 45 We start with Jack Scott, who has been called 'undeniably the greatest Canadian rock and roll singer of all time'. He charted at #30 on 26th September 1959 with The Way I Walk. 5HDEZi0TVwI Next up is US soul singer Dee Clark, who's actual name was Delectus Clark. He charted at #26 on 3rd October 1959 with Just Keep It Up (And See What Happens), he then had to wait 16 years for his next week of UK chart action, when he had a #16 hit in October 1975 with a disco crossover single called Ride A Wild Horse. 0G1wli82_Vk The last one for episode 44 is a tale of a boy and his dog (now departed). It's Clinton Ford's version of Old Shep, a song that was also recorded by Elvis, who sang it for his first public performance when he was ten. Clinton's version charted at #27 on 24th October 1959. Fans of Only Fools And Horses will no doubt remember this as one of Del Boy's favourite songs, as it featured in three different episodes, as well as in the prequel, Rock And Chips. 78gQQ6xfmG0 On to episode 45, and we move one place down to #28, where we find Joe 'Mr Piano' Henderson. He'd had his biggest hit, the #14 peaking Trudie, the year before, and prior to that had charted two medleys in 1955, Sing It With Joe and Sing It Again With Joe. This is Treble Chance. 2XtkNZH6cuI Next up is Dickey Pride, real name Richard Knellar, who had his only week of UK chart action on 31st October 1959 at #28 with Primrose Lane. WuRga5EY_Ks Finally we have something a bit different to finish on today. A Croatian vocalist called Ivo Robic singing Morgen, which is German for either 'tomorrow' or 'morning'. There was an English language equivelant, One More Sunrise, that was recorded by a few known artists, but the only recording of that version to chart was by Dickie Valentine, which peaked at #14 and was Dickie's last UK charting single, with the last of it's 8 weeks on chart being the last week of 1959, so that Dickie's chart career ended with the decade. Back to Ivo, his was the original version of the song, and I can only imagine that having a German language recording doing fairly well in the UK in 1959, just 14 years after the end of World War II, may have divided opinion somewhat, so perhaps that's why it only managed the one week. It charted at #23 on 7th November 1959. zVPyeyAhqEg Just one more episode now before we enter the sixties, and then three more until we start using Record Retailer's top 50 in place of the NME top 30, and thereby plunge further into the depths of pop music obscurity....

I clicked to preorder the 2019 single and found myself unexpectedly buying the 2018 one, so I think there was some sort of blip with the way they added the new preorder or something. I managed to cancel it before I wound up buying it again, but perhaps some people didn't catch on until too late. I did successfully preorder the new one a short time later though.

The One Week Wonders - Episode 43 We start today with Tommy Edwards, who had a number one in 1958 with It's All In The Game. This is his only other UK chart hit, My Melancholy Baby, which charted at #29 on 8th August 1959. bTrI1bfz_L0 Next up is the only UK chart hit for the Impalas, who charted at #28 on 22nd August 1959 with Sorry (I Ran All The Way Home). 9j0NXdt6ZdU Finally we have a song that was later recorded by Elvis Presley, and went on to be a karaoke favourite, The Wonder Of You. This is the first commercially released recording of the song, by Ray Peterson, though another version, by Ronnie Hilton, had actually beaten him into the charts the week before. Ronnie peaked at #22, whilst Ray charted for a week on 5th September 1959 at #23. vYYOFNeLZEg

