The Christmas Charts - 1959

Time for my annual look at the Christmas charts 60, 50, 40, 30, 20 and 10 years ago plus the Christmas chart for this year.

We begin with 1959 where we have 2 versions of "Little Donkey" in the charts at the same time. The highest charting of these came from the Beverley Sisters which made 14. It was their penultimate Top 40 hit having made their Top 40 debut in 1953 with another Christmas song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus". The other one came from Gracie Fields which made 20 and was her second and final hit.

We also had a Christmas hit from Russ Conway with "Snow Coach" which came at the end of his most successful year in the Top 40 having had 2 number ones.

For the 3rd year in a row and final time "Mary's Boy Child" by Harry Belafonte entered the charts, but it only made 30 at a time when it was still a Top 30. There was another version of "Mary's Boy Child" in the charts coming from Nina And Frederick. It was there first of three Top 40 hits, the second would come the following year with "Little Donkey".

Max Bygraves had a Christmas hit with his version of "Jingle Bell Rock". This was the first version of the song to make the Top 40 and highest charting reaching 7.

The Christmas number one wasn't a Christmas song, it was the very long titled "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For? " by Emile Ford & the Checkmates. This was their debut hit and only number one.

The Christmas Charts - 1958

Here's the beginning of my annual series of posts looking at the Christmas charts every 10 years beginning in the 50s which this year begins with 1958.

This first Christmas song to chart in 1958 was a re-entry of the previous years Christmas number one "Mary's Boy Child" by Harry Belafonte. He also released a new Christmas song with "Son of Mary" but this only made number 18 which was lower than the number 10 the re-entry of "Mary's Boy Child" reached. He would only have one further Top 40 hit after this.

If you want to ask a trick question at a music quiz then here's one, What did Johnny Mathis have a Christmas hit in 1958? Some will say "When A Child Is Born" but they would be wrong, it was in fact "Winter Wonderland". He made his chart debut earlier in the year and this was his first charting Christmas record, but it only managed to make number 17.

The Christmas number one came from Conway Twitty with his debut hit "It's Only Make Believe". The following year though his Top 40 career would be over.

The Christmas Charts - 1957

Last December in the run up to Christmas I took a look at the Christmas charts every ten years from 1956-2016 and I thought I'd do the same this year beginning with 1957.

1957 brought us the second Christmas number one which was actually a Christmas song. This was "Mary's Boy Child" by Harry Belafonte. It rounded off the debut year in the UK charts for Harry Belafonte which proved to be his most successful with him also scoring a number 2, a number 3 and a number 18 with his other three hits of the year. It's still a well known Christmas record but it's perhaps the Boney M cover that is better known. He would reach number ten with this the following year as well as having a less successful Christmas record with "The Song Of Mary".

Elvis Presley had his first Christmas hit in the UK in 1957 with "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me". Despite this being just his second year in the UK charts, this was his 19th UK single and 12th of the year. It would be his highest charting Christmas record reaching number seven.

We had the second charting of "White Christmas" this year coming from Pat Boone. It was however the first vocal version to chart as it's first appearance in the charts was an instrumental by Mantovani in 1952. It would be his least successful UK single to date, the charts were a Top 30 at the time and this reached number 29.

There was one more Christmas record in the charts this year, "Snowbound for Christmas" by Dickie Valentine. This was the third year in a row Dickie Valentine had a Christmas hit, he had the first Christmas number one which was a Christmas song in 1955 with "Christmas Alphabet" and in 1956 had had a number 8 with "Christmas Island". This one however only made number 28.

The Christmas Charts - 1956

As Christmas is just around the corner, I thought I would take a look at the charts each decade ago to see what they looked like at Christmas time. I begin with 1956 and will jump a decade each post up to 2016.

The Christmas number one of 1956 was "Just Walkin In The Rain" by Johnnie Ray. Although not a Christmas song, one could argue that its more relevant to Christmas than songs about snowmen etc given its more likely to rain at Christmas than snow. Johnnie Ray wouldn't have had Christmas number one in mind when he released it though given it was released in early October and had been at number one since mid November.

In terms of actual Christmas songs, there were two of them in Christmas week.

