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1953: #1 hits the year I was born

Stalin died

Les.Roger.backporch — Les and Roger Green, back porch of 5 Gaines St, 2nd floor, 1953

It’s time for the #1 hits the year I was born, 1953, when I arranged the armistice which ended the Korean conflict and ordered Stalin to go away.

I’ve noticed that many of my friends who were born in the mid-1960s and later know the sensations of their natal year. I suppose a lot of that was them hearing the songs on oldies stations.

But the early 1950s was a bit of a neverland, neither the big band tunes of the 1930s and 1940s nor the rock and roll era that started c. 1955.

As it turned out, someone gave me a CD of the hits of that fateful annum. It came out in 2006 from SONY/BMG. Not all were #1s, but it did give me a more profound background about that year of music. The ones marked with an asterisk (*)were on the album.

All these #1s below, except No Other Love, were certified gold records. You will note there are 72 weeks represented because there were multiple charts involving sales, radio airplay, and jukebox play.

Songs

Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You) – Les Paul and Mary Ford, eleven weeks at #1

The Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart) – Percy Faith with Fecilia Sanders on vocals, ten weeks at #1

*You You You – The Ames Brothers, eight weeks at #1 . I most remember Ed Ames from a hatchet demonstration he performed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson

*RagsTo Riches – Tony Bennett with the Percy Faith Orchestra, eight weeks at #1

The Doggie In The Window – Patti Page, eight weeks at #1. My mother sang this novelty song around the house when I was growing up.

Till I Waltz With You Again – Teresa Brewer, seven weeks at #1

I’m Walking Behind You – Eddie Fisher, seven weeks at #1. That’s Sally Sweetland on harmony vocals

*Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes -Perry Como, five weeks at #1

No Other Love – Perry Como, four weeks at #1. From the musical Me and Juliet by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

St. George and the Dragonet – Stan Freburg, four weeks at #1, novelty

There were lower-charting songs I know quite well: Dean Martin’s That’s Amore (#2), Eh, Cumpare by Julius LaRosa (#2), and Eartha Kitt’s version of Santa Baby (#3).

Familiar songs from the album include Satin Doll by Duke Ellington, Venezuela by Harry Belafonte, and The Four Lads’ version of Istanbul.

For all you 1953 enthusiasts, 161 songs.

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Most awarded songs #10

mondegreen of long duration

More fun with tunes that are among the most awarded songs #10. I own every one of them in some form. Here are some of your Grammy and Oscar winners. They’ve been touted by Rolling Stone magazine, RIAA, ASCAP, CMA, NPR, and others.

60. A Change Is Going To Come – Sam Cooke. If you saw the biopic One Night in Miami, you get a sense of the importance of this song on society at that point. He was inspired by Bob Dylan’s Blowing In The Wind. Cooke chose to share feelings he had from dealing with discrimination, at hotels, e.g., that he experienced. Unfortunately, he was killed on December 12, 1964, two weeks before the song was released as a single.

59. I Only Have Eyes For You – The Flamingoes. Quoting me: “I hear those first three or four chords and I am always surprised how it leads to such a lush tune. My first favorite song, probably for 30 years.”

58. Layla – Derek and the Dominoes. I loved this song when I was in college. My neighbors Howie and Debi had a cat named Layla, who was a sister to our cat Doris. It is, of course, about Clapton’s longing for his friend George Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd. Rita Coolidge has claimed credit for co-creating the piano part, a segment that her then-boyfriend Jim Gordon was playing the tune during the album sessions.

57. Losing My Religion – R.E.M. I could always relate to this song.

56. Imagine – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. I’m on record of having overdosed on this recording and especially all of the covers. Still, I’m glad that John had a signature song by which he’ll be remembered. His son Julian sang it to support the Ukrainians recently.

“Picket lines and picket signs”

55. What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye. Berry Gordy famously wasn’t a fan at first.

54. You Send Me – Sam Cooke. Cooke took a lot of grief for abandoning the gospel music with the Soul Stirrers. Still, this song is pretty tame for such outrage.

