OLD 55

Phil, the bar room noise in the background always seems pretty realistic to me. :haveabeer:

Hi Dear Laurie. There were some great singers around in the 50s. Tony Bennett is still alive - I'm not sure if he's still performing though ! I remember my Dad giving me 6 shillings (old currency) to buy Al Martino's "Here In My Heart" record to give Mum as a Birthday present in 1952. Music can stir many memories.

The record label misspelled his name on the 1st pressing. Thanks Brad. Good pickup ! I didn't C it at first.

Thanks Brad, my "old" Mate. Freddy King Goes Surfin' ? I never knew that album existed. I think of Hide Away as a jazz/blues geetar tune. :guitar:

Hello Stranger - Barbara Lewis (1963) Hide Away - Freddy King (1961) Keep On Loving You - REO Speedwagon (1981) Can someone please Youtube them for me ? Would you believe I've forgotten how.

Thanks Lars and Elena. The Brits were very loyal. A lot of their covers of US songs outsold the originals. We were fortunate enough in Oz to hear a good mix of US and UK songs. One that I thought of was "Look For A Star". It was a 1960 Hit for Garry Mills in The UK and for Garry Miles in the US. Confusing ? I didn't include it because I like Billy Vaughn's instrumental version best - and I already had a song by him in my List.

Not many views unfortunately. Where's Joe ? I included the Vince Guaraldi Trio for him. Never mind - here's my next 50 songs. Legend: * after song, means song is included in Grammy and/or Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (two in this 50) # after song, means it is an instrumental (#9, 1961) song peaked at #9 in 1961 (#7, 1962/3) song entered in 1962 but peaked at #7 in 1963 351. (Down At) Papa Joe’s - The Dixiebelles (#9, 1963) 352. Tonight # - Ferrante & Teicher (#8, 1961) 353. You Don’t Know Me - Jerry Vale (#14, 1956) 354. The Swingin’ Shepherd Blues # - Moe Koffman Quartette (#23, 1958) 355. Abilene - George Hamilton IV (#15, 1963) 356. Michael - The Highwaymen (#1, 1961) 357. That Old Black Magic * - Louis Prima And Keely Smith (#18, 1958) 358. When The Boys Talk About The Girls - Valerie Carr (#19, 1958) 359. Rainbow - Russ Hamilton (#4, 1957) 360. Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So) - The Crew-Cuts (#6, 1955) 361. Padre - Toni Arden (#13, 1958) 362. Corrine Corina - Big Joe Turner (#41, 1956) 363. If I Had A Hammer - Trini Lopez (#3, 1963) 364. Memories Of You - The Four Coins (#22, 1955) 365. You Need Hands - Eydie Gorme (#11, 1958) 366. Smoky Places - Corsairs Featuring Jay “Bird” Uzzell (#12, 1961/2) 367. My Coloring Book - Kitty Kallen (#18, 1962) 368. Tall Paul - Annette (#7, 1959) 369. Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah - Bob E. Soxx And The Blue Jeans (#8, 1962/3) 370. Hard To Get - Gisele MacKenzie (#4, 1955) 371. Band Of Gold - Don Cherry (#4, 1955/6) 372. The Big Hurt - Miss Toni Fisher (#3, 1959) 373. So Fine - The Fiestas (#11, 1959) 374. Teach Me Tonight - The DeCastro Sisters (#2, 1954/5) 375. Living Doll - Cliff Richard and The Drifters (#30, 1959) 376. Our Winter Love # - Bill Pursell (#9, 1963) 377. Caribbean - Mitchell Torok (#27, 1959) 378. Mona Lisa - Carl Mann (#25, 1959) 379. The Kind Of Boy You Can’t Forget- The Raindrops (#17, 1963) 380. How Important Can It Be ? - Joni James (#2, 1955) 381. Clap Your Hands - The Beau-Marks (#45, 1960) 382 I Left My Heart In San Francisco * - Tony Bennett (#19, 1962) 383. Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes) - Carla Thomas (#10, 1961) 384. A Million To One - Jimmy Charles (#5, 1960) 385. Angela Jones - Johnny Ferguson (#27, 1960) 386. Something’s Gotta Give - Sammy Davis Jr. (#9, 1955) 387. Last Night # - The Mar-Keys (#3, 1961) 388. Start Movin’ (In My Direction) Sal Mineo (#9, 1957) 389. Dungaree Doll - Eddie Fisher (#7, 1955/6) 390. The Yellow Rose Of Texas - Mitch Miller & his Orch. And Chorus (#1, 1955) 391. I Remember You - Frank Ifield (#5, 1962) 392. Painted, Tainted Rose - Al Martino (#15, 1963) 393. Near You # - Roger Williams (#10, 1958) 394. Pride And Joy - Marvin Gaye (#10, 1963) 395. Little Band Of Gold - James Gilreath (#21, 1963) 396. She Cried - Jay & The Americans (#5, 1962) 397. The Wah Watusi - The Orlons (#2, 1962) 398. Waterloo - Stonewall Jackson (#4, 1959) 399. Hurt - Timmy Yuro (#4, 1961) 400. Pink Shoe Laces - Dodie Stevens (#3, 1959)

