Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 29, 2024, 02:36:52 PM

Login with username, password and session length

The Toppermost of the Poppermost - UK Number Ones : part 1 - The 50s

Started by daf, March 10, 2019, 03:16:57 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

gilbertharding

Here Comes Summer is a tune I know and love from its use as bed music in The 50s episode of The Harpoon radio show/magazine. "And a small black and white photo of Bill Haley waving from the steps of an aeroplane."

purlieu


daf


That French sleeve misspelled the title. The Undertones had a good single called Here Comes The Summer.

machotrouts

It can't be intentional, but I like how bored and sarcastic the vocal sounds here. No problem that it's a song about an approaching summer that only got to #1 in October – Jerry Keller sings it like that was the plan all along. "Well, here comes summer time. At last."

'Almost There' by Andy Williams was a staple of the yawnsome ancient croony shit my mum played when I was a kid, so thanks to Keller for that too. Now I sound bored and sarcastic! How about that! This post was a ride.

daf

Bob The Spoon, its . . .

91.  Bobby Darin - Mack The Knife



From : 11 – 24 October 1959
Weeks : 2
Flip side : Was There A Call For Me
bonus : Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show

QuoteIn 1959, following the success of "Dream Lover", a ballad that became a multi-million seller, Darin was able to gain more creative control of his career - to show that he could sing more than rock and roll.

His next single, "Mack the Knife", the standard from Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, was given a vamping jazz-pop interpretation. Dick Clark had advised Darin not to record the song because of the perception that, having come from an opera, it would not appeal to the rock and roll audience - The song went to No. 1 in both the US and UK charts, selling two million copies.

In 1960, His next two singles - "Beyond the Sea", a jazzy English-language version of Charles Trenet's French hit song "La Mer", and "Clementine" both reached #8 in the UK.

1961 found him riding high in the UK charts with "Lazy River" (#2)  /  "Nature Boy" (#24)  /  "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" (#10)  /  and "Multiplication" (#5)

His first major film, 'Come September' (1961), was a teenager-oriented romantic comedy with Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida and featuring 18-year-old actress Sandra Dee. They first met during the production of the film, fell in love, and got married soon afterwards. Dee gave birth to a son, Dodd Mitchell Darin (also known as Morgan Mitchell) on December 16, 1961.

In 1962, Darin began to write and sing country music, with hit songs including "Things" - a UK #2, "You're the Reason I'm Living" (US #3), and "18 Yellow Roses" (US #10).

In 1966, he had his final UK hit single, with a version of Tim Hardin's "If I Were A Carpenter", which peaked at No. 9.

Darin became more politically active as the 1960s progressed, and traveled with Robert F. Kennedy and worked on the politician's 1968 presidential campaign. He was with Kennedy the day he traveled to Los Angeles on June 4, 1968, for the California primary, and was at the Ambassador Hotel later that night when Kennedy was assassinated. This event had a deep effect on Darin, who spent most of the next year living in seclusion in a trailer near Big Sur.

Returning to Los Angeles in 1969, Darin started his own record label which was titled Direction Records, putting out folk and protest music. Bobby wrote "Simple Song of Freedom" in 1969, which was first recorded by Tim Hardin.

Beginning on July 27, 1972, he starred in his own television variety show on NBC, Dean Martin Presents: The Bobby Darin Amusement Company, which ran for seven episodes ending on September 7, 1972, followed by 13 episodes of 'The Bobby Darin Show' on NBC in 1973. Being an enthusiastic chess player, his television show included an occasional segment in which he would explain a chess move.

Darin suffered from poor health his entire life. He was frail as an infant and, beginning at age eight, was stricken with recurring bouts of rheumatic fever that left him with a seriously weakened heart. During his first heart surgery, in January 1971, he had two artificial valves implanted in his heart. He spent most of that year recovering from the surgery.

In 1973, after failing to take antibiotics to protect his heart before a dental visit, Darin developed sepsis. On the evening of December 19, a five-person surgical team worked for over six hours to repair his damaged heart. In the early morning hours of December 20, 1973, following the surgery, Darin died in the recovery room without regaining consciousness. He was 37 years old.

Quote"Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" was composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera). It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm.

