157. 17 January 1953
Jo Stafford (with Paul Weston & His Orchestra)
You Belong To Me
Written by Pee Wee King, Chilton Price & Redd Stewart
No.1 for 1 week
Chilton Price had composed the song You Belong To Me but at that time it was called Hurry Home To Me and featured a lyric from the point of view of a woman whose husband was serving in the forces during the war. She offered a writing credit to Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart who had previously assisted her with another American hit, Slow Poke. They changed the title to You Belong To Me and shifted the emphasis from the war to a general feeling of separation, that however wonderful the local sights may be wherever you are in the world, just remember all the while, You Belong To Me. Yes the pyramids along the Nile, the sun rise on a tropic isle, the marketplace in old Algiers, flying the ocean in a silver plane, the jungle when it’s wet with rain, they may be magnificent but just remember till you’re home again, you belong to me. This was Jo Stafford’s third no.1 in total following her double A sided disc chart topper with Frankie Laine and also her solo no.1, Shrimp Boats and You Belong To Me which had enjoyed twelve massive weeks on top in the US disc jockeys’ chart looked as if it had missed its chance in the UK when it peaked at no.4 in October 1952 but then was resurgent in the new NME sales based chart, at no.2 on its first chart and then spending eight weeks as runner up to Al Martino’s Here In My Heart before finally displacing that song for one week in mid-January 1953.
158. 24 January 1953
Kay Starr (with orchestra conducted by Harold Mooney)
Comes A Long A Love
Written by Al Sherman
No.1 for 1 week
Kay Starr achieved her second no.1 following Wheel Of Fortune which was a mid-tempo ballad, absolutely nothing like Comes A Long A Love which moved along at a fast jazz pace from beginning to end. The melody was derived by the final section of the overture to the opera Semiramide by Gioachino Rossini but Rossini did not receive any credit, instead the composer was listed solely as Al Sherman. Since ballads had dominated the number one position since October the previous year, Comes A Long A Love opened with the Harold Mooney orchestra sounding bouncy and excited and Kay Starr sang almost every line beginning with the title, comes a long a love suddenly brother are you happy and excited, comes a long a love suddenly everywhere you go you feel invited, comes a long a love suddenly every dream you have becomes ignited, you just begin to live comes a long love, comes a long a love suddenly though you never sang you’re always singing, comes a long a love suddenly chimes you never heard begin a-ringing, comes a long a love suddenly night and day your heart is highland flinging, you live and you love comes a long love, comes a long a love suddenly petty little things no longer phase you, comes a long a love suddenly everyone around you seems to praise you, comes a long a love suddenly you discover things that just amaze you, you just begin to live and really love, the day you live, oh well you sparkle you bubble well you’re in trouble, coz mister you’re really in love, and by the end of the song she was almost breathless. In the US, Comes A Long A Love only hit no.9 on the juke box charts, failing to reach the top ten in the other charts.
159. 31 January 1953
Eddie Fisher (with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra & Chorus)
Outside Of Heaven
Written by Sammy Gallop & Chester Conn
No.1 for 1 week
One of the biggest stars of the early-1950s was Eddie Fisher although he had yet to register in a major way on the charts in either Britain or America. During 1952 in the US, he had achieved eight top ten singles but only one of them had reached the top for just one week, Wish You Were Here and his song Outside Of Heaven was one of these, peaking at no.8 in the juke box charts. In Britain however, it hit no.1. After one week of jazzy Kay Starr, the top of the charts returned to a ballad but why was Eddie Fisher Outside Of Heaven, it was because the love he once knew was with someone else. He passes her house with misty eyes, there stands the gate to paradise, but you don’t hear the heart that cries outside of heaven, you’re happy there with someone new, good luck to him good luck to you, I count the dreams that won’t come true outside of heaven. Even on their wedding day he stood in the crowd, I could hardly keep from crying out loud, there goes the kiss my lips have known, there goes the love I called my own, why was I meant to walk alone outside of heaven.
