BARRY LEVINE: This Top 10 list covers ‘submarine’ songs

Turn back the clock – waaaaaaaaay back to when you were in high school studying U.S. history, Algebra, English and a foreign language.

You drive your Chevy to pick up your girlfriend and head to the banks of the river to have a perfect view for watching the submarines race for the next few hours.

Yes, those were the days.

While watching the submarines race, you listen to the radio turned to your favorite DJ who was spending the last part of his show playing submarine-race-watching songs.

Here are 10 of the most renowned submarine-race-watching hits. Hope they generate memories.

“Earth Angel” – A Los Angeles based quartet, The Penguins had their only Top 40 hit in 1955 with this iconic Doo-Wop song. The tune also was recorded by The Crew-Cuts and Gloria Mann in 1955 and by the New Edition in 1986, but the Penguins version is still the one played today. The Penguins, a black group, had one of the first hits to cross over from the R&B to pop charts. The Penguins hit climbed to No. 8 on the pop chart.

“In the Still of the Night” – Performed by Fred Parris and The Five Satins, the song reached No. 24 on the charts in 1955. The New Haven, Conn., quartet is still performing “In the Still of the Night” at oldies shows in the Northeast. The only other group to cover the song was Boys II Men whose version rose to No. 3 in 1993. However, the Five Satins version is the one heard today.

“Wonderful, Wonderful” – Johnny Mathis was arguably the king of the submarine-race-watching songs during the 1950s. He had 18 Top 40 hits from 1957 through 1963. Even though he had five Top 10 hits during that span, Mathis is most remembered for “Wonderful, Wonderful,” his first Top 40 hit which peaked at No. 14. The Tymes covered “Wonderful, Wonderful in 1963 and it rose to No. 7, seven places higher than Mathis’ version. But it’s Mathis version that is considered the classic.

“Tonight, Tonight” – Although the Mello-Kings’ song reached only No. 77 on the charts in 1957, it has become a rock classic. When WABC Radio in New York held its annual Thanksgiving weekend contest naming the Top 500 songs of all time, The Mello-Kings’ song always finished among the Top 3. As with most of the groups from that era, the sextet still was performing at oldies concerts throughout the 1990s.

“Love Me Tender” – Elvis Presley amassed 114 Top 40 hits during his career, 18 0f which climbed to No. 1. Presley’s best in this category was “Love Me Tender,” one of his five No. 1 hits in 1956. The song came from the 1956 movie by the same name and starred Richard Egan, Debra Paget and Presley. This was the first of Presley’s 31 movies. This was the only film in which Presley did not get top billing and was the only film he made where his character was killed on screen. “Love Me Tender” reached the Top 40 again in 1962 and 1967 when covered by Richard “Dr. Kildare” Chamberlain and Percy Sledge, respectively.

“All I Have to Do is Dream” – Best known for their upbeat rock hits such as “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Bird Dog” and Cathy’s Clown,” rather than “submarine” songs, the Everly Brothers collected 27 Top 40 hits, four of which jumped to the top spot. “All I Have to Do is Dream” was No. 1 for five weeks in 1958 and easily was the Everly Brothers true “submarine” tune. Richard Chamberlain in 1963 and Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell covered the tune in 1970, propelling it on the Top 40 charts once again.

“Since I Don’t Have You” – The Skyliners, a quartet from Pittsburgh, had a brief time on the charts from 1959 to 1960. “Since I Don’t Have You” was their first – and biggest – hit rising to No. 12 during the winter of 1959. The Skyliners had two other Top 25 hits – “This I Swear” in 1959 and “Pennies from Heaven” in 1960. Don “American Pie” McLean covered “Since I Don’t Have You” in 1983 returning it to the Top 40.

“Since I Fell for You” – Lenny Welch, who had one of the premier voices during the 1960s, covered this song originally done by Annie Laurie and Paul Gayten in 1947. Welch’s version reached No. 4 in 1963. He had two other Top 40 songs – “Ebb Tide,” which was featured in the 1962 movie “Sweet Bird of Youth” starring Paul Newman and Geraldine Page and charted in 1963, and “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” a cover of Neil Sedaka’s 1962 No. 1 hit which reached the charts in 1970.

“There’s a Moon out Tonight” – The New York quintet had their only Top 40 hit in 1961 when “There’s a Moon out Tonight” rose to No. 3. The Capris still are performing at oldies shows.

“Goodnight My Love” – Jesse Belvin, of Texas, had his biggest hit in 1956 when “Goodnight My Love” rose to No. 7 on the R&B chart. The piano on the session interestingly was played by the 11 year old Barry White, who later became a top R&B singer. “Goodnight My Love” became the closing theme for Alan Freed’s WINS radio shows in New York. Freed is credited with coining the phrase “rock ‘n’ roll.” Belvin had one Top 40 hit on the pop chart with “Guess Who” in 1959. Belvin also was a member of The Shields when they had their Top 10 hit “You Cheated” in 1958. If “Goodnight My Love”” was good enough for Freed to close his radio shows, then it’s good enough for The Old Rocker to close this column.

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