This is an alphabetical artist list of every song to make the top 40 during
any given week during this year and its peak highest position reached on the
national charts in USA
What are your favorite songs on this list?
My personal favorites are listed at the bottom of this page !
hoknes@hotmail.com
Al Hibbler 11th Hour Melody 1956 21
Al Hibbler After the Lights Go Down Low 1956 10
Al Hibbler Never Turn Back 1956 22
Ames Brothers Forever Darling 1956 35
Ames Brothers It Only Hurts for a Little While 1956 11
Andy Williams Baby Doll 1956 33
Andy Williams Canadian Sunset 1956 07
Benny Goodman Trio with Rosemary Clooney Memories Of You 1956 20
Bill Doggett Honky Tonk (Parts 1 & 2) 1956 02
Bill Haley & His Comets Rip It Up 1956 25
Bill Haley & His Comets R-O-C-K 1956 16
Bill Haley & His Comets Rudy's Rock 1956 34
Bill Haley & His Comets See You Later, Alligator 1956 06
Bill Haley & His Comets The Saints Rock 'N' Roll 1956 18
Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra Theme from "The Three Penny Opera" (Moritat) 1956
37
Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra When the White Lilacs Bloom Again 1956 18
Billy Ward and His Dominoes St. Therese of the Roses 1956 13
Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly True Love 1956 03
Blue Stars Lullaby of Birdland 1956 16
Bobby Scott Chain Gang 1956 13
Bonnie Sisters Cry Baby 1956 18
Buchanan & Goodman The Flying Saucer (Parts 1 & 2) 1956 03
Cadets Stranded In the Jungle 1956 15
Cadillacs Speedoo 1956 17
Carl Perkins Blue Suede Shoes 1956 02
Cathy Carr Ivory Tower 1956 02
Chordettes Eddie My Love 1956 14
Chordettes Born to Be With You 1956 05
Chordettes Lay Down Your Arms 1956 16
Chuck Berry Roll Over Beethoven 1956 29
Clovers Love, Love, Love 1956 30
Clyde McPhatter Treasure Of Love 1956 16
Count Basie & His Orchestra April In Paris 1956 28
Crew-Cuts Angels in the Sky 1956 11
Crew-Cuts Mostly Martha 1956 31
Crew-Cuts Seven Days 1956 18
Cyril Stapleton & His Orchestra The Italian Theme 1956 25
Dean Martin Memories Are Made Of This 1956 01
Dean Martin Standing On The Corner 1956 22
Dean Martin Innamorata 1956 27
Diamonds Why Do Fools Fall In Love 1956 12
Diamonds Ka-Ding-Dong 1956 35
Diamonds Love, Love, Love 1956 30
Diamonds Soft Summer Breeze 1956 34
Diamonds The Church Bells May Ring 1956 14
Dick Hyman Trio Moritat (Theme from "The Three Penny Opera") 1956 08
Dick Jacobs & His Orchestra Petticoats of Portugal 1956 16
Dick Jacobs and His Orchestra & Chorus Main Title from "Man with the Golden
Arm" and "Molly-O" 1956 22
Don Cherry Band of Gold 1956 04
Don Cherry Ghost Town 1956 22
Don Cherry Wild Cherry 1956 29
Don Robertson The Happy Whistler 1956 06
Don Rondo Two Different Worlds 1956 11
Doris Day Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) 1956 02
Dorothy Collins Seven Days 1956 17
Dream Weavers A Little Love Can Go a Long, Long Way 1956 33
Dream Weavers It's Almost Tomorrow 1956 07
Eddie Cooley & The Dimples Priscilla 1956 20
Eddie Fisher Cindy, Oh Cindy 1956 10
Eddie Fisher On The Street Where You Live 1956 18
Eddie Fisher Dungaree Doll 1956 07
Eddie Heywood Soft Summer Breeze 1956 11
Eddie Lawrence The Old Philosopher 1956 34
Eddy Arnold I Wouldn't Know Where To Begin 1956 22
Eileen Rodgers Miracle of Love 1956 18
Elmer Bernstein & His Orchestra Main Title from "The Man with the Golden Arm"