A Moritat is a medieval version of the murder ballad performed by strolling minstrels. In The Threepenny Opera, the Moritat singer with his street organ introduces and closes the drama with the tale of the deadly Mackie Messer, or Mack the Knife, a character based on the dashing highwayman Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera.

The song was a last-minute addition that was inserted before its premiere in 1928 because Harald Paulsen, the actor who played Macheath, demanded that Brecht and Weill add another number that would more effectively introduce his character. However, Weill and Brecht, opted instead to write the song for a street singer in keeping with the Moritat tradition.

The song was first introduced to American audiences in 1933 in the first English-language production of The Threepenny Opera. The English lyrics were by Gifford Cochran and Jerrold Krimsky. That production, however, was not successful, closing after a run of only ten days. The words from Marc Blitzstein's 1954 English version of The Threepenny Opera, which played Off-Broadway for over six years, are the basis for most of the popular versions heard today.

"Mack the Knife" was introduced to the United States hit parade by Louis Armstrong in 1956, but the song is most closely associated with Bobby Darin's 1959 #1 hit version.

Ella Fitzgerald made a famous live recording in 1960, in which, after forgetting the lyrics after the first stanza, she improvised new lyrics in a performance that earned her a Grammy Award.

Other Versions include : Harald Paulsen mit Orchesterbegleitung (1929)  /  Bertolt Brecht und Orchester (1929)  /  Lotte Lenya (1955)  /  Buddy Greco (1956)  /  Sonny Rollins (1957)  /  Eartha Kitt (1959)  /  Russ Conway (1959)  /  Bill Haley and His Comets (1959)  /  Santo & Johnny (1962)  /  Dean & Jean (1962)  /  Patti Page (1962)  /  Hildegard Knef (1963)  / Shirley Horn (1964)  / Connie Francis (1965)  /  Liberace (1969)  / Frank Sinatra (+ singing frog) (1984)

On This Day :
Quote13 October : Marie Osmond, (The Osmonds), born in Ogden, Utah
14 October : Buckling his final Swash, Errol Flynn, dies of too much shagging a heart attack  at 50
16 October : Gary Kemp, (Spandau Ballet), born in Smithfield, London
21 October : Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opens in New York
22 October : Bob Merrill's musical "Take Me Along" opens at Shubert Theater NYC
23 October : Weird Al Yankovic, born Alfred Matthew in Downey, California

I'm obviously biased but I think Louis Armstrong's version is the best one.

purlieu

Good song, spoilt by the fact that the name is a rip-off of Lee Mack's autobiography.

machotrouts

It's an interesting song once you rinse off the X Factor big band week stink, I suppose. Looks like the 1959 public had already sat with the song for just about long enough that the subject matter had bedded in and didn't seem entirely bizarre coming out of Bobby Darin, though I like the idea of the public unhesitantly going "ah, this teen heartthrob is doing grisly murder swing now. Let's buy it!".

I love that Ella Fitzgerald styled out forgetting the lyrics so well she won a Grammy for it. Award-winning floundering. Did Patti LaBelle get the Grammy she deserved for This Christmas?

daf

Lurking in The Shadows, its . . .

92.  Cliff Richard and The Shadows - Travellin' Light



From : 25 October – 28 November 1959
Weeks : 5
Flip side : Dynamite

QuoteFormed as a backing band for Cliff Richard under the name The Drifters, the original members were founder Ken Pavey, Terry Smart on drums, Norman Mitham on guitar, Ian Samwell on guitar and Harry Webb (Cliff Richard) on guitar and vocals. They had no bass player.

Samwell wrote the first hit, "Move It", often mistakenly attributed to "Cliff Richard and the Shadows". Initially, Norrie Paramor wanted to record using only studio musicians but after persuasion he allowed Smart and Samwell to play as well. Two session players, guitarist Ernie Shear and bassist Frank Clark, played on the "Move It / Schoolboy Crush" single on Paramor's insistence to ensure a strong sound.

The Drifters signed for Jack Good's Oh Boy! television series. Paramor of EMI signed Richard, and asked Johnny Foster to recruit a better guitarist. Foster went to Soho's 2i's coffee bar, known for musical talent performing there, particularly in skiffle, in search of guitarist Tony Sheridan. Sheridan was not there but Foster's attention was caught by Hank Marvin, who played guitar well and wore Buddy Holly-style glasses.

