1,000 UK Number One Hits

By Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh

The official UK charts started in November 1952 with Al Martin's Here's In My Heart at the top. Since then, there have been over 50 years of changes and we have now reached the 1,000 number one.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Omnibus Press
• Release date: May 26, 2010
• ISBN: 9780857123602

Book preview

Al Martino, whose recording of ‘Here In My Heart’ became the first ever UK Number One

1 Al Martino

Here In My Heart

Label & Cat No.: Capitol CL 13779

Producer: Voyle Gilmore

Writers: Pat Genaro / Lou Levinson / Bill Borelli

Date reached No. 1:15 November 1952

Weeks at No. 1: 9

MANY TOP AMERICAN SINGERS WERE of Italian extraction including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Tony Bennett and Mario Lanza. Al Martino was another, being born Alfred Cini in South Philadelphia on October 7, 1927. He worked as a bricklayer, but he sang in local clubs. In 1950, his friend, Mario Lanza, suggested a move to New York, where he signed with the little-known BBS Records. His recording debut was with ‘Here In My Heart’, which had been intended for Lanza, and the thrilling top E at the start is comparable to anything from Lanza.

‘Here In My Heart’ was a transatlantic number one and led to a succession of hit records – ‘Take My Heart’, ‘Now Before Another Day Goes By’, ‘Rachel’, ‘wanted’ and the western theme, ‘The Man From Laramie’, James Stewart being that man from Laramie. But these hits only made somebody else rich. My manager was forced to sell my contract to some underworld figures in New York City, he later confessed, and I had no idea where my money was going. There was some physical harm and I decided to flee to Great Britain. That cloud lived over my head for seven years.

After the hits stopped, Al became popular in cabaret and, in 1972, accepted the small but significant role of Johnny Fontane in The Godfather. Martino thought that Mario Puzo’s creation paralleled his own life but Sinatra thought he was the model for the Fontane character. Al was the first to record the film’s theme, ‘Speak Softly Love’ and the following year Al returned to the Top 10 with ‘Spanish Eyes’, which he had actually recorded in 1965.

In 1999 Al Martino performed at Billy Joel’s fiftieth birthday party and in 2004, he returned to the UK playing large concert halls. Although Al knew ‘Here In My Heart’ was a UK number one, he remarked, "I had no idea that I had the first number one in the UK until someone said that I had made The Guinness Book Of Records." Martino continued to perform, particularly in Europe, into the new millennium, but in early 2009 he acknowledged that he was losing a connection with a new generation of web-savvy listeners. He said, I can’t sell records in stores anymore; everything is online and I don’t have access to younger audiences, but 20 or 30 years from now, how are kids going to feel romance? Al Martino died in October that year aged 82.

2 Jo Stafford with Paul Weston & His Orchestra

You Belong To Me

Label & Cat No.: Columbia DB 3152

Producer: Paul Weston

Writers: Pee Wee King / Redd Stewart / Chilton Price

Date reached No. 1: 16 January 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 1

THE LYRICS OF ‘YOU BELONG TO ME’ make little sense today – why is this man globe-trotting and leaving his girlfriend at home, and where does his money come from? The answer is that he was one of the millions doing compulsory national service, and several songs reflected the separation of servicemen from their loved ones – ‘AufWiederseh’n Sweetheart’ (Vera Lynn, 1952), ‘Arrivederci Darling’ (Anne Shelton, 1955) and ‘Sailor’ (Petula Clark, 1961).

Although ‘You Belong To Me’ was initially a country song from the writers of ‘Tennessee waltz’, it crossed over to pop and Jo Stafford’s version topped the US charts for five weeks. Other versions came from Joni James, Patti Page and Dean Martin, although the song made less sense when sung by a man. There were further cover versions in the UK, notably from Alma Cogan, Dickie Valentine and Jimmy Young, but surprisingly, the Sweetheart of the Forces, Vera Lynn didn’t record it.

Jo Stafford, who was born in California, joined The Pied Pipers vocal group with Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra in 1941 and had several hits with a young Frank Sinatra. She left Dorsey in 1944 and most of her subsequent career was with her husband, the orchestra leader, Paul Weston. She had a strong, clear voice with marvellous phrasing and excelled with standards. Like an antecedent to Phoenix Nights, she and Paul made humorous records as America’s worst club act, Darlene and Jonathan Edwards.

‘You Belong To Me’ was number two on the first UK chart but it took 10 weeks for her to dislodge ‘Here In My Heart’. By the time Jo Stafford finally made the top, her follow-up, a pop version of Hank Williams’ ‘Jambalaya’ had already come and gone.

3 Kay Starr

Comes-A-Long-Love

Label & Cat No.: Capitol CL 13876

Producer: Mitch Miller

Writer: Al Sherman

Date Reached No. 1:24 January 1953

Weeks at No. 1:1

THE DAUGHTER OF AN IRISH MOTHER and a full-blooded Iroquois Indian father, Kay Starr was born Katherine LaVerne Starks in the tiny village of Dougherty, Oklahoma, on July 21, 1922. When she was three, the family moved to a farm in Dallas, Texas where the young Kay would look after and regularly sing to the chickens, presumably to encourage egg laying. Her aunt appreciated her talent and, in 1937, she encouraged Kay’s mother to enter her for a talent contest on local radio station WWR –Dallas. The road manager of the jazz violinist Joe Venuti heard her performance and told Joe that she could be the female singer he wanted for the band.

Joe visited Kay’s house to talk to her parents about hiring Kay as a vocalist. Her parents agreed but her mother had to accompany her. In 1939, she joined Glenn Miller’s Orchestra to replace his resident singer Marion Hutton who had fallen ill. After recording two songs with Miller, ‘Baby Me’ and ‘Love With A Capital U’, she joined Charlie Barnet’s band as a replacement for Lena Horne.

Al Sherman was a Russian-born lyricist and composer who, in the Thirties, composed songs that became standards for Al Jolson, Louis Armstong and Maurice Chevalier. Al’s two sons, Robert and Richard, followed in their father’s footsteps. In 1960 they signed a contract with Walt Disney productions and became their exclusive staff songwriters throughout the decade.

In early 1952 Kay recorded a new song for Capitol called ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ which was rush released to gain the advantage over competing cover versions. The wheel of fortune proved a winner for her as she topped the US chart. Although the producer Mitch Miller recognised the talent of his artists, he preferred the easy option and saddled them with light-hearted novelty songs such as ‘Comes A-Long A-Love’. In the Sixties, Kay Starr sought to regain her composure by recording albums of standards.