First up was "Christmas Island" by Dickie Valentine. Having already had a fairly successful chart career, Dickie Valentine reached the peak the previous year with the first Christmas number one which was actually about Christmas, "Christmas Alphabet". This was actually his first hit since that previous Christmas and whilst not as successful, it still reached a respectable number 8. He would wait another year until his next hit which was yet another Christmas song, "Snowbound For Christmas" . This didn't do so well, peaking at number 28 and spending just one week on the charts.

The other Christmas record was "Christmas and You" by Dave King. This only peaked at number 23 and would be the lowest charting of his four singles.

It's probably fair to say both records haven't stood the test of time and had probably already been forgotten by 1957, fortunately we now have the internet to revive them.

Bubblegum: The History of Plastic Pop

As I wasn't born in the early days of pop music as we know it, my knowledge of music from the early days comes from reading things in books or on the internet, watching TV shows and of course actually listening to music from that era.

When I've been doing my singles chart reviews I like to have some bands/artists in mind to look for such as those in the rock and roll hall of fame. The downside to this example and indeed many internet resources is that a fair amount of the music which gets highlighted was big in America but virtually unknown in the UK.

For years I've had a book called Bubblegum: The History of Plastic Pop, but I've only recently got around to reading it.

It is written from a UK perspective and has a chapter per decade beginning with the 50s. It actually starts in a similar fashion to my chart analysis that in the beginning the charts were dominated by traditional pop music but then along came rock and roll and the teen idol was born.

Also in the book are short pieces about select musicians that were significant to the subject. However, not all of those musicians in the 50s chapter were mentioned in my singles charts reviews so I thought it would be interesting to take a look at these. Here are the artists:

Frankie Avalon - It is said in the book that he had 7 top 10 hits in the space of 2 years in the late 50s, but looking at everyhit.com he didn't have any top 10s. Looking at Wikipedia though, he did have 7 in the US charts. In the UK his biggest hit was "Venus" which reached number 16 in 1959 which was his follow up to "Gingerbread" which reached 30 in 1958. He then had two further hits in 1960 with "Why" reaching number 20 and "Don't Throw Away All Those Teardrops" reaching number 37.

Fabian - There's a good reason why he never got a mention, he never had any UK hits. Seemed to enjoy some chart success in his native America though.

Terry Dene -  A slight improvement on Frankie Avalon, he reached number 15 with "Start Movin" in 1957 which was his follow up to his debut "A White Sport Coat" which reached number 18 a month earlier. His only other hit was "Stairway of Love" which reached number 16 in 1958.

Vince Eager - Another one who never had any UK hits. Unlike Fabian though, he was English and had no chart success, but was presumably mentioned because he was quite famous because of his music performances on the TV at the time.

So none of them really troubled the charts too much. I've also since discovered that the author of the book was born in 1967 so isn't going off memory himself.

Some of the information in the book is factually inaccurate and it seems like virtually nobody well known in music is exempt from his plastic pop definition. However, it is quite interesting reading about the evolution of pop and the way different eras were marketed to be successful for a short period of time.

At the time of writing this, you can buy the book second hand on amazon for 1p plus P&P so you have nothing to lose by buying it, I'd say overall its worth a read.

Record of the Year 1959: Lloyd Price - I'm Gonna Get Married

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.

UK Singles Chart: 1959

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.

Record of the Year 1958: The Poni-Tails - Born Too Late

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.

UK Singles Chart: 1958

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.

Record of the Year 1957: Patience and Prudence - Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now

Not only is this my record of 1957, this is my record of the 50s.

So you may be thinking, in a year where there are many Rock and Roll or Skiffle records which would have a huge influence of music of the future, why pick a pop record sung by kids?

Well the simple answer is because I like it. It's a simple pop record which is very enjoyable to listen to and one I have listened to many times of my own accord, I would say more times than any other 50s record.

Like many people under a certain age, the first version of this I heard was the Viola Wills version from the 70s. One thing I did a lot of when YouTube came about was listening to original versions of tracks I know with this being one of them and I've been regularly listening to it ever since.

This wasn't the first hit from Patience and Prudence but it was their last. They had previously had a hit with "Tonight You Belong to Me" in 1956. They were 11 and 14 when they recorded this song, their father was an orchestra leader and was his idea for them to record music.

