The main point of looking at those 1950s CDs was to see what was in the charts before rock'n'roll, but I'm going to reproduce the tracklistings and my brief prewritten notes for the last three volumes anyway.
This is the first volume to have a subtitle - "Over Easy" - which suggests there may be a companion volume reflecting the increasing popularity of rock'n'roll in the charts but I haven't come across it yet. Compare the 1956 volume which has at least four rock'n'roll classics; it didn't all stop the following year, y'know.
I do, however, note that among these big names of easy listening there are only about four I'd be surprised to find in the US charts at the same time; some earlier volumes have been more evenly balanced.
1. Diana (Paul Anka)
2. When I Fall In Love (Nat King Cole) 3. Young Love (Tab Hunter)
4. Love Letters In The Sand (Pat Boone)
5. Tammy (Debbie Reynolds)
6. Butterfly (Andy Williams)
7. Banana Boat Song (Harry Belafonte)
8. All The Way (Frank Sinatra)
9. The Twelfth Of Never (Johnny Mathis)
10. Exactly Like You (Bing Crosby)
11. Kisses Sweeter Than Wine (Jimmie Rodgers)
12. An Affair To Remember (Vic Damone)
13. Yes Tonight Josephine (Johnnie Ray)
14. Mangos (Rosemary Clooney)
15. I Love You Baby (Paul Anka)
16. Elizabethan Serenade (Ron Goodwin)
17. The Garden Of Eden (Frankie Vaughan)
18. Around The World (Ronnie Hilton)
19. The Adoration Waltz (David Whitfield)
20. Don't Forbid Me (Pat Boone)
21. 99 Ways (Tab Hunter)
22. Chances Are (Johnny Mathis)
23. Look Homeward Angel (Johnnie Ray)
24. Mary's Boy Child (Harry Belafonte)
Further thoughts:
Yes, looking at the tracklistings for the more extensive Acrobat British Hit Parade series for 1957 (two 4 CD sets) there was plenty of rock'n'roll in the charts, so it may be the compilers got cold feet, or - as the Fabulous 50s series has tended to concentrate on the Number Ones - the rock'n'rollers may have been plentiful in the Top Twenty but rarely attained the heights.Nevertheless, in the first six months of the year rock'n'roll UK hits included ... ohhhh bloomin' 'eck, take a look at this lot:
Ain't That A Shame - Domino, Fats
Rock The Joint - Haley, Bill & The CometsHoney Chile - Domino, Fats
Don't Knock The Rock - Haley, Bill & The Comets
Long Tall Sally - Little Richard
Mystery Train - Presley, Elvis
Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
She's Got It - Little Richard
Rip It Up - Little Richard
Girl Can't Help It - Little Richard
Blue Monday - Domino, Fats
I'm Not A Juvenile Delinquent - Lymon, Frankie & The Teenagers
Baby Baby - Lymon, Frankie & The Teenagers
I'm Walkin' - Domino, Fats
Too Much - Presley, Elvis
Party Doll - Knox, Buddy
Little Darlin' - Diamonds
Schoolday - Berry, Chuck
All Shook Up - Presley, Elvis
Lucille - Little Richard
And I don't know whether it's going to be rereleased to cash in on the DVD, but there was a soundtrack compilation when Dennis Potter's Lipstick on Your Collar first came out (but beware as the title of the Connie Francis song has now been used for lots of collections). There isn't much that you can't find elsewhere, but it's a nice souvenir, and it does reflect the domination of rock'n'roll. Secondhand copies are currently cheaply available on a well-known shopping website.
And if you have time on your hands (what, like I don't?) why not check whether each track ties in with with Suez and then - oh, I don't know, write a clever but ultimately pointless letter to Renny Rye or someone pointing out the anachronistic ones. If any - I mean, I haven't checked.
| 1. CONNIE FRANCIS - Lipstick On Your Collar | ||
| 2. ELVIS PRESLEY - Don't Be Cruel (To A Heart That's True) | ||
| 3. THE PLATTERS - The Great Pretender | ||
| 4. THE CREW CUTS - Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) | ||
| 5. THURSTON HARRIS - Little Bitty Pretty One | ||
| 6. FRANKIE VAUGHAN - The Green Door | ||
| 7. THE PLATTERS - Only You | ||
| 8. MICHAEL HOLLIDAY - The Story Of My Life | ||
| 9. FATS DOMINO - Blueberry Hill | ||
| 10. THE DREAM WEAVERS - It's Almost Tomorrow | ||
| 11. HANK WILLIAMS - Your Cheatin' Heart | ||
| 12. FRANKIE VAUGHAN - The Garden Of eden | ||
| 13. THE PLATTERS - My Prayer | ||
| 14. CARL PERKINS - Blue Suede Shoes | ||
| 15. BUDDY HOLLY & THE CRICKETS - Raining In My Heart | ||
| 16. LES BAXTER - Unchained Melody | ||
| 17. THE STARGAZERS - I See The Moon | ||
| 18. GENE VINCENT - Be-Bop-A-Lula | ||
| 19. FATS DOMINO - I'm In Love Again | ||
| 20. SONNY JAMES - Young Love | ||
| 21. SANFORD CLARK - The Fool | ||
| 22. JERRY LEE LEWIS - It'll Be Me | ||
| 23. MICKEY & SYLVIA - Love Is Strange | ||
| 24. THE CREW CUTS - Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream) | ||
| 25. GENE VINCENT - Lotta Lovin' | ||
| 26. ANNE SHELTON - Lay Down Your Arms | ||
| 27. FLOYD ROBINSON - Makin' Love | ||
| 28. BILLY MAY ORCHESTRA - The Man With The Golden Arm |
Good to see that Sanford Clark's The Fool is included - and if you successfully answered my question a few posts ago, then you may be interested in a further Beatle connection: Macca played it on Unplugged, although it didn't make the CD. Here's the original and the mid-nineties Macca version. It would be good to place the relevant Lipstick scene here, but youtube has removed almost all the clips from the series, so try Channel 4 On Demand, although I don't know if that can be accessed outside the UK.
Interesting that the song places the fantasising Hopper in the driving seat: the singer is the dumper, not the dumpee, even though we know she's really walked on account of this guy don't know sh*t about Anton Chekhov - if you'll pardon the jive jargon.
Postscript: Have just looked on the wwwk website, here, for number one UK hits of the fifties. Not that many rock'n'roll number ones in 1957 but All Shook Up and That'll Be the Day are notable by their absence in the Fabulous 50s compilation for that year. A belated attempt, fifty years on, to save our pop kids from the creeping transatlantic infection? Too late, Daddio, says I.
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