Throwing back to the week of February 7, 1956, we find a trio of repeats atop the Billboard Hot 100: The Platters’ ‘The Great Pretender,’ Dean Martin’s ‘Memories Are Made of This,’ and Kay Starr’s ‘Rock and Roll Waltz.’
In fourth place that week was another kind of throwback, to the sort of songs that populated the chart in the early 50s. ‘Lisbon Antigua’ is an instrumental track conducted by Nelson Riddle, based on a 1930s Portuguese tune called ‘Lisboa Antiga.’
Riddle’s version was a big hit, spending seven weeks at #2. Later in 1956, he used the song on the soundtrack of a film noir titled Lisbon, for which he composed the score.
Thanks for highlighting Nelson Riddle! He was a significant creative force for many decades (coming out of semi-retirement to produce three albums with Linda Ronstadt in the 1980s.
I’ve heard of Nelson Riddle, but I’m not familiar with this song,
Nelson Riddle was a big part of Sinatra’s music career. They did The Nelson Riddle Years:The Essential Collection 53 songs!