1956 16
Elvis Presley Blue Suede Shoes 1956 20
Elvis Presley Hound Dog 1956 01
Elvis Presley Anyway You Want Me (That's How I Will Be) 1956 20
Elvis Presley Don't Be Cruel 1956 01
Elvis Presley Heartbreak Hotel 1956 01
Elvis Presley I Want You, I Need You, I Love You 1956 01
Elvis Presley I Was the One 1956 19
Elvis Presley Love Me Tender 1956 01
Elvis Presley My Baby Left Me 1956 31
Elvis Presley When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again 1956 19
Eydie Gorme Mama, Teach Me to Dance 1956 34
Eydie Gorme Too Close for Comfort 1956 39
Fats Domino Bo Weevil 1956 35
Fats Domino I'm in Love Again 1956 03
Fats Domino My Blue Heaven 1956 19
Fats Domino When My Dreamboat Comes Home 1956 14
Five Keys Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind 1956 23
Five Satins In the Still Of the Night (I'll Remember) 1956 24
Fontane Sisters I'm In Love Again 1956 38
Fontane Sisters Eddie My Love 1956 11
Four Aces I Only Know I Love You 1956 22
Four Aces featuring Al Alberts You Can't Run Away from It 1956 20
Four Freshmen Graduation Day 1956 17
Four Lads A House with Love in It 1956 16
Four Lads My Little Angel 1956 22
Four Lads No, Not Much 1956 02
Four Lads Standing on the Corner 1956 03
Four Lads The Bus Stop Song (A Paper of Pins) 1956 17
Four Voices Lovely One 1956 20
Frank Sinatra (How Little It Matters) How Little We Know 1956 13
Frank Sinatra Flowers Mean Forgiveness 1956 21
Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers Why Do Fools Fall In Love 1956 06
Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers I Want You to Be My Girl 1956 13
Gadabouts Stranded In The Jungle 1956 39
Gale Storm Ivory Tower 1956 06
Gale Storm Memories Are Made Of This 1956 05
Gale Storm Teen Age Prayer 1956 06
Gale Storm Why Do Fools Fall in Love? 1956 09
G-Clefs Ka-Ding Dong 1956 24
Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps Be-Bop-A-Lula 1956 07
George Cates & His Orchestra Moonglow and Theme from "Picnic" 1956 04
George Hamilton IV A Rose and a Baby Ruth 1956 06
Georgia Gibbs Happiness Street 1956 20
Georgia Gibbs Kiss Me Another 1956 30
Georgia Gibbs Rock Right 1956 36
Georgia Gibbs Tra La La 1956 24
Gloria Mann Teen Age Prayer 1956 19
Gogi Grant The Wayward Wind 1956 01
Guy Mitchell Ninety Nine Years (Dead or Alive) 1956 23
Guy Mitchell Singing the Blues 1956 01
Harry Belafonte Mary's Boy Child 1956 12
Helmut Zacharias & His Magic Violin When the White Lilacs Bloom Again 1956 12
Highlights City of Angels 1956 19
Hilltoppers Ka-Ding-Dong 1956 38
Hilltoppers My Treasure 1956 31
Hugo Winterhalter Canadian Sunset 1956 02
Ivory Joe Hunter Since I Met You Baby 1956 12
Jane Morgan True Love 1956 15
Jayhawks Stranded In The Jungle 1956 18
Jerry Lewis Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody 1956 10
Jerry Vale Innamorata (Sweetheart) 1956 30
Jerry Vale You Don't Know Me 1956 14
Jim Lowe Green Door 1956 01
Jo Stafford It's Almost Tomorrow 1956 14
Jo Stafford On London Bridge 1956 38
Joe "Fingers" Carr Lou Busch & His Orchestra) Portuguese Washerwoman 1956 19
Joe Valino Garden of Eden 1956 12
Johnnie Ray Just Walking in the Rain 1956 02
Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two I Walk the Line 1956 17
Joni James Give Us This Day 1956 30
Julius LaRosa Lipstick and Candy and Rubbersole Shoes 1956 15
Kay Starr Rock and Roll Waltz 1956 01
