Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – The Breakfast Show with William Price King and Sally Cronin – Chart Hits 1950s – Doris Day, Elvis Presley, The Four Aces and Paul Anka

Welcome to our show and whilst there have been some great songs since 2005, we felt that hits from the 40s and 50s deserved a showcase from now to the end of the year… we hope you will enjoy our music memories and some of the news events of the decade.

Here is my next selection of top 1950s chart hits which I hope you will enjoy.

Doris Day – Que Sera, Sera

“Que sera, sera “ composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, is from the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock film “The Man Who Knew Too Much” starring James Stewart and Doris Day. Released on Columbia Records, the song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the UK Singles Chart. “Que sera, sera”, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and became known as Doris Day’s signature song. In 2004 it finished at #48 in AFI’s 100 Years . . . 100 Songs survey of the top songs in American cinema.

February 25th 1957 Buddy Holly & Crickets record “That’ll Be the Day” 

Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock 

“Jailhouse Rock”, released by RCA in 1957, was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stroller for the film bearing the same name. It peaked at #1 in the US for seven weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100, #1 on their Country and R&B charts, #1 in the UK for three weeks, and the top 10 in several other countries. In November, 2016 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

July 6th 1957 John Lennon (16) & Paul McCartney (15) meet for 1st time as Lennon’s rock group Quarrymen perform at St. Peter’s, Woolton’s Parish Church in Liverpool

Now time for my next picks from the 1950s all tunes that I remember from my childhood from cartoons, films and my parents records.

The Four Aces – Love is a Many-Spendored Thing

“Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” is a popular song with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. The song was publicized first in the movie, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
The best-selling version of the song was recorded by The Four Aces backed by the Jack Pleis Orchestra and issued by Decca Records. It reached number two in the UK Singles Chart, and number one on both Billboard and Cash Box in 1955

January 10th 1958 Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire” reaches #1 on the UK pop charts 

Paul Anka – Diana

“Diana” is a song written and first performed by Paul Anka, who recorded it in May 1957 at Don Costa’s studio in New York City. The song reached number 1 (for two weeks) on the Billboard “R&B Best Sellers In Stores” chart and has reportedly sold over nine million copies. “Diana” also hit number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart.number 1 on the UK’s New Musical Express chart, staying there for nine weeks and sold 1.25 million copies in the UK.

June 24th 1958 Nina Simone releases her debut jazz album “Little Girl Blue” 

Additional sources: On This Day – Music – Hits of the 1940s and 1950s: Playback FM – 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

Thanks for tuning in and as always we love to hear from you.. thanks William and Sally.