4 Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra & Chorus

Outside Of Heaven

Label & Cat No.: HMV B10362

Producer: Hugo Winterhalter

Writers: Sammy Gallop / Chester Conn

Date reached No. 1: 30 March 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 1

THE BALLADEER EDDIE FISHER WAS born in Philadelphia in 1928 and was a protégé of Eddie Cantor. He had a record contract when he was 21 and some of his most successful records were in the pre-chart days – ‘Turn Back The Hands Of Time’, ‘Tell Me Why’ and ‘I’m Yours’. In 1951 he was drafted and spent part of his army service entertaining in Korea. He was in Korea when ‘Outside Of Heaven’ was number one and he was discharged in April 1953. His pay went up instantly from $94 a week to $7,500.

‘Outside Of Heaven’ was typical of Eddie Fisher’s style –he was far more comfortable belting out ballads than doing rhythmic songs. His single climbed to number eight in the US, while another version by Margaret Whiting made number 22. The single was practically a double-sided hit in the UK as the British song, ‘Lady Of Spain’, was also popular. In June 1953 he was the headline act for two weeks at the London Palladium and he was delighted to be here at the time of the Coronation.

When he was asked to perform at a charity ball for royalty, Princess Margaret asked him to sing ‘Outside Of Heaven’. In his autobiography, Been There, Done That, Eddie says that he introduced the song as being for ‘someone special’, adding, Maybe she blushed –or maybe that was her complexion. When I sang the song, I gave her my most seductive Philadelphia stare. He wishes that he had got to know her better and then England might have had its ‘first Jewish princess’. Instead, Eddie married Debbie Reynolds in 1955 and their daughter is the actress, Carrie Fisher. You may come across the daughters of his marriage to another actress and singer, Connie Stevens, Tricia Leigh Fisher and Joely Fisher, in TV movies. Tricia Leigh also made the US charts with ‘Let’s Make The Time’ in 1990. Eddie was also married to Elizabeth Taylor who left him for Richard Burton.

Eddie Fisher

5 Perry Como with The Ramblers

Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes

Label & Cat No.: HMV B 10400

Producer: Eli Oberstein

Writer: Slim Willet

Date reached No. 1: 7 February 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 5

BING CROSBY ONCE SAID THAT PERRY Como was the man who invented casual, although Bing himself was hardly dynamic. He was born Pierino Como on May 18, 1912 in Canonsbury, Pennsylvania. Perry’s father was a barber in Canonsburg and, as soon as his son was tall enough to cut hair, he worked in the shop but had ambitions to set up on his own. He started his own business on Third Street when he was 17 and he would entertain his customers by singing Crosby’s songs. Years later, Third Street was renamed Perry Como Avenue, but he never called an album, Short, Back And B-sides or Something For The Weekend. His hair, however, was always as trim and smooth as his voice.

Many of Perry’s customers urged him to sing professionally, so perhaps he wasn’t so good as a barber after all. In 1935 he began a seven-year residency as singer with Ted Weems’ Orchestra. In 1942 he briefly returned to hairdressing but preferred singing and just a few months later, he signed what was to be a 50-year contract with RCA Victor. His first recording was ‘Goodbye Sue’ in 1943.

‘Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes’was first recorded by the writer, Slim Willet, who had taken the song to number one on the US country chart. Perry’s version gave him his ninth US, but first UK number one.

Perry’s deep melodic baritone voice made it easy to emulate his idol, Bing Crosby. Like Bing, he enjoyed singing ballads like ‘Melancholy Baby’, but Perry liked to include light-hearted novelty songs such as ‘Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)’. I prefer the romantic ballads, said Perry, but the novelty songs are frequently requested. Show tunes were also a favourite.

In the mid-Forties, Como was lured to Hollywood and made three films: Something For The Boys (1944), Doll Face (1945) and If I’m Lucky (1946). Before long he grew tired with the film industry and moved into the new up and coming medium, television. He was one of the first artists to pioneer a variety show. The Perry Como Show not only gave him a chance to sing and communicate with his audience via song, but also the opportunity to interview guests.

Perry Como said, I’ve heard it said that you never get anywhere by copying someone. Well, I copied Bing and got somewhere.

6 Guy Mitchell with Mitch Miller & His Orchestra & Chorus She Wears Red Feathers

Label & Cat No.: Columbia DB 3238

Producer: Mitch Miller

Writer: Bob Merrill

Date reached No. 1: 13 March 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 4

I’VE ALWAYS LIKED SONGS THAT HAVE a story to them and most of all, I like something that people can sing along to, said the man who made a string of catchy records during the Fifties.

Guy was born Al Cernik in Detroit, to Yugoslav parents on February 22, 1927. In 1938 the family moved to Los Angeles. As they travelled across the country by train, Guy entertained the other passengers. One of them worked for Warner Brothers pictures and saw his potential as a child star. Once the family arrived, Guy received tuition, but the family soon moved again, this time to San Francisco.

In 1947 after a year in the US Navy, Guy auditioned for Carmen Cavallaro’s Orchestra and, still using his given name, he recorded for Decca. Guy recalled, I remember being nervous on the first few occasions, because I knew I was being watched by people like Bing Crosby and The Andrew Sisters. After three singles, Guy was forced to leave the orchestra due to a throat infection.

In the late Forties, Guy recorded for the King record label under the name Al Grant. He was also a winner on the popular Arthur Godfrey Talent Show. The show was probably the US equivalent of Opportunity Knocks and assisted, among others, Pat Boone, Tony Bennett, Eddie Fisher, Connie Francis, George Hamilton IV and Patsy Cline with their careers.

In 1950 top producer Mitch Miller wanted Frank Sinatra to record ‘My Heart Cries For You’ in New York. When Frank heard it, he refused to sing it and left saying, I would never record such rubbish Mitch was livid. He had an orchestra in the studio and no one to sing the song. He liked Al Cernik’s voice and asked him to come to the studio straightaway. Guy said, Frank was supposed to sing that song on his next session for Columbia but he quit the label just before that, and that’s how I got it.

It was Mitch who suggested a name change. When Al was on stage, the fans used to chant, ‘Hey guy, hey guy’ so that seemed a natural first name. Guy chose the surname as a tribute to his producer. He was teamed with songwriter Bob Merrill and between them had hits with ‘Sparrow In The Tree Top’, ‘My Truly, Truly Fair’, ‘Pitts-burgh, Pennsylvania’ and the song that appeared on the first UK chart, ‘Feet Up’.

‘She Wears Red Feathers’ was Guy’s first UK number one, but one of his least successful hits Stateside. The American people loved all things English, so it was surprising that a song about an English banker and his love for a native hula-hula girl failed to make an impact.

7 The Stargazers

Broken Wings

Label & Cat No.: Decca F 10047

Producer: Dick Rowe

Writers: John Jerome / Bernard Grun

Date reached No. 1: 10 April 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 1

CLIFF ADAMS WAS A PIANIST, WHOWROTE arrangements for Ted Heath and Cyril Stapleton and their orchestras. In 1950 the singer Dick James suggested that he and Cliff should form a singing group and write vocal arrangements for them. The group became The Stargazers, but James was only with them for a short time, eventually becoming a successful music publisher. Generally, there were five singers in The Stargazers and during their 10 year existence, their personnel, besides Adams, included Ronnie Milne, Fred Datchler, Bob Brown, Dave Carey, Marie Benson and Eula Parker. Their first single was ‘Me And My Imagination’ (1950) and they did well with ‘A-Round The Corner’ and ‘Sugarbush’. In 1951 they recorded ‘On Top Of Old Smokey’ with the US folk singer, Josh White.

