number ones 1953-1954
This transcript of the radio show is an approximation of what I said in the show. The real spoken parts may differ slightly.
And for today we have the legends of 1953 and 54, here on the Legens of the Rocking Dutchman - the legends that went number one on Billboard's Rhythm & Blues hitparade in these two years. In the last show where I spotlighted the number one hits I left you with B.B. King who had taken the number one spot on the Fourth of July. Two weeks later it's a sentimental pop song of Johnny Ace that was best selling in Rhythm & Blues. Here is the Clock.
01 - Johnny Ace - The Clock
02 - Orioles - Crying In The Chapel
And we stay with the ballads with Crying in the Chapel and that were the Orioles, with ladykiller Sonny Til on lead. He always had a complete following of fans - young girls who went totally nuts when their idol sang his sentimental love songs, backed up by the slick vocals of his group. Crying in the Chapel went number one on August 22 and kept that spot for five weeks.
The next number one was a newcomer on the R&B stage, Faye Adams. She was discovered by Ruth Brown and she signed with the Herald label. This was her first song and it topped the chart for a solid ten weeks. Faye Adams with Shake A Hand.
03 - Faye Adams - Shake a hand
04 - Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters - Money Honey
Clyde McPhatter and his group the Drifters with Money Honey and that topped the chart from November 21 for eleven weeks. Now Clyde McPhatter had formed the group, but this was already the second lineup after Ahmet Ertegün of Atlantic records wasn't satisfied with the sound of the first version of the group. Before that, he'd been the lead singer for Billy Ward and his Dominoes and there, he'd brought his strong gospel-like delivery to the group. He wasn't the first one who'd been singing the R&B as if he was in church, but while he had hits with Billy Ward's Dominoes, it had become immensely popular in R&B and most people credit him being a major influence on that.
For the next number one we go to December the 5th, and I just told you that Money Honey had stayed on the top of the list for eleven weeks. How come? Well the list that I rely on, from Wikipedia, is actually a merger of two lists - best sold in retail and most played in juke boxes. And I have, for instance, the issue of December 26 here before me, and it still has Clyde McPhatter as national best seller, while the best played in juke boxes is Joe Turner's Honey Hush, and it's been that for two weeks already. Now this is number two in best selling, while Money Honey is only number five on the juke box.
Well that song that got number one on December 5 is Big Joe Turner with Honey Hush. And with him we end the year 1953. Big Joe Turner and Clyde McPhatter stay on number one through january of the new year. On January 30 it's Guitar Slim who takes over for a solid forteen weeks with The Things That I Used to Do. You will get that one immediately after Honey Hush.
05 - Big Joe Turner - Honey Hush
06 - Guitar Slim - The Things That I Used To Do
(jingle)
07 - Faye Adams - I'll be true
A one-week number one, but still it counts, for Faye Adams on the Herald label. She hit the top spot on February 6.
On March 27 we find a sentimental pop song of Roy Hamilton on number one. You'll never walk alone was originally from the 1945 musical Caroussel and numerous pop artists have made a hit single of it. The version of the Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemaker made it immensely popular with European soccer fans - many teams, starting with Liverpool FC adopted it as their club song, including three teams of my own little country.
Here is Roy Hamilton's version.
08 - Roy Hamilton - You'll Never Walk Alone
09 - Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - Work With Me Annie
And what a contrast with Roy Hamilton's song. Work With Me Annie of Hank Ballard and the Midnighters and that hit number one from May 22 for seven weeks. And Annie instantly became one of these classic R&B characters, like Deacon Jones or Caldonia. Annie yielded so many follow-ups that my colleague Matt the Cat, who runs his own syndicated radio show on various radio statons, produced a whole one-hour show dedicated to them. Well we'll hear one later on this show. For now the next number one of 1954 is on, and that's even more a classic in the Rhythm & Blues.
I'm talking about Big Joe Turner with his rock 'n roll defining Shake Rattle & Roll. And there's a lot of interesting facts about this song. One of them is that the shouting chorus of Shake Rattle & Roll consists of Jesse Stone, the songwriter, and Atlantic executives Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegün. And another one is that it brought Joe Turner a close friend: Bill Haley, who of course covered the song succesfully after he'd cleaned the lyrics of all sexual references. Haley and Turner performed together and in 1966 Turner recorded with Haley's Comets in Mexico. They never recorded version of Shake Rattle and Roll together though.
10 - Big Joe Turner - Shake, Rattle & Roll
11 - The Drifters feat. Clyde McPhatter - Honey Love
And Clyde McPhatter topped the list from July 10 with his group the Drifters. You heard Honey Love and that was on the Atlantic label.
And we'll stay with this label and Ruth Brown. From September 4 Atlantic's favourite songthrush and an eight-week number one hit with Oh What a Dream.
12 - Ruth Brown - Oh What A Dream
13 - Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - Annie Had A Baby
Hank Ballard and his Midnighters with the follow-up song of their succesful Work With me Annie. This was Annie Had A Baby and that baby pretty much spoilt the fun of... working with Annie.
On October 16 of 1954 we find Faye Adams again on number one. It Hurts Me to My Heart stayed for 5 weeks on the top and that was her third number one hit in a short while.
14 - Faye Adams - Hurts Me to my Heart
15 - Ruth Brown - Mambo Baby
Ruth Brown succesfully cashing on the mambo craze that swept New Work in the mid-fifties. She hit number one on November 20.
From the DeLuxe label the Charms with Hearts of Stone. Lead singer of this band was Otis Williams and they were signed to King subsidiaries after their performance of Rags to Riches in the Withrow Minstrels, of the Cincinatti-based Withrow High School. Syd Nathan of King records signed the group after Otis Williams had refused to sign without them. This was their first effort on the DeLuxe label, after releases on the Rocking subsidiary went nowhere. It hit number one for nine weeks from November 27 of 1954.
16 - Charms - Hearts of Stone
17 - B.B. King - You Upset Me Baby
And B.B. King completes the year 1954 with You upset me baby. In the Christmas issue of Billboard Magazine, this was number one on the list. And that also ends this episode of the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman where I featured the Billboard Rhythm & Blues lists from mid-53 through 1954. Throughout the last year I've done nine shows on the number ones of them, starting with 1942 when Billboard launched the Harlem Hitparade. African American music has changed significantly since but I must say, listeners, it's still as great music in 1954 as it was in 1942.
Of course it's your opinion that really matters - so let me know and send an e-mail to rockingdutchman@rocketmail.com. Or find me on the web where you can find today's playlist and read back the whole story that I told today. Do a google search for the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman and my site will show up first.
Next show will be a very special one - it'll be the 52nd regular show and together with a Christmas special that means that I'm on this radio station for a whole year. So I hope to see you again on that anniversary special, next time here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman!