Toppermost of the Poppermost - UK Number Ones : part 2 - The 1960s

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Is The Young Ones film the original source of the "Let's do the show right here!" trope, or what?

No, that dates back to the Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland films of the 1940s. I daresay it was probably established before that, but Mick and Jude are closely associated with it.

EDIT: As daf just pointed out.

Anyway, The Young Ones. I find this song rather moving. "We may not be the young ones very long" perfectly encapsulates the existential dread of being a carefree kid who knows this happiness won't last forever. Also, I'll always associate it with Rik - "shouldn't be afwaid" indeed - and Simon Callow's heartbreaking recitation of the lyrics at the end of the documentary that went out after he died (Rik, not Callow).

Even taken on its own terms, the song is one of Cliff's best from that period.

[Satchmo Distel]

According to to imdb, Alexei Sayle also sings with the four leads on the TV theme version

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083505/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm

I'm surprised it was written by two Americans but note that Marvin and Welch grabbed b-sides royalties.

[machotrouts]

Disappointed and horrified to hear a good Cliff Richard single. Where's the fun in that? I know the song, but I think my associating The Young Ones the song with The Young Ones the TV show had caused me to mentally filter out the lovely swooning melancholy of it. daf you bastard I've got a Cliff Richard song saved to my Spotify library now.

A number of actresses were considered to be Cliff Richard's co-star ... Richard himself in an interview expressed an interest in engaging the very young Helen Shapiro for the role.

[daf]

Uncork the Liquorice Stick, it's . . .

132b. (NME 128.)  Mr. Acker Bilk - Stranger on the Shore



From :  13 - 19 January 1962
Weeks : 1
Flip side : Take My Lips (Meravigliose Labbra)

Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk, MBE was popped into the world in Pensford, Somerset on 28 January 1929, wearing a stripy waistcoat and a little bowler hat.

He earned the nickname "Acker" from the Somerset slang for "friend" or "mate". His parents tried to teach him the piano but, as a boy, Bilk found it restricted his love of outdoor activities, including football. He lost two front teeth in a school fight and half a finger in a sledging accident, both of which he said affected his eventual clarinet style.

During his three years of National Service with the Royal Engineers in the Suez Canal Zone, he learned the clarinet after his sapper friend, John A. Britten, gave him one bought at a bazaar. The clarinet had no reed, so Britten fashioned a makeshift one for the instrument from scrap wood. Bilk later borrowed a better instrument from the army and kept it after demobilisation. After National Service, Bilk joined his uncle's blacksmith business and qualified in the trade.

Bilk played with friends on the Bristol jazz circuit, and in 1951 moved to London to play with Ken Colyer's band. Bilk disliked London, so returned west and formed his own band in Pensford called the Chew Valley Jazzmen, which was renamed the Bristol Paramount Jazz Band when they moved to London in 1951. Their agent then booked them for a six-week gig in Düsseldorf, Germany, playing in a beer bar seven hours a night, seven nights a week. During this time, Bilk and the band developed their distinctive style and appearance, complete with striped-waistcoats and bowler hats.

After returning from Germany, Bilk became based in Plaistow, London, and his band played in London jazz clubs. It was from here that Bilk became part of the boom in trad jazz in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s. In 1960, their single "Summer Set" (a rib-tickling pun on their home county), co-written by Bilk and pianist Dave Collett, reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, and began a run of 11 chart hit singles, including : 'White Cliffs Of Dover' (#30)  /  'Buona Sera' (#7)  /  'That's My Home' (#7)  /  and  'Stars And Stripes' (c/w) 'Creole Jazz' (#22)

Bilk was not an internationally known musician until 1962, when the experimental use of a string ensemble on one of his albums and the inclusion of a composition of his own as its keynote piece won him an audience outside the UK. He had composed a melody, entitled "Jenny" after his daughter, but was asked to change the title to "Stranger on the Shore" for use in a British television series. He went on to record it as the title track of a new album in which his deep and quavering clarinet was backed by the Leon Young String Chorale.

The single was not only a big hit in the United Kingdom, where it stayed on the charts for 55 weeks, helped by Bilk being the subject of the TV show This Is Your Life, but also topped the American charts. As a result, Bilk was the second British artist to have a single in the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, after Vera Lynn with "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" in 1952.

At the height of his career, Bilk's public relations workers were known as the "Bilk Marketing Board", a pun on the Milk Marketing Board, and in 1962, he appeared in two theatrical motion pictures : It's Trad, Dad! (featuring three songs and a speaking role for Bilk), and 'Band of Thieves' - which starred "Mr. Acker Bilk" and his group as musicians in prison.

Bilk's success tapered off when British rock and roll made its big international impact beginning in 1964 and he shifted direction to the cabaret circuit. He finally had another chart success in 1976 with "Aria", which went to number five in the United Kingdom.

In May 1977 Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band provided the interval act for the Eurovision Song Contest. His last chart appearance was in 1978, when the TV-promoted album, 'Evergreen', reached 17 in a 14-week album chart run.

In the 1980s, Bilk continued to tour with his Paramount Jazz Band, as well as performing concerts with his two contemporaries, Chris Barber and Kenny Ball, as "The 3Bs". Bilk also provided vocals on many of his tracks, including on "I'm an Old Cowhand", "White Cliffs of Dover", and "Travellin On".

In 1997, Bilk was diagnosed with throat cancer, which was treated through surgery and then followed by daily radiation therapy at Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre. Subsequently he had eight keyhole operations for bladder cancer and suffered a minor stroke.

In 2012 Bilk said that, after fifty years, he was "fed up" with playing his most famous tune, "Stranger on the Shore".

Bilk died in Bath, Somerset, on 2 November 2014, at the age of 85. He was survived by his wife and two children.

"Stranger on the Shore" is a piece for clarinet written by Acker Bilk for his young daughter and originally named "Jenny" after her. It was subsequently used as the theme tune of a BBC TV drama serial for young people, Stranger on the Shore. It was first released in 1961 in the UK, and then in the US, and reached number 1 in the US and number 2 in the UK.

Stranger on the Shore was a British television drama serial first broadcast by the BBC in 1961. It was written by Sheila Hodgson, and produced and directed by Kevin Sheldon. The show was described by some as a "children's serial", being shown on Sunday afternoons. The five-episode series portrays Marie-Hélène Ronsin, a young French teenager, on her first trip to England as an au pair. Speaking some English, but very shy, she lives with a family in Brighton, and faces the challenges of culture shock. The series was followed the following year by a sequel, entitled Stranger in the City.

Acker Bilk's "Jenny" was renamed "Stranger on the Shore" when it was chosen as the theme for the series. It was subsequently released as a single, spending 55 weeks in the UK singles chart and becoming the best-selling record of 1962 in the U.S. chart.

In May 1969, the crew of Apollo 10 took "Stranger on the Shore" on their mission to the moon. Gene Cernan, a member of the crew, included the tune on a cassette tape used in the command module of the Apollo spacecraft.

The track, performed by Bilk (as "Mr. Acker Bilk") with backing by the Leon Young String Chorale, and produced by Denis Preston, was released as a single on EMI's Columbia Records, in October 1961; the label text states "Theme from the BBC T.V. Series". The UK B-side was "Take My Lips" whereas the US flipside was "Cielito Lindo".

The single became a phenomenal success, topping the NME singles chart and spending nearly a year on the Record Retailer Top 50 - peaking at #2. Despite not topping the official chart, it was the UK's biggest-selling single of 1962, and the biggest-selling instrumental single of all time. As of November 2012, it had sold 1.16 million copies.

On 26 May 1962, "Stranger on the Shore" became a number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 where it was issued by Atlantic Records on the Atco label. It was Billboard's #1 single of 1962, and it spent seven weeks atop the "Easy Listening" chart, (which later became known as the 'Adult Contemporary' chart).

Music publisher Robert Mellin wrote lyrics for this song in 1962, allowing it to be covered by vocal acts - including Andy Williams and The Drifters.

Other Versions include : Martin Denny (1962)  /  Bobby Rydell (1962)  /  Booker T. & The M.G.'s (1962)  /  "Savoir aimer" by Nana Mouskouri (1962)  /  "Ein fremder Mann" by Lale Andersen (1962)  / Ruby and The Romantics (1963)  /  "En främling kom" by Cacka Israelsson (1963)  /  The Eagles (1963)  /  Floyd Cramer (1963)  /  Anita Bryant (1963)  /  Jack Nitzsche (1963)  /  Brian Poole and The Tremeloes (1963)  /  Santo & Johnny (1963)  /  The Ventures (1964)  /  Patti Page (1964)  /  Bill Black's Combo (1964)  /  Pat Thomas (1964)  /  Peter Posa (1964)  /  Duke Ellington (1964)  /  Duane Eddy (1965)  /  Chris Connor (1965)  /  Ace Cannon (1965)  /  Chet Atkins (1966)  /  Boots Randolph (1966)  /  Basil Henriques & The Waikiki Islanders (1967)  /  Slim Whitman (1969)  /  Val Doonican (1973)  /  "En främling kom" by Bollebandet och Sören Rydgren (1974)  /  Günter Noris (1977)  /  Roger Whittaker (1982)  /  Zamfir (1985)  /  Kenny G (1999)  /  Foster & Allen (2004)  /  Francesco Alcozer (2012)  /  Sarah Grose  & Steve Thompson (2012)  /  Dave Monk (2013)  /  Will Pope (2014)

[Satchmo Distel]

The NME surely got this right - a huge seller for its time.

[DrGreggles]

Is The Young Ones film the original source of the "Let's do the show right here!" trope, or what?

Yep.
And the phrase "Vyvian, you complete and utter bastard!"

[machotrouts]

Can't say I'm any more aware of this than the previous NME-only #1s. But how would I know if I'd heard it or not? Not really a melody that jumps out at you. At most if I'd heard it I'd probably just think "oh, a trumpet is playing. Good for them". But I guess it's a clarinet. I didn't know what a clarinet is. To be honest I think I thought it was a kind of flute. I usually think things are kinds of flute until proven otherwise. Well I've really got nothing here sorry everyone.

That 'Aria' one is nice. A tentative, unassuming soar. Most unobtrusively triumphant bells ever.

[purlieu]

I always thought that was a 'proper' number one. It's one I was waiting for.

[daf]

He . . Can't . .  Help . . Making daft films . . for you, it's . . .

133.  Elvis Presley - Can't Help Falling In Love



From : 18 February – 17 March 1962
Weeks : 4
Double A-side : Elvis Presley - Rock-A-Hula Baby

The Story So Far :

His Hand in Mine, released on RCA Victor Records in November 1960, was the first of three gospel music albums that Presley would issue during his lifetime. Recording sessions took place on October 30 and 31, 1960, at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee. It peaked at #13 on the Top Pop Albums chart.

Presley had a lifelong, fundamental love of church music, and often used it to rehearse and loosen up before concerts and at the beginning of recording sessions. Presley had earlier devoted an extended play single, Peace in the Valley, to his love for gospel songs, and was eager to record a full album of this music. This fit well with the plans of Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to steer his client into a family-friendly image as he switched Presley's career concentration toward movie stardom in Hollywood.



All the selections for His Hand In Mine were completed in one fourteen-hour session. Two songs were recorded during the session, but withheld for issue as singles - "Surrender" would be his first single of 1961 and top the chart, but "Crying in the Chapel" would wait until April 1965 to be issued, going to #3 on the chart.

