BARRY LEVINE: A look at The King’s Top 5 on his birthday

Happy birthday wishes to Elvis Presley, who would have been 82 today. Presley died in 1977 at age 42.

During his glittering singing career, Presley notched 18 No. 1 records, starting with “Heartbreak Hotel” in 1956 and ending with “Suspicious Minds” in 1969.

His 18 No. 1 hits were a record until surpassed by The Beatles’ 20.

But which were Presley’s five best No. 1 hits? Here are The Old Rocker’s selections in no particular order. Interestingly, all are early Elvis.

“Heartbreak Hotel” gained No.1 status in May 1956, knocking Les Baxter’s instrumental “Poor People of Paris” from No. 1. The song remained there for seven weeks until toppled by Gogi Grant’s “The Wayward Wind.”

Written by Tommy Durden and Mae Boren, “Heartbreak” was inspired by a story in The Miami Herald about a lonely man who jumped to his death from a hotel window. It became Presley’s first million-selling song.

“Heartbreak Hotel was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1995.

His two-sided hit “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog” reached the top in August 1956, bouncing The Platters’ “My Prayer,” and was Presley’s second No. 1 hit. It remained No. 1 for 11 weeks until supplanted by Presley’s “Love Me Tender.”

Written by Otis Blackwell, “Don’t Be Cruel” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.

Blackwell significantly influenced rock ‘n’ roll. His top hits include Little Willie John’s “Fever;” Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire” and “Breathless;” Elvis’ “Don’t Be Cruel,” “All Shook Up” and “Return to Sender,” and Jimmy Jones’ “Handy Man.”

“Hound Dog” was written by the comedy team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and was originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton in 1952. It sold more than 500,000 copies and was her only hit.

By 1961, “Don’t Be Cruel”/”Hound Dog” had sold more than 6 million copies.

“All Shook Up” was Presley’s most successful single, remaining on the charts for an incredible 30 weeks. It displaced “Butterfly” by Andy Williams at the top in April 1957 and remained No. 1 for eight weeks until blocked by “Love Letters in the Sand” by Pat Boone.

Blackwell said he got the idea for the song at the offices of Shalimar Music in 1956. Al Stanton, one of Shalimar’s owners, while shaking a bottle of Pepsi, suggested Presley write a song based on the phrase “all shook up.”

The song sold more than 2 million copies.

“Jailhouse Rock” was the title of Pressley’s third film. It bumped The Everly Brothers’ “Wake Up Little Susie” from No. 1 in November 1957. “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke knocked “Jailhouse Rock” from the top in December 1957.

Another of Elvis’ songs written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, “Jailhouse Rock” finished 21st on American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016.

One of the interesting aspects of “Jailhouse Rock” is that some of the characters named in the song are real people. Shifty Henry was a well-known L.A. musician, not a criminal. The Purple Gang was a real mob. “Sad Sack” was a U.S. Army nickname in World War II for a loser, which also became the name of a popular comic strip.

Elvis Presley’s No. 1 hits, according to Billboard:

1956 — “Heartbreak Hotel,” “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog,” “Love Me Tender.”

1957 — “Too Much,” “All Shook Up,” “Teddy Bear,” “Jailhouse Rock.”

1958 — “Don’t,” “Hard-Headed Woman.”

1959 — “A Big Hunk O’ Love.”

1960 — “Stuck On You,” “It’s Now Or Never,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”

1961 — “Surrender.”

1962 — “Good Luck Charm.”

1969 — “Suspicious Minds.”

This week in rock history: The Who and The Kinks performed on the last showing of “Shindig” on ABC-TV on Jan. 8, 1966. …. Dion & The Belmonts performed their newest recording, “Teenager In Love,” on “American Bandstand” on Jan. 9, 1959. The song reached No. 5. …. Also on this date in 1966, The Temptations recorded “The Way You Do The Things You Do” for Motown Records. The single became The Temps’ first Top 40 hit, peaking at No. 11. … “Louie Louie” by The Kingsmen was No. 1 on Jan. 12, 1964. For a while, the record was banned by some radio stations because of its indecipherable lyrics, which were rumored to contain naughty words.

Chubby Checker’s “The Twist,” which reached No. 1 on Sept. 19, 1960, made a surprise return to the top spot on Jan. 13, 1962. . It is the only rock record by the same artist to return to No. 1 in separate releases.. … David Jones changed his name to David Bowie on Jan. 14, 1966, to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees, just in time for the release of his single, “Can’t Help Thinking About Me.” He later said that he selected “Bowie” because he liked that “big American bear-killin’ knife.”

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