160. 7 February 1953
Perry Como (with The Ramblers)
Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes
Written by Slim Willet
No.1 for 5 weeks
None of Perry Como’s previous eight US number one singles had crossed over to top the UK charts but finally he did achieve his first no.1 with Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes, a song that reportedly Perry Como did not like mainly because he found it so difficult to sing and didn’t understand the lyrics crammed into one line in the chorus. He was fine with the first two lines, don’t let the stars get in your eyes, don’t let the moon break your heart but then the lyrics of the chorus all merged into one line, love blooms at night in daylight it dies don’t let the stars get in your eyes or keep your heart from me for someday I’ll return and you know you’re the only one I’ll ever love. There were two verses as well which were at a different time signature to the chorus and was easier to sing because The Ramblers echoed each line that he sang, too many nights, too many stars, too many moons could change your mind, if I’m gone too long don’t forget where you belong, when the stars come out remember you are mine, too many miles, too many days, too many nights to be alone, oh please keep your heart while we are apart, don’t you linger in the moonlight when I’m gone. The Ramblers also began the song with several repeats of pa pa papaya but never mentioned this again once Como started singing. After three number one singles that were gone within a week, Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes remained at the top for five weeks but as far as we know, Perry Como never grew to like the song.
161. 14 March 1953
Guy Mitchell (with Mitch Miller His Orchestra & Chorus)
She Wears Red Feathers
Written by Bob Merrill
No.1 for 4 weeks
The biggest star in terms of the singles chart in the UK in the early-1950s was the team of singer Guy Mitchell, his arranger and backing orchestra with chorus Mitch Miller and the composer Bob Merrill and now Mitchell came long with his fifth no.1 single in just under two years, She Wears Red Feathers which was the story of a man who worked in a respectable position in a London bank, drinking tea all day, well from nine to three but one day he fell for an exotic girl who lived far away around Mandalay. As he sang four times in the chorus about this girl, she wears red feathers and a hooley-hooley skirt, she lives on just cokey-nuts and fish from the sea, a rose in her hair, a gleam in her eyes and love in her heart for me. He gave up his job and sailed away to find her and there she was waiting for him. She told him she had been dreaming of him every night, so he went to her Ma and Pa and they both agreed that they could be married. What a ceremony, an elephant brought her in placed her by my side, while six baboons got out bassoons and played Here Comes the Bride. They returned to London and caused quite a stir when they walked together down Piccadilly, they returned to his old bank and the boys there kinda hold their breath, she sits with me and sips her tea which tickles them to death.
162. 11 April 1953
Stargazers
Broken Wings
Written by John Jerome & Bernard Grun
No.1 for 1 week
The Stargazers were a British vocal group formed by Cliff Adams and Ronnie Milne with members Marie Benson, Fred Datchler and Dick James. James decided to leave to pursue a solo career before they achieved their first hit and was replaced by Bob Brown and in April 1953, they released the song Broken Wings, originally recorded by the husband and wife singing duo Art and Dotty Todd who took the song into the top ten, peaking at no.6 two months before The Stargazers. The song was composed by John Jerome and Bernard Grun but Jerome was a collaborative pseudonym used one used by composers Harry Fields, Howard Barnes and Joe Roncoroni. Broken Wings was a very slow foxtrot, dominated by a Hammond organ playing throughout as the members of the group sang, with broken wings no bird can fly, and broken promises mean love must fade and die, I trusted you you can’t be true, my heart no longer sings its wings are broken too, life was wonderful I flew as high as a bird in the sky, dreaming of you dreams coming true, then in your eyes I saw lies in disguise, you broke my heart in two. The instrumental break in the middle was a muted trumpet but still with the organ playing quietly in the background. While the Stargazers were still going strong, their co-founder Cliff Adams founded an even more successful and long lasting vocal group, The Cliff Adams Singers although they never hit the heights in the charts of Broken Wings.
