And now we've got a carry over from last year sliding down from Number 4 to the Number 7 spot, but still sounding GREAT. Here's Gene Vincent with Be Bop A Lula (with some commentary from John Lennon and Sting):
Everybody loves a great pretender, right? Maybe not, but everybody does love The Platters, who are still going strong for their third consecutive year! Here they are in the number 6 spot on the chart:
Currently residing in the number 5 spot is one of my alltime favorite artists. I picked this video because it's a nice recording of the 45 rpm record with all the fuzz and pops. Through that background noise you can hear just how fresh and lively the Crickets sound. Both Buddy's voice and that chiming Fender Stratocaster. How this one isn't ranked higher is a shock to me:
Here's the countdown so far. I'm off to scout more video...
10. (NEW) Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Workin’ (1957)
9. (10) (3 years) Little Richard- Tutti Frutti (1955)
8. (NEW) The Everly Brothers – Bye Bye Love (1957)
7. (4) (2 years) Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps- Be Bop a Lula (1956)
6. (2) (3 years) Platters- Great Pretender (1955)
5. (NEW) The Crickets - That’ll Be The Day (1957).
What does a guy have to do to rank higher than Buddy? Well, you could sing lines like "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die." Here's another look at Johnny Cash's hit, Folsom Prison Blue (now at No. 4). This is a lively version from San Quentin prison:
10. (NEW) Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Workin’ (1957)
9. (10) (3 years) Little Richard- Tutti Frutti (1955)
8. (NEW) The Everly Brothers – Bye Bye Love (1957)
7. (4) (2 years) Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps- Be Bop a Lula (1956)
6. (2) (3 years) Platters- Great Pretender (1955)
5. (NEW) The Crickets - That’ll Be The Day (1957).
4. (3) (2 years) Johnny Cash- Folsom Prison Blues (1956).
3. (NEW) Sam Cooke – You Send Me (1957)
2. (NEW) Jerry Lee Lewis – Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On (1957)
1. (1) (4 years) Elvis Presley- That's All Right (Mama) (1954)
2. (NEW) Jerry Lee Lewis – Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On (1957)
3. (NEW) Sam Cooke – You Send Me (1957)
4. (3) (2 years) Johnny Cash- Folsom Prison Blues (1956).
5. (NEW) The Crickets - That’ll Be The Day (1957).
6. (2) (3 years) Platters- Great Pretender (1955)
7. (4) (2 years) Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps- Be Bop a Lula (1956)
8. (NEW) The Everly Brothers – Bye Bye Love (1957)
9. (10) (3 years) Little Richard- Tutti Frutti (1955)
10. (NEW) Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Workin’ (1957)
Eliminated:
Fats Domino- Blueberry Hill (1956)
Elvis Presley- Mystery Train (1955)
Little Richard- Long Tall Sally (1956)
Chuck Berry- Maybellene (1955)
Johnny Cash- I Walk the Line (1956)
Missed The Cut:
Buddy Holly – Peggy Sue (1957)
Jerry Lee Lewis – Great Balls Of Fire (1957)
Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock (1957)
The Everly Brothers – Wake Up Little Susie (1957)
Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want To Meet) (1957)
Patsy Cline – Walkin’ After Midnight (1957) – Rules violation.
Actually, Stephen, I should have put Chuck in place of Patsy, but I thought it would be nice to shine a little light on The Everly Brothers. You don't hear too much about them anymore. And that Muddy Waters video was too good to leave out.
Rise and shine everybody (at least those of you on EST), DJ Stammer here bringing you the classics from 1958. We’ll start off with one that’ll get your heart pumpin’ this morning, an unique blend of rock and Latin music sung in Spanish by 17 year old Ritchie Valens. The song is an update of a traditional Mexican folk song and was actually the B Side to his #2 hit “Donna”. And here is:
Dropping 7 spots from #2 is the pounding boogie rhythm and not so veiled sexuality of “the Killer”. Seeing him play always reminded me of the piano player in “Reefer Madness”. See Paul’s show above for the rousin’ video.
9. (2) (2 years) Jerry Lee Lewis- Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On (1957)
I'm going to have to leave you hanging now for awhile as I got a long commute this morning. Should be back on air in approx. 1 1/2 hours. See You then.
When I was 10 years old my mother had this little portable contraption called an 8-track player that I used to listen to whatever albums she had. She had this one bizarro compilation with songs ranging from Lorne Greene’s Ringo to Neil Sedaka’s Breaking Up is Hard To Do. But two songs on there I would listen to over and over (well as much as you could on an 8-track). One was Johnny Cash’s Ring Of Fire and the other was this next one by the original soul man with his soul standard:
#6 Is only the second song on our charts from an artist outside of the U.S. and what a song it is. With its electrifying guitar riff and rockabilly beat “Move It” jumpstarted the British rock scene and made its singer the biggest pop star in England.
At # 5 is the beautiful two part harmonies of the Everly Brothers backed by Chet Atkins on guitar, with their classic love song, “All I Have To Do Is Dream”. REM does a nifty little version of this that you can find on YouTube.
5. (-) (New) Everly Brothers- All I Have To Do Is Dream (195
One of rock and roll’s first guitar heroes and his timeless tale of teenage angst and rebellion is at #3. The song has been covered many times and in many different styles most famously by heavy metal band Blue Cheer and the Who.
The year of the guitar hero as Link Wray soars into the number 1 position. Wray pioneered the distorted electric guitar sound (he allegedly poked holes in his amplifier’s speaker to achieve this) and is generally credited as the first to use power chords. The title of this instrumental itself became controversial as many radio stations banned it saying it was glorifying juvenile delinquency. Definitely one of the original innovators in rock and roll, many musicians cite Link Wray as being influential to their style.
1. (-) (New) Link Wray- Rumble (1958)
2. (4) (3 years) Johnny Cash- Folsom Prison Blues (1956).
3. (-) (New) Eddie Cochran- Summertime Blues (1958)
4. (-) (New) Chuck Berry- Johnny B.Goode (1958)
5. (-) (New) Everly Brothers- All I Have To Do Is Dream (1958)
6. (-) (New) Cliff Richard- Move It (1958)
7. (3) (2 years) Sam Cooke- You Send Me (1957)
8. (1) (5 years) Elvis Presley- That's All Right (Mama) (1954)
9. (2) (2 years) Jerry Lee Lewis- Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On (1957)
10. (NEW) Ritchie Valens- LaBamba (1958)
Eliminated:
The Crickets- That’ll Be The Day (1957)
The Platters- Great Pretender (1955)
Gene Vincent- Be Bopa Lula (1956)
The Everly Brothers- Bye Bye Love (1957)
Little Richard- Tutti Frutti (1955)
Muddy Waters- Got My Mojo Workin’ (1957)
Missed The Cut:
Little Richard – Good Golly Miss Molly (1958)
The Coasters – Yakety Yak (1958)
Jackie Wilson – Lonely Teardrops (1958)
Rave On- Buddy Holly (1958)
Out of the above 10 songs only Yakety Yak and Rave On were out of the running but it really hurt cutting this one:
I hear you Paul, I thought some people might be disappointed by that. Buddy is my favorite '50s artist and I Like "That'll be the Day" just fine (It would have been 12th) but for some reason I like a lot of his other songs better. If Oh Boy! would have been acclaimed I'd vote for it straight through till the mid sixties.
One place up for "La Bamba". With its second year in our charts the song has already outlived the much too short career of Ritchie Valens. What a sad story...
Please compare that version with its original "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer"(lyrics: Bertolt Brecht, music: Kurt Weill) which was part of the "Dreigroschenoper/ Three Penny Opera" written by Brecht.
The clip is taken from the film that was made in 1931. It's sung by the great Ernst Busch, the most famous working class singer in Germany.
