WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE WONDERFUL ONES page 20
Now here we go again with the Hit Parade! The year is 1956.
Memories Are Made Of This (Dean Martin) blew Sixteen Tons to kingdom come after the latter's steady grip for 8 weeks. However, after 6 weeks, it abdicated the throne to make way for Rock And Roll Waltz (Kay Starr) which matched it in number of weeks of stay. Then, The Great Pretender (by the Platters) became king and which was followed by Lisbon Antigua (Nelson Riddle). Then, The Poor People Of Paris (Les Baxter) emerged in the number one position until it was eclipsed 6 weeks later by a heavy favorite, Heartbreak Hotel. After 8 weeks, that Elvis record met its Waterloo when Hot Digitty (Perry Como) made its stance. That song however quickly fded and made way for Moonglow (Morris Stoloff) the theme from the wonderful movie Picnic starring William Holden again and the beautiful Kim Novak. It met its downfall though after 3 weeks on the limelight, with the soaring popularity of Gogi Grant's The Wayward Wind which stayed in the number one position for almost 2 months. Then came I Almost Lost My Mind by Pat Boone. After 4 weeks this song also fell from number one with the advent of Elvis Presley's I Want You, I Need You, I Love You. Though nice, the song lost its position after just a week when My Prayer, another superhit by the Platters jumped up to claim the coveted crown. But the king just couldn't be downed permanently. He rebounded with the record Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog - a double hitter whose reign lasted for 11 weeks. What goes up must go down, and so it did go down. But what pulled it down from number one was not another artist's record but one that was also by himself: Love Me Tender, a civil war ballad revived in the movie of the same title starring Elvis Presley and Debra Paget. It was the first time a record by one artist was succeeded by another record of the same artist. But that winning streak was broken with the arrival (after 5 weeks) of The Green Door by Jim Lowe. That song collapsed when Singing The Blues by Guy Mitchell was catapulted to number one and stayed on the throne for 10 weeks. So, that's it folks!
That sums up what was in the Hit Parade of 1956. And again we give due credit to Joel Whitburn, author of the book,
Top Forty Hits from where these bits of golden information have been gathered.
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Copyright © 2002 ERNIE TURLA , president, Akademiang Kapampangan USA. All Rights Reserved