Kay Starr Second Fiddle 1956 40
Kay Thompson Eloise 1956 39
Kit Carson Band of Gold 1956 11
Kitty Kallen & Georgie Shaw Go On With The Wedding 1956 39
LaVern Baker I Can't Love You Enough 1956 22
Lawrence Welk Moritat (Theme from "The Three Penny Opera") 1956 17
Lawrence Welk The Poor People of Paris 1956 17
Lawrence Welk with The Lennon Sisters & The Sparklers Tonight You Belong to
Me 1956 15
Les Baxter with His Chorus & Orchestra The Poor People of Paris (Jean's Song)
1956 01
Little Richard Long Tall Sally 1956 06
Little Richard Rip It Up 1956 17
Little Richard Slippin' and Slidin' (Peepin' and a-Hidin') 1956 33
Little Richard Tutti Frutti 1956 17
Little Willie John Fever 1956 24
Lonnie Donegan & His Skiffle Group Rock Island Line 1956 08
Lou Busch 11th Hour Melody 1956 35
Louis Armstrong Blueberry Hill 1956 29
Louis Armstrong & His All Stars A Theme From the Three Penny Opera (Mack the
Knife) 1956 20
Margaret Whiting The Money Tree 1956 20
Marty Robbins Singing The Blues 1956 17
McGuire Sisters Delilah Jones 1956 37
McGuire Sisters Ev'ry Day of My Life 1956 37
McGuire Sisters Picnic 1956 13
McGuire Sisters and Lawrence Welk Weary Blues 1956 32
Mitch Miller & His Orchestra Lisbon Antigua (in Old Lisbon) 1956 19
Mitch Miller & His Orchestra The Theme from "Song for a Summer Night" (Parts 1 &
2) 1956 08
Moonglows See Saw 1956 25
Morris Stoloff & His Orchestra Moonglow and Theme from "Picnic" 1956 01
Nat "King" Cole Ask Me 1956 18
Nat "King" Cole Night Lights 1956 11
Nat "King" Cole To the Ends of the Earth 1956 25
Nat "King" Cole Too Young To Go Steady 1956 21
Nat "King" Cole & The Four Knights That's All There Is to That 1956 16
Nelson Riddle Lisbon Antigua 1956 01
Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra Port Au Prince 1956 20
Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra Theme from "The Proud Ones" 1956 39
Nervous Norvus Ape Call 1956 24
Nervous Norvus Transfusion 1956 08
Nick Noble To You, My Love 1956 27
Otis Williams / Charms Ivory Tower 1956 11
Pat Boone Long Tall Sally 1956 08
Pat Boone Chains Of Love 1956 10
Pat Boone Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love) 1956 05
Pat Boone Gee Whittakers! 1956 19
Pat Boone I Almost Lost My Mind 1956 01
Pat Boone I'll Be Home 1956 04
Pat Boone Tutti Frutti 1956 12
Patience & Prudence Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now 1956 11
Patience & Prudence Tonight You Belong To Me 1956 04
Patti Page Allegheny Moon 1956 02
Patti Page Go on with the Wedding 1956 11
Patti Page Mama From The Train 1956 11
Peggy Lee Mr. Wonderful 1956 14
Perry Como All At Once You Love Her 1956 11
Perry Como Glendora 1956 08
Perry Como Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom) 1956 01
Perry Como Juke Box Baby 1956 10
Perry Como More 1956 04
Perry Como Somebody Up There Likes Me 1956 18
Platters (You've Got) The Magic Touch 1956 04
Platters Heaven on Earth 1956 39
Platters It Isn't Right 1956 13
Platters My Prayer 1956 01
Platters The Great Pretender 1956 01
Platters You'll Never Never Know 1956 11
Richard Hayman & Jan August Moritat (Theme from "The Three Penny Opera") 1956
11
Richard Maltby & His Orchestra Themes from "The Man with the Golden Arm" 1956
14
Roger Williams Wanting You 1956 38
Roger Williams La Mer (Beyond the Sea) 1956 37
Rover Boys Graduation Day 1956 16