At least Rolling Stone Magazine had the good sense to put Freddy King at #15 in their "Greatest Guitarists" list. It's a great song. I'm glad he's appreciated. :guitar: "The Lonely Surfer" was a Top Ten hit here in Australia. Great arrangement ! "Hey Girl" is probably only found on those 'Lost 45s' series of CDs nowadays. I had a lot of enjoyment listening to these songs while preparing this List.

Muddah, Fadduh kindly disregard this letter ! Brad do you know "Delicious" ? Jim Backus (Mr.Magoo, Thurston Howell) and his female friend break open a bottle of bubbly and find it is "delicious". Guaranteed for a laugh. I can't remember how to link it to YouTube. Cheers Mate !

I hope these bring back a few more happy memories. Legend: * after song, means song is included in Grammy and/or Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (three in this 50) # after song, means it is an instrumental (#9, 1961) song peaked at #9 in 1961 (#7, 1962/3) song entered in 1962 but peaked at #7 in 1963 401. Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower) - Georgia Gibbs (#1, 1955) 402. Yakety Sax # - Boots Randolph (#35, 1963) 403. Dominique - The Singing Nun (#1, 1963) 404. Every Beat Of My Heart - The Pips (#6, 1961) 405. Itchy Twitchy Feeling - Bobby Hendricks (#25, 1958) 406. Sleep - Little Willie John (#13, 1960) 407. Baby Sittin’ Boogie - Buzz Clifford (#6, 1961) 408. A Little Bit Of Soap - The Jarmels (#12, 1961) 409. Shutters And Boards - Jerry Wallace (#24, 1962/3) 410. Let Me Go Lover - Joan Weber (#1, 1954/5) 411. Wild Weekend # - The Rebels (#8, 1962/3) 412. The Moonlight Gambler - Frankie Laine (#3, 1956/7) 413. Loop De Loop - Johnny Thunder (#4, 1962/3) 414. Stranded In The Jungle - The Cadets (#15, 1956) 415. I’m Available - Margie Rayburn (#9, 1957) 416. Lah De Dah - Billy & Lillie (#9, 1958) 417. Tips Of My Fingers - Roy Clark (#45, 1963) 418. (My Baby Don’t Love Me) No More - The DeJohn Sisters (#6, 1954/5) 419. More # - Kai Winding & Orchestra (#8, 1963) 420. Don’t Make Me Over * - Dionne Warwick (#21, 1962/3) 421. Walk Hand In Hand - Tony Martin (#10, 1958) 422. The Lonely Surfer # - Jack Nitzsche (#39, 1963) 423. I Cried A Tear - Laverne Baker (#6, 1958/9) 424. Green, Green - The New Christy Minstrels (#14, 1963) 425. It Might As Well Rain Until September - Carole King (#22, 1962) 426. Barbara-Ann - The Regents (#13, 1961) 427. Apache # - Jorgen Ingmann & His Guitar (#2, 1961) 428. Mashed Potato Time - Dee Dee Sharp (#2, 1962) 429. Wonderful Summer - Robin Ward (#14, 1963) 430. Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh (A Letter From Camp)- Allan Sherman (#2, 1963) 431. Makin’ Love - Floyd Robinson (#20, 1959) 432. Here Comes Summer - Jerry Keller (#14, 1959) 433. I Just Don't Understand - Ann-Margret (#17, 1961) 434. Are You Satisfied ? - Rusty Draper (#11, 1955/6) 435. Portuguese Washerwomen # - Joe “‘Fingers” Carr (#19, 1956) 436. Please Help Me, I’m Falling - Hank Locklin (#8, 1960) 437. When We Get Married - The Dreamlovers (#10, 1961) 438. Morgen - Ivo Robic and the Song-Masters (#13, 1959) 439. Hey, Girl - Freddie Scott (#10, 1963) 440. The Way You Look Tonight - The Lettermen (#13, 1961) 441. Please Love Me Forever - Cathy Jean and The Roommates (#12, 1961) 442. Please Don’t Talk To The Lifeguard - Diane Ray (#31, 1963) 443.“Main Title”/“Molly-O “ (Man With The Golden Arm) # -Dick Jacobs And His Orchestra (#22, 1956)^ 444. Baubles, Bangles And Beads - Kirby Stone Four (#25, 1958) 445. Summertime, Summertime - The Jamies (#26, 1958) 446. Ahab The Arab - Ray Stevens (#5, 1962) 447. I’m Stickin’ With You - Jimmy Bowen with the Rhythm Orchids (#14, 1957) 448. Woo-Hoo # - Rock-A-Teens (#16, 1959) 449. Hello Walls * - Faron Young (#12, 1961) 450. Hide Away # * - Freddy King (#29, 1961) ^ Many of you would know that "The Man With The Golden Arm" was a 1955 Movie starring Frank Sinatra as a drug addict, and Kim Novak as his girlfriend Molly who tried to help him fight his addiction. There were 5 Hit Instrumental versions of the movie theme in Billboard's Hot 100. In England The BBC banned the song !

