Billboard's #1 Pop Singles

[Max]

I was surprised at just how badly the Everly Brothers sounded in the above 1970 clip. (They had a completely different sound from when they were popular.)

Just like in 1956, Elvis Presley had a total of four #1 hits in 1957; in each of these two years, Elvis also held the top spot for 25 weeks. The King's final chart-topper in 1957 was "Jailhouse Rock," which held the peak position for seven weeks (not all of which were consecutive): the weeks ended 10/21/57, 10/28/57, 11/4/57, 11/11/57, 11/18/57, 11/25/57, & 12/16/57.

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Like "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock" was written by the legendary team of Leiber & Stoller (although unlike "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock" was written specifically for Presley). "Jailhouse Rock" was also the title of Elvis' third movie, which opened on October 21, 1957 (the very day the song of the same name first peaked at #1). In this movie, Presley performed the title track while a bunch of (background) dancing was going on in a prison; without a doubt, these were the most iconic scenes from any Elvis film. (And few know that the King himself choreographed these scenes.)

It should be noted that "Jailhouse Rock" was the first song to debut at number one in Britain (when it did so in January 1958). In the United States, this feat was not accomplished until 1995, with Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone."

[Max]

While R&B artists enjoyed unprecedented chart success in 1957, only one--Sam Cooke--achieved a number one hit. Cooke accomplished this feat with his very first solo record, "You Send Me," which spent two weeks at the top: the weeks ended 12/2/57 & 12/9/57.

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Sam Cooke (whose real last name was simply "Cook") was one of the most influential vocalists of early rock and roll. Prior to embarking on a solo career, Cooke served as lead singer for a gospel group called the Soul Stirrers. "You Send Me"--a tune that was originally intended to be a B-side--is considered to be among the first hits of the soul genre. The tremendous passion conveyed in the record makes it a timeless romantic classic.

While Cooke would never again have a number one hit, he had over two dozen top 40 hits, most notably "Wonderful World" (#12 in 1960), "Chain Gang" (#2 in 1960), "Cupid" (#17 in 1961), "Twistin' the Night Away" (#9 in 1962), "Having a Party" (#17 in 1962), "Another Saturday Night" (#10 in 1963), "Shake" (#7 in 1965), and "A Change is Gonna Come" (#31 in 1965). In 1960, Cook left the small Keen Records label for RCA Victor.

Unfortunately, Sam Cooke died at the very young age of 33. According to the following quote from "The Billboard Book of Number One Hits" (written by Fred Bronson), "on the evening of December 10, 1964, Cooke met a woman named Elisa Boyer at a Hollywood restaurant. He took her, allegedly against her wishes, to the Hacienda Motel in South Los Angeles. When she fled his room with his clothes, Cooke chased after her and, apparently thinking she had sought refuge in the office of the manager, Mrs. Bertha Franklin, knocked forcefully on her door. A scuffle ensued and Mrs. Franklin shot Cooke three times at close range, and when he came at her, clubbed him with a stick." Cooke died the following day, and a jury later ruled the homicide to be justifiable; nevertheless, the circumstances surrounding his death still remain mysterious and controversial.

As a mentioned previously, Cooke was among the first set of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. His influence was not just limited to black singers, since Cooke was a major inspiration to Rod Stewart as well.

[DRW50]

I don't like to think about Sam Cooke's death. It's just too ugly, even for the music world.

You Send Me is a beautiful song. Perfection. I think this type of music did as much or more than Motown in terms of breaking barriers.

I love many of his songs but, for whatever reason, this is my favorite:

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[DRW50]

There were also some dramas involving Sam Cooke's wife - it's been years, but I could swear I remember reading that she showed up at the funeral with a man she was seeing (Bobby Womack), and someone pistol-whipped them both!

Between that and the story I read years ago about Kris and Tracy Nelson getting into a physical fight at Rick's funeral, it's a shame those who made so many dance in the 50's didn't have better departures.

[alphanguy74]

Now.... I love most ALL of Sam Cooke's hits. His voice is so smooth and relaxing. He was certainly surrounded with controversy. I have no clue as to whether any of this is true, but there have also been rumors that he is the father of Aretha Franklin's son she gave birth to when she was 16. Shrotly after his death in early 1965, the Supremes released a tribute album, "We Remember Sam Cooke" which made #75 on the top 200 album chart, and #5 on the R&B album chart:

here is a back to back comparison of Sam's original and the Supremes tribute version:

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[Max]

Alphanguy, on the Supremes' version of "Ain't That Good News," am I correct in assuming that Diana Ross was not the lead vocalist? (When the Supremes were first starting out, some records were issued where Mary Wilson or Florence Ballard the was lead singer.) If my assumption is correct, who was the lead singer on that tune?

Carl, my favorite Sam Cooke songs are "You Send Me," "Chain Gang," and "Twistin' the Night Away."

The final chart-topper of 1957 was "April Love" by Pat Boone, which held the peak position for two weeks: the weeks ended 12/23/57 & 12/30/57.

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Like "Love Letters in the Sand," "April Love" was from a movie that starred Pat Boone. This film--which shared the same name as the title track--was released on November 27, 1957 and co-starred Shirley Jones. (According to Wikipedia, Boone--for moral and religious reasons--refused to kiss Jones on-screen since she was married in real life.) Pat's successes were not just limited to music and movies: from 1957-60, he hosted "The Pat Boone-Chevy Showroom" on ABC.

"April Love" was written by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, the same folks responsible for the Four Aces' 1955 chart-topper, "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing." I personally don't care for "April Love," and much prefer "Love Letters in the Sand." In 1961, Boone would have a third and final number one hit with Carl's favorite song of his.

