Every UK #1 Single of the 1950's Discussion Thread

Upon popular demand, and having gone through the "Swingin' Sixties" in the Every UK #1 Single of the 1960's Discussion Thread, we now turn to the decade where the first regular published weekly record charts in Britain came forth - the "Fabulous Fifties."

Until 1952, there was no officially published chart for record sales anywhere in the UK; it wasn't until several years ago that one person, music historian Colin Brown, had managed to compile a list of weekly charts for records issued between 1940 and 1952. His work was put in published form by Steve Waters in 2013 as British Hit Singles 1940-1952 - The Missing Charts. (Thanks to fellow chart aficionado @Finchingfield for that information).

It was in that year of 1952, which in the U.S. saw Dwight D. Eisenhower elected to the first of two terms as President, that the first record sales charts were compiled by Percy Dickins for the publication he worked for, New Musical Express (NME). He had modeled the new chart, incidentally, after the Best Seller charts put out by US Billboard. At the outset, he had sampled 20 shops through which he compiled what started out as a Top 12. It is this publication that is now held as "canonical" today by both the Official (as they see it) Charts Company and Guinness (I'll have a pint, please), as up to March 1960 as we'll be getting to.

Up to 1955, NME was the only game in town for music charts. Then came competition, first in the form of Record Mirror (starting in 1955 and continuing to 1962), Melody Maker (beginning 1956; they would end up holding on as long as NME in terms of maintaining their independently compiled charts - in both publications' case, to May 1988), Disc (beginning 1958, later known as Disc & Music Echo, their chart would run through 1967); and in the next decade, Record Retailer which, upon the start-up of their chart in March 1960, would be held by Official and Guinness as "official" through the establishment in February 1969 of the British Music Research Bureau (BMRB); the BBC's "Pick of the Pops" (1964-69); and the short-lived Top Pops/Music Now (1968-71). We will be examining the trajectory to the end of the decade, and will be keeping up with which, after 1955, made #1 outside of what Official and Guinness consider "canonical." (Side note: As more info has come in regarding the 1970's, there will be a supplemental revisit of the entire decade to come, with the first post to link to the individual years in question - again via popular demand.)

Also, at the start of this, the 78 was the king of record formats. 45's wouldn't start taking over until later in the decade, and 78's would still be produced in Britain through 1960. Thus there will be labels from both US and UK in both speeds, where practicable.

And to think it all started with this little number . . .
#1: "Here In My Heart" by Al Martino
(#1 for 9 weeks - 14 November 1952-09 January 1953)

The UK single:

78 RPM (no 45 RPM release)

The US single:

78 RPM

45 RPM

Wikipedia entry - also made #1 on at least one of the US Billboard charts; but while Mr. Martino would chart more in the States on and off over the next two decades, this would be his only topper in Britain. (I once had a Capitol Star Line reissue of his 1961 re-recording of this song.) The speed order will hold for all else.

 

As there were so little slots on the outset, this shouldn't take so long:

Week Ending 14 November 1952

1 - NEW - 01 - Al Martino - HERE IN MY HEART
1 - NEW - 02 - Jo Stafford - YOU BELONG TO ME
1 - NEW - 03 - Nat "King" Cole - SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY
1 - NEW - 04 - Bing Crosby - THE ISLE OF INNISFREE
1 - NEW - 05 - Guy Mitchell - FEET UP (PAT HIM ON THE PO-PO)
1 - NEW - 06 - Rosemary Clooney - HALF AS MUCH
1 - NEW - 07 - Frankie Laine - HIGH NOON (DO NOT FORSAKE ME)
1 - NEW - 07 - Vera Lynn - FORGET ME NOT
1 - NEW - 08 - Doris Day And Frankie Laine - SUGARBUSH
1 - NEW - 08 - Ray Martin And His Concert Orchestra - BLUE TANGO
1 - NEW - 09 - Vera Lynn - THE HOMING WALTZ
1 - NEW - 10 - Vera Lynn - AUF WIEDERSEH'N SWEETHEART
1 - NEW - 11 - Max Bygraves - COWPUNCHER'S CANTATA
1 - NEW - 11 - Mario Lanza - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
1 - NEW - 12 - Johnnie Ray - WALKIN' MY BABY BACK HOME


