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Billboard's #1 Pop Singles


Max

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It's no surprise that Alphanguy has never before heard Tab Hunter's version of "Young Love," given that it is absolutely dreadful (as Carl indicated).

Although there were many great rock and roll songs in the mid-50's, it would not be until 1957 when rock would become the dominant musical genre on the pop chart. Throughout the year, we will see artists other than Bill Haley or Elvis Presley score chart-toppers with rock and roll tunes. (Well, I guess one could say that "My Prayer" by the Platters was a rock and roll song, though that is really stretching it.)

One good rock and roll tune to reach number one was "Party Doll" by Buddy Knox. This song spent one week at the top: the week ended 3/30/57. (Please note that in the below video, the first nine seconds or so are actually some radio jingle, as opposed to the record itself.)

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zfe9MkaRXoU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Buddy Knox was a rockabilly artist who befriended fellow Texans Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly. Believe it or not, Knox co-wrote "Party Doll" way back in 1948. Unfortunately, Buddy struggled to find a successful follow up to this smash hit; his second highest chart entry was "Hula Love," which peaked at #13 in late 1957.

In 1999, Knox died of lung cancer at age 65.

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Party Doll is one early rock and roll song I like very much. Although he was a two hit wonder, this song still endures to this day, and is heard all the time on oldies radio. BTW.. I freaking LOVE those radio jingles. Here is a clip of him singing it live. He duplicates the vocal on the record pretty closely:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6LlqqXYC44

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It was really cool to see a clip of Buddy Knox with his group, the Rhythm Orchids.

When did this special air? (Or are you joking, Carl? I'm not 100% sure, LOL!)

The only #1 song that Perry Como had during the rock era was "Round and Round," which spent one week at the top: the week ended 4/6/57.

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Prior to 1955, Como had eight chart-toppers: "Till the End of Time" (1945), "Prisoner of Love" (1946), "Surrender" (1946), "Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep)" (1947), "Some Enchanted Evening" (1949), "If" (1951), "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" (1953), and "Wanted" (1954). Como's second biggest hit in the rock era was "Hot Diggity," which spent five weeks at #2 in 1956. Believe it or not, this legendary singer would have a top 10 hit as recently as 1971 with "It's Impossible."

Pierino Roland Como was a barber for seven years prior to becoming a vocalist. In sharp contrast to most of his contemporaries in pop music, Mr. Como was not at all critical of rock and roll. (As a matter of fact, he would feature rock musicians as guests on his weekly NBC television variety shows.) Perry was 88 years old when he died on May 12, 2001.

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I'm not kidding - HBO had this song in one of their Real Sex specials of long ago, before they became so serious. It was over ten years ago.

Round and Round used to be in commercials - that's the "find a wheel" song, right? I think it was in car ads.

It's Impossible is a beautiful song.

I know this isn't in the best taste (apparently Mr. Como wasn't thrilled with this) but I love SCTV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1yvS_m_7eE

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SCTV was hilarious, and Como was a good sport for doing it.

Carl, thanks for telling me that HBO actually had a special about men and their blow-up dolls. Now that you mention it, I vaguely recall catching glimpses of those "Real Sex" specials (though I was so young back when they aired).

Elvis Presley scored the most popular record of 1956 with "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog," and he would duplicate this feat the following year with "All Shook Up," which spent eight weeks at number one: the weeks ended 4/13/57, 4/20/57, 4/27/57, 4/29/57, 5/6/57, 5/13/57, 5/20/57, & 5/27/57. (Obviously, only two days elapsed in between 4/27/57 & 4/29/57; this happened because "Billboard" magazine decided to change its issue date from Saturday to Monday. Nevertheless, chart historians still consider "All Shook Up" to have spent eight weeks at #1.)

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3rQEbQJx5Bo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

"Don't Be Cruel" and "All Shook Up" also had another thing in common: they were both written by Otis Blackwell. (Actually, both tunes list Elvis himself as a co-writer, but this was just done for legal and financial purposes, as--to the best of my knowledge--Presley never wrote any of his hits.)

"All Shook Up" was Elvis' first number one hit in the U.K.; in that country, he also scored a total of 17 chart-toppers. (The Beatles had 17 number-one hits in the U.K. as well, which was three less than they had in America.) While this is hard to believe, only six Presley recordings reached the peak position in both the U.S. & the U.K. Some of his British number-one hits that failed to reach the top here included "One Night," "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such As I," "Can't Help Falling in Love," and "The Wonder of You." Despite his tremendous popularity there, Elvis never toured in the U.K. because manager Colonel Tom Parker was unable to obtain a U.S. passport (since he was not a legal U.S. citizen).

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I'm patiently waiting for this to move up to the 60s tongue.png so I can mention my faves--even Burt Bacharach, who basically rules the 60s for me, didn't meet his partner Hal David until '61, and his 50s hits like Magic Moments for Carl's fave Perry Como and Story of my Life don't do much for me... The pre 60s "pop" I listen to is almost all great American songbook/show tunes stuff, and some big band works like Duke Ellington.

I am a big fan of Lieber/Stoller from the era (who of course were a big influence on Bacharach--mixing symphonic instruments into their pop songs like strings and orchestral drums), but I think most of their 50s hits (There Goes My Baby, which was truly groundbreaking at the time, many radio DJs resisted it saying it sounded chaotic and atonal even lol, or Love Potion) have been mentioned here, and I prefer their 1960-64 peak period--ditto Doc Pomus' work, my fave of which (This Magic Moment, Svae the Last Dance, etc) was 1960... I guess I like some Buddy Holly, etc...

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I was thinking that it didn't really look like Rick...

I don't think I know Susan at all--though I admit I do like late 60s--the Bachaarach/David sound got more polished (some would say too) but I do love it (it was before they broke up and Bacharach became much more sappy muzaky instead of melodically ambitious), I LOVE Jimmy Webb stuff from that time (yes, even Richard Harris' two concept albums he "sings" on, and 5th Dimension's bizarre but great Magic Garden album), etc....

I have never heard Susan :blush:

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Welcome back, Alphanguy! I hope you enjoyed your trip.

Carl, the Buckinghams did have a number one hit, but it wasn't "Susan."

I really appreciate your patience, Eric, and am looking forward to the insights you will bring to this thread once we get to the 60's. Although this is criminal, there were precious few Bacharach/David songs that were chart-toppers.

With the sole exception of Elvis Presley, the most successful male singer of the latter half of the 50's was Pat Boone. His biggest hit--"Love Letters in the Sand"--was the first of three #1 singles Boone would attain. "Love Letters in the Sand" had a five week run at the top: the weeks ended 6/3/57, 6/10/57, 6/17/57, 6/24/57, & 7/1/57.

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Pat Boone had a nice singing voice that was ideally suited to traditional pop ballads, and I consider "Love Letters in the Sand" (which was featured in "Bernadine," a movie in which Boone starred) to be his finest recording. On the other hand, Boone failed miserably when he tried to make rock and roll, as his covers of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" and Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" were absolutely pathetic. (Nevertheless, Boone's cover versions of those two tunes outsold the R&B originals, and Pat first made a name for himself by quickly covering songs first released by black artists.)

Pat Boone is currently 77 years old, and has been heavily involved with the politics of the religious right for decades. Recently, Boone made headlines by stating that Obama's birth certificate was a fraud (because some people in Kenya vouched that Obama was born there; this apparently happened while Boone himself was visiting Kenya).

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