The battle for the chart supremacy on the ballad of lost love, ‘Broken Wings’ was a tough one. The original American version was by the New Jersey husband and wife team, Art & Dotty Todd, who were modelled on Les Paul & Mary Ford. Their version peaked at number six and Dickie Valentine reached number 12, but The Stargazers went all the way, thus becoming the first British act to top the UK chart. The Dickie Valentine version was also on Decca but record labels didn’t mind two of their artists being in competition. As it turns out, Valentine was very friendly with The Stargazers and the group can be heard supporting him on two other number ones, ‘The Finger Of Suspicion’ and ‘Christmas Alphabet’. They also made records with Dennis Lotis, Ray Ellington and Jimmy Young, not to mention many of their own. In 1958 Art&Dotty Todd recorded the original version of ‘Chanson D’Amour’.

8 Lita Roza

(How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window

Label & Cat No.: Decca F 10070

Producer: Dick Rowe

Writer: Bob Merrill

Date reached No. 1: 17 April 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 1

IHAVE A LOT TO THANK THE CITY FOR, laughed Lita Roza, when she unveiled Liverpool’s Wall of Fame in 2001. I think my voice can be attributed to a good pair of lungs and the Liverpool air. Lita, who was born there in 1926 as Lilian Roza, created her own stage name, sang with Ted Heath & his Orchestra and, in pre-chart days, she sold well with ‘Allentown Jail’ and ‘Blacksmith Blues’. She says, I didn’t want to do these songs. I saw myself as a torch singer and I wanted to sing nice, sentimental songs.

Worse was to follow. Decca producer Dick Rowe saw the potential of ‘(How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window’, a US hit for Patti Page. The American singer, Mindy Carson, had rejected the song before Patti, and Lita was of the same opinion: Dick Rowe asked me to sing ‘Doggie In The Window’ and I said, ‘I’m not recording that, it’s rubbish.’ He said, ‘It’ll be a big hit, please do it, Lita.’ I said that I would sing it once and once only, and I would never sing it again, and I haven’t. The only time you’ll hear it is on that record.

Even when the record was number one, nobody could persuade Lita to perform the children’s novelty. She retained her integrity and it seemed to work as she won polls in both the Melody Maker and NME as the UK’s Favourite Female Vocalist.

In 1955 Lita had hits with two songs she liked – ‘Hey There’ and ‘Jimmy Unknown’ – and then contributed ‘A Tear Fell’ to the All Star Hit Parade, a charity single for The Lord’s Taverners Association, which made number two. In May 1956 Lita married a trumpet player from Heath’s band, Ronnie Hughes and although their marriage did not last, their friendship has endured.

Lita sang with the reformed Ted Heath band for many years, but she retired in the early 80s. She later remarked, I spent 30 years on the road, sleeping in strange beds and now I have a nice home and I want to live in it. I keep reading about people making comebacks, but I have never wanted to do that. I like my life the way it is. Lita Roza died in 2008 at the age of 82.

9 Frankie Laine with Paul Weston & His Orchestra

I Believe

Label & Cat No.: Philips PB 117

Producer: Mitch Miller

Writers: Erwin Drake / Irvin Graham / Jimmy Shirl / Al Stillman

Date reached No. 1: 24 April 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 18 (3 runs)

BOB HOPE CALLED FRANKIE LAINE A ‘foghorn with lips’, an accurate description as Frankie Laine is best-known for his powerful, full-blooded treatment of romantic ballads. Frankie Laine won a gold disc with his first record, ‘That’s My Desire’ (1947). Laine recalled, That record started selling in Harlem first of all because everyone assumed I must be black.

Laine had further successes with ‘S-H-I-N-E’, ‘On The Sunny Side Of The Street’ and ‘We’ll Be Together Again’, which featured his own lyric. Laine’s bellowing style was heard to good effect on ‘Mule Train’ (1949), which he sang to a whip-cracking accompaniment. He made his film debut in When You’re Smiling (1950) and sang the title song. Laine made several romantic comedies but he never appeared on film with Nan Grey, a leading lady from the Thirties, whom he married in 1950.

Also in 1950, Laine followed the producer Mitch Miller to Columbia Records and Miller found him one hit song after another. ‘I Believe’ was co-written by Erwin Drake, who wrote the standards ‘Good Morning Heartache’ (Billie Holiday) and ‘It Was A Very Good Year’ (Frank Sinatra). The song contained powerful imagery, and Frankie Laine has said, It accomplished an awful lot in its day because it said all the things that need to be said in a prayer and yet it didn’t use any of the holy words – Lord, God, Him, His, Thine, Thou. It said it all and it changed the whole spectrum of faith songs. No record has been at the top longer than Frankie Laine’s ‘I Believe’, managing 18 weeks in three different runs during 1953. The song reached number two for the Irish trio, The Bachelors, in 1964 and then it was reinstated at number one by Robson & Jerome in 1995.

10 Eddie Fisher featuring Sally Sweetland, with Hugo Winterhalter & His Orchestra

I’m Walking Behind You

Label & Cat No.: HMV B10489

Producer: Hugo Winterhalter

Writers: Billy Reid

Date reached No. 1: 26 June 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 1

‘I’M WALKING BEHIND YOU’WAS A BRITISH song written by Dorothy Squires’ husband, Billy Reid. Eddie Fisher discovered the song and rushed to record it before he came to the UK to appear at the London Palladium. He shared the credit with the soprano Sally Sweetland, but she is not even mentioned in his 1999 autobiography, Been There, Done That. She sang with the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, which was noted for ‘Midnight Sleigh Ride’ and featured such unlikely instruments as comb and tissue paper. Like Eddie Fisher, the Orchestra was also on RCA Records in America and when a female vocalist was needed for the song, it was natural to pick someone on the same label, and she also did the wordless singing behind Perry Como on his version of ‘Summertime’. Sally Sweetland is best known for being unknown as she was the voice for several American actresses in film musicals of the Forties, notably for Joan Leslie in Rhapsody In Blue (1945).

Lita Roza, who only ever sang her number one hit once because she hated it so much

Maybe it’s just as well that Sally Sweetland isn’t mentioned in Been There, Done That as this is the kiss-and-tell memoir to beat them all. Eddie Fisher was married to Debbie Reynolds (1955–59), Elizabeth Taylor (1959–64) and Connie Stevens (1968–69) but he also had affairs with Joan Collins, Angie Dickinson, Marlene Dietrich, Mia Farrow, Judy Garland, Abbe Lane, Sue Lyon, Jane Morgan, Ann-Margret and Kim Novak. Along the way he turned down Lucille Ball, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hedy Lamarr, Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe and Edith Piaf. And they’re just the entertainers! How he found the time to make any records at all defeats us and, indeed, he hardly mentions them in his extraordinary book. Fisher died, possibly from exhaustion, in 2010.