Week Ending 21 November 1952

02 - 01 - 01 - Al Martino - HERE IN MY HEART
02 - 05 - 02 - Guy Mitchell - FEET UP (PAT HIM ON THE PO-PO)
02 - 06 - 03 - Rosemary Clooney - HALF AS MUCH
02 - 04 - 04 - Bing Crosby - THE ISLE OF INNISFREE
02 - 02 - 05 - Jo Stafford - YOU BELONG TO ME
02 - 03 - 06 - Nat "King" Cole - SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY
02 - 07 - 07 - Frankie Laine - HIGH NOON (DO NOT FORSAKE ME)
02 - 11 - 08 - Mario Lanza - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
1 - NEW - 09 - Al Martino - TAKE MY HEART
1 - NEW - 10 - Doris Day - MY LOVE AND DEVOTION
02 - 09 - 11 - Vera Lynn - THE HOMING WALTZ
02 - 08 - 12 - Doris Day And Frankie Laine - SUGARBUSH


Week Ending 28 November 1952

03 - 01 - 01 - Al Martino - HERE IN MY HEART
03 - 05 - 02 - Jo Stafford - YOU BELONG TO ME
03 - 03 - 03 - Rosemary Clooney - HALF AS MUCH
03 - 08 - 04 - Mario Lanza - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
03 - 02 - 05 - Guy Mitchell - FEET UP (PAT HIM ON THE PO-PO)
03 - 04 - 06 - Bing Crosby - THE ISLE OF INNISFREE
02 - RE - 07 - Vera Lynn - FORGET ME NOT
03 - 06 - 08 - Nat "King" Cole - SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY
03 - 11 - 09 - Vera Lynn - THE HOMING WALTZ
02 - 10 - 10 - Doris Day - MY LOVE AND DEVOTION
03 - 07 - 11 - Frankie Laine - HIGH NOON (DO NOT FORSAKE ME)
02 - RE - 12 - Ray Martin And His Concert Orchestra - BLUE TANGO


Week Ending 05 December 1952

04 - 01 - 01 - Al Martino - HERE IN MY HEART
04 - 02 - 02 - Jo Stafford - YOU BELONG TO ME
04 - 04 - 03 - Mario Lanza - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
04 - 06 - 04 - Bing Crosby - THE ISLE OF INNISFREE
04 - 05 - 05 - Guy Mitchell - FEET UP (PAT HIM ON THE PO-PO)
03 - 07 - 06 - Vera Lynn - FORGET ME NOT
04 - 03 - 07 - Rosemary Clooney - HALF AS MUCH
03 - RE - 08 - Doris Day and Frankie Laine - SUGARBUSH
1 - NEW - 09 - Kay Starr - COMES A-LONG A-LOVE
1 - NEW - 10 - Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman - ZING A LITTLE ZONG
04 - 11 - 11 - Frankie Laine - HIGH NOON (DO NOT FORSAKE ME)
04 - 08 - 12 - Nat "King" Cole - SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY
03 - 12 - 12 - Ray Martin And His Concert Orchestra - BLUE TANGO


Week Ending 12 December 1952

05 - 01 - 01 - Al Martino - HERE IN MY HEART
05 - 02 - 02 - Jo Stafford - YOU BELONG TO ME
05 - 04 - 03 - Bing Crosby - THE ISLE OF INNISFREE
05 - 07 - 03 - Rosemary Clooney - HALF AS MUCH
05 - 05 - 04 - Guy Mitchell - FEET UP (PAT HIM ON THE PO-PO)
04 - 06 - 05 - Vera Lynn - FORGET ME NOT
05 - 03 - 05 - Mario Lanza - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
02 - 09 - 06 - Kay Starr - COMES A-LONG A-LOVE
05 - 12 - 07 - Nat "King" Cole - SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY
04 - 08 - 08 - Doris Day and Frankie Laine - SUGARBUSH
05 - 11 - 09 - Frankie Laine - HIGH NOON (DO NOT FORSAKE ME)
04 - 12 - 10 - Ray MartinAnd His Concert Orchestra - BLUE TANGO
1 - NEW - 11 - Winifred Atwell And Her Other Piano - BRITANNIA RAG
02 - 10 - 12 - Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman - ZING A LITTLE ZONG