I'm away in Bath today, and have already fallen two days behind (again...) so rather than wait for it to rollover to a quadruple post I'm going to simply list the tracks with very basic detail (straight from my Word document), then edit in videos and extra information at a later point. Hope that's OK. The One Week Wonders - Episodes 40, 41 and 42 We start with a bonus single. A very well known recording that originally only had a single week in the charts. It's Buddy Holly's Heartbeat, which charted at #30 on 17th January 1959. It was reissued in 1960 and again reached #30. A week later Buddy joined several other Rock'n'Roll musicians for the 'Winter Dance Party' tour across the midwest of the US. The venues for the tour were often hundreds of miles apart, and the musicians had to travel through a very cold winter on drafty and unreliable buses. On one occasion their bus broke down in the middle of nowhere and the cold the musicians endured led to some getting flu, and to drummer Carl Bunch having to be hospitalised for frostbite. Buddy was frustrated by this disregard for the musicians health, and after a show in Clear Lake, Iowa on 2nd February he chartered a plane to the location of the next show. There were four seats on the plane, two already taken by Buddy and the pilot, and another two that legend has it the other musicians tossed for. One version of these events says that Waylon Jennings orginally won the toss for a seat, but that because the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) was falling ill with flu he was granted the seat instead. On hearing that Waylon wasn't flying Buddy said to him in jest 'Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up' to which Waylon replied 'Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes'. This exchange haunted Waylon for the rest of his life as tragically, shortly after take off, in the early hours of the 3rd February 1959, Buddy's plane did just that. It came to be known as the day the music died. As well as the pilot, 21 year old Roger Peterson, the world lost three amazing musicians, Ritchie Valens, who was just 17, The Big Bopper, 28 and of course 22 year old Buddy Holly. ZRmqC1vVDFs Next up we have Joni James, who we last saw on our list back in March 1953. In fact that hit, and this one represent the only two weeks she ever had on chart in this country. The single is There Must Be A Way, which charted at #24 on 31st January 1959 QUlu-8u0YQY Then we have another bonus single. Willingly was the other side of Malcolm Vaughan's hit single Wait For Me. Initially both sides were listed on the chart for its chart debut at 28th February 1959 at #28. When it reentered the charts a fortnight later for a further 14 weeks, peaking at #13, it appears that only Wait For Me was listed, meaning that Willingly was only listed for a week. T1ISQ0QBgz4 The second hit true one week wonder for Episode 40 is the last of three hit singles for the Mudlarks. Their first hit, Lollipop had hit #2, and Book Of Love reached #8. This is The Love Game, which charted at #30 on 28th February 1959. VsjlZFtzOoI The final one for this episode is another of the musicians who sadly perished in the plane crash on 3rd February 1959. Ritchie was just 17 at the time, and had not had a hit single yet in the UK. Donna hit the chart dated 7th March 1959 at #29. The B side, not listed on the chart, was La Bamba, which had been a number two hit in the US. HMcHbh6HBDk We begin Episode 41 with the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1958 Domenico Modugno had come 3rd in the contest with Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu, better known as Volare, which reached #10 in the UK charts for Domenico, as well as providing a #2 hit for Dean Martin. One year later and Domenico entered the contest again with Piove, which came 6th out of 11 entrants. It was called Ciao Ciao Bambina on the single, and charted at #29 on 28th March 1959. n0enVNAU5sY Sticking with the same week and dropping to #30 we find Conway Twitty, with the follow up to It's Only Make Believe, his charttopping debut, this is The Story Of My Love. SV9UXi040h8 The last one of Episode 41 charted at #28 on 2nd May 1959, and is Lovin' Up A Storm by Jerry Lee Lewis. Back in December 1957 he had married his first cousin once removed, Myra, who was just 13 years old, and this news emerged during 1958, causing a general decline in Jerry's music career thereafter. l--aZYHB1gs Episode 42 begins with an LP. I recounted a while back how singles generally sold in larger numbers than albums in those days, so if an album sold a large enough amount to compare with a top 30 single it sometimes was allowed into the singles chart. I decided a previous LP to do so for one week did not count on this list due to many of the tracks also appearing on charting single, but in the case of this album, Come Dance With Me by Frank Sinatra, there appears to be no overlap between the tracks of the album and any charting single, and so I count it on this list. It charted at #30 on 16th May 1959. Here is the title track, Come Dance With Me, but let me know if you think one of the other tracks was better or more popular and merits a mention instead. h0EPnvFRTEs Next up is Jane Morgan, whose debut hit, The Day The Rains Came, had become a charttopper earlier in the year. This follow up, If Only I Could Live My Life Again, charted at #27 on 23rd May 1959. fBQGHJbQFw8 Finally for this triple episode we have a second chart hit for Billy Fury, who had previously reached #18 with Maybe Tomorrow. He would go on to have his biggest hits in 1961, Halfway To Paradise (reaching #3) and Jealousy (#2). This is his only time on this list, at #28 on 27th June 1959, and is Margo, Don't Go. xdClr0ErSyM

Thanks for sharing those scans Lonnie. So NME did miss out Yakety Yak at the time, then issued a correction, of sorts. My feeling is that they would have said if it was intended to be a tied 17th position, and in any case to be consistent with the other two lowers ties, where the next place below skips a number, that ought to still cause everything below to moved down one. I think personally I would take the week to be a one-off Top 31, and say that Russ had a one week wonder at #31 that week. I think this is in effect what the NME chart book does, as everything shifts down, and Russ drops off (though there is a nice gap under that specific chart where they could have given him number 31 in the book, so perhaps they did intend to, but removed it at the last second leaving the gap?).