Russ Morgan & His Orchestra The Poor People of Paris 1956 19
Rusty Draper In The Middle Of The House 1956 20
Rusty Draper Are You Satisfied? 1956 11
Sanford Clark The Fool 1956 07
Sarah Vaughan Fabulous Character 1956 19
Sarah Vaughan Mr. Wonderful 1956 13
Shirley & Lee Let the Good Times Roll 1956 20
Sil Austin Slow Walk 1956 17
Six Teens A Casual Look 1956 25
Somethin' Smith & The Redheads In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town 1956 27
Sonny Knight Confidential 1956 17
Sylvia Syms English Muffins and Irish Stew 1956 21
Sylvia Syms I Could Have Danced All Night 1956 20
Tarriers (with Vince Martin) Cindy, Oh Cindy 1956 09
Teddi King Mr. Wonderful 1956 18
Teen Queens Eddie My Love 1956 14
Tennessee Ernie Ford That's All 1956 17
Teresa Brewer A Sweet Old Fashioned Girl 1956 07
Teresa Brewer A Tear Fell 1956 05
Teresa Brewer Bo Weevil 1956 17
Teresa Brewer Mutual Admiration Society 1956 21
Tex Ritter The Wayward Wind 1956 28
Tommy Leonetti Free 1956 23
Tony Bennett Happiness Street 1956 38
Tony Bennett Can You Find It in Your Heart 1956 16
Tony Bennett From the Candy Store on the Corner to the Chapel on the Hill 1956
11
Tony Bennett The Autumn Waltz 1956 18
Tony Martin Walk Hand In Hand 1956 10
Turbans When You Dance 1956 33
Vaughn Monroe Don't Go to Strangers 1956 38
Vaughn Monroe In the Middle of the House 1956 11
Vic Damone On the Street Where You Live 1956 04
JIM LOWE - THE GREEN DOOR (1956)
A #1 classic upbeat pop swing
tune from 1956. Always one of my favorite upbeat songs and have
loved to perform this song live and watch the dancers.
"(The) Green Door" is a 1956
popular
song with music composed by
Bob Davie and
lyrics
written by Marvin Moore. The lyrics describe a nondescript
establishment, with a green door, behind which "a happy crowd" play
piano, smoke and "laugh a lot", and inside which the singer is not
allowed. This club was private and it was limited to musicians union. The title was originally called "Yellow
Door", however, it was one syllable too many, so it was changed to "Red
Door", however due to the "Red Scare" it would be too controversial, so
the title was changed to "Green Door", (Source: Big 11 Countdown Show
with Johnny Hayes on radio station KRLA.)
In the
United Kingdom, Lowe's version reached #8 on the charts,
but a version by
Frankie Vaughan was even more popular, reaching #2.
Another UK recording, by Glen Mason, reached #24 on the UK
chart. The most popular version was by rock and roll star
Shakin' Stevens which spent four weeks at number one in
July
1981.
ELVIS PRESLEY - HEARTBREAK HOTEL (1956)
This is the first release
on RCA that made him a household name. This is song is still unique and
it sure would have stood out on the radio at the time. Nothing like this
had ever been played on air before. Still has a bit of a "dark"
feel too it which is intruiging. Always enjoy performing
this song live.
Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American
rock and roll musician
Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January
27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label
RCA Victor. His first number-one pop record, "Heartbreak
Hotel" topped
Billboard's
Top 100 chart, became his first million-seller, and was the
best-selling single of 1956. It was written by
Tommy Durden and
Mae Boren Axton.
The single topped
Billboard's
Top 100 chart for seven weeks, was number one on the Country
and Western chart and reached number five on the R&B chart,
becoming Presley's first million-seller, and the
best-selling single of 1956. It would eventually be
certified double platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America. Presley had
first performed "Heartbreak Hotel" during a live show in
December 1955 during a tour of the
Louisiana Hayride, but the song gained strong popularity
after his appearance on
Stage Show in March 1956. It became a staple of
Presley's repertoire in live appearances, last performed by
him on May 29, 1977 at the Civic Center in
Baltimore, Maryland.
Great song that I came to
really appreciate after Paul McCartney covered it in 1991 on his
Unplugged CD. Great early fun rock - another great dance
tune I used to perform live for years in the 1990's.
The best-known recording was
released in October 1956 by
Guy Mitchell and spent nine weeks at #1 on the U.S.
Billboard chart from December 8, 1956 to February 2,
1957. An example of the U.S. recording is on Columbia
#40769,dated 1956,with the Ray Conniff Orchestra. Mitchell's
version was also number 1 in the U.K. for three
(non-consecutive) weeks in early 1957.
Two other charting versions of the song were released
almost simultaneously with Mitchell's, one by U.K. cover
specialist
Tommy Steele (with the Steelmen) and the other by U.S.
country singer
Marty Robbins.
Tommy Steele's version of "Singing The Blues" made #1 in
the
UK Singles Chart for one week on 11 January 1957,
sandwiched by two of the weeks that Guy Mitchell's version
of the same song topped the charts. Steele's recording of
the song was not a chart success in the US.
The Marty Robbins version made it to number one on the
Billboard
C&W Best Sellers chart for 13 weeks in late 1956 and
early 1957 and peaked at number seventeen on the U.S. pop
charts.
BUCHANAN & GORDON - THE FLYING SAUCER (1956)
The first time a
medley had received airplay containing clips from recent hit songs in a
novelty storyline. Innovative and popular with a chipmunk voice by
speeding up the recording would have inspired The Chipmunks later on.
The Flying Saucer (also known as The
Flying Saucer Parts 1 & 2) is a novelty record
released by
Bill Buchanan and
Dickie Goodman (credited simply as "Buchanan & Goodman")
which hit #3 in 1956. The song is considered to be an early
(perhaps the earliest) example of a
mashup, featuring segments of popular songs intertwined
with spoken "news" commentary to tell the story of a visit
from a
flying saucer.
Bill Buchanan plays the radio announcer, stating that
the Martians are attacking Earth.
Dickie Goodman plays reporter John Cameron-Cameron.
Goodman would re-visit this character in several other
'Flying Saucer' records. The song
uses clips from 18 different songs, each of which was a top
20 hit in 1955 or 1956. In order of occurrence:
The writing of the
song is credited to Gene Vincent and his manager, Bill
"Sheriff Tex" Davis. There is evidence that the song was
started in 1955, when Vincent was recuperating from a
motorcycle accident at the US Navy hospital in
Norfolk, Virginia. There, he met
Donald Graves, who supposedly wrote the words to the
song while Vincent wrote the tune. (Cf. "Money Honey" by the
Drifters, 1953). The song came to the attention of Davis,
who allegedly bought out Graves' rights to the song for some
$50 (sources vary as to the exact amount), and had himself
credited as the lyric writer. Davis claimed that he wrote
the song with Gene Vincent after listening to the song
"Don't Bring Lulu", and Vincent himself sometimes claimed
that he wrote the words inspired by a comic strip, "Little
Lulu". "Be-Bop-A-Lula" is #102 in the list of the 500
greatest songs of all time.
In early 1956, Gene Vincent performed the song on a radio
show in
Norfolk, Virginia, and recorded a
demo version which was passed to
Capitol Records, who were looking for a young singer to
rival
Elvis Presley. Capitol invited Vincent to record the
song and it was recorded at
Owen Bradley's studio in
Nashville, Tennessee on May 4, 1956.
