Throwing back to the week of July 26, 1955, we find Bill Haley and the Comets holding on to the top spot with ‘Rock Around the Clock.’ And really, that’s how it should be… imagine when a song that iconic and genre-defining was just a new release.
Nat King Cole held the #2 spot, with both sides of his ‘A Blossom Fell‘ single designated as the runner-up that week. This was during a time when Billboard would combine the performance of a double-sided hit and assign the results to both songs.
Throwing back to the week of July 12, 1955, we find Bill Haley & His Comets holding on to the top spot of the pop chart with ‘Rock Around the Clock.’
That brings us to #2, and the first appearance of Mr. Frank Sinatra on Throwback Weekends. The song is the Dolores “Vicki” Silvers-penned ‘Learnin’ the Blues.’ I’m excited to hear frequent commenter Peggy chime in on this one.
Throwing back to the week of June 28, 1955, we find two repeats atop the Billboard pop chart: Perez Prado’s ‘Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)’ (enjoying quite a run), and Bill Haley & His Comets’ ‘Rock Around the Clock,’ which I posted a couple of months back to recognize The Comets’ inclusion in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
In third place is a ballad by Nat King Cole titled ‘A Blossom Fell.’ This song spent 20 weeks on the chart and peaked at #2 in late July.
Throwing back to the week of May 14, 1955, we find the country in the throes of Davy Crockett mania. That week, not one but two versions of ‘The Ballad of Davy Crockett’ made it to the top five.
Slots one through three were taken by songs familiar by now to anyone reading this blog: Perez Pablo’s ‘Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White,‘ Georgia Gibbs’ ‘Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower),’ and Les Baxter’s ‘Unchained Melody.’ And in the fourth spot was the most popular version of ‘The Ballad of Davy Crocket,’ recorded by Bill Hayes.
Throwing back to the week of May 31, 1955, we find a quartet of repeats atop the Billboard chart: Perez Pablo’s ‘Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White,‘ Les Baxter’s ‘Unchained Melody,’ Georgia Gibbs’ ‘Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower),’ and Bill Hayes’ ‘The Ballad of Davy Crockett.’
I mentioned in the Les Baxter post that multiple versions of ‘Unchained Melody’ were kicking around the top ten that spring, and this week at #5 we find another of them. Al Hibbler’s take was the top-performing vocal version of the song until the Righteous Brothers came along a decade later.
Meet Me In Montauk 