If you went of the TV quiz show "Pointless" and were asked to name Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, you'd probably get quite a good score if you said Lloyd Price.
The first time I became aware of this song was hearing somebody singing this on the school bus several times. Then some years later I noticed in my British Hit Singles book that there was a song called "I'm Gonna Get Married" and wondered if that was the same tune this person was singing. Then along came YouTube and discovered that yes it was that tune.
I can see why this person did sing it, it's a very catchy tune that's good fun to sing along to and I love the concept of Lloyd Price and the backing singers singing to each other in the chorus. I would also say that this was one of the influences of the motown sound in the 60s.
This was actually the least successful of his four UK hits reaching number 23 but it reached number 3 on the US charts and number 1 on the US R&B charts.
The record Lloyd Price is best known for is "Personality" which earned him his nickname "Mr Personality". However, arguably a bigger record of his which he wrote and recorded the original of himself back in 1952 was "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", but perhaps the covers by Elvis Presley and Little Richard are better known.
It would appear that Lloyd Price had little success in music beyond the early 60s and seemed to have a varied career outside of music including working as a builder.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Now we've reached the final year of the 50s and the best way to describe the charts this year is that it was a mixture of everything the charts had brought us so far, old and new.
In terms of music history though, 1959 is probably best remembered for the plane crash on February 3rd which saw the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Big Bopper. From this, we possibly saw the first example of a musicians record sales being boosted by their death as shortly afterwards, Buddy Holly scored his first and only solo number one with "It Doesn't Matter Anymore". The Big Boppers only hit, "Chantilly Lace" had re-entered the charts prior to the plane crash, but was falling down the charts by the time the plane crash happened. The following month, Ritchie Valens had his only top 40 hit with "Donna". Surprisingly though, this only reached number 29 and was in the charts for just one week. Even more surprisingly was that Marty Wilde released a cover the same week and his version would reach number 3.
Another example of an English artist outperforming a cover of an American record was Craig Douglas with his cover of Sam Cookes "Only Sixteen" which reached number one in September, the week after Sam Cookes version dropped out of the charts having only reached number 23. We also saw Dion making his chart debut with "A Teenager in Love". This reached number 28, but there were also covers by both Marty Wilde and Craig Douglas whose versions reached number 2 and number 13 respectively.
Other notable chart debutants from the British scene included Billy Fury in February with "Maybe Tomorrow" and Adam Faith who reach number one with his debut "What Do You Want" which at 1 minutes 35 seconds is the shortest ever UK number one at the time of writing this. Another significant chart debutant was Johnny Kidd and the Pirates who reached number 26 with "Please Don't Touch". This group has often been credited with planting the seeds for the British invasion a few years later.
Lonnie Donegan was still very much active in the charts this year having six hits including two number 3s and a number 2.
Notable chart debutants from America this year included Lloyd Price who charted in February with "Stagger Lee". He would have a further three hits that year but would not have any further hits after this. In April, Neil Sedaka had his first hit with "I Go Ape", though he was the writer of "Stupid Cupid" by Connie Francis which had been a number one the previous year. We also had the chart debut of Johnny and the Hurricanes in October with "Red River Rock" helping with the growth of instrumental rock n roll along with Duane Eddy.
No less than six acts who had hits in the first year of the charts, 1952, would return to the charts this year after a period away. These were Frankie Laine, Guy Mitchell, Johnnie Ray, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole and Winifred Atwell. However out of these, only Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole would have further hits after 1959.
Elvis Presley had three hits this year taking his total to 29 and still being the act with the most hits, but also two of these hits were number ones making him joint top by this point alongside Frankie Laine and Guy Mitchell.
The year saw the first act from Croatia have a hit, Ivo Robic reaching number 23 in November with "Morgen" which would be his only hit. Nina and Frederik were the first act from Denmark having a hit with "Mary's Boy Child" which reached number 26, which charted better than the re-release of the Harry Belafonte version that year which reached number 30. Then there was the first act from Saint Lucia, Emile Ford and the Checkmates who were Christmas number one with their debut "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?". Emile Ford sadly passed away a couple of weeks before writing this post.
So that concludes the 50s. Instead of going straight onto 1960 I've decided to write a review of the 50s overall first which I'll hopefully do in a couple of weeks.
