January Charts: 1957

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Fats Domino - Ain't That A Shame

2. Platters - You'll Never Never Know/It Isn't Right

3. Johnnie Ray - You Don't Owe Me A Thing/Look Homeward Angel

4. Mitchell Torok - Red Light Green Light

5. Lonnie Donegan - Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O

6. Vipers Skiffle Group - Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O

7. Alma Cogan - You, Me And Us

8. Joe Valino - The Garden Of Eden

9. Frankie Vaughan - The Garden Of Eden

10. Gary Miller - The Garden Of Eden

11. Dick James - The Garden Of Eden

12. Four Aces - Friendly Persuasion

13. David Whitfield - The Adoration Waltz

The best record from this batch is an example of why the charts can be detached from what's actually happening in the music world. That's because "Ain't That A Shame" by Fats Domino is from 1955 and a far inferior cover by Pat Boone charted at the time.

Just missing out on top spot is the Platters with both sides of the record decent. Incidentally both this and the Fats Domino record made number 23 in the charts. Had both records come out a year earlier when it was still a Top 20 instead of Top 30 then neither would have charted.

No such problem for 3rd placed Johnny Ray who was a pleasant surprise. Despite him being one of the artists in the first chart of 1952 he was still able to top the charts in the rock n roll era though not with this particular record.

Another pleasant surprise came from Alma Cogan. Many of her records were novelty hits but this record actually isn't bad and is the best song from a female artist so far.

We have 2 skiffle records this time round, Lonnie Donegan and Vipers Skiffle Group with their respective versions "Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O". Lonnie Donegan's version is the cover but I think it's slightly better.

It goes without saying that I'm now sick of hearing "The Garden Of Eden" having listened to 4 different versions. Joe Valino had the original and Frankie Vaughan had the chart topping version. Gary Miller and Dick James had also done their own versions of "Robin Hood" the previous year, this was the only other hit for Dick James and Gary Miller had a year long gap between these 2 hits, but he'll be back.

David Whitfield sounded old fashioned even when he made his debut in 1953 let alone in the rock n roll era where he hadn't updated his sound and finishes bottom as a result, though not bad enough for a zero.

Aside from hearing "The Garden Of Eden" too much it's been an easier listen than the last 2 years and the score reflects this, though it falls slightly short of the 1953 score. Due to the small quantity of songs though it would be mathematically impossible for them to have exactly the same score so I guess they're on a par with each other.

Score: 35