163. 18 April 1953
Lita Roza (accompaniment directed by Johnny Douglas)
How Much Is That Doggie In The Window
Written by Bob Merrill
No.1 for 1 week
Lita Roza was born Lilian Patricia Lita Roza in Liverpool, England in 1926 and had achieved a couple of hits with a serious theme, Allentown Jail and High Noon before she was persuaded to record a cover version of the Patti Page’s The Doggie In The Window which was even more twee than the original, including an obvious fake dog barking which rolled the Rs of its ruff ruff and even the more vicious dog when she sang about her fear of robbers was deeper but still not very doglike but apart from her over-the-top stiff British accent, it was a faithful reproduction of Patti Page who could climb no higher than no.9 with the song in the UK. The title was changed to the whole of the first line How Much Is That Doggie In The Window and also provided Bob Merrill with his fifth no.1 single as a composer, three of which had been by Guy Mitchell. The song was loosely based on two folk songs, Carnival of Venice and Oh Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone, both from the 19th century and Litz Roza became the sixteenth artist to hit the top of the UK charts with a song that had been a chart topper in the USA by a different artist following Amapola by Deanna Durbin, I’ll Never Smile Again by The Ink Spots, That Old Black Magic by Judy Garland, You’ll Never Know by Vera Lynn, Accentuate The Positive by Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters, Cruising Down The River by Lou Preager, On The Atchison Topeka And The Santa Fe by Bing Crosby, The Anniversary Song by both Al Jolson and Bing Crosby, Near You by The Andrews Sisters, Mule Train by both Bing Crosby and Tennessee Ernie Ford, Chattanoogie Shoeshine Boy by Bing Crosby, Tennessee Waltz by Les Paul & Mary Ford and Too Young by Jimmy Young. Just like Patti Page, Lita Roza was known to have hated the song and refused to perform it in public once she had recorded it as it interfered with her jazz and torch song type of repertoire she wanted to be known for and indeed, she never hit the top ten again.
164. 25 April 1953
Frankie Laine (with Paul Weston & His Orchestra)
I Believe
Written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl & Al Stillman
No.1 for 9 weeks
4 July 1953 returned to no.1 for 6 weeks
22 August 1953 returned to no.1 for 3 weeks
Only ever bettered by Bing Crosby’s White Christmas with its run at the top of the charts, I Believe by Frankie Laine enjoyed eighteen weeks at no.1, beginning in April 1953 and still the best selling record in the country in September, having been deposed twice but rebounding back to the top, for Laine’s first solo no.1 having previously hit the top with the double A Sided duet with Jo Stafford which more than made up for him missing out on number one singles with his big American hits of the late 1940s, That Lucky Old Sun and Mule Train. I Believe was compared to a modern-day hymn rather than a pop song and it was composed to give hope to the soldiers serving in the Korean war, not that this war was noticed much by the British, even though 100,000 troops had been sent to fight and 1078 had been killed. However, the general message of I Believe was one of belief that everything would turn out for the best in the end. Its initial run at the top was nine weeks, the same as Al Martino’s Here In My Heart but returned for a further six weeks and then yet another three weeks as other songs came and went. The song opened with a strumming guitar and Frankie Laine sang, I believe for every drop of rain that falls a flower grows, I believe that somewhere in the darkest night a candle glows, I believe for everyone who goes astray, someone will come to show the way, I believe I believe, I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard, I believe that someone in the great somewhere hears every word, every time I hear a new born baby cry or touch a leaf or see the sky, then I know why I believe. He repeated with final lines with even more emotion and I Believe was a song that would return to the upper regions of the charts many times over the decades.
165. 27 June 1953
Eddie Fisher (with Hugo Winterhalter & His Orchestra & Sally Sweetland)
I’m Walking Behind You
Written by Billy Reid
No.1 for 1 week
Eddie Fisher achieved his second no.1 single of the year, following the one week for Outside Of Heaven in January and I’m Walking Behind You also featured Hugo Winterhalter & His Orchestra. Sally Sweetland was a soprano and she sang several of the lines along with Eddie Fisher, but rather as a ghostly figure, in harmony with his principal melody lines but faint and almost ethereal as they sang, I’m walking behind you on your wedding day, and I’ll hear you promise to love and obey, though you may forget me you’re still on my mind, look over your shoulder I’m walking behind, and though we are parted I want you to know, that if things go wrong dear and fate is unkind, look over your shoulder I’m walking behind. Eddie Fisher was still single at the time of the recording of I’m Walking Behind You but he would soon find out with five marriages to his name, that an ex-partner would not appreciate him turning up at their next wedding and tell them she’s still on my mind, maybe I’ll kiss again with a love that’s new, but I shall wish again I was kissing you, as I’ll always love you wherever you go look over your shoulder I’m walking behind. Yet again as with his previous number one single, Eddie Fisher found himself at the wrong end of a love triangle with his former lover, falling for someone else and yet again even getting married with him still there on the scene, looking on.