Being a wedding song, ‘I’m Walking Behind You’ was the ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ of its day. The B-side was a revival of the 1933 song, ‘Hold Me’, and we all know what P.J. Proby was to do with that.

11 Mantovani & His Orchestra

The Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart)

Label & Cat No.: Decca F 10094

Producer: Frank Lee

Writer: Georges Auric

Date reached No. 1: 14 August 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 1

UNLIKE BAZ LUHRMANN’S EXTRAVAGANZA in 2001, the first Moulin Rouge film was more or less a straightforward account of artist Toulouse-Lautrec’s time in Montmartre, starring José Ferrer, who was married to Rosemary Clooney. Its wide-ranging cast included Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Zsa Zsa Gabor. The award-winning film was directed by John Huston and had a fine score from Georges Auric.

Most record labels wanted the theme from the night club, Moulin Rouge, in their catalogues: some of the treatments were instrumental, while others used the lyric, ‘Where Is Your Heart?’. Nine versions were released, and the public chose the instrumental arrangement by Mantovani & His Orchestra.

Mantovani was Annunzio Paolo, born in Venice in 1905 and whose father became the principal violinist under Toscanini at La Scala, Milan. The family moved to England in 1912 and he used his mother’s maiden name, Mantovani, when he became a professional musician, playing violin and piano. He felt that the lighter side of music had never received its proper dignity and so he formed a string orchestra (40 pieces with 28 of them string players) and said, I wanted an overlapping of sound as though we were playing in a cathedral.

If the charts had started at the beginning of 1952, Mantovani may have had the first number one with ‘Charmaine’, which became his signature tune. However, the credit for the cascading strings associated with Mantovani also belongs to the splendidly-named arranger, Ronald Binge, and the studio engineer, Arthur Lilley. The result was a Wall of Sound long before Phil Spector’s, but made from more delicate materials.

Mantovani was a proud man who believed that his records were the best on the market. He died in 1980 and would be horrified to know that his albums are now dismissed as schmaltz and on sale for pennies at car boot sales. Still, he did achieve the UK’s first instrumental number one and he was also the first chart-topping artist to write a number one, namely ‘Cara Mia’for David Whitfield.

12 Guy Mitchell

Look At That Girl

Label & Cat No.: Phillips PB 162

Producer: Mitch Miller

Writers: Bob Merrill

Date reached No. 1: 12 September 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 6

SURPRISINGLY, ‘LOOK AT THAT GIRL’ never made the US chart, but the day it hit the top spot in Britain, the American people turned their attention to another girl on her wedding day. That girl was Miss Jacqueline Bouvier, who was to become Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy.

In 1952 Guy could have sung the same song to his new wife, Jackie Loughery, a former Miss USA, but that only lasted two years. Three years later he wed another beauty queen, Miss Denmark, Else Soronsen, but that didn’t last long either. He finally found the right woman in his third wife, Betty Stanzak, whom he married in 1973 and would spend the rest of his life with.

Guy appeared at the 1954 Royal Variety Performance, he also appeared at the first Sunday Night At The London Palladium a year later. Guy had many ambitions, one was to buy his parents a new and comfortable home, so in order to make some extra money, he made regular appearances on the radio shows Housewives’ Choice and Family Favourites. He appeared in his first film starring opposite Gene Barry and Teresa Brewer in Those Redheads From Seattle. The hit single from the movie was ‘Chicka Boom’.

Bob Merrill was a brilliant novelty songwriter. ‘(How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window’, (Patti Page / Lita Roza), ‘Nairobi’ (Tommy Steele), ‘Mambo Italiano’ (Rosemary Clooney / Dean Martin) and ‘Where Will The Dimple Be?’ (Rosemary Clooney) were all hits. But he could also write serious songs. Barbra Streisand’s definitive version of ‘People’ is a fine example. ‘Look At That Girl’ was intended as a serious song, but was still bouncy enough to fit in with Guy’s image.

13 Frankie Laine with Paul Weston & His Orchestra Hey Joe

Label & Cat No.: Philips PB 172

Producer: Mitch Miller

Writer: Boudleaux Bryant

Date reached No. 1: 23 October 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 2

WHEN THE FIRST UK RECORD SALES chart was published in November 1952, the Chicago-born Frankie Laine was at number seven with the theme song from the Gary Cooper film High Noon and at number eight with ‘Sugarbush’, a romantic duet with Doris Day. Speaking of High Noon, he commented, I didn’t sing that song in the film, although I’d have been glad to have done so. Tex Ritter did the soundtrack, but I had the hit.

Frankie Laine’s ‘I Believe’ was still at number two when ‘Hey Joe’ entered at number three on October 17, 1953. A fortnight later, Frankie was number one with ‘Hey Joe’, number three with ‘Answer Me’, number five with ‘Where The Wind Blows’ and at number six with ‘I Believe’. In 1964 The Beatles had the top five records in the US but they never achieved Laine’s level of short-term penetration in the UK.

The cajun-influenced, ‘Hey Joe’, was originally recorded by Carl Smith, the father of Carlene Carter, and it topped the US country charts in 1953. A cover version by Kitty Wells also did well. Frankie Laine covered ‘Hey Joe’ for the US pop market, although retaining a steel guitar solo, and his version also beat off a UK response from Frankie Vaughan. The songwriter, Boudleaux Bryant, wrote ‘Love Hurts’ and many hit records for The Everly Brothers, often with his wife Felice. Despite its playfulness, ‘Hey Joe’ is about infidelity, and the consequences of which can be seen, quite coincidentally, in Jimi Hendrix’s entirely different record of the same name.

14 David Whitfield with Stanley Black & His Orchestra Answer Me

Label & Cat No.: Decca F 10192

Producer: Bunny Lewis

Writers: Gerhard Winkler / Fred Rauch / Carl Sigman

Date reached No. 1: 6 November 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 2 (2 runs)

MÜTTERLEIN, AN OLD-FASHIONED German term of endearment for a mother, was used as a title by the Berlin songwriter, Gerhard Winkler to celebrate his mother’s 75th birthday in 1952. Leila Negra was the first to record it, and versions in Danish, Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian followed. In America, Carl Sigman wrote a controversial English lyric, ‘Answer Me’, completely changing the song’s intention of a thank you from a son to a mother.

So, after ‘I Believe’, Frankie Laine was again in trouble. ‘Answer Me’ opened with an organ and Frankie singing as reverently as he could, Answer me, Lord above, Just what sin have I been guilty of, Tell me how I came to lose your love, Please answer me, oh Lord. That was dynamite in 1953. The record was banned throughout the States, although it still sold well, if not spectacularly.