Highlights include 'I'm Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs'  /  'Milky White Way'  /  'Swing Down Sweet Chariot'  /  'Working on the Building'  /  and Joshua Fit the Battle - which was later released as a single in 1966.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Following 'Wild in the Country', Presley's next film, his eighth, Blue Hawaii, was the first of three Elvis films to be shot in Hawaii.

Producer Hal B. Wallis was keen to put Presley into a film that showed how the army affected a man. Actress Juliet Prowse, who had starred with Presley in GI Blues, was approached to be his love interest again. However, after her demands were put forward, Paramount decided to drop her as a possible candidate for the role, choosing Joan Blackman instead. Presley was apparently so pale before shooting that Wallis personally recommended a brand of tanning lamp to darken his skin. The film was announced in the Autumn of 1960 as Hawaii Beach Boy.

Presley arrived in Hawaii on March 18, 1961, to prepare for a charity concert that he was performing on March 25 to raise funds for the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. He arrived at the recording studio on March 21 to start the recording of the film's soundtrack. Three weeks later, location filming had finished, including scenes at Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head, Mount Tantalus, and Hanauma Bay, a volcanic crater that is open to the sea, a few miles away from Waikiki. Following location filming, the crew returned to the Paramount lot to finish other scenes for the film. Presley would relax during filming by giving karate demonstrations with his friend and employee, Red West, which resulted in Presley's fingers becoming bruised and swollen.

Presley was 26 at the time this film was released, and a not yet 36-year-old Angela Lansbury played his character's mother. Nancy Walters, who was cast as the older school teacher was, in reality, only 18 months older than Presley.

Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote that Presley "delivers the songs and rhythmical spasms right on schedule. We counted fourteen tunes, about half of them replete with ukulele trimmings and exotic, weaving dancers. One of them, a number called 'Beach Boy Blues,' is nifty, and Presley delivers it accordingly. No kidding."

Variety wrote, "Hal Kanter's breezy screenplay, from a story by Allan Weiss, is the slim, but convenient, foundation around which Wallis and staff have erected a handsome, picture-postcard production crammed with typical South Seas musical hulaballoo ... Under Norman Taurog's broad direction, Presley, in essence, is playing himself—a role sure to delight his ardent fans."

Harrison's Reports graded the film as "Fair", adding, "As is the custom in a Presley production, the crooner-gyrater dominates the running time of the film. That is why, it is more the pity, now that he has so many films under his acting belt that he still continues to deliver such an embarrassingly poor performance."

John L. Scott of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "does a lot for the 'paradise of the Pacific,' showing its foamy waves, palm trees, luaus and a couple of plush hotels, but not very much for Elvis' fans (what age bracket does he appeal to now?) ... One of these days Elvis will play a straight role with substance, and we'll definitely find out whether he can act or not."

 

Blue Hawaii was the fourth soundtrack album by Elvis Presley, released on October 20, 1961. In the United States, the album spent 20 weeks at the number one slot and 39 weeks in the Top 10 on Billboard's Top Pop LPs chart. On the US Top Pop Albums chart, Blue Hawaii is second only to the soundtrack of West Side Story as the most successful album of the 1960s.

RCA and Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had initially planned a schedule of one soundtrack and one popular music release per year for Presley, in addition to the requisite four singles. To coincide with the location of the film, touches of Hawaiian music were included, from instrumentation to the traditional song "Aloha 'Oe". The title song, Blue Hawaii, was taken from the 1937 Bing Crosby film Waikiki Wedding, and "Hawaiian Wedding Song" dates from a 1926 operetta.

Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood on March 21, 22, and 23, 1961. The songs "Can't Help Falling in Love" and "Rock-A-Hula Baby" were pulled off the album for two sides of a single released on November 21, 1961.

Other Songs on the soundtrack included : Almost Always True  /  No More  /  Ku-U-I-Po  /  Slicin' Sand, and the original Title track - Beach Boy Blues. One of the best songs recorded during the sessions - Steppin' Out Of Line - would later be included on the album, "Pot Luck', in 1962.

The success of this soundtrack and its predecessor G. I. Blues, both of which sold in much greater quantity than Presley's two regular releases of the time, 'Elvis Is Back!' and 'Something for Everybody' set the pace for the rest of the decade. Parker and Presley would focus on Elvis' film career, non-soundtrack albums taking a back seat with only six during the 1960s against sixteen full-length soundtrack albums among 27 movies and the comeback special.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Filming began July 6, 1961 on Presley's ninth film, Follow That Dream, in the summer heat of Florida.  It was based on the 1959 novel Pioneer, Go Home! by Richard P. Powell. The title Follow That Dream was chosen, allegedly, because the songwriters could not find a rhyme for "pioneer". At first, Powell was unhappy that Presley had been chosen for the role, but after seeing the finished film he thought Presley had done a good job.

The plot involves a family of ragtag vagabonds, (including Elvis as "Toby", Pop Kwimper's good-natured but unsophisticated son) setting up a makeshift home on a Florida beach after becoming marooned there, prompting an uptight local bureaucrat to attempt to evict them.  Toby rejects the advances of an amorous social worker, and in an act of revenge, she begins legal action to have the children taken away from Pop and make them wards of the state. In the end, Toby's earthy wits and honesty win over the judge at the children's custody hearing. The judge orders the children to be returned to Pop and also praises the Kwimpers' pioneer spirit in his statement to the court. The family happily returns to its new land and home.

It was filmed in Citrus, Marion, and Levy Counties, specifically Inverness, Ocala, Inglis and Yankeetown.

