• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

The 1950's ---- Musical variety at its best!

The song to claim the number 47 on the record chart was the song recorded by the Bobbettes called MR. LEE on ATLANTIC Records:
 
LittleNipper said:
At 34 on the chart for 1957 is a song that was written for the movie LIZZIE in 1957 and would become a memorable hit for Johnny Matheus. That song was titled: IT's NOT FOR ME TO SAY. Here is Johnny Matheus on Television and he appears really uneasy, but I believe that this humility only endeared him to the general public:
Click to expand...


He looks so frail and nerdy in that video, but as you probably know, Mathis was an incredible athlete.

My dad used to play Johnny Mathis all the time, especially the Christmas albums.
 
From 1956, but this guy used to open for the Beatles in the 60s:

 
LittleNipper said:
Tab Hunter would have a #1 hit song that would remain so for 6 weeks in the US and 7 in the UK. This caused it to reach number 4 for 1957. The song was YOUNG LOVE and he would sing the song on the Perry Como show live in 1957. He seems to show an honest embarrassment as he sings the song:
Click to expand...

I resubmitted this one so you may hear the song:
 
This song actually came in at 36 ahead of MR. LEE on the charts. BUTTERFLY was published in 1957 and would be snatched up by Andy Williams and become a big hit for him that same year. Note how Andy Williams seems to be influenced by Elvis:
 
The Del-Vikings were formed in 1955 by members of the United States Air Force stationed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with Clarence Quick, Kripp Johnson, Don Jackson, Samuel Paterson, and Bernard Robertson. Because of this, the fact of their racial mix didn't seem an issue at the time. Apparently, WISPERING BELLS was released on both DOT Records (45rpm) and FEEBEE Records (as a 78rpm), and came in at 49 for the year 1957 --- which was really great considering the odd label arrangement. Their DOO WOP is great:
 
Last edited:
I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter was a 1935 song (music by Ahlert and lyrics by Young). It has been recorded many times, and has become a standard. This song would have this major revival in 1957 on a CORAL Record by Billy Williams with orchestra directed by Dick Jacobs. It reached #3 on the Billboard magazine charts ---- making number 45 for the year. Here he is on on Dick Clark's Band Stand --- Philadelphia was once a very cool place:
 
"Blue Monday" is a song originally, written by Dave Bartholomew, first recorded in 1953 by Smiley Lewis and issued as a single, in January 1954, on IMPERIAL Records. The single, with a slow-rocking beat, features an instrumental electric guitar solo by Lewis. It was later popularized in a recording by Fats Domino in 1956, also on IMPERIAL, on which the songwriting credit was shared between him and Bartholomew. Most later versions have credited Bartholomew and Domino as co-writers. The baritone saxophone solo is by Herbert Hardesty.

Domino's version was featured in the 1956 film THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT. It became one of the earliest rhythm and blues songs to make the Billboard charts, peaking at number five and reaching the number one spot on the R&B Best Sellers chart. The single reached number 23 on the UK Singles Chart. It was included on the 1957 LIBERTY album This Is Fats:
 
SO, the number one hit of 1958 was --------- drum roll please! VOLARE sung by Domenico Modugno. Written by Modugno and Franco Migliacci.

This song spent five non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in August and September 1958, and subsequently became Billboard's number-one single for the year. In 1959, at the FIRST Annual Grammy Awards, Modugno's recording became the first ever Grammy winner for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year:

Ya have to love the Italians! Here is the DECCA Record:
 
Last edited:
The song to grab the number 2 spot was ALL I HAVE TO DO IS DREAM The best-known version was recorded by the Everly Brothers at RCA in Nashville and released as a single in April 1958. It was recorded by the Everly Brothers live in just two takes on March 6, 1958, and features Chet Atkins on guitar. It was the only single ever to be at No. 1 on all of the Billboard singles charts simultaneously, on June 2, 1958. It first reached No. 1 (for 5 weeks) on the "Most played by Jockeys" and "Top 100" charts on May 19, 1958 (3 Weeks). ALL I HAVE TO DO IS DREAM also hit No. 1 on the R&B chart. The Everly Brothers briefly returned to the Hot 100 again in 1961 with this song. In the United Kingdom, it topped the UK's New Musical Express chart in June 1958 and remained there for seven weeks: Funny, I remember that my 1st grade teacher was asked if records could be played during our Christmas Party. She replied, "Yes, as long as they're not rocky." Upon hearing this being played she thought it very nice.
 