Thanks Chutz, Ron, Ian and Elena ! Johnny Angel is a lot higher up my list Ian. What a cutie was Shelley Fabares - probably still is. We've had almost 50 hits on the Thread, so I'll put on the next 50 songs now (450 to 401).

That's amazing Elena and Kenne ! However I won't vote this time because I don't like doing so when I haven't nominated. Maybe next week.

Thanks Phil and Edna. I'll see how many views the Thread gets and decide how often to put on the next 50 songs. I had a lot of fun preparing this and I hope it brings back memories to those who are familiar with some of the songs. I've already started on 1964 - 1969, my favourite era in Pop Music. It's hard to place them in order, but I think I have my Top 5 (495 to go).

I'd have a vote, but I only know 8 of the Noms without listening to them. Can someone do a search to check on "Chances Are"? That would be my #1, but I feel it's been in before. Also, I'd vote for all 3 of Laurie's ! Best Wishes to All ! I might nominate next week.

Hi to all my friends. I think we all like making Music lists and rating songs in order e.g. the weekly Top Ten. I thought I'd have a go at a Top 500, but break it up into different periods of time. As the Rock 'n' Roll era is generally regarded as commencing in 1955 I decided to start there, and in keeping with the Oldies Top 40 go as far as 1963 - nine years of songs. I found that my list was leaning heavily to Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Everly Brothers, and other favourites of mine. To make my list more diverse, I decided to limit my choices to only ONE song per Artist. I also considered only songs which made Billboard's Pop or Rhythm and Blues Charts. Also, I made each song's 'year' the one in which it peaked - i.e. if a song entered the Charts in 1954 but reached its highest position in 1955, it's a '1955 song'. I excluded songs which entered the Charts in 1963 but peaked in 1964 - they're '1964 songs'. HUH ? I had to leave out the Supremes' 'When The Lovelight....' as it entered the Charts in late 1963 but peaked in 1964. I didn't set out to be controversial. Some songs that were #1 in the U.S.just didn't get much airplay here, e.g. 'Fingertips - Pt2'. It was regarded as maybe a 'one off' by a child prodigy (how wrong were our DJs )Also any song that included lyrics like "I'll never kiss your lips again, they buried you today" is hard for me to warm to, but "Teen Angel" was the most successful of it's genre, so I acknowledged that. Basically, I ignored Chart positions and tried to arrange the songs in my preference order. ALL feedback - good, or bad(which is better than indifference) is most welcome. Here's my first 50 in ascending order, 500 to 451. Legend: * after song, means song is included in Grammy and/ or Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (none in this 50) # after song, means