As You can see not only the music and performance have changed quite a bit, the lyrics have been altered too. The re-interpretation becomes obvious if You look at the last verse of the original version which compares the glittering world of the powerful with the dark world of the poor.
Now let's get back to 1959 and it's Miles Davis himself on place number 7 with "So What" which served as somewhat of a fanfare or overture for the "Kind of Blue" album. Enjoy!
No changes from places 3 to 5:
Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry and the Everly Brothers stay right where they were in 1958!
5. (5) (2 years) The Everly Brothers - All I Have to Do Is Dream
4. (4) (2 years) Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode
3. (3) (2 years) Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
And now it's already time for our number 2 this year.
It's the Dave Brubeck Quartet with "Take Five". And if THAT is not "Cool Jazz", then I really don't know... An unusual 5/4 timer that has become a jazz classic.
And finally:
He made it! A real slow-burner that now has topped the charts with its 5th try. Ladies and gentlemen, please make some noise for the one and only Mr. Johnny Cash!!!
1. (2) (5 years) Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
1. (2) (4 years) Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues (1956)
2. (-) (NEW) Dave Brubeck - Take Five (1959)
3. (3) (2 years) Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues (1958)
4. (4) (2 years) Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode (1958)
5. (5) (2 years) The Everly Brothers - All I Have to Do Is Dream (1958)
6. (-) (NEW) The Isley Brothers - Shout (Parts 1&2)(1959)
7. (-) (NEW) Miles Davis - So What (1959)
8. (-) (NEW) Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife (1959)
9. (10) (2 years) Ritchie Valens - La Bamba (1958)
10. (1) (2 years) Link Wray - Rumble (1958)
Eliminated:
Cliff Richard - Move It (1958)
Sam Cooke - You Send Me (1957)
Elvis Presley - That's All Right (Mama) (1954)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (1957)
Missed the Cut:
Ray Charles - What'd I Say
The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes for You
The Drifters - There Goes My Baby
Wilbert Harrison - Kansas City
Dion & The Belmonts - A Teenager in Love
Marty Robbins - El Paso
Sorry, that it had to be a bit hasty... but I really have to get back to work now!
Thanks for listening and please tune in tomorrow when we're heading towards the sixties!
Excellent choices and presentation, everyone. Sadly a particularly busy week is preventing me to participate live. Henrik, you can count on me for 1961, of course. It’s my daughter’s birthday but the guests at the party at my house surely won’t need the help of an “old man” to have fun, so I suppose I will have time enough. But I can’t change it for 1960 for work reasons, sorry. Hope someone is willing to play the DJ for 1960.
Does anybody who did a year before me want to take '60?
I kind of like the idea of going in order and if someone wants to jump in they get the next day and if somebody can't do it it just goes to the next person in line. I don't know, maybe that would be too hard to organize.
Wow! It just hit me that Folsom Prison Blues is from 1956! I, of course, had always realized that Johnny Cash was important to music, but I never realized he actually preceded Buddy Holly. I have a whole new level of respect for him now.
And me, I love that song. But the competition is really strong; so even though it's my #217 I'm not too disappointed. Too many great songs in the lists to get disappointed.
Although I almost was turned off to this song by the awful remake he did (Always make sure you are getting original versions when buying an album) it still ranks #2 in Roy's catalog.
Fans of this song should most definitely check out Harry Nilsson and John Lennon's version of it on Nilsson's Pussy Cats. Actually pick up that whole album as it is a lost gem that gives you a little peek into the "Lost Weekend". That's been a mainstay in my collection for years and it finally got a CD reissue a few years back. Anyway, The Drifters version is pretty dang good too. Ugh, unfortunately we don't get any vintage footage for this one.
6.(-)(NEW) The Drifters- Save the Last Dance For Me (1960)
When you look at 1964 and what happened with pop you need to look back at the Everlys first. For me, they are hit and miss I guess, but when they hit they hit big...bigger than The Beatles, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry or Elvis in this time period in my opinion. I think a lot of people put the Everlys in that 1964 time frame but they were making these songs in the late 50's/early 60's! Highly influential.