Week Ending 19 December 1952

06 - 01 - 01 - Al Martino - HERE IN MY HEART
06 - 02 - 02 - Jo Stafford - YOU BELONG TO ME
03 - 06 - 03 - Kay Starr - COMES A-LONG A-LOVE
06 - 03 - 03 - Bing Crosby - THE ISLE OF INNISFREE
06 - 04 - 04 - Guy Mitchell - FEET UP (PAT HIM ON THE PO-PO)
06 - 03 - 05 - Rosemary Clooney - HALF AS MUCH
1 - NEW - 06 - Nat "King" Cole - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
06 - 07 - 06 - Nat "King" Cole - SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY
1 - NEW - 06 - Mantovani And His Orchestra - WHITE CHRISTMAS
1 - NEW - 07 - Johnnie Ray With The Four Lads - FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS
1 - NEW - 08 - Louis Armstrong - TAKES TWO TO TANGO
1 - NEW - 08 - Bing Crosby - SILENT NIGHT, HOLY NIGHT
1 - NEW - 09 - Tony Brent - WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
05 - 05 - 10 - Vera Lynn - FORGET ME NOT
05 - 08 - 10 - Doris Day and Frankie Laine - SUGARBUSH
06 - 05 - 10 - Mario Lanza - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
1 - NEW - 11 - Jo Stafford - JAMBALAYA (ON THE BAYOU)
06 - 09 - 12 - Frankie Laine - HIGH NOON (DO NOT FORSAKE ME)


Week Ending 26 December 1952 - NO CHART COMPILED

07 - 01 - 01 - Al Martino - HERE IN MY HEART
07 - 02 - 02 - Jo Stafford - YOU BELONG TO ME
07 - 03 - 03 - Bing Crosby - THE ISLE OF INNISFREE
04 - 03 - 03 - Kay Starr - COMES A-LONG A-LOVE
07 - 04 - 04 - Guy Mitchell - FEET UP (PAT HIM ON THE PO-PO)
07 - 05 - 05 - Rosemary Clooney - HALF AS MUCH
02 - 06 - 06 - Nat "King" Cole - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
07 - 06 - 06 - Nat "King" Cole - SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY
02 - 06 - 06 - Mantovani And His Orchestra - WHITE CHRISTMAS
02 - 07 - 07 - Johnnie Ray With The Four Lads - FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS
02 - 08 - 08 - Louis Armstrong - TAKES TWO TO TANGO
02 - 08 - 08 - Bing Crosby - SILENT NIGHT, HOLY NIGHT
02 - 09 - 09 - Tony Brent - WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
06 - 10 - 10 - Vera Lynn - FORGET ME NOT
06 - 10 - 10 - Doris Day and Frankie Laine - SUGARBUSH
07 - 10 - 10 - Mario Lanza - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
02 - 11 - 11 - Jo Stafford - JAMBALAYA (ON THE BAYOU)
07 - 12 - 12 - Frankie Laine - HIGH NOON (DO NOT FORSAKE ME)


Week Ending 02 January 1953

08 - 01 - 01 - Al Martino - HERE IN MY HEART
08 - 02 - 02 - Jo Stafford - YOU BELONG TO ME
05 - 03 - 03 - Kay Starr - COMES A-LONG A-LOVE
08 - 04 - 04 - Guy Mitchell - FEET UP (PAT HIM ON THE PO-PO)
08 - 03 - 05 - Bing Crosby - THE ISLE OF INNISFREE
08 - 05 - 06 - Rosemary Clooney - HALF AS MUCH
08 - 10 - 07 - Mario Lanza - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
03 - 08 - 08 - Louis Armstrong - TAKES TWO TO TANGO
02 - RE - 08 - Max Bygraves - COWPUNCHER'S CANTATA
03 - 06 - 09 - Mantovani And His Orchestra - WHITE CHRISTMAS
07 - 10 - 10 - Doris Day And Frankie Laine - SUGARBUSH
1 - NEW - 11 - Nat "King" Cole - FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS
1 - NEW - 12 - Tony Brent - MAKE IT SOON
1 - NEW - 12 - Eddie Fisher - OUTSIDE OF HEAVEN


Week Ending 09 January 1953

09 - 01 - 01 - Al Martino - HERE IN MY HEART
09 - 02 - 02 - Jo Stafford - YOU BELONG TO ME
06 - 03 - 03 - Kay Starr - COMES A-LONG A-LOVE
09 - 05 - 04 - Bing Crosby - THE ISLE OF INNISFREE
09 - 04 - 05 - Guy Mitchell - FEET UP (PAT HIM ON THE PO-PO)
02 - 12 - 06 - Eddie Fisher - OUTSIDE OF HEAVEN
03 - RE - 07 - Tony Brent - WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
09 - 06 - 07 - Rosemary Clooney - HALF AS MUCH
09 - 07 - 08 - Mario Lanza - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
03 - RE - 09 - Johnnie Ray With The Four Lads - FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS
04 - 08 - 09 - Louis Armstrong - TAKES TWO TO TANGO
1 - NEW - 10 - Mills Brothers - THE GLOW WORM
08 - 10 - 10 - Doris Day And Frankie Laine - SUGARBUSH
02 - 12 - 11 - Tony Brent - MAKE IT SOON
1 - NEW - 11 - Jimmy Young - FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS
02 - RE - 12 - Winifred Atwell And Her Other Piano - BRITANNIA RAG

 

Now believe it or not, I actually have some of these (which will take up more posts due to the two-speed issue):

(Only the 45 is in my collection, of this.)