I didn't manage to post an episode last night or the night before, so I'm going to do a triple episode now to catch up to today. The One Week Wonders - Episode 37, 38 and 39 We move forward one week from where we left off last time, to 12th July 1958. Charting at #27 that week was Michael Holliday with I'll Always Be In Love With You. Here's a recording of a performance of that song, but the original single sounds slightly different, so I'll link it below too. W4GUKktXsJY Original Single: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYZaakMthPA Next up we move to 9th August 1958, to David Whitfield's penultimate hit during his lifetime, The Right To Love, which charted at #30. LyN59dmJ7Nc Our final one for episode 37 is from 30th August 1958, and is one that only exists if you believe the OCC and Guiness versions of the chart for that week. The originally printed chart in NME (so far as I can gather) and the NME charts book, compiled from that original chart, have a slightly different version (** see below for more details). The one week wonder in question is Russ Conway's Got A Match, and if the OCC/Guinness version of the chart is correct it charted at #30, otherwise it technically didn't chart at all, but would unofficially be at #31. Hmez0U6OLZ4 Episode 38 begins with two hits from 27th September 1958. The higher of the two is Paul Anka' Midnight, which charted at #26. ap1Y32xP8Is The other is Lonnie Donegan's lowest chart peak for a single, #28, and is Lonesome Traveller. Here he is performing it on Putting On The Dongean in 1960. OCjRFXHPJpI The final single in episode 38 is Frankie Avalon's debut single, Ginger Bread, which charted at #30 on 11th October 1958. A1lmKlfdock Episode 39 begins with the other side to a #9 hit called Someday. The artist is Ricky Nelson, whose biggest hit was Hello Mary Lou, which hit #2 in 1961. The other side in question is I Got A Feeling. Here he is performing it on the US show Ozzie and Harriet. 9_aOd0i5TuA Next up is something a bit different, it's the only week of UK chart action for U.S. jazz drummer Cozy Cole. The single is listed as Topsy (Part 1 & 2) and here's both parts (though I assume they formed either side of the disc). Topsy charted at #29 on 6th December 1958. -Sn0gmkLdBc dBotlTI4BUk Finally for this episode we stick with the same week and move down to #30, for Gee But It's Lonely by Pat Boone. 6qjNQWdy4ok And that concludes 1958, so I'll carry on tomorrow night with 1959. **The OCC/GBBHS version has two singles tied at 17th, then 18th-21st placed singles, then two tied at 23rd, then 24th-25th, two tied at 27th then 28th-30th, for a total of 15 records from 17th to 30th. NME originally had one single at 17th place, with the other OCC 17th dropped to 18th. The OCC's 18th-21st positions appear at 19th-22nd according to NME, then the tied 23rd positions agree in all sources. From there the OCC's 24th and 25th are NME's 25th and 26th. All sources again agree that the two tied 27ths are the same. OCC follows this with singles in 28th-30th positions, whilst the NME book has only 29th and 30th, which are the ones in 28th and 29th places on OCC, whilst our One Week Wonder is the one that was 30th according to OCC, but does not appear according to NME (or could be argued to be an unofficial 31st?). The thing is the OCC version has inconsistent rules for ties, and it's seems to me weird that all the versions have the two ties at 23 and 27, given that the some versions have an tie at 17, which should push things down one according to how tied positons are normally followed on the chart, yet it's the version where everything ought to be placed one lower that manages to have an extra hit popping in at 30. I've read in the comments under the chart that the OCC supposedly missed the Coasters hit, which was one of the tied 17th places, but then someone else says it was in the original NME chart, which they reproduce, and which matches what the NME chart book has. My theory is that the Coasters were indeed missed, and then a later correction in NME stated they should be inserted into that chart at #17, but didn't make clear if the existing 17th place moved one down, or if both were tied with one another. The compilers of the NME Book assumed everything should move down one and duly did this, causing our one week wonder to drop out the chart (effectively moving to 31st in a Top 30), and preserving usual rules for what follows a tied postion. Meanwhile Guinness, the OCC and so on have assumed a tied 17th place, then shown 18th-21st as listed in NME, which for the tied 17th assumption to be true mean's NME must have not printed a #22 (or else had Coasters erroneously at #22). This now leaves a gap at that position on the OCC version since their next position is the tied 23rd. NME followed it with 25th and 26th, but again the OCC version follows the incorrect rule for what follows ties that had been inadvertently established with the assumed tied 17th being followed by an 18th, and therefore has a 24th and 25th. All then agree on the tied 27ths, meaning the OCC also has no 26th, then the OCC keeps hold of our One Week Wonder by having 28th-30th, whilst I assume the NME meant for it to drop out as everything moved down, leaving only 29th-30th.

The One Week Wonders - Episode 36 We start today with 'Britain's Ricky Nelson' as the US called him, Jackie Dennis. He had been discovered in 1958 by Mike and Bernie Winters, and they got him onto the Six-Five Special at just 15 years old. His first charting single, La Dee Dah, had peaked at #4. This is his only other charting single, a cover of the Sheb Wooley U.S. charttoper The Purple People Eater, which charted at #29 on 29th June 1958. JOle9l0_7CA Next we have the only week on the UK chart for Italian vocalist Renato Carosone and his Sextet. The song is Terero - Cha Cha Cha, which charted at #25 on 4th July 1958. There was another version of Terero on the charts, by Julius Larosa, which peaked at #15. 8vcuL1uhKek And staying with the same week for our last one today, but dropping down to #26 we have Fats Domino and Sick And Tired. wswCZoARwSE