it is an instrumental (#9, 1961) song peaked at #9 in 1961 (#7, 1962/3) song entered in 1962 but peaked at #7 in 1963 451. I Understand (Just How You Feel) - The G-Clefs (#9, 1961) 452. Cast Your Fate To The Wind # - Vince Guaraldi Trio (#22, 1962) 453. Let’s Have A Party - Wanda Jackson (#37, 1960) 454. Suddenly There’s A Valley - Jo Stafford (#13, 1955) 455. Garden Of Eden Joe Valino - (#12, 1956) 456. Still - Bill Anderson (#8, 1963) 457. Chains - The Cookies (#17, 1962) 458. Around The World # - Mantovani And His Orchestra (#12, 1957) 459. Eddie My Love - The Teen Queens (#14, 1956) 460. She Can’t Find Her Keys - Paul Petersen (#19, 1962) 461. Hummingbird - Les Paul and Mary Ford (#7, 1955) 462. Harlem Nocturne # - The Viscounts (#52, 1959) 463. Bonanza # - Al Caiola And His Orchestra (#19, 1961) 464. Two Lovers - Mary Wells (#7, 1962/3) 465. Stick Shift # - The Duals (#25, 1961) 466. See You In September - The Tempos (#23, 1959) 467. Cherry Pie - Skip & Flip (#11, 1960) 468. Down The Aisle Of Love - The Quin-Tones (#18, 1958) 469. Let’s Get Together - Hayley Mills (#8, 1961) 470. Martian Hop - The Ran-Dells (#16, 1963) 471. Mexican Hat Rock - # The Applejacks (#16, 1958) 472. Let’s Think About Living - Bob Luman (#7, 1960) 473. Could This Be Magic - The Dubs (#23, 1957) 474. Deliicious - Jim Backus and Friend (#40, 1958) 475. It’s Almost Tomorrow - The Dream Weavers (#7, 1955/6) 476. White Silver Sands - Owen Bradley Quintet (#18, 1957) 477. Come Prima - Polly Bergen (#67, 1958) 478. Memories Of Maria # - Jerry Byrd (#74, 1962) 479. It’s All Right - The Impressions (#4, 1963) 480. The Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes (#1, 1955) 481. Angel On My Shoulder - Shelby Flint (#22, 1960/1) 482. Graduation Day - The Four Freshmen (#17, 1956) 483. Gonna Find Me A Bluebird - Marvin Rainwater (#18, 1957) 484. Alone (Why Must I Be Alone) - Shepherd Sisters (#18, 1957) 485. Little Red Rented Rowboat - Joe Dowell (#23, 1962) 486. I’ll Save The Last Dance For You - Damita Jo (#22, 1960) 487. Love You So - Ron Holden with The Thunderbirds (#7, 1960) 488. Teen Angel - Mark Dinning (#1, 1959/60) 489. Fingertips Pt2 - Little Stevie Wonder (#1, 1963) 490. The Cinnamon Cinder (It’s A Very Nice Dance) - The Pastel Six (#25, 1962/3) 491. Language Of Love - John D. Loudermilk (#32, 1961) 492. The Mountain Of Love - Harold Dorman (#21, 1960) 493. Snap Your Fingers - Joe Henderson (#8, 1962) 494. Uh! Oh! Part 2 - The Nutty Squirrels (#14, 1959) 495. Freight Train - Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group f/ Nancy Whiskey (#40, 1957) 496. This Little Girl’s Gone Rockin’ - Ruth Brown (#24, 1958) 497. Johnny Get Angry - Joanie Sommers (#7, 1962) 498. Don’t Be Angry - Nappy Brown (#25, 1955) 499. My Boy–Flat Top - Dorothy Collins (#16, 1955) 500. Six Days On The Road - Dave Dudley (#32, 1963)

