Chart
|
1 |
LIVIN'
DOLL - CLIFF RICHARD (A song which made No.1 twice - twenty
seven years later when Cliff joined a group of students
to re-record it) |
|
2 |
Only
Sixteen - Craig Douglas (Here it is - the other version.
Was it as good or better than Sam's?) |
|
3 |
Lonely
Boy - Paul Anka (Did we feel sorry for Paul when we heard
this?) |
| 4 |
Battle
Of New Orleans - Lonnie Donegan (Lonnie with his history
lesson, tinged with a little humour) |
| 5 |
Dream
Lover - Bobby Darin (Probably the one song from today's
show that still gets a weekly airing on British radio)
|
| 6 |
Lipstick
On Your Collar - Connie Francis (What do you prefer -
her slowies or the faster paced numbers like this and
VACATION?) |
| 7 |
Big
Hunk Of Love - Elvis Presley (No.4 over here but it made
the top of the Hot 100 in the US) |
| 8 |
A
Teenager In Love - Marty Wilde (One of the British band
of rock and rollers who took US derived hits and had chart
hits in Britain) |
|
9
|
Heart
Of A Man - Frankie Vaughan (A song also recorded by several
other artistes including Rikki Henderson) |
|
10 |
Roulette
- Russ Conway (This was on its way down but China Tea
would soon replace it as a major hit) |
| 11 |
I
Know - Perry Como (He was showing that the rock and roll
era wouldn't end his popularity. Even in the 70's he was
having hits) |
| 12 |
Someone
- Johnny Mathis (We sometimes forget how popular Johnny
Mathis was in this period and held on to his fans throughout
the next four decades) |
| 13 |
Ragtime
Cowboy Joe - The Chipmunks (Without doubt. Some of the
cleverest animals around in the late fifties) |
| 14 |
Only
Sixteen - Sam Cooke (There's another version of this kicking
around the show this week but who by?) |
| 15 |
China
Tea - Russ Conway (Interesting how the instrumentals of
the period got their name….before or after they were
written. Did the sound of the music help give it a name?)
|
| 16 |
Personality
- Anthony Newley (Lloyd Price recorded this as well and
it's generally agreed his was probably the longer lasting
in the history of music) |
| 17 |
Goodbye
Jimmy Goodbye - Ruby Murray (How many female singers in
our show this week? Is Ruby the solo representative? Well
we have a doll later) |
| 18 |
Tallahassie
Lassie - Freddie Cannon (Okay so how many of the millions
of Brits who've been to Florida have actually ventured
to the state capital - Tallahassie?) |
| 19 |
Mona
Lisa - Conway Twitty (Nat King Cole gave us the version
which became the definitive recording….Conway gave
it a different arrangement) |
| 20 |
Give
Give Give - Tommy Steele (25 JJBIT points if you know
his real name? The answer revealed when you listen) |
News
Headlines
It was 1959 and transistor radios were the latest technical
mod con available in the shops. They were smaller and more economical
than ever according to the Earls Court Radio Show. The makers
said their models could last on the same batteries for a year,
and as for the volume and the tone, well radio would never be
the same again. The
luxury model on the market was the Roberts mink covered portable,
just a £156.
Britain's
coal mines were facing an uncertain future - Between 35 and
70 pits were to close in the next six years according to the
National Coal Board, and
the US President Eisenhower was on a tour of Europe. It
included talks with the British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan
which were televised and became known as the Ike and Mac Show
Harrod's
was about to be bought by a Scottish accountant. Hugh
Fraser had bought enough shares to take over the famous store
in Knightsbridge. It
had been thought by some that Debenham's would buy Harrod's.
The
High Street banks were about to enter the computer era. Barclay's
became the first to order a computer for its branch accounts.
Violent
storms were lashing the south of England, the Queen announced
she was expecting her third child and in London sodium road
lighting was being used for the first time, it would mean
the end of the old gaslight !
Music
Feature
|
A
FIFTIES GOLDEN BOY
 |
Fabian
Forte was born on February 6, 1943 and grew up in Philadelphia
with two other Fifties singers Frankie Avalon and Bobby
Rydell as neighbours. In fact the trio went to the same
boys' clubs.
His father died from a heart attack when Fabian was
just fourteen. The teenager took on extra jobs to raise
money for the family.
It was Frankie Avalon's success as a singer that led
to Fabian get his chance. The men who had discovered
Avalon, Bob Marucci and Peter DeAngelis, looked around
South Philadelphia for other talent and it was Avalon
who suggested to them to try the Forte family.
According to legend, there they found the young Fabian
sitting on the front steps. Marucci and DeAngelis gave
him a makeover, dressing in a V neck sweater, and showing
off his hair.
His first release in the summer of 1958 was I'm In Love.
Girls went wild as Fabian went around the mid west and
the east coast promoting the song. However it wasn't
enough to sell the single and it and his second release
Lily Lou also failed to chart.
It was after several appearances on the American Bandstand
show that I'm A Man began to sell.
At the end of 1958 his popularity was on the rise and
he won the Silver Award in the search for the Most Promising
Male Vocalist of the Year.
Turn Me Loose, his next single was a change of style
- a baritone voice, and it sold well and charted. A
best selling album The Fabulous Fabian followed and
his next single Tiger became a big hit.
By the end of the Fifties Fabian was a well known pop
singer, but his road to greater stardom was to continue.
In 1959 he turned to acting, making his screen debut
in Hound Dog Man opposite Carol Lynley. He also became
a TV star, playing a homicidal maniac in A Lion Walks
Among Us.
Those parts led Fabian to take up acting seriously,
and he studied the art for three years in New York and
Hollywood. He would go on to star in films alongside
John Wayne, James Stewart, Jack Palance, Tuesday Weld
and George Segal. In all he starred in thirty films.
Fabian continues to perform in the twenty first century.
His own concert series - Fabian's Goodtime Rock N Roll
Show features other singers from the Fifties and early
Sixties.
And remember Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell from his
childhood? Well, the three of them appear together as
The Golden Boys and have played to packed houses across
the United States of America, including nights in Las
Vegas.
Fabian's also a keen golfer and hosts a celebrity golf
tournament for charity. Fabian is married to to Andrea
Patrick, a former beauty queen who was Miss West Virginia.
He has two children - Christian who's a screenwriter
and Julie.
If you want to find out more about Fabian, try his official
website, www.fabianforte.com
and
www.history-of-rock.com/fabian.htm
|
Join
John Hayes for his Journey Back In Time, a nostalgic look
back at music and memories from a chosen year, this Sunday
from 9am on 103.5 & 95.3FM - BBC Essex.
MISSED AN EDITION OF JOHN'S JOURNEY? WANT TO CHECK WHAT WAS
IN THE CHARTS? TAKE A LOOK AT OUR ARCHIVE
SECTION.
|
Get the