Don Cornell - Hold My Hand

Don Cornell - 'Hold My Hand'

8th October, 1954 (4 weeks)

19th November 1954 (1 week)

Following on from Frank Sinatra, Don Cornell reached Number 1 with 'Hold My Hand', which was another song from a film, this one called 'Susan Slept Here'.

Here is Susan (aka, one Debbie Reynolds - wife of previous Was That Really At Number 1? topic Eddie Fisher) listening to Hold My Hand on the good old fashioned wireless box:

This song was actually beaten by Frank Sinatra's 'Three Coins In The Fountain' for the 1954 Academy Award for Best Original Song. Whereas I blogged on the importance of that win for Sinatra's profile (and I certainly won't recant on it), it's a shame in many ways, because I actually prefer this song.

Frank Sinatra - Three Coins In The Fountain

Frank Sinatra - 'Three Coins In The Fountain'

17th September, 1954 (3 weeks).

As one of the biggest stars of all time, he was bound to pop up at some point. Frank Sinatra scored his first UK Number 1 with the theme song from 'Three Coins In The Fountain', imaginatively entitled, 'Three Coins In The Fountain'.

The film tells the story of three American girls looking for romance in Rome whilst in the employ of the American Embassy. The song itself would go on to win best original song at the Academy Awards.

Please excuse the Portuguese, it was the best available video. Use it as a Portuguese lesson. Or something. Educational and fun, that's what I strive for.

To compare the song directly to Doris Day's 'Secret Love', the previous winner of the Oscar for Best Original Song, I'd have to say they're both pretty dull and neither of them stand out as being anything 'special'. But I'm just some guy with a blog, Sinatra is one of the biggest names of all time, so what do I know.

The song along with his own personal Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1953, did, however, help to relaunch Sinatra's flagging career in the mid-50s after his massive success in the 1940s. So much as I think it's a fairly tame song that doesn't really match some of Sinatra's other standards, it's still none-the-less an important song in keeping Sinatra up at the top. And Without Sinatra there'd be no, erm... Michael Bublé? On a more serious note, 1953/54 was an important turning point in re-energising a stalled career as it led to the sustained career of a man who has had an influence on pop culture that few can touch. Michael Bublé is just one (unfortunate) side effect of that.

Kitty Kallen - Little Things Mean A Lot

Kitty Kallen - 'Little Things Mean A Lot'

10th September, 1954 (1 week)

Kitty Kallen...

Kitty Kallen...

Rings a bell? No? Wondering just who is this Kitty Kallen? Good question. She's a nobody. But one of the most important nobodies in the history of the UK chart. The first of many. The ennobler of a rich tradition of popular UK music. The trailblazer for a varied history of people who nearly were, but never would.

Yes, Kitty Kallen, who, in 1954, reached Number 1 with Little Things Mean A Lot, is officially the first UK One Hit Wonder. An honour as prestigious as coming last in Eurovision with nul points.

A one hit wonder can only be scored by someone who releases one single and then never charts again (according to the Guinness Book of World Records) and, using this definition, Kitty Kallen was the first person to achieve the (slightly dubious) honour in the UK.

For the American Kitty Kallen, her sole song to chart in the UK came at just the wrong time. She had been popular across the Atlantic throughout the 1940s, singing with a string of big bands. But there was no UK single's chart in the 1940s and, alas, this genre wasn't what it once was and Kallen was unable to sustain her star power and translate it in to a chart career in the UK.

But, in a way, being the UK's first one hit wonder probably gives her a more special legacy.

David Whitfield & Mantovani - Cara Mia

David Whitfield & Mantovani - 'Cara Mia'

2nd July, 1954 (10 weeks)

And after poor old Johnnie Ray, it's back to a more familiar sounding style now.

David Whitfield & Mantovani - both previous chart-toppers in their own rights - combined like pre-rock n roll Power Rangers to create the first UK number 1 single to top the charts consecutively for 10 weeks. 6 And only the third artists to achieve the coveted Gold Single for single sales.

As I posted on his last number 1, I really can't stand David Whitfield's voice. It's like pouring acid down your ears. Though his diet opera style matches Mantovani's light orchestra style. I won't deny that much.

Johnnie Ray - Such A Night

Johnnie Ray - 'Such A Night'

30th April, 1954 (1 Week)

Johnnie Ray scored a number 1 single at the end of April 1954 with his single 'Such A Night'.

Johnnie Ray is often cited as someone who paved the way for Rock N' Roll to come along. From Such A Night, it's easy to see how Ray's jazz and blues stylings led to rock n' roll. It's a very catchy, upbeat song and you can hear the almost prototype matching beats and energetic performance that would later be popularised by Bill Haley. Even his stage act had those now stereotyped hallmarks, such as beating up his piano and writhing about on the floor. No wonder the man was a teen idol.

Testament to this legacy is that The King himself - Elvis Presley - recorded a version of this number.

(apologies for the poor video - it was the best I could find).

I'd always wondered "just who is Johnnie Ray?" after hearing the name in the Dexy's Midnight Runners song 'Come on Eileen' (a UK number 1 from 1983), which opens with the refrain of "Poor old Johnnie Ray, sounded sad upon the radio, moved a million hearts in mono" and features clips of him in the video. So it was nice to put character to a face. And what a character.

Sex scandals? Alcohol abuse? Destroying musical instruments? Throngs of screaming teenage girls? Sounds familiar? Well this is where it begins. The parallels between his music being a precursor for rock n' roll with his lifestyle being similar are just too brilliant to not mention. He was an alcoholic. He was a closet bisexual, twice arrested for soliciting sex from men. He had affairs newspaper columnists (female) and his manager (male). Johnnie Ray managed to set an important benchmark in musical stylings as well as the life style of the rock n roll star.

Of course he wasn't the first, nor was he the worst, but that's not really the point. It's all down to the fact that it was all tied together by the music that makes Johnnie Ray an important tipping point in popular music.

More of this, please!

Doris Day - Secret Love

Doris Day - 'Secret Love'

23rd April, 1954 (1 Week)

7th May, 1954 (8 Weeks)

Doris Day - the highest ranking female box office star of all time - managed to interrupt (alas, only briefly) The Stargazers' hateful second Number 1 with the Academy Award winning Secret Love from the film 'Calamity Jane', based on the real life prostitute of the same name. Alas, it didn't stop it entirely.

Here is Doris herself, singing Secret Love after she realises it was Wild Bill Hickok that she loved all along. Reputedly, this scene was recorded in just one take.

Personally, I don't see why this song won an Oscar. It's ok. It's certainly not as awful as the last Number 1. It's a bit of an exercise in blandness though. I can understand it reaching Number 1 on the success of Calamity Jane and the stratospheric popularity of Doris Day. Then again, Phil Collins, whose music is the definition of bland, has won an Oscar for his work on film soundtracks, so that whole award can be struck off from having anything approaching taste.

The Stargazers - I See The Moon

The Stargazers - 'I See The Moon'

12th March, 1954 (5 weeks)

23rd April, 1954 (1 week)

They're back. The first band in this countdown that I really disliked. It's fair to say they've not got any better...

The "Let the little lady with the tambourine sing..." part is the most irritating part of it all. I'm sure it was supposed to be funny. I'm sure at the time people found it funny. Or at least enough people found it funny to make it a Number 1 single for a cumulative total of 6 weeks. I'm also sure lots of people in 1954 hated it as well. And that brings me a bit of comfort out of this whole sorry, sorry affair.