Every UK #1 Single of the 1960's Discussion Thread

Eddie Cochran - Hallelujah! I love her so
Cochran was a big fan of Ray Charles. Maybe this would have been the direction he'd have been heading, if he had lived?

More on Freddy Cannon's song as told by NME's Bob Woffinden in the liner notes of the compilation Explosive:
"The record reached No. 3 on both sides of the Atlantic, and occupied a place in the NME charts for over three months. (...) a gutsy, belting 45. 'Way Down Yonder' had originally been written in 1915 and the ever-intrepid reporters of New Musical Express discovered that the composer, Turner Layton, was not only alive and well, but conveniently living out his retirement in nearby Maide Vale. Asked to comment on the Cannon treatment, he replied, 'I must admit that this new version is very different in conception to how I first envisaged the song.'"

 

I think I will enjoy listening to many of these tracks. But The Big Hurt by Maureen Evans doesn't compare to Timi Yuro.

Pity Helen Shapiro never sung it though.

 

Anthony Newley - Why

I got to the nev bit of never before realising that I know the song from - Donny Osmond and his 1972 rendition.

The Newley version is certainly downbeat and his version much closer to Frankie Avalon's rather the seventies teen idol.

 

Mr. Newley's was definitely meant to compete with the US record.

Ahem . . . "The Big Hurt" in the US was (Miss) Toni Fisher. Ms. Yuro's "Hurt" was an entirely different song - and besides, we're not there yet.

 

Yes, I had a senior moment, I meant Toni

 

Marty Robbins - El Paso

Simply a classic: different key than the single!

 

Anthony Newley - WHY
Why indeed???
It gets more exciting when we get to the year I was Born.......????
2/5

 

Likes....
Week Ending 12 February 1960
1 - NEW - 13 - Johnny Preston - RUNNING BEAR
Week Ending 19 February 1960
?
Week Ending 26 February 1960
??

 

Poor me, I nearly posted a couple of songs that I realised did rather well!

 

#3 of 1960 (#97 in total) - "Poor Me" by Adam Faith
(#1 for 2 weeks - 4 March-11 March 1960)

The UK single:

The US single:

Wikipedia entry - it was while this single was atop the charts that the 'canonical' source for the history of the UK Singles Chart was switched from NME to Record Retailer.

 

Week Ending 04 March 1960

07 - 02 - 01 - Adam Faith - POOR ME
08 - 01 - 02 - Anthony Newley - WHY
04 - 07 - 03 - Johnny Preston - RUNNING BEAR
07 - 04 - 04 - Cliff Richard And The Shadows - A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS
05 - 06 - 04 (tied) - Emile Ford And The Checkmates - ON A SLOW BOAT TO CHINA
10 - 03 - 06 - Freddy Cannon - WAY DOWN YONDER IN NEW ORLEANS
07 - 04 - 07 - Craig Douglas - PRETTY BLUE EYES
02 - 24 - 08 - Perry Como - DELAWARE
07 - 10 - 09 - Mr. Acker Bilk And His Paramount Jazz Band - SUMMER SET
06 - 08 - 10 - Bobby Darin - LA MER (BEYOND THE SEA)
03 - 13 - 11 - Lance Fortune - BE MINE (ALLE MADCHEN WOLLEN KUSSEN)
04 - 12 - 12 - Marv Johnson - YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES
03 - 17 - 12 (tied) - Duane Eddy - BONNIE CAME BACK
06 - 11 - 14 - The Platters - HARBOUR LIGHTS
10 - 09 - 14 (tied) - Michael Holliday - STARRY EYED
02 - 24 - 16 - Jerry Lordan - WHO COULD BE BLUER?
1 - NEW - 17 - Russ Conway - ROYAL EVENT
1 - NEW - 18 - Percy Faith And His Orchestra - THE THEME FROM "A SUMMER PLACE"
04 - 18 - 19 - The Everly Brothers - LET IT BE ME
06 - 15 - 20 - Johnny Mathis - MISTY
19 - 14 - 21 - Emile Ford And The Checkmates - WHAT DO YOU WANT TO MAKE THOSE EYES AT ME FOR?
11 - 19 - 22 - Fats Domino - BE MY GUEST
03 - 22 - 23 - Frank Ifield - LUCKY DEVIL
1 - NEW - 24 - The John Barry Seven Plus Four - HIT & MISS
1 - NEW - 24 (tied) - Freddie Cannon - CALIFORNIA HERE I COME
17 - 21 - 26 - Frankie Laine - RAWHIDE
14 - 16 - 27 - Guy Mitchell - HEARTACHES BY THE NUMBER
6 - 26 - 28 - Marty Robbins - EL PASO
17 - 27 - 29 - Neil Sedaka - OH! CAROL
03 - 23 - 29 (tied) - Nat King Cole - TIME AND THE RIVER