The One Week Wonders - Episode 35 Apologies for this being a really late one tonight... We start this episode with the King of Swing, Louis Prima, probably best known as the voice of King Louie in The Jungle Book. The song is Buona Sera, which was later a #7 hit for Mr Acker Bilk, and even later reached #34 by Bad Manners. Louis' version charted at #25 on 22nd February 1958. This would have been Louis' only week of UK chart action had it not been for Kids See Ghosts (aka Kanye West and Kid Cudi) sampling a 1936 xmas single of his for their track 4th Dimension and giving him a featured artist credit, but more of that when/if we reach summer 2018! 7mFHgpXJgqs Staying with the same week, and moving from #25 to #30, and from Swing to Country, we have Bobby Helms with No Other Baby, a song that Paul McCartney got into the top 50 in 1999. gpxgYy1s6Io Finally we have Paul Anka, who the previous year had had a big hit with Diana. This is Crazy Love, which charted at #26 on 31st May 1958. Kzves-RBTdo

Thanks Rollo, only about a fortnight now until the 1960s, assuming I keep up the same pace. Then a few days after that the Record Retailer top 50 arrives and chaos breaks out, as the early days of that publication's charts seem difficult to pin down with accuracy for some reason. Anyway for now on with today's episode. The One Week Wonders - Episode 34 First today is Charlie Gracie, who debuted in the UK charts with a #12 hit, Butterfly, the same song that Andy Williams took to the top spot then spent years supressing as he disliked it so much. Charlie then had two top ten hits, before this one charted as his last chart hit in the UK. Charting at #26 on 11th January 1958 is Cool Baby. eCNnFCroBpE Next up is Jim Dale, real name James Smith, who was following up a #2 hit with Be My Girl. This is Just Born (To Be My Baby) which charted at #27 on 11th January 1958. The other side of this disc, Crazy Dream, then charted for the following two weeks, peaking at #24. ivKgpU-KRXw] The last one for today is a US number one that is often included on CD collections of hits of the 50s/60s, and is generally considered to be a classic, but in this country it had only one week at #29 on 18th January 1958. It's Sam Cooke and You Send Me. This is Sam's UK chart debut, and he went on to have a fair few hits, but probably his biggest one in this country is Wonderful World, which eventually reached #2 when it was reissued in 1986, and only missed out on the top spot that week due to a Comic Relief single. 85ekOXs1-7k

The One Week Wonders - Episodes 32 and 33 Sorry, I missed another episode yesterday, so here's another double edition. First up is a US charttopper by Jimmie Rodgers, called Honeycomb. In this country however it had one week at #30 on 2nd November 1957. He would go on to have bigger success in the UK with Kisses Sweeter Than Wine and English Country Wine. zHa2fMpMBss Next we have Tommy Steele and the Steelmen with Hey You! They'd already had a charttopper a year previously with Singing The Blues, and had a couple of other top ten hits. This one charted at #28 on 23rd November 1957. MXEPFZynXvo Now we have a song that was a US number one for Nino Tempo and April Stevens in 1963, and reached #17 in the UK for them, and also reached #25 in 1976 for Donny and Marie Osmond. It's Deep Purple. The version we're interested in is by Billy Ward and the Dominos, who had also had a #13 hit with Stardust. lXIsN5d5wWc Appropriately enough for the day when Mariah reentered the Top 40 we now have two Xmas songs on our list. The first up is White Christmas, which has charted in at least 12 different versions, by artists as diverse as Freddie Starr, Max Bygraves, Bryn Terfel, Glee Cast, Jim Davidson, and Keith Harris and Orville. Obviously the big hit version is by Bing Crosby, or rather versions since there were at least two different recordings by him, since the original master had worn out after a few years and necessitated a rerecording. The version on our list is by Pat Boone. jUDNLWtGlB4 The other christmas hit today is by Dickie Valentine. This is actually Dickie's third consecutive christmas hit, following his charttopper Christmas Alphabet in 1955, and a top ten hit, Christmas Island, in 1956. The 1957 offering is called Snowbound For Christmas. He had no hits at all in 1958, so didn't extend it to four consecutive hits. He then had two final charting singles in 1959 to round off his Uk chart career. Snowbound Fpr Christmas charted at #28 on 28th December 1957. _CxaKxDPXOg Finally today we have a double a side from the Kaye Sisters, Shake Me I Rattle and Alone, on the Phillips label. Alone was also available in three other versions. Petula Clark, on Pye Nixa, reached #8. The Southlanders, on Decca, peaked at #17. And the Shepherd Sisters, on HMV, reached #17. The Kaye Sisters charted at #27 on 4th January 1958. syE4A78uMH0 4RIFe3RkdXY

