Featured song: Bert Weedon – Guitar Boogie Shuffle
This is a series of articles looking at pop music from 1955 when in my opinion proper pop music began up to 1999 when they stopped making it. One article for each year.
I am only going to select one featured song for each article, which makes it hard. I am going to try and select a different artist for each year.
For many people, and I include myself, you tend to still like the tunes you heard during childhood, which your parents often played. So rather than just pick the top 10 hits of each year, I shall let you know what they were, but also the tunes of that year not necessarily in the top 10 or so, what were in my view classics. I also add a couple of events in history for that year, it helps bring back memories, and hopefully happy ones.
Not everyone will like my choices of course, and you may remember some from each particular year that you feel should have been included, so do please post a link to the song.
So on we go with memories from 1959: (Thank you Wiki)
What was I doing in this year? – I was 3, still cannot remember anything. It’s happening all over again.
Prime Minister – Harold Macmillan (Conservative)
29 January – dense fog brings chaos to Britain
19 February – the United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence
30 March – 20,000 demonstrators attend a CND rally in Trafalgar Square
30 April – Icelandic gunboat fires on British trawlers in the first of the “Cod Wars” over fishing rights
2 May – Nottingham Forest beat Luton Town 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium. (I was born in Nottingham)
24 May – British Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day
1 June – first showing on BBC Television of Juke Box Jury chaired by David Jacobs
11 June – Christopher Cockerell’s invention the hovercraft officially launched
28 July – UK postcodes are introduced for the first time, as an experiment, in the city of Norwich
4 August – Barclays become the first bank to install a computer
18 September – Auchengeich mining disaster: 47 miners die as the result of an underground fire at Auchengeich Colliery, Lanarkshire, Scotland
8 October – general election results in a record third successive Conservative victory, with the slogan “Life’s better with the Conservatives”, following a heated election campaign by the Tories and the Labour opposition, who contested their first general election until the leadership of Hugh Gaitskell. Harold Macmillan increases the Conservative majority to 100 seats. Among the new members of parliament is Margaret Thatcher, who turns 34 on 13 October and represents Finchley in North London
2 November – the first section of the M1 motorway is opened between Watford and Rugby. It is set to be extended over the next few years, southwards to Edgware and northwards to Leeds
28 December – Associated-Rediffusion first airs the children’s television series Ivor the Engine, made by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin’s Smallfilms in stop motion animation using cardboard cut-outs.
The Top 10 Singles with a You Tube hyperlink on the title:
Top Hits of 1959 |
||
| 1 | Cliff Richard | Livin’ Doll |
| 2 | Emile Ford | What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For? |
| 3 | Buddy Holly | It Doesn’t Matter Any More |
| 4 | Cliff Richard | Travellin’ Light |
| 5 | The Platters | Smoke Gets In Your Eyes |
| 6 | Russ Conway | Side Saddle |
| 7 | Bobby Darin | Dream Lover |
| 8 | Adam Faith | What Do You Want |
| 9 | Elvis Presley | A Fool Such As I |
| 10 | Lonnie Donegan | Battle Of New Orleans |
This tune Guitar Boogie Shuffle may seem a strange choice as my featured song. Well firstly it is brilliant, but mainly it is because of Bert Weedon OBE, who gave so much to the music industry and to so many people who learned to play the guitar.
Herbert Maurice William ‘Bert’ Weedon, OBE (10 May 1920 – 20 April 2012) was an English guitarist whose style of playing was popular and influential during the 1950s and 1960s. He was the first British guitarist to have a hit record in the UK Singles Chart, in 1959, and his best-selling tutorial guides, Play in a Day, were a major influence on many leading British musicians, such as Eric Clapton, Brian May, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon, Dave Davies, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Tony Lommi and Jimmy Page.
More writings on this song here: More on Bert Weedon
In my view the best songs of the year, after the featured track are:
Conway Twitty – It’s Only Make Believe
Platters – Smoke Gets In Your Eyes – Another one from the Platters
Buddy Holly – Peggy Sue Got Married
The Teddy Bears – To Know Him Is To Love Him
Marty Wilde – Teenager in Love
The Everly Brothers “Til I Kissed You”
Connie Francis – Lipstick On Your Collar
The favourite song list is getting longer. This is because the quality and type of songs, influenced by the likes of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Buddy Holly is starting to emerge.
Hat tips to:
http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/ These give the top 100 selling charts for each year
http://www.everyhit.com/chart1.html These give the top 10 songs for each year
https://www.youtube.com/ You know them.
Next time, 1960.
© Phil the ex test manager 2018 2024
The Goodnight Vienna Audio file