They would appear on TV in 1978 where they stated they didn't want to be performers in the first place. The footage can be found on YouTube.

UK Singles Chart: 1957

By 1957 Rock and Roll had well and truly established itself in the charts. The group who had the first Rock and Roll hit, Bill Haley and his Comets, had their 13th single in February with "Don't Knock the Rock". However, aside from future re-releases of "Rock Around the Clock", this would be the last we would see of Bill Haley and his Comets in the chart.

If you had to pick a year for Skiffle music though, 1957 would have to be it. Lonnie Donegan scored two number ones this year with "Cumberland Gap" and the double a-side "Gamblin Man/Puttin on the Style". One thing to note though is whilst there were many Skiffle groups around that time, very few had any chart success aside from Lonnie Donegan. I have identified three other Skiffle groups to have hits this year, Vipors Skiffle Group, Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group and Johnny Duncan & the Bluegrass Boys. Whilst Lonnie Donegan would continue to have further hits in years to come, the other three groups would only have hits in 1957.

Notable chart debutants of the year included Chuck Berry with "School Day" in June. Then in September in the same week we had debut hits from the Coasters with "Searchin", Jerry Lee Lewis with "Whole lot of Shakin Goin On" and the Crickets with "That'll be the Day" which would reach number one in November. Also in November we had debut hits from Everly Brothers with "Wake Up Little Susie" and Jackie Wilson with "Reet Petite". Then in December Buddy Holly would have his first solo hit with "Peggy Sue" and given he would die just over a year later this shows just how short his music career was.

It is quite well known that Elvis Presley current holds the record for the most UK number ones and it all began in 1957 with his first number one, "All Shook Up". At the time, Frankie Laine still had the most number ones, but he was now joint first with Guy Mitchell who had scored two number ones this year with "Singing the Blues" and "Rock-A-Billy". Guy Mitchell was one of the artists to have a hit in the first year of the charts in 1952 but by this time he had made the transition from Traditional Pop to Rock and Roll. Frankie Laine did add two more to his tally of hits though bringing him to 25 and still holding the record for most hits. In addition to Frankie Laine, Nat King Cole, Winifred Atwell and Johnnie Ray all maintain their records of having a hit in every year of the charts existence.

This year also sees the debut of the earliest group to have a single where all members are still alive at the time of writing this. They are the King Brothers who had three singles this year including a cover of "Wake Up Little Susie".

So now the charts are looking more like what the 50s are remembered for and several well known acts and songs now charted, what will 1958 bring? Find out in a couple of weeks.

Record of the Year 1956: Little Richard - Rip it up

This has probably been the most difficult year to date to pick my record of the year, but have decided it should be Little Richard - Rip it up.

As mentioned in my year review, this was Little Richards first UK hit. What stands out about this tune compared to others from the year is the amount of oomph it has. I'm sure everyone noticed this tune when it came out whether they liked it or not as it's so different to the more mellow traditional pop music which had been the norm for several years.

Little Richard would go on to be one of the key figures of the Rock and Roll movement for the rest of the 50s having 12 further hits by the end of the decade. By the 60s however he would only have 2 minor hits and aside from his older hits re entering the chart he would never have another UK hit.

He was a founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and has continued to perform over the years, according to his Wikipedia page he was still performing as recently as 2013 when he was 80 years old.

UK Singles Chart: 1956

So in 1955 we had Bill Haley and his Comets with four Rock n Roll singles in the charts including "Rock Around the Clock" which after a slow start made number one. We also had Pat Boone do a Rock n Roll cover and one hit wonder Boyd Bennett with a Rock n Roll single towards the end of the year. So would 1956 see the explosion of Rock n Roll we've been waiting for? I think we can assume yes it did.

The year began with "Rock Around the Clock" going back to number one for a couple of weeks, but January would also bring another style of music important to the history of popular music, skiffle. The so called king of skiffle, Lonnie Donegan had his first hit with "Rock Island Line". He would have further four singles that year, and he was said to have been a big influence on many bands of the 60s including the Beatles.