The One Week Wonders - Episode 31 First today is the second charting single for Welsh songtress Shirley Bassey. The follow-up chartwise to her Banana Boat Song, which had peaked at #10. Fire Down Below charted at #30 on 24th August 1957. The other side of this disc, You You Romeo, charted for two weeks in September, peaking at #29. I couldn't resist illustrating this song with the Muppet Show's take on the song, from somewhere in the 70's, but have also linked the original single underneath. d5ENsbNhNOc Original single: Next is the UK chart debut of the Coasters. Probably best known for another hit, Yakety Yak (famously used to promote McCain's MicroChips), although their biggest hit was Charlie Brown, which peaked at #6. This, however, is Searchin, which charted at #30 on 28th September 1957. Here's a clip of them performing live, though again the original single is linked underneath. CDrxqcxo-Ec Original single: Last up its Johnny Duncan and his Blue Grass Boys. They had just had a big number two hit with Last Train To San Fernando, and followed it up with this, Blue Blue Heartaches, which peaked at #27 on 26th October 1957. Ln1m0-Xm7t4

The One Week Wonders - Episode 30 Our first song today is Nat 'King' Cole's follow up to his number two hit When I Fall In Love. It charted at #28 on 6th July 1957 and was called When Rock 'n' Roll Came To Trinidad. EkqVCCp8YNc Next up is Valley Of Tears, a song later released by Buddy Holly on a double a side that reached #12, but the version we're interested in was by Fats Domino and charted at #25 on 20th July 1957. UtkiXtAQ81A Finally, sticking with the same date, we have Gary Miller, real name Neville Williams, who had six singles in the charts between 1955 and 1961, mostly version of songs that were bigger hits by someone else. This is his fourth charting single, and hit #29. A6t7duOlfLE

I wrote and posted an episode last night and for some reason it didn't go through, so better late than never here is Monday's episode. Today is something of a Rock 'n' Roll special, as our first two songs are fairly described as Rock 'n' Roll classics. In fact it's hard to believe they are in fact one week wonders. Our first song was at number one in Mojo's 100 records that changed the world. It was recorded back in September 1955 and it became a model for not only its artist's future recordings, but for Rock 'n' Roll itself. I literally cannot overstate how important a recording it is, and yet in the UK it charted for a single week at #29 on 23rd February 1957. It's Little Richard's Tutti Frutti. Here he is in vision, but I have linked to the original single underneath too. Cj059o9OwqY Original single: youtube.com/watch?v=NnIIvWnpaBU Next up is another Rock 'n' Roll classic, albeit an alternative version of the track, but performed by one of its stars who went on to become it's biggest legend. The song is Rip It Up, which was originally release by Little Richard, and that version very nearly found itself on our list, but as mentioned in episode 27 it was reprieved by being part of a double a-side rerecording that charted in 1977. The main chart hit was by Bill Haley and his Comets, which peaked at #4. And the only other charting version at the time hit #27 on 9th March 1957 and was by Elvis Presley. YFrD-Z6g1Is If you're feeling breathless now with the pace and excitement of this new fangled Rock 'n' Roll then don't worry our last song is almost a kind of antidote. It's housewives favourite Jimmy Young with a song called Round And Round, actually a nice enough tune, but admittedly dwarfed by the two Rock'n' Roll entries before it. It charted at #30 on 4th May 1957, and perhaps due to the rise of Rock 'n' Roll it is his last appearance on the charts until 1963. 3Qx8xuupyZY

The One Week Wonders - Episodes 27 and 28 I didn't manage to upload an episode yesterday, so here is a double length edition to make up for it. We start today with a song that charted in three versions, Cindy Oh Cindy. The big hit version was by Eddie Fisher, on HMV, and peaked at #5. Another version was by Tony Brent, on Columbia, and that peaked at #16. The version we are interested in was released on London, and was by Vince Martin and the Tarriers. It charted at #26 on 15th December 1956. The Tarriers (seemingly minus Vince) had one more hit in 1957, a version of the Banana Boat Song, which peaked at #15. FUrEXiSYFkE Next we would have been listening to the chart debut of Little Richard, namely his version of Rip It Up, which charted at #30 on the same week, however it was part of a double a side of re-recordings in 1977, with Good Golly Miss Molly as the other side, and this charted for 4 weeks, peaking at #37, and so I feel the 1956 version no longer counts as a one week wonder. Instead we move on to 29th December 1956 at #28, and Sammy Davis Jr's All Of You. This now represents Sammy's fourth one week wonder in a row, and we'll be making his acquaintance again on this thread when we reach 1960. qQOa4sCwZl0 We now move into 1957, the year of skiffle, but the first one week wonder of the year wasn't in that genre. It was an alternative version of Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love), a #3 hit for Pat Boone. This version was by the Four Aces featuring Al Alberts, and charted at #29 on 5th January 1957. YExBiSw1Zlo Having caught up with yesterday's three additions to the list we now look at today's. First up is Mitchell Torok, with the follow up to his #6 hit When Mexico Gave Up The Rumba. It's a rockabilly song called Red Light, Green Light, and charted on 12th January 1957 at #29. It features the Tulane Sisters, who provide the calls of 'red light' and 'green light'. qctJ5QqW2jY Next up we have Fats Domino with Honey Chile, which was charting at #29 on 2nd February 1957. Fats also had a second single, Ain't That A Shame, in the charts in the same week at #23, but I've checked the catalogue numbers and they are separate discs, not just two sides of the same one. Here we can watch him performing the song on TV (not sure which show). J_C3p0te_nQ Finally for this double edition we have our old friends the Johnston Brothers, now appearing on this list for the fifth time. The single this time is Give Her My Love, which charted at #27 on 9th February 1957. After this they had one more charting single, Heart, which peaked at #23 later in 1957, and charted for 3 weeks, so this is the last time we will hear from them here. 3EzeADAfxBw That's it for today, but tomorrow will feature a couple of fairly important slices of Rock 'n' Roll, so be sure not to miss that.

