Hi friends – welcome back to 50s Tunes with Steve - the best place to learn about, listen to, and snap along with some of the great artists of the 1950s.
There are many artists I intend to talk about on this blog, most of them I consider to be my personal favorites, but unfortunately there are some that I just won’t have the time to go into great detail about.
I’d like to use this post to discuss a few of those artists, as I think they deserve a least an honorable mention for their musical contributions to the world of 50s Pop.
As always, links to their songs are left throughout the blog, and I encourage you to take a listen and open your ears to something you may have not necessarily thought you would like to listen to.
Without further ado, here is a list of 50s Pop artists that helped make the era oh-so memorable!
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer was one of the earliest charting pop artists of the 1950s, and you may recall her name from my very first blog post where I discussed her signature song, “Music! Music! Music! (Put Another Nickel In.)”
That was her very first chart hit in 1950, going all the way to #6 on Billboards top 30 singles of the year.
It wasn’t long after that she had America’s sweet-hearts dancing to yet another hit song – “Till I Waltz Again with You” a #1 record across the nation in 1952.
In 1953 she followed up with a #2 record, “Ricochet (Rick-O-Shay)” and in 1954 a #6 record titled, “Jilted.”
In 1955 Brewer was one of the many pop stars who was severely impacted by the rise of Rock n Roll, but she fired back in 1956 with two smash hits – “A Tear Fell,” and “A Sweet Old-Fashioned Girl.”
“A Sweet Old-Fashioned Girl” is particularly interesting because it not only showcases Brewer’s ability to sing a ballad, but it also allowed her to show her ability to sing Rock n Roll.
The song went to #46 on the billboard year end top 50 singles of 1956.
Brewer never really hit big after that, but she remained a driving force in keeping the purity of 50s pop alive and appeared at many revival shows where she performed these songs for people who weren’t thrilled about the shift in modern music.
Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher – promiscuous, polite, and one of RCA Victors golden voices.
Fisher was married 4 times in his life and started his major singing career in 1950 when he signed with RCA.
It was in 1952 that his voice nearly dominated the popular music charts, having four smash hits on the top 30 singles of the year.
His song “Wish You Were Here” went to #7. “Anytime” charted at #12. “I’m Yours” went to #20, and “Tell Me Why” went to #27.
In 1953, Fisher charted even higher with “I’m Walking Behind You” which charted at #4.
He had another hit that year, “With These Hands” that charted at #28.
Come 1954, Fisher recorded two of his most memorable songs. “I Need You Now” charted at #13.
Fisher’s “Oh! My Pa-pa,” became his career signature song and charted at #6.
After that, Fisher had a few hits that charted very well, but he never saw the Billboard top 30 singles or top 50s singles after 1954.
One of the songs that became a big hit for him was a song that I actually consider to be a Rock n Roll tune – “Dungaree Doll.”
While it may not sound like Elvis Presley or Little Richard, I still think it deserves the title of a Rock n Roll song! Plus, I’d rather listen to this than Little Richard’s “Good Golly Miss Molly” any day of the week!
Fun fact - if there's any Star Wars fans out there, Eddie Fisher is the father of Carrie Fisher who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies.
Doris Day
Beautiful, sweet, and the voice of an angel! Doris Day was the girl next door that every man wanted to get their arms around.
Day was both an actress and a singer whose vocal career started in the early 1940s.
Some of her smash hits during the WWII era included, “Sentimental Journey,” “Love Somebody,” and “It’s Magic.”
Columbia Records was Day’s label and coming out of the 40s into the 50s America certainly didn’t tire of her or her voice.
In 1952 she charted big with the song “A Guy Is A Guy” which went to #17 on Billboards top 30 singles.
In 1954 she had a #1 hit – “Secret Love” which went to #9 on the top 30 singles of the year.
That same year Day recorded the song “If I Give My Heart To You” which charted at #20.
By 1955 Day was now with the rest of the pop singers, struggling to keep music pure in the midst of Rock n Roll, but in 1956 she recorded the song that became her most successful record – “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be.)”
Story goes, Day never wanted to record the song as she felt it was a little too frivolous and would never succeed as a record.
Feeling this way, Day said she’d record the song in one take and one take only.
That take was perfect and she sold over a million copies!
Day’s last well-known song came in 1958 – “Everybody Loves A Lover,” which went to #6 for several weeks, but never achieved the Billboard top 50 singles chart.
Rosemary Clooney
Coming from the Italian-American culture, there are many artists who we as a community have come to love, and one of them is the great Rosemary Clooney.
Clooney started her major recording career in the mid-40s, but didn’t have her first #1 hit until 1951 – “Come-On a My House.”
“Come-On a My House” is a classic American novelty song, and when producer Mitch Miller introduced the song to Clooney, she immediately refused to record it as she felt that as a serious recording star, she should be asked to record songs that were more mature.
Miller told Clooney she could leave the studio and threatened to terminate her contract with Columbia records if she didn’t want to record the song.
Clooney complied, sang the song, and brought it all the way to #4 on the Billboard top 30 singles of 1951.
In 1952, Clooney recorded two more smash hits – “Half as Much,” and “Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina.)”
In 1954 Clooney had three big hits – “Hey There” which charted at #3 on the top 30 singles chart. “This Ole House” which charted at #12, and “Mambo Italiano,” which went to #10 for several weeks but did not make the final top 30s chart.
From here on out, Clooney didn't see any hit top singles, but she did continue to record with prominent singers like Bing Crosby, as well as make television appearances on shows like “The Perry Como Show.”
She also recorded several albums from the late 50s all the way through to the early 2000s.
Fun fact – Rosemary is the Aunt of George Clooney!
That’s all for today!
Thanks for reading folks, I hope you enjoyed hearing some of these great tunes, and I hope maybe you’ll go out and listen to some of these artists yourself.
Until next time friends, this is your 50s music fanatic, Steven B. – signing off!
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