Yesterday we lost one of the most talented musicians the world has ever seen. Since hearing the news that Prince has died I've recalled just how many of his records were truly great.
My first memory of Prince was collecting a sticker of him in my Smash Hits sticker album. In the early days of me listening to the top 40, I used to tape the records I liked. In the beginning my parents had to show me how to record the music onto the tape, but the first record I taped of my own accord was Batdance. My favourite Prince record from that era though was The Arms of Orion, a collaboration with Sheena Easton.
A couple of years later came the excellent Diamonds and Pearls, it was actually through looking up this record in the early days of YouTube when I learned about how much Prince didn't like his music being on the internet.
Also in the early 90s, I remember watching an episode of Challenge Aneka where she was gathering musicians and non musicians such as Timmy Mallet to record Tommys Tape. Prince was doing a gig at Earls Court at the time, and she attempted to get him to partake in the recordings. Unsurprisingly, she wasn't successful.
I also remember hearing Kiss for the first time. I heard the Tom Jones version first which I wasn't a fan of. Initially I thought the Prince version was an excellent cover before discovering the Prince did the original version. Speaking of covers though, he did a very good cover of Betcha By Golly Wow. It didn't sound that different to the original, but you could tell it was a Prince record.
He remained active in recording and performing right up until his death, but his last UK charts success was a re-release of 1999 in 1999. The last new hit he had was The Holy River in 1997.
Then there was the hits for other artists which he wrote, including the excellent Nothing Compares 2U, a number one for Sinead O Connor. I've posted Prince himself performing this song. A truly talented musician, RIP.
Maybe this record is trying to tell me something, that I was born too late to be blogging about the charts in the 1950s.
This is one of those records where the only lyrics I really know is the title. Its one I listen to for the tune and listen to the vocals as if it was an instrument.
When you hear about the history of the girl group, it normally finds its origins with the Supremes. But there were plenty of girl groups around long before the Supremes with the Poni-Tails being one of them. I love the harmonising vocals on this track and that's what makes it for me.
The Poni-Tails would have one further hit the following year with "Early to Bed" and they called it a day in 1960 and all left the music industry.
Now we are in the penultimate year of the 50s, we've already had plenty of Rock and Roll music in the charts and several well known acts have already made their chart debuts.
The first number one of the year was "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis and this was followed by Elvis Presley's second number one, "Jailhouse Rock", a sign that Rock and Roll wasn't going away any time soon.
So far though, the majority of the Rock and Roll hits were either by Americans or Brits covering American songs. In terms of Brits, we already have Tommy Steele as an established chart act. Then in July, Marty Wilde makes his chart debut with "Endless Sleep", but again this is a cover of American artist Jody Reynolds.
In September we have the chart debut of Cliff Richard and the Drifters with "Move It" which is credited as being the first British penned Rock and Roll single. You may be thinking how is Cliff Richard Rock and Roll? and why did he collaborate with an American Doo Wop group for his debut hit? Well Cliff Richard was considered Rock and Roll when he started out and the Drifters is not the American Doo Wop group, it is in fact the group that would become the Shadows, mainly due to the American group of the same name who were still yet to have a UK hit by this point. The personnel of the Drifters at this point though was different to the Shadows we know now, but they were still known as the Drifters when Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch joined.
In November, we have the first British penned Rock and Roll number one, "Hoots Mon" by Lord Rockinghams XI which was also their chart debut. They would only have one further hit, "Wee Tom" the following year.
The year also saw the chart debut of Duane Eddy with "Rebel Rouser" bringing instrumental Rock and Roll to the charts for the first time. Other notable chart debuts included Sam Cooke with "You Send Me" in January, Ricky Nelson with "Stood Up" in February, Bobby Darin with "Splish Splash" in August, Eddie Cochran with "Summertime Blues" in November and Big Bopper would have his only UK hit, "Chantilly Lace" in December.
The history books suggest that Skiffle had its day by 1958, but Lonnie Donegan is still active in the charts this year having five hits including a number three with "Tom Dooley" in December.
Songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David made their chart debut in 1958 with "The Story of My Life". Their were four versions which charted with Michael Holliday's version reaching number one. This was knocked off number one with another Bacharach/David composition, "Magic Moments" by Perry Como.