The One Week Wonders - Episode 26 Here's something a little bit unexpected in the Singles chart... it's an LP! Back in the 50s singles generally sold more than LPs, so if an LP was a particular big seller able to rival the sales of singles then it was slotted into the singles chart. The LP in question is Rock 'N' Roll Stage Show by Bill Haley and his Comets, which charted at #30 for one week on 10th November 1956. As with the EP the other day there are tracks on it in common with singles that charted, namely Rocking Through The Rye, which had already reached #3, and Rudy's Rock which was about to reach the charts and peak at #26, as well as both those singles' B-sides, therefore I figure that this doesn't really count for our list either. Note that if the tracks were totally unique, and not present on a charting single, then I would count any EP or LP that the chart of the time felt was eligible to chart in the first place. Our first single is In The Middle Of The House. There were two other versions on the chart, by Alma Cogan and Jimmy Parkinson, both of which peaked at #20. This version is by the Johnston Brothers and charted at #27 on 1st December 1956. QVP_k6Afw-A Our next one is The Cat Came Back by Sonny James. It charted at #30 on 1st December 1956. Sonny only had one other charting single, in early 1957, a version of Young Love, which was a number one for Tab Hunter. l1KHVSR6bHU To end today we have the a vocal group called the Deep River Boys. The single is called That's Right. It charted at #29 on 8th December 1956, and was their only week on chart in the UK. 2q5PN2JfMm0

The One Week Wonders - Episode 25 We start today with an alternative version of a charttopping song, A Woman In Love. The charttopping version was by Frankie Laine, and their was also another version by the Four Aces, which peaked at #19. There was also this version which charted at #30 on 22nd October 1956. MDpP5dOgQaY Next up we have Gene Vincent, whose real name was Eugene Craddock, and his Blue Caps. He had just had a #16 hit with Be-Bop-A-Lula, and followed that up with this, Race With The Devil, which charted at #28 on 13th October 1956. 4CTso1tx4Bs Finally we have another One Week Wonder for Liberace, with a song called I Don't Care. Unusually for Liberace he is the vocallist on this track, as well as the pianist. It charted at #28 on 20th October 1956, and here he is performing it (well probably lipsynching?) on his own show. jCGUDQ5FLdI

The One Week Wonders - Episode 24 We start today with David Whitfield and My Unfinished Symphony, which charted at #29 on 1st September 1956. It was the other side of My Son John, which peaked at #22 and charted for 4 weeks. r8iL3NK3F3o Next up we have an acapella single that was released in the US in 1952, but hit the charts here at #30 on 15th October 1956. There first single to chart in the UK was Only You, which peaked at #3 earlier in 1956. It's the Hilltoppers, whose name comes from their University athletice team the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. The song is called Tryin, and here they are peforming it, through a haze of tape artifacts due to the age of the recording, on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1952. jTSCkLhG3FE Finally we have British male vocalist Geoffrey Paddison, who released music under the name David Hughes. His one and only week on the UK chart was on 22/10/1956 at #27 with By The Fountains Of Rome, which reached #17 in another version by Edmund Hockridge. dPgU1x4nCvo

The One Week Wonders - Episode 23 We're staying with 23rd June 1956 for our first song today, and it's one of 3 versions of Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom). The big hit version, on HMV, was by Perry Como, and peaked at #4. On Columbia there was a version by Michael Holliday which peaked at #13. The version we're interested in charted at #28, was released by Decca and is by the Stargazers. It would be the last of their 9 charting singles. l3a0yO8UeuY Next up back in 1955 we had a One Week Wonder from Georgia Gibbs, a version of Tweedle Dee. Well she narrowly avoided having a one week only UK chart career by notching up a second one week wonder single on 14th July 1956, called Kiss Me Another. It charted at either at #24 or #25 that week depending on what source you believe, in fact the 17th Guinnes book (which I have to hand as I write this) shows 25 in the main body of the text but 24 in the song index. WvmAge_SgnE Finally we have a singer whose entire UK chart career is one week, but who had already founded a legendary group who went on to have some very well known hits after he himself had left for an ultimately not so successful solo career. The group are the Drifters, who have been in existence since they were founded in 1953, and who have had around 65 different members as of today. Their founder was Clyde McPhatter, who charted in the UK at #27 on 25th August 1956 with Treasure Of Love, which was a number one on the US R&B charts. He did have a few other hit singles in the US, but they became smaller hits after a change of labels, and dried up completely after 1962. That, combined with his regret at selling his rights to the Drifters, causing his fellow Drifters to be put on a contract that paid them a pittance, which led to a revolving door line-up for the group, meant he turned to alcohol. Clyde planned a big comeback in 1972, but sadly it never happened as he passed away in his sleep on 13th June 1972, aged just 39, due to multiple organ complications caused by the years of drinking. 4McZ5Ds2pfE