In spring the same year, the owner of the United States vocal group The Drifters threatened legal action after the release and immediate withdrawal of "Feelin Fine" in the US. The second single, 'Jet Black', was released in the States as by The Four Jets to avoid further legal aggravation, but a new band name was urgently needed.

By this time The Drifters consisted of : Hank Marvin (Lead Guitar), Bruce Welch (Rhythm Guitar), Tony Meehan (drums), and Jet Harris (bass).

The name "The Shadows" was thought up by Harris while he and Marvin were at the Six Bells pub in Ruislip in July 1959, inspired by the moody shapes cast on the wall of the snug by the flickering firelight while Hank was off having a slash, "What about the Shadows?" said Harris, and the rest was History - The Drifters became The Shadows for the first time on Cliff's sixth single "Travellin' Light".

Quote"Travellin' Light" was written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett, and produced by Norrie Paramour. It was the follow-up single to Richard's first No. 1, "Living Doll" and remained at No. 1 for five weeks. "Travellin' Light" was also a Number 1 hit in Ireland and Norway, selling over a million copies worldwide. It was Richard's last single of the 1950s and his first release after the Shadows had changed their name from the Drifters.

Other Versions include : Daimi (1961)  /  Herman's Hermits (1965)  /  Andy Fairweather Low (1976)  /  Mick Flavin (1990)  / Nick Lowe (2018)

The Flip side, "Dynamite", written by Ian Samwell also made the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 16
Other Versions include : Rikki Henderson (1959)  /  Dave Edmunds (1979)  /  Guana Batz (1987)  /  The 99ers (2011)

On This Day :
Quote29 October : "Asterix" is first published in the French magazine "Pilote" by Rene Goscinny, illustrated by Albert Uderzo
2 November : "Girls against the Boys" opens at Alvin Theater NYC
5 November : Bryan Adams, singer, born in Kingston, Ontario
9 November : Tony Slattery, actor, born Tony Declan James Slattery in Stonebridge, London
10 November : Lupino Lane, English actor, dies at 67
14 November : Paul McGann, actor, born in Liverpool, Lancashire
14 November : "Girls against the Boys" closes after 16 performances
16 November : "Sound of Music" by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater, NYC (it will run for 1443 performances)
18 November : "Ben-Hur" directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston premieres in New York City
18 November : Arthur Q Bryan, (Elmer Fudd), dies from a heart attack at 60
20 November : WABC fires Alan Freed over payola scandal
23 November : "Fiorello!" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 796 performances
25 November : Charles Kennedy, (Liberal Democrat leader), born in Inverness, Scotland
25 November : "Once Upon a Mattress" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 460 performances
26 November : Albert Ketèlbey, British composer (In a Monastery Garden), dies at 84
27 November : Charlie Burchill, (Simple Minds), born in Glasgow, Scotland

purlieu


The Culture Bunker

Can't be arsed with Cliff, but I do like the Psychedelic Furs' version of 'Mack the Knife'.

machotrouts

Fascinated by Cliff specifying that he isn't even taking a toothbrush to his partner's house.

CLIFF: I've not brought a toothbrush, baby. :)
CLIFF'S BABY: Ah. Well, easily forgotten. We can go out and get one?
CLIFF: No, I deliberately left it behind. I don't need a toothbrush. All I need is you. :)
CLIFF'S BABY: ...me?
CLIFF: Yes. :)
CLIFF'S BABY: You... want me to... brush your teeth, or...?
CLIFF: No, I-
CLIFF'S BABY: You're not using my toothbrush.
CLIFF: I don't mean-
CLIFF'S BABY: What are you implying here? I'm going to snog the food out from between your teeth? This is romantic to you?
CLIFF: I don't need anything to keep me entertained, is all. You're all I want. :)
CLIFF'S BABY: I... what? Cliff. Do you know what a toothbrush is?
CLIFF: Yes, I just-
CLIFF'S BABY: You don't use a toothbrush to keep you amused when you're single, then immediately discard it when you meet someone you fancy.
CLIFF: I know, but-
CLIFF'S BABY: I would go as far as to say that is the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do with a toothbrush.
CLIFF: Yes, I just... I mean... er... the weight! The weight would have only slowed me down.
CLIFF'S BABY: The... weight.
CLIFF: Yes.
CLIFF'S BABY: Of your toothbrush.
CLIFF: Well... the whole toiletries bag.
CLIFF'S BABY: ...your toiletries bag would have slowed you down?
CLIFF: I didn't bring a comb either.
CLIFF'S BABY: The fucking.... Cliff, I don't give a fuck about your comb, you manky-breathed twat.
CLIFF: I got so horny I just indiscriminately discarded all my possessions.
CLIFF'S BABY: ...
CLIFF: Horny for you. :)


