Billboard's #1 Pop Singles

[alphanguy74]

I got to say that "You Are My Destiny" is my favorite of his. "Your'e Having My Baby" has also got to be one of the most reviled songs, next to "Disco Duck". "Lonely Boy" is not a bad song, for the time, I think it was quite catchy, and the hook in the chorus is very memorable. SO memorable, in fact... that German Composer Fred Jay came VERY close to plagarizing it for the German number one hit from 1972 "In Den Augen Der Andern", he copied the chorus hook directly, singer Christian Anders changed the lyrics, and some of the notes in the rest of the song, but as you can hear, it's a very close copy of Anka's "Lonely Boy"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AmqEqJT060

[DRW50]

Is Lonely Boy the Andrew Gold song? I like that song a lot, more for the melody than the lyrics, which are kind of stupid.

[alphanguy74]

Well, Andrew Gold had a song titled "Lonely Boy" in 1977, but it was a completely different song.

[Max]

Alphanguy, I hope Paul Anka (who also wrote "Lonely Boy") sued Fred Jay, because he clearly plagiarized.

Elvis Presley's only chart-topper in 1959 was "A Big Hunk O' Love," which spent two weeks at number one: the weeks ended 8/10/59 & 8/17/59.

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"A Big Hunk O' Love" (a great rocker that's one of the King's more obscure songs) was recorded at a two day session that began on June 10, 1958 in Nashville; this session would mark the only time when Elvis sang new songs during his two year stint in the Army. The other songs recorded during the session were "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such As I," "I Got Stung," "I Need Your Love Tonight," and "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby." Along with "A Big Hunk O' Love," "A Fool Such As I" (#2) and "I Need Your Love Tonight" (#4) were Presley's only top 10 hits of 1959. ("I Got Stung" peaked at #8 in 1958, while "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby" didn't reach its peak position of #16 until 1964.)

The most important event of 1959 for Elvis had nothing to do with music, however: on September 13 of that year, the King met Priscilla Beaulieu in Germany. Only 14 years old at the time (though she looked older), Priscilla was the step-daughter of Capt. Joseph Beaulieu. Once Presley left Germany in March 1960, over 24 months passed until the two of them reunited in person. (They still kept in touch by telephone during this time.) Elvis finally married Priscilla on May 1, 1967, but the union ended on October 11, 1973. (Though Priscilla had been in the U.S. continually since 1963, the marriage took a long time to happen because of Elvis' affairs, as well as his own mixed feelings about being married.)

[DRW50]

I've never heard of that song.

[alphanguy74]

Max... Anka never sued, because he would not have had a leg to stand on. The Berne Convention of 1886, in which many countries agreed to honor each others' copyrights, was not accepted by Germany. Germany finally signed on as of September 17, 1973... so this song was written and released prior to that. "Big Hunk O Love" is a song I never liked. I felt it too manic. Glad that Elvis finally let the #1 spot have a rest in 1959.

[Max]

Alphanguy, thank you so much for telling us about Germany and the Berne Convention of 1886. While I like "A Big Hunk O' Love," I agree that it is never a good thing when one artist hogs up the chart.

I'm not surprised that Carl has never heard of "A Big Hunk O' Love." Some of Elvis' #1s, including "Too Much," "Hard Headed Woman," "A Big Hunk O' Love," and one or two others yet to come are truly obscure. (I was really surprised--and impressed--that Carl actually did hear of "Hard Headed Woman.")

IMO, the worst song to top the Hot 100 in 1959 was "The Three Bells" by The Browns, which spent four weeks at number one: the weeks ended 8/24/59, 8/31/59, 9/7/59, & 9/14/59.