The One Week Wonders - Episode 22 The first song tonight is an earlier version of a song that went on to be a number one for Frank Ifield. There were also two more successful versions at this time by Tex Ritter (#8) and Gogi Grant. This charted at #27 on the 9th June 1956 is the other side of Rich Man Poor Man which also charted, and is by Jimmy Young. ualepFralik Next up in the same week at #30 is Who Are We by Vera Lynn. AMUYge-Hf8U Then we have an EP. It charted at 29 on 13th June 1956, and is Take It Satch by Louis Armstrong. However as it contains both his most recent big single, and his next big single, I figure it is effectively selling for those and doesn't really count here. So instead we finish with Rich Man Poor Man, the other side I mentioned of the first Jimmy Young single, and charting on 23rd June 1956 at #23. fEWH6bjAzWs

The One Week Wonders - Episode 21 Sorry it's after midnight before I've managed to post today's episode. I've been resetting my bodyclock for a new nightshift job I will be doing for a few weeks from Monday night and overslept a bit tonight as I struggle to sleep during the day. I'm hoping that I can get into a routine of writing the 'copy' for each night's post after I finish work in the morning, then save it and when I wake up in the evening find time to paste it and post it whilst I'm getting ready for work. If that plan does go mammaries uppermost then I will do a catch up at the weekends (when I won't be working). Anyway on with this episode. We carry on with the chart of 14th April 1956, which I forgot to mention in the last episode was the NME's first Top 30, following the successful experiment with a Top 25 at Xmas 1955. Our first song today is the theme tune to the film Come Next Spring, and shares its name. It's sung by Tony Bennett, and charted at #29. Tony wouldn't have another charting single until 1961. NSqD5y4UeB0 Next up is Sammy Davis Jr who charted at #28 on 21st April 1956 with In A Persian Market. 239AQKkm-rg Finally we have a song from the film Meet Me In Las Vegas. The song is by Frankie Laine, and is called Hell Hath No Fury. Here's Frankie performing it in the film. S_oUtgs-7Co

Oops, I knew there was something else to cover in episode 20. Following the one-off Top 25 at Xmas 1955 the N.M.E announced that in response to repeated requests from readers and the trade they would be increasing their best-selling records list from 20 to 30 as of 14th April 1956. The NME remained a Top 30 from that date until April 1983, but of course we will switch magazines to Record Retailer (later Music Week) when we get up to March 1960, so as to have a Top 50 instead.

The One Week Wonders - Episode 20 Today we have three songs that were available in multiple versions. The first one is The Ballad Of Davy Crockett. There were four versions available, Bill Hayes on the London label was the most successful, reaching #2, while Tennessee Ernie Ford on Capitol peaked at #3. Ernie also had another record at #1 at the same time, though after this he didn't chart again. A third version, on Parlophone, was by Dick James, and was the other side of another big song of the time, Robin Hood. I'm not totally clear on the chart history of this disc, as the OCC says it was a double a-side throughout, whereas some chart books say Dick's Davy Crockett was only actually shown on the chart for one week, and thus would potentially be a contender for this list. Anyway the version of The Ballad Of Davy Crockett we are interested in is by Max Bygraves and charted at #20 on 18th February 1956. NDde2iPECOk [Edited on 11th September 2021 to fix a dead link. Original link was ] Our second song today is Young And Foolish. The most succesful version, on Nixa, was by Edmund Hockridge, and peaked at #10. Another version, on HMV, by Ronnie Hilton, reached #17. The version on our list though is by Dean Martin, and charted on 3rd March 1956 at #20. XiJyCa5DkoA Our final on today was available in 3 charting versions. The Ronnie Hilton version, was a charttopper, whilst the Edmund Hockridge version only reached #24. There was also this version by the Johnston Brothers which spent a week at #22 on 14th April 1956. It's called No Other Love. HWvuBa08ECQ