daf

Nelhams the elegant packed his trunk, and said hello to the circus, its . . .

93.  Adam Faith - What Do You Want



From : 29 November – 12 December 1959 (2)
       + 13 - 19 December 1959 (1) [joint number one]
Weeks : 3
Flip side : From Now Until Forever

QuoteTerence Nelhams-Wright was born at 4 East Churchfield Road, Acton, Middlesex on 23 June 1940. Known as Terry Nelhams, he was unaware his surname was Nelhams-Wright until he applied for a passport and obtained his birth certificate. The third in a family of five children, Nelhams grew up in a council house in a working class area of London, where he attended John Perryn Junior School. He started work at 12, delivering and selling newspapers while still at school. His first full-time job was odd-job boy for a silk screen printer.

Faith became one of Britain's significant early pop stars. At the time, he was distinctive for his hiccupping glottal stops and exaggerated pronunciation. He did not write his own material, and much of his early success was through partnership with songwriters Les Vandyke and John Barry, whose arrangements were inspired by the pizzicato arrangements for Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore".

Faith began his musical career in 1957, while working as a film cutter in London in the hope of becoming an actor, singing with and managing a skiffle group, 'The Worried Men'. The group played in Soho coffee bars after work, and became the resident band at the 2i's Coffee Bar, where they appeared on the BBC Television live music programme Six-Five Special. The producer, Jack Good, was impressed by the singer and arranged a solo recording contract with HMV under the name Adam Faith.

His debut record "(Got a) Heartsick Feeling" (backed with "Brother Heartache and Sister Tears") in January 1958, failed to make the charts. Good gave him a part in the stage show of Six-Five Special, along with the John Barry Seven but the show folded after four performances.

His second release later that year was a cover of Jerry Lee Lewis's "High School Confidential", backed with the Burt Bacharach and Hal David penned "Country Music Holiday", but this also failed.

Faith returned to work as a film cutter at National Studios at Elstree until March 1959, when Barry invited him to audition for a BBC TV rock and roll show, Drumbeat. The producer, Stewart Morris, gave him a contract for three shows, extended to the full 22-week run. His contract with HMV had ended, and he sang one track, "I Vibrate", on a six-track EP released by the Fontana record label. Barry's manager, Eve Taylor, got him a contract with Top Rank, but his only record there, "Ah, Poor Little Baby" / "Runk Bunk" produced by Tony Hatch, failed to chart due to a lack of publicity caused by a national printing strike.

Despite the failure, Faith was becoming popular through television appearances. He became an actor by taking drama and elocution lessons, and appeared in the film Beat Girl. The script called for Faith to sing songs and as Barry was arranging Faith's recordings and live Drumbeat material, the film company asked him to write the score. This was the beginning of Barry's career in film music.

Faith's success on Drumbeat enabled another recording contract, with Parlophone. His next record in 1959, "What Do You Want?", written by Les Vandyke and produced by Barry and John Burgess, received good reviews in the NME and other papers, as well as being voted a hit on Juke Box Jury. This became his first number one hit in the UK Singles Chart, and his pronunciation of the word 'baby' as 'bay-beh' became a catchphrase.

Quote"What Do You Want?" was written by Les Vandyke and produced by John Burgess and arranged by John Barry. It was recorded by Adam Faith, and first appeared on the UK Singles Chart on 20 November 1959 and spent 19 weeks there.

"What Do You Want?" was the first number one hit for Parlophone, and, at 1 minute and 35 seconds, it is the shortest song to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart.