(Same here.)

 

Now for those others that emerged in this stretch (future toppers excepted) . . .

(Only a Canadian 78 label is available at this time.)

 

(No U.S. 78 available, hence a Canadian copy.)

 

Al Martino - HERE IN MY HEART
And so it begins...
This is a good start.
3/5

 

Al Martin - Here In My Heart

What a pleasant start to a look back a full decade before I was born!

I have a feeling my mother had this on 78 which I may have inherited.

 

Absolutely shocked that I have heard of all this artists from literally a full decade before I was born, but don't know many from the charts of the '90's, though the fact that there was only a top twelve undoubtedly helps.

(Dame) Vera Lynn had a number one UK album in 2009 and a number three album, 100, the only centenarian to chart, in 2017!

I had no idea that Max Bygraves recording career went back as far as this...

 

Here in my heart - Now that was heavy!

"You belong to me" - a really beautiful song, but there are better versions, Jo's sounds to me too much like a performance.
"High noon" - it's got to be Tex Ritter! He actually sounds like the old west gunslinger.

Two Hank Williams covers on the charts, "Half as much" and "Jambalaya". Hank himself was still living his last days. I don't really know how popular he was in UK/Europe during his lifetime?

 

November 1952 was two years before I was born. The old-timey pre-pop/rock style isn't my thing, so I'm not planning to listen to and/or comment on songs in this thread until it hits 1956 at the very least, and probably only by 1958. But you never know ...

 

I actually have a few of these, here and there. And this from someone who wasn't even born when this was started. So I do have a few commentaries when the occasion warrants.

And one does have to be careful when they select audio files, not just myself. Especially given many artists who re-recorded them, whether on the same label or another label, after the industry went 'stereo' near the end of the decade. Mr. Martino did three different recordings (at least) of "Here In My Heart": the original 1952 (US) BBS version that saw ish on UK Capitol; a late '50's version for Cub; and a 1961 remake on Capitol with the conductor of the '52 original, Monty Kelly, as below:

Notice the matrix number - this version was 36063, whereas Capitol slapped 9968 onto the '52 recording first issued on BBS.

 

#1 of 1953 (#2 in total) - "You Belong To Me" by Jo Stafford
(#1 for 1 week - 16 January 1953)

The UK single:

(It was in this month that this came out on 45 in the UK, albeit with a different flip than in the U.S. or on 78.)

The US single:

Wikipedia entry - in the U.S., was Ms. Stafford's biggest hit, topping Billboard's chart for 5 weeks and was on the chart for 24 weeks.

 

Week Ending 16 January 1953

10 - 02 - 01 - Jo Stafford - YOU BELONG TO ME
07 - 03 - 02 - Kay Starr - COMES A-LONG A-LOVE
10 - 08 - 03 - Mario Lanza - BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE
03 - 06 - 04 - Eddie Fisher - OUTSIDE OF HEAVEN
10 - 04 - 05 - Bing Crosby - THE ISLE OF INNISFREE
10 - 01 - 06 - Al Martino - HERE IN MY HEART
05 - 09 - 07 - Louis Armstrong - TAKES TWO TO TANGO
10 - 05 - 07 - Guy Mitchell - FEET UP (PAT HIM ON THE PO-PO)
03 - 12 - 08 - Winifred Atwell And Her Other Piano - BRITANNIA RAG
03 - 11 - 09 - Tony Brent - MAKE IT SOON
1 - NEW - 10 - Perry Como With The Ramblers - DON'T LET THE STARS GET IN YOUR EYES
04 - 07 - 10 - Tony Brent - WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
1 - NEW - 11 - Ted Heath And His Music - VANESSA
02 - RE - 12 - Nat "King" Cole - FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS

 

Nothing in this week within my collection, and you have a situation where there is a future #1 and a record that saw no US single release, as the 'newies'.