The top five singles in the US, according to Cashbox, from this week in 1959:
Fleetwoods - Come Softly To Me
Elvis Presley - A Fool Such As I
Dodie Steves - Pink Shoe Laces
Frankie Avalon - Venus
Dave "Baby" Cortez - The Happy Organ
I only know one of these: Venus.
And then, way down at #59, there's "Annette" [aka Annette Funicello] with Jo-Jo The Dog-Faced Boy!
“The Happy Organ” is a definite WIN for song titles.
yeah, i love that.
i was hoping there’d be some goofy double-entendre lyrics, instead of being just goofy organ.
In spite of being born 11 years after the week in question, I know all of these (well, except Jo Jo the Dog-Faced Boy) and am in fact rather fond of each of them, in their own way.
The breadth of the selection provides an interesting picture of the tension in the pop music scene of the ’50s. Firmly into the Rock-and-Roll revolution, there’s still a strong fondness for crooners and light orchestra. Some of that may be due to the racial chart segregation we discussed a few days ago; it would be interesting to see the top 5 from the “Race Music” chart of the same week.
You know what’s really precious about that Fleetwoods clip? While the sole percussion on the recording is a soft hit on the 2 & 4 beats, Dick Clark’s audience can’t help but clap on the 1 & 3.
So even lily-white Gary Troxel of Olympia, Washington — who originally played that percussion by jingling the keys in his pocket — was hipper to the rock beat than all the kids at Bandstand.
it would be interesting to see the top 5 from the “Race Music” chart of the same week.
yeah, no doubt. i tried finding a more, err, inclusive chart on-line, but could only find this one, which was apparently the L7-square chart of the day.
who originally played that percussion by jingling the keys in his pocket
! really ?