During filming, Elvis met Tom Petty, who was only 10 years old at the time. Petty's uncle was involved in the production of the movie. Shortly afterwards, Petty swapped his slingshot for a friend's collection of Elvis records.

Reviews from critics were mixed. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote : "Judging by this laboriously homespun and simple-minded exercise about just plain folks, somebody must have decided that the Presley films have been getting a little too glossy lately. In any case, compared to yesterday's serving of corn-meal mush (from United Artists), 'Blue Hawaii' was caviar."

Variety stated that "by Presley pix standards, it's above average ... Presley conveys the right blend of horse sense and naivete in his characterization, and delivers five songs with vocal competence and nary a wiggle."

Harrison's Reports graded the film as "Good," lauding it as "a smoothly-paced, warmth-giving attempt at story-telling, which may even rub off on the adults thus giving the box office take a nice boost."

Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post called the film "absurd nonsense," adding, "Presley's guitar is along for several ballads, delivered with reasonable restraint. I don't object to him as a performer, in fact he does reasonably well by a character that seems to be a cross between Li'l Abner and Tammy. What is objectionable is the tasteless corn and frankly political pitch."

   

Recording sessions took place on July 5, 1961, at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee. Six songs were recorded for the film, and a distressed Presley insisted that the worst song, "Sound Advice" be omitted from release when it came time to assemble a soundtrack. "Sound Advice" would be placed on the compilation Elvis for Everyone, and a sixth soundtrack song, "A Whistling Tune" would be saved for the next film Kid Galahad.

Issued as an extended play record, the Follow That Dream soundtrack EP was released in April 1962 to coincide with the film's premiere.
Songs included : "Follow That Dream"  /  "Angel"  /  "What a Wonderful Life"  /  and  "I'm Not the Marrying Kind"

The record sold very well, especially for an EP in the Sixties. The title song received Top 40 radio air-play and reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It became a platinum record. The extended play record was the number-one EP in the UK for 20 weeks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shooting began in early November 1961 in Hidden Lodge, Idyllwild, California, on Presley's tenth film, Kid Galahad. It was a remake of a 1937 film (of the same name) starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart. It was released by United Artists, and opened at number 9 at the box office when released in the United States in August 1962.

Elvis plays Walter Gulick, a mechanic who accidentally becomes a boxing champ.

For this role Presley was tutored in the arts of pugilism by former world junior welterweight champ Mushy Callahan, who appeared in the film as a referee. According to Callahan, in all the close-up scenes when Presley is being struck in the face by punches, it is Callahan who was throwing them. He taught Presley how to move his head backwards as the punches were being delivered so that each blow either missed him or barely touched him. Reigning welterweight champion Orlando De La Fuente also appeared as Ramon "Sugar Boy" Romero.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times suggested that Presley was miscast as a boxer, writing that he was "certainly no model for a statue of Hercules, and his skill at projecting an illusion of ferocity is of very low degree." Nevertheless, he found the film to be "moderately genial entertainment. It's not explosive, but it has the cheerful top of a lightly romantic contrivance that ranges between comedy and spoof. For this we can thank the other actors who played their roles ardently and Phil Karlson, who has directed at a brisk and deceptive pace."

Harrison's Reports wrote that "Presley is surrounded by some very nice people. In lending him support, they give strength to a run-of-the-mill story that plays itself out with a simplicity of appeal and bountiful residue of entertainment. The film manages to give a pleasing account of itself."

A less positive notice in Variety read, "The story may be old, the direction not especially perceptive, the performances in several cases pretty poor, but United Artists' 'Kid Galahad' is apt to be a moneymaker in spite of all this."

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "If the wit and intelligence lavished on the excellent dialogue had also been used to give a shred of ingenuity to the plot or a momentary sparkle to the lyrics, this would have been a much more amusing comedy ... Elvis Presley repeats the amiable oaf performance he gave recently in Follow That Dream, but it is nowhere near as funny, partly because his farcical opportunities are fewer, but mainly because it is hard to laugh continually at someone whose face is seen a couple of times bruised and bleeding in the ring."

   

Recording sessions took place ten months prior to the film's release on October 26 and 27, 1961, at Radio Recorders Studios in Hollywood, California. At this point in his career Presley had a proven sales track record, and up to 300 demos were often submitted for a single film, even given the requisite publishing arrangements favorable toward the companies owned by Elvis and the Colonel, Elvis Presley Music and Gladys Music.

Six songs were recorded for the film and the soundtrack was issued as an extended play record in August 1962 to coincide with the film's premiere.  "King of the Whole Wide World" received Top 40 radio airplay and reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The extended play record was the number-one EP in the UK for 17 weeks.

As well as 'King of the Whole Wide World', the EP included : "This Is Living"  /  "Riding the Rainbow"  /  "Home Is Where the Heart Is"  /  "I Got Lucky"  /  and "A Whistling Tune"

As the plots for Presley films became interchangeable, songs rejected for a certain storyline could later be used for an entirely different film, as with "A Whistling Tune" which had been omitted from Presley's previous film Follow That Dream but found a place here instead.

"Can't Help Falling in Love" was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss. The melody is based on "Plaisir d'amour", a popular French love song composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini. The song was initially written for a woman as "Can't Help Falling in Love with Him", which explains the first and third line ending on "in" and "sin" rather than words rhyming with "you".

Elvis Presley's version of the song topped the British charts in 1962, spending four weeks at no. 1. In the United States, the song peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 behind Joey Dee and the Starliters' "Peppermint Twist".

During Presley's late 1960s and 1970s live performances, the song was performed as the show's finale. Most notably, it was also sung in the live segment of his 1968 NBC television special, and as the closer for his 1973 Global telecast, Aloha from Hawaii. A version with a faster arrangement was the closing number in Presley's final TV special, Elvis in Concert. "Can't Help Falling in Love" was also the last song he performed live, at his concert in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena on 26 June 1977.