Enter the light operatic singer from Hull, DavidWhitfield, who had had his first hit early in October 1953 with ‘Bridge Of Sighs’. His manager and record producer, Bunny Lewis, asked Carl Sigman to amend his words, and with a few deft changes, it became ‘Answer Me, My Love’. David Whitfield recorded the ‘safe’ lyric and he beat Frankie Laine’s original, which was hampered by a BBC ban, to the top.

In December 1953 Nat ‘King’ Cole recorded ‘Answer Me, My Love’ very successfully for the American market, securing him a gold disc, and although his single was released in the UK in February 1954, it was far too late.

Meanwhile, back in Germany, the lyricist Fred Rauch had put new German words to ‘Mütterlein’, following Sigman’s lead and calling it ‘Glaube Mir’ (‘Believe Me’). It sold half a million copies for Wolfgang Sauer, a blind singer and pianist.

15 Frankie Laine with Paul Weston & His Orchestra Answer Me

Label & Cat No.: Philips PB 196

Producer: Mitch Miller

Writers: Gerhard Winkler / Fred Rauch / Carl Sigman

Date reached No. 1: 13 November 1953

Weeks at No. 1: 8

FRANKIE LAINE’S EARLY FIFTIES HITS, ‘Jezebel’ and ‘Satan Wears A Satin Dress’, were regarded as controversial for their religious references. I didn’t pay much attention to the fuss being made over them, Laine said in 1978. I was being given great songs and I’d have been a fool to turn them down. The controversy surrounding Frankie Laine increased with ‘I Believe’ and then ‘Answer Me’ with the singer asking God why his relationship has failed. The record was banned by the BBC. However, many listeners heard David Whitfield’s amended lyric, ‘Answer Me, My Love’, and then bought Frankie Laine’s original. Both versions made number one.

Frankie Laine’s ‘Answer Me’remained on the charts for four months, taking him well into 1954 where one stentorian performance followed another – ‘Blowing Wild’ (2), ‘Granada’ (9), ‘The Kid’s Last Fight’ (3), ‘My Friend’ (3), ‘There Must Be A Reason’ (9) and ‘Rain Rain Rain’ with The Four Lads (8). There wasn’t a number one but that’s an impressive performance.

In 1955 Frankie went to number two with ‘Cool Water’, one of the many western songs with which he is associated, but, contrary to what many people think, he did not sing the theme on the soundtrack of the TV series, Champion The Wonder Horse. Frankie was busy at the time and so Norman Luboff, whose choir was often on his records, impersonated him instead. Frankie recorded his own version for a single in November 1955, and he was back at the top a year later with ‘A Woman In Love’.

16 Eddie Calvert Oh Mein Papa

Label & Cat No.: Columbia DB 3337

Producer: Norrie Paramor

Writers: Paul Burkhard / John Turner (Jimmy Phillips) / Geoffrey Parsons

Date reached No. 1: 8 January 1954

Weeks at No. 1: 9

EDDIE CALVERT WAS BORN IN THE HEART of brass band country, Preston, in 1922 and encouraged by his father, he was guesting with The Preston Town Silver Band from the age of six and became their principal cornet player when he was 11. He also played with several dance bands and after being invalided out of the army after an accident as a dispatch rider, he formed his own band and then joined The BBC Dance Orchestra in 1943.

In the Forties, ‘Oh Mein Papa’ had been written by Paul Burkhard for a stage musical, Der Schwarze Hecht (The Black Pike), in Switzerland. In 1949 it became a European hit for Lys Assia, who was to win the first Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Refrain’ in 1956.

In 1953 the EMI record producer, Norrie Paramor asked Eddie Calvert to make a solo record. The A-side was ‘Mystery Street’, and the B-side, ‘Oh Mein Papa’. Eddie’s B-side caught on in the UK and became the first number one to be recorded at EMI’s Abbey Road studios. Surprisingly for a British record of the period, it made the US Top 10 but Musicians’ Union restrictions prevented him from touring America. The best-known vocal version of ‘Oh Mein Papa’ is by Eddie Fisher, which topped the US charts and also made the UK Top 10.

Taking its cue from Nelson Algren’s novel The Man With The Golden Arm, Calvert became known as the Man with the Golden Trumpet but he came to hate his number one. In the Seventies he said, ‘Hearing ‘Oh Mein Papa’ is like having a six-inch nail jammed through my head."

17 The Stargazers with Syd Dean & His Orchestra

I See The Moon

Label & Cat No.: Decca F 10213

Producer: Dick Rowe

Writer: Meredith Willson

Date reached No. 1: 12 March 1954

Weeks at No. 1: 6 (two runs)

ACHILDREN’S PRAYER IN AMERICA went I see the moon, The moon sees me, God bless the moon, And God bless me. It was turned into a popular song by Meredith Willson, who wrote the 1957 musical The Music Man and it was recorded with barbershop harmonies by The Mariners and produced by Mitch Miller. The Decca producer, Dick Rowe, asked The Stargazers to cover it for the UK and they agreed, provided they could add some humour.

The Stargazers excelled at jingles like I see the moon, The moon sees me. They introduced themselves on radio with The Stargazers are on the air, and their leader, Cliff Adams was gifted at writing advertising hooks. His work includes ‘All because the lady loves Milk Tray’, ‘Fry’s Turkish Delight’ and ‘For mash, get Smash’. In 1960 The Cliff Adams Orchestra (in reality, a group of session musicians) had a hit record with ‘The Lonely Man Theme’, based upon his cigarette commercial, ‘You’re never alone with a Strand’, which featured the actor, Terence Brooks.

The Stargazers appeared on three Royal Variety Performances and they were regularly featured on The Light Programme’s Top Score with Stanley Black & His Orchestra and Show Band with Cyril Stapleton. They provided vocal accompaniments on Sunday Night At The London Palladium, but they were reprimanded for breaching advertising regulations when they included Cliff Adams’ jingle, ‘Murray Mints, Murray Mints, the too good to hurry mints’, as part of their performance.

The BBC has had many long-running radio programmes, but Sing Something Simple featuring the Cliff Adams Singers was exceptional. It was broadcast every week on either the Light Programme or Radio 2 from 1959 until Adams’ death in 2001. Its format of 30 minutes of warm ballads and cheerful novelties never changed and, as the songs generally ranged from 1900 to 1970, Sing Something Simple provided the perfect singa-long for senior citizens.

Today, if you were at an alehouse singsong, somebody may chirp I see the moon, The moon sees me. Everybody would join in but hardly anyone would know where it came from or know more than the title line, which, thanks to The Stargazers, can be expressed in so many ways.