166. 15 August 1953
Mantovani & His Orchestra
The Song From The Moulin Rouge
Written by Georges Auric
No.1 for 1 week
Mantovani, known professionally by his surname was born Annunzio Paolo Mantovani in Venice, Italy in 1905 and moved with his family to London at the age of 7. He had already appeared on two no.1 singles backing Vera Lynn on Yours Quiereme Mucho and There’ll Be Blue Birds Over The White Cliffs Of Dover in 1941 and 1942 and now in 1953 he achieved his only solo number one single and that was for just one week squeezed between two runs at the top by Frankie Laine’s I Believe. The Song From The Moulin Rouge was an instrumental version of the big American hit Where Is Your Heart by Percy Faith sung by Felicia Sanders and Mantovani’s version was the seventeenth record to top the US and UK charts by different artists. For the first one minute and thirty seven seconds, Mantovani was very similar in its orchestral structure to Percy Faith although it used instruments that made it sound more authentically French particularly the introduction on the accordion but instead and Felicia Sanders joining in to sing, Mantovani used his vast strings orchestra just to prove that the melody was strong enough not to need vocals, indeed, only Georges Auric was credited as the composer on the label. This was the first instrumental number one since Les Paul was credited solo on Little Rock Getaway and prior to that, the double A side by Perez Prado.
167. 12 September 1953
Guy Mitchell (orchestra & chorus under the direction of Mitch Miller)
Look At That Girl
Written by Bob Merrill
No.1 for 6 weeks
In terms of the number of weeks in the number one position during the 1950s, Guy Mitchell now even overtook Frankie Laine with twenty-three weeks to the latter’s twenty-two and he had achieved this with six chart-toppers, the latest being Look At That Girl, another collaboration with Mitch Miller providing the backing orchestra and the production and Bob Merrill composing the song. Look At That Girl gave Merrill seven number one singles during the 1950s and no-one had composed more than two which equalled Johnny Burke at the top of the list of composers overall. This time he fell in love with a generic girl, the only noted features being her blue eyes, but apart from that it could be any girl that he’s singing about. He obviously thinks she’s very beautiful as he describes her as a dream come true but he hasn’t kissed her yet as he says with every word my heart just skips, oh if I could only kiss those lips. Confusingly though he added that last night he held her tight, it happens all the time and the girl is indeed his as he tells his colleagues, look at that girl, I can’t believe she’s mine. The Mitch Miller chorus have their own thoughts and they appear to agree with Guy Mitchell in the second verse as they repeated, look at that girl she’s like a dream come true, can blue eyes be so blue and Mitchell pleads with them if I’m dreaming please don’t wake me up. He had better watch out though otherwise the Mitch Miller chorus will steal them away as they rather surreptitiously sang, wish that we were in your place, even the female voices.
168. 24 October 1953
Frankie Laine (with Paul Weston & His Orchestra & Norman Luboff Choir/Carl Fischer – piano)
Hey Joe
Written by Boudleaux Bryant
No.1 for 2 weeks
On the week of the 24th of October 1953, Frankie Laine was no.1 with his third chart topper, Hey Joe, no.3 with Where The Wind Blows and no.4 with I Believe. Once again, he moved ahead of Guy Mitchell with twenty-four weeks at no.1 during the 1950s. The original was by Carl Smith, a successful country music singer who took the song to the top of the US country charts but when Frankie Laine recorded a pop version, it only charted at no.6 on the juke box charts. For Frankie Laine there was no more pious believing that every time a drop of rain falls, a flower grows. No more every time I hear a new born baby cry or touch a leaf or see the sky, then I know why I believe. This time his best friend Joe has got a girl and Frankie shows no mercy in warning Joe, I’m gonna try to steal her from you. He tells Joe all the things about the girl he probably already knows, she’s got skin that’s creamy dreamy, eyes that look so lovey dovey. lips as red as cherry berry wine, she’s a honey she’s a sugar pie but hey Joe where did you find such a girl, though we’ve been the best of friends, this is where that friendship ends, I gotta have that dolly for my own. He tries to be nice to Joe, but I doubt Joe believed his sincerity, hey Joe come on let’s be buddy buddies, show me you’re my palsy walsy, introduce that pretty little chick to me, hey Joe quit that waiting hesitating, let me at her what’s the matter, you’re as slow as any Joe can be, now come on Joe let’s make a deal, let me dance with her to see if she is real, she’s the cutest girl I’ve ever seen, I tell you face to face I mean to steal her from you. What the girl wanted is not discussed, nor whether she found any virtues in Joe that Frankie didn’t have, but based on his bullish and boorish behaviour towards his best friend here, that would not have been difficult.