I failed to mention this earlier, but Pat's real name is Charles Eugene Boone. And daughter Debby is not his only famous relative, as Pat is the great-great-great-great grandson of pioneer Daniel Boone.

[alphanguy74]

Yes, Max... that was Florence Ballard singing lead on that song. Mary Wilson's voice is a very low "Lyric Contralto" in fact, on that same album she did the "Well don't you know" line on "Chain Gang", and sounded just like a man singing it.

April Love. I think it's a pretty song, but I don't care for Pat Boone singing it. I think his voice sounds sluggish and syrupy or soomething to that effect. I think the far superior version of this song was done by Connie Francis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwi3U-1xBdA&feature=related

[Max]

Florence Ballard's demise is another great tragedy of rock and roll. Sadly, it is not a well-known tragedy.

I mentioned earlier that Anka and Sedaka should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but it is an even far bigger outrage that the rock elitists have kept Connie Francis out (given that she was the most popular solo female vocalist the genre saw during its first decade).

The first of sixteen chart-toppers of 1958 was "At the Hop" by Danny & the Juniors, which spent five weeks at number one: the weeks ended 1/6/58, 1/13/58, 1/20/58, 1/27/58, & 2/3/58.

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"At the Hop" was the first song to go to number one (in part) as a result of heavy exposure on "American Bandstand." Danny & the Juniors--a doo-wop group from Philadelphia--originally recorded a song called "Do the Bop." Dick Clark, however, told the group's vocal coach that the Bop (which was a dance craze at the time) was fading in popularity, and recommended that the group re-write the song's lyrics and change its title to "At the Hop." (It should be noted that "At the Hop" was unique among doo-wop songs in the sense that it also had a large element of rockabilly to it.)

Despite having one of the biggest hits and most awesome songs of the late-50's, Danny & the Juniors only made the top 40 three more times. The group's second highest chart entry was "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" (a song that sounded virtually identical to "At the Hop"), which only reached #19. In 1983, lead singer Danny Rapp committed suicide at age 41.

[DRW50]

That's sad about their lead singer. I never knew that. Or why they changed the title.

That's such a fun song, one of the most memorable of that era.

Many pop songs in that era had such a catchy beat and perfect harmonies.

[alphanguy74]

I think At The Hop is very catchy and danceable... and after a year of Elvis overload, I'm sure a breath of fresh air around that time.

Here it is performed live in 1959:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqUOSu3NfDY

[DRW50]

Wow, live singing and no Autotune.

It's probably one of the most iconic songs ever - when you think of the 50's, that's one of the songs you're likely to think of immediately, and it conjures up so many images of the cliches for that time (poodle skirts, letterman jackets, soda fountains, T-birds, etc.).

[Max]

Danny & the Juniors gave a flawless "live" performance of "At the Hop" in the clip posted above. Alphanguy, do you happen to know the television show that clip was taken from?

"At the Hop" was succeeded at number one by "Don't" by Elvis Presley, which also spent five weeks at the top: the weeks ended 2/10/58, 2/17/58, 2/24/58, 3/3/58, & 3/10/58.

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IMO, "Don't" is one of Elvis' best ballads ever (the Jordanaires did a great job on this record as well), but sadly it is not nearly as well-known as other slow dance songs of his like "Love Me Tender," "Are You Lonesome Tonight?," and "Can't Help Falling in Love." Given that Leiber and Stoller are primarily known for writing uptempo songs, I was very surprised to learn that they also wrote "Don't." (It's too bad this team didn't churn out more ballads, as they certainly had the ability to.)

On March 24, 1958, very shortly after "Don't" fell from the peak position, Presley began a two year stint in the Army. His career would suffer as a result--for instance, Elvis would only have two #1 hits over the next 24 months--but Presley's commercial success would be far from over (as he and Tom Parker feared). After he returned from the Army in 1960, Elvis would experience a year almost as successful as 1956 & '57 were.

[alphanguy74]

Max... I don't have any idea what show that performance is from. I collect muisc performances and music and variety shows... but my collecting era starts around 1964-65 and goes on from there...during that period I will ususally almost always know what show a clip is from. This might seem strange for someone who's as into music as I am... but I have never heard "Don't". It's nothing special in my book, but it's ok.

[Max]

Alphanguy, there's no need to feel bad about being unbale to answer the question I posed to you; I'm just grateful you made an attempt to answer it. I honestly had no idea you collect music and variety shows, and I must say your collection is very impressive.

The first rock and roll instrumental to hit #1 was "Tequila" by The Champs, which spent five weeks at the peak position: the weeks ended 3/17/58, 3/24/58, 3/31/58, 4/7/58, & 4/14/58.

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The Champs were signed to Gene Autry's Challenge Records label, and were named after Autry's horse, Champion. In late 1957, the group recorded "Tequila"--a record where saxophonist Danny Flores (a.k.a., Chuck Rio) chanted the song's title several times during the duration of the tune--as the B-side to "Train to Nowhere." As would be a semi-frequent occurrence during rock's early years, DJs preferred the B-side over the A-side, and "Train to Nowhere" completely bombed.

Despite the massive success of "Tequila," the Champs would only score three additional top 40 hits, the most popular of which was "Too Much Tequila" (which fizzled at #30 in 1960). Ironically, the three most famous members of the Champs--Glen Campbell, Jim Seals, and Dash Crofts--did not join the band until after "Tequila" was a hit.

[DRW50]

I always forget that they were in the Champs. It's like that "Smile a Little Smile For Me", the group James Taylor was a part of before or after that hit.

I never knew they were named after Gene Autry's horse. Fascinating.

Probably the biggest known instrumental song ever, along with "Wipeout." And, for whatever reason, "Tequila" doesn't really sound very dated.

I guess the song got another lease on life due to Animal House.