18 Doris Day with orchestra conducted by Ray Heindorf

Secret Love

Label & Cat No.: Philips PB 230

Producer: Ray Heindorf

Writers: Paul Francis Webster / Sammy Fain

Date reached No. 1: 16 April 1954

Weeks at No. 1: 9 (two runs)

BETTY GRABLE HAD IMMENSE SUCCESS in Annie Get Your Gun with Howard Keel, so Hollywood decided to film a raucous musical about another western tomboy, Calamity Jane. Calamity yearned after Wild Bill Hickok but, being skilled in ropin’, ridin’, shootin’ and fight-in’, did not know how to attract him, pouring out her heart in ‘Secret Love’. The film musical starred Doris Day as Calamity and, as if to emphasise the link to Annie Get Your Gun, Howard Keel as Bill.

The key songs from the film, ‘Secret Love’ and ‘The Deadwood Stage’, were put on the same Doris Day single and it went to the top of the US charts, repeating its success here. Doris had her own secret at the time as she had discovered a breast lump and was afraid to mention it to anyone. Eventually she collapsed from exhaustion and she made a complete recovery, the lump proving to be benign.

Because of her problems, Doris Day could not appear at the Oscar ceremony and the song was performed by Ann Blyth who, much to public’s amusement, sang My secret love’s no secret anymore while heavily pregnant. The song won an Oscar, one of the also-rans being Dean Martin’s ‘That’s Amore’.

Slim Whitman took ‘Secret Love’ onto the US country charts and, in 1963, Kathy Kirby revived the song for her first Top 10 entry. The song again became a US country hit when Freddy Fender sang it in both English and Spanish in 1975. The film musical was converted to a stage show in the Nineties and it toured with great success and was taken into the West End in 2003 with Toyah very energetically reprising Doris Day’s creation.

19 Johnnie Ray

Such A Night

Label & Cat No.: Philips PB 244

Producer: Mitch Miller

Writers: Lincoln Chase

Date reached No. 1: 30 April 1954

Weeks at No. 1: 1

ALTHOUGH JOHNNIE RAY WORE evening dress and is usually bracketed with lounge singers like Tony Bennett and Vic Damone, he had a distinctive approach and, like Elvis Presley and later The Beatles, he sought out powerful rhythm and blues songs, which hadn’t crossed to the white market. His style and influences are therefore different from other artists recorded by Mitch Miller, and in 1953 he brilliantly covered The Drifters’ suggestive ‘Such A Night’. The song was written by Lincoln Chase, who also wrote ‘Jim Dandy’ for LaVern Baker. In the Sixties, he became the songwriter, manager and producer for Shirley Ellis (‘The Name Game’, ‘The Clapping Song’). The Drifters’ original of ‘Such A Night’ featured a frantic but passionate lead vocal from Clyde McPhatter, but Johnnie Ray added an animal sexuality, albeit with a middle-of-the-road arrangement.

And maybe this is why. Johnnie Ray was gay and, in 1952, he married an eager fan, Marilyn Morrison, probably to allay probing into his sexuality. Marilyn was soon drinking hard and early in 1954, she filed for divorce in Mexico. Johnnie Ray told reporters, Someday I plan to marry again. Every man wants a home and children, but what else could he say? His real feelings were made clear in ‘Such A Night’, where he yowls and yelps as he responds to sexual excitement. It was the frankest exposition of gay sex put on record, and yet nobody knew it. ‘Such A Night’ was banned by the BBC and so fans could not hear it on the radio. Nevertheless, Johnnie Ray was a major star and so they still bought it. Seeing him in concert was something else again as Ray would whip himself into a frenzy, drop to the floor and wrap himself around a piano leg.’

Although his producer Mitch Miller loathed rock’n’roll, Johnnie Ray paved the way for Elvis Presley, and Elvis can be heard impersonating him on ‘White Christmas’. Both of them made records that were bathed in echo and Johnnie has been wittily described by the writer Nik Cohn as John the Baptist to Elvis’ Jesus. Both, too, were parodied on comedy records by Stan Freberg –’Try’ and ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ respectively –although Ray hated Freberg’s pastiche. Elvis recorded ‘Such A Night’ in 1960 and it was released as a single in 1964, making the Top 20, but even Elvis did not want to sound as orgasmic as Johnnie Ray. Whoever thought ‘Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus’was something new?

20 David Whitfield with Mantovani & His Orchestra and Chorus

Cara Mia

Label & Cat No.: Decca F 10327

Producer: Bunny Lewis

Writers: Lee Lange / Tulio Trapani

Date reached No. 1: 2 July 1954

Weeks at No. 1: 10

DAVID WHITFIELD WAS AN OPERATIC tenor who came from Hull and could be regarded as the Mouth of the Humber. He was discovered by Hughie Green and signed to a management contract by Bunny Lewis who wrote ‘Cara Mia’with the orchestra leader, Mantovani, although their names are not in the credits. He says, My name appears on very few of the songs that I wrote because I was working for Decca, and rival companies might not record them: also, it wouldn’t make me very popular with Decca. I wrote ‘Cara Mia’ under the name of Lee Lange, which were my wife’s father’s Christian names, and Monty used Tulio Trapani. I had wanted to use the famous Mantovani falling string sound with voices on the song and Frank Lee, who was the head of A&R at Decca, said, ‘The only way you’ll get Mantovani to cooperate is by cutting him in.’ I showed Mantovani the song and he rewrote a bit of the music. I gave him half the song and it’s now a standard, which brings me quite a bit of money every year.

The combination of David Whitfield with Mantovani’s cascading strings worked perfectly and gave both artists their second number ones. Their record even made the US Top 10. Whit-field had several more hits including ‘My September Love’ and ‘Adoration Waltz’, but his career had lost its momentum by the Sixties where he was playing summer seasons and pantomimes. He died in Sydney in 1980 after entertaining passengers on a cruise ship and only a few weeks after Mantovani’s own death.

Whitfield was noted for the throb in his voice, and Bunny Lewis reveals, If I wanted what we called ‘the throb’, I would go down into the studio and goose him. He’d produce it and it was as simple as that.

21 Kitty Kallen with orchestra directed by Jack Pleis

Little Things Mean A Lot

Label & Cat No.: Brunswick 05287

Producer: Milt Gabler

Writers: Carl Stutz / Edith Lindeman

Date reached No. 1: 10 September 1954

Weeks at No. 1: 1

KITTY KALLEN, WHO WAS BORN IN Philadelphia in 1922, began her career singing with popular bands, Artie Shaw’s in 1938 and Jack Teagarden’s in 1940. She married Teagarden’s clarinettist, Clint Garvin, and when Teagarden fired him in 1942, she left as well. She then replaced Helen O’Connell in Jimmy Dorsey’s orchestra. Working through the big bands, she joined Harry James & His Orchestra and sang on their hit recording of Duke Ellington’s ‘I’m Beginning To See The Light’ in 1945. She became a solo artist in 1949 and her only UK hit was with ‘Little Things Mean A Lot’five years later. The record topped the US charts for nine weeks and was the year’s biggest seller.