Week Ending 10 March 1960

08 - 01 - 01 - Adam Faith - POOR BOY
05 - 03 - 02 - Johnny Preston - RUNNING BEAR
06 - 04 - 03 - Emile Ford And The Checkmates - ON A SLOW BOAT TO CHINA
09 - 02 - 04 - Anthony Newley - WHY
08 - 09 - 05 - Mr. Acker Bilk And His Paramount Jazz Band - SUMMER SET
08 - 07 - 06 - Craig Douglas - PRETTY BLUE EYES
05 - 12 - 07 - Marv Johnson - YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES
03 - 08 - 08 - Perry Como - DELAWARE
07 - 10 - 09 - Bobby Darin - LA MER (BEYOND THE SEA)
08 - 04 - 10 - Cliff Richard And The Shadows - A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS
04 - 11 - 11 - Lance Fortune - BE MINE (ALLE MADCHEN WOLLEN KUSSEN)
03 - 06 - 12 - Freddy Cannon - WAY DOWN YONDER IN NEW ORLEANS
04 - 12 - 13 - Duane Eddy - BONNIE CAME BACK
11 - 14 - 14 - Michael Holliday - STARRY EYED
02 - 17 - 15 - Russ Conway - ROYAL EVENT
02 - 18 - 16 - Percy Faith And His Orchestra - THE THEME FROM "A SUMMER PLACE"
03 - 16 - 17 - Jerry Lordan - WHO COULD BE BLUER?
07 - 14 - 18 - The Platters - HARBOUR LIGHTS
05 - 19 - 19 - The Everly Brothers - LET IT BE ME
1 - NEW - 20 - Jack Scott - WHAT IN THE WORLD'S COME OVER YOU
15 - 27 - 21 - Guy Mitchell - HEARTACHES BY THE NUMBER
1 - NEW - 22 - Billy Fury - COLLETTE
20 - 21 - 23 - Emile Ford And The Checkmates - WHAT DO YOU WANT TO MAKE THOSE EYES AT ME FOR?
16 - RE - 24 - Adam Faith - WHAT DO YOU WANT?
07 - 20 - 25 - Johnny Mathis - MISTY
02 - 24 - 26 - The John Barry Seven Plus Four - HIT & MISS
04 - 29 - 27 - Nat King Cole - TIME AND THE RIVER
18 - 26 - 28 - Frankie Laine - RAWHIDE
07 - 28 - 29 - Marty Robbins - EL PASO
13 - RE - 30 - Tommy Steele - LITTLE WHITE BULL

 

As to the songs in my collection from these charts (a few 'newies' among them) . . .

 

Now for those 'newies' that saw US release but are not in my collection:

No US release, but was one of the last in the UK to be issued on both 45 and 78:

 

Poor me
A sentimental ballad played real fast. Confusing and all over the place. I love it!

 

Adam Faith - POOR ME
Amusing to me...
My old forman back in the 80's loved Adam Faith.
2/5

 

Yam Likes...
Pass on these 2 weeks....

 

Seeing the Official Charts website, seems they nicked the US spelling for Billy Fury's record (the UK single had two 'L's' in that title, the US only one). You may notice if you compare how presented here to on the 'site, any errors are minimal compared to "what could have been."

 

Adam Faith - Poor Me

I was about to post the audio to this and say I remember it as a child because my parents had two of Adam's singles, the previous What Do You Want? and Poor Me, when I realised it got to number one.

Anyway, despite Adam really being a carryover from the fifties, I like it!

 

"What Do You Want" also saw U.S. release, likewise on Cub. You may have noticed when entering a new #1 I start out of the gate with a video to accompany the UK (and sometimes US) labels. It's like an old saying popularized by Benny Hill - "Cut out the middleman! That's how I made my money - by cuttin' out the middleman!"

 

P.S. For those that "missed" the top, I invite those to post audio of any favourites.

 

I don't recall Poor Me offhand, but I think I have an Adam Faith CD and it's probably on it ...

1960 is just a bit before my time -

Best new entry, not surprisingly:

 

interesting to see that it's a John Barry arrangement, he would have only been in his late 20s then....

 

#4 of 1960 (#98 in total) - "Running Bear" by Johnny Preston
(#1 for 2 weeks - 17 March-24 March 1960)

The UK single:

The US single:

Wikipedia entry