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The Browns were three siblings from Arkansas--Jim Ed, Maxine, and Bonnie--who specialized in country music. Jim Ed and Maxine originally performed as a duo, but were joined by younger sister Bonnnie upon her high school graduation in 1955. Both as a duo and a trio, the Browns scored top 10 hits on the country chart since 1954, but the group decided to break-up in 1959 as continuing success waned. At their "last" recording session, they sang "The Three Bells," which was originally a 1945 French tune titled "Les Trois Cloches." Singer Edith Piaf had huge success with "Les Trois Cloches," and in 1948 somebody else wrote English lyrics for the song. (Thus, it is just a coincidence that "The Three Bells" is about a person named Jimmy Brown.)

Of course, the unexpected popularity of "The Three Bells" convinced the Browns to continue to stay together. Nevertheless, they only had two more top 40 hits on the pop chart: "Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)" (#13 in 1959) and "The Old Lamplighter" (#5 in 1960). The Browns fared only slightly better on the country chart, and in 1967 the trio disbanded for good. Jim Ed, however, went on to have a relatively successful career as a solo country singer.

If anybody has heard "The Three Bells" just once, you'll notice that it has nothing to do with rock and roll. Throughout 1959 & 60, that genre's popularity would experience a decline (although great rock songs would be produced in both years). The reason for this fall in popularity was not just due to Elvis Presley being in the Army, Little Richard deciding to become a preacher, Jerry Lee Lewis disgracing himself by marrying his 13 year-old cousin, Chuck Berry being convicted of violating the Mann Act, and Buddy Holly dying in a plane crash. Aside from all these blows, rock and roll's image took a major turn for the worse as a result of Payola: the practice whereby record executives would give cash or other consideration to others in exchange for airplay.

[alphanguy74]

Well, Max... I actually LIKE The Three Bells. There's something so relaxing, so old fashioned, so sweet and innocent about it. It's a song that country people can identify with. Here is them singing the song live on the Grand Old Opry TV show in 1965:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTkbj56bnYs

Jim Ed Brown also had his own TV show in 1970 and 1971, called "The Country Place". Here's a clip of Jim Ed and Maxine singing "The Old Lamplighter" on The Country Place in 1971 (I have several episodes of this show, and it's quite good)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeaGOmfTA5M&feature=related

[Max]

Alphanguy, I sincerely apologize if I insulted the tastes of country folk. (That was not my intention, and I actually enjoy many tunes of that genre.) I just don't like "The Three Bells" because its lyrics are rather silly and because the "flow" of the song was "disrupted" when the instrumentation stopped (at several points during that song).

Thanks again for posting your wonderful clips. Watching a 1965 Grand Ole Opry performance was a real treat. While we'll have to agree to disagree about "The Three Bells," I do think that the Browns were/are talented.

My all-time favorite instrumental is "Sleep Walk" by Santo & Johnny, which spent two weeks at number one: the weeks ended 9/21/59 & 9/28/59.

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Santo & Johnny Farina were/are two brothers from Brooklyn. (The former was born in 1937, and the latter was born in 1941.) Before entering adolescence, both boys were skilled guitar players. Along with their sister, Ann, the Farinas wrote "Sleep Walk." The record was released on the small Canadian-American label, and the brothers became famous as this romantic instrumental climbed the Hot 100.

Unfortunately, the duo's success was short-lived, as their only other top 40 hit was the #23 "Tear Drop." However, "Sleep Walk" has managed to stand the test of time, as about two dozen artists--including the Ventures, Paul Mauriat, and the Chantays--have covered this tune. Santo and Johnny also wrote lyrics to this song, yet never recorded "Sleep Walk" this way; some of the cover versions did consist of vocals.

[alphanguy74]

Oh, I didn't consider it an insult... just figured you couldn't identify with the material, lots of people can't. Having said that, I can't identify with Loretta Lynn's "Don't Come Home A Drinkin With Lovin On Your Mind", but I like it... so who knows why certain people like songs and others don't, it's one of the great mysteries of life Truth be told, I like the live performance BETTER than the recording. I'm unusual in that lyrics rarely are the deciding factor as to whether I like a song. the production and melody is usually the key for me. I like Sleepwalk, however.... am I alone in always thiking this sounded like Hawaiian music?