‘Little Things Mean A Lot’was written by a DJ, Carl Stutz, and a newspaper journalist, Edith Lindeman (later Edith Calisch), both from Richmond, Virginia, and it is a ‘list’ song. You get an idea such as ‘You’re The Top’, ‘Anything Goes’ or ‘Little Things Mean A Lot’ and then list one item after another. As with most successful list songs, the song was parodied with such lyrics as Throw me a brick from across the room. Carl and Edith never repeated their success but they did write one of the staples of Willie Nelson’s act, ‘The Red Headed Stranger’ as well as Perry Como’s 1959 hit, ‘I Know’.

Kitty Kallen had further US hits with ‘Go On With The Wedding’ (1956), ‘If I Give My Heart To You’ (1959) and ‘My Colouring Book’ (1963), but she became the first number one never to return to the UK charts. The only others from the Fifties are The Dreamweavers, The Kalin Twins (also arranged by Jack Pleis) and Jerry Keller.

22 Frank Sinatra with orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle

Three Coins In The Fountain

Label & Cat No.: Capitol CL 14120

Producer: Voyle Gilmore

Writers: Sammy Cahn / Jule Styne

Date reached No. 1: 17 September 1954

Weeks at No. 1: 3

IN 1954 SAMMY CAHN AND JULE STYNE were writing a film musical for Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, Pink Tights. The project was scrapped when Marilyn absconded to Japan with the baseball star, Joe DiMaggio (Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?). The 20th Century Fox producer, Sol Siegel, immediately asked them to write the title song for another picture, saying "We just made a movie in Italy, We Believe In Love. I hate the title but if we can get ‘em a song called ‘Three Coins In The Fountain’, we can dissuade them. As the film was not available for showing, the composers asked for the script. Script? snorted Siegel, There’s no time to read a script. Three girls go to Rome, throw coins in a fountain and wish for love. Now, write the song!"

Sammy Cahn immediately hit upon the lyric and Jule Styne gave the melody a Latin flavour. When Sammy ran dry, Jule said, You haven’t mentioned Rome yet, hence the line, ‘Somewhere in the heart of Rome’. Later that day, they gave the song to Siegel who knew Sinatra was walking around with a quarter of a million for not making a film with Marilyn Monroe. He recorded the song within a few days, but it had all been done so fast that nobody had made a deal for the song. Fox realised their mistake too late and the songwriters ended up with more royalties than normal. I sang ‘Make it mine, make it mine, make it mine’ and that is what happened, said Sammy Cahn.

23 Don Cornell with orchestra directed by Jerry Carr

Hold My Hand

Label & Cat No.: Vogue Q 2013

Producer: Bob Thiele

Writers: Jack Lawrence / Richard Myers

Date reached No. 1: 8 October 1954

Weeks at No. 1: 4

ONE OF THE MANY ITALIAN-AMERICAN singers to come from New York, Don Cornell (born LuigiVarlaro) worked as a guitarist in Red Nichols’ Five Pennies, but he was soon concentrating on singing. He was spotted by the bandleader, Sammy Kaye, but Kaye thought his name was cumbersome and introduced him one night as Don Cornell without telling him first. He based the name on his former trumpet player, Dale Cornell. Cornell sang on a succession of Kaye’s hit records –’That’s My Desire’ (a US number three that was on the charts for five months in 1947), ‘The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise’, ‘Careless Hands’ (a UK hit for Des O’Connor in 1967), ‘It Isn’t Fair’ and ‘Room Full Of Roses’.

Following the lead of so many dance band singers, Don Cornell went solo in 1950. He had reasonable success during two years with RCA including ‘Ask Me No Questions’ (with Mindy Carson) and ‘I Need You So’. He moved to Coral in 1952 but they did not have a UK outlet for their releases. As a result, Eddie Fisher had a UK hit with Cornell’s American success, ‘I’m Yours’. Eventually, in 1954, his 18th Coral release secured a UK release and it was followed by his most successful record, ‘Hold My Hand’.

Frank Sinatra with arranger Nelson Riddle, in the studio in 1954

Jack Lawrence and Richard Meyers wrote ‘Hold My Hand’ for a light-hearted film, Susan Slept Here, about a Hollywood scriptwriter (Dick Powell) and a delinquent girl (Debbie Reynolds). Cornell’s record is played by Reynolds as she makes breakfast in Powell’s apartment. The powerful ballad received an Oscar nomination, but lost to ‘Three Coins In The Fountain’. ‘Hold My Hand’ went to number two in the US but topped the UK charts despite competition from Lorrae Desmond, Ronnie Harris and Gary Miller and a campaign against it.

The BBC objected to the line, This is the kingdom of heaven, although now it is hard to fathom why they thought it profane. An amended line, This is the wonder of heaven, was agreed and, by overdubbing, Cornell recorded a revised version for airplay. The purchased record still contained the original words, but the sheet music gave the lyric as This is the wonder of heaven.

When Cornell came to the UK, he learnt that the Archbishop of Canterbury had been criticising his record. It was all over the newspapers said Cornell, and I was so annoyed that I broke some furniture in front of the press. The headline was ‘Archbishop Of Canterbury Angers US Singing Star’. The audiences were wonderful: they would shout out, ‘Sing your banned song, Donny boy!’

Although Don Cornell had further US hits in 1955 (‘Most Of All’ / ‘The Door Is Still Open To My Heart’, ‘The Bible Tells Me So’ / ‘Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing’ and ‘Young Abe Lincoln’), they made no impression in the UK. He returned to the UK Top 20 in 1956 with another ‘hold my hand’ song, ‘Stranger In Paradise’. This was now the rock’n’roll era, said Cornell, and Coral had the bright idea that I should be recording for teenagers. I did some horrible songs – ‘Sittin’ In The Balcony’, for instance –and it was humanly impossible for me to do these well.

When the hits stopped, Cornell toured the States in The Pajama Game, A Streetcar Named Desire and other well-known productions. In 1963 he was among the first stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and, in 1993, he was inducted into the Big Band Hall of Fame. Throughout the Sixties and Seventies, he was performing in nightclubs and making occasional guest appearances including the TV series, Miami Vice.

In 1979 Cornell moved to Florida and played golf with his old friend, Perry Como. His second wife and biggest fan, Iris, encouraged him back to singing and he combined business with pleasure by performing on cruise liners and recording new albums. He died in February 2004 a few weeks short of his 85th birthday.