We now don't have any artists who have had a hit every year in the charts to date as none of the four artists (Frankie Laine, Johnnie Ray, Nat King Cole and Winifred Atwell) would have a hit in 1958 The record for most number ones would still be held jointly by Frankie Laine and Guy Mitchell, the latter also not having any hits on 1958. However, Elvis Presley has now overtaken Frankie Laine as the artist with the most hit singles with 26. He would go on to hold this record for many years to come.
The year saw two more nationalities in the charts for the first time. There was Elias & His Zigzag Jive Flutes from South Africa who had a hit with "Tom Hark". Then there were three Italians, Renato Carosone with "Torero - Cha Cha Cha", Domenico Modungo with "Volare" and Marino Marini also with "Volare".
So with just one year of the 50s to go, what else does the 50s charts have in store for us? Find out in a couple of weeks.
We've all heard it or said it ourselves - "The charts are full of rubbish these days, it was much better in my day"
Whilst we can easily hear what is in the charts at the moment and write most of it off as being rubbish, are we remembering the charts in our day the way it was or the way we would like to remember it?
Well, I've gone to the Official Charts website to see what the top 20 was like this week 20 years ago in 1996. At the time I was a teenager very much into my music, so this was certainly "my day".
My opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, particularly those who are into Brit Pop, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.
So this is the top 20 from this week with my verdict on each record:
20. Baby D - Take Me to Heaven
This was the final single from their only album to date. They are best known of course for "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" which originally came out in 1992 but wasn't a hit till it was re-released in 1994. The follow up singles including this one were similar in style and given how quickly dance music was developing at the time, this did sound a bit dated by 1996. However I am a big fan of that old skool breakbeat sound and whilst not quite as good as its predecessors I still like it.
Verdict - Good
19. Foo Fighters - Big Me
Another final single taken from a debut album, but this one may have sounded dated because it had actually been recorded 2 years earlier. Many people will remember the funny video for this song more than they remember the song itself. It isn't the usual annoying shouty stuff the Foo Fighters normally come out with, but it just makes it rather boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
18. Dubstar - Stars
This was first released in 1995 but only reached number 40, but after the success of their follow up "Not So Manic Now" they re-released this. It's also the opening track to their debut album ,"Disgraceful" which I recommend you go and buy if you don't already have it. I absolutely love the intro to this and find the track very soothing.
Verdict - Good
17. Lionel Richie - Don't Wanna Lose You
Bet you didn't think Lionel Richie was still having hits in 1996? No, neither did I. This song completely passed me by at the time so I've only just heard this for the first time. It's a ballad, but it's got nothing on "Hello".
Verdict - Rubbish
16. Cast - Walkaway
This was the fourth hit single for Cast. Their first three hits were quite uplifting ones, although not really my cup of tea. Then this song came along which followed the same formula of several other dreary hits from the Brit Pop era. To be fair to them though, they did revert back to the more uplifting style for the rest of the decade.
Verdict - Rubbish
15. Kadoc - The Night Train
This had already been a hit in other European countries in 1995 but didn't chart in the UK until 1996. It's one of many tunes which sample James Brown. It only reached number 14 which is quite surprising given its popularity at the time. It's not a bad tune, but I did get a bit sick of hearing it at the time.
Verdict - OK
14. Coolio - 1,2,3,4 (Sumpin' New)
I always like the darkness of "Gangstas Paradise" and always found the more uplifting follow ups from Coolio a bit hard to take. They have grown on me over time though, I own his "Gangstas Paradise" album so that's allowed me to get to like this.
Verdict - Good
13. Donna Summer - State of Independence
This originally came out in 1982 but was given the remix treatment in 1996. This was on the back of the successful remix of "I Feel Love" a year earlier. However, "I Feel Love" did seem to fit into the club culture of the time, but this didn't really. It isn't bad though.
Verdict - OK
12. Ken Doh - Nakasaki (I Need a Lover Tonight)
If you listened to the Essential Mix or Pete Tongs Essential Selection on Radio 1 in 1995 then you would have heard "Nakasaki" multiple times. For the chart release they added vocals to it, hence the "(I Need a Lover Tonight)". Often when vocals are added to a very good dance record it completely ruins it (Groovejet springs to mind). However, this is still an excellent track with the vocals and one I've listened to many times in the last 20 years.
