Throwing back to the week of March 21, 1956, we find a host of repeats atop the Billboard singles chart — five songs I’ve already covered during Throwback Weekends and won’t bother listing now.
That brings us to #6, where Pat Boone’s ‘I’ll Be Home’ sat on its way to a peak at #5 the following week. Boone released this song a year after it was written by Ferdinand Washington and Stan Lewis, and a few months after doo-wop band The Flamingos dropped their own version.
Throwing back to the week of March 7, 1956, we find a couple of repeats atop the Hot 100: Kay Starr’s ‘Rock and Roll Waltz‘ and Nelson Riddle’s ‘Lisbon Antigua.’
Another instrumental track was hot on the heels of Riddle’s hit, and would soon overtake it. That was Les Baxter’s recording of ‘The Poor People of Paris.’ This was a take on the French song ‘La goualante du pauvre Jean,’ which translates to ‘The Ballad of Poor John.’ Somewhere along the line, somebody mistook “pauvre Jean” for “pauvres gens,” which means “poor people,” and that explains the title change.
Throwing back to the week of February 21, 1956, we find a quartet of repeats atop the Billboard hits chart: ‘Rock and Roll Waltz’ (Kay Starr), ‘Lisbon Antigua’ (Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra), ‘The Great Pretender’ (The Platters), and ‘Memories Are Made of This’ (Dean Martin).
That brings us to #5, where The Four Lads show up for the second time on Throwback Weekends. Back in October, their ‘Moments to Remember‘ was featured, coincidentally also on a week it occupied the fifth spot in the chart.
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.’
Some familiar names topped the Billboard Hot 100 on the weekend of January 24, 1956: Dean Martin with ‘Memories Are Made of This,‘ The Platters with ‘The Great Pretender,’ and Tennessee Ernie Ford with ‘Sixteen Tons.’
At #4 that week, on its way to a 4-week stint at #1, was the novelty track ‘Rock and Roll Waltz’ by vocalist Kay Starr. The track, written by Shorty Allen and Roy Alfred, depicts the singer coming home to find her parents dancing (a waltz, naturally) to her rock and roll records.
Meet Me In Montauk 