Bill Haley and his Comets were still flying the flag for Rock n Roll in the early part of the year, releasing "See You Later Alligator" in March. It was May of 1956 however when we started to see new Rock n Roll artists emerge, the first of whom was Elvis Presley who entered the charts with "Heartbreak Hotel". The following week saw Carl Perkins have his only UK hit, "Blue Suede Shoes", and then a week later Elvis hit the charts again with his cover of this track.

Then June saw Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers hit the charts with "Why do Fools Fall in Love" which would reach number one in July. Also in July, Gene Vincent has his first hot with "Be Bop a Lula" and Fats Domino have his first hit with "I'm in Love Again".

In August, Clyde McPhatter had his only UK hit with "Treasure of Love" and it's interesting to note that he had already left the Drifters by this point, but it would be several years until we would see the Drifters chart for the first time.

Vocal group and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees the Platters charted for the first time in September with a double A side of "The Great Pretender/Only You". Then in December Little Richard had his first UK hit with "Rip it Up" which was also covered by Bill Haley and his Comets but charted in November.

At the same, time there were several Rock and Roll covers by more traditional artists such as Alma Cogan covering "Why do Fools Fall in Love".

The Rock and Roll craze however didn't wipe out the traditional pop music which had dominated the charts in the earlier years. In fact 5 of the artists who charted in 1952 had number ones this year, they were Kay Starr, Winifred Atwell, Doris Day, Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray. This meant that Frankie Laine again had the most number ones with four, but this would be his last one. He was also still the artist with the most hits reaching 23 by the end of the year. He was also one of five artists to have had a hit in every year of the charts existence so far, the others being Doris Day, Johnnie Ray, Winifred Atwell and Nat King Cole.

The year saw the biggest increase in number of bands to have a hit so far and also saw a significant increase in the number of songwriters to have hit too. The year also saw the first Australian, Jimmy Parkinson and the first artist from the Republic of Ireland, Eamonn Andrews have a UK hit. Both artists however would not have another hit after 1956, the latter being a one hit wonder.

So now Rock and Roll has truly established itself in the charts, will 1957 bring us the death of traditional pop music? will we see more skiffle? and which well known acts will be making their chart debuts? find out in a couple of weeks.

Record of the Year 1955: Crew Cuts - Earth Angel

Originally I decided that as a rule when picking my record of the year, I would not pick the same artist twice. However, there isn't another record I know from 1955 that's anywhere near as good as "Earth Angel" and at the same time, I can't think of a record anywhere near as good as "Sh Boom" in 1954.

I first heard "Earth Angel" when I watched the Temptations movie. It was early on in the film when it was covering Otis Williams and a singing group in his school days, who were singing it a cappella in the street.

The original was by the Penguins, but this was the only version which charted in the UK. It reached number 4 and remained in the charts for 20 weeks.

So both of the Crew Cuts hit singles make my record of the year. Not bad.

UK Singles Chart: 1955

So now we have the first Rock n Roll single in the charts, surely now is the time for Rock n Roll to dominate the charts. Well again, not quite.

The second week of 1955 saw Bill Haley & the Comets - Rock Around the Clock enter the charts, but would only reach number 17 before falling out of the charts 2 weeks later. Shake Rattle and Roll on the other hand proved to be more successful, reaching number 4 and remaining in the charts until March. In April, Bill Haley & the Comets released Mambo Rock which reached number 14 and fell out the charts 2 weeks later. That would be it for Rock n Roll's presence in the charts for a while.

The second week of the year saw the Stargazers score their third number one, collaborating with Dickie Valentine on Finger of Suspicion which would see them tie with Frankie Laine for most number ones. Frankie Laine maintained his record of total number of hits with 19 by the end of the year, but had no further number ones.

We were still in an era where several artists would record the same songs and nothing illustrated this better than the song Stranger in Paradise where there was 6 different versions of this song which charted this year. They were recorded by Four Aces featuring Al Alberts, Eddie Calvert, Bing Crosby, Don Cornell, Tony Martin and Tony Bennett whose version reached number one. Another notable song of the year was Unchained Melody, which had 4 different versions. They were recorded by Liberace, Les Baxter, Al Hibbler and Jimmy Young whose version reached number one.