Other Versions include : Ersel Hickey (1959)  /  Johnny Worth (1959)  / Bobby Vee (1960)   /  Petula Clark in French as 'Moi, Je Préfère l'Amour a Tout Ça' (1959)  /  a weird robot (2019)

On This Day :
Quote30 November : Lorraine Kelly, TV presenter, born in Gorbals, Glasgow
1 December : The 1st colour photograph of Earth taken from outer space
1 December : 12 nations sign treaty for scientific peaceful use of Antarctica
3 December : Eamonn Holmes, TV presenter, born Belfast
4 December : Rosetta Duncan, (The Duncan Sisters), dies in a car accident at 58
7 December : "Saratoga" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 80 performances
7 December : Charlie Hall, English comedic actor (with Laurel & Hardy), dies age 60
8 December : Paul Rutherford, (Frankie Goes to Hollywood), born in Liverpool
12 December : Belouis Some, singer, born in London
12 December : Jack Brabham becomes the first Australian F1 World Drivers Championship winner
14 December : Stanley Spencer, painter, dies age 68
18 December : Dorothy L Sayers, author, dies age 66

I think Faith himself acknowledged that this was a Buddy Holly copycat.

purlieu

On the plus side, it's barely more than a minute and a half long. Still managed to throw a key-change in there though.

We had a little cellar bar at university, and the bar manager's husband used to frequent (and then some). He had some ripe old anecdotes including one where he decked Adam Faith at a party on a canal boat.

That is all.

machotrouts

Perky pizzicato pop. I like how John Barry's pre-Bond compositions all sound a bit like Sims Buy Mode music.

Last time I used iTunes, the preview clips were all 90 seconds long. You could presumably have streamed this in almost its entirety for free, to stick it to the man. I mean we can all do that anyway, Spotify and that. Still. The man.

My favourite minute-and-a-half-long song is Pharmakon - Vacuum. Don't think it was ever a #1 though.

daf

Dash Me Optics!, its the final number one of the Fifties . . .

94.  Emile Ford and The Checkmates - What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?



From : 13 - 19 December 1959 (1) [joint number one with Adam Faith]
        + 19 December 1959 – 23 January 1960 (5)
Weeks : 6
Flip side : Don't Tell Me Your Troubles

QuoteBorn Michael Emile Telford Miller on 16 October 1937 in Castries, Saint Lucia, in the West Indies. He was the son of Barbadian politician, Frederick Edward Miller, and Madge Murray, a singer and musical theatre director whose father had founded and conducted the St. Lucia Philharmonic Band. His mother married again, taking the name of Sweetnam.

He was educated at St Mary's College, Castries. He moved to London with his mother and family in the mid-1950s, partly motivated by his desire to explore improved sound reproduction technology, and studied at the Paddington Technical College in London. It was during this time that he taught himself to play a number of musical instruments, including guitar, piano, violin, bass guitar and drums.

Using an abbreviated form of his name, as Emile Ford, he first entered show business at the age of 20, and made his first public performance at the Buttery, Kensington. His first appearance with a backing group was at the Athenaeum Ballroom in Muswell Hill. His TV appearances in 1958 included outings on The Music Shop, the Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson Show, Oh, Boy!, and Six-Five Special.

He teamed up in January 1959 with his half-brother, bassist George Sweetnam-Ford, electric lead guitarist Ken Street, sax player Dave Sweetnam-Ford, and drummer John Cuffley to form Emile Ford & the Checkmates. The band appeared on the TV programme Sunday Serenade, which ran for six weeks. They won the Soho Fair talent contest in July 1959, but turned down a recording contract with EMI because the company would not allow Ford to produce their records, and instead agreed to a deal with Pye Records.

Their first self-produced recording, "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?", a song originally recorded by Ada Jones and Billy Murray in 1917, went to number one in the UK Singles Chart at the end of 1959 and stayed there for six weeks. Ford was the first Black British artist to sell one million copies of a single.

