Tag Archives: tb50s

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Song of the Day #6,631: ‘Canadian Sunset’ – Hugo Winterhalter & His Orchestra w/Eddie Heywood

The 50s were such an interesting decade for popular music. Throwing back to the week of September 19, 1956, we find Elvis Presley topping Billboard’s singles chart with ‘Don’t Be Cruel,’ and his ‘Hound Dog‘ at #3. In between is R&B vocal group The Platters with ‘My Prayer.’

Then at #4 we shift gears completely, with an instrumental version of the song ‘Canadian Sunset’ performed by Hugo Winterhalter & His Orchestra with Eddie Heywood on piano. And closing out the top five is Doris Day’s ‘Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera).’ It’s wild to imagine those two tracks battling two of Elvis’ biggest hits for airplay.

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Song of the Day #6,617a: ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ – Elvis Presley

Throwing back to the week of September 5, 1956, we find Elvis Presley atop the Billboard Top 100 with ‘Don’t Be Cruel.’ This was the first of seven straight weeks at #1 for the song.

This was Presley’s top-performing song of 1956, a year that saw the release of ‘Hound Dog,’ ‘Heartbreak Hotel,’ ‘I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,’ ‘Blue Suede Shoes,’ ‘Love Me Tender,’ and many more.

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Song of the Day #6,610a: ‘Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)’ – Doris Day

Throwing back to the week of August 22, 1956, we find The Platters’ ‘My Prayer‘ hanging on to the top spot of the Billboard singles chart.

Tied for #2, where it would surprisingly peak on the Top 100, was Elvis Presley’s ‘Hound Dog.’ ‘Hound Dog‘ would top the ‘Best Sellers in Stores’ chart for a then-record 11 weeks, but it was outperformed by Presley’s ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ on the Top 100, which accounted for radio and jukebox play in addition to sales.

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Song of the Day #6,603a: ‘My Prayer’ – The Platters

Throwing back to the week of August 8, 1956, we find the doo-wop group The Platters atop the Billboard singles chart with ‘My Prayer.’

The song was written in 1939 by Romanian violinist Georges Boulanger as an instrumental titled Avant de Mourir, with lyrics later added by Carlos Gomez Barrera and Jimmy Kennedy. It found some success in the U.S. that year as ‘My Prayer,’ including in a recording by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra.

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Song of the Day #6,593: ‘I Want You, I Need You, I Love You’ – Elvis Presley

Throwing back to the week of July 25, 1956, we find those stalwarts Pat Boone and Gogi Grant holding on to the top spots with ‘I Almost Lost My Mind‘ and ‘The Wayward Wind,’ respectively.

Hot on their heels was that young whippersnapper Elvis Presley, whose second single, ‘I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,’ tried to replicate the success of smash hit ‘Heartbreak Hotel.’ It didn’t quite make it — peaking at #3 on this chart — but it did give Elvis his first #1 on the Country chart.

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