There were 3 new nationalities in the charts this year, there was the De Castro Sisters and Perez 'Prez' Prado who were from Cuba, Eve Boswell from Hungary and Caterina Valente from France. In addition to the De Castro Sisters there were four more groups charting for the first time, Ames Brothers, McGuire Sisters, Ink Spots and Five Smith Brothers.

In October after several months of the usual traditional pop music dominating the charts, Rock Around the Clock would re enter the charts. This time proved to be more successful reaching number one at the end of November and remaining in the charts well into 1956. Also in November we saw the first Rock n Roll song by a different artist with Pat Boones cover of Ain't That a Shame by Fats Domino, somebody yet to have a hit in the UK at this point. Then in December we had Boyd Bennett & His Rockets - Seventeen and another Bill Haley & the Comets tune, Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie. These two were the only songs of the year which were performed by the songwriter. We would have no further hits from Boyd Bennett & His Rockets, but it wouldn't be the last we would hear of Bill Haley & His Comets.

So will we have the Rock n Roll explosion we've all been waiting for in 1956? We'll see in a couple of weeks.

Record of the Year 1954: Crew Cuts - Sh Boom

My record of the year for 1954 is the Crew Cuts - Sh Boom. This was originally recorded by the Chords the same year but did not chart in the UK. There was another cover of this song which charted in 1954 but Stan Freberg, but this was a comedy version so this is why I've picked the Crew Cuts version.

This is the sort of song I would imagine appealing to a younger audience much more than the traditional pop music which had dominated the charts to date. Generally speaking the music of the early 50s isn't really my cup of tea but this is a record I can definitely say is good.

It was a number one in both the USA and Australia but in the UK it reached number 12, but this was when the charts had expanded to the top 20. It also charted higher than the Stan Freberg version which got to number 15.

The Crew Cuts would carry on as a group until 1964, but they only had one further hit in the UK with Earth Angel the following year.

UK Singles Chart: 1954

So now we're into 1954, midway through the fifties so surely now is the time for the rock n roll music the decade is often remembered for? Well, not quite.

The charts were still dominated by solo artists doing traditional pop music like they had been the previous two years. We still had nobody outside of the UK, USA, Canada or Trinidad & Tobago have a UK hit.

However, it was starting to evolve a bit more, most notably in October when it expanded from a top 12 to a top 20. Notable chart debutants of the year included Frank Sinatra and Petula Clark, both of who were already established musicians. The year also saw debut hits for the Crew Cuts and the Four Knights, bringing Doo Wop music to the charts for the first time.

Frankie Laine was still the artist who had scored the most hits, having 14 to his name by the end of the year. However, he failed to add to his tally of 3 number ones, but nobody had multiple number ones this year and Frankie Laine would still hold the record of most number ones by the end of the year.

The Christmas number one was Winifred Atwell - Let's Have Another Party. Winifred Atwell is the only female instrumentalist to have a UK number one and this is the only instrumental Christmas number one at the time of writing this. Another interesting fact though is that at 5 minutes 23 seconds long, its only 27 seconds shorter than Bohemian Rhaspsody the song you often hear was deemed too long to be a success prior to its release. Let's Have Another Party is it's length because it's a ragtime medley but I would also argue that Bohemian Rhapsody is its length because its essentially five songs rolled into one.

We had the first posthumous uk hit in 1954, Glenn Miller Orchestra - Moonlight Serenade. Glenn Miller had died whilst fighting in the second world war in 1944. He had also written this composition himself therefore joining Winifred Atwell on the list of musicians who had a UK hit they wrote. Also joining that list this year were Ken Mackintosh who had a hit with The Creep and comedian Norman Wisdom who had a hit with Don't Laugh at Me.

In addition to the doo wop groups mentioned, there were three more groups making their chart debuts this year. They were the Four Aces who did a version of Three Coins in the Fountain which was a number one that year for Frank Sinatra. Then there was The Chordettes who had a hit with Mr Sandman, which was also a hit for Dickie Valentine that year. Finally, in the final week of 1954 we had the first UK hit from Bill Haley & His Comets with........