Last edited:
Elvis would again remain popular in 1958. The number 3 of that year was both sides of the 45rpm RCA VICTOR record. DON'T and I BEG OF YOU. DON'T would remain popular throughout Elvis' career. Both songs had been recorded in 1957 but were released in January of '58.
 
The BIG surprise hit of 1958 was a novelty single titled Witch Doctor written and performed by Ross Bagdasarian, under his stage name David Seville. It became a number one hit and rescued LIBERTY Records from the brink of bankruptcy. Ross would be the Witch Doctor with his voice sped up. Alvin and the Chipmunks would come into play later when the song would be reissued on an LP in 1960, as the Chipmunk craze caught on. I remember this song very well, and it was very popular with all the kids! Here is Ross/David on the Ed Sullivan Show
 
CATCH A FALLING STAR would reached number 13 for the year in 1958, and would be Perry Como's last number 1 hit. It reached the number 1 on the Jock's requested playlist. The song was released in December of 1957. I really liked Perry Como and love this song. It does bring back happy memories. Only on a Perry Como record could there be a measure of humming smack in the middle of the record...:
 
TEQUILA is a 1958 Mexican-flavored surf instrumental by Chuck Rio. It was recorded by the Champs, and I feel it is the very best recording of this tune. It simply doesn't get any better: And this is one of the few live performances done on American Bandstand
 
Speaking of instrumentals ;) Patricia is a popular song with music by Pérez Prado, published in 1958. The song is best known in an instrumental version by Prado's orchestra. It would became the last recording to ascend to No.1 on the Billboard Jockeys and Top 100 charts, both of which were replaced following week by the then newly-introduced Billboard Hot 100 chart. The tune remained No. 1 on the R&B Best Sellers for two weeks. It is a great mambo number with a mean organ solo:
 
IT'S ALL IN THE GAME is a pop song whose most successful version was recorded by Tommy Edwards in 1958. Carl Sigman composed the lyrics in 1951 to a wordless 1911 composition titled, MELODY IN A MAJOR: written by Charles G. Dawes, who was later Vice President of the United States under Calvin Coolidge. It is the only No. 1 single in the U.S. to have been co-written by a U.S. Vice President. So, here is IT'S ALL IN THE GAME: In the number 9 spot for 1958.
 
Last edited:
Dean Martin would come in at number 10 for the year 1958 with a new song that year RETURN TO ME on CAPITAL Records:
 
Conway Twitty would have a great MGM Record hit with IT'S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE in 1958. Conway Twitty would be an inspiration for the character CONRAD BIRDIE in the movie musical BYE BYE BIRDIE. Of course Elvis was the other influence being drafted and all. They both had the sound, the look, and the girls. CONRAD BIRDIE sings IT'S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE:
 
A great kid's Halloween standard made its debut in 1958, and was number 1 from June to July that year. According to Wooley, MGM RECORDS did NOT feel that the song was up to their standards; however, an acetate test record was being played over and over in their employee lunchroom by the younger crowd--- and so the company relented, and the rest was an INVASION! THE PURPLE PEOPLE EATER :
Here is Sheb Wooley on the Ed Sullivan Show:
 
Last edited:
I came across this while watching a show, late 50's, I think.
 
BIRD DOG is a song written by Boudleaux Bryant and was recorded by the Everly Brothers in 1958 on CADENCE Records. It was a #1 hit on the Billboard Country Chart and 13 for the year:
 
GET A JOB is a song by The Silhouettes recorded at Robinson Recording Laboratories in Philadelphia in October 1957 and released in November 1957 --- reaching number one on the Billboard Pop and R&B singles charts in February 1958,
Tenor Richard Lewis, who wrote the lyrics said, "When I was in the service in the early 1950s and didn't come home and go to work, my mother said 'get a job' and basically that's where the song came from,". The four members of the group shared the credit, jointly creating the "sha na na" and "dip dip dip dip". In early 1958, the Silhouettes performed "Get a Job" several times on American Bandstand and once on The Dick Clark Show, appearances that contributed to the song's success by exposing it to a large audience. Ultimately the single sold more than a million copies:
 
Number 15 for 1958 was LITTLE STAR by The Elegants. It is a play on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and was quite popular. A lady down the street from me when I was a teen, lent me her copy from when she was in high school when we did a fifties program. This would be one of those ONE HIT WONDERS -- love their Doo Wop:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom