Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Music Column – The Breakfast Show with William Price King and Sally Cronin – Chart Hits 1961 – Part One

Welcome to The Breakfast Show and the top hits of the 1960s.

Each week William and I will select two top hits from the charts starting with 1960 for two weeks followed by 1961 etc..through to 1985. We will also include some of the notable events in those years for the up and coming stars who were centre stage at the time.

Every four weeks at the weekend there will be a spin-off show where we will feature four guests sharing their memories of the music of a particular decade we are working on. An opportunity to share your work and your can find the details: The Breakfast Show 2021

Welcome to our show and we are excited to share decades of music with you in 2021. Here is my first selection of top 1961 hits which I hope you will enjoy.  William.

News Event: January 26th  “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” by Elvis Presley hits #1

The Shirelles  –  Will you still love me tomorrow

“Will you still love me tomorrow” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts in the US and peaked at #4 in the UK. The song is also notable for being the first song by a black all-girl group to reach #1 in the US.

New Event: March 18th –  6th Eurovision Song Contest: Jean-Claude Pascal for Luxembourg wins “Nous les amoureux” in Cannes

Del Shannon  –  Runaway

“Runaway”, composed by Del Shannon and Max Crook, made it to the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 and is classified at #472 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It hit #2 in the UK.

News Event: March 21st The Beatles’ first appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool

Now time for my picks from 1961 and these are tracks that dominated my teenage years and are still on my playlists today

News Event: May 31st Chuck Berry’s amusement park, Berryland in St Louis, opens

Helen Shapiro – Walking Back To Happiness. 

“Walkin’ Back to Happiness” is a 1961 single by Helen Shapiro. The song was written by John Schroeder and Mike Hawker. With backing orchestrations by Norrie Paramor, the song was released in the United Kingdom on the Columbia (EMI) label on 29 September 1961. It was number one in the UK for three weeks beginning 19 October, but only reached #100 on the US Billboard Hot 100, Shapiro’s only US chart appearance. The single sold over a million copies and earned Helen Shapiro a golden disc.

News Event: July 23rd American opera singer Grace Bumbry becomes the first black singer to perform at the Bayreuth Festival, Germany, she earns 42 curtain calls

The Marcels – Blue Moon

The Marcels were an American doo-wop group known for turning popular music songs into rock and roll. The group was named after a popular hair style of the day, the marcel wave, by Fred Johnson’s younger sister Priscilla. In 1961 many were surprised to hear a new version of the ballad “Blue Moon”, that began with the bass singer saying, “bomp-baba-bomp” and “dip-da-dip.” The record sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It is featured in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

 

Additional sources: On This Day – Music – Hits of the 60s: Sixties City – Wikipedia

Your Hosts for The Breakfast Show

William Price King is an American jazz singer, crooner, and composer.

His interest in music began at an early age when he studied piano and clarinet in high school. At Morehouse College in Atlanta where he grew up, he sang in the Glee Club and studied classical music. After graduation he went off to the Yale School of Music where he earned a Masters degree. From there he journeyed to New York where he created a jazz trio ‘Au Naturel’ which performed in some of the hottest venues in Manhattan including gigs on Broadway and the famous ‘Rainbow Room.’ These gigs opened doors for performances in Montreal and a European tour.

While touring Europe he met a lovely French lady, Jeanne Maïstre, who, a year later became his wife. King left the group ‘Au Naturel’ and settled in the south of France where he started a new life on the French Riviera, opening his own music school – the “Price King Ecole Internationale de Chant.” He has had the pleasure over the years of seeing many of his students excel as singers on a professional level, and some going on to become national celebrities. He continues to coach young singers today, in his spare time.

Blog– IMPROVISATION – William Price King on Tumblr – Buy William’s music: William Price King iTunes – Facebook – William Price King – Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – Cave Wilson

Sally Cronin is an author, blogger and broadcaster who enjoyed four years as part of the team on Onda Cero International’s English speaking morning show in Marbella and then for two years as a presenter on Expressfm the local radio station in Portsmouth. She co-presented two ‘Drive Time’ shows a week with Adrian Knight, hosted the live Thursday Afternoon Show and The Sunday Morning Show guests including musicians and authors. Following this she became Station Director for a local internet television station for two years, producing and presenting the daily news segment, outside broadcasts and co-presenting the Adrian and Sally chat show live on Friday evenings.

She and her husband David have now returned to Ireland where they live on the Wexford Coast where she blogs and continues to write books.

Books :Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – More reviews: Goodreads – blog: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine Twitter: @sgc58 – Facebook: Sally Cronin – LinkedIn: Sally Cronin

Thank you very much for joining us today and we would love you to join us in the spin off shows where we share your memories of the 1960s and your favourite music.. please read how you can take part: The Breakfast Show 2021

 

Next week 1961 Part Two.. we hope you will tune in.. as always we love to hear from you.. thanks William and Sally.