No, not that one. It was actually Shake Rattle and Roll, but this is the beginning of the music which would go on to define the decade, the question is will the UK charts reflect this? We'll see when we look at 1955 and beyond.

Record of the Year 1953: Les Paul & Mary Ford - Vaya Con Dios

I had a bigger selection of songs to choose from in 1953 than I did in 1952. Like I said in my review though, the music style did not change much and again no songs stood out as being fantastic.

However my choice for 1953 was different to most, if not all the other songs of that year as it featured a guitar. Like with every year from now on, I do not know every hit of the year and obviously do not have the time to listen to every song I don't know on YouTube, so if you know of another guitar based song of this year or just want to recommend a different song of this year then please leave a comment below.

Les Paul and Mary Ford were a husband and wife duo, and they were officially a one hit wonder in this country. However, Les Paul is a well known name amongst guitarists, notably for the Gibson Les Paul guitar.

There is obviously nothing unusual about hearing a guitar on a song these days, but I would imagine if I heard this song for this first time in 1953 it would have sounded refreshingly different to the other music I would have been used to.

Despite the Spanish title, which translates to go with god, the lyrics are in English with the song title being the only words in Spanish.

UK Singles Chart: 1953

In terms of music style, 1953 was pretty much the same as 1952, though it would probably be expected given the charts had only existed for the final 6 weeks of 1952.

It was still a top 12 and there was a total of 76 songs which made the charts that year. For the first and only time in chart history, there was a joint number one which happened the second week of December. It was actually the same song sung by two different artists. The song was Answer Me and the artists were Frankie Laine and David Whitfield. The David Whitfield version was number one first at the start of November, then was knocked off a week later by Frankie Laine which would remain number one for the rest of the year.

Its a well known fact that the song which spent the most consecutive weeks at number one in the charts history was Bryan Adams - (Everything I do) I do it for you, spending 16 weeks at the top in 1991. What is less known is that the song to spend the most weeks at number one overall was Frankie Laine - I Believe which was number one for a total of 18 weeks, all of which happened in 1953.

In fact Frankie Laine was very much the dominant figure in the singles chart this year spending a total of 27 weeks at number one from three songs, his other number one being Hey Joe. He also ended the year as the artist with the most singles (7) and most number ones (3). The only other artists to have had more than one number one were Eddie Fisher (Outside of Heaven & I'm Walking Behind You) and Guy Mitchell (She Wears Red Feathers & Look at That Girl).

By the end of the year there was still no artists from outside of the UK, USA, Canada or Trinidad & Tobago who had scored a hit single. Winifred Atwell was still the only person to have written their own hit single to date too.

It was still very much dominated by solo artists, but there were four groups who had hits that year, Mills Brothers, Stargazers, Johnston Brothers and Beverley Sisters. Mills Brothers were the first group to be considered a one hit wonder, their hit being Glow Worm. Stargazers were the first group to score a number one with Broken Wings. Until Joy Beverley died recently, every member of the Beverley Sisters was still alive which made them the earliest group to have a hit single with all members still alive. I shall reveal who that honour goes to now in this blod once I get to the relevant year.

Finally, many people will remember at primary school being taught the song (How Much is) That Doggie in the Window. Well this was actually a number one hit in 1953 by Lita Roza, though apparently she disliked the song and refused to sing it on stage.

Record of the Year 1952: Jo Stafford - Jambalaya

With just 27 singles charting in 1952 I've been able to listen to all the ones I don't already know on YouTube. None of them stood out as being great but a few of them were alright, the best one in my opinion being Jo Stafford - Jambalaya.

Like many people under a certain age, I heard the Carpenters version of this first and have always found it pleasant enough. Even this version though is not the original. It was written and recorded first by Hank Williams who actually passed away whilst this version was in the charts.

This was Jo Stafford's second hit single which made number where it stayed for 2 weeks before falling out the charts. Her first single, You Belong to Me, on the other hand remained in the charts and became number one 2 weeks later and would remain in the singles chart for 19 weeks.

She would only have two further hits in the UK, Make Love to Me in 1954 and Suddenly There's a Valley in 1955. In her native America though she had many hits dating back to 1944 and would continue to have hits there until 1959 when she semi retired from the music industry. She died aged 90 in 2008.