In 1960, the readers of the British music magazine New Musical Express voted Emile Ford & the Checkmates as the "Best New Act". He signed a two-year employment management contract with Leslie Grade, and had several more hits in the UK, including - On a Slow Boat To China (#3)  /  You'll Never Know What You're Missing (#12)  /  Them There Eyes (#18)  /  and Counting Teardrops (#4)

The female singers that backed him were originally called The Fordettes. They consisted of Margot Quantrell, Eleanor Russell, Vicki Haseman and Betty Prescott. They spent a year on the road with Ford in 1960, playing one-nighters. Back in London they left Ford to sing backup for Joe Brown who Vicki Haseman was engaged to. They were then known as The Breakaways.

1961 saw a decline in his fortunes with next two singles - What Am I Gonna Do (#33)  and Half of My Heart (#42). In 1962, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now reached #43, and was his final chart entry.

As a sound engineer, Ford was responsible for creating a backing track system for stage shows, first used in 1960, which provided a basis for what became known as karaoke. In 1969, he set up a recording studio in Barbados with the help of his father, before moving to Sweden. While there, he further developed a new open-air playback system for stage shows, patented as the Liveoteque Sound Frequency Feedback Injection System.

Ford had synaesthesia, a condition where the person who can associate certain colours, or even see certain colours in relation to the sound they are hearing. An article about Emile Ford appeared in the November 2004 issue of the UK Synaesthesia Association Newsletter. He once said that he was gifted with the ability to see and hear sound differently from others and that gift allowed him to make first-class recordings.

Emile Ford died in London on 11 April 2016 age 78.

Quote"What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" was written by Joseph McCarthy, Howard Johnson and James V. Monaco in 1916.  It was first recorded in 1917 by Ada Jones and Billy Murray on Victor Records.

It became a UK hit in 1959 when a doo-wop version, produced by Michael Barclay, became a number one hit for Emile Ford and the Checkmates over the Christmas and New Year of 1959/60. Its stay in the UK Singles Chart began on 31 October 1959 and lasted 17 weeks. The last chart-topper of the 1950s, it retained the number one position for the first three weeks of 1960.

The 1945 film Nob Hill, featured Vivian Blaine singing this song.

Other Versions include :  Otto Brandenburg (1960)  /  Don Backy under the title "Ho rimasto" (1963)   /  Les Gray (1977)  /  John Christie and The Kats (1980)  /  Shakin' Stevens (1987)  /  Christer Sjögren (2008)

On This Day :
Quote
25 December : Richard Starkey, [Ringo Starr], receives his first drum kit
29 December : Robin Humphrey Milford, composer, dies age 56, by taking an overdose of aspirin
30 December : Tracey Ullman, singer / actress, born in Slough England
1 January : Bank of France issues new franc, worth 100 times the value of existing francs
2 January : Senator John F. Kennedy, announces his candidacy for the US Presidency
4 January : Michael Stipe, (REM), born age 0 in Decatur, Georgia, USA
4 January : Albert Camus, French author, dies age 46 in a car accident
6 January : Nigella Lawson, TV cook, born in Wandsworth, London
12 January : Nevil Shute, author, died age 60 in Melbourne after a stroke
14 January : US Army promotes Elvis Presley to Sergeant
18 January : Mark Rylance, actor & theatre director, born in Ashford, Kent
22 January : Michael Hutchence, (INXS), born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

QuoteEmile and The Checkmates achieved many firsts with this release. They were:
the first artists to sell a million copies with their first record in the UK alone,
the first band to produce their own first recording of a hit single,
the first multi-racial band in the UK,
the first unsigned band to make a hit recording,
the first artistes to use their own speaker system on stage,
the first artistes to have stereo sound on stage in the UK,
the first recipients of Great Britain's first Gold Disc for sales in Great Britain alone and at that time it was the fastest selling single to reach 1 million.

http://www.kinemagigz.com/'f'.htm#Emile%20Ford%20(&%20The%20Original%20Checkmates)

machotrouts

Has there ever been a longer artist-title combination than "Emile Ford & the Checkmates - What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" at #1? That'd be a historic achievement and all I reckon.

Not to diss the 1910s but it doesn't seem right that a 103-year-old song should be this much of a tune. Is though.

machotrouts

Quote from: daf on June 10, 2019, 02:00:00 PMa weird robot (2019)

This is a find. What is this channel? They have hundreds of these covers. I assumed it must be an algorithm that had let itself go, but... it sounds like there's an actual human under that autotune? Or someone programmed a robot to speak English with a... Japanese (?) accent.