169. 7 November 1953
David Whitfield (with Stanley Black & Orchestra)
Answer Me
Written by Gerhard Winkler, Fred Rauch & Carl Sigman
No.1 for 1 week
12 December 1953 returned to no.1 for 1 week
David Whitfield was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England in 1925 and received his big break in the recording business when he appeared as a contestant on the Radio Luxembourg talent show Opportunity Knocks. He was an operatic tenor with a perfect voice the broadcast on the BBC Light Programme. On the song Answer Me he used the backing orchestra of Stanley Black who had previously appeared on the number one single Lili Marlene by Anne Shelton in 1944. Answer Me was originally a German song called Mütterlein and sung by Leila Negra & Der Wiener Kinderchor in German with lyrics by Fred Rauch but the problems began when English lyrics were composed by Carl Sigman who originally titled the song Answer Me Lord Above in which the poor man has lost his lover, doesn’t know what if anything he had done wrong, just what sin have I been guilty of, tell me how I came to lose my love, please answer me oh lord and he turns to God to hopefully get the answers. The record became a hit but the BBC didn’t like the religious references, in the era of the early 1950s, the was much more reverence than nowadays and they refused to play Answer Me. Carl Sigman who had previously written the no.1 singles Pennsylvania 65000 and My Heart Cries For You had written the English lyrics for Answer Me and he re-wrote them omitting all references to God and changed the title from Answer Me Lord Above to Answer Me My Love and altered many of the lyrics so instead of seeking answers from God, David Whitfield was now asking the girl herself, you was mine yesterday, I believed that love was here to stay, won’t you tell me where I’ve gone astray, are you happier without me or do you still care. Both versions of the song were available to buy and the British public still bought the original religious one although the BBC radio had a safe romantic alternative to play instead.
170. 14 November 1953
Frankie Laine (with Paul Weston & His Orchestra & Norman Luboff Choir/Carl Fischer – piano)
Answer Me
Written by Gerhard Winkler, Fred Rauch & Carl Sigman
No.1 for 8 weeks
At least David Whitfield managed to get to get to no.1 with Answer Me, there were plenty of songs that stopped at no.2 behind Frankie Laine during 1953, particularly with I Believe spending eighteen weeks at the top. But as Whitfield was enjoying his first week at the top. Along came Frankie Laine again with yet another hit and this time it was his version of Answer Me, different to David Whitfield’s and neither of them could claim to be the originals, that honour falling to Leila Negra & Der Wiener Kinderchor. Frankie Laine yet again used the backing orchestra of Paul Weston and he started with a religious sounding organ before launching into the song, answer me lord above just what sin have I been guilty of, tell me how I came to lose my love please answer me oh lord, she was mine yesterday I believed that love was here to stay, won’t you tell me where I’ve gone astray please answer me oh lord, is she happier without me or does she still care, if she thinks at all about me please let her hear my prayer, let her know I’ve been true, send her back so we can start anew, in my sorrow may I turn to you please answer me oh lord. Like David Whitfield on Decca Records, Frankie Laine on Columbia suffered the same complaint from the BBC that one shouldn’t use the name of the lord on records, so he too re-recorded the song with the amended lyrics as Answer Me My Love but once again, the record buying public preferred the original with the religious lyrics and kept this Frankie Laine hit at no.1 for eight weeks, giving him twenty-eight weeks at the top out of the last thirty-seven. David Whitfield wasn’t finished however and having made way for his rival’s version for four weeks, on the week of the 12th of December, he returned to the top, not to knock Frankie Laine from no.1 but to share the position equally with him, the chart returns unable to separate the sales between the two Answer Me’s. Frankie Laine continued on for a further four weeks to see out 1953.
The pop music charts 