Other Versions include :  Bobby Stevens (1962)  /  The Lennon Sisters (1962)  /  Perry Como (1962)  /  Sharon (1962)  /  The Lettermen (1963)  /  Doris Day (1963)  /  The Hollyridge Strings (1964)  /  Danny Williams (1964)  /  Patti Page (1965)  /  The Paris Sisters (1966)  /  Brenda Lee (1967) /  "Te ne vai" by Bobby Solo (1967)  /  Andy Williams (1970)  /  Pickwick's Top of the Poppers (1970)  /  Marty Robbins (1970)  /  Al Martino (1970)  /  "Jos alkaa saan uudelleen" by Tapani Kansa (1970)  /  Soft Tones (1973)  /  The Stylistics (1976)  /  "Žádám víc" by Karel Gott (1977)  /  Baccara (1977)  / Shirley Bassey (1977)  /  Val Doonican (1977)  /  Jimmy "Orion" Ellis (1978)  /  Engelbert Humperdinck (1979)  /  Slim Whitman (1981)  /  Klaus Nomi (1983)  /  Cameo (1983)  /  Lick the Tins (1986)  /  The Triffids (1989)  /  "Ich glaub' an dich" by Die Flippers (1989)  /  Julio Iglesias (1990)  /  Hall and Oates (1990)  /  Richard Marx (1991)  /  Bono (1992)  /  UB40 (1993)  /  James Galway (1994)  /  Kenny Rogers (1996)  /  Neil Diamond (1998)  /  Eilert Pilarm (2001)  /  Sigue Sigue Sputnik (2002)  /  Erasure (2003)  /  The Monks of Moramanga (2003)  /  Rick Astley (2005)  /  Andrea Bocelli (2005)  /  Barry Manilow (2006)  /  Harry Connick, Jr. (2009)  /  Michael Ball (2011)  /  José Feliciano (2012)  / "Wise Men Still" by ApologetiX (2013)  /   Amanda Lear (2014)  /  Brian May & Kerry Ellis (2017)  /  Claire Crosby (2019)

"Rock-A-Hula Baby ("Twist" Special)" was written by Ben Weisman, Fred Wise, and Dolores Fuller, it is a genre mix of Hawaiian folk and rock and roll.

The song was recorded on March 23, 1961 at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California. The RCA Victor 45 single was released on October 1, 1961. Steve Sholes produced the studio recording session. The Jordanaires provided the backing vocals.

A double A-sided release with "Can't Help Falling in Love", the recording peaked at no. 23 in the U.S., and at No. 1 in Australia and the UK Singles Chart in February 1962, spending four weeks at the chart summit.

Other Versions include :  Paul Rich (1962)  /  Gerd Böttcher und Detlef Engel (1962)  /  "Tryk på" by Shu-bi-dua (1976)  /  Pop Will Eat Itself (1990)  /  De Nieuwe Snaar (1992)  /  Danny Everett (2009)  /  Adam Buxton Dr. K (2009)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  a robot (2017)  /  Elima (2017)  /  Andy Jones (2018)  /  The Satin Dollz (2019)

On This Day :

21 February : Vanessa Feltz, television presenter, born in Islington, London.
24 February : Michelle Shocked, singer-songwriter, born in Dallas, Texas,
24 February : "New Faces of '62" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 28 performances
24 February : "Sail Away" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 167 performances
26 February : Arthur Kopit's "Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad" premieres in NYC
26 February : US Supreme court disallows race separation on public transportation
2 March : Jon Bon Jovi, (Bon Jovi), born John Francis Bongiovi Jr. in Perth Amboy, New Jersey
5 March : Charlie and Craig Reid, (The Proclaimers), born in Leith, Edinburgh
7 March : Beatles made their broadcasting debut on BBC radio
7 March : Taylor Dayne, born Leslie Wunderman in Manhattan, New York
10 March : Gary Clark, rocker (Danny Wilson), born in Dundee
15 March : Richard Rodger's musical "No Strings" opens at 84th St Theater NYC
15 March : Terrence Trent D'Arby (a.k.a. Sananda Francesco Maitreya),  born Terence Trent Howard in Manhattan, New York
16 March : 1st launching of Titan 2 rocket
17 March : Clare Grogan, (Altered Images), born in Glasgow

[Gulftastic]

My karaoke version of 'Can't Help....' makes UB40 look like a load of Brummie chancers.

Not that they needed any help with that.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

A very pretty song, beautifully sung by yer monarch.

Rock-a-Hula Baby is good throwaway fun, but it's an early sign of Elvis descending into self-parody. He's sending himself up, which is fine, but within a couple of years he'll be recording corny soundtrack filler which makes that song sound like an excoriating rock and roll classic.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

FUN FACT: Dolores Fuller, who co-wrote Rock-a-Hula Baby, was the onetime girlfriend and muse of Ed Wood. She's Ed's angora sweater-clad love interest in Glen or Glenda.

[daf]

She got quite a few more songs on Elvis' film soundtracks after this too :

Fuller's ability as a songwriter manifested itself through the intervention of her friend, producer Hal Wallis; Fuller had wanted to get an acting role in the Elvis Presley movie Blue Hawaii, which Wallis was producing, but instead he put her in touch with Hill & Range, the publisher that provided Presley with songs.

Fuller went into a collaborative partnership with composer Ben Weisman and co-wrote one song, "Rock-A-Hula Baby", for the film. It was a beginning that eventually led to Elvis Presley recording a dozen of her songs, including "I Got Lucky", "Do the Clam" and "Spinout". Fuller also had her music recorded by Nat 'King' Cole, Peggy Lee, and other leading talents of the time.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Those royalties presumably allowed her to live comfortably for the rest of her life. Nice one, Dolores!