Cliff Gallup (lead guitar),
"Wee" Willie Williams (rhythm guitar), "Jumpin'" Jack
Neal (string bass), and Dickie "Be Bop" Harrell (drums)
comprised the band. When the song was being recorded,
Harrell screamed in the background, he said because he
wanted to be sure his family could hear it was him on the
record.
The song was released in June 1956 on Capitol
Records' single F3450, and immediately sold well. The song
was successful on three American singles charts: it peaked
at #7 on the US
Billboard pop music chart, #8 on the
R&B chart, and also made the top ten on the
C&W Best Seller chart peaking at #5. In the UK, it
peaked at #16 in August 1956. In April 1957, the record
company announced that over 2 million copies had been sold
to date
LITTLE RICHARD - TUTTI FRUTTI (1956)
Historic early rock song with
nonsense lyrics by a black rock performer on piano. This would
have stood out and its still full of so much energy !! Great sax
solo. I love performing this song !
"Tutti Frutti" is a 1955 song co-written and
originally recorded by
Little Richard, which became his first major hit record.
With its opening cry of "A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-wop-bam-boom!"
(a verbal imitation of a drum pattern that Little Richard
had heard) and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it
became not only a model for many future Little Richard
songs, but also a model for
rock and roll itself.
In 2007, a panel of renowned
recording artists voted "Tutti Frutti" number 1 on
Mojo's The Top 100 Records That Changed The World,
hailing the recording as "the sound of the birth of
rock and roll." In 2010, the US
Library of Congress
National Recording Registry added the recording to its
registry, stating that the hit, with its original
a cappella introduction, heralded a new era in
music. In April 2012,
Rolling Stone magazine declared that the song "still
has the most inspired rock lyric on record."
"Tutti Frutti" provided the title for one of the earliest
books about the development of rock and roll and pop music
from the 1950s,
Nik Cohn's "Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom" (1969).
After
Pat Boone's success with "Ain't
That a Shame", his next single was "Tutti Frutti",
markedly toned down from the already reworked Blackwell
version. Boone's version made no. 12 on the national pop
chart, with Little Richard's trailing behind only reaching
no. 17. Pat Boone himself admitted that he did not wish to
do a cover of “Tutti Frutti” because “it didn’t make sense”
to him; however, the producers persuaded him into making a
different version by claiming that the record would generate
attention and money
THE FOUR LADS - STANDING ON THE CORNER (1956)
Catchy sing along
chorus and good mixture of early 50's feel with the new pop vocal group
influence.
A recording of the song by
The Four Lads (made March 1, 1956) was popular in
1956. The recording was released by
Columbia Records as
catalog number 40674. It first reached the
Billboard charts on April 28, 1956. It peaked at #3 on
each of the various charts at the time: the Disk Jockey
chart, the Best Seller chart, the Juke Box chart, as well as
the composite chart of the top 100 songs. The flip side was
"My
Little Angel". Jimmy Arnold, lead tenor for
The Four Lads in 1956, is sometimes erroneously listed
as the song's co-author
The Four Lads is a popular
Canadian male singing quartet. In the 1950s, 1960s, and
1970s, the group earned many
gold
singles and
albums. Its million-selling signature tunes include
"Moments to Remember," "Standin' on the Corner," "No, Not
Much," "Who Needs You," and "Istanbul."
The Four Lads made numerous television appearances
including the award-winning
PBS
special, Moments to Remember.
The current incarnation of the group features the
original member Frank Busseri (bass), plus Don Farrar (lead
tenor), Aaron Bruce (second tenor), and Alan Sokoloff
(baritone).
NERVOUS NORVUS - TRANSFUSION (1956)
Classic novelty 50's song that
he may have pre-dated rap artists by 30 years!
Transfusion was a
novelty record recorded by
Nervous Norvus. It was a Top Ten hit in 1956, reaching #8 on
Billboard's pop music chart. He was born in 1912 and died in
1968.