Hi All. Couldn't resist this. I love "Themes/Topics". Here's a Baker's Dirty Dozen. Bad Bad Leroy Brown Jim Croce I Did What I Did For Maria Tony Christie I Don't Like Mondays Boomtown Rats In The Ghetto Elvis Presley Ma Baker Boney M Midnight Special Leadbelly, CCR, I prefer Johnny Rivers' version Muddy Water Johnny Rivers Rubber Bullets 10cc Stagger Lee Lloyd Price Tom Dooley Kingston Trio The Wild Colonial Boy Dr.Hook and 2 Australian songs I think you'd enjoy. Could someone please YouTube them for me ? I haven't been in here for so long I forget how. Get A Little Dirt On Your Hands Delltones On The Prowl Ol'55 Cheers All

Thanks Elena, Kenne and Ray. His Mother was thinking of having him wear it for photos on Christmas Day, but I said the poor little kid would be boiling, as it was 90+F. He's a blessing. Julie and Al have been trying for a while and they've finally gotten their 'little man'.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

Thanks Laurie, Brad and Elena. That's very nice by Jewel; I'll have to download it from I Tunes.

No dingos around here Mate. His Mom and Dad have 2 Rhodesian Ridgebacks, bred to bring down lions in Africa; they'd make short work of any dingo, but they're very good with children (I hope !) Thanks Ray, Brad, Jenny, Laurie, Sammy, Kenne and Elena for your good wishes. You are, and always will be, special friends to me. I consider myself very fortunate to know you.

Val and I are Grandparents again. :partytime1: Daughter Julie and Son-in-Law Al presented us with baby Reuben at 4.19 pm last Tuesday. He weighed in at 8lb.13oz.and looks like he's going to be tall - maybe play basketball and pick up a nice NBA contract in a few years time. But you have to get things in perspective. Here he is on Day 2 with his earphones on, listening to some Rock Music - Bobby Vee singing 'Baby Face'. Baby Face only bubbled under at #119 in the U.S., but made it to #4 in Australia for Bobby Vee in 1961. Baby Face - Bobby Vee

Thank You to those who found this thread interesting enough to view it. I appreciate your support. This will be my last post. I'm finishing with songs by the two 'biggest' artists of the Rock 'N' Roll era. Both of these songs were released on Albums, but didn't cash in as singles for Elvis Presley or The Beatles - each being taken to #1 in their respective Countries by another artist/group. Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley This was released on the G.I. Blues Album in late 1960. The cover single by Joe Dowell made U.S. #1 in 1961. Elvis' version was released as a single in both the U.K. (#1 for 6 weeks) and Australia (#1 for 5 weeks), + numerous other Countries. WHY wasn't a U.S. single issued at the time ? (instead of belatedly in 1964 and again in 1965, not making the Hot 100 on either occasion). My guess would be that Elvis' 'advisors' reckoned they could sell more copies of the G.I. Blues Album. You paid a lot more for an Album than a Single in 1961. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - The Beatles This was released on the "White" Album in late 1968. The cover single by Marmalade made U.K. #1 in 1969 for 3 weeks. The Beatles' version was released as a single in Australia in 1969 where it was #1 for 5 weeks, but not in the U.S. until 1976, reaching #49. WHY wasn't a U.K. single issued at the time ? Another guess. John and Paul were probably at each other's throats then, and John absolutely hated the song, which was written by Paul. Sad. And it's "Goodnight" from OLD 55. God Bless You All.

Tim Lizard - one of the really nice guys of Songfacts. I'm pleased to have you as my friend. Some really good songs there, but I can't work out your 'theme'. 1. Teach Your Children - Crosby Stills and Nash 2. Live and Let Die - Paul McCartney & Wings 3. On The Road Again - Willie Nelson 4. Rock This Town - The Stray Cats 5. You Can’t Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones 6. Learning To Fly - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 7. Smoking Gun - Robert Cray 8. Cherry Bomb - John Mellencamp 9. Little Wing - Eric Clapton (Derek and the Dominos) 10.One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer - George Thorogood

I'll go along with #1 and #2. And I should have voted for "Pretty Fly.." - the video always makes me laugh. Kenne could tell you how I struggled with my voting this TT; I changed the lower half of my votes a few times. I always try to do listen to every nomination - even those lonng 7 minute ones, when I could be playing 3 x great two minute 50s or 60s songs. No offence; it would be a boring old World if we all liked the same things.