[machotrouts]

110 links in one post!?

'Can't Help Falling in Love' is a slightly better song than I remember, mainly because I always forget the "like the river flows" bit. That bit's good. But now the rest of it's ruined for me because I can't unhear where it should be "him" instead of "you". Rhyming with "sin" of all things too... missed homopportunity. And NONE of the covers reinstates the correct lyric! What the fuck? Proper narked about this now. Fag it the fuck up you boring breeder scum

Every other Elvis song mentioned here is a nuisance at best. I just don't LIKE Hawaii sorry Obama. 'Rock-a-Hula Baby'? What a Rock-a-Hula load of shit. ("Rock-a-Hula" sounds like a profanity to me and that's how I have decided to use it there.) But this at least does have a satisfactory definitive version in the covers, thanks to the interpretive powers of Pop Will Eat Itself. Restores all of the original lyrics (just the word "Elvis" over and over again).

[Satchmo Distel]

Do The Clam is considered Elvis's nadir, so Dolores has a mixed legacy.

[buzby]

Can't say I'm any more aware of this than the previous NME-only #1s. But how would I know if I'd heard it or not? Not really a melody that jumps out at you. At most if I'd heard it I'd probably just think "oh, a trumpet is playing. Good for them". But I guess it's a clarinet. I didn't know what a clarinet is. To be honest I think I thought it was a kind of flute. I usually think things are kinds of flute until proven otherwise. Well I've really got nothing here sorry everyone.

Bilk's version was sampled to great effect on A Melody From A Past Life Keeps Pulling Me Back from The KLF's seminal Chill Out ambient album.

Eddie Calvert was yer man for trumpet-based pre-rock & roll number one hits (as previously covered by daf in 1954 & 1955).

[kalowski]

Do The Clam is considered Elvis's nadir, so Dolores has a mixed legacy.

(There's) No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car.

[daf]

Dominick - Shaggin' on the Farmyard
He's your Uncle not your Dad - Join the Army, you beatnik bums!
Yoga Is as Yoga Does - Move over Mad Lizzie!

[daf]

Let's Pony Time, like we did last Winter, it's . . .

133b. (NME 130.)  Chubby Checker - Let's Twist Again



From :  3 - 16 March 1962
Weeks : 2
Flip side : The Twist
bonus : pop promo

Ernest Evans was born on 3 October 1941 in Spring Gully, South Carolina. By age eight Evans formed a street-corner harmony group, and in high school, he entertained his classmates by performing vocal impressions of popular entertainers of the day, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Fats Domino.

After school Evans would entertain customers at his various jobs, including Fresh Farm Poultry in the Italian Market on Ninth Street and at the Produce Market, with songs and jokes. The owner of Fresh Farm Poultry, Henry Colt, along with his friend, Cameo-Parkway Records songwriter Kal Mann, arranged for Evans to do a private recording for American Bandstand host Dick Clark. At this recording session Evans got his stage name from Clark's wife, who asked Evans what his name was. "Well", he replied, "my friends call me 'Chubby'". As he had just completed a Fats Domino impression, she smiled and said, "As in Checker?" (the board game) : from then on, Evans would use the name "Chubby Checker".

Checker privately recorded a novelty single for Clark in which the singer portrayed a school teacher with an unruly classroom of musical performers. The premise allowed Checker to imitate such acts as Fats Domino, The Coasters, Elvis Presley, Cozy Cole, and Ricky Nelson, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian Forte as The Chipmunks, each singing "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Clark sent the song out as his Christmas greeting, and it received such good response that Cameo-Parkway signed Checker to a recording contract. Titled "The Class", the single became Checker's first release, charting at #38 in the spring of 1959.

"The Twist" was written by Hank Ballard, and originally released in early 1959 by  Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side to "Teardrops on Your Letter". Ballard's version was a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song became popular on a Baltimore television dance show hosted by local DJ Buddy Dean; Dean recommended the song to Dick Clark, host of the national American Bandstand. When the song proved popular with his audience, Clark attempted to book Ballard to perform on the show. Ballard was unavailable, and Clark searched for a local artist to record the song. He settled on Checker, whose voice was very similar to Ballard's.

In July 1960, Checker performed "The Twist" for the first time in front of a live audience at the Rainbow Club in Wildwood, New Jersey, and just weeks later, on Aug. 6, 1960, the song became a national sensation after Checker performed it on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Chubby Checker's version of the song gave birth to the Twist dance craze. His single became a hit, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 19, 1960, where it stayed for one week, and again on re-release for two weeks starting on January 13, 1962.

In late 1961 and early 1962, the twist craze belatedly caught on in high society. Sightings of celebrities doing the dance made the song a hit with adults, marking a major turning point for adult acceptance of rock and roll music. By 1965, "The Twist" had sold over 15 million copies, and was awarded multiple gold discs.

The song was so ubiquitous that Checker felt that his critics thought that he could only succeed with dance records typecasting him as a dance artist. Checker later lamented : "...in a way, "The Twist" really ruined my life. I was on my way to becoming a big nightclub performer, and "The Twist" just wiped it out... It got so out of proportion. No one ever believes I have talent."

But he wasn't just a one-twist pony, and found follow-up success with a string of up-tempo dance tracks, including : "The Hucklebuck" (US #14)  /  "The Fly" (US #7)  /  "Dance the Mess Around" (US #24)  / and "Pony Time", which became his second #1 US single (UK #27).