53. I Walk The Line – Johnny Cash. as his first big hit – #1 country, #17 pop in 1957 – it is the song I most associate with him. A biopic about him and June Carter was titled Walk The Line.

52. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison. Apparently, because of signing a bad contract with Bang Records, Morrison never made a cent on his first, and signature hit.

51. California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and The Papas. They were listed as The Mama’s and the Papa’s on their first big single. Here is was one of the mondegreens I lived with for the longest time:
Stopped into a church
I passed along the way
Well, I got down on my knees (got down on my knees)
And I pretend to pray (I pretend to pray)
but I heard
And I began to pray
Moreover, I’ve heard a number of cover versions that made the same mistake.

The most awarded songs #9

murder ballad about the 1866 death of Laura Foster

Hey, kids! I know you want even more of the most awarded songs #9. They’ve picked up Grammys and Oscars. They’ve been cited by Rolling Stone magazine, RIAA, ASCAP, CMA, and NPR. For all I know, maybe AARP.

70. I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Joan Jett heard The Arrows play their version on a UK TV show, a year after they recorded it in 1975. This I hadn’t heard: “She first recorded the song in 1979 with two of the Sex Pistols, Steve Jones and Paul Cook.” Then she re-recorded it with the Blackhearts two years later.

69. Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival. John Fogerty said that the song “speaks more to the unfairness of class than war itself. It’s the old saying about rich men making war and poor men having to fight them.” Got that right.

68. Stand By Your Man – Tammy Wynette. It was a crossover hit, #1 country for three weeks in 1968. In early ’69, it went to #11 adult contemporary and even #19 pop. Lyle Lovett did a cover, which shows up at the end of the 1992 movie The Crying Game.

67. Georgia On My Mind – Ray Charles. It was a Hoagy Carmichael song from 1930. Three decades later, Brother Ray had a #1 pop hit. In 1979, Ray Charles’s version was designated the official state song of the Peach State.

66. Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone – The Temptations. Dennis Edwards said in an interview that the long instrumental intro made him so angry that he barked out that first line, just the way producer Norman Whitfield wanted. This was the last of the Tempts’ four #1 pop hits.

A bad mother…

65. Theme from Shaft – Isaac Hayes. The movie Shaft had a black director, a primarily black cast, and music composed and performed by a black artist. In 1971, this was a BFD. The theme has entered the culture, from Sesame Street and The Simpsons to The Wire and The X-Files. “Damn right.”

64. I Can’t Stop Loving You – Ray Charles. The song was from a B-side by Don Gibson in 1958. Brother Ray’s take went to number one on the U.S. R and B (10 weeks!), pop (5 weeks), and Adult Contemporary (5 weeks) charts in 1962. It was a hit in the UK and Sweden too.

63. Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley. His first hit on his new label RCA Victor in 1956. “Presley accepted [Mae Boren] Axton’s offer of a third of the royalties if he made the song his first single on his new label.”

62. The Thrill Is Gone – B.B. King. Roy Hawkins’ recording of the song got to #6 on the Billboard R and B chart in 1951. It was written by Hawkins and fellow West Coast blues musician Rick Darnell. But King’s version in 1970 went to #3 R and B, #15 pop, and became one of his signature songs.

61. Tom Dooley – The Kingston Trio. A lot Most of my father’s folk collection was of black musicians such as Leadbelly, Harry Belafonte, and Odetta. But surely the Kingston Trio was represented, for I recall hearing this song in my home. This is a murder ballad about the 1866 death of a woman named Laura Foster by a guy named Tom Dula, with a poem by Thomas Land written shortly thereafter. The first recording of the song was c. 1929.

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Tag: music

1953: #1 hits the year I was born

Songs

May rambling: potential dangers

Life and Death

MUSIC

Most awarded songs #10

“Picket lines and picket signs”

The most awarded songs #9

A bad mother…

May rambling: the future

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