They've done quite a few of the songs from this thread:
Rock Around the Clock. Secret Love (Portal 3 end credits music confirmed). Young Love. Living Doll (this is more or less what Cliff Richard's actual vocals sound like these days). Travellin' Light. It's All in the Game. Dreamboat (the robot with the giggle in its voice?). Answer Me. One Night (nails the raw, earthy blues feel here). Jailhouse Rock. All Shook Up. I Need Your Love Tonight. A Fool Such as I. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (really gets stuck into this one). Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes. All I Have to Do Is Dream (harmonies!). Memories Are Made of This (more harmonies!). (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window? (sadly no autotuned barks). Diana. Stupid Cupid (not sure this suits their particular vocal style). Christmas Alphabet (surely the most improved song here). This Ole House (including a pitched-down backing vocal, and a powerful final note). You Belong to Me. You Belong to Me (again). Only Sixteen. Only Sixteen (again). Singing the Blues. Singing the Blues (again). And, as it happens: What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?.

Hang about...

Quote from: daf on June 11, 2019, 12:05:00 PMAs a sound engineer, Ford was responsible for creating a backing track system for stage shows, first used in 1960, which provided a basis for what became known as karaoke.

...is this all Emile Ford's fault?

daf

Quote from: machotrouts on June 11, 2019, 05:00:29 PM
What is this channel? I assumed it must be an algorithm that had let itself go,

I imagine a million years in the future, after all the hard drives have corrupted, and records have turned to treacle, this type of re-moulded third-hand cover version, meticulously re-constucted by archeologists from some half-burnt scraps of radioactive sheet music and hazy folk memories, will be the final record of Earth's musical history -

A sad robot on an endless tape loop echoing through the dimly lit corridors of a long abandoned space station, gradually becoming slower and slower as the solar panels fail one by one . . .

purlieu

Quote from: machotrouts on June 11, 2019, 04:55:02 PM
Has there ever been a longer artist-title combination than "Emile Ford & the Checkmates - What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" at #1? That'd be a historic achievement and all I reckon.
Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next beats it by a couple of letters
Baz Lurhmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) The Sunscreen Song (Class of '99), as it's called on the front cover, is probably the longest.

daf

Well playmates, that was fun wasn't it - The Fifties all done and dusted - from Orchestral Soup, to Pizzicato Nuts.

I thought I'd include an 'index' at this point - partly as the links for a lot of the early songs have broken, so it was a chance to fix that, & also as a handy overview of the journey so far.

daf

1950's UK Number Ones Song Index
(number = post / songtitle = link)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  1952 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1.     Al Martino - Here In My Heart

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  1953 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2.     Jo Stafford - You Belong To Me
3.     Kay Starr - Comes A-Long A-Love
4.     Eddie Fisher - Outside Of Heaven
5.     Perry Como - Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes
6.     Guy Mitchell - She Wears Red Feathers
7.     The Stargazers - Broken Wings
8.     Lita Roza - (How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window
9.     Frankie Laine - I Believe
10.   Eddie Fisher - I'm Walking Behind You
11.   Mantovani - The Song From The Moulin Rouge
12.   Guy Mitchell - Look At That Girl
13.   Frankie Laine - Hey Joe
14.   David Whitfield - Answer Me
15.   Frankie Laine - Answer Me

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  1954 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
16.   Eddie Calvert - Oh Mein Papa
17.   Stargazers - I See The Moon
18.   Doris Day - Secret Love 
19.   Johnnie Ray - Such A Night
20.   David Whitfield - Cara Mia
21.   Kitty Kallen - Little Things Mean A Lot
22.   Frank Sinatra - Three Coins In The Fountain
23.   Don Cornell - Hold My Hand
24.   Vera Lynn - My Son My Son
25.   Rosemary Clooney - This Ole House
26.   Winifred Atwell - Let's Have Another Party - part 1 / part 2