Transfusion" is one of the best-known novelty songs of the 1950s and
the biggest hit for
Jimmy Drake under the alias of
Nervous Norvus.
Drake began his career as a composer of pop and novelty demos. He
teamed up with DJ
Red Blanchard, who gave him his pseudonym and aided
Drake with effects and behind-the-scenes production skills for
Nervous Norvus recordings. Their most lauded mutual affiliation,
"Transfusion" was a sonic admonition to reckless "barnyard drivers" --
as
Drake calls them -- who "come in two classes: line-crowding hogs and
speeding jackasses," and it shot all the way to the Top Ten in June of
1956. Among
Drake's fortes is his keen sense of rhyme and use of hip (by
late-'50s standards) jargon. The demented ditty commences with
Drake blowing a raspberry into the microphone to simulate the sound
of an automobile in need of a new muffler. The story begins as he is
"tooling down the highway" at nearly 80 miles an hour. The narrator
proclaims himself as a "twin-pipe papa" right before running a stop
sign. The resulting accident requires our "hero" to undergo the first of
what will be a series of blood transfusions, which
Drake always requests in short, memorable stanzas including "Slip
the blood to me Bud," "Shoot the juice to me Bruce," "Pass the crimson
to me Jimson," "Pass the claret to me Barrett," "Pump the fluid in me
Louie," "Put a gallon in me Alan," and finally "Hey daddy-o/Make that
Type O, huh?" Each wreck is followed by a vow that he's "never, ever,
ever gonna speed again." Of course, all of the mishaps are due to
operator error, such as "cross[ing] the center line" because he has "gotta
make time," "pass[ing] a truck on the hill ahead" (which sends his "red
corpsuckles" [sic] into a state of "mass confusion"), "pass[ing] a slow
poking cat on the right," and other forms of generally poor vehicular
progression. Parties wishing to hear more of
Drake's work are encouraged to locate
Stone Age Woo (2004), a 33-track compendium with never before
circulated material, not to mention both the A- and B-sides of the three
45s issued on the Dot label
PERRY COMO - HOT DIGGITY (1956)
My mother had Perry Como's
Greatest Hits album and I eventually listened to in the early 1980's and
this song is without a doubt very catchy and would be a great singalong
when it hit #1 in 1956.
Perry Como's recording was done at Webster
Hall in New York City. The conductor was Mitchell Ayres and
the producer was Joe Carlton. One small bit of trivia: The
regular guitarist had injured his wrist and the Musician's
Union sent a last minute replacement; a young 19 year old
Juilliard School of Music student named Bill Aken (aka Zane
Ashton) who would become a well-known musician in his own
right.
The nonsense phrase of the song's title, repeated
throughout the song, is used as counterpoint to the lines it
precedes in the lyrics, as in the following excerpt:
"Hot diggity, dog ziggity, boom
What you do to me, When
you're holding me tight."
The phrase "hot diggity dog!" dates to at least 1928,
when
Al Jolson was recorded saying "Hot diggity dog! Hot
kitty! Hot pussycat! Didn't I tell you you'd love it?" after
a performance of the tune "There's A Rainbow Around My
Shoulder".
BILL DOGGETT - HONKY TONK (1956)
Great early rock instrumental
that went all the way to #2. My grandparents had this on 78 rpm.
Honky Tonk is an
instrumental written by
Billy Butler,
Bill Doggett,
Clifford Scott and
Shep Shepherd. In 1956, Doggett released it on a
two-part single. On the Billboard pop charts, it
peaked at number two for three weeks. It was a number one
R&B
single, spending thirteen non-consecutive weeks at the
number one spot. In fact, "Honky Tonk" was the biggest R&B
single of 1956.
There's a "Part One" and a "Part Two".
Together they are about 5:42 in length.
It became Bill Doggett's signature piece. As one of the
basic tunes in the R&B and
rock and roll repertoire, it went on to be recorded by
many instrumental groups.