3.(-)(NEW) Everly Brothers- Cathy's Clown (1960)
Go to about 3:14 to hear Cathy's Clown.
As a bonus: John Lennon singing it as well to put a stamp on how influential they really were.
Tons of artists have done this one, but never as good as the original. Lead singer Shirley Owens didn't want to record this because it sounded too country.
2.(-)(NEW) Shirelles- Will You Love Me Tomorrow? (1960)
This is the best I could find that isn't just a tribute to somebody.
1. (8)(2 yrs) Bobby Darin: Mack the Knife (1959)
2. (-)(NEW) Shirelles: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (1960)
3. (-)(NEW) Everly Brothers: Cathy's Clown (1960)
4. (1)(5 yrs) Johnny Cash: Folsom Prison Blues (1956)
5. (2)(2 yrs) Dave Brubeck: Time Out (1959)
6. (-)(NEW) Drifters: Save the Last Dance For Me (1960)
7. (-)(NEW) Roy Orbison: Only the Lonely (1960)
8. (3)(3 yrs) Eddie Cochran: Summertime Blues (1958)
9. (5)(3 yrs) Everly Brothers: All I Have To Do Is Dream (1958)
10. (-)(NEW) Shadows: Apache
The Eisenhower group (Left behind in the 50's to make room for the new guard):
Chuck Berry: Johnny B. Goode
Isley Bros: Shout!
Miles Davis: So What
Ritchie Valens: La Bamba
Link Wray: Rumble
The Henry Byrd/Strom Thurmond ticket (Never even had a chance):
Patsy Cline: Crazy
Chubby Checker: The Twist
Ray Charles: Georgia on My Mind
Ventures: Walk, Don't Run (I suppose this one gets the Nixon award for close but no cigar)
Barrett Strong: Money (That's What I Want)
Hi everyone. Good morning, good afternoon or good evening (depending on the part of the world you’re on). You’re listening to WWAM, your favourite radio station. Are you ready for a good time? Are you ready for the best music you can find on the radio?
Well, let’s go then. 1962 is just beginning and it’s time to recapitulate. DJ Honorius got the honour of hosting that special program about the best songs heard during 1961 here.
In WWAM. Your radio.
And let’s begin with a lady that got soul. No matter if you put tons of violins above her, it’s impossible to bury her growl. At last! At last we’ve got Etta…
Last year we’ve got two Everly Brothers with two Everly numbers, reducing it this year to one song. But a great one. I die each time I hear this sound. Here they come singing “Cathy’s Clown”
And another song from 1960. Directly from the Brill Building, a great Goffin-King number. Let’s hear The Shirelles and “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”.
8. (2) (2 years) The Shirelles - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (1960)
(scroll up to see the youtube video)
Roy Orbison achieved a big hit during 1961 with the superb “Crying”, but here in WWAM we will stay true to his previous hit from 1960, “Only the Lonely”.
7. (2) (2 years) Roy Orbison – Only the Lonely (1960)
(scroll up to see the youtube video)
And now it’s time for a new song in our list. 1961 gave us an instant classic, a song I can predict that will stand by us forever. And I would like to see it in our list for a looong time. Last year he was in our list as the lead singer of The Drifters. Now, as a solo artist, here it is Ben E. King with “Stand By Me”.
Now it’s time for the Top 5. Last 1960 we lose in a car crash Eddie Cochran, but here in WWAM we will always remember him. And, with a list without Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis he is our last representative of good old rock’n’roll.
We got Johnny Cash in jail for a long time, exactly since 1956. It may seem cruel but I think I will ask Johnny to stay in Folsom Prison another year. C’mon, Johnny, sing us that “Folsom Prison Blues” again…
4. (4) (6 years) Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
(scroll up to see the youtube video)
And don’t forget click the Next button to go to page 2