Despite his initial disapproval, Checker performed further variants of "The Twist" including "Slow Twistin'"  /  "La Paloma Twist"  /  "Teach Me To Twist"  /  "Twist It Up"  /  and "Let's Twist Again", which won the 1961 Grammy Award for Best Rock and Roll Solo Vocal Performance, and appearing as himself in two films : Twist Around the Clock (1961) and Don't Knock the Twist (1962).

Other substantial hits included "Dancin' Party"  (UK #19) /   "Popeye the Hitchhiker"  /  "Twenty Miles"  /  "Birdland"  /  "Loddy Lo", and the Christmas duet with Bobby Rydell, "Jingle Bell Rock". "Limbo Rock" reached #2 (UK #19)  on 22–29 December 1962 , becoming Checker's last Top Ten Hit in the US.

Checker continued to have Top 40 singles until 1965, but changes in public taste ended his hit-making career. He spent much of the rest of the 1960s touring and recording in Europe.

A dance-floor cover version of the Beatles' "Back in the U.S.S.R." released in 1969 on Buddah Records, his first chart entry in three years, reached No. 82. It was Checker's last chart appearance until 1982 when he hit No. 92 with "Running".

In 1971, Checker recorded a psychedelic album filled with music he felt was "current" that was initially only released in Europe. Originally named Chequered!, and included songs such as 'Stoned In The Bathroom',  'Goodbye, Victoria', and 'Love Tunnel'. The songs were all written by Checker and produced by Ed Chaplin, but the album flopped.

In 1988, he joined The Fat Boys on a rap version of the song, which hit number 2 in the UK, number 16 in the US, and number 1 in Germany and Switzerland. Checker also joined the group to perform the song that summer at a London tribute concert for Nelson Mandela.

In July 2008, Checker had a single at #1 on Billboard's dance chart with "Knock Down the Walls". On February 25, 2013, Checker released a new single, the ballad "Changes".

In 2013, Checker sued HP over a WebOS application - the "Chubby Checker" - which was used to unscientifically estimate penis size from shoe size.

Let's Twist Again" was written by Kal Mann and Dave Appell, and released as a single by Chubby Checker. One of the biggest hit singles of 1961, it reached No.8 on the U.S. Billboard pop chart in August of that year.

The song refers to the Twist dance craze and Checker's 1960 single "The Twist". "Let's Twist Again" actually became more popular than "The Twist" itself in the United Kingdom. Officially reaching No.2 in the Record Retailer chart, it planted it's fat arse on the top of the NME charts for two weeks in February 1962.

The song received the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Rock & Roll Recording. Checker also recorded the song in German as "Der Twist Beginnt" and in Italian as "Balliamo il Twist". A sample of "Der Twist Beginnt" would later be used by The Residents to begin their 1976 album The Third Reich 'n Roll. 

Joey Dee and the Starliters, the Peppermint Lounge house band, scored a hit with "Peppermint Twist", while other artists, including Sam Cooke scored with other "Twist"-themed songs including 'Twistin' The Night Away', while in Europe, Petula Clark had a hit with Ya Ya Twist in 1962

Other Versions include : The Dovells (1961)  /  Tommy Hawk (1961)  /  Louis Prima (1961)  /  "Viens danser le twist" by Johnny Hallyday (1961)  /  Les Chats Sauvages (1961)  /  Jackie Seven (1961)  / Nancy "Twist" Holloway (1961)  /  Duane Eddy (1962)  /  The Ventures (1962)  /  Tony Sheridan (1962)  /  "Zapleši twist" by Arsen Dedić (1962)  /  "Dans nu de twist" by The Hot Jumpers (1962)  /  Dickie Loader & The Blue Jeans (1962)  /  The Isley Brothers (1962)  /  Rod McKuen (1962)  /  "Kun twistataan" by Ann Christine (1962)  /  Vince Taylor et ses play-boys (1962)  / Brian Poole and The Tremeloes (1963)  /   Annette Funicello (1964)  /  Pinky and Perky (1965)  / Mei Dai (1968)   /  Jannes  (1975)  / "Spil whist igen" by Bamses Venner (1976)  /   Raffaella Carrà (1976)  /  "Kokt ask igjen" by Prima Vera (1978)  /  "Kun twistataan" by Kirsi (1980)  /  The Pentti Puntti Band (1980)  /  Rocky Sharpe & The Replays (1983)  /  Black Lace (1984)  /  Brødrene Olsen (1987)  /  Party Poppers (1992)  /   Daniel O'Donnell (2005)  / Titty Twister (2006)  /   Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  matthewalbanus (2012)  /  Fabiana feat. Arianna (2012)  /  Senhor Bonifácio (2014)  /  Rebel Rocks (2014)  /  Moroni (2017)  /   Nur Amira Syahira (2017)  /  Blue Champagne (2017)  /  Muta Sax (2018)  /  Violin Diivas (2018)

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

(There's) No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car.

Oh the songs she wrote for Elvis were mostly shit, but she probably managed to live quite comfortably off the royalties. I doubt she ever got much, both financially and spiritually, from appearing in Ed Wood films.

EDIT: Hang on, she didn't actually write that one. But the point still stands.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Chubby Checker always sang like he was in the middle of an alcohol-fuelled prostate examination. That's a compliment.

[DrGreggles]

Chubby Checker always sang like he was in the middle of an alcohol-fuelled prostate examination.

Twisting would have been a bad move.

[daf]

Blubbery Backgammon
Lardy Ludo
Portly Monopoly
Plumpy Kerplunk

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Twisting would have been a bad move.

Let's cyst again, like we did last bummer.

[Satchmo Distel]

Those royalties presumably allowed her to live comfortably for the rest of her life. Nice one, Dolores!

