I have been able to source play-list information from a half-dozen of the weekly
Top Fifty lists in 1959 for
Sydney radio station 2UW.
These single sheets, usually about the size of what we would think of as an A4 sheet of paper, were available from record stores and were also displayed in the lobbies of the various radio stations that targeted the teenagers of the day.
They were, quite literally, the "charts" referred to by the disc-jockies of the period.
With no video promotion, it was the presenters who held sway over what was played and, as a result, what became successful or otherwise.
So in today's program I will feature as many of the tracks that I can fit in to the three-hour time period from the list that was issued for the week of
June 14th. 1959 and to do so I will be omitting the regular half-hour comedy spot that follows the 3:00 PM news & weather update.
I take this opportunity to acknowledge the contributions made by two You Tube channels,
TheLimePopsicle and
MaltShopPopsicle, without which several of the hit songs would not have been available. Many thanks, Tom.
Below is the list of songs as taken from that chart, with current position, previous week's position and number of weeks in the charts - shown by the two numerals following the track information.
FABULOUS FIFTY TOP TUNES
- Bye Bye Baby - Col Joye 1/5 <<<< AUSTRALIAN
- Pink Shoelaces - Dodie Stevens 2/5
- A Fool Such As I - Elvis Presley 3/7
- Alvin's Harmonica - the Chipmunks (David Seville) 6/5
- The Happy Organ - Dave 'Baby' Cortez 9/4
- Personality - Lloyd Price 19/2
- Wang Dang Taffy Apple Tango - Pat Boone 22/4
- Take A Message To Mary - the Everly Brothers 20/2
- Detour - Duane Eddy 15/6
- Tell Him No - Travis & Bob 18/3
- It's Just A Matter Of Time - Brook Benton 11/3
- It's Late - Ricky Nelson 14/4
- Big Blonde Baby - Ronnie Self 27/5
- Everybody Loves To Cha Cha - Sam Cooke 16/4
- Tijuana Jail - Kingston Trio 23/3
- Tall Paul - Annette Funicello 8/12
- Come Softly To Me - the Fleetwoods 10/10
- For A Penny - Pat Boone 26/2
- Poor Jenny - the Everly Brothers 21/2
- I Got A Wife - the Mark IV 12/6
- Luther Played The Boogie - Johnny Cash 7/6
- Venus - Frankie Avalon 4/12
- Theme from the movie "Separate Tables" - Frank Sinatra? 17/2
- Quiet Village - Martin Denny --/1
- Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me - Shirley Bassey 36/2
- Walking Through My Dreams - the Big Bopper --/1
- Two Brothers - the Lettermen --/1
- Oh Donna - Richie Valens
- I'm Never Gonna Tell - Jimmy Rodgers 17/6
- Yep! - Duane Eddy 30/2
- Jo-jo The Dog-Faced Boy - Annette Funicello --/1
- La Plume De Ma Tante - Hugo & Luigi --/1
- Guitar Boogie Shuffle - the Virtues 35/2
- Sixteen Candles - the Crests 11/11
- Black Nightgown (from the movie "I Want To Live") - Gerry Mulligan --/1
- There Must Be A Way - Joni James 42/5
- As Time Goes By - Johnny Nash 39/3
- Apple Blossom Time - Tab Hunter --/1
- No Fool Like A Young Fool - Terry Dene --/1
- Blah Blah Blah - Nicola Paone 35/9
- Maybe Someday - the Young Lions --/1
- You Made Me Love You - Keely Smith --/1
- Dream Lover - Bobby Darin --/1
- I Need Your Love Tonight - Elvis Presley --/1
- Charlie Brown - the Coasters 29/7
- She Say - the Diamonds 24/5
- I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself - Buddy Knox --/1
- Turn Me Loose - Fabian --/1
- There'll Never Be Anyone Else But You - Ricky Nelson --/1
- My Happiness - Connie Francis 45/7
With the benefit of nearly sixty years of hindsight, we can pick out a few interesting facts from the above list, not the least of which is that of the fifty records listed, only
one is by an Australian artist (Col Joye.)
Another statistic is that there were no records from artists in Great Britain; the British Invasion was almost five years away. Ninety-five percent of our popular music came from the USA.
In addition to the Top Fifty, the 2UW chart also included the following two categories:-
BEST NEW RELEASES THIS WEEK
- Five Pennies Saints- Danny Kaye & Louis Armstrong
- A Teenager In Love - Dion & the Belmonts
- The Kissing Tree - Billy Grammer
- I Still Get A Thrill (Thinking Of You) - Joni James
- The Mating Game - Debbie Reynolds
- Pathway To Paradise - Johnnie Rebb <<<< AUSTRALIAN
- The Walls Have Ears - Patti Page
- The Mocking Bird - the Four Lads
- I Don't See Me In Your Eyes - Carl Perkins (Also Jim Reeves).
- She's The Ginchiest - Lee Gordon <<<< AUSTRALIAN (Lee was an American who came to Australia in 1953 and became a successful promoter. He died in England in 1963).
UP-AND-COMING DISCS
- Only You - Frank Pourcel
- Sorry - the Impalas
- Tragedy - Thomas Wayne
- Come To Me - Marv Johnson
- Mason-Dixon Line - the Ames Brothers (copy not available)
- Ciao Ciao Bambina - Johnny's Boys version (Teddy Reno copy not available)
- Up Jumped A Rabbit - Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
- Darlin' Cora - Harry Belafonte
- Gone Gone Gone - the Crewcuts (copy not available)
- Lonesome Old House - Don Gibson
Please join me for a
HUGE nostalgia trip back to the 14th. of June, 1959, as we immerse ourselves in the pops and hits of 54 years ago.
Yes, indeed it has!
