BARRY LEVINE: As 2018 dawns, remembering 1958

A happy and healthy New Year to one and all.

As we prepare to lower the curtain on 2017 at midnight, let’s turn back the calendar 60 years to take a quick musical look at 1958.

— Of 1958’s Top 15 hits, no artist had more than one entry. By contrast, Elvis Presley had three of the Top 4 hits in 1957 with No. 1 “All Shook Up,” No. 3 “Jailhouse Rock” and No. 4 “Teddy Bear.” Pat Boone’s “Love Letters in the Sand” split Presley’s hits at No. 2. “The King” also had the 12th biggest hit of the year with “Too Much.”

— Of the performers who had Top 15 hits in 1958, five were “one-hit wonders.” Sheb Wooley (”The Purple People Eater”), Domenico Modugno, (“Volare”), Laurie London (“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”), The Teddy Bears (“To Know Him is to Love Him”) and The Silhouettes (”Get a Job”) had their only Top 40 hits.

— Besides Elvis Presley, the only performers to have Top 15 hits in 1957 and 1958 were The Everly Brothers. The duo had the No. 9 hit in 1957 with “Wake Up Little Susie” and the No. 4 hit in 1958 with “All I Have to Do is Dream.” The husband-and-wife team of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, of Shellman, penned both “Wake Up Little Susie” and “All I Have to Do is Dream” for the Everly Brothers.

— Interestingly, all of 1958’s Top 15 hits spent at least one week at the top of the charts. “Don’t” top the charts for eight weeks. “The Purple People Eater,” “Volare” and “It’s All in the Game” all were No. 1 for six weeks. The instrumental “Tequila” led the charts for five weeks.

— The year 1958 is also known as “The Year of the Novelty Hit” as “The Purple Eater” by Sheb Wooley, “The Witch Doctor” by David Seville and “The Chipmunk Song” by The Chipmunks all reached No. 1.

— The year also introduced the rock world to some of its greatest and diverse talents including Jackie Wilson, Duane Eddy, The Big Bopper, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Bobby Darin, The Kingston Trio and Ritchie Valens.

Wilson burst on the scene in 1958 with Top 25 hits “Lonely Teardrops,” “That’s Why” and “To be Loved.”

Eddy, known for his twangy guitar, had his first hits with No. 7 “Rebel Rouser,” No. 15 “Cannonball” and No. 26 “Ramrod.

“The Big Bopper,” a DJ turned singer, scored with his only major hit “Chantilly Lace,” which rose To No. 6.

Little Anthony & The Imperials had their first major hit with “Tears on My Pillow” which climbed to No. 4. They kept churning out hits for the next six years.

Bobby Darin had his first smashes when “Splish Splash” and “Queen of the Hop” broke into the Top 10. Darin quickly developed into one of pop music’s premier entertainers.

The Kingston Trio ushered in the new folk era when their hit “Tom Dooley” rose to No. 1. The group became one of the most successful folk groups of the next 10 years.

Ritchie Valens had a Top 10 hit with “Donna” and also had the first rock hit in Spanish with “La Bamba.”

1958’s Top hits

1) “At The Hop,” Danny & The Juniors

2) “It’s All in the Game,” Tommy Edwards

3) “The Purple People Eater,” Sheb Wooley

4) “All I Have to Do is Dream” Everly Brothers

5) “Tequila,” The Champs

6) “Don’t,” Elvis Presley

7) “Volare,” Domenico Modugno

8) “Sugartime,” McGuire Sisters

9) “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” Laurie London

10) “The Chipmunk Song,” The Chipmunks

11) “The Witch Doctor,” David Seville

12) “To Know Him is to Love Him,” Teddy Bears

13) “Poor Little Fool,” Ricky Nelson

14) “It’s Only Make Believe,” Conway Twitty

15) “Get a Job,” Silhouettes

This week in rock history

Hank Williams, 29, died of heart failure while on his way to a show in Canton, Ohio, on Jan.1, 1953. Ironically, he had the No. 1 song that week on the Country chart called, “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive.”

After refusing to sign an oath that said they have never been members of the Communist party, the folk group, The Weavers, were removed from the lineup of NBC-TV’s “Jack Parr Show” on Jan. 2, 1962.

Fats Domino recorded “I’m Walkin’ “, on Jan. 3, 1957, a song he wrote after his car broke down and a fan shouted, “Hey, look at Fats Domino, he’s walking!”

New York native Lenny Welch had his biggest hit when a cover version of the big band standard “Since I Fell for You” reached No. 4 on the Hot 100 on Jan. 4, 1964. The song was written in 1945 and has been recorded by more than three dozen artists.

On Jan. 5, 1959, Coral Records released Buddy Holly’s last record before his death. “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” was one of the few songs that he recorded that he didn’t write. Paul Anka composed the song that peaked at No. 13.

Danny & The Juniors’ rock ‘n’ roll classic “At The Hop” was the No. 1 song on Jan. 6, 1958.

Barry “The Old Rocker” Levine is an entertainment writer for The Albany Herald. He can be reached at [email protected].