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  1955 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
27.   Dickie Valentine - Finger Of Suspicion
28.   Rosemary Clooney - Mambo Italiano
29.   Ruby Murray - Softly, Softly
30.   Tennessee Ernie Ford - Give Me Your Word
31.   Perez Prado - Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White
32.   Tony Bennett - Stranger In Paradise
33.   Eddie Calvert - Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White
34.   Jimmy Young - Unchained Melody
35.   Alma Cogan - Dreamboat
36.   Slim Whitman - Rose Marie
37.   Jimmy Young - The Man From Laramie
38.   Johnston Brothers - Hernando's Hideaway
39.   Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock Around The Clock
40.   Dickie Valentine - Christmas Alphabet

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  1956 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
41.   Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons
42.   Dean Martin - Memories Are Made Of This
43.   The Dream Weavers - It's Almost Tomorrow
44.   Kay Starr - The Rock And Roll Waltz
45.   Winifred Atwell - The Poor People Of Paris
46.   Ronnie Hilton - No Other Love
47.   Pat Boone - I'll Be Home
48.   Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers - Why Do Fools Fall in Love
49.   Doris Day - Whatever Will Be Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)
50.   Anne Shelton - Lay Down Your Arms
51.   Frankie Laine - A Woman In Love
52.   Johnnie Ray - Just Walking In The Rain

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  1957 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
53.   Guy Mitchell - Singing The Blues
54.   Tommy Steele - Singing The Blues
55.   Frankie Vaughan - The Garden Of Eden
56.   Tab Hunter - Young Love
57.   Lonnie Donegan - Cumberland Gap
58.   Guy Mitchell - Rock-A-Billy
59.   Andy Williams - Butterfly
60.   Johnnie Ray - Yes Tonight Josephine
61.   Lonnie Donegan - Puttin' On The Style / Gamblin' Man
62.   Elvis Presley - All Shook Up
63.   Paul Anka - Diana
64.   The Crickets - That'll Be The Day
65.   Harry Belafonte - Mary's Boy Child

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  1958 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
66.   Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls Of Fire
67.   Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock / Treat Me Nice
68.   Michael Holliday - The Story Of My Life
69.   Perry Como - Magic Moments
70.   Marvin Rainwater - Whole Lotta Woman
71.   Connie Francis - Who's Sorry Now
72.   Vic Damone - On The Street Where You Live
73.   Everly Brothers - All I Have To Do Is Dream
74.   The Kalin Twins - When
75.   Connie Francis - Stupid Cupid
76.   Tommy Edwards - All In The Game
77.   Lord Rockingham's XI - Hoots Mon
78.   Conway Twitty - It's Only Make Believe

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  1959 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
79.   Jane Morgan - The Days The Rains Came
80.   Elvis Presley - I Got Stung  /  One Night
81.   Shirley Bassey - As I Love You
82.   The Platters - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
83.   Russ Conway - Side Saddle
84.   Buddy Holly - It Doesn't Matter Anymore   / Raining in My Heart
85.   Elvis Presley - I Need Your Love Tonight  /  A Fool Such As I
86.   Russ Conway - Roulette
87.   Bobby Darin - Dream Lover
88.   Cliff Richard and The Drifters - Living Doll
89.   Craig Douglas - Only Sixteen
90.   Jerry Keller - Here Comes Summer
91.   Bobby Darin - Mack The Knife
92.   Cliff Richard and The Shadows - Travellin' Light
93.  Adam Faith - What Do You Want
94.  Emile Ford and The Checkmates - What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

I have a massive, throbbing crush on this thread, daf, thank you so much for setting sail with it. Roll on the Sixties! Which don't really start in earnest until The Beatles turn up, but I'm quite fond of the pre-swinging Cliff and Shads era. It always puts me in mind of formica tabletops, drizzly fairgrounds, smoke-filled cinemas and Tony Hancock mucking about with his TV aerial. 

purlieu

We're not far off 'Apache' being number one, so I'm looking forward to the sixties a lot.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

It'll be particularly interesting when we get to the Beatles, Stones, Kinks etc. It's easy to take that stuff for granted, but one of the best things about this thread is the way it encourages us to listen to familiar - and sometimes not so familiar - pop hits in context.

When we eventually reach You Really Got Me, for example, I suspect the general response will be: "Fucking hell! Imagine hearing THIS for the first time in 1964!!"