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!