[DRW50]

The Three Bells works so well because of the hook, the "bum bum bum" and then that deep voice leading us into the next parts of the song. Otherwise it is a little dull.

It's that instrument, whatever they called it. I think they used it for Good Vibrations.

[alphanguy74]

Carl, the intrstrument used in Sleepwalk is a pedal steel guitar, a mainstay of country songs... but it's played in a different style here to give that Hawaiian sound. The insturment used on "Good Vibrations" is called an electro theremin.... a more modern version of this instrument:

Now... here is Santo and Johnny appearing on TV in 1959, and you can see the Steel guitar being played:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogxTQXAgY3Q

As you can see, in country music, the instrument is played in a considerably different style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2WGso5Yhpo

[I Am A Swede]

Then we can be unusual together, because it's the same for me.

[Max]

The steel guitar is a really cool instrument.

Interesting observations about "Seep Walk" sounding Hawaiian and being (somewhat) similar to "Good Vibrations." I hadn't thought about the record sounding Hawaiian in a long time, and previously never realized any similarity to the Beach Boys' tune.

I previously mentioned that rock and roll had a (temporary) decline beginning in 1959. However, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing because many great pop records became popular as a result. For instance, consider Bobby Darin's magnificent "Mack the Knife," which was the biggest hit of the year. This song spent an incredible nine weeks at number one (not all of which were consecutive): the weeks ended 10/5/59, 10/12/59, 10/19/59, 10/26/59, 11/2/59, 11/9/59, 11/23/59, 11/30/59, & 12/7/59.

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Bobby Darin initially became famous as a rock and roll star. His first hit was "Splish Splash," which peaked at #3 in 1958. Two more big rock hits soon followed: "Queen of the Hop" (#9) and "Dream Lover" (#2). (Though "Mack the Knife" is outstanding, "Dream Lover" is my very favorite Darin song.) Yet, Bobby thought it would be a wise career move not to be pigeonholed as a rock and roll singer, so his label--Atco Records--decided to release "Mack the Knife" as a result. The tune first became famous by being featured as part of "The Threepenny Opera." However, it wouldn't be long before Darin owned the song: in addition to its huge commercial success, it won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. (Darin also won the Grammy for Best New Artist.)

"Mack the Knife" was Bobby's only #1 tune. Listed below are his subsequent top 10 hits:

"Beyond the Sea" (#6, 1960) [Another great non-rock tune in the mold of "Mack the Knife"]

"You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" (#5, 1961)

"Things" (#3, 1962)

"You're the Reason I'm Living" (#3, 1963)

"18 Yellow Roses" (#10, 1963)

"If I Were a Carpenter" (#8, 1966)

Bobby Darin (whose real name was Walden Robert Cassotto) had a difficult life. In addition to his failed marriage to Sandra Dee, he was born poor as the son of a 17 year-old girl. (Unfortunately, his grandmother was passed off as his mother, while his mother was passed off as his older sister; Darin did not find out the real truth about this until 1968.) Even worse, he constantly suffered from health problems. During childhood, Darin had rheumatic fever, and later in life he experienced heart difficulties. He died at age 37 on December 20, 1973; Mr. Darin had been in a coma for 48 hours, and was hospitalized for congestive heart failure since December 10.

Bobby Darin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. While this honor was well deserved, it was somewhat surprising since those who run the hall have a history of looking down upon teen idols. (To the best of my knowledge, Ricky Nelson is the only other teen idol to have been inducted.)

[DRW50]

I never knew all that about his life.

Kevin Spacey made a biopic of Bobby's life, starring himself - I don't think anyone cared about it, although Larry King mentioned it over and over, with clips, and constant questions to the guests, when Sandra Dee died (as was typical of King, he didn't seem to notice that most of the people interviewed told him they knew little or nothing about that relationship, and one of them barely knew the two at all).

I'm not a huge fan of Mack the Knife, but it's certainly memorable.

Here are a few American Idol covers. They're both pretty sharp - it makes you appreciate Darin (and studio work).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pSgByKB-PQ&feature=related