Verdict - Good
11. Oasis - Don't Look Back in Anger
I find interviews with Noel Gallagher nowadays very entertaining and do find myself agreeing with a lot of what he says about music that I don't like. I can't say the same about his music though. I never understood why Oasis were so popular, their music was just so dull in my opinion. Not only is this tune dull though, it's rather annoying too.
Verdict - Rubbish
10. Pulp - Something Changed
Probably the least remembered single from their "Different Class" album. It may be because it was the final single from the album, or because it was quite dull. I must admit I forgot this song existed until I took a look at this top 20. As you can probably gather, I was never a fan of Brit Pop. There is however the odd Brit Pop song I like such as "Mis-Shapes" by Pulp. This one though is exactly the sort of music I hated in the 90s.
Verdict - Rubbish
9. Take That - How Deep is Your Love
I have happy memories of this record coming out as we knew (or should I say thought) this was the end of the band. To me, doing a cover as your final song is quite a pathetic way to go out. Saying that, they could have done "Twinkle Twinkle" and it would have probably still got to number one and give them that final pay cheque they were looking for.
Verdict - Rubbish
8. DJ Dado - X-Files
A "Dream House" version of the theme music to the TV series. In theory it should be rubbish, but once the beat kicks in you find there's more to it that simply putting a beat over the TV theme tune. the piano takes over and the samples of the theme music only really appear in the background.
Verdict - Good
7. Ocean Colour Scene - You've Got it Bad
After years of struggle, Ocean Colour Scene finally hit the big time in 1996 with a little help from Chris Evans using "The Riverboat Song" when the guests came out on TFI Friday. It was this, their follow up however which got them their first top 10 hit. This just seems a bit of a nothing song to me though.
Verdict - Rubbish
6. Gina G - Ooh Ahh...Just a Little Bit
I remember watching "A Song for Europe" where a number of songs went to the public vote to decide which one should represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest. Of all the songs on the show, this was my favourite and the voting public agreed. Admittedly it is a bit cheesy and did get played to death at the time. As far as Eurovision songs go though, I cannot think of a single one that I think is better than this. No doubt there will be Brit Pop fans reading this thinking I've now lost what little credibility I did have. But I listen to music for enjoyment, not credibility.
Verdict - Good
5. Gabrielle - Give Me a Little More Time
Despite being a brand new record in 1996, this sounds like it could have easily come out in 1966. That's not a bad thing though. I do remember hearing this a lot at the time so I did get a bit sick of it, but still not a bad tune.
Verdict - OK
4. Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack
I remember when this first entered the charts it was at number six for three weeks in a row. It would eventually climb to number one, the first time a record climbed to number one rather than go straight in at number one for a while. I always found Mark Morrison quite hard to take seriously with the way he sang. Still not a bad record though.
Verdict - OK
3. Robert Miles - Children
A record you definitely couldn't avoid hearing in 1996, but what a tune. Like many dance records at the time, this was already over a year old by the time it was released. It's one of those tunes you can sit back and relax to but also get up and dance to, and I've done both.
Verdict - Good
2. Mark Snow - The X-Files
Mark Snow composed the actual them music to the X Files and here it is at number two in the charts. I can't say I'm a big fan of the theme music, or the programme itself for that matter. I can't say I particularly dislike it either though.
Verdict - OK
1. Prodigy - Firestarter
This was the record which ensured the Prodigy would never have to go back to the day job. At the time I loved the Prodigy and owned the first two albums. I remember listening to the Evening Session on Radio One where they said they were going to play the new Prodigy tune for the first time and I was excited about hearing it. However, when they played it I was very disappointed. I think the main reason was because when I started listening to the Prodigy, I was moving away from rock music to listen to rave, but this tune seemed to be going back towards rock music. Since then I've grown to like the rockier tunes from the Prodigy more than I used to, but I just can't bring myself to like this tune.
Verdict - Rubbish So if we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 9.5/20, or 47.5%.
Therefore the chart this week in 1996 was slightly more rubbish than it was good, but then slightly more records were at least ok.