24 Vera Lynn with Frank Weir His Saxophone, His Orchestra & Chorus

My Son, My Son

Label & Cat No.: Decca F 10372

Producer: Frank Lee

Writers: Bob Howard / Melville Farley / Eddie Calvert

Date reached No. 1: 5 November 1954

Weeks at No. 1: 2

VERA LYNNWAS KNOWNASTHE FORCES’ Sweetheart during World War II and established herself with such stirring songs as ‘The White Cliffs Of Dover’ and ‘We’ll Meet Again’. She continued her success after the war and, most unusually for a UK act, she topped the US charts in 1952 with ‘Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart’, which sold 12 million copies worldwide. Had the charts been started a few weeks earlier, Vera would have had the first UK number one.

Eddie Calvert recorded an instrumental version of his tune, ‘My Son, My Son’, but it was Vera Lynn’s vocal version which became the hit. She adapted to the new medium of television with ease, having successful series throughout the Fifties and Sixties. She was the easiest artist I ever worked with says the arranger Tony Osborne, She always came to the studio note perfect. The standard practice was to record four numbers in three hours but we could be out in 90 minutes with Vera. We would have two perfect takes of each song and there was no point in asking her to do them again as they would sound exactly the same.

In 1968 Vera Lynn was awarded the OBE and in 1975 she became a Dame, the first popular entertainer to receive such an honour. She no longer performs but still takes an active interest in charitable work for the Forces. Dame Vera was 95 in March 2012 and is the oldest living person to have had a number 1 record.

25 Rosemary Clooney with Buddy Cole & His Orchestra

This Ole House

Label & Cat No.: Philips PB 336

Producer: Mitch Miller

Writer: Stuart Hamblen

Date reached No. 1: 26 November 1954

Weeks at No. 1: 1

IN 1928 ROSEMARY CLOONEY WAS BORN into an Irish Catholic family in Maysville, Kentucky. She sang with her sister, Betty, as The Clooney Sisters and her voice was praised by Billie Holiday, who said, You sing from the heart. I like that. In 1949 she was signed to US Columbia Records by Mitch Miller and like many of Miller’s artists, she was persuaded to sing novelty songs –’Me And My Teddy Bear’ and ‘Little Johnny Chickadee’ among them. Easily the most intriguing of her novelties is her playful ‘Too Old To Cut The Mustard’ with Marlene Dietrich, whose voice was even huskier than Clooney’s.

The country music songwriter, Stuart Hamblen, who wrote ‘It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)’, stumbled across the body of a prospector in a rundown hut miles from anywhere. The incident inspired ‘This Ole House’, which was a transatlantic chart-topper for Clooney in 1954 and then Shakin’ Stevens in 1981. Also in 1954, Clooney topped the US charts with the ballad ‘Hey There’ from The Pyjama Game and made a novelty single, ‘Man’, with her philandering husband, José Ferrer, performing ‘Woman’ on the other side. They separated in 1961, divorcing in 1967, but Clooney was not the totally innocent party as she had a long-standing affair with the orchestra leader, Nelson Riddle. Again in 1954, she starred with Guy Mitchell in the film musical, Red Garters, and Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye in White Christmas.

Rosemary Clooney has that great talent which exudes warmth and feeling in every song she sings, said Frank Sinatra, She’s a symbol of modern American music. Despite Sinatra’s accolade, Clooney is remembered for novelty songs, but her Eighties homage albums to the great songwriters deserve to be considered alongside Ella Fitzgerald’s. She died in 2002 and although he has acknowledged her influence, it seemed mean-spirited that her nephew, George, didn’t select one of her records in Desert Island Discs.

One of the selling features of Rosemary Clooney’s record was the deep bass voice provided by Thurl Ravenscroft. Years later, he was the voice of Tony the Tiger for Kellogg’s Frosties with his catchphrase, They’re grrreat!

26 Winifred Atwell

& Her ‘Other’ Piano

Let’s Have Another Party

Label & Cat No.: Philips PB 268

Producer: Johnny Franz

Writers: See below

Date reached No. 1: 3 December 1954

Weeks at No. 1: 5

IN THE FIFTIES THERE WERE MANY SOLO instrumentalists who did well on the UK charts –Winifred Atwell, Russ Conway and Joe Henderson (piano), Eddie Calvert (trumpet) and Bert Weedon (guitar) amongst them. Between 1952 and 1960, Winifred Atwell had 11 Top 10 hits and in 1954 she became the first black artist to make number one. Her hands were insured by Lloyd’s for £40,000 (though her insurers can’t have been happy when she played in the lions’ den at a circus for charity) and her fan club had 50,000 members. She even had a house in Hampstead built in the shape of a grand piano.

Although Atwell was a trained concert pianist, she also featured a tinny, honky tonk piano in her act. This so-called ‘Other Piano’ was played on her number one medley, ‘Let’s Have Another Party’, which contained snatches of 10 songs on its two sides. What is most interesting is the age of these songs –they are not contemporary hits, but their choruses would be known in any pub singalong, possibly even today. The songs are:

1898 ‘Lily Of Laguna’ (Leslie Stuart) –South-port’s top composer, he also wrote ‘Soldiers Of The Queen’. Just as well that Stuart hadn’t visited Laguna as, despite its magical name, it was known for its mosquito-ridden swamp.

1901 ‘The Honeysuckle And The Bee’ (Albert Fizz / William Penn)

1905 ‘Nellie Dean’ (Harry Armstrong) –performed by Cilla Black & Ringo Starr with Peter Brough & Archie Andrews on BBC-TV in 1968

1916 ‘Another Little Drink Wouldn’t Do Us Any Harm’ (Nat D. Ayer / Clifford Grey)

1916 ‘Broken Doll’ (James W. Tate) –a minor hit for Tommy Bruce in 1960

1918 ‘Somebody Stole My Gal’ (Leo Wood) –a Top 10 hit for Johnnie Ray in 1953

1921 ‘The Sheik Of Araby’ (Ted Snyder) –performed on stage by The Beatles

1926 ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’ (Ray Henderson / Mort Dixon)

1926 ‘I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight’ (Gus Kahn / Walter Donaldson)

1926 ‘When The Red Red Robin (Comes Bob Bob Bobbin’Along)’ (Harry Woods) –the inspiration for Phil Spector’s ‘To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him’.

Winnie especially loved the ragtime era and her version of ‘Black And White Rag’ (1952), which was written by George Botsford in 1908, was the signature tune for the BBC-TV snooker series, Pot Black (1969–1984).

27 Dickie Valentine with The Stargazers and Johnny Douglas & His Orchestra

The Finger Of Suspicion

Label & Cat No.: Decca F 10394

Producer: Dick Rowe

Writers: Al Lewis / Paul Mann

Date reached No. 1: 7 January 1955

Weeks at No. 1: 3 (2 runs)

DICKIE VALENTINE, REAL NAME Richard Bryce, was born in London in 1929. He wanted to work in show business and his first job was as a call-boy at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. He

Reviews for 1,000 UK Number One Hits

[peel_acres · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A fantastically researched book, this book contains the story behind every one of the first 1000 UK number 1 hit singles. Some stories are sad, some happy, most are poignant to some respect.Kutner has done his research and done it well.