The One Week Wonders - Episode 19 We start today where we left off yesterday, on 31st December 1955. The chart in question had been extended for one week only, to a Top 25 instead of a Top 20, which allowed our next hit to score a week in the charts that it otherwise wouldn't have had, charting that week at #25. It's Tina Marie by Perry Como, and here's a live performance of it from the time. The orchestral bit in the middle had been added to the song, but otherwise it's a fairly similar version to the recorded one, though I'll still link to the record in case any want to compare. tRoeF5hQGqU Single version: As a bonus I will also mention that as a result of the one-off Top 25 there was one record that gained it's second and last week in the charts, that otherwise would have only had the one week and been on this list. Boyd Bennett's Seventeen had charted the week before at #16 and dropped this week to #23, thus avoiding being on this list. XVTRCeWgJrI On now to 1956. Our second song today is a version of Arrivederci Darling, which had already had four weeks on the charts over Xmas 1955 in a version by the other forces sweetheart, Anne Shelton. This version charted at #19 on the 14th January 1956 and is by Edna Savage, who was experiencing the only week on the UK chart. bcTbuOHF5rA Our last song today is Shifting Whispering Sands, a song that had already entered the charts by Eamonn Andrews, who those of us of a certain age will remember as the host of Thames Television's successful series This Is Your Life. Eamonn only peaked at #18, but spent three weeks on chart, though Eamonn never charted again. On the 28th January 1956 there was a three way tie at #20 between Eamonn's version, Malcolm Vaughan's With Your Love and a second version of Shifting Whispering Sands by Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra. Z2JWarqOS2A

The One Week Wonders - Episode 18 We start today with the battle of the Twenty Tiny Fingers, a song about becoming parents to twins. There were three versions of this song that charted, The Stargazers on Decca, Alma Cogan on HMV and The Coronets on Columbia. The Stargazers achieved the most success, reaching #4 and spending 11 weeks on chart. The Coronets version spent a week on chart at #20 on 26/11/1955, which would have been their only week on the UK charts had they not sung on a Ray Burns single earlier in 1955. ie6trbuqVqI The third version, Alma Cogan's, charted for a week at #17 on 17th December 1955. RwWB02Xg7F0 The Stargazers version is here if you want to compare it to the other two: The final one week wonder today is a 50's tradition by the Johnston Brothers of releasing a medley of songs under the Join In And Sing series of singles and E.P's. This one is Join In And Sing Again, featuring a medley of Sheik Of Araby, Yes Sir That's My Baby, California Here I Come, Some Of These Days, The Charleston and Margie. It charted for one week on 31/12/1955 at #9, which is probably the last time we'll see a one week wonder inside the Top 10, though my research from the 80s onwards is far from complete at this stage, so do tell me if I've forgotten an obvious limited release or high profile social media campaign that created a Top 10 one week wonder in more recent times. I've had to research quite carefully to ensure I am talking about the correct medley, since virtually the same title was used for four different singles (shellac 78s only?), and then for two E.P's that compiled two singles each. If you're interested in such complexities then keep reading, otherwise just click on the video below and fast forward to the 5:14 point for the single in question. The first release was Join In And Sing, which was released for Xmas 1954 and was a medley of six songs across both sides of the single, from Someday to Toot, Toot, Tootsie. Join In And Sing failed to chart in the Top 20, but given that the release would have been tied to Xmas, and given there were two uncompiled charts that Xmas, perhaps it should have in fact charted and is a lost hit. Join In And Sing Again was released for Xmas 1955, and was another medley of six songs across two sides, from Sheik Of Araby to Margie. This is the medley we are interested in here. Join In And Sing No. 3 was released for Xmas 1956, with much the same format, and a medley running from Coal Black Mummy to If You Were The Only Girl In The World. It entered the chart at #30 on 7th December 1956, but avoids eventual inclusion here as it managed a second and final week at #24 on 28th December 1956. Finally Join In And Sing No.4 was released for Xmas 1957 and the medley ran from Nobody's Sweetheat to The Darktown Strutter's Ball, but failed to hit the charts. Now here's where things get confusing, as there was also two vinyl E.P's, probably released after the end of the initial run of four singles (though I'm not sure of this). The first E.P. , called Join In And Sing, featured the 1954 original as Side 1, and the 1955 follow up as Side 2. The second single, confusingly named Join In And Sing Again, the same title as the 1955 single, actually featured the 1956 single on Side 1 and the 1957 single on Side 2. I mention this insane level of detail because although I'm telling you the single we are interested in is called Join In And Sing Again, from 1955, yet I'm going to link to a video entitled Join In And Sing, which has actually been ripped from the first E.P. and therefore features both the 1954 and 1955 releases, and is uploaded by a youtuber who also has another video Join In And Sing Again (1955) which is actually the second E.P. and therefore actually the 1956 and 1957 singles. If you fast forward this video to the 5:14 mark you can listen to the second single, the one we are interested in here. Or you could just listen to the full ten minutes comprising both of the first two singles if you wish. " data-tag="youtube" data-tagfull=" "> [Edited on 11th September 2021 to add that the embededd version of the video doesn't seem to be working for me, despite the youtube video still being available, so I am also adding the link here too: ] Before I go it occured to me that I could turn each year's list of One Week Wonders into a poll for us to vote for our favourite on, if that is something people would be interested in doing. Perhaps we could then go on to a decade vote at the end of each decade, and then an ultimate all-time vote when we have covered everything to the end of 2019 and have 7 decade winners remaining? Tomorrow is the last song of 1955, so this weekend I could put a 1952/3 poll, a 1954 poll and a 1955 poll up maybe.