She achieved enough fame to get an autobiography published

https://www.amazon.com/Fuller-Life-Hollywood-Ed-Wood/dp/1593933045

[Satchmo Distel]

Checker reached a settlement with HP over the cock meter

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/25/chubby-checker-penis-measurement-app-lawsuit-hewlett-packard

'The Hucklebuck' has a Charlie Parker riff.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hucklebuck

[famethrowa]

I saw our man Chubby doing his set on a cruise ship last year. He shuffled around like a zombie between shows, then danced like James Brown on speed at showtime!

[machotrouts]

I think it's very sad that some people pigeonhole the singer of The Twist, Let's Twist Again, Slow Twistin', Teach Me to Twist, Twist It Up, Twistin' U.S.A., Twist Train, Twistin' Round the World, Twist Marie, Nothin' but the Twist, Twistin' Matilda, The Texas Twist, Twist O'Clock, Twist in the Dark, Round the Twist, Twist It Down, Funky Twistin', Got to Twist, Twist Sensation, Twistin' the Blues Away, Twistin' One More Time, Never Stop Twistin', Rock 'n' Roll Twist, Twistin' My Arm, Doo Wop Twist Bop, Whole Lotta Twistin' Goin' On, I Love to Twist, I Live to Twist, Thinkin' 'Bout Twistin', Twist Car, Twist 'n' Twist, Can't Get Enough Twistin', Twistin' at the Discotheque, It's Twistin' Time (All the Time), That's Just How We Twist, The Ballad of The Twist, Twistin' in the Moonlight, Chubby's Special Twist, Twisty Turny Twist, Topsy Turvy Twist, (No Such Thing As) Too Much Twistin', Latino Twist, Chipmunk Twist, The New Twist, Prevent Me From Twistin' (Just Try), Twist It Left, Twistin' Ya Ankle, Twistin' the Knife, Twistin' My Words, Surf 'n' Twist, Summer of Lovin' to Twist, Merry Twistmas! (The Christmas Twist), Nobody Is Ever Not Twistin', Balkan Twist, Twist Lorry, Twist It Right, Twist It Left Again, Uh-Oh! It's Another Twist!, Punk Twist, Post-Punk Twist, Twist Against Racism, You Can't Twist (If You're Racist), Twistin' for Peace, Twistin' for War, Gay Twist, Can't Imagine Not Twistin', Twist or Die, Twist and Die, Twistin' Is Bad (Not!), The Twist 2, Oliver Twist (Happens to Be Doin' The Twist), Twistin' Nude, Christian Twist, Phat Twist, New Jack Twist, New Age Twist, Lil' Twist, Don't Get It Twisted (Do Get It Twistin'!), Knickers in a Twist, Twist in the Wind, Twistin' the Wind, Everything but The Twist, And I Twist You (Like the Deserts Twist the Rain), The Twist Is Back, Funeral Twist, Twist Concorde, The Updated Twist, The Recurring Twist, What's The Twist? (Just Kiddin'! I Know What The Twist Is!), Britpop Twist, Twistin' Ya Bowel, The Disabled Twist (Twistin' Wheely Good!), Twistin' Twist, The Twist 2000: Millennium Twist, Twist Yourself Thin, Hot Wet Twist, Reggae Reggae Twist, Mental Health Awareness Twist, Psychobilly Twist, The Twisted Metal Sweet Tooth Twist, The Twist 3, I Actually Hate to Twist, Let's Twist Again (Again), The Electroclash Twist, The Disappointment Twist, The Txt Spk Twist, Tonight (We Twist Forever), Imagine a World Without The Twist (You Can't!), The Tsiwt (Backwards Twist), I Physically Can't Stop Twistin', The Twist 5, Zumba Twist, Atheist Twist, (Scream All You Want) You Can't Escape The Twist, The Recurring Twist, The Twist: A Recap, The Twits (Twistin' in Memory of Roald Dahl), The Twist Twist, The Twist Twist Twist, The Twist 4 (The Lost Twist), Can't Drown Out the Screams by Twistin' (It Only Makes Things Worse!), Please Lord Help Me Stop Twistin', Sacrificin' My Kids to The Twist Gods, Contagious Universal Twist Madness, Permanent Blazing Twist Hellscape, Twistageddon: A World Ravaged by The Twist, The Emoji Twist, and The Twist (feat. Twista) as some kind of one-trick pony.

I don't actually know what The Twist is. I mean, some kind of dance, yeah, but I don't know what it looks like. Is that important to follow the plot of these songs? Too late to find out now.

Anyway, "Let's Twist Again". Record Retailer was right to keep this off the top spot. I'm NOT happy about going into the sequel without hearing the original. Someone tried to take me to "Avengers: Endgame" recently and I declined for the same reason. Why do I care if a space raccoon's friends have disintegrated, I didn't know them. None of my business. "Let's twist again, like we did last summer"? I didn't do any twisting last summer. I don't know how YOU twisted last summer. That's your business Chubby. "Do you remember", I can tell you now it's a no, "when things were really hummin'?" Chubby, even if I did remember that, why would you want to remind me what it smelt like? Leave me out of your twist stench you weirdo.

Incredible that there are so many versions of this. Does it really stand up as a piece of music in its own right outside the context of the trend it existed to cash in on? It'd be like if "Avengers: Endgame" was the highest-grossing film in box office history or something. Actually, the other versions are largely more palatable than Chubby's – it's not a tune that warrants nearly as much welly as he's giving it. It sounds like it should be a gentle summery janglepop ditty, not the mad honkings of the tortured son of Kermit the Frog and whichever one of the Outhere Brothers performs lead vocals on 'Don't Stop (Wiggle Wiggle)' (one of their two well-deserved number ones; compare and contrast Chubby Checker's well-deserved zero).

Two songs that should have been number ones but weren't: 'Twist' by Goldfrapp and 'Aneurysm' by Nirvana.

[famethrowa]

Utmost karma. When were things really humming?